THE FATAL LETTER.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 28 October 1924, Page 7

THE FATAL LETTER.

MR MACDONALD’S OPINION. BY CABLE—PEESS ASSOCIATION—COPYEIGHT. (Received Oct. 28, 1.45 p.m.) LONDON, Oct. 27. Mr MacDonald, in a speech, said he believes the Zinovieff documents are authentic.—Sun Cable. Rakowsky to-day transmitted to the Foreign Office the Soviet reply with reference to the statement that the Zinovieff letter was known to Mr Macdonald and Mr Henderson nearly three weeks prior to publication. Mr Henderson to-day declared that no such document was received by the Home Office or Scotland Yard or by Mr Henderson from any quarter. His first intimation ..of the existence of the document was through, the columns of the newspapers on October 25. THE MOSCOW MYSTERY. (Received Oct. 28, 2.30 p.m.) LONDON, Oct. 27. Mr Lloyd George, in a speech at Camberwell in support of Dr. Macnamara, said that the Moscow mystery cast a sinister light on the Government’s refusal to allow an enquiry into the Campbell case. Mr MacDonald had said the Zinovieff document was genuine, but all Mr MacDonald’s Ministers said it was a forgery. He did not know why they said that before they made enquiries. It looked to him as though the document had been withheld from members of the Cabinet. He would have accepted the Soviet denial but for the fact that when he was Premier the Soviet denied a similar transaction when he had positive proof thereof. This was when Tameiieff denied he was ' propagating a revolution in England at the moment when he (Mr Lloyd George) had his telegram to Moscow, stating that he had disposed of the Russian jewels and was giving the Daily Herald £75,000. Therefore he could not a<% cept Moscow’s denial as he would have accepted a denial by any other country. WERE MINISTERS COGNISANT? LONDON, Oct. 27. Ministers at present express ignorance of Zinovieff’s letter. The Daily News points out that the Labour Party’s manifesto suggests that the Foreign Office, and not Mr MacDonald, was responsible for the decision regarding the authenticity of Zinovieff’s letter Many of Mr MacDonald’s friends, rightly or wrongly, assert that Mr MacDonald is not yet convinced of its authenticity. It is significant that Mr Thomas, after a telephone discussion with Mr MacDonald, publicly expressdoi,bts - It is elsewhere hinted that Mr MacDonald drafted the reply when the authenticity of the letter was proved.

The Foreign Office becoming convinced, he sent the Note. Mr MeMann, speaking at Manchester, said he was in Russia when the JSote was written. “Why should Zinovieff write to me in London when he was living next door to me in Moscow? I personally met Zinovieff before and after Sentember 15.”