The Tree Exercises.

To the Editors of the Crimson:

There is a statement on the postal cards sent out by the Class Day Committee that seems unfair. They say that "the question is undoubtedly between this (their plan) and nothing at all." But there are other plans, such as that proposed in yesterday's CRIMSON, that are feasible.

Nor is their plan a good one. It would work in practice very much as follows: The whole class, four hundred men, would undoubtedly enter the scrimmage.

On account of the lowering of the flowers, there would have to be a rush to wards the Tree at a given signal. As those near by would have the best chance of success, there would be an endless preliminary manoeuvering to get in the front rank, which would be most tiresome to the spectators. The Class Day officers would be powerless to keep the men from fighting for front place. There would be inequality of opportunity from the very start. Then when the crowed had once got around the Tree, there would be a block instead of a lively scrimmage. The dozen men immediately encircling the Tree would be almost the only ones to get flowers. They would probably tear away all they could. Or, even if prompted by more generous motives, they would be unable to get out through the impenetrable mass of men behind them. Each man in the crowed would be so tightly wedged in between four men, before, behind, right and left, that however willing he should be to let the man who had got flowers pass out, he would be absolutely unable to move. This scene would be very flat and uninteresting to the spectators, as there would be nothing to see but a black mass with a slight swaying motion perhaps. It would be unsatisfactory to the men participating as so few men would get at the flowers.

On the other hand, the new plan proposed in yesterday's CRIMSON, seems a much better one. The arrangement of details would be very simple. For example, a platform might be erected in the Tree, and flowers thrown out from it in every direction. If it should seem best to have the men who do the throwing concealed, they might be stationed behind a screen of evergreens. The great advantage of this new plan seems to be that there could be no prolonged scrimmage, as the flowers, falling lightly on a compact mass, could never reach the ground.

The best way to decide between these two or any other plans is to have a vote taken at a class meeting.

X. '97.