The International Weekly Miscellany - Volume I, No. 5

International Weekly Miscellany,
Vol. 1,
by Various

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No. 5, July 29, 1850, by Various This eBook is for the use of anyone
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Title: International Weekly Miscellany, Vol. 1, No. 5, July 29, 1850
Author: Various
Release Date: August 21, 2004 [EBook #13241]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY MISCELLANY
Of Literature, Art, and Science.
* * * * *
Vol. I. NEW YORK, JULY 29, 1850. No. 5.
* * * * *

TEA-SMUGGLING IN RUSSIA.
The history of smuggling in all countries abounds in curiosities of
which but few ever reach the eye of the public, the parties generally
preferring to keep their adventures to themselves. There often exist,
however, along frontier lines the traditions of thrilling exploits or
amusing tricks, recounted by old smugglers from the recollections of
their own youthful days or the narratives of their predecessors. Perhaps
no frontier is so rich in these tales as that between Spain and France,
where the mountainous recesses of the Pyrenees offer secure retreats to
the half-robber who drives the contraband trade, as well as safe routes
for the transportation of his merchandise. On the line between the
Russian Empire and Germany the trade is greater in amount than
elsewhere, but is devoid of the romantic features which it possesses in
other countries. There, owing to the universal corruption of the servants
of the Russian government, the smuggler and the custom-house officer
are on the best terms with each Other and often are partners in business.
We find in a late number of the Deutsche Reform, a journal of Berlin,
an interesting illustration of the extent and manner in which these
frauds on the Russian revenue are carried on, and translate it for the
International:
"The great annual tea-burning has just taken place at Suwalki: 25,000
pounds were destroyed at it. This curious proceeding is thus explained.
Of all contraband articles that on the exclusion of which the most
weight is laid, is the tea which is brought in from Prussia. In no country
is the consumption of tea so great as in Poland and Russia. That

smuggled in from Prussia, being imported from China by ship, can be
sold ten times cheaper than the so-called caravan-tea, which is brought
directly overland by Russian merchants. This overland trade is one of
the chief branches of Russian commerce, and suffers serious injury
from the introduction of the smuggled article. Accordingly the
government pays in cash, the extraordinary premium of fifty cents per
pound for all that is seized, a reward which is the more attractive to the
officers on the frontiers for the reason that it is paid down and without
any discount. Formerly the confiscated tea was sold at public auction
on the condition that the buyer should carry it over the frontier; Russian
officers were appointed to take charge of it and deliver it in some
Prussian frontier town in order to be sure of its being carried out of the
country. The consequence was that the tea was regularly carried back
again into Poland the following night, most frequently by the Russian
officers themselves. In order to apply a radical cure to this evil,
destruction by fire was decreed as the fate of all tea that should be
seized thereafter. Thus it is that from 20,000 to 40,000 pounds are
yearly destroyed in the chief city of the province. About this the official
story is, that it is tea smuggled from Prussia, while the truth is that it is
usually nothing but brown paper or damaged tea that is consumed by
the fire. In the first place the Russian officials are too rational to burn
up good tea, when by chance a real confiscation of that article has taken
place; in such a case the gentlemen take the tea, and put upon the
burning pile an equal weight of brown paper or rags done up to
resemble genuine packages. In the second place, it is mostly damaged
or useless tea that is seized. The premium for seizures being so high,
the custom-house officers themselves cause Polish Jews to buy up
quantities of worthless stuff and bring it over the lines for the express
purpose of being seized. The time and place for smuggling it are agreed
upon. The officer lies in wait with a third person whom he takes with
him. The Jew comes with