MODERN GERMANY.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2628, 9 October 1909, Page 3 (Supplement)

MODERN GERMANY.

MARVELLOUS PROGRESS

(By the Rev. F. Stubbs, in the Canterbury “Times.”) STRASBURG, June 19. It is not easy to out modern Germany, with its 61,000,000 of people, into a couple of columns of print. I hope, however, even within this small compass, to give the reader a general and not inaccurate impression of the marvellous progress that this great nation is making »ii almost every department of human xiiterest and activity. I am quite sure that comparatively few people either in Great Britain or the colonies have any adequate idea of the strides that have been made here during the last thirty years. The Germans have become a great people, not,only numerically, and from a military point of view, but commercially, industrially, and in regard to social pro- ! gress. Not many years ago they used i to be ridiculed. They used to be re- i garded as a dull, plodding, poverty- ; stricken, beer-swillmg, sausage-eating people, over-worked and over-governed, ■ by no means as happy or intelligent as the British. To-day they are almost univmsally recognised by those who know them as the most progressive nation in Europe. I am aware that statistics show that the wealth and trade of Great Britain still exceed those of Germany, but that is not the impression that one gets in travelling in this country. The explanation is tha.t the Germans are more industrious and thrifty, and that with them wealth is more evenly distributed. In Great Britain you have a few very rich people, and then at the other end of the social scale millions who are ill-clothed, ill-housed, ill-fed. In Germany this last-named class is conspicuous by its absence. I have -been travelling for weeks, and yet have never seen a beggar, a slum, a woman soliciting on the street, nor a person that was not decently dressed. Nor, though there is a great deal of beer-drinking, have I even seen a drunken woman, and very few drunken men. As I shall show presently, slums and destitution are TK)t permitted in Germany. They are regarded as inimical to the national wellbeing, and therefore not to be tolerated. No doubt there are potH 1 people i and discontented people, but they are 1 not conspicuous. As far as appear- < ances go, everyone seems happy, con- i tented, and prosperous. And now, <0 leaving generalities, - let, me specify se- f veral respects in which it appears to ] me that the Germans excel the Bri- t tish. . |

The GERMAN TOWN

The- older portion will invariably be built irregularly, with narrow streets, houses thrown together as though they had been shaken out of a gigantic box, higgledy-piggledy; and no end of queer little courts and"alleys. Sometimes the by-streets will be so narrow that the inhabitants can shake hands from their respective windows. This crowding and confusion is the result of the lawlessness that once prevailed, when princes and barons were continually at war with one another and the people had to crowd into fenced cities, huddling together for mutual protection. And so, wherever there was room for a house it was built, at any odd corner, or even leaning against the church. But even these older portions of the town are not without charm. They are so quaint, belonging as they do to another world and age, and the houses, though crowded together, are often large and handsome, and richly decorated. But the newer portions of the town are nearly always regularly built, with handsome squares, parks, residences. In olden times a town was not built; it grew, spreading itself out without order or plan. But it is very different now. Extensions are carefully planned with a view to health, beauty and convenience. No man may build, no street may be built, in such a way as to exclude light or air, or give an impression of ugliness, and at any cost large open spaces must be preserved for health and pleasure. I saw examples of this modern town-plannig in Dusseldorf and Cologne, and the effect is charming—fine," wide thoroughfares, beautiful houses, squares, parks, gardens everywhere. In both these towns, as in others, the municipality controls the use of land, and to a large extent acquires it, renting it out to the most desirable tenants, placing breweries and factories where they will cause least annoyance to the inhabitants, and, as I have said, preventing anything that would offend the taste or prove injurious to health. This may appear to be an interference with the., liberty of the subject, but it must be remembered that it adds to the comfort of the whole population. Germans are trained to forego some of their liberty as individuals for the good of the community, and they aim at making their towns not only good to trade in, but also to live in. The German workman may have to work hard, but after work he has a comfortable house, and parks, gardens, cafes, music with which to refresh himself. ORDER AND DISCIPLINE.

Another thing that strikes the visitor is the order and discipline that prevail. As I have already mentioned, ot vice, drunkenness, destitution, you see practically nothing. The towns swarm with restaurants (pubhchouses), hut there is no boisterousness no disorder. Men, women and children sit together around little tables, chatting and taking refreshments, but there is no shouting, no pressing to drink, no betting, or gambling,- no unseemly behavior of any kind. How from tho scenes to be witnessed daily and nightly in every English and I fear I mu ft add every colonial city. In the trams, the trains, the public gardens—everywhere it is the same: everyone is polite and well-behaved. I hove seen in Lme of the streets and gardens beautiful bits of carving, painting and statuary that I say deliberately could not possibly exist without injury m any English. city. But no laiuliin, no dri n kciT vagabond touches them here. Iluiv j re almost as sate from injury as. m a drawing-room. And the same may he said of shrubs and flowers. I am told •that this is the result of the military trainin' 1 * to which every man has to submit”and I have no doubt this is a true explanation. Every man, every child, is taught discipline, obedience to authority, respect for law self-control and this affects the- whole life of the people. Then take the way m which the Germans deal with poverty and unemployment. First of all, as is veil

known, there is a system of State insurance against accident, against sickness, and against invalidism and old

ago, and so every worker is to an ex- * \ tent .secured against these contingencies. These insurances are obligatory and contributory, the funds being provided partly by the workman himself, partly by his employer, and partly by the State. The system has proved very successful, and is 'likely to be adopted in Great Britain. Then there is a system for the relief of the. unfortunate and unemployed. No man is allowed to starve in Germany, but neither is he allowed to beg, , or to starve others. In Eberfeld, which I visited, the city is mapped out into ! small districts and put in charge of voluntary committees, so that every poor family is under someone’s observation and care. If through sickness or death the breadwinner is removed, the | wants of the family are at once supplier! ; if orphans are left, they are cared for; if the distress is owing to drunkenness or idleness, effective steps can be. and are taken to compel the man to provide for the needs of his family; j if simply owing to unemployment, ef- j forts are made by means of the labor j exchanges, etc., to find employment for j a workman at his own trade, but if j these efforts fail, then the municipality gives him temporary work on its own terms. But in no case is a man or . family allowed to 1 starve or beg, nor : may a man squander his earnings on himself and' leave his family to starve. , Children persistently neglected by their , parents are taken from their custody i and brought up by the municipality — j at the expense of the parents. It may ' be an interference with the liberty of the individual, but the State won’t allow such things; and consequently in Germany you may find pom - men, and men .temporarily unemployed, but you have no slums, no begging, no children trading on the streets, and no destitution. Considerations of space will not permit of my entering into details here, though I hope to give the results of my inquiries more fully on another occasion. But the above will show the general principles on which Germany (and Switzerland also) deals with these difficult problems, and the results. The only other subject which I propose to leal with in this article is that of Education.

In this respect, too, Germany has nade immense progress, and probably eads the world. I have visited several >f the universities and conversed with i number of present and past students, irid the impression that 1 have receiv'd is that secondaz-y education is more icrfectly organised and more efficient ban in England or New Zealand. As ar as the colonies are concerned, this is what might be expected, for they have as yet neither the wealth nor the experience necessary for the most perfect educational machinery. .But ror England I can see no excuse, and I feel quite sure that her middle classes are not as well educated as the corresponding classes in Germany. The German people attach much more importance to education than is common in England and Australasia, and parents make greater sacrifices in order that their children may obtain it. Boys remain longer at school, and are usually a good deal older before they earn their own living. The chief reason for this national thirst? for knowledge is that in Germany the prizes in almost every walk of life go to the intelligent and well-educated. In New Zealand England I have heard it said again and again, and I believe with truth, that in mercantile pursuits a university education is of no advantage; in regard to obtaining a position in the Civil Service of New Zealand, I believe it is a positive <Tisadvantago. Jt is ver v different in Germany, as in the United States also. Here educational efficiency is everything. Manufacturers and other captains of industry arc on the lookout for promising students. The alertness of mind and habits of concentration and perseverance which are acquired in study have a commercial value. To obtain employment in the Civil Service a stiff examination must be passed. Even in the army promotion depends upon the successful passing of nn educational test, and the successful student escapes two-thirds of his period of military service. Is it any wonder, then, that in a country where intellectual efficiency is so highly valued, both parents and children make great sacrifices to obtain it? I have not space to describe minutely the educational machinery, but I may say that elementary, secondary and technical and university education are all organised, controlled and brorrght into close relation to each other by the State, and, to an extent, directly or indirectly, are made compulsory. First, there are the primary schools, of which there are 60,000, maintained at a cost of over £20,000,-

000. Then there are the secondary schools, which are of two kinds, classical and modern, and these prepare the student for either the university or the high technical schools. Secondary education is not free, nor is it compulsory, but, as I have shown above, so much of a boy’s success in life depends upon it that it is seldom willingly dispensed with. Then come the universities, of which there are 21, and here the fountains of every kind of knowledge are open to the student, and he is free to choose whatever branches of study suit him best. There are over 3000 professors and 43,000 students. There is a professor for almost every imaginable subject, and the student is free to take one subject at one university and a second at another in whatever way he

things best for the attainment of his object. The universities are non-resi-dential, and the student has almost perfect freedom. If he wishes to neglect his work he can, as-far as the university authorities are concerned, but ns a rule he is far too anxious to succeed to do this. And this seems to me

to be the main difference between the German student and the student at Oxford or Cambridge. At the latter, a large proportion of the students have no serious object: there is far more interest in sport* than in learning, and the main thing is to- have a good time. In Germany it is different. The student means business:- he thirsts for knowledge, for efficiency, for success, and sport and amusement—though not without' their importance —occupy a subordinate place. And this is as it should be, and as in England it is not, and the consequence is that Germany’s industrial army is more highly trained than the British—chemists; mechanics,

engineers, manufacturers, merchants, and English trade and manufacturers are, relatively, falling behind. How can a nation whose main interest is

amusement compete in the long run with nations whose main interest is efficiency. Such are some of the departments in which Germany excels. Thoroughness and efficiency are the kevnotes everywhere. The Germans wish to take the lead in everything, not only in international politics and in armaments, but also in manufactures, commerce, art, science, and the German student works not merely for himself, hut for his country, to whose wealth and greatness he desires to contribute, a noble ambition which I have never found to the same extent elsewhere. Of course there are features in German life and character not so admirable, but it not my purpose in this article to speak of these, but rather to refer to some things in~ which Britain and her colonies may well follow Germany’s examjrle. I only wish tiiat my fellowcountrymen, who are fa r dearer to me than the Germans, would mark, learn, and inwardly digest.