A LL THE SAME, if Mr. Wilson wants to keep the
affair alive, without the support of fresh informa- ttion, there is one point, so far overlooked, which Will have to explain. The 'leak' is said to have taken place on the afternoon of Wednesday, September 18. Mr. Wilson is now quite specific : 'All the crystal balls suddenly gave the same answer at 4.30.' But what had happened to the crystal balls by the next morning? The change in the Bank rate was not announced until 11.50 a.m. If there was a leak the previous afternoon, there Should have been extremely heavy selling as soon as the Stock Exchange opened at 9.30, but no one Yet said that there was anything abnormal °1311t business that morning. Rumours that some Kind of Government statement was forthcoming Nshed down prices of Government securities by about 10s., exactly as one would expect. But the Increase in the Bank rate, according to the Finan- cial Times report, 'came as a severe shock' and c_aused considerable confusion throughout the In °use. Prices then slumped sharply, some stocks ling as much as £4 10s. during the afternoon. °0 much for 'all the crystal balls.'
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