COMMERCIAL EDUCATION

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 10864, 14 January 1901, Page 6

COMMERCIAL EDUCATION

| ENGLISH AND CONTINENTAL SYSTEMS. j" Among the various paoers read at the Chambeis of Commerce Conference recently, i v...: i..k; by Air G. Hir-ch, of Palmerston , .-ioi.:,, on -Commercial Education." The ■ _.)*,.ueiiee was unable to give this essay . i.1.1 Attention, but it is especially valuable iur the information it gives on educational m_.ii.is iv England and Europe, and an ; -xti-uct lrom it may bj int-iesting.

\ • mc Society of Arts, London, holds examination- in commercial knowledge wheij ever a local boar- connected with the Socici. is willing to make the uecesaaiy ar-i-aii'cuituis. Every c___!__tte ior exami- : i..i_.„:i mitit bs luuuetn yean o. age. lue subjecis lor examination are:—Arithmetic, Engliau (composition, correspondence, and prtcis writing), bookkeeping, commercial gt-giaphy, and history, shorthand, pohti- , cul economy, French, Uerinan, Italian, _-qu..,i«.__. Iv order to obtain a 'certi_c_te in ..ouiiiiercial knowleug-' a candidate must I pa.*.- ia three subjects at least, two oi winch must be arithmetic and English. Cuidij dates who pass in one or more subjects, but who do not obtain such a certificate, will | receive single certificates, which wili count j towards the certificate in commercial knowledge. | "In the Industrial, Agricultural, and j Commercial Institute of the north of France (Lille) the commercial school teaches

the Iks. year:—elementary mathematics, •jihysi-*, cueinistry, and natural history, 1 accountantship, merchandise (study of ma- ; terials and manufactured products), indu-- ! trial and commercial geogiuphy, law, Engj liah and German (both obligatory). Italian |or Spanish. The second year—Commercial aiit.iinetic and accountaut-h-p, political I economy, commei*cial law, merchandise, | cuiiiiiiucial geography, history of commerce, fiscal and Customs-house legislation, hygiene, English and German, Italian or Sp.-ii.sh. Practical exercise. I .:—Caligruphy, commercial oince (book-keeping), piepara- . tion of all documents used in business, and |of a complete series of supou-ed commercial operations), drawing and sketching, practical study of the processes of testing goods, such as are used in commerce for ! ...ii.i.g tne degree of purity or ...luiieration, visits to commeicial establishments. There are similar schools in other countries.

In Germany the highest school ior what Englishmen sometimes call a liberal profession, such as jurisprudence, medicine, the-i-logy, philosuphy, philology, is the univer- _.._■.. 'ilia hignc-t -.cbool giving the techni- • ... scuiitihc instiuction mcessary to j qualify students for the service of the I btiite, to teach the higher branches oi i technical knowledge connected with the ! vii.oui. industrial ..cciipiu.-u-, and the arts and sciences more or less ullied to such matters, is the Polytechnic School. Th-: secondary schools, from which students pass to university and polytechnic -schools, are fur the foimer the Gymnasium, for the latter tho Real Sehule. In .he Gymnasium Kpecial ittteiirion is paid to classical, in tlie Heal Schnle to modern languagesStudents in either school itie matriculated for university or polytechnic by passing an examination on leaving, called the "Abi--1 iiii.i.t 11 J-.x.tmeii" (L-i-.ving c.\iuinual.oi:.. Among the commercial schools arc two •sous called the "commercial continuation I r-.. ml,' giving cleiiH-ntai y education to ! yoi.ii._r ci'.c-i-ks, especlii'ly th-ise employed in the retail trude, and the so-called "comi.. ;---iit; .Ji-bnol.' ofle.liig a lit rough practical education in the requirements of a t..inm!:icial carer;-, similar to the commeicial colleges in Eng.l__.nd and else where. 'I here was, however, up to between two and three years ago in Germany, no educa- | tiomil establishment milking with the uniI vcrsity or Polytechnic for commercial stui dents. The new school at Leipzig, under ; ' •"• tit.'c nf "fliiiideNhorhscinile 'is the first experiment of its kind. Since its inception tho number of students —matriculated and so-culled "hearers"—has increased jat a remarkable rate. i The instruction ia to prove useful to j heads of commeicial establishments or to j those in charge of extensive commercial I enterprises. Amongst the subjects are practical economics, public finance, commercial und maritime law, history of trade, 1 ■>!• oi coloni-uitio'i. the.-tv of modern social institutions, international law, statistics, social problems, commercial geoI grupiiy, modern political history, economic ] and constitutional history, chemical technology, practical training in modern langguages—notably Chinese, French, Italian, English. Spanish and Russian. The languages are studied with a view to proficiency in conversation and correspondence, lie-sides such instruction as is giveu in this commercial university the students can attend lectures at the "ordinary University of Leipzig, where they may select any subject of special interest to them. Afier a two years' course students may graduate either for engaging in trade or for becoming teachers by passing prescribed examinations, which are fairly difficult to pass. It is said that the training ia such that urnd'.i'-.tes will find it comparatively easy to find good positions, and that the country in whic._ such a school exists must be benefited thereby.