Show EVILS OF dign TARIFF SMUGGLING goods to avoid custom duty has brought about some shrewd tricks often do wo hear of many yards of laco discovered in a ladys bustle or several silk dresses being worn occasionally a gentleman will be discovered with small gold watches in the heels of his boots double bottoms in trunks are somes times employed and various scheme devised to cheat the go vern ment these are minor modes however compared with a scheme recently worked up by germanson the french border the custom officers seized a german car that had started from the luxemburg station carrying so called dressed stone from one of tho blocks there was oozing a liquid that was recognized by ano inspector as 96 degree alcohol the car was put on the wharf and the stone was taken off and broken when it was observed that the interior which was hollow held a zinc box containing liters of alcohol the screw cap was carefully concealed under a layer of cement uniformly marked with the letter D the numbers succeeded each other and upon each stone there was found another mark indicating the contents in liters the quantity of alcohol carried by this single car was 2465 liters As a liters of alcohol pay 70 francs customs duty and francs excise tax we find the sum of the taxes that were sought te be evaded to be agoo francs for a single shipment moreover these blocks were not making their first trip but had been used many throes before that serves to illustrate the evil of high A small duty can be collected but too high a duty will always lead to smuggling the same for instance as a high liquor license dealers will procure a license when fairly within their reach but make tho arico something exorbitant and liduor will ba sold on the sly it is true in all the walks of life and anguia strongly against the assessment of so high a duty that the law cannot reasonably be complied with |