PILFERING OF CARGO

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 274, 15 August 1919, Page 8

PILFERING OF CARGO

A SENSIBLE DIMINUTION PRECAUTIONS AGAINST LOSSES Pilferbig. on tho waterfront has, according to local importers, showed a sensible diminution during • the last few ' months, consequent upon steps that ba.vo been-taken to keep a stricter eye on tho t . ; . suspected sources of the troublo in Wel- '" lihgtoiu In conversation with., a '■ "'XjhTUt'iox reporter one Wellington rii'er- * chant stated that prior to the war there was compairativelyjittlo pilfering, yet he 'bad always taken tho precaution to guard against losses by insuring' against pilferage, for which he had paid 2s. Oil. : . ■; per : =6100., So slight had been his firm's losses.on,that account that ho had seriously, the matter of ceasing to insure against such, losses, but even '-..'•whilst .ho was deliberating as to tht. -courso.be would take, serious cases or came one after tho other, and . V though the rate of insurance had in- ..) creased by 100 per cent, it had paid .to - P-iy it.,. Giving instances as-to the extent 1 ot tho- depredations suffered he said that ..'.one-case containing ,£9O worth of goods i had been found to contain -only 30s. j worth, and, beyond stuffing the case with ! brown paper..the thieves had taken no : other, precaution .to make up tho _,weighv ;of the stolen gdods. In another in. /^.stance;a case which contained very valu- : able'goods'had been despoiled by thk ■pilferer having; knocked a hole in the (case, aud then reaching in with his ; hand had- abstracted the goods. FortiK . |nntely- he had only felt- in tho one direction. . .Had ho changed hands In. ,:would have found some of the' inosk ;;' costly goods tho firm hnd ever im. ported. In another instance the wholo top of the case must have been lifted oft, as the goods it contained originally \vort» hermetically sealed in a zinc inner cast, and that with all its contents had entirely disappeared—the case was empty. Tho merchant who afforded the fore. going information complains about the clause iu tho bills-of-ladinjj of Hometrading shipping which provides that the _■• shipping companies were only respon» sible for lost goods up to JUd per cubio foot and up to .8100 for. a single pack'age. That might have been a fair provision, he admitted, previous to the war, hut the companies concerned had taken no cognisance of the fact that the invoiced price of goods had inoreased by . . 200 or 300 per cent., which had increased ';■!■ the value, of nearly every package to .over , ...the..stipulated JJIOO, the loss on which '' .-was not recoverable. This was a very ■sore point with importers, who could "'-.sot see .why the shipping companies should take advantage of circumstances ■brought about by the war. Tho only way out of tho clause in question- was .to see that when goods were packed in England not more than £W worth (iu- . voice price) should bo placed in any one package, which was hardly a convenient practice for the Home people owing to .the shortage of wood for case-makimr.