After a few weeks passed listening to the ridicule of every standard a man of college age has ever had or heard of, the student generally goes one of two ways. He many swallow Mr. Babbitt, hook, line and sinker, surrender any ideas he had of writing poetry himself some day, and become a humanist and nuisance to his friends. Of all mistakes, none is more egregious than the undergraduate humanist.
Or he may not approve of Mr. Babbitt. He may dig in and fight it out on those lines if it takes all winter. He may come to believe that Mr. Babbitt is not quite bright, and write examination papers as deliberate in perversity as he can make them. Either way, he will prosper in the course. The amateur humanists will get the gracious acknowledgements that fall to those who repeat things agreeably, and the non-conformist will find his carefully-planned papers marked with a creditable grade and a note: "Good argument. You'll get over this after a while."
It is very hard to get around Mr. Babbitt. It is impossible to annoy him. The best plan is to keep your shirt on, remembering his own counsel to moderation. There is much to learn from simply watching the workings of a mind which is facing without fear the best critical antagonism in the world today.
Economics A
The problem of how to introduce students to the subject of economics is admirably met in ec A. Of all the large survey courses in the undergraduate curriculum, ec A is perhaps the best organized and the most ably conducted.
Facts as such play a very small part in this course; it is much more a systematic method of thinking that the student must master; reasoning power, not memory, is necessary in order to understand and succeed in ec A. By this one should not understand that no work is required, that all one needs to do to get a good grade, is to go to quizzes once a month and exercise his reasoning power. Not at all; reasoning power and concentration are quite as necessary in studying the principles of economics as they are in answering questions on examinations.
The one really serious criticism of the course, in this reviewer's opinion, lies in its failure to impress upon the student that Professor Taussig's book which serves as the text book and foundation of all the work done, is not an economic bible. The general opinion of most students after taking ec A is that the last word on questions economic has been spoken, that the final truth is known and that Professor Taussig is the interpreter thereof. If they continue with the study of economics and learn that Taussig's "Principles" is only a comparatively minor product of a particular school of though, they will probably be more than a little surprised and their view of economics as a study will undergo considerable revision.
Economics 3
This is a course which will be taken sooner or later by practically all men concentrating in economics. Money, banking, and financial crises are all subjects which despite their complexity necessarily demand some consideration from all who aspire to have anything approaching a working knowledge of economics.
It may be gathered from what has been said above that (1) Economics 3 is a large course with students of all degrees of ability enrolled in it, and (2) that it deals with subjects which are far from satisfactorily solved and which are difficult even for advanced students of economics. Corrolary: Economics 3 is conducted in a very slow and deliberate fashion; it tends toward oversimplification; and the lectures remind one of one's preparatory school days in their careful topical organization and their constant repetition.
Professor Williams, however, has chosen the only practicable method of getting the subjects over and is to be congratulated on the general success of his system.
A parting word to embryonic bankers might not be out of place here. Economics 3 deals with theory almost exclusively and will be of very little assistance in getting a job as a clerk next summer.
English 7
A guide, or even prophecy regarding English 7, a half course covering the age of Pope from 1700 to 1740, is futile for a number of reasons this year. For several college generations the rambling and delightful lectures of the late Professor Hurlbut were the occasion for the gathering of Harvard's anglophiles. Then, too,