The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1891-05-16
A sMUeeLER's PARADISE.
How Cinnamon Gain Access to the united
States.


States.
Looking ut the map one may see that
the northwest corner of the state of
Washington is torn off, and the space
that is left is filed with water, dotted
with an archipelago. Tho island of
Vancouver fits partially into the gaping
corner as if it had been torn out by
some gigantic convulsion. The tattcrs
and debris of the rent form the archi-
pelago. Our national interest conferred
in that corner long ago when that por-
ton of tho boundary was in dispute, and
the tension of war feeling was only
relieved when foreign arbitrator set
tied the boundary, and gave us the
island of San Juan, the most important
in the group. The city of Victoria,
writes Julian Ralph in IIarper's Maya
zinc, confines nearly all the population
on that corner of Vancouver island; the
city of Vancouver is the main settle
mcnt on the British Columbia shore,
and on our borders arc such little placec
as Whatcom, New Dungeness, and Port
Angeles, in the state of Washington.
Port Townsend, on Puget sound, is the
principal American town near by, and
the headquarters of the scanty force of
customs officials who are supposed to
guard against the smuggling, and who
are entitled to the presumption that
they are doing their best in this dircc-
ton. Victoria has only twenty thou
sand population, Vancouver fewer still,
and the islands only here and there n
house. Deer abound upon these islands,
: which are heavily tiinbcrcd, and the
waterways between them feel the lSecls
of but few vcsscls-of mono at all, OK
ccpt the smallest craft outside the main
channels. 1t would be hard to imagine
a more difficult region to police, or IL
faircr field for smugglcrs. Old London
itself has scarcely Il greater tanglc of
crooked and confusing thoroughfnrcs
than this archipelago possesses and
/, these waterways arc so narrow and
Nshcltcrcd that mere oarsmcn can safely
rnd easily travel many of them. 1t is a
siuugglcrs paradise.
Those who transport the Cinnamon
are all white men. The resident Chi
ncsc act as their confcdcrates and as
the agents of the Struggled men, but do
no part of the actual smuggling, that is
to say, the boating. The great SNUG
Cling is of opium. The introduction of
the Chinese themselves is of small ac-
count, SO far us the defiance of our laws
is'conccrncd, as compared with the in
PRODUCTION of opium. Yet that cXtcn-
sivc business also is carried on by white
men. The Chinese can not pass to and
fro as white men can, therefore they
leave the traffic to the whites.
These white men arc of the class one
would expect to find in such business
a government employe i'll Victoria told
me that would "be surprised to know
what important and respectable per-
sons were connected with the SNUG
CLING" but as he gave me no further
enlightenment, and as l failed to OBJ
tain any proof that any number of So
called respectable men proftcd directly
by the business, did not and do not
believe that there are many such. Those
who do the smuggling of the Chinese
arc unprinciplcd and reckless charac-
ters. They make their bargains with
those Chinese whose business it is to
arrange for the carriage of their coun-
trymcn into our country. The boats
employed are small sail-boats and quite
as small stcam-launchcs. When tho
owner of one of these boats has secured
sufficient number of Chinese to make
Cilt FCHluiC liOulstDlC IL IL StiCCcCtlS, lHc
journey is made at night, without COM
pliancc with the law which requires
vessels sailing after dark to display
lights at their sides. At times the con-
trabands are landed near Whatcom, at
times near Port Angeles or New Dungc-
ness. San Juan island, within our
border, is only twelve miles from Vic
toria, and has few Chinese resident
upon it. AT times Cinnamon are car
ricd there. Once there they can cross
to the mainland with moro freedom,
and with possibility of obtaining testi-
mony to the effect that they are and
have long been domiciled on American
soil. The s,nugglcrs charge twenty dol
lars to twenty-five dollars for landing
each Chinaman on our coast; twenty
dollars is the ordinary and usual
! charge. Wherever the Cinnamon are
handed they find either men of their
own nationality to sccretc them, or
white men awaiting their arrival, and
ready to take them to some Chinese
quarters. Once on land the danger of
arrest is greatly lcsscncd, and after
Interchangeable Chinaman has made his
way to one of the larger towns or cities
near the coast, his fear of detention by
our government vanishcs entirely.