Like the proverbial old maid who looks for a man under her bed, the legislatures of the country seem to be suffering from a fixation concerning their own doom. Nothing could be a more ludicrous and at the same time pathetic example of the current alarm-clock insanity than the Masschusetts Teachers' Oath Bill which took effect in the Commonwealth yesterday.

It is worse than useless for opponents of the bill to point out that in passing the oath bill the gentlemen of Beacon Hill are subverting the very constitution of which they so loudly proclaim themselves the guardian angels. Such pseudo-patriotic cliques as the American Legion and the Daughters of the American Revolution (Sic!) whose life blood has always been publicity, have more effect upon state legislatures in their present state of decay.

A Byzantine eunuch is a symbol of strength compared with the Teachers' Oath Bill, in which nowhere can one find the slightest penalty provided for its violation. Evidently the statesmen of Massachusetts believe that the wish is the father to the thought, and that once the virtue of patriotism has been given the force of legality, it will become a part of the temperament of the teachers of the Commonwealth.

In connection with this unwarranted hysteria nothing could be more poignant than a quotation from President Roosevelt's inaugural address in 1933. "We have nothing to fear but fear itself." If the Constitution of the United States is not strong enough to stand on its own feet without any help from red-white-and-blue lobbyists, it is not worth saving.