The Board of Trade Inquiry

Press, Volume LXXXV, Issue 25713, 27 January 1949, Page 4

The Board of Trade Inquiry

The integrity of British government—which includes politicians holding administrative positions as well as civil servants—has long been admired and envied by the rest of the world, as it has been cherished by the British people as one of their greatest national assets. Government has expanded so rapidly and ramified so far in recent years that it would have been surprising if, sooner or later, there had not been some lapse from the traditional standard. The disclosures in the Board of Trade inquiry have, naturally, disturbed th? British public; but they have not been nearly as alarming as the rumours and conjectures which have been rife ever since the possibility of irregularities was officially admitted. The value of the inquiry, therefore, is two-fold. It has sheeted home to a few individuals the blame for these serious irregularities; and it has established that they were, after all, confined to a very few transactions and that the great majority of highly-placed politicians and civil servants whose names have been mentioned in the proceedings were completely blameless.

Mr Attlee’s announcement in the House of Commons last October of the Government’s intention to set up a judicial tribunal to inquire into allegations that the Parliamentary Secretary and other Ministers and officials had been offered or received bribes was received with the warmest commendation on all sides. Mr Churchill, in approving the Government’s conduct, expressed “ the good hope that it [the inquiry] “ will vindicate the honour and “ reputation of individuals and, if “ not that, then the system by which “ we are governed ”. Not all individuals have been cleared. Indeed, the inquiry has shown that some were unfit for the high public office they held. If it has raised no serious doubts about “ the system by “ which we are governed ” it has pointed to dangers to which the

system is exposed as its machinery expands and develops, controlling ever more closely the lives and the activities of citizens. “ The un-

healthy atmosphere which a too “ powerful bureaucracy creates ”, as the “ Manchester Guardian ” describes it, must be guarded against by every country which values its tradition of democratic, incorruptible government.