BOTTOMLEY'S CRIME.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18192, 11 September 1922, Page 5

BOTTOMLEY'S CRIME.

EXPELLED FROM COMMONS.

PROTEST OF INNOCENCE. A REMARKABLE LETTER, [l ROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT J LONDON. Aug. 4. By the vote of his fellow members, Mr. Horatio Bottomley has been expelled from the Commons. He is now serving seven years' penal servitude for fraud in connection with the Victory Bond Club and other similar organisations. " Expelled," says the Daily Telegraph, " is a word as rare in the annals of the House as it is ugly. (What the , ifcepe would hare been had Bottomley attended in his place can only be imagined. To everyone's satisfaction he was absent, and instead of a moat painful speech there was only the reading of a long letter." He had wished to attend, but it was considered advisable on medical grounds that be should not leave hospital. By his own confession this was the most unkind cut of all ■which he has received. Bottomley prided himself that he was a House of Commons roan, and in his letter • from prison lie emphasised his love of the House and his regret, that.he had brought a slur upon it. "To be a membeti of i|i was the dream of my youth and the joy of my manhood," he wrote, " and to my dying day it will .be an ever-abiding grief that I havo in any way been the cause of sallying its fair name." "If the Truth Were Known." " But if the truth were known, wr," Be f>roceeded, "as some day it may be, I beieve the House, in it? generosity, would grant me not only its forgiveness, but also Its sympathy. It would be futile at this stage, and possibly irregular, to re-open the sordid proceedings with which the public have been nauseated, and which have kept me on the rack for the past year. A jury has found me guilty as,ind.°id, it is not surprising, after the strong direction of the learned Judge who tried the case; and the Court of Appeal has_ nott seen its way to irphold certain objections, taking on the advice of eminent counsel, and having nothing to do with the merits of the case, to the conduct of the trial; while the learned Attorney-General, in his direction, has declined to issue his fiat, without which an appeal to the House of Lords is impossible, despite the fact that the application of such fiat was; supported by one of the greatest lawers at the. Bar to-day. And so, sir, the' mutter rests there, and I do not see how the House, in the oirrumstancesj can be asked to depart from ite usual practice in such cases. A Solemn Assurance* " But, sir, that fact do-is not debar ma, while still a. member, from, giving my solemn assurance, in the name of everyone and everything which I cherish and hold dear on earth, and on my soul and honour, that, whatever iirregularities there may have been, and"' however unorthodox may have been my methods in the conduct of concerns carried on, more or less, in contravention of ancient laws (but with the most patriotic motives, yielding the Government large sums when money was solely needed), I have not been guilty of any conscious fraud. Sir, I have always endeavoured to respect the amenities, of I the House, and I would rather my tongue j were torn out by the roots than tell it a I lie, nor am I a canting religionist. But there is one word I never take in vain, and I ask leave to quote the concluding sentence of my evidence at tho trial: • I swear before God,' I said, ' that I havo never attempted to make a penny out d the clubs, and I swear before God that I have never done so.'

. . .-.All My Own Pault. " Sir, those solemn words, after two months' solitary confinement in a prison cell for 23 out of every 24 hours and much searching of spirit, I repeat to-day; the truth of them will be put to the test, the , searching test, in proceedings now pendinar in the Court of Bankruptcy, to which I have been driven mainly owing to inancial sacrifices I have made for the senefit for the very concerns I am said-to aave robbed. But, sir, it is* all my own :ault, and I bear nobody any ill-will. My inly regret is that I am no longer fro--0 assist in clearing up the confusion and :haos which have arisen, and to do something to relieve any cases of hardship .vhich may remain, but the number and jxtent of which have been greatly exaggerated. Still, if I live through my sentence, and am fortunate enough to retain my strength and mental faculties, that work will be my first care. Affectionate Farewell. " In the meantime, I must submit to the cruel fate which has overtaken me, and of which to-day's action of the House is by far the most painful part. To mc eir. expulsion from the House of Commons is a punishment greater and more enduring than any sentence which a Court' of Law could decree. It is the very refinement, the apotheosis of torture, and added to the strain and suffering of prison life, equals' any torment any man has ever been called upon to endure. But, sir, aa I have said 1 have but myself to blame, and all I can do is to'ask hon. members \o judge of me as they knew me. Then, perhaps, some of them may give a kindly thought to an old colleague, who never played them false, andT endeavoured to act up to the. best traditions of the House. And now, sir. it only remains for me to thank yea and all the officials of the House for the courtesy and kindness I always received during my 12 years of membership; and reiterating with all the solemnity which would be possible if they were the last words ever to pass my lips, that entirely due to my own fault, I am the victim of an appalling error of justice, I beg through you, sir, to bid the House a respectful and an affectionate farewell." A Pained House. > The. House listened without a sound as the Speaker quickly read this remarkable document in a low and occasionally halting voice (says on© who was present). Many of the members looked away from the chair; one or two sat with hand* shading. their eyes; Lord Bobert Cecil's face was a study in concentrated pain and sorrow. The letter of Mr. Justice Salter announcing the conviction ,was read, and Mr. Chamberlain formally moved the expulsion order. It was an ordeal to do so, as he confessed, and he wisely declined to accept the obviDus challenge thrown out by the letter from :he chair, to- follow its pleas. The tap might have ended there, bat Colonel John Ward jumped up to say that although Mr. Bottomiey had neverv exchanged two words with him, Colore 5 Ward could not allow hini to be expelled without expressing his "personal regret" at the "necessity.* The Speaker pot the motion, and declared that the "ayes" had it. Horace Bottomiey had ceased to be a member of the House of Commons. rne Attorney-General was asked whether he had anything to say regardme the statement in Bottomley's letter that he had declined to issue his fiat for an appeal to the House of Lords, "despite the fact that application for snob a fiat was supported by one of the greatest lawyers at &% T to-day-" Sir Ernest Pollock replied, No such application has been made to me, so that Mr. Bottomley has fallen into some mistake"