LABOUR IN GERMANY.

Timaru Herald, Volume CVII, Issue 16477, 23 February 1918, Page 5

LABOUR IN GERMANY.

To the Editor of the "TimaruHerald." Sir, —'Ilia spate that can, be rcasonab.y exported >o bo given to correspondents makes it cifiicult to reply u> Mr W. R. McLaren's letter, but I trustyou will grant mo room to reply as brieJly_ as possible to several points mentioned in his oommunipatioii. Ho refers to inaccuracies in the statements made (by Mr Paterson, 1 presume-). In writing this sentence, it appears to me that Mr McLareu would be more convincing if he had stated a few facts in detail as to the' inaccuracies made by Mr Paterson in his speech. His only quoted authority is Mr Gerard's book "lour Years in Germany. 1 ' It should be generally known that this publication is not at all in • accordance with the facts given in reference books, or with the fundings of British Commissions which visited Germany in-order to inquire into the conditions of the workers there. Mr Gerard's book cannot impress the thoughtful reader; it contains too mu-h matter of the' style of the women's society column in your Saturday's issue. The"personal side of tho Kaiser's life etc. is quite unimportant, and it is of little moment as to the class of clothes he wears, or the food he eats. It is one of the usual sensational books that "are common in -war time, and will be read just as long as tho war lasts. Mr McLaren frankly admits that he knows little of the conditionsnow in Germany, but refers to an incident of his boyhood, viz. the woman and the dog harnessed to the cart. The eore:itness of this statement is not denied, but it is fair to remind Mr McLaren that during the time lie has been on this earth, women and childlren worked in the coal m'mss of England. Coming to a later date, he. perhaps along witlh other readers of your paper, remembers the sweated Industries Exhibit at tho New Zealand Exhibition held at Christ hurch in 1906, rJso the strike of the Dublin Transport Workers who received ISs per .week; the political struggle in England for an increase in wages to the agricultural labourer who was receiving 14s per week; further, the figbj for the fixing of a minimum wag? of 5s per day for the coal miner. Many other cases conM b? quotei which aro ■r«ot to the .credit of British industrial life. Mr McLaren tells us that theGerman National Pension" Scheme is used for preventing the working classes kicking against a system that make-: shaves of them. In answer to this, wilt Mr McLaren admit that the State pension and superannuation schemes in this country -were introduced for tho s:;mo objects? He knows this is Rot so. therefore it is fair to assume that the German schemes while going further than ours have been created for the well being of their people. Finally, there is a little sting in the tail of hiletter, that refers "to tho freedom of th« Press, with the suggestion of suppression. This is decidecly offensive to the lover of liberty and truth; why should not the truth be told, even if it is unpalatable? An. English, writer, Mr T. Gold, contributed to tho "World's Work" an interesting article writttn before tho war, and some of the figures quoted certainly support the statements made by Mr Patorson. Mr Gold says that no better test of rea ! national welfare is available than that j afforded by emigration statistics. He gives tho undermentioned figures to support this statement; they read as follows: —No. of native born emigrants; 1910 Germany 25,531, United Kingdom, 233,944; 1911 Germany 22,090, United- Kingdom 261,809; 1912 Germany 18,545, United Kindom 268,486. In dealing -with wages in England, Sir L. G. Chiozza Money, M.P., sa'i-J the average was 18s per week in 1903, and since then wages have gone down a little.- Compare these with the figures Supplied by the statistical office at Munich, Bavaria. They found that 15.3 per pent, of the wage earners receive less than 20s per week, while 50.7 per cent, were in receipt of niora than 25s per week. Is there any larga town in England where more th-iu half the workers get more than 25s per week? It is more than doubtful. Quoting the steel industries, in 1907 tho whole of the concerns covered by the German Steel Syndicate worked out at 27s Cd per week. Mr Gold states "I do not hesitate to put the British average at less than 26s per iveek." Taking skilled, semi-skilled, and un- | skilled labour together, the average is I unquestionably higher in Germany than iu Britain so far as iron aud star! production is concerned. The conc'nding paragraph of this article says "As a matter of fact the average German workman of to-day both jn work and out of work, is better off than the 'average British workman." The unemployed Englisbimau must tramp from shop to shop, and not infrequently break down nhysirallv, mentally, morally aiw socially. The unemployed German has at his disposal the services of a splendid systte-m of lab-nr Iwoaux. Many other facts dealinc: with -tii<> industrial German life coulc" be given, but tho editor's columns must b? considered.—l am, etc., G.H.