The Marconi inquiry has been continued throughout the week. On
Friday, March 28th, the examination of Mr. Lloyd George was begun. He prefaced it with a long and eloquent speech defining his position. We have dealt at length elsewhere with his statement, as to the duty of Ministers in the matter of investments. Here, though we cannot attempt to summarize the whole of the evidence, we may note certain points of importance. The first is what we can only describe as Mr. Lloyd George's threat to the Committee in regard to one particular type of question. At the beginning of the examination Mr. Lloyd George was very properly asked by the Chairman whether he adhered to the principles which he, Mr. Lloyd George, had laid down in the debates in 1900. Thereupon, in a tone and in words which were distinctly those of menace, he warned the Committee that if questions in regard to the 1900 debates were put to him, the responsibility for raking up matters very painful to prominent persons— meaning, of course, Mr. Chamberlain and his family—would rest not upon him, the witness, but upon the persons who asked the questions. Mr. Lloyd George emphasized this warning by dwelling twice upon the point that the "responsi- bility" would rest upon the questioners.
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