The London Chamber of Commerce was today accused of “running before it was threatened” when it withdrew an offer for Lord Mancroft, a prominent British Jew, to stand for the presidency of the Chamber. Earlier this year Lord Mancroft was forced to resign as a director of a British insurance firm under pressure of Arab representatives here.
The criticism of the Chamber was voiced by one of its own members, Hans Feld. The Chamber secretary, William Luxton, told Mr. Feld in a letter that some of its officers asked Lord Mancroft not to run for the presidency to avoid controversy. He said the Chamber was “under no pressure from Arab countries or chamber members dealing with the Arabs.”
In his letter of reply to the Chamber made public today, Mr. Feld said that if the Chamber had not been subjected to any pressure, it ran away even before it could be threatened, “surely not an edifying spectacle for a representative body.”
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