COLLEGE FRAUDS.

OF all persons who are cheated and pillaged without mercy, students are the most prominent, being peculiarly the victims of imposition on account of their habitual recklessness and disregard of such trifles. From every College we hear this same complaint, and it will probably continue to be the case until the millennium softens the heart; but it would seem as if we in Cambridge ought really to be free from this annoyance, living as we do so near the city, where we can obtain what we wish at much more reasonable prices without very much extra trouble. Here we see the true student-nature, always grumbling and complaining, but never taking active measures for improvement. But even if laziness does prevent any endeavors to put a stop to these extortions, it is well worth while to come to a realizing sense about them.

Wherever we turn in Cambridge, we meet with extortion in one shape or another, often too insignificant to deserve notice, but sometimes so open and barefaced as to arouse even the student's indignation. The price we pay for our books is outrageous, for an advance of almost twenty percent is asked for bringing them from the city. This is easily proved by comparing city prices with those demanded here. Bad as this is, it cannot be compared to the cold-blooded fraud perpetrated on us at the bank. Here for cashing all checks that are not indorsed by the Steward a deduction of almost one half per cent is made, and for this no excuse is offered. It is understood to be merely a "shave," without the slightest pretence of right or justice on its side. It was suggested, in defence of the bank, that New York exchange was not as valuable to them as money in Cambridge. This would be very strange, and a case without parallel; but this defence, poor as it was, is destroyed by the fact that this same charge is made even if the check is drawn on a Boston bank. But it may be said that only regular customers can expect to obtain especial favors, and that students are not included in this class. That is all true enough, only it is not an especial favor that is demanded, but our rights. We give the bank an amount of money greater than we receive, and this tax then is demanded as a payment for changing it into a more convenient form, just like making a charge for changing a twenty-dollar bill. This is probably the most open fraud we suffer, and it may be of service to some students to know that the indorsement of the Steward relieves them from it, but why we cannot tell. The bank authorities are certainly justified in refusing to cash drafts that are payable to persons unknown to them; and to enable students to get their money they need only to obtain the Steward's indorsement, but that ought not to relieve them from any proper charges of the bank. In fact, the bank has quite as much right to charge the one as the other, that is to say, no right at all.

L.