Chrysler & Cricket

A fortnight onetime Member of Parliament is Cyril Atkinson who at 61 sits upon the King's Bench Division of Britain's High Court of Justice. Fond of golfing, fishing, motoring, he has to remember a raft of things which few U. S. judges ever heard of. He must remember to wear his girdle, scarf, tippet, beaver hat, full-bottomed wig, ermine-trimmed hood & mantle on State occasions or when attending St. Paul's Cathedral. He must never wear his scarlet robe before Their Majesties the King & Queen. Yet he must mark the 24 Red Letter Days when for courtroom appearance he changes from his usual black robe to the scarlet. One day last week Sir Cyril handed down his most publicized decision since he mounted the King's Bench in 1933--a five-hour opinion on U. S. businessmen and U. S. business methods. But it was not a Red Letter Day. Hon. Mr. Justice Atkinson simply climbed into his velvet breeches, tucked in his jabot, pulled on his everyday wig and his usual black robe.

Sir Cyril drew his sad conclusions from 3.000.000 words of testimony presented in a 62-day trial of a British law suit against Walter P. Chrysler, his motor corporation and several of his high command. Eight years ago Chrysler Corp. bought out its British-owned distributors. Chrysler Motors, Ltd.. which was making handsome profits on its Chrysler franchise. Some of the stockholders in the London agency claimed that they had been persuaded to sell their stock under threats, that they had not received the true value of their shares. Led by Arnold de la Poer, former director of the British company, they sued for damages.

Mr. Chrysler's testimony was taken in the U. S. along with other depositions but Finance Committee Chairman Bernard Edwin Hutchinson went in person to Sir Cyril's court. In his decision last week Sir Cyril seemed to have been particularly impressed by the evidence against Mr. Hutchinson. The British plaintiffs had described him as a "hard trader" who threatened to flood the market with Chrysler cars at cut-rate prices unless the stock-holders moderated their demands. During the negotiations Mr. Hutchinson was quoted as having snapped: "I am not going to buy what I can and will destroy!"

All this struck Sir Cyril as decidedly not cricket. Said he last week: "I have had the advantage of seeing the main witness for the defendants. Mr. Hutchinson, in the box for some days. I think it is to be regretted very much that it is necessary to express an opinion about a man in his position. He is obviously a man of the greatest business ability and acumen. . . . For him there is obviously only one thing that matters--the Chrysler Corp. Where other interests are concerned, he can be ruthless and unscrupulous. This case shows without question that he has not hesitated to lie in what he considers to be the interests of the corporation. Some of his evidence was frankly reconstructed. I am satisfied there were times when he was saying what he knew to be untrue. . . . Continually he was harping on the friendship felt for the plaintiff. . . . 'Friendship' is a very beautiful English word. I do not know what it means in the Chrysler Corporation but it clearly means something very different."

Two other crack Chrysler executives involved in the conspiracy charges were considered "unreliable witnesses," the letters of one being "thoroughly dishonest." Though Mr. Chrysler "admitted far more than enough" to indicate full knowledge of the deal, he was cleared of any direct part in it. But Sir Cyril shook his bewigged head. "Mr. Chrysler is said to be one of the foremost industrialists in America," he declared. "Some of his answers show that his standard of business morality is lamentably low. . . . The less said about honor in this case the better."

So long did it take Sir Cyril to unburden himself on Chrysler ethics that final awards were not announced until next day. Chrysler Corp. and the five defendant executives, including Mr. Chrysler and Mr. Hutchinson, were ordered to pay the plaintiffs a total of $270,000, plus costs of perhaps another $125,000.

Chrysler officials were in a predicament. They dared utter no rejoinders lest they prejudice their probable appeal.

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