On the evening after the President Is decision was published Mr. Charles H. Butler, reporter of the Supreme Court, entertained the Supreme Court at his residence, 1535 Eye St., N. W. I was one of the invited guests at this function. Among other members of the Supreme Court who were there was Justice Harlan of Kentucky. Accosting me he said, "Come over here, my boy, where there are not so many people. I would like to talk to you." Retiring to a secluded spot somewhat distant from the punch bowl we sat down upon a sofa. Justice Harlan said to me, "What is this I hear about holding Supreme Court in the White House?" I replied, "You know as much about it as I do, Mr. Justice, you have read the newspapers." To which he replied, "Things are coming to a pretty pass in this country. The question of 'What is whisky?' was on its way to my Court and now it will never reach there."
What a pathetic void in classic Supreme Court decisions was caused when Justice Harlan was denied this opportunity of writing the opinion of the Supreme Court on this case!
Fortunately the rectifiers did not have many years to enjoy the fruits of their great victory. The enactment of the Prohibition Amendment and the Volstead Act placed all dealings in beverage alcoholic drinks outside of the law. The question now is not "What is whisky?" but "Where is whisky?" The adulterations of the bootleg brand are now more deadly than were the combinations of the rectifiers in the old days. These illegal decisions that permit alcohol to masquerade as whisky have never been repealed. They remain sonorous witnesses of the triumph of the unholy.
