Page:(Commercial character) The Joseph Fisher lecture in commerce, delivered at the University of Adelaide (IA commercialcharac00jessrich).pdf/26

22 " actual touch with business itself, but the training in a business house may doubtless be shortened, and likewise made broader and better suited to modern operations on a world wide scale by preliminary study in special schools and colleges adapted to that end."

Under the heading "General training for commerce" the following views are expressed:—

""In current discussions in the press and elsewhere, many of the more fundamental principles of commerce, and the training which is requisite to enable our young men to cope with the problems which may arise in their business, have been adequately considered. It is generally conceded that besides the principles of accounting and cost keeping referred to, one should possess a fair knowledge of foreign exchange, a comprehensive outlook over the most important markets for the purchase and sale of leading staple products, a reasonable understanding of shipping by water and rail routes and the relative costs of different routes and classes of freights, an insight into the fundamental principles of commercial law, a sufficient knowledge of the languages of the countries in which one is to work; besides, of course, a detailed knowledge of the goods to be handled and the special requirements of the individual business which can be learned only in the business itself.""