President Conant gave a short informal speech last night at the New England Associations of Colleges and Secondary School's 45th annual meeting in the Georgian room of the Statler. It is the custom for all new presidents and headmasters to speak at the meeting which takes place in the year of their inauguration. Two other new presidents, President Bancroft Beatly of Simmons College, and President Hugh F. Baker of Massachusetts State College, and one new headmaster, Claude M. Fuess of Phillips Andover Academy, also spoke.

The toastmaster brought out the fact that the Board of Overseers always chose a true leader for the President of Harvard, and therefore Mr. Conant had been the logical choice as he had played the part of the leading lady in a school play when only sixteen. A Boston newspaper calling President Conant "hard-boiled" was then presented, and the toastmaster said that he was glad that if Harvard had to have a president that had been cooked, he was glad they had picked one that was hardboiled, and not half-baked or stewed.

President Conant retaliated by beginning his speech, "Ladies and Gentlemen, and Mr. Toastmaster." He went on to explain that he was a student himself; he was learning to be a college president. He claimed that he had attempted a correspondence course in "What every young college president should know," but it had been of no avail, he was still new to the job. The President told of a professor that he had met at Oxford. This professor believed that if the American college professors had as much power as it was claimed, they should move to Europe, and do nothing more than draw their salary. President Conant agreed with this suggestion, and said that he had often considered doing it. The President closed his speech by telling a few more short stories, one of which was an old favorite of ex-President Lowell's.

The rest of the speeches were also informal, and contained much repartee between the toastmaster and the speaker, but none to rival that between Harvard's new president and the scathing gentleman with the gavel.

Those who expected a serious speech from President Conant were not disappointed despite their surprise.