PRESIDENT PORTER'S VIEWS ON ATHLETICS.

At a recent Yale alumni dinner President Porter said: "As far as Yale is concerned athletics are doing well; they do not divert the interest of the students nor do they diminish the zeal for culture as a whole. The tone of the students is improved by the slight diversion of attention which they cause. I take the liberty of explaining why we are reticent in making arrangements in regard to athletics with the other colleges. It is the result of long experience. The question has been talked over more than ten years, and upon it President Eliot and myself have bestowed much thought, though we have never agreed. The two colleges are differently situated. Harvard, if she needs a competent adversary, can send her team to Boston, and let them engage with some of the amateur clubs, while in order to find rivals we must take the professionals who come in our way. This ground is not taken in order that we may have an advantage, and all our students want is fair play whether they are beaten or not."