MILITARY CONTRACTS.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 13718, 23 June 1915, Page 4

MILITARY CONTRACTS.

* TRIAL MY HIGH COURT. ij'ross Assn.— By Telegraph— Copyright. •SYDNEY, .lime 22. The High Cpurt ..trial m the cam ' hich Arthur ..Kidman was. charged witl •rging a ( tender, m, i^be name .of ('■ i rown to supply goods to the uiilitarj ith the intention of 'having the docu 1 lent accepted as a genuine? applieatior as commenced to-day. The tenders 1 lider- review were called for supplies > £ meat and groceries' to a German con- • jntration" camp, i The Crown- case was that Kidman ibmitted several tenders, allegedly m ■ le same handwriting, 1 including thai } gned "Brown" and two m the name if his own firm. rThdugh Brown. j rices 'tor me.it were lower than those t: Kidman's •" firm, the lather's tendei \ as accepted after the Tender Boaw 1 11 ad made inquiries. The Crown clalmetl that some of .the « riderer firms were non-existent. The Chief Justice asked how tht C ommonwealth was likely to be pro ji diced by Kidman's action? Crown, counsel said the Crown, ii c( msidering tenders, was . entitled 'tr. hive genuine tenders " from genuine p sople _ before \ it. . .. If not, it was like fs ilse bidsvat an auction j'-aiid would dec< lye somebody ultimately purchasing. KidmatrV -counsel stateel that Kidmar a< Imitted that he put m the tenders. H e thought he had a right to do so. Paymaster Dewitt, a member of the Tender Board, gave evidence that the B bard had examined Kidman" m regard tc tenders arid had accepted his meal Id ndei\ After this examination . Kid na an was m the habit of contracting foi m ilitary supplies, and his work was al ways satisfactory. ■ . Major Page, senior member of the •Tender"' Board, deposed that. Kidma* admitted vto him * that ; he vr had scut m- the same handwriting, andadded that he had done so foolishly, and was sorry. >iE. F. Tait, a member of the Light Horse, and formerly employed m lookin|g afteiv Kidman's interests nY various camps,. gave evidence that Kidman said ho would like to use his name m connection- with some tenders. Ho agreed and 'signed certain papers, but -did not krtotr'thee tender produced had been submitted m his name. He had no m terest ?iri r the, tenders m his own name or- ■ otherwise!'- ' He expected Kidman to c4rry out the contracts if tKe tenders wbre' accepted 'and- never expected to caiTy them out himself. Kidman told him to tell the Court everything he knew. ■$ iCharles Brown, a carcase .butcher; said he just knew Kidman by passiTig. the timo of day, and had never, sub-' mttted ,'a tender or gave anybody authoritA 1 to do soV ■■"' ': ' : T "'•* '"' , ■