AN ARTICLE FOUND.

Taranaki Daily News, 20 June 1922, Page 6

AN ARTICLE FOUND.

CANNOT BE RETAINED DUTY OF THE FINDER. MAGISTRATE GIVES RULING. A case of considerable interest, involving the law regarding articles found and the duties of the finder, came before Mr. A. M. Mowlem, , S.M., at the Eltham Court yesterday. W. A. Wilson, of Pukengahu, was charged with stealing a horse-cover valued at £2 3s 6d from Walter Hawke, on or about May 13. Wilson, for whom Mr. Sheat appeared, pleaded not guilty and elected to be dealt with summarily. Constable Townsend conducted the case for the police. The defence was that the cover was found on the road and that there was no duty imposed upon the accused to take active measures to find the rightful owner. Walter Hawke gave evidence that he was a casual worker employed by the Stratfbrd County Council. He put the cover in question on the horse after dark and, as it was a new one, he did not know what it was like. The horse went away down the Cheat Road that night. Next morning at daybreak he found the horse a few chains down the road, but the cover was missing. He made inquiries among the neighbors, but could not find the cover. He met Wilson a week later. Witness told Wilson about the loss of the cover, but Wilson had made no remark about it. A week later he saw a horse with a cover that looked like his own. He knew tlie horse belonged to Vvxison and sent word to the police. In answer to Mr. Sheat witness said Wilson was the last man he would suspect of stealing the cover. He could not personally identify the cover and there were no marks upon it 'by which it could be known. It was quite pos-

sible that the cover could come off the horse.

Constable Townsend said on May 30 he received word from Hawke that he had lost a horse-cover. He went up to ; Wilson’s farm next day and asked Wilson if he knew anything about the loss of Hawke’s horse-cover, and Wilson replied “No.” Witness examined Wilson’s covers and asked him where he got a certain new one. Wilson said he had found the cover on the Cheal Road a fortnight previously. Witness had never had any reason to doubt Wilson’s honesty before. Mr. Sheat contended that it was entirely a supposition that Wilson had taken the cover. He thought there was really no charge to answer. The Magistrate said there was a charge to answer and a very serious one. The accused said he was returning from Eltham on the morning in question between eight and nine o’clock. He saw a horse cover lying on the side of the road and his companion (Espiner) jumped out of a wagon and picked the cover up. Espiner put the cover on one of the horses later and it remained there until the constal ’e came for it. He was waiting for someone to claim it. Cross-examined by Constable Townsend, witness said he did. not see any mention of the lost cover in the Taranaki Daily News, although he read the paper regularly. The constable said a paragraph had appeared, although it was not in the nature of an advertisement. W. G. Espiner, brother-in-law of accused, corroborated accused’s statements regarding the finding of the cover. » Mr. Sheat admitted that accused had made no attempt to find the owner of the cover which they found on the road, but he also submitted that there was no active duty imposed upon the finder to search out the proper owner. The question was whether the retention of the goods for a fortnight, passively or otherwise, was sufficient proof of theft. He submitted it was not.

The Magistrate said it was not, to his mind, a very hard matter to decide. The law as regarded the finding of article* was that the finder was under some duty to find the proper owner. A person had a right to pick up an article and his duty was to make known the fact that there was an article in his possession, the owner of which was not known. He should communicate with the police. It was a matter of ordinary honesty that he should do something of this nature. The accused travelled along the road almost daily and never said a word to a soul that he had found the cover. Accused admitted it was not his cover. He knew it was’being used and took no steps to find the owner. If the oi’ner of the cover had made no complaint how long was the accused to use the cover? Till it was worn out? Accused had brought himself within the provisions of the Act and he must be convicted. Accused was accordingly convicted and admitted to probation for six months, being ordered to pay costs, os, and to return the cover to the proper owner.