.686 THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [April 1, 1904. 
SPECIAL MAGISTRATE SHOULD BK APPOINTED TO 
ITINERATE 
in the cacao districts during the cacao harvest. 
We agree that the personalty of the Magistrate 
who has to deal with cases of cacao thefts is 
an important factor in the problem. We 
are of opinion that the presence of an active 
and experienced Magistrate in the cacao dis- 
tricts will be followed by good results. Of the 
fifty-two estates from which we have received 
replies, it appears that in ten cases only 
were the rural police employed. In four cases the 
police are reported as more or less inefficient, in four 
as satisfactory, whilst in two cases the replies are 
silent as to the efficiency of the police. The con- 
clusion to which we have arrived on this head is 
that when the rural police is placed under strict 
supervision, and is worked in conjunction with the 
village headmen, the result has been satisfactory, 
but that without strict supervision and co-operation 
with the headmen the epithets "useless" and 
• worse than useless," which have been applied to 
the rural police, are not wholly out of place. 
THE EMPLOYMENT OF RURAL POLICE 
in practice imposes upon the Government a far 
heavier burden than the moiety of the cost of the 
force which Ordinance No J6 of 1885 contemplated 
should be borne by Government. We publish in 
the Appendix (No 4) a statement by Assistant 
Superintendent Dowbiggin of the cost of the main- 
tenance of a force of rural police during the cacao 
season in two groups of estates in the Dumbara 
district. It will be seen that the total 
cost amounted to E3,271 50, or about Rl'47 
on the acreage of cacao protected. Of the 
total of R3.271-50 no less than K2,491-50 
is represented by items towards which the 
Proprietors of the estates are not called upon to 
contribute. The actual cost of the police, half of 
which is borne by the Proprietors, amounted to 
enly R780. The Government therefore paid, of the 
total amount of K3,271-50, R2,881 50, and the 
Proprietors only half of R780, or R390. Tlie amount 
of R2,49l'50 which is wholly paid by the Govern- 
ment is made up of the following items : — 
Oost of oil, B4*.50; Batta to policemen on both 
gtonpB' B494 ; Batta to seventeen headmen. B998 ; 
Rewards to headmen, R995.— Total, B2,491-50. 
It is true that the last two items, which account 
for Rl,993 out of the R2,491 50, represent pay- 
ments to headmen rather than the actual cost of 
rural police. But if the co-operation of the village 
headmen is essential to the efficiency of the rural 
police, and the amount paid to the headmen is 
proper, the fact remains that the employment of 
rural police for the protection of cacao estates 
imposes an unduly heavy burden on the Public 
Treasury. If the present system of protecting 
cacao by means of rural police working in con- 
junction with the village headmen is excended, 
it will be necessary to take steps to secure a more 
equal division of the cost between the Govern- 
ment and the Proprietors. If the Proprietor, in 
addition to paying the cost of his own watchmen 
and half the cost of the rural police, were called 
upon tq pay half, or indeed any considerable 
proportion of the batta and rewards to village 
headmen, we doubt whether there would be many 
applications for the services of the rural 
police. Moreover, if the demand for the 
services of the rural police should become 
general, it seems certain that the police authori- 
ties would find themselves unable to provide a 
sufficient number of trustworthy men and • to 
furnish the requisite supervision. The result 
seems to be that the system of protecting cacao 
setates by means of rural police is 
ONLY EFFECTIVE WHEN THE CO OPERATION OF 
VILLAGE HEADMEN IS SECURED, 
and that when the remuneration of the village 
headmen is added to the cost of the rural police 
the total cost, in whatever proportion it may be 
divided between the Government and the Pro- 
prietor, is prohibitive. The evidence before us 
shows that in some villages, such as that of 
Katugastota, cacao-stealing is systematically 
carrried on, whilst in other villages it is of com- 
paratively rare occurrence. We recommend that 
in cases where it is proved that cacaO'Stealing is 
generally and systematically carried on the ex- 
periment should be tried of quartering punitive 
police during the cacao season. We now proceed 
to consider the 
QUESTION AVHETHER ANY SPECIAL LEGISLATION 
IS NECESSARY, 
and in this connection it is desirable to state 
briefly the present condition of the law with 
regard" to cacao-stealing, and the particulars in 
which it is urged that the present law is in- 
adequate. Under section 3 of Ordinance No 9 of 
1885, as amended by Ordinance No. 22 of 1886, the 
possession of the unripe fruit of the cacao tree is 
an offence unless the possessor gives a satisfactory 
account of his possession. So far as we have been 
able to learn the protection given by this provision 
to the cacao grower is worthless, for the simple 
reason that unripe cacao, being of inferior value, is 
not stolen unless by accident. Section 4 of the 
same Ordinance prohibits the pui chase of produce, 
including the fruit of the cacao tree, from estate 
labourers; this provision in theory is sound, but 
owing to the difficulty of proving the circumstance 
of any sale the protection given by this section is 
illusory. Under section 2 of the same Ordinance 
persons found loitering or lurking about any plan- 
tation are guilty of an offence unless they give a 
satisfactory account of themselves. Prosecutions 
under this section have been infrequent. With 
these exceptions, the offence of stealing or receiv- 
ing cacao is on the same footing as the theft of 
other things which are the subject of larceny. 
THE OBSTACLES 
which stand in the way of the successful prosecu* 
tion of persons for stealing cacao or receiving i- 
knowing it to have been stolen may be summarised 
as follows : — 
(a) Owing to the facilities for concealment which 
are offered by a cacao plantation, it is not often 
possible to detect the thief red-handed in the act of 
stealing, (b) When the offender is caught with 
freshly*gathered cacao in his possession in the 
immediate neighbourhood of a plantation, a prose- 
cution often fails because it cannot be shown that 
cacao has in fact been stolen, and even if this is 
proved it is impossible to establish the identity of 
the cacao stolen with that found in the possession 
of the accused, (c) The facilities for disposing of 
stolen cacao are very great. Beside the owners of 
small gardens, itinerant Moorish traders^ boutique- 
keepers, and others are always ready to buy cacao 
without asking questions. 
We have carefully considered the provisions of 
various Colonial Statutes, notably those of Grenada, 
for the suppression of thefts of prsedial produce, 
with the view of ascertaining whether their pro- 
