Conant Speech Today to Urge U. S. Aid to Allies

Making his first public statement on the war since his letter to Alf Landon favoring repeal of the arms embargo last October, President Conant will speak tonight over a nation-wide hook-up of the Columbia broadcasting system on "Immediate Aid to the Allies."

Sponsored by the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies, the President's talk will be introduced by William Allen White, Chairman of the Committee, in a statement announcing the aims of the group.

The speech will be broadcast on stations outside of Boston from 10.15 to 10.30 and rebroadcast on station WEEI from 10:45 to 11.

Elliott Member of Committee

The committee was formed at the beginning of last week consisting of men prominent in business, politics, journalism, and education. It includes Henry L. Stimson, Republican Secretary of State, and William Y. Elliott, professor of Government, who has been prominent as an interventionist on the campus.

In his letter of October 4th to the former Republican Presidential candidate, President Conant approved embargo repeal and pleaded for an unemotional approach. He said of the Allies, "I believe if these countries are defeated by a totalitarian power, the hope of free institutions as a basis of modern civilization will be jeopardized."

Appealing for a "clear-headed, realistic approach," the letter went on to say, "the question is, is it to the long run advantage of the United States to sell arms," and it concluded, "to depart from our historic policy and by so doing handicap those who are fighting for the ideals we share, seems to me inconsistent."

Thus tonight's speech represents a logical development of President Conant's position on the war. Previous to the fall statements in the Landon letter and a chapel talk, his most recent public pronouncement on national issues was his opposition to the Court Reorganization Bill in March 1937.