Hidden Assets

The British government is on the receiving end of the Scott enquiry arising from the collapse of the trial, in November 1992, of members of the Matrix Churchill machine tool company charged with breaches of arms export controls. The supply of arms, or elements which contribute to their manufacture, have long had a murky history. During this century the Nobel brothers, Basil Zaharoff and Adnan Khashoggi have, amongst others, all inspired close scrutiny. Their backers have often faced similar enquiries, one of the most notable occasions being the US hearings into profiteering by the 'Sphinx of Wall Street', J. P. Morgan, after the First World War. In an unfortunate, and short-lived, moment of self-deception Alfred Nobel once proclaimed, 'My factories may end war sooner than your peace conferences'. That he was wrong was not implicitly his fault. The perception of a world of science was alien to many Victorians, even the better educated.