The Prime Minister was asked in the House on Monday
whether proceedings would be taken against Captain Peter Wright, the late assistant secretary of the Supreme War Council, for " his unauthorized use of confidential official documents" in a book which we review elsewhere. Mr. Lloyd George replied that this was not the only case in which " reprehensible " use had been made of secret official information, and that if anything were done at all proceedings must be taken against all who had erred in this way, whether by giving or by publishing such documents. The Prime Minister added that similar things had been done in America and in France, and that the whole story was never told by those who professed to reveal the secrets of Cabinets. America and France have their own canons of administrative etiquette. In this country public servants until lately have always observed strict reticence as to official secrets coming within their knowledge. We trust that this honourable tradition will be re-established. A Minister must be able to trust his subordinates, just as a business man trusts his clerks.
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