Lost and Found: For Free or For a Fee?

Lost and Found: For Free or For a Fee?

Recen tly, a com pany dea ling in lostand-found property started up in Nanjing.Company employees say lost property is sent to the company by finders such as dustmen,who can receive 30 percent of a finder’s fee.The charges are not set random ly but according to market value. For instance, normally, people have to pay 40 yuan ($6) for a new ID card but it also costs them time and energy, so the company sets 50 yuan($7.5) as the standard for claiming an ID card. Similarly, 20 yuan($3) should be paid for a lost prepaid commuter pass or bank card;100 yuan ($15) for a business or a driving license; or 40 percent of the balance on a gift card or phone card.

The company says, “We, together w ith the dustmen, do a lot of work. Owners of lost property can get their items back. It’s a w in-w in result. The payment is a reflection of the value of our work, which has nothing to do w ith traditional morality.”

Supporters say they think, since the com pany offers a service to owners of lost property, it should be financially rewarded. People who pick up lost property and hand it in to the company should also be paid.This doesn’t violate the traditional virtue of “not pocketing the money one picks up.”

But many people think the opposite. Some legal experts warn the company may become a channel for disposal of stolen goods by crim inals, which w ill indirectly encourage crimes such as stealing.

A good business

W ang Pan (Jiangnan Times):The Property Law stipulates the finder of a lost-and-found object should properly keep it before it is handed over to the relevant department, and the relevant department also shall do so before it is claimed by the right holder.

On the premise of prohibiting lost-andfound property companies, the “relevant department” should be something like“the police station.” When a certain cost is entailed in finding original owners of lost property, individuals or even relevant departments can hardly manage to do it in a timely and efficient way. In this circum stance,should we let the original ow ners suffer anxiety and pay greater costs?

LI ShIGONG

A lthough a commercial lost-and-found property venture may encounter problems such as being an avenue for disposal of stolen goods, it is not the worst of many options. Besides, the Property Law stipulates,“The law ful owners of the object, when obtaining a lost-and-found object, shall pay the person who finds the object or the relevant department such necessary expenses as the cost for safekeeping the object.” It’s the legal basis for the business.

As long as a commercial lost-and-found property company is properly managed, it can avoid certain problems. From my point of view, this business should be treated specially, like keysm iths. If strictly regulated,replacing a lock or key—which is an opportunity for thieves—is still a good service for people who have lost their keys.

Long M in fei (Shen zhen News): There are two ways for morality to p lay a role: One is a spontaneous mechanism, which relies on mutual supervision by members of society; the other is social intervention, which relies on rew ard and punishm ent systems set up by the government or nongovernmental organizations.Commercial lost-and-found property companies belong to the latter,w ithout any doubt. As long as we regard them w ith a realistic attitude,w e should adm it their incentive role in encouraging good deeds.We should see a reward for virtue does not call for “draw ing water to one’s own m ill” or denying the essence of morality, but advocating the plain concept of one good turn deserves another, which has been a common tenet among people for a long time.

Besides, the General Principles of the Civil Law of China explicitly stipulates in Article 79, “Lost-andfound objects, flotsam and stray animals shall be returned to their rightful owners, and any costs thus incurred shall be reimbursed by the owners.” Meanwhile, the Property Law says when claiming lost property, original owners should pay necessary fees, for instance the keeping fee, to individuals who picked it up or the related department. It show s commercial lost-and-found property companies are backed by the law.

The law in Japan says the owner of lost property should give a finder at least 5 to 20 percent of the value of the property. The law in Germany says if lost property is worth more than a specified amount, people who find it have the right to ask for a financial reward. Apparently, commercial lost-andfound property operations make a certain sense and don’t violate the law. Commercial lost-and-found property companies won’t lead to a deterioration in morality. On the contrary, the concept they advocate w ill have certain a positive influence and significance.

Zhu Shaohua (www.scol.com.cn):The foundation of commercial lost-andfound property companies is turning what was measured by morality into something now measured by a more tangible economic value. People who find lost property can not only regain their costs in looking for original owners but also gain a profi t. As for original owners, a small fee is much less than the trouble they should have gone through. Isn’t this making the best of both worlds? The idea the involvement of money discourages good deeds is not only impractical but also hypocritical.

More precisely, people who pick up lost items and hand them in to lost-and-found property companies have fulfi lled their moral obligation. A financial reward is just compensation for their labor and costs during the process. We can’t deny anyone’s moral standing just because they are financially rewarded. The companies pay a certain cost for finding original owners, and also the cost of renting an office and advertising. This shouldn’t have caused such a fuss.

Q iao Zhifeng (www.jx.xinhuanet.com): Compared w ith the virtuousness of not pocketing found money or items, although commercial lost-and-found property operations have certain flaws, they are very practical. The emergence of these companies offers another possibility for people to get their personal belongings back.

A commercial operation of this type is w idely questioned because of the financial reward. I wonder if those opponents have thought about the fact the operations of a company incur certain costs as well, from collecting the lost items to finding the original owner. Since it’s a commercial service,the charging of fees shouldn’t be criticized harshly.

As the staff of the company in Nanjing say, they have put in hard work and the original owners have their lost property back,which is a w in-w in result. Financial reward is a direct reflection of the value of one’s hard work, which has nothing to do w ith traditional morality. The existence of commercial lost-and-found property companies makes sense, as long as they are well managed and regulated of course—in case of the possibility of disposal of stolen goods.

Transgressing morality

Cong Xiaobo (www.workercn.cn):The emergence of commercial lost-andfound property companies is convenient for careless people. But we can’t allow it just because of its convenience. These companies don’t meet existing criteria for business licensing and could easily destroy public order.

Ye Kuo (Qingdao News): Recently,profit is being mentioned everywhere. The deterioration of morality has become a horrible trend. Some people are consciously or unconsciously impacting and eroding the bottom line of morality little by little. This damage may be inconspicuous initially.But after a while, chronic social effects w ill result, causing the collapse of the system of morality. We can say in a society where morality and rules have been severely affronted,political and social crises w ill begin and occur in sequence.

Luo Lijun (Yangzi Evening News):The Property Law says in Article 112, “The right holder of the object, when obtaining a lost-and-found object, shall pay the person who finds the object or the relevant department such necessary expenses as the cost for

If we let them develop in an uncontrolled way, the most direct disadvantage is the companies can easily take advantage of the initiative of people who pick up lost property so as to make profi ts and damage social fairness and justice. For example, if a company takes lost property w ithout giving out information about it or contacting the original owner, nobody can do anything about it.

Meanwhile, because of many uncertain factors in the lost-and-found process, these companies’ accounts can be very obscure,w hich w ill hinder taxation regulations.Maybe a company becomes very profi table but has little money in an account.

“Not pocketing the money one picks up”is a traditional virtue of Chinese people. A commercial lost-and-found property company is actually violation of the concept, which has a great impact on the moral system of the whole of society.

The emergence of commercial lost-andfound property companies reflects absence of public service in this area. It’s the government’s obligation to take quick action.safekeeping the object.” Also Article 111 of the law says, “The person who finds the object shall properly keep it before it is handed over to the relevant department, and the relevant department also shall do so before it is claimed by the right holder.” Based on that,people who find lost property, for instance the dustmen, have the obligation to keep it properly, and therefore the owners of lost property may give them a financial reward.But a lost-and-found property company is not the one who finds the lost property, nor is it a relevant department. Profits it makes by acting as an agency for the transfer of lost property from the finder to the original owner is ill-gotten gain.

Liu Yikun (Beijing Youth Daily): In real life, although there are lost-and-found property offices in police stations and many public places, these agencies are separately administered. So it’s hard for them to find owners of lost property through joint efforts.This may be the rationale for a commercial company. But commercial lost-and-found property companies are apparently not conducive to the continuation of the traditional virtue of “not pocketing money one picks up.”

German law regulates if an item has been kept in a lost-and-found office for six months and hasn’t been claimed, staff w ill contact people who found it about whether they have an interest in claiming it. If not, the item w ill be auctioned. It’s also stipulated,finders of items worth more than a specified amount can have at least 5 percent of its value as a reward. But the fact is many people refuse this reward. We can see this pattern is not only effective and convenient but also is helpful in advocating a good atmosphere of mutual help. If this pattern can be w idely disseminated in China, disputes about commercial lost-and-found property companies w ill no longer exist.

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