Raising the Status of Tennis.

(The Crimson invites all men in the University to submit signed communications of timely interest. It assumes no responsibility, however, for sentiments expressed under this head and reserves the right to exclude any whose publication would be palpably inappropriate.)

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

Through the Boston Herald we note, in connection with the article on the proposed Tennis League published in the CRIMSON, that Yale and Princeton have already ratified this league, and further that they propose to award major letters to the League winner.

It seems as though Yale and Princeton have, for once, set aside the "Harvard first" policy. This is all the more to be regretted in view of the recent strong agitation in favor of tennis as a major sport at Harvard. That the Student Council should summarily reject the plan does not suggest that they considered the matter too carefully. Constituted, as that body is, with a large proportion of its members being the Captains and Managers of the present major sports, it is not hard to observe their psychological effect on the body as a whole. We may suppose that these men are not deeply concerned with the creation of another major sport. It is pertinent to note, also, that the minor sports have no representation whatsoever.

Most sport lovers are aware of the rapid growth of tennis in the past decades, but nothing could bring it home to Harvard men morely clearly than the fact that the Fall University Tournament had about twice the number of entries that the National Singles Championship had last year. Such a body as the Student Council of a great University ought to be thoroughly conversant with such matters, and that it was not so informed seems unusual. The arguments for raising tennis to a University sport are several and to the point. There are some against it. Where the preponderance of fact lies is indicated by the fact that two former University tennis captains, the New York Times, the Boston Herald, and other important sources connected more immediately with the University have declared that tennis ought to be a major sport.

It is likely now that the path has been cleared some action will be taken by the Council. If it were possible to hope that they would reflect not only on the safety of a new plan, but also on the future prestige of Harvard athletics, it would not be long before tennis was a fully recognized University sport. PAUL JACKSON,   Asst. Tennis Afgr.