MINISTERS TESTIFY ABOUT RELATIONS WITH STANLEY

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22820, 15 December 1948, Page 9

MINISTERS TESTIFY ABOUT RELATIONS WITH STANLEY

BOARD OF TRADE PROBE

(N.Z.P. A.—Reuter —Copyright.) (10 a.m.) ' LONDON, Dec. 14. The Financial Secretary to the Treasury, William George Glenvil Hall, told the Board of Trade tribunal that, at a meeting of Ministers at No. 10 Downing Street on September 13, he had a personal talk with J. W. Belcher, Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade, and said he understood that Belcher knew Sidney Stanley.

“I said that Belcher should be on his guard and Belcher said: ‘Oh. yes, I know a good deal about Stanley. I have known him for some time now, and you need not warn me’ or words to that effect,” Hall added. “As far as I knew then, there was nothing very criminal in what Stanley had tried to do. It was more an attempt to bounce the Treasury and get something through than anything else, but it startled me considerably.” Hugh Dalton, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, was the fiftyfourth witness. Dalton said he first met Stanley at a dinner on March 23 to mark the appointment of George Gibson, a director of the Bank of England, as chairman of the North-West E.ectricitj Board. When leaving the dinner, he was followed jnto the street by Stanley who said he had a great admiration for Gibson and represented himself to be an active supporter of the Labour Party.

Invited to Join G.U.S,

Dalton said that in all he had met Stanley- only four times. On one occasion Stanley had said to him: “We would like you to join us in the G.U.S. now that you are no longer a member of the Government.” Dalton said he did not know what G.U-S. was (G.U.S. stands for Great Universal Stores, of which Isaac Wolfson is head).

When the Attorney-General, Sir Hartley Shawcross. asked if Stanley had told him anything about assisting in the recent by-election, Dalton replied: "This was one of the points that I counted most in his favour at this time. He said he had sent a large number of cars to the Gravesend byelection. He also said he had sent a similar number to the North Croydon by-election. This predisposed him in my favour.” Dalton said he understood that Stanley was either a director of Great Universal Stores or some prominent person in an executive position. Dalton added that he could not remember any directors’ fee being mentioned, but he told Stanley, that such an arrangement was not desirable from his point of view and brushed it aside.

Too Busy For Further Commitments. “I said this was not in my line and was thoroughly discouraging throughout the interview. I further said that, in any case, I was too busy to take on any further commitments that would take my time.” Dalton said he saw Wolfson. on April 16. Nothing was said about the possibility of his joining the board of Great Universal Stores. Isaac Wolfson, the next witness, said he was chairman and managing director of Great Universal Stores- He first met Stanley at a dinner in June, 1947. Stanley came to hifn with “all sorts of propositions,” but they had nothing to do with Ministers of the Crown. Nothing ever came of the propositions Stanley put up. Wolfson Solid Stanley was not a contact man for his organisation. Wolfson denied he had asked Stanley to bring Gibson, Key or Belcher to his office. Wolfson denied that the £IOOO he paid to Stanley for expenses included recompense for Stanley’s introduction to Key, Belcher, Gibson and Dalton. Nld Not Need Help. Wolfson agreed he had told Belcher that he was the type of man who would fit into his organisation. “I had a very high regard for Belcher as a very capable person,” Wolfson added. Wolfson said that Sir Stafford Cripps had asked him to make contact with him about matters of major importance. Mr. Montagu, K.C. for Wolfson: So you don’t need the Stanleys and Gibsons of this world? Wolfson: No. Dalton said that at Wolfson’s office Stanley was “treated with slight regard.” Dalton added: “I formed the view that Stanley w r as, in fact, a contact man of low repute, and I had no wish to have anything more to do with him.” “Temporarily Deceived’' In answer to Mr. E. S. Montagu, K.C. (for Wolfson) Dalton said: “I well believe that both Wolfson and I were temporarily deceived by Stanley.” Dalton said the reason he agreed with Stanley's suggestion and saw Wolfson was that Stanley emphasised that G.U.S. had built factories in development areas.

He had always been interested in development areas and this had finally turned the scale and decided him to see Wolfson.

Replying to Mr. H. V. Lloyd Jones (for Stanley) Dalton denied he was on first-name terms with Stanley. Dalton was asked by Mr. Justice Lynskey: Has anyone, either Stanley or anybody else, ever approached you in relation to misusing your powers, either as an M.P., or as a member of the Government?” Dalton replied: “No, I can think of no such occasion.”

Wolfson said, in reply to Mr. Justice Lynskey, that he had no objection to the tribunal inspecting the books of his companies. Mr. Justice Lynskey added he would like the Treasury Solicitor to have an opportunity of seeing the books and trying to trace the identity of the person whose initials “R:H.S.” appeared on one of three receipts covering the payment of £IOOO to Stanley for his services.

Wolfson stated that had a certain store purchase deal gone through he would have been prepared to have paid Stanley £3500.

The tribunal adjourned until tomorrow.