MILLIONS LOST.

Taranaki Daily News, 22 December 1920, Page 11 (Supplement)

MILLIONS LOST.

CARGO THIEVES AT WORK. OPERATIONS IN AUSTRALIA. SOME SENSATIONAL STATEMENTS. Soma remarkable disclosures relative I to cargo pilfering in Australia were re. | cently made in the Federal Senate by j Senator Earle, of Tasmania. He based j liia remarks upon published statements I dealing with this question. These (statements included an assertion that the toll exacted by waterfront workers ex- ' ceeded £/iOn,ooo a year, and, taking into | account the petty pilfering, it would j probably make the total over £1,000,- ; COO. It was alleged that there was nil organised gang of thieves operating on wharves. A challenge was given to the waterfront workers to deny these statements, and it was further stated that, as far as could be learned, the I Waterside Workers' Federation took no I steps to cull out fhe criminals from its ranks. But members who were caught red-handed, and again sought work bad I to.be picked, and ship and cargo owners ; dared not point a linger at such men. • The stigma, said Senator Earle. was j most serioiin upon waterside work, but it affected Australia as a whole, and • whether a man was a member of Parliament, or a member of the Waterside Workers' Federation, he should see to it that investigation was made to determine whether these statements were true or untrue, and then act on the finding. Three parties should be active in securing investigation—the Commonwealth Government, the State Government, and the union. There were people who inferred that some of the police acted in collusion with these thieves, and that such goods as pianos could not be otherwise stolen from the wharves. There was a case in which a boot manufacturer, to prevent thefts, had dispatched all left foot boots by one ship and all right foot boots by another ship. Two cases of each consignment had disappeared. This seemed to indicate that there was a combination of thieving extending beyond the limits of Australia. He suggested that the Commonwealth Government should communicate with the State Governments, and ask if there was any truth in the statements, and that those Governments should make investigation as to the matter in eluding |he police supervision of the wharf.

AN ALARMING STATEMENT. The Minister i'oi Defence, Senator Pearcc, said that Senator Earle had done well to direct attention to tills alarming statement, If there was such an illicit disappearance of goods it constituted a heavy strain upon trade, and certainly was a stigma on the name of Australia and particularly that section of Australian labor working upon the wharves. He did not follow Senator Earle in his statement that there were three parties concerned If the charges were true, they were a challenge of the police control by the States, and there must be a charge of ineptitude against the police. The control of the Customs ■was not against thievinc, but against smuggling. He would bring the suggestion that the State Governments should be communicated with before the Cabinet, but if the position was so bad it was remarkable that the commercial community had not secured investigation by the States before this. Perhaps it \va3 deterred from acting by fear of reprisals. No c-elf-respeeting organisation, whether of labor or capital, should sit quiescent under such charges, and one would expect at least some denial and an attempt to clear 'the Waterside Workers' Federation and its members by that organisation. He had heard that detectives placed on vessels took their lives in their hands, that if they went into the hold of a ship there was a danger of falling cases, and if the circumstances were as i-tated it could be seen that ihere was a possibility that the matter would receive early consideration.