The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1917-10-05

I'll "OiItSIl hllU OH iiOh lIluNi
| they received l was told they were paid
about twenty cents day. The wome,
; in the farming districts Of Germany are
| worked harder than the cattle. In sum
| nertime they are out In the fields at !
| and in the morning. and do not return
| until or later at night. For this work
! they are sometimes paid as high rs
| forty-eight cents d day in harvest time
Nevertheless. these small wages tempt
! many Russians TO Germany during the
| harvest season.
At the outbreak of the war there
were. perhaps. $4,000 Russians employed
| IN Germany, men. women and girls.
These the Germans retained in a sort
i Of slavery to work the fields. spoke
to one Polish girl. who was working on
an estate near Berlin over which l had
J shooting rights. She told me that At
the commencement Of the war she and
her family were working in Germany
and that since the war they all desired
to return to Poland. but that the Ger
mans would not permit 1t.
This hard working Of women in agri-
cultural pursuits tends to stupefy and
brutalIze the rural popula ton. and keeps
them In q condition OF subsection to the
! Prussion church. the Prussion system
} and in readiness for war. Both PruS-
sian Junkers and the German manu-
! facturers look with favor upon the ON.
ploynent of so many women in farm
work. because the greater the number
! Of laborers the smaller their wages
throughout the country.
/ Whom I first came TO Germany. I. OF
, course. was filled with the ideas that
prevailed in America that the German
workingman had an easy time. My mind
was filled with pictures OF the Ger
man workingmen sitting with their
families at tables drinking beer and lis
tening to classical music. After I had
spent some time in Germany l found
that the reason that the German work
ingmen sit about at tables waSi hccauS"
they were too tired to do anything else.
I sincerely hope that after the war
the workingmen of this country will in
duce delegates OF their German brothers
to make a tour Of America. For when
the German workingman sees how much
! better OF the Americans are he will re-
turn to Germany and demand shorter
hours and higher wages: then the
American will not be brought into COM
! petition with labor slaves. such as the
German workingman Of the period be-
fore the war.
As one goes through the streets of
Berlin there arc no evidences OF pow
erty to be seen. But more than So per
! cent of the families in Berlin are fam
lilies living in one room.
The Germans are taken care Of and
educated very much in the same way
that the authorities here look after the
, inmates Of a poorhouse or penItentlary.
German Sel1-Made Men Are Few.
Such q thing as a German railway
conductor rising To he president OF the
road is an impossiblity in Germany. and
the list Of self-made men is small in
deed--hy that I mean who have risen
from the ranks Of the workingnen.
The Socialists, representing the Gle
ment opposed to the Conservatives. elect
few members to the PrusSinn lower
house and about onc-third of the mem
bers to the Reichstag. but otherwise
have no part whatever In the govern
ment No Socialist would have any
chance whatever II he set out to enter
the government service with the am
bition OF becoming Il district attorney
or Judge Jews have not much chance
in the government service. few OK
ceptions have been made. At one time
Dernburg. who carried on the propa-
ganda In America during the first year
of the war. and who is Jew. was APP
pointed colonial minister Of the en-
, pire.
In my opinion. the liberalization Of
Prussia has been halted By the fact that
there has been no party protest except
, that OF the Socialists. The Socialists.
because they have in effect. demanded
abolition OF the mona rchy and the rs
tablshmcnt OF the republic rs part OF
their program. have been unable To do
anything in the obtaining Of the re-
forms within the German State as ~
present nrEaulZcd.
Up to the beginning Of the war there
was great dissatisfaction among the
people with the order OF things. The
people were Irritated by Certnn direct
taxes. such as the tax upon the matches.
and because every Protestant in Prussia
was compelled to pay tax for the sup
port Of tho Church. unless he made a
declaration that he was an atheist.
The only class in Germany which
knows something Of the outside world
is the Kaufman class. The ruling
class Of Prussian mobiles arc not travel
,ers. They arc always busy with the
I army and navy. government employ
/ ments or their estates. and. as a rule.
too poor to travel The poor. Of course.
do not travel. and the Kaufman. al
though he learns much in his travels
| in other countries to make him dtssatis-
fed with the small opportunity which
| he has in a political way in Germany.
| "a satisfied to let things stand because
OF the enormous profits which he
! makes through the low wages and Ions
hours of the German workInsma1.
Lawyers and judges amount TO little
In Germany. and we do not find there
class Of political lawyers who. In re-