EDITORS HARVARD HERALD: As usual, many men were disappointed in the result of the drawing for rooms last Tuesday. Of course, we all know that some must be disappointed, and therefore try to bear it with equanimity. But what adds to our disappointment is a thought which is apt to suggest itself to us, however unpleasant it may be, that we are not getting fair treatment. If we were sure that every thing was square and above-board, and that we had an equal chance with every other man, we would go our way in peace, simply regretting our bad luck.

However good the present system for assigning rooms may seem on paper, every student knows that, in reality, it is open to many objections. It is about time that some better system were adopted which would give every man a fair chance, and which would not be liable to so many abuses. In the first place, the rule is that seniors are allowed to retain their rooms for their own occupation. But they are not allowed to transfer their rooms in case they decide not to occupy them in person. So reads the catalogue. Now this regulation would be perfectly just and fair were it enforced in every case. But it is not. We might as well come out plainly and recognize the facts as they are. Every student has in his list of acquaintances one or more cases where seniors have retained rooms and have afterwards transferred them to other friends who were not so fortunate as to draw rooms. Does any one suppose that all those '82 men who have retained their rooms intend to come back this year? Of course not. The catalogue next year will show that they did not intend to return. Another abuse is the practice now in vogue of having a number of men draw for the same room and then allowing the fortunate one to transfer. Every one knows that this is done and done successfully. Several cases have come to the writer's knowledge of men having as many as thirty others drawing for them.

One would think that in this case, as well as in the case of the seniors, that the necessity of signing a statement to the effect that the rooms were drawn for personal occupation, would deter most men from abusing the privilege of transfer. But actual experience shows that it does not. Men do not scruple to sign a lie when it comes to a matter of rooms. They excuse themselves by saying that everybody else does it. Of course I will not attempt to show to what extremes such reasoning leads.

Another case where the undergraduates are treated unfairly is in the retaining of a large part of the best rooms for the incoming freshmen. I see no reason why a man who has four years' drawings before him should have an advantage over a man who has but one or two. If a man does not get a room in his first drawing it seems that he is to be considered after those who have never drawn at all. It would be much fairer to let the freshmen take their chances with all the rest of the men in the college and draw in the general drawing. But the one great evil is the abuse of the right of transfer. The remedy is to stop transferring of rooms. Allow no transfer and the chances will be fairer for every one. If a man draws a room and finds he cannot occupy it, let him give it up and the bursar will dispose of it. This would do away with all the evils that belong to the present system. Let all the college unite and demand the abolishing of transfers.

ONE WHO DID NOT DRAW A ROOM.