Side by side with the misrepresentation of Socialist doctrines, it is the fashion nowadays in our public schools to establish what are known as “school missions” in the poorer quarters of London and other large towns, the object being to make the youthful capitalist take a philanthropic interest in the condition of the working classes. The movement is doubtless well meant, and some little good may come of it indirectly. Nevertheless it is impossible not to feel a certain amount of impatience and indignation at such childish trifling with questions of paramount importance. What is the result of all the subscription-lists and parish visitings, and sermons in the school chapel descriptive of what has been done among the “poorer brethren” of the relieved district? Mainly this; that our pampered and luxurious schoolboys give back in “charity” to the working-classes a very small fragment of the immense sum which their parents annually extort. They establish a “mission” among the very people by whose life long labour and suffering they are fed, clothed, housed, educated, and supported in every sort of comfort and affluence; and having done this, they naturally and inevitably feel a glow of honest satisfaction and pride; for, as we all know, it is more blessed to give than to receive. With consciences thus made easy, they can devote themselves more unreservedly to the real business of their lives – eating, drinking, sleeping, idling, and self-enjoyment. The position of these school missions in relation to the working-classes may be aptly illustrated by the American story of the man who relieved the hunger of his dog by cutting off its tail and giving back the bone in “charity” to the original proprietor, after himself enjoying a dish of soup extracted therefrom.
After all, it may at least be said on behalf of our public schools that indirectly and unconsciously they are often powerful revolutionary agencies. The bigotry and intolerance of the tone that is prevalent in these educational centres, the wasteful luxury and gross idleness of the boys, and the rank commercialism of the spirit in which these schools are conducted, are quite sufficient to disgust any thoughtful person who happens to be brought into contact with them, and to set him wondering how and why it is possible that such shameful scandals can exist in this enlightened age. By drawing attention to the connection between Socialism and “matters of educational interest,” the writer of the article in School may possibly be doing less service than he intended to the sacred cause of capitalism.
H. S. S.
The Commonweal, 26 March 1887, p. 100
More by Henry Salt
- A Forgotten Socialist Poet, The Labour Leader, November 12, 1909
- Alarming Condition of the West-End, The Commonweal, June 12, 1886
- What are the Principles of the Primrose League?, The Commonweal, November 6, 1886
- Some Revolutionary Poets of the Century, The Labour Leader, June 19, 1897
- Cobbett’s ‘Legacy To Labourers’, Justice, June 6, 1885