Statesmanship . . . . . . . and Sportsmanship

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

When I was at Harvard last year and the year before, I was impressed with the spirit of sportsmanship that I felt I found there. It was a shocking disillusionment to hear of Harvard's refusal to play football with Stanford next season.

In 1940, when Harvard was overwhelmingly defeated by Princeton and Cornell, I found few Harvard men who did not want another crack at them. But now, it seems, Harvard can't take it. From here it looks like (to use the common phrase) you "chickened out."

The name of Harvard has lost a lot of respect in the Far West, and probably in the whole country, not because Harvard has a poor football team, but because Harvard showed a surprising lack of sportsmanship.

Perhaps the best course for Harvard to take is to completely drop football. You will at least be sure of not getting into any more embarrassing situations like the Stanford flasco. Norman L. Van Patten   Herkeley, Calif.