The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1911-10-28
worth Of products are manufactured
IN their own bakeries. mills and fac


worth Of products are manufactured
~ their own bakeries. mills and fac
tories. Z. w
All Of these organizations are .fos-
tered by the Socialist and labor pIe{
which consists Of 81 daily newspapers.
scores of trade union journals and
dozens of weekly and monthly maya
zines devoted to various phases Of the
Socialist and labor movement. Some
q these printing plants OF the So
cialtst and labor press are amongsthe
finest In Europe. For instance, the
plants Of the Hamburg Echo, the Ber-
lin Vorwarts and the Metal Workers
Journal Of Stuttgart, have the most
modern printing machinery in Ger
many. and employ hundreds Of union
printers under the best conditions.
Solidarity. >.
Perhaps the most striking phase of
the German labor movement is the
way in which the differnt elements
work together. The Socialist party
helps the trade unions and the unions
help the Socialist party, and both
party and unions help the growth of
cooperative societies. Yet no organi-
Zation attempts to distate the policies
Of the other. The Socialist party IS ex-
pected to work out the tactics that
will best meet the needs Of the work
ers on the political field. while the
trade unions are expected to work
out the form Of organization that will
best protect the workers on the &C.
onomic field. Within the party some
Of the members emphasize the ulti-
mate aim-the complete abolition of
the capitalist system of production
and the substitution therefor of
Socialist cooperative system Others
emphasize the immediate demands
such as better workingmen's 1nsur-
ance. better factory legislation and
better housing for the working class
Within the trade unions, likewise,
some members emphasize one type of
| an organization with another sort of
tactics. But, while in Germany, as in
| America, there are differences of
opinion regarding tactics and methods
OF organization, it is everywhere rec
ognized that the political problems
| should be settled by the political or
ganization and the economic problems
by the economic organization. In this
way the Germans have avoided much
| OF the misunderstanding, and friction
which has arisen between the trade
unions and the Socialist party in
America, where some of the members
Of each organization feel that it is
| their special mission to criticize the
methods and tactics of the other and
to tell 1t how to run it's affairs. More
| over, within the different organiza-
lions of Germany, where certainly
the members do not .hesitate to ex-
press their opinions as to policies and
tactics, they very rarely indulge In at
tacks on personalities. They discuss
the issues and principles at stake and
consider them on their merits.
Education.
Another striking feature of the Ger
MAJ labor movement is the emphasis
put upon education. There is no Ia
Dor movement in the world that is
more thoroughly working class in
! spirit and membership than the Ger
man labor movement. But there is no
| labor movement in the world, or any
otner kind OF a movement, which has
higher respect for science, learning
and culture. While the German work
ers cherish no illusions about being
| delivered from capitalism by one
| great leader. or dozen great lead
ers, yet they recognize THE Importance
of leadership and give due weight to
the opinions of able men. And it
makes no difference whether these
men are men from their own ranks,
like Bebel, Legien and Molkenbuhr.
or whether they are men who have
come to the labor movement from
other classes, like Marx and Engels.
Lassalle and Liebknecht, Kautsky and
Bernstein, Singer and VonVollmar.
Sudekum, Lndeman and David. Con-
seQuently there is no foolish ATTEMPT
TO divide the organization into "pro-
letarians" and 'intellectuals.' On the
! contrary. a continuous campaign of
education is carried on through the
press. the lecture bureau and special
| education organizations to make Gin
telectuals' of the whole working
class.
Power.
Indeed, the great and lasting inn
preston that one gets of the German
working class is that it is demonstrate
Ing by its achievemnts it's right and
power to supplant the present ruling
| classes. It is building up the most
perfect political and economic orgaat.
cation Of the masses that the world
has ever seen; it is steadily raising
the standard of living and the stand
ard of education and culture among
! the mass Of the people; it is produce
ing a splendid self reliant citizenship
! with strong character and high ideals.
No one who has been on the ground
can have the slightest doubt that the
workers of Germany are going to win
in their great struggle to establish an
industrial and social democracy. They
are going to. win because they are
practical idealists working in har-
mony with the laws Of social evolu-
ton; because they combine dogEed
determination and courage with sple,-
did self control and hocanoaS x1:.,