Faculty Members Deplore Influence Of Davies' Firing on U.S. Diplomats

Last week's abrupt dismissal of career diplomat John Paton Davies on security grounds has heightened the atmosphere of tension in the State Department and may further discourage qualified college students from entering the foreign service, three University faculty members warned yesterday.

Louis M. Lyons, curator of the Nieman Fellowships, termed the Davies dismissal "a vicious piece of business" and another step in "the disintegration of our foreign service."

"I would not recommend to any sensible American that he let himself be recruited for an organization that is trying to appease the McCarthyites," Lyons said. Senator McCarthy has long been critical of Davies' role in the formulation of American policy toward China.

"Pusillanimous Administration"

"I would advise any man of sense and judgment to stay away from such a pusillanimous administration as Mr. Dulles is running," he continued. "Any college student would be very silly to work for them."

Lecturer on government Daniel S. Cheever '39 pointed out that applications for entrance to the foreign service have fallen off heavily in the last several years. The Davies decision "is more or less calculated to keep them that way." he said.

But Cheever expressed the hope that some improvement in the situation may soon take place. The proposals of a special study group, headed by Henry M. Wriston, president of Brown, for reorganization of the State Department's recruiting system may make government service again attractive to the college student, he explained.

"All this will pass," he said. "But Dulles feels he's got to wipe the old slate perfectly clean."

Agreeing that not so many students seem to be entering government service as in previous years, John K. Fairbank '29, professor of History, described the Davies decision as "discouraging." "We need gifted students in government," he added.