The question of compulsory membership in the Union comes before the Student Council tonight, doubtless for a vote of that body. The issue is serious. On the one side is the welfare of the Union and its service to the University. There is no doubt of the fact that universal membership would be the salvation of the Union, both from a social and a financial standpoint. There is also no doubt that the present condition of affairs cannot and should not be allowed to drag out wearily to a catastrophe. Compulsory membership, however, faces a difficulty which even its strongest advocates cannot overlook: it practically means raising the tuition fee above the two hundred dollar mark which is to take effect next fall. It will be recalled that an argument made in favor of raising the fee to $200 was the fact that that amount would include all fixed charges, such as the infirmary fee and laboratory fees. The tuition fee would be $200 and no more. An increase of even a few dollars through compulsory membership means practically an increase of that much in the tuition fee: the news to be spread throughout the country will be that it costs more than $200 as a minimum fixed charge, to go to Harvard College. This is an aspect of the case to be borne in mind.

The ideal solution of the problem would be for the University to take over the Union, have the taxes removed, and appropriate for it some of the revenue to come from the increased tuition fee. This is a possibility; and every effort should be made to effect it before compulsory membership is definitely adopted. In the meantime a vote of the undergraduates should be held to determine their attitude for a firmer working basis. The Student Council's vote otherwise forces the grave danger of being unrepresentative.