New-York tribune., 1908-07-12
WORK FOR GERMANS
Nor the Question of the Unem-
ployed Is Solued.

n's q. national issues. Influenced by Amer
,,,erienoe it adopted the protective policy
most useful system for developing home
S.1es and supplying rapidly increasing
s",,,on. with work. = It also took effective
Us for charging the export trade and
'"as.tnS a merchant marine. and multiplied
- .ou-ces Of employment The cheapening of.
l ,s7 of living for the consumer the
N .-,s end OF statesmenship in Cobden's time.
s..s,ness has ceased to be an advantage IN
,.,a where the army Of the unemployed
,.., recruited from every trade, and where
Gre sy-arms OF workers without wages for
ANYTHING In Germany the obligation
-, the main mass Of working people profit
W ~,o,loved is accepted as the highest trust
s-s-nynent National policies for the de-
~ fas home market and the diversified
- industries remain IN permanent opera
= .s 10 provide workers with the means
ss.er71ing a living
--h,le she fiscal system in Germany. as in
,-s-,cs- has been ordered for the benefit of
e. earners at home, rather than for workers
-s-oea there cannot be complete immunity from
--,-,nlov7nent when the population is rapidly
.---sesing and immigrants constantly COM
a., .nto the empire from Russia and South
s-e.s-n Europe. States, municipalities and
sA.-table societies have agreed that the most
s-,,o-4ant social reform is work for the work
=, The man out OF work has haunted the
.s.,,os cf practical legislators and local admin
s.-s.ors. He must neither be pampered by
s.ss.tv nor degraded by pauperism, but enabled
= --o-l, o,,t his own salvation through temporary
= -agular occupation. II he remains out Of
1-,-,ozrnept he loses working power, is physi-
~.rv tncapecitated and is dependent upon pub
q. charity. Every effort has 10 be made in the
q. 20 fai7 7er7tI
o. him as a wage Garner. In no other pro-
s,vA country are there such well ordered
arrangements for supplying work for those in
resrch Of IL
coloene Ike every other German industrial
,en+-e has a labor bureau supported by the
Ioca1 government. There are bureau officials in
,Asree ot classified lists OF applicants for work
sn5 there are waiting rooms where they can
meet employers and make engagements with
shsn The applicant for work is registered
1rthout fee for fortnight, and unless the times
p-s exceptionally hard he does not have to wait
Ieng for employment. Unskfiled laborers and
6ou1estic servants are hired in the order in
which they are registered, and skilled workrnen
are enabled 10 meet manufacturers or foremen
hr snpofntrnent. The Cologne labor registry is
mot 50 large an institution the at Berlin.
which IS conducted by a central association
representing employers and trades unions and
rsceves municipal subsidy; nor is 1t well
managed as the Munich bureau, which sends
hack 70 the land q considerable body Of esri-
cultural Iaborers unfit for town life: but IT
sccomplishes great work in the redistribution
Of urban and rural workpeople- 1T is q clearing
house for unemployed labor, and is conducted
So efficiently and impartially that trades unions
and employers associations unite in supporting
&c Of hes al
IN The empire and in the course of q year
many as 100000 applicants for work find en-
pluyment through them.
In connection with the labor registry at
C6ogne there is an insurance department which
Is designed 10 protect workers against the risks
Of loss Of employment. II is an adaptation of q
Swiss iGee, was introduced tentatively about
dozen years ago, and has been taken up eau
tousy by the Leipsic and Munich authorities.
The theory has been that worklessness is an
emergency 10 be provided against well as ac-
cdent, sickness. chronic disability and old age
In practice this is done entirely at the expense
Of the workers, and this perhaps accounts for
It's restricted success, since the other classes OF
insurance are grounded upon the cooperation
Of employers and employed under the super
vision OF the state The municipal councillors.
.Tho were interested in this experiment and pro-
II,
enough 10 enlist the support of some of the
most advanced socialists, and the work has gone
On without prejudice and the premiums have in
creased in number, although not rapidly The
system is not q popular one among working1nen.
since II only insures them against loss Of work
during three winter months, and the benefit OBJ
isined is restricted TO 30 cents day for about
three weeks and is reduced one-half during the
unainder Of the period. For this relief the work
nan has 10 pay from to IL cents a week dur
1g the nine months preceding the insurance
fsriod; and sc anxious are the men to get their
money back and little more with II that a
Rrge majority of the applicants for insurance
are out OF employment every winter The bu-
'eau Is under municipal direction and is Wen
managed by representatives OF trades unions
snd wealthy employers. but the system is wholly
Voluntary and lacks the authority OF the other
classes Of insurance AS a Cologne invention
Asppeals TO local pride. but it is not more than
Hf alive and it is not likely to become wide
spread relief agency for the empire like the
Ahor registries
Times Of exceptional distress occasionally come
Wien factories are closed and building operations
are suspended. and the labor bureaus are un-
sae to supply work TO the unemployed. Large
cites Ike Cologne Main, Ham
zig and Berlin have to face the responsibility
Keeping the workless alive until the emer-
tehey passes and while there are public soup
Ael'les for the hungry and expenditures for poor
'eid are enlarged, recourse is had TO pubic
ANk On a large scale This is done reluctantly
" LOWE councils because il is considered DAN
t1ous 10 create an Impression that idle work
4ash can demand work from the state when they
ore unemployed On the other hand, IL Is gen
0sly conceded that nothing be worse than
FSskfFe dependence upon public charity-in Sea-
en Of dire distress, and that itds wiser to have
iaen work for what they receive than 10 encour-