LETTERS
From Francis A. Bown, George Edinger, David Woolf, David Tribe, Harold Rosen- thal, N. J. Ogbuehi, T. C. Skeffington-Lodge, Keith Waterhouse, W. A. If ulaimi, Anthony Cowdy, Peter Joiner.
The case for law and order
Sir: Mr Giles Playfair (Letters, 18 July) is right to doubt the power of the sentences passed on the Cambridge undergraduates to put an immediate end to student violence. Like the spoilt child finally reprimanded for naughtiness, the Cambridge left will react to the first smack by quickly trying to re-estab- lish the position of immunity from punish- ment. Thus, there will undoubtedly be several unpleasant manifestations next term of their anger at the discovery that even they can be made subject to the law. Only if these demonstrations are dealt with equally firmly can there be hope of checking the growth of this cancer within our academic community.
For too long this vicious and loud- mouthed minority has stifled free speech and political debate in Cambridge. It is already well known here that societies such as ours must avoid inviting certain speakers and dis- cussing certain subjects for fear of the appearance of a howling mob determined to break up the meeting. The academic author- ities seem unable or unwilling to take any action. Mr Justice Melford Stevenson's judg- ment may prove to have been the first blow in a long overdue fight against such political intimidation by the Cambridge left wing. If that proves to be the case the vast majority of senior and junior members of this Univer- sity will heartily applaud.
Francis A. Bown Chairman, The George Corrie Society, Jesus College, Cambridge
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