SIR HORACE WILSON

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXII, 25 November 1938, Page 10

SIR HORACE WILSON

A “MYSTERY MAN” A man of the moment is Sir Horace Wilson, who, at 56 years of age, has become the flying negotiator, writes “Atticus” in the “Sunday Times” in giving a personal sketch of the adviser who accompanied Mr Chamberlain on his peace missions to Germany. A young journalist once wrote of him: “He never went to a fashionable public school or to Oxford or Cambridge and has charming manners.” “And,” be it noted, not “but.” His skill in negotiation was valued long ago when, as a very young man, he assisted Lord Askwith in settling trade disputes. Such a reputation is a dangerous one to acquire in a country that boasts our rough island story. It is said that the method of Sir Horace is to encourage the other man to say all that is in his mind and then to encourage him to say some more By this system, if rumour is correct, Sir Horace f orces all reservations and suspicions into the open. He knows the exact measurements of the problem which he n ust master. The fact that he has a quiet voice and does not give his opinion until it is required has resulted n his being dubbed a “mystery man” and credited with possessing an undue influence over his chiefs. That will not worry the subject of this sketch. Nothing perturbs him. Whether it is planning the famous agreement at Ottawa, helping to settle the general strike, dealing with a Mediterranean dispute or explaining the inexplicable to Herr Hitler, it is all one to him.