MEN INTO OFFICERS
SIR,—In his article "Men into Officers," Mr. J. L. Hodson (who, later on, suggests the formation of schools for leadership) writes, with apparent satisfaction, that out of forty or so candidates whom he saw not half a dozen seemed to be public school men. A few months ago the War Minister made a similar statement, only in his case it was definitely a boast.
Is not this sort of inverted snobbery, though it may tickle the ears of the proletariat, a mistake? Even if (pace the Abbe Mendel) we assume the material entering public and elementary schools to be of the same quality, is it not certain thaj the finished product of the former will excel in just those qualities of leadership and character which are essential for a good officer?
If not, then the thousands of parents who make great sacrifices to educate their sons are wasting their money.—Yours truly,
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