64.
3
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The chief Ports of Entry must also be protected by stronger preventive measures cspecially Shanghai. The land Frontiers (including the Kowloon and Lappa Frontiers) mon- tioned above will require armed guards to patrol them, and a system should be considered and plans should be drawn on the lines of the former Kowloon Frontier guard under Customs control. But in the case of Kowloon and Lappa it is also essential to develop and improve the existing Customs Launch Service in order to stop or chock the increased activities of the sca-junks. It has long bccn the practice for the Customs Launches which arc engaged in preventive work to stop cargo junks, especially those whose action is suspicious, and, if necessary, to search them for smugled cargo. Formerly there was
very little resistance on the part of those cargo junks. But the now Tariff has increased the incentive to smuggle and conscquently there are many more junks engaged in this illicit trade and competition has encouraged them to take bold and desperate chances. They now do no hesitate to dofy the authority of the Government, often refusing to stop when signalled by our "evenue Launches, and even firing upon our vessels when overtaken. In fact, onc of our Revenue Launches was attacked and scriously damaged by these desperadocs in May of this year, as may be observed from the following report from the Kowloon Commissioner,
dated 15th May:-
The