The Washington herald., 1919-11-30

the soap and fish magnate. likewis,
the owner Of the Scottish island o
Lewis. or LEWIS. also known as Ions
Island. on which the scene of tn,
romance is laid. Embracing al
area of nearly 500. 900 acres. it ha!
a population of $4,000, of whom s.
900 enlisted for service in the grea
war. They were of superb physique
far above the average in Scotland
where rugged Drawn is the rul'
rather than the exception. This fin'
physique of the men of Lews 1.
attributable. according to many. tC
the custom in vogue there until
quite recent times of putting to
death all weakly or deformed chill
dren by exposure" as soon as pos
| sible after their birth--as advo-
Gated in ancient times by Plato.
| The Marquise de Fontenoy writes
| that Lord Leverhulme is colossally
/ rich. Better known on this side OF
! the Atlantic by his former name of
| Sir William Lever. chairman of the
great soap-boiling concern of Lever
! Brothers, of Port Sunlight. he is
/ entirely a self-made man.
He started on his career as an
/ errand boy in his fathers grocery shop
| in a small town in Lancashire. HO
became a commercial traveller, and at
. made arrangements with soap
manufacturer to produce for him a
| soap made according to his own ideas
and to which he gave the name of
Levers pure honey soap. This he
pushed on his own account while act
! ing as a drummer for other firms. He
| did so well that by 1890 he had estab-
| lished huge soap works Of his own at
, Warrington, and two years later at
Port Sunlight. in Cheshire. Today he
/ has works all over the world. owns
two islands in the middle Of the Pa
cific, known as Hull Island and as
! Flint Island. as well as a gigantic
/ tract Of territory in the Kongo Valley
and several islands of the west coast
OF Africa.
/ Not content with his supremacy In
the line of soap. Lord Leverhulme
. has recently founded an immense in
! ternational fish trust. and it is in
connection herewith that he is un-
derstood to have come to America.
II is already well under way in Eng
land. In London the local branch is
known as the London FishmonSers'
Association, with a capital of slo.
kind, nominally distinct, independent
and separate, but in reality part and
parcel of Lord Leverhulme's big fish
trust. are in the course of being
founded in all the great centers Of
the sea fishing industry in the Brit
ish Isles.
Lord Leverhulme proposes to extend
the opera tions of his fish trust to the
United States and Canada, as we'll
as to most of the fish centers OF con-
tinental Europe, including the cele-
brated sardine fisheries of Brittany.
He aspires to become a sort of pisca-
torial Caesar, the head of the worlds
fishing monopoly, so that no one. rich
or poor, can buy anything. from sal
mon or sea bass. to smelt or minnow.
without putting money into his pocket.
BRANCHES ALL
OVER WORLD
1t must be confessed that Lord
Leverhulme Is particularly well
equipped for the enterprise, for he
has branch establishments of his soap
trust in almost every corner of the
world-some in Canada others in Cen
trail and South America and a number
also of soap factories in the United
States. He is said to have a huge
combine behind him. one which pro-
poses to bring within the sphere OF
its activities not only sea fish. but
fresh-water fish. such as salmon and
trout 1t is intended that nothing
which swims shall escape its nets.
and I understand that even oysters.
Holsters. clans and crabs are to be
included in the monopoly
sumers Of seafood and fresh water
food are, in very modest measure
1t is true, safe-guarded by a state de-
partment of fisheries. headed by a
cabinet minister. But in the United
States. where the fishery interests are
much more extensive. being more
than twice as large as in the British
and Irish realms. the protection and
care thereof are relegated to a mere
bureau Of the Department Of Com
merce.
As now constituted, It is extreme
ly doubtful whether this bureau at
Washington has either the re-
sources or the power to defend the
interests of the consumers of sea-
food and fresh water food in Amer
lea from the encroachments of Lord
Leverhulme, who has shown by the
precautions which he has adopted
in the creation of what Is virtually
fish monopoly in the British Isles
that he is quite clever and astute
enough to get safely around the
antitrust laws that have been en-
acted at Washington in the past.
Lord Leverhulme has many enc
mics. His business methods have
not appealed to less successful
rivals and the manner Tn which he
has raised himself. first to a knight
hood. then to a baronetcy and final-
ly to a peerage. by means OF his
soap has not increased his popu-
larity with the classes into which
he has made his way.
IL Is TO him, however. that the ma
ton is indebted for the palace now
known as Tie London Museum and
.