February 4, 19 15] 



NATURE 



^11 



should have been so strangely neglected in England. 

 Travellers, agents, and consuls representing the in- 

 terests of British trade abroad are generally foreigners 

 who have been thoroughly trained in the practice 

 and theory of business while at home. The majority 

 of our foreign correspondents and managers of firms 

 with branches abroad are likewise foreigners. For 

 years we have been giving the foreigners a practical 

 experience and knowledge of our manufactures and 

 methods of business which qualify them to meet us as 

 strong competitors. These foreigners come in large 

 numbers ; they very often enter our business houses 

 with a view of acquiring information as to the inner 

 working of the firm's business connections, and on 

 going back to their own country they join a rival 

 establishment or set up an establishment of their own. 

 English firms are driven to the employment of 

 foreigners because young men in England do not pay 

 sufficient attention to commercial education and to the 

 study of foreign languages. 



The Training of a Commercial Artny. 



This state of affairs cannot be allowed to continue. 

 We must produce an army of trained traders, and 

 in the production of this army education must play a 

 prominent part. 



The first essential for one who is to enter a commer- 

 cial career is a sound general education in which the 

 study of English and at least one foreign modem 

 language should be of first importance. Any intend- 

 ing business man should have a secondarj'-schobl edu- 

 cation and specialised commercial study should not be 

 commenced until the age of fifteen at least. In many 

 good secondary- schools commercial sides are organised 

 for the higher forms, and the studiecs of the pupils 

 are given a certain amount of commercial bias. 



The commercial education so given is strikingly 

 inadequate in comparison with the provision in other 

 countries. Unfortunately we in England still retain 

 the idea that a small amount of education is sufficient 

 for a man destined to be a trader, whereas other 

 countries are more enlightened, and they endeavour 

 to provide for the future trader the highest education 

 applicable to his walk in life. 



Schools for Commercial Education. 



England in this matter has delayed far too long. 

 It is now essential that there should be established in 

 this country schools of commerce which in our Eng- 

 lish svstem might well form one side of our secondary 

 schools, with a curriculum specially designed for the 

 higher education of voung people who are destined for 

 a business career. The teaching staff must be really 

 competent, and the school must be equipped for teach- 

 ing the theory of business, and as much of the prac- 

 tice of business as possible, the general aim of the 

 school being to train well-equipped employees of all 

 grades from the competent clerk to the competent 

 employer. 



A Typical School of Commerce. 



Belgium was the first nation to give practical effect 

 to the idea of establishing a special college for the 

 commercial training of her young men. The aim of 

 the exhibition held at the Crystal Palace in 185 1 was 

 to compare the progress made bv the different peoples 

 in the development of the industrial arts. It w-as 

 recognised that England held the first place. But 

 while we rested complacently on our oars, other 

 nations profited by the lesson and began to take steps 

 to promote their home and foreign trade. Belgium 

 recognised that competent men to represent her in the 

 foreign markets were required, and as a result the 

 Higher Commercial Institute at Antwerp came into 

 existence. It was to be to the men destined for a 



NO. 2362, VOL. 94] 



commercial career what the university was to the 

 doctor or the lawyer. Similar institutions have since 

 been founded in France, Switzerland, Germany, Aus- 

 tria, Italy, and even in distant Japan. Before admis- 

 sion candidates must show competent knowledge as 

 tested by an entrance examination. The curriculum 

 embraces the study of all subjects, a knowledge of 

 which is indispensable to the merchant, the banker, 

 or the trader, including at least two foreign languages, 

 book-keeping, commercial documents, geography, 

 history, arithmetic, and algebra, commercial law, and 

 the elements of political economy, as well as physics 

 and chemistry. The course of study is practical as 

 well as theoretical. Transactions of a large commer- 

 cial house are simulated, the operations of a counting- 

 house are minutely practised and all questions relating 

 to the theory of exchanges are carefully described. 

 Correspondence is conducted by the student in French, 

 German, and English. The principles of inter- 

 national commercial law and customs' legislation are 

 inculcated, and special care is taken to make the 

 student acquainted with foreign markets by furnish- 

 ing him with reports sent in periodically by Belgians 

 resident abroad. To further the knowledge of all 

 kinds of vegetable, mineral and animal products, there 

 is a well-furnished museum with samples and patterns 

 kept up to date, so that the professor is able to give 

 to his pupils a direct knowledge of the article, in which 

 the latter may one day be called upon to trade. The 

 actual political and economical condition of foreign 

 countries is studied from carefully compiled data and 

 the relative value of raw material from different 

 sources of supply is inquired into and noted. The 

 student is encouraged to take a close interest in the 

 political events of to-day so far as they affect commer- 

 cial interests, and the latest consular reports from 

 all countries are placed at his disposal, so that he 

 himself later on may be in a position to make a report 

 upon the commercial practice of any country in which 

 he may happen to find himself. Visits to factories, 

 mills, mines, etc., enable the student to acquire an 

 insight into the actual working of those industrial 

 establishments. 



Valuable travelling scholarships are given to the best 

 students, who are thus relieved of the necessity' of 

 accepting the first situation that is offered to him. 

 He is enabled, in fact, to study the economical condi- 

 j tion of the country in which he resides, but he must 

 send home periodically a detailed report of the result 

 of his observations. These reports, after being noted 

 by the Government, are utilised by the students in the 

 prosecution of their studies. 



The Training of Clerks. 



For those engaged in business who are not ab'e to 

 attend full time at a day school of commerce, arrange- 

 ments should be made by which they should be able 

 to attend such schools on three or four half-days a 

 week during the normal working hours. The young 

 worker in a house of business is in the same difficulty 

 as the young industrial worker : he cannot get an 

 all-round training; and at present he must get his 

 theoretical knowledge of commerce by attendance at 

 a commercial evening school on three evenings a 

 week. This system is unsatisfactory; but by a part- 

 time attendance at a day school of commerce, he 

 mieht go through a modified course of instruction 

 which combined with his experience in a business 

 house should make him far better fitted for the post 

 he is filling. 



Training for the Consular Service. 



In the school for commerce the highest courses are 

 arranged for the special purpose of fitting Jhe student 



