A MENTAL BALANCE SHEET

The national fondness for superlatives finds annual expression in the Pulitzer prizes. The process is simple: after a judicial consideration of the mass of material turned out by the printing presses of the country, the committee announces its decisions, which thereupon receive first page treatment. In the scientific world, the awards often reflect merit. In the literary and dramatic domain where justice is a matter of opinion, much critical ink is used in denouncing the decisions.

The awards of this year have escaped the more violent criticisms of the past If Sinclair Lewis does not deserve the prize for "Arrowsmith", at least his average is sufficiently high in "Babbitt" and "Main Street" to merit recognition.

And even the irrepressible columnist, Heywood Broun, admits that dramatist Kelly deserved reward for past performances, if not for his prize-winning play "Craig's Wife".

Thus has the nation reckoned up the product of its intelligence. The best mental work having now been tabulated, the American genius may again devote itself to balance sheets less nebulous.