New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-08-20
LNnrSTRLAL EDUC4TION.

An ARRANGEMENT has recently been effected IN
Edinburgh to shorten the time required for
thorough training as an electrical or mechan-
zeal engineer As the result Of negotiations be-
tween Heriot Watt College and several manu-
featuring firms in that city the latter VIII make
special concessions to students Of the former.
When a young man has reached the beginning
of his second years course in school ne can De
admitted to apprenticeship in local shops AT
reduced premium, and thus derive the benent
of experience and education simultaneously. NO
matter how ample the equipment of the school
itself. of course it will not give the student all
the training he needs. On the other hand the
factories doubtless obtain their most valuable
recruits from the college, and can We'll afford
to lend encouragement to the latter. The plan
is mutually advantageous. Indeed, While It's
adoption by institutions of the grade of Heriot
Watt College may possibly be unprecedented II
is not new Some of the smaller industrial
schools on the Continent require their students
to devote so many hours a week to practical
service in independent tin shops and metal
working factories.
GERMANY where this practice is observed,
sets an example to the rest of the world in a
number of ways by Che enthusiasm with which
she gives her people an industrial training of
one kind or another In Saxony, for instance,
there are three or four distinct classes of
schools for this purpose. At least a dozen in
the advanced" group correspond nearly with
the best technical colleges Of the United States
Even the course in mechanics requires atten-
ton to architecture, drawing chemistry, metal
lurgy, geometry and other mathematics, survey
ing and political economy, while most of these
institutions have elective courses in brewing
sanitary engineering, chemistry and architect
ure Saxony also has upward of a hundred and
fifty schools of a lower grade, each devoted to
the elements of one of twenty-eight different
industries, besides a score more for drawing
and painting exclusively.
1t is said of the much smaller State Of Hesse
that not a single village within her bOunda-
ries is without a school to train the people in
some industry, and each school has its own
workshop. With only a few exceptions the
same rule holds good in regard to Baden. In
Wurtemberg it is common to supplement large
libraries with technical instruction, while for the
benefit Of the handkerchief industry the SUIT
CART Bureau of Commerce collects no end of
useful information from other places relative
to the condition of the market. Other mani
festatiOns of the prevalent spirit are found in
the establishment of schools in many places
by the PruSsian railway administration, to
teach car repairing, and in the gratuitous sup
ply of raw material by manufacturers to nov
ices in industrial art.
Germanys superiority over the rest Of the
world in this department Of instruction proba-
bly, lies in the number and variety of her
schools rather than in the facilities afforded by
those of the highest grade One-sixth Of the at
tendance in the latter is reported to be supplied
by foreign countries, and it will not do to ignore
the fact Nevertheless, it is in the amplitude Of
her provision for the working classes and the
specialization of industrial education that she
chiefly excels. Just now the manufacturers of
that country aspire to capture the trade Of the
world, and are competing iercely with rivals in
England, France and America. The better the
training which is given to their employees the
more successfully can these captains of industry
carry on the battle This consideration. rather
than disinterested philanthropy, may inspire
the policy here outlined, but, whatever be the
motive, the effect is evident Poth the quantity
and quality Of the product will be improved
and the material prosperity Of the nation stimu-
lated.