clesiastical and Church Estates Commission,
or may be temporary, such as various international bodies of inquiry,
like the commission which met in Paris in 1905 to inquire into the North
Sea incident (see DOGGER BANK), or such as the various commissions of
inquiry, royal, statutory or departmental, of which an account is given
below.

A commission may be granted by one person to another to act as his
agent, and particularly in business; thus the term is applied to that
method of business in which goods are entrusted to an agent for sale,
the remuneration being a percentage on the sales. This percentage is
known as the "commission," and hence the word is extended to all
remuneration which is based on a percentage on the value of the work
done. The right of an agent to remuneration in the form of a
"commission" is always founded upon an express or implied contract
between himself and his principal. Such a contract may be implied from
custom or usage, from the conduct of the principal or from the
circumstances of the particular case. Such commissions are only payable
on transactions directly resulting from agency and may be payable though
the principal acquires no benefit. In order to claim remuneration an
agent must be legally qualified to act in the capacity in which he
claims remuneration. He cannot recover in respect of unlawful or
wagering transactions, or in cases of misconduct or breach of duty.

_Secret Commissions._--The giving of a commission, in the sense of a
bribe or unlawful payment to an agent or employe in order to influence
him in relation to his principal's or employer's affairs, has grown to
considerable proportions in modern times; it has been rightly regarded
as a gross breach of trust upon the part of employes and agents,
inasmuch as it leads them to look to their own interests rather than to
those of their employers. In order to suppress this bribing of employes
the English legislature in 1906 passed the Prevention of Corruption Act,
which enacts that if an agent corruptly accepts or obtains for himself
or for any other person any gift or consideration as an inducement or
reward for doing or forbearing to do any act or business, or for showing
or forbearing to show favour or disfavour to any person in relation to
his principal's affairs, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and shall
be liable on conviction or indictment to imprisonment with or without
hard labour for a term not exceeding two years,