22 OCTOBER 1948, Page 4

The sooner the alleged irregularities in certain Government Depart- ments

are probed to the depths the better for everyone concerned. Once rumours start there is no end to them. Already I have heard compromising mention of three Ministers, one of whom at any rate is, I am perfectly convinced, incapable of the smallest deviation from complete rectitude. No doubt more than three will be talked of before long. That is why the immediate appointment of a tribunal, and the earliest possible conclusion of its deliberations and publication of its findings, is so manifestly desirable. Meanwhile the concentration of flaming headlines on Mr. Belcher in several papers this week is a discredit to journalism. The whole affair is sub judice, and subtle insinuations are as indefensible as open charges.

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