PILFERAGE AT LONDON DOCKS.

Press, Volume LVII, Issue 17120, 15 April 1921, Page 10

PILFERAGE AT LONDON DOCKS.

A CAPTAIN'S SUGGESTION. (FROM OTJR OWN COHSE3POKDXNT.) • LONDON, February 24. As a dock worker was passing through the dock gates on his way home the other day ho was discovered to be wearing £l5O worth of silk stocking. There/wore 144 pairs of them, and tsheywere wound round'the man's body and limbs so skilfully and uniformly as almost to escape detection. This arrangement of them must have meant almost complete undressing, and must liavo taken a considerable time. The case was mentioned in the course of an interview by Captain Noakes, Superintendent of Discharge of the New Zealand anil Federal Shipping Companies, who considers that trade unions connected with the. transport industry should '.take an active part in suppress-ing-pilfering. The unions need to revise their attitude to this problem.. At present, if one of the members is convicted of theft the conviction carries no stigma witlh it, and.no penalty is imposed by the union. . ■ As Captain Noakes points'out, pilferage hits the whole .community, beoauso tin: very heavy losses that- are being incurred are, of necessity, pas3od on to the consumer in the form of higher prices. "Magistrates," he says, "are far too lenient. In many cases in which men are found with. goods on them it is very difficult, to prove exactly where they have been taken'.from, 'and the charge lias to lie made merely one of unlawful possession, for which, below a certain value, only a fine can 1)6 imposed. On the. other hand, I remember a Magistrate some years ago announcing tn the Court that he would in future give imprisonment instead, of fines, and, starting with Hie offender before him, gave him a month, and advised him to tell his mates' when hecame out. That had an excellent effect." Some London docks are enclosed only by a fence 10ft or so high, ou tho'.our.side of which is open .space. It is quite simple fm - a man, particularly at night, to throw stolen goods over the fence to be pi:kcd up either by a waiting confederate or by liim.-rlf later on. -.'o'ain Noakes says there ought to be roads round tue uoeus, at irregular intervals. "Moio police and more supervision are required, illumination of vans leaving t'ho docks ought to be more thorough—it is quite easy for thorn to get out with more than they are supposed to contain—a case of butter or a crate of cheese or a carcase of lamb. On the way up to Smithfiold the vanman pulls'up "at a coffee shop and tlhe surplus is unloaded. There, ought to he somebody to drop in on that shop: 'Hullo, a hundredweight of butter; let's look at the invoice!' J3arges, too. should be liable to inspection at any time, to see that, what tliey contain can be accounted for. At present they are covered by no more than a tarpaulin." The evil of pilferage at the docks has grown to such an extent since the \vu" that many shipping lines find that claims amount on the average to about £2OOO a voyage. It is interesting to note that both shipowners and merchants agree that in'tiheir experience i large proportion of the pilferages occur before, the shipment of the goods—an expert member of the Committee of the Loudon Chamber of Commerce puts the figure at as higih as 70 per cent. progress apparently was made by the deputation from the Committee that waited on the Home Secretary a fewweeks ago, for the Government adopted the view that exact legal evidence must be available before any could be taken to cope with the evil. It is not unnatural feat shipowners and merchants alike \vcre dissatisfied with this attitude, as vhey feel that the amount paid in claims is itself sufficient evidence to justify the more energetic measures.. The Council of the Chamber of Shipping 'has taken steps to constitute a committee of shipowners having peculiar experience of pilferage claims to deal with the matter exhaustively. At present the committee is collecting detailed evidence, and is considering recommendations for the improvement of the-system of tallying and of watchers..