The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-10-22
THRIFT TERMINATES GERMAN WORKERS,
 NOW HIGHLY PAID
Realize That War Wages May Drop and Are Say
 ing Their Money.


 Berlin. oct. 22-The men and the women now employed at compara- lively high wages throughout Ger many constitute a problem that aI- ready is occupying the attention of Ia Dor leaders in every part of the em- pire. The more thoughtful of the workers realize that the days of big pay and unlimited work are not going
 to last forever, and that with peace is going to come strenuous time of
 possible hardship, and they are say ing their money
 The bulk of the workers, however,
 are not savers to any degree but hand-to-mouth flyers notwithstanding their present favorable circumstances, circumstances which certainly will thousand if not several million bread earners now in the army are thrown
 back on the labor, market.
 Though the more optimistic be- Heve that employers will take back their old employees at once, they have to admit nevertheless that even such desirable solution of-t the impend- ing problems means the displacement of many now at work, and that it pre- supposes an almost immediate re- sumption of the old volume of indus try and trade
 The biggest problem is that, of the adult male workers who, with the ad- vent of peace, can easily create an un- precedented non-emp1oyment situa- tion- Other problems are those of the young men, boys for, the most part, who in the present hey-day of much work at high wa ges either have hurried through their appren- ticeships or have become full-hedged master workmen at once, and who naturally. will be Ioathe to reIinquish their places even to the heroes of the Fatherland; and secondly of the women now filling mems places. The majority of the latter will return to their places in the homes but some proportion will have lost their hus- bands supporters, and, if forced out of their. present occup pations, will have to be taken care of elsewhere
 Leaders of responsible, organized labor organizations have taken ad- vantage of increased wages to swell their reasurie es- This has been the easier to accomplish because of the dwindHng sums that have had to be paid out to the; unemployed When peace. does come and the flood be- gins there will be millions on hand, but still not enough, in the estimation of the leaders, to take care of matters.
 The government has been brought to realize the seriousness of the i'm pending situation, according to Alvin Koersten of the Trades Employment Bureau in Berlin, and does not look uDfavorabIy oh a proposition to re- tain in service but, on furIough for from eight to 12 weeks all such sol- diers as in the ordinary course Of events would be mustered out imme- diate1y at the conclusion of hostiGtieS-
 Those behind the movement to have this arrangement made feel sure that the economic situation created by the release of many hundreds of thousands of men at once cannot be handled otherwise, but do hope that matters will adjust themselves with T7 iJze f7 themselves in one month in Berlin with a lesser horde of work-seekers 1 at the beginning of the war.
 Berlin and the othef large cities 1 of Germany are bound to suffer most from an excess of workers, it is felt | the warnings, there are going to be uncounted thousands who will feel convinced that opportunity for em- lies in the big rather than 1 in the little place, and who are going to- swarm into it accordingly.
 Mr Koersten again is authority for | the statem ent that the government is ] prepared to ease the situation by the | use of sums running, if necessary, into the hundreds of millions of marks for the support of the unemployed. If these sums have to be drawn upon, he believes, it will be the equivalent of an extended furlough on pay and will be the solution of the whole mat ter.
 Surveying the whole German field of labor, Dr. o. Becker of the Asso- eiation of German Employment Agen- r. ;ies hesitates. to venture a forecast until the outcome of the war is clearer than at present He feels hat the whole immediate future of he German workingman depends on . what the ultimate terms of peace nay. be-that-it is by no means daark f Germany wins, but that tremen- lously difficult problem is ahead if Germany should lose and be hem med in more completely than 1t is now.
 The German injured, lightly or ser ously, in the interest of his Father and, bids fair always to enjoy pre- ference in the matter of work and yet Germany today so far as labor is con- cerned is in the anomalous position of mot having cripples.' The reason today is two-fo1d- Whether this will l be true in a years time or in two years no one will predict.
 At present the crippled soldier has not yet learned a trade sufficiently to to him. Also he is, thus far, all too | intent upon finding a stjob as petty official, doorkeeper at some govern ment building, or something similar, to heed the calls for his services in a trade that formerly he thought suf- 1cient1y dignif1ed but which now he is inclined to scorn.
 As result there are only between 30 and 40 applicants for every 250 positions that are the market for soldiers, and the proportion seems to get no better as the months go by. Needless to say, there are never going to be enough "ofhciaP positions to go round but whether the wounded will revise their ideas of what is desirable only time will tell
 A differences of how to handle the problem of sol diers returning to civilian trades are when the subject of pensions comes under discussion. Everything thus far indicates that the universal desideratum will be obtained through Inc 1-ar.N cn-oneratio1a of fhe renSior=