The advent of prohibition in America in the early 1920's brought on wide-spread smuggling activity along the Canadian and Mexican borders as well as along the Atlantic coastline. Since many of the smuggling vessels sought protection from American authorities by foreign registry, the State Department initiated efforts to enable American officials to enforce prohibition without interfering with legitimate commerce. Washington concluded compromise agreements with fifteen countries that provided for American enforcement measures and suitable liquor cargo arrangements for the other signatory nations. The liquor conventions were not a final solution to the smuggling problem but they did provide for better enforcement. The agreements reinforced existing principles and represented an attempt to eliminate possible sources of friction on the international level arising out of American prohibition enforcement.