The United States Supreme Court has come to a decision
about vessels .carrying liquor into American ports which threatens to have curious results. The Eighteenth Amendment and the Aro'stead Act are now interpreted as excluding all ships, foreign or American, from bringing intoxicating liquors, even under seal, within three miles of the shore. The court also decided that American ships may lawfully sell intoxicants to passengers outside the three-mile limit. The decisions will probably not go down as a mandate to the lower .courts for thirty days; and the Secretary of the Treasury has issued a statement that no attempt will be made to force foreign lines into immediate compliance, and that all steps will be taken to avoid unnecessary annoyance. In the meantime, new regulations are being drafted and heated discussions are taking place on both sides of the water. Although the decision about American ships should -help -the sale of the Shipping Board's fleet, Mr. Lasker has announced that for the present, at any rate, American vessels must remain "dry."
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