given that night. Several conditions
(not new by any means) and circum
stances attendant upon that day made
it well nigh impossible to get good work
from the students in their recitations.
The well known effects of Thanksgiving
day upon students were enough in
themselves to warrant the giving of the
holiday without considering the state of
the student’s minds in contemplation of
the night of gayety.
Owing to the good results which fol
lowed we hope the Faculty will try the
experiment again.
IT is surprising to see how prevalent
is the the tendency for students to
avoid recitations when there is the
slightest pretxet to do so. Among the
solid men of all college classes, there
are few who do not greet with applause
the news when the Professor in charge
of some recitation fails to appear. Ful
ly realizing the importance of their time,
still they excitedly count as gain that
which they fail to receive.
This seems to be one of the weak
points of the “Cut System.”
It may happen that a student now
and then has need of omitting a recita
tion on account of some necessary ab
sence. But in nine cases out of ten,
when does this cut occur? Almost in
variably when the student meets with
some difficult work, at which time he
fancies perhaps that he is not feeling as
well as usual, and thus misses that which
¥he free lance.
is the most important part of his work.
Indeed some, especially those who are
inclined to be indolent, consider very
carefully how they can arrange their cuts
so as to avoid the most difficult exer-
cises.
What can be more destructive of
one’s confidence in himself than the
forming of such a habit as this ? If we
stop to think over these things, we can
not fail to see how unconsciously an
evil may spring up from such uninten
tional beginnings.
WORK on the Eleventh Census is
rapidly coming to completion.
Bulletins have been out announcing the
more prominent and striking facts re
lating to our growth. Many who bas
ed their estimates on the increase from
1870 to 18S0 are somewhat surprised
to find that they had put their figures
from two to four or more millions too
high. On the contrary, if the statistics
of ten years ago can be relied on, we
have fallen off from 30.08 per cent,
gain in ten years, to 24.57 per cent.
But considering that we have a foreign
emigration of over a half million some
years, are these figures really significant
of anything if they are correct ?
Of two things we are sure : No de
vastating war has swept any of our citi
zens away ; neither has any pestilence
afflicted us.
Why do we wish lor a more rapid in
crease of population ? Our once lone-
sis
sis