842 REPORT— 1887. 



Chamber of Commerce have shown that foreign clerks are employed largely by 

 mercantile firms in London, to the exclusion of our own. This is to be deplored, 

 not only because so man}' of our own young men are thereby displaced, but also 

 because these foreign clerks, when they return to their own coimtry, often utilise, 

 as competitors in trade, their knowledge and experience here acquired. 



These facts necessitate (A) an investigation into foreign systems of education 

 with the view of ascertaining what advantages, if any, foreign youths possess over 

 our own as preparing them for mercantile pursuits ; (B) a consideration of the 

 extent to which it may be desirable to modify or supplement our own system of 

 education in order to place similar advantages within reach of our own people. 



A. (1) Foreign Schools of Commerce. — Inquiries into foreign systems of education, 

 made by the author, individually, and as a member of the Commission on Technical 

 Instruction, show that numerous special schools of commerce are found abroad, and 

 that besides these special schools secondary education abroad is better organised as 

 a preparation for commercial pursuits than it is at home. In France, besides the 

 Ecole des hautes Etudes commerciales in Paris, there are eight or nine commercial 

 schools, and several higher elementarj- schools having a commei-cial in addition to 

 a technical side. In Germany, the well-known Reed Schulen aftbrd a first-rate 

 preparation for industrial, including commercial, pursuits ; but besides these there 

 are seventeen special schools of commerce, six gymnasiums, and real schools with 

 a commercial side, nine middle schools of commerce, and a large number of evening 

 commercial classes. For the highest commercial education there are special 

 courses at some of the polytechnic schools. Austria-Hungary has nine academies 

 of commerce, including the well-known school at Vienna, eleven middle commercial 

 schools, and forty-two schools intended principally for clerks. Italy, a country in 

 which education is making great strides, is distinguished by its numerous technical 

 institutes, many of which have a special commercial department. It possesses, 

 besides, five high schools of commerce, including the school at Genoa, which has 

 only recently been opened. Belgium, in addition to the excellent High School of 

 Commerce at Antwerp, has a well-organised system of middle schools which give 

 an education especially adapted to commercial purposes. Switzerland has a 

 number of good secondary schools, including the mdustrial schools, in which the 

 instruction of the children is specialised with a A-iew to commerce. It appears, 

 therefore, that abroad abundant opportunities are afforded of giving a child a 

 special commercial training, and that a large proportion of children receive a good 

 secondary education on modem lines. 



(2) C'ur)-iculu7n of Foreign Schools. — In the foreign schools of commerce special 

 attention is given to the teaching of modem languages, to which from ten to twenty 

 hours are devoted a week. Geography, a subject of wide import, the full meaning 

 of which the Royal Geographical Society is endeavouring to make Englishmen 

 understand, is well and carefully taught. The mother-tongue, mathematics, 

 elementary science, bookkeeping, political economy, the study of merchandise, 

 office practice, and some other subjects, which vary in different schools, occupy the 

 rest of the pupils' time. In this wide curriculum, perhaps the only subject of un- 

 certain value is the office practice — the bureau commercial — which forms an impor- 

 tant part of the instruction in the schools of France and Belgium, and is taught to 

 a less extent in the schools of other countries. The system consists, briefly, of 

 carrying on between different classes of a school, as between different countries, 

 commercial transactions ; in writing in the appropriate foreign language all letters 

 and necessary documents ; in calculating exchanges, and in making up and trans- 

 mitting bills and accounts, with due regard to different standards of measurement 

 and coinage. Whether this application is carried too far is a debatable question. 



B. British Requirements. — We have now to consider in what respects our own 

 education needs to be improved or supplemented to afford the necessary prepara- 

 tory training for a commercial career. This leads us to inquire whether special 

 schools of commerce are necessary, and, if so, what should be the curriculum of 

 such schools. The higher fees paid abroad for instruction in these schools would 

 seem to show that the education provided in these schools is duly appreciated. At 

 the same time, what is most needed in this country is: (1) the establishment of 



