| Show LETTER FROM SWITZERLAND The Labor Problem Not Likely to be Soloed lj the llerlin Conference HrJtNE March olh 1S9J SpecIal Correspondence of the Dcntirr 2cavaTtic eyes of Europe are at this moment resting upon Berlin On thu fifteenth of March a con feretics will b held there vhlcli by many I supposed to b the fundn rucntof new era In politics and political economy To thl1 cot I I fennee delegates from the various i powers of Europe ore invited and i the object is I to discuss l tho labor question with view of be In queton wIh a btttrng the conditions of the laboring classes as far a practicable I was a grand Idea which lead t the invitation to this conference Cardinal Manning the great oracle of the English RomanMs says it is the grandest idea ever conceived by the German emperor and I suppose sup-pose the emperor Is anxious to have all the credit for the luIUitlvc But everybody knows that there is no credit whatever due t him The initiative was taken not by tie German emperor nor by I any other crowned head but by the clear headed libertyloving government of republican Switzerland Whatever ever credit I due for the initially deep therefore rightly belong to Switzerland not to Germany 1 is no secret that the bwiss gox eminent some time ago sent an incitatIon in-citatIon t the various powers In eluding Germany asking them to send competent delegates to Here In the month of May for the purpose of discussing the I labor problem The German ruler grasping the Idea and perhaps thinking it below their dig ally t send delegates t brie at once welt t work sending out invitations In-vitations t a conference in Berlin t b held In March and t cove the Kimc ground tbefmegrundlrcUeIy as the proposed civics conference By thin th-in ur the honor of the miLl aLive and of the conference Use was trinsferred from Switzerland t Germany I will easily bo per pr echini that this way of gaining h honors although very questionable G Is emphiticalli a German one For my own part I do not believe L1ue the conference pr b of much praetlcal value and with the eXCI mull ton of those who always are at hand t blow the horn in front of the modern Nimrod the af > r few who believe in the solution tin labor IiroMcm ut the fonferenec iu Berlin trln In the nrt place that problem Is one of tho < e which will have t L solved in some way other thin by words The troubles of the laboring classes have their roots to dtep lu I the present social conditions of the word Trimming oil a little here and a little there will not cleanse tiie field from troublesome weeds which smother tie wheat There needs t L a thorough ploughiu over of tho whole I field and this ant turning the whole ground upsIde down no monarch will ever be b willing t accede to much less 1 propose The Persia despot prp conceived the grind idea of ringing I the waves of tbe ocean into submission ity whipping them and tlie I UlemL ald creatures which obeyed his orders with rI Bard t that singular jroceedini ItCIlUSU l he was a t pt were noth lug but fools But I would I probably be Just as easy to scare E ocean Into obedience by a catonnctail a t subdue the waves of popular sentiment by any number of words In the second place there is too much jealousy among the powers to t admit of any cordial Goon Jide consultation con-sultation alout matters of international inter-national importance England does not hesitate ti say that she hn nothing t learn from Germany France openly declares that Germany Ger-many ha beaten her both in the xilitical and thu industrial field 1eJ and Hint the nawatxsct beating br on tie battlefield of political economy econo-my Theyeirl69VsaSsxIxSTc clc will bu the social Sedan of Prance The Fmnc apparently friendly aiprnt one of Italy is more a matter of 11 iicues man real commence in me success The social questions ot Italy are not the tam a those ot Germany and i conference about 7erman social difficulties is though h t be of no practical value in lay Now it may rea onaM > b asked whit practical results can bccxprcttt btpt < from a conference the delegated of which necessarily met with so dif erent or indifferent flrnt Indltrent orcven secret ly boUo feelings None whatever what-ever Then I I no mere pessimIstic disposItion dis-posItion t entertain the fear that be whole scene is only meant for a good dramatic entertainment Reforms from above have always al-ways lead more or 1cm of that char aster Wild beasts are tamed by first being starved and then petted I utile and those lUt tbo reforms from above have more or less of that anting method in them But there I a great difference between wilt casts and fio laboring mosses of the nineteenth century Ties last outa have learnt tint they are human hu-man bcinz and as such are entitled to live and enjoy some degree ol lappines They caunotnnj longer b lamed by the alternate starving and letting process The programme the Conferences Conference-s the Lest justification of the crt clam bestowed upon It It btowt > It I pro ose 1 To regulate tLo labor in the various mines and t discuss how far women and children can b employed in work 2 To n gulate Sunday work to uy what can be done on n Sunday and what can not t To clicus how fir I illdiencan b empi ijed in any in utriai labor 4 To regulate the work of young pcmon and to say IlUS what limitations there ought t be In that rCpt S To regulitc the work of women and t toy how fa married women can Iu employed in work bv slav sad by nihit Wa there ever a more ridiculous faro than a conference about what this programme promises loin I Was I lero ever a more grim insult offered t the laboring classes A great number of the working closets of Europe toll from an early hour in the morin tl lite at night for a pay just sufficient t prevent themselves from dying starvation The labor of the men less not been ifficlent to keep life in women and children as well They poor crea uc have foil ml themselves under tue necessity of suffering theirs their-s and children to Join them in I theIr for In earnIng a piece of bread and now cutties Ihe confer I crice jiroposiiig to tel the working I I elates that they cannotdotbat The work of women and children must b limited The working men must Jbe content to see their wins and children starve and that I theY ant the-Y solving the great social pro lend lemlI would persia b ore way ct solving if I tho wonienaud chiUre w ere wcrkins merely for the fun of It Itut this is not the case That they lions been driven to leave their humble homes and spend their time In h r nr mpna tte 1tI had to do it In it br ntlon and this dreadful danger Is I i not averted ty telling the people You must limit your work I the German Emperor had any desire of bettering the condition of the working classes iu a ratIonal njwli > does he not pro > oe to dls trmthe standing arnilts that curse to the nations of Europe Why does he not my to his million ofhoMIens Go hOI do something useful I and hell to procure ileveof 1Ir M bread foryeurnlotliersanl sisters 1 Why does he not propose t lower tie taxes and t throw thecountrics open to a competition which would enable the working classes to pr < cure cheaper food and cheaper pr o chmpr clothing Such reform would b rational practical effective nd I Just But no No such thing Ls on the prrgramme No doubt tbe conference will ben very pleasant and agreeable allUlr The delegates will consume in a few days wlue and cigars and the choicest dainties that Germany oran or-an imperial hopltallty can obtain representing an amount large enough to keep t hundred workln flier with their families alive for a whole year Itut it will do no good I cannot b expected to do no go labor problem has t b solved by men who liau had to face want and htnlshlps In their stem realities The step taken by the Emperor conveys one important lesson at least I I shows Milt tLe highest gois on earth begin to realize their situation I proves that tIny feel tbeir throne totter and that they mu t do something in order to prop them up The social problem at first no moro formidable than n mall cloud oil the summers sky his at last gained such proportions that a sudden cloudburst may I lo txiiected The I pro < nsed BerlIn conference ion confession l this op prelieusion of danger illiiougli It I a very poor runcdy fur tat Uanger a tloudburL mere childs umbrella against the I 1 perhajn well lo notice thaw tha-w bile the attention of the powers Is I now being called to the Uifilcultle tifclt of solving the internal socIal limb Km Russia teems to b brewIng homemiscbiefaKnliiin the Orient The plan I to form defensive and oITenslve allinncu luttrvt Servii Moutenesroand Greece At the same time she contracts troops along the Turkish frontier a movement move-ment amiuous enough to deserve attention tention The chances are that the leading statesmen of Europe wIll find tlieniselve called upon to di 1 l questions with which they ace better familiar than they can b supposed to b w ith the griefs of tie uorUn classes who move In a FIber to far below or Irhnps ale their conn rchors on JtlS |
