Cambridge graduates who desire to see Lord Tedder the next
Chancellor would do well to take the trouble to go to Cambridge on November 10th and record their votes—voting is in person only—for the result, there is reason to think, is by no means a foregone conclusion. There was some excuse for thinking it might be,' for the weight of support for Lord Tedder „among Heads of Houses and other resident graduates is over- whelming. But votes have to be counted, not weighed, and the vote of the youngest B.A. is worth as much as the Master of Trinity's. The supporters of Pandit Nehru (whose name was not so much as mentioned at the informal meeting in the Senate House when the nomination of Lord Tedder was announced and warmly received) are largely younger men of Left-wing views, capable of organising effective support for their candidate on polling-day. Certain considerations ought not to be lost sight of. There were special reasons, apart from the personal factor, for the choice of General Smuts in 1948, but it is not satisfactory for a university to have its Chancellor permanently located five or six thousand miles away ; the office is by no means solely honorific ; the Chancellor's influence in Governmental and other circles, and conversely his counsel to the university, may on occasion be very valu- able and important. The possibility, moreover, cannot be ignored that India may yet separate herself completely from the Commonwealth ; Cambridge Would hardly wish to have a Chancellor who was a foreigner. The position is unusual. It looks as though the men of weight and experience were putting academic considerations first—which is surely right in a university—While a substantial number of younger men are giving a certain political outlook expression.
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