CONCERNING CUTS.

From unofficial sources there comes a rumor that fewer cuts are being taken by undergraduates than ever before. This is both surprising and encouraging; surprising since this year has more real events to seduce the indifferent scholar from his labors, and encouraging as it shows those who are left behind are doing their work. The Harvard cut system is one of the great privileges of the university. No hard and fast rules are established, so that a man may cut at discretion, his discretion being based on his standing in courses. Formerly the University looked with leniency on a Phi Beta Kappa man staying away from a large fraction of his classes. It was not likely that he would do so, but occasionaly a Phi Beta Kappa person is possessed of strange whims. This year the situation is entirely different. Our selective draft of students is fulfilling a duty of importance for tomorrow. It is no time for the peculiar to indulge his whims, no matter what his grades may be. The man who cut in former years lost by so doing, even if he seemed to know a little more than his professor. We want those in college this year to lose nothing. They are starting out well, but the race has just begun. The Recorder and the Dean may not be more severe than in former years, but they are infinitely more interested in the progress made in Harvard College. Let not the word of encouragement hinder that progress.