Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1910-09-01


service book that Anna schmit is likely,
to BE serviceable cook she employs her
But the transaction does not stand alone
between mistress and maid. The mistress
must fill out a form for the police. de-
claring that on that day she has employed
as cook one Anna schinit. possessor Of
a certain specified and numbered service
book. The cook has to take her book then
to the police station. and have entered IN
II by the police the fact that she has taken
new job. and the police WIN fll in the
necessary data as to the residence, ami
social position OF her employer, together
with the date of the new contract
, Anna Schmit enters upon the discharge
of her duties, but the police have not
finished either with her or her mistress
Every Monday the mistress must affix
a cent stamp 10 the insurance card,
which the law says the servant must pos
sess once a month the employer must
take these cards with stamps affixed to
the postoffice for cancellation, Generous
employers pay for the stamps themselves,
but many require the servants to pay half.
II the card with its stamps affixed is not
exhibited at the postoffice at least once
a MONTH a policeman win call every
Monday morning and see to It that the
stamp is pasted on the card. This cents
week is credited to Anna Schmits In
surance fund, and It means that when
she has reached the age OF 10 years she
will receive from the state an old age
pension of from 50 to s. g month. II she
marries she may drop her Insurance, and
receive a sum of money representing all
the stamps she has collected With Interest
for her dowry. However, she may keen
the, ma ~ 60 haon
in old age .,s..,-~ ,.~Ssr
But this is not all. 1t is provided in the
contract that the servant may be dis
missed after certain notice, not under
two weeks, and usually four to six weeks
The employer is legally bound to provide
for the care Of tie servant inS case of ILL.,
ness for as long as the notice term In
Berlin, and in other large Cities. most
] householders subscribe 50 a year. to an
insurance company which undertakes to
provide medical help for servants stricken
while at work These insurance COM
panies maintain a hospital and corps OF
visiting physicians and nurses.
Do the mistresses and maids complain
because of this red tape and intimate
police interference? They do not OF
course there are individual exceptions. but
| the average mistress and maid will heartily
approve of the system. The mistress says
! Hhat 1t enables her to know exactly what
kind of servant she IS getting, where
she has worked ana what she has done.
! The servant cannot deceive her In the
face of the certified record under the seal
of the police. Further the mistress says
that the enforced old age Insurance con-
tribution relieves her from any obligation
to extend private charity to aged servants
and that the small sum paid to the sick
| tpu Ha,.- nf he
bother OF having to care for sick seryasts
in the house. .s'a..a..4sn &.
On the other hand the maid says that she
is protected from cruelty and neglect be-
cause she Is able TO call in the police 90
settle every question at issue between her
and her mistress; that she is insured against
poverty and old age and against sickness
| while at work, and that 1t Is impossible for
| her to be the victim of SANDER or a boy
colt In seeking TO obtain new employment.
| OF course, when a servant has, done some
thing really bad. and the fact ls entered in
the service book 1t Is usual for that docu-
ment to get lost" But that win involve
the recreant servant in all kinds of trouble
with the police and will make it well nigh
impossible to secure a new JoD Both mls--
tness and maid agree that'this fact strength
ems servants against YIELDING 70 stemptation.
| ooHNdhtS III GoIAlaHy HUI ~ wei pdlo
as those of England, and Of course they re-
ceive but a mere pittance in comparison
to those in America. But they are pro-
tected in their rights and they are inclined
to look upon their rulers as guardians.
i What is true Of mistress and maid is true
on larger scale OF the relations between
/ factory owner and factory workman, land
lord and tenant, merchant and customer.
i The paternalistic government rules abso-
lutely, its bureaucratic sway being
stranger to mercy. but in the main 1t de-
Il signs to protect its people from oppression,
rather than to Cypress them. An Anglo
Saxon breathes with difficulty In this Ger
man atmosphere. but It must be said that as
whole the Germans Hike g. That IL the
reason why in spite Of German political
backwardness there is no Revolutionary de-
mand for popular participation in political
affairs in the empire OF the kaiser
BX FEIDBRxC j. MAsKIM.
TomorR0w-The German Advance. xxx
u The Divine 1ignt o. Kings.