19 MAY 1939, Page 3

`The House is not at all happy over the position

of Cabinet Ministers who hold directorships in private companies. The matter has arisen over Lord Runciman's directorships. The Lord President of the Council is not a favourite in the House of Commons. The sale of a ship from one of the lines with which he is connected to a foreign Power, just at the time when the Board of Trade was making a special appeal to shipowners not to sell their ships abroad, has given the Labour Opposition ammunition which they have not been slow to use. Moreover, Lord Runciman's long absence from this country makes members in all parts of the House wonder exactly what it is which makes his continued presence in the Cabinet so desirable.