Realizing that their days were over, the gangs broke up. Some turned lone highwaymen, some reverted to smuggling pure and simple, while the great majority ended their careers on the gibbet or by being transported to penal colonies over seas. As criminals ashore, as menaces to the peace and wellfare of the communities, the organized smuggler-thugs were a thing of the past by the beginning of the nineteenth century. No more were the frightened, cowering citizens forced to hide their faces and admonish their children to "Watch the wall, my darling, as the gentlemen pass by," for "The gentlemen" had passed along a road whence they would never return,-the long highroad that led to the gallowstree and the gruesome gibbet. It is impossible to say just what the efforts to suppress smuggling cost England. The accounts, especially in the earlier days of smuggling, were carelessly kept; items and departments were inextricably mixed, and only by carefully and laboriously tabulating an endless number of ancient warrants could anything like an approximate figure be reached. It was, however, stated on excellent authority that the losses to the crown through smuggling, in the period from 1760-75, amounted to over 350,000 pounds annually. In 1707 the English revenues from customs amounted to 1,350,000 pounds; the revenues from excise were 33,500 pounds, and it was stated that the cost of collection was nearly ten percent of the value of the revenues. In 1787 the cost had fallen to six-and-one-half percent. As far more seizures were being made at that time it is safe to assume that the customs force had been greatly augmented or was more efficient, with the result that while more expensive to maintain, the customs collected and the contraband confiscated were proportionately larger. One item reported in the Southampton District for the quarter ending June 1770, shows that 2505 gallons of spirits, 2632 pounds of tea and various silks, linens and other goods were seized, the total amounting to a value of thirteen hundred forty three pounds, twelve shillings and two and one-half pence; a big item towards reducing the expenses of the customs in that district. Another record of 1811 throws some light on the cost of maintaining the customs force. At that time the cost was divided into three districts, as follows: No. 1 London to Penzance. There were seven inspectors; three for the first district, and two for each of the other districts. These inspectors received the following wages and allowances: 1st, District; three inspectors @ salary of 180 pounds and 35 pounds horse allowance. 2d. District; two inspectors @ 150 pounds and 35 pounds horse allowance. 3d. District; two inspectors @ 150 pounds and 35 pounds horse allowance. Each of these was also allowed ten shillings a day when on inspection, which was to be not less than sixty days in each quarter. Under these inspectors, were one hundred twenty Riding Officers divided into two classes, known as Superior and Inferior. The First District Superior Riding Officers received 90 pounds as a salary; the Inferior 75 pounds, and each received a 30 pound horse allowance. The second and third district Superior Officers received 80 pounds as salary, and the Inferior Officers 65 pounds, with 30 pounds horse allowance. Figuring from the above we obtain the following: Inspectors, total salaries 1,140 pounds; horse allowances 245 pounds. Riding officers, total salaries 11,700 pounds; horse allowances 3,600 pounds. Inspection duty fees 840 pounds. Total salaries, 13,680 pounds. Total horse allowances 3845 pounds. In addition, there were about 200 dragoons in the service whose salaries amounted to fully 2,400 pounds with horse allowance; etc. And nearly twice as many coast guard and other employees; 3,000 pounds. Making a grand total of 22,925 pounds for the services of the men only, without counting the cost and maintainance of boats, customs houses, office staffs and a thousand and one incidentals, aside from the higher officials and clerical staff at Lon don. In round figures, the entire expense of maintaining the customs must have been very close to one hundred and fifty thousand pounds, or about $750,000, or about ten percent of the value of the import duties collected. It is little wonder, under such conditions, that politicians advocating free trade argued that the cost of preventing smuggling was more than it saved; and that by doing away with the duties, a vast sum would be saved by the government. In a statement printed early in 1825 by order of the House of Commons, there is a list of all smuggled goods which had been seized during the three preceding years by the combined forces of the Water-guard, the Coast-guard, the Riding Officers, the revenue cutters and the naval vessels. most interesting document gives the amount of the seized goods, the cost of making them and the returns from their sale, which are as follows: COMMODITIES SEIZED, 1822, 1823, 1824. This The total returns from the sales of the above amounted to 282,541 pounds 8 shillings and 54 pence or approximately $1,400,000, quite a respectable sum, but which, compared to the costs of seizing the goods was negligible, for the expenses of the crown amounted to over one million three hundred thousand dollars, divided as follows: Astounding as such figures are, they represent but a fraction of the value of the goods successfully smuggled into the country. Thus, in 1743, it was officially reported that 1,350,000 lbs. of tea was smuggled into England and that one Dutch firm alone smuggled in over 500,000 lbs. of tea. Between March 15th, and 17th, 1833, nearly nine hundred casks of brandy were smuggled in, and in less than one month, over six thousand gallons of brandy were run in, and all from one port-Roscoff in Brittany. The official customs report of England for 1831 states that the loss to the revenues by smuggling amounted to fully eight hundred thousand pounds annually, and of this, half a million pounds' loss was on French brandy alone. Truly, our present day rum runners would have |