BRIBERY IN WAR TIME.
[To THE EDITOR. OP THE " SPECTILT0.1."] SIR,—Attenticn having been called to the fact that the recent conviction of a contractor under the Prevention of Corruption Act (he was sentenced to six months' imprisonment and a fine of £500) 'was entirely due, in the first place, to the Bribery and Secret Commissions Prevention League, Incorporated, I have received several complaints of similar offences from persons who apparently had not heard of the League hitherto. It is clearly in the public interest that it should be known as widely as possible, especially at the present time, that there exists an organization of more than ten years' standing, supported by some four hundred members—trade organizations, leading business houses, and well-known public men and women—whose object it is to enforce the observance of the Prevention of Corruption Acts, and to give, where possible, counsel, support, and protection. Since the war began there have been some forty cases of bribery connected directly or indirectly with His Majesty's Forces, or twice as many as in the previous years since 1906. The number of War Office clerks, viewers, &c., convicted during the present war is nine, of recruiting officials seven, of persons seeking to evade the Military Service Act five, of contractors to the War Office nine, and of officers commissioned or otherwise five. The fines imposed have exceeded in the aggregate £1,000, and the terms of imprisonment extend over more than ten years. Cases of bribery or instances in which there is ground for suspecting secret commissions being given or asked for should be reported to the League, and all communications will be treated as strictly confidential. It ought to be known everywhere that to offer or give or to ask for or to receive a bribe makes the offender amen. able to the criminal law.—I am, Sir, &c.,
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