SO HE TOOK THE FIFTY THOUSAND

The surplus also rises! And with it appears once more the problem, not so perplexing apparently to those would easily and sanely dispose of it, but still of grave import to the body in whose final decision rests its ultimate destiny.

Despite numerous running expenses, despite the expense of such improvements as have been made on Soldiers Field, and despite the outlay of thousands of dollars in the construction of steel stands, the H. A. A. still rests with a surplus of $600,000.

Thanks to the contributions of several benefactors as yet unknown to the public, the gymnasium has become a possibility. At least the swimming pool, and the physical education, wrestling and boxing facilities, have become a very definite possibility. Still, the gymnasium as a complete unit, as a playground for the countless leagues of intra-mural teams, is not assured.

The hesitation of the Corporation and its previous decision denying the use of the surplus in this emergency, may well have been in the hope that some further benefactor might complete the picture. Thus far, such an event has not come to pass.

But if the gift of several hundred thousand dollars were hovering on the horizon's edge, might not this sum be better diverted to the interests of science, or architecture, or, in short, to some field more dependent upon the purse of the University than the H. A. A.

For the H. A. A. stands almost unique, as a department of the University that is capable of supporting itself. The H. A. A. is apparently not only capable of supporting itself but also in a position to endow itself, and of all endowments the gymnasium stands out most prominently as a material facility sought by Harvard men ever since Hemenway proved itself insufficient two or more decades ago. It remains for the Corporation to decide.