The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1920-09-20
Canadian Official Says Law
Is Violated Hundreds
of Times Daily
CUSTOMS MEN
SEEM INDIFFERENT
customs Houses Not Near Enough to
Border Great Opportunity to De-
liver Liquor BY Motor Boat Along
Lake Champlain.

Lake Champlain.
MONTREAL, Sept 2O.-Discussing the
unlawful traffic in liquor across the bor-
der between Canada and the United
States, Canadian official expresses his
belief that the lawis being violated huns
dreds of times daily all along the border
from Seattle to Maine, and says he has
grave doubts if it can ever be enforced so
long as the transportation of liquor from
one part of Canada to another remains
legal, as at present, unless the United
every hundred yards on the line from
Vancouver to Winnipeg and every fifty
feet or SO the rest of the way across the
continent.
The Detroit rum runners have had a
good deal of notoriety, but, in the opin-
ion of the official, the smugglers are not
great deal more active in Michigan
than in Maine, Vermont and New York
and all along the lines of the St. Law
renee and the Great Lakes.
So far as the official has been able to
discover, there seems to be little anxiety
or activity on the part of the American
| officials to prevent the transportation of
all kinds of liquor across the interna-
tional line. For the last two weeks or
SO he has been watching things from
| the Canadian side and says he has seen
| no evidence that any one cares whether
liquor is taken into the states or not
He instances the Lake Champlain dis
| Quebec across the line, and on every
one of them, he says, an automobile
loaded with liqhor, or even old Dobbn
hitched to a wagon similarly freighted,
| IS IN about the same danger of being APP
| pretended as cigar salesman on Broad
| way
This, he says, is the explanation of the
| present state of affairs:
On the Vermont side of Lake Cham
plain the nearest United States Gus
toms official is at Highgate and the next
| one at Swanton. Highgate is about five
miles from the Canadian border and
Swanton is ten Tor twelve. Automobiles
| from the United States who cross into
| Canada are supposed to report them
selves on their outgoing and return
| trips. If they take care not to come too
| close to the customs office either at Star
mand or Phillipsburg, on the Canadian
| side, there is no obligation to report to
| the United States official, who would not
know whether the tourist had crossed the
! border
Even supposing the automobiist does
care to comply with the formality of cali
| ing at the United States Customs house.
| he has about Ave miles of road and a
| thousand opportunities of getting rid Of
| his cargo before reporting. Some per-
| sons have even been known to drive right
Iup TO the Customs house with case
or so of hard stuff aboard, and on
their assurance that they had nothing of
dutiable or contraband nature they
have been allowed TO go on their way
| rejoicing
| In the first place, most customs Off
| cials on either side of the line do not like
the idea Of having to carry out the du-
| ties of whiskey plotters, and, on the
other, what customs official could mag
| ire that an automobilist with load of
| "hooteh" aboard would have the temerity
to run right into danger?
| From all that can be seen, the customs
officials are the only persons a whiskey
runner has to fear along the Quebec
border. Montreal citizens who have
| made the trip into the States either
through Rouses Point into New York
via St Johns. Phillipsburg and so into
Vermont or over the longest route of
the Quebec boulevards and the Lewis
Jackman highway into Maine, have been.
| amazed at the evident lack of inspec-
ton. One crosses into the states with.
ont even knowing it, unless he knows
where the border line is or has the small
concrete posts that mark the boundary.
pointed out to him.
However, it is by way Of motor boats
that most of the Honor is TRANSPORTED
around the Lake Champlain district
With their use one does not even have
to worry about customs officials. It is
a mere matter Of a hale hours run or
so from the Canadian end of Lake Cham
plain to the New York or Vermont side
and there are any number Of places one
may land within five minutes walk of a
roadway good enough for a car to pass
over. 1t is a small matter to make the
transfer and. as there is no suspicion of
the automobiles having passed into
Canada, no one suspects what may be
aboard.
All in all, it has been a successful sea
son for the smugglers, for the supply in
Quebec is unlimited and the price is
moderate, while on the other side of the
border the demand is brisk and prices
are fixed accordingly. When one is able
to make anywhere in the vicinity of sl00I
on case of dozen bottles of whisky,
it is only to be expected. that such
lucrative line of business will appeal to
many. So far no one seems to have
thought of using an airplane in this Vi
cinity, though it was reported some
time ago that such a means had been
tried out in the West and found success
full