CO129-590-11 Commission of Enquiry into irregularities in Immigration Departments 22-4-1941 - 19-12-1941 — Page 91

6

94

the old Youmati Police tation, and in the premises of the Hawkers'

office, Leighton Hill toad,

However, for some reason which I still do not understand,

the applicants continued to crowd my lead Office, while the branch

offices were almost deserted; this despite advertisements in the

Chinese press calling attention to the fact that facilities for

obtaining application forms and submitting applications existed at the addresses given. I accordingly closed the two latter after

the unfruitful experiment had lasted for 3 to 4 weeks, and ceased

to seek other premises for branch offices, considering that the

staff wasting their time there might be better employed easing

the tension in the iì.0. and gaining a minimum of experience of the

work of passport examination on board ships under the guidance of

the Folice passport examination branch.

Even more mysterious than the failure of the public to

take advantage of the facilities offered them freely was their

readiness to avail themselves on payment of the services of the

institutions which under the various names of application agencies,

translation bureaux, and so on, sprung up on all hands almost as

soon as the department began to function. At the outset I was

alsposed to welcome their help, as it offered a hope that the ruah

and clamour in my office might be diminished, and that the not

inconsiderable number of those whose self-importance teaches them

to expect individual and personal attention from the head of a very

busy department might have their wishes met elsewhere.

The mystery

cleared somewhat when it came to my knowledge that tlæse agencies

I shall from now on use what has grown to be the usual word for

them were helping applicants in ways which the framers of the

law assuredly did not expect, or at least did not wish; they

secured priority of treatment by ***x*x* my staff, and sold

fictitious evidence of untrue statements to whoever paid their

price. The eagerness of the public to obtain my wares may be

gauged by the prices paid to the agencies; it was creditably

reported that they ran as high as $18 per application. That much

bribing