Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-11-18
L A Dor COLONl ES
OBJECT LESSON FROM EUROPE IN
CARE OF INDIGENTs.
Provision Made on Government Earms
for Unfit and Inefficient
Men.
From the London Chronicla.

III was In WeStphalia that the first Ger
man labor colony was established by Pas
tor Won Bodelschwingh. the inspirer and
founder of the German colony movement.
He 1t is who has made Bielefeld the Mecca
OF all interested in the treatment OF epIlep-
tic patients. The colonists are now distrib-
uted throughout the German empire. and
number thirty-three. nearly thirty OF them
being entirely agricultural. westphalia led
the way with Wilhelmsdorf, and at the
present moment has three within its Dor
ders.
AS passed through from Vessel to Biee-
field / was immensely struck with the ex-
traordlnary growth of this huge manufac-
turing district For hundreds OF miles the
country ''pulsates with factories to use a
phrase of Zangwills. and the view from any
high tower near Krupp's town OF Essen
presents vista OF chimneys that obsesses
the imagination, and compels one to think
In terms of ayoirdupois. 1t is the great
manufacturing towns In Germany that are
responsible for the large residuum OF unit
and inefficient who find their way into the
labor colonies.
A German Labor Colony
Let us visit the place where the inefri-
Client and unemployed. the weak and physi-
cally unfit are housed and fed and made
whole again.
Luhlerheim Is perhaps the best example
of what Germany has done in the direction
OF the labor colonies. Situated few miles
from Peddenberg station. and not far from
Vessel. 1t Is approached by a pleasant walk
through pine woods and over heath land.
The colony was once wilderness of sand:
yet entered through a garden full of
flowers and fruit and weet-smelling herbs.
The director of the colony is Herr Siemon
a trained farm baiff, and deacon OF the
Rauhe Haus In Hamburg. | could not help
feeling that the success of the colony was
largely due to his personality. His simple
life. kindly nature and sympathetic. yet
firm, treatment of the men under his con-
troll Will explain the fact that so many
wish to stay. and so few to leave after the
period of probation Is over. In addition ne
is careful and shrewd business man. In
front of his house were seats, encircled By
a little grove of trees, with hydrangeas ank
bush fuchsias as border. There found
few aged and infirm resting and smok-
ing. 1t was easy to see that they regarded
Siemon as father and friend.
Reclamation of Land.
A tour of the farm with the director re-
vealed the fact that since the colony was
founded in 1856 $50 acres Of waste sandy
desert have been made fertile and now
grow good crops of rye and potatoes,
while four acres have been set aside as O
garden for the growth of vegetables. 1t
is pointed out that much of this land had
beneath 1t hard ocherous deposit, which
produce any crop worth having. large
area is still unrecla lined. and this is kept
In reserve for future work. and mean
while contracts are made with neighbor-
ing landowners and the men employed IN
retaining and leveling and draining at
a fixed price Practically all the build
ings, as in the case of Merxplas. have
been constructed by the colonists. and one
OF the most magnificent cowsheds have
ever seen is the work of the colonists.
aided by a few skilled men. In 1t were
seventy cows and ten draught oxen. Hard
by were the piggeries. with 400 pigs. all
of English breed. and the sale of pigs
alone brought in ff500 last year. In ad-
dtion to the farm buildings are shops
| for tailoring, shoemaking, carpentering,
also a smithy end bakery. which supply
all the needs of the colonists The whole
of the work of the farm, with its 1872
colonists (the number is more than dou-
bled in winter). is superintendent by Herr
Siemon as "Haus Water" three assistant
unmarried brothers." head -stockman
a head carman and bookkeeper.-
Marvellous Results.
The colonists are not at all OF the type
to be found In the Belgian institutions. It
Is true that 40 per cent are prison cases,
but more than half of these are convic-
lions for very light and trivial offenses.
such as being without a domicile for one
or two nights; and 90 per cent have not
been imprisoned. They are generally men
who have been unfortunate-men who
are weak in character and not able to
stand alone, men who are below par"
so far as physique is concerned-and taxi
ing into account the fact that they are
not by any means selected because they
are sturdy and able-boded, 1t is marvel
Gus what Herr Siemon has been able to
do. Each man can earn a nominal wage.
part of which is placed to his credit and
part given him for the purchase of to-
bacco. The entire cost of the farm per
annum is about $4,000, and the sale of
farm produce brings In about half of this
amount. The average cost per man per
week. after all expenses have been paid.
including interest on borrowed capital, is
q little over half a crown.
These colonies are all under the control
of the German labor colonies central
board. with headquarters at Berlin. and
though subsidized and supervised to some
extent by the state in which they are
situated. are really institutions inspired
and directed by Christian philanthropy.
Freistatt. the newest German colony. and
Wilhelmsdorf, the oldest, are definitely
connected with the work of Bodel-
schwingh at Bethel