Mr. Chamberlain (solemnly): If this man dies, the Opposition will have a heavy weight upon its soul.
[The Committee here murmured their approval, and the Inquiry proceeded.]
Mr. Balfour: It is now our task, I think, to find by what issue the gold escapes, and to stop the leak.
Mr. Charles Griggs (expert) deposed: That such a gold export would require fifty-six vessels, each 500 ft. long by 45 broad with a draught of 27 ft.
Peter Garry (Private Detective in the pay of the Birmingham Caucus): “I have watched all the ports, and can swear that no such vessel, let alone fifty-six, has cleared with gold since July, 1902.”
In view of the difficulties raised by this witness, it was determined to call further testimony:
Peter Cale (porter) deposed to hauling great sacks of something hard and heavy on to the passenger boats at Dover last April. These sacks might very well have contained gold. Cross-examined: They might have contained almost anything else. They had no smell.
Martha Quinn (labourer’s wife) swore that she had often heard people, especially her husband’s master, say that a power of money went abroad to pay for foreign kickshaws. She herself had paid a considerable sum last year for Norwegian matches, American tobacco, German sausage, foreign tea, and all. Cross-examined as to where the tea came from, she said, after some hesitation, that she thought it came from Lipton.
Mr. Chamberlain (sternly): That is within this Empire.