ADVANTAGES AND DEFECTS 69

A large quantity of indigestible meat is introduced into
the hopper of a boy’s brain, the handle is turned, and a
more or less unsavoury sausage is the result. No opportunities,
 or at least very few, are given to a boy to
develop along his own lines, or to render the discovery
of his particular bent at all possible. The development
of hobbies and the encouragement of individual inclinations
 has another great advantage, in that a boy is much
more ready to undergo the drudgery, which to a certain
extent is necessary in all subjects, if he has had some
vision, however imperfect, of the sunshine beyond the
gloom of the valley.
9. The House System.— A public school is usually organized
 into a dozen, more or less, houses scattered in
different parts of the school grounds. Each house is
self-supporting, has its separate organization for servants
and commissariat, and to all intents and purposes acts as
a separate school except in as far as actual teaching is
concerned.
These houses are controlled by house masters, who as
a rule are appointed by seniority irrespective of other
qualifications. Fees are paid by the parents direct to
the house master, the house master pays the college a
tuition fee for each of his boys, and makes what profit he
can from the balance.
The objections to this system are so glaring that they
need indicating rather than emphasizing.
(2) The cost of maintenance of 500 boys under central
control, on the dormitory or cubicle system, with one
organization of servants, and feeding, with common
changing rooms, baths, and common rooms generally is
far less than that of catering for ten separate units of
fifty boys each, even if the responsible house master is a
clever business man. The direct waste under the house
system at a public school runs into thousands of pounds
in the course of a year,