To the Editors of the Crimson:

The recent action of several individuals in disfiguring the pedestal of the statue of John Harvard is a type of outrage that should be punished so severely that there may be no fear of its occuring again for a long time to come. There is something peculiarly underhanded and despicable about the affair, in the utter disregard for the rights of others exhibited by its authors. For the worst of it is that the culprits themselves are too insignificant to suffer the full effect of their charming mixture of sneak and bravado.

The captains of the teams are laboring with the truest self-sacrifice and devotion to the common good. Every man in college benefits by their success, however little he may have contributed towards it. Yet on Saturday night this contemptible combination of stupidity and recklessness probably did more harm than can be counteracted by months of work.

It is high time, therefore, that the students should assert themselves, if only for the protection of those who are working for them heart and soul. Let every man who has the slightest suspicion to work upon consider well his duty to the rest of the College. To speak plainly, the interests of the undergraduates demand that the offenders shall be hunted out and expelled at once. '98.