ON THE SHELF

This month's "Guardian" is undoubtedly the best issue of the year, but is hardly lives up to its subtitle: "The only undergraduate magazine of the social sciences in the United States." Of the six articles in this number, only two are by undergraduates. The rest of the contributors' list is made up by Aubrey Williams, director of the N. Y. A., two government instructors, and a law school man. The quality of their contributions is certainly more than high enough to explain, if not to excuse their inclusion, But an undergraduate magazine should devote its space to undergraduate expression, and these men have many other journals open to their work. These-reflections, however, should not detract from the magazine's interest.

Aubrey William's "Jobs for Youth" is not only an excellent study of the N. Y. A., but also a "must" for all prospective N. Y. A., workers at Harvard. It covers the field comprehensively and interestingly, and includes a stimulating discussion of the project's larger social implications.

In his "Civil Liberties and National Unity." A. B. Overstreet reviews recent developments in the field of civil liberties and law enforcement, and makes a number of constructive suggestions, especially with regard to concentration of and publicity for responsibility. His all-or-nothing attitude on preservation of individual rights is the only defect of the article.

Scholarliness is too often a synonym for dullness, even the pages of the "Guardian," but R. A. Horne's "Can Congress Abolish the Poll Tax?" holds the reader's interest throughout, yet discusses a complicated legal and constitutional question in all its ramification. Hence also manage to provide a thorough background for his particular subjects with a few paragraphs on the whole poll tax situation.

Marcus James '43 presents a convincing picture of bad conditions in British Colonies, in "A British Colonial Views the War," but points out that they are supporting England whole-heartedly in the war, "not to retain Democracy, but rather to obtain it."

Perhaps the most stimulating, and at the same time the most confusing article in the issue is "The Peace Strikes" by Edward Ames '42. Ames was included in three pages enough ideas for three volumes on Liberals and War, but the ideas are so many and so disorganized as to leave the reader somewhat dazed. It's well worth your attention, though.

The last piece is a timely survey of Negroes at Harvard by Paul Davis. It uncovers a number of interesting facts and incidents in the ninety-year history of their attendance at the University, and equals the quality of the whole issue. It's an issue you don't wants to miss.