AMERICAN PLAN AT MEMORIAL.

After five years of experimenting with the European plan, the directors of Memorial Hall have decided to propose the adoption of the American plan to the members of the dining association and a vote will be taken on this proposition today. Nobody seems to be able to find out just what is the matter with Memorial or in fact what has been the matter for the past few years. Different directorates have proposed different remedies, new schemes have been tried and generally discarded as unsatisfactory after a few weeks' trial, and the price of board has fluctuated during all these proceedings more violently than any change in the price of materials would warrant. Meanwhile, there has been the ever present interest to be met at the close of each year on the loan given by the Corporation at the time of the renovation of the Hall in 1904, and the sinking fund to be set aside to pay off this debt. Early in the fall, when the price of board for October reached the high figure of $5.65, it was thought that this increase had been due to the fact that the transient tables were being run at a loss. Now this explanation has been fairly well disproved and every one is left to find out for himself why the Association is not on a paying basis.

The problem is by no means an easy one, however, as it should be borne in mind that the fixed expenses are unusually heavy before the question of food enters into it at all. There is due the Corporation each year something over $14,000 in interest payments and in payment of the sinking fund. Then there are the heavy expenses of the large and cumbersome plant. It is a problem to serve board to 1200 and more people under these conditions at a price ranging from $4 to $5 a week and it is a reasonable question whether it is wise for a constantly changing directorate of students to have charge of its business rather than men who have had wider experience in catering to large numbers.

There is one aspect of the situation which is usually overlooked. Supposing the Hall were obliged to shut down: the result would be an immediate rise in the price of board in the other eating places of probably a dollar more per week. Those men who are now paying $5 or $6 a week for board in the Mount Auburn street region would be obliged to pay $6 or $7. This is most undesirable but cannot happen as long as Memorial can be operated.

The Corporation has consented to remit three-fourths of the sinking-fund payments for two months at least while the plan of returning to the American basis is given a trial. While this does not remove any of the debt which is still outstanding it will give the Association a chance to see if this arrangement will bring the desired results. The members will be given a chance to formally vote on this question today. Apparently, things are unsatisfactory as they are now and the new plan may be the right one. If the Corporation is willing to remit the interest during these months, it must be worth at least a trial.