P. AND T. INQUIRY

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 848, 17 December 1929, Page 6

P. AND T. INQUIRY

ALLEGATION OF BETTING AGAINST OFFICERS TELEGRAPH REGULATIONS Of nine members of tbe Post and Telegraph operating room staff who are alleged to hare used office telephones in relation to betting on the races at the Takapuua Jockey Club's meeting on November 30 and December 2, two were charged yesterday at an inquiry. The inquiry is instituted bV the Post and Telegraph Department into the conduct of members of the operating staff, against whom allegations of betting are being made. Mr. F. K. Hunt, S.M., is presiding, and the inquiry is being held in the Magistrate's Court. The inquiry is not open to Press or public, and should last for three days yet. The betting was alleged to have taken place during the Takapuna Jockey Club’s meeting on November 30 and December 2. Two inspectors of the department listened in through secret wires on the telephones, and it is stated that they afterward confronted some members of the staff with notes of their conversations, which it is «tated related to bets at the meeting. About 40 members of the staff were questioned. Nine men denied the allegations made against them, and the affair was taken before the secretary of the department, Mr. G. McNamara, by Inspectors Ogilvie and Dowson. Holding that he could not give a decision on the evidence before him, Mr. McNamara ordered an inquiry by a magistrate. The finding of the magistrate is to be forwarded to the department, which decides, when a man has been found guilty of a breach of the regulations, what the punishment shall be. The men are being charged with misconduct, an offence not strictly defined in the regulations. It was at first thought probable that they would be charged with divulging confidential information received in the course of their duties. The penalty which may be inflicted may be, in extreme cases, dismissal from the service or a fine.

The department is represented by Mr. V. R. Meredith, Crown Solicitor, who has with him Mr. Ogilvie, one of the inspectors. The defence is in the hands of Mr. Allan Moody, assisted by W. H. Brown, the employees’ representative on the Post and Telegraph Appeal Board. A large number of witnesses is being called, and each case is being taken separately.