LAND POOR

The action of the Cambridge City Council in petitioning Harvard, Radcliffe, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to allow Cambridge students free tuition at these institutions seems to have little real justification. The ostensible reason set forth by the Council is that much of the property and land of these colleges is tax free and that the financial obligations thereby incurred toward the city of Cambridge should be fulfilled by giving a free education to Cambridge children. The existence of this obligation is at least problematical, and even if Cambridge is being deprived of much needed funds the University can hardly be expected to view this method as an adequate solution of the difficulty.

At Harvard there is a fund of $12,000 known as the Daniel A. Buckley Scholarship Fund to be distributed among graduates of Cambridge public schools. This amount would seem to be sufficient to provide for all Cambridge students needing funds without special dispensations from the University. Harvard has no desire to pose as a close fisted Shylock in contrast to the altruism and munificence of the Cambridge City Council, but with the ample funds now available for residents of Cambridge desiring scholarships, the proposal seems hardly worthy of serious consideration.