Evening star., 1926-05-02

The last strongholds of the caste idea fell
with g. crash when the Labor party took ONCE,
and when railway clerks ex- miners, % eeI.ledi.ady ,
school masters and men OF the humplest orlsh
became cabinet ministers, high officers or state
and court officials. ~
Then was the social revolution accomplished
bv which the last reserves and sanctuares of
the old tradition were invaded and captured by
the masses, without bloodshed, and with the
free consent, for the most part, or the prlVl
legged classes who showed, as all must admit a
good sporting spirit, from the King downward
The idea of caste, that is to say. or priv.
legged class set apart by birth, fashion and social
conditions from the rest of mankind. has shifted
a good deal from one end of society to the
other. The arstocracy know that the game is
up They no longer exclusive naughty or
snobbsh, except in clinging to a few remnants
of their old pride of birth and elegance OF man
ner. -
1t is the labor crowd, especially the political
extremists, who believe in the caste system
They cannot abide fellows who wear black coats
and white collars. They have a naughty con
tempt for men who speak in a different accent
from tbemselves-the unfortunate accent of
gentility.
They want to bar out from all power and
place the intellectuals and the hated bourgeo
sic. reserving all good jobs for men and wom-
en- of their social kind. Their trade unions
are close corporations. No gentlemen need ap
ply. They are terribly snobbish.
X X X X
Our public school system seems to me little
out Of date I mean those great public schools
like Eton Harrow, Rugby and Winchester. In
the old days they certainly breeding
grounds OF SnObblShneSS, thought not so Ddu III
that respect the private academies for young
gentlemen which fourished through the land
To be fair, they also great training
schools of character and fine manners among
boys who. by birth and fortune and social priv
ileges. were destined to be the leaders OF the
nation in every department of life.
But the old Scottish system of education was
better l think the whole. The laird's son
sat on the bench as the butchers boy
and they punched each others head and came
to know each other with mutual respect. After
ward they could, If they liked go to the uni
versity together, and the only social distinction
was that the laird's had little more
money to waste while the peasants son took
MS bag of oatmeal with his best suit and studied
harder his poor diet.
The Scots We're never such snobs as the Eng
sh, though 1t is an Englishman who writes
that. and for this reason, partly, they took all
the best jobs from us. and take them still.
There will always be certain amount of
snobbishness as long human nature re
mains unchanged. 1t is not wholly vice, but
sometimes loyalty, and often a method of
self-defense People who speak the same Ian
guage. the Americans say, that is. who be-
lieve in the same ideas. the same code of honor,
the same social traditions. will always have
secret passwords by which they know each
other. They will always keep themselves from
the rest of the crowd and cherish sense of
superiority. But where snobbiShnesS is curse
is where ii despises merit because of the
cident of birth or fortune and builds up barriers
OF privileges. behind which ignorance and in
efficiency resent the intrusion of hard workers
and hard thinkers. That, in the past, the
vice of English society. Today it is the vice of
would like to see labor protected both from
hard work and honest thought. Otherwise
are getting rid of it as national characteristic.
Copyright. 1921