in England has been that it has called public attention to the great need of opportunities for some mercantile education of English youth. There is little doubt that England will shortly take the matter up in earnest, when we may expect excellent results.

There is little doubt that an association like the American Bankers' Association, however, could do an immense amount toward educating the general public as well as bank clerks and officials along a few special lines if it would prepare careful syllabi of courses of reading along banking and financial lines, specifying books, order of reading, etc., and then provide for examination to be held on the subjects and the granting of certificates. The Wharton School of Finance and Economy receives letters continually from young men engaged in banks throughout the country asking for aid in pursuing their education along special lines relating to banking and finance, but its circumstances do not permit it to do this work at present. This association, however, could do this service in an admirable way, and if it should undertake it, many men throughout the entire country would rise up and call it blessed.

There is, at present, a special reason why we in the United States should provide facilities for adequate education along mercantile lines in the narrow sense of the term. We are rapidly nearing the point in our manufacturing industry when we may expect to compete with England, Germany, and France in foreign markets. In this field of enterprise England is at great advantage because of long possession; France and Germany, because of the better training and education of their youth who enter their business houses in foreign countries. If we wish to find such competition successful, we must be able to find a ready supply of trained men for foreign correspondence and service; men who have had systematic training in foreign languages and in the geography and industries of foreign countries. Such a training it is the business of a commercial high school to give.

The curriculum of a properly organized commercial high school would contain many elements of a liberal character. The history of commerce and commercial institutions, commercial geography with the necessary preliminary work in physical geography, the study of products, the theory and practice of accounting are all subjects of general interest to every educated man, whether he is going into business or not; while the study of commercial law in all its ramifications is not inferior, in its liberalizing tendencies, to international law or general jurisprudence itself. Such a curriculum would prove, therefore, a valuable element in our general scheme of education, and would contribute powerfully toward strengthening the hold of our public high school system upon the affections and interest of the community.

HIGHER COMMERCIAL INSTRUCTION IN AUSTRIA.

HISTORIC REVIEW.

The history of mercantile instruction in Austria down to the fifties in this century stands in a certain relation to the history of the real school. The oldest institution which had for its purpose the promotion of instruction in modern subjects was the Real-Handlungs-Akademie in Vienna, whose foundation dates back to the reign of Empress Maria Theresa. This academy, which was intended to train not merely efficient merchants, but also high-class officials for the economic and financial departments of the Government, as well as skillful commercial experts, developed in a most happy manner. It was well directed and corresponded completely to the wants of the time, in which lectures on mercantile subjects were delivered to the law students who attended the Theresian and Savoyan academies for nobles. Before the close of the year 1770, in which the opening of this institution took place, the Austrian Government guaranteed a certain support to the institution from the public treasury, and enlarged the curriculum to a two years' course. The plan of study of this institution embraced all those subjects which are now taught in commercial schools, and, in addition, geometry, mechanics, moral and civil law, philosophy, and morals. The instruction in languages embraced German, French, and Italian.

The Real-Handlungs-Akademie, in spite of the promising beginning of its activity, did not succeed in maintaining a permanent existence. With the reorganization of the entire system of education in Austria. in 1805, it lost its independent position as a professional school. Under the name of the Real-Akademie it became the first real school of Austria, which had the third and highest grade of elementary instruction, in a narrow sense of the term, joined immediately onto the fourth class of the normal school.

The object of this curriculum was the education of youth who intended to devote themselves to the higher arts, to trade, to banking, and bookkeeping. The subjects

This account is abridged from the Centralblatt für das gewerbliche Unterrichtswesen in Oesterreich, VI. Band, Heft 3-4, page 173 and following.

which are essential for a commercial institution were limited to the last and highest class-that of the third year.

This last circumstance rendered very easy the new organization which was given to the Vienna Real School in the year 1815, when the Government, following the suggestion which Bohemia had given in 1806 by the organization of the first German polytechnic school in Prague, established in that year the Polytechnic School in Vienna. The first two years of the real school were converted into a general preparatory school for the Polytechnic Institute. The third year was extended to a second commercial division of technology. This arrangement was based upon the correctidea that a merchant needs for his business thorough technological knowledge, while the technologist also needs commercial knowledge. Similar commercial courses to that in Vienna were organized in the polytechnic institutes of Krakau and Lemberg.

The commercial instruction in the coast lands developed along entirely independent lines from the above foundations, which were naturally adapted to the interests of the internal provinces of the Empire. In Trieste a school of navigation had been in existence since 1774, when the Austrian and. Hungarian coast lines belonged to the administrative division of Inner-Austria. In 1811 a division for commerce was added to this school; from the institution thus increased was developed, in 1812, the present Commercial and Nautical Academy in Trieste.

The commercial courses in the technical schools, however, did not succeed in obtaining the hoped for influence in those circles whose interests they were intended to serve, nor could they correspond to the varied demands of the mercantile classes, which naturally insisted upon a training suited to their various conditions. In order to meet this want, which was naturally felt most keenly in Vienna, the Geyer Commercial School in 1840, and later the Patzelt, were organized as private undertakings, and in 1848 the Corporation Commercial School was organized by the corporation of Vienna merchants. In the southern portion of the Empire, the private commercial school in Laibach is worthy of mention.

These institutions satisfied the demand down to the middle of the century, but on account of the general revolution in political and economic life after the year 1848the development of the railroad and the telegraph, the establishment of great banks with foreign capital, etc.-it was a natural consequence that entirely different and higher demands were made in the field of commercial education than formerly.

In order to answer these changed conditions, a lively agitation appeared almost contemporaneously in the leading cities of the monarchy for the purpose of establishing higher commercial schools by private and public corporations. This led, in a short time, to the establishment of commercial academies in Prague (German, organized in 1856), Vienna (1858), Pesth (1857). Following these new foundations came later similar institutions in Gratz (1863), Bohemian Academy in Prague (1872), the commercial academies in Linz and Chrudim (1882), and Innsbruck (1887).

The curricula of these higher commercial institutions, among which should be included the Commercial and Nautical Academy at Trieste, were no more nearly uniform in Austria than were those of similar schools in other European countries. The endeavor to secure for the graduates of such schools the privileges of the oneyear military service law has led, however, to a gradual assimilation of the curricula in these various institutions, with the exception of the academy at Gratz and the higher public course for mercantile instruction at Trieste.

It may be remarked here that an attempt was made by the law of February 27, 1873, to regulate the entire field of commercial instruction for that portion of Austria below the Enns.

THE PRINCIPAL COMMERCIAL INSTITUTIONS.

1. THE COMMERCIAL ACADEMY IN VIENNA.

A. FIRST PERIOD (FROM THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ACADEMY DOWN TO 1872). Early in the year 1856, B. W. Ohligs, a manufacturer, made a motion in the Chamber of Commerce and Trades for lower Austria to establish in Vienna a general mercantile institute. He justified the motion by the exposition of the importance of commerce as one of the leading factors of the national economy. While instruction for the technical callings was secured, to a certain extent, at least, by various institutions of learning, the professional training of the future merchant was on the whole neglected. This defective mercantile training was, in his opinion, a chief reason why, in spite of the great victories of Austrian industry in international expositions, the trade of Austria was limited almost entirely to internal commerce. consulates needed men with mercantile training; the commerce of Austria being represented in foreign States by non-Austrian agents and middlemen. The remedy

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must, therefore, be sought in the establishment of commercial institutions which should be organized to answer these demands.

This suggestion was warmly approved: The proposition by Ohligs was supported by Mr. Frederick Schey, Peter Murman, Theodore Hornbostle, E. Seybl, and Edward Drasche. The meeting of the founders, held on the 19th of November, 1856, showed that there was no longer any doubt of the success of the undertaking. The Government gave its consent on the 5th of January, 1857, to the formation of an association for the establishment of a higher commercial institution in Vienna, and for the opening of a general subscription. It was largely due to the efforts of Mr. Frederick Schey that this association, on the 27th of April, 1857, on the date of its first general meeting, showed a membership of 563, with a fund of 352,780 florins, which had been subscribed for the purpose mentioned. At this meeting the proposed statutes of the association were accepted, and the administrative council chosen. Its first president was Mr. Frederick Schey, who held this position until his death on the 15th of July, 1881. The ministry of education approved of the constitution on the 21st of October, 1857; the school was opened on the 13th of January, 1858, in a treasury building in the Renngasse, in which the ministry of finance had granted the use of certain rooms on the 19th of March, 1857. The school opened with 59 pupils, and in October, 1858, it numbered 170 regular pupils, besides the pupils in the evening courses, organized for those persons who were engaged in mercantile occupations during the day.

The institution established by the Association of the Vienna Commercial Academy has, in the course of time, undergone many changes, but the general body of statutes of the year 1857 has remained in all essential features unchanged. The Vienna Commercial Academy is the creation of a special association formed for the purpose, and not that of a corporation or of a city like the other commercial academies of Austria.

This association consists, first, of honorary members; second, of founders; that is, such persons as pay yearly the sum of 315 florins during their lifetime to the support of the institution, or, at least 3,150 florins in six equal installments; third, of associate founders, i. e., such persons as contribute sums less than 3,150 florins and exceeding 525 florins; and fourth, of members, i. e., such persons as pay a contribution of less than 525 florins. The various classes of members taken together constitute the general assembly. No member has any special rights, except a founder, who has the right to establish a scholarship, and for twenty years thereafter to name the holder thereof.

The general assembly chooses the administrative council, which consists of twelvo members, of whom six must belong to the class of tradesmen and manufacturers.

The administrative council chooses from its members a president and vice-president for the term of one year, who are eligible for reelection indefinitely. The administrative council chooses the director and the professors of the institution, as well as the subordinate officials and employees. The appointment of the director, professors, and other instructors is subject to the approval of the ministry of education. The administrative council fixes the amount of tuition, assigns the scholarships, and manages the property of the institute. The executive organ of the administrative council is the director of the academy. He is intrusted with the scientific and disciplinary management of the institution; he is responsible to the administrative council according to the existing general rules and regulations of the association. The public spirit of Vienna citizens had established the commercial academy. It was of special importance for its further development that the administrative couneil succeeded in obtaining as director Mr. Franz Hauke, who, a few years before, had been prominently connected with the establishment of the first superior real schools in Austria. In constructing the curriculum of the institution great difficulties were to be overcome. For one could not, as in the case of the gymnasium, draw upon the experience of centuries in constructing its curriculum. Ohligs had sketched out the first curriculum for a higher commercial institution with a three years' course. This plan was made the basis of the programme of the institution on the 16th of January, 1857, and will probably continue to form in its comprehensive scope the ideal of the school. The underlying thought of the three-class commercial institute was retained in the curriculum worked out later, but various circumstances compelled the administrative council to make a division in the institution which was, according to the original plan, to have been organized as a unit. The council established four classes, of which the first two were preparatory, while the last two were to form the real academy. This organization was in so far advantageous as the pupils who had not completed the studies prescribed for the academy courses (i. e.,) the completion of the six-form real schools or the first six classes of the gymnasium) could obtain the desired preliminary preparation in the preparatory schools, as had been the custom for decades in technical schools. This organization of the commercial academy remained in force from 1858 to 1872, and characterizes the first period of the history of the institution.

We give below the curriculum of the Vienna Commercial Academy of the year 1871-72, and note further the fact that at that time the instruction in foreign languages was not given by classes, but in three alternating yearly courses.

The Vienna Commercial Academy, as was proper for a professional school, always sought to maintain an intimate connection with practical life, which is evidenced by the regular visits made by the pupils, under the direction of their instructors, to public collections, industrial establishments, and to the great commercial centers of the Orient. As might have been expected, in spite of the high tuition, 150 florins a year, with incidental fees of 5 florins, the attendance at the institution steadily increased. Pupils came not only from Vienna, but from all parts of the monarchy belonging to the commercial district of Vienna, especially from Hungary, Galicia, and Moravia. Pupils who had completed this course found employment very easily. The Government recognized also the high character of the school on the 22d of February, 1868, by granting to the graduates of the school the privileges of the oneyear military service.

The opening of its own building on the 12th of October, 1862, was an external sign of the prosperity of the institution. In order to cover the cost of this building a second subscription was opened by the association in 1869, with gratifying results. The other obligations of the school were met from 1871 on from the surplus which the regular income showed over the regular expenditure.

Encouraged by these favorable circumstances, the management next considered plans involving the enlargement of the programme of the school, but these were not carried out until, upon the death of the first director, Franz Hauke, on the 2d of July, 1871, Alois Czedik, of Brundelsberg, was elected director of the academy.

B.-SECOND PERIOD (1872 TO 1877).

In this old organization the Vienna Commercial Academy had served especially the wants of those people looking toward banking, although the gradual extension of instruction in natural science showed that the wants of merchants were n

neglected. Whoever wished to prepare himself for work in transportation or insurance was obliged to have recourse to other schools existing at that time in Vienna, supported either by the Government or by various corporations or companies.

Following the suggestion of the management of the academy, the railway companies closed their schools for applicants for positions in the railway service, and the royal ministry of commerce its courses for telegraphic operators. At the same time, in combination with the insurance companies, they offered to the academy large grants of money for the period of six years, in return for which, in the year 1872, the academy opened courses for railway service, postal service, telegraph service, and insurance. The curricula were worked out in consultation with the contributing parties; the railroad companies declared those who had completed such a course to be prepared for admission into the corresponding branch of the service. The problem now was to connect this new course with that of the old academy, which on its part needed some reform. For in the course of time the preparatory classes, which had practically become a two-form intermediate school, were not at all in a position to compete on equal terms with the three-form real school, or with the four-form superior gymnasium.

The general assembly, therefore, on the 29th day of May, 1872, upon proposal of the Administrative Council, ordered the reorganization of the Vienna Commercial Academy. In the place of the former unified school, two institutions were now organized, each with its own management and its own body of instructors. The two preparatory years and the first year of the academy were combined into a threeyear commercial intermediate school. The second year of the academy and the separate courses mentioned above were combined into a new commercial institution, called later the "Commercial High School."

A similar organization of the higher mercantile instruction was decreed for Austria below the Enns by the law of the 27th of February, 1873.

The establishment of the Commercial Intermediate School was approved on the 28th of June, 1872, by the ministry of religion and instruction. The institution received the name "Academic," and was opened in October of that year. As a condition of admission to this institution the completion of the lower gymnasium or the lower real school was required. Whoever had not completed these studies at a recognized school was allowed to take an examination upon the subject-matter, provided he had completed his fourteenth year. On the next page is given the curriculum of the Academic Commercial Intermediate School for the year 1876.

ACADEMIC INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL OF COMMERCE.

H

The chief distinction between this curriculum and that of the former academy is to be found in the fact that in the new institution the learning of two foreign languages was required, in such a way that all the pupils were required to study French, and to choose either English or Italian in addition. From this time on, instruction in the foreign languages was given consecutively by classes.

The final organization of the higher division was effected after a one year's trial, 1872-73, on the basis of the "organic statute," which was modeled after that of the technical high schools of Austria, and was approved by the ministry of education on the 28th of July, 1873. This new institution bore the name Commercial High School. A curator was appointed as the representative of the administrative council, whose