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Laski Gives Lie to Contentions of Fascist Chief

April 16, 1935
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There are less than 100 Jewish employes in all the banks in England, including the Bank of England, it was disclosed here by Nathan Laski, prominent Jewish leader, in a sharply worded reply to Sir Osward Mosley in behalf of the Jews of Manchester, where he resides.

Answering the repeated attacks of Sir Oswald on “the international Jew who sits in London and ruins Lancashire trade,” Mr. Laski stated that the financial machinery in London is largely in the hands of the Bank of England and of five big banks. Not a single Jew is on the directorate of the Bank of England, and there are only three Jews among all the directors of the banks of London.

REPEATS CHALLENGE

“I want Sir Oswald Mosley to answer the question I put to him several weeks ago as to the influence which Jews in England can have on the financial activities of the country,” Mr. Laski said. “For many years no financial loan has been permitted by any institution unless it has had the consent of the Treasury. Therefore, it is not true that the ‘international Jews are ruining the country’ when loans cannot be floated without the consent of the English government.”

Challenging Sir Oswald Mosley to make a definite reply, Mr. Laski disclosed that in Manchester seventy-five per cent of the staffs employed in Jewish firms are non-Jews.

FOSTERED TRADE

Replying to Sir Oswald Mosley’s allegations that the Jews are “ruining the Lancashire trade,” Mr. Laski declared:

“I venture to say that I know a great deal more about Lancashire trade than Sir Oswald Mosley. The Jews of Manchester have done a great deal to foster Lancashire trade. Before the war, Jews who settled in Manchester from the East were able to a large extent to keep Lancashire mills going because of their connections in the markets of Egypt, Turkey, Baghdad, Beirut, Aleppo, Greece, Rumania and Bulgaria. After the war, when Japanese competition in those markets became acute, these Jews sent their sons and their relatives to South America, Mexico, South and North Africa, Belgian Congo, Canada, Australia, and even the United States. In South America, for instance, hundreds of Jews with packs on their backs go right into the interior carrying Lancashire goods.

“This applies in large measure to South Africa, where they beat the Indian immigrant, who carries goods mostly from Japan,” Mr. Laski continued. “The largest trade done in Lancashire with South Africa is carried on with South African Jews. A great deal of trade is in the hands of Jews in Australia, and they will not touch Japanese goods.

“The Jews in America, since the Germans began persecuting Jews, are buying the best class of goods from Lancashire in place of goods they formerly took from Germany,” Mr. Laski asserted.

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