THE BUDGET LEAKAGE

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXX, Issue 4845, 14 May 1936, Page 5

THE BUDGET LEAKAGE

SOME INTERESTING EVIDENCE. MR. THOMAS'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY. SUM OF £20,000 OFFERED. (Press Associatino.— Copyright.) (Received 12.45 p.m.) London, May 13. At the Budget leakage inquiry Mr. Gwyer, Comptroller of Income Tax, said he did not know of the income tax increase till the morning of the Budget announcement, and there was no leakage in his department. Mr. Alfred Bates, recalled, said that when he made the insurances he did not possess information as to the Budget's contents. He had been a friend of Mr. J. H. Thomas for more than twenty years, and played golf with him during Easter. Mr. Thomas did not disclose anything about the contents of the Budget. The only business transaction with Mr. Thomas was an offer of £20,000 for the exclusive rights of Mr. Thomas's autobiography. Mr. Thomas replied by intimating that he had other offers of substantial sums, but was influenced by the fact that witness was prepared to make an instant advance on the autobiography. "If you can get a house in your district in which my wife can sleep and there is a clear understanding that it does not prevent me from writing, I will accept your terms," Mr. Thomas had said. Mr. Bates.said-he purchased a house and wrote to Mr. Thomas on April 6 stating that the purchase of the house and the legal costs amounted to £15,100. The draft he send to Mr. Thomas and the receipt tendered by Mr. Thomas read: "I hereby acknowledge that Alfred Bates paid out to me £15,100 in reduction of the sum payable to me for the rights of my autobiography.'' Replying to the judge, Mr. Bates said he never assisted Mr. Thomas to place sums on the turf. Mr. Thomas was to receive £20,000 for writing his life, plus half the profits beyond the £20,000, these profits to go to Mrs. Thomas if Mr. Thomas died. Mr. Bates said he had not yet received an instalment of the book, but believed it was in course of preparation. The judge (Mr. Samuel Porter): Apparently Mr. Thomas asked you to complete the purchase of the house for £15,000 on the security of his biography. Mr" Bates nodded assent. The judge: Is there not 'a considerable risk that he may die before the completion of the autobiography? Mr. Bates: His wife and family would then supply data. The judge: Do you think a biography of Mr. Thomas by his wife and family would make a profit of over £20,000? Mr. Bates: Yes, and considerably more. The tribunal then adjourned.