Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1919-06-19
AIR SMUGGLING
IS new PROBLEM
Customs Officers Puzzled to Find
Way to Prevent Threat
ened Evil.
HARD TO ENFORCE RULES
Treasury Department Bombarded
With Requests for Rulngs-Air-
planes and HydropIanes ciassed
as Automobiles for Time
Beinu.

Being.
shington.-Smuggling by airplane
sounds exciting and is proving so TO
the customs division of the treasury,
which is, so to speak, "up in the air.
about it. For the time being, the de-
partment has ruled that airplanes ana
hydroplanes are automobiles so far
as it is concerned, but 1T is well aware
that calling a, bird a wagon will not
bring it down to earth where II can
tell what kind Of bird it is.
SO far there has been 90 report OF
Illicit importations by air line, but eX-
recitation of such traffic is not denied.
How TO prevent 1t is a perpleXing prob
lem. growing more and more pressing
as requests for rulings come from dep
uty collectors on our northern ana
southern borders. In the latter case
they have had to do with tobacco
brought in from Cuba by way of Key
West and Tampa.
Here is an entirely new problem for
the treasury to deal with in the col
lection of revenue through customs du-
ties. II is one to be solved by treas
nry regulations (born of decisions) for
which no additional legislation Is need
ed That it may be solved by q COM
prehcnsive order is almost despaired
of because the best thought of the de-
Iiurtmcnt, although the need of deal
ing with the situation has been long
foresccn. has not been able to hit upon
n method to close this door to secret
imporiatiOnS thrown open by mod
err method of transportation most diff
ficult, if not impossible, to control.
May Require Registration,
1t is believed that some scheme may
be worked out whereby all airplanes
leaving the country will be registered
at the nearest custom house on the
border, where n certificate will be Is
sned to be presented at any custom
house in returning, as is done now in
the case Of automobiles. This would
in most cases be a mere fo1mality, but
would permit search in suspicious
cases and would tend to keep down
smuggling "Will be registered" is rec
ognized as putting it strongly, as 1t
IL
compel such registration Of Il machine
miles above the clouds. The auto
mobiliSt finds it best to comply be-
cause without his certificate to surren-
der on return he must prove his car
Is Of American make Or pay perhaps
A. per cent ad valorem duty. There
would be no way to stop the flying ma
chine coming or going.
Deputy Collector Hayden L. Moore,
at San Juan, Porto Rico, seems to
think he has them going If not com
Ing To him airplanes are not auto
mobiles but seagoing vessels. Serious
injuries from business men on the
island have caused him to make this
ruling:
"In the absence of specific instruc-
lions from the department. | shall re-
quire airships clearing from Porto
Rico for foreign ports to be properly
documented under the rules Of the de-
partment Of commerce in the same
manner as seagoing vessels are regu-
lated. entries and clearances to be
made and all dues paid at custom
houses in districts where landings are
effected or voyages started"
Difficult to Enforce Rules.
This is very simple, but airplanes
Ere peculiar in their mode of travel.
The collector does not say how he pro
poses to enforce this requirement, and
has received suggestions from some OF
the Porto Ricans that an aviation
school for customs men be established
to bcStow degrees of "sky inspector"
and "custom ace" Service windows In
the custom house also are urged bear
ing the legends "Airships entered" and
"airShips cleared"
Deputy Collector Bmgassa, at Key
West has his troubles over what is an
airplane. He recently wrote to Collec.
tor Arthur G. Watson, at Tampa, that
# was almost a daily occurrence for
airpianes to go over to Cuba and re-
turn. One day his messenger boy over.
heard II man who had been paSsen-
gel on boat from Havana tell the
difference between travelling that way
and by arplane. He said he had just
paid $40 duty on lot of cigarettes,
when the other day he had brought the
same amodnt home by air and did not
pay cent. Collector Bragassa want
ed to know, "How about it?" Collec-
tor Watson told him to talk to the
navy people about it. He replied:
81 have conferred with Admiral
Decker, who has issued instructions to
the Key West air station that civilian
passengers will not be permitted to be
carried in sirplanes unless permission
has been granted by the customs Off
Ger in charge of the port, and also have
issued instructions that all airplanes
arriving at this port from foreign
countries will comply with the navy's
end of the regulations IN connection
with the reporting to the customs Of
fcer the arrival of American naval
vessels from foreign ports"