The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-11-06
wOMAN'S LOT In GERMANY.
TREATED ny NAV As AN INFERIOR
BEING.
Her Life Passed in Unceasing Drudgery-
She Must DO the Hardest Kind of Work
for tho Lowest Possible P~ny-ShopGlrls

Her Life Passed in Unceasing Drudgery-
she Must DO the Hardest Kind of Work
for tho Lowest Possible P~ny-shopGlrls
Got 81 n Month. Houscmaids IS.
MUNICH. Oct. 19.-Doubtless no American
traveller in Germany has failed to remark, as
one OF the characteristic features Of the land.
tho peculiar position, or lack Of position. that
Teutonic womankind holds. In getting into
the country the FIRST glimpse from a car win
dow makes Il easy to understand why the Ger
man speaks iokingly Of 1.-THE weaker SEX"
Deep In his heart he means himself. The wo-
men work in the nelds, not like the men. but
like the beasts; they are the backbone OF the
nations economy. Then. in the first city. the
thing lie emphasized. An American, after the
primal shock he gets from the aspect OF the
mems trousers, which are bullt in Germany
upon the pattern OF a section OF sheet-iron
st6vepipe. is most strongly impressed by the
fact that the women seemingly do all the work
or all the work that is hard enough to be
called so. In a place like this, perhaps the
most typical OF German cities OF the old style.
one minutes walk from the hotel shows that
the hodcarriers are all women. that the labor
era on the street car lines are likewise women.
that a large proportion OF the oonveyances In
the streets are small carts pulled by women in
partnership with dogs. that most OF the wood
choppers are women. and that everywhere.
under most circumstances in which the labor
Ia rough and mental. the woman is doing the
bulk OF the work. while the man. even II pre-
tending to help. is mainly occupied in watch
ing her efforts with appreciation.
IL is not only In the lower walks OF life that
the proposition is to be rema~rked-peasant or
noble. the destiny OF the German woman is
work. Whether it be manual labor, or merely
the vexing details Of practical housekeeping.
few German women escape; II. on the one
hand. the work is ill-adapted to woman's
strength and often injurious to health. on
the other it Is none the less eHacting and
wearying. But 1t is, according to the German
code. obligatory. Woman is not supposed TO
have an equal footing with man. and she her.
self would be the last to expect or demand It
For so Is she trained-and has been for gen-
e%rations. Social usage even declares that she
cannot speak to a man until he has spoken.
She may glance at him in the street, but she
may not recognize him until he has signifed
his desire to be recognized. That II the frat
article OF the social law, and It is followed by
others as arbitrary or moro so. Woman's rights
Is a subject that has been heard Of mostly in
whispers in Germany; but Germans, densely.
perhaps, have heard it spoken Of as II It were
the name of q new variety OF cucumber. The
new woman. IL she dared to appear. would
doubtless be regarded by most OF them with
viz saho iHuincIchCo as lie lTulI ltSell.
II an American should go on a Sunday after
noon to a concert at one Of the big Munich
breweries he would see all about him evidences
of that beautiful German family life which Is
traditional. The German-and particularly the
South German-nearly Always takes his family
with him to share his Sunday pleasures, even
to the dog. When 1t comes to sharing the beer
and sausage. however. it Is interesting to note
what the average German considers a share,
/ He nF1pr6 n liter nj hAAr and n nlnta nf am
sages. Each OF the family gets one sip of the
beer. and that ends it-not the beer, but the
ciares that she has no hunger:' and the
children are supposed to be in the same con-
bolts his sausages. and the dog gets the skins.
This is not always the procedure, but II is
the German idea. The German man may be
generous enough. but the German woman is
and really believes that her needs and her
rights are entirely different from and subser;
Win her to . h she 81 ve tse @pf to Il tht mis6 othss G 9Ged
but there Is rarely danger of that.
The brewery scene is entirely typical OF the
average German-or. more particularly. per-
hanps; South Gsrman-family life; A German
apnreciabie. Married. she enters upon a hum.
drum existence, a Jingle year of which would
baidest sense OF the term. There are probably
no i iittie the sGSe GERMAN I" feminine aaE iaaq nat MrtcG or t trains
ing. exacts. But whatever she expects in
Is work; Even then her position Is INFINITELY
preferable PRE- as to TIN that 81 her oS unmarried sister
al%a SsF piteou sp'fRs seei Is sg SoIsSsd ar%Hsa I ir o0s
usually as a burden and an anomaly By her
she Is a sipinster rarely BY choice. It is usually
question purely Of dowry; It e not necessary
f111 peiiet N 3; i i3HlSOs sditSS Is' viii With ? sSo'o5 6tn sSs
Is fxed b. imperial iawi;' from that amount
down to $40-the smallest dowry that, enters
market-her chances are proportional strictly
in, accordance with the amount.
do Motiwatn ! oiorit s1e ~ im HerSen m mpefgsns o1
70 make good the deficiency; and Il Is Inst
German woman's. lot become apparent. There
are no remunerative situations open to women
mrrilliners and dressmskers %receivee wages
Which are only q degree less pathetic than
It may be said that no woman employed in or
binary vocations receives wages SUFFICIENT for
by OF enough to provide her with a husband
r. reasonable fh.a able comfort e ah IN adverse 8 days; II is
true that Germans can. and do. live on annui-
ties which IN any other country would seem
ludicrous; but the main fact remains-the
wages Of women show no evidence OF intention
to provide, for the cohesion Of body and soul;
IL = h'iu W WIN q W hiSioii bbdb
deserves a worse name. that women wage
earners do not require living wages for the
reason that they are capable of receiving out
side aid. When they live with their families
they doubtless receive that aid: and too often
they are driven to invite II, whether they live
with their families or not; but the great mass
OF honest working girls are, obliged 70 practice
self-denial to an extent which would Brighten
an American girl into disability TO perform any
work at, all, There are shopgirls here In,
Munich, for instance. who live, and have lived
for years. on wages ranging from 81 to $40 a
month. paying for their lodging, their food, and
their clothing, 1t is a blessed thing for them
that they can get furnished rooms for SD O
month, a full dinner for 10 cents. and that they
ing and black bread and beer in the evening,
for that isall they get. Beer and black bread
have saved thousands OF lives In Germany
may get. the earnings OF which are more than
likely to he good. viewed from the German
standpolnt-that OF waitress in n restaurant or
beer saloon-the terms are practically synony-
nous. The work OF q keilneT.in is not nearly 80
much like drudgery rs most other work for
women Is: her earnings depend largely upon