The action of the trustees at Columbia University in calling for an inquiry as to the political doctrines of various professors in that institution need occasion no surprise. It is true, of course, that the cry of academic freedom is bound to be raised whenever an attempt is made to put any damper on these ebullitions, but to the minds of most laymen there is no good reason why a decent respect for the opinions of mankind should not characterize the utterances and actions of scholars as of other men.

Too many of them have been ready to rush into the headlines at every opportunity, forgetting that the dignity of their profession calls for soberness in thought and restraint in language. Harvard has furnished some conspicuous examples of this indiscretion on the part of teachers to whom our national declarations of neutrality seem to have meant nothing whatever. This may be due in part to the fact that college professors are usually men of strong convictions and in part to the fact that not a few of them have a kindly feeling toward Germany by reason of their years of study spent in that country. Yet these men should realize that prejudice and bitterness of language ought to have no place in scholarly circles. --Boston Herald.