7 JUNE 1913, Page 2

Bogoth is a good way off, but it is not

in the Antarctic, and it is impossible not to believe that for several weeks Lord Murray must have been in possession of newspapers giving an account of the Mafia case and also private letters from his old colleagues and friends telling him the exact situation. How was it then that this able and experienced man of the world did not write or telegraph—Bogotl is connected with the whole world by wire—desiring that a statement of his purchases through Mr. Fenner should be set before the Committee? It is incredible that he can have forgotten a transaction of over £9,000, and, to say the least of it, it was exceedingly prejudicial to the interests of his old colleagues to place them at the risk of so damaging a disclosure being made by accident. We have not, of course, heard Lord Murray's defence or explanation, and therefore we cannot pass a final judgment on the new facts, but it will not be unfair to him to say that his reticence here is one of the most bewildering things in the whole of this amazing scandal. It is clear that the matter cannot rest where it is, but must be further investigated, and we are glad to note that Mr. Fenner's bankers are to be called on Monday. And here we may say that Mr. Falconer and Mr. Handel Booth will be very ill-advised in the interests of Lord Murray if they show any tendency to throw obstacles in the way of full inquiry on the alleged ground of irrelevance.