CARGO THEFTS

Timaru Herald, Volume CLVI, Issue 23036, 30 October 1944, Page 4

CARGO THEFTS

100 Per Cent Increase In Five Years An increase exceeding 100 per cent, in the amount of cargo pilfering has occurred in New Zealand over the five years 1939 to 1943, says a statement issued by the Associated Chambers of Commerce of New Zealand. This is shown by figures covering the whole Dominion, compiled by the different New Zealand shipping companies, as follows: 1939, £1791- 1940 £1871; 1941, £2251; 1942, £2980; 1943, £3686. In addition to these figures, the insurance companies, over the nine months from January 1. 1943, to September 30, 1943, paid the following New Zealand coastal claims: Auckland £154; Wellington, £218; Lyttelton, £148 ; Dunedin, £323; other ports, £44; total £BB7. Cargo thieving, is a serious enough matter in peacetime, but it becomes one of serious concern during wartime. The fact that other countries, such as Britain, also have to contend with cargo thieves does not mean the position in New Zealand can be viewed with equanimity. The Liverpool Steamship Owners’ Association suggested this year that pilferage at the docks should be placed, for penal purposes, on the same level as looting. The London “Daily Sketch,” commenting on this recommendation, said' “Pilfering. whether at the docks, on the railways, or in any other place, is looting, and all too often the sufferers are the men who defend us. It is looting of a particularly loathsome nature What the sum total for all the victims is must be staggering, and it will not diminish until the Courts inflict exemplary sentences on the criminals—sentences so heavy that they will cause even the most cynical and hardened thieves to think twice belore laying their hands on what is not their own.”