FREE TRADE OR PROTECTION

For many years, Harvard has been troubled by deliberate infractions of library rules, and it is not surprising to learn that a few undergraduates have carried their inexcusable practices with them into the House Plan. In the transfer, some new tricks have been added to those well known at Widener in days before the introduction of a strict administration, buttressed by turnstiles; but the general methods remain the same. Books in especial demand disappear before every important examination. New rules restricting members to their own House library and confining the use of overnight books to the House from which they were issued are flagrantly violated.

Owing to the difficulty of enforcing the rules, infractions are becoming ever more frequent and annoying. Severe penalties have been imposed on those few culprits who have been detected, but the possibility of discovery is so slight as to encourage violations. Such was the condition at Widener before the installation of the turnstiles. If House members desire to enjoy the benefits of an informally conducted library, they must evolve some effective method of curbing practices, which, if continued, must result in irksome regulations.