24 MARCH 1923, Page 27

How many people there are who have nothing better to

do was shown of late by the crowds who waited outside the Law Courts during the Russell case. Why should these people pay to see mummies when they can get a " show " for nothing in the street ? The Russell case, which was finished last week, once agair raises the question whether such purely personal affairs should be reported in detail. Publicity is considered, no doubt rightly, to be the only guarantee of justice. But if Carlyle is right in 'his ".mostly -fools " verdict, even that guarantee is a poor one.