THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. SATURDAY, MAY 25, 1907. LABOUR CONDITIONS IN GERMANY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13497, 25 May 1907, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. SATURDAY, MAY 25, 1907. LABOUR CONDITIONS IN GERMANY.

During the last general election in Great Britain those opposed to tariff reform sought to explain away the growing competition of Germany in markets hitherto almost exclusively British on the grounds that the cheapness of German goods was only secured at the cost of the lives and health and happiness of the makers, that the wages paid- were mere starvation rates, , that German workmen, as contrasted with British, were living under social conditions of abject misery, which, of course, were all, from the anti-Chamberlain candidates' point' of view, inseparably connected with a protective policy. " Workmen and their families are constrained to live on dog-meat and horseflesh, they are clad in rags and tatters, and their dwellings more resemble pigsty than the abodes of human beings." So the electors of Gainsborough were told at the last election, and thus the votes' of the horny-handed sons of toil were secured for free trade. But the gross mis-statements did good, in that they impelled ah influential Gainsborough gentleman—a Mr. C. Algernon Morcing— formulate a scheme for getting at the truth of things and impressing this truth on the minds of the workers, through men of their own class. He offered to .send' to Germany a deputation of six Gainsborough working i men,; selected by their fellows in open meeting, to 'secure for them :■ Government, municipal, and private facilities for visiting all the leading centres of industry, going over i the works, questioning the workers, investigating for them.selves the labour conditions prevailing in different trades, quiring into everything from the •:. workers' own point of view, and reporting in the end 'honestly" to their fellows on the subject.. This liberal proposal commended itself to the leading local firms the men were selected, went and , saw everything, and their report lies before us as, we write. Under the title, "Life and Labour in Germany," it is published by Messrs. Simpkin, Marshall and Co., of London, ; at the ■■> price ; of two shillings, and in its three hundred pages or so is to be found a wealth of -information, gained at first hand, which employers and employees and all interested in improving the Jot of the workers, not merely in England, but here in New Zealand also, will do well to " read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest." It is proved; up to the hilt that though German wages are slightly lower than English and the ordinary cost of food and living is not much, if any, less, the German workman enjoys a number of compensating advantages to which his British confrere is a stranger and which make his lot, as a whole, cheerier and, socially, a better one than that of ' the English artisan. It would seem, indeed, that much of our own huI manitarian labour legislation has ; been long anticipated in Germany, i that we are but following German I precedents in the matters of workers' j homes, accident insurance, old age j pensions, and the like. -The Kaiser and the Government, ; the muncij palities, and private firms co-operate | heartily and .with wonderful effect i to lighten the burdens of the GerI man poor and render their lot plea- | aanter. In one centre—Ludwigshaven, for instance— British | workmen noted with satisfaction the ! special care devoted to sanitary arrangements and precautions, baths and coffee supplied gratis, work- ' men's homes, a bachelor workers' messroom, provision for the sick and those meeting with accidents, an insurance fund against sickness, a con-! | sumptive sanatorium, a fund for the s ! aged and infirm, care for the families | of workmen, free medical assistance, j a maternity hospital, a school for 1 domestic economy, a library, a savI ings bank, and a gymnasium, all pro- j vided by the municipality or the ; firms of the place for the benefit, of the working classes. One of the deputation says: "A citizen of the German Empire is accepted by the •State as a responsibility, and is taken in hand from childhood with a view of obtaining from such citizens the best results possible for the benefit of the Empire as a whole. Here we have a key to the whole position. The true explanation of that excellence in work which is, after all, the foundation of Germany's commercial success . and marvellous industrial progress—for no tariffs or* absence of tariffs would avail her, if her goods placed side by side with others were inferior—is the intelligence of the German workman, and the perfection to which all labour-saving devices are carried in the Fatherland/ Though we; have laid the lesson to heart, we are only beginning to tread the paths trodden in Germany for a generation. ' There for years past the boy, on completing his eight years' enforced " tuition in an elementary school, has been compelled, .either by municipal by-laws or the

regulations 'of the firm employing j him, to devote so many hours a day j for a specified'term of two or three i years to study in theßealsichule, or Special Craft School—a technical: : school as we should term it. Japan, another trade competitor of ours, we may remark in passing, has taken a leaf out: of Germany's book in this important matter, and Great Britain and her colonies will have to do so. It is not enough to merely provide technical schools and offer opportunities. It is one of the condemnatory features of our State school system that it fails generally to foster a love of study: A pupil emancipated from the tyranny of standard examinations is not so" ready as he should desirably be to take up a further course of study. We shall have to extend the compulsory principle in education, or, at any rate, bring heavy pressure to bear to make our youths study the fundamental principles of their life-work. "In whatsoever it: is our duty to act, that same it is also our duty to study" was a dictum familiar enough to old Rugbeians in the Arnold days, and there is constant need of its enforcement/ Another lesson driven home by the Gainsborough report is the willingness of the Germans to learn from other countries. John Bull's self-sufficiency and conservatism militate greatly against his success in industrial competition. He thinks he knows, and is certain that his ways-are best. . This confidence prevents his making a study of other people's requirements and seeking to supply them with what they want. He thinks he knows better than; they do what they ought to want. His ignorance of their life-conditions blocks his views of their needs. Germany and America will sell their customers exactly what they want, and will make it if they do not stock it. John Bull will not. But there is hope for him. These workingmen, whose report has been the basis of our remarks, have had these lessons convincingly taught them. They have discovered a good many things it was most desirable they should learn, and they will, in their turn, become teachers of their fellows. Incidentally they have found out that a protective policy • has many advantages they little thought of, and that the -arguments are not all on the side of free trade. :.. Says one of them: "I went to Germany with an i open mind with regard to tariff reform, but had not gone far before I found that something would have to be done to protect our industry at Home. It is reasonable to suppose that when the : English are thoroughly awakened to the losses naturally incurred by them, through the high tariffs of foreign countries, they .will ask that foreigners shall pay for the use ;of the \ British market, just as they make our manufacturers pay for the use of them." Incidentally the visit has done much to disabuse the delegates' minds of the impression that the German workers' sentiments were antagonistic to England. ,/ They found that the hatred- and prejudice were all ; their own, and the message they ; took, back to the . workers of England from their German • brethren was 'one of the most cordial' friendship. * Their report is an eminently; ; suggestive one, which political and social economists everywhere may ponder with advantage, and it contains lessons which, not only the Old Country statesmen: and politicians, but our* own rulers, too, may well study to the benefit of our industries and all engaged; in them. . , - '■■' .