Part 16 (1/2)

Bismarck believed that Socialism existed because the laboring man was not sufficiently interested in the state. He had no property, and was not enlightened enough to appreciate the intangible benefits of sovereignty. In 1880 German trade had reached a low ebb. Agriculture had fallen into decay. German peasants and workingmen were emigrating to America by the tens of thousands. Bismarck promulgated his industrial insurance, first, to placate the workingman; second, to restore prosperity to German industry.

As a result of his policy Germany is to-day the most ”socialized”

state in Europe. Here a workingman may begin life attended by a physician paid by the state; he is christened by a state clergyman; he is taught the rudiments of learning and his handicraft by the state.

He begins work under the watchful eye of a state inspector, who sees that the safeguards to health and limb are strictly observed. He is drafted by the state into the army, and returns from the rigor of this discipline to his work. The state gives him license to marry, registers his place of residence, follows him from place to place, and registers the birth of his children. If he falls ill, his suffering is a.s.suaged by the knowledge that his wife and children are cared for and that his expenses will be paid during illness; and he may spend his convalescent days in a luxurious state hospital. If he falls victim to an accident the dread of worklessness is removed by the ample insurance commanded by the state even if his injury permanently incapacitates him. If he should unfortunately become that most pitiful of all men, the man out of work, the state and the city will do all in their power to find employment for him. If he wanders from town to town in search of work the city has its shelter (Herberge) to welcome him; if he wishes to move to another part of his town the munic.i.p.al bureau will be glad to help him find a suitable house, or may even loan him money for building a house of his own. If he is in difficulty the city places a lawyer at his disposal. If he is in a dispute with his employer the government provides a court of arbitration. If he is sued or wishes to sue his employer, he does so in the workingmen's court (Gewerbe Gericht). If he wishes recreation, there is the city garden; if he wishes entertainment let him go to the public concert; if he wishes to improve his mind there are libraries and free lectures. And if by rare chance, through the grace of the state's strict sanitary regulations and by thrift and care, he reaches the age of seventy, he will find the closing days of his long life eased by a pension, small, very small, to be sure, but yet enough to make him more welcome to the relatives or friends who are charged with administering to his wants.[21]

FOOTNOTES:

[1] For a comprehensive description of the German government, see DAWSON, _Germany and the Germans_, Vol. I.

[2] Liebknecht said, in the Breslau congress of the Social-Democratic party: ”La.s.salle is the man in whom the modern organized German labor movement had its origin.”--”Sozial-Demokratische Partei-Tag,”

_Protokoll_, 1895, p. 66.

[3] For sketch of La.s.salle and his work see KIRKUP, _History of Socialism_, pp. 72 et seq.; ELY, _French and German Socialism of Modern Times_, p. 189; RAE, _Contemporary Socialism_, pp. 93 ff. For an extended account, see DAWSON, _German Socialism and Ferdinand La.s.salle_, London, 1888. GEORG BRANDES, _Ferdinand La.s.salle_, originally in Danish, has been translated into German, 1877, and into English, 1911. Also see FRANZ MEHRING. _Die Deutsche Sozial-Demokratie: Ihre Geschichte und ihre Lehre_; BERNHARD BECKER, _Geschichte der Arbeiter Agitation Ferdinand La.s.salles_, Brunswick, 1874: this volume contains a good detailed account of La.s.salle's work.

[4] Published in Zurich, 1863: _Macht und Recht_.

[5] _Macht und Recht_, p. 13.

[6] Letter dated April 22, 1863.

[7] ”offentliches Antwort-schreiben an das Zentral Committee zur Berufung eines Allgemeinen Deutschen Arbeiter Congress zu Leipzig,”

first published in Zurich, 1863.

[8] In the Reichstag, September 16, 1878.

[9] When Bernstein collected La.s.salle's works he wrote a sketch of the agitator's life as a preface. A number of years later, 1904, he published his second sketch, _Ferdinand La.s.salle and His Significance to the Working Cla.s.ses_, in which he s.h.i.+fted his position and a.s.sumed a La.s.sallian tone. This change of mind is typical of the Social Democratic movement toward the La.s.sallian idea.

[10] The law is reprinted in MEHRING, _Die Deutsche Sozial-Demokratie_.

[11] See DAWSON, _German Socialism and Ferdinand La.s.salle_, pp. 251 ff., for a discussion of this law.

[12] A good description of the working of this law is found in DAWSON, _Germany and the Germans_, Vol. II, Chap. x.x.xVII.

[13] December 14, 1882.

[14] ”At a large Berlin meeting a speaker innocently used the word commune (parish), whereupon the police officer in control, thinking only of the Paris Commune, at once dismissed the a.s.sembly, and a thousand persons had to disperse into the streets disappointed and embittered.... 'Militarism is a terrible mistake,' said a speaker at an election meeting, which legally should have been beyond police power, and at these words, further proceedings were forbidden and several persons were arrested. The Socialist deputy Bebel, in addressing some workingmen on economical questions, said that 'In the textile industry it happens that while the wife is working at the loom, the husband sits at home and cooks dinner,' and the meeting was dismissed immediately.”--DAWSON, _Germany and the Germans_, Vol. II, pp. 190-1.

[15] DAWSON, _supra cit._, p. 192.

[16] _Protokoll des Partei-Tages_, 1890, p. 30.

[17] Reichstag debates, April 2, 1886.

[18] _Protokoll des Partei-Tages_, 1890, pp. 11-12.

[19] For discussion of German industrial insurance, see W.H. DAWSON, _Bismarck and State Socialism_, also J. ELLIS BARKER, _Modern Germany_.

[20] R. MEYER, _Der Emanc.i.p.ations-Kampf des Vierten Standes_, p. 475.