House and Garden 
had it not been for the German compulsory system 
of workmen’s insurance. Having resided for the 
past fourteen years in the City of Berlin, the writer 
has had an opportunity of personally observing 
the vast internal economic transformation which 
has been taking place during recent years in Ger¬ 
many, and no one can study the conditions now 
obtaining in this country, without feeling that 
here he beholds 
the true moral 
elements of pro- 
o;ressive mig-ht. 
Pastor Bodel- 
schwingh, B. 
Weisbach, W. 
Spindler of the 
present day, with 
S c h u 11 z e - D e 1 - 
itsch, and Fried¬ 
rich Krupp of 
the past, have all 
aided in this ef¬ 
fort, unprece¬ 
dented in its mag¬ 
nitude, to better 
the condition of 
the working 
man. But it was 
the transcendent 
o-enius of Otto 
O 
von Bismarck 
that conceived as 
a whole the sys¬ 
tem of compul¬ 
sory i n s u r a n c e 
against sickness, 
accident, old age 
and infirmity; a 
f actor, fraught it 
may he, with 
portentous con¬ 
sequences for the 
whole Germanic 
race. 
It is now gen¬ 
erally conceded 
that — other 
things being 
equal — a healthy and comfortable dwelling is 
the foundation of an orderly family life, just as 
the latter forms the basis of the welfare and pros¬ 
perity of the State. The great popularity of Kaiser 
Wilhelm II. among his own people is largely due 
to the fact that he is known to be a model husband 
and father, just as the German Empress is beloved 
on account of her devotion to her husband 
and children. It may not be inappropriate to 
mention in this connection that, not so long ago. 
the Kaiser when being shown over an estate belong¬ 
ing to a member of the country nobility, with the 
object of inspecting the improvements thereon, on 
being asked his opinion, said: “You must take care, 
or your pig-sties will be more comfortable than 
your laborers’ dwellings.’’ The beneficent move¬ 
ment for the improvement of the dwellings of the 
poor is known to be very near the Kaiser’s heart. 
Nor can we 
doubt, when we 
observe the 
scrupulousclean- 
liness of the 
homes of the 
German poor, 
that the two years 
which every Ger¬ 
man must spend 
with the colors* 
leave an indeli¬ 
ble impress upon 
his character, 
creating a love of 
order in his whole 
surroundings. 
Only a few 
years ago, there 
existed in Berlin 
what was called 
a Wohnungsnoth 
or house famine. 
To-day the tene¬ 
ment houses are 
still greatly over¬ 
crowded. I quote 
from a report by 
The Imperial 
Board of Health 
in Berlin: “Since 
many spacious 
apartments, 
especially in the 
older houses, are 
insufficient for 
the air-require¬ 
ments of the 
occupiers on ac¬ 
count of their 
low ceilings, the Berlin municipal building regula¬ 
tions prohibit the construction of dwelling rooms 
with a smaller height than two and a half metres. 
On the other hand, the economy of space in 
private dwellings, oversteps frequently the bounds 
permitted by hygienic considerations, and the air¬ 
space of fifteen to sixteen cubic metres allowed to 
every German soldier in his barrack-room is not at 
* Young men who pass a certain standard examination, need serve only one year in 
the army. 
children’s playground in the STARGARD STR., BERLIN 
174 
