5 JANUARY 1918, Page 21

PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND THE NAVY.

[To THE EDITOR or THE " SPECTATOR."] Sna—Would you allow a "mere naval officer" a word in support of the much-abused Public School system of education? Com- menced in 1913, the special entry cadet system in the Navy has resulted in about three hundred and fifty Public School boys being entered to date, and they are now in the Fleet, serving alongside their contemporaries from Dartmouth. If a Referendum of the senior officers of the Navy could be taken on the two systems of entry, I am quite sure that the result would be very gratifying to the " silent service" of Public School masters. To use a sea- man's expression, I think the author of The Loom of Youth has made a bad landfall.—I am, Sir, &c., A NAVAL OFFICER.