The annual meeting of the Co-operative Society for the election of officers for the succeeding year will be held on the third Wednesday in February. At that time it will devolve upon the members to determine the future policy of the society by the election of a president and board of directors to succeed the present officers. The first year of the society - necessarily a tentative and experimental year - has, we think, been highly successful, and has solved the problem of the society's future existence. The extent of the benefits that have been conferred and of the work that has been done by the society, of course cannot be fully and accurately known until the reports of the president, treasurer and superintendent are presented at the approaching annual meeting. It is believed by the officers, however, that the showing will be a satisfactory one in all respects.

However successful the first year of the society's existence, it must still be remembered that its permanence and future usefulness depend largely upon the careful selection of a competent board of officers for the ensuing year. The actual success of the society, however, depends more directly upon the energy and efficiency of the superintendent. It is difficult to appreciate to what a great extent the past year's success has been due to the painstaking and thorough management of the present incumbent. Therefore it is with considerable concern that we learn that the present superintendent contemplates giving up the office. His reasons for this step are entirely personal. As so much of the success of the society has been due to the confidence its members felt in their manager, his resignation at this time would be a severe blow. Although it is possible that another man might give satisfaction, still he would be obliged to learn the details of the office, and it would be some time before the society could get into complete running order again.

In view of these facts, the board of managers have seen fit to offer him extra inducements to retain the position. Every member will endorse them in this action, and we feel sure that we voice the general sentiment of the college when we urge upon the superintendent to consider carefully the needs of the society before deciding to give up his present office.

Hitherto in the calculation of the general scale of marks by the faculty for the four years each year has had more weight than the following year, i. e., the freshman year has counted more than the sophomore year, the sophmore more than the junior, and so on. Hereafter each year's work will have equal value in the calculation of the general scale.

This is but another step towards the entire abandonment of the freshman required work of which we spoke a few days since. It has always seemed very unjust to many that the freshman year, which is entirely taken up with required work, a great deal of which may be distasteful and onerous to most men, should count so much more than any other subsequent year. As a result a man who received a low mark for his freshman year's work felt no great inclination to study harder afterwards in the hope of bettering his degree, as he felt himself severely handicapped.

In the freshman year the men are not all placed on a level. Many men come here from the larger preparatory schools who have been fitted in half the freshman work. And besides this, in most of the preparatory schools one learns more or less of the college methods which always gives a great advantage. Men who have been fitted differently, however, and those who have come from the smaller schools, often with difficulty manage to pass the admission papers, although they may be better versed in the general knowledge of subject, but have not been fitted with the one object of entering Harvard in view, as have those from the large schools. As a result the men from the schools manage to get through a large part of the freshman work on the strength of their fit. It is not until the later years that a man's natural ability comes entirely into play. He is then, however, allowed to take courses for which he is well prepared, and hence gets the full benefit of them.

In view of these facts the change in the calculation of the general scale will meet with the approval of most students, and will offer additional encouragement to make the most of the "elective" years.