The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1921-12-13
By FRITZ EBERT, Jr.

By FRITZ EBERT, Jr.,
 Son of the President of the German
 Republic.
 Written Expressly for the Interna- tiona1 News Service.
 Copyright, 1921, by Internationa! News Service.
 Berlin, Dec. 13-The German trades union movement is a field of such take volumes to explain it in all its various phases. However, below fol- lows concise outline:
 The German trades unions comprise total membership of thirteen mil lion men and women workers. It is needless to emphasize that they repre- sent a, power with which any govern ment must count and against which no government can afford to govern. The movement has it's representatives in every sphere of German public life; we find them in responsible posts of the smallest community, as we'll as in l the nations Government.
 In the new Cabinet, headed by pr. Wirth, trades uniontsna is represented ! by recognized leaders. such as the lVice-Chancellor and Treasurer Bauer, Food Minister Schmidt, both of whom are Social Democrats and graduates | of the "free'' trades unionism; the Minister of Posts, Giesberts, and the | Minister of Labor, Brauns, both of whom are members of the Chris ttan" trades union movement and are | close to the Centrist party The PruS- ! | lnently identified with trades unionisn. l A convincing proof of the strength 1 of uniontsm in Germany was fur
 ntshed in March, 1920. The organized | workers succeeded, through a strike 1 which was carried out with unprece- 6ented discipline and solidarity, in | chasing Herr Kapp and his henchmen to the devil and thus saving the life of the German republic.
 l The power of German unionisrn would be ever greater if 1t were not for the fact that the inner councils are divid- ed against each other.
 l We have, first, the Christian unions. They are close to the Centrist
 party, the allience dating back to 2
 Papa1 Encyclical of May, 1921, plead ing for Christian faith" basis ol the trades union movement. There
 has been occasional insurgent at
 tempts against guardianship" by the
 Church, but the trades unions alway!
 remained victorious,
 1 The Christian unions reject all ten 1 dencies within the movement whicl might bring about an upheavai of tht existing social order. They claim tha
 only thorough "inside-out'' chang,
 of the individual man. whether he b,
 capitalist or workman, can help. L'b
 group of unionism has a limited in
 fiuence which is confined chiefly t,
 the workers of the Catholic faith II 1920 it had 1.760,792 members distrib
 uted among twenty-five central unions
 Their funds amounted to 4,413,95t
 marks,
 Another group within the German trades union movement Is the so called ''Fiirsch-DuncIrer'' union group - They are essentially nationalistic am
 expect no improvement Of their posi- tion from an International brother
 hool." One of their principles g t
 give preference to "the road to under standing" They favor the strike onl,
 as the ultimate means to be used afte - all others have failed. In 1920 the, . had seventeen unions, with 22599 | members, and had funds amounting t , 5,33S,52S marks,
 Besides these main groups there ar minor ones; including the ''syndtcal
 fists" and ''workmens' unions who's
 membership t3 recruited mainly iron ! the Ruhr district: the Polish profes | siona1 leagues" and the newest crea , ton of the German nationals, tn League of National Workers an } iEmployes."
 Ear more powerful than all thes groups are the ''free' unions, count v ing nearly nine million members, Thi group is divided into two parts, tn ! lGeneral German Workmens Unio a and the General Free League of Elm [ ployes. They are independent of eac , other, but pledged to co-opeFate in a. iquestfonS of common interest, I Efforts are now under way to add t
 these two parts a third, the "Leagl |. of German Officials" comprising tn
 officials of the Reich, the Feders I States and the communities, How n iver, the officials, who graduated fro1 the old school, are as yet unable
 ing rated on the same level wit
 workmen and employees, while there
 also considerable opposition amor
 the workers against a co-operatio