Little Napoleon

(Ed. Note--The Crimson does not necessarily endorse opinions expressed in printed communications. No attention will be paid to anonymous letters and only under special conditions, at the request of the writer, will names be withheld).

To the Editor of the CRIMSON:

The CRIMSON enjoys having fun, and the college does as a general rule, enjoy watching the CRIMSON enjoy having fun: It is such serious fun, so purposefully undertaken. But may I draw your attention to what I consider a slight exaggeration of this humor. In this morning's Crime column, which, many of us think, richly deserves its name, one of the campus figures, V. H. Kramer '35, was rather brutally treated. The fact that he was so treated because of his connection with the Model League, which somehow the CRIMSON in its aloof attitude was unable to stomach, does not change the situation or excuse it.

Far be it from me to offer complete forgiveness and to justify entirely some of the peregrinations of "Little Napoleon," but I do want to draw to your attention that, despite, perhaps because of his richness in news value as a "campus figure" he does get things done. I venture to suggest that Kramer has been doing more actual work in more worthwhile organizations on the campus than nearly any other man in Harvard today. It is not the kind of work for which he gets recognition; it is the dirty work, the work which requires time and patience. It is the sort of work most people consider beneath them and try to put on someone else. And Kramer does it, and does it very well. To deride a man for what he appears to be and completely to miss his purpose and, what is worse, his deeds, is not particularly just journalism; it smacks of pettiness.

Although fully aware of the hilarity this letter will create in the CRIMSON office, and amongst those undergraduates who, judging from superficialities, consider Kramer somewhat of an anomaly at Harvard, none the less I present it. Victor might blow his own horn about the little things, but he would never explain away a criticism which was based on superficialities; that, also, would be petty. And Little Napoleon is certainly not that. (Name withheld by request.)