TRADESMEN, SERVANTS, AND SECRET COMMISSIONS' [To THE EDITOR Or THE
" SPECTATOR.1 Sia,—The forms to be signed by tradesmen and servants, proposed Iby the Council of the Secret Commissions and Bribery Prevention Iseague as an assistance towards preventing corruption among 'retail ;traders (see Spectator, November 26th), are humorously ,ironical to those behind the scenes. Who will more readily sign the form than the greatest rogue ? To him it is but another sop to send the watchdog to sleep. The Act is already kept by honest men, and has been from the hour of its adoption. To the unscrupu- lous it has been nothing less than an inspiration to corruption and . chicanery. He knows now that his honest competitor is helpless. The Act was doubtless conceived from the highest motives, sincerely intending to purify. business methods. The sequel of its working has in the retail corn trade been the birth of more -wicious corruption than before it came into existence. The only -.individuals that have materially benefited by the Act are those men Who have neither self-respect nor honest principles to defend. , The greatest preventative is for the buyer to give his orders :himself in writing or verbally, and then pay for them in the same
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