PLEA IN TRAGIC LETTER

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22262, 9 November 1935, Page 2 (Supplement)

PLEA IN TRAGIC LETTER

CALL FROM PRISON C£f.L 4— <" - j?'' ' ' . * - CLARENCE HATRVS FATE "CAN NEVER MAKE AMENDS" - • r .\: r A remarkable letter from Clarence Hatry to the Marquess of Winchester, in which he makes a poignant heart cry from the isolation of his prison £ cell, was revealed recently in London. 7 Hatry was sentenced to 14 yearg penal servitude in 1930 for huge financial frauds. In this letter to the man who was chairman of several of his companies he tells of his anguish, intensified by ?■■■ tho realisation that he will be and crushed by the time he has served •' his long sentence. What torments him most, he de- ' clares, is tho thought that he will never be able to make restitution to those whom he brought to ruin. . V "Regrets Seem Empty" "If my sentence had been a reasonable one sc. that I could have started again—not broken or crushed—l might soon have made good your losses," lie *, writes. "Now 1 can promise no such thing. To express my grief and regrets seems so empty and futile and does not help." This tragic letter was disclosed in) full by the Marquess of Winchester in his autobiography "Statesmen, Financiers and Felons," published in France in September. The Marquess had written to Hatry reproaching him with duplicity. Hatry'a reply characteristic. "Almost Insane" "If you only knew it, no letter, criticism or abuse was needed to bring • home to me, in all its seriousness, the full realisation of the effect of the ghastly failure to all concerned. This last thought at times drives me almost insane, especially as I have all along been convinced that had I been granted bail I could havt* saved so much from the wreckage . . . and even now could do so much to help." There was one occasion after Hatry had become a convict that he came S face to face with the Marquess in the ifr Law Courts. He writes of this dramatic meeting: "You have never in your life done a bigger or a kinder thing, or given a fellow creature greater pleasure than you gave me by your ? smile and not unkind remarks when we met in the Law Courts as witnesses. "I was overjoyed and at a loss to know what to say, especially as I was not alone. I think it only fair to you and to myself that some of the facts, which it was not my policy to make public at the trial, should be at least known to you personally." Hopelessness o! Position Then comes the final revelation in which Hatry admits the hopelessness of his position. . m "You will, 1 suppose, think it odd that I should have written at such length, and that Feeing that I am condemned to spend (to all intents and purposes) the remainder of my life in prison, 1 should concern myself as ' to what people say or think about me. "As a general principle I have ceased to allow this aspect of things to torment me. 1 do not, however, include you in the general list. "During our few years of association my admiration, respect and affectionate regard grew for you. I am if deeply and terribly sorry. I wonder if "]| by any suggestions even now I could help." 5