Customs Preventive Service Redoubles Efforts to Check Practice ECENT raids made by the Chinese Maritime Customs on Chinese and foreign shops in Shanghai have drawn attention to the gr increase in smuggling since the introduction of the new and higher tariff rates.
In the days of the old tariff smuggling of ordinary goods was not very attractive.
Since the new tariff was introduced the profits on non-duty paid goods are so high that it is a highly profitable business and well-organised gangs have been formed to defeat the vigilance of the Customs. It is no longer a business of smuggling just gems, drugs and expensive luxuries. Prosaic commodities of ever Wy life are quite as profitable to the smuggling gangs, The extension of smuggling has consequently resulted in intensification of effort by the Customs preventive service, which is China's watchdog against infringement of Customs rights and duties.
'A number of new revenue cutters have been ordered, one being recently launched, and others will be built to frustrate the wiles and ingenuity of the smuggler. generally Involved opium, naveotic Smuggling in the days long.
rin and ammunition and very. ex: pensive luxuries.—At the present Time since the introduction of the new rates in many margin of duty is 40 cost of the. goods landed ports that dealing in the ordinary Hecesaities of life i equally as protable a. business.
In the days of the old tariff, amiteging of ordinary goods Vast female such as exists at present was practically non-existent for the simple reason that the prevailing
Justify the risk of detection, fait ates were not high enough Smugglers chiefly confined their ac-{MH fo the running of prohibited th the building of the tariff wall, the whole position changed and not only does the dealer find himself tempted to evade the Custom: by the higher profits to be obtained in non duty paid goods, but the commission has become high: smuggling of goods for others ona ly paying proposition and is. being organised associations exploited to the full by highly
formed, for this specific purpose. That is the reason why ordinary commodities can be found on the market having been transport-great distances without paying any duty and yet capable of being sold at'far cheaper prices than the duty-paid goods.
Jalready known to have produced remarkable results, although the service has by no means been fully. developed and compared with corresponding preventive services in the United States and in Europe is apparently being administered on a very modest scale.
A number of revenue cutters have been ordered and some are actually in commission while others are in course of construction. One of se new vessels, the Hua Hsing, launched by Lady Maze, wife of Sir Frederick Maze, Inspector. General of Customs, on June 8 and at the beginning of October successfully underwent her speed trials outside Woosung, Highly satisfactory speed and other tests were ear-ried out and a sister vessel to the Hua Hsing is being completed at Kiangnan Dock and is expected to undergo her trails and be handed over some time this month. It is interesting to note that the crew of the Hua Hsing received intensive training in the use of Vickers and Lewis guns and good firing was re-
One of the new revenue cutters is operating in the north and reports from Tientsin and Chefoo affirm that sugar smuggling in those areas has been checked and that this. important staple is now on th market at normal prices whereas {few months ago it was sold at prices fa In this way the smuggling business in China has been transformed, und as far as ordinary. goods are concerned smuggling may be said to have risen during the last two years, from comparative insignificance to heights of importance, the extent of which is, however, pro-Ddlematical and cannot be gauged at resent, The, raids which were made in Shanghai recently were chiefly in connection with jewellery and watch articles, which on account of their small'size, lend themselves to smuggling.
These articles are generally car-vied in the luggage of passengers for concealed about the persons of Passengers, Tu other cases they are lidden among other and more bulky goods and in many ingenious ways devised by the smugglers. The post is also used for the smuggling of articles of a smaller size. This applies to both pated and letter post, A great deal of the smuggling To-day emanates from the free port of Hongkong and from Dairen, the proximity. of these two places making them convenient headquarters and jumping-off places for the mi smugglers, This, of course, is only the local angle of the situation, "Large quan-titles of articles are also despatched from European countries in various ways calculated to evade the vigil ance of the Customs officers on their arrival in China.
'The majority of the smuggling organizations operating in China {ouday are Chinese but foreign cies. are also Known to be active in the business. Reports from a Hong-Kong correspondent of the "North: China' "Herald" indicate that smuggling between the Colony and Canton is rampant and that some of it actually enjoys official patron. age. Smuggling to other parts of the South China coast from Hong-'Kong is also in existence and swells the total.
'The answer of the Chinese Maritime 'Customs is am increased pre Yentive service "and. intensified activity to combat. the threat of the smugglers. The activities of the Customs preventive service' are tne new service it is expected that smuggling generally will be curtail-fed and that in the course of time China's revenue will be better pro-ceted, Tu some European countries thy cost of collecting revenue really increased by the cost of pre-Fentive measures and Germany, or fmueh as 30 per cent. of her total example, is reported to spend a
revenue on the maintenance of her Preventive service. There are no fieans of ascertaining definitely what the corresponding. percentage Ts'in China but it is probably less than one-tenth of the amount spent by Germany.
Now Alleging that the recent raids Jeonducted' by Chinese Customs Steers on certain shops in the city land the scissure of quantities fection tas Soon submited tothe ods were unwarranted, joint
tional Government and the Fine lance Ministry by over 100 local Chinese trade guilds, asking for the dismissal of three' Customs offi including Mr. HO. Tong, the Ca toms Superintendent, and. Inv. Lo H'Lawford, local Customs Gon: joner.
Tu trade guilds further allege that their the Ci tition, ese the Customs authorities have only the fright to prevent smuggling by importers, and have no Fight to conjuet_ searches when the allegedly smuggled goods have been sold by the importers to the ordi Sir Frederick Maze with law and were justified in view Jof the fact that documents proved that the goods had evaded the payment of duties.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.