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To the Harvard Athletic Committee:

The time has come when something must be done about the books which have been taken from the Harvard Union. Some twenty-five volumes have already disappeared from the shelves, apparently never to return. If these thefts continue the Library Committee, being under obligations to protect the property in its charge, will be forced to insure itself against further outrages of the sort by steps that will be very disagreeable to the members of the Union at large. To keep a close watch on every man in the Library and to enforce the leaving of coats, bags, etc., outside would probably be an effective means. To close the shelves to free access and to make every reader sign for his book, would be still more effectual. Or, of course, if the worst came to the worst, the Library could be closed. Altogether such measures would go far to destroy the present charm of the Library and the general spirit of freedom prevailing at the Union. These, however, are only the disagreeable consequences of allowing thieves access to the club.

It is with mortification that the Committee feels forced to put this notice in print, for it is a confession to the fact that the privileges of the Union, given and intended for all, are being abused. It is impossible, however, to let things continue in this present state. The books now on the shelves of the Library have come either from the authors themselves, from the Hyde fund, or as special gifts from individuals and societies. It is not likely that such gifts will continue if it appears that the Library cannot keep safely the books which it already has. He who removes one book from the Library does an act against the welfare of the Union,--an act not only of gross selfishness, but one that deserves the utmost contempt of every Harvard man. Needless to say the Committee would show no mercy to such a man though it is to be hoped that there will be no further occasion to bring up this unsavory subject. LIBRARY COMMITTEE, William Phillips, Sec.