THE IRISH BORDER.

Western Star, 25 February 1938, Page 3

THE IRISH BORDER.

SMUGOU.NO HABITS. Many sins have been laid at the door , of partition in Ireland, but none with I more justification than the smuggling which is at present common throughout the 250-mile boundary separating the six counties of Ulster from the Free State ( s ays a writer in the ‘Manchester Guardian’). Trafficking in contraband goods from oiie part of the country to tho other was the inevitable outcome of tariffs, but smuggling did not start in real earnest till tho unfortunate AngloIrish squabble oyer the land annuities. Up to then there existed a certain social conscience along the borders in regard to this illegal activity, but immediately the British Government imposed what many Free State cattlemen regarded as the unjust import duties on cattle and livestock, this frame of mind began to show an alarming change. Tlie Free State wa s “alive” with cattle, which the penal duties virtually excluded from the British market. Things looked desperate, and many cattle dealers were faced with ruin. It wa R not surprising, in the circumstances, that there emerged somo daring spirits who offered to “run” cattle across the border in return for a share in the rich rewardg which .accompanied the venture. In a short space of time cattle smuggling developed into a widespread conspiracy, comparable to one of the major “rackets” of the United States.

CROWDED CATTLE FAIRS. That “money talks” was demonstrated by the fact that even loyalist farmers on the Ulster side of the border were scon in the swim, and northern cattle fairs close, to the border, which for many year s had been deserted on fair days; were significantly scenes of unprecedented activity as thousands of cattle, seemingly from Ulster farms, but actually from tho plains of Meath, Westmeath, and Roscommon, came pouring in. The railway sidings in Belfast were full of cattle—which one. wit declared had distinct Southern “brogues”—and livestock exports from the port of Belfast reached record proportions. Meantime the contraband chief s employed men of straw, who were well paid to take all the risks in. the nocturnal cattle dvive & which took place across the border from Louth, Monaghan, Leitrim, and Donegal. When captured the smaller fry either absconded without paying the fines i m P°sed or cheerfully went to Belfast Gaol to serve their sentences. The captures of smugglers and smuggled cattle were infinitesimal compared with the magnitude of the trafficking. ■One evil generally gives rise to another, and soon incidents reminiscent of “Rum Row” in Prohibition days on the other side of the Atlantic were reported to be occurring nightly at variou s lonely places in the border mountains. Hijackers waged war on the smugglers, and some were said to have lain in wait disguised as member., of the Royal Ulster Constabulary Customs Patrol, and, having frightened off the smugglers, made off with til© cattle themselvesThe coal-cattle pact between Mr de Valera’g. Government and the British Govermiient eased the situation to some extent, and now the smuggling of cattle is on. a much smaller scale. ‘‘TWO-WAY’’ TRAFFIC,

At present smuggling is of the two--vay variety, and Custom s officials on jotli sides of the border are having- a worrying time. Car-loads of clothing, .\hieh i s much cheaper in Belfast than n Dublin, ui'e known to have been sue wssfully brought into the Flee State over unapproved roads in broad daylight, while in a recent prosecution in Dublin it was stated that the authorities were aware that a “blizzard” of smuggled razor blade s from the.north had struck Dublin. - In the north-west it is reported that Rough Foyle, separating County Deny from Donegal, is, playing an important part iii the smuggling of household commodities like sugar, flour, and hardware into the Free State. The smugglers are using boats with muffled oars to cross from the County Derry shore, and on arrival are met by confederates, who convey the goods to safe hiding places. A Customs official stated the other day that the authorities were - planning a gigantic round-up to end Donegal smuggling once and for all. The difficulty facing the authorities i& the far-flung ramifications of t-h© racket, and the wall of silence which investigators encounter in suspected districts. Short of policing every yard of the boundary, efforts to stamp out the evil are not likely to have much effect. WOMEN AND SILKS. In Dublin, at' present, foreign goods, such as Japanese artificial silk, cigarette lighters, and cameras, can be obtained for a fraction of tlieir cost in Belfast. This lm- s given rise to another substantial contraband traffic which is very difficult to check. As regard,, the artificial silk, women are the worst offenders, and it ha-sj now been found necessary by the British Customs and Excise to have female searchers meeting all trains from Dublin at border railway stations. Motor cars in the south are 33 1-3 per cent, dearer than ip Northern Ireland, and .some .smuggling of cars is suspected, but this is necessarily a limited traffic. One during exploit vouched for by a Free State resident with whom I spoke a short time ago, was the bringing across from Northern Ireland of a large omnibus over an unapproved road not far from a Free State border post. As long u s tariffs reman in operation in Dublin and as long u s Freetrade between North and South is impeded by the farcical border—which is nothing move or less than an imaginary .line drawn aeros iS open fields, rivers, and tlie tidal waters of inlet s like Carlingford Lough and Lough Swi[ly—most people believe tlie smuggling will, continue in greater or lesser degree, according to the profits likely to be obtained.