A SPECTATOR'S NOTEBOOK
THE controversy about Alan Wood's book, The Groundnuts Affair, both in the House of Commons and in the columns of The Times, is getting too complicated for most people to follow, and it is a relief to know, at any rate, that what Mr. Victor Gollancz wouldn't, Messrs. John Lane (of whom Sir Stanley Unwin is chairman) will, so that, the public will before long have the opportunity of judging the work for themselves. Mr. Gollancz's letter in Monday's Times, couched in terms of hypothesis throughout, sug- gests a good deal without indicating anything clearly. It does, however, imply plainly that the deciding factor was " the receipt of a letter with unexpected contents." This, presumably, was the letter which Mr. Strachey said in the House of Commons on Monday that he-had written to Mr. Gollancz—not from the Ministry of Food, but from Dundee, where he was Labour candi- date during the General Election. That, said Mr. Strachey, was why there was no record of the letter in the Ministry, "but," he added, " of course, there is no suggestion of separating my personal and official capacities in the matter." Yet surely if the Minister of Food's official capacity was engaged, it might have been supposed that a copy of the letter would have been kept and deposited in the Ministry. However, apparently it was not. There is not, of course, any suggestion that Mr. Strachey, who, to do him justice, never resents criticism, has been trying to shield himself in any way. Whether he has been pressing his loyalty to Sir Leslie Plummer, the Chairman of the Overseas Food Corporation, rather far is another matter ; Mr. Alan Wood stated explicitly last week that it was from the Overseas Food Corporation that threats of libel actions had emanated. There is one other point of interest. Mr. Wood presumably had a contract with Mr. Gollancz ; it would be strange if he had not. What happens if a publisher declines to carry out an agreement to publish ?
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