Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1919-05-21
AIR SMUGGLING
IS new PROBLEM
Customs Officers Puzzled to Find
Way to Prevent Threat
ened Evil.
HARD TO ENFORCE RULES.
Treasury Department sombarded
With Requests for Rulings-Air-
planes and HydropIanes cIassed
az Automobiles for Time
Eeind.

az Automobiles for Time
Being.
Washington.-Sm 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 IL. For the time being, the de-
partment has ruled that airplanes and
hydroplanes are automobiles so far
as 1t is concerned, but 1t is well aware
that calling bird wagon will not
bring it down to earth where it can
tell what kind of a bird it is.
So far there has been no report Ct
Illicit importations by air line, but eX-
pectation of such traffic is not denied.
How to prevent it is perplexing prob
lem, growing more and more pressing
as requests for rulings come from dep
uty collectors on our northern and
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. 1t is one to be solved by treas
ury regulations (born of decisions) for
which no additional legislation is need
ed. That ii may be solved by COM
prehensive order is almost despaired
Of because the best thought of the de-
partment, although the need Of dea!.
ing with the Situation has been long
foreseen, has not been able to hit upon
method to close this door to secret
importations thrown open by mod
err method Of transportation most Off.
ficult, if not impossible, TO control.
May Require Registration.
It Is believed that some scheme may
be worked out whereby all airplanes
leaving the country will he registered
at the nearest custom house on the
border, where a certificate will be is
sued to be presented at any custom
house in returning, as IS done now in
the case Of automobiles. This would
in most cases be mere formality, 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 II
is admitted it would be impossible to
compel such registration of 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
40 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
inquiries from business men on the
island have caused him to make this
ruling:
"In the absence of specific instruc,
tons from the department, l 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
are 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 bestow 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 Bragassa, at Key
West, has his troubles over what is an
airplane. He recently wrote to Collec
tor Arthur G. Watson, at Tampa, thai
II was almost a daily occurrence fol
airplanes to 60 over to Cuba and re
TURN. VIC uSty hio IhSSoShSSi wv W.
heard a man who had been passen
ger on boat from Havana tell the
difference between travelling that way
and by airplane. He said he had just
paid $40 duty on lot of cigarettes
| when the other day he had brought the
same amount home by air and did not
pay a 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:
II have conferred with Admiral
Decker, who has issued instructions tt
the Key West air station that civilian
passengers will not be permitted to bt
carried In airplanes> 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:
end of the regulations In connection
with the reporting to the customs of
ficer the arrival of American navs
vessels from foreign ports"