Evening star., 1938-03-11

belt not for private profit, the public
papers of his administration. For it
appears the British even had that
very subject to deal with a few years
ago and expressed themselves accord
ingly.
1t seems that David Lloyd George,
In August, 1922, while Prime Minister
of England, contracted to write his
memoirs for syndication in news
papers, and the consideration was
. said to be approximately 100000.
Criticism Brings Compromise.
Then came the furor in the British
press and in Parliament. Mr.. Lloyd
George was accused of capitaliZing his
official position for private gain. The
Prime Minister was silent in the face
of this criticism and thel.. after exactly
three Weeks-yes, the time was just
three weekS-he came out with state
ment that he would give the proceeds
to charity.
The London outlook said editorially:
IF it is honestly worth its money, it
will contain information which no
Prime Minister can use without the
gravest impropriety . The nation
has right to demand that its
chief servant. whose reputation is
-bound up with its own, shall not eX-
pose himself, at any rate while still in
office. to the censure of every critic as
mere bookmaker.'
The London Daily News said it feared
the memoirs must involve breaches
of confidence which would endanger
a vital cabinet tradition"
Later in the same year. November,
1922, Mr.. Lloyd George left public
Office, and it was announced soon
thereafter that he had contracted to
write a series of articles for news
paper syndication along the same gen.
eral lines, whereupon the British press
opened up again on the subject. The
London Morning Post, for instance,
said:
NO previous Prime Minister of
England had ever thought of exploiting
the mysteries of his cabinet There
are good reasons for not doing it and
these reasons to the decent mind are
so obvious that they would not need
to be stated were they not being defied.
Secrets Not His Own.
"a Prime Minister, like all cabinet
ministers, but more than any other,
is by his position placed in possession
of intelligence not his own, of secrets
and information which are the prop
erty of the state.
1T is bad enough when Prime
Minister'S wife is allowed to exploit
the tittle-tattle of Downing Street,
but when a Prime Minister himself
engages in it, the abuse becomes seri-
Gus"
The London Morning Post said edi-
torially it was led to believe that
Mr.. Lloyd George is putting up for
sale, no matter whether for public
charity or private gain, something
which does not belong to him E. No
other cabinet minister would
dream of putting his official expert
enceS on the market"
The Westminster Gazette declared:
From the beginning there was strong
and very proper objection to the man
who was occupying the position of
Prime Minister appearing as writer
upon events in which he had been
intimately concerned solely by reason
of his public position. 1t was of little
consequence that financial objections
were met by announcing that the
money earned would be devoted to
charity. The publication of such
book in such circumstances Jared
upon the sense of propriety, for it was
the circumstance that the writer was
Prime Minister of Great ;ritain which
gave the writing its high value in the