The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-03-02
.FALCONER SPRANG
INTO FAME IN WEEK
England Talks of CrOss-Ex-
animation of Watson
CHARGED CORRUPTION
Financial Expert Charges Asquith
Government With Corruption.
When Falconer Finished He
Had Eaten His Words

London. March Especial with
the exception, perhaps of the speaker
of the house of commons, who is again
to the fore BECAUSE he may have to
pass sentence on a recalcitrant editor
who defies the authority of a select
parliamentary committee, the most
talked of man in this country at pres
ent is big, heavily bearded NJ z. from
Scotland who, until a few days ago,
never had been heard of by the man
in the street. Now, with the popular
title of the man from Forfarshire" he
Is Famous from Lands End to John
o'Groat's as the inquisitor in one of
the most biting and damaging cross
examinations ever conducted in this
country. Up to the present that famous
*. c., Sir Edward Carson, has been
considered the most destructive cross
examiner in the kingdom, but experts
are now declaring that IL Sir Edward
were pitted against the man from
Forfarshire.' there would be no sure
lbetting on the result.
The victim of this cross examination
ABOUT which something no doubt has
been printed in the United States al
ready--is we'll known financial writer
and expert named Lawson. Most peo-
pie over here confused him when his
W
the more famous American Lawson, the
author of "Frenzied Finance" but w.
K. Lawson, who writes for the British
Outlook and the National Review, is
quite another person. He is a stock
holder, as we'll as a writer on financial
matters, and he was the author of the
most startling of the charges of
'culm' made against the government
In connection with the recent contract
entered into with the Marconi company,
whose managing director in England is
Godfrey c. Isaacs, a brother of Sir
Rufus Isaacs, the attorney general
Today If there is such a thing as
rhetorical indigestion" Lawson must
be suffering from a bad case of it, for
during his six days cross s-eXamination
at the hands of "the man from Forfar-
shire" he has eaten more of his own
words and taken back more of his
own charges than any man in recent
history has in an equal length of time
and been correspondingly discredited
His bland but merciless inquisitor
James Falconer, member of parliament
for. Forfarshire since 1863, has Stunned
the limelight up to now. His chief con-
tributions to craftsmanship appeared
to be questions on foot and mouth dis
| ease and nobody could conceivably
build up a reputation on foot and
mouth diseases. So Falconer, with his
| broad brow. Patriarchal beard and his
fatherly smfse remained one of the
unknown personal forces in the British
| Legislature. Persons who troubled te
| look him up, discovered that he is
| chairman of the Mersey railroad, and
| an engineer of repute, but no one was
| thrilled by these discoveries. 1t was
not until he was chosen as member
| of the select committee appointed by
the house Of commons to Investigates
the charges in connection with the Mar
| conf contract that Falconer's light
emerged from beneath its bushe1 and
none too soon either for the big, silent
man from Forfarshire" is Sc.
| The attempt to torpedo the Asquith
ministry on the charges of corruption
was an insidious one. Home rule and
| all the rest of the government pro-
gramme would have been gravely, per-
| haps fatally. compromised If 1t could
have been shown that the Marconi con-
tract, as proposed by the postofficc,
was the result of favoritism or worse.
Sure of SO high an authority as Law
| son, men of art rather than finance
like Hilaire Belloc. whistled the new
tune with enthusiasm and conviction.
| Everybody in the business was a
knave - Lloyd d-George, Rufus saacs
Herbert Samuel. the postmaster general
and all the rest. That WAS the situation
when Falconer was put on the select
committee
THE Man from Forfarshire" sat on
the left OF the chairman of the com
mittee. Sir Albert Spicer and did not
appear anxious to intervene, but when
Lawson ensconced himself in the wit
ness chair and read out his revised
case from printed precis, Falconer's
countenance bore the complacant calm
of dentist who is about to draw the
teeth of his victim. For whole week
Lawson put up losing fight against
his pleasant and pitiless torturer.
Asked one thing, he answered with
admirable fluency another. But, on par
agraph after paragraph, the committee
would see the cross-examiner heading
off his quarry, first from this way of
escape, then from that eyasion--never
losing patience but always ending with
final and smashing stroke. Not a
word OF abuse. an air throughout of
benevolent impartiality, but always the
same result.
sometimes a paragraph was with
drawn by its author. Then, for the
sake of variety. a particular sentence
was ''negatived.' Day after day the
cruel work went on-Falconer gazing
abstractedly at the boats on the near
by river or up at the ceiling before
suddenly concentrating his glance on
the witness. Piercing eyes, a bland
smile, and an exquisite selection of pre-
else interrogations constituted his
weapons, and then unhappy Lawson,
with his fingers drumming nervously
on the table as he was forced to recant
charge after charge and statement af-
ter statement was truly pathetic fig
ure
At the finish he shared with Sir Ed
win Durning-Lawrence, who believes
that Bacon wrote Shakespeare and the
Bible and Don Quixote" and a few
other great works, and distinction of
being the best laughed at man in Eng
land; the charges against the govern
ment were left with scarce leg to