The extraordinary statements of Governor Rolph on the subject of lynching, its advantages and prospects, have brought forth the natural reaction from the press and rostrum, so that the air is quivering with an unusually heavy load of resounding phrases and rhythmic sentiments. The preservation of law and order, respect for the customary procedures of justice, condemnation of mob violence, have all been dragged out of the oratorical closet and fitted to the bow. And very rightly, too. These social attitudes are hard to build up and equally hard to hold; they are well worth emphatic support. But a closer examination of Governor Rolph, the man, would have elicited fewer surprised and pompous tut-tuts. Quite simply, the governor is an amiable nit-wit whose capacities as an administrator were taxed to the utmost when running a city government and are hopelessly inadequate to the complicated job of manipulating the machinery of a state. Though his term contains one bright gem which made him nationally known--the unconditional refusal of Tom Mooney's petition for a pardon--the remainder has been incompetent and drab. Sunny Jim has been a confused and bewildered man since he entered office, and on this occasion he quite lost his head and reverted to his natural impulses as an American, in the process espousing the thinness of his cultural veneer.

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News from two of the most interesting fronts of today has been choked off to a trickle lately. For the past fortnight almost nothing has come out of Germany except official announcements by the government; the state of the Russo-Japanese conflict in Siberia has completely dropped out of the papers. Concerning the latter it is possible to say that no news is good news; more will be heard when the tangible results of the Soviet Recognition become known, but for the present to hear of no fresh border outbursts or inter-capital spats is reassuring. As for Germany, the only inference is that Herr Goebbels' organization is pursuing its censorial function with increasing efficiency; the penalty of this tactic is, of course, the added stimulus it gives to the Non-Nordic imaginations. CASTOR.