The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-02-06
BUSINESS EDUCATION.
Defects in the Public School System
Pointed Out by James
McCreery,
Lack Of Thoroughuess Is the Chief
Objection Mentioned by
the Critic.
Foer Boys who Have Come to the Front
How They Did so-Nhat to
Study and Read.

Written for THE HELENA INDEPENDENT
y AM ASKED TO SAY A FEW WORDS
h for the benefit Of t,oys on what constr
Il tutes a business education.
Ihayo smploved a considerable lumber
of boys and Young men since l have been
ancsped in business in New York. 1t has
been nv experience that very few boys
who have boen educated in the public
schools turn out to be competent. Their
aducatiou has not bsen sufficiently
thorough. They know something about =
great many things, the knowledge OF wh'eh
is of little or no use i'll mercantile ne; sno
they are thoroughly grounded IN the ele-
mentsries of education.
For example, take arithmetic. Ws em-
ploy a boy from u public school ana ASK
him to add up q column OF figures, or make
some simple calculation. 1t IS very gen
arallv found that he is unequal to the task.
Another clerk has to so over the work, ana
in that way much time is lost.
Then. AGAIN, take correspondence. how
MANY boys or young men are csNao1o Oh
writing a plain business letter!
MANY Of the letters written from mercan-
tile houses are orders for goods, or tney
refer in some way to goods that have been
bought, or goods that the merchant Is
thinking of purchasing. In thls way THESE
letters become. in law, contracts. Inc
merchant is bound by the statements these
letters contain. And if they are not con-
tracts they may have some important bear
ing on future dealings with the party to
whom they are sent. Therefore. to write
~ 80. ,Y.-c ~ &l,1 ,,oSy.f W M m SfS K1N q.
is q yery necessary accomplishment Tor a
Young man to possess.
The education which cur BOYS are now
receiving in the common schools, as l say.
is lacking in thorouehness. 1t really Is OF
the utmost i'm Importance that q boy snoaiu
be well-grounded in what We call the three
r's''-readine. writing, and arlthmet1c. ~
is not necessary to claim that the ola lines
VET better for the boysthanth IL nlilete<nth
century in which we are living: 1T is certain
that some of our most prominent men mac
very few advantage III early youth anu
triumphed over difficulties, which, TO me
easy-going modern boy. would seem to pc
insurmountable. It is said that rs per cent
Of our successful men belonged to families
20 poor that they had to work nost OF the
time out of school hours.
have read that Ihurlow Weed was SO
POOR in boyhood that on q cold Marcn Gay
he had to wrap pieces OF cloth aboun MS
bare feet in place of socks and shoes: linus
shod. he walked several miles on a cold VIII
ter's day to borrow q history OF inc Ie-
IA Il said that Senator Aldrich, Of Rhode
! Island, entered the city of Providence IN
the same modest manner that the Illus
trioua Wilmington entered Londen-on
foot. and with his clothes slung over his
back. !.
Elihu Burritt studied while hs worked at
tho anvil,
Alexander H. Stephens, with a dwart's
body did a giants work. When a lad ne
owned. q broken scythe, and by sheer force
of will and work he overmatched in the
harvest those who had fine moving ma
chimes.
The Scotch saying might have been truth
fully applied to him: "There's nae muckle
o. him, but there's a deal in him."
There seems to have been in old times
not only more pluck in overcoming dlsad-
vantages, but q more complete mastery OF
the elements of education. And, unless a
boy is thoroughly grounded in this respect,
he need never hope to become a successful
business man.
After all the place for a boy to be
trained in business habits is the counting
house itself,
Let the boy, before he entars upon his
business career, be sure that be has mas
tered his arithmetic. Let him learn alge
~ as far as ouadratic equations. Let him
pursue these two studios perslstent!y. Ii
may not be that he will make use of alge-
bra in business, but that study is an excel
lent disciplin, for the mind: and tho youth.
full mind needs considerable discipline be-
fore it ia capable of grasplng and solving
the problems that constantly arise in bust
ness life.
The boy should also learn. thoroughly
the art Of bookkeeping BY both double nnc
single entry. he may get L talc knowledge
of this branch of euucntion in come bust
ness college, but he should be careful II
making his selection of such an institution
There are a good many so-called bushes
colleges' which teach everything excen
business, aud there aNe very few Of then
that are of much real benefit in the way o
preparation for business life. Ihe Yer.
best of them can not take the place o
actnal experience in a commercial house
A boy will learn more in one years time il
a business house than he will in two wears
attendance at a business college. "Busi
ness life as it is seen and practiced il
these institutions, ls useful only to a GER
tain extent: it bea s about the same rela
ton to actual business as the life depicted
on the stage bears to actual existence.
Then the boy should acquire the art o
writing the English language not only cor
rectly but concisely. Brovity is not onl
the soul of wit" but it ia an absolute es
sential in business correspondence. Som
men all their lives are not ablo to write
good business letter, although the art is nc
so very difficult Of attainment.
1t would seem, Judging from many boys
have seen, as if the public school methoc
of teaching composition tende to Il dlffui
style.
Then, again, the reading of cheap an
trashy novels, n habit quite common wit
boys, has a very bad effect upon the
minds. Aside from the vicious character
such books, the style in which they ii
written is of such a character as to NAL
q boy to think loosely. disconnectedly.
The boys of to-day should read the stant
ard English authors that the older mt
OF the present time were accustomed
read when they were young. The old En-,
lish Writer'S expressed Themselves tcrse
and to the point, and they have not cease
to be the models of those who would cult
vate a concise style of writing.
In these days you will find our BOYS an
young men reading the analytical school
novelists. Young fellows not out of the
teens will want to argue or reason with v,
about problems which have been subiec
of discussion by the wigest men since F.;
most tho beginning of time. Va do n
want boys to argue or to reason abo
things; We want them to grasp facts and
be able to state facts clearly and concise,
1t is sometimes said that boys do n
have as good Il chance to succeed in the
days as they did years ago; that the CO
- centration of capital, tho transaction
business on a large scale makes succt
moro difficult of achievement.
his ls TN erroneous judgment. r.
very concentration of capital causes or.
competition among the big business hou