The weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1891-1894, 1891-11-21
The Department has too Much Ter
ritOry to Cover With the
Present Fcrce Of
Officials.
Manufacturing 0pium III Victoria and
Then Smuggling il Into the
United STATES.


supervising special agent Of the treasury
| department. in his annual report 10 tine
secretary Of the treasury, shows that dur
ing the past fiscal year special agents
seized goods to the value of Sll3.2iD and
recovered SD $50 on account Of seizures,
! fines, duties. etc lie gives several in
stances of fraudulent importation and
refers to the difficulties under which
agents conduct their operations. Jingle
! says the work of the office has not
been accomplished without some irrita-
ton and instances criticism in tine pub
! lie press, inspired. doubtless, by those
! whose invoices have been called in Gucs-
tion, as we'll as by merchants of ungues-
toned integrity who have unadviscdly
! been given complaints OF the agents of
| foreign manufacturers seeking the adj
mission of their good at ticticiOus values
to the manifest loss cf revenue and in
jury to honest trade. II is un-
fortunately true that the public
officers, on account OF such Op-
position and criticism. some times
shrink from a performance Of their plain
! difficulty under the present conditions Of
enforcing the laws against smugglcrs
who make the Dominion of Canada the
base of their operations. The number
OF officers for collecting duty unon this
long line of frontier does not exceed
! twenty, and the present customs apprO-
priation will not admit Of any material
increase of this force. 1t is apparent
h1t lpi ,ptC Va, Mt N a
arc in some degree futile. \ similar con
dition of affairs exists upon the long
boundary line between the United States
and Mexico. The district Of Puget
sound, comprising many islands within
a few miles OF the British territory and
Il long lire of water front furnishes good
facilities for smuggling and clandcstine
introduction Of Chinese. against which
the customs officers have vainly con
tended | am reliably informed that
during the last year $4,000 pounds Of
crude opium were imported and manu-
factured at Victoria. making about 1O,-
600 pounds of the prepared article for
smoking purposes and that nearly every
pound of it was smuggled into the
United States. 1t is more profitable to
take the risk Of occasional capture and
coniiscatiOn than to pay the enormous
duty of SD per pound, which is prohibi-
tive Of legitimate impOrtatiOns and is the
essential basis of 1ir smurclcre' profit.
Reduce the duty 10 - per pound and his
occupation will he gone. The present
arrangement benefits the Canadian gov
crnment, which collects II per pound
upon the crude opium used in the man
ulacturc Of the prepared article. Oul
tariff act or lSAi admits crude c,,iun,
coutaiuinu o pcr cent of morphia free
lint imnnsrs - duty of $40 NOR mound nm
nm n,i,,m or . lnwrr Grade snch ae is
usod in tbn nron,r.tinn nf tbc Jruo ro,
smol;inU nurnnses. tbr same rate as is
now imnosel unon urrpurnd opiI,m m,
practical ofTnct ,f this is r,at thc rnvcnu,
rnrnnrIy IrrivrL from, imnortrd nr,innI
i. turn,d ornr to C.n.d, and f., th,
sn,urolnrs n vnrn Inttnr to dncl,ra al
n,inm frno nr lu+, finn to l,avo III,
,rn,nnt l,u,s on an. statute hnol, m,
rnnrn,r,,. rrnt;t. in o,,;,,m sm,,ogIino
.,ro In. or+;r,l, Va M hirh Iufw .,,T
, buvn induccI tbc cmnlnvmrnt III l,r,,r
,.n,it.i and , ,,roat rnrnhnr Of LnII
ei,iIIrul mon h,rn Lron Ind to o,roro !;
ON Illicit troit n,,do sn nIIu,.ir,r InT tI,,
'yi.tinr Inue
Drt fhr suurpI;n., ug orinm &c rrt H.,
,.,I,, .,I,r,,;n,, ,.nneonuor,o fnlIn,,.;n,, th,
,nnnir,, mn ~ RAILWAYS tbrnuyh Mani.
tihn Va Eor,Lwnet ir,ritnry ,,nd Hrit
; -, CnInn,iia Thr varinre irts nr com
cross ha,,;r" for tbnir cLinrt fine ny,lu.
.;nn nr Tbin6er jobnrrrs rrGm fine l,nitrI
. Statcs or. nracliralIy rulliIird hy fine
.,i,mdnstinn nrtro,u'tiGn nr Chinrsr rnn,.
. in,, Trnrt rrnn china thro,,rh thr DO
. '"I ,in,, nr CanoJ, Ti,n C,rn,li,n u,
,.,r,. Hallway c"m"onv s..-tom lands Chi.
,',o at S.,,,,,,nr L, H.. iEnus.nIs
rLo Cor.Iion ,rnvnr,,rIr,t rrlInrtg a
,,.,d to~ nr sIn an rnrl, Chinrsc rnreo,,
',nI ',i''ns hin, :, .nrtitn,f, vE;rh or,hl, 6
'",i' 1--WE il'"' " ~ ''''' VIZ.