PUBLIC SCHOOL BOYS AND THE EMPIRE.
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—This important question has been raised periodically in the Press and has invariably elicited a number of suggestions enlightening and convincing. Efforts are made by the Dominions and private societies to attract boys to the land overseas and to the excellent training given by their Univer- sities and Training Schools. Before the War, a large number of Public School boys took up their University training in the Dominion in which they desired to settle ; notably was this the case at McGill University, Montreal. Since the War, however, the Dominions require some guarantee of capital available for investment in land after training, and this fact has doubtless deterred parents in many instances from incurring financial obligation in the case of boys from 17 to 19 on their trial. I am of opinion that the authorities would be justified in not insisting too rigidly on a money qualification, but would be content with a certificate from the Head-Master or other responsible person in the School that the boy has benefited by a full Public School curriculum. I cannot too strongly recommend that boys of intelligence should go through the University or Training School and become qualified in the Dominion selected. The Dominions are anxious to obtain well-educated boys : the cost of training is very much lower than in this country, and the prospects of employment after- wards are immeasurably better. In regard to land settlement, the Public Schools Employment Bureau has recently nego- tiated with the Head-Masters of the four prominent Schools in New Zealand who are forming panels of representative land- owners and business men who are themselves New Zealand ex-Public School boys to receive, help and supervize boys migrating from the old country. For this purpose, this Dominion has been partitioned into four divisions directed by the panels of the four schools, the Head-Masters of which are now represented on the (British) Head-Masters' Conference. A number of prominent Canadian and Australian Schools are also co-operating on similar lines and are taking up the scheme with enthusiasm.—I am, Sir, &c., W. A. BULICELEY-EVANS, Honorary Secretary to the Public Schools Employment Bureau. 5 Paper Buildings, Temple, B.C. 4.
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