Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1912-10-10
LOOK AT GERMANY.
Look at Germany"


has been calling attention to the
same thing. The United States Bu-
reau of Labor has made special re-
ports on the subject. The magazines
have oyerflowed with articles. Num-
erous books have been written about
it.
Germany has become a model to
the rest of the world in efficiency in
making the most of it's resources.
1t is not naturally rich country.
Its soil is shallow, it's mines inferior,
and 1t looks out through a narrow
window on the sea. Yet by intelli-
gent handling of it's human as we'll
as it natural resources it has come
to the front in the industrial world.
Since the consolidating of the en-
pire Tory years ago the nation has
bounded forward. Then there were
only eight cities with a population
of more than one hundred thousand.
Now there are nearly fifty Emigra-
ton, which was extensive in the
earlier years of the century, has fall
len to virtually nothing. Since 1871
both exports and imports have trip
| led.
Last year Germany had foreign
trade of 1920 million dollars, which
was more than 300 million dollars
larger than the foreign trade of the
United States for the same period.
Now it is not contended that Ger
many is richer than the United
States or that the German workman
is better off. But it is very evident,
as Mr.. Edison has said, that Germany
has used its meager resources to bet
ter advantage than this country.
When you see a nation with an
area smaller than the state of Texas
outstripping the United States in its
foreign trade, you naturally inquire
the reason.
What is the secret of Germany's
achievements?
The fundamental reason is implied
in the title of an interesting book
published a few years ago by w. II.
Dawson-"The German Workman;
A Study in Efficiency"
The German people, acting through
the agency of their government, have
deliberately set out to make their
working force highly efficient
That involved, in the first place, a
thorough practical education. School
attendance is compulsory between the
ages of and IA. Every child is
examined by a physician, so that
physical handicaps may be remedied
so far as possible.
After leaving the elementary
school the boy. or girl must spend
two or three years in free continua-
tion schools, in which they receive a
training for their life work.
So the German boy is set out on
the road to become a skilled work
man, while the girl is trained for
household duties.
But experience has taught the Ger
mans that something more than mere
skill is included in the term eff
cheney"
Under the modern industrial sys-
tenn it was found that sickness and
industrial accidents impaired the eff
fiicency of the working force. A
family which lost the support of its
bread winner might readily fall be
low the poverty line and so become
charge on the community, while
the children would not have fail
chance to develop in their turn into
efficient citizens.
So Germany, under the lead o.
Bismarck, began in the SOS an elab
crate system of social insurance
With it's workers insured against the
hazards of industrial pursuits, the
nation believed that its well-being
and consequently it's efficiency would
be improved.
The German idea is that every
worker is an asset to the nation sc
long as he is healthy and is profit
ably employed. So it deliberately
4 sets about to see that this condition
is maintained.
If an engine breaks a shaft the
man who is using it expects to re,
place the shaft. If a worker breaks
his leg, said the Germans, why isn't
it reasonable for the employer to see
that it is mended and that the hui
man machine is put in shape again
The first government insurance
measure was laid before the reich
stag in 1881. Since that time the
plans have been constantly enlarged.
Today the German workman is in
SuISu dSdlHoJ AiS SC'p iiNS
medical and surgical treatment, bur
ial money, and a sickness allowance.
He is insured against accident, so
that he receives payment automatic
ally without a lawsuit, for every in
jury received in the course of his
work. He is assured of an income
after he reaches the age of 70.
All these forms of insurance are
conducted under the general direc-
ton of the government. Accident
insurance is provided wholly by the
employers; insurance against sick
ness by employers and employees, and
the old-age annuity by employers,
employees and the government.
In addition the government main
tains extensive bureaus for helping
the man out of job to find work.
On the side of the employer the
government does not attempt to pre-
vent men from conducting business
on large scale-as it is constantly
trying to do in the United States un-
der the Sherman act.
1t permits men to organize their
business on as large a scale as they
| find profitable Only the govern
ment carefully supervises the big in
dustries. When a business develops
into a monopoly as did the potash
industry in Germany, the govern