Question has arisen

as to the holding of alumni reunions as usual at the coming Dartmouth Commencement. Unless conditions undergo material change between now and June there would seem no sufficient reason for giving up these genial gatherings. This Commencement will be very different from many that have preceded it. The graduating class will have been cut almost by half. The usual entertainments will be considerably modified or else omitted. But the tie that binds classmates in good fellowship and esteem will not be weakened; nor will the call of the hills and of the hill-college to those that love them be stifled. Nor should they be. Now, if ever, is the time for the repledging of all our nobler loyalties; and of these the loyalty to college and to college friendships is, by no means, least.

With expectation become reality, and the nation actually at war, the College has risen unhesitatingly and generously to the emergency. The service of its officers has been put freely at the disposal of the State of New-Hampshire. They are acting upon all important committees under the Governor's appointment; some of them devoting their entire time to the work. Others are occupied with the innumerable local problems that the situation is daily developing.

From the student body there were almost immediate departures following the declaration of hostilities. Some two hundred men have already been absorbed by various branches of government service, — chiefly naval; - and, with the opening of the officers' training camps in May there will be further withdrawals. Faculty action by granting credit as of the mid-semester, has considerably facilitated the exodus of students into the field of usefulness to the government. Those who have not gone have formed into a battalion for daily drill.

What the summer will bring forth in the way of demands for human material it is, of course, now too early to judge even remotely. Hence it is impossible to forecast the probable Dartmouth enrollment next fall. A guess would put the junior and senior classes below the normal size, the sophomore class not far from normal, and the freshmen class above normal; whether sufficiently above to compensate for the upperclass loss remains to be seen.

It is very certain, however, that the freshmen, whatever their number, will be well taken care of; for, if upper classes are depleted, upon the men remaining will be concentrated much of the faculty ability usually reserved for juniors and seniors. It seems not impossible that those who have been teaching one thing may be called upon to teach something else; but the freshmen are not likely to complain that their instructors have strayed from their specialties so long as the manner of instruction implies the experienced and highly qualified teacher.

Any considerable reduction in the size of the College will, of course, carry grave financial problems for the institution. Dartmouth is geared to take care of close to 1500 men. Only slight opportunity for proportional retrenchment in the apparatus, and hence the expense, of teaching and administration would accompany a decline in numbers. Income would, however, be materially lessened by falling off in receipts from tuitions and from dormitory rentals.

Tuitions for the year 1915-16 amounted to a little short of $200,000 net; receipts from dormitories close to $37,000 net. Income from endowments invested otherwise then in dormitories amounted to approximately $129,000. The cost of administration and instruction, alone, was $285,000; other expenses of operation and maintenance brought total costs to $403,000. Dartmouth's unfavorably small proportion of income from endowment is thus seen to be a vital factor in an uncertain situation.

Directly and indirectly the war will add a burden to the present year's College budget of several thousand dollars. The services which have unhesitatingly been given have entailed heavy charges which, at the time, patriotism forbade to count. At many points, likewise, loss of income has immediately been entailed by reduced student expenditures. The opportunity for application of the Alumni Fund daily becomes more apparent. Those alumni who are interested in patriotic endeavor may well realize that today, in helping the College weather a time of stress, they are contributing as well to the strength of the nation.

President Hopkins has issued wise advice to underclassmen in urging them to stick by their college work and secure their education instead of hurrying into military service. Seniors may properly enough, enter the officers reserve training camps or other branches of preliminary service calculated to build a technical superstructure on a foundation of general training. The underclassmen lack this foundation. In some places the officers in charge of the officers reserve training schools are insisting that college undergraduates, for the present at least, keep on with their work until they have their diplomas, or the need for men is more insistent. As an alumni correspondent puts it: "They want the best trained men they can get for the officers reserve corps and they do not want any stampede at the present time."

Those who rushed into the naval reserve before equipment for their utilization was ready are no doubt useful, though in some cases suffering a measure of disillusionment. According to report, many of them, instead of dashing over crested seas in search of the elusive submarine are prosaically engaged in shoveling coal and washing dishes in default of an occupation which fails for lack of boats.

With the wheels of government organization apparently clogged by the rush of volunteers for special work, it would appear that the best service may be rendered by those who possess themselves in patience until they clearly see the need that they can meet and the way of meeting it. If the war long continues the responsibility of the colleges for turning out men educated for intelligent assumption of responsibility will increase rather than diminish. Hence the propriety of special caution to those who, by age, temperament and tradition are most liable to plunge unreckoningly into action.