STATE NORVaL SCJIOOT UNIVERSITY of CAUFORNI/- LOS AiNGELES LIBRARY COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY NEW YORK • BOSTON ■ CHICAGO • DALLAS ATLANTA • SAN FRANCISCO MACMILLAN & CO., Limited LONDON • BOMBAY • CALCUTTA MELBOURNE THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd. TORONTO VOCATIONAL EDUCATION FOR BOYS (Commercial, Industrial, and Professional) IN RELATION TO PUBLIC SCHOOL ORGANIZATION X6^ X COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY BY FREDERIC ERNEST FARRINGTON, Ph.D. ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION, TEACHERS COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY AUTHOR OF " THE PUBLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL SYSTEM OF FRANCE," "FRENCH SECONDARY SCHOOLS," ETC. THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1914 4015f Copyright, 1914 By the MACMILLAN COMPANY Set up and electrotyped. Published April, 1914 H F 00 I n TO CLARK WILLIAMS AT WHOSE SUGGESTION THIS STUDY WAS UNDERTAKEN PREFACE In 1850 Germany was an agricultural nation occupy- ing a position of relatively little significance in the in- dustrial world. In 1910 its foreign trade was second only to that of Great Britain, and the time is not very remote when, in all probability, Eng- land will no longer be the foremost commercial na- tion of the world. Yet the major portion of this marvelous development of Germany has occurred since 1884. In 1882 agriculture occupied the attention of 19,225,455 of the population of the German Empire. Twenty-five years later, in 1907, this number had de- creased to 17,681,176, a loss of approximately eight per cent. During this same period the industrial population had increased from 16,058,080 to 26,386,537, a gain of more than sixty-four per cent. At the same time the ex- pansion of commercial activity was even more pro- nounced, growing from 4,531,080 to 8,276,239 partici- pants. To give another concrete and more significant il- lustration, which is a natural consequence of the figures just quoted, in 1880 Germany, with forty-six millions of people, had a foreign trade of $31 per capita, as against V VI PREFACE the United States, with fifty millions of people and a trade of $32 per capita. In 1910 Germany's population had become sixty-four millions, and her foreign trade had increased to $62 per capita, while in the United States the corresponding figures were ninety millions of population and $37 per capita in foreign trade. (It is a source of no little satisfaction to note that unofficial fig- ures for the unprecedented year 1912 show an increase of the American foreign trade to more than $45 per capita.) In other words, Germany's per capita foreign trade had exactly doubled in thirty years, while that of the United States, which to Americans seems to have made enor- mous strides, had increased less than one-sixth. The fundamental reasons for the transformation of the German people from an agricultural nation to an in- dustrial nation are relatively patent. They are ulti- mately based upon the very large increase in population in proportion to the agrarian area which has to support that population. The analysis of the forces by which this change has been brought about, however, is a much more difficult problem, and one that falls within the province of the economist rather than the educator. It is evident, nevertheless, that education has played a by no means inconsiderable part in this evolution, and it is the aim of this monograph to describe with considerable detail the purpose and the work of certain types of the schools that seem to have been contributing factors in PREFACE VU this movement, with the hope of casting some additional light on the larger social problem, for "of all species of extravagant waste there is none more unpardonable than that which permits one nation to remain in ignorance of the clever and successful methods devised in another for gaining important ends." The information presented herewith embodies the re- sults of two trips to Germany, one through the cities of Berlin, Cologne, Frankfort, Leipzig, Mannheim, and Munich, in the spring of 1912, these cities having been selected partly because their schools are particularly typical of all kinds of vocational education, and partly because they are the only centers in Germany where one finds completely organized Handelshochschulen, or, in American phraseology, "Colleges of Commerce"; and the other, in the spring of 1913, to the commercial port of Hamburg, and through the cities of Barmen, Cologne, Dortmund, Diisseldorf, Duisburg, Elberfeld, and Essen, the most important centers of Rhineland and West- phalia, that teeming hive of modern industrial Germany, whose commercial relations with America and other for- eign countries occupy the attention of hundreds of mer- chants and provide work for scores of thousands of laborers. Of all these the Munich schools are the best known in America, and deservedly so; for, in that city, one finds a most elaborate system of schools of every type for pupils of from thirteen or fourteen to seventeen VI II PREFACE or eighteen years of age, probably the finest system of vocational schools in the world. Although there is consid- erable similarity of organization among these various cit- ies, with some excelling in one grade of work while others lead in others, there are, nevertheless, manifest differ- ences to be expected, for Barmen, Berlin, Cologne, Dort- mund, Diisseldorf, Duisburg, Elberfeld, Essen, and Frankfort are in Prussia, Mannheim is in Baden, Munich in Bavaria, Leipzig in Saxony, while Hamburg is a free city, ranking in every respect with Prussia, Baden, Ba- varia, and Saxony, and each of these German states has its own independent system of educational organization. Some of the more fundamental differences will be indi- cated in the course of our study. It is a pleasure to bear witness to the uniform cour- tesy manifested by administrative officials and teachers everywhere. The list would indeed be long should I attempt to record by name every individual to whom I am indebted, but I cannot refrain from making public acknowledgment of my special obligations to Geh. Ob.- Reg.-R. Dr. Reinhardt, of the Kultusministerium ; Geh. Reg.-R. Dr. Kiihne, of the Handels- und Gewerbeminis- terium, and Dr. Knork, Direktor der kaufmannischen Schulen der Korporation der Kaufmannschaft von Ber- lin; to Direktor Kuemmel, of Barmen; to Professor Dr. Eckert, Direktor Dr. Cuppers, Direktor Rosenthal, and Dr. Carpenter, of Cologne; to Direktor Dr. May, of PREFACE IX Dortmund; to Direktor Dr. Balg, of Diisseldorf; to Di- rektor Professor Scheffen, of Duisburg; to Direktor Doerr, of Elberfeld; to Direktor Kurz, of Essen; to Pro- fessor Dr. Panzer, Professor Dr. Freudenthal, Direktor Dr. Walter, Professor Dr. Langenbeck, Direktor Doerr, Direktor Neuschaefer, and Rektor Siegle, of Frankfort; to Dr. Sickinger, Dr. Weber, and Rektor Schmid, of Mannheim; to Dr. Kerschensteiner, Inspektor Schmid, Professor Friihwald, Dr. Weiss, Professor Kiendal, and Direktor Baier, of Munich; to Professor Dr. Adler, and Professor Dr. Lorey, of Leipzig; to Inspektor Kasten, and Direktor Osbahr, of Hamburg; to the American con- sular representatives in Barmen, Cologne, Hamburg, Mannheim, and Munich; and, finally, to Dr. John L. Tildsley, of the DeWitt Clinton High School, New York, whose kindly criticism has been invaluable. Frederic Ernest Farrington. Cologne, March 15, 1913. CONTENTS PAGE Preface v CHAPTER I Germany and Its Educational System .... 1 CHAPTER II Lower Commercial Schools (1) 20 CHAPTER III Lower Commercial Schools (2) Program of Studies 58 CHAPTER IV Lower Commercial Schools (3) Munich Commercial Continuation School . .118 CHAPTER V Secondary Commercial Schools 139 CHAPTER VI Colleges of Commerce 196 CHAPTER VII Conclusion 219 APPENDIX A Apprentice's Indenture 235 APPENDIX B Lesson in Commercial English 240 Index 247 Commercial Education in Germany CHAPTER I GERMANY AND ITS EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM Economists have long recognized the interdependence between the production of wealth and its distribution, but, however ready the American business ^ Production man has been to admit this theoretically, and Distribu- it is becoming more and more patent that, ^^" in many respects, his practice is lagging far behind his theory. We have been handicapped in this country by an excess of natural resources. Paradoxical though it may seem, this has undoubtedly been conducive to com- mercial inertness. Marketing of raw products is a rela- tively simple matter, for the market seeks the supply. Comparatively seldom is it necessary to create a demand for materials of this type. It does not change the facts in the case to admit that these same raw materials are largely necessities, while the manufactured articles are more often the luxuries of our modern life. Running through the character of the American export trade one must be struck with the preponderating weight exerted by raw materials — cotton, lumber, oil, wheat, and other 1 2 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY agricultural products. The notable exceptions are largely confined to manufactured articles, like typewriters, sew- ing machines, harvesting machines — products that are due to tiic inventive genius of American minds — but the monopoly created by the present peculiar conditions will continue only through the life of the existing patents. The time is not far distant when these patents will run out, and then our manufacturers will be forced to meet the competition of Germany and other foreign producers, for the American ideas that have made this monopoly possible will then become public property. The fact remains that, in those fields where there is anything like an international distribution of production, the American distributor is falling behind. While cheap labor and other foreign advantages of production are large factors, American conservatism in distribution also plays a very significant role. There is undoubtedly much truth in the English con- tention that the Germans are a nation of commercial „ travelers, and in the retaliatory rejoinder German vs. English that the English are a nation of shop- Attitude, keepers, but, at the present moment, the commercial travelers seem to be succeeding at the ex- pense of the shopkeepers. One secret of the German commercial success is that "the German foreign trader gives his customers what they want. He gets the trade, if he can make the price, and, if he can't, there is not GERMANY AND ITS EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM 3 much use of any other trader trying." ^ Not long ago a London manufacturer devised a special kind of nut because none of those on the market met his particular needs. He sent the drawing to a Sheffield firm, and re- quested them to make up an order for him in accordance with his plans and specifications. With characteristic British conservatism they replied that they could not do so without an entire new set of dies, and the amount of the order would not justify the expense. Although they had been told very plainly that none of their models answered the purpose, the typical British dogged per- tinacity came to the fore when they suggested again that some one of their patterns would surely be found satis- factory. The London merchant thereupon made a simi- lar request of a German machinist, and received a prompt compliance with the order. This particular com- mission was probably no more profitable to the German than it would have been to the English firm, but the German was looking to future orders. Not only does the German merchant believe in giving people what they want, but he also takes pains to ascer- tain this accurately, by sending out repre- Oennan f^ntatives who can talk with prospective Trade • ,1 • .. ■ -n ,1 Methods, customers m their native tongue. Further- more, the German merchant receives every encourage- ment from his government to aid him in his conquest of * Whelplet, James D., in Century, February, 1912, p. 490. 4 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY the forcic;n markets — an encouragement that may even take tlie form of special rates for transportation of raw material and manufactured products over the nationally owned railroads. " 'Tradingmade easy/ is the motto of the German government, and it is being lived up to wher- ever possible." Not only is the material side of distribu- tion looked at from a national point of view, but, on the production side, the government provides the higher edu- cational institutions to develop the manufacturer's ex- perts, the lower educational institutions to train his operatives, as well as furnishing institutions all along the line that shall train the "spiritual side" of the distribut- ing staff, in the office force, and the commercial traveler. It is this spiritual side of the distribution problem — various types of commercial schools — that will occupy our attention in the following chapters. Although there is some justification for the claim of Fabian Ware, written in 1901, that "those who seek for the educational foundations of Germany's German p^^g^^ commercial success must study her Specialization. Realschulen and Oberrealschulen," one must take vigorous exception to the assertion of that same writer that there is less special education in Ger- many than in any other country. In the first of these statements Mr. Ware has expressed only a partial truth. He might, with equal justification, have added by name each one of the other groups of typical German schools, GERMANY AND ITS EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM 5 not forgetting the great technical schools, for no one or two classes of schools is responsible for the nation's progress. The query as to the reasons for Teutonic com- mercial success cannot be expressed in a simple linear equation, but must be written as an equation of higher degree, whose solution gives many roots. In order to show the fallacy in the second statement of Mr. Ware, one has only to point to the trade schools of almost every conceivable type that are to be found throughout the empire, from Konigsberg to Stuttgart, from Kiel to Munich. If there is any country in the world where specialization is rampant that country is Germany. She believes in finding out early what a lad is to do, and then in training him specifically for that particular line of work and for no other. Indeed the stratification of German social and indus- trial life is so rigid that there is very little movement vertically, except within certain narrow „ . , Social and limits. It is this very characteristic that Vocational makes the German educational problem so S""^^ification. relatively simple, and its working out so marvelously effective. A boy is more than likely to follow the busi- ness of his father. At all events, once he has elected to follow any particular career, the competition is so keen that he is forced to stand by his choice, even though he ekes out but a precarious existence. Every other career to which he might turn will probably be similarly over- 6 COMMEKCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY crowded, and, in any case, he would there come into competition with others who had already become pro- ficient in the occupation in question. This is a situation that it is very difficult for an American to comprehend, for our people live in a land of large opportunity, where failure in one line of work does not preclude the possi- bility of success in some other field of endeavor, nor even is it at all difficult for one to enter this other field. The result of the situation in Germany is that everybody is forced to become a specialist, and that the choice must be made early — in most cases in the lower reaches of the commercial or industrial world by the time the boy is ready to leave the elementary school {Volksschule) at fourteen years of age. This immensely simplifies the problem of course of study for the educational authori- ties, for, given the career the boy is to follow, they de- termine with fair readiness and accuracy the subjects and parts of subjects that make up the most profitable course of study for the pupil to pursue. When the boy completes the elementary school course at fourteen he finds a position in the business world, starting his career as an apprentice — it may be in a tinsmith's, it may be in a barber's or a watchmaker's shop, it may be with a grocer. When he enters the continuation school at the opening of the next school year he is put in a class with other boys who are engaged in exactly the same kind of work. During the following three or four years, while GERMANY AND ITS EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM 7 he is completing his apprenticeship, he is also attending the school for a certain number of hours per week, rang- ing usually from four to nine in the various communi- ties, and here the schools are devoting themselves to developing the theoretical and business aspects of his trade or career alongside his real work. Whatever may be the kind of work he is doing, his employer is not only required by law to give him time off to attend the school, but is held responsible for seeing that he attends. In view of the radical differences in educational or- ganization between the United States and Germany, it may be well at the outset to describe very Educational briefly the school situation one finds across Organization: the water.^ In the first place, although i. National con- trol, the educational control is not so thor- oughly centralized as it is in France, it is admittedly to be considered from a national, or rather a state, point of view. Prussia established that fact indisputably in the last decade of the eighteenth century, even before its humihation by Napoleon had all but crushed its vitality. With these fundamental assumptions still on the statute books — that schools are state institutions, to be founded only with the knowledge and consent of the state, and to be at all times subject to its examination and inspec- ' See frontispiece for schematic arrangement of the German educa- tional system. COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY tion — the reorganization schemes of Von Stein and Von Humboldt were all the more readily carried through. Although the latter had been at one time opposed to state control of education, the ruin and devastation wrought by Napoleon convinced him that the state and the state alone was powerful enough to cope with the situation. Later events have demonstrated the sound- ness of his conclusion, and this has been the guiding principle in Prussia ever since. The unification of the German Empire under Bismarck and Emperor William still left a large measure of autonomy to the separate states, but everywhere in each state this same idea is still dominant: that education is a matter of state con- trol. Prussia has its system of schools; Saxony, Bavaria, Baden, Wiirtemberg, and all the rest, each has its own.^ Of course there are minor differences of de- tail — though far, far less than one finds among the states of our own nation — but the fundamental ideas and the general organization are everywhere the same, and they are all working toward a common end, the welfare of the nation as a whole. Each state has its minister of education, who is the active head of the educational system of the state, and whose control reaches into the far corners of the do- * Prussia, with its forty millions of people out of sixty-four millions in the whole empire, naturally exerts a preponderating influence, and may fairly be taken as representative of the best and most pro- gressive ideas of the nation. GERMANY AND ITS EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM 9 main. In general all control of the so-called interna of school affairs emanates directly or indirectly from this office, while local autonomy, such as there is, is restricted to the externa. Programs of study, qualifica- tions of teachers, training of teachers, choice of text- books, and the like fall under the first category, while construction of schools, school equipment, and kindred affairs not directly connected with the processes of in- struction are included under the second group. Thus the really vital matters of school polity are adminis- tered by a central professionally competent authority, over which the individual citizen has no control, and upon which he can exert no influence, political or otherwise. Of a truth the educational systems of Germany are under strictly professional con- trol. In the second place, Germany is a monarchy, with all the monarchical ideas and ideals thoroughly domi- nant. The aristocracy in the political life ^ Monarchical likewise carries over into the social and the weais. educational world. Germany is still far from conform- ing to Huxley's standard, that "no system of public education is worth the name of national unless it cre- ates a great educational ladder, with one end in the gut- ter and the other in the university." Nor even is there any evidence that she is tending in that direction. Bis- marck's specter of the educated proletariat still looms 10 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY large on the horizon of the German political leader. Not that there is any lack of educational opportunity. Far from it, for there is probably more widespread popular education in Germany to-day than in any other country of the world. One has only to look at the two- tenths of one per cent, of illiterates among the recruits for the German army, as opposed to the seven and seven-tenths per cent, in the total population of the United States, and even three per cent, among the native whites, in order to become convinced of the truth of this assertion, at least as far as our country is concerned. ,( But this educational opportunity is decidedly limited in scope, and is largely determined by the financial status of the parent. In other words, while the elementary schools are open to all without money and without price, the secondary schools, which constitute the sole open sesame to the university and all professional careers, as well as to many positions in the civil service, are invari- ably fee institutions. Not only must the parent be able to pay the tuition fees, but he must also be in position to support his son for one or more years of inactivity, while the young man is preparing for examinations, or waiting for an appointment. The ten per cent, or so of scholarships available for distribution in the secondary schools can thus accomplish very little in ameliorating this state of affairs. It is said on good authority that probably not one boy in ten thousand who goes through GERMANY AND ITS EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM 11 the elementary school ever gets into the univer- sity. With all these factors in hand, and, recalling that the scholarship appointees are presumably selected from the brilliant pupils, one can see how enormous are the chances against the child of an ordinary workingman ever breaking into the circles of the upper professional classes. The whole educational organization is so con- stituted as to perpetuate this intellectual aristocracy. The leaders of Germany, therefore, politically, socially, economically, and intellectually, are almost sure to be chosen from a group of about two hundred and sixty thousand, the population of the secondary schools at a given moment, selected primarily upon the basis of financial ability of the parents to meet the expenses of instruction in this type of school. Within this rela- tively small group, however, there is the utmost democ- racy of selection, where almost invariably the man who succeeds reaches the top entirely upon his merits. It is a real case of the survival of the intellectually fit. As will readily be apparent then, Germany, both on the score of centralization of control without responsibility to the people, and on the score of monarchical form of control with all that implies, presents a set of condi- tions quite foreign to anything existing in this country. As is the case in France, Germany practically has two school systems, one for training the masses, and the 12 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY other for training the classes. The first of these in- cludes the Volksschulen^ and the Mittelschulen, to- gether with the continuation schools and School j^jjp lower vocational schools. The second Systems. includes what the Germans call the "higher schools," but which make up what we in America would recognize as secondary schools, together with the middle vocational schools; and the tertiary or university group, in which we find the universities, with their pro- fessional schools, and other higher vocational institu- tions. The Volksschulen, as the name implies, are the real people's schools, for they enroll nearly ninety-five per cent, of the entire school population of the country. Completion of this course satisfies the ordinary compul- sory school attendance requirements, which, in the greater part of the empire, cover the period from six to fourteen years of age. This is a purely elementary school course, and includes substantially the subjects that one is familiar with in the lower school work in this country. The Mittelschule (Prussia) is merely a variant of the Volksschule, established to satisfy a certain social need and to meet the demand for a little higher type of ele- ' It seems better to retain many of the German names, especially since the German school system is so entirely different from our own that to translate these terms into English would almost invariably give rise to misconceptions. GERMANY AND ITS EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM 13 mentary education. Small fees, amounting to about eight dollars per year, are invariably charged in these schools, in return for which the pupils are taught one foreign language, and the course continues one year longer, extending from six to fifteen years. Aside from the foreign language, the additional year, and the slightly different social standing of the pupils entailed by the tuition fee, this school does not differ essentially from the Volksschule. Attendance here carries no other privilege than that conveyed by the ordinary lower school. In any event, the graduates of these or any other schools may be compelled to attend continuation schools (Fortbildungsschulen) from fourteen to eighteen years of age, unless they are in °° "^"^ °^ attendance upon some other educational institution. Twelve of the twenty-six states of the em- pire impose this obligation upon all boys — in some of them it is likewise required of the girls as well — and, in most of the other parts of the country, the larger towns by local enactment have passed legislation looking to the same end. The right to do this is granted by one of the provisions of the Imperial Trade Regulations. Without enumerating in detail the causes that led to the passing of this regulation, suffice it for the moment to say that its recent development resulted from a feel- ing of need for the enlargement of the mental horizon 14 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY of the masses of the people beyond what the Volksschule was able to give, an enlargement which primarily looked to greater economic cfTiciency, but which also empha- sized the moral and civic aspects. The general basis for the organization of continuation schools can perhaps best be expressed by quoting from 1. Basis for Or- ^^- Kerscheusteincr: "The ultimate aim gamzation. ^f evcry public school, which is supported out of the common funds, is to train up its pupils to be useful citizens. A useful citizen is one who by his own efforts helps the state, directly or indirectly, to attain its purpose as a law-abiding and cultivated community. The first problem of the school, then, is to promote tech- nical skill among its pupils, and concomitantly to arouse in them a love of work to as great a degree as possible. The second problem is to train the pupil early to employ this love of work and technical skill in the service of his fellow-pupils and his fellow-men. The third problem is to unite this awakened readiness for service, consideration, and moral devotion with an in- sight into the purposes of the body politic, in so far as the pupil's endowment and maturity make possible the engendering of such an insight. Our present-day schools are not altogether conscious of this three-fold problem. Where they are well organized they seek at most to solve the first problem, the education for individual skill. But there are no schools for social service." This GERMANY AND ITS EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM 15 represents the ideal of one of the foremost practical schoolmen of Germany, a declaration of purpose that is yet far from attainment, even in Munich, but whose realization seems nearer there than anywhere else. The regulations in force in Berlin may be taken as fairly typical of those in force wherever the continua- tion schools are found, all over the empire, ^ ^^^^^ Reguu- although there are variations in details, as t>o'»s. to the number of hours per week, subjects of instruc- tion, and the like. According to the local statutes of Berlin^ every male workman (apprentice, journeyman, or helper) , who is engaged in any industrial or commer- cial work within the city limits, must attend the Berlin continuation school from fourteen until the completion of his seventeenth year.^ This likewise applies in Ber- lin to all boys between these ages who may be out of work. Exception is made, however, in the case of those who may be attending any "higher school," or any recognized industrial, trade, or commercial school, as well as in the case of certain other specified groups, among them graduates of a six-year higher school, and those engaged in the government service. Instruction covers the subjects of German, arithmetic, and drawing, 1 Uebersicht uher das Fach- und Fortbildungsschulwesen der Stadt Berlin, Schuljahr 1910-1911, pp. 98-59. 2 In December, 1912, a similar regulation was passed applying to girls under substantially the same general conditions, to become effective April 1, 1913. Ortsstatut belreffend die gewerbliche und kaufmdnnische Pflichtforlbildungsschule fur Madchen zu Berlin, 1913. 16 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY witli special reference to tlic particular work in which they arc employed, and may not amount to an average of more than six hours per week throughout the year, nor less than four hours per week regularly. These schools are all free. Not only are employers forced to allow their workers subject to this regulation time to attend school, but they are held responsible for seeing that the boys are actually present. In the case of un- skilled labor this last clause is not operative, but the first is just as rigidly required. The employer who pre- vents an employee from attending such a school is sub- ject to a fine of twenty marks, or three days in jail, for each offense. On November 1, 1910, there were 32,220 boys (5,396 in commercial classes) in these Berlin schools. Parallel with the continuation schools, exists a large number of vocational schools for various trades, estab- lished upon municipal, guild, or corporate initiative, which the state recognizes as taking the place of the continuation school in satisfying the compulsory at- tendance requirements from fourteen to seventeen years of age. The secondary schools — known in Prussia as "higher schools," and, in South Germany, as "middle schools" — are composed of several groups of coordinate schools, whose common characteristic is that satisfactory com- pletion of six years of work in any one of them entitles GERMANY AND ITS EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM 17 the boy to the one-year volunteer privilege in the army, instead of the two or three years' service that are re- quired of the conscript. These schools all _ ^ Secondary or begin at the ninth year of age and continue " Higher " for nine or six years. The nine-year schools ^ °° ^* are the Gymnasium, the Realgymnasium, and the Oher- realschule. The first is an out-and-out classical school; the second is a semi-classical school, with Latin, but no Greek; while the third is a thoroughly modern school, with two modern languages and considerable science, but no classics. Since the reform of 1900 these have been on an equality officially, all preparing for the imiversity, and with practically no differentiation of privilege in favor of the graduates of any type of school. Each of them has a six-year prototype, known respectively as the Progymnasium, the Realprogymnasium, and the Realschule, whose only purpose is to extend the oppor- tunity for secondary education into communities where the population would not warrant the establishment of a nine-year school. Pupils enter these various types of secondary schools either through a three-year prepara- tory school department (Vorschule), attached to the secondary school in question, or after completing the first four years of the Volksschule course. This point offers the only normal transition from the elementary to the secondary school, and, once beyond here, the young- ster finds almost insuperable obstacles to passing from 18 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY one to the other. The elementary and tlie secondary school systems in Germany thus exist parallel to each other, and not as in this country, with the secondary superimposed upon the elementary. As was true in the case of the elementary schools, so with the secondary schools we find a corresponding group of secondary, or middle commercial, Secondary ^ * "^ ' Vocational industrial, technical, and trade schools. Schools. j^ ^j^^ former case these special schools or courses came at the conclusion of the ordinary ele- mentary school course; while, in the latter case, these vocational schools are incorporated in, or are parallel to, the ordinary secondary schools. The tertiary group of schools — or, as we should say in American phraseology, higher education — includes (1) the universities, with their philosophi- Higher i theological, law, and medical faculties; Education. > & > > > (2) a number of colleges of commerce, with their general requirements on a par with those of the universities, and therefore of university grade; (3) academies, which may roughly be called "incomplete universities," inasmuch as they are institutions with the same entrance requirements as the universities, but are lacking in some one or more of the traditional four fac- ulties; (4) the great technical colleges, which correspond to our own Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and (5) certain other institutions of equivalent grade. GERMANY AND ITS EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM 19 Among these last must be included schools for agri- culture, forestry, military and naval science, and other corresponding kinds of institution. This whole educational system, complex though it may seem at first sight, falls into two large groups: the elementary schools, with the continua- tion and the other lower vocational ,. ^^^° *^" tion of Groups. schools; and the secondary and tertiary. The boy who goes through the elementary school is practically in a cul de sac, as far as getting into the secondary or the tertiary is concerned. The chief objec- tive difiference between the first group and the second lies in the fact that the elementary school boy is drafted to serve in the army for two or three years, while the sec- ondary school boy has the privilege of serving as a one- year volunteer, a privilege that can hardly be looked upon as an unalloyed joy, inasmuch as it means an out- lay of from two thousand to eight thousand marks per year for the living expenses of the volunteer, which must be met by the young man's family. Nevertheless, the social prestige which attaches to this volunteer service is so highly prized that the opportunity of paying this sum is counted a privilege rather than a burden. CHAPTER II LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS (1) Commercial education in Germany has never at- tained the position long since reached by industrial edu- cation, either in importance or extent. Growth. While the earliest of the real commercial schools — at Hamburg, Berlin, and Magdeburg — date from the second half of the eighteenth century, the pres- ent development is actually of recent date. The convic- tion was long dominant, and is still prevalent in certain parts of the country, that commercial training is attained solely in the school of experience. It is only since the international struggle for commercial supremacy be- came so strenuous that the champions of this old laissez-faire doctrine have begun to break ground. As has already been pointed out, the commercial schools parallel the general educational organization of the country, and appear in three distinct phases: elemen- tary, secondary, and tertiary. Commercial education in this elementary or lower group is found in the ordinary continuation schools, although there are certain other continuation schools with 20 LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 21 optional attendance, as well as commercial evening schools for adults, some established by municipal founda- tion and some by chambers of commerce, guilds, unions, or upon other more indi- JZ^^ ,^ ^ ' y ^ Schools. vidual initiative. The continuation school, which has been called the "newest link in the German educational chain," is widespread throughout the greater part of the empire. It is obligatory for boys in twelve of the twenty-six states, to wit: Bavaria, Saxony, Wiirtemberg, Baden, Hesse, Saxe-Weimar, Saxe-Altenburg, Saxe-Meiningen, Saxe-Coburg, Saxe-Gotha, Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, and Waldeck-Pyrmont. The opportunities for girls are considerably less general, although the girls' commer- cial continuation courses are rather more numerous than are the corresponding industrial courses. Attendance at continuation schools is compulsory for girls in only four of the above-mentioned states: Bavaria, Wiirtemberg, Baden, and Saxe-Meiningen; while in six others: Sax- ony, Hesse, Saxe-Weimar, Saxe-Coburg, Saxe-Gotha, and Saxe-Altenburg, this may be made compulsory by local ordinance. In addition the Imperial Trade Regu- lations clothe communities with power to establish com- pulsory continuation schools for girls, under the same conditions as for boys. In accordance with the terms of this provision many of the larger towns have already founded such schools. 22 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY Owing to the varying conditions throughout the em- pire, figures for the whole nation are difficult to obtain, but, in 1910, of the boys in Prussia between Statistics. the ages of fourteen and eighteen who were engaged in the trades, industry, and commerce, almost exactly thirty per cent, were in some type of continua- tion school. Inasmuch as the establishment of these compulsory continuation schools in that state is not uni- versal, but is entirely dependent upon local option,^ it is quite probable that some of the other states would show even better results. In Prussia, of the 385,000 so en- rolled, about 340,000 were in industrial schools, and 45,000 were in commercial schools. The figures on the following page from the official reports of the Prussian Minister of Commerce and In- dustry ^ show the situation in Prussia. Even a hasty consideration of these figures will show some interesting results. In the six years from 1904 to 1910 the population of the industrial Evolution. , , • 1 schools increased over sixty per cent., whereas the growth in the commercial schools was over one hundred per cent. The number of schools with op- tional attendance is steadily decreasing, but this is ac- 1 This is not entirely true, for in 1888 the royal government put a compulsory continuation school regulation in force in East Prussia with a view to hastening the Germanization of the Poles who make up the major part of the population in that province. * Verwaltungsbericht des koniglich preussischen Landesgewerbeamts, 1907, 1909, and 1912. LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 23 o3 O ^ (-1 o 3 S >=! o e 0<1 3 9 o > O ^ o a .ti 3T3 OOOXM >o (N OOOO Ti< TjH Tj< (N O -^ i-< '— I Cl CO 00 o (M CO coo ■-^ COt^ CO (M t^ (M O (M(NCC-* C5 CO --H t^ (M lO t^ 00 CO Oi-i o ooio»o ^ r-H T}H CO t^ Oi O C5 05 O ET CO GO 00 (N •*(N 010 p:i d O OI>^_Ci_ 5D 2 00 CO C^fi-T Ots^ (M(N(N^ j-yj oj 0^^^ 'S t^eocot^ i^__00t^O o .-ro5"t^-r)r COCOrJH-O >, t^r^rt r^ u o3 coco 020 o i-H (M 3 o oToooon?" ^ (M03ir^ ,3 •CO!M J> o 7: ■csooo o -C3 (B ] I— 1 1— 1 i-H o •S ^ ^< ir:)(M 3 '53 CD • 10 CO (M +3 •CO (N ^ : CO^CO^C^" CO -^OrtH 1 c3 Ci Tt< t^ (-1 Q CD-H lO CO U o H cfrt'oTo E-1 -2 g c^ CO CO CO 2; II OCOt)< H ^ • TfH 05 05 s ►a 0-2 • (N "iO ^ : .-H"cO CO'l.-Ht^ , l-l Tj< 000 03 t^COTjH g I-H 1— 1 -^ t-- OcOO(M o (M(MCOCO o -si IM 0010 39a (MC5>0»0 Witho ompult ttenda C^I^COCO'i^^ t^Or-Tco tn 3 U< >• P. hH U ■^—KM C<> - 9 i^' 05 lOiMO -3^ 03 TjH^O CO CO Wit mpu tend rlH^OcO CO t^ 1< QCO rHCM— 1 c^co O CO , ( ICO c3 X 0_.-H S lo'co « a o en fl S o ,irT3 h-l O ^ Ci ii ^j C0O5 -2 _. £ tl c3 o K^ Contribu from Chambe Comma Guilds, c^-^ l§ Oim" 02C0 Q ,-HCS •*ro fl oo O on !>. ■'ti S <£-r^ sfe lr~t~- H %> :§ ^co CO-* oOh o Expenses (excluding building cost and its upkeep) 00 CO ooo s c^fo ■* (M T-r(M" ^ ^ l^Ci (U_59 1 = t>riM~ TjtlO o O—" 1 030 1 I-H tH 1 bO .a 73 o 'J o a) s.a QJ CO a « §3 •sa ao o 2 5-S b si SoSR «-§ 26 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERINIANY pal "writing and reckoning" schools of the seventeenth century, yet so insignificant was their development that one is hardly justified in setting the date Commercial ^f ^|^^jj. foundation before the third decade Schools. of the nineteenth century.^ Indeed, it was not until after the unification of modern Germany, at the time of the Franco-Prussian war, that any very considerable growth took place. The opening of the last period in the development of this type of school dates from the founding of the "German Union for Com- mercial Instruction," in 1895. The 233 commercial schools in Germany at that time had increased to 367 three years later; to 522 in 1904, and to 650 in 1908, almost exactly one-half of them being in Prussia. In 1909, of the 32 cities of the first class (over 100,000 inhabitants), 24 had compulsory commercial continua- tion schools, and in the others attendance Distribution. was optional. Of the 199 cities ranging from 20,000 to 100,000 inhabitants, only 151 had com- mercial continuation schools, 108 of these having a com- pulsory attendance provision. Prussia enjoyed the un- enviable record of having 42 of the 48 cities without this type of commercial school. Of the 229 small cities (10,000 to 20,000 inhabitants) only 108 had commercial continuation schools, in 88 of which the attendance was ' The author acknowledges his obhgation for this and the follow- ing statistical material to Schilling, Das deutsche Fortbildungs- schvlwesen, Leipzig, 1909, p. 65 ffg. LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 27 compulsory, and in 20 optional. Prussia again appears as the most backward, for she had 94 of the cities where none of the schools were found. Thus, of all the 169 German cities of between 10,000 and 100,000 population that had no commercial continuation schools in 1909, 136 were within the confines of Prussia, a situation that may be explained by the fact that Prussia is the only one of the larger German states where these schools are not required by state law.^ Various attempts have been made there to enact legislation looking to this end, but the clerical influence has thus far been able to block them all. The situation has been deadlocked by the refusal of the anti-clericals to provide for religious teach- ing among the subjects of instruction, and the clericals would not sanction the law with this regulation omitted. It may be added that religion is one of the regular stud- ies in Bavaria, where the Catholics are in the majority. Despite the fact that the Kultusministerium, at Ber- lin, the Prussian educational authority, has exercised such a close control over school affairs in Control. the kmgdom m general, these commercial continuation schools, as well as most of the other activi- ties for business and industrial training, have developed entirely outside its jurisdiction. They fall within the * A recent regulation empowering the government to compel every town with more than 10,000 inhabitants to establish a com- pulsory continuation school is likely to improve thia record materially within the next few years. 28 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY purview of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, where there is a special department, or board {Landes- gewerbeamt) , in charge of their administration. This board consists of a president, six regular members from the stafif of the department, and twelve specially ap- pointed members, almost all composed of directors and principals from the schools of the kingdom at large. There is, furthermore, a permanent council on indus- trial schools, consisting of (1) a general section, with representatives of the various government ministries concerned, of the Prussian Lower House, of the city authorities, of commerce and industry, and of the trades ; (2) a building trades section; and (3) an engineering section — these last two being similarly representative in character. However arbitrary may be the ultimate con- trol exercised by the paternalistic Prussian government, an effort has been made here to pay some heed at least to the advice of those most interested. The explanation for the development of this entire system of industrial and commercial schools outside the regular education department, and their control by the department of commerce and industry, is probably two- fold: first, the extreme conservatism of the Kultusminis- terium; and, second, the fact that these schools were largely founded by chambers of commerce, or other simi- lar bodies in direct relation with the Ministry of Com- merce and Industry, and subsequently were taken over LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 29 by the municipalities. The first of these is almost too well known to need further elaboration here, especially when one recalls that it is but little more than ten years since the only fully accredited entrance to the university was through the old classical portal. OflBcial recogni- tion of the parity between humanism and realism that was so hardly won at that time had required decades for its realization. Not only has the Kultusministerium shown no inclination to establish any kind of lower vo- cational schools, but there are no evidences of any de- sire on its part to introduce vocational subjects into the existing schools. The matter of the Handelsreal- schools, like those at Cologne, Frankfort, and Schone- berg, for instance, is only an apparent exception, which will be considered in its proper connection. The course of study in the elementary schools not only makes no provision for commercial or other vocational subjects, but shows no signs of modifying the old subjects to con- form more nearly to vocational needs. Of course the very presence of the continuation schools to-day tends to eliminate the necessity for any such modification, but there is a feeling among the educational authorities that the present course of intellectual work in the lower schools represents an irreducible minimum, and the in- trusion of work of a vocational nature would displace, but not replace, some of the essential subjects. Thus, it is pure geography, if one may be allowed to use such a 30 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY term, not commercial geography; and arithmetic, in its more general, not its special, commercial applications, that one finds in the course of study in the Volksschule. Again, as one goes about through the various towns, and inquires as to the origin of the commercial continua- tion school, almost invariably does it appear that the chamber of commerce, or some other semi-public body, started a commercial course which continued until it was absorbed by the establishment of a municipal con- tinuation school. Sometimes the interest of the old founding body still manifests itself in the partial sup- port of the new undertaking, while at other times its energy is diverted to the formation of a higher com- mercial school for boys or for girls. Suffice it for our present purpose to note that these schools were largely founded by semi-public bodies which were in direct rela- tion with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. This fact, together with the above noted disinclination of the Kultusministerium to foster commercial or indus- trial work in its schools, rendered it quite natural for the ultimate governmental control of these vocational schools to be vested in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, rather than in the Ministry of Education. Subordinate to the board and the permanent council, noted before, the various administrative districts of the twelve Prussian provinces are combined in a more or less arbitrary fashion into eighteen areas, over each of LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 31 which is set an administrative councillor {Regierungs- und Gewerbeschulrat) . This officer is a member of the administrative district council, with entire charge over all the commercial and industrial schools of his area. He stands directly between the ministry at Berlin and the local director. As has already been indicated Prussia has no state pro- vision for compulsory continuation schools. The existing schools have all been founded in accordance with an imperial regulation, by virtue of which the community is left perfectly free to determine whether or not it shall have such a school. Once a school is created all the legal machinery of the government is behind it in the enforce- ment of school attendance and other provisions needful for its upkeep. It is then, in every sense of the word, a "compulsory school." Practically the only necessary step is in securing enough local support to commit the community to the financial burden by passing the meas- ure through the municipal council. Every succeeding step follows naturally and in regular fashion. Many of the difficulties that might otherwise arise are elimi- nated through the existence of the chamber of com- merce {Handelskammer). "Chamber of commerce" in Germany differs decidedly from the body of the same name in the United States. As the American traveler is sometimes painfully aware, everything in Germany is regulated. One mordant, but 32 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY unusually well-informed critic of Teutonic manners and customs maintains that all this is necessary for a people with the instincts, training, and experience am er ^^ ^j^^ Germans. It certainly makes for or- Commerce. •' derliness and control, despite the fact that in the mass of the people it is almost exclusively objective. Among other things, merchandising is all carefully regulated, the entire conduct of business being spe- cifically outlined in the Imperial Commercial Code. When a person engages in any mercantile business, and this is all very explicitly defined by the code, the district court enrolls him in the commercial register (Handelsregister). This simplifies the government's task of keeping track of him for purposes of taxation, but, incidentally, it gives him a certain standing in the community, and, among other things, entitles him to vote for the members of the chamber of commerce of his region or district. Considering its character this chamber of commerce is relatively a large body, that at Barmen, for in- stance, a modern industrial city of close to 200,000 inhabitants, consisting of 24 members. Each is chosen for six years in such fashion that the terms of half the members expire every three years. The German chamber of commerce is thus practically the executive board of the associated merchants of a certain area. It is not a voluntary association, for the merchant LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 33 has no option as to enrollment in the commercial regis- ter, but once there he is likely to exercise his preroga- tives in influencing the choice of his representatives. From this brief sketch the power and influence of the chamber of commerce, in formulating and moulding public sentiment, will be readily apparent, and one can easily understand how these bodies have been so effec- tive in founding schools of their own, and when the worth of such schools has been demonstrated, have suc- ceeded so generally in inducing the communities to take over their support. Civic pride, or perhaps civic rivalry, is an important factor that has considerably simplified this task. One town establishes a system of compulsory continuation schools. Its neighbors, not to be outdone, follow suit, and sometimes later awake to the fact that they have saddled themselves with a burden that is not altogether acceptable to a considerable number of the citizens. At least, in some of the towns that I visited, this was said to be the case. Once the municipal assembly has decided to estab- lish a commercial continuation school, the next step is the appointment of a Kuratorium, or board of government. While there is no uniform °^ ^^" emment. size for this board, its membership usually ranges in number between twelve and eighteen, and must contain representatives of at least the town executive, the Minister of Commerce and Industry, the municipal coun- 34 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY oil, and the chamber of commerce. The mayor, or one of his fellow burgomasters, as president represents the first of these; the administrative district councillor is appointed by the Minister to represent the central gov- ernment; the municipal council chooses some of its own members to represent the council; and the chamber of commerce in like fashion selects its representatives. Minor variations will be found in the different locali- ties. In Elberfeld, for example, four of the six munici- pal councillors must be merchants. Here also two mem- bers of the board of government are designated by the merchants' court [Kaufmannsgericht) , subject to the approval of the mayor. Sometimes the municipal coun- cil appoints merchants quite apart from any of the bodies noted above. In Barmen, the clerks' association names two members of the board. Women, too, are at times found on these governing bodies. In Diisseldorf there are three, but they serve merely in an advisory and consultative capacity, having no power to vote. It may be unnecessary to add that only communities which have established girls' continuation schools have women board members, and they are found in only a relatively small number of these cities. Thus every effort is made to have all the various interests concerned represented on these boards of government. Perhaps more effort might be put forth to secure the cooperation of the ordinary educational officials, for although a representa- LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 35 tive of the Kultusministerium is found on the central council, it is rather rare to find a corresponding mem- ber on the local board of government. It is doubtful, however, if this would have any effect on modifying the work of the Volksschule, for this latter is largely regu- lated from Berlin, and the central authorities there seem rather satisfied that they have worked out a funda- mental course of study of the essentials that is best adapted for the people's needs. Aside from regulating the budget of the schools, se- curing the necessary appropriation from the municipal council for their support, and administer- Director. ing their financial affairs in general, the chief function of this board of government consists in securing a competent director. In places where the chamber of commerce has previously maintained a sys- tem of voluntary commercial schools, this has been relatively a simple matter, for the director has usually been taken over with the schools. So far as my ex- perience goes, these directors are a thoroughly compe- tent body of men, well qualified for the task in hand. All of them have been teachers in one capacity or an- other, and most of them have had practical experience in the world of business. In the administration of school affairs, this director is a very powerful person. To be sure, since the min- 36 rOMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY isterial order of July, 1911, he has had little to do with determining the subjects of study or the time allotment, yet otherwise he is a real educational ex- Powers and pert in charge of the work. He is practically responsible for determining the qualifica- tions of his teaching staff, and he is left almost absolutely free in the selection of his force. Wherever the municipal continuation schools are found, the merchants are com- pelled to send all their employees who are between the ages recognized for school attendance, and the director is given large powers in enforcing this attendance regu- lation. He may even fix a fine, up to twenty marks, upon employers who do not send their employees to school at the appointed time, or who do anything to hinder them from going. Parents or guardians may be similarly punished for corresponding derelictions. Of course, the director is reasonably lenient, and has re- course to the fine only as a last resort, but it is a very effective club to hold over the heads of recalcitrant employers or parents. No complicated court proceed- ings are necessary. All he has to do is to fill out a blank and send it to the police authorities. They de- spatch an ofiicer to collect the fine, and the matter is very simply settled. The employer may refuse to pay, and may elect to take the case into court, but it is al- ways cheaper and simpler for him to settle on the spot LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 37 with the policeman. As a matter of fact, however, fines are very rarely imposed. As has already been implied, responsibility for the support of the schools devolves upon the community, the funds for this purpose coming from the municipal treasury. According to the table (page 25) the major part of the ex- pense for the whole of Prussia is borne by the tuition fees, but in the Rhine country, where the schools as a whole are probably best developed, the local tax is the largest single factor. In Cologne the budget for the school year ending at Easter, 1913, was 194,145 marks. Of this the city appropriated 100,000 marks; 85,000 marks came in through tuition fees; and approximately 9,000 marks were provided by the Prussian government. In Elberfeld, the city and the chamber of conmierce share the net expense after deducting the income from tuition fees and state contribution. As a matter of fact, the latter here amounts to about one-third of the whole. In some cities the state pays nothing at all, but the chamber of commerce contributes toward the sup- port. In the eastern part of the kingdom the state's share is relatively large. Reference to the table (page 25) again will show that of all four sources of support the local tax is increasing most rapidly. Furthermore, the expenses for buildings, including heating, lighting, 38 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY aiul cleaning (none of which appear in the table re- ferred to) must all be borne by the communities, and will therefore materially increase the share contributed by them. Tuition fees vary from place to place, but range usually from twenty to thirty marks per year. There are evidences of a tendency to fix them generally at the latter figure. Payment of school fees is never exacted from pupils subject to the requirements of the compulsory attendance law. This burden must always be borne by the employer. In general, the regulations provide that the employer with whom the boy is work- ing on June 15th and on December 15th is responsible for the fees for the current half year. In case the boy is unemployed at either of these times, the next em- ployer becomes liable. Considering the fact that none of these young apprentices is receiving, at least during his first year, more than ten marks per month in wages (and in some cases nothing at all), the imposition of these fees on the employer can hardly be considered much of a burden. Pupils who attend these schools of their own free will have to pay their own fees. On the basis of 43 marks average expenditure per pupil, aside from housing charges, even the highest fees will cover only about two-thirds of the cost. On the whole in Prussia, continuation school build- ings and equipment are relatively very mediocre, es- LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 39 pecially, strange to say, in the larger communities. In the smaller places, they compare favorably with the ele- mentary schools, for there they are housed guiidines in the same buildings, either having the and 1 • r J. f; J- Equipment, exclusive use of vacant rooms or nndmg accommodation in the regular rooms at unoccupied portions of the day, especially during the late after- noon. This offers a good illustration of the conserva- tion of resource and the utilization of dormant equip- ment. In the larger towns, many of the continuation schools have buildings of their own, but these are usually discarded elementary school buildings or other struc- tures made over with only moderate success for school purposes. Directors of continuation schools are fre- quently hard pressed to provide suitable accommoda- tion for their classes. It is a rare exception to find as at Elberfeld a fine modern building, simply yet taste- fully constructed, and as well equipped for the purpose which it has to serve as any school in Germany. In South Germany, conditions on the whole are decidedly superior to those prevailing in Prussia. It is only fair to add that the continuation school idea developed con- siderably earlier in the south than in the north. One is impressed by the general absence of decoration in the Prussian continuation school, even the likeness of the Emperor so omnipresent in other types of schools is usually missing. Directors explain this on the ground 40 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY that the continuation school course is entirely lacking in history, the subject that is of prime importance in developing ideas of patriotism, an attitude that sub- stantiates a point of view frequently advanced with ref- erence to German education, namely that there is a par- ticular way of doing everything, and everything must be done in accordance with that way. Conditions out- side Prussia are not quite so rigid. It has not been altogether easy to find competent teachers for these commercial continuation schools, es- pecially since the opportunities for suit- Tcflch firs able training have been relatively few, and graduates of the training courses at the colleges of com- merce are frequently too ambitious to accept ordinary positions in these lower schools. Directors had the al- ternative of appointing persons from the commercial world who were thoroughly familiar with the technique of business, but with no proved skill in teaching and probably with little aptitude for the work, or of select- ing teachers from the Volksschulen whose skill as in- structors had already been established, but who pos- sessed only the layman's knowledge, or rather ignor- ance, of the minutia) of commerce. In this embarrassing situation not a few impaled themselves upon the first horn of the dilemma. They soon realized their difii- culties, for barring the chance cases of natural aptitude for teaching on the part of some of the ex-business men, LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 41 the classes began to go to pieces. Recognizing that the other horn of the dilemma would bring a result differ- ing only in degree from that already encountered, but appreciating further that proved teaching ability of- fered a safer basis to build upon than mere business knowledge, the central government and even some of the cities established series of evening extension courses in order to train the Volksschule teachers for commer- cial school work. Every encouragement is given them to study at the colleges of commerce as well, and not infrequently one finds teachers off on leave of absence for this purpose. Teachers fall into two general classes: regular teachers {Hauptamtliche Lehrer), and special teachers {Nebenamtliche Lehrer). The former spend all their time in these commercial schools, while the latter fill in here in connection with other work, for the most part being Volksschule teachers who come in for a few hours per week. It is apparently not at all difficult to attract teachers away from the Volksschulen, for the salaries in the commercial schools will range five or six hundred marks per year higher than in the ordinary elementary schools. There does not seem to be any very close agreement as to the minimum training that is desirable. Some maintain that a few months in a business house at the close of the college of commerce course will give the necessary practical basis. The theoretical training at 42 COMMEHCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY the college will show the student what to look for in the business world, and a relatively short time there will suffice to give him the necessary grasp on the prac- tical details. At least this ought to count for some- thing in minimizing the force of the criticism of those who look upon the college course as emphasizing theory at the expense of practice. It would appear highly de- sirable to have no teachers who have not spent some time at a college of commerce, and still more desirable to have none without business experience in addition. For most places, however, these must be merely ideals for the present. Conditions are nevertheless moving in this direction. In Cologne, for instance, all regular teachers appointed in the future must have attended a college of commerce; and at Elberfeld all teachers in whatever department must have been in business for at least one year. In a country like Germany, where everything is regu- lated and administered with the utmost precision, the recruitment of pupils is a relatively simple Pupils. matter. The Imperial Commercial Code confers upon the community full powers to make its own regulations for securing attendance at continuation schools in accordance with §120 of the Imperial Trade Regulations. The latest revision of these regulations, December 27, 1911, marks a decided advance for the continuation school, for the community is granted the LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 43 right to impose compulsory attendance at such a school upon all industrial workers between fourteen and eigh- teen years of age, boys and girls alike, whereas the previous regulations affected all boys between these ages, but included only those girls who were occupied in commercial work as assistants or apprentices. Schools in operation to-day were largely founded under the con- ditions prevailing anterior to December, 1911. Wher- ever the municipal continuation school is found, prac- tically everybody between fourteen and eighteen years who is engaged in any kind of commercial work, un- less he has been graduated from certain courses in what we should call a secondary school, or unless he is at- tending some other school which is recognized as fulfill- ing the same purpose as the continuation school, is sub- ject to the operation of this law. Some communities in- sist inexorably upon attendance until the close of the school half year in which the pupil attains his seven- teenth birthday, while some allow pupils who complete the elementary school course before fourteen and enter the continuation school at that time to leave the latter school that much earlier. On the other hand, in case the course is not completed satisfactorily, the compul- sory attendance period may be extended in individual instances until the eighteenth birthday. The universal rule seems to make attendance depend upon location of work. In other words, a boy between fourteen and 44 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY seventeen miiy live in a city which maintains a com- pulsory continuation school, and secure work in an ad- joining town tliat has no such school. He is not subject to the operation of the law, whereas another boy who lives in the above mentioned town but who comes into the city to work becomes amenable to the law. Admin- istration of the law is relatively simple from the fact that employers are held responsible for notifying the authorities of all persons in their employ that fall with- in its provisions. It may be well to observe here that the conditions of employment in Germany are fundamentally different from anything we have in America or from Conditions of .^^ything with which most of us are ac- Employment. '^ quainted. True, the old apprenticeship system has passed away, but much of its form still re- mains. The great majority of the boys take up some trade or engage in a regularly recognized occupation that demands a period of learning. Unfortunate indeed is the so-called unskilled laborer {Ungelehrnte Arbeiter). Every effort is made to turn young men away from un- skilled occupations, which, although they may attract by the prospect of more immediate gain, must necessar- ily result in a treadmill sort of existence. The city of Cologne, for example, has published two little booklets, one for boys and the other for girls, in which this ques- tion is discussed fully and frankly. These pamphlets LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 45 furthermore state very briefly the physical qualifications required in the various ordinary vocations, showing what kinds of work are impracticable for those handicapped by certain physical weaknesses, list the occupations open to the deaf and the blind, and finally describe the work conditions of some thirty or forty different occu- pations that are available for the youth of Cologne. Not only does the last contain specific information as to the length of the apprenticeship period (usually three years), wages during this time, and ultimate earning prospects of the business, but also in most cases the amount of capital required to set up an independent business. A pupil's first task on completing the elementary school course at Easter after his fourteenth birthday is to find a job, at least if he has not one already waiting for him. In some places, ^%j °'' * the columns of the daily paper provide the only source of information; sometimes the employers seek out the elementary school principals; sometimes the chamber of commerce maintains a sort of intelli- gence office for mercantile pursuits; and in some few instances the city authorities conduct a vocational bu- reau. Cologne has a well organized service of this last nature that admirably supplements the booklets noted above. The following is a copy of the registry leaflet: 46 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY c^ e^ 1-4 O 8 "E o TS *i 8 V2 _ 3 « § g| a> M a CL, bO O !3 a o bO .a i -O ^ 03 0) .53 j3 c^ in ^ a ^ tn o c3 (I) > a> 03 03 1-3 « ^ ^ o -3 a '■+3 (j3 T3 O O bC 03 O o o3 O c3 & § >> 33 ■T3 1 a o 0) 0)^ «3 gj f O J2 a o ■g ^^ DO ^ ro OQ c hH 1— 1 hH 1— 1 Oi m m ^ a • a 03 •B o -o o 2 03 0) 3 03 C 03 O o3 o 'So O 3 1 s 1 3 03 03 53 o m A h&hQp:; P^Pntf o LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 47 o (U • • o to o o o ^ Ti '^ '^ i> C <» 5R ■^ a o iJ 2-3 a « « ^ ^ m (U z u o 3 < i) 0) § bO ^ a ij a £ y3 (3 • o o & >> I's o O O .2 a -s n >> • Sh n o J3 "o 2 H o. r/1 P. oja b 2i .. H -s-s o o SI" P 3'*- o 3 C O O a 1 c 'bio .g Q O W a Q & h "1 bO < PL, 0) 3 g 48 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY The question with reference to board and lodging with the employer is merely a survival of the old apprentice- ship system that is seldom significant to-day. It might seem as though there would be only one answer in re- sponse to the question about wages. Its spirit would perhaps better be rendered: "Does the parent insist upon compensation?" As a matter of fact the places ultimately most desirable often bring no return at all during the learning period. One might almost say that the wages during apprenticeship vary inversely as the desirability of the position. Unskilled labor pays the highest immediate returns, while appointments in bank- ing houses (which, by the way, are rarely if ever open to graduates of the elementary schools) carry no wage at all. Bonuses are frequently given at Christmas and at the end of the apprentice period that serve sub- stantially the same end. In some of the more desirable industrial positions, like those with optical instrument manufacturers, the boy is even required to pay a con- siderable amount for his instruction and the privilege of learning the trade. One of the most significant por- tions of this blank is that filled in by the school phy- sician. He can supplement the paragraphs in the mu- nicipal booklet with reference to physical qualifications for various occupations, and can very often prevent a pupil from making a serious and perhaps an irrevocable error in the choice of his life work. LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 49 Generalizations as to the nature of the occupations engaged in by these continuation school pupils are par- ticularly difficult on account of the variety of classification used in school reports. ""Prions ^ of the Pupils. Some differentiate merely the wholesale trades, while others enumerate as many as two score different lines of work with the number of pupils in each. It is almost banal to observe that the work ac- cords with the prevailing industrial character of the town. In a big commercial center like Hamburg, the majority of the three thousand odd pupils in the com- mercial continuation schools are engaged in export and import trade alone, while if allied businesses like insur- ance, shipping, and commission houses are also included, more than three-quarters of the total number will be covered. In a manufacturing center like Barmen, the major part of these commercial pupils are found in the offices of the industrial concerns. In other centers where there are both boys' and girls' schools, the character of the work of the two sexes is diametrically opposed. The boys are chiefly found in the offices and in the whole- sale houses, while the girls are largely engaged in retail trade over the counter. The proportion of girls in this kind of work as opposed to office clerical work will sometimes run as high as fifteen or sixteen to one. Changes of occupation are relatively rare in Germany. No little care is taken to start one aright, but once 50 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY launched along a certain line, it is next to impossible to turn aside. The boy starts in to learn a business, whether it be industrial or commercial, ApprenUce ,^^^^ almost invariably contracts with his Period. -^ employer for the whole term of his appren- ticeship,^ normally three years. The employer takes the boy on one or three months' trial, the period being spe- cifically stated in the contract with the stipulation that the youngster may be dismissed at the end of the pro- bationary period if he is unsatisfactory, or is not suited to the business. Ten marks per month are the ordinary wage for the first year, twenty marks the second year, and thirty marks the third year. The insistence upon this three year term of apprenticeship at merely nom- inal wages is only another instance of the persistence of tradition, for it is rather difiicult to see why all occu- pations, especially certain kinds of commercial work, should require three years to learn. Occasionally one comes across a business man who is frank enough to acknowledge that after all this is largely a matter of custom, and a scheme for getting a certain amount of work done for practically nothing. A boy enters the office of an industrial worker, for instance. He is classed as a commercial apprentice, for eventually he will be handling the books of the firm or will be engaged in the commercial side of the business. The first year he 1 See Appendix A for copy of indenture. LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 51 attends to the mail, copies letters, carries parcels to the post office, and acts as general errand boy. The second year he may have one simple book to look after, with possibly one or two more in the case of unusually bright boys. In the third year his responsibility is somewhat increased. The year after, whether the boy remains with the same firm or not, he becomes a full-fledged as- sistant or clerk. It sometimes happens that the boy learns little or nothing during his years of apprentice- ship, but they must be gone through with, or he cannot secure a position later. This provision of itself is im- mensely significant in operating against any subsequent radical change in the character of one's occupation. Not only does this mean once an industrial worker, al- ways an industrial worker, and once a clerk, always a clerk, but one is practically forced to continue in the same branch of industrial work, and in the same branch of commercial work all one's life. It is readily apparent, then, how serious the wise choice of an occupation in Germany becomes — a choice which must definitely be made at fourteen years of age. Substantially the only relief from this condition of affairs is offered by the lower ranks of the government service. Many a boy shortly after the conclusion of his period of apprenticeship, goes off forthwith to serve his time in the army, with the idea of getting that task behind him so as not to interfere with his work period. For the 52 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY next two or three years the young man belongs body and mind to the nation. Although employers often give pref- erence to their former employees at the expiration of the term of military service, they are under no obliga- tion to do so, and the young man is compelled to find a new situation. Then it is that he must produce the papers showing completion of his apprentice period. The ordinary ranks of the government service, with its thousands of positions in the state-owned railway sys- tem, and its numberless other minor appointments, some- times afford opportunity for a new choice of life work. Continuation school pupils are so hedged about by regulations that they can hardly fail to attend the school regularly and promptly. Parents or guard- Attendance. ians are responsible for their children or charges on the one hand, employers are responsible for their employees on the other, while between the two stand the school authorities ready to prod either or both of these influences into vigorous action. There is thus not much chance of escape for the pupil. Individual illness, or death in the family is about the only valid excuse for absence, and woe unto the employer who thinks his own work is more important than the school attendance of his employees! Transgressions are rela- tively rare, such is the German's wholesome regard for the statutes. One city, with over five hundred pupils in its commercial continuation schools, in 1911-1912 LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 53 chronicled only four instances when it was necessary for the police to punish employers for hindering employees from school attendance. It is by no means uncommon to find whole city systems where the unexcused, illegal absence runs from one-half to one per cent. On the whole, absences in Prussia may be reckoned at about four per cent., a very satisfactory showing. The com- munities that have no compulsory regulations, as might be expected, do not reach the same high standard in punctuality and regularity of attendance. This offers a good argument for communities that are willing to support continuation schools to make attendance com- pulsory, an argument that the central authorities lose no opportunity in advancing. Discipline in the schools is universally excellent. In upwards of one hundred classes that I have visited in various parts of the country, I have yet ^, . , ^ •^' -^ Discipline and to find a single instance of classroom dis- its Enforce- order. I presume the German boy even of ™ent. this age occasionally transgresses as does his counter- part in other portions of the world, but such occasions are certainly much rarer than they are in our schools. Various regulations in the school by-laws indicate that such possible breaches have certainly been anticipated and provided for by the school authorities. Circum- spect behavior is enjoined on the way to and from school, and smoking at these times is specifically for- 51 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY bidden. "School arrest" is a term foreign to the vocabu- lary of the American teacher. It signifies detention in school behind locked doors. In extreme cases where this does not bring the desired results, the director may even order police arrest. Theoretically this may mean two or three days confinement in the police station, but in practice the parent pays a fine instead, and the boy is released. Occasionally one finds school reports that chronicle with infinite detail all such serious breaches of discipline. Two hundred and forty hours of attendance consti- tute a year's school work. This extends over forty weeks of six hours each. In some towns ear an ^j^^^ -^ (^jyj(jg(j wherever possible, between Sessions. ' ^ ' two days with four hours one morning and two hours in the afternoon of another day. Some di- rectors prefer two sessions of three hours each, and some others arrange their programs for three sessions of two hours. The longer" day that is possible in summer (from seven o'clock in the morning) offers opportunity for still another variation — three sessions in summer, and two in winter. There are certain advantages to be claimed for either the double or the triple session. There is always a certain amount of waste in beginning and closing the session which would seem to throw a certain advantage in favor of the two session plan, aside entirely from the economy on the part of the pupils in LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 55 going to and from school, and the probable decrease in the number of latenesses. On the other hand, the three session scheme has the advantage of frequency and regu- larity, and minimizes the loss of inertia on account of the shorter interval between sessions. The solution of this question offers a restricted, though profitable field for empirical investigation, which one would expect the Germans to attack with avidity. At the present, how- ever, it is impossible even to determine the prevailing norm without a more extended analysis than the avail- able material will afford. With the sessions coming on different days, and dividing the week as symmetrically as possible, one finds combinations like the following: 8-12 a. m. and 2-4 p. m.; 7-10 a. m. and 2-5 p. m.; 10-1 and 2-5; 10-1 or 2-5 (two days per week); 7-9 a. m., or 8-10 a. m., or 3-5 p. m. (three days per week). When the schools were first organized, there was a deliberate attempt to hold the sessions so as not to interfere with the working day; that is, after eight o'clock at night, or on Sunday, always in the latter case, however, so timed as to avoid the hour of the principal church service of the day. It soon became evident that as thus held they were encroaching upon the already meager recreation period of the young laboring classes, and furthermore the best results were not obtainable from the work be- cause the evening classes were held at the close of a 56 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY hard day's labor when the physical and mental vitality was at relatively low ebb. A reform looking toward the correction of these abuses was therefore instituted. As far as possible all classes are to be held upon week days between seven o'clock in the morning and eight o'clock in the evening, school time thus counting as a part of the regular working day. While the ideal has not yet been reached, Sunday classes and evening work have been very largely eliminated from the commercial continuation schools. According to the latest official re- port,^ in all the compulsory commercial continuation schools in Prussia in 1910, only twelve per cent, of the instruction was given after eight o'clock at night, and less than one per cent, on Sundays, the remainder fall- ing between seven o'clock in the morning and eight o'clock in the evening. The western provinces of the kingdom present more than twice as favorable a show- ing in this respect as do the eastern provinces. The whole situation shows a considerable amelioration over the previous returns. Sunday classes will probably never be entirely eliminated, but the authorities are making every effort to discourage all after eight o'clock at night, unless there are more than six hours per week in the course. 1 Verwaltungsbericht des koniglich preussischen Landesgewerbeamts, 1912, p. 75. I LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 57 As the reports so often emphasize, the commercial continuation school is a "special school" {Fachschule)} Incidentally, it must make up the deficien- cies in the pupil's intellectual training that properly fall to the province of the elementary school, but primarily its function is to provide him with a special scientific equipment that shall open up the whole field of his future commercial life, that shall give him the theoretical background to supplement the practi- cal experiences of every day business. The official regu- lations issued by the central authority put this somewhat more simply when they say:^ ''The problem of the com- pulsory continuation school is to further the vocational training of young people between fourteen and eighteen years of age, and to cooperate in developing them into efficient citizens and individuals." 1 One might perhaps better render this for the American reader by the more comprehensive "vocational school". The German Fachschule is appUed to vocational school, industrial school, trade school, technical school, university, etc.; in other words to any school that prepares for a special work. The EngUsh language unfortunately lacks any such general term, though "vocational" would seem to come nearest to it. * Verwaltungsbericht des koniglich preussischen Landesgewerbeamts, 1912, p. 138. CHAPTER III LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS (2) PROGRAM OF STUDIES Previous to Easter, 1912, the various programs of study represented a considerable diversity of subjects of instruction. Since that date, the new ograms o regulations of the Ministry of Commerce Studies. *= "^ and Industry have imposed a nearly uni- form program upon all, although the new scheme will not be entirely in force until the spring of 1915. In accordance with this, the six periods of the preparatory division are arranged as follows: German, 3 hours, and arithmetic, 3 hours; or German, 3 hours, arithmetic, 2 hours, and writing, 1 hour. The eighteen hours of the three regular divisions are apportioned as follows: Commercial science, with German, and Correspondence, at least 6 hours. Arithmetic, at least 5 hours. Bookkeeping, at least 3 hours. Civics, at least 1 hour. 58 LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 59 The remaining three hours may be devoted to eco- nomic geography, to writing and stenography, or may be distributed among commercial science, arithmetic, and bookkeeping. In case the course occupies more than six hours per week, the rest of the time may be utilized (1) in a more extensive study of German, civics, and commercial sub- jects, (2) for foreign languages, or (3) for stenography, penmanship, and typewriting. Under like conditions, the introduction of compulsory g>'mnastics and games is strongly recommended. Below will be found two suggested distributions of subjects and time allotments for the three year course, with variations (in parenthesis) that may be followed in the smaller communities where the number of pupils is not sufficient to warrant a separate class for each year: Commercial science, with German, and Correspondence Arithmetic Bookkeeping Economic geography and Civics. . . Lower Division 3(2) 2 -d) 1 6 Middle Division Upper Division 2 1(2) 2(1) 1 Poor writers in any division may be compelled to come an additional hour for penmanship. 60 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY II. ComniiTcial science, with German, and Correspondence Arithmetic Bookkeeping Civics Penmanship and Stenography Lower Division 2(3) 2 2(1) Middle Division 2(3) 2 1 !(-) Upper Division A suggested distribution is also appended for those communities that have only four hours per week, a prac- tice that is recognized by authorities under exceptional conditions, but one that is never encouraged: Lower Division Middle Division Upper Division Commercial science, with German, and Correspondence 2 2 W2 IH 1 IM Arithmetic Bookkeeping IH 1 4 4 4 While the central authorities do not refuse to sanction modifications in the time allotment, they are specially solicitous against further dispersal of the time into smaller units. In fact, one of the chief purposes of the new program was to avoid multiplicity of subjects and to reduce the number to the minimum. At all events, they have accomplished much in simplifying the task of the investigator, if only in unifying the nomencla- LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 61 ture. There are only slight indications of any tendency to take advantage of the modicum of freedom provided in the regulations, for the programs of the various city systems conform almost literally to the suggested scheme. Some directors refer with ill-concealed satis- faction in their annual reports to the few changes neces- sary in their own school programs in order to make them accord with the new regulations. The first sug- gested distribution of subjects and hours (p. 59) seems to be the one most generally adopted. Under the caption Instruction and Education, the offi- cial regulations assert ^ that "instruction in the continu- ation school must especially consider the Aim. peculiar characteristics of the period be- tween the fourteenth and the eighteenth year, the awak- ened feeling of honor and the impulse toward independ- ence being of particular value as instruments of educa- tion. Especial stress is to be laid on character building upon a broad, moral-religious basis. "Topics of instruction must always be selected so as to further the fundamental purpose of the school, to co- operate in ministering to the pupil's subsequent life and vocational interests, and to enhance the pleasure de- rived from work A proper limitation of the material presented to the pupils is highly desirable. An * Verwaltungsbericht des koniglich preussischen Landesgewerbeamts, 1912, p. 141. 62 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY excess of topics which cannot be assimihxted through lack of time is to be deplored. Only so much material is to be brought before the class as may be thoroughly assimilated and mastered, allowing adequate time for practical application and reviews." Teaching procedure receives brief consideration in the new regulations. It is supposed to differ materially from the practice of the lower school even as the ages of the two groups of pupils are different. Formal ques- tion and answer are not to be employed exclusively either in the presentation of new material or in the re- view of old. As far as possible problems should be given which draw upon the pupils' own experience, and which would actually be encountered in their every day work. "The aim must ever be to free the pupils from the lead- ing strings of the teacher and to spur them on so as to make them capable of independent further self-develop- ment at the close of the school course." All these excerpts seem to indicate a desire for a feel- ing of self-reliance, and an independence of thought on the part of the pupils of the continuation schools that are quite at variance with the traditional principles of a paternalistic government like Germany. What little self-reliance appears, is confined to very narrow limits. The government, by the complicated system of safe- guards with which it surrounds the citizen, deprives him largely of the opportunity to exercise his individuality. LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 63 It taxes him to almost unbelievable limits, to extremes unthinkable under conditions of real democratic control, on the ground that it is much more competent to expend his money wisely than is he himself. With the modicum of his earnings that remains he is free to do as he chooses, but when living expenses are provided for, only an emasculated freedom of choice is left to the indi- vidual. Despite steady work and a thriving industrial situ- ation, living conditions are growing steadily worse. The lowest classes can have meat only with the greatest difl5- culty, and even the middle classes are beginning to feel the strain. Taxes are everywhere mounting by leaps and bounds. Formerly the state taxes were collected through local officials. Not long ago, in the belief that too much leniency was often shown here, the central government determined to make its own collections. A force of officials was sent to each large center, offices were opened, and a new regime was inaugurated. De- spite largely increased expenditures for collection, the net amount turned into the government treasury was considerably augmented. It merely meant a more care- ful gleaning, with the people paying the difference. One tax collector found that a certain commercial traveler was allowed by his firm fourteen marks per day on his expense account. (This was readily ascertainable, for every business man must keep his books in a prescribed 64 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY fashion, and must at all times have them open to gov- ernment inspection.) He informed the traveling man that he did not need more than twelve marks a day for traveling expenses, and that therefore he must pay an additional income tax on the extra two marks per day, 720 marks per year. The traveler protested, but in vain. The government had decided, and he must pay. It would be quite futile for the firm to attempt to get the better of the government by cutting the allowance to twelve marks. The state would still collect its tax on the other tw^o marks. In a similar relentless fashion, the government collects a church tax and transmits it to the churches. This can only be construed on the ground that the gov- ernment knows better what the individual's contri- bution should be than he himself. One practically has to pay it whether he is in accord with the church or not. True, by going through a certain process, he may declare that he is not in sympathy with any church, and may swear off the tax, as it were. Even then he is not relieved from the necessity of paying it for two years. Such a procedure, however, is somewhat on a par with taking the poor debtor's oath in America, for the person who does it becomes almost a social pariah. The spirit of initiative is practically possible only within limits marked out by a government that is LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 65 responsible not to the people, but to the king alone. In- dependence of thought on the part of the masses of the people is in reality almost a euphemism. German offi- cialdom seems to have a wholesome dread of anything unusual; it apparently believes it inimical to the pub- lic weal to let the people really think out anything for themselves. The proletariat believe they think abso- lutely untrammeled, but in a country so plentifully sup- plied with subsidized and semi-ofl&cial newspapers which so frequently put before their readers in the morning the policies carefully disclosed for the benefit of their Ber- lin correspondents the day before, what opportunity is there for any real independence of thought? True, the people may form their own judgments, but these are largely founded upon material emanating from inspired sources. The affair at Agadir and the incident at Nancy show what a marvelously organized press bureau the government possesses for directing the formation of pub- lic opinion. One ought not to be surprised, then, at the number of thinking men who are fairly obsessed by the idea that the hand of the world is against Germany, that Russia, France, and England are only waiting the op- portune moment to pounce upon her. With the pre- valence of this feeling, the voting of war budgets be- comes perfectly simple. One scarcely thinks of independence of thought in a country where the principles of the dominant single 66 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY party in the national assembly (1913) are anathema in the schools. Not only has a Social Democrat absolutely no chance of securing a teacher's or any other appointment in the gift of the govern- ment, but if one such official dares to exercise any freedom of thought and espouses the principles of this party, he will be officially guillotined with the utmost expedition, and will forthwith forfeit all benefit of pen- sion and the like that may have accrued by reason of past services. With certain qualifications of terms, then, the con- tinuation schools indeed do strive to develop self-reli- ance, initiative, and independence of thought, but al- ways with the German connotation, and not with that commonly accepted in America. One must constantly keep in mind that many expressions are interpreted in terms of national ideas and national ideals. Be that as it may, the subjects of study and the methods of in- struction seem admirably suited to attain the desired end. Commercial science, German, correspondence, arithmetic, and bookkeeping are narrowly vocational; the economic geography offers some opportunity for a wider orientation, but always from a purely utilitarian viewpoint; and the civic instruction provides a modicum of direct training for citizenship. Everything is reduced to its lowest terms, and everything of an adventitious nature is carefully eliminated. Below will be found a LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 67 more definite analysis of the scope of the various sub- jects, the aims to be attained, and some statement of the means by which the results are reached. Commercial science (Handelskunde) might perhaps more exactly be rendered "knowledge of business," for it aims to acquaint the pupil with the commercial various minutiae of commercial life, its Science, German, and practices rather than its theories.^ It is so correspon- closely bound up with German and corre- dence. spondence as to be united with them under a common caption. "German" in this connection has nothing to do with the literature of the language. In fact, the term is almost superfluous, for all essential details might be presupposed by the commercial science and the corre- spondence. While the expression "commercial science" is univers- ally used, one must not infer that the topics treated will be universally the same. In commer- ^ commercial cial ports like Hamburg or Duisburg, the science, subject matter would pay particular attention to the shipping and transportation trade, while in great manu- facturing centers like Barmen and Elberfeld, the com- mercial work would reflect the prevailing industries of the region. In general the topics include: * The major part of the content of the various subjects found on the pages immediately following has been adapted more or less freely from Verwaltungsberichl des koniglich preiissischen Landes- gewerbeamts, 1912, p. 142, et seq. OS COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY Lower Division: The apprentice at work and at school; conduct of business; relations with cus- tomers; buying and selling; shipping by parcel post, express, and freight. Middle Division: Trade; credit; especially bills of exchange and checks. Upper Division: Banking and exchange; rela- tions with the government; fundamentals of trade, the trading class, and partnership; general review. Teachers are urged to bring before their pupils only those problems and situations that would be encountered in the daily routine of business. Fundamentals of trade would therefore include: offers and acceptances, filling orders and delays, sales and payment therefor, claims and claim procedure, shipping by post and railroad, cir- culation of bills of exchange, relations with banks and the exchange. The regulations of the continuation school, the apprentice's indenture, advertisements and notices in the daily papers, the savings bank and its pass book, the tax bill, market reports, insurance con- tracts, and the like offer particularly good points of de- parture for discussion. The economic and the legal aspects of the foregoing should also be considered. Oc- casionally references to the historical development of the postal system, bills of exchange, and the stock ex- change, may contribute to vitalizing and solidifying the LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 60 instruction. Lessons may also be drawn from commer- cial life for inculcating ideas of good citizenship. Not only must a business enterprise be conducted for its own profit, but at the same time it must rest upon a broad ethical basis and be conducive to the national economic weal. From this point of view are to be treated the relations between employer and employee, the signifi- cance of business integrity, the dependence upon credit in the business world, the uniform regulations of finance and customs, and the like. The pupil is expected to be able to execute inde- pendently, readily, and correctly the most important papers he is likely to meet in his business 2. Written Work. or civic life, and to express himself clearly and precisely on all subjects that fall within his range of experience. The written work must be strictly lim- ited to his probable needs, and much stress is to be laid upon drafting business letters. It goes without saying that clear-cut ideas are absolutely essential to correct expression. Letters will then be drawn up and formu- lated in accordance with specific situations. As far as possible, they must be written by the pupils working independently. Variety of oral expression is encour- aged as a means of developing a flowing and pleasing style. Regular printed forms occurring in the daily routine of business are brought into the class room, and the pupils are trained to fill them out correctly and 70 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY intelligently/ The pupils are drilled in drawing up in correct form letters, circulars, business advertisements, bills, receipts, petitions and the like. Essays on com- mercial topics, lesson notes, and business forms filled in by the pupils must be examined frequently by the teacher and returned to the writers for correction. Although in the continuation school, except in the preparatory division and more exceptionally in the lower 3. Mother division, formal grammar, spelling, and Tongue. puuctuatioH havo no special place, all these subjects are treated incidentally throughout the course. Every piece of written work is a composition lesson, and every recitation is an exercise in correct oral expression. Foreign words and expressions that have become current in the commercial world are to be explained and their correct use and spelling taught, but wherever there are satisfactory German equivalents, these latter must be employed. Every effort is to be put forth in inculcating * The number of such printed forms is nothing short of astound- ing. One teacher with whom I talked stated that there were prob- ably two hundred used in the lower schools. This is far from an exaggeration, as one who takes the trouble to glance through the more than four hundred different blanks and forms in the set of " Kaufmdnnische Briefwechsel- und Formularsammlung" issued by the W. Bertelsmann Verlag in Bielefeld will easily convince himself. There is a prescribed way of making out every paper, whether it be addressing the envelope of a letter, or the label on a package to be sent by fast freight, making apphcation for a money order, or sending in a claim for goods lost in transit, and the pupil must act- ually write these and countless others in the class room. LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 71 a pure German, and a vigorous campaign is to be waged against the questionable and often faulty provincialisms that so readily creep into the language of business. Ex- cept in the preparatory division, no time can be spent upon formal reading, for this is of little moment in com- mercial science. Readiness of speech and the accom- panying written drill are far more important. Yet fa- cility in handling the ordinary printed forms of business life and documents such as statutes, contracts, and the like is an essential accomplishment. Reading may be treated incidentally in connection with the interpreta- tion of selected passages from the Commercial Code (Handelsgesetzbuch) and the Civil Code {Biirgerliches Gesetzbuch). Further than this the teachers can only urge upon their pupils the necessity and importance of good reading and direct their attention to this from time to time.. Practically all the lessons under this general rubric that it was my good fortune to hear, belonged to the division of commercial science or business procedure, and I venture to say that this ^ethodsof •^ Instruction, subject occupies by far the greater part of the seven week hours devoted to the general group during the three year course. It certainly is most in evidence to the visitor, and is the center about which nearly everything else revolves. The arithmetic is based upon it; the bookkeeping is necessarily built up on the ,2 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY same foundation. As has been already indicated, it is primarily concerned with business practices rather than business theories, for one must constantly bear in mind that this is purely a vocational school in the narrow sense of the word, that its purpose is to teach the real A B C's of commercial life. What the business man does and how he does it are of prime importance, not why does he do it, or how else might he do it. The whole German business procedure is so prescribed and regulated that a very definite program of work can be laid out which will include practically every conceivable situation the ordinary man will ever meet. The Im- perial Trade Regulations (Gewerbeordnung) , the Com- mercial Code (Handelsgesetzbuch), the Merchants' Courts (Kaufmannsgerichte) , the Insolvency Regula- tions (Konkursordnung) , and the Bills of Exchange Regulations (Wechselordnung), each a small volume which may be purchased for at most twenty cents, con- tain practically all that a business man ever needs to know about the legal aspects of his enterprise and its status, while the modicum of all this information with which the ordinary clerk, employee, or even bookkeeper should be acquainted is small indeed. Within the last few years, many good manuals have appeared that bring together all the essential facts in small compass,^ but ^ See Knork, Otto, Der kaufmdnnische Unterricht. Handbtich der MethodikfurLehrer,Kaufleute,undStudierende. Berlin, 1913. This LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 73 practically none of them ever gets down into the con- tinuation schools. Purchase of books is reduced to the minimum, the teacher furnishing the chief source of the pupil's information. Since the acquisition of facts and the successful following of a mere rule of thumb pro- cedure play such an important role in the work of the continuation school, it is perhaps not surprising that the question and answer method of instruction is so pre- valent, notwithstanding express suggestions to the con- trary in the official regulations issued from Berlin. Oc- casionally one finds instances of definite efforts to stimu- late independent thought on the part of the pupils, but they are rather infrequent. One lesson that I heard in the lower division, occupy- ing part of an hour, was devoted to a resume of the various ways in which a merchant may typical Les- ship small parcels: freight, express, fast sons: express, and parcel post. The government, ** ^^pp"'^- by the way, through its railroad ownership handles all this traffic. Each of these was defined, and its applic- ability to various kinds of goods was carefully ex- plained. Delay in delivery may not exceed the follow- ing maxima: for freight packages, two days for de- spatching, one day for forwarding the first hundred tariff-kilometers, and one day for each additional two invaluable work is' indispensable for the 'student of commercial education in Germany and Austria. It contains full bibliographies. See in this connection pp. 191-193. 74 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY hundred tariff-kilometers; for express packages, one day for despatching, and one day for each three hundred tariff-kilometers; for fast express packages, one-half day for despatching, and one-half day for each three hun- dred tariff-kilometers. Parcel post packages are sub- ject to the ordinary delivery conditions of that class of mail. Germany, including Austria as well, is divided into six zones with the following limits in geographical (German) miles: 10, 20, 50, 100, 150, and over 150. There is a carefully graduated scale of charges from twenty-five pfennigs for five kilograms or less, and five pfennigs extra for each additional kilogram, up to fifty pfennigs in the sixth zone for five kilograms or less, and fifty pfennigs for each additional kilogram. After going over each particular weight for each zone, the whole was generalized in much the same form as for the two zones stated above, and one or two practical examples were given, such as: "What is the cost of shipping a seven kilogram package from here to a town in the sixth zone?" This work in the first place shows something of the mass of detailed information that the pupil has to master and carry in mind ready for instant use. Again it indi- cates the immense superiority of the German shipping system, and suggests how it is possible for you to ask your book dealer in Cologne to order you a book from Leipzig, and to have him tell you exactly when it will LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 75 be ready for you. He knows just how long it will take for his letter to go ; he knows that the order will be filled within a few hours if the book is obtainable in Leip- zig; and he knows exactly how long it will take for the parcel to reach him. If one goes to the trouble of read- ing the post ofiice regulations a little further, one will find that for Germany and Austria, the address on a parcel post package must be written on a special yellow label, while for other foreign countries, a light gray label is required; unstamped packages must pay an ad- ditional fee of ten pfennigs, and numerous other regu- lations. None of the latter regulations was considered in this particular class, but they were unquestionably taken up at another time. Another teacher in an hour's lesson started with a phase of shipping merchandise by rail (Eisenbahnver- kehr) , moved on to the various methods of ^ g^g ^f j.^. paying for goods purchased in another ciiange. town, and concluded with a somewhat extensive con- sideration of bills of exchange. All things considered, it was one of the best lessons I heard in the continuation schools. The first two parts were largely in the nature of review, relatively little new work being presented, and the experience of the pupils being drawn upon as freely as possible, while the last and most important part consisted chiefly of new material. Fatigue was avoided, in spite of the full sixty minutes employed, by 7G COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY tlio variety of subject matter, and the pupils did at? much individual thinking as was possible con- sidering the nature of the material, and the purpose in view. A claim for the recovery of goods shipped to the wrong address provided the immediate point of de- parture. Two boys in the class were discovered who had come across just such an experience in the course of their business. After strict injunctions against using any names, the teacher asked them to tell exactly what steps were taken by their employers and how they even- tually recovered the merchandise. It is a very compli- cated process, whose recital would be of little interest to the reader. Suffice it to say, that a specific form of claim must be used. This was thoroughly discussed, and the pupils were directed to write this out each for him- self for the next time, which, by the way, a goodly num- ber did during a part of the intermission that followed the lesson. It was an easy transition from this topic to the vari- ous ways a purchaser might pay for goods bought in an- other town. The money order, postal check, exchange on the Imperial Bank, and currency sent by ordinary letter post were quickly passed in review, with a brief statement of the details necessary in each of these in- stances. One might add that the last is a perfectly safe LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 77 method of procedure in Germany and is very convenient where the exact sum can be obtained in paper money. It is only necessary to write the precise amount on the outside of the envelope and to pay a slight additional fee calculated on a sliding scale. The foregoing furnished a natural preliminary to a somewhat extensive consideration of the ordinary bill of exchange. It may be noted in passing that the personal and the certified check as we understand them in Amer- ica are practically unknown in German business circles, the great majority of the commercial payments being made by the time-honored bill of exchange. This is consequently the most important single document with which the commercial apprentice must be acquainted. It certainly occupies a dominant place in the work of these vocational schools, although some recent statistics declare that fifty per cent, of the commercial pupils never have actually to handle these bills in the course of their business careers.^ Nearly every boy in this class had seen a real bill at his employer's office, so most of the essential features were skilfully drawn from the pupils, all, I believe, except the presence of the word "Wechsel" in the body of the bill. With these facts in hand, supplemented by some additional data from the teacher, the following was written: ^ Knoek, Der kaufmdnnische Unterrichl, p. 21. 78 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY Diisscldorf, den 4 MiLrz, 1913. Drci Monaten nach hcute, zahlen Sic gogen diese Prima Wcchsel an die Order des Herrn B. die Summa von Mark acht tausend, Wert in Waren. An Becker & Co., Dortmund. F. Schmidt & Co. The five different kinds of bills of exchange, consid- ered from the point of view of the time to run, were touched upon briefly, passing consideration was given to the acceptance by the drawee, and the eight essential parts of the bill were carefully noted, to wit: (1) place and date; (2) when payable; (3) presence of the word "Wechsel"; (4) payee; (5) amount; (6) drawer; (7) drawee; and (8) place of payment. Finally came a rapid review of the whole matter on the bill of ex- change. Extended consideration of the acceptance or refusal of acceptance by the drawee, indorsement, pro- test, and numerous other attendant questions were not touched upon at all, but they would all come up at other times. The facts relating to the bill of exchange provide sufficient material for many lessons. A third year class devoted a lesson period to a con- sideration of some salient features of the German bank- ing system. A hasty sketch of the histori- 3. Banking. cal development of banking among the Romans, Greeks, and Babylonians, the use of money in trade, and the eventual introduction of exchange in Italy in the fourteenth century, provided a fitting ap- LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 79 preach to the present system. The character of the facts brought out and the means employed in doing this may be suggested by the following notes on a por- tion of the lesson: Teacher. " What is our leading bank? " Pupil. "The Imperial Bank." T. "Is this a government bank?" P. "No." T. "What kind of a bank is it?" P. "A private bank." T, "Un- der whose supervision is it carried on?" P. "Under the super- vision of the state authorities." T. "Was this the first bank of the kind in Prussia?" P. "No." T. "WTiat was the name of its predecessor? " P. "The Prussian Circulation and Loan Bank. " T. "Who founded this bank?" (This was too much for the class, and the teacher suppUed the information) "Frederic the Great." T. "When was the Imperial Bank established?" P. "1875." T. "What are its fxmctions?" P. "It is a medium for settling accounts, controls the currency circulation, and regulates the rate of discount." T. "What is the amount of its capital?" P. "M 180,000,000." T. "Is the Imperial Bank the largest bank in Germany?" P. "No." T. " What is the largest? " P. "The Deutsche Bank, Berlin," etc., etc. Thus the lesson went on. Nearly every answer given was reviewed by another pupil a few moments later. Facts were certainly driven home, but the pupils gained little out of the lesson beyond the bare facts. Yet this was a lesson whose spirit extended considerably beyond the narrow utilitarian limits of most of the work in this commercial science, for few if any of the points brought out had any direct bearing upon the daily routine of business. The issuance of bank notes was discussed at some length, but in this same narrow fashion. Foreign countries were brought in, especially France, England, and the United States. Much to my surprise, the con- so COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY ditions under which Amcricnn national banks may issue bank notes were given correctly by the pupils. Finally, during the last part of the period the work assumed a more practical turn and took up the subject of discount- ing bills of exchange, a topic bristling with technicalities for the layman. A lesson in the same general field which I heard in a girls' class in Hamburg was essentially different in 4. Business character. Hamburg is a free city, and Science. ^j^^ conditions prevailing there are not the same that one finds in Prussia. The course in question,^ three semesters in length with four hours per week in winter and six hours in summer, is primarily for sales- girls. While business science (Geschdftskunde) here is restricted almost exclusively to the conduct of the young woman in the shop, considerable scope is afforded for incidental references to the general attitude, bearing, 1 CONTINTJATION ScHOOL FOR SALESGIRLS — HAMBURG Subjects Periods per Week l-Semester 2-Semester 3-Semester German, Business science, and Deportment Arithmetic Commercial science and Busi- ness correspondence Commercial arithmetic Bookkeeping 2 2 2 2 1 1 2 LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 81 and dress of the girl outside, conduct on the street and in public conveyances, deference toward elders, and the like. Personal appearance of the clerk, neatness in dress, care of the teeth, hair, and hands, politeness toward customers, consideration of fellow employees, and nu- merous other questions of a similar nature all come in for a share of attention. One girl was called up before the class to act as sales- woman in an imaginary transaction, supposed to take place in a woman's clothing department. Another one was sent out of the room with directions to act as the would-be purchaser of a coat. Very shortly, the latter opened the door and walked in. The saleswoman greeted the customer politely, found out what she wanted, fetched a chair for her to sit upon, and brought several coats (selecting from those of her classmates that were hanging along the wall of the school room) . After con- siderable discussion, the clerk found a coat that ap- pealed to the customer, and had her try it on. It did not fit, and besides the weight of the material was not exactly to her liking. The clerk brought several more. After trying on three or four others, the customer sur- veying the fit in an imaginary mirror, she finally found a coat that suited her, and agreed to take it. The clerk took down her name and address in thoroughly formal fashion, and promised to deliver the coat at a certain time. Just at this moment, another girl, sent out shortly 82 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY before, came in as another prospective purchaser. Thus tlie clerk had two clients to handle at once. She ushered the first one to the door, and then turned to the new arrival. This latter was very hard to please. She looked over many coats, trying on several, but found nothing to her taste, and finally went away without buying. Then the other members of the class were called on for their criticisms. (At the outset of the work, they had been told to watch carefully for points worthy of note. All took out pencils and paper for their record, but very few wrote anything. The teacher had been somewhat more active in this direction.) Few of the pupils had any observations to make. The teacher pointed out several noteworthy characteristics of the transaction, but the greater part of the criticism was taken in hand by the inspector who accompanied me. Almost all the criticism was favorable. Attention was called to the good points, and numerous general sug- gestions were given on the handling of customers. Finally the saleswoman was warmly complimented; and deservedly so, for she had really done remarkably well, being thoroughly self-possessed throughout, and acting quite like an experienced clerk. One who could pass such a trying ordeal successfully would not be likely to flinch before a real customer. Much of the work of the foregoing lesson might be based upon a little booklet issued by the Retail Mer- LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 83 chants' Board under the title: "What a Clerk Should Bear in Mind: A Memorandum Book for Salesmen and Saleswomen," for the use of their employees. This pamphlet of only thirty-seven paragraphs gives succinct directions as regards the clerk's relations with and atti- tude toward customers, fellow employees, and the busi- ness. Arithmetic holds a position in the program of studies in the commercial continuation schools only slightly in- ferior to that of the work already de- scribed. According to the official regula- I. Aim. ' . tions, it should occupy at least five of the total eighteen hours. Through this, "the pupils should learn to state and to solve readily and accurately the problems that occur in commercial and civil life, and by means of selected exercises should come to a better un- derstanding of the conditions peculiar to commercial and public life." As far as it is consistently possible, the subject mat- ter in arithmetic is to be based upon the data furnished by the previous work in commercial sci- ^ subject ence, which it should clarify and strengthen Matter, by arithmetical applications.^ But inasmuch as readi- ness in calculation is of the greatest importance to the merchant, one must necessarily adhere to a systematic program of work. It will consequently be necessary at * See note, p. 67. 84 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY times to include with the arithmetic, brief essential ex- phmations that really belong to the field of commercial science. As occasion offers, the arithmetic should also be taken up in connection with bookkeeping. Relation to practical life should be the governing motive in the selection of material. Questions bearing upon deter- mination of time and principal in interest and discount, difficult examples with common fractions, problems in compound proportion, unusual calculations dealing with the monetary standard, and the like are therefore to be eliminated. Prices and other details of the problems must conform as nearly as possible to real current con- ditions. In general, the topics treated in the various classes are as follows: Preparatory Division: Review of the funda- mental processes, with particular reference to the multiplication table and short methods of calcula- tion; special drill upon examples drawn from com- mercial life involving the German system of weights, measures, and currency. Lower Division: Application of the funda- mental operations, especially simple casting up ac- counts in accordance with local conditions; most important standards of weights, measures, and cur- rency in international trade; problems involved in LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 85 relations with the post office and the railroads; the chain rule ^ (Kettensatz) . Middle Division: Percentage, interest, discount, equation of payments; introduction to invoicing. Upper Division : Accounts current ; stocks ; com- putation of exchange; continuation of invoicing. Outside this graduated mass of subject matter, time will probably suffice for some problems dealing with municipal and state fiscal administration, the tax sys- tem, insurance legislation, and the like. If the pupil's preparation has been good, some of the subjects may be advanced a grade, notably percentage to the lower division, and accounts current to the middle division. In case warehouse apprentices predominate, or separate classes are organized for special lines of work, casting up accounts in the lower division and invoicing in the middle and upper divisions need to be treated more extensively. Banking will then receive correspondingly less attention. Where the previous preparation of the pupils has been defective, the whole program will have to be compressed. Not only should the arithmetic have a general bear- ing upon the field of commercial science, but the experi- ence of the pupils must constantly be drawn upon, and some one sphere of business must be pretty thoroughly 1 Sometimes called Rees's Rule after the Dutchman, K. F. de Rees, the reputed discoverer. so COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY worked over. In general, mental arithmetic should occupy the first ten minutes of each class in the lower Method of '^^^ middle divisions. Use of abstract Treatment, numbcrs is to bc tolcratcd only when there is an evident weakness in mechanical operations. In the preparatory and the lower division, problems of every day business life are to have the preference. The most important short methods of calculation are con- stantly to be practised. Rapid calculation is of especial moment. In this field, next to casting up accounts, problems in percentage — profit, loss, discount — and in- terest are important. Problems with awkward numbers that the business man does not solve in his head are to be avoided. In long calculations, care should be taken to note down, the intermediate results. For the most part, problems in written arithmetic should deal with concrete numbers only. The problems of a single lesson should as far as possible be intimately related to one another and form one complete whole. Where problems require the settlement of some prelim- inary questions, the pupils should be trained to state these for themselves, and they should always approxi- mate results in advance. The ordinary simplifications and abbreviations current in business life are to be em- ployed. Problems dealing with municipal and state fis- cal administration, with the tax system, with insurance legislation and the like, are primarily intended to lead LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 87 the pupil in a thoroughly practical fashion to understand these departments of civic life. Practice in the more difficult problems relating to revenue has no place in the continuation school. The teacher is advised that all problems in the special exercise book need not have the appearance of copy-book work; it is only necessary that they be entered neatly and in orderly fashion. It may be worth while at times to prepare model copies as sam- ples. Surprise may be expressed in some quarters at the necessity of so much elementary mathematics after a thorough course in the lower schools, es- 4. Elementary pecially in a system that is presumed to school vs. con- tinuation School, be so efficient as the German Volksschule. In the first place, one may remind the reader of the great difficulty encountered in every school system of obtaining accurate work in mathematical operations. However good the teaching may be, there are always pupils who seem almost incorrigible from this point of view. Only by repeated drill and constant practice can one hope to overcome this failing. Even the German elementary school has not succeeded in evolving a scheme whereby this may be avoided. In the next place, the German lower school aims only to give a very general training. In arithmetic there is little beyond the fundamental operations and percentage, with some very general applications. The commercial continua- 88 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY tion scliool (as well as its correlative, the industrial con- tinuation school) is a distinctly specialized school. It trains for a particular vocation. Its mathematical prob- lems, therefore, possess the peculiar characteristics that attach to the world of business, involving processes that, aside from employing the fundamental operations and providing some general orientation with reference to the world's work, would be of no value at all to the pupil who is looking forward to an industrial occupation. The industrial worker on the other hand gets his drill in the problems of his own special school, and it has frequently been emphasized that all German life is so highly spe- cialized that once an industrial worker, always an in- dustrial worker, and once a commercial employee, al- ways a commercial employee. Hence what is the utili- tarian need for the neophyte in one of these fields to have any acquaintance with the peculiar problems of the other? The consensus of opinion among a class of boys who were asked for my benefit wherein the arith- metic of the continuation school differed from that of the elementary school was that the problems were dif- ferent, the work was more accurately and more rapidly performed, and the mechanical operations were much more involved. One might also add that short processes are employed wherever possible, and a great deal of importance is attached to mental arithmetic. LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 89 Detailed lessons in arithmetic will not possess the same interest as those in commercial science. Neverthe- less it may be profitable to outline briefly 5. Typical two or three in order that one may get a Lessons. clearer idea of the character of the problems and the general conduct of the lessons. The work of one first year class for a part of the hour was as follows: (1) Goods cost M 40. How much must be charged in order to return 8% profit? The answer M 43.20 was quickly forthcoming, the work being entirely mental, and the analysis was given thus: "One per cent, of forty marks is forty pfennigs; eight per cent. is eight times forty pfennigs, or three marks and twenty pfennigs, plus forty marks is forty-three marks and twenty pfennigs." (2) Goods cost M 130. What must they be sold for to gain 6%? (3) Goods are Usted at M 36. 6% discount is allowed. What is the selling price? If the discoimt had been 20%, how would it have been reckoned? Ans. (a) First find 10%, and then twice that; or (b) 20% is 1/5 of 100%. So 1/5 of 36. (4) Teacher. "In a stock company, the manager often has a percentage of the net profits. Thus he is likely to take an unusual interest in the success of the business. Why? . . ." This is called Tantieme. (This was evidently a new expression to the pupUs, for it was explaiued at some length.) "The manager of a business enterprise received 2% bonus. The profits on a certain venture amounted to M 8,550. How much did he receive?" (Analyzed as the other on the basis of 1%.) (5) "A Diisseldorf merchant enters into business relations with a house in Hamburg. The former ships oil to the latter to sell. The first named is called the consigner (Kornmittent) , and the second the consignee {Kommissionar) . (These were evidently relatively new terms to the pupils, for they were explained and illustrated with considerable care.) Sometimes one pays the consignee an 90 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY extra commission {Dclkrcdcrc) in return for which he guarantees payment upon all goods he sells on commission, wliether he himself receives payment or not. (Here was another new term.) The Diis- seldorf merchant paid an extra commission of 3% on a shipment amounting to M 8,400. Wliat was t lie amount of this extra com- mission?" (This was also analyzed on the basis of 1%.) The subjoined examples^ will give an idea of the very much abbreviated form of the written work: (1) WTiat is the amount of the purchasing Fr. 9.7842^.1% commission at 3% on Fr. 978.42? Fr. 29.35 k3% (2) What is the amount of selling commiasion M 43 . 9865 h 1% at 1H% on M 4,398.65? M 21.9933^ H% M 65.98 (3) What is the amount of the extra £ 4.327 ^ 1% commission at 11/5% on £ 432. £ 0.865 ^,1/5% 13 s. 9 d.? £5.192 = £5. 33. lOd (Shillings and pence are first reduced to the decimal fraction of a £ by multiplying the number of shiUings by 5 and the number of pence by iYe, having a care for the decinaal point. £432.7) (4) What is the amount of the brokerage on M 24.9152 lb 1% M 2,491.52 at^%%? M 4.1525^1/6% M 20.76 (5) What is the amount of kg. 32.76 k 1% the tare on 3,276 kg. at kg. 196.56 k 6% 6^%? 16.38 kVs% (= K%) 4.095 ^H% ( = M of J^%) kg. 217.035 (6) A firm goes into bankruptcy, pay- M 93.1255 k 1% » ing 42% on its habiUtics of M M 558.753 J 9,312.55. How much did it pay? M 3911.27 ^ ^ Feller und Odermann, Das Game der kaufmdnnische Arith- metik, 20th ed. Pt. I., pp. 121-122. LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 91 (7) What is the amount of a profit of 144 %i% on $56.25? $ 0.5625 a 1% g $ 5.0625 X 16 $81.0000 a 144% 0.4602 a 9/ii% ( = 1^1 of 5.0625^ $81.4602 A teacher who was evidently presenting the subject of "chain rule" (Kettenregel) for the first time began with the following problem: A grain importer paid 7 s. 6 d. freight per 2240 lbs. What was the cost io marks per 1000 kg. of the importation, if 1 lb. = 0.4536 kg., and £ 1 is to be reckoned at M 20 . 45? He first indicated by a partial solution the extended process and the great amount of work involved, if one attempted to find the answer in the old way. He then suggested the ''chain rule" as offering a much shorter and simpler means of arriving at the same end. The solution would then look like this: ? or X M = (cost) 1000 kg. 0.4536 kg. = 1 lb. 2240 lb. = 90 d. (7 s. 6 d.) 240 d. = £ 1 £ 1 = M 20.45 ^ 1000 X 90 X 20.45 ^ 0.4536 X 2240 X 240 One has only to simplify this equation in order to ob- tain the answer. "The result sought heads the chain of equations, with the unknown quantity in the left hand member. Each succeeding equation begins with the same unit that appeared in the second member of the pre- ceding equation. The chain closes with the same unit sought in the first." 92 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY Little more than appears in the above was vouch- safed by way of explanation, nor was any effort made to show why following this process should give the cor- rect result. It was decidedly a rule of thumb method of procedure wherein mnemonics played a very large role. The teacher did all the work and most of the talking. Another somewhat more difficult example was worked through by the teacher, the pupils contributing slightly in the mechanical operations, and the hour was over. For most American business men, a device of this sort possesses absolutely no value, but for the German, in such close proximity to foreign peoples with different standards of weights, measures, and currency from his own, one can readily see the immense value of such a method of computation in certain lines of trade. Note the great advantage in the solution of examples like the following: "If a piece of cloth, 373^ yds. in length costs £ 3. 13 s. 6 d. in London, what is the price in marks per meter, 12 yds. = 11 m., and £ 1 being reckoned at M 20.45?" » "A BerUn merchant owes a bill in Paris. Should he remit in French banknotes, which he can buy in BerHn at 81 . 50 or in Russian rouble notes? The latter can be bought in Berlin for 215.90, and they will bring 265 . 10 in Paris. " ^ * Feller uxd Odermann, op. cit., p. 103. * Droll, Karl, Sammlung von Aufgaben fiir das kaufmannische Mechnen, I., p. 34. LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 93 Equation of payments in the middle division, and ac- counts current in the upper division, judging by the em- phasis put upon them in the classes observed, are the most important topics of the last two years. Bookkeeping occupies normally three weekly periods, one in the middle division and two in the upper division, or one-sixth of the total course. "The pu- pils should come to understand the systems I. Aim. of single and double entry bookkeeping, and should acquire accuracy in the technique of mak- ing the proper entries and of closing a simple set of books for themselves." Thus runs the official statement of the aim of the course. Although single entry would ordinarily occupy one hour per week in the second year, and double entry two hours in the third year, this par- ticular distribution of time is not obligatory. For single entry bookkeeping, the transactions of a small shopkeeper may well be taken as the basis.^ Household accounts offer a fitting intro- ^ subject ' duction. In double entry it is of prime Matter. ^ importance for the pupils to understand and to employ the basic ideas, to grasp clearly the significance and the relationship of the various accounts, and to be able to balance and close them accurately. To this end, it is much better to begin with simple transactions in which the various difficulties appear progressively, and later on * See note, p. 67. 94 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY to undertake a continuous, though not too extensive, series of entries, which reproduce actual conditions as closely as possible. In every instance, the pupil must be able to justify his entry. The transactions of a ware- house business or a manufactory will provide the ma- terial for the so-called American system of bookkeep- ing. The statutes governing the merchant's accounts and tax declarations are to be discussed at appropriate times. Neatness and accuracy must be emphasized. A particularly striking feature in the application of this subject matter is the relatively large number of extremely simple transactions taken up in 3. Method. class. Most of our schools strive to intro- duce the pupils to a regular set of books at the earlies-t possible moment. The German lower commercial schools, on the other hand, defer this until relatively late. In fact, in this type of school I have never found the pupils handling a set of books independently. Even when they reach the point where they have to make the entries of a month's imaginary business, it is all class work where the individual is not thrown upon his own resources. In other words, each separate entry is dis- cussed in the class, the proper book to use, the form to be employed, and the exact wording of the same are indicated. Not until then does the pupil do any writ- ing in his book. All the work is "controlled" in this fashion, and the chance of a mistake is reduced to a LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 95 minimum. This procedure is due to a variety of rea- sons. In the first place, it is quite characteristic of German methods in general, for they are based upon the assumption that prevention is better than correc- tion, that in the long run time and trouble are saved, the danger of making erroneous entries is minimized, and proper methods of work are inculcated, if the pupil is never allowed to take a wrong step. He thus learns by his successes, not by his failures. When the ac- counts are balanced, at the conclusion of the series of business transactions, there is no anxious searching for erroneous entries. There are none. Again, one must not lose sight of the fact that this course is not intended to turn out expert accountants or even finished book- keepers. The daily work during the three years of ap- prenticeship is constantly supplementing the more or less theoretical work of the school. This, in turn, ex- plains how so much can be accomplished in such a rela- tively short time. One hundred and twenty hours, one hour per week for one year, and two hours per week for another with no home work, would avail little if not paralleled by the three years of apprenticeship behind the counter or in the office. Furthermore, the school aims not only to teach large principles, but to bring be- fore the pupils all the concrete situations of a normal business. In order to cover these in the limited time at his disposal, the teacher must necessarily devote him- 90 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY self to many scries with a very limited number of trans- actions in each, rather than to a few extended and in- volved series. Inasmuch as the accounts are closed and a balance is struck after each series, the German boy has a relatively large amount of practice in closing books, an extremely important operation in every busi- ness, even for the small merchant. As has so frequently been pointed out, everything in Germany is under the control, direction, or supervision of government authori- ties. This is especially significant in all business enter- prises, for only thus can the government keep in touch with the progress of affairs, the investments, and the profits for purposes of taxation. The Commercial Code contains very stringent and very specific regulations that apply to the small as well as the large merchant.^ Every merchant must keep books which show the exact trans- actions of his business and the state of his resources. He must keep a transcript of every letter sent out, made either by hand or by mechanical means, and likewise the original of every communication received must be preserved. When he begins business he must open a set of books which show his cash capital as well as other resources, his assets, and his liabilities. He must close his books at least once every twelve months, taking an inventory and striking a balance. While the books themselves may be kept in any living language, the bal- ^ Handehgesetzbuch fur das deutsche Reich, §§38-47. LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 97 ance sheet must be expressed in the standard currency of the Empire. Both the inventory and the balance sheet must be signed by the merchant, or in the case of a partnership, by all the partners. All books must be kept for ten years from the date of the last entry. These and other regulations of the code form an integral part of the course in bookkeeping. Such brief extracts sug- gest something of the significance of bookkeeping in German mercantile life, and show why it is important even for the pupil in the continuation school, inasmuch as he may later on have a modest business of his own. Civics and economic geography share one hour per week for each of the three years. Of the two, civics is evidently looked upon as the more im- portant, for in one of the suggested pro- I. Aim. grams, economic geography is entirely lacking, and in case the course is only four hours per week, provision must be made for covering the civics in conjunction with commercial science. "Civics has for its problem to bring about an appreciation of the re- lationship of the individual and his occupation to the common weal, in family, business, and school, in com- munity, state, and nation; to show the evolution of the essence of the most important adjustments of public life; to assure respect for the constitution and the law; to foster love for home, country, and God; and to es- tablish aims for cheerful cooperation in the state." 98 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY The subject matter is intimately related to commer- cial science, arithmetic, and bookkeeping, and particu- 3. Subject ^^^^y ^° economic geography. Results de- Matter, rived from this correlation with other sub- jects are to be brought together in the last year of the course, when should also be discussed the most import- ant provisions of the constitution of the government, local, national, and imperial, that deal with the law, with the army, and with the navy.^ An understanding of real life, not mere book knowl- edge, is to be sought. Hence the instruction must re- late to the immediate environment, and illustrations are to be chosen from the pupils' own circle of experience. The duties and the privileges arising from the relation- ship between the vocation and the social whole are par- ticularly to be discussed. The ideas gained here may readily be extended to the consideration of similar con- ditions from the state point of view. Discussion of fundamental economic and legal conceptions must be ruled out, for the continuation school does not concern itself with any systematic presentation of these relation- ships. Reference may profitably be made to the evolu- tion of certain regulations and to the achievements of great leaders. It is of the utmost importance that the young man realize that he will later be called upon to cooperate in public affairs, and he must assume his ^ See note, p. 67. LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 99 share of the responsibility for their proper conduct. Ob- viously the intrusion of party politics is strenuously to be avoided. Gymnastics and games are of great value for civic instruction if they lead by right means to the development of courage, self-control, and voluntary sub- ordination. Like so much of the other instruction in the continu- ation school, the work in civics is likely to be largely memoriter, acquainting the young men 3. Application. with governmental conditions as they are, the regulations they must observe, the laws they must obey. That this is something of a task must be evident from the statement of a recent writer ^ in citing the fig- ures published by a German prison official after a care- ful study of the period from 1882 to 1910, which showed that of every person living in Germany at this latter date, one in twelve had been convicted of some offense. "This does not mean," Mr. Collier adds, "that the Ger- mans are criminal or disorderly, but, on the contrary, it shows how absurdly petty are the violations of the law punished by fine or imprisonment," Such details necessarily sink into the background in considering the larger questions of organization and functioning of the national government, but even here the instruction is largely an exposition of the things as they are, rather * Collier, Price, Germany and the Germans. Scribner's, March, 1913, p. 289.^ 100 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY than the more fundamental question of how they came to be what they are. Whether intentionally or not, real thought-provoking questions arc conspicuous by their absence, but this is all a part of the general plan to de- velop intelligent, contented citizens. It was a great re- lief to find one unusually able teacher, who, in consider- ing the question of commercial treaties, put international affairs largely on the basis of personal relations. "What does the other nation mean for Germany commercially, and what does Germany mean for it?" — a practical, if a plainly utilitarian, point of view. This developed naturally into the treaty-making power in Germany, and then included a differentiation of imperial and state authority. Economic geography is closely linked with civics, and usually occupies one hour per week for each of the first two years of the course. Its particular Economic Geography: problem is "to acquaint the embryo mer- 1. Aim. chant with the economic relations existing between Germany and the chief nations with which it carries on trade, and thus to broaden his range of ideas." Everything naturally centers about the economic geography of Germany — its economic divisions and chief 2. Subject products, the distribution of the most im- ^^"^'' portant branches of commerce and indus- try, the significance and situation of its trade routes LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 101 and trade centers, the extent of its forests and hus- bandry. Next in importance for consideration are the German colonies, and the principal countries from Ger- many's commercial point of view, commodities and trade routes, whereby foreign relations may develop to contribute to the enhancement of the commerce and in- dustry of the home district.^ Time fails for any comprehensive treatment of the subject. It must therefore be limited to the selection of real illustrations which are allied as 3. Application. closely as possible with the home district and its economic relations. It is especially important that the pupils understand the map and learn to use it. The causal relations between soil and agriculture are to be brought out, as well as the geographical basis of the life of the state. For trade geography, the railway guide offers an admirable starting point. The most important commodities of German and of world commerce are to be indicated. Where there are special classes for the various branches of business, it is profitable to test the most important commodities by simple experiments with a view to determining their source, production, and use, but the time for this should preferably be found out- side the regular six hours per week. This last is merely an attempt to reach the same end that the schools of South Germany do in their study of commodities of * See note, p. 67. 102 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY commerce. A suggested distribution of time for the eighty lessons of the continuation school course runs as follows: ^ (1) the local economic area, 10 lessons; (2) economic regions of Germany, 30 lessons; (3) general survey of the country as a whole, 10 lessons; (4) German colonies, 10 lessons; (5) other European countries, 10 lessons; (6) non-European countries, 10 lessons. While this offers but a superficial view of the field covered, all things considered, it probably gives as satis- factory a partition of the time as could well be devised. The relatively small amount of time allotted to non- German lands is more apparent than real, for in dis- cussing Germany's manufactures, her dependence upon foreign countries for raw materials will be clearly brought out. This leads naturally to some considera- tion of the source of these materials, so that the pupil's attention will frequently be directed to foreign lands. Then again the subject matter of the continuation school does not concern itself with other nations except so far as they are necessary to Germany's welfare, either as sources from which to draw supplies, or as providing a market for German goods, or to the extent that they are commercial rivals. In view of the extent of the subject matter to be cov- ered and the brief time available, one can hardly be 1 Grtjndschied, in Knork, Der kaufmdnnische Unterricht, p. 409. LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 103 surprised to find the work in geography little more than a bare catalogue of facts. Indeed such was the impres- sion left upon me by the geography lessons .4. Method. that I heard, whether they were discuss- ing the North German plain or describing the Ger- man colonies. Topics like the following, all of which were treated during a single hour, in no wise seem to carry out the spirit of the official regulations which appear to suggest the use of the causal idea: (1) char- acteristics of the North German plain district, (a) po- litically, (b) physically; (2) its commercial connec- tions; (3) Hamburg as a commercial port; (4) Bremen as a commercial port; (5) another important harbor on the North Sea (Emden) ; (6) the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal; (7) coal lands of Northwest Germany; (8) Berlin; (9) physical geography of Silesia; (10) its economic situ- ation; (11) its agricultural resources; (12) the upper Silesian plateau, (a) mineral wealth, (b) comparison with Westphalia; (13) manufactures of the district; (14) the railroad lines from North Germany (nothing more than enumerating the principal trunk lines ema- nating from Berlin, naming the chief towns reached, and tracing these routes on the map). Aside from the fact that the pupils in this class did nearly all the talking, this particular lesson was quite typical of many that I heard. It should be noted again that the chief purpose of this grade of school is to communicate facts rather than 104 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY to stimulate thought. From this point of view the geography teaching is highly successful, although one sometimes wonders if the pupils are not likely to be overwhelmed by the mass of details presented. Stenography may appear in the program of studies of the compulsory continuation school, although it is not frequently found, at least in Prussia. At best it may have only one hour per week for the first two years, so one can hardly expect it to produce very striking results. About all that can be accomplished is to acquaint the pupils with the various characters and combinations employed and teach them to write and to read these with more or less difficulty. It is frankly admitted that if any speed is to be de- veloped the pupils must attend the optional evening courses, which are usually to be found in all the larger towns. Even in girls' commercial schools that do not belong in the class of continuation schools, where they spend three hours per week on stenography, a speed of 180 syllables per minute is certainly well above the aver- age attained. Inasmuch as these schools are not in- tended to turn out skilled operatives, it is perfectly evi- dent that much of the proficiency required must be gained in business just as is true in the case of other phases of one's business experience. There are two dis- tinct systems of stenography in general use in Germany. LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 105 The one more in vogue in the particular district deter- mines the system followed in the schools. Only rarely in North Germany does one find type- writing in the compulsory continuation school. The offi- cial regulations make no provision for it unless the course has more than six hours per week, but it is offered very frequently in optional courses given during the evening. The amount of pro- ficiency acquired here is about on a par with that in stenography. What more can be expected of an acquire- ment where mere routine practice plays such a conspicu- ous role, when at most only forty hours are devoted to it? One may find the three or four leading American makes of machines and a like number of German models in a single class room. This diversity of equipment is undoubtedly a question of finance. The community buys some machines, and the typewriter dealer will often loan others. Inasmuch as the school authorities can hardly look a gift horse in the mouth, the result cannot fail to be disconcerting to the teacher who is obliged to use visible and non-visible writers, single keyboards and double keyboards, new models and old models, in the same class at the same time. At all events there is uni- versal insistence upon the touch system of writing. In the course of the year the pupils do little more than learn the positions of the letters and the correct fingering of the keyboard. Anything in the way of real pro- lOG COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY ficiency, just as in the <'ase of the stcnograi)hy, must be gained by attendance upon voluntary evening classes, in addition, or else in the olficc of the employer. Although the oQicial regulations grant communities the same privileges, with reference to establishing con- tinuation schools for girls engaged in com- Girls' Schools. • , , . , , . mcrcial work, as for boys, this opportunity has not been so generally embraced in the case of the gentler sex. Figures for 1910 show only eight inde- pendent girls' schools in Prussia with compulsory attend- ance, as opposed to two hundred and sixty-nine for boys, and five others where attendance is optional. Besides, there are thirty-six schools that have separate classes for girls, and twenty-seven others where the two sexes are admitted together. Official figures are not readily available to enable one to estimate accurately the rela- tive opportunities for boys and girls in this type of school, but approximately the number of girls' schools is one-sixth that of the boys', with a school population about one-seventh as large. At first sight, then, it is not surprising to find that the programs of the girls' schools have been largely dominated by those of the boys' schools, but, when one considers the ultra-specialization of each type of educational institution in Germany, it does give rise to some wonder, particularly when un- official statistics for all Germany show that from fifty to sixty per cent, of the young women in business life LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 107 are never called upon to do office work. Conditions in Prussian commercial continuation schools are doubtless even less favorable than this. Indeed, some communi- ties will show as few as four or six per cent, of the girls engaging in office work. As the girls' schools become more numerous a more specialized and more suitable program of studies will doubtless be evolved for them. Even now the regula- tions admit of some slight differentiation, but mani- festly this is only possible where there are separate schools, or at least separate classes for the two sexes.^ The modifications thus far recognized cover two points only: the substitution of a study of "life re- sponsibilities" (Lebenskunde) , for the civics of the boys' course, and the introduction of household economy. "Life responsibilities" in this sense treat primarily wo- man's position in the family and the home, in vocation and community. Household economy is recognized as essential, even for girls who are engaged in commercial life. As far as possible this instruction should find a place outside the six prescribed hours of the continuation school course, but, in case this is not done, it may even be accepted as a part of the compulsory instruction. What other subjects or parts of subjects are to be dis- placed, however, are not indicated. Unfortunately household economy instruction in the continuation school ^ See note, p. 67. 108 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY as yet exists largely on paper. Some thoughtful men interested in commercial teaching object to the compul- sory school for girls altogether on the ground that it attempts to prepare them for something quite remote from their real life interest; that few of them will con- tinue in commercial work until twenty-five years of age, and fewer still until thirty; and that probably nine- tenths of them will eventually be married and have homes of their own. In the eyes of these men the girls' continuation schools might more profitably devote the greater part of their time to household economy, house- wifery, or some similar subject. One must confess that girls' commercial continua- tion schools in Germany have reached a far less stable state of equilibrium than have the corresponding boys' schools. Their numbers are growing slowly, the introduction of boys' schools paving the way, as it were, for the subsequent establishment of girls' schools, but this is all attended with more or less uncertainty. Their absence has heretofore been par- tially supplied by a so-called girls' commercial school, a type of school found in some of the larger towns and intended for girls who have had only the elementary school training, but who propose to become stenogra- phers, typewriters, and office clerks. Aside from stenog- raphy, typewriting, and gymnastics, the subjects of in- struction do not differ from those of the ordinary boys' LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 109 continuation school. Sometimes the course is one year in length, and sometimes two years, the former being the more frequent, but, in any event, it takes up the girl's full time, and occupies from fifteen to thirty periods per week, according to the town.^ It thus pre- pares for a business career, and is not a mere adjunct of an apprenticeship period. As far as topics covered and method of treatment are concerned this school does not differ materially from the ordinary continuation school, for it is * Girls' Commercial School Courses — Dortmund.* Periods per Week Subjects One-Year Course Two- Year Course I II Commercial theory, with Ger- man and Commercial papers Commercial arithmetic Bookkeeping Economic geography, with Commodities of commerce. Civics Penmanship Typewriting Stenography Gymnastics and Games 5 4 3 2 1 2 4 3 2 4 3 2 '2 3 2 2 4 2 2 2 1 '3 2 2 26 18 18 ^ Stddtische kaufmdnnische Unterrichtsanstalten zu Dortmund, 1912-1913, pp. 10-11. 110 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY based upon substantially the same previous instruc- tion, and is fitting its pupils for a similar kind of oflicc work. Even these young women are not expected to be expert operators at the conclusion of their school course. They will probably be able to take dic- tation at the rate of 160 syllables per minute, and to do typewriting at a fair rate of speed, as a result of five hours per week spent on these two subjects for one year. Further proficiency must come through real of- fice experience. The major part of them practically never do anything but stenography and typewriting, for which they will receive from thirty to eighty marks per month, depending upon the intelligence and skill of the individual, as shown in her school course, and the oflBce where she may find a situation. The city of Bar- men, for instance, in its municipal departments pays these girls seventy marks per month at the outset. Graduates of this type of commercial course may even- tually look forward to receiving one hundred, and per- haps one hundred and fifty marks, per month. This one-year commercial course for girls suggests a similar arrangement for boys, which is, however, found ^ „ but rarely. It nevertheless touches a fun- One-Year vs. *^ Three-Year damental problem, namely: whether it is oiirse. better to have a course extending over three years for a few periods per week, or over one year for full time. Under the existing Prussian regulations of LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 111 the optional continuation school it is quite possible for a community to do as it pleases in the matter. In South Germany, where the obligatory continuation school is firmly established, the community has no choice. It is significant to note, however, that the one-year scheme has attracted few adherents among the school men, al- though one finds at times a considerable demand for it among the merchants. In Dortmund, which, by the way, has both the one-year commercial course and the obligatory continuation school, '^ the director is a strong partisan of the one-year scheme. He believes in it thor- oughly, and asserts that much more can be accom- plished here than in the continuation school, for the former has twenty-six hours per week for one year, while the pupils in the latter have only six hours per week for three years, or eighteen hours in all. Further- more, in the continuation school, meeting as it does only twice a week, the teachers are obliged to spend much time in review, and they can consequently make only relatively slow progress, while there is the additional handicap of the time lost in getting under way in school after the decidedly different working environment of the business house. Furthermore, the continuation school pupils are called upon for no home tasks, whereas in the one-year course the pupils must put in at least ^ It should be noted that the compulsory attendance regulation is suspended in the case of the pupils of the oue-year course. 112 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY two or three hours per day outside. In reality, then, the latter pupils spend somewhat more than forty week hours on their course, while the former devote only eighteen at the maximum. At first sight this seems an unanswerable brief in favor of the shorter, more intensive course. On the other hand, looking at the question purely from the standpoint of the information gained, and granting the truth of the assertions above, there are two factors to be considered. In the first place the subjects of the one- year course must be treated from a more or less scholas- tic point of view. They concern matters that are not yet within the practical experience of the pupils, while, in the continuation school, they are closely allied with the everyday life of the participants. In fact, the worth of the latter course is largely measured in terms of its approximation to the actual conditions of the business world. In one instance it is a case of theory, intensi- fied, if you please, as a preparation for practice; in the other, theory and practice go hand in hand, the every- day work of the continuation school apprentice provid- ing a field of application for driving home the lessons of the school. It is hardly fair, therefore, to compare the forty or more hours of the one-year course with the eighteen hours of the three-year course; but one might rather set twenty-six hours over against eighteen hours plus some indeterminable amount of time from the daily LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 113 business wherein the boy finds problems in his employ- er's office that supplement the instruction of the school. In the second place, will the problems of the one-year course mean as much to the boy of fifteen as those of the three-year course to the boy of seventeen? This is a matter that is not easily determined. But two years at this juncture in a boy's life probably count for more with him than a corresponding period at any other time. His physical development is accompanied by an intellec- tual and social development, by a widening sympathy and a broadening of interest, by an increasing ability to appreciate the significance of the world of affairs and its problems that must certainly be reckoned with. These last unquestionably develop much more rapidly with the youth who is beginning to earn his own living than with one whose world view is dependent upon the perspective of the schoolroom. Again, in view of the significance of the subjective evolution which characterizes the whole period of adol- escence, may not the continuation school, even with only six hours per week, furnish a salutary conservative influence, whose worth cannot be easily evaluated? In the case of the one-year course, the boy leaves school at fifteen years of age to make his way in the world. He is thenceforth free from all external restraint save that exercised by the home and the body civic and po- litic, just at a time when he has need of every possible 114 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY restraining influence. The school, if only by reason of the formal observance of its regulations, is in this way a factor for good that most compulsory education re- quirements completely disregard. The continuation school holds the pupil within the sphere of its influence for at least two years longer, and, aside from the point just raised, possesses invaluable opportunities for in- fluencing his reading, for directing his thinking, and so of affecting his whole intellectual and spiritual develop- ment. It may be interesting to present a brief tabular com- parison (found on the following page) of the continua- tion school course and the commercial school course in Dortmund, where the former has been in operation since 1905 and the latter since 1910. In the commercial school commercial science is called commercial theory, and arithmetic goes under the more descriptive title of commercial arithmetic. Economic geography is there grouped with commodities of com- merce, while civics stands by itself, whereas, in the con- tinuation school, economic geography and civics are grouped together. Penmanship, typewriting, stenogra- phy, gj^mnastics, and games are found only in the com- mercial school program, but these occupy eight hours, and exactly make up the time difference between the two courses. A comparison of the topics of instruction of the two courses reveals only minor differences, and one LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 115 CONTINTJATION SCHOOL ANT) COMMERCIAL ScHOOL CoURSE — Dortmund i Subjects Compulsory Continuation School (Three Years) Total Week Hours Commercial School (One Year) Week Hours Commercial science,* with German and Commercial papers Arithmetic' Bookkeeping Economic geography and Civics Economic geography, with Commodi- ties of commerce Civics Penmanship Typewriting Stenography Gymnastics and Games has reason to believe that the method of treatment is in both cases essentially the same. Thus, while there is no desire to minimize the worth of the commercial school course, it must be apparent that it differs from the continuation school course largely by the presence of a few merely formal subjects of instruction, and that the real content values of the two are probably not widely different. In 1912-1913 the commercial school had 33 pupils, as against 613 in the compulsory continuation school, 1 Stddtische kaufmdnnische Unterrichtsanstalien zu Dortmund' 1912-1913, pp. 10, 14. 2 "Commercial theory," in the commercial school. '"Commercial arithmetic," in the commercial school. I U) COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY figures which would seem to indicate that the former has not succeeded in gaining the popular approval. Un- doubtedly the question of fees is an important factor, for one hundred marks is a considerable sum for a Ger- man parent of the lower classes to pay out, especially when he can send his son to the continuation school, where the boy's employer will have to pay the fees. Inasmuch as this sum will be more than returned before the three years are up in increased wages, this can hardly account altogether for the great discrepancy in the en- rollment. Many merchants, not only in Dortmund, but in other towns as well, are heartily in favor of this one-year com- mercial school, as against the continuation ■«,r \^ ? school, partly because they are thus re- Merchants. ) f J J lieved from the necessity of bearing the expense of their employees' schooling, and partly because they are then absolutely in control of the boys' time throughout the working day. The first of these reasons is more apparent than real. It is true that the fees in the commercial school must be borne by the parents, so that the employer will save twenty or thirty marks per year, for three years, at most a total of ninety marks. On the other hand, the apprenticeship period of the commercial school boy is completed in two years, so that for the next year the merchant must pay him considerably more in wages than he would have had to pay the apprentice LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 117 in his third year. Thus, what he saves in one place, he probably loses in another. It is quite likely, however, that he gets better service for the money expended. At all events he does not have to arrange his work so as to allow for regular absence from business at fixed periods during the week — a requirement which must be some- what irksome, to say the least. This is undoubtedly a real source of grievance on the part of the merchants, for, however much the school authorities may endeavor to mitigate the annoyance, it works hardship with some. At the same time one is moved to ask to what extent the convenience of a relatively small proportion of the community should be allowed to hazard the general good. The influence of the central authorities, as evi- denced by the continuation school program, is cast on the side of the general good. They do not recognize the short, intensive course as being the equivalent of the longer continuation school course. CHAPTER IV LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS (3) MUNICH COMMERCIAL CONTINUATION SCHOOL Lower commercial schools in the other German states present such a variety of conditions as to render any attempt at generalization difficult indeed. _. . Each of the twelve states where a compul- Prussia. ^ sory attendance law is universally in operation regulates its own school affairs, and is not at all subservient to the example set by Prussia. On the whole, then, it seems better to devote some attention to describing the conditions that prevail in the Munich school, which may be taken as typical of one of the bet- ter South German commercial continuation schools, and so of all to be found in the empire. The content of courses and the methods of instruction may be some- what cursorily treated, for much of what has already been said of Prussia will apply with equal force to con- ditions there. This Munich school has a home of its own, over- looking the main market-place of the city. The build- 118 LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 119 ing, now old and considerably out of date (it has been in use for over forty years), is not well adapted to school purposes, but the authorities are looking forward to a new building before ^ ^^'^, ° ° School. many years. There are five departments, to wit: the compulsory continuation course; elective courses in stenography, typewriting, and foreign languages; a Courses, course for apprentices who hold the certifi- cate for the one-year volunteer service in the army; a continuation course for merchants' clerks who are be- yond the age limits of the compulsory attendance law; and a course for retail merchants.^ The control of the school is vested in a board of gov- ernment, consisting of a representative of the city authorities as chairman, the director of the school, and three business men of the city, -, ' -^ ' Government. one of these latter being president of the Chamber of Commerce. In this way the interests of the city are safeguarded, intelligent professional control is guaranteed, and the cooperation of the merchant body of the city is encouraged and assured. It is thoroughly characteristic of the German tendency to divorce edu- cation from politics and put school control in the hands ^ Most of the following material is taken from the annual report of the school (Slddlische Kaufmannschule, 5 Jahresberichl, 1910- 1911) and observations made during a visit to the school in April, 1912. 120 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY Attendance. of an interested and competent body. Such a board of government must command the confidence of the practi- cal business man, and assure him that the school course will be kept alive and in close contact with actual busi- ness conditions. Attendance is compulsory for all boys under eighteen who are employed in any commercial business, unless they possess the certificate for the one-year volunteer service in the army. Exception is also made in the case of warehouse employees and others who are not occupied with the purely commercial side of the business. This attendance obligation is in force until the course is finished, or until the comple- tion of the pupil's eighteenth year. The following table shows the attendance at the close of each of the last six years: MUNICH COMMERCIAL CONTINUATION SCHOOL Attendance Year Apprentices. . Clerks 1906-'07 815 1907-'08 971 1908-'09 992 1909-'10 1053 31 1910-'ll 1453 23 1911-'12 ) 1600 j apprx. The course lasts three years, with annual promotions, but, in case a pupil is not prepared to take the work, he may be required to enter a pre- w^°k^H° ° paratory class. The following are the subjects of instruction, with the weekly time allotment: LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 121 MUNICH COMMERCIAL CONTINUATION SCHOOL Program of Week Hours Subjects Prep. Class I Class II Class III Class Obligatory: Religion Arithmetic Theory of exchange Bookkeeping and accounting . Commercial correspondence. . Commercial geography Commodities of commerce. . . Training for citizenship Commercial regulations Penmanship Elective : Stenography TypewTiting Foreign languages. 2 21 2 2 21 2 2 21 2 1 For one-half year. The course for one-year volunteers, organized for the first time in the school year 1910-1911, consists of book- keeping and correspondence, 2 hours; arithmetic and theory of exchange, 2 hours; commercial theory, 1 hour, and civil government, 1 hour. The continuation course for older boys confines itself chiefly to bookkeeping, 1% hours per week, while the merchants' course has book- keeping and correspondence, 2 hours ; commercial theory, 1 hour, and commodities of commerce, 1 hour. It should be borne in mind that the boys who attend this school have already chosen their occupations in life. 122 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY Consequently their vocational training here will all be concentrated upon a relatively narrow field. In the industrial schools the large numbers make J°™° ^ it possible to arrange the work so that the bakers will be together, the confectioners will be by themselves, and so on through the long list of specific occupations. The commercial pupils are not suffi- ciently numerous to carry out this plan in detail, although Munich provides for more differentiation than most of the other cities. To this end the boys are all divided into four large groups, the first consisting of those working in banks, in the transportation or insurance business, and in the bookselling trade; the second including those engaged in any business dealing with food products and supplies; the third comprising all those employed in the dry-goods or any branch of the clothing business; and the last composed of those handling glass, porcelain, metal goods, building material, fuel, and other wares from the inorganic world. During the year 1911-1912 each of these groups enrolled about one-fourth of the pupils in the school. The ordinary academic year runs from September 15 to July 14, although the "clerks' " course begins Octo- School ber 1 and ends May 31, while the "mer- Sessions. chants' " classes are the shortest of all, covering the five months from November to March in- clusive. Everybody enjoys a long Christmas vacation, LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 123 December 15 to January 2. Furthermore, out of defer- ence to the week-end business of the merchants, there are no classes on Saturday afternoons, and Monday morning is likewise free from all class work. Every effort is made to interfere as little as possible with the ordinary working day, but at the same time no one of the compulsory attendance classes is allowed to encroach upon the pupils' leisure time, a reasonable dis- tribution of instruction is insisted upon, and each indi- vidual pupil must come one morning and one afternoon. The sections are arranged as follows, the eight hours of the week being distributed in two groups: Monday, 2 — 6 p.m. and Thursday, 8 — 12 a.m. Tuesday, 2 — 6 p.m. and Friday, 8 — 12 a.m. Wednesday, 2 — 6 p.m. and Saturday, 8 — 12 a.m. Tuesday, 8 — 12 a.m. and Thursday, 2 — 6 p.m. Wednesday, 8 — 12 a.m. and Friday, 2 — 6 p.m. The elective classes in stenography, typewriting, and modern languages are held in the evening, from seven until nine o'clock. Municipal ownership of the street railways, which is so general throughout Germany, enables the city to en- courage school attendance very materially.^ .. ° J J Cooperation of In going to and from school pupils travel Municipal on a special ticket, which is sold at the ^'"^^^^ P- remarkably low price of two marks for the half year. The government of the district in which Munich is 124 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY situated and the city itself share equally in the sup- port of the school. The expenses for the year 1910-1911 amounted to 82,430 marks for salaries, Expenses and g200 marks for supplies, and 80,000 marks Fees. rr- ; ; for changes in the building. On the basis of 1476 pupils who completed the year's work this gives a per capita cost for instruction of about 62 marks, a figure considerably higher than we found in Prussia. For the compulsory courses in the continuation school, as well as for the stenography, no fees are charged, while typewriting costs 2 marks, and foreign languages cost 10 marks per course. The fees for the one-year volun- teers' course amount to 30 marks for the year, and for the clerks' and the merchants' courses the charge is reck- oned on the basis of 2 marks for each week hour. The maximum cost to the pupil would thus in no instance exceed $7.50 per year. As in the other school programs of Germany religion occupies a prominent place. It is so arranged that g , . , everybody receives instruction one hour Instruction, per week in each of the first two years I. Religion. fYQY^i an accredited teacher of the confes- sion to which his family belongs. Four Catholics, one Protestant, and one Jewish teacher, all of whom are clerics, figure in the teaching force for this especial pur- pose. The course thus follows the prescriptions laid down by the various ecclesiastical authorities in ques- LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 123 tion, and is practically beyond the control or even su- pervision of the school authorities. However distasteful such a situation might be to us, it is accepted as a mat- ter of course there, for it is merely following the practice that prevails generally throughout the elementary schools in Germany. Arithmetic, naturally a fundamental subject in com- mercial schools, is invariably treated from the practical point of view, with all purely theoretical . 2. Arithmetic. discussions rigidly excluded. The sole basis for the presence of any topic or process in this program of studies is its ability to function in the every- day business world. While the printed regulations seem to impose a uniform course upon all, the language of the problems of each group is distinct from that of every other group. They all review the four fundamental op- erations, but always in the concrete. Hence, the par- ticular problem of one group would not occur in another group, although the arithmetical principle involved would be exactly the same. Percentage and interest oc- cupy a very large place among the topics treated. In this work the method of aliquot parts is very generally employed, and much importance is attached to mental calculation. Some of the problems in interest that the German boy solves readily and accurately in his head would fairly stagger the American youngster. Every step is taken deliberately, with the analysis of each 126 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY operation stated explicitly before proceeding with the next step. The result is that nobody can go very far wrong without being checked up. The underlying idea is to prevent errors being made, rather than to correct them after they have been made. Considerable atten- tion is paid to foreign weights, measures, and monetary systems, especially those in vogue in England, the United States, France, Italy, and Russia. The comparative values of the various monetary standards, both commer- cially and intrinsically, present some very interesting problems for the last year boys. "Theory of exchange" is rather a misnomer for the German Wechsellehre, for the subject contains consider- 3. Theory of ^^^^ more of practice than of theory. The Exchange. ^^^ hour per wcck assigned to this subject in the second year of the course is devoted to the devel- opment of exchange in general, and to the genesis of the Imperial German Regulations regarding bills of ex- change. It goes without saying that these regulations are explained in detail, and considerable attention is devoted to practical hypothetical cases based thereon. Indeed, from the painstaking definition of terms, and the care displayed in drawing up bills of exchange, together with all the legal technicalities involved, one might al- most imagine that the teachers were training young law- yers instead of young business men. Aside from the arithmetic, no subject of the three LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 127 years' course receives so much attention as bookkeeping and accounting. The first two years are spent upon single entry bookkeeping, while the two 4. Bookkeeping hours per week in the third year are given and Accounting, over to double entry, and the so-called "American sys- tem." The pupils are accustomed from the first to the use of the various books in the particular system employed, the work being so selected that all the ordinarily possi- ble transactions of business conduct shall occur several times throughout the progress of the work. Each pupil has a complete set of books, and is required to open and close them frequently during the course. In one class that I visited in another South German city, each pupil received a mimeographed list of thirteen transac- tions purporting to cover the business of one month. During the two hour and a half lesson an entire set of books was opened and the entries were completed. Ac- cording to directions given at the close of the class period, the books were to be closed next time and the balance sheet made out. This seems like hurried and superficial work, but the principles involved were so varied that anybody who could do this correctly would be quite able to keep a set of books for any ordinary business. Here, as everywhere else, the individuals in the class moved almost as a unit. Each transaction was discussed, somebody was called upon to suggest the proper entry, and then each one in the class made it. 128 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY Tlio wiiolc process was almost military in its nature, with each one going his own way, but always in pur- suance of some direction. The fact that the pupils them- selves, rather than the teacher, indicated the step to be taken saved the process from being purely mechani- cal. The teacher was trying to inculcate the habit of making correct entries: first, by assuring himself that the pupils knew what they were going to do and why; and, second, by never allowing them to make a mistake in the doing. In this particular instance the military illusion was still further enhanced by the teacher's fre- quent orders: "Take pens!" "Lay aside pens!" Business correspondence is very closely connected with bookkeeping and the theory of exchange. The whole 5 Business Cor- P^rpose of the iustruction is to enable the respondence. p^ipils to Write courtcously, corrcctly, and clearly, and to teach them to eschew the reprehensible commercial jargon that is so prevalent. They are prac- ticed to the utmost nicety in making out all sorts of or- ders and receipts, in filling out the multifarious blanks connected with the shipment of goods by parcel post, express, or freight, and in carrying on the correspond- ence relative thereto. The number and variety of blanks that the German business man must be familiar with which are all to be filled out correctly, to the dotting of an "i" and the crossing of a "t," is positively astound- ing, and with these business apprentices nothing may LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 129 be left to chance. There is a rule for everything, and everything must be done according to rule. Then, too, there are the various sorts of letters covering purely commercial transactions, bids, and acceptances; letters relating to commercial balances; letters and advertise- ments in seeking a position; and letters to civil and po- litical officials. It would be difficult to suggest a con- tingency of business which would not be anticipated in this course, and for which the pupil would not be fore- armed with a formula. Commercial geography, as taught here, is real geogra- phy of commerce. It ranks with arithmetic, business correspondence, and citizenship as the g. commercial most consistently followed subject of the Geography. course. For the first year the German Empire provides the material for study. Land and water area, climate, agricultural resources, population, political divisions, important seaports, foreign shipping and inland com- merce, important railways, and industry cover most of the topics treated. Although the acquisition of facts occupies a large place, it is all accompanied with ex- tremely good didactic work on the teacher's part. One lesson that I heard in this school was a remarkably in- spiring and instructive discussion on the progress of German industrial development, especially during the last sixty years. The only text in the hands of the pu- pils was one of those incomparable German commercial 130 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY atlases, containing fewer than fifty pages. Other European countries occupy the time during the second year, and tlic remainder of the world during the third year. At this latter period the work of the German consular service abroad forms an important topic of consideration. Commodities of commerce (Warenkunde) is closely allied with the preceding subject everywhere, except in 7. Commodities ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ bank-trausportation-insur- of Commerce. ^^^^ group.^ Here the topics are confined to what one might call the "raw materials" of this group: creation and organization of banks and business enterprises, the stock exchange, fairs,' and various phases of the insurance and transportation problems. In the other groups the raw materials are carefully stud- ied, their habitat, cultivation, transportation, prepara- tion for the market; their purity, or genuineness; their adulteration, or imitation; their use, packing, and pre- serving. Utilization of the collections in the school museum and visits to local manufactories figure largely in this study. One notable feature about this type of school all over the country is the importance of the school museum. No better evidence of the interest of the local merchants 1 Cf. p. 122. * The mediaeval fair still survives in the important towns of Ger- many, and has still to be reckoned with both from the financing and the distributing point of view. LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 131 and manufacturers could be desired than to glance at the extent of the numerous collections in the school mu- seums and to note the sources whence they came. For example, the commercial school at Mannheim has a magnificent collection of raw tobacco of all grades from the chief sources of supply the world over. This col- lection, valued at 10,000 marks, was the gift of one business man of the town. Training for citizenship (Lebens- und Bilrgerkunde) is a favorite topic of Dr. Kerschensteiner, the head of the Munich system of schools, and its g. Training for presence among the subjects of instruction citizenship, here is due to his interest and enthusiasm. His ideas along this line first took printed form as a part of his essay, Training of Youth for Citizenship during the Years between Fourteen and Twenty, which received the prize of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Erfurt, in 1902. This general subject, which continues throughout the course, aims to lay down large principles of conduct, illustrated by numerous specific practical examples, that shall render the individual a sound, sane, and helpful member of the community. In the first year the topics concern the individual's attitude at home, in school, on the street, and in society, toward employer, helpmate, and vocation; the apprentice, accepting employment, his indenture and responsibility, the proper use of his time in preparation for his calling; the devel- 132 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY opmcnt and care of his body. The second year is occupied with the development of commerce in Germany, a brief history of the railroads, ship- ping, postal, telegraph, and telephone services. The third year treats of one's dependence upon economic forces: trade unions, commercial associations, business organizations; the rights and duties of the merchant in the political world ; and the commerce court. One needs only to glance over the foregoing to see how extremely practical and valuable is the mass of information con- tained therein, and how essential it is in a country like Germany, w^here almost every movement the individual makes from the beginning of his life until the end is either sanctioned or forbidden by some official regula- tion. The inexorableness of the natural law finds ade- quate supplementing in the equal inexorableness of the German statute law. Woe be it unto the individual who is ignorant thereof! In the third year all legal regulations which the pupil has encountered throughout his course that the 9. Commercial merchant should know, whether in the Regulations, general conduct of business, in accounting, in the postal and telegraph service, in the shipment of goods, in payment of duties, or in remittance of funds, are reviewed and brought into some systematic order. This is a resume and a codification, as it were, of the essential legal facts of the course. LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 133 One hour per week in each of the first two years devoted to principles of penmanship reaches beyond the domain of mere pen manipulation, al- ^o. Penmanship though much stress is laid upon the ac- ^^^ Reading, quisition of a legible hand, both in the German and the Latin script. Not only is an opportunity afforded for correcting an otherwise faulty spelling, but the pupils are introduced to the current abbreviations of the com- mercial world, as well as to the common foreign words with which they should be acquainted. Pursuant to the general practice in the best continental schools, all these points are constantly and consistently kept before the attention of the pupils, whatever may be the par- ticular subject of study under consideration. Although no specific time is set apart for reading, every effort is made to develop the moral and general culture of the pupils, as well as to inculcate in them a taste for good literature. Stenography, typewriting, and modern languages, the three elective subjects, are all taken up from a narrowly utilitarian point of view. In this particu- „ Elective lar school English and French are the only Subjects, foreign languages offered. Literature does not figure at all, and grammar is reduced to the least possible amount. Some opportunity is afforded for training in the spoken language, but familiarity with the commer- cial vocabulary of the particular group to which the 131 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY pupil may be attached, and ability to handle simple correspondence in the foreign language receive the chief emphasis. At first sight the Munich program appears to differ very widely from the Prussian official regulations, but a more careful study will bring to light more Munich and >=> ^ Prussian or less conformity. Neither religion nor Programs, penmanship figures at all in the ordinary Prussian program. Penmanship is found, however, in the preparatory division, and is required as an additional subject for poor writers in all divisions. The question of religious instruction is touched upon in a Prussian joint ministerial order, issued in 1897 by the Minister for Spiritual, Educational, and Medical Affairs (the for- mer official title of the head of the educational system) , the Minister of Agriculture, and the Minister of Com- merce and Industry. This order recognizes the desira- bility of religious instruction for the industrial and agri- cultural continuation schools. While religion cannot appear on the program of studies, the local authorities are urged to put the schoolrooms at the disposal of the clergy of the two recognized churches at the close of the regular classes for voluntary religious teaching and lectures. As the commercial continuation schools were founded they became automatically subject to this or- der. In Bavaria, however, the Catholic influence has LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 135 been strong enough to have religious instruction in the continuation schools made a part of the required work. Commercial science, with German, and correspond- ence, seven hours in the Prussian schools, covers sub- stantially the same ground as theory of exchange, com- mercial correspondence, commodities of commerce, and commercial regulations, six hours, in Munich. This dif- ference is not significant. Arithmetic and bookkeeping receive in Prussia five and three hours per week, respec- tively, as against four hours for each in Munich. The totals are the same, and the contents of the courses are not materially different. Economic geography and civ- ics, three hours in Prussia, must be set over against commercial geography and training for citizenship, three hours each, in Munich. The three hours gained here, together with the two hours for religious instruction, make up five of the six hours that represent the differ- ence in the total lengths of the courses, eighteen hours in Prussia, and twenty-four hours in Munich. This suggests the possibility of a considerably greater civic and ethical influence in the southern country than in the northern, a possibility which I am inclined to be- lieve is actually realized in practice. The Prussian pro- gram is strongly typical of the growing materialism that seems to be gripping the country more and more power- fully, while the Munich program strives to retain some- thing of the old idealistic spirit. Stenography, type- 136 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY writing, and modern languages, even as electives, and, even though treated from a narrowly practical point of view, give evidence of a belief in the desirability of a wider range of subject matter than that offered by the Prussian course. The latter represents substantially the absolutely irreducible minimum that may be called a commercial course fitting for business life. The former does all that, and aims to orientate its pupils, even though to a modest degree, somewhat outside the very narrow field of their vocational interests. Regular teachers, to the number of twelve, handle the major part of the instruction in the Munich school, ^ ^. although there are two Volksschule teach- Teaching Force and ers assigned here for special classes, in asses. addition to the six teachers for religion, sixteen teachers appointed for stenography, five for French, and four for English, some from the Volks- schulen and some from the secondary schools. In 1910- 1911 there were forty-six classes in the school, the largest having thirty-seven and the smallest twenty-three pu- pils, with an average of thirty-two. If one is justified in making any generalizations after a few days' visit to the school and its classes, one must School acknowledge the evident success of the Success, work as a whole. Mr. Hans Baier, the director since 1906, is undoubtedly responsible for a large measure of this. Happiness and contentment are LOWER COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 137 reflected in the faces of the pupils, and the seriousness of their purpose is everywhere apparent. Yet one must not hastily conclude that the German boy is inherently any more serious than are our own boys. Economic pressure and the disastrous results from failure "to make good" in school are enough to sober any young- ster who fully realizes their significance. With the German these incentives are as difficult to lose as one's shadow, for home, school, and society are constantly forcing them in upon his consciousness with ever in- creasing relentlessness. Such are the organization and the work of one of the German commercial continuation schools, typical, per- haps, of the best to be found in that coun- ^ ^ ' German vs. try, yet representative of them all, showing American a phase of educational activity whose °° * *°°^* worth we in the United States are but now beginning to appreciate, yet one of which we must take cognizance, unless we are willing to become hopelessly distanced in the race for commercial supremacy in the markets of the world. Most of our states are supinely contented if they have on their statute books a perfunctorily enforced compulsory school attendance law that keeps their chil- dren in school until the age of fourteen. Here is a na- tion that not only actually keeps all its children in school as long as we do, but holds a goodly portion of them there on part time for three years more, and gives 138 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY them training of a most practical sort in the field they have chosen for their life work. In a factory, improved methods of work and highly skilled operatives on short time will accomplish more than a less well equipped and staffed enterprise on longer hours, but when to long hours are added superiority ip staff and methods of work, the result must be obvious. CHAPTER V SECONDARY COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS From one point of view the middle or secondary commercial schools are the oldest of all types of Ger- man commercial schools, for they belong to the general Real-school group. Francke is commonly reputed to have laid the foundations of this modern movement in his organization at Halle (1698), when he set apart a separate secondary school {Pdda- gogium) for those children who were not going on fur- ther with their studies, but were looking forward to com- mercial work, administration of estates, and allied un- dertakings. In 1747 ^ Hecker founded his first Real- school (an institution that still exists in Berlin as the Konigliches Kaiser Wilhelms-Realgymnasium) , where- in was found a special "manufacturers', commercial, ^ It is interesting for students of educational history to note how nearly this accords with the date of Frankhn's plan for an American academy, and the opening of the school in Philadelphia (1743- 1749). Each of these movements was the beginning of a protest against the traditional educational order in the respective countries, a protest that has only become effective during the present genera- tion. 139 140 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY and business" class, with commercial correspondence and bookkeeping as important subjects of instruction. Had the ill-starred Philanthropinist movement under Basedow and his followers been more sanely and skil- fully directed, it might have played a more significant role in the development of the commercial movement, for each of the schools under this aegis had its commer- cial classes or sections. "Commercial science," what- ever may have been the connotation of that term then, and bookkeeping, appear to have been the chief repre- sentatives of business interests in the program of stud- ies. In Hamburg, in 1803, even the classical Gymna- sium had its so-called classes civicae, which later devel- oped into a Realgymnasium. The officially recognized differentiation of Gymna- sium, Realgymnasium, Oberrealschule, and Realschule, in 1882, and the equalization of privilege tion among ^°^ graduates of the three first-named Secondary types of institution in 1900, went far toward raising the repute of the modern as opposed to the classical school, and therefore put these secondary schools with commercial courses in a much more honorable position. In the new program of 1901 the Realschulen were officially recognized as forming the lowest and middle grades of the Oberreal- schulen, a state of affairs that is not altogether to the liking of the German Union for Commercial Instruction. SECONDARY COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 141 This dissatisfaction became more pronounced since the Realschule began to serve as a middle technical and trade school, rather than as a commercial school. Be that as it may, the graduates of the Latin second- ary schools flock to the learned professions in great numbers, while it is commonly recognized Business that the graduates of the Realschulen go Tendencies of into commercial or technical callings. Be- tween Easter, 1899, and Easter, 1905, fifty-six per cent. of the graduates of the Realschulen of Hamburg went into business.^ In Bremen, 1903-1905, sixty-three per cent, of those who left to enter any calling, selected mer- cantile work. In Cologne seventy-four per cent, of the graduates of the Realschule from 1893 to 1895 devoted themselves to commerce. These large figures ought to occasion no particular wonderment when taken in con- junction with the astounding growth of the commercial population in some of the largest and most important German cities since 1882, shown on the following page. As might be expected, these selected cities show a pro- portional increase considerably larger than the country as a whole, for in all Germany the numbers grew from 4,531,080 to 8,276,239 persons. * For these statistics and much of the foregoing material, see Veroffentlichungen des deutschen Verbandes fur das kaufmdnnische' Unterrichtswesen, vol. 42, 1909. 142 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY COMMERCIAL POPULATION ' 1882 1895 110,544 180,916 26,346 37,063 15,395 32,503 18,503 30,999 44,676 101,511 20,137 45,028 22,574 47,626 1907 Berlin Breslau. . Cologne. . '^rankf ort Hamburg. Leipzig. . . Munich. . ? 52,577 53,318 ? 156,501] 65,366 , * Veroffenilichungen des deutschen Verbandes fiir das kaufmdnnische Unterrichtswesm, Bd. 42, 1909, p. 10. Despite the general commercial activity throughout the land the middle or secondary commercial schools have not developed so rapidly as the ele- ypes mentary and university grades. The list enumerated by Dr. Knork - gives what is believed to be a nearly complete catalogue of all in existence in 1910. The report of the Seventh Congress of the German Union for Commercial Instruction at Stuttgart, October, 1911, chronicled only a few changes. These, together with a few minor modifications, have been incorporated in the following table: * See p. 143-5. SECONDAEY COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 143 \m n J^ V < § « w a o S H H-l ^ d S; O O en O H a E^ <; ti O o Q O M >J o o ^ £ O J ■S.S.So 05T) M'g o S ^ ^ ;3«j as a oj ^ Q ^ m S8 o a 1^ », « 11 7I 05 °> >-; « S'3 Sg28 .■5 m CO S^lggS : rt -4J ~C "5 ■ . U >1 03 . d a « S J g^feo a as 1 oSJ fe .. :' C3 1'^ -^1 8 : <^ 1 fell iliW^ool o o. >t H •B si t ; .£ S M S^- 1 fl Q) '5 .^ fl.S 1 ^ a Odd 1 fc 3 1 114 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY "3 a S 8 g i) 8 ■^ ".S irSl.9 p u- 3 c- S 3 ~.S c c - i^ c S $i:i I.SSSg i 03 Is io-3 .Hua C-J2 3 1-^ ° f^ S — . S 2 o a! -^i ea mis o eJ3 2 :o.- =i S s ^ a . S-c2 ^5o o b o " o » ' -o^a o go J* -— ti ^ r^ ^ •^'i-r. 0. S o S ►?" ?? "^"^^ - „-:2 - " >.v g>-> 3 « ^ C-^ m - orv, 3 ■ OJ £.5 5 05 S C ir; c,- -o 2'S "^ ^-^ o £ c-r; " K'^ a o - ^ *:; c cji -.- gSfeg'^. o 3 _-'3 1; a.SQ'Sca M= -5 <« o fc. : o oj • -cOo -^ t^ 03 O CD fl i-ro CO go g "bo o_5 S +- 3 (1) !>^ 3 ■c 32 oCQ . •S 3§ 2 S " s «* o ofi. SECONDARY COMMERCIAL SCHOOLS 145 - 3.3 g« >. a! 13 3 So CiO o a a ^ 2fl '< ri m o OQ t. 2 c3 m Si d '^ >1 fcl 0)2 ::^l oZ^ iO~' 1 mT3 i-H-rt 4< 1 fl 1 fl CQ Tj. 3 J2— o g__^ a» o ° a 3 I) 2 -t- ■a . P t> -^ U.2 j= E T) s 3 O L. C (D 0) S S « aS 1-1 s fl 2i C3 a) >> ^i a B Je 1 til ^'^ aa. C<5 •^ a -w o -ilS-S-3, ' 0) o >> "£ o C M c o d S "S'd S'g ^ m , , , . E aaag OS OJ .2 O > ) . „ b o « "a g'c Q^aa , ' _ t^ CO .g in > ^^ C3 •B 'mE ■ "3 o 03 o 00 o *3 s a o o o c O 5 o'j 1 1 "5 o in g g ■fl a a o o 8 o fl o 5 "3 t 3 £ a o o a 4) c 3 V [ffl 17 >> o si "3 a E fl o a a CS d in 11 a o c o o a.t s! < 3 pf^ 9 Ah ° ^ cts portant branches of insurance; working- men's insurance. (b) Geography and commodities of commerce: gen- eral economic and commercial geography; special eco- nomic and commercial geography of the continents, and of the most important countries from a political and economic standpoint; general descriptive geography (oceanography, climatology, etc.), with special refer- ence to its economic relations. "Commodities of com- merce" cover in the course of the year the vegetable, animal, and mineral products. (c) Natural science and technology: general mechan- ical and experimental physics as a basis, together with one of the following: electrical engineering; textile in- dustry; or, iron industry, mining, and mechanics. (d) Chemistry includes a thorough-going course, ex- tending over the entire two years, in organic as well as inorganic chemistry, with laboratory practice. The resources of the school in the way of modern language instruction are particularly noteworthy, for 5. Foreign courses are offered in seventeen foreign Languages, modem tougues, to wit: English, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Dutch, Nor- wegian, Danish, Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, modem COLLEGES OF COMMERCE 215 Persian, modern Greek, Hindustani, Turkish, and Es- peranto. All except Norwegian, Danish, Japanese, Chi- nese, and Esperanto actually appeared on the time- table for the summer semester of 1912. Furthermore, conversation courses in German are offered for foreign students. In other words, it is possible for the pros- pective merchant or business representative to find here an introduction at least to the language of any people with whom he is normally likely to have any commer- cial relations. The school thus attempts to supply any legitimate linguistic demand that may arise, in order, as the director says, "to preserve, through his knowl- edge of foreign tongues, the superiority of the German merchant in the keen international world-struggle." The diploma examination at the end of the course is partly written and partly oral. As a matter of fact, not ten per cent, of the regular students Diploma, even enroll as candidates for the diploma, to say nothing of actually coming up for the trial. While such a situation would cause considerable sur- prise and probably unfavorable comment in America, the conditions in Germany are quite different. In the first place, no particular privilege attaches to the pos- session of the diploma from the college of commerce, and, in a country like Germany, where privilege fig- ures large in the mind of the student body, this is a serious handicap. Chance of preferment in business is 216 COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY dependent upon what the individual can do, rather than upon what distinction he possesses. Again, it is very common for the German university student not to take his degree. He stays at the university for six semesters, comes up for his state examination in one of several fields, and often foregoes the relatively expensive lux- ' ury of a university degree. The great desideratum is the possession of the one-year volunteer privilege, which alone makes university and college of commerce pos- sible. There is thus sufficient precedent for this attitude among students of other institutions of similar rank. Nearly all who actually come up for the examination at Cologne — probably upwards of eighty per cent. — pass it. The authorities follow the ordinary university cus- tom, and advise those students who are not reasonably sure of getting through not to submit to the ordeal. Preparation of teachers of commercial schools has always been an important function of the college. No specific courses are required, but work is of- Course fered each semester in pedagogy (history of education, psychology, or general method) , special method in various subjects, and a seminar con- ducted by the director of the commercial i^eaZ-school in Cologne. Observation and practice teaching in this city school are an important factor in the training. A minimum of five semesters is necessary in order to sat- isfy the requirements for the teacher's diploma, a part COLLEGES OF COMMERCE 217 of the examination for which includes successful teach- ing of a lesson to the pupils of the commercial school upon a topic assigned twenty-four hours in advance. This topic must lie in the fields of political economy, business technique, law, or commercial geography, as the candidate may elect. Trips to typical manufactories and commercial houses, not only in Cologne but also in the surround- ing country, constitute a very important aspect of the work of the Cologne school. ^*" I WIAY 3 ] '- AUG t 2 I95i j^5- JAft/4 rcD 0<> 19B3^ '^^'^ 2 81963 ^.^■- -^ ^^O'D iD.URj_ iB JAN 29 1973 ^AN 2 8 1973 Form L-9-15«ill.'-'7 1 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY AA 001 006 379 o