THE CHARACTER and temperament of an
age as well as its common sense are reflected
in its laughter." So says Dr. J. C. Gregory
in his treatise on the Sense of Humor. He remarks
further: "The way men laugh and the things they
laugh at reflect their tastes, thoughts, and sym-
pathies. . . . Society offers its pulse in the nature
of its laughter."

The career of Will Rogers is the finest illustration
you could find of these observations. If we hadn't
had him during the last ten years, if we hadn't
appreciated him and had the sense to laugh with
him and at ourselves, we should have been a sad
people.

He first burgeoned out as the Smiling Prophet of
America in the era of the Great Insanity, the period
we remember because of the tragic comedy of Tea-
pot Dome, which culminated in the cataclysm of
November, 1929. Political magnificos worried and
denounced; editors exploded in 12-point type.
Rogers poured out a steady stream of sparkling com-
mon sense that helped us to maintain some sort of
perspective.

When the Depression descended upon us in such
volume that not even the most ostrich-minded could
deny it, the man from Oklahoma stuck out among
us as a flashing tower of sanity. And people listened

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