The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-11-15


and distribution. and to acquaint him
self with foreign methods and foreign
markets. This can be done only through
the kind of discipline that belongs to |
the university system or through long
years OF the rigid, and frequently dis
astrous. discipline that belongs to the
actual world of affairs Surely. If the
college can in a few brief years give
TO the business man such training in
advance or the actual struggle that
awaits him, 1t will be rendering him a
service of tremendous value.
Experience of Europe
fortunately we have the experience of
Europe to aid us in the matter of deter
mining the content of the training that
is needed in the higher reaches of bust
ness AS already indicated, we have for
many years been training stenographers
and bookkeepers. We now face the graver
problem of training the captains of in
dustry. There are three types of COM
mercial schools in continental Europe
elementary, secondary and higher. Eng
land has been slower in developing such
! schools. Steps are now being taken. how
ever, to supply the deficiency. The ele-
mentary commercial schools of Europe
provide instruction only In such SUBJ
jects as bookkeeping. penmanship and ste
biography. The secondary schools offer
a more elaborate course. There are near
many alones Some of them were created
by private Initiative Others are fostered
by boards of trade, chambers of COM
meroe and other similar commercial or
ganizations The higher institutions usu-
ally provide work covering three full
, years. They include In their course of
study not merely the technique of bust
ness. such as bookkeeping. accounting
and stenography, but also thorough In
| structfon in the modern Languages, in
economics. In modern history, In polit-
| ical science, In commercial law, and in
! international relations 1t is a fact that
| the European business man Is as a rule
| far better trained than the American
| 1t is the exception rather than the rule
/ to find a successful man of affairs in an
| European city who is unable to speak
! two languages in addition to his own. He
| is thoroughly versed in the routine de-
tails of his business, including its pc
ouliar kinds of accounting, and it's par
| ticular methods of procedure As COM
| pared with his American competitor he
| is more familiar with commercial usages
with foreign trade openings, with details
of manufacture In competitive establish
ments, and with general commercial con-
ditions. The American is his equal, per-
| haps in general his superior, in enter
prise, daring and initiative. What he
| needs Is an equal opportunity to secure
the initial equipment essential to the sue
| eessful mastery of his task early in
| his business career. One certain result Of
| the present European war will be an
unparalleled opportunity for the expan-
| sion of our foreign trade relations. par
ticularly with the South American coun-
| tries. We should undoubtedly be better
| prepared to sieze this opportunity. II
| we had q generation ago undertaken In
| a serious way the task of training our
captains of industry.
Work Already Done
There are~kp this country, as has al
ready been indicated, a vast numt err
OF so-called business colleges" in
| which little more than the mere tech
nique of business, and that in a linz
tied way, Is taught. The number of
such institutions has been diminishing
in recent years in view of the intro
duction of commercial courses in this
high schools and normal schools. 1t Is
estimated that more than $4,000 stu
dents are pursuing these courses. Com
merciaI high schools have been estab-
lished In some of the larger cities. The
best schools OF this class maintain a
full four-year curriculum. The content
of the curriculum of these schools is
now fairly we'll established. 1t is nat
urally adapted to the student of high
school age and development. 1t does
not. and indeed should not, include
many subjects that are of fundamental
Importance In the training of men
whose ambition drives them into po-
sitions of commercial leadership. Even
II the high school student were able
to properly comprehend these subjects.
his time is largely consumed in mas
tering subjects essential to his ele-
mentary education or in acquiring tech
nical details that will speedily fit him
for the particular service he Is destined
to render. The elementary and high
schools will. perhaps, for one reason
or another. never be able to furnish
the specialized instruction demanded
in the higher reaches of business. Such
instruction must, therefore. be pro-
vided in the university system We
cannot afford to shirk our duty In this
great matter. We should frankly face
the fact that the training of the bust
ness expert IL q matter quite as seri-
GUS and quite as elaborate as the train
the physician. Indeed, many of our
ablest American youth possibly too
large a proportion, are devoting their
lives to business. These great groups
of young men demand the best train
ing. They will not be content to con-
fine their training to the mere tech
nique of business. important as this
may be- They demand something more.
They demand a more thoroughgoing
programme. Such q programme is a
logical function OF the university sys-
TEN.
Function Of University
There are sound reasons why the higher
commercial education Is a function of the
university rather than of the high school
or the so-called business college" Ref
erence has already been made in general
terms to one of these reasons. viz, the
mental maturity demanded of the student
who is admitted to the more advanced
courses embraced In such a scheme of
study. Another obvious reason is the
fact that young man who acquires such
training in college is likely at the same
time to acquire at least modicum OF
that general culture which Is of such
large value In position Of business lead
ership Still another reason Is that the
college setting II quite certain to guar
antee a higher standard of work. I am
aware Of the fact that there has been
from influential academic sources some
opposition to including these commercial
courses In the curriculum of the Amer
| lean college. This opposition is largely
based on the hypothesis that such courses
are not uniformly built after the order
OF the ancient model; that students will
be diverted from the so-called ''cultural''
courses. Such a contention however, has
no sound basis Precisely the same con-
tentton might be made with reference
to certain phases of engineering, agri-
culture, forestry and various other sub
jects that have been brought into the
college curriculum. II 1t were true tina I
only superficial and empirical courses In
the routine practice of business methods