It came by the boat load: Essays on rum-running - Softcover

Robinson, Geoff

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0969194307 ISBN 13: 9780969194309

Publisher: G. and D. Robinson, 1984

Synopsis

Between 1920 and 1941, many hundreds of vessels of all shapes and sizes scurried up and down the Atlantic coast taking alcohol, in one form or another, to the United States and Canada. The quantity of liquor involved was so large that it boggles the mind to think of it. Take a minute or so to look at page II, an extract of the Special Parliamentary Committee on the Department of Customs and Excise which sat in 1926. It lists the alcoholic drinks that passed through Halifax over the period of a few weeks in 1925. Some of it was of Canadian origin, produced for export, while the remainder was direct from Europe, being loaded on smaller ships. The destinations are, of course, all false as most of the vessels were en route to smuggle into the United States. Take another minute to consider that Halifax was only one of many routes used. Liquor was taken directly from Saint Pierre, from St. John's in Newfoundland, from Saint John in New Brunswick, from Bermuda and from Europe. It came up from the Caribbean; it came across the Great Lakes and the land borders of Mexico and Canada and it came down the Pacific. Prohibition was a welcome shot in the arm for the small French islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, from where the traffic continued long after most of the other sources had dried up. Page III is one of several sheets preserved and made available to us by an elderly Saint Pierrais gentleman who was the foreman of the loading gang on the wharf. When you note the quantities loaded over a period of a few days in July 1933, remember that these figures are for cases each of twelve bottles. It was a major industry with great economic benefits to some countries and, by loss of revenue, a disaster for the United States.

Edition details

• Publisher: G. and D. Robinson
• Publication date: 1984
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0969194307
• ISBN 13: 9780969194309
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 139