Over four weeks of the football season have now passed, and none of the work of the eleven has been in any way concealed from the students. The practice has all been on an open field where each action of the players, the captain and the coachers was in plain sight of everybody who cared to see it. Consequently there has been so far comparatively little adverse criticism of the methods employed. To a rather unusual extent the college has stood behind the team and the coachers; where men have been in doubt about the wisdom of certain plans, they have trusted to better judgment than their own to do the best thing; where moves have been made of which the students approved they have shown their approval most generously.

This is precisely the mood which we urge the students to cultivate just at this time, for their patience and their faith in the team are soon to be put to a much harder test. Early next week the team will be decided upon, or at least a good idea of its composition will be in the minds of the authorities; work on Soldier's Field will then begin, and the actual campaign for the Springfield game will open in earnest. This work will be done in secret, behind closed gates. With this secret practice, chances for the usual crop of rumors will be much more favorable, and, in a few days the sensation-makers, who feed on lies and scandal, will be in full enjoymen of their chosen fare. There will be all sorts of guesses about new tricks and soon these scavengers will prove conclusively that tricks won't work against Yale, and that we might just as well give it all up. Such men have a certain influence and we urge upon the students that they turn a deaf ear to all such talk. No matter what happens we ought to feel sure that everything is all right till Yale can prove it all wrong at Springfield. A great public spirit means as much or a good cause as a great public opinion does against an evil one. The man who contributes to anything but a courageous, loyal Harvard spirit is an unmanly, unsportsmanlike coward, and every opportunity should be taken to convince him of his insignificance. A unity of purpose in the team, and a unity of faith in the students must work wonders for the great game.