The Sun.
London, England, 1821-10-13 00:00:00

SPAIN.

ON CONTRABAND TRADE.
[From " TUE UNIVERSAL:"

Smuggling will always prevail in proportion to
the- number and rigour of prohibitory laws, or
the excessive privileges given to certain articles
in legal commerce, in spite of the wisest and
most efficacious measures that may be adopted to
extinguiSh it ; for, besides. the stimulus of gain,
there is among a certain class of persons a sort of
pride in overcoming the dangers which this traffic
presents.—N-otwitlistanding the present outcry
against the evils attendant on smuggling, and the
relaxation which is so much complained of, 1 do
not believe that greater frauds were committed
than in 1803 and the following years, at which
period the exclusiTe. privilege conferred on the
cotton-manufactures of Catalonia gave so much
offence to the merchants of the other provinces,
that they vied with each other in eluding the
prohibitive system, in doing which they were
assisted by the English, who established ware-
houses of cotton goods in Gibraltar and Portu-
gal, at prices sufficiently low to indemnify the
smugglers for the risks they encountered, and to
render all competition on the part of the Cata-
lonians impossible. The consequence was, that
all the classes who live by mercantile industry
entered into this trade, and every Spanish mer-
chant had a concealed stock of English goods.
Buonaparte pushed the prohibitions to the highest
extentin every country where he possessed power;
but all his confiscations and burnings of English
goods had no other effect than to excite disgust
throughout all Europe against such unheard-of
oppression.—lt cannot be doubted that a guard
well mounted, well commanded, and well sup-
ported, would have great effect in impeding the
contraband trade ; but such means of precaution
ought to be considered merely as auxiliaries of
the law which should annul or reduce within as

narrow limits as possible the prohibitive system,
in order that private interests, which will always
overcome the osbtacles opposed to them, may
not too strongly revolt against that system. how
is it possible to prevent smuggling, and to guard
with five or six or even with 40,000 men the
vast extent of our coasts and frontiers ?—To the

inconveniences already mentioned, we have to
add, that a military guard cannot now interfere
in commercial transactions in that arbitrary man-
ner which was formerly practised, because such
interference would be quite inconsistent with
a representative Government. But suppose it
possible so to instruct and regulate this military
body as to make it act in harmony with the con-
stitutional system, it would be necessary to
have a maritime guard and sentinels placed in
watch-towers to secure the prompt co-operation
of the forces on sea and land. What I state on
this subject is founded in an experience of 12
years in an office which I discharged with the
approbation of the Ministry ; and to chew the
difficulty of preventing smuggling, I shall describe
the manner in which the introduction of contra-
band goods is effected. Suppose, for example,
that a contraband cargo is intended to be landed
on the 24th of January, at a point determined on.
The broker, or practico as he is called, sends off
by anticipation his letters of invitation to the
different towns of the di3trict, accompanied with
samples of the goods, and a note of the prices.
He at the same time sends a notice to the smug-
glers to repair on the 23d to four or five different
points, mentioning the number of armed men
'that ought to assemble, and the places in which
they should station themselves. On the 24th the
practico sends a messenger to each of the points,
in, which it has been agreed that parties should
be assembled, to guide thorn during the night to
that part of the coast where the landing is to be
effected. These parties proceed on their march
in the most profound silence : and have on their
front, flanks, and rear, scouts, who make signals
when it is necessary to warn them of any danger.
When all the parties are brought together, the
practico collects money from them in proportion to
the goods they are to receive ; and this done he
marches with the whole body to the place where
he had agreed with the master of the smuggling
vessel the goods should be landed. He then
establishes his outposts, makes a signal, the
launchers with the goods are rowed on shore, and
in two hours the business is finished. The mules
are loaded, and the practico accorapaniea thetn
to the distance of two or three leagues until he
sees them in security, or he leaves them at
some point where the, smugglers disperse
to go to their respective homes. The prac-
tico is well paid both by the ship master and
the smugglers. With such precautions and such
dexterity, it will readily appear that it must be
very difficult for the military guard to prevent
smuggling.. How is it possible for 322 men to
guard the 76 leagues of coast in the kingdom of
Valencia, on which rich contraband cargoes are
frequently landed ?—During the ministry of
Senor Soler, great efforts were made to put down
smuggling. One of the measures of that ministry
was to appoint Royal Commissioners with very
extensive powers, who imprisoned persons, se-
questered property, and had in fact the liberty
and property of citizens at their disposal. By
this arbitrary authority, and with the assistance
of the troops, smuggling was in a great measure
suppressed in Granada and Malaga. Another
commission was nominated for Murcia, Cartha-
gena, and Alicant, which followed a different
course, and obtained an equally advantageous
result, with less severe and tyrannical means.—
This commission proceeded oe a plan, the adop-
tion of which would not be inconsistent with the
constitutional system. Six vessels were appointed
to guard the coast, lines of patrols and custom-
house officers were formed on land, and telegra-
phic signals announced the point on which a
landing appeared to be intended. - Every thing
was so arranged, that within half an hour the
whole force of the patrols and the guard-boats
could be in motion on any given point. Thus
the mischief of smuggling was checked in these
provinces, and the result was an extraordinary
augmentation of the revenue in the article of
tolxtcco, on which the greatest fraud used to take
place ; for in the year 1804 the value eonsumed,
in the three provinces, of Brazil tobacco and
segars was 1,305,795 reals) whereas "in the year.