BUDGET PAYMENTS FALL BEHIND 1927

Payments toward the annual Budget quota of $ 12,000 are falling considerably behind the total marked up at this time last year, it was announced yesterday by James DeNormandie '29, chairman of the Budget Committee. With a balance of $ 4,678 to show at the end of the present period of registration, the total is several thousand dollars less than that of September, 1927.

Although it is not necessary for pledges to be paid at once, the Budget Committee finds a sizeable balance almost indispensable in subsidizing such activities as the Phillips Brooks House and class funds, during the early months of the year. With a restricted fall subscription, the Budget Committee is handicapped in making its plans for the year.

Misunderstanding Cause

It has been suggested that the slow rate of payment this year is a result of lack of understanding on the part of the Freshmen and Sophmore classes of the purposes and advantages of the Budget system. This information is printed on the pledge cards which were included in all registration envelopes. The list of beneficiaries of the Budget and the itemized plan of proposed expenditure of the money collected are also printed on these cards.

Previous to September, 1926, the undergraduate body was annually harassed and solicited by various drives for philanthropic purposes which reaped a considerable but unevenly distributed harvest from the charitable. The Budget plan, introduced two years ago by the Finance Committee of the Student Council, centralized the collection and expenditure of money by undergraduates. The Class Funds, collections, church drives and eleemosynary canvasses were eliminated entirely and one initial request for a $ 5.00 subscription substituted. A similar method had already been adopted and successfully practiced at Yale, Princeton, and Dartmouth.

Shows Its Superiority

During the two years since its inception at Harvard, the Budget system, requiring a total quota of $12,000 to cover its expenditures, has clearly demonstrated its superiority over former methods. Hitherto, the quota has already been more than half collected at the conclusion of the registration period. The remainder is usually added by the last of November. Checks are made payable to the Student Council and should be sent this year, to Phillips Brooks House.

The Committee appointed by De Normandie, the Student Council representative in charge of the Budget, consists of W. McK. Dunn '30, H. H. Holbrook '30, Kendrick Kerns '30, James Roosevelt '30, and R. F. W. Smith '30. These men were posted in Memorial Hall during registration to receive subscriptions or accept pledge cards for the Budget.