The Cordova daily times., 1918-06-12
OUR COURT JESTER

Trust George Creel to be forever rushing in where angels fear to tread. There is nothing that he will not es- say, provided only that it promises him a fair amount of personal pub icity. And he takes himself so seri- ously-more so, in fact, than does any body else. It is fortunate indeed that the American people are blessed with an abundance of native humor; other wise, were they in the least disposed to view the antics of their inimitable censor-in-chief in serious vein, they would find themselves in a devil of stew most of the time. That Creel manages to "get by" with his camou- fiage might be due to his own artful- ness, and then again it might be chargeable to a charitable spirit on the part of his fellow citizens.
 ' At times one is forced to wonder of what earthly use is Creel anyway in the business of winning the war. But this thought comes: When kings ruled by theory of divine right and there were few to dispute that far fetched claim, the job was more or less tiresome, and so, to break the monotony, it was customary to have a cC..rt jester to amuse the sovereign and his retinue. The jester was af- forded extraordinary privileges, in re- turn for which he was expected to spout a stream of nonsense intended to tighten his majesty's moods and save the sovereign from becoming an absolute prey to the weighty prob lems of state. The jester also served to amuse the companions of his maj esty, and in divers ways did he be- come permanent court fixture. What the clown is to the modern circus so the jester was to the court in the old days, and so it would seem that George Creel is to the present admin istration. In countenancing his cen sor-in-chief, one supposes that the President is proceeding on the theory that "a little nonsense now and then is relished by the best of men, and if this be true, then we can quite for give him this hobby, provided it is so understood. Although war is a seri- ous business, among other things we can use a jokesmith to excellent ad- vantage, and if it has been decreed that George Creel shall cavort in the capacity of official funmaker, to the end that our mental burdens shall be broken from time to time by a bit of harmless nonsense, then we should all be of good cheer.
 What we happen to have in mind right now is Creeps attempt to re- assure his audience in New York re- gently that free speech is still guar anteed by the constitution, and that honest criticism should be and is wei comed at Washington. We leave that assertion to the calm reasoning and common sense of the conscientious reader Also in answer to a question as to why somebody doesn't muzzle Colonel Roosevelt, Creel ventured the observation that 'it would be highly improper and totally out of place for anybody to try to stop Colonel Reese welt from criticizing the administra tion." Just what he meant by this is not quite certain, but he went on to say: Personally, believe any restrictions placed upon Colonel Roosevelt's utterances would be un desirable, because I believe his vitu peration is winning supporters for the President every day" So, then, by indirection, at least, the colonel really is doing his bit to help win the war That was most startling admission to come from recognized spokesman of the administration.
 And strange to say, on the very