The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-12-14

hS' Inc mercantile classes, including the
importer. the jobber. the wholesale dealer.
the retailer, who are the intermediate
handlers OF the goods and who assume the
risk Of finding purchasers and all persons
and institutions dealing in credits, as bank
ers, brokers, stock exchanges, insurance
companies, etc. The persons engaged in
such occupations are not directly concerned
with the mechanical or industrial processes,
but with market values. They buy and
sell with the expectation OF making a pc
cuniary profit for themselves and of ac-
curing in this way portion of the wealth
with whose physical production they have
had nothing TO do. To this large class of
activities the term business is given.
Commercial education then. signifies the
training for business by famiIiarizing the
student with the practical side of business
lie, and especially by teaching him the
scientific principles upon which rest the
respective occupations and the whole eco
nomlc society 1t is concerned primarily
with commerce, but must give some con-
slderation to the productive side in order
that more thorough knowledge of COM
merce may be acquired Very properly it
may Include also the training of business
managers or organizers, whether they ex-
ercise their powers in the field of industry
or commerce; for the manager or under
IdheT - more responsible Tor the pecunlary
affairs Of his company than for the tech
meal processes
Pretty thorough provision for higher in
struetion In the field of production, that is,
on the material or physical side, has been
already made by the founding of technolog-
1cal schools. On the commercial side little
mas been done in the United States beyond
the establishment of the commercial
schools, which furnish only elementary or
secondary instruction as a preparation for
clerical positions. But there has been re-
GGnflV a Gro inc In. fofo
tiers that there Is need for q more advanced
commercial training than the secondary
schools can provide.
THE NEED FOR HIGHER CONNER
ClAL EDUCATION.
1t is worthy of note that the demand for
such education has come from men engaged
In business. Numerous opinions of indi-
viduals and commercial bodies might be
cited in support of this statement.
Let us inquire what are the bases of such
opinions. One of the ideas repeated again
and again is the increasing complexity and
sensitiveness of business. Now success in
business depends not SO much upon MAX
ing large gains from the sale of a small
quantity or goods but upon small profits
from the sale OF great quantities of goods
Often the fluctuation of a fraction of a
sent VIII mean a profit or loss, success or
failure This indicates that the merchant
who has wide and accurate knowledge of
economic and political conditions who can
ratlonaiize his knowledge, who acts
promptly and unerringly 10 accomplish def
mite ends, Will be successful. 1t is a rec
ognition' of this condition that has impelled
practcai men OF affairs to ask that the
young men shall be prepared to meet the
force of competition. The struggle among
nations no longer takes the form of a bit
ter religious warfare, nor even a scramble
lCr the territory OF weaker rivals, but it is
contest for markets. The opportunities
now presented In South America and the
orient can only be realized by the thorough
organization OF industries at home and the
employment OF agents thoroughly familiar
with business principles and with the Ian
guage, religion, customs, laws and re-
sources OF foreign countries. This is the
reason why commercial bodies have urged
congress TO put our consular service on a
higher level of intelligence and business ca
pacity.
In our domestic commerce there exists
the same complexity and constituencies
banking, transportation and the brokerage
business are becoming more and more high
~ organized and demand a higher ability
both general and specialized The nature
the advantages and the limitations of the
corporation as factor In the business
world must be understood more generally.
When the great influence exerted by bust
ness men in public affairs is considered, from
the standpoint OF society, there appears a
need for broader education on the part of
business men in general. Their intelligent
influence would prevent many illadvised
measures relating to taxation and monetary
service there is an increasing need for Of
hctals who have a comprehensive knowledge
OF the underlying principles OF business af-
Ialrs ana not merely the training Of the
legal profession or of practical politics.
THE CONVENTIONAL COLLEGE
COURSE INADEQUATE.
All this may be admitted, but objection to
the modification of the college course to
meet the new demands may be made on the
ground that the existing courses afford a
training which is sufficient.
One of the strongest points of evidence
that the old college curriculum does not
meet the new demands is the fact that so
small a number of college men are found in
business. A large proportion of young men
enter the ranks of business men without
attending college or even the high school
In the year 1Se9-l900 the number of sec
ondary students to each 1000 inhabitants in
Indiana was l2.4S, while the number OF stu
dents in higher educational institutions to
each 1000 was only 1.5S.
Tie statement that our colleges have been
chiefly concerned with the training of the
professional classes does not need demon
stration. In Indiana, in 1900. there were
42,695 persons engaged in professional serv-
ice OF these 16, 25l were teachers in schools
and colleges. Over against these may be
set 1853 persons engaged in the higher
forms OF business, where responsibility is
assumed and personal judgment is required.
for whose training little special provision
has been made until recently
1t Is the opinion of the writer that the
percentage of graduates entering business
would not be so small If there was the
assurance that the youth desiring to go
into business could get in the colleges what
they want Prof. Scott. of Wisconsin Uni
versity, in a recent letter states that so
per cent. of the regular students I'm their
school OF commerce last year constituted
an entirely new constituency, which the
university would not have reached had the
school of commerce not been established.
1t must be admitted that there is some
justice In the objection of the practical
man OF affairs that the conventional col
lege course does not greatly improve the
chances or the young men who pursue Il
and later go into business life, and that
the college is not doing what il might do or
what the public have a right to expect
OF IL. In view OF these facts Is il not rea-
sonable to try to adapt the university cur
riculum TO satisfy the needs of the COM
munity for which il exists? In the words
of Macaulay, THE first business of a State
is the education of its citizens"
THE SCOPE AND CHARACTER OF
HIGHER COMMERCIAL EDUCATION.
1t is distinctly not the expectation of the
advocates of such instruction to take youths
who have no native-born business aptitudes
and turn them out qualified for responsible
positions. An infinite amount of instruc-
ton cannot fill the vacancy where natural
endowment is lacking. But given a young
man with good mental powers and the
business sense it is believed that a col
lege training OF the kind proposed will
strengthen those powers and cultivate that
sense in ways that viii make him a more
afF kAn o -.