Rumors of important changes in our athletic system have been flying around the college of late, and a restless and uneasy feeling as to what these changes may be has been aroused among the undergraduates. We do not know definitely whether any changes will be made, although we have good reason to believe that the Committee are in favor of making some alterations; but in view of the present state of opinion, we deem it our duty to speak a few words to Committee and students alike.

The sudden action of the Committee on Athletics, about this time last year, was essentially wrong in method, however necessary it may have seemed in view of the manner in which foot ball was being played. Without any previous warning, some very important regulations were laid down at the last minute, in such an arrogant way that instinctively every student opposed them. Not that anyone objected to the changes proposed, all were aware that the game was unnecessarily brutal. But this sudden awakening of the Committee, just before the great game of the year, seemed uncalled for, if not absurd. If was evident that, if the Committee did not know how the game was played they were unfit for their position, while if they did know it, they took an unfair advantage of the students by not making known their views at some sensible time. After this episode, came the famous "Athletic Regulations," and after posing for a few weeks in a silly attitude before the country, Harvard was compelled to ignominiously back down from the lofty stand it had taken. The whole affair had just enough of truth in it to make the college doubly ridiculous.

The importance of our athletic interests is very considerable; even a Committee on Athletics would grant this. Aside from the influence that success or defeat has in the outer world-aside even from the honor of the college involved in these intercollegiate contests, the physical welfare of the students is vitally bound up in them. Dumb bells and pulleys are all very well in their way, but they can not- and do not- enter into the life of our athletics. The students, appreciating as they do the importance of the question, are strongly opposed to change, believing, and we think rightly, that all defects will gradually be worked out and that any inter-meddling may be productive of harm. That these are unfortunate features in the present system, no one will deny, but it would be well to ponder long before making any arbitrary changes.

If now, as it is said, the Committee on Athletics propose to make any important changes, we trust that they will give us notice of them in a frank, open way. More than this, we trust that they will not attempt to take any position from which they will be compelled to retire. If the Committee will state definitely what they intend to do, and will take a manly stand in the matter, we can assure them of the hearty support of the undergraduate sentiment in the college, and that they are doing their best to solve a very complex problem. If this sentiment meets the respect that it deserves, everything will be harmonious. While Pinafore rules and bib-and-tucker regulations are absurd in a university such as this, any changes that really will work for the welfare of the college are desired as much by the students as by the faculty. There ought to be no conflict.

We recognize fully the difficult situation of the present committee, for, do what it will, it cannot please everyone. And yet we have spoken thus frankly because the situation seems to demand it, for the only actions taken by the Committee last year. were unfortunate in every way. If the present Committee, with its popularity among the students, and its personal interest in the welfare of the college cannot solve this problem, we confess that we are in despair of any further faculty regulation.