A LIVE STUDENT COUNCIL.

Anyone who reads the report of the secretary of the Student Council for the first half-year of activity as published in this morning's CRIMSON, must be impressed with the fact that Harvard has at last evolved an effective system of student government. The questions proposed and in a great part solved during the last five months show a height of interest and efficiency on the part of subordinate committees seldom seen among undergraduate activities. A great deal of credit is due the Executive Committee which has directed the work and appointed the men who have taken their tasks seriously and obtained lasting results.

The Committee on Organizations has worked long and faithfully to eliminate the conflicts which have hurt so many meetings and lectures in the past. Also an invaluable aid has been rendered many of the College clubs by the installation of proper accounting systems under the direction of men from the Business School. But, most important of all its good work, this committee has published the University Register in a style far ahead of what it has been in the past. This venture was conducted in a most businesslike way and yielded a very substantial profit.

To the Committee on Scholarship and Publications belongs the greatest praise for the suggestions it has submitted. Aside from the recommendations as to new courses, of which we heartily approve, the committee has rendered an invaluable service by drawing up a uniform class constitution. As we pointed out when the Freshman class was called upon to adopt the new system of nomination, clique feeling within a class has been for years the greatest bane of undergraduate life at Harvard. By this new plan, which is outlined in detail on another page, the possibility for class feeling has been reduced to a minimum. Nominations by petition only and preferential voting in the Sophomore and Junior classes are the vital issues of the new scheme. That this will prove the long-sought panacea for the ill-feeling which has followed so many class elections, we strongly believe. The constitution as drawn up by the committee was accepted with very little opposition and is a permanent tribute to those who have worked hard to eliminate politics from college elections.

Altogether we feel that the 1912 Student Council has amply justified its existence. May it continue its present strong policy and hand down to its successor a record of worthy achievement.