THERE IS A LETTER in our correspondence C011111111 this week
from Mr. J. G. W. Davies. Secretary to the Cambridge University Appointments Board. about the list of anti-Semitic remarks 1 printed last week—remarks made between 1952 and 1954 about students and firms who applied to the Board for jobs or employees respectively. I think some detailed comment is required. First, one might not realise from Mr. Davies's letter that he is the head of the Board in question (the Chairman he refers to appears to be of little practical signi- ficance in the affairs of the Board; his name does not even appear on its notepaper). Second. one would hardly guess from his letter that the sort of attitude ('traditional prejudice' he calls it) dis- played by my quotations is in itself deplorable, or that it should surely render people holding it ineligible for further service in any such capacity --whether or not it led them to 'prevent .1e■■ ish graduates from getting fair treatment.' As for what seems to be the implication (though it Is not specifically stated) that those Assistant Sec- retaries of the Board who were guilty of these things were suitably impressed by the gravity of their offence, and that he himself was as shocked as 1 was by it, the fact is that Mr. Davies was him- self the author of more than one of the remarks quoted, including what to my mind was one of the worst: Mr. Davies, and the other two persons responsible for these comments, still hold their positions on the Board..
Previous page
