SYDNEY BRIDGE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21144, 30 March 1932, Page 9

SYDNEY BRIDGE.

MR. WILLIS' DILEMMA. LANG STORY MERELY A JOKE. LONDON. March 23. " I have not. seen my informant, but lie told mo to expect that ho would come forward when he had a chance to reflect on the press reports." The Agent-General for New South Wales, Mr. A. C. Willis, informed a representative of the Sydney Daily Telegraph to this effect when referring to the supposed secret meeting in the House of Commons, when it was stated that a plot had been hatched to throw Mr. Lang into Sydney Harbour at the opening of the bridge. " There is not the slightest doubt that a conspiracy was afoot," Mr. Willis said. " but if my informant does not come forward I will never divulge bis

name." Mr. Willis' own serious interpretation of the merest joke seems to have been the reason why the Agent-General " discovered the plot " against Mr. Lang. The inside story of the "secret meeting at the House of Commons" —which did not take place there at all—can now be revealed. The facts are that periodical meetings are held by members of the Institute of International Affairs at Chatham House, a mile from the House of Commons. They are addressed by leading authorities and the speeches are followed by informal debates, but the details are not published.

Mr. John Sanderson, on March 15, delivered an address on: "Australia: A Survey." The chairman, Major W. E. Elliot, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, is a man of discretion, and though not in the Cabinet, holds a responsible position, and deals in the House of Commons with most questions on Australian finance, including those in which Mr. Lang's default is involved.

Major Elliot, during his presidential speech, mentioned cabled reports that the New Guard intended to throw Mr. Lang into tho harbour, which, he said, showed that Australians possessed extraordinary vigour. Most countries made their statesmen dictators when they refused to pay their debts. The Australians threatened to throw them into the harbour.

These words appear to have been the only reference on which a conspiratorial interpretation could be placed. They were transmitted, possibly in a garbled form, to Mr. Willis, but, owing to his cablegram being introduced by a reference to the House of Commons, nobody associated it with the Chatham House meeting. Mr. Willis, apparently, neglected to cross-examine his informant or verify the story told by a "man with half a page in ' Who's Who.' "