The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-20
IN HOTEL LOBBIES
standard of Commercial schools

l Regarding the equipment of young men
 and women earning wages in the business
 world and the intellectual demands upon
 stenosraphers, well-known and success
 tul educator said yesterday:
 The standard of commercial schools,
 like all other educational institutions has
 been raised, and the length of time re- quired to master the business branches heightened, during the past decade. The curriculum has been much broadened and Elgh efficiency is exacted for graduation. l Tt is true of commercial schools as il is of other institutions of learning, that there is vast difference in their stand ards of work. Unfortunately, there re- main few commercial schools whose principal claim for patronage Is the short course of study offered. which necessarily
 means superficial training. The high class commercial school, however, is doing vastly better work now than ever before m the history of business education, and is fulfilling well defined want in educat ing young people for the practical affairs of business life.
 | While 1t is not the province of a busi- ness college to give an elementary Eng
 iSh- training, yet this is necessarily done by the high class school wherever the stu dent is deficient in his English.
 The growth and popularity of the com mercial school is nothing less than phe- romenal. It's origin dates back to about the beginning of the civil war, at which tune there were only few institutions of this character, located in the largest clties Of the country; whereas now, ac- cordlng to the report made by the United States commissioner of education there are over two thousand strictly commer- cial and stenographic schools in the United States. The demand for commer- cial education has grown so rapidly that many private schools have had commer- cial branches added to their courses, and practically all of the public high schools in the cites now conduct business depart ments
 However, it is the strictly business col lege that has done so much to popularize commercial training during the past few years. The profession has attracted men of high ability, and the salaries paid by the better class of commercial school to instructors are vastly larger than those paid by most educational institutions with the exception, perhaps, of the en- dowed institutions of learning
 Commercial schools have often been blamed and unjustly for the inefficiency of young people who have pursued com mercial courses, and especially is this true of those taking stenography, whereas the faut is not at all that of the school Frequently the pupil leaves the school be- fore he graduates; oftimes after only few months of study he makes applica- ton for a position as stenographer. The business firm, being informed by the ap- plicant that he attended such or such a school, gives him employment only to dis cover the utter incompetency of the ap- plcant The business man straightway planes the school, whereas if he had taken the trouble to communicate with the institution, he would probably have been informed that the young person was not graduate. and was probably in the school but a short time.
 Again. some attempt to master ste nography by self-instruction, or by talk ing mail course, which in nearly every case proves upsatisfactory and unsuccess- full, owing to the difficulty of mastering a phonetic subject without an instructor
 These 'self-instructed' young people often make application for, and get posi- tions, only to prove their incompetency and superficial training, and the business nan, not knowing the source of their training, planes the business school.
 'The fact remains, however, that the vast majority of graduates of business schools not only get employment, but rem der efficient service, and are vastly more satisfactory to employers than those who attempt to enter business life without this special technical training. There are thousands of graduates of commercial schools who bear silent testimony to the great work of being done by the commer- cial schools of the United states. In the commercial school. as in the public school, the college and the university, the success or failure of the pupil depends largely upon his own efforts, and no teacher, be he ever so competent can in cial schools of the country are fulfilling an economic service. They are enabling thousands upon thousands of ambitious boys and girls to qualify in a compara- lively short time for business. Thus they obtain employment and enter the commer- cial world well prepared for it's work whereas they would find it difficult-even impossible-to do so without this special training"