CARGO PILLAGING

Evening Post, Volume CXXXII, Issue 42, 18 August 1941, Page 6

CARGO PILLAGING

MANUFACTURERS'VIEW

PROBING ACTUAL FACTS

(P.A.) CHRISTCHURCH, August 15. A reply to the statement made by the Minister in Charge of Police. Mr. Webb, that the number of reported cases of pillaging had decreased in the last year was made today by the secretary of the New Zealand Manufacturers' Federation. Mr. D. I. Macdonald.

"The Minister's statement, as such, must be accepted," Mr. Macdonald said, "as it is no doubt based on facts available to the Minister. It refers, however, to only one aspect of the question. Manufacturers would have felt happier if the inquiries made by the Minister had been more penetrating than they" apparently have been. As far as is known, no inquiries have been made from manufacturers, who could have supplied a great deal of information.

"Reduction in the number of reported instances of pillaging does not necessarily mean reduction in the total value of goods pillaged or reduction in the number of cases or packages pillaged. Manufacturers are still of the opinion that pillaging is on the increase and the federation is going on with its investigations and efforts to put a stop to pillaging wherever possible. In view of war conditions and the difficulties of obtaining new and satisfactory packing materials, and also the necessity for avoiding waste, the question of pillaging becomes still more serious."