Government Issue

IT WOULD SEEM that the president of Harvard University is right in contending that some criterion other than mere length of military or naval service should be used in determining what service men are to be admitted to college courses after the war, although certainly that element should be given full consideration. The mere fact that a man has served longer than another desirous of seeking higher education proves little or nothing by itself, though (other things being equal) it might well be decisive. It is still true that "too many are going to college"—or was so down to the outbreak of the war—in the sense that too many men have been going to college who ought not to go, to the exclusion of others who would derive a greater benefit. Dartmouth has been striving, with conspicuous success, to winnow the wheat from the chaff by means of her selective process of determining admissions, with intent to admit only those best qualified to profit by higher education; and therefore it is perhaps more keenly appreciated at Hanover than in some other places that something more convincing than a priority in the queue should be called for if the effort to provide college education for war veterans is not to be wasted.

The generous intent of the federal government to see that men who have been giving their best youthful years to war service shall not thereby be deprived of their chance to develop their minds by college training is to be applauded; but it is still desirable to insist that the preference in choosing which men shall enjoy that opportunity should depend rather on demonstrated capacity to profit therefrom than on length of time in the Army or Navy alone. There are obvious limits to the usefulness of a rule like "first come first served." It has its pertinence, but there should be some stress laid on the capacity to derive a benefit from belated college study. The government will be paying a sizable bill and it seems essential to make sure that not too much seed shall fall on stony ground.

THE V-12 CHOW LINE, ABLY ASSISTED, TAKES ABOARD A SIZABLE CARGO AT THAYER HALL.