New Iberia enterprise and independent observer. (New Iberia, La.) 1902-1944, 1905-04-22
THE POOR OF BERLIN
HOW THEY ARE SUPERVISED BY THE
CITY AUTHORITIES.

tnere no poor in this city? Are you n
together without rags and wretche,
u, ness?'
II MY dear friend" said the German
winking a heavy eyeld, 1--WE are yer
# clever people. We do not show on
dust bins"
!. Berlin is ruled by municipal expert,
n 1t has its wretchedness and its despair
Il but these things are not permitted t
n increase. To be out of work In Berli1
Is crime, even as it is in London bu
with this dlfference-in Berlin the mu
4 nieipality legislates for labor in fash
> lon which makes idleness all but indie
feasible.
The laws to this end may not com
mend themselves to English minds. 70,
the Germans are not soft hearted IL
such matters, but they have this en-
gaging recommendation, they succeed
Let ragged man make his appear
ance in Friedrichstrasse or the Indens
or in any of the numerous open spaces
ana policeman is at him in Il min.
ute. Your papersp' 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, willynilly, to
the workhouse and made TO labor for
his board and lodging.
Now, the work house in Germany is
not prison, but the vagrant would as
leave go to the one as to the other
The administration of the work house
Is conducted with iron severity. Ey-
cry ounce of bread and every drop of
thin soup consumed by the workhouse
man is paid for thousandfold by the
sweat of his brow So it comes about
that the man least disposed to work,
the born vagabond, finds 1t more
agreeable to toll for his bread in the
market than to fall into the hands of
paternal government
Berlin takes advantage of the sys-
TEN 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 il
known to the police from the hour OF
his birth to the hour of his death. For
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 effected by the FASTING into a |
book of certain stamps every week. |
and 1t Is the duty of each employer
to see that this contract is faithfully
Obeyed. And the state has Mt Beelitz
an enormous sanitarium costing TO-
10000 marks (f500,000), 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. Itpays 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 its citizens, and on this
task it concentrates its labors with
energy.
Berlin has huge building resem-
bling factory where the unemployed,
whole families, are received and pro-
vided for, but no one must take adyan-
tage Of this hospitality moro than five
lines IN three months. Consider this
point Of view. II you are homeless five 3
lines in three months ydI are dubbed Z
! reckless creature and packed off to +
he workhouse. Private enterprise has :
provided another asylum where the !,
homeless may come FIVE times In one
month and where the police are not al
owed to enter at night. have visited,
his place and seen the people who at
end 1t, some decent enough others
riminal in every line of their faces.
there are many of these desperate
den in Berlin, many Of these dirty, :
aged and unhappy wretches, doomed :
rom the day of their birth, but they q
are not show thems yes In the decent 8
Torld as they do London. They n
ink into these asyllms at 8 o'clock; T.
hey have their clothes disinfected:
1ey cleanse themselves under shower
aths; they eat bread and drink soup,
nd then they go to bed at o'clock
ke prisoners to their cells.
Now, this system is d hard one for
hen once man gets down In Berlin y
Is almost impossible for him to rise. q
ut 1t has this clear advantage every 10
ody feels that it is better to work 81
ian to fall into the hands Of the law. HI
Rags and misery Care not lie about I'll
the parks or scatter disease through "
Ie crowded streets. IL there is any ~
rtue In the unemployed the state will 1,
rtainty develop it as well IS 1t IA pos =
Bile to do So There Ii a central bu- -
au for providing men with work, and
hen man knows that not to work
cans the workhouse be soIicifs en- IN
oyment here and elsewhere with such
will as almost cotnpels wages. In
e year the state has secured employ
mt for 5000 men.
The citizen Is provided with sanitary w
Tellings, with unadnlferatel food, 10
tn schools and technical colleges and in
til Insurance for sickness and old VI
:. For penny be can travel almost dI
N one end Of Berlin to the other by an
'ctric framway or electric railway. IL
> streets are clean, brilliantly light m
and noiseless; his cafes and music
" are innumerabIe. He lives In d
Ioee. Ara al this II the result ok
U1clrel eoRexuuent 81 experts II.