The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-11-23

that the laws are posted in the fac
tories and that employers observe
the provisions applicable TO women
and children. Leading German trade
u~nionists assert positively that not un-
til the unions themselves were capa-
BILE of enforcing such laws were they
generally carried out. To some ex-
tent the large cities Of Austria, Hun
gary, Italy, Switzerland and Belgium
have trade union halls or cooperative
buildings in which the unionists are
the class chiefly interested. Trade
agreements. to carry out which, b
organization is an Indispensable fea-
ture exist even in Hungary. If
Munich so per cent. of all the trade
have standing contracts as to wages
and work-day with their employers.
The men Of the building trades of
Italy. South Germany, Switzerland and
Austria have international exchange
of cards, with uniform district wage
scales. In Germany the trade union
lists I interviewed had but one opinion
as to the comparative rise of wages
and Of prices Of the necesSaries Of
life; the wage line in the diagrams
ran by far the highest.
One marked Improvement "as re-
ported from the unions; alcoholic
drinking was less common than for
nerly. Drinking hall proprietors who
formerly received from organizations
a percentage of the receipts from the
drinks sold. had. in not a few in
stances, given up their privileges: in
h halls of the unions the deficits
from drinking tables had to be made
up from the dues. These were not the
results from either prohibition or
other sumptuary laws, but from or
gained labor, and the consequent i'm
proved material conditions of the
So runs the history of social bet
terments directly due to the unions.
The workingmen in Germany who are
in position to send their chn1Tan -
school a yea or two longer than once
was the case, who dress lhCIr fam
lies better thar ever. who live in inn
proved tenementS and who are saw
ing something from their wages, know
that the world has not grown worse
for them.
Twelve months 6 the British
Trade Union Parliamentary Commit
tee sem on a mission to Germany -four
of its members, labor representatives
in Parliament, to inquire into the
workingmen's insurance system of the
empire. They reported in fHvOr Of
the Introduction of similar systems
in the United Kingdom. The Liberal
government has consequently recog
nized the project Of an insurance
scheme providing for main features:
CD Dues from employers and IN
ployed; CD a supplementary sub-ven-
ton from the State; (3) assurances Of
trades; and Cd dues to be compul-
sorry for employers and employed,
skilled and unskilled. Had there not
been obviously good results from the
working class insurance methods Of
Germany the representative English
workingmen would have condemned
them. The British W~orkingmen has
| or several years experienced the adj
VIC ~ 4 "a Of CSCtayoi 0a6 1ao01 nopo.
pensation by employers in case o ac-
cident. He is now about to witness
the establishment of government Ia
Dor exchanges, somewhat on the Ger
man system. He is asking for insur-
ance against unemployment, which
has also had a trial in German NUM-
CAPABILITIES. It is not the question
whether insurance could or should
be applied in the United States. h
fact of its establishment in some Eu-
ropean countries demonstrates social
progress there
1t is to be remembered that the
p~essinaists in the Reichstag, their eyes
directed toward the day Of revolu-
ton, twenty years g opposed the
Introduction OF the wOrkmen'S insur-
ance schemes now approved by over
whelninc public opinion in all ranks
in Germany. Equally, for decades they
ranged themselves against trade
unlOn]Sm as an oDSlil< paltld-
tive" And, to round out the inadapti-
bility Of their philosophy to a social
evolution moving a to an aroused
public conscience and an age of ever
| new methods, they for years persist
| entity refused to countenance attempts
at Voluntary cooperation. Time has
in the latter respect again proved their
error.
Next to trade unionism,
ton is making the greatest strides not
only in Germany gut throughout Eu-
rope. In Hamburg, as an instance, it's
evidences are not remarkable. Every
ward of this beautiful and magnih-
cent city has bu1ld-
ipgs devoted to some form
of co-0peratiOn. The wholesale
centre is a large series of structures
containing bakeries. ware