GERMANY: Lang Vexed

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At Oberammergau the local Mayor, the Judas Iscariot of the Passion Players, commented upon the reception accorded two years ago to famed Anton Lang, interpreter of the role of Christ, by President Coolidge (TIME, March 24, 1924, PRESIDENCY).

The Mayor asserted: "Our beloved Anton Lang often complains bitterly to me of the manner in which he was received by the President of the U.S. . . . The President would not hear him out when he wished to tell of our dire sufferings under the Treaty of Versailles. . . . Anton Lang does not like Americans. . . . It is not likely that we Passion Players will accept the invitations which have been offered us to come to America again this year."

Diplomats recalled that the President has been at some pains to make it clear that he intended no slight to Anton when he was forced to cut short the latter's ill-timed harang. A note of explanation was later despatched from the White House: ". . . it is not permissible for the President to receive public address from people of another nation, unless they be presented through the usual diplomatic channels."

Actor Lang, it seems, still chafes.