Smyrna times., 1882-08-02
Why Germans Emigrate.

The general reason assigned for the
German emigration that is coming to
disturb Bismark so greatly is the bur-
dens imposed by the great military es-
tablishment of the Empire. This is no
doubt correct, but it is a statement so
vague as to convey no precise idea to
ones mind. The burdens of the Ger
man people, caused by the military
establishment, may be divided into two
classes: compulsory military service.
and taxation. The first is irksome and
an indirect tax; the second so increases
the cost of living as to make life one
continual struggle against dire poverty.
1t is hard to say which of the two is
most hated by the average German
who earns his living by manual labor.
Every male subject in Prussia-and
the same system now obtains through
out the Empire-is enrolled as a soldier
when he completes his twentieth year,
and has then to be in service for seven
years three years in the regular army
and four in the reserve. At the end of
/ this service, the soldier enters the
Landwehr, or militia, for five years.
and is liable to be called on twice for
military practice, and to be incorpora-
ted in the regular army in time of war.
When he leaves the Landwehr he is
enrolled till the age of fifty in the
l4andsturn, or general levy, and is
liable to do duty in case of invasion.
For the people of the higher classes
there are some abatements of these re-
Quirements, but none to the peasant or
mechanic. 1t is easy to see how hard
such service bears on the poor, and on
their families, and it is no wonder
that the Germans flee from this bon
dage.
In the second place, taxation has so
F increased the cost of the necessaries of
life that to maintain decent existence
is becoming increasingly difficult. The
rate of wages has not risen correspon-
dinghy, owing to the fact that the
! density of population produces a COM
petition that keeps wages at a low
figure. At Frankfort-On-the-Ma Main, in
, Prussia, where the highest wages are
. paid. a iourneyman builder gets but
$504 week a hod-carrier, 1914; u
: tailor S4.56; a factOry-hand, $3.50. In
Nuremberg the wages are much small
cr: jOurney-man builder, $2.40; hod-
! carrier, 81 A: tailor, $780, A field
labOrer gets about $50 a week on an
, average. Rye -four costs 1888 per 100
u pounds at Frankfort, and wheat -four
y $4.53, and other things in proportion.
u So far as we can judge from the COM
l. parative figures given in recent consul
lar reports one dollar in gold will buy
+" about the same quantities of the neces-
i saries of life in New York that its
" equivalent will procure in Frankfort
20 and other German cities. Rent i:
Us cheaper in Germany than here, two
le room tenement in Frankfort costing
h. $3.1O a month, and at Offenburg, Bava
es ria, only S2.1O.
ne Even uEskilled labor is paid in New
D. York about so a week now, and $12 il
IN demanded for it, while skilled labO
in commands prices ranging from $15 t.
o. $50 week There can be no caus'
n for surprise, therefore, in the fact tina
ey the German peasant who receives les
on for weeks labor than he can earn il
to a day here, or a mechanic who ha
ut friends in this country earning froI
he three to four times as much as he ca
of get, should look favorably upon tn
he prospect of emigration to the Unite
Op States. No wonder that Castle Garde
le. has seen as many German immigrant
is. land in single month as if whol
is city had been bodily transplanted froI
lrn the Fatherland to our shores. So Ion
his as the cause remains, the same cul
he will be sought, until Germany eithC
lie. disarms or becomes depopulated. HI
vast standing army is not only col
-e's slant menace to the peace of EurOp
the but to her own national prosperity
md v. T. Examiner.
ion -~ss---------