Rothermere Sued

Seventeen lordly barristers in powdered wigs entered the hoar, majestic Court of Chancery last week and began to argue whether the noble lord who created the first tabloid newspaper has defrauded of millions of pounds the heirs of his brother, the noble lord who in his day commercialized, consolidated and debased the press of England.

The plaintiff of this cause celebre, which promises to cost at least -L-1,000 for every day it is argued, is Miss Louise Owen, for 20 years secretary to the late Alfred Charles William Harmsworth, Viscount Northcliffe, onetime "Hearst of England." Miss Owen, a figurehead for the Northcliffe heirs, alleges that Lord Northcliffe's brother, Harold Sidney Harmsworth, Viscount Rothermere,* the man who created the first tabloid newspaper (London Daily Mirror), committed a gross breach of trust in disposing of the Northcliffe newspaper holdings in 1922 to himself as co-executor of the estate with Sir George Augustus Sutton.

Specifically Lord Rothermere and Sir George Sutton are charged with permitting the sale to Lord Rothemere, for -L-4 a share, of 400,000 shares of Associated Newspapers, Ltd. (The Daily Mail Trust) which Lord Northcliffe had ordered in his will should not be sold for less than -L-7 a share.

Damning evidence was produced last week, when Thomas Marlowe, whom Lord Rothermere recently dismissed from the Daily Mail after he had edited it for 27 years (TIME, Sept. 27), appeared and testified against his former employer, Lord Rothermere, that he (Marlowe), backed by wealthy friends, had tried to buy the 400,000 shares in 1922 but had been told by Sir George Sutton that no bids were wanted.

Last week the argument centred around the value of the shares at the time of sale. Counsel for Miss Owen pointed out that within a year after the shares were purchased for -L-1,600,000 they were worth -L-5,600,000. Though so great an appreciation in so short a time seemed conclusive evidence of underpricing in the original sale, counsel for Lord Rothermere insisted that his well known business acumen had increased the profits of the newspapers in question -L-500,000 within the year and thus sent the value of the shares skyrocketing. There the case rested, last week, while fiscal experts, witnesses and mountains of evidence were being assembled.

Groups. Shrewd, ruthless, hardheaded, Lord Rothermere controls by far the largest, most "popular," and most profitable group/- of newspapers in England. He was the cold efficient businessman who saw that the newspaper genius of his elder brother reaped them both a stupendous reward. Commoners, they used the sheer power of their press to force their way into the peerage until they were both created Viscounts. They are credited with causing the downfall of onetime (1908-1916) premier Asquith; and the extent to which Lloyd George did their will during the World War is by no means a safe topic for discussion in England.

Today it is Lord Rothermere who shouts as with a million tongues the praises of Premier Mussolini and Premier Poincare and keeps the Red bogey of Bolshevism dangling horrifically before English eyes. By owning some -L-400,000 worth of strategically placed shares, he controls -L-24,000,000 worth of newspaper enterprises. With the only man who might become his rival, William Maxwell Aitken, Baron Beaverbrook, he has a quiet gentlemanly agreement whereby they jointly own, but Baron Beaverbrook controls, the Daily Express and Evening Standard. Third of the London news titans whose newspapers are really national is Sir William Berry, who controls the Daily Graphic (Independent) and dabbles much in provincial newspapers.

Moreover the principal weeklies* have recently been acquired by the Inveresk Paper Company, Ltd., as an outlet for their paper; and thus almost the whole British daily and weekly publication field is in the hands of four large groups.

Notable Exceptions. Outside these "big business" combines whose sole preoccupations are profit and power there exists a mere pair of newspapers whose editors can call their souls their own. The onetime (1921-26) Viceroy of India, the Marquis of Reading, has recently sought to enlarge this number by his purchase of the Daily Chronicle (Liberal) from Lloyd George control; but the "old guard" actually consists of only the Manchester Guardian (Liberal) and the London Times (Independent). For 50 years Mr. Charles P. Scott, owner and editor of the Manchester Guardian, has upheld the highest and most disinterested ideals of journalism. King George has been pleased to convey officially his appreciation of this great service in a letter of thankful congratulation (1921), but the Crown has not bestowed so much as a knighthood on venerable Editor Scott.

As for the Times, Lord Northeliffe achieved his greatest ambition by purchasing it in 1908. However to his eternal credit Major John Jacob Astor, brother of Viscount Astor, purchased the Times from the Northcliffe estate (1922), restored ita long and honorable independence, and has transferred its control in perpetuity to a board on which it is hopei will always sit the Lord Chief Justice and the Governor of the Bank of England.

* A "self-made" Canadian, he sought the power. Through adroit propaganda in England which reverberated in Canada he was appointed "Canadian Observer" in the theatre of World War. Thereafter his dynamic shrewdness as a commercial intrigant enabled him to break into the newspaper trust amid the War upheaval and established him upon his present eminence.

/- Daily Mail (Conservative), Daily Mirror (Independent), Eveniff News (Independent), etc.

* Illustrated London News, Sketch, Sphere, Tatter, Men's Wear, Eve, Draper's Record, Graphic.