The Shipping Correspondent of the Times has pointed out that
in its judgment the Supreme Court laid it down that " the local sovereign may, out of consideration of public policy, choose to forgo the execution of its jurisdiction or exert the same in only a limited way." In other words, the political authority is left with full discretion. This fact seems to have been generally overlooked, and it would not be surprising if ultimately the American Treasury officials made use of their dis- cretion. There is, perhaps, a cause for satisfaction in the fact that British ships have been dealt with by these Federal officials and not by the police of New York State --since New York State has withdrawn its approval of Prohibition, A few Irish police anxious to " rub it in " to hated England might have carried out the task of inspecting and removing the liquor in a manner--to put it mildly—very different from the noticeable suavity of those who actually enforced the law. As for the legality of American action from the international point of view, it seems that it cannot be questioned.
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