AUSTRALIAN WHEAT COMMISSION

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 257, 25 July 1919, Page 7

AUSTRALIAN WHEAT COMMISSION

__ oCHARGES OP CORRUPTION. Sydney, July 24. Giving evidence before the Wheat Commission, Mr. W. C. Grahanie, 7 Ministerfor Agriculture, stated that there was no truth in tho suggestion that directly or indirectly he had received a penny in connection with the wheat contract. ' Mr. Georgeson likewise denied having made any profit, except m ordinary trading; neither had he paid money to any person improperly. ■These statements were made after Mr. Motesworth handed.to Mr. Justice Pring a list of twelve persons who, he said, had supplied him with indirect evidence of corruution in connection with the wheat sales.—Press Assn. AN AMAZING DOCUMENT. * (Rec. July 24, 9.23 p.m.) / Sydney, July 'H. At the Wheat Commission, Harold Darlinpr, a member of the Federal Advisorv Wheat Board, gave evidence that the Georgeson wheat contract was a most ani&zing. document. It had been prepared either by a fool or a rogue.—Press Assn. ADELAIDE WHEAT BOARD RESIGNS. Adelaide, July 21 The Wheat Board has resigned, and refuses to act further until an inquiry into the methods of the New South Wales Board has been made.—Press Assn. In a letter to Mr. Holninn, written on the occasion of his resignation from the Cabinet, Mr. Beeby says: "You liavo evidently decided that the Georgeeon wheat deal does not call for serious inquiry, and desire to commit your colleagues to its endorsement without that ' complete investigation which on Mr. Grahanie'a own admissions is necessary. I understood that the matter was to be further considered by the Cabinet before any pronouncement was made. After careful' consideration of the statement made by Mr, Grahaiuo at the last Cabinet meeting, I decline to be drawn into any endorsement of tho transaction. The principal facts admitted by the Minister of Agriculture are that ho signed a contract for tho sale of about 3,000,000 bushels of wheat without first inviting public competition. The contract was not first submitted to the State Wheat Board, the Federad Wheat Board, or to tho State' Cabinet for approval, and tho possibility of getting a better price was not first tested by a public offering of the wheat to competitive tendering. I am no , : suggesting any impropriety on the part of the Minister concerned, although for his own sake I would urgo him to. demand a Royal Commission of inquiry into the whole of this State's wheat operations since the formation of the pool. What I again object to is the Cabinet and tUo . party which supports it being subject to attack through the actions of a Minis'er iu again hurriedly entering iuto.au important contract without taking every available step to protect the public interest. On a previous occasion serious Cabinet dissension was only settled by the cancellation 'of a contract entered into in tho same irregular way, but cancellation in this case is impossible, and staying in '.he Government means endorsing not only the Georgeson contract, but other matters of wheat administration which are npon to serious criticism."