DISHONEST DEALING.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXV, Issue 4702, 23 May 1924, Page 4

DISHONEST DEALING.

A WIDESPREAD BUSINESS EVIL. EFFORT FOR REFORM. “If bribery and secret commissions are to be stopped altogether it can be done easily if the public will only assist the League with its efforts. Bribery and secret commissions—which are fully explained in the accompanying pamphlet—strike at the root of all commercial honesty and prosperity. Surely it is worth while for everyone engaged in business to join us in our crusade, and thus put an end. to an evil which not only exists but will gain ground if the public shows apathy in the mattcr.”Lambournc. The Bribery and Secret Commissions Prevention League (9. Quec.i Street Place, London, E.C.4) jiag bee-.i published a valuable little pamphlet on “What is Bribery ’’’—which gives details of upwards of 490 conviction's. To it Lord Lambiiorne writes the above note. Mr R. M. Leonard, the secretary of the uceful society, says : "The pamphlet, a plain unvarnished record of upwards of 400 convictions under the Prevention or Corruption Act, 1906. and the amending Act of 1916, Js an expansion of a chapter m a qua'sihistorical account, “The War against Bribeiy,” published in 1913, with a foreword by the Right Ho i. Sir Edward Fry, which excited no little interest It is a pedestrian compilation, but not, it is hoped, without its uses to those called upon to administer justice and to students of criminology and sociology. The record should silence once for all the parrot erv that the law is a dead letter. ■Bacon wrote : ‘One of the Seven wi>s wont to say that laws were like cobwebs, where the small flies were caught, and the great break through. The mesh of the web is small. Some of the offenders are small and their offences comparatively trivial; their punishment does not call obviously for the clumsy and costly procedure involved in having to obtain the fiat of the. Law officers before a prosecution be undertaken. “Not long before ‘Punch published the following : “‘Newly appointed Rector: ‘I saf, our policeman’s a sportsman. He caught me without a light last night. 1 gave him half-a-crown, and he let me off.’ “ ‘Squire and local J.P.: ’My dear fe’low, you shouldn’t do that—a shill ing’s ample.’ “A sense of humour need not prevent one pointing out that 124 persons have been punished for tempting some police constable or other to be a ‘sportsman,’’ that fifteen have been sent to gaol (two for six months), and that fines and costs imposed have ex-

ceefled £l6OO in the aggregate, ranging’ from 10s to’ £lOO. SERIOUS CASES. "On the other hand, many of the cases have been exceedingly serious, especially tho s e in connection with the war—bribery to secure contracts, bribery to secure military service. Sentences of penal servitude and heavy tines —in one instance a fine of £6OOO and all the costs of the prosecution—show the severity with which His Majesty’s Judges regard an evil with which Mr Justice Horridge declares the business world to be honeycombed. Mr Justice Low, indeed, declared that two years’. hard labour ajud a fine of £5OO was ‘absolutely useless and inadequate to deal with matters of this sort.’ and it was due to him that the Government hastily passed the 1916 Act, increasing the penalties, and in certain circumstances throwing upon the accused the onus of proving innocence. “Part I. of the reprint deals with bribes given and taken, and the cases have been classified as far as practicable. The figure includes costs where stated, which is not often. The place is where the Court of Summar v Jurisdiction was held, unless die Assizes is indicated. The date of the conviction follows in brackets. The conviction of 400 persons is here registered in respect of probably 500' offences ; if to those convicted were added those who were charged the number of persons prosecuted would be 500 or more. ’ "The fines and costs stated in this record amount to £16,622 is lOd, but tin’s figure is far too low. In eleven eases the defendants convieted on indictment were ordered to pay all the costs of the prosecution at the Assizes. Twice £16,000 would be below the mark. The number sent to prison is 98; penal servitude 2 ; three years 4 ; imprisonment for .two yeans, 2 ; 21 months, 1 ; 18 months, 9:16 months, I ; 15 months, 3 ; 12 months, 8 ; 9 months, 7; 8 months, 2; 6 months, II : 5 months, 1 ; 4 months, 5; 3 months, 14 ; 2 months, 9: 1 month, 12 ; six weeks, 12. “Tlie list of upwards 0f.200 occupations followed by persons charged or convicted shows that all sorts and conditions of men were involved, ami the list of places where there have been convictions —outside London are 125 different pl'aces—testifies that the crime is not a monopoly of the large eiiies or of any locality in particular. “The biggest bribe offered, as reported, was between £30,000 and £40,000, the smallest Is. It is extraordinary how small the bribes are—6l were below £lO, exclusive of the od 1 shillings offered to the police which are not counted. Offers in kind included typewriters, cutleiy, clothes, shirts, blouses, champagne, whisky, cigars, tobacco, and—though no prosecution followed —sugar (in war time) and chocolate. One proffered bribe was Is a ton on coal supplied ; two

blackmailers sought to. secure for themselves a weekly allowance of 30s each, USE OF FALSE DISCOUNTS. “Part 11. deals with a portion of the 1906 Act too little known, even by those called upon to interpret it. Tlie use of documents which arc false, erroneous, or misleading in a material particular, although the agent to whom the documents—a false claim for rebate pf water rales, a receipt for more than has been paid, double invoices, false accounts, cooked relief tieekts, etc.—are hande.l may no uncorrupted, none the less brings the user under the Act. The League was the first to secure a conviction under this heading—a London solicitor being fined, with costs, £142, and only just escaping being struck off; but it was the Metropolitan Water Board that first made successful use of the Act to checic a crime with which it had hitherto been found most difficult to cope. “The object of punishment, it luu been said, is ‘prevention from evil . it never can be made impulsive >o good.’ Prosecutions have their place, and it is an important out, thoug.i capable of over-estimation. Tlie League’s object is to create and maintain a healthy public opinion, so that the man who gives bribes, corrupting an otherwise honest man, and the .disloyal servant who accepts them, may be viewed in a proper light. “The foulness of bribery is easily disguised. It is all the more important, therefore,” says Mr Leonard, that when unmasked he who offers or asks for bribes should be clas.se 1 in no higher category than the cutpurse. the pickpocket, the till robber, the forger, or any other swindling knave. Yet there are to-day'bribers holding up their heads who have been denounced by Judges as infamous, there are men convicted of bribery whose acquaintances receive them t>s cordially as ever. “The League seeks to bring about a reformalion not only in the actions but also in the attitude of the people. A large and influential membership alone can guide public opinion effectively. To this end it invite,s ail who value common honesty in business ; all who care for clean hands, to cooperate with it in work of national importance,”