If I were asked to say what has contributed most to Germany’s progress, I should unhesitatingly mention the development of patriotism in its best sense in the individual, and, though this historic fact cannot be proved by the usual methods of the statisticians, we know beyond doubt that the nation has come to work together as a firm and united organization.
His conclusions on the importance of education were:
There can no longer be any doubt that Germany’s industrial advance is mainly due to the extent and thoroughness with which technical education is being conducted. Briefly stated, the secret of the pronounced success of the technical colleges in the Fatherland lies in the fact that they have kept pace with the ever-increasing scope of all branches of science in general, and, to the same extent, with the ever-increasing demands of the present-day industrial enterprises upon scientific investigation and research.
And, in addition, the number of subjects and sciences taught is constantly being added to, while, on the other hand, the harmonious blending of the practical with the theoretical has greatly furthered the development of the scientific spirit in all its essential details.
Another important cause is the great pains taken to master foreign languages.
German firms are competing strongly with British firms in markets which, at one time, were almost entirely in the hands of British merchants, and this is not surprising, for the British representative, as a rule, has little or no knowledge of the language of the country in which he travels for orders, while the German is able to speak it fluently. It is extraordinary that British firms should continue to send abroad representatives who can speak no other language but their own.
Efficiency of method is not the least of the main contributory factors.
It is thoroughness which, perhaps more than anything else, Germans have to thank for their present happy state of abounding prosperity. It has enabled Germany to overcome one crisis after another in commerce and finance, inasmuch as it helps to the discovery of where the weakness lies. Economists teach that small concerns cannot exist side by side with large ones when they are in competition, but this is disproved in the world of German enterprise. The small firms flourish almost equally with the large ones; like the great trusts, they are able, when they wish, to sell cheaply in foreign markets. Both employ the same methods. This partly explains how it is that, though there has been a concentration of wealth and of enterprise into the hands of a limited number of people, a vast amount of money has been distributed more or less evenly into the hands of the population of the country as a whole.
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