The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1906-04-06
Workmen,s Homes.

United States Consul Harris, o
Chemnitz, has written a letter in re-
ply to criticisms of his recent reports
on the subject of the homes OF work.
inglnen in Germany, in which he says:
An American critics of my recent
re port on the homes of w~orkingmen in
Germany and England said that the
only class of homes which deserved
any attention in the United States, as
far as the working people are con-
cerned, We're those which would yield
a reasonable interest on the sums in
vested in addition to fixed charges, etc.
This may or may not be true. The eX-
perience in Austria, however, where
the average manufacturer furnishes
dwellings and fuel to his worklnen free
of charge, has been to minimize the
number of strikes. / am satisfied that
this has also been the experience at
Port Sunlight and B%ournville village,
in England, where the rents are prac-
tically fixed at rates which pay only
for maintenance, taxes and repairs, as
we'll as at Essen, where the Krupp en-
terprises yield about 2 per cent. on the
investment. 1t stands to reason that
If a manufacturer could eliminate the
danger of strikes from his yearly pro-
gram he would o make good any
extra expense he was put to in order
to place good dwellings at the disposal
or his either for a nominal
rate OF interest on the money invested,
or even free of charge. This Utopian
state OF affairs, however. will not come
TO pass. and as long as human nature
is so constituted as it is labor troubles
VIII always exist In some form or
other. Experience has shown, how
ever, I'm Germany. as perhaps else
where, that the more a manufacturer
learns to d~ifferentiate between a man
and a machine the more is he likely
to reduce the danger OF strikes.
i r. n 80 ~, ~ IT,.
so much money is being given by phi
lanthropists to charity, education and
other enterprises, it would seem that
the great schemes Of housing working
people might be a subject worthy Of
consideration. Experience has shown
mus fal that the average attempts to
lessen the danger of labor troubles
have been but superficial methods APP
piled for the purpose of securing mo-
mentary alienation after strikes have
commenced. rather than seeking for
something which will tend to remove
the cause. The chances are. however,
That good treatment and a we'll directed
philanthropy toward securing suitable
homes for working people will in the
long run form the most potent anti
dotes against the desire to strike.
Strikes. generally speaking, are no
longer local in their influence. They
cast their shadows all over the world,
and each and every one teaches its
own lessons.
Il had an opportunity recently to
discuss the question of workinEmen's
homes and strikes with a gentleman
who owns d large mill which gives
employment to several hundred men.
He is a membe of the organized syn
dictate of manufacturers for the pre-
Nention of strikes. md his business is
suffering very much at present on ac-
count of the strike in the textile dis
tricts of Saxony and Thuringia. He
said that if lie had a million marks
ls23S,oC0) which he could devote to
that purpose, he would introduce the
krupp housing scheme into the textile
districts of Saxony. where thus far
nothing of the kind is being done. This
gentleman evidently considers that
such a step would achieve good re-
suits. and a subject we'll worth the
consideration of manufacturers in Sax