THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 1911. SECRET COMMISSIONS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 1036, 17 August 1911, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 1911. SECRET COMMISSIONS.

Hie, case' which was recently brought to light in Dunedin, in which a public man. accepted a suit of clothes in payment for servi-oes rendered, emphasises. the far-reaching effect of the Secret Commissions' Act, which was , passed last .session. It is, as a ooiv temporary points out, an enactment of far wider reach than is generally •supposed, for apparently it only applies to agents and principals, while, iifc really covers -the dealings) of members of any local body in. relation to the latter. For example, in the case of such a. !body as the Oity Corp oration, if a: suocestsful tenderer were rung up by telephone by » Oity Father and itold ithat tlie tenderer had got a certain contract, that the informant had voted for ham, and. a hint wa® given that a< giifit would be an appropriate' recognition of the oouncillor'is services, the consequences—whether the hint were acted; on or . not— very serious. The councillor, having corruptly atttiemptedrfco obtain, a gift iaisi a reward for having show,m flavour to ,a person in relation) to the corporation's affairs, can !>o indicted, and on conviction .is lialble to a fine of £SOO, or to imprisonment for it wo years, with hard labour; or, df (prosecuted isaimimarily, is liable to a fine not exceeding £SO, or to imprisonment for any term not exceeding three months, whale the contractor is equally liable for adding aptd abetting. So, if a member of ia local body is promised a certain reward in the event of doing something in connection' with' the Ibuisine&s of that local :body, and;he agrees to acoept ithe same, the offence is complete. If he is either directly or indirectly interested pecuniarily in any contract entered into iby his board or corporation, he is liable, on conviction, ito the above punishment, unless his interest is that of a shareholder of «. company with more than 20 memibers. It appears to us a;s laymen that if .a .contractor has agreed beforehand ito buy his materi.al from a member of the local ibody entering into the contract, the latter would find himself in a very awkward position. There are many other aspects of the Aot that should iitterest the general community, who should certainly study its 1 provisions. Suppose, for instance, a man , has a horse to sell, and knowing that

ftlie opinion of a friend of his (whom we .shall designate X) would carry weight with a certain (buyer, he asks X to see the ibuyer in question and advise him to puroha-se, and, further, tells him that if the "deal" comes off he will got a£s note. Unless X has either told the buyer of the £5 or acted throughout us the .seller's agent to the buyer's knowledge, a.n offence is again committed! And it lis equally an offence if X did not go to the length of advising hiim to buy; it is enough, it appears to us, if he make a suggestion or statement with the intention, of inducing the prospective purchaser to enter into tlie contract to make him equally liable, for we assume that when a man agrees to buy anything he enters into V contract. Tho ra-ison j d'etre of the Act is excellent. But the measure will have no terrors for the man who acts straightforwardly and honestly, and whose hands are clean. Thoste, however, who have ulterior objects in. view when they seek election to local bodies had best carefully study the provisions of this Act, and, having done so, wo fancy that they will hesitate about- sending in their nomination papers.