Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1904-12-27
THE POOR OF BERLIN
HOW THEY ARE SUPERVISED ~ THE
CiTYsAUTHoRlTlES.


CiTvsAuTHoRlTlEs.
Begging In Not to BE Seen On che
Streets OF the City, and Rags and
Misery Dare Not Lie about In the
Parks and Rnblic Places.
what" l exclaimed in Berlin, ere
there no poor i'm, this city? Are you al
together without gags and wretcheh-
nessT ~
"My dear FRIEND" said the German,
winking heavyeeyelid, Eve are very
clever people We do not show oM
dust bins"
Berlin is ruled by municipal experts.
1t has its wretciedness and it's despair,
but these things are not permitted to
increase. To be out of work in Berlin
is crime, even rs 1T is in London, but
with this differenae-in Berlin the mu-
.nicipahty legislates for labor in fash
lion which makes Aleness all but indie
ifensible.
The laws to this end may not COM
mend Themselves to English minds, for
the Germans are not soft hearted in
such matters, but they have this en-
;gaging recommendation. they succeed.
Let a ragged man make his appear
.anee in Friedrichstrasse or the Lindens
or In any of the numerous open spaces,
and a policeman is at him in min
ute "Your papers!" demands the man
of law. The beggar produces his docu-
ments. If it is proved that he has
slept in the asylum for the homeless
more than certain number Of nights
he is forthwith conducted, wflynilly, to
the workhouse and made to labor for
his board ana lodging. 4
Now, the workhouse In Germany is
not q prison, but the vagrant would as
leave 60 to the one as to the other.
The administration of the workhouse
is conducted with iron severity. Ev-
cry ounce of bread and every drop of
thin soup consumed by the workhOuse
man ia paid for a thousandfold by the
sweat Of his brow. So 1t comes about
that the man least disposed to work.
the born vagabond. finds it more
agreeable to toll TOR his bread In the
market than to fall into the hands of
a paternal government
Berlin takes advantage Of the sys-
tenn in Germany which numbers and
tickets every child born in the father
land. No man can roam from district
| to district, changing his name and his
life's story with every fitting. He is
known to the police from the hour OF
/ his birth to the hour Of his death. For
/ a few pfennigs can read the history
of every person in Berlin. Therefore
the municipality has an easy task. Ev-
cry citizens life story is known to
them, and every vagrant is punished
for his crime against the community.
Moreover, every person of humble
means is insured by the state. Even
clerks, shop assistants and servants
are compelled to insure against sick
ness and against old age. This insur-
ance is erected by the pasting into a
book Of certain stamps every week,
and it is the duty of each employer
to see that this contract is faithfully
i obeyed. And the state has at Beelitz
an enormous sanitarium costing TO-
100000 marks (e5OO, OOO), where the in
| valided citizen is sent with his pen
sion in order to expedite his valuable
return to the ranks of the wage earn.
ers. 1t pays the city of Berlin to nurse
its sick and cherish its invalids. The
whole object of the municipality is to
secure the physical and intellectual
well being of it's citizens, and on this
task it concentrates its labors with
amazing energy.
Berlin has a huge building resem
bling factory where the unemployed
whole families, are received and pro
vided for; but no one must take advan
tage of this hospitality more than fy'
: times in three months. Consider thi'
point Of view. If you are homeless fiv'
times in three months you are dubbe,
q reckless creature and packed on ii
!: the workhouse. Private enterprise ha
E provided another asylum where tn
!; homeless may come Eve times In on
r month and where the police are not al
lowed to enter at night. have yisite.
E this place and seen the people who al
It tend it, some decent enough, other
y criminal in every line Of their faces
There are many of these desperat
men, in Berlin, many Of these dirty
+ ragged and unhappy wretches, doome
q from the day Of their birth, but the
st. dare not show themselves In the decor
world as they do in London. The
, stink into these asylums at O'Clock
h they have their clothes disinfectet
they cleanse themselves under Shove
baths; they eat bread and drink SOU
and then they go to bed at 8 o'cloc
S like prisoners to their cells. 49,.
!, Now, this system is hard one, 4
when once a man gets down in Berli
Il ia almost imnO0afh1o for him tn ris,