The American authorities are evidently determined, for the present at
all events, to interpret the decision of the Supreme Court about the Prohibition law as though it forbids liquor to be brought within the three-mile limit in any circumstances—even though the liquor be under a Customs seal. In the ' Baltic,' the Berengaria,' and other ships the American Treasury officials broke the seals and seized the liquor. The shipowners, of course, hoped that the drink under seal would be allowed to remain, as it were, in bond, since it was intended entirely for use on the eastward voyage. The 'drink that was available during the westward voyage was a rationed amount, all of which was used up before the vessels reached the three-mile limit. When the Vol"stead Act was passed nobody, of course, foresaw in what legal meshes, and in what tangles of international usage, the American nation would be caught up.
4.
