Evening star., 1922-10-08
New Order Gives Weeks
Grace to Foreign Vessels
in U. S. Ports.
NEW YORK CUSTOMS MEN
PUT RULING INTO EFFECT
Inspectors Force All Incoming
Vessels to Obey Order
of Daugherty.

Foreign and American vessels sail
| ing for the United States after Octo-
ber II next will be subject to the
prohibition against the bringing OF
| intoxicating liquors into American
| territorial waters, it was announced
last night at the Treasury Depart
ment
Decision to defer in the case Of these
craft the enforcement of Attorney
General Daughertys ruling with re-
spect to the prohibition of the trans
portation of liquor cargoes or stores
was made by President Harding
The executive. in letter to Secre-
tary Mellon. said any earlier attempt
at enforcement in the absence OF due
notice and ample regulation. would
be inconsistent with just dealing, and
have a tendency to disrupt needlessly
| the ways of commerce"
United States Ships Now Dry.
This delay in enforcement does not
apply to the sale of intoxicating
/ liquor on vessels sailing under the
! American flag" the President said
Immediate cessation of such sales was
ordered Friday by Mr. Harding after
the Attorney Generals ruling had
/ been presented to him.
| Masters of Shipping Board vessels
| were ordered yesterday by Chairman
| Lasker to remove and surrender to
Treasury officials all intoxicating
F! liquors aboard such ships. The order
| became effective Immediately as to
/ Oh ,I he
made effective on those at sea and in
! foreign ports upon their arrival in
the United States.
'If any officer or member Of the
4 crew either on passenger or cargo
ships.' the order said, 'is found
thereafter to possess liquor on ships
he shall be Immediately removed per-
manently from the service, and his
violation of the law reported to the
proper district attorney"
A formal notice to foreign steam
| ship lines and to lines operating pri-
\ vately owned American craft Of the
application of the prohibition amend
ment and enforcement act to car
riers entering American waters prob
| ably will be given early next week.
The form the notice of the foreign
lines is to take was the subject of a
half hours conference yesterday at
the White House between the Presi-
dent and Secretaries Mellon and
Hughes and Attorney General Daugh-
erty.
Diplomats Surprised.
Meantime, Internal Revenue Com
missioner Blair is having formulated
the necessary regulations to enforce
the law with respect to foreign and
privately owned American craft.
There was no indication when these
| regulations would be completed.
Although not yet officially advised
| Of Mr.. Daugherty's opinion. the for
eign diplomats notified their home
| governments. with the intention OF
| supplying official information as soon
| as it could be obtained from the
State Department.
| The decision of the Attorney Cen
| eral took the embassies completely
by surprise, as it had been confidently
expected that the construction to be
placed upon the prohibition amend
ment and Volstead act. SO far as it
relates to foreign vessels at least,
! would be in the direction of lib
erality rather than further restric-
tions. Closure of the bars on liners
and placing of the liquor in ships
stores under seal upon entering the
/ territorial waters of the United
States, as at present practiced. were
believed to have fully met the in
| tent OF the prohibition law.
None of the various embassy OFF,
cials were willing to predict what
might be the outcome of this new de-
velopment in the international phase
Of dry law enforcement. But, in an
+, ticipation of some such decision, rath-
! er as a possibility than as a proba-
bility, some of the foreign diplomats
have expressed the belief that British
! and other foreign shipmasters, rather
than submit themselves to rigorous
application of the American law,
would largely desert American ports
Of entry. making the western termi-
nus Of the transatlantic lines i'm
| Canadian and British West Indian
ports.
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