| Reference number | MS/603/1/30 |
| Level | Item |
| Title | Letter from Henry E [Edward] Armstrong, 55 Granville Park, Lewisham, London, to [Joseph] Larmor |
| Creator | Armstrong; Henry Edward (1848-1937); British chemist and educationalist |
| Date | 29 July 1918 |
| Description | He looks to Larmor as a scientific leader. Surely they must make up their minds on policy in the 'alien question'. Council seems to have no mind. A dignified decision should have been taken and they should not have been told that the question would be discussed at a conference with others. He has heard from Lankester, who would treat Foreign Members as names on a list as a matter of record, as with medallists. But this overlooks the value of the FRS status and the issuing of publications. There are no objectionable names on the list, but they are German. The public will ask if scientific men intend to maintain relations with the Germans in the near future. The question cannot be considered apart from the Senior Secretary [Arthur Schuster] and Lankester believes that, to remove ill feeling, Schuster should make a voluntary retirement. No Englishmen in parallel circumstances would feel justified in remaining, Armstrong states, citing the actions of Hugo Muller, and Alexander Siemens, the latter led to take this view at the Royal Institution, by Dewar. Schuster is a Fellow of Larmor's college he thinks, and therefore Larmor has reason to be concerned. Schuster's 'persistence in an unenglish course must negative his desire to be rated one of us'. Armstrong comments on Schuster's German birth and education, and asks if Larmor can cut this Gordian knot. |
| Extent | 4p. |
| Format | Manuscript |
| Physical description | Ink on paper |
| Access status | Open |
Fellows associated with this archive
| Code | Name | Dates |
| NA8105 | Armstrong; Henry Edward (1848 - 1937); chemist and educationalist | 1848 - 1937 |