LOST PROPERTY

Greymouth Evening Star, 13 July 1935, Page 5

LOST PROPERTY

FINDING NOT ALWAYS KEEPING The old saw, “Finding’s keeping,” is not the essence of wisdom, and possession is not always “nine points of the law.” A query put by a correspondent, as to what is the position if a person finds a cycle, for instance, and hands it over to the police, was made the subject of enquiries, to-day, by a “Star” representative. The procedure in such cases was explained by a police officer. When a cycle, or other article, is found, and handed over to the police, it is retained for a certain time, and then, if the owner is not found, the article is handed back to the finder. If he does not want it, the article is sold, and the proceeds of the sale are paid into the Consolidated Fund. The finder is always given an opportunity to claim die article, before it is sold. There is a moral obligation on the finder of any property, to hand it over to the police. If the police do not find the owner, the finder is then regarded as the owner of the property. It is always advisable to hand over found property to the police, because in many cases they receive complaints that property has been lost. If, in the course of investigating such a complaint, they come across the finder of the property, and he has made no effort to communicate with the police, he is placed in an awkward position, which may lead to his appearance in Court.