336 



I he Review ot Reviews. 



Oetoter 1, 190S. 



a member of the firm rather than allow the oppor- 

 tunity to exist so that his public position might be 

 liable to be used for the furthering of personal ends. 

 His firm did a large business in land transactions, 

 and necessarily came in contact with the administra- 

 tion of the Lands Department, and a door was 

 open not simply to suspicion but to magnificent op- 

 portunity for corruption, if a man in such a position 

 so desired. But, rather than allow his public repu- 

 tation to be involved in doubt, Mr. Carruthers sepa- 

 rated his private interest from his public interest, 

 and sacrificed a large amount of money yearly by his 

 determination to keep himself clear of even the sus- 

 picion of political corruption. (In passing I may say 

 that, notwithstanding this action on the part of Mr. 

 Carruthers, there are those who, for political and 

 party purposes, are assailing him because he forsook 

 his former partner — who in no wise is engaged in 

 public affairs — who continues to practise his profes- 

 sion, and, like any other professional man, defends 

 accused persons or acts for clients who are occasion- 

 ally in conflict with the Crown Law officers. The 

 fact that malignant minds in search for grounds of 

 attack upon a party leader can find no better cause 

 of complaint in a long career of public office, speaks 

 volumes for the sense of honour and integrity of Mr. 

 Carruthers.) Men of every party and of no party 

 ought to honour a man who thus clears himself of 

 the possibility of suspicion, a striking contrast to 

 the spirit which keeps Sir Samuel Gillott where he is. 

 Mr. J. W. Billson, one of the members of the 

 Victorian State Parliament, speaking in the House 

 the other day, said concerning the matter : — There 

 is one thing I regret in connection with this mat- 

 ter, and it is the aspersions cast on my friend, the 

 Chief Secretary, because, although we differ politi- 

 cally, and I am satisfied that if he could vote me out 

 of political existence he would do so, and I would 

 do the same in regard to him, still I do not think 

 that he would consciously do a dishonourable act 

 to any one. I have known him for twenty years, 

 and I do not think that his self-interest would pre- 

 vent him from doing justice. At the same time, it 

 is an unwise position to place the honorable gentle- 

 man in. He was not always Chief Secretary in the 

 present Government, and it would have been far bet- 

 ter if the Premier had allowed some one else to 

 administer the Department of the Chief Secretary. 



The Police Commission found that the Chief Com- 

 missioner was the trustee of an hotel, and they 

 brought in a recommendation to the effect that what- 

 ever might be the legal definition of the law it was 

 unwise that this state of things should be allowed 

 to exist. If it is unwise in the case of the Chief 

 Commissioner of Police, is it not also unwise that 

 the Ministerial head of the department, who has to 

 sanction prosecutions in connection with hotels, 

 should be the owner of hotels that he may have to 

 sanction prosecutions in connection with ? . . . 

 I could not swear that the present occupier of the 

 office has used any such influence, but I know some- 

 thing about appointments made some time previ- 

 ously. I cannot be blind to the fact that, as the 

 Chief Secretary is interested in hotel property', no 

 matter how honest and how conscientious he may t>e 

 in doing his duty, it is a false position for him to 

 occupy, and I cannot compliment the head of the 

 Government on the appointment. 



A LOST OPPOETUXITr. 



Mr. Bent missed a magnificent opportunity only a 

 month ago. When Mr. Murray resigned, he might 

 have transferred Sir Samuel Gillott to some 

 other department. I understand it has not been 

 done before because of an unwillingness to make it 

 appear that the change was made because of popu- 

 lar clamour. But if Mr. Bent had any qualms on 

 that point, he might have done it the other day with- 

 out any loss of political dignity. A vacancy oc- 

 curred in the Cabinet. A re-distribution might have 

 been made. Mr. Bent might have taken the oppor- 

 tunity of affirming that the change was made ow ing 

 to the necessity for re-distribution. It was a door 

 which Providence kindly opened in his path. He 

 did not, unfortunately for himself, use the opportu- 

 nity. The doors of opportunity have a habit, if one 

 does not pass through, of slamming in the face of 

 the man who has spumed the opening, with serious 

 consequences to the man ; and much as I support 

 Mr. Bent in his general administrarion, for he has a 

 leaning towards the humanities, I cannot refrain 

 from pointing out the serious position in which he 

 has placed himself. This question of Sir Samuel 

 Gillott is one of principle, and in the interests of 

 the public Mr. Bent ought to make a change. Poli- 

 tical purity is one of the first necessities of a stable 

 Government. 



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