Omaha daily bee., 1910-02-05
In Other Lands
side Lights on what is Rrans-
pirtnE Among the Near and
Far nations % the EArth.

Tar Wadnnu Of the Ehrth.
An impressive development Of the indus.
trial progress Of Germany is the growth OF
strike insurance societies doing business
with the employers and workmen. They
embrace practically all industries. Reports
from thirteen societies show insured manu-
facturers employing / 10000 men. Besides
these there are twenty-slx employers uni
IONS which have a mutual system Of insur-
ance, paying compensation at fixed rates,
and nine cooperative union which pay
employers compensation according to the
merits OF the strike. Methods Of compen-
sation differ widely, In some the en-
ployer must establish that he is not respon-
sitle for a strike or lockout. The length
Of a strike comes into account. Some pay
from the start OF n strike; others from
the day it is formally reported TO them:
others only after It has lasted a week,
still others. II the strike has lasted a fort
night. The limit Of compensation by the
largest society is three months stoppage
Of work. The insurance rate varies from
y Of 1 per cent of the wage hill of LOO
men or under, increasing to 1 per cent as
the number of employees reach 5000 or
more. In event OF a strike the employers
compensation ranges from 1919 per cent of
tho wage bill Of 1000 men down to 2R per
cent for 5000 men or over. In three years
one OF the larger societies collected
premiums on wages ~agsregating 800, 900, O0O
and paid to employers as compensation
SOC, 900. The profits of the societies is enor-
nous, due TO the fact that strike insur-
ance by both capital and labor strongly
tends toward anicable adjustment Of dis
putes. Nonpayment Of Insurance to an
employer guilty of forcing a strike has
proved a wholesome check on the pugnacity
Of industrial magnates.
eco
Sydney Brooks, London correspondent of
a number Of American publications, con-
cludes a series Of papers on 9TH New
Ireland" in the North American Review.
On the subject Of home rule Mr.. Brooks
remarks: ITO grant home rule is not to
make the Irish character instantaneously
strong, but It is to furnish the fusing and
essential element out Of which strength
may be slowly formed, an element which.
with things as they are, is not merely
wanting, but is all but unattainable. 1t is
an old truism, but none the worse for
being old, that responsibility in the long
run is the only thing that makes men
responsible; and a people perpetually at
strife with its rulers, its national genius
thwarted, and it's national aspirations
throttled, Is a people. desperately handi-
capped in the evolution Of self-rellance and
virllity. Ireland. as 1 have tried to show,
Is making, on It's own initiative. efforts
that are little less than heroic to overcome
this handicap. It is developing character;
1t is developing unity; 1t has started, It
might almost seem, on a path which, II 1t
does not end in it's being given what It
wants, may end in it's taking it. The fuuc-
ton Of England, at it's widest, is confined
to helping 1t to help itself. To attempt
to supersede its own valiant ~endeavors
after regeneration from within would be
as senseless and as futile as to attempt to
check them. All that England can usefully
do is to second, foster and stimulate them,
and to provide the opportunity for their
further evocation. It is for that reason, IL
1t is really DESTROYS of Irish well being,
that it will ultimately grant home rule"
The new year marks an advance step
toward ultimate native rule in India. 1t is
not much of a stride, but it is in the right
direction. Under the new arrangement of
greater native participation in legislative
affairs, in~augurated last month, the vice
roy's council has 80 members, instead of
126 as formerly, OF whom a total Of 15
will be elected, as against thlrty-nine
elected heretofore. The council will be
enabled to take an active part in
budget construction and new legisla-
ton. All religious and special interests
may elect representatives to the viceroy's
and provincial councils. There remain as
before eight councils-namely, the imperial
or viceroy's, and one each for Bengal,
Madras, Bombay, the United Provinces,
the Punjab and Eastern Bengal and Assam.
In the imperial council officials Of the
Indian service have a majority of three,
while in the others the non-ofricial members
are in the majority. For a time at least,
Increased native representation will allay
some Of the irritation and discomfort
openly manifested last year. But
the main source of discomfort remains and
is likely to increase, unless British rulers
change their methods and their nature.
9TH En~glishman," writes Paul Kennaday
in the Forum, lis England's greatest
enemy in India BY his arrogance and his
selfishness, by his lack of sympathy and
understanding, by his airs of superiority,
he has spread wide through 100000, 900 sub
jects Of the British crown, discomfort, dis
loyalty and hatred"
see
For the first time since the great
Mehemet Ali, early In the nineteenth cen
fury, journeyed to Mecca, the new sultan
of Turkey led the annual Mohammedan
pilgrimage to the famous shrine, this year.
The journey afforded striking evidence of
modern progress. In the old days foot
power and patient camels were the sole
means Of transit, Now the journey is made
by railroad to Medina, through a section
hitherto marked by the bleached bones Of
pilgrims who persisted from starvation and
thirst and robbery. From Medina to Mecca
the distance and the roads make the Journey
little less than an excursion. "A century
ago." remarks the New York Sun, there
existed but one good description Of Mecca,
and that written by a Frenchman who
had obtained his knowledge second hand
from an African renegade who, crossing
into Spain. had fallen under the spell Of a
Spanish woman. He married her and be-
came converted to Christianity, but later
sought TO rehabilitate himself in the Mo-
hammedan faith by making a pilgrimage
$500