64 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM

different side of a boy’s life to that exhibited during
school hours.
The Officers Training Corps system must be maintained,
 stimulated, and developed in any reorganization
of the public schools.
The “fagging’ system in vogue at most public
schools is, again, a most valuable assistance to the formation
 of character. The contention that it encourages
bullying is devoid of foundation, for whatever may have
been the case in the old days, a decade or a quarter of a
century ago, and contrary to general belief, “bullying ”
is now practically non-existent in our great schools.
Wherever it does exist in a minor degree the victim in
most cases deserves it and is eventually the better for it.
At any rate the advantages of the system far outweigh
its possible abuses. It is the finest thing in the world
both for the pampered, high-born youth who is brought
up in the lap of luxury, and for any boy who is eventually
 to be served by others, to know something of the
other side of the picture.
The “fagging” system is perfectly controlled at the
present time, and both the “fagger » and the “fagged”
obtain great benefits from it. Afterall it is the germ of
the whole system of master and man, which, for good or
evil, is a permanent feature of our social organization, and
the more one experiences this system, even in its most
rudimentary form, the better.
At the conclusion of this war, economists tell us, the
relation of capital to labour will be an extremely difficult
problem. Mutual understanding between the © prefect”
and the “squealer ” at a public school will help the embryo
 employer to appreciate the men’s point of view
more satisfactorily.
The association between officers and men in the
trenches, and on service generally, will doubtless do much
to ease future controversies between employer and em-