Mr. Churchill is on perfectly sure ground in his intention
to get the best supply of oil for the Navy, no matter what may be the consequences. That is elementary. But, after all, what could bring out more clearly than the words he used the danger to the public interest of what has lately happened, or prove more strongly how utterly unbecoming on the part of Ministers were recent transactions ? The whole incident shows that the rule of Caesar's wife in public affairs is in the most real sense a matter of substance and not merely of form. Unless it is observed scandals like the Marconi affair are sure to come, and to poison the atmosphere and have an injurious effect upon the true interests of the nation. They may easily make Ministers choose out of fear, if not out of favour, the wrong course instead of the right—may make them funk and refuse fences which they ought to take.
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