THERE IS ONE WAY OUT

The recent flight of Dr. John F. Condon, Bronx educator and famous go-between throughout the Lindbergh case, is highly significant. Of especial interest is the fact that, like Colonel Lindbergh, Condon has chosen to fade from the picture just as national excitement and feeling has reached a fever pitch over the impending execution of Hauptmann. In the case of the Lindbergh family one may understand their desire to wait until the whole affair has blown over before returning to the scene. Their presence here would but aggravate a situation already charged with hysteria and fanned to white heat by a yellow press. At best they could do no good, for it is inconceivable to think that Colonel Lindbergh would have left any unrevealed evidence in his possession.

The absence of Condon at such a time, however, must be viewed in a very different light. Throughout the case his position has been one of mystery:-one in which neither the public at large nor the press has been fully satisfied as to the veracity of his statements or to the simon-purity of his dealings. He has been in close contact with what might be called the criminal elements of the cause celebre, he has been largely responsible for convicting Hauptmann, and yet, despite the mass of circumstantial evidence, there is great feeling in the country today that, though Hauptmann was implicated, he was but a tool and a subordinate working for others higher up.

Long before the execution, Condon had entered into a contract with a sensational magazine for a series of articles entitled "Jafsie Tells All". Today, as Bruno Richard Hauptmann nears the death chair, as the New Jersey court of pardons turns down his plea for a respite and as the public sithers in a wave of doubt and high-feeling, Governor Hoffman hurls the credulous and timely challenge-Condon has not told all And implication adds:-he knows far more than he has told and he is fleeing the country in fear.

Hoffman is playing a game that may be political suicide. if he is right anything will be his for the asking; even unto the vice-Presidency on the Republican ticket. If he is wrong he will learn how costly a mistake made in public office may be. However, for his honesty and straightforwardness at such a time he should receive the highest praise. Behind Hoffman should go the support of the people in America who felt that Condon field in fear because he knew more than he dared tell. Hoffman's duty is unmistakable. In the face of such universal uncertainty he has but one course;-to return Condon to the United States and air the case from top to bottom before a possibly innocent man be allowed to die in the chair. Far better to reopen this question, unpleasant as it may be, than to choose blindly some scapegoat to satisfy the demands of justice.