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' 8 THE VITAL ISSUE
was to cause an advance in the price of the Ameri-
can shares.
Godfrey returned in April, and advised Rufus to
invest in American Marconi shares, predicting that
they would advance. Rufus later bought 10,000
shares from his brother, Harry. In spite of the tele-
gram he had sent, he, the then Attorney General and
now the Lord Chief Justice of England, said he
knew practically nothing about the American Com-
pany. He sold 1,000 shares to Lloyd George and
another thousand to the Master of Elibank. When
he testified, neither of these gentlemen had paid,
him. It was a speculative transaction. Rufus sold
out 3,570 more shares in the market, and made a
profit. He had left 6,430 shares, which, at the time
he testified, he said netted him a loss.
Other incidents connected with this scandal are--
chronologically arranged-as follows:
April 17, 1912.-Sir Rufus Isaacs, Attorney Gen-
eral of England, purchased 10,000 shares of Ameri-
can Marconi stock through his brother, Harry, a
broker, who obtained it from another brother, God-
frey Isaacs, the managing director of the British
Marconi Co. Of these 10,000 shares, 1,000 were
each taken by Lloyd George, Chancellor of the
Exchequer and the Master of Elibank (Lord Mur-
ray), chief whip of the Government party.
April 19, 1912.-The Government announced that
it had closed a contract giving exclusive wireless
rights throughout the Empire to the British Mar-
coni Co. Coincident with ‘this the value of Marconi
began to rise. April 19-20.-Three Government
officials made a number of sales of holdings at a
profit, but did not dispose of all. Later they bought
more American Marconi at a low price.
October ll.-In debate in the House of Lords, Sir
Rufus Isaacs and Lloyd-George denied they had
bought or sold Marconis. (Before the Parliamen-
tary Committee investigatingthe charges they later
explained this by saying they thought British Mar-
conis were the only shares under discussion at the
. time.)
March 26, 1913.-Prime Minister Asquith and
Herbert Samuel, Postmaster General, admitted that
at the time of the debate on.October 11, they knew
Sir Rufus Isaacs and Lloyd-George had bought
American Marconi. They had heard the denials of
these gentlemen, but had said nothing, as they be-
lieved only British Marconis were involved.
April 9-10.-Brokers who handled 500,000 shares
of American Marconis between April 17 and 19,
1912, the time of the announcement of the Govern-
ment contract with the British Co., declined to
state with whom they placed the shares.
The explanation of the then Attorney General,
Sir Rufus Isaacs, of his stock deals was that he
was convinced there was no connection between
British and American Marconis. He testified he
“did not believe the announcement of the Govern-
ment had anything todo with the sudden rise in
shares of the latter.”
May 29.-Case of Godfrey Isaacs, brother of Sir
Rufus, who handled Marconi campaign, against
Cecil Chesterton for libel came up.
During the cross examination of Sir Rufus Isaacs
by Mr. Wild, attorney for the defendant, Sir Rufus
was asked to explain the congratulatory cablegram
which he sent to Marconi on the occasion of the
New York “Times” banquet. Sir Rufus said he
had sent it upon the request of a representative of
the “Times,” who told him messages were being
sent also by Earl Grey, Lord Avebury and Lord
Blythe. He denied Mr. Wild’s suggestion that it
was inspired by the contract of the British Gov-
ernment. I
“I thought Marconi was great,” said Sir Rufus.
“You thought he had a monopoly,” said Mr. Wild.
“I thought Marconi was wireless telegraphy.”
Wild: “Now you know he is not.”
Isaacs: “I know there are some rivals. I had in
mind the great things he had done in wireless.”
June 18.--At the hearing regarding the minis-
terial transactions in Marconi, Sir Rufus Isaacs
said he would assume all blame.
“In the light of what has happened I agree that
the course we pursued in keeping silence during the
actual debate was a mistake.” .
A vote of censure was proposed by George Cave,
a Unionist member. 4. 4. ,.
This affair which greatly stirred England is pur-
posely suppressed at present so that the American
public may think favorably of the proposed British
loan. The sending hither of Rufus Isaacs by the
British Government is very bad form, bad taste and
an insult to every decent American. There are, of
course, capitalists and swindlers-within-the-law
who do not care. That American press should not
bring matters like these to the attention of the
American public--in our opinion, it is not subject
to the British censor’s orders-is an unpardonable
negligence, to say the least.
As Attorney General, Rufus Isaacs defended His
Britannic Majesty in his suit of slander for his al-
leged polygamy. It is stated that as young prince,
before the death of his elder brother, he married
in Malta the daughter of a British Admiral. It is
frequently asserted that for years the church rec-
ords of this engagement in Malta were accessible,
but when the older brother of the then Prince
George died, he became Prince of Wales and suc-
cessor to the throne. It was then when the serious-
ness of these records was realized and it is alleged
they were destroyed. The court proceedings were
semi-secret and the defendant was officially found
guilty of slander. But the public feels that some of
the truth has been supressed. Yet the King was
acquitted and as reward for the dexterous handling,
Sir Rufus Isaacs was knighted to Lord Reading and
received the life-long office 0: Lord Chief Justice.
>1: as:
What may be the aftermath after Americans have
been duped to loan to the corrupt British Govern-
ment millions and billions of American dollars?
Rufus Isaacs will certainly not shed tears, nor will
the oligarchical bankers, but the American bank
depositors will suffer. And still later, by the irony
of fate, Rufus Isaacs will return to his old tactics,
his old profession. He was a bankrupt, was a
specialist in bankruptcy cases, and as Lord Chief
Justice he will be an adept to guide a new cus-
tomer: England, when she is bankrupt. Creditors
had better consider that the Lord Chief Justice will
see to it that they will get the fewest possible cents
on the dollar, because he is an expert in bankruptcy.
F. D
“Of course, in a tremendous war like this, Min-
isters are tempted, on the plea of suppressing infor.
mation useful to the enemy, to try also to suppress
information which is inconvenient to themselves."
The Economist, London.