AGY-6116 | Royal Commission ... whether The Honourable Vernon Haddon Treatt, Minister of Justice for the state of New South Wales, was guilty of any improper conduct in recommending the reduction of a fine imposed upon the Abbco Bread Company Proprietary Limited

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The Royal Commission was appointed on 11 March 1941 to 'inquire into and report upon the following question:- Whether the Honourable Vernon Haddon Treatt, the Minister of Justice for New South Wales, was guilty of any improper conduct in recommending to His Excellency the Governor that the fine of ... 1,438 [pounds] 15s. [shillings], imposed on the 20th June, 1940, by the Court of Petty Sessions at Glebe on the Abbco Bread Company Pty. Ltd. be reduced to ... 500 [pounds]' (1) The Royal Commission was presided over by Allan Victor Maxwell, Judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. Maxwell was required to report within two months. The hearings took place on 13, and 17 to 20 March. He presented his report on 25 March. (2)

Abbco Bread Company Proprietary Ltd of 681 Balmain Road, Leichhardt, was charged on 13 June 1940 with baking 3,282 loaves deficient in weight. The loaves were produced under a contract for the Army. The combined deficiency was 5,755 ounces. The hearing took place on 20 June 1940 before F Grugeon, Stipendiary Magistrate. The Magistrate did not accept the Company's explanation allowed under the Bread Act that the short weight bread was an 'unavoidable accident'. He therefore fined the Company five shillings an ounce, under Subsection 4 of Section 13 of the Bread Act of 1901 (Act No.35, 1901) . He regarded this as a fixed fine that he could not vary.

On 24 June 1940 the Company appealed to the Minister of Justice, Vernon Haddon Treatt, for a remission of the fine and on 28 June lodged an appeal to the Quarter Sessions against the conviction. The Under-Secretary, Melville Charles Nott, replied that no action would be taken on the remission while the appeal was proceeding. The appeal was withdrawn on 12 July. A letter to the Minister, dated 13 July, from the Company was received via Henry John Bate, Member for the South Coast on 16 July. On the same day the Under-Secretary called for a report on the case from the Superintendent of Weights and Measures, and after it was received, for a report from Magistrate Grugeon on 17 July. On 26 July the Under-Secretary recommended to the Minister that there were no grounds for the penalty to be reduced. On 6 August the Under-Secretary wrote to Bate, the Company's solicitors (Dibbs, Crowther and Osborne), the Clerk of Petty Sessions, Glebe, and the Superintendent of Weights and Measures that the Minister 'was unable to see his way to recommend the remission of any portion of the penalty'. (3)

From mid August the Company's lawyers sought to have the matter reconsidered. On 2 September the lawyers asked for more time to obtain reports from the Army. The Company now brought in new lawyers (Meagher, Sproule and Company) who also asked for more time. They were given until 12 September. On 5 September the Minister, at the request of Henry John Bate, MLA, saw Bate and one of the Company's directors, Mr McLeod. McLeod informed the Minister that the Company had not intended to do any wrong and that information was being sought from the Army. The Minister promised to carefully consider the matter when the further reports came, but they were slow in coming. On 4 October the Minister minuted that 'The delay in making representations is unreasonable, conviction should be enforced' (4) and the lawyers were notified accordingly.

Finally on 8 October 1940, Meagher, Sproule and Company wrote to the Minister with the new representations. On 11 October their spokesperson, Kinley, reinforced this with an interview with the Minister. The new representations stated that the contract with the Army had not been cancelled after the conviction (it expired 30 July) and that a new contract was issued on 6 August after some examination by the authorities and various checks on the bread received by them. As well there was an explanation by Adhesives Ltd that the short weight of the bread was as result of the flour used. On 14 October the Minister decided to have the evidence and representations examined 'with a view to an opinion as to whether it can fairly be said that a reasonable doubt exists on the question of intent to defraud'. (5) The material was reviewed by ex-Stipendiary Magistrate McMahon, who concluded that there was intent to defraud, but he thought the fine for a first offence should have been 500 pounds. On 29 October, the Minister recommended to the Governor under Letters Patent that the fine be reduced accordingly. The Governor's approval was given 30 October. (6) The Federal Royal Commission into Abbco, held from 1 April to 5 June 1941, noted that the poor quality flour was supplied to Abbco from its own mill. Also that the second contract was only entered into after an initial contract with R J White of Bexley had failed, partly due to a planned attack by Abbco. (7)

The Company was unhappy and on 23 November sought a nominal fine. This was not agreed to. On 9 January 1941 the Company asked to pay the fine at 5 pounds per week due to their poor financial position. The Minister agreed to them paying 100 pounds upfront and 20 pounds per month. The Company claimed to be unable to pay 100 pounds in a lump sum and sought to pay it across three months at 35 pounds per month. The Minister agreed to this on 19 February 1941. On 26 February 1941 the Minister was asked in Parliament by William Joseph Carlton, Member for Glebe, if the Company was fined over 1000 pounds 'for supplying short-weight bread to our forces in the military camps...'. If the fine was not yet paid, what steps would the Minister take to enforce the decision of the Court? Treatt replied that Abbco Bread Company was fined more than a thousand pounds and that 'Steps have been taken by the department to ensure the payment of the fine by the company'. (8) He did not mention the reduction in the fine.

Justice Maxwell concluded in his report tabled 25 March 1941 that the official files and witnesses from the Department gave an accurate record of what had occurred, and that the Minister acted on the material available to him. The Minister examined the report as to fraudulent intent and 'formed the opinion that there was no issue of fraud raised in the prosecution and no evidence on which fraud could be found; but that, nevertheless, he was left with a suspicion that fraud existed'. (9) However, the original Magistrate's view that the penalty was a fixed one had been disputed by the ex-Magistrate who reviewed the case. There had been numerous applications for reductions in penalties under the Bread Act over the previous years, and the practice was invariably to reduce them. Maxwell, therefore found 'no evidence, nor anything remotely to suggest that the Minister was guilty of any misconduct or irregularity either in the conclusion reached by him, and fully shared by the permanent head of his department [Under-Secretary, Melville Charles Nott], or in the manner of his dealing with the applications'. (10) However, he acknowledged that the Minister's answer to the question put to him in Parliament on 26 February 1941 was misleading to any person unaware that the fine had been reduced. But the Minister had never concealed the fact that the fine had been reduced and the questioner, William Joseph Carlton, was aware of the reduction. Maxwell was careful not to express any opinion on the original prosecution, although he was critical of Section 13, Subsection 4, of the Bread Act, 1901, and the relevance to a modern industrial bakery of the defence of 'unavoidable accident'. (11)

The matter did not end there for Abbco. On 28 March 1941 Maxwell was appointed under Letters Patent by the Australian Government 'to inquire into and report upon the contract or contracts with Abbco Bread Company Pty Ltd for the supply of bread to the Department of Army ...', especially the conviction on 20 June 1940 for the supply of short loaves; the new contract entered into after that conviction; a contract made 27 July 1940, and later terminated, with R J White of 55 Stoney Creek Road, Bexley; the system of checking Army bread supplies at bakeries and receiving depots; the negligence or improper conduct of personnel of the Department of Army or Department of Supply involved in bread contracts; and the systems in place to co-ordinate information between the Department of Army and Department of Supply re contracts and contractors. On 16 April 1941 the terms of reference were extended to inquire into Abbco Bread Company Pty Ltd, W G McLeod and D A McLeod, and their relationship with Ernest and Norman Davis who held an option on the business. (12)

Endnotes
1. New South Wales Government Gazette No.33, 14 March 1941, p.1025.
2. 'Report of the Royal Commission appointed to inquire into and report upon the question whether The Honourable Vernon Haddon Treatt, Minister of Justice for the state of New South Wales, was guilty of any improper conduct in recommending the reduction of a fine imposed upon the Abbco Bread Company Proprietary Limited', Joint Volume of Papers presented to the Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly and ordered to be printed (Parliamentary Papers), 1940/41, Vol.3, pp.555-569.
3. ibid., p.559.
4. ibid., p.561.
5. ibid., p.561.
6. ibid., p.562.
7. Agency CA 2642: 'Royal Commission to inquire into and report upon the contract or contracts with Abbco Bread Co Pty Limited for the supply of bread to the Department of Army and other matters', 'National Archives of Australia - Agency notes for agency CA 2642', http://naa12.naa.gov.au/scripts/AgencyDetail.asp?M=3&B=CA+2642 (cited 23 April 2008).
8. 'Report of the Royal Commission appointed to inquire into and report upon the question whether The Honourable Vernon Haddon Treatt, Minister of Justice for the state of New South Wales, was guilty of any improper conduct in recommending the reduction of a fine imposed upon the Abbco Bread Company Proprietary Limited', op.cit., pp.567, 562-63.
9. ibid., p.565.
10. ibid., p.568.
11. ibid., p.569.
12. Agency CA 2642: 'Royal Commission to inquire into and report upon the contract or contracts with Abbco Bread Co Pty Limited for the supply of bread to the Department of Army and other matters', National Archives of Australia, op.cit.