Year after year in the two or three weeks previous to the Easter recess the men in the University living at a distance from Cambridge raise a complaint concerning the regulation preventing the same early departure at Easter as is allowed at Christmas. On the surface there is an apparent partiality in this rule. At Christmas the men from St. Louis, Chicago, and further west, are allowed to leave Cambridge in time to reach home by mid-night before the first day of vacation. But at Easter, owing to the rule now in force, such men are compelled to remain through all lectures on Saturday and, consequently, can not reach home until Sunday evening or later, thus losing at least a whole day. On the surface, the College Office appears inconsistent, to say the least.

But a brief history of the present Christmas allowance will refute such an accusation. Until within recent years there was no special consideration for the man who lived at a distance. That one required a longer time to reach home than did another, was deemed a regrettable, but none the less unavoidable fact. Then, because a great number of men were prevented from reaching home for Christmas Eve, the Faculty made an attempt to obtain the present allowance, pleading the universal importance of that day. After considerable opposition the Corporation and the Overseers sanctioned the move.

Therefore, students who are inclined to maintain that the Office is not fair to Westerners should remember whence came the first steps toward the present Christmas allowance.