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MUCH criticism has been passed on the manner in which College meetings have been held this autumn, and many of the students are far from approving the spirit which has crept into them. The plan of calling a meeting of the College where the election of officers is supposed to be open, and running through a ticket already prepared, by means of a nominating committee already instructed, cannot be too highly censured. It is foreign to the very purpose of an open meeting, and to the present spirit of Harvard, where fair play is deemed the first principle of action; and that it should have succeeded in the case of the election of officers for the Boating and Base Ball Associations, shows it an abuse that must be corrected before it gains more ground. We say this in no spirit of hostility to the officers who were elected, for we think that most of them would probably have been quite as successful had the election been open; but we cannot help thinking that these same men would be better satisfied if they felt that they were appointed by the meeting at large, rather than by a committee which was previously instructed to nominate them. If it be necessary for the Captain of the Nine and Crew to have an Executive Committee subservient to them, then it will be better to give up holding meetings of the University, in which there is no chance for open nomination, and where an unprejudiced student feels himself out of place, or, at best, merely the echo of those who are running the matter. We also agree with the Advocate in the inadvisability of appointing a graduate of several years' standing to the presidency of any of our undergraduate athletic organizations; for while we do not doubt that he will do all in his power to further its interest, we cannot believe that he will know its needs or be able to devote as much time to it, as a resident undergraduate.

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