OX OSTRICH FEATHERS THEFT KV.l' IJKssiOX BILL. 41 



285. Would you- be in favour of one licence . Hon. 

 covering the whole Colony, or would you have K.C.?LLA. 

 different licences for different districts ? Different 

 licences for different districts. We want to have 



some hold on a man. I have seen a lot of it in 

 connection with prospecting. A man takes out his 

 licence in Cape Town, and buys feathers in Oudts- 

 hoorn, the Civil Commissioners do not know 

 whether lie has a licence or not, whereas, if he 

 took one out in Oudtshoorn, the police and every- 

 body would know it. 



286. Would you he in favour of licences being 

 issued only to buyers who have a recognised place 

 of business, or would you allow anybody to go 

 about from farm to farm, and buy ? If you are 

 going to search recognised places of business, it 

 would do, but it is a difficult thing to go into a 

 business place and ask for the books in order to 

 examine them. If a man must have a recognised 

 business in order to get a licence then a man might 

 set up a business near your farm, and you would 

 have a place where all your servants could go and 

 sell feathers at night. Now they do not know 

 when a man is coming, but if they had a shop the 

 t: volk" would know where to go to, to sell the 

 feathers. 



287. If we had a clause in the Bill preventing 

 any buying from unregistered owners, that would 

 prevent what you fear ? But you must remember 

 people break the laws. 



288. The difficulty seems to be with the buyers 

 who go from farm to farm. If it is advisable to 

 limit licences so that only established places of 

 business could get them, 'that would stop illicit 

 buying at once, but, of course, we lessen competition 

 by that ? Yes. 



289. You would not be in favour of a permissive 

 Bill, in this way that where the majority of the 

 farmers wish to restrict licences only to recognised 

 established businesses for instance, Oudtshoorn 

 would never consent to do away with " smousers," 



