THE CASEMENT DIARIES '
SIR,—Mr. Tom Cullen's line of argument con- cerning Mr. Singleton-Gates, myself and the Official Secrets Act reminds me of the classic story of the foreign correspondent whose life had been threatened by terrorists while he was on assignment abroad, and who rushed back to London to inform his editor of the fact. The editor rose in all his majesty from behind his desk and pounded it with his fist. 'You go right back again,' he roared, 'and tell those so-and-sos that they can't intimidate me!'
Let me, for the benefit not only of Mr. Cullen but also of various persons on the other side of the Irish Channel who have similarly intimated that they thought I was using the Official Secrets Act as some sort of rather shabby alibi, lay it right on the line.
Not long ago I was able to study copies of what I am convinced were the seized diaries and ledgers of Roger Casement. The first draft of my recently published book took into account these documents. While—need I say? —I did not try to do more than hint at the obscenities which form a fearful threnody to these dismal documents, I did on the other hand use a good deal of the non-obscene material, which is historically fascinating, since much of it is new in regard to Casement's journeyings in the Putumayo, his stays in vari- ous European cities, his dealings with the FO. his social activities with well-known people of
the day, etc. •
When the completed MS was presented to my publishers their legal adviser took alarm, and the views of counsel were sought. Counsel said categorically that if the book were pub- lished in that form both the publishers and I would run a risk of prosecution undcr. the Official Secrets Act. (Let us bear in mind that British publishing houses of repute are nowa- days in no mind to run risks where thc Home Office is concerned, in view of certain prosecu- tions which have • taken place in the past few years.) Since I am a lazy man, I was reluctant to undertake a major rewrite of my book, and accordingly sought the views of my own legal adviser, whose sagacity and, professional com- petence I hold in the highest esteem. His find- ing was, if anything, even more strongly than the publishers' counsellors to the effect that great risks would be involved if I were to go ahead with the book as it then was.
So there we are. While the possessors of first-class legal brains assure me that I and my associates would find ourselves in jeopardy under the Official Secrets 'Act if I were to set down in print all I know, I am afraid it is no use Mr. Cullen- complacently writing, 'Does anyone imagine for a moment that the Home Office would actually institute a prosecution under the Official Secrets Act and risk the truth about the diaries being known, having been at pains to obscure it for forty years?' The answer to Mr. Cullen's question, as far as I am con- cerned, is a brisk 'Yes!' And if Mr. Cullen et al. hope that I am going to risk an appearance in the dock, and conceivably an unpleasant so- journ elsewhere, merely to satisfy their curio- sity, then I can only say, as our American friends put it, that they must re-examine their thinking.—Yours faithfully,
RENA MACEOLII,
Clock Lodge, Crow borough, Sussex
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