THE LAW SCHOOL AND LEGAL REFORM.

Much of the prevalent criticism of American Universities is based on the assertion that the greatest defect of the higher educational system is that it is not in sympathy with the needs of the community at large and does not cooperate heartily in the solution of social problems. That such criticism is unjust to a very large extent can be shown merely by referring to the contributions made by American universities to the advancement of the welfare of the people. In the field of government, to use Harvard as an example, the fruits of co-operation between theorists and administrators have been large. In the settlement of tariff questions the work of Harvard professors has been of wide-spread influence and has directed the stream of public opinion into channels leading to scientific analysis and reasonable adjustment. The contributions of the Medical School to the science of preventive medicine and the important discoveries following medical research illustrate amply that the University comprehends the problems of the community and extends her forces to solve them.

Now another opportunity for service is open, and President-Emeritus Eliot, with the broad view and profound insight of the scholar, has outlined the duty of the American bar to lead the way to a great legal reform. The defects of our existing institutions of law and of our methods of judicial procedure, President Eliot has presented in succinct and forcible terms, and he emphasizes particularly that public opinion is demanding reform. Here, certainly is another field in which Harvard University through the Law School may show that the higher educational institutions of the land have their thumb on the public opinion and are able and ready to prescribe remedies for social skills. As the current number of the Alumni Bulletin suggests: "Certainly the Law School as a constituent part of the University could make no greater contribution to the good fame of the University, or more greatly strengthen its own position for the future, than by teaching its graduates to take position before the country as leaders in a reform which every one admits is so urgently needed."