The peculiar system of management by which the college paper is perpetuated from year to year also involves a periodical fluctuation in the literary value of the contributions. Each year as a portion of the board of editors are grrad uated or pass to a higher class, an equal number of new classmen are elected to take their places. By this means the publication is kept alive and its general tone and 'money are preserved. while its literary standard is raised or lowered as the new editors are more or less clever than their predecessors. The college paper is generally rec ognized and encouraged by the faculty of the institution, and in some cases substantial ac knowledgment is made for work done by the editors. In the majority of institutions the col lege papers, in common with other student or ganizations, are provided with office room, heat, light, and service.
Competition for places on the editorial boards of college papers is often very keen. Time method of selecting editors varies considerably. vacancies being tilled on the basis of literary competition, class election, editorial or faculty appointment, exeellence in class work, fraternity or society and various other ways. When editors are elected by the student body, they arc held responsible to it, while they are left free in the internal management of the paper. Tms cor ms]] sto, is chartered by the whole student body; other papers are official society organs, close corporations or stock companies. The evil ef te•ts of college polities are often apparent in the selection of editors, leading sometimes to the establishment of rival papers, and to an injurious form of competition. Cases of the abuse of editorial positions for personal ends or animosi ties are noticeably rare. although no cheeks ex
cept student sentiment exist to prevent it.
A diversity of opinion exists as to the influ ence of the college paper in developing literary talent among the undergraduates. It seems prob able that the general training in the various features of journalism now acquired by editors of college papers is at least equivalent to the purely literary training given by the old literary periodicals. It is a fact that numbers of the most successful of our younger writers have served their apprenticeship on the editorial board of college publication., which are increasingly rec ognized as valuable training-schools for jour nalistic work. A college editor has much to unlearn when he takes a place on the daily paper, but he has at the same time acquired much valuable experience in editorial and busi ness management, and in reportorial work. Time college paper, as now conducted. affords an agree able and profitable employment, and gives to friends of an institution an actual insight into the life of the college that cannot be gained from any official catalogue or report. Like general newspapers, the college paper has its exchange list, and its editors and readers are thus kept in touch with the doings and centiments of all other colleges. To the instructors the college press affords the surest indication of student sentiment. and is helpful in the solu tion of educational problems affecting the insti tution. There are now in the United States and Canada. according to the hest newspaper di rectories, about 275 undergraduate publications. not including alumni and professional school magazines. and the official publications of the Creek-lette• societies. See FRATERNITIES, AMER ICAN COLLEGE.