NEW YORK—The current Congressional investigations point up a general problem that has developed in public life. There seems to be a continuing disclosure of what might be called either complete naivete on the part of government officials or else acceptance of a theory that one has the right to receive certain material considerations in return for rendering a service to the public which the officials all say they must give. This is offered to explain whatever assistance they gave those people who received some kind of consideration. Whether any real advantage except speed was obtained is difficult to say, but the custom on gift giving and receiving obviously needs some reconsideration.

It is sad that Lebanon is now bedevilled by religious factions. For a long time that country was free of religious prejudices and kept a balance in its government. Now there seems to have developed an imbalance of population, and religious differences are turning into political differences. If only the borders of Lebanon can be kept free from infiltration, perhaps it will be possible for the government to bring about normal conditions. One certainly hopes for that small country a measure of return to quiet and freedom.

The Citizens Committee for Children of N. Y. C. has just put out a study on the impact of modern prescription drugs on the family budget. Its conclusions probably apply to many other areas of our country. The committee made a very careful study and came to the conclusion that many families are experiencing "real hardship" by spending large sums of money for brand name drugs "which could be bought at a fraction of the cost if their scientific names were used by physicians writing prescriptions."

During this two-year intensive study, 46 health, welfare and civic organizations were consulted by the city. They found that patients "often have great difficulty in meeting the cost of medicines essential to survival or alleviation of pain" if they are suffering from arthritis, rheumatism, cancer, heart disease or tuberculosis. The committee also discovered that even city departments such as city hospitals and welfare departments pay different sums for the same quantity of the same drugs. The committee urged public and voluntary agencies, health insurance companies and civic organizations to work together to obtain support for changes in public policy which would help alleviate the situation.

We still seem to be able to make records crossing the Atlantic by plane. Last week two jet planes, which got off before the tragic accident to the third one, succeeded in breaking the previous record by a British Canberra jet bomber. The first of our planes, Alpha, made the crossing to England in 5 hours, 27 minutes and 42.8 seconds. The second plane, Bravo, was two minutes slower. We all grieved over the accident to the third plane, but we should congratulate the successful crews.