The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1809-06-09
THE ENQUIRER.
RICHMOND. JU.vh: 9. 1859.
MORE SMUGGL

TO THE EDITOR OF THE ENQUIRER.
SIR, nv
Through the medium of your widely cir.
culatiny paper, ! wish to invite the attention
OF the public, to subject of the first i'm
portance, SO tar as it respects the Staple
COMMODITY of this State.-as "A practice
now prevalent, tends Most essentially tn az
feet the interests of the Planter, of the fair
Merchant and the Community at large.
by an Act of the General Assembly, every
itogshead of Tobacco, brought for inspection
and considered by the Inspectors mir no
hdss, Is prohibited, under a heavy penalty,
from being erhoFsed Notwithstanding This
regulation, there are several p.rsons in this
place and Manchester, who are I'm the habit
OF purchasing. and in defiance Of the Law.
s1HsrfinS large Qudnti,ieS Of this refused
Tobacco. -,
To avoid Detection in this nefariois .rraf-
nc, numerous plans have been devised BY
these Iransgressors Of oar laws, and the
success which heretofore appears to have
attended their pursuits, has emboitened
them to Proceed with encrcascd avidity.
fart OF their system seems to be, to remove
each hogshead IF refused tobacco from tho
fuhlc Warehouses, to we'll known convent
enr Private Warehouses, where it requires
but siight.exertion of ingenuity, to oblite-
rate thenoted scratch of L Il, and substitute
The little variety of, Warehouse, Tare and
Nett--and thus to expert it,.
ms evil has been INCREASING AS the guam
tity of refused Tobacco has been very con-
siderable, owing to the injury sustained to
the Crop by the Frost-the quantity refused
of the present Crop that has been bookrd at
the different Warehouses in: Richmond and
Manchester, is about 1000 hogsheatls. exclu-
sive OF what's brougt. from the upper In
spections. g.,
No Tobacco Of consequence, has been
Slemmed during the present season, nor is
tho quantity of inferior Tobacco, consumed
by the Manufacturers, considerable
The lobaccoes, thus er,horted, arc princi-
pally shipped to Baltimore-and to luli sus-
picion and avoid detection, frequently by way
OF Norfolk. where it is lodged awhile, and
it not sold there, re-shpped. g
Baltimore and. Norfolk are selected as the
principal places of Deposit. because the
mode ofpurchasing Tobacco there, peculiar
ly favors the Fraud. In these, places, they
never break Tobacco in. selecting it, but
merely open and look at the head. Such an
inspection. affords no proof of what the To
oacco really is.-It also frequently happens,
that such buyers are guided by the general
reputation OF the Inspection, which they may
have thought proper to mark on the Cask
These proceedings affect the price of the
Tobacco, which passes Inspection hcre-as
me honest dealer i'll the article, cannot come
into competition with the fraudulent one
the prices. which yield the latter 100 per
Cent profit, will barely cover the formers
Cost and Charges.
The .Nery- York Market, which is of i'm
portance to the Dealers here, has also been
injured TO avoid the 7e-insfection of To-
Daccoes there, where they are in the habit
OF breaking it, as is usual here, these frau
duient Exporters direct their correspondents
to sell at auction, where it does not under
go the same scrutiny. 1t has the effect IF
Iesscning the demand for such Tobaccoes,
as are Permitted to be exported, and thus
the honest Merchant is injured, and The
Planter cannot obtain the Prices to 7uhich
he is entitled.
1t may NOT be amiss to hint to the Planter,
that his interests would be promoted, by ha-
wing his Tobacco picked, and that the few
Hundreds Weight, which are saved, will
nett him more than what he obtains for the
whole Hogshead refused. IL has been fire.
9MenHy o6serUed at the Warehouse, that
the exporters of the refused Tobacco COM
ONE foSefher in the purchase, and thus play
OFT their imfositions nfton Tie Planter. 1t
is well known, that in many instances, o,,Iu
zen dollars per Hogshead have been paid for
it.
IL may not also De amlSS to hint to the
Grand Jury. whether this fragrant violation
OF the Act of Virginia does not come within
the purview OF their powers, and whether an
indictment will not lay against these frau
dulent sinners against the offended laws of
their country. After all their investigation
"a particular cases, however, the ingenuity of
the smuggler will in the greater variety of
instances elude all thei:, researches.
Being one among those, who have suffer-
ed from this illegal traffic, have thought
proper to point out to you, sir, the forego-
ing Facts, which can be corroborated by
almost every intelligent Merchant in this
place. Our next Legislature will hope,
provide remedy, adequate to an Evil,
which, it suffered to continue, must prove
extremely detrimental to the Interests of the
State.
In the mean time, this Communication
may tend to lessen the Impositions, which
are Practised, in the purchase of this arti-
Gle, at Norfolk and elsewhere.
On the 30th Nov. 1908, Mr.. ] Randolph RI
dicules the idea of adopting what was called
an abstract f'rofosition. "It is not, said lie,
to be made the basis of any measure no
oil can grow out of it. And are que to en-
pioy ourselves in this manner, for the a
mnsement of the Galleries, of the Public of
w ashington. Georgetown and its vicinity"
haI proposition was resolve, sacred
pledge, that the u. States cannot without
sacrifice OF their rights, honor and indie
pendence, submit to the late edicts of Great
Britain and France
IN May, 1909, this very gentleman brings