New-York tribune., 1908-07-16
WORKING GERMANY
Practical Measures for Informing
and Interesting Wage Earners.


orned foo much but they do not lack experience
in supporting institutions. either state made or
trade unionist IL the wage Garner does not
understand his responsibilities and rights as a
working unit in the social organism of an in
6ustrial empire ii is because he does not take
advantage of information which is freely be-
slowed. NAM laws have been enacted for his
benefit and he co-operate5 with his employer
and with state or trade officials in their admin
istration and apart from being represented in
network os insurance bodies and conciliaton
and arbitration courts he has free advice at
every turn from workmen's secretaries and mu-
nicipal bureaus. He is almost as well drilled IN
civic rights and duties is the soldier In the
ranks in the details Of military service. Like
him. too he may be highly organized as to
lack the capacity for individual initiative and
that is the most conspicuous defect Of the Ger
man system
The working centre of trade unionism IN a
German industrial wn is the secretary's office.
Ordinarily the official Is Social Democrat and
a rolitical organizer but his salary is paid by
the allied trade unions, whose representative
he is. Originally the office was administered
exclusively for the benefit of the members of
unions but il is conducted in the interest OF
Socialist organizations and is information
bureau available for workmen generally. When
ever wage Garner has trouble with employer
or landlord, or comes into conflict with state
o45cils or municipal inspectors, is confused
by the intricacies of the insurance system poor
relief or general law the door OF the secretary's
office is open to him. and he can find out where
he stands and what to do without paying law
,rer's fee To these advisory functions added
The MANAGEMENT Of elections for trade courts
and assemblies and of various representative
bodies for the administration of insurance funds
and other purposes In a general election the
workrnen's secretary is a political partisan with
Socialist sy-npathies and at all times his office
is a recruiting bureau for trade unionism-
So influential and useful have these secre-
faries' Offices become that government officials
DO not conceal their regret that they did not
initiate the movement themselves and conduct it
at public cost Not few municipalities have
opened information bureaus where free advice
can be obtained from peoples lawyer" and
The religious bodies, both Roman Catholic and
Protestant. have established similar agencies in
both North and South Germany. The Socialist
or trade union Offices receive the bulk Of the
patronage and are active agencies in controlling
the representative bodies in which the work
men are directly interested. They have The sup
port of the Socialist press and help to swell the
poll 1 that party in political crises The gov
eminent would like to suppress them and to
substitute for them a general system of local
information bureaus and lawyers for the people,
but they are too firmly established to be up
rooted, and they have behind them the moral
support OF the trade unions.
Not only do German wage earners have free
advice whenever they are in doubt respecting
any point of law, but they also have access to
courts and tribunals of their own where con-
troverses with employers. landlords creditors
and officials can be brought TO issue without
either heavy bill of costs CT interminable de-
ID oalS in 1x5-l7ip
employers and employed are equally represented,
or Industrial courts for the settlement of wage
and other working questions, the presiding Off
GERS being chosen by municipal authority and the
assessors assisting them being voted for an
nually by bodies Of wage payers and wage earn
ers. It is not perfect system, since large
classes Of workers are excluded from its opera
ton, but it is an economic method Of settling
disputes of all kinds at short notice without the
costly assistance Of lawyers. There are hun
dreds Of these arbitration tribunals and concilia
tion courts in the empire and while the proc
esses are not compulsory the decision final,
if litigants persist in appealing from them, the
general results are satisfactory. It is an effec-
tive method of peacenaking. as cheap as IL is
reasonable and it brings law and equity within
the reach Of the most helpless and obscure work.
man and in a court where he has had voice in
choosing the judges.
Other agencies, which are not of his own
choice, but are designed benevoently for his
good are in operation for supplying the work
with useful information and advice The
school doctor finds something wrong in the
health Of the wage earners child and tells him
what can be done to set 1t right. The sanitary
inspectors discover consumptive patients in
tenement house fats where they are endanger-
ing the health Of those around them. and public
Or private charity transfers Them to Gpen-air
senstoriums where they may he cured There
are visiting committees for giving advice in
sickness and removing convalescents to hospital
wards where recovery may be hastened. There
municipal house agencies for assisting work.
men TO secure lodgings where they can live
within their means There are labor bureaus
where registries are kept and systematic efforts
made 10 provide work for the unemployed.
There are well conducted pawnshops under mu-
nicipal management temporary asylums for the
homeless labor colonies and relief stations for
wandering workers and countless other agencies
for rendering timely aid and restoring unfortu-
mates TO the dignity II seif-support. Not every
one Of these institutions is available in every
German city. but everywhere social reform has
been taken up with practical intelligence and
workers have been put in the way Of improving
their lot without loss Of self-respect and inde-
pendence.
A British Blue Book has recently been issued
with statistical comparisons of the earnings.
working time and cost Of living of English and
Ger:-an workers in the building. engineering
printing trades. The investigation has been
restricted TO thirty three German towns, and the
results are designed to support the oldtime su-
perstiton that free trade is a Heaven sent pol
ley which never fails TO uplft and bless the