(f) WESTPHALIA.

Westphalia was the last of the Prussian provinces to introduce primary commercial classes. With the exception of the school at Iserlohn, the ten schools in Westphalia were all established between the years 1888 and 1895. These schools are the following:

The above schools receive assistance each year over and above tuition collected as follows:

a These schools receive assistance from private individuals, it having been impossible to learn the amount.

The building, light, and heat are usually furnished by the municipal authorities of each city. It costs each student on an average $5 to $7 annually for each subject taught. Compulsory attendance is in force only at Bielefeld and Herford.

(9) SILESIA.

a

There are about twenty-five primary commercial schools in Silesia. On the whole these schools do not play an important part in the educational system. The curric ulum, however, in most cases is extensive, even more so than in other provinces of Prussia, where education of this nature is further developed. The subjects taught in the Silesian primary commercial classes are: German, English, French, bookkeeping, commercial law, transportation, geography, materials of commerce, history, arithmetic, correspondence, stenography, and political economy.

The schools are supported chiefly from tuition fees, but many commercial organizations give assistance when necessary. It is claimed by those who are posted on the subject that the schools suffer from a want of preparation on the part of the pupils. Attendance is not compulsory.

(h) NASSAU.

The primary commercial schools in the province of Nassau were founded chiefly by the merchant unions. This was the case in Frankfort on the Main, Hanau, Eschwege, Wiesbaden, and Marburg. In addition to these schools, one was founded in Hersfeld in 1893, through the instrumentality of a bookkeeper and a teacher in that city.

a I have been unable to secure a list of the cities in which these schools are located.

(i) EAST AND WEST PRUSSIA.

The primary commercial schools of these provinces are located in Konigsberg, Danzig, Elbing, and Thorn. In Konigsberg school attendance is not compulsory. The pupils number about fifty. The board of directors is made up entirely of merchants and manufacturers, with the director of the school as chairman. The school funds are raised through tuition, voluntary contributions, etc. The pupils are recruited entirely from apprentices in the city. Instruction is given only from 7 to 9 o'clock on Monday and Friday evenings.

The school in Danzig was founded about forty years ago by the merchants of the city and receives its funds chiefly through tuition and voluntary contributions. The hours of instruction are the same as those in Konigsberg. The classes are attended by about fifty pupils.

The Elbing primary commercial school was founded in 1869. It is attended by about 50 pupils, although attendance is not compulsory. There are two classes, the subjects being the same as those usually taught in such schools.

The school in Thorn consists of four classes with two teachers.

(k) POMERANIA.

The development of primary commercial schools in Pomerania has been greatly retarded because no compulsory-attendance laws exist. In addition to this, the schools are all private enterprises, without any State supervision. The schools are located in Stralsund, Stolpe, Colberg, and Lauenburg. The classes are not well attended. On the whole, the merchants of Pomerania do not seem to interest themselves much in these schools.

(1) POSEN.

There are only three primary commercial schools in the whole province of Posen, and these are all located in the city of Posen. They were founded by the merchant organizations of the city, the State having no supervisory control. The class hours are from 8 to 10 every evening in the week, and the schools were attended during the past year by about 150 apprentices. There is no compulsory attendance, and the examinations are held very irregularly.

BAVARIA.

The primary commercial schools in Bavaria to-day are the following: Ansbach, Bayreuth, Gunzenhausen, Ludwigshafen, Nuremberg, Würzburg, Augsburg, Fürth, Kempten, Amberg, Ratisbon, Zweibrücken, Bamberg, Landshut, Munich, and Schweinfurt.

These schools are attended by 3,130 pupils. In comparison with the number of inhabitants, however, the attendance is not large.

SAXONY.

There are more than 50 commercial schools in the Kingdom of Saxony. They are so efficient and widespread that primary commercial classes, for the most part, have been found to be unnecessary. In 1896 there were only three primary commercial schools in Saxony, namely, Leipzig, Oelsnitz, and Waldheim, and a very limited number has since then been established in some of the smaller towns.

WURTTEMBERG.

As long ago as 1825 a movement was started in Wurttemberg to further primary commercial education. Instruction was given in many places on Sunday. In 1854 the plan of giving instruction of evenings instead of on Sunday was introduced. The primary commercial schools in Wurttemberg to-day are the following: Stuttgart, Ulm, Gmünd, Heilbronn, Esslingen, Ravensburg, Reutlingen, Göppingen, and Biberach.

The school in Stuttgart is independent of any other institution. All the others are connected either with the public schools or with some other institution of learning. Compulsory attendance does not exist, and the apprentices are permitted to attend only before or after business hours. In Stuttgart the hours are from 7 to 9 in the morning in winter and from 6 to 8 in summer; evenings, from 8 to 10 o'clock.

BADEN.

In 1895 there were 13 primary commercial schools with 1,000 pupils in Baden. I have been unable to get a list of these schools. Presumably, however, they are located in Karlsruhe, Heidelburg, Weinheim, Bruchsal, Mannheim, Baden-Baden, Freiburg, Rastatt, Offenburg, etc. Undoubtedly, the number has been increased since that date.

HESSE.

The primary commercial schools of Hesse were established under very favorable conditions. The law compels every young apprentice, after leaving the public school, to attend a primary commercial school until his seventeenth year, provided it is his intention to become a merchant or manufacturer. There are at present six such schools in Hesse, located in the six cities which possess chambers of commerce. In other words, these schools are situated only in those cities that have flourishing industries, in which a large number of apprentices are being trained. These schools were founded by the chambers of commerce, and are in Bingen, Darmstadt, Giessen, Mainz, Offenbach, and Worms.

MECKLENBURG.

In 1891 the merchants of Güstrow held a meeting for the purpose of discussing ways and means to give their apprentices, especially in retail establishments, a better training in commercial subjects. A primary commercial school was finally established, and other cities of Mecklenburg soon followed suit. These schools are Güstrow, Wismar, Neubrandenburg, Plan, Rostock, Bützow, Malchin, Neukloster, Schwerin, Waren, and Hagenow.

WEIMAR-EISENACH.

In Weimar-Eisenach there are five primary commercial schools, located in Apolda, Weimar, Jena, Ruhla, and Eisenach.

With the exception of the school in Ruhla, they are all private enterprises. Attendance, therefore, is not compulsory.

OLDENBURG.

Oldenburg has but one institution which may be called a primary commercial school. This school is located in Varel, and has but 14 pupils.

BRUNSWICK.

There are 10 primary commercial schools in Brunswick, all of which were founded by merchants and manufacturers interested in giving their apprentices the rudiments of a commercial education. They are located in Brunswick, Königslutter, Schöningen, Schöppenstedt, Blankenburg, Wolfenbüttel, Gandersheim, Holzminden, Helmstedt, and Seesen.

The chamber of commerce in Brunswick was particularly active in the work of organizing these schools.

MEININGEN.

The primary commercial schools of Meiningen are in Meiningen, Poessneck, Sonneberg, Hildburghausen, Saalfeld, and Salzungen. The tuition of the school in Meiningen costs about $25 a year. The city pays the expense of rent of building,

heat, and light. Teachers receive their pay from the tuition collected, as far as it goes. In Saalfeld each pupil must contribute 75 cents, upon his admission, for the benefit of the teachers. A citizen of Saalfeld gives the interest on $250 for the school library, which is a growing one. When the school was founded the merchants' union of Saalfeld gave $80 a year to its support, but as the attendance now is sufficient to meet expenses this stipend has been dropped.

ALTENBURG.

As far as I have been able to learn, there is only one primary commercial school in this little State, and that is in the city of Altenburg. It was founded in 1865 by the merchant organizations of the city. The yearly attendance averages 75 pupils. Expenses are defrayed from tuition, but deficits are made good by merchants and others who are interested in the school. One especially interesting feature of this school is the discipline which governs the apprentices. Some of the laws read thus: It is expected that every pupil will behave himself properly while in school. The wishes of the director and teachers amount to a command and must be promptly obeyed.

Pupils are not expected to reach the schoolroom earlier than a quarter of an hour before class exercises begin. They must be provided with books and writing material, and must take their seats quietly. Tardiness, unless a good excuse is given, will be punished by extra work. When the teacher enters and leaves the schoolroom, the pupils should rise in token of respect.

Whispering is strictly forbidden.

Pupils must be orderly during the recesses. All noise, yelling and calling, the slamming of doors, and running through the rooms and halls, each and all, are decidedly against the rules. If the school property should be damaged and the offender can not be detected, the whole class will be held responsible.

If a pupil is prevented by illness from attending school, it is the duty of the parents or principal to send in a written excuse to the director some time during the day. It is expected that every apprentice will carefully observe the time set apart for study at home.

Apprentices are absolutely forbidden to attend dances or to take dancing lessons. The punishments usually consist of extra work, report of misconduct to principal, public reprimand, and finally expulsion.

COBURG-GOTHA.

The primary commercial schools, of this principality are located in Coburg and Gotha. They are thriving institutions and enjoy the protection of the merchant organizations.

ANHALT.

The primary commercial schools of Anhalt are located in Dessau, Cöthen, and Bernsburg.

SCHWARZBURG-SONDERSHAUSEN.

The primary commercial school in Arnstadt was founded in 1882 by the merchant union of the city. About 30 apprentices attend it. The school is a private enterprise without State supervision. Instruction is given by a teacher in the public school and by a merchant in the city. The hours of instruction are, on Mondays, from 7 to 9 o'clock in the evenings; Wednesdays, from 1 to 2 o'clock midday and from 7 to 8 in the evenings; Fridays, from 7 to 9 in the evening.

ALSACE-LORRAINE.

When Alsace-Lorraine belonged to France no commercial schools of any character existed. In 1875, Professor Bartholdy a founded a primary commercial school in

a This veteran commercial educator has done much toward furthering the founding of commercial schools in Alsace. In 1891, the writer had the pleasure of inspecting his school in Strassburg.

Strassburg. In the beginning, instruction was only given in the evenings, and, as attendance was not compulsory, the success of the institution was for a long time in doubt. Considerable stress was laid on the French language, and this soon led many of the soldiers of the Strassburg garrison, who were on the lookout for positions in the newly acquired provinces, to attend the evening classes. The result was that apprentices soon stayed away entirely, and the institution to-day has lost its character as a primary commercial school.

The primary commercial schools of Alsace-Lorraine consist of one in Mülhausen and four small ones in Strassburg. They are all under private management.

THE FREE CITIES.

The cities of Hamburg, Bremen, and Lübeck are the gateways through which pass $2,400,000,000 worth of commerce every year. Naturally, these cities give a great deal of attention to commercial education. Since 1874, the commercial schools of Hamburg have prepared for actual business life 10,150 clerks and apprentices. During the past twenty-five years, Bremen and Lübeck have sent out almost an equal number. The subjects which receive the greatest attention in these schools are: English, French, Spanish, Italian, Danish, Swedish, bookkeeping, stenography, correspondence, commercial arithmetic, and commercial geography. Fully 80 per cent of the pupils study the English language.

NOTES.

A Fortbildungsschule, in the true sense of the term, is a primary commercial school which consists of classes where instruction is given, for the most part, by teachers who are employed at other schools. These teachers receive on an average about $1 an hour for their services.

EIBENSTOCK, GERMANY, March 21, 1903.

ERNEST L. HARRIS, Commercial Agent.

EDUCATIONAL NOTES FROM SIBERIA.

Richard T. Greener, commercial agent at Vladivostok, Siberia, sends additional notes on education in Siberia. (See An. Rep. of 1899-1900, vol. 2, p. 1427.)

Prof. J. E. Lugebil, an American citizen, retires from active duty as instructor in the English language and literature, with the opening of the Institute for Eastern Languages, on account of the age limit. He is to be succeeded by an Englishman, Professor Boyle, for fourteen years teacher of English at St. Petersburg. There are 11 classes or English lectures in the new curriculum, making 40 lessons per week, as against 30 per week last year.

The new minister of education, a university man, has restored the study of the ancient classics to its old place in the curriculum, and makes the study of French and English elective, instead of obligatory, as before. Latin and Greek are compulsory from the third and fourth grades or classes.

The Technological Institute at Tomsk is authorized to spend 300,000 rubles in addition to the 600,000 already expended since January 1, 1902. The total amount spent on buildings in previous years is 3,000,000 rubles.

Vladivostok is to have a second girls' grammar school. It will occupy the house of the old gymnasium for girls when the new building now approaching completion is finished and dedicated, in November. The new building is spacious, roomy, four stories, conspicuously situated, and will be one of the ornaments as well as utilities of the city.

ED 1902-56