160 Obituary. 



Sprung from the working classes himself, and brought into 

 contact with them from his youth, he keenly sympathised with 

 them in their troubles. When, therefore, in 1888, a year after the 

 death of Carl Zeiss, the latter's son, Roderich, retired from the 

 firm, leaving Abbe, who had been a partner for thirteen years, as 

 sole proprietor, he at once set about the realisation of his dreams 

 of social reform. Abbe was a collectivist. Following the doc- 

 trines of Herbert Spencer, Abbe — the friend of Haeckel — looked 

 upon an industrial establishment in the light of a living organism, 

 dependent for its growth, development and the products of its 

 activity not only on its individual members, but on their co- 

 ordinated action as a whole. He, therefore, considered that a 

 considerable part of the profits of an industrial establishment 

 should go to the benefit of the members collectively. Pushing the 

 analogy further, because an organism is dependent on its environ- 

 ment, and has been moulded by the continuous action of traceable 

 causes, therefore these factors which contribute to its successful 

 evolution should also receive a due measure of consideration. It 

 is evident from certain of his speeches, notably a remarkable 

 speech delivered in 1897 on profit-sharing in the Zeiss Optical 

 Works, that some such considerations influenced him ; and Abbe ; 

 who was a combination of the idealist, the man of action and the 

 philanthropist, put his ideas into execution. 



In 1891 he founded the Carl Zeiss "Stiftung," * ceding to the 

 same all his rights, both in the Optical and in the Glass Works, and 

 merely retaining a position as manager. The statutes state that 

 the aim of the " Stiftung" is the consolidation and development of 

 the industries, as carried on by the Optical and the Glass Works, in 

 such a manner as to afford lasting security for providing a large 

 number of people with the most favourable opportunity for labour, 

 and securing to them collectively greater benefits than can be the 

 case where personal proprietorship exists ; and to assist in eleva- 

 ting their personal and social status. 



In pursuance of these ideas, we find, after the regulations as to 

 the payment of workers, provisions for securing that no worker 

 can have his wages reduced, that no worker can be dismissed with- 

 out compensation, that no one, not even a manager, can receive a 

 salary more than ten times the average yearly earning of workers 

 above twenty-four years old who have been three years in the firm. 

 Then we find provisions as to sick funds, superannuation and 

 pension funds, which extend also to the widows and orphans of 

 employes. After the provisions for the reserve funds, and pay- 

 ment of a small share of the profits to all employes, according to 



* 



A '• Stiftung " is an institution founded as the result of a bequest, and lias to be 

 administered under certain statutes. The nearest English equivalent is the word, 

 "Trust," which, however, in certain respects conveys a different sense. 



