The sun., 1909-01-10
III.

Poi'y piOoS'
We have spoken thus far Of the German
workmen engaged in mining, manufac-
turing or handicrafts; let US look next
at the rural laborer, What Is the cause
Of the so-called land flight OF remarkable
migration from the rural districts which
has occurred during the last ten or twelve
years? The downward movement Is
especially strong in the Polish, provinces
and the backward north OF Prussia. where
IL amounts to an absolute calamity. No
doubt the undermining Of the methods
of cultivation explains why the large
estates cannot employ 30 much labor all
the year round as formerly, but. this
explanation does not account for the fact
that there is dearth OF labor at all seasons
OF the year. Mr.. Dawson summarizes
the causes which have produced this
larger problem In one cause, namely. the
unhappy condition under which the agri-
cultural laborers are still compelled to
live in most parts OF the rural north and
east. Low wages. poor dwellings, social
ostracism and an almost feudal relation
ship toward his employer. the depriva-
ton of all the civil rights which have been
conferred upon the urban working classes;
in these signs of his inferiority as man
and a citizen Mr.. Dawson finds the ex-
planation of the agricultural 'aborers
unwill ngness to remain in the country
and Of his migration to the industrial dis
tricts of the west.
That it is largely poverty which drives
the laborers from the country to the
towns is fact which has never been
contested seriously. Wherever the rate
Of day wages is highest there as rule
is observed more immigration than emf
grafton and vice versa. In Germany
the lowest rates Of wages are encoun-
tered in the agricultural provinces OF
Prussia and in Lower Bavaria. The highest
rates are paid in certain districts Of Bran
denburg. Hanover, Westphalia. Rhine
land, Saxopy. Upper Bavaria and Wnr-
temberg, 1t is also noticed that the
wages are higher in districts where es-
tates of medium size predominate than
In thosa where the estates arc either largo
or small In some sections Of the prov
inoe Of East Prussia the wages payable
in money to adult male agricultural labor
ers amount to only about 800 year. but
soms payment In kind is added. Gen
orally a small cottage, worth at the local
value from IS cents to 81 cents a
week, is given to the laborer, together
frequently with a plot OF land for pota-
toes. q certain quantity Of food in grain,
bread or vegetables, some wood or turf
for fuel and at times pasturage for goat,
a sheep or a COW. On the whole a fair
estimate Of an agricultural laborer's
annual pay in money and in kind would
range from Sl25 to s2CO.
In our authors opinion even low wages
would not have driven the laborer from
the land had not his legal position beeh
such as to make it difficult and often i'm
possible to assert any claim to improved
conditions OF life. Like the domestic
servant, the agricultural lsborer in most
parts OF Germany is in the position Of
being legally disqualified from combining
for economic ends, By a law OF 1854 he
is forbidden TO engage in a collective
strike under any circumstances what
ever on pain Of Imprisonment, so that
in effect. although the name Of serfaee
is no longer used, the thing itself exists
in spirit and almost in fact, The en-
ployer, indeed, can dismiss his servants
on multitude Of preteSts, but the servant
has only few legal grounds Of objection
against his employer. and he is rarely
successful in finding a court which will
any OF them sufficient to justify
the breaking Of his contract. The truth
Is that for the better part OF the century
legislation in Germany has
disregarded the agricultural
worker. Nearly all the social legislation Of
the last forty years has been undertaken
on behalf of the industrial classes.
The growing dearth Of agricultural
labor IL palliated by the importation
Of seasonal laborers from foreign parts.
the whole OF the east and the
north Of Prussia and TO less degree in
other parts OF the kingdom and Of Ger
many generally foreign labor Is system
atically employed from spring to autumn
and the large estates rely almost wholly
on this source Of supply. The majority
Of the foreigners used 10 be Russians,
but large number now come from CALI
cia. The wages paid to these imported
Iaborers are low, but as food and lodg-
ing OF a very simple kind are generally
added the men are able to take a little
money home with them at the end OF the
season.
".
1t is in the nineteenth chapter that
Mr.. Dawson discusses the new departure
in Germsny's colonial policy which took