The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-31
TELLS OF PROGRESS MADE BY GERMANS Prof. Ely Gives Some of His
 Observations DECREASE IN BEER Says Athleticism Has Had Marked Effect on Consumption of the
 Beverage - Movements
 Among the People
DECREASE IN BEER
From the New York Sun.

From the New York Sun.
 \ Professor Richard T. Ely, the politica | economist of the University of Wiscon ! sin, who went to Germany about a yea ! ago to write a book, has just returne | with some interesting observations, so ' biological and otherwise, gathered durin | his twelve months residence in tha country.
 Not only in the twenty years that ha passed since Professor Ely had been | Germany had the people and the natiol made great strides in social, manufac turing and commercial lnes but he mad a discovery that the Germans have GU down heavily on their consumption O 2 beer Indeed, the professor instance, ' yesterday that in Munich, the twin hom in the American mind with Pilsen of tn ! hop gods and the seat of the Hofbrau { haus, which the average travelled Ameri { can speaks of in fonder terms than tn museums and the opera house, the con sumption of the erstwhile national bever ! age fell off 100 quarts per capita las , year for the twelve months, and this ac cording to official statistics, too. "The strides the Germans have mad in the last twenty years along almos every line are tremendous" said Pro lessor Ely at the Prince George yester day "When 1t comes to social improve ment of the condition of the people, par 
 tcularly in the way of insurance, is striking. Practically the whole of tht population is insured against accident and sickness and various other contin gencies
 For instances in the family witt which I was living in Munich two of the servants had to undergo operations They were provided for out of the public in- surance funds To these funds em-
 ployes, employers and the state all con
 tribute, so the burden upon each Is not
 heavy. The sum that has accumulated 1 is enormous, and in many cases money l from it has been used to build sanitary
 houses for the working people, and these fhouses are considered means of in- vestment for the fund, just as an ordin- l ary insurance company is apt to invest l part of it's resources in buildings.
 Another thing that compels attention l over there is this: While there has been ] great progress and development in pub l lie activity, it hasn't resulted in the | laming of the private individual. It is astonishing how manufacturing enter prises have grown in twenty years It
 used to be said that in public achieve ments the Germans excelled. but in manufacturing they achieved nothing. There was a saying, The Germans can govern a city well, but they can't make good sewing machine But since that was spoken the Germans have learned how to make the sewing machine as well as anybody e1se and have not forgotten how to govern.
 ''The reason is that they don't lose sight of the individual in the mass. but all their social reforms are calculated
 to strengthen the individual socially and intellectually. John Stuart Mill says 1 that no social reforms are of any con-
 sequence except so far as they touch the l individual character and help the ind1-
 vidua1 That is what the German re-
 forms do. By gymnastics they develop ], the whole physical man, to whose mind they pay such great attention in their schools They are all great walkers.
 Their army training is splendid for the
 physical side, and enthusiastically has helped the nation In industries immense ly, for it has taught men how to act together
 "For another thing, there has been an immense development of educational op- portunites for worlkingmen. Lectures are provided by associations of various kinds The students In Munich have an association which provides instruction to
 workingmen at a nominal charge There l is A similar association in which some
 of the university professors are active.
 "One thing that has appealed to me as | being remarkable in much of Germany
 is the diminutin of the amount of beer
 drunk. In Munich last year 1t was 100
 quarts per capita Many of the students
 are not drinking beer at all. Instead of it's being compulsory for a student to drink quantities as in the old days if | he wanted to maintain his standing among his followers, man does not have
 to do 1t at all nowadays If he doesn't
 want to- This thing appealed to me as
 so startling that I made many inquiries
 about it. The professors told me that 1 the love of sport has driven away tha.
 for beer. The young men now aim to l excel in athletic feats and they find that
 beer interferes with this, so that they
 are cutting the beer out.
 "The students in the universities over
 there have to be more advanced when | thev enter the universities than over here. | They must have completed a course which l I consider equivalent to an ordinary col l lege education. No control Is exercised over them, and they have no domestic 1 life to a university. They are supposed l to be studying for their professional i career and to be able to take care of
 themselves. A professor never calls the | roll Ii Is not the concern if you stay | away from lectures. He gives them
 and If YOU do not attend it Is your own loss
 "One important thing that impressed me was the fact that the social reforms in Germany have taken away in great | l characteristic of the socialism preached there While the social democratic party
 Is increasing you don't hear the old threats and excoriatipns that were char
 asteristic of socialistie speeches. The socialists are more concerned with the
 actual present reforms and are not busy. Ing themselves over fanciful or Utopian schemes This Is due largely to the fact
 that the people realize they are lot bet ter off than they used to be and patriot ism has increased.
 "One word you hear great deal of all through Germany Is 'grundlichkeit,'
 meaning thoroughness.' You hear more
 about it than in any other country in the
 world They think out things scien- tfically before they act.
 ''In this country if man shows dis position to get along there are always lots of others to pull him back. Over
 there if a man does something worth while people look upon it as being a service to the fatherland and he Is made 10 feel that He may get a decoration, Then if he does something more he gets
 A bigger decoration. It seems to act as
 a great stimulus
 English Undefied
 | Mart Adams who formerly made it q practice of going up to Bushnell to huslS