general and special instruction, to bind them one to the other in such a way as to constitute a homogeneous whole at once classic and scientific, whose parts should mutually assist and complement cach other, whoso distinct courses should be definitely related the one to the other, and form a whole like the various chapters of a book, the whole, of course, remaining always improvable.

One fact which proves the intimate and systematic connection of the courses is that those pupils who come out of the first office are ordinarily better prepared and do their work in a better way than those who, pressed by lack of time or by age, enter immediately the second course. One can easily understand that to follow with advantage the lessons of the two higher offices there is no better preparation than that of the school itself, for the reason that its programmes of instruction are combined into a single whole for the three years, of which the first parts are visibly and strongly attached to those which follow.

It is in the second office that the instruction, without ceasing to be general, becomes more special by the courses which relate directly to commerce. Besides this, in the second office the pupils, while carrying on the study of our own language, perfect themselves in the study of German and English and choose one of the southern languages, Italian or Spanish, in such a way as to learn finally three foreign languages. This study of foreign languages (a subject to which one has certainly up to the present not given the attention which it deserves either in schools of commerce or other schools) is facilitated in this school of the Rue Amelot, which is in a certain sense international in character, by the number of foreign pupils who daily assist the work of the professors by their conversations with their French comrades.

It is in the second office that the mathematical spirit, which must be at the basis of every calculation, commences to develop. Hero reason takes the place of empirical methods which tend to arrest the development of intelligence, and the pupils treat all the questions which are submitted to them in a rational way. Advancing further, the professor must exercise them in the practice of rapid calculation and of mental calculation, whose utility in business is incontestable. The mathematical courses are excellently given at the Superior School of Commerce. What an excellent book MM. Brasilier, Margerie, or Grelley could make upon financial and commercial mathematics!

Mathematics and accounting, the pencil and the pen, complement cach the other. The course in accounting advances in the second office from elementary work to practice. Here one applies the principles of accounting to commerce, to industry, and to banking. The professor instructs in the different usages of cities and markets; his course becomes a course in commerce; correspondence is carried on in several languages. Then there is commercial geography, a science, so to speak, entirely modern, and yet of the first importance in economic instruction.

Parallel with these the students learn, in the course on the history of commerce, how, under the vigorous and fruitful influences of commerce, the natural resources, the intellectual wealth of the nations, their political existence, etc., arise and grow. At the same time that they are studying the facts in which the commercial prosperity shows itself at different epochs and at different countries, the pupils have under their eyes, in the beautiful museum of commercial products, the natural products which are the bases of human exchanges, and the manufactured products which support these exchanges. In a word, it is by the combination of theoretical and practical lessons that they study the progress of commerce and of industry, that they follow its various stages from the earliest times down to the present; in a word, that they learn to know the economic evolution of humanity.

But the young merchant must have a just notion of his commercial duties and his commercial rights. He must also be instructed in the various taxes which are levied on merchandise, on exportations and importations; he must understand the mechanism of the tariff; he must be acquainted with our treaties of commerce with the great nations; finally, he can not afford to be ignorant of the organization of our system of taxes. He must understand their purpose, their necessity, their method of assessment and distribution. The courses in commercial and maritime law, supplemented by those in fiscal and tariff legislation, commercial statistics, etc., fill this gap in his education and present him admirably well prepared for the course in political economy which begins in the third office, and is the philosophic crown of the commercial sciences taught in the school.

In this body of useful knowledge the physical and natural sciences have also found a place and an application. Indeed, how could one give a good course in raw materials without basing it upon courses in natural history, physics, and chemistry? In the same way, would not a course in technology require a course in industrial mechanics, if it is to be at once intelligible and fruitful? All these branches of instraction are closely related, and their practical administration must be preceded by theoretical studies. Moreover, noblesse oblige, one can not limit one's self in a superior school to the examination, pure and simple, of raw materials and commercial products. And then, from merely practical considerations, one must teach the

pupils in the second and third offices the chemical compositions of the leading substances, the physical conditions under which they are produced, and the mechanical principles employed in their various transformations. The merchant of to-day, like the manufacturer, must become acquainted with the scientific methods which clear his judgment, develop his intelligence, and prepare him finally to discover adulterations either in raw materials or manufactured products. This scientific part of the instruction of the school is reenforced in the third office by the commercial and industrial visits made every Thursday to the establishments of Paris and its environs, as well as by the annual trip to the north of France and Belgium, where all the leading industries are studied, under the experienced guidance of the director. Conclusion. To determine upon the different courses of study, to arrange the programmes of these studies, to improve them without ceasing by watching over their intelligent development in the classes, by choosing skilled professors adapted to the methods of instruction, and by maintaining with a firm hand the necessary discipline in every direction; all this is without doubt important. But this alone would be insufficient to realize the ideas of the Paris Chamber of Commerce and to preserve the ancient traditions of the sort of a school which we have been discussing. Following a more elevated purpose than even this, the object of this school has always been not merely the creation of a scientific body of commercial instruction, but that of an economic education based upon moral principles. "Get rich" is a motto which needs numerous corrections. A merchant must be twice honest-honest as a citizen, and honest by profession. If nothing is more difficult in the world than to get money, nothing is easier than to lose that which one has gained without labor. Fortunes which grow too rapidly disappear of themselves. Those which are the result of patient labor and honesty are less exposed to adversity, because their possessors, moro prudent, guard them more carefully from danger.

We find the motto of this school summed up in the simple words: “Be good, be laborious, bo persevering," pronounced by M. Gustave Roy, then president of the chamber of commerce, on an occasion of distributing the prizes of the school.

"Perseverance," he added, "is indispensable to him who wishes to advance. Set before yourself a clear, well-defined end; let nothing turn you from it. Be honest; be led on every occasion by that inward light which is called conscience.' Consult it, and when you ask it, if it hesitates, abstain. For in all which is right, loyal, and honest it will never, believe me, show any hesitation. In regulating your lives in this way you will find your reward in the confidence, the consideration, and the credit which you will inspire. A merchant should be honest from calculation, if not from the sense of duty."

To these counsels full of wisdom, to these words marked with the seal of experience, M. Grelley, director of the school, added the following:

"A condition essential to success in business, I do not fear to say it, is ambition. The merchant or the manufacturer who desires only a modest subsistence lacks energylacks the great fire necessary to success. In this age of steam and electricity there is no place for the indolent. Success is for those who, to the two essential qualities of order and economy, add the love of labor and the firm resolution to succeed." And he added, in words not less excellent, "I would warn you against a fault unhappily too common with young people who are just starting out in life. Many people have what I should call a clerical' character; they arrive in the morning at their labor, do exactly that which they are directed to do, and wait patiently for that which they call the hour of liberty' when evening comes. For these there is no such thing as success; they will remain employees throughout their lives. The employee who wishes to succeed must devote himself without ceasing to the affairs which are intrusted to him; he must treat them as his own; he must go before the hour of beginning work, and finish up in the evening that which he has not been able to do in the daytime. This sort of a man is sure to succeed if he adds to these qualities order and economy."

Commerce oblige is, then, the motto of this school. Honesty is a real force, like order, economy, and persevering labor.

The commerce of France can only increase by the study and practice of probity, and it is through such a school as this that such ideas will pass into commercial life, and that an experimental demonstration will be made that probity is synonymous with skill and success.

To sum up the characteristics of the Superior School of Commerce: It has based commercial instruction upon solid scientific instruction. From this point of view the programmes of this school are the most complete of any which we have had the pleasure of seeing. A great part of the problem of commercial instruction appears, then, to us to have been solved at the Superior School of Commerce at Paris, which has had the honor of training, since its foundation, more than 6,000 financiers, man

ufacturers, superior employees, etc., scattered throughout all the countries of the world, and among whom we could name a large number of eminent men in various departments.

VIII. THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OF THE SUPERIOR SCHOOL OF COMMERCE.

Origin.-Various graduates of the Superior School of Commerce have attempted from time to time to create an association among the alumni of this ancient school. But it was very difficult to reknit the broken threads among the members of so many generations who had experienced so many different fortunes, and were scattered, since the foundation of the school in 1820, thoughout the entire commercial world. In 1872, a year which witnessed the rise of an extremely favorable movement to schools of commerce, the students of the third office finally succeeded in forming a society. Guided by certain former graduates, among whom was the eminent economist, Joseph Garnier, and aided by the counsel of their first president, M. Paul Lafitte, they succeeded in creating a society, the utility of whose work we are just beginning to appreciate.

Services and progress.-The association, founded by 17 members, includes to-day more than 650 members. The following table shows the annual increase:

The original association has not undergone any notable change, but each year has marked, so to speak, a stage in the moral development of the society. The purpose of the union is: First, to cultivate the friendly relations formed at the school; second, to utilize the relations thus created for the development of commerce and industry; third, to aid former pupils by assisting them after graduation and facilitating their finding of positions; fourth, to assist unfortunate comrades. The former pupils of the school and pupils in the third office may be members of the union. The annual fee is 10 francs; one may become a life member by paying at one time the sum of 100 francs. The title of "Donor" is given to those who pay 200 francs at one time.

The management is composed of twelve graduate members, and one member from the third office. It regulates the disposition of the funds, decides upon requests for assistance, and supervises the publications of the society. From the first year of its organization the union has granted an annual prize in political economy for the best pupil in each subject.

At its instigation a traveling scholarship was founded by the Paris Chamber of Commerce, and given to a graduate of the third year.

The union also names corresponding members at important points in various parts of the earth for the purpose of gathering commercial information. These correspondents also serve as patrons to those members of the society who have newly come to their respective places.

In 1876 a quarterly Bulletin was established, which soon became very prosperous, and furnished to the members of the society interesting papers upon economic subjects, as well as upon facts relating to the society. This publication has recently become a monthly. The society has published, besides, a yearbook since it was founded. By the publication of its Bulletin the union has established connections with various learned and commercial societies, notably the Geographical Society, the Society of Geographical Commerce at Paris, the Scientific Society of France, the Alumni Society of the School of Arts and Metiers.

The banquet, established at the beginning of the society, assembles cach year the most devoted members of the union. In 1882 its president, N. Detre, invited the presidents of similar societies in Lyons, Rouen, and Havre, founded upon the model of that of Paris, to take part in the annual banquet of the union in Paris, or to send delegates. It was decided at this banquet to organize a syndicate of the alumni society of the superior schools of commerce in France, which furnishes a new proof that there is utility beyond the commercial in such societies.

The presidency of the syndicate of the alumni society is vested in the president of the Paris union. It was in this double capacity that M. Deligny submitted in March, 1884, the demand for a new syndical grouping. Accompanied by M. Pathier, á

former president, and M. René Le Roy, vice-president of the union, M. Deligny was called to testify before a parliamentary investigating committee, consisting of fortyfour members. He insisted strongly upon the necessity of giving to commercial instruction equal advantages to those governmental schools which are endowed by the Government.

Representations were also made to the ministry of marine to obtain traveling scholarships under the same conditions as the society for the encouragement of commerce and industry, and M. Deligny received a formal promise that the State would subscribe a sum equal to that which should be subscribed for this purpose by the societies interested.

In February, 1885, M. Rouvier, minister of commerce, accepted the presidency of the banquet of the union, and promised his high assistance to the various purposes pursued by the syndicate.

Among the numerous evidences of the activity of this alumni society we cite further the foundation of the Conference Adolph Blanqui, a society for commercial and industrial study, whose purpose is to develop among the future graduates the taste for further study and the verbal discussion of questions relating to commerce and industry.

The tribunal of Paris, appreciating the good purpose of the Conference Blanqui, offered it a place of meeting, which the alumni society did not hesitate to accept on behalf of the conference.

Faithful to its purpose and full of solicitude for its members, the society assists them, aids them either in their search for positions or in their commercial careers, by means of the numerous relations which are maintained through the various reunions, by the publication of its Annual and by its Bulletin, and, finally, if misfortune overtakes one of its members the society is always on hand. Moreover, the last word in regard to this brotherly side of the society has not been said. M. Deligny proposed the organization of a circle which should increase still more the development of friendly and commercial relations, and M. Detre then proposed more material reunions for the same purpose.

The publication of the Bulletin, as stated above, has just become a monthly. Finally, we may say that M. René Le Roy, the present president of the society, has submitted to the management a scheme already carried out in part-to form a sort of benefit treasury in favor of comrades who are momentarily embarrassed in their business affairs.

2. THE SCHOOL OF HIGHER COMMERCIAL STUDIES IN PARIS.

I. HISTORY OF THE FOUNDATION OF THE SCHOOL AND ITS SUBSEQUENT DEVELOPMENT.

The first idea of the creation of this school should be ascribed to the Paris Chamber of Commerce, which as early as 1866 took up the question of organizing an establishment of higher commercial instruction, complementary to its higher primary institution in the Avenue Trudaine. In 1867 the death of Mr. Gervais, of Caen, proprietor and director of the Superior School of Commerce, turned the attention of the chamber from the idea of establishing a school, and fixed it upon the purchase of an establishment which already enjoyed a universal reputation, and which had become a successful business enterprise in the hands of its director.

We have described in the preceding pages how the Chamber of Commerce got possession of the old school of Adolph Blanqui, and with what satisfactory results. The idea of establishing a so-called "school of higher commercial studies" was, however, simply put off by this move and not abandoned. It was a subject of consideration under the presidency of M. Honette, then under that of Guibal, but it was under the presidency of M. Gustave Roy that the Paris Chamber of Commerce undertook to solve all the difficulties involved in so costly and important a foundation. We owe it to historical truth to say that the project of the Chamber of Commerce met only a feeble response from public opinion, a thing which should not be an occasion of surprise, considering the general feeling in respect to everything concerning commercial studies, and the marked indifference which our Governments, imbued with the old university spirit, have showed down to the very present in regard to commercial instruction. Through a learned society, the Oriental Atheneum of Paris, an endeavor was made to stir up an interest in this question in 1875, starting from the principle that the business relations of nations are developed as a direct consequence of the elevation of their intellectual level. This society in the provincial session at St. Éteinne discussed the creation in France of an institution of higher commercial studies. Besides this the National Society in Lyons, sharing in the same view, resolved to examine this question from all aspects by examining as fully as possible into the details of its execution. It even named a special commission for the purpose of drawing up a set of questions to be submitted to eminent men at home and abroad.

Without entering into further details, we must limit ourselves to calling attention to the general tenor of the discussion in the Oriental Atheneum of Paris, and to certain interesting points raised by the commission of inquiry.

After having expressed the view that a superior instituto of commerce ought to be founded in France for the purpose of offering to the graduates of the commercial schools, to the consulate cadets, and also to other young people of adequate preliminary education, the complementary knowledge necessary to create and consolidate new relations with foreign merchants, the Oriental Atheneum defined more especially the following as the necessary complement to these studies:

First, comparative legislation of different nations; second, instruction in the languages most used in the great commercial centers of Asia, India, China, and Japan; third, courses of philosophy and æsthetics as applied to commerce, showing the influence of commerce upon the civilization, the ideas, manners, and power of a country, and intended to develop in the students those intellectual and moral qualities which are capable of dignifying the professional merchant.

The Oriental Atheneum demanded in addition a course in the history of commerce among all peoples, ancient and modern; a complementary course in geography, comprising agricultural, industrial, mineral, and commercial statistics of all countries; a study of the present treaties of commerce; a complete study of the means of transportation on land and water, as also of all the means of correspondence, such as the post, telegraph, etc. It also raised the question whether one could not insist that the Government should demand of candidates for consulships the diploma of the Superior Institute of Commerce. Finally it raised the question whether this institution ought to be organized like the Central School of Paris, which takes its pupils throughout the entire day, or whether it would not be better if the pupils were obliged to be present only at particular courses, as in the faculties of law and medicine. Also what would be the best means of controlling and stimulating the work of the pupils; how long the course should be; whether the minimum age for admission should be fixed at 18; whether the students provided with a diploma at the Superior School should be admitted without examination, and whether the degree of bachelor should be accepted from those pupils not provided with such a diploma; what city of France would be best adapted for the location of such a school; what capital would be required; from what source it could be drawn, etc.

On the other hand the National Society of Education at Lyons proposed the following questions:

First, whether an institute of higher commercial studies would be a useful and timely complement to the superior schools of commerce; second, whether this institution could assist in completing the instruction of consulate cadets and commercial agents attached to diplomatic missions; third, whether the institution should be founded on the principle of freedom of superior instruction, or whether they should demand that the State should establish it, or whether it would not be better to adopt the mixed system, in which the State should come to the aid of privato initiative. This society closed its report by expressing the following view: "The National Society of Education at Lyons having heard the report of the commission upon the proposal to found in France an institute of higher commercial studies, believing that this new organ of instruction would form a happy and even necessary complement to the actual organization of superior schools of commerce; considering further that it would contribute powerfully to enlarge, elevate, and dignify the respective commercial and administrative callings; considering that the principle of the plan is not denied and that its timeliness is sufficiently well established by the facts produced in the report, and that its realization is not beyond the efforts of private initiative, hereby adopts the report of the commission, and charges its president with communicating the same to each of the chambers of commerce in Paris, Lyons, and Marseilles, with the request to consult upon the means of insuring the execution of the project."

The discussion of the various points raised by the members of the Oriental Atheneum of Paris and those of the National Society of Education at Lyons, each one of which threw some light upon the question, would show it to be very complex. Everything goes to show that the view expressed by the Congress of St. Etienne; the list of questions which were prepared; the final report upon the answers obtained to the questions, and the monograph by M. L. Desgrands, of Lyons, upon the same question, have contributed to persuade the chamber of Paris to take the initiative in the agitation and to put in execution with its own resources a project which it had considered for so long a time.

FOUNDATION OF THE SCHOOL.

In the sessions of the 8th of May and the 24th of July, 1878, the Paris Chamber of Commerce sketched out the plan of the School for Higher Commercial Studies, and decided upon the underlying principles. Shortly after the chamber named a ED 96- -25*