Payette enterprise. (Payette, Canyon Co., Idaho) 1909-1935, 1911-06-29
A BUSINESS TRAINING
The Methods That Are Used In
the Schools of Germany.
CLASS ROOMS AS OFFICES.

With Each Other- ] no course from
Office Boy to Director.
No one will deny the fact that Ger
= mans are among the keenest business
men IN the world And undoubtedly
one Of the secrets Of their success lies
in the fact that in German schools
boys are taught the practical details
Of business The writer recently rel
turned from Hamburg after a years
course Of education. and an outline of
the system of training boys in business
may be interesting
On my first days attendance was
handed a time table on which appear
ed, set ont In formidable array. such
subjects as commercial correspond
ence laws of bills Of exchange. cur
rency. political economy and CONNER
cial law. none Of which at the time
conveyed much to me and raised seri-
GUS doubts In my mind as to whether
| should be able to understand and ap-
/ preciate what appeared to be most
abstruse subjects.
At ga. IN. sharp on the following day
the course hegan. prefaced by cou-
pie of hours hard study. for the Ger
mans are gllIttonS 10 work and think
nothing Of twelve hour day The
first course was called business train
ing" We worked in two spacious
rooms furnished as Offices. each room
representing different business house.
These two firms carried on an imagi-
nary trade with each other. and the
routine adhered to was modelled exact
ly on the lines OF first class business .
establishment.
Each firm bad a director. and these
two were the most eminent students in
the academy. They had subject to
their management and control a COM
plete staff of correspondents. short
hand writers, typists. bookkeepers. etc.
The whole was supervised by mas
ter. to whom reference was made in
case Of dispute or difficulty.
On making my appearance was in
formed that my services were in re-
quest as an Office boy. / was some
what taken back. not to say little
Inundated. by the lowly position as
signed to me. and gave the master to
understand that l considered | was y
qualified TO occupy much better post
than that which he had chosen for me.
He did not seem in the least perturbed
BY my remarks. but said: "You have
already made a mistake-a mistake Of
diplomacy. One of the great maxims
II business as taught here is to do
what you are told. to do it at once and
10 It we'll"
With that he handed me a pile Of
ENVELOPES and long list of addresses
md told me to set to work addressing
hem. l did so. but not with very
God grace. the master coming round
rom time to time to inspect my work.
'or two solid hours plodded on until
a. m, when the course came to en-
nd Then took the opportunity OF
DING up to the master again and ask
lg him If he did not really think l
ad been wasting my time in what 1
ad been doing.
Not in the least" said he "In
Eerything, no matter how simple or
DIV difficult. there is always a good
eal to learn. II you have paid atten-
on while you were working you will
I've learned something about the ge-
yraphy of the German empire, for
lch address contains the name of
me important town and province in
hlch it is situated and the name of
me firm celebrated for some particu-
r class of goods"
Ihis gave me food for reflection. As
matter OF fact. ! had not paid the
lst attention to what ! had been
1ting; consequently | had failed to
rive the benefit which it was the
lster's intention l should obtain from
lat seemed TO me at the outset a
'st senseless task. On the following
l resolved to follow out the mas
$ Instructions to the letter. and I
IS surprised to find how interesting
, work became.
continued addressing envelopes for
hours day for whole week. and
next week | received promotion.
this way | went through the whole
time, from office boy to director
the experience which obtained
the various capacities has proved
aluable to me in business.
S director had to sign checks, die
letters. enter into agreements with
other firm with reference to the 81
and purchase of goods. keep an
on the money market. work out ar
age calculations. draw up and in
Sc bills OF exchange and bills Of
ng. make out periodical statements
affairs, allow or dispute amounts
ed to the debit of the firm on ac-
ut of general average losses and
orally supervise everything.
lille we were thus drilled In practi-.
work the theoretical side Of busi-
was not neglected. Lectures were
N at fixed hours, bookkeeping and
camille law. Thus we enjoyed the
Unable advantage Of acquiring the
ny aud practice of business at the
e time.-Detroit Free Press.