Chapter 10

THE INCREASE IN SMUGGLING

By an Order in Council, dated September 9, 1807, certain rewards were to be paid to the military for aiding any officer of the Customs in making or guarding any seizure of prohibited "or uncustomed goods." It was further directed that such rewards should be paid as soon as possible, for which purpose the Controllers and Collectors were to appraise with all due accuracy all articles seized and brought to his Majesty's warehouse within seven days of the articles being brought in. The strength of all spirits seized by the Navy or Military was also to be ascertained immediately on their being brought into the King's warehouse, so that the rewards might be immediately paid. The tobacco and snuff seized and condemned were ordered to be sold. But when these articles at such a sale did not fetch a sum equal to the amount of the duty chargeable, then the commodity was to be burnt. Great exertions were undoubtedly made by the soldiers for the suppression of smuggling, but care had to be taken to prevent wanton and improper seizures. The men of this branch of the service were awarded 40s. for every horse that was seized by them with smuggled goods.

Everyone is aware of the fact that, not once but regularly, the smugglers used to signal to their craft at night from the shore as to whether the coast were clear, or whether it were better for the cutter or lugger to run out to sea again. From a collection of authentic incidents I find the following means were employed for signalling purposes:--

1. The commonest signal at night was to wave a lantern from a hill or some prominent landmark, or from a house suitably situated.

2. To take a flint and steel and set fire to a bundle of straw near the edge of a cliff.

3. To burn a blue light.

4. To fire a pistol.

5. The above were all night-signals, but for day-work the craft could signal to the shore or other craft by lowering and raising a certain sail so many times.

There were very many prosecutions for signalling to smuggling craft at many places along our coast. A sentence of six months' imprisonment was usually the result. Similarly, the Preventive officers on shore used to fire pistols or burn a blue light in signalling to themselves for assistance. The pistol-firing would then be answered by that of other Customs men in the neighbourhood. And with regard to the matter of these signals by the friends of smugglers, the Attorney-and Solicitor-General in 1805 gave their opinion to the effect that it was not even necessary for the prosecution to prove that there was at that time hovering off the coast a smuggling craft, or that one was found to have been within the limits; but the justice and jury must be satisfied from the circumstances and proof that the fire was lit for the purpose of giving a signal to some smugglers.

By the summer of 1807 smuggling in England and Wales had increased to what the Commissioners of Customs designated an "alarming extent." An Act was therefore passed to ensure the more effectual prevention of this crime, and once again the Revenue officers were exhorted to perform their duty to its fullest extent, and were threatened with punishment in case of any dereliction in this respect, while rewards were held out as an inducement to zealous action. Under this new Act powers were given to the Army, Navy, Marines, and Militia to work in concert with each other for the purpose of preventing smuggling, for seizing smuggled goods, and all implements, horses, and persons employed or attempting to bring these ashore. The lack of vigilance, and even the collusion with smugglers, on the part of Revenue officials was still too real to be ignored. Between Dover and Rye, especially, were tobacco, snuff, spirits and tea run into the country to a very considerable extent. And the Government well knew that "in some of the towns on the coast of Kent and Sussex, amongst which are Hastings, Folkestone, Hythe, and Deal, but more especially the latter, the practice of smuggling is carried on so generally by such large gangs of men, that there can exist no hope of checking it but by the constant and most active vigilance of strong military patrols, with parties in readiness to come to their assistance." So wrote Mr. W. Huskisson, Secretary of the Treasury, to Colonel Gordon in August 1807.

The Deal smugglers went to what Mr. Huskisson called "daring lengths," and for this reason the Treasury suggested that patrols should be established within the town of Deal, and for two or three miles east and west of the same. And the Treasury also very earnestly requested the Commander-in-chief for every possible assistance from the Army. It was observed, also, that so desperate were these smugglers, that even when they had been captured and impressed, they frequently escaped from the men-of-war and returned to their previous life of smuggling. To put a stop to this the Treasury made the suggestion that such men when captured should be sent to ships cruising at distant foreign stations. Some idea of the violence which was always ready to be used by the smugglers may be gathered by the incident which occurred on the 25th of February 1805. On this day the cutter _Tartar_, in the service of the Customs, and the Excise cutter _Lively_ were at 10 P.M. cruising close to Dungeness on the look-out for smuggling craft. At the time mentioned they saw a large decked lugger which seemed to them indeed to be a smuggler. It stood on its course and eventually must run its nose ashore. Thereupon a boat's crew, consisting of men from the _Tartar_ and the _Lively_, got out their oars and rowed to the spot where the lugger was evidently about to land her cargo. They brought their boat right alongside the lugger just as the latter took the ground. But the lugger's crew, as soon as they saw the Revenue boat come up to her, promptly forsook her and scrambled on to the beach hurriedly. It was noticed that her name was _Diana_, and the Revenue officers had from the first been pretty sure that she was no innocent fishing-vessel, for they had espied flashes from the shore immediately before the _Diana_ grazed her keel on to the beach.

Led by one of the two captains out of the cutters, the Revenue men got on board the smuggler and seized her, when she was found to contain a cargo of 665 casks of brandy, 118 casks of rum, and 237 casks of Geneva. Besides these, she had four casks, one case and one basket of wine, 119 bags of tobacco, and 43 lbs. of tea--truly a very fine and valuable cargo. But the officers had not been in possession of the lugger and her cargo more than three-quarters of an hour before a great crowd of infuriated people came down to the beach, armed with firearms and wicked-looking bludgeons. For the lugger's crew had evidently rushed to their shore friends and told them of their bad luck. Some members of this mob were on horseback, others on foot, but on they came with oaths and threats to where the lugger and her captors were remaining. "We're going to rescue the lugger and her goods," exclaimed the smugglers, as they stood round the bows of the _Diana_ in the darkness of the night. The Revenue men warned them that they had better keep off, or violence would have to be used to prevent such threats being carried out.

But it was impossible to expect reason from an uncontrolled mob raging with fury and indignation. Soon the smugglers had opened fire, and ball was whistling through the night air. The _Diana_ was now lying on her side, and several muskets were levelled at the Revenue men. One of the latter was a man named Dawkins, and the smugglers had got so close that one villainous ruffian presented a piece at Dawkins' breast, though the latter smartly wrested it from him before any injury had been received. But equally quickly, another smuggler armed with a cutlass brought the blade down and wounded Dawkins on the thumb. A general engagement now proceeded as the smugglers continued to fire, but unfortunately the powder of the Revenue men had become wet, so only one of their crew was able to return the fire. Finding at length that they were no match for their aggressors, the crews were compelled to leave the lugger and retreat to some neighbouring barracks where the Lancashire Militia happened to be quartered, and a sergeant and his guard were requisitioned to strengthen them. With this squad the firing was more evenly returned and one of the smugglers was shot, but before long, unable to resist the military, the smugglers ceased firing and the beach was cleared of the mob.

The matter was in due course reported to the Board of Customs, who investigated the affair and ordered a prosecution of the smugglers. No one had been captured, however, so they offered a reward of £200. That was in the year 1805; but it was not till 1813 or 1814 that information came into their hands, for no one would come forward to earn the reward. In the last-mentioned year, however, search was made for the wanted men, and two persons, named respectively Jeremiah Maxted and Thomas Gilbert, natives of Lydd, were arrested and put on their trial. They were certainly the two ringleaders of that night, and incited the crowd to a frenzy, although these two men did not actually themselves shoot, but they were heard to offer a guinea a man to any of the mob who would assist in rescuing the seized property. Still, in spite of the evidence that was brought against these men, such was the condition of things that they were found not guilty.

But it was not always that the Revenue men acted with so much vigour, nor with so much honesty. It was towards the end of the year 1807 that two of the Riding officers stationed at Newhaven, Sussex, attempted to bribe a patrol of dragoons who were also on duty there for the prevention of smuggling. The object of the bribe was to induce the military to leave their posts for a short period, so that a cargo of dutiable goods, which were expected shortly to arrive, might be smuggled ashore without the payment of the Crown's duties. For such a suggestion to be made by Preventive men was in itself disgraceful, and showed not merely a grossly dishonest purpose but an extraordinary failure of a sense of duty. However, the soldiers, perhaps not altogether displeased at being able to give free rein to some of the jealousies which existed between the Revenue men and the Army, did not respond to the suggestion, but promptly arrested the Riding officers and conducted them to Newhaven. Of these two it was afterwards satisfactorily proved that one had actually offered the bribe to the patrol, but the other was acquitted of that charge. Both, however, were dismissed from the Customs service, while the sergeant and soldiers forming the patrol were rewarded, the sum of £20 being sent to the commanding officer of their regiment, to be divided among the patrol as he might think best.

It was not merely the tobacco, spirits, and tea which in the early years of the nineteenth century were being smuggled into the country, although these were the principal articles. In addition to silks, laces, and other goods, the number of pairs of gloves which clandestinely came in was so great that the manufacture of English gloves was seriously injured.

In the year 1811 so ineffectual had been the existing shore arrangements that an entirely new plan was inaugurated for suppressing smuggling. The Riding officers no doubt had a difficult and even dangerous duty to perform, but their conduct left much to be desired, and they needed to be kept up to their work. Under the new system, the office of Supervisor or Surveyor of Riding officers was abolished, and that of Inspector of Riding officers was created in its stead. The coast of England was divided into the following three districts:--

No. I. London to Penzance.

No. II. Penzance to Carlisle.

No. III. London to Berwick.

There were altogether seven of these Inspectors appointed, three being for the first district, two for the second, and two for the third. The first district was of course the worst, because it included the English Channel and especially the counties of Kent and Sussex. Hence the greater number of Inspectors. Hence, also, these three officers were given a yearly salary of £180, with a yearly allowance of £35 for the maintenance of a horse. The Inspectors of the other two districts were paid £150 each with the same £35 allowance for a horse. In addition, the Inspectors of all districts were allowed 10s. a day when upon inspections, which were not to last less than 60 days in each quarter in actual movement, "in order by constant and unexpected visitations, strictly to watch and check the conduct of the Riding officers within their allotted station." Under this new arrangement, also, the total number of Riding officers was to be 120, and these were divided into two classes--Superior and Inferior. Their salaries and allowances were as follows:--

FIRST DISTRICT

Superior Riding Officer £90 Inferior " " 75 Allowance for horse 30

SECOND AND THIRD DISTRICTS

Superior Riding Officer £80 Inferior " " 65 Allowance for horse 30

The general principle of promotion was to be based on the amount of activity and zeal which were displayed, the Superior Riding officers being promoted from the Inferior, and the Inspectors of Districts being promoted from the most zealous Superior Riding officers.

And there was, too, a difficulty with regard to the smugglers when they became prisoners. We have already remarked how ready they were to escape from the men-of-war. In the year 1815 there were some smugglers in detention on board one of the Revenue cutters. At that time the cutter's mate was acting as commander, and he was foolish enough to allow some of the smugglers' friends from the shore--themselves also of the same trade--to have free communication with two of the prisoners without anyone being present on behalf of the Customs. The result was that one of the men succeeded in making his escape. As a result of this captive smugglers were not permitted to have communication with their friends except in the presence of a proper officer. And there was a great laxity, also, in the guarding of smugglers sent aboard his Majesty's warships. In several cases the commanders actually declined to receive these men when delivered by the Revenue department: they didn't want the rascals captured by the cutters, and they were not going to take them into their ship's complement. This went on for a time, until the Admiralty sent down a peremptory order that the captains and commanders were to receive these smugglers, and when an opportunity arose they were to send them to the flagship at Portsmouth or Plymouth.

As illustrative of the business-like methods with which the smugglers at this time pursued their calling, the following may well be brought forward. In the year 1814 several of the chief smuggling merchants at Alderney left that notorious island and settled at Cherbourg. But those small craft, which up till then had been wont to run across to the Channel Isles, began instantly to make for the French port instead. From Lyme and Beer in West Bay, from Portland and from the Isle of Wight they sailed, to load up with their illicit cargoes, and as soon as they arrived they found, ready awaiting them in the various stores near the quays, vast quantities of "tubs," as the casks were called, whilst so great was the demand, that several coopers were kept there busily employed making new ones. Loaded with spirits they were put on board the English craft, which soon hoisted sail and sped away to the English shores, though many there must have been which foundered in bad weather, or, swept on by the dreaded Alderney Race and its seven-knot tide, had an exciting time, only to be followed up later by the English Revenue cutters, or captured under the red cliffs of Devonshire in the act of taking the tubs ashore. For the Customs Board well knew of this change of market to Cherbourg, and lost no time in informing their officers at the different outports and the cruiser-commanders as well.

A large number of the merchant-smugglers from Guernsey at the same time migrated to Coniris, about eight miles from Tregner, in France, and ten leagues east of the Isle of Bas, and twelve leagues S.S.W. from Guernsey. Anyone who is familiar with that treacherous coast, and the strength of its tides, will realise that in bad weather these little craft, heavily loaded as they always were on the return journey, must have been punished pretty severely. Some others, doubtless, foundered altogether and never got across to the Devonshire shores. Those people who had now settled down at Coniris were they who had previously dealt with the smugglers of Cawsand, Polperro, Mevagissey, and Gerrans. To these places were even sent circular letters inviting the English smugglers to come over to Coniris, just as previously they had come to fetch goods from Guernsey. And another batch of settlers from Guernsey made their new habitation at Roscore (Isle of Bas), from which place goods were smuggled into Coverack (near the Lizard), Kedgworth, Mount's Bay, and different places "in the North Channel."

Spirits, besides being brought across in casks and run into the country by force or stealth, were also frequently at this time smuggled in through the agency of the French boats which brought vegetables and poultry. In this class of case the spirits were also in small casks, but the latter were concealed between false bulkheads and hidden below the ballast. But this method was practically a new departure, and began only about 1815. This was the smuggling-by-concealment manner, as distinct from that which was carried on by force and by stealth. We shall have a good deal more to say about this presently, so we need not let the matter detain us now. Commanders of cruisers were of course on the look-out for suspected craft, but they were reminded by the Board that they must be careful to make no seizures within three miles of the French and Dutch coasts. And that was why, as soon as a suspected vessel was sighted, and a capture was about to be made, some officer on the Revenue cutter was most careful immediately to take cross-bearings and fix his position; or if no land was in sight to reckon the number of leagues the ship had run since the last "fix" had been made. This matter naturally came out very strongly in the trials when the captured smugglers were being prosecuted, and it was the business of the defending counsel to do their best to upset the officers' reckoning, and prove that the suspected craft was within her proper and legitimate limits. Another trick which sprang up also about 1815, was that of having the casks of spirits fastened, the one behind the other, in line on a warp. One end of this rope would be passed through a hole at the aftermost end of the keel, where it would be made fast. As the vessel sailed along she would thus tow a whole string of barrels like the tail of a kite, but in order to keep the casks from bobbing above water, sinkers were fastened. Normally, of course, these casks would be kept on board, for the resistance of these objects was very considerable, and lessened the vessel's way. Any one who has trailed even a fairly thick warp astern from a small sailing craft must have been surprised at the difference it made to the speed of the vessel.

But so soon as the Revenue cutter began to loom big, overboard went this string of casks towing merrily below the water-line. The cutter would run down to her, and order her to heave-to, which she could afford to do quite willingly. She would be boarded and rummaged, but the officer would to his surprise find nothing at all and be compelled to release her. Away would go the cruiser to chase some other craft, and as soon as she was out of the range of the commander's spy-glass, in would come the tubs again and be stowed dripping in the hold. This trick was played many a time with success, but at last the cruisers got to hear of the device and the smugglers were badly caught. I shall in due season illustrate this by an actual occurrence. What I want the reader to bear in mind is, that whilst the age of smuggling by violence and force took a long time to die out, yet it reached its zenith about the middle or the last quarter of the eighteenth century. Right till the end of the grand period of smuggling violence was certainly used, but the year 1815 inaugurated a period that was characterised less by force and armed resistance than by artfulness, ingenuity, and all the inventiveness which it is possible to employ on a smuggling craft. "Smugglers," says Marryat in one of his novels, "do not arm now--the service is too dangerous; they effect their purpose by cunning, not by force. Nevertheless, it requires that smugglers should be good seamen, smart, active fellows, and keen-witted, or they can do nothing.... All they ask is a heavy gale or a thick fog, and they trust to themselves for success." It was especially after the year 1816, when, as we shall see presently, the Admiralty reorganised the service of cruisers and the Land-guard was tightened up, that the smugglers distinguished themselves by their great skill and resource, their enterprise, and their ability to hoodwink the Revenue men. The wars with France and Spain had come to an end, and the Government, now that her external troubles allowed, could devote her attention to rectifying this smuggling evil. This increased watchfulness plus the gradual reduction of duties brought the practice of smuggling to such a low point that it became unprofitable, and the increased risks were not the equivalent of the decreased profits. This same principle, at least, is pursued in the twentieth century. No one is ever so foolish as to try and run whole cargoes of goods into the country without paying Customs duty. But those ingenious persons who smuggle spirits in foot-warmers, saccharine in the lining of hats, tobacco and cigars in false bottoms and other ways carry out their plans not by force but by ingenuity, by skill.