[To THE EDITOR OP THY " SPECTATOR. "] SIR,—The report of
the last speech day at Cooper's Hill in the Times of July 28th gives no precise information as to the future means decided on by Mr. Brodrick for obtaining civil engineers for the Indian Public Works Department on the closure of this College, and I propose therefore to make a few remarks on this important question, which promises to furnish
a controversy between the Secretary of State and the Govern- ment of India.
Briefly stated, the Government of India has been urging on the Secretary of State the importance of recruiting for the public service men who are gentlemen by character and training, and insists on the value of a College training with its accompanying esprit de corps. The expense to India of the Cooper's Hill educa- tion, to bring it within reach of a wide field of engineering talent, would, it is declared, be money well laid out. The Secretary of State attaches little or no importance to this. He appears, in fact, to accept the view of his two technical advisers, one of whom has a wide experience in recruiting engineers direct from the English market for railways in India worked by companies, and who seems to consider that the attainment of a certain standard of knowledge and ability should alone be deemed qualifications, and that the only kind of esprit de corps peculiar to Cooper's Hill is a kind of trades-unionism (vide reply No. 1,600 before the Committee of 1903).
The Secretary of State, in stating his decision to close the College when ending the correspondence with the Government of India, writes in his despatch No. 69, dated April 22nd, 1904:—" I entirely concur in your appreciation of the high standard of honour and duty which prevails in the Public Works Services of India, which have worthily maintained the traditions inherited from past generations of public servants in India, both civil and military. But seeing that these qualities have been no less apparent among officials not trained at any Government institution than among those who have had the advantages of the Cooper's Hill training, I can hardly doubt that the change which appears desirable on other grounds can be carried out withoutany deterioration of the stamp and class of the men to be recruited." As a Cooper's Hill engineer with a long acquaintance of large numbers of all classes of engineers in India, I disagree most emphatically with this conclusion. In support of my view I would refer to the replies given by several witnesses before the above-mentioned Committee. Colonel Ottley and Lieutenant-Colonel Gardiner, neither of them past Cooper's Hill engineers, may be cited. I refer to the former's replies Nos. 139 to 143 and 153, with special reference to Nos. 142 and 143 and the last seven lines of 153 ; and the latter's replies Nos. 678 to 680.
A few words may be added as to the expression " trades- unionism." Cooper's Hill engineers, it is well known, formed themselves into an association (which was joined by other engineers) for putting pressure on successive Secretaries of State to redeem the promises to Cooper's Hill engineers, made when the College was founded, and subsequently. The failure to obtain redress has made them a thorn in the side of the India Office for the last twenty years. Even the famous Minute of Sir George Chesney, the founder of the College (and subsequently Member of the Viceroy's Council in India and Member of Parliament), written shortly before his death, in which he urged a just recog- nition of claims, failed to arouse the Secretary of State. Lord Curzon lately made an heroic but futile attempt to obtain redress on one point; but on the matter coming before the House of Commons the Secretary of State prevailed over the Viceroy, the vote having gone on party lines. Subsequent to this it seems that the definite idea of abolishing the College took hold of the Secretary of State, and the Committee on whose Report the decision was taken was convened without consulting the Govern- ment of India.
It is an extraordinary thing that while the Government of India in its educational policy has been insisting on the value of cor- porate life in India in the formation of character for the youth of India, the Secretary of State should, against 'the protest of the Indian Government, insist on abolishing Cooper's Hill. I do not wish to reflect for one moment on the general body of engineers recruited from the open market, but to emphasise the value of the spirit of emulation and personal pride engendered at a special College where traditions of unselfishness and real com- radeship are fostered. I cannot believe that the Government of India will without further protest accept its engineers from non- resident Universities, which seems to be foreshadowed in the last Blue-book issued. The esprit de corps of the Civil Service often mentioned in the above-quoted evidence occurs in a very highly paid Service. The present high standard of the class of indiffer- ently paid engineers cannot be maintained by selecting candi dates from the open market and sending them out to India without a prolonged College residence. When the experiment is tried it will be a grave misfortune for India.
—I am, Sir, &c., ENGINEER.
[We regret the decision to abolish Cooper's Hill College, and agree with our correspondent, whose experience of the subject he deals with is wide and varied, that the maintenance of a high standard of personal honour among engineers engaged in public works is of the utmost importance. The temptations to corruption (especially in India) to which engineers engaged in carrying out public works are exposed are many and great. One of the best guarantees that these temptations will be resisted comes from a sense of esprit de corps in the Service, and it is therefore of great importance to do nothing which will weaken the sense of esprit de corps among Indian engineers.—En. Spectator.]
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