SUIT THE ACTION TO THE WORD

The H.A.A. has swept clean. Although perhaps there may be a few tufts on Solders Field next fall that have escaped Mr. Bingham's broom, nevertheless the fact remains that the new coach has been given the power to pick and choose his assistants all down the line through the Freshman coaches.

Last week at the coaches meeting in New York, Mr. Bingham had the following to say; "Too many boys are being urged to go to college to play football, and unless this game is made incidental to a college degree, we might as well face the fact that we are deemed.... You cannot blame the schoolboy star; you cannot blame the coach; but you can blame the institution which makes recruiting a condition of your employment. What will be the effect on the college? There will be increased conniving, bidding, and recriminations, and this vocation of college coaching, where we want to have idealism, will become the laughing stock of the athletic world."

It is far from our purpose to brand Mr. Harlow as an exponent of "big-time" football. He has been a "forgotten man" among the prospects that have been mentioned for the position left vacant by the resignation of Eddie Casey. It is difficult to secure a consensus of opinion concerning his views. One must judge for the present solely by his record.

Mr. Harlow was an assistant coach at Penn State during the years 1912-1921, when that institution was the leader of the pack in recruiting football players. He left Penn State to take a job at Colgate, where there has ever been as much "conniving, bidding, etc," according to all reports, as at any other college. Leaving Colgate he took up his duties as head coach and athletic director at Western Maryland. There, at a school which has a co-ed student body of 470 he was able to turn out a team which could defeat B. C., which in turn gave Holy Cross a good fight.

Without knowing more of the personal convictions of Mr. Harlow on the subject of recruiting players, these associations with colleges of somewhat shady character in the matter of proselyting, make it difficult to reconcile Mr. Bingham's statements last week, with the appointment. One of the crucial indications of whether or not Mr. Bingham himself considers Mr. Harlow a high pressure football coach-namely the matter of salary-was carefully concealed by the announcement. "The Committee will not make public any financial arrangements with Harlow." The report that Harlow has been receiving $12,000 a year from Western Maryland and that he has just recently turned down an offer of $10,000 a year from the Boston Redskin's, although not officially confirmed, point to a salary that should satisfy the most exacting of alumni.

Mr. Harlow should not be condemned without a hearing. Perhaps the mere recitation of his coaching career does not tell the correct story. Perhaps too Mr. Bingham will see fit to exert enough control over football to stem the criticism that he believes the due of an institution which fosters a program of "going out and getting them." In any event, the final opinion as to whether Harvard has really gone "big-time" cannot correctly be made until the new regime takes over the reins.