WAR COLLEGES.

Three types of men have long been accustomed to scoff at the value of colleges in what they like to regard as the real things of life. First there is the self-made man whose marvelous success so biases his personal opinions that he is unable to think except in terms of self. Then comes the trained specialist whose whole education has been limited to a certain field and who has completely disregarded whatever was irrelevant to his chosen province. It is true this fellow will admit that one may get a start in the right direction at college, the right direction being his own field of work, but a liberal education he considers a waste of valuable time. The last type is the ignorant who scoffs because he does not know, and his opinion may by dispensed with very quickly.

Thus at the entrance of the United States into the world war much was heard about the failure of American college because of turning out men who would be of little avail in such a struggle. The continuance of the war would only prove how useless colleges were as institutions in time of national peril. It is all very well for us to loll around reading our classics or admiring our art, but when men are out killing one another that institution which is the upholder of the Sabine Farm and its accoutrements is decidedly a back number.

One great fault, however, these chronic iconoclasts overlooked. The main business of colleges is teaching; not teaching; this or teaching that, but simply teaching. The colleges ask what is to be taught, and having been informed, they get the best men to be had in the world and teach as no other force can do. And so when war became upper-most in the minds of the American people, the colleges took up their torches to proceed in that direction. It was a new subject, but the business of teaching was as old as the hills. They immediately sought those who were best in the field of war and brought them into an atmosphere where the idea of thorough instruction was per-eminent. And when the wheels were set going the product was looked at and found to be good. It is being proved good now and will be proved better soon.

Harvard University has done a great deal in showing the country the worth of "seats of learning." At the declaration of war President Lowell had secured French officers who were trained in a war laboratory. A reserve officers' training corps was established which sent over 600 men well grounded in military elements to secure commissions at government training camps. Many other branches of service likewise drew from this source to increase their number of skilled laborers. Harvard only needed to be told what to teach and did the best that could be done.

This year two forms of military training are open to members of the University--one for army and the other for naval service. It is safe to expect that all students senrolled in College this year will take advantage of these courses to make themselves ready to defend their nation, if such a thing be necessary. The nation no longer needs proof of the value of such courses. It only wants proof of the character of the individuals to whom these opportunities are offered.