New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-01-23
GERMAN CITIES. OLD AND NEW

we find a marked change of conditions. the
! spirt and ten,per of the people are different.
! Their traditions are vastly different. Between
! the German cities and French cities in the Mid
! die Ages the contrast mmeasuraby great
| While Paris was tyrannized over by KING ana
! priest. Magdeburg and Nuremberg ana FRANK
| fort were ruled by their own sturdy citizens. In
| the natural order of things the German cities
should have led Europe in municipal progress
| That they failed TO do 50 Is TO be attributed,
+ probably, to two causes. One is the character
| of the people more conservative and less adapt
able than the mercurial Gauls; the other the lack
! of such Transforming shock as that furnished
| by the French revolution and the Bonaparte
| regime When France set ont to make all things
new, Germany resisted her and strengthened her
| own barriers against innovations. When Bona
| parte overran Italy and Spain ana the Low
| Countries ard put upon their plastic minds the
| impress of his organizing genius. the Teutomc
| States hardened their hearts against him lie
might overrun their territory. vanqush their
! armies depose their kings. Their institutions
| were beyond his power to remold Nevertheless
such a powerful example as that Of France could
| rot fail Of ultimate effect even upon the stohd
Germans. The movement for administrative re-
! FORM once begun. was steady and BY no means
slow The Germans are intensely practical sell
entifc in method, thorough in execution. More
| over they had the stimulus of ambition to rival
! France and the tremendous impetus Of the new
Empire 1t will. therefore. be found that the APP
piled science Of municipal government IN Ger
many while decidedly different in many respects
from that in France. Is in other respects pat
termed after II: 1t is less uniform. but in many
places has actually been carried further, and has
produced more noteworthy results
Nowhere else in Europe is there to be seen so
t,( any,
In rapidity of growth and In its air Of new
ness Berlin almost rivals Chicago. IT has actu-
ally grown as much in twenty-five years as Chi
cago-absolutely not relatively-addng l.oDoooo
to its population in that time. Hamburg ana
Boston were OF the same size in 1870. Since then
Boston has had phenomenal growth. but Ham
burg has grown twice fast Leips:c, Munich
and Breslau have in the last dozen or score OF
years far outstrpped ST. Louis. San Francisco
and Cincinnati In 1850 Cologne was much small
er than Cleveland, Buffalo or Pitsburg; in 1890.
much larger than any Of them. Magdeburg
and Dusseldorf have been growing faster than
Minneapolis and st. Paul. And so through the
whole list. The character Of the German cities IS
changing too. Even the nucleus. the ancient
| centre Of EACH is renovated. But around IT, belt
after belt. lies the great new city. planned to
facilitate further growth. The contrast between
y
ing Here, the checker-board prevails There.
the rad,al and concentric system, in combination
with the rectangular. which is found to be far
better adapted to purposes Of transit. The same
| plan is extended to railroads; in Berlin an en-
circling road around the city connecting ALL
making terminal facilities far better than ours
for collecting distributing and transferring
goods.
The government Of cities varies In the different
| German States In Prussia in old times the mu-
| ncipality was subject to State absolutism. stein
in 1903 effected great reforms. adopting "A system
| similar to that of France. and it gradually
| extended to most Of the other States. with more
or less modification AS revised since the found
alton of the present Empire, the Prussian sys-
tenn provides for Provinces, Districts and Circles.
corresponding to the French Departments, Ar
| rondssements and Cantons. The electoral sys-
| tenn is complicated. But its effect is as in
| France to choose a Municipal Council. which Is
| the local governing body, and which in turn
| chooses a Mayor. or Chief Burgomaster. The
members Of these councils are notably able men;
! perhaps Of a higher class than anywhere else In
| the world But they do not trust their own
| ability They employ a staff of cxperis-the
| very highest talent procurabe-to conduct the
general operations Of the civil service. These
trained officials are well paid, and are appointed
for twelve years. with pracucal certainty Oh To-
newal Indefinitely on good behavior. They
| lawyers fnanciers architects. engineers, edu-
Gators etc. Associated with them are equal
| numbers Of citizens of high attainments, un-
| paid to act as lay-advisers. With this organ
cation municipal administration in Germany Is
paternaism run TO seed. Its function is to do
everything. regulate everything. There is
| strong tendency toward municipal ownership OF
gas works, electric lights. transportation lines.
| etc German Socialism, some will cry. They
| are i-advised. 1t is not even an approxima-
| ton to Socialism. It Is simply the municipality
| retaining and administering its own natural
| monopoes instead OF farming them out to
others. Whether city will or will not do so Is
| decided not on dOctr!nare grounds. but on bust
| ness principles. The sole question is Which Will
| be to the best advantage?
| Space will not permit here to review the
superb street building Of German cities, the stu
| pendous sewerage and sewage-farm systems OF
| Berlin tn. fine charity organizations of most
| German cities and many other details Of great
| interest. The sanitary revolution in Hamburg
must, however. be more than merely mentioned.
| This great city. in itself an Independent re-
| public IS In many respects one OF the finest and
| most interesting in the whole Empire Yet it
! suffers the same natural disadvantages as those
| already noted in the case Of Holland. It's CHI
| mate is bad and its geographical and topograph
| cal situation one Of the worst imaginable. 1t
| lies on the margin Of low. fiat country. on
| tidal river. with little chance for drainage and
no good water supply within reach. so 1t was not
surprising that few years ago its sanitary con-
dit.on was unsatisfactory. The water supply was
drawn from the same river that received the dis
charge from the ctys sewers; It became con-
taminated, and in 1892 a terrible epidemic OF
cholera was the result. Already vast system
OF sanitary Improvement was under way. how
ever which has now been perfected The water
OF the Elbe Is still used. containing the drain
age Of countless other towns and cities further
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