HARVARD AND TECHNOLOGY.

The proposal that there should be co-operation between Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is not an entirely novel idea. But the fact that a suggestion of this sort has now come from President Maclaurin of Technology gives an added importance to the question. The gist of President Maclaurin's proposal, made in his annual report, is that there should be a pooling of facilities, with the maintenance of the present independence of the two institutions. The reasons back of this proposition are purely economic, for it is urged that each of the two schools has resources which would be of service if thrown open to the other. Moreover, competition, which in the nature of the case is particularly weakening to colleges, would be done away with. An alliance on a broad basis of mutual helpfulness, with the application of this cooperation limited at first to graduate students, is the recommendation put forth by President Maclaurin. The suggested relationship is in no sense a merger. In fact, the success of the scheme may be said to depend on the continued separation of the two schools whose characters are necessarily so different. On the one hand stands Harvard--the University with its atmosphere of Liberal Art. On the other is Technology--with its ideals of specialized technical efficiency. Each is in a position to give much to the other. As distinct units, but with a full measure of co-operation along certain lines, their range of usefulness should be greatly increased.