ARE FINDINGS KEEPINGS ?

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XVI, Issue III, 18 January 1896, Page 78

ARE FINDINGS KEEPINGS ?

The finding of concealed wealth is now an event of rare occurrence, except in tales of romance and adventure. It was once not uncommon. For when civilisation was comparatively rude, and the ways of keeping valuables were imperfect, the earth was a favourite hiding-place for treasures, especially in times of war or invasion. The title to such valuables when discovered has been often the subject of dispute. Money, gold, silver or plate found hidden in the earth or in a secret place is termed treasure-trove —from the French trouver, to find. Such treasure, according to the law of England, was the property of the king, and in this country, strictly speaking, once belonged to the state in which it was found ; but the title of the state has not, for a long time, if ever, been strongly asserted against a fortunate finder. Lost articles of value found upon the surface of the earth, or in the sea, are, so far as concerns everyone but the owner, the property of the one who finds them. If they are afterwards taken from him by another, the finder can reclaim them as if he were the owner. A chimney sweeper’s boy, living in England mote than one hundred years ago, had the fortune to find a jewel of unusual value. He took it to a goldsmith, who, after looking at it and weighing it, tried to buy it from the boy fora trifling sum. The lad refusing the offer, the goldsmith returned to him the setting, but would not give back the gem. Upon the trial of an action brought by the boy against the goldsmith, the value of the jewel was concealed by the goldsmith, and he was directed by the court to pay the boy the price of the finest jewel which could be fitted to the setting. This incident resulted in settling forever the right of a finder to the possession of his findings. In order to give the finder such a claim, however, the article must have been truly lost. If it has been simply mislaid, or put in a particular place by the owner, and afterwards left there through his carelessness, it is not legally lost. A lady who leaves her purse on the counter of a shop where she has been trading cannot be said to have lost it ; and if the purse is afterwards picked up by another, the proprietor of the shop is said to have a better right to hold it than the one who found it. But if the purse had been accidentally dropped on the floor of the premises, and afterwards found there by a customer, that would have been a real case of losing, and the customer —if the owner cannot be found—would have as much right to keep the purse as if he had found it in the street. In order to be a finder one must be aware that he has the thing in his possession, and he must show an intention of keeping it. The purchaser of an old secretary or bureau sometimes finds put away in a secret drawer money or jewels long forgotten. To whom do they belong ? The seller did not know that they were there, and showed no intention of claiming them when the furniture was in his possession. They cannot, therefore, belong to him, but are rightly claimed by the person who first discovers them, whether he be the purchaser, a servant, or anyone else who is not a trespasser. To keep what one has found is not an absolute but a special right, which the true owner may dispute by demanding his property and proving his claim to it, to the reasonable satisfaction of the person who holds it. When the owner has offered a definite reward, the finder may keep the lost article until the reward is paid to him. But he cannot demand a reward where none is offered, nor can he hold the lost property as security for any expense incurred in keeping it, though he would be entitled to be paid by the owner for such outlay. One who is so fortunate as to find what belongs to another must always act honestly and with what the law calls 1 good faith ’ toward the owner. If, at the time of the finding, he knows, or has the means of knowing, or believes he can find out, who the owner is, and makes no effort to discover him, but intentionally keeps or disposes of the lost property, the law regards him as no better than a thief. On the other hand, if the owner does not appear, the finder acquires, at common law, an absolute title to the thing found, though by statute some of the states have in various ways limited and regulated the gaining of such a title.