ABSTRACT
Smuggling is a crime that truly offends the sovereign and the nation, but in this case the punishment should not shame the offender because its commission is not denounced by public opinion. Thus, to give shameful punishment for a crime that does not affect the reputations of men only reduces the feeling of shame of those who do it. The punishment of confiscating either the stolen goods or things that go with them is certainly just, but would be much more useful if there were a lower tax, because men will take risks only in proportion to the advantage they can get from the expected reward produced by the undertaking. Men on whom remote consequences make a weak impression do not see the damage that could affect them from smuggling, and in fact they enjoy its present advantages. Nor do they see the damage done to the sovereign.
