If the common report that the first head of the
new Nuffield College at Oxford is to be Mr. H. B. Butler, Director of the International Labour Office, is true, as no doubt it is, both the loss to Geneva and the gain to Oxford will be con- siderable. Mr. Butler's position in the world of international labour and industry is so prominent that his academic dis- tinctions have been a little forgotten. But he went up from Eton with a Balliol scholarship, and after taking a first in Greats became Fellow of All Souls. On Albert Thomas' sudden death in 1932 Butler, as his second in command, was his obvious successor. There is no obvious successor to Butler himself, though one or two obvious possible names have been mentioned. The appointment of" Governor" Winant (of Vermont—once " Governor," always "Governor ") the American who is one of the assistant directors of the I.L.O., would be interesting and significant, for the United States is a full member of the Organisation, but Mr. Winant's experience of Geneva is comparatively brief, and it is questionable whether the acceptance of a position of such responsibility internationally by an American citizen would find favour at Washington. * * * *
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