New-York tribune., 1906-11-16
HAN0VER'S CAPITAL
Working Out the Housing Question
1Csth Old Age Pension Funds.
Hanover. October 80.

churches, Kreuz Marit and E1gidian, remain
after four centuries. and the Avenue of Lines
SUN leads to their Schloss Herrenhausen but
the Guelph Palace the way has been con-
Verted into polytechnic school; nearly all the
high gabed houses have vanished from the
crooked streets; cumbersome low toned new
fountain is IN front OF the medieval Rathhaus
with its modern wing, and ought to be ashamed
Of itself; and oldtlme palaces have been turned
over to the military and provincial authorities.
Hanover in their time was a quaint town with
less than $4,000 inhabitants, and now it is the
tenth city OF the empire, with a population OF
s50.OO0. It is the headquarters OF an army
corps and q centre Of prosperous industries
iron, linens, woolens, cotton chemicals. choco-
late, rubber. tobacco glass and powder. m
place OF the timber gables and stucco fronts Of
their time there are sandstone residences and
brick warehouses in the old town; and in the
populous new quarters, east west and north
there are labored examples Of French and Ital-
ian Renaissance and German Gothic and r7oulI-
nents' huge and unmpressfve. 70 match them
They would not bo at home among the new
Churches, the massive railway stations and
banks the prosaic law courts, the brick indus
trial schools, the modern villas and the war
monuments. They might not indeed be con-
vinced that IT really was their old Hanover un-
less they should happen to hear that the heir Of
George Y, with an obstfnacy as persistent ss
tner own had refused to resign his title to q
lost Kingdom and to take the regency Of Bruns-
wick as a consolation prize
The most modern feature Of the oIdtfrna
capital Of the Georges is the worI,raan's home
The housing question which battles the inge-
nuity OF municipal reforrners and the resources
OF philanthropists IN the swarruins hives oF
London and great provincial towns in England
mas been solved satisfactorily IN Hanover Like
otner German cities, the town had a large tract
OF undeveloped land within and without the
municipal area Electric tranways rendered
these estates and private properties adjacent
TO them available for sites for homes OF work.
ing people How could the money be found for
the construction Of houses for the benefit Of
this ciass7 The accumulated funds Of the state
insurance system required investment, and the
working classes, who contributed largely to
them. had the best claim to be benehtsd nv
them. The state insurance system which was
devised IN Btsrnarcks time, has been carried
out with amazing thoroughness It involves
compulsory insurance against sickness two
thirds at the cost OF the worl1nen and one
third contributed by the employers: compulsory
insurance against accident for which EMPLOYERS
alone are liable; and compulsory insurance
against permanent invaIidlsrn and old age the
expense Of which is divided between employers
the imperial treasury. This triple system now
covers over 100000 risks with annual re-
ceipts Of over s1sS0O0.0oO and payments exceed
ing S110,000000. and carries reserves OF over
$3.50 coo for the whole empire The work is
carried On by insurance societies and local ad-
nlinisrattve bodies, in which worknen and
employers alike are represented; and the prof
liable use Of the reserves especially those held
for old age pensions, has been a troublesome
question IN Hanover advances have been
made to building societies improvement COM
paIlies and worlzmen and the waste lands sur
rounding the town have been rapidly built up
Workers in providing pensions for old age with
the help of their employers have secured. many
Of them, indirectly their own suburban homes
Many Of these new houses are let perna-
nently to working people by building societies
which have obtained the land and then mort
gagged 1t to the insurance authorities; but
large majority Of them have been purchased by
the occupants on the instalment plan The
taxes and fire insurance charges when added to
the instalrnent are not IN excess Of the rent
paid by a tenant; and since ownership is grad
ually com pleted and q property acquired for old
age with its pension, purchase IS the more de-
sirable expedent. Scores Of these uuprete0-
tious houses are TO be seen in and outside Han
over. Ordinarily there are two dwellings under
Is
and the humblest viii have as many as four
rooms for a family. Commonplace brick struct-
ures they are, without a line OF artistic effect
and with air Of UCabashed rawness. as though
they. had been built yesterday; yet they are
perhaps more truly characteristics Of The dull
prosaic progress Of Germany than the pict-
uresque villas lining the approaches TO the
Eilenriede, the italian Renaissance structures,
overloaded with ornament. in the newer bust-
ness and residential districts, They are not
uger TO the eye than the thousands Of dreary
tenements with which square miles Of subur-
( ban London are Uttered. and certainly they are
more sanitary and less fmsy in construction;
and the occupants three times out Of four are
in their own homes, protected against the risks
OF sickness accident and permanent disability
and enabled by the same system. which guar
autees pensions for their declining years. to
become purchasers and small investors instead
OF tenants. Could there be a more striking
proof Of the practical way in which social ques-
tions are taken UP IN Germany
These workmen's homes, buiIt with their own
savings for old age and with the contributions
OF their employers toward a scheme of rational
socialism. are as far removed from the narrow
circle Of the Hanoverian Georges as though they
were in another planet So startlingIy modern
are they and SO far in advance OF the time that
an American looking at them in broad daylight
seems to be catching gItrupses Of the moon. Ger
tatnly it is q different use Of accumulated tnsur-
aace funds from that Of supplying reserves for
trenzied speculation in Wall Street, or Of hnanc-
ing railway or trust deals of exceptional mag
nitude Insurance investments in mortgages are
common enough in all countries but In Germany
alone is the housing question worked out for
congesUed centres Of population with the help
OF old age pension funds Il is highly original
way OF dealing with social question Of the first
importance. Some OF these loans TO building