FOR A BETTER YIELD

While the enthusiasm occasionally attached to the importance of international scholarships may at times be well challenged, there is little doubt that the existence of the Rhodes Foundation provides an important strand in the cultural cable between the old world and the new. Any step taken by the trustees of the fund to improve the practical details of their work is not without distinct interest to those who believe in international understanding as the best basis for international peace. The changes in the mechanics of the American Rhodes administration announced yesterday by President Aydelotte have a direct bearing on the efficiency of the scholarships.

Both changes in the details of the Rhodes regulations have long been advocated by those familiar with the actual operation of the awards. Past experience has shown that under the old method of choosing scholars by states on alternate years many desirable men have lost the opportunity to benefit by the scholarships, and at the same time second-rate students have carried off the honors in states where the competition was sluggish. By dividing the states into eight districts these flaws should be removed, as annual competitions draw the best men from the entire country.

Perhaps more important than the revision in the awarding of the scholarships is the change that gives greater freedom in their use. Taking away the narrow restrictions that have held the winner of an award to three years at Oxford, the trustees now sanction a two year scholarship at England's oldest university, followed by an optional third year there or elsewhere in Great Britain. Such latitude is almost certain to result in a further realization of the cosmopolitan potentialities latent in foreign scholarships.

These adjustments in the Rhodes program in America, forecast since the action of the House of Lords last spring, seem to argue will for the increased usefulness of a relationship rich in the associations that lead to mutual good-will between countries.