Page:The Fraternity and the College (1915).pdf/98

 acknowledged any one of the twenty or more letters which have been written them, but if they should do so and should analyze their reasons for not paying and should put them down in black and white, they would probably resolve themselves into two. In the first place, upon leaving college these men moved far away from the scenes of their undergraduate life. In the localities to which they went there were few college men and few associations to remind them of the fraternity. Naturally, they thought less and less of college ties as they went on, and when the first letter came reminding them of their overdue obligation, they resented it and neglected it, and thought no more of it, perhaps, until the notice of the second overdue note came. Now an obligation of ten dollars is not so hard to meet, even by one whose income is small, and who is practicing economy, but when this sum grows to twenty dollars the strain upon the pocketbook is considerably more than twice as hard. To many young fellows the problem of meeting an unexpected financial obligation of twenty dollars seems so difficult of solution that he gives it up and thinks no more of the unpleasant business. When these delayed payments amount to thirty, fifty, or one hundred dollars, the idea of payment is unthinkable.

The second reason why men like those I have mentioned do not pay is found, I believe, in the