Harvard has been beaten by Yale in debate. A year ago we would have flatly denied that such a thing could happen. Yet to an outsider who was carefully watching the preparations going on at the two Universities this year the result of the debate would have seemed inevitable. The truth is we threw away our chances of defeating Yale. We lost interest, relaxed our efforts, we were beaten, and we deserved to be beaten. If the spirit which has characterized the debating interests here from the time of the Princeton Debate continues, our representatives will as surely be defeated in the next contest as if the judges had already given the decision.

The fault lies partly with the men who were chosen to debate with Yale, but to a greater extent with the student body at large.

In this debate for the first time Harvard's representatives were beaten in form. The manner in which they presented their material was inferior to Yale. The reason for this was doubtless that they had given little attention to detail in the matter of delivery when they were preparing. A skillful instructor in elocution was ready and anxious to help them, but either because they thought themselves sufficiently prepared or because they did not care to give the time, the debaters neglected to avail themselves of his assistance, and as a result their form was not good. While Yale was all stirred up over the approaching contest; while debates were being held every other night to which hundreds of undergraduates went and applauded the speakers; what were we doing at Harvard? Absolutely nothing. Many students were only dimly conscious that there was to be any debate with Yale, and the great majority didn't care if there was. "Of course we will win" was the one cry. We approached the great contest, which meant so much to Harvard, with the most ridiculous self-complacency, and were beaten at every point. It was a reflection of the overconfidence that lost us the Princeton football game last fall.

This is the lesson that our first defeat in debating can teach us, and if we refuse to profit by it, our prestige in debate before very long will be gone.