13 AUGUST 1937, Page 6

Whether Mr. Norman Ebbutt of The Times would be regarded

as a suitable member of either organisation is another interesting question. But there are few other circles where it would not be regarded as an honour to do honour to Mr. Ebbutt. Few men in the history of journalism have done more, in circumstances of abnormal difficulty, to uphold the best traditions of the journalistic profession. In the years he has spent in Berlin he has striven consistently and con- scientiously to present the facts about the country in which he was stationed-dispassionately and accurately, and his daily despatches in The Times are evidence of the conspicuous success with which he has achieved his purpose. A journalist who so interprets his professional duty does much more than serve the paper he represents ; he serves the whole public • of his own country. In Mr. Ebbutt's case the time may come when even some of the Germans who are now his traducers may realise that the truth does less harm to Germany than the suspicions and distortions and canards which the attempt to suppress truth inevitably instigates. * * •*