ANTI-BRIBERY

Greymouth Evening Star, 1 July 1933, Page 12

ANTI-BRIBERY

LEAGUE IN SYDNEY. SYDNEY, June 23. Not long since there was registered in London a “Bribery and Secret ComImissions Prevention League,” which set out to “wage war on a monster which menaces the foundations of the commercial life of the city.” Following on these lipes, a league has been formed in Sydney to combat commercial corruption and dishonesty in all its varied forms. One of the leaders of the movement is Sir George Julius, the son of Archbishop Julius, of Christchurch, a New Zealander, famous throughout the world as the . inventor of the automatic totalisation Half a dozen influential business men have signed the articles of association along with Sir George Julius, and it. is proposed to call a meeting of 1000 of the leaders in commerce, industry and finance in this State, to secure their support. It may be mentioned that the question of combating bribery, more especially in the form of secret commissions, was first raised seriously in Australia at the Rotarian Conference of 1931, and since then the idea of organising a crusade against commercial corruption has germinated and borne fruit. The members of the league take their project very seriously. In a preliminary statement of their case they claim that “practically every class of business in Australia is white-anted with bribery.” According to the new league “business men bribe buyers to take then’ goods, bribe superintendents to condemn their opponents’ products, bribe employees in stores to push their merchandise to the exclusion of then’ competitors, bribe singers and theatricals to endorse their products.” The league • holds that the practice of bribery, especially in the form of secret commissions, “destroys the basis of fair and legitimate competition in price and quality.” Moreover, as in many cases the amount of the bribe or commission is added on to the selling price the general public must suffer in the long run. By denouncing such illicit methods and by arousing public opinion against them, the league believes that it will be able “to weld together the various groups of businesses into one incorruptible body,” greatly to the moral and material advantage of the whole community. It is possible that the league’s objects may seem to the cynically-mind-ed rather idealistic or Utopian. 1 But the purpose of the organisation is certainly a worthy one, and no doubt, like the British league, their association for the promotion of commercial honesty will come to be recognised as a necessary factor in the world-wide effort after economic reconstruction inaugurated at the close of the Great War.