Iz Commercial Education 
to rely on its powers of persuasion. And it has 
little support in the opinion of those with whom 
it has to deal. Attendance is voluntary ; and 
young boys and girls, ignorant of their own 
intellectual deficiencies, naturally ask for instruc- 
tion in the subjects which they think will enable 
them to obtain employment. When pressure 
is put upon them to take ‘grouped courses, 
it has little effect in widening their training if 
the requirement can be satisfied by combina- 
tions of popular subjects. And the business 
world, constantly complaining as it is of the 
failure of young people in rudimentary educa- 
tion and briskness of mind, does not know how 
to secure what it wants and is unwilling to pay 
for the more intelligent teaching it would re- 
quire. And so local educational authorities not 
only yield to the demand for instruction in 
shorthand but even in some cases make it 
compulsory on all who desire to take * grouped 
courses.’ 
The present educational diet provided, more- 
over, so far as it is of use at all, is only con- 
genial to those engaged in, or looking forward to, 
the work of clerks. But the number of young 
men who, from the force of circumstances, 
enter upon manual industrial work is far 
greater. It is a mistake to suppose that all the 
instruction all of these can benefit from is 
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