The Masterminds

What would you do if you were Joseph Mordecai? You live on the tiny island of "Santa Barbara", one of the last little jewels of the British Empire, where you are trying to build up your business with no help from the folks at home, who seem to have forgotten all about Santa Barbara when it comes time to dole out foreign aid. Well, how do the other little jewels get their money?

They undergo revolutions, of course which necessitate either buying off the revolutionaries or sending in reparations. Not only does Mordecai come up with an ingenious scheme to make the visiting Chancellor of the Exchequer believe Santa Barbara is in danger of imminent revolutionary takeover he ends up with his American business partner in charge of the administration of the British government's largesse, and is assured by the Chancellor that he will get his coveted K.B.E. for his part in quelling the revolution!