Before the Lord Chief Justice on Wednesday a settlement was
announced of the libel actions brought against the Daily News by Mr. Austen Chamberlain, Sir Eric and Sir Auckland Geddes, and Mr. Walter Long. The Daily News had insinuated that these Ministers while holding office and being responsible for foreign policy had dealt in shares in Russian companies. In each of the actions the Daily News made an unreserved apology, paid £250 into Court, and undertook to defray all costs. These terms were accepted. We must add that last Saturday Sir Alfred Mond won the libel action brought by him• against the South Wales Post, which had charged him with pro- Germanism and disloyalty. We have to congratulate all these Ministers on having taken the right course triumphantly. All the accu- sations against them were accusations against their personal honour. No man with any sense of what he owes to public life can sit down under such charges. It is his positive duty to bring an action, and in so doing be is defending not only himself but the interests of the nation.
Previous page
