Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-04-04

Whatever disagreements exist over
the right Of Coast Guard cutters to IRE
on and sink the Canadian rum-runner
I'm Alone, after chase far OF the
coast Of the United States, the American
press brushes aside "alarmists' sug-
geStions Of grave complication" and
assumes that the affair win be amicably
settled after the facts have been
established.
There Is no question of the
character Of the vessel that was sunk, |"
the New York Sun points out. There
may be question whether she was in
side the 12-mile limit when first chased
by the patrol boat Wolcott. There may
be question whether the pursuit, first
by the Wolcott and then by the Dexter,
was hot. But, assuming that Secretary
Mellon Is right in his statement that
the patrol officers are correct In both
these respects, the fact remains that
the British government never abandoned
the principle Of the three-mile limit
and never acceded to the application
of the right Of hot pursuit In q case
begun outside the three-m limit.
The Sun suggests the adyisability of
cident shall occur again"
y y
"Unquestionably the matter can be
thrashed out amicably and with dig
nifty" In the opinion Of the Baltimore
Sun, though 1t sees test Of our inter-
national good citizenship" The Indian
apolis News sums up the case with the
statement that "this Government will
do whatever Is right, and we are sure
that the British government will ask
for nothing but what Is right" The
Lynchburg News assumes that "if the
United States Coast Guard violated
British rights, acting In defiance Of
international law and Of treaty, the
United States owes an apology and
reparations," and that, II the question
Is not settled, arbitration will have
to be resorted to-"
IF we have done wrong" In the
opinion of the Huntington Advertiser,
st Is urgent that we make prompt and
proper amends to nation that has
manifested friendly respect for
American prohibition and has gone
out Of her way to see that none Of
her citizens violate our laws" The
Birmingham News takes the position
that "in cases of this kind only ex-
pert Judgment should be Needed" OBJ
serving that thus far responsible
spokesmen of the two governments have
been controlled by remarkable pru-
dence."
AS an Illustration of "the various
diplomatic complications arising from
the destruction of the ship" the SYRIA
cuse Herald states: 1.-THE one hours
steaming distance 'proviso' offers a
broad margin for dispute. On that and
related points the Manchester Guardian,
q fair-ninded British journal, main
tains that the American case will be
all the harder to prove, since the evi-
dence which might have been afforded
by the ships papers and cargo lies
buried at the bottom of the ocean,"
\ \ ~
"Creat Britain Is fair-minded In re-
specting the laws and regulations of other
nations and certainly has manifested no
disposition to countenance defiance on
the part of her shippers with respect
to United States regulations against
liquor smuggling" says the Salt Lake
Deseret News; while the New Orleans
Times-P icayune, emphasizing accepted
standards of international courtesy and
respect at sea-" makes the point that
England has demonstrated her SYM
pathy with our problem Of enforcement
and it would be little short of q calamity
~ tklls SuppVEt ottOu!o VIC WAtnu eWA 90
. result Of the I'm Alone incident"
"The smuggling crime Is quite dis
tincf from that against the liquor en-
actment," maintains the Philadelphia
Record, emphasizing the gravity Of the
offense Of the I'm Alone. Tariff laws
and customs regulations existed long
before prohibition went into effect. The
offense Is against them, against the
sovereignty of the United Safes, against
the integrity Of its frontiers. And de-
and the domestic evils Of prohibition,
such defiance Of United States laws by
foreign vessels Is no more tolerable In
the case Of liquor than It would be In
the case Of any other commodity
~ 49,
'tScore one strong victory for the