THE OPEN DOOR TO THE THIEF

NZ Truth, Issue 1080, 12 August 1926, Page 7

THE OPEN DOOR TO THE THIEF

Unofficial Detectives In Pawnshops

(From "Truth's". Special Wellington .";■■ ReP-> The line of demarcation between . duty and business must be a fine ' ' one, as applied to some secondhand shops. |dT^W YER J%. F. R. WALLACE did "^.'^gbme plain talking m the Magistrate's Court last week, when a. secondxharid dealer was giving evidence on alleged theft charges. j He inferred—and there must be hundreds of instances to carry the m- ! ference—that. second-hand dealers | were almetst an incentive to some people to. steal, ;not because the prices paid ' were r attractive, .but because , there was an open door to the deadr . ■•"■ beat and the down-and-QUterj the ..thief and the "receiver" of stolen! ; >>|goods. . • "Are you a detective?" he asked v 'the second-hand dealer, who had • very generously 'phoned the police*' after purchasing some stolen gcVds. "Unofficially," was the reply. - Counsel: In effect, you knew you werS receiving stolen property?—No; I had a second-handNdeajer's license to buy and sell and when the police came along I gave them the pens. . . • "I always try to assisttthe police and give everybody a square deal." • Counsel: Well; I'm afraid I cannot see how a half-crown for v an article ■worth, perhaps, two or three hundred per cent, more is a square deal to anybody at any time!.