“And I’m afraid you may think it fantastic—not quite a practical view to take.”
“Let me have it, all the same. You seem to have thought out this matter, Hartington?”
“Yes, sir; I have. It struck me as important—even of first-rate importance. And the present state of affairs is so bad that there’s bound to be an end to it soon, one way or another. It’s better that the change should come from inside the Service than from outside.”
“You think it’s as bad as that? But no one outside knows anything about it.”
“They will, sir. It is so bad that one day someone will wake up to it. The Press may get hold of it.”
“We don’t want the Press in the Service.”
“No, sir. That’s why I think this business ought to be stopped from inside.”
“There are regulations on flogging.... However, what is your third cause? I think that is the right way to tackle the problem—see the causes, then root them out.”
“The third cause, so far as I can see, sir, is that the Service is so isolated and so specialized. Put briefly, it’s a government without opposition, with the usual result of tyranny. And in the Service we have no contact with any interests but our own—no books or pictures, no women, if you see what I mean, sir.”