That he had been gathering statistics in the employment of a politician whose name he must conceal.
Mr. Balfour: I am afraid we must have that name.
Witness: May I send it up on a piece of paper?
Lord Halsbury: Is he a peer?
Lord Halsbury: Well, is he a person of importance?
Witness (eagerly): Oh! yes, my lord.
Lord Halsbury (after consulting his colleagues): We do not think his name material. Proceed.
Witness (in an emphatic manner): The facts I have to produce are simple. They are well known. It is their meaning which has escaped the public. When the meaning is grasped it will amply account for our great annual loss of gold.
(Here the Committee betrayed an interest bordering on frenzy, leaning forward and fixing burning eyes on the witness, who continued:)