CHARGES OF GRAFT.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 495, 2 July 1932, Page 32 (Supplement)

CHARGES OF GRAFT.

“Tin Hare” and Transport Inquiries. MR LANG IN WITNESS-BOX. (Special to the “Star.”) SYDNEY, June 24. Two of the Royal Commissioners, set ;p to investigate various charges and suspicious circumstances connected with the administration of certain departments under the Lang regime, have commenced their labours. The Commission dealing with the appointment and conduct of Mr C. J. Goode as Chief Transport Commissioner resumed operations on Monday, and the late Premier. Mr J. T. Lang, was called to tell the Commission anything that he knew about certain papers relating to the Goode case which have apparently disappeared. Mr Lang was inclined to be evasive, and in his evidence described the investigation as a “ man-hunt,” but after he had been called to order by counsel he adopted a less aggressive tone. He could not recall anything about these papers; he had left the matter of the charges against Goode to the AttorneyGeneral; he had not spoken more than six times to Goode in his life, and had asked him to assist in drafting the Transport BiH because he was the best man available; but he admitted that if the charges alleged against Goode could be substantiated he ought to be dismissed. A further stage was reached with the investigation of certain payments made to Goode by a firm of contractors. A bank accountant testified that the firm had several times applied for the return of a cheque endorsed by Goode, but the request had been refused. Mr Goode himself was called, but declined to answer certain questions on the ground that by so doing he might incriminate himself. The same course was adopted by the representative of the contracting firm that Tiad paid the cheque, and so at a most interesting and sensational stage the inquiry was adjourned. Grave Charges. Parallel to the Goode inquiry, the investigation into the “ tin hare ” question has been running its course—the matter of the fruit machines, which is bracketed with it, being deferred. As regards the licensing of the mechanical coursing ventures, which have aroused such serious suspicions here, counsel’s opening speech indicated that matters of extreme gravity are involved. It is alleged that “ serious obliquity ” on the part of the Minister charged with the administration of the Gaming Act (Mr Gosling) will be disclosed, that Mr Tully (Minister of Lands) had arranged to “ see ” Mr Gosling on behalf of one of the “ tin hare ” syndicates, and reported later that Gosling was “satisfied”; that another representative of a Broken Hill applicant for a license was also referred to Mr Gosling, the agent being anxious to secure “ cash and shares for politicians”; that correspondence relating to such licenses had been removed from the files in the Chief Secretary’s office; that the secretary of the “ Labour Daily ” threatened opposition to the Bill authorising such licenses unless that newspaper “ got something out of it,” and that subsequently the “ Labour Daily" received a large advertising contract. Naturally this introduction to the proceedings has whetted public curiosity, but unfortunately all the evidence is not ready for the Commission yet, and the inquiry has therefore been adjourned. Meantime the people of New South Wales may reflect upon the comments offered by Mr Stevens before the elections on the work of these Commissions : “ Where graft is definitely proved, the grafters shall be punished; where money has improperly changed hands, it shall be disgorged.” Some Minor Matters. Of course there is a large number oi minor matters in which serious improprieties and irregularities have been already charged against Langite exMinisters. Mr Gosling, as Chief Secretary, has been charged with interfering with the course of justice in regard to a barrowman who had been fined for refusing to obey the local by-laws. The new Minister of Labour has been looking into the accounts of Mr Baddeley, his predecessor, and finds that considerable sums for car-hire were charged by Mr Baddeley against the unemployed relief account. The new Minister of Public Works has discovered, among other things, that seven men whose wages aggregated nearly £29 a week were employed to look after a toolshed containing £25 worth of public property, and that one of these was an M.L.A., about whom instructions had been issued, apparently by Mr Lang, that he was never to be “ docked ” if he should absent himself from work, because he would be engaged in legislative duties. There is a celebrated letter addressed by Mr J. P. Byrne, then M.L.A. for Parramatta, to Mr Lang, introducing the representative of a “ coach company,” and incidentally mentioning “ 10 per cent commission ” on the transaction. These are only casual instances of a large number of charges and allegations which have already seen the light, and which may be subjected to more careful scrutiny later on. *