"AFTER US--?"

Although recent graduates who escaped the deluge of divisionals, and present seniors who count upon a timely departure before other requirements enhance the difficulties of acquiring a degree, unite in giving thanks for these blessings, the logic of higher standards has recently been expounded by President Lowell with characteristic clearness. The whole structure of education being, apparently, very much like the House that Jack built, it is unlikely that any radical change can be made in any one institution without influencing in some degree, all of the other institutions,--and most especially those which make a business of preparing men for further study.

If, however, any advance in the thoroughness or effectiveness of education is ever to be made, the impulse has obviously to come from the universities--that is, from the institutions to whom education itself and its possibilities are most vital. The secondary schools,--one may cautiously generalize,--care for little besides preparing, students to pass College Board--examinations. No improvement can reasonably be expected to germinate there. And the primary schools, overloaded as they are with perfectly irresponsible pupils into whom dispairing teachers seek to drill the bare rudiments, cannot be looked to for any spontaneous advance.

But comparatively, the university is a free agent. It sets the standards and consequently bears the responsibility of keeping the standard as high as average human intelligence permits,--or perhaps even a little higher. Future generations may bemoan their sad plight of being born into a world a whole C ahead of their ancestors' but the natural result of the raising of university requirements will inevitably be the tightening up of secondary school requirements and a boosting all along the line of a sagging elementary school system With this done, college work in spite of increased vigor will probably be less difficult to the freshman of the future than it is to the less well-trained new-comer today.

Why Harvard should begin this cycle of improvement may puzzle many. But some place must. After all, there will always be enough colleges with standards adjusted to moderate abilities. At present, there are few, if any which allow sufficient scope to unusual ability. No particular glory attaches either to the one kind of university or to the other And as it happens, no changes have yet been made which severely tax the moderately capable at Harvard. But if some change is to be made, if there is to be progress in any one direction, that direction, according to every tradition and characteristic of the University should lead to the maximum development of potentially able individuals.