It is becoming common for men to say that Harvard athletics are in a bad way and to treat them on this account with indifference. There is nothing which will more surely doom Harvard athletics not only to be but also to remain in a bad way than such treatment. Causes enough there are which play a part in bringing defeat, but we believe that none is more fatal than a weakness in the University spirit. The men on the teams never would work as they now do if they were simply a number of athletes joined into teams for their own purosse only. They work because they believe that the University regards them as representatives, is interested in their work, is concerned over the results. The assurance of this interest is a great inducement for hard effort, and when the assurance is weakened, inevitably the effort is weakened also.

If athletics are worth doing at all, they are worth doing well. To be done well, they must be supported,- supported, so long as honorably and wisely conducted, by the whole University and supported whether prospects are bright or dark.