Although many people hailed the latest manifestation of the Watch and Ward Society, as a welcome sign of renewed vigor, those who have followed its course closely must take a different view. It has degenerated sadly from the days when its name struck terror to booksellers who carried the favorite esoteric of the moment in the little safe in the back room. Its decline can be dated from the time when its inordinate 1-st for the purity of letters caused it to descend on the Dunster House Bookstore.

On that occasion, having importuned the bookseller to procure a salacious book which he did not carry in stock, the agent of the Society thereupon hailed him into court. The presiding judge remarked on the unique methods of purification employed, but by some oversight no charge of subornation was pressed. The Society which had girded up its I an for a highly moral purpose, found itself penalized by a sharp fall in public esteem. The sudden withdrawal of financial aid on the part of fashionable members in the society caused it to retire into a chastened hibernation for the better part of two years. Now, emerging once more, the watch and Ward has evidently determined to confine its efforts to easier game. And subscribers who have not visited the Old Howard since their undergraduate days will not allow sentimental remembrances to interferes with the moral aims of the Society.