6.2. Conclusion

After the prohibition came into force spirits smuggling started quite slowly at the bottom of the Gulf of Bothnia. In the first years of the prohibition smuggling concentrated more on importing coffee from Sweden. Spirits smuggling can be said to have concentrated on the railways quite soon. Alcohol was either sent to the end of the Gulf of Bothnia or delivered by train from the coastal towns of the Gulf of Finland. With the increase of confiscations and grown amounts of spirits smugglers began to use most different means to hide spirits. At this stage smuggling was used for gaining economic profit.

In 1924 the railways lost their position as the most important smuggling route. Maritime routes and spirits ships took their position. The main reason for this change was that bigger amounts of spirits could be brought to the region and could be delivered to other parts in the North of Finland. Especially the mouth of the river Kemijoki was a significant landing site for spirits. From here the spirits continued their trip in caravans way up north. From the coast the smugglers went in their motorboats to fetch the spirits off Marjaniemi in Hailuoto. Because smuggling had moved to sea smugglers were obliged to think of good hiding places for spirits due to the great amounts of spirits. The sea and the islands were utilized in hiding the spirits. The ships and the spirits were mainly German. In the last years of the prohibition the sea continued to be the most important route for smuggling. Smuggling by sea was in fact totally concentrated on spirits ships and therefore only a small proportion of smuggling was carried out on cargo vessels. It should be noted that the results of the research are based on revealed criminality.

In the first years of the prohibition the proportion of local inhabitants was rather small. A typical smuggler was a worker under 30 years of age, from Helsinki, carrying some 20 litres of spirits. The task of the local people was mainly to go to the railway station to fetch some kind of a parcel containing spirits. In addition they could buy it from merchant ships visiting the harbours or from persons arriving in the region by train. Together with the spirits ships smuggling changed into the hands of local people, because they were well acquainted with the sea, the islands and the shores of their region. The biggest vocational group of smugglers was that of working men. Economic profit both for the carrier and the boss was a great temptation for smuggling.

The great proportion of workers in smuggling and the great amounts of smuggled goods raised the question where the money for the spirits came from. Smuggling had become stepped. Highest on the top were the spirits bosses. On the next step were the gross transporters, who delivered the spirits to inland gross transporters. The last ones in the chains were the manual dealers selling spirits in small amounts to consumers. It can be said that in the middle of the prohibition period smuggling had become professional. The goal was economic profit.

Documents from the years between 1927 and 1932 show clearly that the mouth of the river Kemijoki and especially Maksniemi in Simo had turned into gates for the spirits coming to the North of Finland. Another area of concentration was the region of Kello in Haukipudas. The many islands and the shortage of police authorities were advantages for smugglers in both areas. Smuggling from the sea to the coast was still in the hands of local people. Workers still formed the biggest vocational group in smuggling. The reason for the great percentage of workers must have been the great unemployment figures in the area and the fact that the proportion of workers was great in the area. On the other hand the research results have to be considered with reservation owing to the great proportion of hidden criminals among revealed criminals.

The police controlled the prohibition in the countryside. At the end of the Gulf of Bothnia police stations and police districts were in charge of the control. In the beginning of the prohibition they were all hindered by the shortage of personnel. Inquiries about increasing personnel were replaced by the governor´ s inquiries about reducing it. On the other hand in Oulu and in Tornio it was complained that engaging policemen was the reason for the shortage of men.

The control of smuggling at sea belonged to customs authorities. The greatest concern of customs houses in the beginning of the prohibition was focused on smuggling coffee. The customs houses considered spirits smuggling minor owing to the ruling position of the railways in smuggling. As the prohibition came into force the equipment of the customs houses was in rather a bad condition. Especially the motorboats used by customs houses were in bad condition and therefore often under repair. The shortage of equipment and men could have been helped by cooperation between the police and the customs authorities. However cooperation was poor. The reason was to a great deal the inexperience in cooperation and the fact that both organisations were operating under different ministries.

Equipment problems continued at the police stations and in the police districts also in the last years of the prohibition. Weapons had proved unfit in exchanges of fire between smugglers and the police. In addition people hoped that the governor would increase personnel. Competent policemen were not always available. At the end of the prohibition the working area of the police increased. The police started searching the islands and the sea. They also tried to patrol at sea. The increased job description worried for example Kemi police station because the maintenance of law and order was weakened when it did not get more men. The principal activity of the police still took place in the countryside.

The fact that the sea remained a significant route for smuggling in the last years of the prohibition could be seen in summer in extra customs officers in the customs houses. Instead of that the police districts were still lacking in equipment. There were problems especially with motorboats. In spite of this the activity in the police districts became more effective and smugglers were caught more often. The end of the prohibition was a great relief for both customs and police authorities because scarce resources had been wasted in vain for many years as many people thought.

Local judges tried to uproot smuggling through harsh punishments in the first years of the prohibition. The criminal code of 1922 gave the judges an even greater possibility to inflict harsher punishments. The enthusiasm of judges to punish smugglers seems to have ended short because not even minimal punishments prescribed by the new law were always reached. From 1924 till 1926 the insufficiency of preliminary examination records became a problem in trials against smugglers. Other problems were that smugglers could not be arrested in the act itself and the fact that witnesses could not be brought into court. These things must have contributed to the fact that the judgements in trials did not often comply even with the lowest punishment prescribed by the law.

In the last years of the prohibition smugglers were sentenced to prison more often than before. Sentences varied from three months to 24 months. Indeed light punishments were still given for smuggling. The problem on the coast of the northernmost part of the Gulf of Bothnia as well as in other parts of Finland was that the principal offenders behind smuggling could not be charged. Spirits smuggling was an increasing problem during the prohibition. Tightening of the law and international agreements remained ineffectual: both were evaded or broken.

As we have noticed, there were great difficulties in controlling the prohibition immediately after the law had come into force. The attitude of the people becomes the biggest problem. The prohibition was the kind of law that would have needed great support from all people in order to be effective. The effectiveness and the influence of legislation depend in the first place on how well the law corresponds to the general legal concept of the people and how appropriate it is. General opinion did not consider prohibition necessary. Part of the citizens even favoured the actions of smugglers. The reason for this was their need of spirits. Pressure coming from the surrounding community and the attitudes of the controlling authorities themselves contributed to the fact that during the whole prohibition part of them had difficulties in motivating themselves to attend to their duties.