To the Editor of the CRIMSON:

In his communication in Friday's CRIMSON, Mr. Squier suggests an added burden for the shoulders of the undergraduate in the shape of a compulsory course or general examination on the government of the United States, its laws, and its customs. I am sure that this idea does not appeal to the average Senior who has finally satisfied his language requirements and is now concentrating on passing his divisionals. For the most part, students present American History for admission, take Government 1 for distribution, and easily assimilate a knowledge of the customs of the American people long before they reach their majority. Mere political opinions, on the other hand, cannot be inculcated in any thinking man; only a conservative estimate of the statements of speakers brought to Harvard by such organizations as the Union, the Liberal Club, or the League of Nations Non-Partisan Association, can really guide their development.

And in your editorial on this subject, popular interest in governmental affairs is discussed. Let me quote one sentence: "Unfortunately Americans on the whole have never taken enough interest in their government to study it carefully on their own initiative; therefore the interest must be created by requirement." Shall we take the famous twenty five per cent of last year's Junior Class as an example of interest created by requirement! JAMES D. WINANS '24