[o THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM

known to public schoolmasters by their fruits, but they
can probably be counted on the fingers of one hand.
In the great majority of cases the last thing to be
considered by the preparatory school head master is the
mental progress of the average boy.

Paradoxical as it may seem, however, the preparatory
school head master is not, and can scarcely be expected to
be, an independent agent in the control of the organization
 and routine of his school: he exists to satisfy a
demand, or rather several demands, and his success depends
 entirely upon the extent to which these requirements
 are met and correlated.
An analysis of the factors determining the conduct of
preparatory schools reveals quite clearly the causes of
their inefficiency. The first and obviously predominant
consideration of the preparatory school head master is to
keep his school full, and in order that he may accomplish
this end he has to study carefully what will attract the
prospective parent; and further, since public schoolmasters
 in many cases influence parents in their choice
of preparatory schools, it is necessary for him to arrange
the school curriculum in such a way as to stand well
with the public schools, and to secure as large a share of
this influence as possible.
A preparatory school head master in discussing this
subject with the writer told him that amongst the
thousands of questions put to him by the parents of prospective
 pupils, it was extremely rare for any inquiry to
be made as to the education provided. The parents’
demand is for a somewhat advanced type of nursery, and
consequently preparatory schools compete with each other
in making their institutions as luxurious as possible:
boys are mollycoddled to an absurd extent, and although
the preparatory school head masters are practically unanimous
 in their opinion that a harder type of life would