39^ 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Dec.  2,  1895. 
TR.EDIAL  rUODl’CTS. 
THE  COMMISSION’S  “ SCHEME  ” TO  PREVENT 
THEFTS. 
The  sound  common-sense  which  tlie  Pncdial 
Products  Thefts  Commission  have  exhihited,  hotli 
in  the  conclusions  at  which  they  arrived  and 
the  reasons  by  wliich  those  conclusions  are  sup’ 
ported,  is  equally  to  be  seen  in  tlie  ‘ .Scheme ’- 
which  they  pro])Ound  as  worthy  of  adoption, 
should  circumstances  call  for  special  protective 
measures.  Although  they  felt  themselves  unable 
to  recommend  special  legislation  on  the  evidence 
before  them,  past  experience  and  future  possibi- 
lities suggested  to  them  the  need  of  being  pre- 
pared for  a contingency  which  could  scarcely  be 
considered  remote.  If  the  conditions  which  ob- 
viated the  necessity  for  special  measures  just  now 
were  the  ])rompt  and  vigorous  punishment  of 
ottenders,  the  fall  in  value  of  the  products  most 
easily  misappropriated  and  greater  facilities  forearn- 
ing  an  honest  living,  any  of  these  causes  may  cease 
to  operate  at  any  time,  and  there  would  then 
be  a recrudescence  of  thefts.  It  is  far  more  satis- 
factory to  consider  what  should  be  done  in  that 
event  now,  when  a calm  and  unbiassed  judg- 
ment can  be  brought  to  bear  on  preventive  pro- 
posals, than  when  (he  public  mind  is  excited  by 
losses  arising  from  impudent  and  daring  thefts. 
Then,  the  acuteness  of  the  disorder  suggests 
violent  remedies  to  the  sutTerers,  while  the  reck- 
lessness of  some  of  the  proposals  inspires  in  the 
(Government  distrust  of  the  suppliants  for  aid. 
Here,  farther,  were  brought  together  a body  of 
(dllicials  and  UnolHcials,  whose  experience  and 
moderation  might  not  l>e  forthcoming  at  some  future 
time;  and  it  was  very  advisable  theiefore  that  a 
scheme,  formulated  by  one  of  their  own  number, 
should  be  considered  and  revised  by  the  Com- 
mission already  appointed.  The  necessity  for 
another  Commission,  with  the  delays  inevitable 
in  appointing  one  and  receiving  ami  considering 
their  Report,  will  not  now  arise.  The  Government 
will  have  in  the  scheme  which  has  been  put 
forth  the  materials  on  which  to  proceed  if  spe- 
cial measures  are  again  demanded  ; and  the  tho- 
roughly judicial  way  in  which  the  and  cons 
of  special  legislation'  are  stated  in  dealing  with 
the  scheme,  should  be  a further  aid  to  the  Go- 
vernment. 
The  scheme  brielly  is  that  all  lands  or  gardens 
on  which  cacao  or  cofl'ee  is  grown— these  being 
the  only  two  products  who.se  protection  cannot 
be  accomplished  by  ordinary  means— should  be 
registered  in  the  Provincial  Kachcheri,  -with  full 
particulars  of  the  land,  its  estimated  produce  for 
the  year,  and  the  naihe  of  the  proprietor  or  man- 
ager. The  produce  of  registered  lands  can  be  re- 
inoved  only  on  permits,  books  of  which  in  tri- 
plicate will  be  issued  by  the  Government  Agent. 
One  of  the  permits  (which  will  be  numberedcon- 
.secutivelyjwill  be  given  to  the  carrier;  the  duplicate 
will  be  sent  to  the  Kachcheri  for  registration;  while 
the  original  will  be  kept  by  the  landowner  or  his  re- 
presentative, but  only  till  such  time  as  a second 
book  is  necessary,  when  the  originals  of  the  book 
i)reviously  i.ssued  must  be  sent  into  the  Kach- 
cheri. While  the  annual  estimate  of  j>roduce, 
which  the  Government  A"ent  has  power  to  have 
revised  when  necessary,  will  prevent  the  squatter 
from  increasing  the  yield  of  his  patch  by  appro- 
priation from  his  neighbours,— the  calling-in  of 
old  permit  books  before  issuing  new  ones  will 
prevent  the  dishonest  manipulation  of  old  forms, 
'rhe  inspection  of  Registers  by  any  one  on  pay- 
ment of  a small  fee  ; and  the  power  of  the  (Govern- 
ment Agent  to  insiiect  produce  in  transit,  and 
holil  inquiries  when  irregularities  occur  and 
prosecute  for  frauds — are  all  useful  jirovisions 
to  check  undue  acquisitivene.ss  in  small  land- 
owners.  But  dealers,  too,  want  looking  after — 
jierhaps,  more  so  than  growers  ; — and  they  are 
to  be  licensed  to  buy  and  .sell  in  specified 
places,  where  they  are  to  keep  records  of  their 
transactions.  To  them,  too,  the  Government 
Agent  will  issue  ]>ermit  books  in  tripli- 
cate, difl'erent  in  form  from  those  issued  to 
growers,  but  for  .similar  use ; and  without 
these  permits  no  produce  can  he  removed  from  a 
dealer’s  premises.  As  a corollary,  no  one  may 
receive  produce  from  a grower  or  dealer  without 
a ])ermit,  and  thus  an  ellectual  check  Mill  be 
juovided  against  the  class  but  for  uhose  ready 
acceptance  of  stolen  goods,  the  risks  incidental 
to  thieving  would  be  greatly  enhancetl.  As  sooji 
as  the  produce  is  received,  the  receiver  must 
foru  ard  the  permit  M'itli  his  endorsement  to  the 
Kachcheri.  The  dealer  is  guilty  of  an  offence 
M'ho  has  more  or  less  produce  than  the  permit 
Marrants. 
These  are  briefly  the  main  provision's — avoid- 
ing details  and  exceptions— of  the  scheme  ; and 
there  can  be  little  doubt  of  their  stringency,  and 
even  of  their  efficacy  to  reduce,  if  not  to  remove, 
the  temptation  to  steal  and  to  deal  in  stolen 
produce.  But  ue  must  not  lo.se  sight  of  the 
obstacles  they  mu.st  present  to  legitimafe 
trade  in  the  case  of  the  i^'norant  and 
loM’ly— those  mIio  cannot  read  or  Muite, 
and  who  M'ill  have  to  pay  for  the  smallest 
service  M-hich  the  sharper  can  render.  The  drau'- 
backshave,  hoM'ever,  not  been  overlooked  by  the 
(Gommi.ssioners,  mIio,  after  admitting  that  there 
must  be  “ considerable  interference  uith  the  or- 
dinary couise  of  trade,”  i)ioceed  to  describe  the 
scheme  in  the.se  terms  : — 
It  will  mean  registration  of  all  lands  cultivated 
with  c acao  or  coffee,  and  the  annual  correction  of 
registers  with  reference  to  producible  quantities  of 
crop,  and  frequent  corrections  with  i-eference  to 
chatige  of  ownership. 
It  will  require  the  filling-in  of  a somewhat  elabo- 
rate printed  form  whenever  any  produce  is  dis- 
posed of,  and  this,  in  the  case  of  a poorly  educated 
peasantry,  must  necessarily  involve  some  hardship. 
In  crop  time,  when  protection  is  most  required,  the 
checks  provided  will  be  difficult  to  enforce.  So  long 
as  a grower  has  not  sold  the  whole  of  the  estimated 
produce  of  his  garden,  he  will  have  a margin  on 
which  he  can  dispo.se  of  stolen  produce;  and  if  a 
mail  be  both  a dealer  and  a grower,  he  can  remove 
produce  on  either  a dealer’s  or  a grower's  permit  ns 
suits  him  best,  and  in  such  instances  the  checks 
provided  may  not  prove  sufficiently  effective. 
25t  To  render  the  scheme  effective  it  will  pro- 
bably be  necessary  to  largely  restrict  the  number 
of  licensed  dealers. 
It  will  be  difficult  to  supervise  or  examine  produqe 
in  transit,  while  the  large  number  of  permits  and 
of  permit  books  generally  in  use  will  open  a door 
to  fraud. 
It  will  thus  be  .seen  tlnat  only  under  excep- 
tional circum.stauces  would  the  promulgation  o 
the  scheme  be  justilie<l.  Meanwliile,  by  the  es- 
tablishment of  a special  Police,  in  what  m.ay  be 
called  infected  Districts,  on  the  apidication  of 
two-thirds  of  the  owners,  a handy  means  of  re- 
lief will  be  provided — the  Government  contribut- 
ing a moiety  of  the  cost  of  the  Police.  This 
remedy,  for  the  application  of  which  means 
already  exist  in  the  Ordinance  Hi  of  ISdd,  with 
certain  mollifications  suggested  in  the  Reiiort, 
should  be  adopted  promptly  when  thefts  become 
frequent  in  any  District.  Meantime,  let  (he  sug- 
gested amendment.s  of  (he  Police  (.Irdinance 
be  asked  for  by  the  Planters’  .Association  or 
the  Planting  re)iresentative,  from  Government. 
