When on delicate ground or when he is irritated, Mr.
Churchill's public speeches are apt to show defects both of
tact and taste. The speech of Thursday was no exception, when be was dealing with the question of oil and the atmo- sphere of unpleasant rumour which has been the inevitable result of the lack of delicacy and discretion and, above all, of candour which marked the Marconi transactions. The Admiralty, Mr. Churchill said, considered it indispensable to make a contract for a portion of our oil supply with the Mexican Eagle Company, the company with which Lord Murray is connected. No contract was yet made, but one was going to be made, whether it exposed the Government or the Liberal Party to embarrassments and insinuations and attacks or not. Though it was not his duty to go into such matters, the Chief Whip had assured Mr. Churchill that no funds of the Liberal Party had ever been invested in this company, and he learnt " on high authority " that Lord Murray himself had no shares in it.
Previous page
