Star.
London, England, 1821-10-13 00:00:00

• CONTRABAND TRADE IN SPAIN.

We subjoin, from a Madrid Paper, an article of
the subject of smuggling throughout Spain, which
will be read with interest by the curium., and migh;
(but that is less certain) be studied with a vary
by the official advocates of restraints and prohibitess
among our countrymen. A Tariff of enormous do.
ties upon foreign goods was the first specimen a
forded by the Cortes of the progress made by Spanish
statesmen in the elements of political econonn. gut
this measure, as might have been foreseen, ha, Ad
of every purpose which it could by pchsibility hoe
been designed to answer. It has failed as a spur to Spa.
nish industry; for no additional step has been ulna
establish or promote any native manufacture. kV
totally failed as a prohibition"; for Spain is osum
ith foreign fabrics from every part of Europe; ad
as a financial experiment, its success is no less oird
than notorious, inasmuch as the smu,v glen oast,
coast and in every bay of the Peninsula have NW
the officer's of the KING'S Government the milk
of collecting any duties. The Custom-house
never so poor as at this moment in Spain, and c
traband trade never flourished so extensively. Nsf
the Spanish Ministers entitl. d their Law of he Td
".A Bill for enabling certain Merchants ot tiltidar
to make large fortunes in the shortest possibktie,"
it would have been more appropriate to its presol
object. We understand that the Finance Minims
have it in contemplation to propose to the Enna.
dinary Cortes a revision of a commerciai system
which has been rendered practically subsersiess. to
purposes the opposite of those for which its frames
designed it.
- -

" Smuggling will always prevail in proportion to the umber
and rigour of prohibitory laws, or the excessive rivikin pis
to certain articles in legal commerce, in spite of the Mogul
most efficacious measures that may be adopted to erne:6l4
for, besides the stimulus of gain, there'
persons a sort of pride in overcoming

traille presents.

" Notwithstanding the present outcry
madam on smuggling, and the relaxation

plained of, I do not believe that greater

than in 1803 and the following years, at

site privilege conferred on the

nia gave so much offence to the merchants

*laces, that they vied with each other

.system, in doing which they were assisted

established warehouses of cotton goods

gal, at prices sufficiently low to indemnify

risks they encountered, and to render

of the Catalonians Impossible. The consequence

the classes who live by mercantile industry
trade, and every Spanish merchant had a concealed midi
English goods. Bonaparte pushed the prohibitions to &AP
extent in every country where he possessed power; iat g A
-confiscations

and burnings of English goods had no odor As
than to excite disgust throughout all Europe against aide
heard-of oppression.

0 It cannot be doubted that a guard well mounted, ell*
mended, and well supported, would have great effect isk
peding the contraband trade; but such means of premeds sib
to be considered merely as auxiliaries of the law which aing
annul or reduce within as narrow limits as possible tinfoil"
tive system, in order that private interests, whisk Ask*
overcome the obstacles opposed to them, may not too sark.l.°
volt against that system. How is 'it pounds to prevent eat
sling, and to guard with five or six or even with forty those.
men thtvast extent of our coasts and frontiers?
II To the inconvenient= already modeled, we have ts A
that a military guard cannot now interfere in commerckl tr.
actions in that arbitrary manner whiCh was formerly prstili
because such interference would be quite inconsistent vii'
Representative Government. But suppose it possibk so u°
street and regulate this military body as to make it act
moray with the constitutional system, it would still be se escudo
have a maritime guard and sentinels placed in synthesise:ll
secure the prompt cs-operation of the forces on sea sai hat'
What I state on this subject is founded in an experkeatinto
years in an office which I discharged with the approbad°
Ministry; and to shew the difficulty of preventing stone;
shall describe the manner in which the introduction do"
band goods is effected:
" Suppose, for example, that a contraband cargo it
be landed on the 24th of January, at a point details°
The broker, or pectic° as be is called, sends off, birlibt
his letters of invitation to the different towns of tbt 17,
accompanied with samples of the goods, and a note of del'
He at the same time sends a notice to the smugglers teMsirlid
the 234 to four or five different points, mentioning 0° 74
of armed men that ought to assemble, and the pho:01
they should station themselves. On the 24th the reveoi,
a messenger to each of the points in which it has been 41°L
parties should be assembled, to guide them &wird
Ott hart of tilt, coast where the landing is to be effexel

is among a certain dal
og the dangers snide J
tun against the eels
ion which is so modes
rer frauds were coal" II
at which period then}
es.manufactures of CO
rchants of the otherb
in eluding the pre*, II
isted by the linglhb,
is in Gibraltar and
inify the smugglers hr •
all competition to the a
consequence warOhr
industry entered era

o • proceed on their march in the most profound silence ; and
floc or :heir front, Banks, and rear, scouts, who make signals
whey., it s rcrcwry to w.arn them of any danger. When all the
parue-
• ire brought togethzr, the 'macaw collects money from them
hiF r•• 1 tion to the goods they are to receive; and this done, he
o
"arches with the whole body to the place where he had agreed
with the master of the smuggling vessel the goods should be landed.
“ Ile then establishes his outposts, makes a signal, the launches
with the goods are rowed on shore, and in two hours the busi-
ness is finished. The mules are loaded, and the proetioo Ilto3lll
pries them 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 practice
b 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 smug-
gling. 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?
Durilig the 31inistry 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, sequestered property, and had in fact
the liberty and propertyof citizens at their disposal. By this
arbitrary authority, and with the assistance of the troops, smug-
:hag 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 ob-
tained an equally advantageous result, with less severe and tyran-
nical wan& This Commission proceeded on a plan the adop-
tion of which would not be inconsistent with the Constitutional

mu". 9x vessels were appointed to guard the coast, lines of
patmb
aed Custom-house officers were formed on land, and te-
kophic signals announced the point on which a landing ap-
rued to be intended. Everything was so arranged, that within
half an hour the whole force of the patrols and the guard-boats
round be in motion on any given point. Thus the mischief of
mingling was checked in these Provinces, and the result was
an extraordinary augmentation of the Revenue in the article MI
tabaoco, on which the greatest fraud used to take place ; for in
the year 1804, the value consumed, in the three Provinces, of
Brazil tobacco and segars, was 1,305,735 reah, whereas in the
year 1807, the value amounted to 10,4E4893, *flaking an increase
0E9,115,098 reals; and yet in the executing the plans of this
Commission, only three pasons were imprisoned."