Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-01-03
A WELL-GoVERNED CITY.
Dusseldorf, Where the Government
Owns Nearly Everything.
From the Outlook,

FROM tHe outlook
Apart from the special attractions Of this
year, Dusseldorf is always an exhibition in
itself. 1t has been well described as 1.-The
garden city Of the Rhine" and no town has
carried municipal housekeeping to greater
extent or into more varied fields. One gets
about the maximum of government which
IL is possible to obtain in Dusseldorf also
the extreme amount of restrictive action
and control which it seems possible even
for Germans to live under To enter or
leave the city the visitor must travel on the
state railway, and he is put down at a.
public service monopolies are managed by
the city council, beginning with the water
supply. He will have the choice between
gas and electricity for light, but in each
case he will have to patronize the munich
pality He will ride on a splendidly eouip-
ped electric street railway, which serves
not only the city, but runs into the sub
urbs, and is owned and operated directly
by the municipality. He will have to 20 to
the state for his telephones, and the post
office will deliver his parcels as well as his
letters He will. find an up-to-date harbor
and docks on the Rhine, and warehouses
and elevators alongside with the latest cleo
trlcally driven appliances, all in the possess
sion of the municipal authorities All the
markets are owned by the city, which also
owns model municipal slaughter houses
Ihere are several sets Of municipal baths.
h lneihudlng turkish and Russian, and free
bathlng station on the Rhine. There are no
Sums In the city, and not likely to be as
the city council has adopted a proeressive
housing policy. 1t builds municipal dwell
lngs. rich citizen left it money to build
what are known foundation dwellings.
let at low rentals, and money is lent on
easy terms from the social insurance funds
to help workmen build their own houses.
There Is a municipal savings bank ready to
receive the savings of the thrifty, another
municipal bank in which are deposited the
floating balances and profits of the public
services lends money on mortgages and
there is the poor mans bank in the
municipal pawnshop. ready to advance
money on personal property and goods at
something like IL per cent. There are beau
tiful parks. a peoples garden in the snb-
urbs, botanical garden, a geological gar
den and ten miles away on the slopes of
the Grafenberg hills Is municipal forest
the furthest terminus of the street railway
service number of the parks contain
municipal restaurants. In the educational
field the city has, Of course its art gal
leries, museums of natural history and an
tlquities, arts and crafts; also it's municipal
theater, where good companies play nine
months in the year and give a Shakespeare
season every year.
In the sphere of education the munic;na,
lty does everyth1ng-runs common schools
colleges, gymnasia, technical schools libra
ries, etc. There is state system Of insur-
ance against old age and sickness. uniyer-
sal pensions for workmen and a provincial
fire insurance system in which the munich
pality takes part. When one is disabled or
stricken with disease there is a municipal
hospital awaiting him; when he Is old and
impoverished there is the municipal nursing
home ready to receive him. 1t is conceiv-
able that, Notwithstanding all these NUM-
cipal benefits, he might die. but even in
death he does not escape the omnipresent
municipality. for he will have to patronize
the municipal undertaker-the only one
and be buried In the municipal cemetery
there is no other.