Talk:The Times/1947/Obituary/Philip Joseph Hartog

Lord Hailey writes
Source: The Times, Monday, Jun 30, 1947; Issue 50800; pg. 6; col E — Sir Philip Hartog

Lord Hailey writes:— Your obituary notice of Philip Hartog referred to the part played by him in the creation of the School of Oriental and African Studies. May I, on behalf of my colleagues on the governing body of the school, add our acknowledgments to the tribute you have paid him? The story goes back nearly 40 years. He was secretary to Lord Reay's Commission of 1908 which first put forward the project for an oriental school. He was, afterwards secretary to the committee presided over first by Lord Cromer and then by Lord Curzon, which assisted in giving the project an effective shape. There can be no doubt that Hartog's own devotion to the scheme and his influence with London University, contributed greatly to the developments which secure the school its Charter in 1916. Hartog remained throughout a strong champion of the interests of the school. He never readily admitted defeat —a quality to which we were specially indebted when the school's tenure of its buildings was threatened by a Government Department during the recent war. Your notice has recalled his achievements in a wide field of intellectual activities. His friends, and especially those who have been privileged to see something of his home life, will be left with the memory of a personalities which won to a singular degree their affection and respect.

Sir T. Vijayaraghavacharya, Prime Minister of Udaipur, writes
The Times, Wednesday, Jul 09, 1947; Issue 50808; pg. 6; col G — Sir Philip Hartog Learning And Ability

Sir T. Vijayaraghavacharya, Prime Minister of Udaipur, writes:—

The news of the death of Sir Philip Hartog will be received with genuine sorrow by many of his old friends, colleagues, and pupils in India. I served with him on the Public Service Commission of India when it was established in 1926 under the new Government of India Act, and in the three years that I was with him on that body I learnt to admire his learning and his ability, but even more for his freedom from racial and communal or departmental prejudice and his ready sympathy with and understanding of young men. A large part of our duties consisted in interviewing aspirants for appointments in the superior Indian public services, and in the limited time we could give to a candidate Hartog was, thanks to these qualities, able size him up and assist his colleagues in arriving at a correct judgment.

An even more serious task we had to face was to hear appeals from officers against whom disciplinary action had been taken by the Provincial Governments, and to advise the Central Government in cases on which it proposed to take action. It required courage, imagination, and independence to deal with such cases satisfactorily, and Hartog was always able to inspire confidence in the men who sought redress from the commission. On the social side Hartog was a charming companion, and many of us will carry to our dying day the recollection of his talks. To his talented wife, the author of one of the best little books on India ever written, we offer our reverent sympathy.