FIGHT FOR A FORTUNE

Shannon News, 8 June 1926, Page 3

FIGHT FOR A FORTUNE

ENGLISH BEAUTIES IN WILL SUIT

One of the greatest legal battles of modern times is being fought Chicago—a battle between English society and American finance. The Dowager Lady Suffolk, formerly Miss Margaret Hyde Leiter, ' youngest daughter of the Late Levi jZ. Loiter, is trying to remove from the trusteeship of her fathers 1 £20,000,000 estate, her brother, Mr. Joseph Leiter one of the greatest I speculators of the age. Associated with her are the daughters of the late Lord Curson (by his first marriage with Miss Mary Leiter, another daughter of Levi Z. They are Lady Cynthia Mosley, wife of Mr. Oswald Mosley, Socialist ex-M.P., Lady Mary Irene (Baroness Ravensdale) and Lady Alexander Metcalfe, who last year married Major Edward Metcalfe, formerly the Prince of Wales' equerry. Storekeeper's Komanc. A co-defendant with Mr. Joseph Leiter, whom the Dowager Lady Suffolk alleges has mismanaged ner father's estate, is Airs Nancy Carver Campbell wife of Colonel Colin Campbell, and the third daughter of Levi Leiter.

' The millions over which the great battle is raging were the product of dogged application and hard worn, Levi Leiter was a poor, man when 'first he set out to wrest fortune from life. He was no Wall Street genius but a direct-minded slogger, who tried to anticipate the needs of the people and supply those needs. He was a s.orekeepcr. Day in, day out, he worked, giving people what they wanted, and eventually he built up an organisation and it retched from -.one end of the United States to the other.

Exceptionally conservative in his business methods he never speculatde. He invested money in mines and in *eaol estate, but he nevei took any great risks. There was imagination and acumen in the way he gradually became the controlling head of that wonderful organisation which was known first of all" as Field, Leiter and Co., and ,'la.tter as Marshall Field and Co.

It was at the firm of Marshall Field and Co., that Mr. Gordon Selfridge served his apprenticeship. Huge Trust Funds.

His daughters were exceptionally beautiful girls and became the most popular heiresses in American society of the 'nineties. It is said that when Lord Curzon fell in love with Mary Leitcr, her brother Joseph opposed the mariage. Statements have been made that Mary received no less than £200,000 as a marriage settlement, together with a trust fund of a further £250,000 Lady Suffolk and Mrs Colin Campbell also received large settlements.

In England the three daughters became popular as gracious hostesses, and took their place 'amongst the greatest in the land. Then the father died, and the mighty fortune he had accumulated through the long years of toil was left in the hands of trustees for distribution in accordance with his will.

One-third of the amount went to his widow, who only survived ner husband a comparatively short time. When she died there was another £6,00.0,000 to be distributed amongst the children and grandchildren and, with regard to i!v3 latter, trust funds vvvre criitod for iheir benefit' to -the following exltcni:

£30,000 to Lady Mary Curzon, daughter of Lord Curzon, £30,000 to Miss Mary Campbell, daughter or Colonel Colin Campbell. £20,000 to Viscount Andover, now Lord Suffolk.

£20,000 to Lady Cynthia Curzon, daughter of Lord Curzon.

vlie Allegations,

All these beneficiaries under tne will, play their part in the action. When old Mr. Leiter died he appointed five trustees. They were his widow, Lady Suffolk, Mr. Seymour Morris, and the son, Mr. Joseph Letter ,the man who is now the subject of the present proceedings. Some years passed and then Mr. Morris died. That, according to Lady Euffolk, is where the alleged misaclministration of the estate began. She askc that a strict investigation of all the moneys that have passed through Mr. Leiter's hands shall be made, and urges that he is no longer acting on his own initiative, but under the influence Of another man whom lie himself appointed without any discussion with the other trustees in place of Mr. Moris. One cause of complaint is that the elder Leiter gave the famous Zeigier ! coal mine, which at one time had to be defended by machine guns, searchlights ,and stockades against the loeked-out miners, to his son on condition, it is alleged that he paid the existing value into the estate.

Another cause of complaint is that when the younger Leiter lost 9,000,000 dollars in wheat speculation the father paid his losses, but the amount debited against him was only 2,000,000 dollars. Corner in Corn. This point is argued to support the contention that 750,000 dollars given to the Me Lord Curzon and 1,000,000 dollars given him and his first wife when the elder Leiter died should not be charged against their share of the estate.

Joseph Leiter is one of the most romantic figures in the whole of American finance. When in the 'twenties he ran the famous "corner in corn," which nearly made him a multi-mil-lionaires. He failed and is said to have lost £1,800,000 as a result.

Lady Suffolk emulates her husband, who was killed in action in 1917, in being a most daring horsewoman. Her second son, the Hon. Cecil Howard, figured in a mishap in Charlton Park. They were with a shooting party, which in 1920 when he was

accidentally shot by his elder brother, the present Earl included the countess when the young earl slipped while carrying a loaded gun. The Earl, who is 20 this month, has taken up work. in a small mixefl farm and sawmilling concern, near Port Macquarrie, New South Wales, labouring as an ordinary "hand •without privileges. He recently sailed round the world as an apprentice in a sailing clipper, his duties being those of every other bare-footed and rope-hauling cadet aboard. He returned an enthusiastic admirer of Australia which, he said, was "a jolly fine country."