With the birth of Harvard's economical magazine and the expected advent of a law journal, a few long-felt but till now unexpressed opinions - the subject of which the article on college journals in Monday's issue made an introduction - seems to come with appropriateness. What are college papers for? Are articles written by college officers and outsiders or by students, or by both, the desiderata? These are the two questions, the answer to which - and it will be noticed that an answer to the first is necessary, and sufficient to answer the second - would go far toward setting student publications on a surer basis. The answer, it seems to us, would be that college papers are a receptacle for the literary attempts of the students. Expression of student-opinion and pleasure to the student-readers are objects which fall in under this wider object. For the former is but the expression of a real kind of literary attempt, and is, as we know, the motive which gave life to our old "Advocate," and the latter is a necessary condition to the success of a paper. From this answer we gain no warrant to say that college papers should be filled by anything else than matter written by students. But we are told that we all like to read articles by our professors and by well-known outside writers. True, but we can read such things in any periodical of the day; we don't need to take up a college periodical for that.

We acknowledge the grace with which our professors have contributed to our papers. But if their words are intended for larger circulation, college columns cannot carry them; the columns of the magazines are open to them, and it is a pity that the entire public should not through these columns get the benefit of them. Surely there is enough thought among the students to fill our college papers, and to spare.