Evening star., 1896-03-21

ural friend Of smuggling. It Ii almost az
cheap for a travelling Parisian to stop on
at q frontier city like this and supply him.
self with Havana cigars as to buy them up
smuggling them across himself. All the
commercial travellers and buyers who rem
devious in Roubaix feel the temptation to
take away with them at least cigars and
IL ces IN good quantity. The great trade,
nevertheless. consists in reshipping the
merchandise in bulk to Paris.
Retail Smuggling.
In factory towns nearer still to the from
tier, like Halluin, two other kinds of snug
Cling. one wholesale, the other retail, are
In daily and hourly practice. Night and
morning Frenchmen cross the frontier to
and from their work in Belgium factories.
and Belgians pass in the same way be-
tween their homes and French factories.
They take work where they find it-and
Haliuin IS half in Belgium, half in France
IT Is impossible to search these Working-
men. women. boys and girls, hurrying in
crowds to their work or suppers. They
have no bundles and packages, for one
thing. For another, hundred would rush
through while ten were being searched.
And, lastly, the liberty of circulation in
the same commune" guaranteed by treaty
In the case Of such border-straddling
towns. would make inquiries into the des-
tination of small retail supplies an endless
and fruitless complication. AS it is,
every one knows that packages Of sugar,
spices tobacco, tea, coffee and bottles of
spirits are being thus smuggled unceas-
ingly. Indeed. 1t Is notorious that not half
the grocery stores Of these remarkable bor
der towns sell anything but contraband
goods. If the law guarantees liberty of
circulation for one street inside the bor-
der commune or ward, why should the
next street pay duty-and the next-and
the next-and so on till all that can be
smuggled is used up. The working people
gain a few cents daily. and they think
they have a right to it, Yet the sum total
or these petty depredations Is as serious
robbing of the public revenue as of the
public morals.
In one respect the town of Halluin Is
unique. 1t has houses which are half in
France and half in Belgium. The frontier
was determined in 1915 by Conventional
line drawn on the map Of Europe with
the pen and ink of the conquerors of Ma
poleon. AS a matter of fact this line was
round to traverse hamlets, towns and even
particular properties. So certain fields re-
manned half French, half Belgian, without
ceasing to belong to the same proprietor.
1t happened that only few actual build
ings We're thus cut through by the imagl-
nary line; and as 1915 was long while
ago. nearly all such houses have passed
away, never to be rebuilt. But 1t is easy
to see how convenient they would be for
smuggling.
When Smuggling Was Easy.
The French law is Of such a formal char
acter that it actually favored the illicit
traffic that prevailed for twenty years in
the house of Halluin. Its occupants for
that space of time We're open smugglers on
large scale. almost openly defying the au-
thorties. They could enter whatever goods
they pleased through the door of their
Belgian domicile, and coolly move them out
the door of their French domicile The
clause of the treaty guaranteeing "liberty
or circulation In the same commune" oDer-
ated TO shield them in peculiar manner
Ihere could be no preliminary inquiry as
to the destination, bulk and number of
packages entered into the Belgian doorway
The French authorities dared not cross the
Belgian frontier to identify the packages.
once inside the house the packages were
broken. The goods became practically
frencfl-or, If not, they could be moved
about in the same commune in small pack
ages freely. They We're in this way freely
circulated from one warehouse to another
and finally shipped away mixed with other
goods. Identification was impossible. And
they did thriving trade. The illicit busi-
LESS vas broken up only a few years ago
by courageous, but unlawful seizure of
persons, property and documents on the
part OF the customs director of Lille The
proceedings savored more Of the Spanish
inqu.sltion than of modern law routine and
We're utterly unjuStitled except by success
Proofs were obtained which sent the ring
leaders to Jail, and the man of Lille was
dismissed from his post--to be promoted in
another line of public service. He had been
successful But had he unfortunately failed
or made slip, the daring customs director
would have been politically and officially
ruined. The good people Of the Franco Bel
glan frontier have sympathy for snnugglers.
STERLING HEILIG.