The times., 1901-03-15
CoIIerians in Court.

II is reported that the police in New
Haven made a raid on ballroom not
long ago and arrested seven young girls
who were dancing with Yale students
The girls were brought up in court next
morning: the students came to hear the
trial II is said that the young women
belonged to respectable families, and the
ball, while not of the highest order of
social gatherings, was not in the least
a disreputable affair The lawyer who
defended the girls enGuired quite peril
nentIy why the students who escorted
them were not arrested and made to
stand trial as well, since the girls would
probably not have been in the hall un-
less they had been invited by these young
gentlemen.
There is a considerable amount of COM
mon sense in this. 1t is unquestionably
true that college men are responsible for
a vast amount of disorderly conduct of
one kind or another for which they are
never punished either by the faculty or
the civil authorities. The reason is that
they are college men and thus supposed
10 belong to a select class Of humanity.
The college tradition in this country IS
descended by a sort Of apostolic success
sion from that which obtains in the Eng
lish university, and the students regard
themselves and are regarded in some
what the same light as foreigners IN
treaty ports, or members Of foreign
legation in shington-Privileged char
acters. under the protection and more or
loss under the control Of an alien Power
and restrained from disorderly conduct
only by their own sense Of honor and the
authority Of that Power. Considering that
among q thousand students, gathered
from all classes Of society, but mainly
from the well-to-do and wealthy classes
there are likely to be a good many VINO
have no sense of propriety worth speak
ing Of. and are not entirely controilable by
the college authorities during their hours
of leisure: and, considering that these
Young men generally have plenty OF
spending money with which to buy silence
on the part Of persons who might make
trouble for them, and also taking into
/ consideration the fact that they are not
restrained as young men resident OF the
town might be- by the thought that they
J are under the eyes Of their old friends,
and liable to disgrace their families by
I any excesses-in view Of all these things
/ il NAV easily be seen that college can
be about as demoralizing an influence as
I one could put into small town or city
( The hundreds Of young men assembled
within its walls are taken from their
( homes at an age when they are fun OF
life and animal spirits; when their habits
/ are not formed and their ideals not ma
tured: and when any disorderly conduct
Of which they may be guilty is looked
upon leniently as a necessary sowing OF
wild oats" They regard themselves as
the natural enemies Of the faculty-that
is. the disorderly element takes that view
OF the matter-and also, 20 some extent
as the natural foes OF the townsfolk-
There is no reason why the police ane
the local courts should be more lenien'
with colIegians than with young work
ingmen: and there are several reason;
why they should not be. Lcniency in this
respect is demoraIizing to the college tho
town. and the Individual