(2 of 2)
Patriotic and Empire-minded as he is, Neville Chamberlain ruled that the $25,000,000 could not be transferred out of England because of its possible damage to the pound sterling. Bankers in The City were aware that no foreign issues can be floated in London but had no idea that the Bank of England's financial dictatorship extended to private deals of the Boots type. And since the Bank's tacit consent had already been given they fumed at this change of opinion. Said one angry editor: "Philip Hill might be expected to receive congratulations and possibly even mention in the next honors list for bringing a great British company back to British control. But instead the Treasury has selected its largest club to knock him on the head."
Drug Tycoon Liggett, usually famously convivial, was so shocked that his friends urged him to go away and rest. He talked vaguely of "legal rights" and "enforcement." But although no law supports Chancellor Chamberlain's ruling, not a bank in England would dare break it. While there was some talk of a solution in an arrangement for gradual transfer of the $25,000,000, control of Boots last week was still in the U. S. and Chancellor Chamberlain gave no indication of a new deal for what Britishers had hailed as "the deal of the Century."