SUGAR THIEVING.

Taranaki Daily News, 27 September 1920, Page 8

SUGAR THIEVING.

EXTENSIVE OPERATION". Says the Wellington correspondent of the Eltham Argus;— Parliament is a place to which all worth hearing appears to gravitate. Long before the newspapers get hold of it remarkable information is frequently circulating through the lobbies, and members of Parliament are conversant with spicy items that would bo particularly interesting to the newspapers. Sometimes the information is gained from evidence given by witnesses before select committees; sometimes it comes from letters, confidential or 'anonymous; at any rate members get it. As for Ministers, they are kept posted up from a thousand sources. What they don't hear is not worth hearing. Your readers may have noticed that the Auckland Sugar Company are offering a large reward for information that will lead to the discovery of certain sugar thieves. That advertisement gives point to rumors that have lately been permeating the lobbies. It is said that there have been extensive robberies of sugar from the works at ChelseA; robberies on a magnificent scale. The story goes that hundreds of bags of sugar have, per means of a specially prepared chute, been slid at night time into small craft, and robbery on a grand scale thus perpetrated. It is surmised that there must have been purchasers for the sugar thus obtained, and that an exposure would make some Aucklanders sit up. There may be a tinge of exaggeration about the rumors, but the reward offered by the Sugar Company is a plain indication that the rumors are not baseless. I cannot give all the details of what members are saying; it would not be expedient, but they are of a sensational nature, and if based on fact it will not be long before some disclosures are made. The recent strike-may not prove to have been a calamity, for one of the results will probably be the disclosure of information Which will lead to a. claim for the reward offered by the company, When the strike ended the company refused to take back several men into its employ This was rather a bold stroke to play. Strikes usually end by all the lambs being again taken into the employers' fold. If this is not done the lambs usually have another fit of restiveness, and refuse to "cuddle doon" unless all their companions .are taken in i with them. The employer usually has to be on very firm ground before he can venture to refuse employment to any of his penitent strikers. The company has tefused to employ several. Can there be any connection between this fact and the disappearance of the sugar?