Page:(Commercial character) The Joseph Fisher lecture in commerce, delivered at the University of Adelaide (IA commercialcharac00jessrich).pdf/25

21 top. Elementary schools, higher schools, technical schools, boys' schools, girls' schools, municipal schools, private schools, universities—all are subject to state approval and state regulation, and in everything the Minister of Education and Public Worship reserves the right of last word; nor is he slow to say it if necessary. It is commonly believed that German schools drive their children; and the discipline which they undergo is certainly exacting. Those who enter the elementary school do so on the completion of their sixth year, and they cannot leave it until the age of fourteen. Let the child be never so bright, he is not on that account deprived of his full course of education. But there is this difference between the German and the English system: the former does not tolerate the pitiable "half time" system. The school years are undividedly devoted to school work, and the factory and the farm are bidden to wait their time. In the North American Review for October the Professor of Political Economy and Politics—mark the title—in Cornell University writes on the question of the extension of American Commerce in the Far East. I can confidently recommend a perusal of the article. A few extracts are worthy consideration by politicians of the "rushing in" order. The Professor says:— "There is no true economic science that is not based upon actual business," and again, "Business is a complicated subject requiring intelligence and training to understand it thoroughly, and ability often of a very high order to conduct it successfully on any large scale. The needed training must be gained in good part in