Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-10-22
GERMANY OF TODAY
Talk With One of the Kaiser's
High Officials.
LABOR AND CAPITAL
WHAT THE NATION is DOING FOR
ITS woRKINGMEN.
Splendid Display at the St. Louis Ex-
position-Foreign Trade and
Colonial Markets.
LABOR AND CAPITAL
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star

Special Correspondence OF The Evening Star.
Copyright, 1904, by Frank G. Carpenter)
ST. LOUIS.
1 give you today chat with DR.. Theodor
Lewald, the kaiser's commissioner general,
on the Twentieth Century Germany DIR.
Lewald is one of the high officials of the
German empire. He is connected with the
interior department and is one of the i'm
perial privy councillors. He was comm s.
sioner from Germany to the exposition at
Paris, and he has had everything to do with
! the exhibit at ST. Louis
Before giving my talk with him 1 would
say word about the German exhibit 1t
is one of the finest and most complete of
all sent in from abroad. The emperor is
anxious to increase the friendly relations
which obtain between the United States
and Germany, and he has done all in
his power for the st. Louis exposition
This can be seen by visiting the Imperial
German pavilion, which is composed or
rooms copied after some of the most Ia
nous apartments of the imperial palaces.
The emperor has sent over his own paint
ings and tapestry for these rooms, and In
one of them are cases containing his wed
ding presents. Indeed, the pavilion Vles In
beauty with many of the palaces OF Eu-
rope showing what the Germans can do to
reproduce the glories of their historic past
The exhibits in tie other build ngs show
the live, up-to-date, scientific, pushing, IN
dustr:ous thrifty Germany of today. II
would take columns to describe them, ana
will only say that they ind cate the won
derful advance that that nation is mdk'ng
along educational, industrial and soclai
lines | am told that the German govern
ment has spent more than $1,00O,O00 on its
exhibit, outside the money spent by the IN
dividual exhibitors
The American Workingman.
The first part of my talk with DIR. Lewald
was devoted to the American workingman
in comparison with the German. Or.
J,ewald had to use the American laborer TO
nut I'D his great buildings and to arrange
b;s exbibits. He don't think much of h M
Said he: ,+oa
IT can't understand how the United
States can hold it's own in the Markets o.
the world, if the labor condiuohs VI %
Louis are typical of those of the rest Oh
the country We have had terrible uihe
here whenever we have had TO employ
American workmen. We used them III
erecting our buildings and the "a aoIs
were outrageous. We have paid one ooi-
lar an hour to common mechanics VINO
in Germany would be considered second
class workmen. They would WORN oniy
eigbt hours per day, and if we found 1autl
with their work or asked them to remedy
any defects in it they would throw up me
job and leave They seemed TO nave ilo
desire to please us. and their sote opJe-l
to put in the time anu Set 'hc iiiOiiOS'
One of our German mechanics, VINO came
over with u.s. thought the conditions out
rageous. 1 don't know that similar ones
prevail throughout the United States, out
if they do they can not but work 10 your
industrial injury.
Labor Matters in Germany.
what is your situation as to labor mat
ters DIR. Lewald?"
1--WE have our troubles, too, but we are
ny1r- AY
more willing to give a fair days work for
a fair days wages, and they are yearly be-
coming more skillful through our technical
schools, which are now to be found IN
every industrial center.
rs there an exhibit of these schools
here?' l asked
1--WE have an exhibit of our technical high
schools, but not of the common technical
schools, which are found all over the en-
pire. I doubt if the industrial centers would
encourage the establishment of such schools
elsewhere. They are intended to make bet
ter German workmen and in this way bet
ter products for export. We do not, nat
uraly, wish to help the United States
one of our competitors in the markets of
the world. We have exhibits, however,
showing what we are doing in the tech
nical high schools, and also our progress
along the lines of workmens insurance ana
for the protection of the laboring man.
Workingmen Insured and Pensioned.
What are you doing in insuring your
workingmen?''
More than almost any other country"
was the reply. 1.-THE movement for work
mems insurance began with Emperor Will
helm I. He proposed it in a message in
1884, and the sentiment in favor of it has
so grown since then that we have regular
system of insurance under the control or
the government by which every German
workman receives financial assistance in
case of accident, sickness and invalidity or
old age. More than 100000 is daily spent
in this way upon the protection OF our
workingmen, and in a single year some
thing like five million persons receive help
of one kind or another from this source.
In the seventeen years from 1889 TO lSol
fifty million people were so benefited. They
received all told about one billion dollars.
1.-The money for this insurance fund.-"
continued DIR. Lewald, ''is raised by a tax
of about per cent on the wages OF the
employees two-thirds of which is borne by
the employees and one-third by the en-
ployer In addition to this there are work
ingmens clubs which give benefits to their
members in sickness, and we have associa-
lions providing for 1ndemnltles IN case OF
accident or death
1.-The insurance against 1nVaildlty hciuaes
old age. Every German workman over
seventy gets a pension, and II one OF the
insured becomes an invalid through acct
dent he, also, is pensioned. There are now
more than thirteen million persons insured
as to invaid1tys
IN addition to this the insurance fund
has accumulated a reserve capital of about
1910 900 600 which is being used for the
general benefit of the workingmen
Through it we are constructing working
mems dwellings. hospitals, homes for traV-
cling men, public baths. systems of water
works and other sanitary improvements.
Indeed it seems to me that our system OF
workingmen's insurance is excellent"
Do Expeditions PayP
The conversation here turned TO the st.
Louis exposition, and / asked Dr. Lewald
whether he thought that it paid his gov
ernment and it's exhibitors to show their
wares at such places. He said:
1--WE cannot tell whether this exposition |
will pay Germany for the trouble she is
snending upon it. That is a matter for the |
future trade to determine. There is |
nreiudice against American expositions |
among our manufacturers, owing to your |
high duties They say, What is the use |
of our trying to compete when we are |
taxed As per cent by the customs house?' |
This tax makes it out of the question for |
Germany to send many of its products TO |
the United States. and the result is that |
our exhibit here does not adequately rep |
resent the industries of the country. 1t is |
s,,a n, narjSon with that of other ma /