SULLIED ERMINE

The march of Prohibition's progress tramps larger and muddier across the daily page after a dubious decade of noble experimenting. The Government loses millions of dollars in revenue, over a thousand souls are slain; corruption and license go hand in hand with illegal gain, all for the sake of an Ideal.

But not without its moments of humor. One of the most revered traditions of these United States, and one that stands aloof from lobbyist mud slinging and presidential scandals, is the belief that the Supreme Court, like older and wiser vestiges of autocracy, can do no wrong. The citizens of tomorrow, the backbone around which the nation will be built, have shared this belief in full innocence of the ways of men and morals. When the Volstead Act was declared no infringement of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Young America wavered a moment in doubt. And then in the most amusing test case of the post-diluvian age, the highest tribunal decided that bootleggers must pay an annual income tax on their ill-gotten returns.

But if bootleggers aren't au fait perse--? Such a pleasant vagary as this just goes to prove that even the Supreme Court, like the sorrowful heroes of Aeschylus, may have a slight dent in its armour.