to a fund which enables teachers to attend lectures on commerce and industry during their vacations.

Thorn. The chamber of commerce grants $200 annually to the three commercial schools situated in this district.

Tilsit.—There is a commercial school in this city. One-third of the deficit, if any, is defrayed by this commercial organization, the other two-thirds by the city.

Trier. The commercial school was founded by the chamber of commerce, several members of which serve on the board of curators. Prizes, etc., are granted by the chamber.

Wiesbaden.-The chamber of commerce has founded two commercial schools in this district. One-third of any deficit is paid by members of this body.

Würzburg.—The school for apprentices in this city receives $25 a year from this chamber. Prizes are granted to two pupils each year.

Zittau.-The chamber grants small allowances to several commercial schools in this district. It has also donated books to the different libraries.

RÉSUMÉ.

There are 145 chambers of commerce, or similar organizations, in the German Empire. Of this number, 112 are actively engaged in promoting commercial education. The inactivity of the others, for the most part, is owing to the fact that they have only been recently established, or that commercial education in their districts is maintained by the merchant unions or by municipal governments. The following résumé will give a very clear idea what commercial education in Germany owes to the Empire's highly organized and powerful chambers of commerce:

I. The statistics for 1901 a show that 22 chambers of commerce gave $15,652 in cash to 44 commercial schools, which work entirely under their own management. Six chambers paid one-third of the deficits in 12 commercial schools with independent management; the amount is not stated. Forty-eight chambers of commerce voted the sum of $13,030 to 102 commercial schools, which were more or less controlled by these chambers. Eight chambers of commerce paid part of the deficits of 18 commercial schools, which were partially under their management. Twenty-four chambers of commerce gave small sums to 31 commercial schools for the purpose of buying prizes, books, etc. Four chambers devoted $1,697 to independent lectures on commerce and industry.

II. Twelve chambers of commerce give prizes in the shape of books, money, stipends, etc.; in 24, the members take part in the examinations; in 6 chambers of commerce districts the secretary of the chamber makes tours of inspection among the schools; 63 chambers have members on the school board of directors; 8 have arranged lectures for clerks and others holding minor positions in business houses; 3 have arranged for teachers' conferences; 1 has appointed a commission to examine all important school subjects, and another has established an industrial exhibition. The above sketch of the work of German chambers of commerce along the line of commercial education can not be looked upon as exhausting the subject. German merchants and manufacturers tell me that they are just beginning to take an interest in the matter of education. For example, 8 chambers of commerce are at present busy with reorganizing and extending the commercial schools in their districts; 13 are agitating in favor of such schools; 7 are working to secure obligatory attendance for their schools; 6 have declared their willingness to give pecuniary assistance to the schools in their districts, if certain conditions are complied with; 6 are contemplating assuming the management of the schools in their districts, and several wish to appoint directors at the chamber's expense, introduce lectures, establish libraries, and grant prizes.

In a former report to the Department, I described in detail what is being done for commercial education in Saxony. In order to prevent confusion, however, it

a From volume 20 des Deutschen Verbands für das Kaufmännische Unterrichtswesen, Leipzig, Verlag von B. G. Teubner.

b See Annual Report of 1899-1900, chapter XXVII, p. 1435.

would be well to look at the German Empire as a whole, and divide commercial education into five distinct grades:

I.-Primary commercial schools (Kaufmännische Fortbildungsschulen).
IL-Commercial schools (Handelsschulen).

III.—Advanced commercial schools (Höhere Handelsschulen).

IV. Classified commercial courses (Handelsfachklassen).

V.-Commercial universities (Leipzig and Cologne).

It is to the primary commercial schools that German chambers of commerce give financial assistance, and it is only these schools which I have had in mind in the above report.

It will be seen, therefore, that Germany pays almost as much attention to trade education as she does to any other branch of instruction, and the methods adopted might be taken up with advantage in the United States by our chambers of commerce and other commercial organizations. What the different nations produce, what they import and export, political economy, German, Spanish, French, and the details of commerce and industry should be known to every progressive manufacturer, merchant, and business man.

EIBENSTOCK, GERMANY, May 20, 1902.

ERNEST L. HARRIS, Consular Agent.

ANTWERP GEOGRAPHICAL EXHIBITION.

The Cartographic, Ethnographic and Maritime Exposition was opened to the public on May 22. The Royal Geographical Society of Belgium has obtained for the purposes of this exhibition the assistance of the French, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, and Mexican Governments, and in addition the Queen has sent many interesting objects from her private collections.

The exhibition of ancient and modern charts, atlases, maps, globes, and projections is perhaps the most interesting that has ever been brought together, and is particularly notable for its fine specimens of the works of Mercator, Ortelius, Blaeu, Hondius, and the valuable display of those of Elisée Reclus, the great geographer of modern times.

The charts of the Ka-Tanga scientific expedition here find a place, as well as the various scientific apparatus used by the members of the mission. There is a fine map of the Lower Kongo and some remarkable relief maps of the Suez and Panama canals, the districts of Lake Geneva and the Matterhorn, as well as a large one of the surface of the moon.

The ethnographical section comprises photographs, weapons, household utensils, religious objects, articles of wearing apparel, etc., from the Kongo Museum at Terveuren, from missions in the Kongo, China, Java, and South America, besides a brilliant display of gods and goddesses from the Dutch East Indies and beautiful tapestries from the royal palace at Pekin.

In the maritime section are models of the newest types of ocean liners, furnished by the principal steam navigation lines; models of old Dutch craft and men-of-war, and of the proposed ports of Ghent, Brussels, and Heyst; souvenirs of the explorations of the Duke of Abruzzi, of the Belgian Antarctic expedition, etc.

A number of improved instruments for studying the depths of the sea, life-saving apparatus, and instruments of precision for exploring, prospecting, and surveying purposes, besides astronomical instruments, complete an exhibition that is highly interesting from both an educational and scientific point of view.

ANTWERP, BELGIUM, June 9, 1902.

GEO. F. LINCOLN, Consul-General.

ADMISSION TO ITALIAN ART GALLERIES.

The Department has received from Mr. L. M. Iddings, secretary of the embassy at Rome, under date of June 18, 1902, copies of the new regulations issued by the Royal Department of Public Instruction in Italy in regard to the free use of galleries, museums, national monuments, etc., throughout the Kingdom.

The regulations read:

ARTICLE 1. The following persons shall be exempted from paying entrance fees at the museums of antiquity, galleries of fine arts, picture galleries, archæological excavations and monuments: (a) National and foreign artists; (b) students of the history of the arts and of artistic criticism-Italian and foreign-who have published remarkable works; (c) soldiers and sailors; (d) professors, national and foreign, of archaological, historical, literary, and artistic instruction; (e) professors of universities, of preparatory schools, classical, technical, and governmental, and normal schools; (f) alumni of archæological institutes, historical and artistic, both national and foreign, of the faculty of letters and philosophy, and of the schools for engineers; (g) officials charged with the administration of antiquities and of fine arts; () artisans belonging to industries analogous to the arts of design; (i) guides who shall have obtained, after examination, a certificate proving their proficiency in archæologic and artistic knowledge.

ART. 2. Persons fulfilling the conditions of article 1, who may desire to obtain a permit for free entrance to the archæological and artistic institutes of the Kingdom, must be furnished, (a) for Italian artists, with an academic document attesting their identity, excepting in case of persons known for eminent merit; (b) for foreign artists and for foreign professors of archæological, historical, literary, and artistic instruction, with an academic document visaed by the diplomatic representative or by the Italian consul in the nation to which the artist or professor belongs, or by their ambassador or minister at Rome; (c) for students of history and of artistic criticism, with some one of the works they have published; (d) for professors of universities and of national, archæological, and art schools, and for professors of classical, technical, and governmental or normal schools, with a document proving their identity when recognition may be necessary; (e) for alumni of archæological and national artistic institutes, for those of the faculty of letters and philosophy, and of the schools for engineers, with an official document showing their registration in the abovementioned schools in the year in which they ask the permit; (f) for foreign alumni, such documents must be visaed in the prescribed manner by foreign artists and professors; (g) for artisans belonging to industries related to the arts of design, the demand should be accompanied with a certificate proving their identity and coming from the director of an institute of fine arts or some other public authority.

ART. 3. The professors and students of foreign archæological and artistic institutes established in Italy may obtain the permit for free entrance through the principal of

the institute.

ART. 4. Pupils of national schools and institutes of education and instruction may, accompanied by their teachers, visit gratuitously the museums, galleries, excavations, and monuments, a previous arrangement having been made between the director of the school and the director of the museum, gallery, etc., to be visited. Soldiers must

be in uniform.

ART. 5. Persons desiring a general permit for free admission to all the museums, galleries, excavations, and monuments of the Kingdom shall make a request to the minister of public instruction on stamped paper of 1.20 lire (23 cents), accompanied by the documents required by articles 2 and 3, and an unmounted photograph of themselves, of dimensions not greater than 5 by 8 centimeters (1.9 by 3.1 inches). ART. 6. Persons desiring free admission to the archæological and artistic institutes of a single city will make their request on stamped paper of 0.60 lira (12 cents) to one of the heads of said institutes, accompanying it with the documents required in articles 2 and 3, and if the permit is asked for more than a month, with the portrait according to the preceding article.

ART. 7. The examination of the certificates for guides must be effected before a commission in each city where there are archæological or artistic institutes or officers of the State, according to the measures which shall be prescribed by the minister of public instruction. The permit to guides is restricted to the institutes and places for which they shall have been recognized as fitted.

ART. 8. Tickets for free entrance, issued before the date of the present decree, shall be valid to the end of the time for which they shall have been granted.

ART. 9. The provisions contained in articles 9 and 12 of the regulation for the collection of the entrance fee into national museums, galleries, excavations, and monuments, approved by royal decree June 11, 1885, are abrogated.

THE CHINESE LANGUAGE.

While China is considered the land of promise for our manufacturers and farmers, the importance of the knowledge of the Chinese language is greatly undervalued. I submit the details of a recent interview with a linguist who has given special attention to this subject.

It is well understood that in order to enter into permanent commercial relations with a foreign country it is indispensable to know its language. When Russian industries began to develop, the Germans recognized that in order to engage in profitable trade in that country it was necessary to learn Russian, and there is now no country where the Russian language is so much taught as in Germany.

The Chinese language is ideographic. It conveys the idea and not the word for a thing, as the figure "8" represents the idea and not the word. The Chinese have invented more than 40,000 marks for their writing. In the opinion of my informant, it will require only about 3,000 marks for mercantile correspondence, and it will be easier to learn them than the words of an ordinary foreign language.

Russian is more difficult for Americans than Chinese. It takes much longer to learn the spoken language because of the variety of dialects; but anyone can learn enough of the writings to answer ordinary purposes in a few months and have his knowledge perfected by a linguist within about a year. An exact instruction in one of the Chinese languages can only be given by a Chinaman.

This method has been adopted in Germany. Besides the professor for the theory of language, there are four Chinese linguists in the Oriental Seminary of Berlin teaching the business style and the languages of Peking, Shanghai, and Canton. It is not intended to fit pupils for the diplomatic service, but for commercial work. CHARLES NEUER, Consular Agent.

GERA, GERMANY, July 12, 1902.

EDUCATIONAL MOVEMENTS IN CHINA.

Educational movements in the province of Kwangtung are progressing favorably and satisfactorily. A new center of learning has been established in Canton-the Kwong Nga Shu Un, or Provincial College, which is hereafter to be known and styled the College of the Two Kwangs. All students who pass the entrance examination must find their own expenses, the teaching being free. They have also to answer the following questions affirmatively:

Question 1. In the event of your being admitted to this college, do you agree to give yourself wholly to your studies and not to attend any of the degree examinations in other places?

Question 2. After your entrance, a period of seven or eight years must elapse before you proceed to Pekin for the second degree; do you consider your patience and perseverance equal to that?

Question 3. Students who have studied English and mathematics previous to entrance must pass through all the classes-no distinctions can be made; do you agree to this?

Question 4. As no allowances will be made and you will have to buy all your books and find all of your expenses during the seven or eight years you are in residence, do you believe your own resources or those of your friends are equal to this demand?

The examinations are competitive, and are held continuously. That the syllabus is an ambitious one can be judged from the following list of subjects: (1) Chief (social) duties and great proprieties, (2) government (methods of), (3) history, (4) geography, (6) Chinese language, (7) mathematics (elementary), (8) physics. ED 1902-55

(9) agriculture and mining, (10) map drawing, (11) music (poetry), (12) physical drill.

The following report has just been made to me by Professor Mou Lien, a Manchu, who is one of the faculty:

Hon. ROBERT MCWADE, U. S. Consul.

CANTON, July 16, 1902.

DEAR MR. MCWADE: I am very glad to make to your honor a report of the different branches of science learned by the scholars of the newly established university in Canton, namely: The study of Chinese, English, physics, geography, mathematics, chemistry, politics, bodily exercise, and mandarin language.

Teachers, 16; 6 teach Chinese, 4 English, 1 physics, 1 geography, 1 chemistry, 1 mathematics, 1 politics, 1 bodily exercise. Chief manager, 1; assistant manager, 1; managers of the 3d class, 4. All are Chinamen.

Scholars 160, who have no pay, but those who pass the examination held once every month will get some money as a reward. The school time begins from 1 [7?] o'clock a. m. to 12, and begins again from 1.30 to 4.30 p. m. I am one of the four English professors, and I teach the mandarin language, too.

With best compliments, I am, yours, very sincerely,

MOU LIEN.

His honor Kung Nsin Chan, the prefect of Kwong Chau Fu, told me yesterday that he had purchased over 17 acres of land near the White Cloud Mountains, whereon he proposes to erect a "college for western learning," in which about 200 students can be boarded and educated. He asked me to aid him, not alone in the preparation of plans for the construction of the building, but also in drawing up a scheme of the course of studies to be pursued in the proposed institution. I agreed to do so on the condition that a number of Americans shall be included on its staff. This he agreed to.

There is also a scheme on foot looking to the establishment of a great military college, where 180 students will be taught mathematics, history, geography, botany, geology, hygiene, mandarin, German, and English. They will be divided into three classes, the lowest or first consisting of men intended for subordinate positions, the second a higher grade of official rank, and the third for those who will command armies or divisions. Two years is the limit for the first two classes, and, strange to say, one year for the highest or third class, i. e., intended generals of division. It is quite possible that this classification, as well as the time limit of studies, will be rearranged before the opening of the college. Candidates presenting themselves for the entrance examinations must be able to read the ordinary Chinese text-books with facility, and the age limit is from 17 to 23 years.

I am, sir, your obedient servant,

CANTON, CHINA, July 16, 1902.

ROBERT M. McWADE, Consul.

NEW NATIONAL SCHOOL IN GERMANY.

On the 10th of May, 1902, some of the most prominent citizens of Baden met in conference in Karlsruhe to discuss the founding of a German national school. At the close of the session an appeal was issued to the German people, the contents of which may be summarized as follows:

The efforts to infuse into our national system of education all the necessities of the age have thus far been applied almost exclusively toward strengthening the internal needs of our race, without taking into consideration the wants of our people located in foreign countries. Other nations which have vast interests in every part of the world have long since established schools which prepare young men to take up lucrative and responsible positions in their colonies. This is especially true of England, where education may be termed one-sided in favor of the colonial service.