LETTERS TO TILE EDITOR.
SECRET COMMISSIONS.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SFECTATOR."] Sin,—Your advertisement pages of last Saturday bear evidence of how widespread is the habit of paying commis- sions which are not intended to be disclosed by those whose interests they affect. Two ladies who propose to undertake the training of girls possess these three qualifications for the office,—that they are head-mistresses of girls' schools, they are ex-Newnham students, and last, but not least, they are Churchwomen ; these ladies wish to find a town which needs a good private school, and this wish they hope to realise by bribing "clergy or others" to introduce pupils. The bribe is described as "capitation on first term's fees." It is almost amusing to see how persons who wish to bribe pick up some harmless word which is familiar in the business in an honest sense; so the bribe offered to the poor curate to get girls for the two ex-Newnham ladies is called a capitation fee, the bribe offered to a gardener is generally called a discount, and the big sums which went to the manager of an hotel, lately much before the public, were called Christmas-boxes. There are some things which it would be interesting to know as regards these ladies. Is the capitation fee a fixed sum, or does it vary with the social position and influence of the receiver ? Would a rector get more than a curate, and a physician than a general practitioner ? Is a better fee paid If the decoy duck has a row of little sisters behind her,—who may perhaps follow her to school ? Do these good ladies, I wonder, propose to teach morals to their girls, when they have coaxed them into their school through the bribes paid to "clergy and others "?—I am, Sir, Sze.,
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