Year: 1867

There is q very general com.
plant that young men leaving our
schools and entering the counting
room, are entirely ignorant OF the
mathematical computations and
business forms requisite 10 engage
in the business transactions of the
day.


They must either 20 through a
regular course Of instruction in the
counting room or be sent to o Com.
mercial College, where the work is
hastily and often imperfectly done,
before they can be entrusted with
any business whatever. 1t becomes
a matter Of great importanc to as.
certain where the difficulty lies
and apply the remedy. Surely
time enough is given to practical
Arithmetic, 10 prepare the pupils
for the practical work of life, and
no class of men labor more faith
fully and earnestly than our teach
ers as a whole. The difficulty is
,0ith the materials used. The books
are ont of date. The teachers must
conform to the arrangement, and
almost exclusively use the problems
found in the Test Books in the
hands of the pupils. The result is
the pupil is as ignorant Of the actual
problem that will meet him in life,
as ho would if he be studied Arith-
metic prepared on another quarter
Of the globe. The Arithmetic in
general use in the State is, in every
essential particular, the same book
used for the last twenty years.


What is the result? The pupil
is not instructed in any Of the pres
ent business forms. lie is at every
step receiving erroneous ideas and
positively false statements, that it
will take him n long time 10 cor
rect. By the problems he is indi,
rectly taught that sugar is 6 cts a
pound, coffee IA cts, muslin 5 cts a
yard, and -four 81 q barrel.


He never hears of such thing
as an Internal Revenue or a Ma
tional Income Tax, or that such o
thing as a U. S. Bond IS in exist
ence, and therefore there is nothing
to instruct him in ascertaining the
comparative results of investments
in the several U. S. Securities, with
which he will have to deal in any
business he may engage in. The
rates of Tariffare such as have been
out of existence for FIVE years, and
will not be in existence for twenty
years to come, if ever. He learns
nothing ofNational Banks, or their
modes Of conducting business,
while on the contrary he is taught
that Banks redeem their notes in
gold and silver coin. He has nc
intimation that all foreign and
many domestic purchases will com
pei him to recognize the difference
between gold and currency. In
short, he is kept in entire ignorance
of all the variations in computa,
ton, which the financial changes o.
the last six years involve, ant
which must be known and under
stood TO engage in any business
whatever. If he does not learr
them before he must learn them at;
ter he leaves the school. 1t might
be said that if he becomes master
of the subject he can apply The
principles to the variations that he
finds in business. lut that means
moro than we can expect from boys
who leave school at the early age
that most Of them do. Three -tenths
of our boys will simply refer to the
processes as they have found them
in their books, and if they are MOI
there they must seek help elsewhere
The general principles of our Ian
guage were tho same in the time o
Chaucer as now, but we should no
think of confning our youth to thu
photography and syntax of thai
time, in order to train them in The
proper use of the English language
Nor should we think of retaining
a Geography that gave the popu
lation of Columbus at 10000, OIL
put Wisconsin down on the map a!
a territory, although the geograph
ical positions of the places were cor
rect. We can afford to have errors
taught in other branches but wher
we teach errors that relate to dol
lars and cents tho loss can hardly
be estimated.


We presume those who from pc
cuniary motives would be glad Il
see the old books used for a gene
ration to come, would say that th'
prices of this year will not b.
those of tho next, and that golt
will gradually return to par. Very
well, then give us new book wher
it does occur. Better buy bool
every year than to use one that hal
no more relation to the times thar
Daboll's or Pixies.


No such revolution in our fnan
cial affairs has occurred for fifty
years. Many of those changes are
radical and permanent, and thu
sooner they are recognized in oul
schools the better it will be for tht
public; and if school directors anC
those whose business it is to looE
after such matters will see to it
that ne,o Arithmetics are used, they
will receive the thanks of bust
ness men everywhere.





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