The result of the libel action which the Duke of Windsor has courageously brought against the publishers and author of "Coronation Commentary" draws attention to the dangers of a certain form of modern publication. The immunity of the purveyor of gossip from correct tion at the law's hands is not due to any inherent merit or accuracy in that agency but rather to the difficulty of bringing the offender to book, In fact the spoken or whispered word still remains the most potent wrecker of reputa-ions and the victims far too often have no effective redress, Lately a class of publication has conceived the idea of setting down these items of gossip in cold print, To this the unthinking public has given support derived from the very weakness on which gossinmongers batten—the sense of being entertained by real or imaginary tales of human error. It would seem that the book which came under the severe strictures of the Chief Justice of England was based partly on lucubrations of that kind. Having seen the slanders in print, the author perhaps assumed that their veracity required no further testing. He has admitted his fault and has received correction. The damages are described as large but whatever their sum they cannot compensate for the pain and mischief which they have wrought, not the least being the encouragement given to the mangling of other reputations. It is not often that men in the position of the Duke of Windsor can bring themselves to the point of facing such calumnies in a court of law. The practical obstacle of expense is frequently decisive. His Royal Highness has done a public service in this matter. It is to be hoped that the salutary penalties exacted will act as a deterrent in the future. The case has an important historical pect in that it firmly establishes the basis a which the abdication of King Edward VIII was made, It thus disposes of those persistent but unfounded allegations which political or personal rancour has spread for the purpose of Giscrediting all parties concerned. Lord Baldwin, for example, if he really wanted it. receives full vindication in the result of the trial. Future historians, as Sir William Jowitt observed, should now be in no danger of being misled by false contemporary comment. Yet the problem of the scandalous tongue remains. It has been the theme of satirists through the ages, Can modern civilization be moved to solve it?
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.