CARGO PILFERING

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 10613, 11 June 1920, Page 4

CARGO PILFERING

That cargo is considerably pilfered is unfortunate. That the pilfering is so great as to add appreciably to tho cost of living is unjust; that it is apparently beyond control ought to bo unthinkable. The remedy proponed is a change-of punishment for tho crime from fine to hard labour. But punishment is not possible without detection, and tho main trouble is that tho rarity of detection makes its risk profitable to the thieves. There is much declamation over tho matter, especially over the point that there is no knowing at what point the thieves get home on the cargoes. The one thing wo do know is that, wherever they do got home, they make great hauls, in some instances substituting rubbish for tho entire contents of packages, and in all concealing their tamperings with the deftness of the most accomplished mechanics. Tho hauls are made cither before embarkation, or durijig embarkation, or on the voyage, or during arrival or after transhipment for small ports. No ono can say when tho thefts occur; hut tho main feature of tho situation is that, from first to last, the goods are in the hands of tho shipowner who has undertaken to carry them. Ho is exeinpt from responsibility for

damage due to circumstances beyond his control, known generally as “the act of God.” But the act of a thief

cannot in any sense bo called ‘‘the act of God.” It is a human act, which can be provided against like other human ads by human means. Now, human honesty always gets the better of human dishonest}' —for which reason it has become an axiom that honesty is the best policy. But in this matter human honesty does not get the bent chance. The pilfering goes on, and the consequences are passed from hand to hand, until finally they arc landed on the back of tho consumer who docs not - consume. The right remedy would be to tighten up the responsibility of the carrier, and protect tho consumer against tho legerdemains of insurance policies and legal subtleties. Bub who will apply it ? That would not finish the matter, however. Harbour authorities have custody after the goods leave the ship, and the Government is always, and at every turn, the guardian of order. These ought, like the shipping people, to bring more initiative to bear, more energy, and more enterprise, the Government increasing the numbers and equipment of the police, both of which are at present totally inadequate. Tho public that has to pay is tired of the easy toleration of this monstrous evil by all its servants, commercial and political, and wants something done, and at once. At present the conspiracy of fatuity seems destined to provide thieves with a lucrative career till the Crack of Doom.