The Late Herr Krupp.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 11980, 31 January 1903, Page 1 (Supplement)

The Late Herr Krupp.

The death from apoplexy on November 22nd of " the cannon king," Herr Krupp, just a week after the publication of an article by the "Vorwarts," accusing him of abominable conduct on the island of Capri wheie he was wont to winter, has caused a great sensation in Germany. Herr Krupp, who was only 49, had long suffered from a weak heart and attacks of asthma, and there can be little doubtthat the nervous and mental strain of defending himself against horrible accusations has hastened his end. The Public Prosecutor had confiscated the papers containing the articles and had begun a criminal prosecution against the " Vorwarts \for libel, but the harm was clone. Germans are indignant at the clnuges made, for the Krupps were to them the incarnation of industrial progress, and the Krupp works are a lasting mm.vment not Germanjfc prowess in war but to her vast development as an industrial nation. The motive for the accusations is generally supposed to be the hostility of the Social Democrats to Herr Krupp. The "Vorwarts" is the chief (Social Democratic organ in Beilin, and so solicitous for the welfare of his workmen was Herr Krupp and so liberal in providing educational and philanthropic institutions for the colony of labourers that surrounded his works, that the Social Democrats could never obtain a foothold in his domains and could not even run a candidate of their own when he ceased to represent the district of Essen as a free Conservative deputy in the Reichstag. I The dead ironmaster has seen the works at Essen rise from an insignificant foundry with a couple of hundred hands into an industrial enterprise which is said to be the greatest in the world in the hands of a private firm. His grandfather, 1818, built a small factory near Essen, but although he had discovered the secret of",the-, treatment of steel which has since become so famous, his life was one constant struggle against adversity. Dying in 1826 he left little but? his secret to his wife and son. " I stood," said the second Herr I Krupp, " alongside my workmen on the wreck of the original of these works and for fifteen years I only earned enough money to pay my workpeople their wages." But the son was able to turn his father's discovery to practical use in the casting of cannon. The London Exhibition of 1851 at which he showed a great block of steel, brought him fame and fortune. Soon after this the first Krupp gun was tried in- Paris. Napoleon wanted 300, but Krupp's patriotism refused the order, and twenty years later the Krupp guns boomed at Sedan and Met-z and Paris, and helped to bring about the " debacle." Ten years later the military world flocked to Dusseldorf-to see the first 100 ton steel gun, and since then the Essen works have been growing by leaps and bounds, and the great firm has been extending its ramifications all over the world. During the last half-century the population of Essen has grown from 10,000 to 100,000, and 40,000 guns have gone to all parts of the world. Part of the Boer armament consisted of Krupps, and latterly we too have had to import Krupp quick-

Rvets to make up our deficiencies. When the great foundries at " Krupptown " are in'full blast an army of 46,000 men is at work, 1600 furnaces are glowing, 20 miles of belting running, 4500 machines

are pounding away, and 500 steam engines, 500 cranes, 130 steam hammers, 30 hydraulic presses, 300 steam boilers, 300 electric motors, and 500 cranes are in operation. The works are served by 60 miles of railway, and consume 5000 tons of coal a day drawn from their own collieries

and 530 million cubic feet of water flowing through a hundred miles of pipes. There are 328 telephone stations and 59 miles of telegraphs connected with the works, which at night are illuminated by 40,000 electric lights. Cannon-casting is the staple industry and especially the manufacture of breech-loading guns. Steel rails, axles, and carriage wheels for railways, angle bars for bridge-builders, and armour plate for warships are also made. But the Krupp works are not confined to Essen. The firm has an artilleiy range at Meppeo, acquired for the purpose of testing new constructions in the sphere of gunnery; steel works at Buckau near Magdeburg, employing 3500 workmen; the Germania dockyards at Kiel, purchased and vastly extended by Krupp to cope with the demands for new constructions and repairs entailed by Germany's adoption of a great naval programme ; iron smelting works along the

banks of the Rhine; three extensive coal mines ; many iron mines in- Spain; and a shipping establishment afc Rotterdam with a large number* of steamers. The dead " cannon king," under whose

management the firm attained its greatest reputation for the construo>'on of steel armour-plate, was master of 100.000 men. and derived from his vast enterprise an annual income of over a- million.

The late Herr Krupp and his father enjoyed not only a world-wide reputatior for the immensity of their works, but alsr for their regard for the well-being' of theh employees. The German Emperor, whr made him a Privy Councillor and wished to ennoble him, and who attended the funeral and expressed the strongest indignation afc the foul slanders, has declared in his telegram of condolence that the dead man "in his provisions for the well-being of those in his employment was unsurpassed and a pattern to all." Many .a student of the Question of social amelioration o' the working classes has paid a visit- to the. industrial, colony of Essen to. inspect

the villas of the managers and scientists, tie model dwellings, the halls, the libraries, parks and schools, and to examine the operation of the mutual benefit and friendlysocieties and widows and orphans funds. The following description gives some idea of the happy lot of the inhabitants of Essen:—"Certain of employment, their welfare, amusements, sickness catered for, and certain of provision for old age, they have nothing to gain, but everything to lose, by migration. It is a self-contained monarchical kingdom, mining its own ore and coal, making its own gas, its 'own bricks and coke, its saddlery and bookbindery, having its telegraphs and fire brigade, and much else. The firm is a universal provider to its own hands, comprising in all 73 shops, selling colonial pr.vdv.ce, hardware and ironmongery, furniture, meat, bread, provisions of all kinds. There is a laundry, schools, a club. For the-, unmarried men there are lodgings, for the sick there are hospitals, and an infirmary and convalescent home, and for the aged there are cottages and/pensions— everything, in short, required for a wellordered and self-contained community." Herr Erupp's father passed several decades in the closest intercourse with his workmen, working with them all day Jong, and practically living their life. He thus became thoroughly acquainted with their private life, their earnings, their expenses, their needs, and their wishes, and when his own position was assured and he resolved to do his utmost for the social wellbeing of his employees, he knew exactly what steps to take. The son, who came into the business in. 1877, followed his father's example, and well earned the title which Count von Bulow has given him of " the solicitous father of his employees." He married a princess, who has done much for the workpeople by providing schools for girls learning housekeeping and other female accomplishments. Herr Erupp has bequeathed all his property to his widow, with the stipulation that the works carried on under his name shall neither be sold nor converted into a company for a period of twenty-five years. The elder daughter of Herr Erupp will inherit the property on the death of the widow.