The Marconi Octopus Liberal Party - “Another tentacle or two and I’m done for!” published in Punch, or the London Charivari, on June 18th 1913.

The name ‘Marconi Octopus’ was derived from the Marconi Company who received a large  contract from the UK government to build six radio stations to ‘linking Britain to the Empire’ (1). The scandal involved three ministers — Sir Rufus Isaacs, Lloyd George and Lord Murray — who were accused of insider trading.

The cartoon above was published at the time of a charge of criminal libel against Cecil Chesterton, a publisher, (2) by Godfrey Isaacs, the Marconi Comapny’s director, went to court (3).

The court ruled against Cecil Chesterton and fined him a token £100 plus costs, which was paid by his supporters. Some supporters claimed the decision would have gone differently had Cecil’s lawyer aggressively gone after the accused ministers who were at the heart of the scandal. In the next issue of the New Witness, Cecil Chesterton repeated his allegations against the ministers, who still did not sue. (4)

For more information see: “The Marconi Scandal - 1912” by Parris & MacGuire and “The Marconi Scandal” on Wikipedia.

Footnotes & References:

Image Source: Altered from - Parris & MacGuire, “The Marconi Scandal” (see below) p.82 (Accessed: 3 Oct 2010)

(1) Parris, M. and K. MacGuire (2005). The Marconi Scandal - 1912: From Whitewash to Won’t Wash: the Marconi Octopus. Great Parliamentary Scandals: Five Centuries of Calumny, Smear and Innuendo. London, Robson Books.

(2) Cecil Chesterton published several articles accusing Rufus Isaacs and Herbert Samuel of insider trading (Wikipedia: The Marconi Scandal)

(3) ibid

(4) ibid

Landlordism: a vampiric octopus (Northrop, circa 1910)

This postcard copyright by W B Northrop shows the octopus of “Landlordism” - renting out a property (or absent landlord) -  with its arms enclosing parts of London. In the enclosures are the names of the landlords and their earnings from rent. An interesting aspect to this, is according to the text - shown below - this is a vampiric octopus: “The Land Octopus Sucks the Lifeblood of the People.”¹

LANDLORDISM CAUSES UNEMPLOYMENT It paralyses the BUILDING TRADE: It Pauperises the Peasantry: 12 Landlords “own” (?) London, taking, 20,000,000 a year; 500 Peers “own” (?) an entire one-third of England; 4,000 Landlords “own” (?) an entire half of Enlgand; The Land Octopus Sucks the Lifeblood of the People.²

Footnotes:

1. Northrop, W.B - text from the postcard, presumably written by Northrop. Emphasis in the original.
2. ibid.
3. Further reading: two articles that discuss two different situations of landlordism, the enclosure of the commons, and the consequences:
   • Curtis, L. Perry (2003), Landlord responses to the Irish Land War 1879-87, Eire-Ireland:Journal of Irish Studies, 38:3-4, http://tinyurl.com/chpujt (Accessed: 1st Feb 2009)
   • Tilsen, J. (2003), Ottoman Land Registration Law as a Contributing Factor in the Israeli-Arab Conflict, http://www.beki.org/landlaw.html (Accessed: 1st Feb 2009)