Review of Union's Past Year

Except for the fact that the membership has fallen off to a small extent, the ninth year of the Union has been a success. A few minor changes have been made in the plant, but on the whole the Union has been run in the same manner as in former years. The patronage of the restaurant is still not great enough to cover expenses, and the treasurer's annual report showed that over one-half the total loss for the year was due to this cause.

The entertainments given by the Union have included a number of lectures and talks by prominent men, many of whom have spoken in past years. The series of lectures on professions has been continued. President H. A. Garfield, of Williams College, spoke on "Education"; W. B. Parsons spoke on "Engineering"; Dr. R. C. Cabot '89 on "Medicine"; Rev. Endicott Peabody h.'04 on "The Ministry"; and W. M. E. Perkins '07 on "Journalism." Among the other men of national reputation who drew large audiences were Lieutenant Sir Ernest Shackleton, F. Hopkinson Smith, Hon. E. Sumner Mansfield, Hon. Henry Clews, and Horace Fletcher.

At the opening of College a reception was held for the Freshmen. The monthly pop-concerts given each month alternately by the Pierian Sodality and the Musical Clubs have proved most popular, having been attended by an average of over 600 men. Mr. Copeland's readings in the Dining Room were probably the most universally appreciated. At each reading the room was filled to the limit.

The various rooms of the Union were used during the year by a total of forty-four clubs, as compared with twenty-eight last year. In all cases the regulation that 80 per cent of the club's members should be members of the Union has been enforced. In addition, class dinners and committee meetings have been frequently held in the Union and candidates for almost all the University athletic teams have met there for preliminary organization.

The number of men eating at the Union restaurant was about the same as last year, but less than the year before, owing to the fact that none of the athletic training tables was held there. The library, which has an independent income of about $900, has been materially increased. About 600 new books were catalogued, of which over one-third were donated. The proportion of donations was very large owing to the gift by Major Higginson of 101 volumes. The total number of books in the library at present is 10,460.

On Memorial Day, a memorial tablet to the Harvard men who fell in the Spanish War was unveiled.

A new provision regarding membership was adopted making the following provision:

"Any member of the University who joins the Union after June 1, as an active, non-resident, or associate member may have his membership continued until October 31, 1911, and he may enjoy all the privileges of the Union without the payment of an additional sum. None of these membership fees, however, may be charged upon the term bill."

The comparative figures of the membership for this year and last follow:   1909.  1910. Active,  2096  2064 Life (graduate),  1094  1106 Associate,  532  521 Non-resident,  357  301 Life (undergraduate),  83  70   4164  4072