SMUGGLING CHINESE INTO AMERICA IS A RISKY GAME WHEN THE MACHINE-GUNS SPLUTTER

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 291, 3 August 1932, Page 7

SMUGGLING CHINESE INTO AMERICA IS A RISKY GAME WHEN THE MACHINE-GUNS SPLUTTER

L. W.

Holmes

By

Famous American Speeial Deteetiv^ and Criminologist.

P for the swish of the water against the sides of the fast little launch, and the muffled beat of tiglne, everything is quiet as the 5, Three coated figures stand rthe small wheel below the cabin xlanncli, half a dozen still figures a the floor. Mdenly the silence is broketi ftlte measured beat of another tfae; a searchlight sweeps joss the river, the first vessel ksthed in a blaze of llght. koals are heard from the other iinh,and then the loud rattle of IKhine-gun fire bursts out upon imgnt air. Kax-xat-tar-tax-tat : ra/Te got us!" cries one of the 1 the first boat. "Make for the fei side." The tarpaulins surj^irer, are thrust aside, and the ? oi three very scared Chinamen Ss Is a common enough scene on Detroit River between United iJ and Canadian territory, where Ea 1011 pay from 500 to 1000 s to gain illegal entry into the '1 States. Liquor, narcotics of jHnd, and contraband merchani cross that river every hour of 1 niglit, but it is against the Siers of Chinamen that the Fedliienne oflicers from TJ.S.A. wage Mtter warfare. W police lioats patrol the river Bffld day. The boats are armed Btachine-guus, which are often on the Canadian side the |v'lotlc Government aids the B&i anthorities by systematic of persons believed to he h smuggling. In spite of Birecautions the smuggling con-Wm-M wIH keep on doing so while ^ soch big money to be made at |viears ago I was commissioned ip Federal Government to visit

Windsor, Ontario, the Canadian city opposite Detroit on the river, and get as mueh information as possihle regarding the men engaged in the smuggling. I might point out here that in those days Chinese were prohibited from entering the United States, even under the quota system, and I believe that the same regnlation still applies. I decided that my role in Windsor would he that of a wanted American crook, who had sought refuge in Canadian territory, and I fostered this illusion by visiting only the lowest pool rooms and keeping to my hotel as much as possible. I soon got to know most of the regular visitors to the pool room, and to them I tacitly mentioned that I was in need of money and anxious to take on any kind of work that would enable me to get revenge against the U.S.A. police. A fellow of my type was the ideal recruit for the smugglers, and it was not long before one of them took the bait. Ben Reid, known to the police on both sides of the river as one of the best smugglers in Canada, came up to me one day in a bar and asked me to have a drink. "Like some work?" he inquired casually. "You bet," I replied readily. "Any money in it?" "Three hundred dollars for a night s work," he said quietly; and then I knew that my chance had come. What a capture there would be that night, I thonght. But there was another and even bigger surprise ahead of me. At 10 o'clock that night I met Reid and two others at a well-known roadhonse according to arrangement. Here Reid kept his launch, and it was one of the fastest little boats I have ever seen. Telling me to wait, he started the engine and the little craft moved down the river. A little later she was back again with four Chinamen,

and the two others and myself jumped aboard. We headed direct for Ecorse onthe American side, and the smuggled Chinamen were handed over to the "spotter," as the man who accepts their custody on American soil is called. Then, to my surprise, Reid asked me to give a drink at a nearby roadhouse, where we found half-a-dozen of the Federal patrol officers, whom Reid greeted by name. Then before my eyes I saw men sworn to uphold the laws of their country receive bribes from one of the worst smugglers they knew. Exactly how much Reid received as his share I do not know. The two other smugglers and myself received our three hundred dollars, and the six policemen took one hundred dollars each! The result of the confidential report I promptly sent to my snperior at Washington led to the appointment of a secret service man to the river service, and it was not long before he had sufficient evidence to send the corrupt officers away for a long spell in the Federal penitentiary. Following this little job, I was assigned to join the "spotters" and find out what I could about them. Naturally, I had to move warily, as although I had done nothing that might have caused suspicion among Reid's gang, there was always the danger that I might be recognised by one of the Windsor crowd and promptly shot dead. I adopted an effective disguise, and I do not think that my own mother would have recognised the down-at-heel loafer who applied for work at the drinking den which I knew for the "spotters"' headquarters. I did not get a job, but after a good deal of waiting about, managed to get

a good description of the sjSotters themselves, their cars, and a general idea of the rendezvous to which they removed their Chinamen. Of course, a Chinese who has gained illegal entry into Ameriea is still liable to be caught, given a goodish term of imprisonment, and deported. It is a very difficult thing to prove that a Chinese is an illegal entrant once he has dng himself in. As a rule the Chinese have relations or friends awaiting them, and, if a raid oecurs, and a smuggled man is arrested, a Chinese who is a legal citizen just disappears and the others claim the prisoner as this man. As all Chinar men look more or less alike, this little game often com.es off. The spotters are the most complete villains I know. It is a common thing for them to levy blackmail on their victims when they bring them across, and the poor Chinaman is forced to pay up to save himself from arrest and deportation. Another ! nice little game is to drive the Chinamen to a lonely spot, keep them prisoners, and demand further tribnte from the men to whom they are assigned. As a rule these men have paid the expenses of the smuggling, under an arrangement whereby the yellow man works for them until the debt is cleared. My investigations showea me that scores of gangsters are making thousands of dollars a year from this traffic, and I feel sure that many of the river police — with the exception of those honest men, wno tignt tne runners Trom sneer patrtotism, Knowing what whoiesaie entry of Chinese will mean to future generations — have feathered comfortable nests for themselves with the proceeds of llberal bribes provided by^the gangsters.