THE GATE OF THE NAVY.
[To THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—There is a point referred to in your article df March 5th which I did not touch on in my letter last week,-a- namely, the expense of a naval officer's training under the new scheme. Actually, the cost is very moderate when compared with that of entry to other professions. The charge for a boy sent to Osborne is £75 a year for four years ; incidental charges for clothes, washing, &c., during the four years' training may amount to £100. Later, as Midshipman, there is a further charge of £50 a year during a period of three or three and a half years before the officer qualifies as a Sub- Lieutenant. Hence a sum of £550 to £575 in all, spread over nearly eight years, covers the charges. If this be compared with the cost to the parent of maintaining and educating a boy, from the same age, who is intended for the Army, the Civil Service, or other professions until such a time as he can live on his pay, even allowing for the aid which may be got from scholarships, it will be obvious that the "gate of the Navy " is more open than most other " gates " to the sons of men of limited means.—I am, Sir, &c., M. A.
[We are grateful for the further information contained in "M. A.'s" letter. The result of the correspondence is to show that the boy of parents of slender means is less handicapped in entering the Navy than in any other Government employ- ment with the same status, and also that no attempt is made to make the Navy the exclusive preserve of any one class in the community.—En. Spectator.]
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