BALLOT BRIBE CASES

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIII, Issue 47, 25 February 1942, Page 4

BALLOT BRIBE CASES

It was a shock to the public to learn that there had been attempts, with a small measure of temporary ( success, to interfere with the fairness and impartiality of military service ballots. The great merit of the compulsory system is that it places every citizen of military age upon an equal footing, without distinction of position, influence, or wealth. After the men are called up there must be differences of treatment, first on the ground of physical fitness and then oh the ground of national need, and, in a lesser degree, private hardship. But these differences are decided after open hearings by boards selected for their experience and their command of public confidence. Though the boards cannot satisfy everyone, for the individual citizen will always have his own opinion as to whether this man or that is entitled to exemption, they have won general confidence for their manifestly painstaking and honest discharge of a difficult task. It is doubly regrettable, therefore, that a weakness should have been revealed through the manipulation of the mechanical part of the ballot machinery. Having obtained evidence of this manipulation, the Government has quite rightly tackled it vigorously and prosecuted without fear, or favour those suspected of participation. Sentences of imprisonment have been imposed, and no one will say that the punishment is at all severe for those found guilty of such despicable offences. The conduct of the principal offender, who for bribes undertook to manipulate the ballot cards, was aggravated by his levelling and subsequently denying allegations against other men of taking part in the business. It is hoped that the prompt action in investigation and prosecution will remove once and for all the danger pf a repetition of this offence. The National Service Department will, no doijbt, do its utmost to introduce further checks and safeguards; but it cannot wholly remove the risk of personal malfeasance. That risk is, however, gratifyingly small, and public shock at the revelations made must be tempered by the fact that many thousands of names have been drawn and only an odd few cards have been tampered with. The hundreds of employees of the Department have an unblemished reputation for integrity—only one has been proved corrupt.