752 RRPOET— 1901.. 



eronomic in rharacter. Tlie pressure of commercial rivalry, for example, is likely 

 to re-awaken the controversy between free traders and protectionists ; and Economics 

 lias something of importance to say on this question. The superficial appearance 

 of things may easily mislead, and economists can render unique assistance in 

 disclosing the 'unseen' below the 'seen.' Similarly, with regard to questions 

 classed as ' socialistic,' which are attracting increasing notice, although Economics 

 is not entirely individualistic, and its conclusions may be modified by political 

 considerations, its aid is nevertheless important. Both classes of questions are of 

 special interest for the merchant and the manufacturer. The individualistic 

 spirit prevalent among Americans, who promise to be the most formidable of our 

 commercial competitors, lends emphasis to the danger attaching to a trade union 

 policy which, of unconscious or deliberate intent, may possibl}'- offer real hindrance 

 to the rapid use of new machinery or the speedy introduction of novel business 

 methods. Restrictive legislation, for the same reason, must be scrutinised, 

 although in the early days of the factory system economists erred from shortness 

 of sight, and ' factory reformers ' displayed more regard for the permanent welfare 

 of the nation. Economic study is specially calculated to induce the habit of mind 

 needed to discover and expose lurking fallacy. 



On this ground a place may be claimed for the abstract reasoning of the text- 

 books in commercial education. Business men deal with the concrete in their 

 ordinary lives, and without some preliminary mental discipline they may fall a 

 prey to unsuspected fallacy. Some training in logic is held by most men to be 

 beneficial, and an acquaintance with economic argument, as expounded in the 

 theoreticalreasoningsof the text-books, may impart this training in close connection 

 with the phenomena of business-life. Although the business man may act by 

 instinct rather than reason, instinct is often the slow product of large experience ; 

 and an ability to see and trace the connection between cause and effect cannot fail 

 to be useful. Without some such mental training the possibility of a ' plurality of 

 causes' and an 'intermixture of effects' may escape recognition; and, as an 

 intellectual discipline, the abstract reasoning of the economists aflbrds a more 

 rigorous and bracing exercise than economic history. Regarded from this stand- 

 point even ' mathematical methods ' of study, which induce precision, may find a 

 place in commercial education ; but the place cannot be large, as they foster the 

 harmful idea that economic reasoning is too hard for averages men. The use of 

 theory as a mental training might be illustrated by many examples ; but the 

 theory of money and of banking, which has undergone less change than other 

 theories, and is closely related to the daily life of bankers and financiers, may be 

 taken as a typical instance. 



Economic history must fill a very large place in commercial education. It has 

 recently made marked progress. Escaping from arid controversies about method, 

 although the conclusions of one historian may be questioned or rejected by his 

 successors, and much may remain unexplored or uncertain, it is now able to present 

 the broad characteristics and leading events of English commercial and industrial 

 history in orderly sequence for the instruction of the citizen. From the point of 

 view of commercial education too much time may hitherto have been spent on 

 questions of origin — such as the manor — which attract by the opportunity they ofler 

 for ingenious hypothesis, but are from their nature difficult to solve, and, by 

 comparison, too little attention may have been bestowed on later but less misty 

 periods. But it is impossible to gain a real knowledge of the causes and conditions 

 of the commercial and indu-trial success of England without a special study of 

 economic history, as general histories have dealt but scantily with economic 

 matters. The maintenance of that success is, to some extent, dependent on the 

 knowledge and on the investigation of the rise and fall of other nations which have 

 been conspicuous in trade. 



Lastly, Statistics, which has also progressed of late, supplies Economics with 

 the means of systematic observation, in default of the more effective mode of 

 experiment open to a physical science like Chemistry. An elementary knowledge 

 of statistical technique and methods is a requirement of the times and a special 

 need of commercial education. 



