CARGO PILLAGING

Timaru Herald, Volume CL, Issue 22043, 16 August 1941, Page 4

CARGO PILLAGING

Manufacturers Reply To Mr Webb (P.A.) CHRISTCHURCH. Aug. 15 A reply to the statement by the Minister in charge of the Police Department (the Hon. P. C. Webb) that the number of reported cases of pillaging had decreased in the last year was made to-day 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 to only one aspect of the question. The 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 evidence. A reduction in the number of reported instances of pillaging does not necessarily means a reduction in the total value of the goods pillaged or a 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 this wherever possible. In view of the war conditions and the difficulties of obtaining new and satisfactory packing materials, and also the necessity to avoid waste, the question of pillaging becomes still more serious.”