in the fictional field, and, by force of cruel and unusual circumstances in the printing office, succeeds in catching up with its dropped numbers by the device of printing the issues for June and midsummer together about August first as a double number.
THE MAGAZINE would have been quite content had urban chaos not invaded the rural press, for the attack was serious and long continued,. and has stimulated considerable demand for a College-owned printing establishment. This is a consummation devoutly to be avoided. Results sults might not be much better than those now obtained; and there would be no printer to blame in times of difficulty.
The recent Commencement marks Dartmouth's full emergence from the shadow of war and its brave and loyal facing of the problems of the future.
Not only was the attendance of alumni and their families of record-breaking proportions, but the spirit of the occasion was "manifestly vital and enthusiastic.
A fair indication of the soundness of alumni interest in Commencement is the number of those who remain for, and through the alumni luncheon at the close of the festivities. For the first time the gymnasium floor was. taxed nearly to capacity not only . during the meal, but throughout the speaking which followed it. This is partly a tribute to the alumni: partly to the speakers.
Be that as it may, however, it is increasingly evident that to carry the exercises of the Commencement season into the midst of the week places an undue strain upon the time of busy men. It should be essentially a week-end occasion, concluding not later than luesday.
This can be accomplished easily enough by slight changes in program, and, if necessary, by the placing of various events on Saturday instead of delaying them until Monday.
There is no doubt that another year will see this change brought to pass.
As the MAGAZINE goes to press, word comes of the death of Benjamin Ames Kimball of the Class of 1854, oldest in years, and second oldest in term of service in the membership of the Board of Trustees.
For more than half a century a dominating figure in the State of New Hampshire, Mr. Kimball, up to the day of his death at eighty-seven years of age, still held in his vigorous and able hands the keys of many important enterprises both public and private.
Month after month in the thick of the complicated problems of railroad reorganization, he yet found time to devote to the interests of the New Hampshire Historical Society and of Dartmouth College. For the former he was in the midst of an extensive plan of construction to be submitted to Mr. Tuck in Paris.
To the latter he gave endless hours of time as member of the Trustee Committee on Business Administration, to whose deliberations he brought the authority of age to enforce a courage and vision almost youthful in their vigor and scope.
A towering and venerable landmark of an earlier generation his stature dwarfed that of men of a later day. And now that he is removed, there is none that can take his place.
Probably the less said the better concerning that unfortunate occurrence in student life which resulted in the death of one student and the arrest of another on charge of murder.
Certain aspects of it will, in due time, be passed upon by the courts. Others, though after all incidental, have been utilized as the basis for a series of newspaper statements of so extraordinary and exaggerated a nature as to constitute their own strongest denial. A controversy in blackguardism, further, is not meet for a college publication.
There is, however, question as to whether the College authorities might have applied more effective measures to prevent the obtaining of liquor by members of the student body.
Perhaps they might. It must be remembered, however, that the powers of the College are not those of the Federal Government, and that its methods of dealing with its students are not those of the police in dealing with suspected criminals.
It might have been possible to forbid any and all student travel toward Canada. and to devise a detective system to ensure observance of the rule. It might have been possible to make unexpected and frequent examination of all student rooms and their contents. It might have been possible to impose a curfew law which would require students to be in their dormitories at specified hours, ana to submit, from time to time, to personal search.
The effect of such procedure upon the student morale may well be imagined; so too may be imagined the effect upon parents of such measures for protecting their sons against the influences of evil.
The age of college life—from eighteen to twenty-two—is the most difficult in a young man's career. At no other time is he so opinionated, so sure of himself, so restless under the sway of authority. The function of the educational process, further, is to help him to the fullest realization of himself.
This is not to be accomplished by repression, but by encouragement to expression. The ensuing stimulation inevitably produces the show of evil as well as of good. No year passes in any great college without revelation of mental or moral incapacity in some student or students so inescapable as to necessitate separation from the collegiate group. But, even at the risk of occasional complication, it is better to let these things come to the surface than to go prying after them in the depths and eddies of young-life.
This doctrine requires more faith, more courage and more patience for its fulfilment than does the doctrine of supervision and repression. There are types of mind which can never accept it. Yet it was the doctrine of Tucker, and it has been the doctrine of his successors; it has thus become the doctrine of Dartmouth, inseparable from its man-building tradition.
The Alumni Fund falls short of its $60,000 quota by about $2,000. The books closed July 15th as of June 30th, with receipts of $58,005.67 from 2,654 contributors.
If the rest of the alumni had done approximately their share, the Fund coffers would have overflowed. As it is, the College is provided with sufficient funds to break even for the year.
Next year the demand will be heavier. The budget adopted by the Trustees indicates expenditures $80,000 in excess of expected receipts. This sum will be for the alumni to provide.
It is not likely that quotas for all classes can properly be increased. The heaviest burden now rests upon the decade of the '80's. This is probably as it should be; but the weight will have to be left as it is. The '70's can do better than their 1920 quotas called for. The '90's can do a little better. Recent classes have been getting off altogether too easy in both money and percentages. Next year the heavy bombardment will have to be centered upon them.