CRIME ON THE CADET TRAINING-SHIP BRITANNIA.'

[To THE EDITOR OF TRH " SPECTATOR-1

Sin,—The report in the Times (December 23rd) of the pro- ceedings on the occasion of the presentation of prizes on board the training-ship Britannia' by Admiral Commerell,

will have been read by many with great interest. The noble language addressed by the Admiral to the cadets may, let us hope, be not entirely barren of results. " He had never seen one of those who practised bullying come to anything. For boys without a heart, without consideration for poor little fellows younger and weaker than themselves, without con- sideration for children and animals, all he could say was, God help them !"

But the most important point by far in the report of the proceedings is to be found in the speech of Captain Digby, in command of the Britannia.' With all the esprit de corps which, in cases like the present, usually overrides all other -considerations, and with a not unnatural temptation to mini- mise the abuses of the institution which he commands, this

officer has had the manliness to admit the existence of those abuses, and to confront the evil. Witness the following passages :-

" He then hinted at certain ungentlemanly practices and acts of tyranny. He fancied he had seen among those concerned signs of shame for the past, and promises of amendment for the future. In this he had been mistaken. A number of the biggest boys banded themselves together to bully and oppress the weaker ones, and in some cases to rob them of their money. He was, fortunately, able to bring this home to five of their number, and these were dismissed the ship. But there were some remaining who had escaped punishment. In all big schools, one would imagine that among the sons of gentlemen these things could not go on ; but there was a schoolboy maxim or principle of never peaching, never telling, and this sealed the lips of the boys, and allowed the evil-minded to carry on their practices without opposition. It was only by outside information and careful study of character that one was able to bring the offenders to justice. Of course, the sentiment of never telling was a very honourable one in its way, but it had its limit when ungentlemanly, corrupt, dishonest boys were allowed to oppress the weaker ones. It was the duty of every one with a spark of manliness to take the side of the weak. In that ship they had deck-captains who should take the side of the weak, but he was sorry to confess that in many instances they had been most unfortunate in their selection. Some had not only screened the offenders, but had taken part in their misdeeds."

Now, here we have a goodly array of testimony, from the highest authority, which utterly confounds the unfortunate attempts made by correspondents of the Times to ignore, or deny the existence of, the evils complained of. Unfortunate, indeed, are such attempts, if bullying is ever to be put down. This can never be done by ignoring its existence. It may be useful to read some of these apologies for immorality, after stating the accusations as they appeared in the Times. The Times (September 30th) reported (inter alio) as follows :—" A ship's corporal on duty in the ' Britannia' noticed that one of

the new-comers was surrounded by a number of the senior -cadets, who had concealed themselves in a quiet corner of the vessel. One of the fourth or senior-term cadets was caught in 'the act of beating the poor little lad, and otherwise maltreating him, while the others were apparently enjoying his pain."

This report was speedily followed up by similar testimony from various correspondents. " Wykehamist " wrote of a

`Britannia' boy, that "while it was most distressing to listen to the accounts of the cruel and dishonest treatment to which he, in common with all his fellows of the first term, had been subjected, it was still more pitiful to witness the alarm and terror that he had of its ever being known that he had ven- tured to speak of the matter, even to his mother."

Another correspondent " A. L. M.," writes :—" During my stay on the Britannia,' a cadet of the fourth term was dis-

missed for fagging his junior to take a letter containing a postal order from the letter-box, the contents of which he appropriated to his own use."

Now, it was after such testimony from the Times and its correspondents that "Thomas Gibson Bowles" was not

ashamed to write protesting against the " criticism which recent occurrences have provoked, and most especially against the suggestion which has been made that the moral tone' of the cadets is thoroughly bad." He proceeds :—" Never was a statement so opposed to the truth as this. A finer, handsomer, stronger, more manly, more considerate, gentle C!] and

honourable set of boys does not exist in the world. Their officers and instructors, and the authorities of the ship in

general, they no doubt regard as being in some sense their natural enemies." Does Mr. Bowles conceive that such is the sentiment which is commonly prevalent in the Public Schools of England ?

After speaking of the "practice of fagging for pocket- money, or, in other words, of the stealing of new boys' money by the older boys," he adds, I regret to say :—" With regard to other fagging of the ordinary kind, there is no more of it

than is good for a boy There is nothing in the whole- some fagging that obtains there which can properly provoke the flabby evolutions of even the most mawkish stud- mentality." It is satisfactory to know, from their deductions quoted above, that Captain Digby and Admiral Commerell take a different view of the fagging in the Britannia.' Are they mawkish sentimentalists ?

In conclusion, let me suggest that the unfortunate con- dition of things in the Britannia' may not be without its uses ultimately, if it shall force the attention of Head-Masters to the consideration of more effectual means for the suppres- sion of bullying. I do not mean to imply that any Public School in England furnishes a parallel to the abuses of the Britannia.' But it is notorious that the Public Schools are far from blameless in the matter of bullying. Winchester— it is not very long ago—supplied an example of gross cruelty to a boy, almost amounting to torture, with the details of which many must be familiar. I have had no hesitation in naming this school, because the action of the authorities in the case was most admirable, and must redound to the credit of the school, and inspire confidence in the Head-Master as one who will not, as has often been the case elsewhere, devote himself to the hushing-up of every case of cruelty that may come to light.

Nothing is more common than to hear lamentations over the impossibility of putting down bullying. But surely there is one mode whieh has not yet been tried, and which would probably be effectual. Unless there is to be one law for the rich and another for the poor, why are not the perpetrators of the grosser forms of bullying brought to justice, and charged before the Magistrate, as they would be if in a lower station of life P " Plantagenet Montmorency " sent to prison for a brutal assault, with or without hard labour, would act as a strong deterrent to others. I once suggested this plan to a very distinguished and deservedly esteemed Head-Master. His answer was, that it would tend to a loss of self-respect on the part of boys. I could not but feel that that sentiment was a luxury in which such boys could not be justified in indulging.—I am, Sir, &c., JOSCELINE COURTENAY. Atheneum Club, December 29th.