New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-11-17

| of the train. Even upon this there has
| been an Improvement. II you travel by
through $50 called) express and in a
/ rationale des Wagons-lits, which has
huge monopoly, You need never en-
! ter a custom house after Calais, nor
ever leave the train. At the Swiss and
/ Italian frontiers the customs officers
| entered the train and the examination
Of through registered luggage was
made In the train while III motion.
! There was no delay. The train became
a custom house on wheels. Upon this
| again there has been an Improvement;
at any rate, there was on this occa-
/ sion. The first customs Inspector came
I to my compartment with the conduct
| or, who told him was going to Venice,
! adding out of his own head that had
nothing TO declare. a second Inspector
! appeared shortly afterward, asked for
/ him, remarked casually that ne sup
posed / had nothing to declare, re-
turned me the receipt and vanished.
/ Again during this interview. as in the
| Calais interview, I had not uttered
word. The formalities transacted
themselves. There was no question of
fee or tip. None was asked for or
limited at; evidently none was expected,
and l gave none. The hour was not
! far from q o'clock Sunday morning;
| the place somewhere on Swiss soil, be-
| fore reaching Domodossola, where
| there are both Swiss and italian GUS
| tom houses. l had been several times
at Domodossola in old days. 1t had
then-say, twenty or thirty years ago
an evil reputation; almost as evil as
New York, on less scale, since the
reign of the present Collector began
| But last Sunday morning you need not
have been aware that you were pass
I ing from Switzerland into Italy, or that
the custom house was a thing with
which you had any real concern.
| will pause TO ask Mr.. Loeb whether
| he really thinks the interest and
reputation of his country are furthered
by processes of inquisition with which
older and more complicated civiliza~
lions than ours have found themselves
able TO dispense. ] landed last NoVem-
Der, for perhaps the fifueth time IN
| Liverpool. There also / went through
the custom house and my luggage was
examined" The Inspector looked at
II. asked me If ] had anything to de-
clare. and, when 1 said no, put his
customs label on each piece, and the
ceremony was over. He had examined
the outside OF my trunks and with
that was content True, England is
nominally a free trade kingdom, but
there are duties on spirits. on tea, on
silver plate, on tobacco. and on other
things of which list is given you, or
is reeIed off by word of mouth. With
respect TO these, either the statement of
the traveller is accepted, or perhaps
single trunk is opened, possibly looked
into, and closed almost as soon as
opened.
In New York, as you know, the trav
eller makes his statement or declara-
ton in writing, supported by sort 81
customs oath. This precious document
is then ignored; the examination pro-
ceeds as If no declaration had been
made: the traveller is given to under
stand that he is probably liar and an
intending smugg!er, and the declara-
ton serves subsequently as basis for
legal proceedings should the custom
bopse people choose TO consider that II
Is incomplete or inaccurate, My oelel
is that nothing does more to encour-
age smuggling and bribery than MT.
Loeb's regulations and his ofheers
treatment OF travellers. What kind OF
-espect for law is promoted by empty
ing the contents OF a mans, or a Wom-
ans, trunks upon the dirty floor OF the
dock. and overhauling them with
hands not entirely clean? II / have
never had to endure, ! have often wit
nessed these performances. Which IS
the more decent way, Liverpoors or
New York's? And nobody suggests
that the revenue OF Great Britain SUI
fers or that the law is evaded, or mat
smuggling Is practised to any impor
tant extent is It or Is II not practiseu
under Mr.. Loeb's eyes and In spite o.
h,s bsrbarous methodist And does the
American now think that the law
ought 70 discriminate against him and
IN favor of the foreigner: as 1t does?
To us, It is true, the law makes one
concession. We are not required TO an
swer the series OF questions put to the
foreigner about his past life; so many
q, which are inpertinent and not few
| insulting.
AZ Venice there was no question OF
customs formalities, since those had
been completed at the frontier. But al
Venice. as elsewhere, there is an octroi
and the municipal authorities have the
legal right to make a strict search Tor
such articles, and they are many as
are liable 10 this local impost. 1t Is
rirht they wholly forbore to exercise;
ncr ia It often, II ever. enforced against
travellers coming from a distance oy
rau. There is, however, a fee TO DC
Maid. of which 1 first heard the next
day from the hotel station agent, VINO
told me he had disbursed In this re-