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138
themselves to prevent the offence". The writers of
the letter could hardly have expected their words to
be taken literally.
5. The attitude adopted by Messrs. John Swire
and Sons Limited with regard to this matter appears
to me to be largely dictated by two considerations.
In the first place they hope to escape trouble with
their crews by placing on the Government the onus of
search for and confiscation of unmanifested cargo.
In the second place unless the search is undertaken
by police or other Government officials it will be
necessary for the companies to maintain a special
staff for the purpose which, unlike ships officers,
will be available in case of legal proceedings as
these will probably come on only after the departure
of the vessel. The companies state that they
cannot with trade in its present state afford to
maintain such a staff and wish to transfer all
expenditure to the shoulders of the Government.
6. I am not at present satisfied that the
Government would be justified in accepting such a
responsibility, apart from the question of cost which
in itself would be considerable. The Superintendent
of Imports and Exports has accordingly been instructed
to discuss the matter with the representatives of the
chief shipping companies on the basis that the discovery of unmanifested cargo is a matter for the
companies themselves but that the Government is
prepared to take all necessary action when once such
cargo