Technical education for commerce

Abstract

I imagine that to many of my audience tonight there must appear to be something incongruous about the title of this paper. Technical Schools are well understood in these countries to mean institutions that educate students for industrial life. There is no very great definiteness attaching to the term Technical Education. There is in particular some haziness as to where "teaching the practice of any trade or industry or employment" begins and "instruction in the principles of science and art applicable to industries" leaves off. But there is a pretty widespread impression that Technical Education means education for industry, for the workshop; and that it does not include education for commerce, for the counting-house. The latter has come to be called "Commercial Education"; and schools for the promotion of Commercial Education, where they exist, are usually called Schools of Commerce rather than Technical Schools.