THE FINANCES OF ATHLETICS.

The opinions of both President Lowell and Dean Briggs, stated in their annual report in February, 1913, against extravagant expenditure for athletics was evidently the opinion of last year's H. A. A. administration. A statement showing a decrease in expenses of $4,500 is a hopeful sign; and it is to be noted that the principal saving was in football, in which Mr. Garcelon speaks of the aid of Coach Haughton. The closer the co-operation between players and management and coaches, the greater will be the economies of athletics.

There are those perhaps who, looking upon a University in a narrow sense, will throw up their hands in horror at the expenditure of $155,000 for the athletics of Harvard. Two things are to be thought of, however, before a wholesale condemnation of these figures is passed. In the first place athletics have so great an influence on the general reputation of an American University as to be almost a necessity. This may or may not be theoretically right, but it is an important practical consideration. In the second place, a University should offer opportunities for the development of a well-rounded man, a man both physically and mentally strong. When, then, the hundred and fifty-five thousand dollars shown by the report plus the twelve thousand or so for the upkeep of Hemenway Gymnasium are placed beside the two and a half million odd expended yearly in the operation of the University, far from disproportionately large for athletics. They seem unusually reasonable. At least the body is in no danger of receiving a preponderance of attention over the mind.

One point may be justly taken against the expenditure--the amount which goes toward organized athletics rather than the greatest physical good to the greatest number. Admitting that organized athletics are a necessity and admitting that the tendency here of recent years has not been to overdo them, but to encourage general exercise as far as possible. There is still much, especially on the tennis courts, which could be done. One of the chief aims of the Athletic Association in the future should be to increase the facilities for, and thereby promote the popularity of exercise.

One more feature of the report must be mentioned. Mr. Garcelon has proposed that the managers of the major sports be given a half-course credit for managerial work. Manifestly, as he says, the experience gained in running a team such as football or baseball or track is as valuable in one way as anything men derive from regular college work. It teaches business efficiency and a knowledge of men. But it is not a training which belongs in the ordinary college curriculum. It is rather a Graduate Business School Course, which might be recognized there, as Professor Hart hopes to secure recognition of practical municipal work for the advanced student of government.