LAISSEZ FAIRE

The group of scholars who come to Harvard this year as holders of the Commonwealth fellowships are a welcome feature of the present interchange of students between the English and American universities. Such opportunities for foreign students to study and to carry on research has an educational value for them and a broadening influence on the University.

The holders of the Fellowships have no specific obligations to fulfill in regard to degrees earned or credit gained. They are given free rein, if they wish, in the pursuit of their subjects and those whose interests are in the sciences have access to the laboratories without the usual tiresome formalities of registering in lab courses.

Such an informal, unhampered access to the advantages of the University is in direct contrast to the established ritual required of those passing through the mill, grinding out its yearly crop of Ph. D.'s. It might be suggested that the Commonwealth scholars derive as much advantage from their unconventional methods of study as those earnest young men whose end in life is to enjoy the prestige of a Doctorship.