CO129-590-11 Commission of Enquiry into irregularities in Immigration Departments 22-4-1941 - 19-12-1941 — Page 94

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further growth of the aency system; it being, I think, a

legitimate inference that, if even recognised agencies who had som thing to lose indulged in the malpractices proved, even worse

was to be expected from those over which I had no control whatever

and of whose existence I might not even be aware. To implement

this policy I have accordingly demanded of my staff that, the

recognised bodies apart, no person should be allowed to obtain

more than five application blanks at one time, nor to submit at

one time more than five completed applications.

I wish your

indulgence of the use of the expressive Americandam "race t";

I have never in my 1 years of Government employment had to fight

so unremittingly against rackets of all types; I have referred to

some under my heading of agencies; but others went on at my very

door, as when it was discovered that certain hooligana pushed

their way through the crowd on the pretence of making application,

obtained a supply of forms, and then took them out to hawk on the

streets. That I have not set my face against free coinage of our

application forms is shown by the fact that I have already on

24th December given permission, if that were necessary, to one

large printing firm to reprint for sale those forms; and I under-

stand that this is being done.

I shall leave the remainder of the story of the aecies

to its proper place in chronological order, while I deal with a

few more of the difficulties which beset me between the date of

opening the office and the 15th January when the Ordinance was

finally enforced. During all those two months I was constantly short of office furniture and short of senior trained staff;

moreover the mass of detail was such that I could hardly afford

time to train the staff which I had already acquired.

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handing to the Commission so far as it is complete, the record

extracted from my diary of the hours at which I left my office

during the month of January; and I should like to make four additional pointa, viz,, that I was always in my office at the latest by 8.30 in the morning; that the same hours were worked by

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