Smuggling - An Act for the more effectual prevention of Smuggling in the United Kingdom. Printed Act of Parliament dated 1784. Folio 30pp in fine condition. Smuggling had become endemic throughout the 18th c particularly in the coastal areas of the West Country. By this time smuggling had become organised crime with gangs often resorting to violence against anyone attempting to stop it, so the authorities decided to stamp out the practice once and for all and this was the most important Act attempting achieve that end. Penalties were unsurprisingly harsh with the death penalty being introduced for anyone involved in smuggling