THE CAVENDISH ASSOCIATION.
[To TIM EDITOR Or Till "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—The Cavendish Association was only launched so recently as November last year, yet since its inception it has brought into prominence certain truths—namely, that
(1) There is need for an organization to guide men of the Public School and University stamp to a realization of their responsi- bilities in the social system of this country.
(2) All over the country there is an abundance of unorganized talent, energy, and idealism ready to undertake the fulfilment of such responsibilities.
(3) Never were the voluntary services of Pablio School and University men for all kinds of social and public work more urgently needed than now.
(4) The machinery for carrying out the work of the Cavendish Association must be considerable and costly.
The work already done by the Association and the extra- ordinary opportunities that lie before it are beyond question.
The response of the authorities at the Public Schools and Universities to the appeal of the Association was beyond the most optimistic forecast, and the fact that at the Conference of Public School Masters held in January the recommenda- tions and the machinery of the Cavendish Association were adopted without a dissentient voice is a significant sign of the times. The Association has, with the consent of the Head-Masters, appointed correspondents at forty-seven of the Public Schools, and correspondents have also been appointed at most of the Colleges at Oxford and Cambridge. Many successful meetings have been held at the Schools and Universities, at which speakers were provided by the Associa- tion. The names and addresses of large numbers of men leaving their School or University are being received at the head- quarters of the Association, and many of these men are being Put into direct touch with such Centres of the Association in the provinces as are already formed, or with Cavendish corre- spondents where Centres have not yet been arranged. Further progress, however, cannot be made without money. Indeed, the Executive Committee are confronted by a realization of the stern fact that without immediate help from the sup- porters of the Association its very existence is threatened. We appreciate duly the seeming hopelessness of any appeal that is not on behalf of some enterprise incidental to the war. At the same time, we are eager to avert any misadventure so deplorable as the strangling in its infancy of an agency which we are confident is capable of great and beneficial service in our social system. We therefore appeal to your readers most earnestly for a sufficient sum to enable us to keep the work alive until such time as we are able to ask for annual sub- scriptions to the Administration Fund which it had been the intention to start during the autumn. A sum of £1,000 will enable us to carry on until the spring of 1916, and we hope to obtain this by donations.—I am, Sir, &c.,
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