It will be said, and no doubt quite truly, that
Lord Tweedmouth forgot all about the Resolution, and that neither he nor his colleagues, secure in their own honour and honesty, ever troubled about the matter. We say to that just what we said in the case of Mr. Chamberlain and Mr. Austen Chamberlain, that we feel the utmost confidence in their private honour, but that that has nothing to do with the matter. It is the business of Cabinet Ministers not to forget, and to set a high standard and example in all such matters. They want to show people like the Guardians of West Ham, or the members of any other local body who may be tempted in the matter of contracts, that the most precise, and even pedantic, scrupulousness is to be observed in all cases where there is a possibility of private and public interest conflicting. Let us say once again that such scrupulous solicitude can perfectly well be taken without producing any practical absurdities or exclud- ing men from the public service on a mere technical point. The ordinary holders of shares in public companies will not be in the least affected; but directors and those who virtually own private companies will be, and ought to be, expected to make their choice between trade and the public service.
Previous page
