MEMORIAL HALL.

EDITORS HARVARD HERALD: The quality of the knowledge displayed by the "Boarder" who inquires about the "crockery assessment" item is well illustrated by his statement that "the assessment has never been less than $100." He would need to look not far among past reports, which the auditor is always ready to exhibit, to find, in fact, that the general average of the assessments is about $90, to say nothing of months in which it is considerably less than that. If he had made such an investigation he might have discovered at the same time a striking uniformity in the four cents a week per capita in all the reports, and in that case a very simple multiplication by the number of men in the hall would convince him of his error as to the $100. Moreover, although the condensed report in the HERALD was not so clear as the posted one, it is strange he did not notice that the $194 itself is for two months.

These remarks are not idle, for it they fairly indicate the critical nature of this "Boarder's" examination of the reports, it may well be doubted whether there is anything in them not perfectly clear to one who, instead of rushing into print with a question, bestows a fair amount of careful thought on the statements before him. It is desirable, however, that the members of the Dining Association should have clear knowledge of the "crockery" and "repair" assessments and the surplus now happily resulting therefrom. Nothing can be simpler, and, it would seem, more equitable, than the working of these assessments. The repairs made from time to time have been averaged, and found to be near the round sum of $175 a month. In the same way, the purchases of new table-ware were found to amount on the average to four cents a week per capita. This four cents was settled upon by a careful estimate made a number of years ago and based on the accounts of two years. It has been confirmed since by an estimate made by Mr. Balch, and also at another time by the bursar and the auditor. A still better proof that the crockery and repair assessments, taken together, are at the right sum is found in the fact that the surplus in the bursar's hands at the beginning of this year was only $2426. A proper way to look at it is this: The sum total of the crockery and repair assessments go into the surplus every year, and nothing ever comes out of it except all payments for repairs or alterations that have to do with the permanent equipment and payments for new crockery. It should be added, also, that when the directors grant a reduction in a member's term bill the surplus is lessened by that amount; and when, as was the case last December, the charges for the third month turn out to be less than was anticipated in the term bill, then the balance goes to surplus, as would also a deficit be deducted therefrom.

I will not leave this subject without calling attention to the appropriateness of meeting the expense for repairs by a fixed monthly assessment, and the crockery expense, which bears a much more direct relation to the number of boarders, by an assessment per capita. The fund accruing from the two sources is treated as one, and is drawn upon at any time indiscriminately for repairs or for crockery. The crockery items this year have been: in October, $341; in November, $110; in December and January, $56. Even if it should be found that the crockery assessment is too large for its specific purpose, a reduction might better be made in the repairs assessment of $175 a month rather than in the one of four cents a week; for of the total expenses of the hall, that portion which is a fixed sum and not variable with the number of members is what brings difficulty in times of lessened membership.

EX-DIRECTOR.