During the earlier stages smuggling was confined to articles paying high duty rates, such os artificial sie yarn and sugar, but with the accumulation, fof stocks of these commodities attention was turned to other varieties until finally every conceivable kind of sundry, Irrespective of the duly rates, was finding its way to Tientsin through the open door created in East Hopel; moreover. arms and ammunition in comparatively small Tots were not excluded from the list. The volume of illicit goods arriving at Tientsin from the east attained ite peak towards the middle. of the year, when it is ted that some $2,000,000 per week were escaping, the duty account. In May there was inaugurated a Customs Chief Inspec tion Bureau for the Prevention of Smuggling by Rail, and while the situation in the North did not-permit of the Customs functioning effective. ly on the Peiping-Liaoning Railway and, thus checking. the transport of HMllelt goods from East Hopeh to the neighbourhoods of Tientsin and Poi-ping, the establishment of some seven-een' Customs inspection posts on the Tientsin-Pukow, Peiping-Hankow, Nanking-Shanghai, and Shanghai Hangchow lines had the almost mediate effect of stopping all ship-mont's of smuggled goods by rail freight southwards from 'Tientsin, Certain quantities of sugar, artificial silk yarn, and cigarette paper were, however, transported to Tsinanfu as passengers' baggage by Korean renin, Who not only ejected members of the travelling public from passenger coaches in order to provide the necessary space for their goods but algo caused considerable damage. to the coaches themselves when leadin, at Tientsin and discharging
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.