SLANDERING PUBLIC MEN

Evening Star, Issue 15137, 19 March 1913, Page 8

SLANDERING PUBLIC MEN

OVER THE MARCONI AGREEMENT. Press Association—'By. Telegraph—Copyright. PARIS, March 18. The ' Matin' has apologised to the Hon. H. Samuel and Sir R. Isaacs, whom,it accused of trafficking in Marconi shares. Mr Lawson. the author of 'Frenzied Finance,' withdrew the whole of his allegations against the Postmaster-General and the Attorney-General. And a sorry figure he cut before the Marconi Agreement Committee. Here are his charges and what became of them: " Eostmaster-GeneFal acted without the authority of the Cabinet."—Withdrawn. "The State was directly associating itself with a huge Stock Exchange gam-ble-"—By the "State" he did not suggest that the Postmaster-General, or any subordinate, or any Minister, or any ofhcial of any other" department. He was referring only to rumors, which, however, he had been unable to verify.' "Wireless telegraphy has never been considered from the point of view of its effect on naval warfare."—Withdrawn. "The Post Office has shut itself out from the service of other wireless companies."—Withdrawn. The 'Spectator' was obliged to make a humiliating confession, and express " unqualified regret that we, by quotation, gave publicity to Mr Lawson's allegations; and it, along with the 'National Review.' the 'Outlook,' and the 'New Witness,' were in a-sorry plight when Mr Lawson climbed down. As the latter collapsed on the witness-stand, Mr Falconer, M P , went up in public estimation, for'it was due to the vigorous cross-examination of this Scottish member of the Inquiry Committee that Mr Lawson's statement 'became severely punctured. The importance of the incident is that it shows on what slight grounds and for what improper party purposes mud has been thrown on some Ministers of the Crown in England.