ON' OSTRICH FEATHERS THEFT REPRESSION' BILL. 33 



checked ? I do not know what the good of that Mr. 



\\rnn Irl ho J. H. Schoe- 



WO1 06. man M L A 



24?. The duplicate given to the, farmer will of 

 course help, but what is the use of that if a man cfiii Jv 

 leave a district without giving the police a chance of 

 examining his books or feathers? You would put 

 such a buyer in a troublesome position if there is no 

 magistrate or police close by. Where is a man to 

 go ? Say, for instance, he goes from Somerset East 

 to Cradock, and on the first farm he comes to the 

 farmer has a parcel of feathers, which he buys. 

 Very likely there will not be a magistrate, a field- 

 cornet, Justice of the Peace, or any police there to 

 examine the feathers. 



243. Are you in favour of the registration of 

 -ostrich brands ? No, I do not know if that would 

 be necessary. Every farmer has his brand now, 

 and if you have an Act making it compulsory it 

 would be awkward when birds are sold. I do not 

 see what use it would be in catching the thief, and 

 the object of legislation should be to catch the 

 thief and riot trouble the farmer too much. 



244. But there are thefts of ostriches as well as 

 of feathers ? Yes, but an owner who has branded 

 his birds can always identify them. 



245. The brands may be erased? You can 

 always see that. 



24(3. Are there many complaints in the Oudts- 

 hoorn district about ostrich feather thefts ?r No, 

 not many. 



247. The birds are kept in smaller camps there 

 than in the Midlands ? I would not say that. We 

 have camps of from 2,000 to 3,000 morgen. During 

 the winter our birds go into the veld camps. If 

 you drive your birds into the veld you never get 

 the same number back again ; there are always a 

 few missing. 



248. Mr. de Villiers.'] In order to get over the 

 difficulty of a feather buyer having to give 

 notice to the magistrate, or a field-cornet or 

 .the police before he leaves a district would 



IC.l. '07.] -Ostrich Feathers Theft Repression Bill. r> 



