i hi i 1 the Latest Date stamped below. L161 _0-1096 WOMAN AND SOCIALISM BY AUGUST BEBEL Jubilee ([ SI V h J! Edition AUTHORIZED TRANSLATION BY META L. STERN (HEBE) SOCIALIST LITERATURE GO. 15 Spruce Street, New York 1910 Copyright, 1910 by the SOCIALIST LITERATURE COMPANY New York The Co-Operative Press, 15 Spruce St., New York Sntrnburtton. && E are living in an age of great social transformations that are steadily progressing. In all strata of society we perceive an unsettled state of mind and an increas- ing restlessness, denoting a marked tendency toward profound and radical changes. Many questions have arisen and are being discussed with growing interest in ever widening circles. One of the most important of these questions and one that is con- stantly coming into greater prominence, is the woman question. The woman question deals with the position that woman should hold in our social organism, and seeks to determine how she can best develop her powers and her abilities, in order to become a useful member of human society, endowed with equal rights and serving society according to her best capacity. From our point of view this question coincides with that other question : In what manner should society be organized to abolish oppression, exploitation, misery and need, and to bring about the physical and mental welfare of individuals and of society as a whole? To J us then, the woman question is only one phase of the general social question that at present occupies all intelligent minds; its final solution can only be attained by removing social extremes and the evils which are a result of such extremes. Nevertheless, the woman question demands our special con- sideration. What the position of 'woman has been in ancient society, what her position is to-day and what it will be in the coming social order, are questions that deeply concern at least one half of humanity. Indeed, in Europe they concern a majority of organized society, because women constitute a majority of the population. Moreover, the prevailing conceptions concerning the development of woman's social position during successive stages of history are so faulty, that enlightenment on this subject has become a necessity. Ignorance concerning the position of woman, chiefly accounts for the prejudice that the woman's movement has to contend with among all classes of people, by no means least among the women themselves. Many even venture to assert -, that there is no woman question at all, since woman's position has always been the same and will remain the same in the future. because nature has destined her to be a wife and a mother and to confine her activities to the home. Everything that is beyond the four narrow walls of her home and is not closely connected with ' her domestic duties, is not supposed to concern her. 4 Introduction In the woman question then we find two contending parties, just as in the labor question, which relates to the position of the workingman in human society. Those who wish to maintain everything as it is, are quick to relegate woman to her so-called "natural profession," believing that they have thereby settled the whole matter. They do not recognize that millions of women are not placed in a position enabling them to fulfill their natural function of wifehood and motherhood, owing to reasons that we shall discuss at length later on. They furthermore do not recog- nize that to millions of other women their "natural profession" is a failure, because to them marriage has become a yoke and a condition of slavery, and they are obliged to drag on their lives in misery and despair. But these wiseacres are no more con- cerned by these facts than by the fact that in various trades and professions millions of women are exploited far beyond their strength, and must slave away their lives for a meagre subsistence. They remain deaf and blind to these disagreeable truths, as they remain deaf and blind to the misery of the proletariat, consoling themselves and others by the false assertion that it has always been thus and will always continue to be so. That woman is entitled, as well as man, to enjoy all the achievements of civiliza- tion, to lighten her burdens, to improve her condition, and to develop all her physical and mental qualities, they refuse to admit. When, furthermore, told that woman to enjoy full physical and mental freedom should also be economically independent, should no longer depend for subsistence upon the good will and favor of the other sex, the limit of their patience will be reached. In- dignantly they will pour forth a bitter endictment of the "madness of the age" and its "crazy attempts at emancipation." These are the old ladies of both sexes who cannot overcome the narrow circle of their prejudices. They are the human owls that dwell wherever darkness prevails, and cry out in terror whenever a ray of light is cast into their agreeable gloom. Others do not remain quite as blind to the eloquent facts. They confess that at no time woman's position has been so unsatisfactory in comparison to general social progress, as it is at present. They recognize that it is necessary to investigate how the condition oi the self-supporting woman can be improved; but in the case of married women they believe the social problem to be solved. They favor the admission of unmarried women only into a limited number of trades and professions. Others again are more advanced and insist that competition between the sexes should not be limited to the inferior trades and professions, but should be extended to all higher branches of learning and the arts and sciences as well. They demand equal educational oppor- tunities and that women should be admitted to all institutions Introduction 5 of learning, including the universities. They also favor the appointment of women to government positions, pointing out the results already achieved by women in such positions, especially in the United States. A few are even coming forward to demand equal political rights for women. Woman, they argue, is a human being and a member of organized society as well as man, and the very fact that men have until now framed and administered the laws to suit their own purposes and to hold woman in subjuga- tion, proves the necessity of woman's participation in public affairs. It is noteworthy that all these various endeavors do not go beyond the scope of the present social order. The question is not propounded whether any of these proposed reforms will accom- plish a decisive and essential improvement in the condition of women. According to the conceptions of bourgeois, or capi- talistic society, the civic equality of men and women is deemed an ultimate solution of the woman question. People are eithef unconscious of the fact, or deceive themselves in regard to it, that the admission of women to trades and industries is already practically accomplished and is being strongly favored by the ruling classes in their own interest. But under prevailing condi- tions woman's invasion of industry has the detrimental effect of increasing competition on the labor market, and the result is a reduction in wages for both male and femall workers. It is clear then, that this cannot be a satisfactory solution. + Men who favor these endeavors of women within the scope of present society, as well as the bourgeois women who are active in the movement, consider complete civic equality of women the ultimate goal. These men and women then differ radically from those who, in their narrow-mindedness, oppose the movement They differ radically from those men who are actuated by petty motives of selfishness and fear of competition, and therefore try to prevent women from obtaining higher education and from gaining admission to the better paid professions. But there is no difference of class between them, such as exists between the worker and the capitalist. If the bourgeois suffragists would achieve their aim and would bring about equal rights for men and women, they would still fail to abolish that sex slavery which marriage, in its present form, is to countless numbers of women; they would fail to abolish pros- titution ; they would fail to abolish the economic dependence of wives. To the great majority of women it also remains a matter of indifference whether a few thousand members of their sex, belonging to the more favored classes of society, obtain higher learning and enter some learned profession, or hold a public office. v^ 5 Introduction The general condition of the sex as a whole is not altered thereby. The female sex as such has a double yoke to bear. Firstly, women suffer as a result of their social dependence upon men, and the inferior position alloted to them in society; formal equality before the law alleviates this condition, but does not remedy it. Secondly, women suffer as a result of their economic dependence, which is the lot of women in general, and especially of the prole- tarian women, as it is of the proletarian men. We see, then, that all women, regardless of their social posi- tion, represent that sex which during the evolution of society has been oppressed and wronged by the other sex, and therefore it is to the common interest of all women to remove their disabilities by changing the laws and institutions of the present state and social order. But a great majority of women is furthermore deeply and personally concerned in a complete reorganization of the present state and social order which has for its purpose the abolition of wage-slavery, which at present weighs most heavily upon the women of the proletariat, as also the abolition of sex- slavery, which is closely connected with our industrial conditions and our system of private ownership. The women who are active in the bourgeois suffrage move- ment, do not recogmze the necessity of so complete a transforma- tion. Influenced by their privileged social position, they consider, the more radical aims of the proletarian woman's movement' dangerous doctrines that must be opposed. The class antagonism that exists between the capitalist and working class and that is increasing with the growth of industrial problems, also clearly manifests itself then within the woman's movement. Still these sister-women, though antagonistic to each other on class lines, have a great many more points in common than the men engaged in the class struggle, and though they march in separate armies they may strike a united blow. This is true in regard to all endeavors pertaining to equal rights of woman under the present social order; that is, her right to enter any trade or profession adapted to her strength and ability, and her right to civic and political equality. These are, as we shall see, very important and very far-reaching aims. Besides striving for these aims, it is in the particular interest of proletarian women to work hand in hand with proletarian men for such measures and institutions that tend to protect the working woman from physical and mental degeneration, and to preserve her health and strength for a normal fulfillment of her maternal functions. Furthermore, it is the duty of the proletarian woman to join the men of her class in the struggle for a thorough-going transformation of society, Introduction J to bring about an order that by its social institutions will enable both sexes to enjoy complete economic and intellectual inde- pendence. Our goal then is, not only to achieve equality of men and women under the present social order, which constitutes the sole aim of the bourgeois woman's movement, but to go far beyond this, and to remove all barriers that make one human being dependent upon another, which includes the dependence of one sex upon the other. This solution of the woman question is identical with the solution of the social question. They who seek a complete solution of the woman question must, therefore, join hands with those who have inscribed upon their banner the solu- tion of the social question in the interest of all mankind the Socialists. The Socialist Party is the only one that has made the full equality of women, their liberation from every form of de- pendence and oppression, an integral part of its program; not for reasons of propaganda, but from necessity. For there can be no liberation of mankind without social independence and equality of the sexes. All Socialists will probably agree with the fundamental prin- ciples herein expressed. But the same cannot be said in regard to the manner in which we picture the realization of our ultimate aims, that is, in regard to the particular form that institutions should take to bring about that desired independence and equality for all. As soon as we forsake the firm foundation of reality, and begin to depict the future, there is a wide field for speculation. A difference of opinion immediately arises as to what is probable or improbable. Whatever, therefore, is stated in this book con- cerning future probabilities, must be regarded as the personal opinion of the author, and eventual attacks must be directed against his person, because he assumes full responsibility for his statements. Attacks, that are honestly meant and are objective in character, will be welcome; those that distort the contents of this book or are founded upon an untruthful interpretation of their meaning, will be ignored. It remains to be said, that in the following chapters all conclusions should be drawn which become necessary for us to draw, as a result of our investigation of facts. To be unprejudiced is the first requirement for a recognition of the truth, and only by expressing without reserve that which is and that which is to be, can we attain our ends. Woman in tly* CHAPTER I. The Position of Woman in Primeval Society. i. Chief Epochs of Primeval History. T is the common lot of woman and worker to be oppressed. The forms of oppression have differed in successive ages and in various countries, but the oppression itself remained. During the course of historic development the oppressed ones have fre- quently recognized their oppression, and this recogni- tion has led to an amelioration of their condition ; but it remained for our day to recognize the fundamental causes of this oppression, both in regard to the woman and in regard to the worker. It was necessary to under- stand the true nature of society and the laws governing social evolution, before an effective movement could develop for the purpose of abolishing conditions that had come to be regarded as unjust. But the extent and pro- foundness of such a movement depend upon the amount of insight prevailing among those strata of society affected by the unjust conditions, as also upon the free- dom of action possessed by them. In both respects woman, owing to custom, education and lack of freedom, is less advanced than the worker. Moreover, conditions that have prevailed for generations finally become a habit, and heredity as well as education make them ap- pear "natural" to both parties concerned. That explains why women accept their inferior position as a matter of course, and do not recognize that it is an unworthy one, and that they should strive to obtain equal rights with men, and to become equally qualified members of society. But whatever similarities exist between the position of woman and that of the workingman, woman has one precedence over the workingman. She is the first human io The Position of Woman in Primeval Society being which came into servitude. Women were slaves before men. All social dependence and oppression is rooted in the economic dependence of the oppressed upon the oppres- sor. Woman so we are taught by the history of human development has been in this position since an early stage. Our understanding of this development is compara- tively recent. Just as the myth of the creation of the world, as taught by the Bible, could not be maintained in face of innumerable and indisputable facts founded upon modern, scientific investigation, it also became im- possible to maintain the myth of the creation and devel- opment_of man. Not all phases of the history of evolu- tion have as yet been elucidated. Difference of opinion still exists among scientists in regard to one or another of the natural phenomena and their relation to each other; but, on the whole, clearness and a general con- sension of opinion prevails. It is certain that man has not made his appearance upon the earth as a civilized being as the Bible asserts of the first human pair but that in the long course of ages he gradually evolved from a mere animal condition, and that he passed through various stages during which his social relations as well as the relations between man and woman experienced many transformations. The convenient assertion that is resorted to daily by ignorant or dishonest people, both in regard to the rela- tion between man and woman as also in regard to the relation between the rich and the poor the assertion that it has always been thus and will always continue to be so is utterly false, superficial and contrary to the truth in every respect. A cursory description of the relations of the sexes since primeval days is of special importance for the pur- pose of this book. For it seeks to prove that, if in the past progress of human development, these relations have been transformed as a result of the changing methods of production and distribution, it is obvious that a further change in the methods of production and dis- tribution must again lead to a new transformation in the Woman in the Past n relation of the sexes. Nothing is eternal, either in nature or in human life ; change is the only eternal factor. As far as we can look backward along the line of human evolution, we see the horde* representing the first human community. Only when the horde increased in numbers to such an extent that it became difficult to obtain the necessary means of subsistence, which origi- nally consisted of roots, seeds and fruit, a disbanding of the members resulted, and new dwelling places were sought for. We have no written records of this almost animal-like stage, but studies of the various stages of civilization among extinct and living savages prove that such a stage has at one time existed. Man has not stepped into life as a highly civilized being, upon a command from the Creator, but has passed through a long, infinitely slow process of evolution, and in the tips and downs of waver- ing periods of development, and in a constant process of differentiation, in all climes and in all quarters of the globe, has passed through many stages until finally climbing the height of his present civilization. And while in some parts of the globe great nations represent the most advanced stage of civilization, we find other peoples in various places representing varied stages of development. These present to us a vivid picture of our own past, and point out to us along which roads humanity has traveled in its long course of evolu- tion. If we shall at some time succeed in establishing general and definite aspects according to which so- ciological investigations shall be conducted, an abundance of facts will result, destined to cast a new light upon the relations of men in the past and the present. Events will then seem comprehensible and natural, that at pres- *"The theory of natural rights and the doctrine of the social con- tract, which places an isolated human being at the beginnings of human development, is an invention utterly foreign to reality, and is therefore worthless for the theoretical analysis of human institu- tions as it is for a knowledge of history. Man should, on the con- trary, be classed with gregarious animals ; that is, with those species whose individuals are combined into permanent groups." (Edw. Meyer: "The Origin of the State, in Its Relation to Tribal and National Association." 1907.) 12 The Position of Woman in Primeval Society ent are quite beyond our comprehension, and that super- ficial critics frequently condemn as irrational, sometimes even as immoral. Scientific researches, commenced by Backofen, and since continued by a considerable number of learned men as Taylor, MacLennon, Lubbock and others, have gradually lifted the veil from the earliest history of our race. These investigations were elabo- rated by Morgan's able book, and to this again Frederick Engels has added a number of historic facts, economic and political in character. Recently these researches have been partly confirmed and partly corrected by Cunow.* The clear and vivid descriptions given by Frederick Engels in his splendid work, that is founded upon Mor- gan's investigations, have cast a flood of light upon many factors in the histories of peoples representing various stages of development ; factors that until that time had seemed irrational and incomprehensible. They have enabled us to obtain an insight into the gradual upbuild- ing of the social structure. As a result of such insight we perceive that our former conceptions in regard to marriage, family and state, have been founded upon utterly false premises. But whatever has been proven concerning marriage, family and state, is equally true in regard to the position of woman, which, in the various stages of social development, has differed radically from what is supposed to be woman's "eternal" position. Morgan divides the history of mankind and this division is also adopted by Engels into three chief epochs : savagery, barbarism and civilization. Each of the two earlier periods he subdivides into a lower, a *Backofen's book was published in 1861. It was entitled, ''The Matriarchate ; Studies of the Gynocratic Customs of the Old World in Their Religious and Legal Aspects." Publishers. Krais & Hoffmann, Stuttgart. Morgan's fundamental work, "Ancient Society, or Re- searches in the Lines of Human Progress from Savagery Through Barbarism to Civilization," was published in 1877 by Henry Holt & Co. "The Origin of the Family," by Frederick Engels, founded upon Morgan's investigations, was published bv J. H. W. Dietz, Stuttgart, as was also "Relationship Organizations of the Australian Negro ; a Contribution to the History of the Family/' by Henry Cunow, which appeared in 1894. Woman in the Past 13 medium and a higher stage, because these stages differ in regard to fundamental improvements in the method of obtaining the means of subsistence. Those changes which occur from time to time in the social systems of nations as a result of improved methods of production, Morgan considers one of the chief characteristics in the progress of civilization, which is quite in keeping with the materialistic conception of history as laid down by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels. Thus the lowest stage in the period of savagery represents the childhood of mankind. During this stage men still were tree-dwellers, and fruit and roots constituted their chief nourishment; but even then articulated language began to take form. The medium stage of savagery begins with the consump- tion of small animals such as fish, crabs, etc., for food, and with the discovery of fire. Men begin to manu- facture weapons, clubs and spears made of wood and stone, and this means the inception of the hunt and probably also of war among neighboring hordes, who contended with one another for the sources of nourish- ment and the most desirable dwelling places and hunting grounds. At this stage also cannibalism appears, which is still met with among some tribes in Africa, Australia and Polynesia. The higher stage of savagery is char- acterized by the invention of the bow and arrow; the invention of the art of weaving; the making of mats and baskets from bast and reeds, and the manufacture of stone implements. As the beginning of the lowest stage of barbarism, Morgan denotes the invention of pottery. Man learns the domestication of wild animals with the resultant pro- duction of meat and milk, and thereby obtains the use of hides, horns and furs for the most varied purposes. Hand in hand with the domestication of animals, agriculture begins to develop. In the western part of the world corn is cultivated ; in the eastern part, almost all kinds of grain, with the exception of corn, is grown. During the medium stage of barbarism we find an increasing- domestication of useful animals in the East, and in the West we find an improved cultivation of nourishing plants with the aid of .artificial irrigation. The use of 14 The Position of Woman in Primeval Society stones and sun-dried bricks for building purposes is also originated at this time. Domestication and breeding favor the formation of herds and flocks and lead to a pastoral life, and the necessity of producing larger quan- tities of nourishment for both men and animals leads to increased agriculture. The result is a more sedentary mode of life with an accompanying increase in provisions and greater diversity of same, and gradually cannibalism disappears. The higher stage of barbarism has been reached with the smelting of iron ore and the invention of alphabetical writing. The invention of the iron plough gives a new impetus to agriculture; the iron axe and spade and hoe make it easier to clear the forest and to cultivate the soil. With the forging of iron a number of new activities set in, giving life a different shape. Iron tools simplify the building of houses, ships and wagons. The malleation of metals furthermore leads to mechanical art, to an improvement in the manufacture of arms, and to the building of walled cities. Architecture is developed, and mythology, poetry and history are conserved and dis- seminated by means of alphabetical writing. The Oriental countries and those situated about the Mediterranean Sea Egypt, Greece and Italy are the ones in which this mode of life was especially developed, and here the foundation was laid to later social trans- formations that have had a decisive influence upon the development of civilization in Europe and, in fact, in all the countries of the globe. 2. Family Forms. The periods of savagery and barbarism were char- acterized by singular social and sex relations, that differ considerably from those of later times. Backofen and Morgan have thoroughly investigated these relations. Backofen carried on his investigations by a profound study of ancient writings, with the pur- pose of gaining an understanding of various phenomena presented in mythology and ancient history, that impress us strangely and yet show similarity with facts and Woman in the Past 15 occurrences of later days, even down to the present time. Morgan carried on his investigations by spending decades of his life among the Iroquois Indians in the State of New York, whereby he made new and unexpected observations of the modes of family life and system of relationship prevailing among them, and these observa- tions served as a basis to place similar observations, made elsewhere, in the proper light. Backofen and Morgan discovered, independently from one another, that in primeval society the relations of the sexes differed vastly from those prevalent during historic times and among modern, civilized nations. Morgan dis- covered, furthermore, as a result of his long sojourn among the Iroquois of North America, and his compara- tive studies to which 'these observations led him, that all existing primitive peoples have family relations and sys- tems of relationship that differ markedly from our own, but which must have prevailed generally among all peoples at a remote period of civilization. At the time when Morgan lived among the Iroquois, he found that among them existed a monogamous mar- riage, easily dissolved by either side, termed by him the "pairing family." But he also found that the terms of relationship as father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, although there could be no doubt in our minds as to whom such terms should apply, were not used in their ordinary sense. The Iroquois addresses as sons and daughters not only his own children, but also those of all his brothers, and these his brothers' children call him father. On the other hand, the Iroquois woman does not only call her own children sons and daughters, but also those of all her sisters, and again all her sisters' chil- dren call her mother. But the children of her brothers she calls nephews and nieces, and these call her aunt. Chil- dren of brothers call one another brothers and sisters, and so do children of sisters. But the children of a woman and her brother call each other cousins. The curious fact then presents itself that the terms of rela- tionship are not determined by the actual degrees of relationship, but the sex of the relative. This system of kinship is not only fully accepted by 1 6 The Position of Woman in Primeval Society all American Indians as well as by the aborigines of India, the Dravidian tribes of Deckan and the Gaura tribes of Hindostan, but similar systems must have existed everywhere primarily, as has been proven by investigations that were undertaken since those of Back- ofen. When these established facts shall be taken as a basis for further investigations among living savage or barbaric tribes, similar to the investigations made by Backofen among various peoples of the ancient world, by Morgan among the Iroquois and by Cunow among the Australian Negroes, it will be shown that social and sex relations constituted the foundation for the develop- ment of all nations of the world. Morgan's investigations have revealed still other in- teresting facts. While the "pairing family" of the Iroquois is in contradiction to the terms of relationship employed by them, it was shown that in the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) there existed up to the first half of the nineteenth century a family form which actually cor- responded to that system of kinship that among the Iroquois existed only in name. But the Hawaiian system of kinship again did not agree with the family form pre- vailing there at the time, but pointed to another form of the family, still more remote, and no longer in existence. There all the children of brothers and sisters, without exception, were regarded as brothers and sisters, and were considered the common children, not only of their mother's and her sisters' or their father's and his brothers', but of all the brothers and sisters of both their parents. The Hawaiian system of kinship then corresponded to a degree of development that was still lower than the prevailing family form. We are thus confronted by the peculiar fact, that in Hawaii as among the North Ameri- can Indians, two different systems of kinship were em- ployed that no longer corresponded to existing condi- tions, but had been superseded by a higher form. Morgan expresses himself on this phenomenon in the following manner: "The family is the active element; it is never stationary, but progresses from a lower to a higher form in the same measure in which society develops from Woman in the Past 17 a lower to a higher stage. But the systems of kinship are passive. Only in long intervals they register the progress made by the family in course of time, and only then are they radically changed when the family has done so." The prevalent conception that the present family form has existed since times immemorial and must continue to exist lest our entire civilization be endangered a con- ception that is vehemently defended by the upholders of things as they are has been proven faulty and untenable by the researches of these scientists. The study of prime- val history leaves no doubt as to the entirely different re- lation of the sexes at an early period of human develop- ment from their present relation, and when viewed in the light of our present-day conceptions, they seem a monstrosity, a ;nire of immorality. But as each stage in social development has its own methods of production, thus each stage also has its own code of morals, which is only a reflection of its social conditions. Morals are deter- mined by custom, and customs correspond to the inner- most nature, that is, to the social necessities of any given period. Morgan arrives at the conclusion that in the lowest stage of savagery unrestricted sexual intercourse existed within the tribe, so that all the women belonged to all the men and all the men belonged to all the women ; that is, a condition of promiscuity. All men practice poly- gamy, and all women practice polyandry; there is a com- mon ownership of wives and husbands as also a common ownership of the children. Strabo relates (66 B. C.) that among the Arabs brothers have sexual intercourse with their sisters and sons with their mothers. Incest was originally a requirement to make it possible for human beings to multiply. This explanation must espe- cially be resorted to if we accept the biblical story of the origin of man. The Bible contains a contradiction in regard to this delicate subject. It relates that Cain, having killed his brother Abel, fled from the presence of the Lord and lived in the land of Nod. There Cain knew his wife and she conceived and bore a son unto him. But whence came his wife? Cain's parents were the I 1 8 The Position of Woman in Primeval Society first man and woman. According to the Hebrew tradi- tion, two sisters were born to Cain and Abel, with whom they begot children. The Christian translators of the Bible appear to have suppressed this unpleasant fact. That promiscuity prevailed in a prehistoric stage, that the primeval horde was characterized by unrestricted sexual intercourse, is also shown in the Indian myth that Brama wedded his own daughter Saravasti. The same myth is met with among the Egyptians and in the Norse "*,Edda.' J The Egyptian god Ammon was the husband of his mother and boasted of the fact, and Odin, according to the "Edda" was the husband of his own daughter Frigga.* Dr. Adolf Bastian relates: "In Swaganwara the daughters of the Rajah enjoyed the privilege of freely choosing their husbands. Four brothers who settled in Kapilapur made Priya, the eldest of their five sisters, queen mother and married the others.** Morgan assumes that from the state of general pro- miscuity, a higher form of sexual relation gradually developed, the consanguine family. Here the marriage groups are arranged by generations ; all the grandfathers and grandmothers within a certain family are mutually husbands and wives; their children constitute another cycle of husbands and wives, and again the children of these when they have attained the proper age. In differ- entiation then from the promiscuity prevailing at the lowest stage, we here find one generation excluded from sexual intercourse with another generation. But brothers and sisters and cousins of the first, second and more remote grades are all brothers and sisters and also hus- bands and wives. This family form corresponds to the *Dr. Ziegler, professor of zoology at the university of Freiburg, ridicules the idea of attaching any historical importance to myths. This conception only proves the biased judgment of the scientist. The myths contain a profound meaning, for they have sprung from the soul of the people and are founded upon ancient customs and traditions that have gradually disappeared but continue to survive in the myths glorified by the halo of religion. If facts are met with th?.t explain the myth, there is good ground for attaching historical importance to the same. **Dr. Adolf Bastian, "Travels in Singapore, Batavia, Manila and Japan." Woman in the Past 19 system of kinship that during the first half of the last century still existed in Hawaii in name but no longer in fact. According to the American and Indian system of kin- ship, brother and sister can never be father and mother to the same child, but according to the Hawaiian system they may. The consanguine family also prevailed at the time of Herodotus among the Massagetes. Of these he wrote: "Every man marries a woman but all are per- mitted to have intercourse with her."* Similar condi- tions Backofen proves to have existed among the Lycians, Etruscans, Cretans, Athenians, Lesbians and Egyptians. According to Morgan, the consanguine family is suc- ceeded by a third, higher form of family relations, which he calls the "Punaluan family" "punaluan" meaning "dear companion." Morgan's conception that the consanguine family, founded upon the formation of marriage classes accord- ing to generations, which preceded the Punaluan family, was the original form of family life, is opposed by Cunow in his book referred to above. Cunow does not consider the consanguine family the most primitive form of sexual intercourse discovered, but deems it an intermediary stage leading to the true gentile organization, in which stage the generic classification in strata of different ages belonging to the so-called consanguine family, runs parallel for a while with the gentile order.** Cunow says, furthermore : The class division every man and every woman bearing the name of their class and their totem does not prevent sexual intercourse among rela- tions on collateral lines, but it does prevent it among relations of preceding and succeeding lines, parents and children ; aunts and nephews, uncles and nieces. Terms as uncle, aunt, etc., denote entire groups. Cunow furnishes proof in regard to the points in *Backofen: "The Matriarchate." **In the gentile order each gens has its totem, as lizard, opossum, emu, wolf, bear, etc., from which the gens derives its name. The totem animal is held sacred, and members of the gens may not kill it or eat its flesh. The significance of the totem was similar to that of the patron saint among the medieval guilds. 20 The Position of Woman in Primeval Society which he differs from Morgan. But though he differs from Morgan in many respects, he clearly defends him against the attacks of Westermarck and others. He says : "Although some of Morgan's theories may be proven to be incorrect, and others partly so, to him still is due the credit of having been the first to discover the identity existing between the totem-groups of the North American Indians and the gentile organizations of the Romans. He, furthermore, was the first to show that our present family form and system of relationship is the outcome of a lengthy process of evolution. We, there- fore, are indebted to him for having made further research possible, for having laid the foundation upon which we may continue to build." In the introduction to his book he also states explicitly that his work is partly a supple- ment to Morgan's book on ancient society. Westermarck and Starcke, to whom Dr. Ziegler espe- cially refers, will have to accept the fact that the origin and evolution of the family are not in keeping with their bourgeois prejudices. Cunow's refutations should en- lighten the most fanatical opponents of Morgan as to the value of their opposition. 3. The Matriarchate. According to Morgan, the Punaluan family begins with the exclusion of brothers and sisters on the mother's side. Wherever a woman has several husbands, it be- comes impossible to determine paternity. Paternity becomes a mere fiction. Even at present, with the insti- tution of monogamous marriage, paternity as Goethe said in his "Apprenticeship," ''depends upon good faith." But if paternity is dubious in monogamous marriage even, it is surely beyond the possibility of determination where polyandry prevails. Only descent from the mother can be shown clearly and undeniably ; therefore, children, during the term of the matriarchate, were termed "spurii," seed. As all social transformations are consummated infinitely slow upon a low stage of devel- opment, thus also the transition from the consanguine family to the Punaluan family must have extended Woman in the Past 21 through a great length of time, and many retrogressions must undoubtedly have occurred that could still be per- ceived in later days. The immediate, external cause for the development of the Punaluan family may have the neces- sity of dividing the greatly increased group for the pur- pose of finding new soil for agricultural purposes and for the grazing of herds. But it is also probable that with increasing development, people gradually came to understand the harmfulness and the impropriety of sexual intercourse between brother and sister and close relatives, and that this recognition led to a different arrangement of marriage relations. That this was the case is shown by a pretty legend that, as Cunow tells us, was related to Gason among the Dieyeris, a tribe of Southern Australia. This legend describes the origin of the "Murdu," the gentile organization, in the following manner : "After the creation fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters and other closely related persons married indiscrimi- nately among themselves, until the evil consequences of such marriages were clearly seen. Thereupon the leaders held a council to consider what could be done, and finally they begged Muramura, the great spirit, to bid them what to do. Muramura bade them divide the tribe into many branches and to name these after animals and inanimate objects to distinguish them from one another; for in- stance, Mouse, Emu, Lizzard, Rain, etc. The members of each group should not be permitted to marry among themselves, but should choose their mates from another group. Thus the son of an Emu should not marry the daughter of an Emu, but he might marry the daughter of a Mouse, a Lizard, a Rain, or any other family." This tradition is more plausible than the biblical one, and shows the origin of gentile organization in the simplest manner. Paul Lafargue showed in an article published in the German periodical, "Neue Zeit," that names like Adam and Eva did not originally denote individual persons, but were the names of gentes in which the Jews were con- stituted in prehistoric days. By his argumentation La- fargue elucidates a number of otherwise obscure and con- 22 The Position of Woman in Primeval Society tradictory points in the first book of Moses. In the same periodical M. Beer calls attention to the fact that among the Jews a superstition still prevails according to which a man's mother and his fiancee must not have the same name, lest misfortune, disease and death be brought upon the family. This is a further proof of the correct- ness of Lafargue's conception. Gentile organization pro- hibited marriage between persons belonging to the same gens. According to the gentile conception, then, the fac.t that a man's mother and his fiancee had the same name, proved their belonging to the same gens. Of course, present-day Jews are ignorant of the connection existing between their superstition and the ancient gentile organi- zation which prohibited such marriages. These pro- hibitory laws had the purpose of avoiding the evils icsulting from close intermarriage, and though gentile organization among the Jews has gone out of existence thousands of years ago, we still see traces of the ancient tradition preserved. Early experiences in the breeding of animals may have led to a recognition of the dangers of inbreeding. How far such experiences had been developed may be seen from the first book of Moses, chapter 30, 32 stanza, where it is told how Jacob cheated his father-in-law Laban by providing for the birth of spotted lambs and goats that were to be his, according to Laban's promise. Thus ancient Israelites were applying Darwin's theories in practice long before Darwin's time. Since we are discussing conditions that existed among the ancient Jews, it will be well to quote a few further facts which prove that in antiquity maternal law actually prevailed among them. Although in the first book of Moses, 3, 16, is written in regard to woman: "And thy desire shall be to thy husband and he shall rule over thee," in the first book of Moses, 2, 24, we find the lines : "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife and they shall be one flesh." The same wording is repeated in Matthew, 19, 5 ; Mark, 10, 7, and in the epistle to the Ephesians, 5, 31. This command then is rooted in maternal law, for which Woman in the Past 23 interpreters of the Bible had no explanation and, there- fore, presented it incorrectly. Maternal law is likewise shown to have existed in the fourth book of Moses, 32, 41. There it is said that Jair had a father of the tribe of Juda, but his mother came from the tribe of Manasseh, and Jair is explicitly called the son of Manasseh and became heir to that tribe. In Nehemiah, 7, 63, we find still another example of maternal law among the ancient Jews. There the children of a priest who married one of the daughters of Barzillai, a Jewish clan, are called the children of Barzillai. They are, accordingly, not called by their father's but by their mother's name. In the Punaluan family, according to Morgan, one or more series of sisters of one family group married one or more series of brothers of another family group. A number of sisters or cousins of the first, second and more remote degrees were the common wives of their common husbands, who were not permitted to be their brothers. A number of brothers or cousins of various degrees were the common husbands of their common wives, who were not permitted to be their sisters. As inbreeding was thereby prohibited, this new form of marriage was favor- able to higher and more rapid development, and gave those tribes that had adopted this family form an advan- tage over those who maintained the old form of sex relations. The following system of kinship resulted from the Punaluan family: The children of my mother's sisters are her children, and the children of my father's brothers are his children, and all are my brothers and sisters. But the children of my mother's brothers are her nephews and nieces and the children of my father's sisters are his nephews and nieces, and all are my cousins. The hus- bands of my mother's sisters are still her husbands and the wives of my father's brothers are still his wives, but the sisters of my father and the brothers of my mother are excluded from the family group, and their children are my cousins.* *Frederick Engels : "Origin of the Family." 24 The Position of Woman in Primeval Society With increasing civilization sexual intercourse among brothers and sisters is put under the ban, and this is gradually extended to all collateral relatives on the mother's side. A new consanguine family, the gens, is evolved that originally consists of natural and remote sisters and their children, together with their natural or remote brothers on the mother's side. The gens has a common ancestress to whom the groups of female gen- erations trace their descent. The men do not belong to the gens of their wives, but to the gens of their sisters. But the children of these men belong to the gens of their mothers, because descent is traced from the mother. The mother is considered the head of the family. Thus the matriarchate was evolved that for a long time constituted the foundation of family relations and inheritance. While the maternal law prevailed, women had a voice and vote in the councils of the gens, they helped to elect the sachems and leaders and to depose them. When Han- nibal formed an alliance with the Gauls against the Romans, he decided that in case disputes should arise among the allies, the Gallic matrons should be intrusted with the mission of arbitrating; so great was his confi- dence in their impartiality. Of the Lycians who recognized maternal law Herodo- tus tells us: "Their customs are partly Cretan and partly Carian. But they have one custom that distinguishes them from all other nations in the world. If you ask a Lycian who he is, he will tell you his name, his mother's name, and so on in the line of female descent. Moreover, when a free woman marries a slave, her children remain free citizens. But if a man marries a foreign woman or takes unto himself a concubine, his children are deprived of all civic rights, even though he be the most eminent man in the state." At that time "matrimonium" was spoken of instead of "patrimonium," "mater famihas" was said instead of "pater familias," and one's native country was referred to as the motherland. Just as the earlier family forms, the gens was founded on the common ownership of prop- erty, that is, it was a communistic form of society. Woman was the leader and ruler in this kinship organiza- Woman in the Past 25 tion and was highly respected, her opinion counting for much in the household as well as in the affairs of the tribe. She is peacemaker and judge, and discharges the duties of religious worship as priestess. The frequent appearance of queens and women rulers in antiquity, and the power wielded by them even when their sons were the actual rulers, which was the case in Egypt, for instance, was an outcome of the matriarchate. During that period mythological characters are chiefly feminine, as seen from the godesses Astarte, Demeter, Ceres, Latona, Iris, Frigga, Freya, Gerda, and many others. Woman is invulnerable; matricide is deemed the most dreadful crime that calls upon all men for vengeance. It is the common duty of all the men of the tribe, to avenge an injury inflicted upon any member of their kinship by a member of any other tribe. Defense of the women incites the men to highest bravery. Thus the influence of the matriarchate was perceived in all social relations of the ancient peoples, among the Baby- lonians, the Egyptians, the Assyrians, the Greeks before the heroic age, the Italic tribes before the founding of Rome, the Scythians, the Gauls, the Iberians, the Canta- brians, the Germans, and others, /vt that time woman held a position in society as she has never held since. Tacitus says in his Germania" : ''The Germans believe that within every woman dwells something holy and prophetic ; therefore they honor woman's opinion and follow her advice." Diodorus, who lived at the time of Qesar, was quite indignant over the position of women in Egypt. He had heard that in Egypt not sons but daughters supported their aged parents. He therefore spoke disparagingly of the hen-pecked men at the Nile, who granted rights and privileges to the weaker sex that seemed outrageous to a Greek or a Roman. Under maternal law comparatively peaceful conditions prevailed. Social relations were simple and narrow and the mode of life was a primitive one. The various tribes kept aloof from one another and respected each other's domain. If one tribe was attacked by another the men took up arms for defense and were ably supported by the women. According to Herodotus, the women of the 26 The Position of Woman in Primeval Society Scythians took part in battles; virgins so he claims were not permitted to marry until they had slain an enemy. Taken all in all, the physical and mental differ- ences between man and woman were not nearly as great in primeval days as they are at present. Among almost all savage and barbarian tribes, the differences in the size and weight of brains taken from male and female indi- viduals, are smaller than among civilized nations. Also the women of these tribes are not inferior to the men in physical strength and skill. Proof of this is furnished not only by the writers of antiquity in regard to peoples living under maternal law, but also by the Amazon regi- ments of the Ashantis and the King of Dahome in West- ern Africa, that excel in ferocity and courage. What Tacitus relates in regard to the women of the ancient Germans, and Caesar's opinion of the women of the Iberians and the Scots, furnish additional proof. Colum- bus was attacked near Santa Cruz by a troop of Indians in a small sloop in which the women fought as bravely as the men. This conception is furthermore confirmed by Havelock Ellis: "Among the Audombies on the Congo, according to Mr. H. H. Johnstone, the women, though working very hard as carriers and as laborers in general, lead an entirely happy existence ; they are often stronger than the men and more finely developed, some of them, he tells us, having really splendid figures. And Parke, speaking of the Manyuema of the Arruwimi in the same region, says that they are fine animals and the women very handsome; they carry loads as heavy as those of the men and do it quite as well. In North America again an Indian chief said to Hearne: Women were made for labor; one of them can carry or haul as much as two men can do. Schellong, who has carefully studied the Papuans in the German protectorate of New Guinea from the anthropological point of view, considers that the women are more strongly built than the men. In Central Australia again, the men occasionally beat the women through jealousy, but on such occasions it is by no means rare for the woman, single-handed, to beat the man severely. At Cuba, the women fought beside the men and enjoyed great independence. Among some Woman in the Past 27 races of India, the Pueblos of North America, the Pata- gonians, the women are as large as the men. So among the Afghans, with whom the women in certain tribes enjoy a considerable amount of power. Even among the Arabs and Druses it has been noted that the women are nearly as large as the men. And among Russians the sexes are more alike than among the English or French.* In the gens women sometimes ruled with severity, and woe to the man who was too lazy or too clumsy to con- tribute his share to the common sustenance. He was cast out and was obliged either to return to his own gens, where he was not likely to be received kindly, or to gain admission into another gens where he was judged less harshly. That this form of matrimony has been maintained by the natives of Central Africa to this very day was experi- enced by Livingstone, to his great surprise, as related by him in his book, "Missionary Travels and Researches in Southern Africa." At the Zambesi he encountered the Balonda, a strong and handsome Negro tribe, en- gaged in agricultural pursuits, and was soon able to con- firm the reports made to him by Portugiese, which he had at first declined to believe, that the women held a superior position among them. They are members of the tribal council. When a young man marries, he must migrate from his village into the one in which his wife resides. He must at the same time pledge himself to provide his mother-in-law with kindling wood for life- time. The woman, in turn, must provide her husband's food. Although minor quarrels between man and wife occasionally occurred, Livingstone found that the men did not rebel against female supremacy. But he found, on the other hand, that when men had insulted their wives, they were severely punished by their stomachs. The man so Livingstone relates comes home to eat, but is sent from one woman to another and is not given anything. Tired and hungry, he finally climbs upon a tree in the most populous part of the village and ex- claims, with a woe-begone voice: "Hark, hark! I *Havelock Ellis: "Man and Woman." 28 Conflict Between Matriarchate and Patriarchate thought I had married women, but they are witches! I am a bachelor; I have not a single wife! Is that just and fair to a lord like myself?!" CHAPTER II. Conflict between Matriarchate and Patriarchate. i. Rise of the Patriarchate. With the increase in population a number of sister gentes arose that again brought forth several daughter gentes. The mother gens was distinguished from these as the phratry. A number of phratries constituted the tribe. So strong was this social organization that it still constituted the unit of military organization in the states of anitquity, when the old gentile constitution had already been abandoned. The tribe was subdivided into several branches, all having a common constitution and in each of which the old gens could be recognized. But as the gentile constitution prohibited intermarriage among remote relatives even on the mother's side, it undermined its own existence. A social and economic development made the relation of the various gentes to one another more and more complicated, the interdict of marriage between certain groups became untenable and ceased to be observed. While production of the necessi- ties of life was at its lowest stage of development, and destined to satisfy only the simplest demands, the activi- ties of men and women were essentially the same. But with increasing division of labor there resulted not onlv a diversity of occupations, but a diversity of possessions as well. Fishing, hunting, cattle-breeding and agricul- ture, and the manufacture of tools and implements, ncessitated special knowledge, and these became the special province of the men. Man took the. lead along these lines of development and accordingly became master and owner of these new sources of wealth. Increasing population and the desire for an extensive ownership of land for agricultural and pastoral purposes, Woman in the Past 29 led to struggles and battles over the possession of such land; it also led to a demand for labor-power. An in- crease in labor-power meant greater wealth in produce and flock. To procure such labor-power the rape of women was at first resorted to, and then the enslavement of vanquished men, who had formerly been killed. Thus two new elements were introduced into the old gentile constitution that were incompatible with its very nature. Still another factor came into play. The division of labor and the growing demand for tools, implements, weapons, etc., led to a development of handicraft along distinct lines apart from agriculture. A special class of craftsmen arose, whose interests in regard to the owner- ship and inheritance of property diverged considerably from those of the agricultural class. As long as descent was traced from female lineage, members of the gens became heirs to their deceased rela- tives on the mother's side. All property remained within the gens. Under the changed conditions the father had become owner of flocks and slaves, weapons and produce, but being a member of his mother's gens he could not will his property to his children, but had to leave same to his brothers and sisters or to his sisters' children. His own children were disinherited. A strong desire for changing this state of affairs therefore began to manifest itself, and it was changed accordingly. Polygamy and polyandry gave way to the pairing family. A certain man lived with a certain woman, and the children born from this relation were their children. These pairing families developed gradually, being hampered by the marriage interdicts of the gentile constitution, but favored by the above enumerated economic causes. The old household communities were not in keeping with the idea of private property. Class and occupation became determining factors in the choice of a place of residence. An increased production of commodities gave rise to com- merce among neighboring and more widely separated nations and necessitated the development of finance. Man was the one to conduct and control this development. His private interests, therefore, were no longer har- monious to the old gentile organization ; on the contrary, 30 Conflict Between Matriarchate and Patriarchate they were frequently diametrically opposed to it. There- fore this organization became of less and less importance, and finally all that remained of the gens was the con- ducting of a number of religious rites within the family group. The economic significance was lost and the final dissolution of the gentile constitution only remained a question of time. With the Breaking up of the old gentile organization the power and influence of woman rapidly declined. The matriarchate disappeared and the patriarchate took its place. Man, being an owner of private property, had an interest in having legitimate children to whom he could will his property, and he, therefore, forced upon woman the prohibition of intercourse with other men. But for himself he reserved the right of maintaining as many concubines as his means would permit beside his legitimate wife or wives, and their offspring were regarded as legitimate children. The Bible furnishes important evi- dence on this subject in two instances. In the first book of Moses, 16, I and 2, it says: "Sarai, Abram's wife, bore him no children ; and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said unto Abram: Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing; I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai." The second noteworthy evidence is found in the first book of Moses, 30, I ; it reads as fol- lows: "And when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister, and said unto Jacob : Give me children or else I die. And Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel and he said : Am I in God's stead who has withheld from thee the fruit of the womb ? And she said: Behold my maid, Billah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees that I may also have chil- dren by her. And she gave him Billah, her handmaid, to wife, and Jacob went in unto her." Thus Jacob was not only married to two sisters, the daughters of Laban, but both also gave him their hand- maids to wives, a custom that was not immoral accord- ing to the moral conceptions of the time. His two chief wives he had married by purchase, having served their Woman in the Past 31 father Laban seven years for each of them. At that time it was the general custom among the Jews to purchase wives, but besides they carried on a widespread robbery of women from nations conquered by them. Thus, for instance, the Benjamites robbed the daughters of Shiloh. The captured woman became a slave, a concubine. But she could be raised to the position of a legitimate wife, upon fulfillment of the following command: She had to cut her hair and nails and exchange the garments in which she was captured with others given to her by her captors. Thereupon she had to mourn for her father and mother during an entire month, her mourning being destined to signify that her people were dead to her. These regulations having been complied with, she could enter into wedlock. The greatest number of women were owned by King Solomon, who, according to the first book of Kings, chapter n, had no less than 700 wives and 300 concubines. As soon as the patriarchate, that is, paternal descent, was established in the gentile organization of the Jews, the daughters were excluded from inheritance. Later this rule was modified in cases when a father left no sons. This is shown in the fourth book of Moses, 27, 2-8. There it is told that when Zelophehad died without leaving sons, his daughters complained bitterly that they should be excluded from their father's inheritance that was to pass to the tribe of Joseph. Moses decides that in this case the daughters should be heirs to their father. But when, according to an old custom, they decide to choose husbands from another tribe, the tribe of Joseph com- plain that thereby they are losing an heritage. There- upon Moses decides that the heiresses may choose freely, but that they must make their choice from among the men in their father's tribe. So it was in behalf of prop- erty that the old marriage laws were annulled. As a matter of fact, in the days of the old Testament, i. e., in historical times, the patriarchal system was prevalent among the Jews, and the clan and tribal organization were founded on descent in the male line, as was the case with the Romans. According to this system the daughters were excluded from inheritance. Thus we 32 Conflict Between Matriarchate and Patriarchate read in .the first book of Moses, 31, 14 and 15, the com- plaint of Lea and Rachel, daughters of Laban : "Is there yet any portion or inheritance for us in our father's house? Are we not counted of him strangers? For he hath sold us and hath quite devoured also our money." Among the ancient Jews, as among all other nations where the matriarchate was succeeded by the patri- archate, women were utterly devoid of rights. Marriage was a purchase of the woman. Absolute chastity was demanded of her ; but not so of the man, who moreover was entitled to have several wives. If the man had cause to believe that ; the woman had lost her virginity prior to marriage, he was not only entitled to cast her off, she might also be stoned to death. The same punish- ment was meted out to the adulteress ; but the man was subjected to the same punishment only then when he committed adultery with a Jewish matron. According to the first book of Moses, 24, i 4, a man was entitled to cast off a woman he had just married if she found no favor in his eyes, even though his displeasure be only a whim. Then he might write her a bill of divorcement, give it in her hand and send her out of his house. A further proof of the degraded position of woman among the Jews may be gathered from the fact that to this day women attend services in the synagogue in a space sepa- rated from the men, and are not included in the prayer.* According to the Jewish conception, woman is not a member of the congregation ; in religion and politics she is a mere cipher. When ten men are assembled they 'may hold services, but women are not permitted to do so, no matter how many of them are assembled. In Athens, Solon decreed that a widow should marry her nearest relation on her father's side, even if both *In the oldest quarter of Prague is an old synagogue, built during the sixth century, the oldest synagogue in Germany. Upon descending about, seven" steps into the dusky chamber, the visitor beholds a row of small loop-holes on the opposite wall leading into an .utterly dark room. Upon inquiry we are told by the guide that this is the woman's room, where " the women attended services. Modern synagogues are less gloomy, but the separation of men and women is still maintained. Woman in the Past 33 belong to the same gens, although such marriages were forbidden by an earlier law. Solon likewise decreed that a person holding property need not will it to his gens but might, in case he were childless, will it to whomso- ever he pleased. We see, then, that man, instead of ruling his property, is being ruled by it. With the established rule of private property the sub- jugation of woman by man was accomplished. As a result of this subjugation, woman came to be regarded as an inferior being and to be despised. The matriarchate implied communism and equality of all. The rise of the patriarchate implied the rule of private property and the subjugation and enslavement of woman. The conserva- tive Aristophanes recognized this truth in his comedy, "The Popular Assembly of Women," for he has the women introduce communism as soon as they have gained control of the state, and then proceeds to carica- ture communism grossly in order to discredit the women. It is difficult to show how the details of this great transformation were accomplished. This first great revo- lution that took place in human society was not accom- plished simultaneously among all the civilized nations of antiquity, and has probably not developed everywhere along the same lines. Among the tribes of Greece, the new order of things attained validity primarily in Athens. Frederick Engels holds the opinion that this great transformation was brought about peaceably, and that, all preliminary conditions making such a change desir- able being given, a mere vote on the matter in the gentes sufficed to put the patriarchal system in place of the matriarchal system. Backofen, on the other hand, be- lieves his opinion founded on ancient writers that the women vehemently opposed this social transformation. He considers many myths of the Amazon kingdoms that are met with in the histories of Oriental countries, in South America and China, proofs of the struggle arid opposition of women against the new order. With the rise of male supremacy the women were deprived of their former position in the community. They were excluded from the council and lost their determin- ing influence. Men compelled women to be faithful in 34 Conflict Between Matriarchate and Patriarchate marriage without recognizing a similar duty on their part. When a woman is faithless, she commits the worst deception to which a citizen of the new order can fall a victim ; she brings another man's children into his house to become the heirs of his property. That is why among all the ancient peoples adultery, when committed by a woman, was punishable by death or slavery. Traces of the Matriarchate in Greek Myths and Dramas. Although the women were thus deprived of their former influential position, the customs connected with the ancient cults continued to dominate the minds for centuries ; only their deeper meaning was gradually lost, and it remained for the present time to investigate them. Thus it was customary in Greece that women appealed for advice and help to the goddesses only. The annual celebration of the Thermophoria clearly derived its origin from matriarchal times. Even in later days Greek women still celebrated this festival in honor of Demeter, which lasted for five days, and in which no man was allowed to participate. A festival of the same character was held annually in Rome in honor of Ceres. Demeter and Ceres were the goddesses of fecundity. In Germany, similar festivals were observed up to the Christian middle ages. These were consecrated to Frigga, the ancient German goddess of fecundity, and here also men were excluded from participation. In Athens, the matriarchate had to make way to the patriarchate at an early period, but apparently not with- out strong opposition on the part of the women. The tragedy of the transformation is pathetically presented in the "Eumenides" by Aeschylus. The following is a synopsis of the story: Agamemnon, King of Mycenae, husband of Klytaemnestra, on his expedition to Troy, sacrifices his daughter Iphigeneia, in obedience to a com- mand of the oracle. The mother is enraged over the sacrifice of her child that, in accordance with natural law, does not belong to her husband, and during Agamem- non's absence she accepts Aeghistus as her husband, thereby not committing any objectionable act according Woman in the Past. 35 to the ancient laws. When Agamemnon returns to My- cenae, after an absence of many years, he is murdered by Aeghistus, whom Klytaemnestra has incited to this deed. Orestes, son of Agamemnon and Klytaemnestra, upon a command from Apollo and Minerva, avenges his father's death by killing his mother and Aeghistus. The Eumenides, representing the old maternal law, prosecute Orestes for the murder of his mother. Apollo and Minerva the latter, according to the myth, not having been born by a mother, since she sprang from the head of Zeus in full armor defend Orestes, for they represent the new paternal law. The case is brought before the areopagus and the following dialogue ensues in which the two conflicting views are expressed : Eumenides: The prophet (Apollo) bade thee then become a matricide? Orestes : Aye ; and I never yet my destiny regretted. Eumenides: When judgment will be given thou wilt not speak thus. Orestes : Perhaps. But from his grave my father will send aid. Eumenides: What hopest from the dead thou, who hast killed thy mother? Orestes : She had been guilty of a double, bloody crime. Eumenides: How so? Explain unto the judges what you mean? Orestes : She killed her husband and she thereby killed my father. Eumenides : Her crime she expiated now, but you still live. Orestes: Why did vou fail to prosecute her while she lived? Eumenides : She was no blood relation to the man she killed. Orestes : But I, so you assert, am of my mother's blood. Eumenides' Did she, thou bloody one, not bear thee 'neath her heart? Wouldst thou thy mother's sacred blood deny? The Eumenides accordingly do not recognize the right of the father and husband. They proclaim maternal law. That Kleytaemnestra caused the murder of her husband seems unimportant to them, for he was a stranger to her. But they demand punishment of the matricide, for by killing his mother, Orestes committed the most unpar- donable crime that could be committed under the domi- nance of the gentile organization. Apollo, on the other hand, holds the opposite point of view. Upon a command from Zeus he has induced Orestes to murder his own mother to avenge the patricide, and before the judges he thus defends the deed: 36 Conflict Between Matriarchate and Patriarchate Then say I, listen ye unto my word of justice: The mother is not procreatrix to her child ; She only the awakened life doth keep and bear. The father is the procreator; she but keeps The forfeit for her friend, unless a god destroy it I will submit a proof that cannot be denied. For one can have a father, yet no mother have. Minerva, daughter of the great Olympian Zeus. Within the darkness of a mother's womb ne'er rested, And yet no goddess e'er gave birth to fairer offspring. According to Apollo, then, procreation gives the father a superior right, while the view that had prevailed until then proclaimed the mother, who gives life to the child by her own blood, the child's sole possessor, and deemed the child's father a mere stranger to her. There- fore, the lEumine.des reply to the views of Apollo : Thou overthrowest forces of remotest days .... Thou, the young god, wouldst us, the ancient ones, dethrone. The judges prepare to pronounce their verdict; half of them favor the old law and the other half favor the new, giving an equal number of votes to both sides. There Minerva seizes a ballot from the altar and casting it into the urn she exclaims : Mine is the right to utter final judgment here, And for Orestes I cast in the urn this stone ; For unto me no mother was who gave me birth, Therefore with all my heart all manly things I praise Excepting marriage. For I am my father's quite. Less criminal I deem the murder of this woman, Because her husband she has killed, the home's maintainer. Though even be the vote, Orestes is victorious. Another myth depicts the fall of the matriarchate in the following manner: During the rule of Cecrops, a double miracle occurred. Simultaneously an olive-tree sprang from the earth at one place, and a well at another. The frightened king sent a messenger to Delphi to ques- tion the oracle concerning the meaning of these miracles. The reply was : The olive-tree represents Minerva, the water represents Neptune, and the citizens may decide after whom of the two deities they choose to name their city. Cecrops summoned the popular assembly, in which both men and women were entitled to vote. The men voted for Neptune, and the women for Minerva, and since Woman in the Past 37 the women had a majority of one vote, Minerva was vic- torious. Thereupon Neptune became infuriated and let the sea flood the lands of the Athenians. To appease the fury of the god, the Athenians then inflicted threefold punishment upon their women. They were to be dis-' franchised, their children were no longer to bear their mother's name, and they themselves should no longer be called Athenians.* Thus the new order was established. The father became the head of the family. The patriarchate con- quered the matriarchate. Legitimate Wives and Courtesans in Athens. Just as the transition from the matriarchate to the patriarchate was accomplished in Athens, it was accom- plished elsewhere as soon as a similar degree of develop- ment had been attained. Woman was restricted to her home and isolated in special rooms, known as "gynacon- tis," in which she dwelt. She even was excluded from social intercourse with the men who visited the house ; in fact, this was the special object of her isolation. In the Odyssee we find this change in customs expressed. Thus Telemachus forbids his mother to be present among her suitors, and utters this command : But go now to the home, and attend to thy household affairs ; To the spinning wheel and the loom, and bid thy maids be assiduous At the task that to them were allotted. To speak is the privilege of men, And mine is especially this privilege, for I am the lord of the house!** This was the prevailing conception in Greece at the time. Even widows were subjected to the rulership of their nearest male relatives, and were not even free to choose a husband. Weary of the long waiting imposed upon them by the clever Penelope, the suitors send to Telemachus their spokesman, Antonioos, who thus voices their demand: See now, the suitors inform thee that thou in thy heart mayest know it And that all the Achseans may of the fact be informed. *Backofen : "The Matriarchate." ** Homer's "Odyssee." 38 Conflict Between Matriarchate and Patriarchate Send thy mother hence, and command her to take as her husband Whom she chooses to take, and whom her father selects.* At this period woman's freedom has come to an end. When she leaves the house she must veil her face not to waken the desires of some other man. In the Oriental countries where sexual passions are stronger, as a result of the hot climate, this method of isolation is still carried to the extreme. Among the ancients, Athens served as a pattern of the new order. The woman shares the man's bed, but not his table. She does not address him by his name, but calls him master ; she is his servant. She was not allowed to appear in public anywhere, and when walking upon the streets was always veiled and plainly dressed. When she committed adultery she was, accord- ing to Solon's law, condemned to pay for her sin either with her life, or with her liberty. Her husband was entitled to sell her as a slave. The position of Greek women of those days is power- fully expressed in Medea's lamentation: "Of all creatures that have soul and life We women nre indeed the very poorest. By our dowery we're obliged to purchase A husband and what then is far worse still, Henceforward our body is his own Great is the danger; will his nature be Evil or good? Divorce is to the woman A deep disgrace. Yet she may not say nay. Unto the man who was betrothed to her. And when she comes to lands with unknown customs, She has to learn for no one teaches her To understand the nature of her husband. And when we have succeeded in all this, And our loved one gladly with us dwells, Then our lot is fair. But otherwise I'd rather far be dead. Not so the man. If in his home he is not satisfied, He finds outside the home what pleases him, With friends and with companions of his age; But we must always seek to please but one. They say that we in peace and safety dwell, While they must go forth to the battlefield. Mistaken thought ! I rather thrice would fight, Than only once give birth unto a child!" *Homer's "Odyssee." Woman in the Past 39 Very different was the man's lot. While the man compelled the woman to abstain absolutely from relations with other men, for the purpose of insuring the legiti- macy of his heirs, he was not inclined to abstain from relations with other women. Courtesanship developed. Women noted for their beauty and intellect, usually for- eigners, preferred a free life in the most intimate associa- tion with men to the slavery of marriage. Nor was their life deemed a loathsome one. The name and the fame of these courtesans who associated with the foremost men of Greece and took part in their intellectual discus- sions and in their banquets, have come down to us through history, while the names of the legitimate wives are lost and forgotten. One of these was Aspasia, the friend of the famous Pericles, who later made her his wife. Phryne had intimate relations with Hyperides, and served Praxiteles, one of the foremost sculptors of Greece, as a model for his statue of Venus. Danae was the mistress of Epicure, Archoeanassa was Plato's. Lais of Corynth, Gnethanea and others were equally famous courtesans. Every one of the famous Greeks had inter- course with these courtesans. It was part and parcel of their life. The great orator Demosthenes in his oration against Neaera thus characterized the sexual relations of Athenian men : "We marry women to have legitimate children and to have faithful guardians of our homes, we maintain concubines for our daily service and comfort, and courtesans for the enjoyment of love." The wife was only destined to bear offspring and, like a faithful dog, to guard her master's house. But the master him- self lived to suit his pleasure. In many cases it is so still. To satisfy the demand for mercenary women, espe- cially among the younger men, prostitution developed, an institution that had not been known during the domi- nance of the matriarchate. Prostitution differs from free sexual intercourse by the fact that the woman yields her body in return for material gain, be it to one man or to a number of men. Prostitution exists wherever a woman makes the selling of her charms a trade. Solon, who formulated the new laws for Athens and is famed as the founder of these laws, introduced the public brothel, 40 Conflict Between Matriarchate and Patriarchate the "deikterion." He decreed that the price should be the same to all visitors. According to Philemon this was one obolus, about 6 cents in American money. The "deikterion" was a place of absolute safety, like the temples in Greece and Rome and the Christian churches in the middle ages. It was under the immediate pro- tection of the public authorities. Until about 150 B. C. the temple in Jerusalem was the general rallying-point of the prostitutes. For the boon bestowed upon Athenian men by his founding of the "deikterion," one of Solon's contempo- raries thus sings his praise : "Solon, be praised ! For thou didst purchase public women for the welfare of the city, to preserve the morals of the city that is full of strong, young men, who, without thy wise institution, would indulge in the annoying pursuit of the better class women." We will see that in our own day exactly the same arguments are being advanced to justify the exist- ence of prostitution and its maintenance as an institution sanctioned by the state. Thus the state laws approved of deeds committed by men as being their natural right, while the same deeds were branded as criminal and despicable when committed by women. It is a well- known fact that even to-day there are a great many men who prefer the company of a pretty offendress to the company of their wife and who, nevertheless, enjoy the reputation of being "pillars of society" and guardians of those sacred institutions, the family and the home. To be sure, the Greek women frequently seem to have taken vengeance upon their husbands for their oppression. If prostitution is the complement of monogamic marriage on the one hand, adultery of wives and cuckoldom of husbands are its complements on the other. Among the Greek dramatists, Euripides seems to have been the most pronounced woman-hater, since in his dramas he prefer- ably holds up the women to ridicule and scorn. What accusations he hurls at them can best be seen from a passage in "The Thesmophoria" by Aristophanes, where a Greek woman assails him in the following manner: *"Comedies by Aristophanes." Woman in the Past 41 With what calumny doth he (Euripides) not vilify us women? When e'er hath silent been the slanderer's tongue? Where there's an audience, tragedy and chorus, We are described as man-mad traitoresses, Fond of the cup, deceitful, talkative. We're wholly bad, to men a tribulation. Therefore, when from the play our husbands come,* They look distrustfully at us and search about If somewhere not a lover is concealed, And henceforth we no longer are permitted To do what harmlessly we did before. Such wicked things he tells the men about us, That when a woman only makes a garland, They think she is in love ; or when at home She works about and dropping something, breaks it, The husband promptly asks : ""For whom this broken glass ? Quite evidently for the guest from Corinth." It is not surprising that the eloquent Greek woman thus serves the defamer of her sex. But Euripides could hardly have made such accusations nor would they have found belief among the men, had it not been well known that they were justified. Judging by the final sentences of the above quoted harangue it seems that the custom, well known in Germany and other countries, whereby the master of the house honors his guest by placing his own wife or daughter at the guest's disposal, did not prevail in Greece. Of this custom, that was still observed in Holland in the fifteenth century, Murner says: "It is the custom in the Netherlands that whosoever hath a dear guest, unto him he giveth his wife in good faith."** The increasing class struggle in the Greek states and the deplorable conditions that existed in many of these small communities led Plato to an investigation of the best constitution of the state and its institutions. In his "State," that he conceives as an ideal one, he demands that among the highest class of citizens, the guardians, women should hold a position of absolute equality. Like the men, they should take part in military exercises and should perform all civic duties, only should the lighter *The theatre, to which Greek women were not admitted. ** 7 shillings in a dish "large enough that she might sit in it." In other localities the brides might redeem it by giving the feudal lord so much butter cr cheese "as was the size of their seat." Elsewhere they had to give a dainty leather chair "in which they just fitted." According to a description of the Bavarian judge of the court of appeals, Mr. Welsh, a tax for redeeming the jus primae noctis still existed in Bavaria in the eigh- *History of the abolition of serfdom in Europe until the middle of the nineteenth century. Woman in the Past 69 teenth century. Engels furthermore reports that among the Scots and Welsh the jus primae noctis was main- tained thruout the middle age, but since here the gentile organization continued to exist, it was not the feudal lord or his representative who practiced this right, but the chieftain of the clan, and by him it was practiced as rep- resentative of all the husbands unless a tribute was paid. So there can be no doubt as to the existence of the right of the first night, not only in medieval days, but even down to modern times, and that it held a place in the feudal code of laws. In Poland noblemen arrogated the right to deflour any maiden who chanced to please them, and if someone protested against this usage, they condemned him to receive one hundred blows with a cane. Land-lords and their employees still consider the sacrifice of virginal honor to their lust a matter of course, not only in Germany, but in the entire southern and south eastern portion of Europe, as is asserted by those who are acquainted with the land and the people. During feudalism it was in the interest of the feudal lord that his serfs should become married, for the chil- dren became his serfs also, adding to the number of his workers and increasing his income. Therefore both worldly and spiritual masters encouraged marriage among their subjects. The question assumed a different aspect tho as far as the church was concerned, when an unmarried person was likely to will his property to the church. But this only applied to free men of low estate, whose conditions grew steadily worse as a result of the conditions described herein, and who gave over their pos- sessions to the church to seek protection and peace within the walls of the monasteries. Others again placed themselves under the protection of the church by paying a tax or by rendering services. But in this way the fate they had sought to escape frequently befell their des- cendants; they gradually came into bondage or were made novices for the monasteries. 3. The Rise of Cities. Monastic Affairs. Prostitution. The cities which had begun to flourish with the eleventh century, favored the increase of population in their own 7o . .Woman in the Mediaeval Age interest by facilitating residence and marriage. They became places of refuge to the rural population seeking to escape unbearable oppression, and to fugitive serfs. But at a later day these conditions changed again. As soon as the cities had obtained power, and a class of mechanics in comfortable circumstances had come into existence, a feeling of hostility manifested itself against new-comers who tried to settle down as mechanics, since they were regarded as undesirable competitors. Barriers were erected against the new-comers; heavy taxes were levied upon them if they would obtain the right of resi- dence and become qualified as master-workmen. Trades were limited to a certain number of master-workmen and their journeymen, thereby forcing thousands into a con- dition of servitude, celibacy and vagabondage. When during the sixteenth century the cities began to decline, owing to conditions that will be discussed later on, it was quite in keeping with the narrow views of the time that residence and the right to independently practice a trade were made still more difficult. The tyranny of the feudal lords constantly increased, until many of their sub- jects preferred to abandon their miserable lives for the freer life of beggar, tramp or robber, the latter being favored by the large forests and the poor condition of the highways, or, making the most of the numerous warfares of the time, they became mercenary soldiers, selling their services wherever the pay was highest and the booty most promising. Male and female rabble flooded the country, becoming a public nuisance. The church helped to increase the general depravity. The forced celibacy of the clergy alone led to sexual debauchery, and this was still heightened by the constant association with Italy and Rome. Rome was not only the capital of Christianity, being the residence of the popes, it was also, true to its tradi- tions under the heathen emperors, a new Babel, the European high-school of immorality, and the papal court was its most distinguished center. The Roman empire at its dissolution had left to Christian Europe all its vices. These were cultivated in Rome and from there pene- trated into Germany, favored by association of the clergy Woman in the Past 71 with Rome. The numerous clergy, consisting to a great extent of men whose sexual desires were increased to the utmost by a lazy and luxurious life, and whom en- forced celibacy drove to illegitimate or unnatural satis- faction of their desires, transmitted this immorality to all strata of society. The clergy became a pestilential dan- ger to the virtue of women in cities and villages. Mon- asteries and nunneries, and there were countless num- bers of them, frequently differed from public brothels only inasmuch as life within them was still more licenti- ous and dissolute. Crimes, especially infanticide, were frequently committed there with impunity, because only those were permitted to pass judgment who were more often than not connected with the crimes. Sometimes peasants tried to protect their wives and daughters from being seduced by clergymen, by refusing to accept as pastor any one who would not consent to keeping a con- cubine. This circumstance led a bishop of Constance to impose a concubine tax upon the clergy of his diocese. Such conditions explain the historically authenticated fact, that during the mediaeval age described by one writer of romance as a pious and virtuous age, for instance in 1414, at the council of Constance, no less than 1500 pros- titutes were present. But these conditions by no means made their appear- ance only at the decline of the middle age. They ap- peared at an early date and gave cause for constant com- plaints and ordinances. Thus Charlemagne issued an ordinance in the year 802, in which it says : "the nun- neries shall be closely guarded. The nuns shall not roam about but shall be carefully watched, neither shall they live in discord and quarrels with one another, and under no circumstances shall they disobey their mothers supe- rior. Where they have monastic rules they shall absol- utely abide by them. They shall not be given to covet- ousness, drunkenness and prostitution, but shall lead a just and temperate life. Neither shall any man enter their convent except to attend mass, and then he shall immediately depart again." Another ordinance of the year 869 declared : "if priests keep several wives or shed the blood of Christians or heathens, or break the canon- 72 Woman in the Mediaeval Age ical law, they shall be divested of their priesthood be- cause they are worse than the laity." The fact that in those days the priests were forbidden to have several wives, shows that in the ninth century polygamy was not rare. Indeed there were no laws forbidding it. Even later, at the time of the minnesingers, during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, it was not considered objection- able to have several wives. In a poem by Albrecht of Johansdorf in the collection "Love-songs' Springtime," we find the following stanza:* Particularly detrimental to the moral condition of the age were the crusades, that kept tens of thousands of men away from their homes for years, and led them to be- come acquainted with customs in the Eastern Roman empire that had until then been unknown in Western Europe. The position of women became especially un- favorable, not only as a result of the many hindrances to marriage and permanent residence, but also because their numbers by far exceeded the male population. The chief cause of this was the numerous wars and the fact that commercial traveling in those days was a dangerous undertaking. Moreover the death rate among men was higher than among women, as a result of their intem- perate living, which was especially manifested during the plague that frequently ravaged the population in the middle age. Thus there were 32 plague years in the period from 1326 to 1400; 41 from 1400 to 1500, and 30 from 1500 to 1600.** Hosts of women roamed about on the highways as musicians, dancers, magicians, in the company of wan- dering scholastics and priests, and flooded the markets and fairs. They formed special divisions in the troops of foot-soldiers where they were organized in guilds accord- ing to the spirit of the age, and were assigned to the different ranks according to age and beauty. By severe *Would he not be fickle Who would choose to have a second wife Beside his virtuous one? Speak, Sir, would you? Let it to men be granted but to women not ! **Dr. Charles Buecher: "The Woman Question in Mediaeval Times." Woman in the Past 73 penalty they were forbidden to yield to any man outside of the prescribed circle. In the camp they had to help the baggage-carriers to gather in hay, straw and wood, to fill up holes and ditches and to clean the camp. During sieges it was their task to fill up the ditches with brushwood, branches and tufts of grass to facilitate the attack; they helped to place the guns in position and to drag them along when they became stuck in the muddy roads.* To give some relief to these numerous helpless women, so called beguinages, that were maintained by the municipality, were erected in many cities from the middle of the thirteenth century on. Here the women were given homes and were encouraged to lead decent lives. But neither their institutions nor the nunneries could shelter all those who sought help and protection. The hindrances to marriage, the journeys of noblemen and other worldly and spiritual lords who came into the cities with their hosts of knights and attendants, the young men within the cities and, last but not least, the married men who were not troubled much by moral scruples but believed that variety was the spice of life, all these created a demand for prostitutes in the medieval towns. As every trade in those days was organized into guilds and submitted to definite regulations, so also was prostitution. In all the larger cities brothels were main- tained that were municipal, state or church property and whose profits went to fill these respective treasuries. The women in these houses had a senior-mistress elected by themselves, whose duty it was to maintain order and who was especially charged with the task of seeing to it that no competitors outside of the guild harmed the legitimate trade. If such competitors were caught, they had to pay a legal fine. Thus the inhabitants of a brothel in Nurem- berg complained to the magistrate about the competition of women who were not members of their guild : "that other keepers also maintain women who go upon the streets at night and harbour married men and others, and who ply their trade in a much coarser way, and that such were a disgrace and should not be permitted in this prais- *Dr. Charles Buecher : "The Woman Question in Medieval Times.'' 74 Woman in the Mediaeval Age worthy town."* The brothels enjoyed special protection ; breach of the peace in their vicinity was punished more severely than elsewhere. This female guild was also en- titled to appear at festivals and in processions in which it was customary for all the guilds to participate. They were even sometimes invited as guests to princely and official banquets. The brothels were considered desirable "for the protection of married women and the honor of virgins." This was the same argument which was resorted to in order to justify the maintainance of brothels by the state in Athens. "Nevertheless barbarous persecutions of the prostitutes were met with, that came from the same men whose demand and whose money maintained the prostitutes. Thus Charlemagne decreed that a pros- titute should be brought nude upon the market place and be flogged there. He himself, the "most Christian" king and emperor had no less than six wives simultaneously. His daughters, evidently following their father's exam- ple, were not models of virtue either. Their mode of life gave him many unpleasant hours, and they brought sev- eral illegitimate children into his house. Alkuin, a friend and advisor to Charlemagne, warned his pupils of "the crowned doves who fly thru the Palatinate at night," meaning the emperor's daughters. The same communities that officially organized and protected the brothels and granted all sorts of privileges to the prostitutes inflicted the hardest and most cruel punishments upon a poor forsaken girl who had gone wrong. The infanticide who, driven to despair, had killed her own offspring was subjected to cruel death, while no one bothered about the unscrupulous seducer. Perhaps he sat among the judges who pronounced the death sen- tence on the unfortunate victim. The same is possible still.** Adultery of wives was also severely punished ; to be put in the pillory was the least she might expect. But *Joh. Scherr, History of the German Woman, 4th ed. Leipsic, 1879 **Leon Richter in "La femme libre" reports a case where a servant girl was convicted of infanticide by the father of her child, a pious lawyer, who was a member of the court. After the girl's conviction it became known that the lawyer himself was the murderer and that she was innocent. Woman in the Past 75 adultery of husbands was concealed by the cloak of Christian forbearance. In Wuerzburg it was customary for the brothel-keeper to take an oath before the magistrate, pledging faith and allegiance to the city and that he would diligently enlist women. Similar oaths were taken in Nuremberg, Ulm, Leipsic, Cologne, Frankfort, and others. In Ulm the brothels were abolished in 1537; but in 1551, the guilds moved to reinstate them "to avoid a worse state of affairs." When strangers of note visited a city, prosti- tutes were placed at their disposal at the city's expense. When King Ladislaus entered Vienna in 1452, the magis- trate sent a committee of public prostitutes to meet him, clad in transparant gauze that disclosed their beautiful shapes. Emperor Charles V, upon. entering Antwerp, was also received by a committee of nude girls, a historic scene tnat Hans Makart depicted in a large painting which is now on exhibition in the museum at Hamburg. Such occurrences created no scandal in those days. 4. Knighthood and the Veneration of Women. Phantastic writers of romance and scheming persons have endeavored to depict the mediaeval age as an espe- cially virtuous one, and as one imbued with a profound veneration of women. The time of the minnesingers, from the twelfth to the fourteenth century, is dwelt upon to furnish proof to this assertion. The poetic courtship of the knights, that was first introduced by the Moriscos in Spain, is supposed to prove that women were highly honored at that time. But let a few facts be remembered. Firstly, the knights only constituted a very small portion of the population, and in the same way their ladies con- stituted a small portion of the women. Secondly, only a very limited number of the knights practiced this knightly courtship ; and thirdly, the true nature of this custom has been considerably misunderstood or distorted. The time when knighthood was in flower, was the age of the rule of brute force in Germany; it was the age in which all bonds of law and order were broken, and the knights practiced extortion, plundering and highway-robbery without restraint. Such an age of brute force is not one 76 Woman in the Mediaeval Age in which mild and poetic sentiments predominate. On the contrary. This age was destined to shatter the respect for the female sex that might still have remained. The knights, in the country as well as in the towns, were mostly coarse, brutal fellows, whose chief passion, besides warfare and excessive drinking, was the unrestricted satisfaction of their sexual desires. The chroniclers of that time tell of incessant acts of violence and ravishment committed by the nobility of town and country, who con- trolled the municipal governments throughout the thir- teenth, fourteenth and into the fifteenth centuries. Be- cause the knights conducted the courts in the towns, and the feudal lords passed judgment in the rural districts, the injured persons rarely obtained redress of their griev- ances. It is a great exaggeration then to assume that their customs of courtship caused the ancient nobility to treat women with special respect and to regard them as superior beings. A small minority of the knights seem to have been enthusiastic over feminine beauty, but their enthusiasm was by no means platonic but pursued very material aims. Eve'n that clown among the romantic admirers "of lovely women," Ulrick of Lichtenstein of ridiculous memory, was a platonic lover only so long as he was compelled to be. In the main, this romantic worship of woman was nothing but deification of the mistress at the expense of the legitimate wife ; it was nothing but courtesanship, as it has existed in Greece at the time of Pericles, trans- planted into medieval Christianity. The mutual seduction of w r iveswas frequently practiced among the knights also, as it is still practiced in certain circles of our bourgeoisie. The open manifestation of sensuality, characteristic of that age, constituted a frank recognition of the fact that the natural desires implanted in every healthy, adult human being rightfully seek satisfaction. In that respect it expressed a victory of healthy nature over the ascetic teachings of Christianity. But on the other hand it must again be emphasized, that this recognition came into con- sideration for the one sex only, while the other sex was treated on the assumption that it could not and dare not have the same impulses. The slightest transgression by Woman in the Past 77 women of the moral laws laid down for them by men, was punished with unmerciful severity. Women, as a result of constant oppression and a singular education, have become so accustomed to the conception of their rulers, that they still consider this condition quite natural. Were there not also millions of slaves who considered slavery a natural condition and who would never have liberated themselves had not the liberators sprung from the slave owning class? When Prussian peasants were to be eman- cipated from serfdom, they petitioned the government not to emancipate them, "for who should provide for them when they were aged or ill?" And do we not meet with the same situation in the modern labor movement? How many workingmen still permit their exploiters to influ- ence them and lead them at will ! The oppressed needs some one to animate and inspire him, because he lacks the initiative for independence. It was thus in the present day movement of the proletariat, and it is the same in the struggle for the emancipation of women. Even the bourgeoisie, that enjoyed a relatively more favorable position in its struggle for independence, found its leaders and spokesmen among the nobility and clergy. Whatever the shortcomings of the middle ages may have been, it possessed a healthy sensuality which sprang from the strong, buoyant nature of the people, and which Christianity could not suppress. The hypocritical pru- dery and concealed lasciviousness of our day, that fears to call a spade a spade and to speak of natural things in a natural way, was foreign to that age. Neither was it familiar with that piquant ambiguity to which we resort in speaking of what we dare not name, because to be prudish and unnatural has become customary with us, and which is all the more dangerous because such lan- guage allures, but does not satisfy, allows us to surmise but does not express clearly. Our social conversations, our novels and our theaters abound with these piquant ambiguities, and their effect is manifested. This spiri- tualism of the roue, concealed by religious spiritualism, has a powerful influence. 78 The Reformation CHAPTER V. The Reformation. i. Luther. The healthy sensuality of the middle ages found its classic exponent in Luther. We are here not so much concerned with the religious reformer, but with Luther, the man. In regard to all human relations, Luther's strong, unsophisticated nature clearly manifested itself, and caused him to express freely and without reserve his desire for love and enjoyment. His position as a former Roman clergyman had opened his eyes and had taught him from experience how contrary to all the laws of nature were the lives of monks and nuns. Therefore he roundly condemned the celibacy of priests and monks. Luther says : "Unless specially endowed by a rare, divine grace, a woman can no more dispense with a man, than she can dispense with food, drink, sleep and other natural needs. In the same way a man cannot do without a woman. The cause is that the desire to propagate the race is as deeply implanted by nature as the desire for food and drink. Therefore God has given unto the human body limbs, veins, circulation and all that serves this end. He who opposes this, and will not let nature take her course, what does he do but seek to prevent nature from being nature, fire from burning, water from moistening, human beings from eating, drinking and sleeping?" In his sermon on marriage, he says : "Just as it is not within my power not to be a man, so it is not in thy power to do without a man, for it is not free will or advice but a natural necessity that every man must have a woman and that every woman must have a man." But Luther does not only express himself so strongly in favor of mar- riage and the necessity of sexual relations, he also ex- presses himself as opposed to it that the church and mar- riage should have anything in common. He says in regard to this : "Know that marriage is something extrinsic as any other worldly action. As I may eat, drink, sleep, walk, ride and deal with any heathen, Jew, Turk or Woman in the Past 79 heretic, so to one of these I may also become and remain married. Do not observe the laws of fools that forbid such marriages Heathens are men and women, well and wisely created by God, just as well as St. Peter and St. Paul and St. Luke, not to speak of any false and wanton Christian." Luther furthermore, like other re- formers, opposed all restrictions to marriage, and favored permitting divorcees to marry, which was opposed by the church. He says : "in regard to matters of marriage and divorce among us I say, let the jurists dispose of them, and let them be subject to worldly rule, since matrimony is a worldly, extrinsic thing." In accordance with this view, it was not until the end of the seventeenth century that a religious ceremony was considered essential to a legal marriage among Protestants. Until then the so called conscience marriage sufficed, that is, a marriage founded upon the mutual agreement to regard one an- other as husband and wife and to live in matrimonial relations with one another. According to German law such marriages were legal. Luther even went so far as to adjudge to the unsatisfied party in a marriage contract even if the party were the woman the right to seek satisfaction outside of marriage, "in order to do justice to nature that can not be resisted."* In this matter Luther sets forth opinions that would rouse many of our present day respectable men and women, who always point to Luther in their pious zeal, to vehement indigna- tion. In his treatise "on married life," II, 146, Jena 1522, he says : "if a healthy woman is joined in wedlock to an impotent man and could not nor would for her honor's sake openly choose another, she should speak to her hus- band thus: "See, my dear husband, thou hast deceived me and my young body and endangered my honor and salvation, before God there is no honor between us. Suf- fer that I maintain a secret marriage with thy brother or closest friend while thou remainest my husband in name. That thy property may not fall heir to strangers; will- ingly be deceived by me as you have unwillingly deceived *Dr. Carl Hagen Germany's Literary and Religious Conditions during the Reformation. 80 The Reformation me." It should be the husband's duty, Luther goes on to say, to consent to such arrangement. "If he will not she has the right to abandon him and go into another country and marry another man. In the same way if a woman will not perform her conjugal duty, the man has the right to seek another woman ; only he should first tell his wife."* We see, the opinions set forth by the great reformer are very radical and even immoral, when viewed in the light of our age, abounding with prudery and hypocrisy. But Luther only expressed the popular con- ceptions of his age. The following is told by Jacob Grimm : "If a man cannot satisfy his wedded wife, let him take her gently upon his back and carry her to his neighbors. There let him set her down softly, without anger or rudeness but upon mutual agreement, and let him appeal to his neighbors to help his wife in her need. If they will not or can not, then let him send her to the nearest fair. There shall she appear, becomingly dressed and adorned, wearing a gold embroidered veil as a token that she may be wooed. If after all she returns from the fair still unsatisfied, then may the devil help her!" The peasant of the middle age primarily sought mar- riage for the purpose of having heirs, and if he was unable to beget them himself, being a practical man, he left this pleasure to another without having particular moral scru- ples about it. The main object was to attain his purpose. We repeat : Man does not control his property, he is con- trolled by it. The above quotations from the' writings and sermons of Luther are of special importance because the views in regard to marriage expressed in them are diametrically opposed to those maintained by the church to-day. Luther and the other reformers went still further in matters per- taining to marriage but, it mr.st be admitted, for oppor- tunistic reasons, in order to please such sovereigns whose lasting support and good will they sought to win and to maintain. The landgrave of Hessia, Philip I, who was in sympathy with the reformation, had a legal wife, but fell in love with another woman who refused to yield to *Dr. Carl Hagen. Woman in the Past 81 his entreaties unless he would marry her. It was a delicate case. To become divorced from his wife without good and sufficient reason would imply a great scandal ; to be married to two w r omen simultaneously was a shocking occurrence with a Christian sovereign of the newer era, bound to create a still greater scandal. Nevertheless amorous Philip chose the latter alternative. It only was necessary to determine that this step was not in opposi- tion to the teachings of the Bible, and to obtain the con- sent of the reformers, especially Luther and Melanchton. The landgrave then opened negotiations with Butzer, who consented to the plan and promised to win Luther and Melanchton. Butzer explained his view by pointing out that to have several wives simultaneously was not in con- flict with the gospel, since Paul, who had mentioned many who shall not inherit the kingdom of God, had said nothing about those who have two wives. Paul had decreed that a bishop and his servants should not have more than one wife. If it had been necessary that no man should have more than one wife, he would have stated this and would have forbidden polygamy. Luther and Melanchton declared themselves in accordance with these views and consented to the double marriage, after the landgrave's wife had also given her consent under the condition "that he should perform nis conjugal duty toward her even more than heretofore."* Luther had been previously troubled by the question whether bigamy was permissible when asked to give his consent to the double marriage of Henry VIII of England. That can be seen from a letter which he wrote to the Saxon chan- cellor Brink in January 1524. In this letter he wrote that on principle he, Luther, could not object to bigamy since it was not in conflict with the Holy Scripture,** but that he considered it offensive when occurring among Chris- tians, for there were some things from which Christians should refrain even if they were not forbidden. After the *John Janssen History of the German People. **This is true and can be explained from the fact that the Bible had its origin at a time when polygamy prevailed both among the Eastern and Western people; but in the sixteenth century it never- theless was in direct opposition to custom. 82 The Reformation marriage of the landgrave, which actually took place during March 1540, he wrote (April 10) in reply to a letter of appreciation from him : "I am glad that Your Grace is pleased by the advice we have given ; but we should prefer to have secrecy maintained. Otherwise the coarse peasants, seeking to follow the example set by the landgrave, might present the same or even better causes, which would give us no end of trouble." Melanchton probably had fewer scruples in giving his consent to the double marriage of the landgrave, for he had previously written to Henry VIII, that every sov- ereign was entitled to introduce polygamy in his realm. But the double marriage of the landgrave caused so much unpleasant notoriety in his country, that in 1541 he had a pamphlet distributed in which polygamy was defended on the ground that it was not in opposition to the Holy Scripture. But conceptions had been greatly modified since the ninth or twelfth century when polygamy was accepted without averse criticism. The double marriage of the landgrave of Hessia was however not the only one that gave offense to wide circles. Such princely double marriages were repeated both in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries as Avill be shown. When Luther declared the satisfaction of sensual desire to be a law of nature, he only expressed what his contemporaries thought and Avhat the men claimed as their privilege. By the reformation, which did away with the celibacy of the clergy and abolished the monasteries in the Protestant countries, he gave to hundreds of thou- sands of men and women the possibility to seek legitimate satisfaction of their natural desires. Hundreds of thou- sands of others, of course, remained excluded from this possibility by the existing forms of property and the laws founded upon them. The reformation was the protest of the rising bour- geoisie against the constraint of feudal conditions in church, state and society. This rising bourgeoisie strug- gled for liberation from the narrow bonds of the guild, the court and the papal anathema ; it strove for centraliza- tion of the powers of the state, simplification of the Woman in the Past 83 extravagant church affairs, and the abolition of the numerous abodes of idle persons, the monasteries. Luther represented these endeavors of the bourgeoisie upon the religious field. When he stood for the freedom of marriage, it was the bourgeois marriage that was real- ized only in our day by the civil marriage laws, and the freedom of migration and freedom of choice in trade and domicile. We will see to what extent the position of woman was modified by these changes. During the reformation this change of development had not yet been reached. While on the one hand the reformation made marriage possible for many people, on the other hand free sexual intercourse was subjected to the most bitter per- secution. While the Catholic clergy had maintained a certain tolerance toward sexual excess, the Protestant clergy, having been provided for itself, declaimed against it with redoubled zeal. W r ar w r as waged against the pub- lic brothels that were declared to be the devil's dens. Prostitutes were persecuted as daughters of Satan, and every woman who had "fallen" was considered a paragon of wickedness and was subjected to relentless persecution. The merry, life loving townsman of the middle ages became a bigoted, austere, sombre philistine, who lived miserly that his later day bourgeois descendants might live all the more extravagantly. The honorable citizen with his stiff cravat, his narrow intellectual horizon, his severe but hypocritical morality, became the prototype of society. Legitimate wives who had not favored the sensuality tolerated by the Catholicism of the middle ages, were generally better pleased by the Puritan spirit of Protestantism. But other causes that had an unfavorable influence on conditions in Germany gen- erally, also influenced the position of women unfavorably. 2. Results of the Reformation The Thirty Years' War. Transformations in the conditions of production, ex- change and finance, that were brought about especially by the discovery of America, and the discovery of the passage to India, resulted in a great social reaction for Germany. Germany ceased to be the center of European commerce. The German 84 The Reformation trades and manufactures declined. At the same time the religious reformation had destroyed the political unity of the nation. Under the cloak of the reformation, the German princes sought to emancipate themselves from imperial rule. On the other hand, these princes oppressed the nobility and favored the cities to serve their own ends. Some of the cities voluntarily placed themselves under the rule of the princes, driven to this step by conditions that were steadily growing worse. The bourgeoisie upon seeing their income threatened, tried to make the restrictions that were intended to guard them against undesirable competition more and more rigorous, and the princes willingly conceded their de- mands. The ossification of conditions increased, but the general impoverishment increased likewise. Another result of the reformation were the religious struggles and persecutions used by the princes to serve their own political and economic ends that raged in Germany with some interruptions for over a century, and finally ended with its complete exhaustion at the end of the Thirty Years' War. Germany had become, a vast field of corpses and ruins. Entire countries and provinces had been devastated, hundreds of cities and thousands of villages partly or completely destroyed, and many of them had been wiped from the surface of the earth forever. In many places the population had been reduced to a third, a fourth, a fifth, even an eighth or a tenth of its original number. Such was the case in Nuremberg, and in the entire Franconian province. In this utmost need, in order to increase the population in the depopulated towns and villages, the unusual measure was occasionally resorted to of permitting one man to have two wives. Men had been decimated by the wars, but there was a superabundance of women. On the I4th of February 1650, the Franconian district council at Nuremberg decreed that "men under 60 should not be admitted into monasteries" ; it furthermore decreed that "those clergymen who were not members of an order should become married." Moreover, "every man should be permitted to wed two wives, but the men should be frequently reminded and exhorted from the pulpits to Woman in the Past 85 employ good judgment and discretion, that a married man who ventured to maintain two wives should not only provide well for both of them, but should also endeavor to avoid ill feeling between them/' So even the pulpits were employed to make propaganda for the double mar- riage and to lay down rules of conduct for the men. Commerce and industry almost came to a standstill during this long period; in many instances they were almost completely destroyed and picked up but very gradually. A large portion of the population had become demoralized and brutalized and disaccustomed to all regular work. During the wars, troops of mercenary soldiers had crossed Germany from one end to the other, plundering, destroying, ravishing and murdering, a terror alike to friend and foe. After the wars countless numbers of beggars, robbers and vagabonds maintained the popu- lation in constant terror and made commerce and all traffic difficult or impossible. To the female sex espe- cially it was a time of great suffering. In this period of dissoluteness the contempt of woman had increased to the utmost, and the general condition of unemployment weighed most heavily upon her shoulders. Like the male vagabonds, thousands of women populated the highways and forests and filled the alms-houses and prisons. All these sufferings were still increased by the forcible expul- sion of numerous peasant families by the greedy nobility. Since the reformation the nobility had become more and more subjected to princely rule, and by holding court and military positions their dependence on the princes had constantly increased. Now they tried to reimburse them- selves for the losses sustained through the princes by robbing the peasants. To the princes, on the other hand, the reformation offered the desired excuse to acquire the property of the church, which they proceeded to do on a large scale. Prince August of Saxony, for instance, had, at the end of the sixteenth century, acquired no less than 300 ecclesiastical estates.* His brothers and cousins, the other Protestant sovereigns, above all those of the House of Hohenzollern, did likewise. The nobility fol- *John Janssen History of the German People. 86 The Reformation lowed their example by appropriating the remaining com- munal property, and by driving both free peasants and serfs from hearth and home anu taking possession of their estates. The unsuccessful peasant revolts during the sixteenth century gave them the desired pretext for such action, and after the attempt had once succeeded, new pretexts were constantly found to continue this forcible method. Various schemes and distortions of justice were resorted to, made easy by the Roman law which had been established in Germany in the meantime, to increase the property of the nobility by forcing the peasants to sell theirs at lowest prices, or by simply expropriating them. Entire villages and the farms of entire districts were usurped in this manner. To quote just a few examples: Of 12*543 knightly peasant estates which still existed in the province of Mecklenburg during the Thirty Years' War, onlv 1,213 remained in the year 1848. In the province of Pomerania 12,000 farms were abandoned since 1628. The transformations in the methods of farming that took place during the seven- teenth century gave a further impulse to the nobility to expropriate the peasants and to transform the last rem- nants of communal propertv into their private estates. The rotation of crops had been introduced, which pro- vided for changes in the cultivation of the soil in definite periods of time. Tilled land was occasionally trans- formed into pasture which favored cattle-breeding and made it possible to diminish the number of workers. In the cities conditions were not much better than in the country. Formerly women had been permitted to acquire the title of master- workman and to employ journevmen and apprentices without any opposition from the male craftsmen. They were even compelled to join the guilds to force them to meet the same conditions of competition. So there were independent women workers among the linen-weavers, the cloth-weavers, the carpet- weavers and tailors. There were female sfold-smiths, girdle-makers, harness-makers, etc. We find women employed as furriers in Frankfort and the Silesian cities : as bakers in the cities along the Rhine : as girdle-makers and embroiders of coats of arms in Cologne and Strass- Woman in the Past 87 burg; as harness-makers in Bremen; as cloth-shearers in Frankfort "as tanners in Nuremberg; as gold-smiths in Cologne.* But as the circumstances of the craftsmen grew more and more unfavorable, a sentiment of ill will against the female competitors arose. In France, women were excluded from the trades at the close of the four- teenth century ; in Germany, not until the close of the seventeenth century. At first they were forbidden to become master-workmen with the exception of widows later on they were also excluded from becoming assist- ants. Protestantism, by abolishing the ostentatious Catholic cult, had seriously injured or entirely destroyed a number of artistic crafts, and these were the very crafts in which many women had been employed. The confis- cation and secularization of church property resulted in a decline of charitable work, and widows and orphans were the main sufferers. The general economic decline that manifested itself during the sixteenth century, as a result of all the enu- merated causes, and lasted through the seventeenth cen- tury, caused the marriage laws to become more and more severe. Journeymen and people employed in menial service (men and maid servants) were prohibited entirely from marrying, unless they could prove that there was no danger of their future families becoming a burden to the community in which they lived. Marriages con- tracted in opposition to the legal premises were punished frequently severely, sometimes barbarously. Accord- ing to Bavarian law, for instance, the penalties were im- prisonment and public flogging. Illegal marriages, that became more frequent as the marriage laws became more severe, were subjected to especially violent perse- cution. All minds were ruled by the prevailing fear of over-population, and to diminish the numbers of beggars and vagabonds, the various rulers enacted one law upon another, and each was more severe than the preceding one. *Dr. Carl Buecher The Woman Question in the Middle Age. 88 The Eighteenth Century CHAPTER VI. The Eighteenth Century. i. Court Life in Germany. Following the example set by Louis XIV. of France, most of the princely courts, that were very numerous ?n Germany in those days, indulged in an extravagance of outward display, especially in the maintenance of con- cubines, that were in no relation to the size and pro- ductiveness of their small domains. The history of the courts of the eighteenth century constitutes one of the ugliest chapters of history. One ruler tried to excel the other in hollow conceit, mad extravagance and costly military sport. But it was especially in the affairs with their courtesans that the wildest excesses were indulged in. It is hard to tell which of the many German courts excelled in this extravagant mode of living that had a corrupting influence on public life. It was one to-day and another to-morrow. None of the German states were spared this disgrace. The nobility imitated the sover- eigns and in the capitals the bourgeoisie imitated the nobility. If the daughter of a bourgeois family was for- tunate enough to please one of the gentlemen of the court or His Serene Highness himself, in nineteen cases out of twenty she considered herself highly favored, and the family willingly consented to her becoming a princely or royal concubine. Among the families of the nobility the same was the case if one of their daughters found favor with the sovereign. Wide circles were dominated by an utter lack of character and modesty. It was worst of all in the two chief cities of Germany, Vienna and Berlin. Although during a great part of the century- Vienna was ruled by Maria Theresa, known for her moral austerity, she was powerless against the doings of the rich, profligate nobility and an eagerly imitative bour- geoisie. By establishing purity commissions, that re- sulted in an extensive system of espionage, she caused much bitterness and made herself ridiculous. The results amounted to nothing. In frivolous Vienna during the Woman in the Past 89 second half of the eighteenth century, proverbs were cir- culated like the following: one should love one's neigh- bor.like meself ; that means, one should love one's neigh- bor's wife like one's own" ; or, "If the wife turns to the right the husband may turn to the left; if she takes to herself a man servant, let him take a lady friend." How frivolously marriage and adultery were viewed at that time, may be seen from a letter written by the poet Christian von Kleist to his friend Gleim in 1751. It con- tains the following passage : "I suppose you heard of the adventure of the landgrave Henry. He has sent his wife to his country seat and intends to get a separation from her because he found her with the Prince of Hoi- stein. The margrave would have acted more wisely if he had kept the affair secret instead of causing all Berlin and half of the world to speak of him. Besides, one should not judge a natural occurrence so severely, espe- cially one who is not over virtues himself. Disgust is bound to result in matrimony, anoby their acquaintance with other amiable persons all men and women are in- duced to be faithless. How can we be punished for some- thing we have been forced to do?" In 1772 the British ambassador, Lord Malmesbury, wrote the following in regard to conditions in Berlin : "moral depravity prevails among both sexes of all classes. To this is added a gen- eral insufficiency of means, due partly to the heavy taxes imposed by the king, and partly to the love of luxury introduced by his grandfather. The men lead a dissolute life notwithstanding their 'limited means, and the women are shameless harlots. They deliver themselves up to the one able to pay the highest price ; modesty and true love are foreign to them." The worst conditions existed in Berlin during the rule of Frederick William II. from 1786 to 1797. He set his people the worst possible example. His court chaplain, Zoellner, even degraded himself by marrying the king to his courtesan, Julie von Voss, although he had another wife; and when she died soon after in childbirth, Zoellner again consented to marry the king to another one of his courtesans, the Countess Sophie von Doenhoff. Other rulers had set an equally bad example at the beginning go The Eighteenth Century of the century. In July, 1/06, Duke Louis of Wurtemberg married, as an additional wife, his courtesan, Grave- nitz, the "corrupter of the country/' as she is still called in Wurtemberg. His cousin, Duke Leopold, still ex- celled him in profligacy, for he had three wives simul- taneously, two of which were sisters. Of his thirteen children he joined two in marriage. The doings of these sovereigns caused much comment among their subjects, but that was all. The marriage of the Duke of Wurtem- berg with Graevenitz was annulled by imperial inter- vention. But she entered into a mock marriage with a profligate count, and thereupon remained for twenty years more the duke's concubine and the "corrupter of the country." 2. Commercialism and the New Marriage Laws. The increasing power of sovereigns and the formation of larger states had led to the institution of standing armies. These standing armies and the extravagant mode of life indulged in at most of the courts, could not be maintained without heavy taxation, and to make such taxation possible a large, taxable population was required. Therefore governments from the eighteenth century on, especially those of the larger states, adopted measures for increasing the population and for heightening the taxability of the inhabitants. The foundation for such measures had been established by the social and economic transformations referred to above, i. e., the discovery of America, the discovery of the passage to India, and the circumnavigation of Africa. This transformation first manifested itself in Western Europe, but later in Ger- many also. The newly opened thoroughfare had created .new commercial relations of an extent undreamt of until then. Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands and England were the first to profit by the transformation ; but France and eventually Germany also were benefited by it. Of all these countries Germany was most retarded in devel- opment, as a result of the numerous religious wars and its political disunity. The establishment of a world market and the constant opening of new markets for the products of European industry, not only revolutionized Woman in the Past 91 the methods of production, but also revolutionized the views, sentiments and conceptions of the European nations and their governments. The former mode of production, destined to supply only the daily needs of a given center and its immediate vicinity, was superseded by manufacture on a large scale, which implies the em- ployment of a large number of workers and an increased division of labor. The merchants possessing large finan- cial resources and broadness of perception, became the leaders along these new lines of industry that partly replaced and partly abolished the old handicrafts and put an end to their guild organization. Thereby a period had been ushered in which made it possible for woman to resume her industrial activity. The textile industries; cloth manufactury and the manufacture of laces opened up to her new fields of activity. At the close of the eigh- teenth century we already find 100,000 women and 80,000 children employed in the textile and printing trades of England and Scotland, unfortunately under conditions, both in regard to wages and hours of work, that were simply appalling. Similar conditions prevailed in France at the same time, where also tens of thousands of women were employed in various manufactures. This economic development demanded more people, and as the population had been greatly diminished by the wars of conquest in Europe during the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and by the expedi- tions of discovery beyond the seas, the more advanced governments found it necessary to facilitate marriage and the right of settling. Spain, that by its imperialistic policy had become greatly depopulated, was obliged as early as 1623 to pass a law exempting from taxes for a number of years all persons who became married between the ages of 18 and 25. Poor persons were even given a dowry from public funds. Parents who had six or more male children were entirely exempt from taxes. Spain also encouraged immigration and colonization. King Louis XIV. of France, who had decimated his people by his numerous wars, found it necessary to coun- teract this devastation by exempting from taxes for from four to five years all taxpayers, who constituted a great 92 The Eighteenth Century majority of the population, if they became married before the twentieth or twenty-first year of age. Complete exemption from taxes was, furthermore, guaranteed to all who had ten living children, provided that none of these had become a priest, a monk or a nun. Noblemen having the same number of children, provided that none of them had become priests, monks or nuns, received an annual pension of from 1,000 to 2,000 livres. Citizens not subject to taxation under the same conditions received one-half of this amount. Marshal Maurice of Saxony even advised Louis XV. not to permit marriages to be contracted for a longer period than five years. In Prussia, by laws enacted in the years 1688, 1721, 1726 and 1736, and by various government measures, endeavors were made to encourage immigration; espe- cially were the immigrants welcomed who had been sub- jected to religious persecution in France and Austria. The theories in regard to population maintained by Fred- erick the Great were expressed with brutal frankness in a letter written by him to Voltaire on the 26th of August. 1741. He wrote: "I consider men as a herd of deer in the deer park of some great lord, having no other task but to populate the park." By his wars he certainly made it necessary to have his deer park repopulated. In Austria, Wurtemberg and Brunswick immigration was also encouraged and there, as in Prussia, emigration was forbidden. Furthermore, in the course of the eighteenth century, England and France removed all obstacles to marriage and settlement, and other nations followed their example. During three-fourths of the eighteenth century political economists as well as the governments con- sidered a large population the greatest good fortune to the state. Only at the close of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth century a reversion of opinion took place. This was due to economic crises and to warlike and revolutionary events, that continued during the first half of the nineteenth century, especially in Germany and Austria. The age at which marriage was permitted was raised again, and proofs were required showing that the contracting parties were assured of a certain amount of wealth or a secure income, and could Woman in the Past 93 maintain a given standard of living. To the destitute, marriage was made impossible, and the municipalities were given a great influence in determining under what conditions marriages might be contracted. Occasionally peasants were even forbidden to build their little homes, or compelled to tear them down when they had been built without princely permission. Only in Prussia and Saxony the marriage laws remained comparatively liberal. Since human nature will not be suppressed, the result of all these hindrances to marriage was, that in spite of all the harrassing and persecution, illicit relations greatly increased, and that in some German states the number of illegal children was almost as great as that of the legal ones. Such was the fruit of a paternal government that prided itself on its Christian morality. 3. The French Revolution and the Rise of Industry. In those days the married woman of the middle class lived in severe domestic retirement. The number of her domestic duties was so large, that it was necessary for the conscientious housewife to be at her post from morn- ing till night, and frequently she could accomplish all her tasks only with the aid of her daughters. It was necessary to perform not only those daily domestic tasks that are still performed by the present-day housekeeper, but also many others from which modern woman has been freed by the industrial development. She had to spin, weave and bleach, cut and sew all the garments, manufacture tallow-candles and soap, and brew the beer. She was indeed a perfect Cinderella and her only relaxa- tion was going to church on Sunday. Marriages were contracted only within the same social circle. A severe and ridiculous caste feeling dominated all social relations. The daughters were educated in the same spirit and were maintained in close domestic confinement. Their educa- tion was insignificant, and their intellectuel horizon did not extend beyond the commonplace domestic relations. To this was added an empty superficial formality, that was supposed to make up for the lack of intellect and education, making woman's life a sheer treadmill. The spirit of the reformation had degenerated into the worst 94 The Eighteenth Century kind of pedantry; the most natural human desires and the joy of life were crushed beneath a mass of apparently dignified, but soul-killing rules of behavior. Emptiness and narrow-mindedness dominated the middle class, and the lower classes lived under a leaden pressure and hi wretched conditions. Then came the French revolution. It swept away the old political and social order in France, and also wafted a breath of its spirit to Germany, that could not long be resisted. French rule especially had a revolu- tionizing effect upon Germany; it swept away what was old and decrepit or, at least hastened its destruction. Though strenuous efforts were made during the reac- tionary period after 1815 to turn the course of develop- ment backward, the new conceptions had become too powerful and were victorious in the end. Guild privileges, lack of personal freedom, market privileges and proscription were gradually laid on the shelf in the more advanced states. New mechanical in- ventions and improvements, especially the invention of the steam engine, and the resultant cheapening of com- modities, provided employment for the masses, including also the women. Capitalistic industry was born. Fac- tories, railroads and steamboats were built, mines and foundries, the manufacture of glass and china, the textile industry in its various branches, manufacture of tools and machinery, the building trades, etc., rapidly devel- oped. Universities and polytechnical institutes provided the intellectual forces required by this evolution. The new class that had come into existence, the capitalist class, the bourgeoisie, supported by all those who favored progress, insisted upon the abolition of conditions that had become untenable. What had been shaken by the revolution from below during the movement of 1848 and 1849, was finally abolished b)' the revolution from above in 1866. Political unity, according to the desire of the bourgeoisie, was established, and this was followed by the final overthrow of all the remaining economic and social barriers. Freedom of trade, right of settlement and emigration, and the repeal of laws restricting mar- riage followed, creating those conditions that capitalism Woman in the Past 95 needed for its development. Besides the workingman, woman was the one to profit chiefly by this new devel- opment, since it opened up to her new avenues and brought her greater freedom. Even before the new order had been introduced by the transformations of the year 1866, several German states had removed a number of the old, rigid barriers, which caused pedantic reactionaries to predict the de- struction of decency and morality. In 1863 the Bishop of Mayence, von Ketteler, lamented that "to abolish the existing barriers to marriage meant the destruction of marriage itself, since now married couples were enabled to leave each other at will." This lament contains the unintentional confession that in modern marriages the moral bonds are so weak, that man and wife can be kept together only by force. Since marriages now were contracted much more fre- quently than before this period, a rapid increase of popu- lation resulted. This fact, and the fact that the new, rapidly developing industrial system created social prob- lems that had not previously existed, caused the fear of over-population to spring up again, as it did in former periods. It will be shown what this fear of over-popula- tion amounts to; we will test its true value. Unman at % $Ire0pnt iag. CHAPTER VII. Woman as a Sex Being. i. The Sexual Impulse. In present-day bourgeois society woman holds the second place. Man leads; she follows. The present relation is diametrically opposite to that which prevailed during the matriarchal period. The evolution from primitive communism to the rule of private property has primarily brought about this transformation. Plato thanked the gods for eight favors they had bestowed upon him. The first was that he had been born a free-man instead of a slave, and the second was that he had been born a man instead of a woman. A similar thought is expressed in the morning prayer of the Jews. They pray: "Be thou praised God our Lord and Lord of the earth, who hast not created me a woman." In the prayer uttered by the Jewish women the corresponding passage is worded: "Who hast created me according to thy will." The contrast in the respective positions of the sexes could not be more forcibly expressed than in this utterance of Plato and the prayer of the Jews. Man is the real human being according to numerous passages in the Bible, and both the English and French languages furnish proofs of this conception, since the word "man" denotes both male and human being. When speaking of the people we usually think of men only. Woman ivS a factor of slight importance, and man is her master. Men generally consider this state of affairs quite proper, and the majority of women still accept it as a divine ordi- nance. In this prevailing conception the present position of woman is reflected. Regardless of the question whether woman is op- pressed as a proletarian, we must recognize that in this Woman at the Present Day 97 world of private property she is oppressed as a sex being. On all sides she is hemmed in by restrictions and ob- stacles unknown to the man. Many things a man may do she is prohibited from doing; many social rights and privileges enjoyed by him, are considered a fault or a crime in her case. She suffers both socially and as a sex being. It is hard to say in which respect she suffers more, and therefore it only seems natural that many women wish they had been born men instead of having been born women. Of all the natural desires that are a part of human life, beside the desire for food in order to live, the sexual desire is strongest. The impulse of race preservation is the most powerful expression of the "will to live." This impulse is deeply implanted in every normally developed human being, and upon attaining maturity its satisfac- tion is essential to physical and mental welfare. Luther was right when he said: "He who would thwart the natural impulse, seeks to prevent nature from being na- ture, fire from burning, water from moistening, man from eating and drinking and sleeping." These words ought to be engraved above the portals of our churches in which the "sinful flesh" is so vehemently denounced. No physician or physiologist could more accurately express the necessity of satisfying the human desire for love. If the human organism is to devlop normally and healthfully it is essential that no portion of the human body should be neglected, and that no natural impulse should be denied its normal satisfaction. Every organ should perform the functions which it has been destined by nature to perform, unless the whole organism is to suffer. The laws of the physical development of man must be studied and observed as well as the laws of mental development. The mental activity of a human being depends upon the physiological condition of his organs. Physical and mental vigor are closely linked. An injury to one has a detrimental effect upon the other. The so-called animal instincts are not inferior to mental requirements. Both are products of the same organism and are mutually interdependent. This applies to both man and woman. Hence it follows that knowledge of the gS Woman as a Sex Being nature of the sexual organs is as necessary as that of all other organs, and that the same attention should be bes- towed upon their care. We ought to know that organs and impulses implanted in every human being constitute a very important part of our existence, that they as a matter of fact predominate during certain periods of life, and that therefore they must not be objects of secrecy, false shame and complete ignorance. It follows further- more that among both men and women knowledge of the physiology and anatomy of the various organs and their functions should be as widely diffused as any other branch of human knowledge. Endowed with an exact knowledge of his physical nature, man would take a different view of many circumstances. This knowledge would lead to the removal of many evils that society at present passes by silently, in solemn awe, but that never- theless claim consideration in almost every family. In regard to all other matters knowledge is considered a virtue; it is regarded as the loftiest, most desirable human aim. But we decry konwledge pertaining to those matters that are most closely linked with our own "ego"' and are at the bottom of all social development. Kant says : "Man and woman together form the full and complete human being; one sex supplements the other." Schopenhauer says: "The sexual impulse is the most complete expression of the will to live, it is the concentration of will" ; and long before these Buddha thus expressed himself: "The sexual impulse is sharper than the prod by means of which wild elephants are tamed ; it is hotter than flames ; it is like an arrow driven into the soul of man." Such being the intensity of sexual impulse, it is not to be wondered at that with both men and women sexual abstinence frequently leads to serious disorders of the nervous system, and in some cases even to insanity and suicide. Of course, not all natures manifest an equally strong sexual impulse. It can also be restrained to a great extent by education and self-control, especially by avoiding the stimulant of lewd conversation and litera- ture, alcoholism, etc. It is held that the sexual impulse is weaker among women than among men, and that Woman at the Present Day 99 sometimes women even feel revulsion against sexual con- tact. But these constitute a small minority whose physi- ological and psychological dispositions are peculiarly constituted. We may say that the manner in which the natural desires of the sexes are expressed, both in their organic and physical development, in form and in character, marks the degree of perfection of a human being, be it man or woman. Each sex has attained its own highest development. "Among civilized human beings," says Klenke in his essay on "Woman as a Wife," "sexual in- tercourse is controlled by moial principles dictated by common sense. But nothing could ever fully subdue the instinct of race preservation, implanted by nature in both sexes. Wherever healthy male or female individuals failed to fulfill this duty, it was not of their own free will, though they may deceive themselves into believing it, but was a result of social hindrances and restrictions. These hindrances have impeded the laws of nature, have stunted the organs, and have transformed the whole organism into an atrophied type both in appearance and in character and have caused nervous disorders that bring about abnormal, pathological conditions of body and mind. The man becomes effeminate; the woman becomes masculine in form and character, because the sexual contrast has not been realized ; because such par- ticular human being remained one-sided, failing to attain his own integration, the full height of his existence. ' Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell says in her essay on "The Moral Education of the Young in Relation to Sex" : "Sexual impulse exists as an inevitable condition of life and the foundation of society. It is the greatest power in human nature. . . . While undeveloped it is not an object of the thoughts, but it remains nevertheless the central force of life. This inevitable impulse is the natural guardian against all possibility of destruction."* Prac- tical Luther has positive advice to offer. He advises : "Let him who has no desire for chastity look about him *E. Blackwell, "Essays in Medical Sociology." Page i?7- Lon- don, 1906. ioo Woman as a Sex Being for work and turn to matrimony; a boy at the latest when he is twenty, a girl when she is fifteen or eighteen years of age. Then they are healthy and skillful and trust to God to provide for them and their children. God gives them the children and he will provide for them." Unfortunately our social conditions make it impossible to follow Luther's good advice, and neither the Christian state nor Christian society believes in trusting to God to provide for the children. Science, the views of the philosophers, and Luther's sound common sense, all are agreed that man is entitled to normal satisfaction of those desires that are part and parcel of his very life. If social institutions or prejudices make this impossible, his development is hampered thereby. The results are well known to our physicians, and can be met with in hospitals, insane asylums, prisons, and in thousands of disrupted families. In a book pub- lished in Leipsic we find the following thought expressed : ''Sexual impulse is neither moral nor immoral ; it is simply natural like hunger and thirst. Nature knows nothing of morality." But organized society is very far from recognizing the truth of this sentence. 2. Celibacy and the Frequency of Suicide. Among physicians and physiologists it is generally assumed that even an imperfect marriage is preferable to celibacy, and this assumption is substantiated by ex- perience. It is a striking fact that the rate of mortality is lower among married than among unmarried people (comparing about 1,000 married persons 30 years old with 1,000 unmarried persons of the same age). The difference is especially marked in the case of men. Dur- ing some periods of life the rate of mortality among unmarried men is almost twice as great as that among married men. Mortality is likewise very great among men who have become widowers while still young.* It is furthermore claimed that the number of suicides are increased by unsound sexual relations. In all coun- tries suicides are much more frequent among men than *Dr. G. Schnapper-Arndt : "Social Statistics," Leipsic, 1908. Woman at the Present Day 101 among women. The following table shows the ratio in various European countries : Among 100,000 Ratio of suicides. female to During the years. Male. Female, male suicides. Germany 18991902 33.0 8.4 25.5 Austria ... 1898 1901 25.4 7.0 27.6 Switzerland . . . 1896 1903 33.3 6.4 19.2 Italy 1893 1901 9.8 2.4 24.5 France 18881892 35.5 9.7 27.3 Netherlands . . . 1901 1902 9.3 3.0 32.3 England 18911900 13.7 4.4 32.1 Scotland 1891 1900 9.0 3.2 35.6 Ireland 1901 2.3 1.2 52.2 Norway 1891 1900 10.0 2.5 25. Sweden 1891 1900 21.1 8.6 40.8 Finland 1891 1900 7.8 1.8 21.1 European Russia 1885 1894 4.9 1.6 32.7 During the years 1898 to 1907 we find the following ratio of suicides in the German Empire : Year. Total. Male. Female. Year. Total. Male. Female. 1898.. 10,835 8.544 2,291 1902.. 12,336 9,765 2,571 1899.. 10,761 8,460 2,301 1904.. 12,468 9,704 2,764 1900.. 11,393 8,987 2,406 1907.. 12,777 9,753 3,024 For each 100 male suicides there were female suicides : During 1898, 26.8; during 1899, 27.2; during 1900, 26.8; during 1904, 28.5 ; during 1907, 31. But during the period of life from the fifteenth to the thirtieth year, the rate of suicide is higher among women than among men. The following table shows the ratio between the I5th and 2Oth, and between the 2ist and 3Oth year: I5th to 20th year. 2ist to 30th year. During the years. Male. Female. Male. Female. Prussia 1896 1900 5.3 10.7 16. 20.2 Denmark ...1896 1900 4.6 8.3 12.4 14.8 Switzerland .1884 1899 3.3 6.7 16.1 21. France 1887 1891 3.5 8.2 10.9 14.* *H. Krose, "Causes of the Frequency of Suicide." Freiburg, 1006. io2 Woman as a Sex Being The following- table shows the ratio of male and female suicides in Saxony between the 21 st and 3 O 1 to & ^ PQ S 1876 to 1885 ->68 277, 776 767 088 766 2Q7, 264 167 ?/l8 1886 to 1895 ? 5 8 767. 2SQ 248 786 736 150 249 1896 to 1905 24^ 2SO 2SQ 216 76? 272 213 172 232 The above enumerated facts go to prove that the birth of a human being, "God's image," as religious persons say, is, on an average, estimated below the value of a newly-born domestic animal. In many respects our views differ but slightly from those of barbarian people. Among the latter, newly-born children were often killed. This fate especially befell the girls. Among some living savages the same custom still prevails. We do not kill the girls ; we are too civil- ized for that, but frequently we treat them as paria Man, being the stronger, everywhere represses woman in the struggle for existence, and if she still persists in the struggle, she is often persecuted by the stronger sex as no Modern Marriage an undesirable competitor. Men of the upper classes are especially bitter against female competition. Among workingmen the demand to exclude women from the trades is voiced only rarely. When a resolution formu- lating such a demand was presented at a congress of French workingmen in 1876, it was voted down by a large majority. Since that time the conviction that the working woman is a fellow being entitled to equal rights and privileges, has grown among the class-conscious workingmen of all countries. The resolutions passed by international workingmen's congresses prove this. The class-conscious workingman knows that present indus- trial conditions compel woman to enter into competition with man. He also knows, that an attempt to exclude woman from industry would be as futile as an attempt to forbid the use of machinery. Therefore he endeavors to instruct woman in regard to her position in society and to enlist her aid in the struggle for freedom of the prole- tariat against capitalism. 3. Mercenary Marriage and the Matrimonial Market. Modern society has undoubtedly advanced beyond any previous stage of development, but our conceptions concerning the relation of the sexes has in many respects remained unchanged. In 1876 Prof. L. v. Stein published a book on "Woman in the Field of Political Economy," that is not suited to its title, since it merely draws a very poetically tinted picture of marriage. But this picture clearly shows the submissive position of woman in her relation to the "lion," man. Stein writes: "Man desires a being who not only loves him but also understands him. He seeks one who is not only devoted to him, but whose soft hand smoothes the wrinkles on his forehead; who brings into his life peace, calm, order, gentle self-control, and all the many little comforts of life to which he returns daily. He needs some one to enhance all these things with the inexpressible charm of womanliness, im- parting warmth and joy to his home." Beneath this apparent praise of woman lurks her degradation and the egotism of man. The professor Woman at the Present Day in depicts woman as a dainty creature, endowed neverthe- less with the needful knowledge of arithmetic to keep the household accounts well balanced, caressing like a gentle spring breeze the master of the house, the ruling lion, and with her soft hand smoothing the wrinkles from his forehead, that perhaps have appeared there from brood- ing over his own stupidity. The professor depicts woman and marriage such as barely one among a hundred actually exist. About the many thousand unhappy marriages, about the great number of women to whom it is never given to attain marriage, and about the millions of women who must slave beside their husbands from morning till night to earn their daily bread, he seems to see and know noth- ing whatever. All these marriages are stripped of poetry by the harsh reality of life, more quickly than a careless hand strips the colored dust from a butterfly's wing. One glance at those countless women sufferers would have greatly marred the professor's poetically tinted picture. The women he observes only constitute a small minority, and it is doubtful whether they represent an advanced type. There is a frequently quoted saying, that the degree of civilization attained by a nation may be measured by the position of its women. We uphold the justice of this saying. But upon applying this standard we find that our highly lauded civilization does not amount to much. In his book on the "Subjection of Women" the title shows the conception of the position of woman held by the author John Stuart Millafsays: "Men have become more domesticated. Increasing civilization has put more fetters on man in regard to woman." That is true to some extent wherever an honest marriage relation exists between husband and wife. But to a considerably large minority it does not apply. Intelligent men will recog- nize, that it is to their own advantage, if women are drawn out into the world from their narrow domestic sphere, and are given an opportunity to become acquainted with the great problems of the day. The "fetters" that are ii2 Modern Marriage thereby placed on him, are not hard to bear. On the other hand, the question arises whether modern life has not brought new factors into the matrimonial relation that are more apt to destroy marriage than any pre- viously known. Marriage has become an object of material calcula- tion in a marked degree. The man who wishes to marry, in seeking to obtain a wife, also seeks to obtain property. That was the chief reason why daughters, who were at first excluded from the right of inheritance when the patriarchal system came into power, were at an early period reinstated to this right. But never before was the marriage market as openly and cynically displayed as to-day ; never before was marriage regarded in the same degree as a simple speculation, a mere financial transaction. At present match-making is frequently carried on so shamelessly, that the often-repeated phrase about the "sanctity of marriage" becomes a farce. Still, for this fact, as for all others, an explanation can be found. At no previous time was it so difficult for the great majority of people to accumulate a modest fortune, as it is at present, and at no previous time was the striv- ing for a decent livelihood and the enjoyment of life so general. Those who do not attain the aim they have set for themselves feel their disappointment all the more keenly, because all believe to have the same right to enjoyment. No formal difference of class or caste exists. Everyone hopes to attain some aim that seems attainable in accord- ance with his station in life. But many are called and few are chosen. In order that one may live in comfort, twenty others must live in want; and in order that one may revel in luxury, hundreds or thousands must dwell in poverty. But everyone is eager to be one of the favored few, and accordingly resorts to all means that are likely to lead him to his goal. One of the simplest and most accessible means of attaining a privileged social position is a mercenary marriage. In this way the desire for money, on the one side, and the desire for social rank and title', on the other, obtain mutual satisfaction among the upper classes of society. Here marriage is degraded Woman at the Present Day 113 to a business transaction. It becomes a conventional union that both sides respect outwardly, while secretly both all too often follow their own inclinations.* In every large city there are certain places where upon definite days members of the upper classes come together, chiefly for the purpose of match-making. Rightly have these reunions been called the "matrimonial market" ; for just as on the stock market, speculation and barter dominate, and not infrequently fraud and deception enter into the dealings. Here we find officers of the army, over head and ears in debt, but possessing some ancient title of nobility; roues, weakened by a life of debauchery, who seek a wife to nurse them and hope to mend their shattered health in marriage ; manufacturers, merchants and bankers, who are at the verge of bankruptcy, some- times at the verge of imprisonment and who wish to be saved, and public officials who have prospects of promo- tion, but are in need of money ; here they come as cus- tomers and conclude the marriage bargain. In these marriages it frequently is deemed quite immaterial whether the future wife is young or old, pretty or ugly, well-built or deformed, educated or ignorant, pious or *For the sake of completeness we must also mention marriage for political reasons as contracted in the highest circles. In these marriages the right is also silently conceded to the man to follow his own inclinations outside of his marriage. There was a time when rulers considered it good form, a sort of royal attribute, to have at least one mistress. Thus, according to Sherr, King Frederick Wil- liam I. of Prussia, otherwise noted for his temperate life, maintained an intimate relation with the wife of a general. It is well known that King August of Poland and Saxony had almost 300 illegitimate children, and that King Victor Emanuei of Italy left 32 illegitimate children. In the picturesquely situated little capital of a German principality there still stood not many years ago about a dozen beautiful villas that had been erected by the ruler for his abdicated mistresses. One might write volumes on this subject; in fact, an extensive collection of books exists that deal mainly with these piquant occurrences. In view of these facts it is indeed very neces- sary that svcophantical historians should strive to present the various fathers and mothers of their countries as models of domestic virtue, as faithful husbands and devoted mothers. The augurs are not yet extinct, they fatten, as in the days of Rome, upon the ignorance of the masses. ii4 Modern Marriage frivolous, a Christian or a Jewess, provided that she has money. Money redeems all faults and compensates for the lack of anything else. According to the German law, procurers are severely punished by imprisonment. But when parents or guardians barter their children or rela- tives to some unloved man or woman for life, for the sake of wealth, social position or some other advantage, no public prosecutor may interfere, and yet a crime has been committed. There are many well-organized matri- monial agencies, and any number of procurers and pro- curesses who are searching candidates for the "sacred wedded state." These transactions are especially profit- able when performed in the interest of members of the upper classes. In 1878 a procuress was tried in Vienna who had been accused of being an accomplice in murder, and was finally sentenced to fifteen years' imprisonment. Among other things the trial revealed that the former French ambassador to Vienna, Count Banneville, had paid this woman 22,000 guilders for procuring a wife for him. Other members of the aristocracy were also in- volved in this trial. For years the authorities had per- mitted this woman to ply her criminal trade unmolested. In the capital of the German Empire similar occurrences were reported. They are met with wherever there are persons seeking to contract mercenary marriages. Dur- ing the last few decades the daughters and heiresses of American millionaires have become special objects of desire to the pauperized European nobility. These American women, on the other hand, have exchanged their millions for the rank and title that are unknown in their own country. A number of communications, pub- lished in the German press during the fall of 1889, con- tained some characteristic information on this subject. According to this a German nobleman living in California had offered his services as a match-maker by advertising in German and Austrian papers. The offers he received in return clearly show the conceptions prevailing in the circles concerned, in regard to the sanctity of marriage and its ethical side. Two Prussian army officers, mem- bers of an ancient nobility, sought his services, and frankly stated as the reason of their doing so, the fact, Woman at the Present Day 115 that together they owed over 15,000 dollars. In their letter to the procurer they literally wrote : "It is self- understood that we cannot pay anything in advance. You will receive your remuneration immediately after the wedding journey. Only recommend ladies to us whose families are in no wise objectionable. We would also consider it very desirable to meet ladies who are particularly good-looking. If required, we will give your agent our photographs, who can also give us further details, show us the ladies' photographs, etc. We regard this whole transaction as an affair of honor ( !) and expect the same of you. We expect an early reply through your agent on this side. "Baron v. M "Baron v. W "Berlin, Frederick St. 107, Dec. 15, 1889." A young German nobleman, Hans v. H wrote from London that he were five foot ten, of ancient nobility, and employed in diplomatic service. He con- fessed that his fortune had been greatly diminished by unsuccessful betting at the races, and that he was there- fore compelled to seek a rich wife. "I am prepared," he wrote, "to come -to the United States immediately." The German-American nobleman asserted that besides a num- ber of counts, barons, etc., he had counted among his customers three princes and sixteen dukes. Some men who were not the proud possessors of a title bargained for American heiresses likewise. An architect, Max W. from Leipsic, asked for a fiancee who must be rich, beautiful and cultured. A young manufacturer, Robert D., from Kehl on the Rhine, wrote that he would content himself with a fiancee owning 100,000 dollars, and prom- ised in advance that he would make her happy. But we need not look far to find further instances of this sort. We need but glance at the matrimonial advertisements in many of our capitalistic papers to recognize them as the outward signs of degrading views. The prostitute who plies her trade as a result of bitter need is morally superior to these marriage seekers. The editor of a Socialist paper who should venture to publish such advertisements would be expelled from his party. The n6 Disruption of the Family capitalistic press does not hesitate to publish such adver- tisements, because they pay. But that does not prevent this same press from railing against the Socialistic prin- ciples as being destructive of marriage. No age has been more hypocritical than ours. Most of these newspapers are nothing more or less than matrimonial agencies. One might fill entire pages with clippings taken from leading newspapers on a single day. Sometimes the interesting fact is revealed, that even ministers are sought in this way and that ministers also resort to this method to seek wives. Sometimes the applicants even consent to overlook a moral blemish, provided that the girl is rich. The moral degradation of certain strata of society could not be more vividly exposed than by this sort of marriage. CHAPTER IX. Disruption of the Family. i. Increase of Divorce. The part played by church and state in this sort of "sacred marriage" is not a worthy one. The state offi- cial or the officiating clergyman whose task it is to perform the marriage ceremony, never pauses to con- sider by what methods the couple he is about to join in wedlock have been brought together. It may be quite evident, that the two are in no wise mated either in regard to their ages or in regard to physical and mental quali- ties ; the bride may, for instance, be tweny and the groom seventy, or vice versa ; the bride may be beautiful and full of vitality, the groom may be old, cross and inflicted with infirmities, it makes no difference to the represen- tative of state and church. The marriage is consecrated, and the consecration is most solemn in character where the monetary reward for this "holy function" is most generous. But when such a marriage turns out to be an exceedingly unhappy one, as could have been foreseen by anybody, and frequently was foreseen by the unfor- Woman at the Present Day 117 Innate victim itself the woman generally being the victim and when one or the other party then seeks separation, both church and state place the greatest diffi-j culties in their way. Yet neither church nor state ques- tioned in advance whether love and moral sentiments, or shameless, coarse egotism brought about the union. Moral revulsion is not considered sufficient cause for separation ; obvious proofs are demanded, proofs that will degrade one or the other party in public opinion, to make divorce possible. That the Catholic Church does not permit divorce at all, except by special permission from the pope, which is very hard to obtain, makes condi- tions particularly unfavorable among the Catholic popu- lation. The German code of civil law has also made divorce much more difficult. Thus divorce by mutual consent, that had been permitted by Prussian law, was abolished. Many divorces had been granted under this law, some for more serious reasons that were concealed out of regard for the guilty party. In Berlin, for in- stance, there were 5,623 divorces from 1886 until 1892; 1,400 of these, approximately 25 per cent., were granted upon mutual consent. In many cases divorce is granted only then, when the party seeking divorce does so within six months after discovery of the cause for divorce. According to Prussian law, the time limit is one year. Take, for example, that a young wife discovers soon after her marriage, that she is tied to a man who is no husband to her at all. It is asking a great deal that she should determine on divorce within six months, a step that requires a considerable amount of moral strength. To justify the increased difficulty in divorce, the follow- ing argument is advanced: "Only by making divorce increasingly difficult, can the advancing disruption of the family be counteracted and the family bonds be strengthened." This argument is a contradiction in itself. A disrupted marriage is not made bearable by forcing husband and wife to continue living together in spite of their inward estrangement and mutual aversion. A condition of this sort, maintained by law, is pro- foundly immoral. The result is that in a large number of cases adultery is made a cause for divorce, since this n8 Disruption of the Family cause cannot be ignored by the law ; neither the state nor society are improved by this process. It must also be regarded as a concession to the Catholic Church, that in many cases separation takes the place of divorce which was formerly not the case according to civil law. It is no longer considered a cause for divorce, when through the fault of the one party, a marriage remains childless. The new German code of civil law contains the following paragraph : "The religious duties in regard to marriage are not touched upon in the rules laid down in this paragraph." This likewise is a concession to the church. It is merely ornamental in character, but it is characteristic of the spirit still prevailing in Germany at the beginning of the twentieth century. For our pur- poses the admission is important, that divorce was made more difficult to counteract the advancing disruption of the family. Human beings then remain chained to one another for lifetime against their will. One party becomes a slave to the other and is forced in fulfillment of "matri- monial duties," to endure intimate embraces that perhaps seem more loathsome than harsh words and ill treat- ment. Rightly Mantegazza says: "There is no greater torture than to suffer the caresses of an unloved per- son...."* Is such marriage not worse than prostitu- tion? Even the prostitute has a certain degree of liberty of withdrawing from her abominable trade, and if she is not the inmate of a public brothel, she may refuse herself to a man she does not wish for some reason or other. But a woman sold in marriage must endure the embraces of her husband, even though she have a hun- dred reasons to hate and despise him. If the marriage has been contracted from the outset and by mutual understanding, as a mere marriage of convenience, matters are not quite as bad. Mutual obli- gations are considered and a bearable mode of life is found. Scandal is avoided, especially out of considera- tion for the children, where such exist; and yet it must be said that the children are the ones to suffer most The Physiology of Love. Woman at the Present Day 119 when their parents lead a cold, indifferent life, devoid of love, even if it does not deteriorate into a life of open hostility. More frequently yet an agreement is accom- plished to avoid material loss. Usually the husband's misbehavior is the cause of trouble in marriage; that may be seen from the divorce cases. When a man remains dissatisfied with his marriage his domineering position enables him to find compensation elsewhere. The woman is far less inclined to go astray, firstly be- cause physiological reasons make a transgression much more dangerous in her case, and secondly because when she is the one to break the marital vow, it is considered a crime that society will not condone. The woman alone be she wife, widow or maiden has "fallen" ; the man, when he commits the same sin, has, at the worst, behaved with impropriety. The same action then is judged by entirely different standards, according to whether it has been committed by a man or by a woman, and the women themselves are often most bitter and unmerciful in their condemnation of a "fallen" sister.* As a rule, women will seek divorce only in cases of flagrant infidelity or gross ill-treatment, because they are in a dependent position and are obliged to regard mar- riage as a means of subsistence; also because the social position of a divorced woman is not an enviable one. She is regarded and treated more or less as a cipher. If in spite of all this women constitute the majority of plaintives in divorce cases, this goes to prove what moral tortures they must endure. In France, even before the introduction of the new divorce laws, by far the most proceedings for separation were instituted by women. Until 1884 a woman in France could sue for divorce only in case her husband brought the woman with whom he maintained an intimate relation into the domicile of ^Alexander Dumas correctly says in "Monsieur Alphonse" : "Man has created two standards" of morality: one for himself, and one for woman, one that permits him to love all women, and an- other that permits woman as a compensation for her lost freedom, to be loved by but one man." See also Marguerite's self-accusation in "Faust." 120 Disruption of the Family his wife against her will. Thus proceedings for separa- tion were instituted annually by : Women. Men. Women. Men. 1856 1861.. 1,729 184 1866 -1871.. 2,591 330 1861 1866.. 2,135 260 1901 1905.. 2,368 591 Not only were the majority of proceedings instituted by women, the figures also show that their number steadily increased. By information gathered from re- liable sources it may be seen, that elsewhere also the greater number of actions for divorce and separation are instituted by women, as the following table shows :* PERCENTAGE OF NUMBER OF PLAJNTJVES. DIVOBCES - Husbands During the years. Husbands. Wives, and wives. Austria 1893 1897 4.4 5.0 90.6 Roumania 1891 1895 30.6 68.9 0.5 Switzerland 1895 1899 26.4 45.4 8.2 France 1895 1899 40.0 59.1 Baden 18951899 36.0 59.1 4.9 England & Wales. . 1895 1899 60.4 39.6 Scotland 1898 1899 43.3 56.7 SEPARATIONS. Austria 1897 1899 4.9 16.6 78.5 France 1895 1899 15.9 84.1 England & Wales.. 1 895 1899 3.0 97.0 Scotland 1898 1899 IO . In the United States, where the divorce statistics cover a period of forty years, we find the following ratio : 18671886. P. C. 1887-1906. P. C. 1906. P. C. Men 112,540 34.2 316,149 33.4 23,455 32.5 Women . . . 216,176 65.8 629,476 66.6 48,607 67.5 Total 328,716 100 945,625 loo 72,062 100 The above table shows that in more than two-thirds of all divorce cases women were the plaintiffs.** *George v. Meyr : "Statistics and Social Science." **Marriage and Divorce. 1887 1906. Bureau of the Census, Bulletin 06, p. 12. Washington, D. C., 1908. Woman at the Present Day 121 In Italy we find a similar ratio. During 1887 there were 1,221 divorce cases; 593 of these were instituted by wives, 214 by husbands, 414 by both husbands and wives. In 1904 there were 2,103 cases; 1,142 by wives, 454 by husbands, and 507 by both. Statistics teach us that the majority of divorces are sought by women, and they furthermore teach us that the number of divorces is rapidly increasing. Since the introduction of the new divorce law in France in 1884, the divorces have increased from year to year, as follows : Years 1884. 1885. 1890. 1895. 1900. 1905. 1906. 1907. Divorces. ...1,657 4,123 6,557 7,760 7,820 10,019 10,573 10,938 In Switzerland, too, the divorce-rate is increasing. From 1886 to 1890 there were 882 divorces. From 1891 to 1895 there were 898 divorces; in 1897, 1,011; in 1898, 1,018; in 1899, 1,091; in 1905, 1,206; in 1906, 1,343. In Austria during 1899 there were 856 divorces and 133 separations. In 1900 there were 1,310 divorces and 163 separations. In 1905 there were 1,885 divorces and 262 separations. The number of divorces and separa- tions have been doubled during a decade. In Vienna there were 148 divorces in 1870 and 1871 ; they increased with each succeeding year until in 1878 and 1879 there were 319 cases. Vienna being a Catholic city, divorces are not easily obtained. Nevertheless, a Viennese judge exclaimed during the eighties: "The charge of broken marriage vows is as frequent as the charge of broken windows." The following shows the increasing divorce-rate in the United States: Years 1867. 1886. 1895. 1902. 1906. Divorces 9,937 25,535 4O-3 8 7 61,480 72,062 If the number of divorces in relation to the population had remained the same in 1905 as in 1870, the exact number of divorces in 1905 would have been 24,000, and not 67,791, as actually was the case. The total number of divorces from 1867 to 1886 was 328,716; from 1887 to 1906, 945,625. The United States have the highest divorce-rate. For every thousand marriages there were the following number of divorces: In 1870, 81 ; in 1880, 122 Disruption of the Family 107; in 1890, 148; in 1900, 200. Why is divorce more frequent in the United States than in any other country? Firstly, because in some of the states the divorce laws are less rigorous than in most of the other countries, and, secondly, because women enjoy a freer, more indepen- dent position than in any other country of the world, and are accordingly less willing to submit to the tyranny of husbands. The following shows the number of divorces in Ger- many from 1891 to 1900: Years ............ 1891. 1892. 1893. 1894. 1895. Divorces .......... 6,678 6,513 Years ............ 1896. 1897. 1898. 1899. 1900. Divorces ......... 8,601 9,005 9.143 9,563 We see that from 1899 to I 9 OO > the number of divorces have decreased by 1,635, because on the first of January, 1900, the new code of civil law went into effect which made divorce more difficult. But life is stronger than law. After there was a decrease in the divorce-rate from 1900 to 1902, there has been a rapid increase ever since, as the following table shows: Years ............ 1901. 1902. 1903. 1904. 1905. 1906. 1907. Divorces ......... 7,964 9,069 9,933 10,868 11,147 12,180 12,489 In Saxony, too, in spite of various fluctuations, there has been a steady increase, as may be seen from the following table : For each 1,000 Years. Divorces. marriages. 18361840 ---- ---- 356 121 18461850 ........ 395 121 18711875 ........ 58l 122 18911895 ........ 921 138 1896 1900 ........ 1,130 151 19011905 ........ 1,385 168 For each thousand marriages in Prussia there were the following number of divorces: 1881 to 1885, 67.62; 1886 to 1890, 80.55; 1891 to 1895, 86.77; 1896, 101.97; 1905, 106; 1908, 121. That is a tremendous increase. The increase of divorce is not a national but an inter- Woman at the Present Day 123 national symptom. For each thousand marriages there were the following number of divorces in : At the close 1876-1880. 1881-1885. 1886-1890. of the century. Austria 19.4 197 31- Hungary 31.6 30.4 30.5 58. Roumania 37.3 5 2 -3 73- 1 9 8 - Italy n.8 11.3 10.6 15. France 33.9 75.9 80.9 129. England & Wales. . 6.5 7.4 7. 10.6 Scotland 12.3 13. 16.7 26. Ireland 0.6 0.4 i.i I. Belgium 25.5 31.9 43. 72. Netherlands . . . . 78. Norway 13.9 12.1 19.3 33. Sweden 28.5 28.6 31.6 45. Finland 16.1 7.8 10.0 29. Switzerland 220. 200. 188. 199.9 It would be a great mistake to draw conclusions from these widely diverging figures about the moral status of the various countries enumerated above. No one would claim, that cause for divorce is four times greater among the Swedish people than among the English people. The laws must be taken into consideration that make divorce more or less difficult as the case may be.* The moral status, that is, the causes making divorce appear desir- able to either man or woman, are a secondary considera- tion. But the figures show, that the divorce-rate is in- creasing more rapidly than the population ; that is increasing, in fact, while the marriage-rate is decreas- ing. We will return to this phase of the question later on. Great differences of age between husband and wife play a considerable part in divorce. That is shown by the following table gathered from official statistics in Switzerland : *In England divorce is a privilege enjoyed by the rich. The cost of a trial is so exorbitant, that divorce becomes almost impos- sible to people of moderate means, especially as it necessitates a journey to London. In the whole country there is only one divorce court, which is situated in London. 124 Disruption of the Family NUMBER OF DIVORCES FOR EACH 1,000 MARRIAGES WITH SAME DIFFERENCE OF AGE. 1881 1890. 1891 1900. Man older ; 26 years and more 271 328 Man older ; 1 1 to 25 years 189 198 Man older; I to 10 years 193 181 Husband and wife of same age 195 190 Man younger; I to 10 years 226 226 Man younger; n to 25 years 365 431 Man younger ; 26 years and more 759 870 The following statistics from Saxony during 1905 and 1906, and from Prussia from 1895 to T 95> show the divorce-rate in its relation to the various strata of society : ANNUAL DIVORCES FOR EACH 100,000 MARRIED MEN. Saxony. Prussia. Agriculture 59 34 Industry 220 158 Commerce 297 229 Public service and learned professions. . . .346 165 In Saxony divorces were most frequent among offi- cials and professional men. In Prussia they were most frequent among those employed in commerce. In Saxony those employed in commerce came second; in Prussia, officials and professional men. Men employed in industry come third; 220 in Saxony, and 158 in Prussia. Those employed in agriculture furnished the lowest figures. When we compare the growing number of divorces in the cities with those among the rural population, we are led to the conclusion that the rapid development of in- dustry, accompanied by an increasing instability of pub- lic life, makes the marriage relation more unfavorable, and adds to the factors that make for the disruption of marriage. On the other hand, the growing divorce-rate shows, that the number of women are increasing who resolve to cast off a yoke that has become unbearable. 2. Bourgeois and Proletarian Marriage. The corruption of marriage increases at the same rate at which the struggle for existence grows more Woman at the Present Day 125 severe, making matrimony more and more an object of mercenary speculation. As it is becoming increasingly difficult to support a family, many men choose to refrain from marrying, and so the declamations about it being woman's duty to practice her natural profession of wife- hood and motherhood, are just so many meaningless phrases. On the other hand, these conditions are bound to foster illegitimate relations and to increase the number of prostitutes; they also increase the number of those who fall victims to an unnatural satisfaction of the sexual impulse. Among the ruling classes the wife is frequently degraded, just as she was in ancient Greece, to the mere functions of bearing legitimate children, acting as house- keeper, or serving as nurse to a husband ruined by a life of debauchery. For his amusement, or to gratify his desire for love, the man maintains courtesans 01 mistresses who live in elegance and luxury. Others who do not have the means of maintaining mistresses, asso- ciate with prostitutes during marriage as before mar- riage, and a number of wives are sufficiently corrupted to consider such relations quite proper.* In the upper and middle classes of society the chief evil in marriage is its mercenary character. But this evil is still heightened by the mode of life that prevails among these classes. That applies to the women as well as to the men, since they frequently lead lives of idleness or devote themselves to corrupting occupations. The society woman's spiritual nourishment usually consists *In his book on "The Woman Question in the Middle Ages," that T have frequently .quoted, Buecher laments the dissolution of marriage and the family. He condemns the employment of women in industry, and demands that woman should return to her "particu- lar sphere," the only one where she creates "real values," the home and the family. The aims of the modern woman movement appear "amateurish" to him, and he expresses the hope that "a better way may be found." But he fails to point out a successful way. From his bourgeois point of view it would be impossible to do so. The matrimonial conditions as also the position of women in general, are not the result of wilful creation. They are the natural product of social evolution, and this social evolution is consummated in accord- ance with inherent laws. 126 Disruption of the Family of the following: Reading ambiguous novels, visiting frivolous plays, enjoying sensuous music, resorting to intoxicating stimulants, and indulging in scandal-monger- ing. Idleness and ennui frequently entice her into love- intrigues, that are sought more eagerly still by the men of her circles. In the mad pursuit of pleasure she rushes from one banquet and entertainment to another, and in summer she goes to watering-places and summer resorts to rest from the exertions of the winter and to seek new amusement. Scandals are a daily occurrence with this mode of life ; men seduce and women allow themselves to be seduced. Among the lower classes mercenary marriage is prac- tically unknown. The workingman generally marries for love, but nevertheless many harmful and destructive in- fluences exist in the proletarian marriage also. Blessed with many children, cares and worries ensue, and all too often bitter poverty prevails. Disease and death are frequent guests in the proletarian family, and unemploy- ment heightens the misery. Many are the factors that lessen the workingman's income and frequently deprive him of that meagre income altogether. Hard times and industrial crises throw him out of employment ; the intro- duction of new machinery or of new methods of produc- tion, makes him superfluous ; wars, unfavorable tariff and commercial treaties, the imposition of new indirect taxes, or black-listing by his employers as a result of his political convictions, destroy his means of subsist- ence or gravely injure them. From time to time one or another thing occurs that entails a longer or shorter period of unemployment with its accompanying misery and starvation. Uncertainty is the mark of his existence. Such vicissitudes are productive of ill temper and bitter feelings that most frequently lead to outbursts in domestic life where demands are made daily and hourly that cannot be satisfied. This leads to quarrels and harsh words and eventually to a rupture in the marriage relation. Frequently both husband and wife must work for a living. The children are left to themselves or to the care of older brothers and sisters, who are still in need of Woman at the Present Day 127 care and education themselves. The noon-day meal, usually of the poorest quality, is devoured in utmost haste, provided that the parents have time to come home for this meal. In the majority of cases this is impossible, owing to the distances between homes and factories and to the brevity of the time allowed for rest. Weary and worn, both parents return at night. Instead of a cheerful, pleasant home to come to, theirs is only a small, unsani- tary dwelling, frequently wanting in fresh air and light and devoid of the most elementary comforts. The scarcity of available lodgings with all the resulting evils, is one of the darkest phases of our social system that leads to countless vices and crimes. In spite of all attempts at relief, the housing problem is becoming more serious every year in all the larger centers of industry ; and other starta of society, such as professional people, clerks, officials, teachers, small dealers, etc., are affected by it. ' The workingman's wife who returns to her "home" at night exhausted from a day's hard labor, must begin work anew. She must toil in feverish haste to attend to the most necessary details of housekeeping. After the children have been put to bed, she still con- tinues to mend and sew until far into the night. Rest and recuperation are unknown to her. The man often is ignorant and the woman still more so, and the little they have to say to one another is quickly said. The man goes to a saloon where he at least finds some of the comforts that he lacks at home; he drinks, and no matter how little he spends, he is spending too much tor his income. Sometimes he falls a victim to the vice of gambling, that claims many victims in the upper strata of society also, and then still loses more than he spends on drink. Meanwhile the woman is brooding at home full of grudge. She must toil like a beast of burden, there is no rest or recreation for her; but the man enjoys the liberty that is his, just because he had the good for- tune of having been born a man. Thus discord arises. If the woman is less conscientious; if she, too, seeks pleasure and diversion when she has returned from a hard day of work, to which she is surely entitled, her 128 Disruption of the Family household goes to ruin and the misery becomes greater still. Nevertheless, we are living in "the best of worlds." Thus marriage is constantly being disrupted among the proletariat also. Even favorable periods of employ- ment often have a detrimental influence, for they involve over-time work and sometimes also work on Sunday, thereby depriving the worker of the little time he is able to devote to his family. Often the distances from the workingmen's homes to their places of employment are so great, that they must leave at day-break, when the children are still soundly asleep, and do not return until late at night when they are sleeping again. Thousands of workingmen, especially those connected with the building trades, remain away from home during the entire week and only return to their families on Saturday night. How can family relations prosper under such con- ditions?! At the same time the number of women workers is constantly growing, especially in the textile industries, for thousands of spinning-machines and power-looms are being tended by women and children, whose labor is cheap. Here matrimonial relations have been reversed. While the wife and the children go to the factory, the unemployed man not infrequently, re- mains at home performing the domestic duties. "In a number of cloth factories in Chemnitz we find women who are employed there only during the winter months, because their husbands who are road-builders, masons or carpenters, earn little or nothing in winter. During the absence of the women, the men 1 attend to the house- keeping."* In the United States, where capitalism has developed so rapidly, that all its evils are manifest on a much larger scale than in the industrial countries of Europe, a characteristic name has been coined for this state of affairs. Industrial centers where women are mainly employed while men remain at home, have been called "she-towns."** *Technics and Political Economy. r fhe following clipping taken from an American newspaper in 1803 gives an adequate description of a "she-town" : "A singularity that is met with in the factory towns of Maine, is a class of men who may rightly be called housekeepers. Any one visiting some Woman at the Present Day 129 At present it is generally conceded that women should be admitted to all trades. Capitalistic society in its mad chase of profits has long since recognized, that women can be more profitably exploited than men, since they are by nature more pliant and meek.* Accordingly the number of trades in which women may find employment are increasing with every year. The constant improve- ment of machinery, the simplifying of the process of labor by an increased division of labor, and the competi- tive warfare among individual capitalists, as also among rival industrial countries all favor the steady increase of woman labor. The phenomenon is common to all industrially advanced countries. As the number of women in industry increases, the competition between them and the male workers grows more severe. The reports of factory inspectors and statistical investiga- tions prove this. The position of women is especially unfavorable in those trades in which they predominate as, for instance, the clothing trades, and particularly in those branches in which the workers perform the work in their own home. Investigations concerning the condition of women work- ers in the manufacture of underwear and the clothing trades, were made in Germany in 1886. This investiga- tion showed among other things that the miserable pay of these workers' homes shortly nfter the noon hour, will find the men, wearing an apron, washing dishes. At other hours of the day they may be seen making the beds, dressing the children, scrubbing or cooking. . . . These men do the housekeeping for the simple reason that their wives can earn more in the factories than they, and it is more economical for them to remain at home while the women work." *"Mr. E., a manufacturer, informs me that he employs only women at his power-looms. He prefers married women and espe- cially those who have a family at home depending upon them. They are much more attentive and docile than unmarried women, and are obliged to exert themselves to the utmost in order to earn the neces- sary means of subsistence. Thus the peculiar virtues of woman's character are turned to her own detriment, and the gentleness and decency of her nature become a means of her enslavement." From an address by Lord Ashley on the ten-hour bill, 1844. Karl Marx, "Capital," second edition. 130 Disruption of the Family these workers received frequently drove them to prostitution. Our Christian government, whose Christianity is sought in vain where it is really needful, but is met with where it is superfluous our Christian government is like our Christian bourgeoisie, whose interests it serves. This government finds it exceedingly difficult to decide upon the enactment of laws which would limit the work of women to a bearable degree and prohibit child-labor entirely. This same government also fails to grant a normal work-day and sufficient rest on Sundays to its own employees, thereby harming their family relations. Frequently men employed in the mail and railroad service and in prisons must work many hours overtime without receiving adequate remuneration. As the rents are also far too high in comparison with the incomes of the workers, they must content themselves with the poorest quarters. Lodgers of one sex or the other, sometimes of both, are taken into the working- man's home.* Old and young of both sexes live together in a small space and frequently witness the most inti- mate relations. How modesty and decency fare under such conditions, has been shown by horrible facts. The increasing demoralization and brutalization of the young that is being discussed so much, is partly due to these conditions. Child-labor, too, has the worst possible in- fluence on children, both physically and morally. The increasing industrial activity of married women has the most detrimental effect during pregnancy and at child-birth and during the early babyhood of the chil- dren, when they depend upon the mother for nourish- ment. During pregnancy it may lead to a number of *The Prussian census of igoo has shown that in Prussia there are 34^7>3^ persons not related to the families in whose midst they live. In the entire state about one-quarter of these non-related members of the households consisted of strange boarders and lodgers ; in the rural districts they constituted only one-seventh, but in the cities one-third, and in the capital, Berlin, more than one-half. G. v. Mayer, "Statistics and Social Science." Woman at the Present Day 131 diseases that are destructive to the unborn child and harmful to the organism of the woman, and bring- about premature births and still-births. When the child has been born, the mother is compelled to return to the fac- tory as soon as possible, lest some one else take her place. The inevitable result for the poor, little babes is neglect and improper or insufficient nourishment. They are given opiates to be kept quiet; and as a further result of all this, they perish in masses or grow up sickly and deformed. It means race degeneration. Frequently the children grow up without ever having experienced real parental love. Thus proletarians are born, live and die ; and society and the state marvel at it that brutality, im- morality and crime are increasing. During the sixties of the last century the cotton in- dustry in England almost came to a standstill, as a result of the Civil War that was being waged in the United States. Accordingly, thousands of working-women were unemployed, and among them physicians made the astounding observation, that in spite of the existing want, infant mortality was decreasing. The reason was that the babies now were being nursed by their mothers and more care was bestowed on them than ever before. During the crisis of the seventies of the last century similar observations were made in the United States, especially in New York and Massachusetts. Unem- ployment enabled the women to devote more time to their children. The same fact was noted during the gen- eral strike in Sweden in August and September of 1909. The mortality in Stockholm and other large Swedish cities had not been as low for many years as during the weeks of this giant strike. One of the eminent medical authorities of Stockholm declared that the low rate of mortality and the general state of good health was in close connection with the great strike. He pointed out that the out-of-door life which was being led by the army of strikers was chiefly responsible for this satis- factory state of health, for no matter how extensive the sanitary regulations might be, the air in the factories and workshops was always more or less detrimental to 132 Marriage as a Means of Support the health of the workers. The same medical authority pointed out, furthermore, that the prohibition of the sale of intoxicating drinks during the great strike, also tended to improve the state of health. Domestic industry, which is depicted so alluringly by the romancers among political economists, is not more favorable to the workers. Here man and wife both toil from dawn to darkness and the children are trained as helpers from their earliest childhood on. The entire family and perhaps some assistants live together in closest quarters among rubbish and disagreeable odors. The bedrooms are similar to the workshop, usually small, dark spaces with insufficient ventilation, detrimental to the health of the persons who are obliged to sleep in them. The struggle for existence that is growing increas- ingly difficult, also sometimes compels men and women to commit acts that they would loathe under different circumstances. It was shown in 1877 m Munich that among the prostitutes entered on lists by the police, there were no less than 203 wives of workingmen and mechan- ics. Many more married women are driven to occasional prostitution by need, without submitting to police control that deeply degrades all modesty and human dignity. CHAPTER X. Marriage as a Means of Support. i. Decline of the Marriage Rate. When we consider the conditions enumerated above, it requires no further proof to recognize that a growing number of persons do not regard the wedded state as a desirable goal, but hesitate to enter into it. This explains the phenomenon, that in most civilized countries the mar- riage rate is stationary or declining. It was a matter of old experience, that an increase in the price of grain had Woman at the Present Day 133 a detrimental effect on both the marriage and birth rates. With the growing industrial development of any country' the marriage and birth rates are influenced more and more by the ups and downs of the market. Economic crises and a lowering of the general economic standard have a lasting unfavorable influence. This may be seen from the marriage statistics of various countries. Accord- ing to the latest census, 12,832,044 marriages were con- tracted in the United States during the period from 1887 to 1906. 1887 . . . 483,096 1902 . . . 746,733 1891 . . . 562,412 1903 . . . 786,132 1892 . . . 577,870 1904 78iH5 1893 - - - 57 8 > 6 73 1905 - 804,787 1894 . . . 566,161 1906 . . . 853,232 These figures show that as a result of the crises during 1893 and 1894, the marriage rate declined by 12,512. The same phenomenon recurs in 1904, during which year the marriage rate declined by 4987. The following table shows marriage statistics gathered in France: 1873 J 877. . .299,000 1893 1897 288,000 1878 1882. . . .281,000 1898 1902. . . .296,000 18831887 284,000 19031907 306,000 1888 1892 279,000 The marriage rate attained its highest figure, 321,238, during the year 1873. From that time on the marriage rate declined only to increase again with times of pros- perity. In France the highest marriage rate since 1873 was attained in 1907 when it reached 314,903. To some extent this increase was due to a new law that went into effect on June 21, 1907, by which the legal formalities required in order to become married were simplified. This increase was especially noticeable in the poorer dis- tricts. The following table shows the number of mar- riages contracted for every thousand inhabitants in vari- ous European countries: 134 Marriage as a Means of Support COUNTRIES 1871 to 1875 1876 to 1880 1881 to IS8 5 1886 to 1890 1891 to 1895 1896 to 1900 1901 to 1905 1907 German Empire .... Prussia 18.84 18 88 15.68 i? 86 15.40 1C Q2 1568 16 7.2 15-88 1 6 40 17.83 16 86 16 16 2 16.2 16 4 Bavaria l8 Q2 I4.6"\ I 0'y* 17 O4 J7 06 14 76 16 OQ 1C 2 jc 4 Saxony IQ 06 17.70 l^.VJ^ 17 62 18 64 17 *>2 18 76 16 6 16 8 Austria 18 30 I 5 ^.2 15 88 1 1 4O A /O* I ^ 76 1 6 04 is 8 is 8 Hungary 21 cr IQ ^O 20 24 1 7 72 1 7 Q2 1 6 05 17 2 IQ 6 Italy 1C C4 15 06 14 08 17 64 14 06 14 4O 14 8 jc 4 Switzerland . . . 16 06 14 QO 13 80 14 oo 14 72 I 5 5Q 1C 1 ^>'7 jc 6 France 1 6. 06 jc j6 jc o4 U48 MOO jc 14 jc 2 16 England and Wales . Scotland 17.08 14. Q8 15-34 1 1 76 I5.U 1 7 76 14.70 18 02 I5.I6 n 68 I6.I4 UQ4 156 14 15-8 14 Ireland 0.72 9.O4 8 66 8 66 i^.WW Q 48 Q.87 10.4 IO.2 Belgium jr A A J7 Q4 I 3. Q4 14 3.4 TC 24 V'W 16 45 16 2 16 2 Netherlands 16 64 15 76 *d3P5 14 28 1 4 O4 14 48 14 88 1C jc 2 Denmark IS 88 TC C4 TC 78 I \ Q4 T 7 84 14 7Q U4 jc 2 Norway I J.UVJ 14 ;8 M4O 13 82 12 76 12 Q2 J7 77 12 4 ^O-* II 8 Sweden . ... 14 O4 I"! 2O 12 84 12 2O II 4 s . 12 O4 II 8 12 Finland 17 68 jc 72 14 QO 14 4O iA . the marriage rate declined until in 1879, tne y ear when the crisis was at its worst, it attained its lowest figure (335,133). Then it gradually increased again until 1890, a year of prosperity, to sink once more in 1892 and again to increase with the years of returning prosperity until with the height of prosperity the highest figures were attained (476,491 in 1900, and 471-519 in 1899). The next crisis brought another decline. In 1902 the number of marriages did not exceed 457,208 while in 1906 and 1907 it rose up again to 498,900 and 503,964. But in general the statistics of most countries point to a decline of the marriage rate. The highest numbers attained during the. seventies were attained only in ex- Woman at the Present Day 135 ceptional instances at the close of the nineties. But not only the earnings have a strong influence on the mar- riage rate, the conditions of property have so likewise. Statistics from the kingdom of Wurtemberg show, that with the increase of large estates the number of married men between 25 and 30 years of age decreases and the number of unmarried men between 40 and 50 years of age increases. Small estates are favorable to the mar- riage rate, because they enable a greater number of fam- ilies to maintain a decent though modest livelihood, while large estates are, for obvious reasons, unfavorable to the marriage rate. With the growing industrial develop- ment of a country, the number of marriages in urban trades and professions increases. The following statis- tics from Sweden during the years 1901 to 1904 show the relation of marriage to occupation : Agriculture per 1000 4.78 Industry " " 7.17 Commerce *' " .... 7.75 Learned professions . . " " ... .6.33 All these figures prove that not moral but economic causes are the determining factors. The number of mar- riages like tne moral status of a social group depend upon its material foundation. 2. Infanticide and Abortion. Fear of poverty and doubts as to whether it will be possible to bring up the children suitable to their station in life, cause many women of all classes to commit deeds that are averse to the laws of nature and to the laws of organized society as well. Such deeds include the various methods to prevent conception, and when this has oc- curred nevertheless, artificial abortion. It would be a mistake to assume that such methods are resorted to only by frivolous, unscrupulous women. They are, on the contrary, frequently resorted to by conscientious wives, who feel that they must limit the number of off- spring and rather submit to the dangers of abortion, than to deny themselves to their husbands and thereby drive 136 Marriage as a Means of Support them to the devious paths. Other women again take this step to conceal a "sin," or because they abhor the discom- forts of pregnancy, child-birth and motherhood, or be- cause they fear that their physical beauty will be impaired and that they will accordingly seem less attractive to their husbands and to men in general. These women readily obtain medical and surgical aid at high prices. Artificial abortion seems to be practiced more and more. It was frequently practiced among the ancients and is practiced to-day among both civilized nations and savages. The old Greeks practiced it openly, without any legal restraint. Plato regarded it as within the province of the midwife, and Aristotle permitted it to married people when a pregnancy that was not desired took place.* According to Jules Ronyer, the women of Rome practiced abortion for several reasons. In the first place they wished to conceal the results of their illigitimate relations; secondly they wished to indulge in uninter- rupted excesses, and thirdly they sought to avoid the detrimental effects of pregnancy and child-birth upon their beauty.** Among the romans a woman was con- sidered old when she attained the thirthieth year, and the women therefore shunned everything that was likely to make them age more quickly. During the mediaeval ages abortions were punishable by severe penalties, in some instances even by capital punishment, and a free \\oman who had practiced it became a serf. At the present time abortions are practiced chiefly in Turkey and in the United States. "The Turks do not regard a foetus as being really alive until after the fifth month, and have no scruple in causing its abortion. Even at later stages, when the operation becomes criminal, it is frequently practiced. In 1872 at Contanstinople, more than three thousand cases of abortion were brought be- fore the courts in a period of ten months."! More frequently yet it is practiced in the United States. In all the large cities of the union institutions exist where *Elie Metchnikoff --The Nature of Mait. **Jules Ronyer, Etudes medicales sur 1'ancienne Rome. Paris 1859. fElie Metchnikoff The Nature of Man. Woman at the Present Day 137 women and girls can go to bring about premature birth. Mauy American newspapers contain advertisements of such places.* In some strata of American society an artificial abortion is discussed as openly as a regular con- finement. In Germany and other European countries it is regarded in a different manner, and according to Ger- man law both the perpetrator and the accomplice may be punished by imprisonment. Abortion is often followed by the worst results ; not infrequently it results in death, and in many cases it means the permanent destruction of health. "Dangers from the most unfavorable preg- nancy and child-birth are less great than from artificial abortions."** Sterility is the most frequent result. Never- theless the practice is becoming more frequent in Ger- many also. Ine following number of persons were con- victed of criminal abortion: From 1882 to 1886, 839; from 1897 to 1901- 1565; from 1902 to 1906, 22236.! Dur- ing recent years several cases of criminal abortions cre- ated a sensation, because distinguished physicians and prominent society women figured in these cases. Judg- ing by the advertisements in German newspapers, there also is an increase of those places and institutions where married and unmarried women are given an opportunity to await the results of their wrong-doing in absolute secrecy. The fear of a too numerous progeny in consideration of the economic status and the cost of education has caused the introduction of preventive measures among entire classes and nations and has gradually developed into a regular system that threatens to become a public calam- ity. It is a wellknown fact that almost all strata of French society abide by the custom of limiting their off- spring to two children. Few civilized countries have as high a marriage rate as France ; but notwithstanding this fact, in no other country the birth rate is as low and the increase of population as gradual. The French bour- geoisie, -the peasantry and the working class, all abide by ^According to an official investigation, 200 persons were counted in New York who made a profession of artificial abortions. *Edw. Reich History of Abortion and its Dangers. j-Criminal statistics of the German Empire for the year 1906, 138 Marriage as a Means of Support this custom. In some parts of Germany the conditions among the peasantry seem to have lead to a similar state of affairs. In a picturesque region in the south-western part of Germany, a certain species of tree, which furnishes an ingredient for an abortive remedy, is grown on every farm. In another region the peasants have long since followed the custom of limiting their offspring to two children ; they do not wish to divide up their farms. Another noteworthy fact is the marked increase in the publication and sale of literature discussing and recom- mending means for optional sterility. Of course, these books are always clothed in "scientific" garb and invari- ably point to the threatening danger of excess of popu- lation. Besides the prevention of conception and artificial abortion, crime also plays a part. In France child ex- posure and infanticide have increased as a direct result of French civil law, according to which it is interdicted to investigate paternity. The "Code civil" provides that "La recherche de la paternite est enterdite," but "la recherche de la maternite est admise." This law forbids to search for a child's father but permits to search for its mother. With brutal frankness it thus proclaims in- justice to the unfortunate girl who has been seduced. The men of France may, by the provision of this law, seduce as many girls and women as they please ; they are freed from all responsibility and do not have to con- tribute anything to the support of their illegitimate chil- dren. This law was . framed under the pretext that women must be deterred from seducing men. We see, everywhere it is the poor, feeble man, although his is the strong sex, who never seduces but always is seduced. The result of this paragraph of the "Code civil" was the framing of another paragraph which provides that "L'enfant concupendant le marriage a pour pere le mari" (the husband is father to every child conceived during marriage). While it is forbidden to search after a child's father, deceived husbands must regard children as their own, that have sprung from illicit relations their wives may have maintained. We must admit that the French bourgeoisie is at least consistent. Until now Woman at the Present Day 139 all attempts to repeal these obnoxious laws have failed. On the other hand the French bourgeoisie seeks to atone somewhat for the cruelty of preventing women, who have been deceived, from seeking financial aid from the fathers of their children, by establishing foundling institutions. Thus the new-born babe is deprived not only of its father but of its mother as well. According to the French con- ception foundlings are orphans, and the French bour- geoisie thus permits its illegitimate children to be reared as "children of the nation" at the expense of the state. A wonderful institution ! Lately French methods have been copied in Germany. The new German civil law contains provisions in regard to the legal status of illegitimate children, that are in contradiction to the more humane laws that were in force heretofore. One paragraph states that "an illegitimate child and its father are not regarded as being related," while Emperor Joseph II had already decreed that legiti- mate and illegitimate children should be equal before the law? Another paragraph states that "an illegitimate child is fatherless if its mother maintained relations with sev- eral men at the time of conception." The child is made to suffer for its mother's frivolousness, weakness or pov- erty. Frivolous fathers are not taken into consideration by the law. The law concerning illegitimate children furthermore provides : "it is the mother's right and duty to care for the person of the illegitimate child. The father of the illegitimate child is obliged to provide for same until the completion of its sixteenth year, in accordance with the social status of the mother." According to former Prussian law, the seducer was obliged to provide for the child in accordance with his own social status and wealth. If the woman had been seduced with the promise of marriage, she was entitled to all the rights of a divorced wife, and in those cases the illegitimate children were regarded as legitimate before the law. These more just and humane provisions have now been dispensed with. The tendency of German legislation is a retogres- sdve one. During the period from 1831 to 1880, 8568 cases of infanticide were tried before the French court of assizes. 140 Marriage as a Means of Support This number increased from 471 during the years 1831 eo 1835 to 970 during the years 1876 to 1880. During the same period 1032 cases of criminal abortion were tried, zoo of these during the single year 1880. It goes without saying that only a small number of the artificial abortions actually practiced ever come to the notice of the courts. As a rule only such cases are brought to public attention that result in severe illness or death. The rural popula- tion furnished 75 percent of the infanticides, and the urban population furnished 67 percent of criminal obor- tions. The women residing in cities have more means at hand to prevent normal child-birth ; therefore the cases of abortion were numerous and the cases of infanticide relatively few. In the rural districts the inverse ratio prevails. In Germany the following number of persons were convicted of infanticide: from 1882 to 1886, 884; from 1897 to 1901, 887; from 1902 to 1906, 745. This is the picture presented by present day society in regard to its most, intimate relations. It differs con- siderably from that picture which is usually drawn for us by poetic visionaries, but it at least has the advantage of being true. Yet the picture is incomplete ; a few charac- teristic features must still be added. 3. Education for Marriage. All parties are agreed that at the present time the female sex is, on an average, mentally inferior to the male sex. Balzac, who by no means was an admirer of women, nevertheless declared, "a woman who has ob- tained the education of a man, indeed possesses the most brilliant and fruitful qualities for establishing her own happiness and that of her husband." Goethe, who was well acquainted with the types of men and women of his day, uttered the following sharp remark in "The Years of Travelling of William Meister" (Confessions of a fair soul) : "scholarly women were held up to ridicule, and educated women were not popular either, probably be- cause it was regarded as impolite to disgrace so many ignorant men." But that does not alter the fact that women, as a rule, are mentally inferior to men. This Woman at the Present Day 141 difference is bound to exist, since the mental status of / woman is but what man, her master, has made it. The I education of women has always been pitifully neglected, even more than the education of the proletariat, and even at the present time it is insufficient. In our age the de- sire for the exchange of ideas is a growing one among all classes of society, and accordingly we begin to recognize the neglected mental training of women as a great mis- take, one from which not only women, but men also must suffer. With men education is mainly directed upon the devel- opment of the intellect; it is supposed to sharpen their reasoning powers, to expand their knowledge and to strengthen their will-power. With women, especially among the upper classes, education is mainly directed upon the development of their sentiments ; it chiefly consists of attaining various accomplishments that only tend to heighten their imaginative faculty and to increase their nervous irritability, such as music, literature, art and poetry. That is the greatest error in education that could possibly be committed. It shows that educatorsf have allowed themselves to be guided by their prejudices! concerning the nature of woman and her narrow sphere in life. The development of sentiment and imagination in women should not be artificially stimulated which only increases the tendency to become nervous. With women, as well as with men, the mental faculties should be devel- oped and they should be acquainted with the practical facts of life. It would be the greatest advantage to both sexes if women were less sentimental and more rational ; if they displayed less nervousness and timidity, and more courage and will-power ; if they possessed fewer accomplishments, and a broader knowledge of the world and mankind and the natural forces of life. Until the present time the spiritual life of woman and her sen- timents have been stimulated to the utmost, while her intellectual development has been neglected, hampered and repressed. As a result she literally suffers from spiritual and sentimental hypertrophy, which makes her susceptible to all sorts of superstitions and miracle- frauds, an easy victim of religious and other swindles, a 142 Marriage as a Means of Support willing tool of bigotry and reaction. Men in their short- sightedness frequently lament this fact; but they do nothing to change it, because the great majority of them are still deeply entrenched in their own prejudices. As a result of this false education, women generally regard the world very differently from men, and thereby another great source of differences and misunderstandings be- tween the sexes is established. For every man in present day society, participation in public life is one of the most essential duties ; that many men still fail to recognize this duty does not alter the fact. But an ever widening circle of men has begun to recognize that public institutions directly affect the pri- vate relations of each individual, and that the welfare of individuals and families depends far more upon the nature of public institutions than upon personal qualities and actions. They have begun to recognize, that even supreme efforts on the part of a single individual are powerless; in combatting evils that are rooted in social conditions, and influence his position accordingly. More- over the struggle for existence necessitates far greater exertions to-day than formerly. Demands are made upon a man to-day, that require more and more of his time and strength. But the ignorant, indifferent woman is usually incapable of comprehending his duties and interests. We may even say that the differentiation between man and woman is greater to-day than it was formerly, when con- ditions were more petty and narrow, and therefore more within the range of woman's understanding. Occupa- tion with public affairs to-day claims a greater number of men than formerly. This expands their ideas, but it also estranges them from their domestic circle. Thereby the woman feels neglected, and one more source of differ- ences has been created. Only in rare cases do men suc- ceed in making themselves understood by their wives and in convincing them. As a rule the man holds the opinion that his aims and interests do not concern his wife, and that she is unable to understand them. He does not take the trouble to instruct her. "You don't understand that,'* is the usual reply when a woman complains to her hus- band that he is neglecting her. The lack of understand- Woman at the Present Day 143 ing on the part of the women is still heightened by the lack of common sense on the part of the men. Among the proletariat the relation between husband and wife is more favorable, when both recognize that they must fol- low the same path, since one, and one only leads to a bet- ter future for them and their children : the complete reor- ganization of society that will make all men and women free. As this recognition spreads among the women of the proletariat, their wedded life becomes idealized in spite of misery and want. For now both husband and wife have a common aim to strive for, and their common struggle furnishes an inexhaustible source of inspiration in exchange of opinions. The number of proletarian women who have awakened to this recognition is grow- ing with each year. Here a movement is expanding that will be of vital importance to the future of mankind. In other marriages the differences of education and conceptions, that were overlooked in the beginning while passion was still strong, become more and more notice- able with the advancing years. But as sexual passion decreases, it ought to be replaced by mental conformity. Quite disregarding the fact whether or not a man recog- nizes that he has social and civic duties, and whether or not he fulfills these duties, his business or profession alone suffices to keep him in constant touch with the out- side world, and to create an intellectual atmosphere about him that broadens his views. Contrary to the woman, he is usually in a state of intellectual moulting; but domestic activities require the woman's time and atten- tion from morning till night, and being deprived of op- portunity for mental development, she is apt to become dull and mentally stunted. This domestic misery in which the majority of wives in present day society are obliged to .Uve, has been truly pictured by Gerhard v. Amyntor in his book on "A Com- mentary to the Book of Life." In the chapter on "Fatal Stings" he says : "It is not the terrible occurrences that no one is spared, a husband's death, the moral ruin of a beloved child, long, torturing illness, or the shattering of a fondly nourished hope, it is none of these that undermine the woman's health and strength, but the little 144 Marriage as a Means of Support daily recurring, body and soul devouring cares. How many millions of good housewives have cooked and scrubbed their love of life away ! How many have sacri- ficed their rosy cheeks and their dimples in domestic ser- vice, until they became wrinkled, withered, broken mum- mies. The everlasting question: 'what shall I cook to- day/ the ever recurring necessity of sweeping and dust- ing and scrubbing and dish-washing, is the steadily fall- ing drop that slowly but surely wears out her body and mind. The cooking stove is the place where accounts are sadly balanced between income and expense, and where the most oppressing observations are made concerning the increased cost of living and the growing difficulty in making both ends meet. Upon the flaming altar where the pots are boiling, youth and freedom from care, beauty and light-heartedness are being sacrificed. In the old cook whose eyes are dim and whose back is bent with toil, no one would recognize the blushing bride of yore, beautiful, merry and modestly coquettish in the finery of her bridal garb. To the ancients the hearth was sacred ; beside the hearth they erected their lares and household- gods. Let us also hold the hearth sacred, where the con- scientious German housewife slowly sacrifices her life, to keep the home comfortable, the table well supplied, and the family healthy." That is the only consolation that bourgeois society is able to offer those women who slowly perish as a result of the present order! Those women who enjoy a freer position as a result of their more favored social circumstances, usually have a narrow, superficial education that is manifested in con- nection with inherited, female characteristics. Most of these women are interested only in external appearances ; dress and personal adornment are their chief concern, and the satisfaction of their depraved tastes and their unbri- dled passions, form their object in life. They are not interested much in the children and their education ; that would mean too much trouble and annoyance. Therefore they willingly turn over their children to nurses and gov- ernesses and later on to boarding-schools. At the most they regard it as their duty to make silly doll-women of their daughters, and superficial, extravagant dandies of Woman at the Present Day 145 their sons. This class of young men, who regard idleness and extravagance as a profession, furnishes the seducers of the daughters of the people. The conditions described above have lead to a number of traits of character peculiar to women, that are more fully developed from generation to generation. Men seem to find satisfaction in ridiculing these traits, but they for- get that they themselves are to blame for them. The following are some of these frequently condemned female traits of character : talkativeness and scandal-mongering ; the inclination to discuss the most insignificant things at the greatest length ; the exaggerated interest in outward display; the love of dress and coquetry; envy and jealousy toward the members of her sex, and the tendency of being dishonest and hypocritical. These traits of char- acter usually manifest themselves with the female sex at an early age; they are general and only differ in degree. These traits have developed under the pressure of social conditions, and they have been further developed by heredity, example and education. One who has been brought up unwisely is not likely to bring up others wisely. In order to understand the origin and development of traits of character common to an entire sex or to an entire people, we must follow the same method that modern scientists apply to understand the origin and develop- ment of living beings and their characteristics. The ma- terial conditions of life to a great extent imprint upon every living being its traits of character. It is compelled to adapt itself to these existing material conditions, until the adaptation becomes its nature. Human beings form no exception to that which holds true for all living beings throughout nature. Man is not exempt from natural laws. Viewed physiologically, he is merely the most highly developed animal. Of course, many persons refuse to admit this. Thousands of years ago ancient peoples, although they knew nothing of modern science, held more rational views in regard to many human problems, than a great many of our con- temporaries, and, what is more noteworthy still, their views that were based on experience, were put into prac- 146 Marriage as a Means of Support tice. We praise and admire the strength and beauty of the men and women of ancient Greece ; but we forget that it was not the climate of this beautiful country that had such a favorable influence upon the nature and develop- ment of its population, but the educational maxims that were consistently carried out by the state, and that were destined to combine beauty, strength and skill with men- tal sharpness and vigor. Indeed the mental develop- ment of woman was neglected even then, but not so her physical development.* In Sparta where physical cul- ture of both sexes was most extensively practiced, boys and girls went about naked until the age of puberty, and together they joined in physical exercises, games and wrestling-matches. The display of the nude human body, the natural treatment of natural things, prevented the extreme sexual irritation that is mainly caused by an artificial separation of the sexes from childhood on. The body of one sex was no mystery to the other. No dally- ing with ambiguities could arise. Nature was regarded as such. Each sex took pleasure in the beauty of the other. To a natural, untrammeled relation of the sexes must mankind return; we must cast aside the unsound spir- itualistic conceptions concerning human affairs and cre- ate methods of education that shall bring about a phys- ical and mental regeneration. The prevailing concep- tions in regard to education, especially the education of women, are still exceedingly reactionary. That a woman should possess such qualities of character as strength, courage and determination, is decried as unwomanly, and yet no one can deny that by means of such qualities she will be better enabled to protect herself. But her phys- ical development is hampered, just like her mental development. This is due in no small degree to the irrational mode of dress. Woman's dress not only inter- feres with her physical development, it frequently does her direct bodily harm; and yet there are few, even *Plato. in "The State", demands that women should be given an education similar to men. and Aristoteles in "Politics" declares as a fundamental principle of education : "iirst let the body be developed and then the mind. Woman at the Present Day 147 among physicians, who dare to oppose it. Fear of dis- pleasing the patient causes them to be silent or even to flatter her follies. The modern style of dress prevents women from freely exercising their strength, hampers their physical development, and creates a feeling of helplessness in them. Moreover, woman's dress endan- gers the health of her environment, for at home and on the street she is a walking generator of dust. The physical and intellectual development of women is furthermore severely hampered by a rigorous separa- tion of the sexes in school and in social intercourse, that is quite in accordance with the spiritualistic conceptions implanted by Christianity, and is still sadly prevalent among us. The woman who is given no opportunity to develop her abilities and talents, who is maintained within a narrow sphere of ideas, and rarely permitted to asso- ciate with members of the other sex, cannot rise above the commonplace and trivial. For her ideas are centered in the occurrences of her immediate environment. Ver- bose conversations over a mere nothingness and the ten- dency to gossip are fostered by this narrow life, since the mental activities that reside in every human being must find expression somewhere. Men are frequently griev- ously annoyed and driven to despair by these qualities which they roundly condemn, without pausing to con- sider that they, "the lords of creation," are chiefly to blame for them. During recent years numerous attempts have been made to introduce more rational conceptions of life; but they are merely a beginning, and until now have been confined to a very small portion of society. 4. The Misery of Present Day Marriages. As a result of our social and sexual relations, woman is directed toward marriage by every fibre of her existence, and naturally marriage constitutes a chief topic of her conversation and thought. As woman is physically weaker than man, and is subjected to him by custom and law, her tongue is her chief weapon to be used against him, and she naturally makes a liberal use of this weapon. In the same way her much berated love of dress and per- 148 Marriage as a Means of Support sonal adornment can be explained, that leads to increas- ingly eccentric follies of fashion and often causes finan- cial troubles and unpleasantness to fathers and husbands. To man, woman has chiefly been an object of enjoyment. Being socially and economically dependent, she must regard marriage as a means of support, and thus becomes subservient to man, becomes his property. Her position is rendered more unfavorable still by the fact that the number of women usually exceeds the number of men ; we will return to this phase of the question later on. This disproportion increases the competition of women among themselves, all the more so because, for numerous reasons, many men fail to marry. Woman is therefore compelled to enhance her personal charms, in order to compete with the members of her own sex in the struggle for the possession of a man. When we consider that this disproportion has existed through many generations, it is not to be wondered at that these charactecistics have gradually assumed their present, extreme form. We must consider moreover that at no time the competition among women for the possession of man was as severe as it is at present, owing to causes, some of which have already been, and others that still are to be enumerated. The increasing difficulty of obtaining a decent livelihood also directs woman more than ever to marriage as a means of support. Men do not object to these conditions, since they are favorable to them. It flatters their vanity and serves their interest to play the part of the ruler, and as all rulers they are not easily accessible to reason. It is all the more important therefore that women themselves should strive to bring about conditions that will liberate them from their present, degraded position. Women can no more rely upon the aid of men, than the workers can rely upon the aid of the bourgeoisie. When we furthermore consider what traits of character are developed by competition along other lines, how, for instance, industrial competition leads to hatred, envy and calumny, and how the competitors resort to the basest means, we find an explanation for the fact that similar traits of character have been developed in women by their Woman at the Present Day 149 competition for the possession of a man. It is due to this permanent competition that women, as a rule, cannot get along as well with one another as men can ; that even intimate friends are easily led to quarrel when the favor of a man enters into consideration. This competition also explains what may be frequently observed, that when two women meet, even though they are utter strangers to one another, they regard each other in a hostile way. With a single glance they have summed up each other's shortcomings in the manner and style of their clothes, and in the looks of each the verdict may be read : "I am better dressed than you are and am better able to attract attention to myself." On the other hand woman is by nature more impulsive than man. She is less given to reflection, is more unselfish and naive, and is more controlled by passion. These traits of character are expressed in their most beautiful form by the unselfish self-sacrifice with which she serves her children and others who are near and dear to her and cares for them during illness. But when angered, her im- passionate nature manifests itself in its ugliest form. Yet the fact remains that both good and evil qualities are fos- tered, hampered or transformed, by the social position. The same propensity that may be harmful under unfavor- able circumstances may, under favorable circumstances, become a source of happiness to oneself and others. Fourier has ably shown that the same human propensities may, under different circumstances, lead to opposite results.* Beside the improper mental education, the improper or insufficient physical education in regard to the purposes of nature, remains to be considered. All physicians are agreed that woman's education for her profession of motherhood is almost entirely neglected. "Soldiers are trained in the use of their weapons, and mechanics in the use of their tools. Every profession requires preliminary study. Even the monk has his noviceship. Only the *A. Bebel "Charles Fourier, His Life and His Theories." Stutt- gart, 1907. T. H. W. Dietz. 150 Marriage as a Means of Support woman is not educated for her serious maternal duties".* Nine tenths of all maidens who are given an opportunity to marry, enter matrimony in complete ignorance of motherhood and its duties. The unpardonable prudery that prevents mothers from speaking to their grown daughters about the important functions of sex, leaves them in a state of densest ignorance concerning their duties to their husbands and to themselves. The entrance into marriage means to most women entrance into an utterly strange world. Their conceptions of marriage are purely imaginative, drawn from novels of doubtful value, and are usually very foreign to reality.** Another source of differences may be found in the lack of practical knowledge of housekeeping that is still quite essential in present day marriage, though women have been relieved of many domestic activities that were formerly inevitable. Some women are deplorably ignorant of household duties because they consider themselves superior to such work and regard it as a task for servants only. Others, daugh- ters of the proletariat, are equaly ignorant, because the struggle for existence compelled them to toil in the fac- tory from morning until night, and they found no time to prepare for their future profession of housekeeper. It becomes more and more evident that the trend of devel- opment makes individual housekeeping unpractical, and that it can be maintained only by an irrational sacrifice of time and money. *Irma v. Troll-Borostyani "The Mission of our Century. A Study of the Woman Question." **In "Les Femmes qui tuent et les femmes qui votent," Alexander Dumas, jr., relates that an eminent Catholic clergyman had told him that among hundred of his former female pupils who had become married,, at least eighty came to him after a few months had elapsed and told him that marriage was a disappointment to them and that they regretted having marrie.d. That seems very plausible indeed. The. French bourgeoisie find it compatible with their conscience to have their daughters reared in convents. They are influenced by the assumption that an ignorant woman is more easily guided than an enlightened one. Conflicts and disappointments in marriage are the inevitable result. Laboulaye even frankly advises to maintain tlu women in moderate ignorance, for "notre empire est detruit si rhcmme est reconnu." (Our rule will be destroyed if man is recognized.) Woman at the Present Day 151 There is still another cause that to many men destroys the purpose of marriage: the physical enfeeblement of women. The food we eat, the manner in which we live, the conditions of our work and the character of our amusements, all tend to act more destructively than favor- ably upon our physical condition. Rightly is our age termed a nervous age. But nervousness leads to physical degeneration. Anaemia and nervousness exist in an especially marked degree among women. This physical degeneration is fast becoming a social calamity, and if it would continue to exist for several generations more, without our being able to procure more normal conditions of development, it would ultimately lead to race destruction.* . The female organism requires special care in considera- tion of its special sexual functions. It requires good and sufficient nourishment and at certain periods it requires rest. For the great majority of women such care does not exist, nor can it be obtained under present-day con- ditions. Women have so accustomed themselves to self- denial that many women consider it a matrimonial duty to give their husbands the best morsels and to content themselves with insufficient food. It also frequently hap- pens that the boys of a family are better nourished than the girls. It is generally assumed that women can con- tent themselves with poorer and less nourishment than men. Young girls are therefore often a sad sight to pro- fessional authorities on hygiene and physical culture.** A great number of our young women are weak, anaemic, and extremely nervous. The results are suffering during menstruation and diseases of the sexual organs that some- times make it dangerous or impossible to give birth to children or to nurse them. "If the degeneration of our ^Softening of the brain has increased more rapidly among women than among men. Among every hundred patients admitted to asy- lums in Prussia there were cases of softening of the brain : 18761879 17.0 3.7 18951897 18.5 7.6 18801891 17.3 5.4 18981901 16.2 7.5 18921894 17.7 6.8 **Further details on this subject may be found in "The Book of Women," by Mrs. H. S. Adams, M. D., Stuttgart. 152 Marriage as a Means of Support women continues to go on in the same manner as up to the present, it will become doubtful whether civilized man may still be classified with the mammals."* Instead of being married to a healthy, cheerful companion, a capable mother, a wife attending to her domestic duties, the man is burdened with a sickly, nervous woman who cannot endure the slightest draught or the least noise and re- quires the constant attendance of a physician. We need not dwell longer on this subject. Everyone knows of a number of such cases among his own friends and relatives. Experienced physicians assert that the majority of mar- ried women, especially in the cities, are in a more or less abnormal, physical condition.' According to the degree of the ailment and the characters of husband and wife, such marriages must be more or less unfortunate. In accordance with public opinion they entitle the men to take liberties outside of their matrimonial relations, and the knowledge of this fact must heighten the misery of the wives. Sometimes the sexual requirements of hus- band and wife also differ widely and give rise to profound disharmonies/yet the much desired separation is not pos- sible. In connection with this, the truth must not be con- cealed that in a great many cases the men are respons- ible for the severe physical sufferings that befall their wives in marriage , . As a result of their prof- ligate lives, many men suffer from chronic sexual dis- eases that they frequently treat lightly, because they do not cause them much trouble. But during sexual in- tercourse with their wives, these fall victims to severe abdominal diseases that set in shortly after marriage and frequently result in sterility. Usually the unfortunate woman is ignorant of the true cause of the disease that mars her life and destroys the purpose of marriage, and reproaches herself or is reproached for the condition that her husband has caused. Many a blooming young woman becomes a chronic invalid after she has barely entered marriage, neither she nor her relatives are *Dr. F. B. Simon, "The Care of the Health of Women." Woman at the Present Day 153 able to explain her condition, and the physican must maintain silence. Recent investigations have shown that childless marriages are frequently due to sexual diseases of men; while formerly the lords of creation maintained the convenient theory that the woman was always to blame when their marriages remained childless.* Numerous are the causes that prevent present day marriage from being what it ought to be. It is therefore a recommendation of doubtful value when even learned men seek to oppose the woman movement by pointing out to woman that marriage is their true vocation. As a result of our social conditions marriage has become a carricature foreign to its true purposes. CHAPTER XI. The Chances of Matrimony. i. The Numerical Proportion of the Sexes. The usual advice to women to seek their salvation in marriage, this being their true profession, is thoughtlessly approved of by the vast majority of men. But it seems like mockery, that many of those who give such advice and of those who applaud it, refrain from marrying themselves. Schopenhauer, the philosopher, has only the conception of a philistine concerning woman and her position. He says: "woman is not called upon to perform great tasks. Her characteristic is not doing but suffering. She pays her debt to life by the throes of child-birth, care of her child and submissiveness to her husband. The supreme expressions of vitality and per- ception are denied her. Her life should be more tran- quil and insignificant than man's life. Woman is called upon to be the nurse and educator of childhood because she is childish herself; because throughout life she re- *Dr. F. B. Simon discusses this subject and the analogous subject, why so many young women become ill after marriage without being able to account for it, at length. His book is a glaring reflection upon the wrongdoings and vices of men. 154 Tne Chances of Matrimony mains a big child, a sort of intermediary stage between child and man, the true human being. . . . Girls should be reared to be domestic and submissive. . . . Women are the most thoroughgoing, incurable philistines." The work by Lombroso and Ferrero, "Woman as a Criminal and Prostitute", is also written in the spirit of Schopenhauer. We have never met with an equally extensive scientific book, it consists of 590 pages, that contains so little convincing material in regard to the subject it deals with. The statistics from which the most daring conclusions are drawn, are very inadequate. Sometimes a dozen cases have sufficed the author to form a weighty opinion. It is a noteworthy fact that the material contained in the book which may be regarded as the most trustworthy has been furnished by a woman, Dr. Mrs. Tarnowskaya. The influences of social con- ditions and social development are almost entirely dis- regarded. All phenomena are judged from a narrow physiological and psychological point of view arrd much ethnological information concerning various peoples is interwoven with the argumentation, without any attempt being made to investigate the nature of this in- formation. According to the authors, as according to Schopenhauer, woman is a big child, an incarnate liar, weak in her judgment, fickle in love, incapable of any heroic deed. The inferiority of woman, so they claim, has been proven by a great many physical differences and charecteristics. "Woman's love is, at the bottom, noth- ing but a secondary character of motherhood. All the sentiments of affection that bind a woman to a man are not derived from the sexual impulse but from instincts of devotion and submission acquired by adaptation." But how these instincts were acquired the authors fail to examine. If they did, it would imply an investigation of the social position of woman during thousands of years which has made her what she is to-day. The authors describe the dependence and enslavement of woman among different nations and during various periods of civilization, but being blinded by a narrow conception of the Darwinian theory, they trace everything to physiol- ogical causes, and disregard the social and economic Woman at the Present Day 155 causes that have had the strongest influence on woman's physiological and psychological development. Among other things the authors discuss the vanity of woman and express the view that among people at a low stage of development men are the vain sex, which may be observed even to-day on the Hebrides, Madagascar and among the tribes about the Orinoco river, as also on many islands of the Polynesian Archipelago and among a number of African and South Sea Island tribes ; while among nations of high stage of development, women are the vain sex. But why is this so? The answer is simple. Among peoples at a low stage of development, matriarchal conditions prevail or have been abandoned but recently. Here woman's position is such that she is relieved of the necessity of wooing man. The man woos her, and for this purpose he adorns himself, he becomes vain. Among peoples at a higher stage of development, especially among all civilized nations, man does not woo woman, but woman woos man. It rarely occurs that woman takes the initiative and literally offers herself to a man ; modesty forbids that. But the offer nevertheless is made by manner and dress, the luxury of her personal adornment and her coquetry. Such conduct is forced upon her by the fact that there are more women that men and by the social necessity of regarding marriage as a means of support and as the only institution by means of which she may satisfy her sexual impulse and obtain social recognition. Here again we find purely economic and social causes bringing forth qualities, now in the man and now in the woman, that we are accustomed to regard as quite independent of social and economic causes. From this we may draw the conclusion that when society has reached a state of development in which every form of dependence of one sex upon the other will cease, vanity and the follies of fashion will disappear as will many other vices that we deem ineradicable to-day, because we be- lieve them to be inherent in human nature. In regard to Schopenhauer it must be said that he, as a philosopher, is as biased in his judgment of women as the majority of our anthropologists and medical men who 156 The Chances of Matrimony regard her only as a sex being, never as a social being. Schopenhauer had never been married. He failed to con- tribute his share that one more woman might fulfill the purpose in life that he prescribed to women. This leads us to another, no more pleasant phase of the question. It is generally known that many women remain unmar- ried because they are given no opportunity to become married. Custom forbids the woman to offer her- self. She must allow herself to be chosen ; she may not choose. If she is not chosen she must join that great army of unfortunate women who have missed their purpose in life and who are frequently subjected to a life of poverty and want, sometimes made more bitter still by ridicule. But what causes the numer- ical disproportion of the sexes? Many are quick to reply : too many girls are born. The persons who make this statement are misinformed, as we shall see. Others draw the conclusion that if women are in the majority in most civilized countries, polygamy ought to be permitted. But polygamy is not only averse to our customs, it also entails the degradation of woman ; although that did not prevent Schopenhauer from asserting that "to the female sex in general polygamy is a boon." Many men do not marry be- cause they believe that they are unable to support one woman and the children who are likely to be born accord- ing to their station in life. Only few men are able to support two women, and among these, many do have two or several wives: one legitimate wife, and one or several illegitimate wives. Those privileged by wealth allow nothing to prevent them from doing as they choose. Even in the orient where custom and law have suffered polygamy to exist for thousands of years, relatively few men have more than one wife. We speak of the degrad- ing influence of life in Turkish harems. But we overlook the fact that only very few men belonging to the ruling class can afford to maintain a harem, while the great mass of men live in monogamic marriage. In the city of Algiers at the close of the sixties of the last century, there were among 18,282 marriages no less than 17,319 with only one wife ; there were 888 marriages with two wives, and only Woman at the Present Day 157 75 with more than two. In Constantinople, the capital of the Turkish empire, conditions are probably quite sim- ilar. Among the rural population in the orient the con- ditions favoring monogamic marriage are still more strik- ing. In the orient, as with us, material conditions come into consideration that compel the majority of men to content themselves with one wife.* But if conditions were equally favorable to all men polygamy could still not be generally maintained because there are not enough women. Under normal conditions the numbers of per- sons of both sexes are almost equal, which everywhere points to monogamic marriage. The following table which has been published by Buecher in the "General Statistic Records," proves this assertion.** Number of male persons Number of female persons Entire population Number of women for every 1000 men Kurope I7o,Sl8 ^6l 174. QI4 IIQ 745,772 680 I. O24 America 4.1,64^ ^80 4o S4o ^86 82.l8l.775 071 Asia 177,648 044 170 260 I7Q 747,017,22^ Australia Africa 2,197,799 6.004.064 i,87i,82i 6,771,^60 4,069,620 I? 76s, 425 852 068 399,301,857 394,366,865 793,668,722 9 88 The result of this compilation may, to many people, be a surprising one. With the exception of Europe where there are, on an average, 1,024 female inhabitants for every 1000 male inhabitants, the male population predom- inates. Even if we may assume that the information is incomplete, especially in regard to the female sex, and that especially in countries with a Mohammedan popula- tion the female population surpasses the given figures, Throughout India polygamy exists in only a moderate form. According to the census of 1901 which includes all religions, there were for every 1000 married men, 1,011 married women. According to this the monogamic eauilibrium is not seriously interfered with. D. v. Mayer. **Karl Buecher, on the distribution of both sexes upon the earth ; lecture delivered on Tan. 6, 1892, before the Geographical and Statis- tical Society of Frankfort on the Main. General Statistic Records published by Dr. George v. Mayer. Vol. II. Tubingen, 1892. 158 The Chances of Matrimony the fact remains that, except in a few European countries, the female population nowhere considerably exceeds the male population. In the meantime the imperial bureau of statistics in Berlin has published a new compilation of the census in European and non-European countries which includes 883,000,000 people. "When we take into consideration the census, not included in this compilation, of Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Costa Rica, Argentine Republic, the Transvaal, Orange River Colony, Cyprus, Formosa and Pescadores, the number of enumerated in- habitants of the earth attains 882,000,000 with a general average of 991 female persons for every 1000 male per- sons. For the enumerated population of the earth we may therefore assume an almost equal representation of both sexes with a slight preponderance of the male.* In Europe the conditions are different. With the ex- ception of the countries of South Eastern Europe, Bos- nia, Herzegovina, Servia, Bulgaria, Rumania and Greece, the female population predominates. The proportion is least unfavorable in Hungary and Italy where there are respectively 1,009 an d 1,010 female inhabitants for every 1000 male inhabitants. Belgium comes next with 1013 female for every 1000 male inhabitants. Portugal and Norway show the most unfavorable proportion; next to these Great Britain with 1063 female for every 1000 male inhabitants. France, Germany, Austria and Russia lie in the middle having for every 1000 male inhabitants respec- tively 1,033, l >3 2 > l >35 an d 1,029 female inhabitants.** In Germany during the last two decades each census has shown a more favorable proportion. On Dec. I, 1885, the female population exceeded the male population by 988,376 persons. The census of Dec. I, 1890, still showed an excess of the female population of 966,806 persons. 1895 957,401 ; 1900 892,684, and according to the cen- sus of Dec. i, 1905 the excess of the female population had sunken to 871,916 persons (1029 female for every 1000 *G. v. Mayer Dr. G Schnapper Arndt in his book of Social Statistics arrives at the same conclusion. "Taken all in all the pro- portion of both sexes is approximately equal" ** According to G. Schnnpper Arndt; founded on recent census figures, around the close of the century. Woman at the Present Day 159 male inhabitants). The decline of this difference may be chiefly accounted for by the decline of emigration in which the male sex is mainly concerned. This may be clearly seen from the proportion of the sexes in the United States, into which the stream of emigration is mainly directed, and where the dearth of women is almost as great as the excess of women in Germany. In 1900 for every 1000 men there were only 953 women. This emigration from Germany decreased from 220,902 persons in 1881 to 22,073 persons in 1901 and to 19,883 persons in 1908. The fact, that more men than women emigrate, accounts in the first place then for the difference between the numbers of persons of both sexes. Italy furnishes a good example; for t*here the male population still pre- dominated at the beginning of the forties of the last cent- ury, while at present the female population predominates, owing to the large en igration. Furthermore, more men than women meet with acci- dents in agriculture, industry, commerce and traffic. Also more men are temporarily absent abroad as merchants, sailors, marines, etc. Another fact that has been statis- tically proven and that constitutes an important factor is that women on an average attain a higher age than men and that therefore there are more old women than old men. According to the census of 1900 the proportion of the sexes according to age in Germany was the following : D^ AGE Male Female More male More female Excees of female population Under 10 years . . . 6,904,732 6,871,599 33,133 From i o to 15 years 2,925,918 2,912,573 13,345 15 21 3,179-813 3,162,448 17,365 21 30 4,251,204 4,293,775 42,571 30 40 3,669,656 3,731,556 61,900 40 50 2,770,451 2,923,228 152,777 50 60 2,053,085 2,320,273 267,188 60 70 1,300,637 I,545,8o8 . 245,171 70 years up . 681,751 868,671 186,920 27,737,247 28,629,931 63,845 956,527 892,684 160 The Chances of Matrimony This table shows that up to the twenty-first year the number of boys exceeds the number of girls.* This ex- cess of boys is due to the fact that everywhere more boys than girls are born. The following number of boys and girls, for instance, were born in the German empire : During the year 1872 for 100 girls 106.2 boys " ' " " 1884 " 100 " 106.2 " " 1900 " 100 " 106.0 " " 1905 " ioo " 106.3 " " 1907 ' ioo 106.3 But the male sex dies younger than the female sex; especially during infancy more boys than girls die. Our table shows that from the twenty-first year on the female population exceeds the male. The following figures show the death-rate of male and female inhabitants in Germany : During the During the years Male Female years Male Female 1872 1875... 29.5 26.3 1891 1895... 24.6 22.1 1876 1880. . .27.8 24:5 1896 1900. . .22.6 20.0 1881 1885... 27.3 24.2 1901 1905... 21.0 18.8 1886 1890... 25.8 23.1 ** The table on page 159 furthermore shows that at the true marriageable age, between the twenty-first and fiftieth year the female sex exceeds the male sex by 257,248 persons (in the year 1890 by 422,519) and be- tween the fiftieth and seventieth year by 699,279 (in the year 1890 by 566,400). In Germany as in England the number of old women increases each year. A great dis- proportion, that constantly increases, is furthermore met with among widowed and divorced persons. According to the census of 1890 and 1900 there were the following numbers of widowed persons in Germany : *According to the census of 1890, there was an excess of boys only up to the tenth year of age, and according to the census of 1895, up to the sixteenth year. ** Hygienic and ethnological conditions of the German Empire. Berlin, 1907- During the year 1907 for every ioo female deceased there were 109.3 male. Woman at the Present Day 161 1890 1900 Men 774,9 6 7 809,238 Women 2,157,870 2,352,921 More women than men. .. .1,382,903 1,543,683 These widowed persons were of the following ages : 1890 1900 Men Women Men Women 40 to 60 years 222,286 842,920 225,191 900,357 60 years and older 506,319 1,158,712 537,116 1,299,905 The number of divorced persons were during 1890, 25,271 men and 49,601 women. During 1900, 31,279 men and 60,738 women. These were of the following ages : 1890 1900 Men Women Men Women 40 to 60 years.... 1 3,825 24,842 16,976 30,385 60 years and older.. 4,917 7,244 5,713 8,452 These figures show us that widowed and divorced women are excluded from remarriage, even during the age best suited to marriage. For during the years 1890 and 1900 there were respectively 46,362 and 46,931 widowed men up to the fortieth year of age, while during the same years there were respectively 156,235 and 152,689 widowed women. There were divorced men in 1890 and 1900 respectively 6519 and 8590 and divorced women 17,515 and 21,901. Here the disadvantage of di- vorce to the women is proved by figures. The following shows the proportion of unmarried per- sons during 1900: -_ _..- Men Women 15 to 40 years 6,700,352 5,824,464 40 to 60 years 426,388 503,406 60 years and older. . . . 141,416 252,134* '\mong the unmarried persons between the fifteenth and fortieth year there are, as above table shows, 875,888 more men than women, which appears to be very favor- able to women. But men between the fifteenth and twen- *Statistics of the German Empire. Census of Dec. i, 1900. 1 62 The Chances of Matrimony ty-first year of age, at which age there are 3,175,453 men to 3,064,567 women, are, with very few exceptions, un- able to marry. The same may be said of men between the twenty-first and twenty-fifth year of age, the great majority of whom are unable to support a family, while women of this age are all marriageable. When we further- more consider the fact that for diverse reasons a great many men do not marry at all, the number of unmarried men over 40 years were 567,804, we find that the position of women in regard to marriage is a highly unfavorable one. A great many women then, under present-day con- ditions, are compelled to deny themselves the legitimate satisfaction of the sexual impulse, while men seek and find satisfaction in prostitution. The position of women would become a far more, favorable one, as soon as a transformation of social conditions would abolish the ob- stacles that at present prevent hundreds of thousands of men from becoming married. As already mentioned the disproportion in the numbers of the sexes is due to a great extent to emigration. Obligatory service in the army also drives many young men, frequently the strongest, to seek their fortune abroad. According to official reports of the army, 135,168 men were convicted of illicit emigration, and 13,055 more cases were being investigated. These figures include men up to the forty-fifth year. This illicit emigration of men from Germany causes a considerable loss. Emigration is especially large in the years following great wars; that was seen after 1866 and during the years 1871 to 1874. We furthermore have great losses of life among men by accidents. In Prussia during the period from 1883 to 1905 no less than 297,983 persons were killed by acci- dents; of these there were, during the one year 1905, 11,792 men and 2,922 women. From 1886 to 1907, 150,719 persons were killed by accidents in industry, agriculture and state or municipal employment ; only a small fraction of these were women. Another considerable portion of persons employed in these occupations become maimed or crippled for life and therefore unable to maintain a family. (There were 40,744 of these from 1886 to 1907.) Others die young leaving their families in the neediest Woman at the Present Day 163 circumstances. Much loss of life among men is also con- nected with navigation. From 1882 to 1907, 2,848 sea- going vessels were sunk, entailing a loss of life of 4,913 members of the crew, almost all men, and 1,275 passengers. Only when the highest valuation of human life has been established, which will be the case in a Socialistic com- munity, will society be enabled to prevent a grea* majority of accidents on land and sea. At present man} persons are killed or maimed as a result of illapplied economy of employers. In many other cases accidents are due to excessive speed or over-fatigue of workers. Human life is cheap. When one workingman has been killed there are many others to take his place. Especially in navigation many preventable accidents occur. By the revelations of Plimsoll in the English par- liament during the seventies, the fact became generally known that many owners of unseaworthy vessels, im- pelled by criminal greed, insured these vessels at a high rate and then sent them with their crew to almost certain destruction, in order to obtain the amount of insurance. These are the so-called death-ships that are not un- known in Germany either. Every year the marine bureaus are called upon, to pronounce their verdicts in connection with a number of marine accidents, and those verdicts usually show the accidents to be due to advanced age or overloading or improper condition of the vessel or insufficient equipment, or a number of these causes com- bined. In the cases of many sunken ships the causes of their sinking can never be determined, because the disas- ters occur in mid-ocean and no one survives to tell the tale. Many crimes are committed in this way. The stations for saving ship-wrecked persons established at the coasts, are also very insufficient because they are chiefly maintained by private charity. An organized society that will regard it as its highest duty to provide equally for all its members, will succeed in making all these accidents of extremely rare occurrence. But under the present predatory system, where human lives are 164 The Chances of Matrimony regarded as mere ciphers and the sole aim is to attain the highest possible profit, a human life is sometimes sac- rificed in order that a dollar may be gained. 2. Obstacles to Marriage. The Excess of Women, There are still other causes that make marriage difficult or prevent it entirely. A considerable number of men are prevented from marrying by the state. People con- demn the enforced celibacy of the Catholic clergy, but they do not mention the fact that a far greater number of soldiers are doomed to celibacy likewise. When an officer of the army wishes to marry, he not only requires the consent of his superiors, he is also denied the free choice of a wife, since it is prescribed that he must pos- sess a certain amount of wealth. In Austria a captain of the army seeking to marry, must give a security of 30,000 florins if he is under thirty years of age, 20,000 florins if he is over thirty ; minor officers must give a security of 16,000 florins. In all cases the fiancee of an army officer must have lead an immaculate life, and her standard of living must be suited to his rank. In Germany, officers of the army may seek permission to marry only when they can prove that they have an additional income. The required size of this additional income varies with the different ranks. These are striking proofs of the mate- rialistic conception of marriage maintained by the state. Public opinion in general maintains, that men should not marry until they have attained their twenty-fourth or twenty-fifth year of life. This opinion is founded on the fact that few men are able to support a family before they have reached this age. Only persons who are fortunate enough not to be obliged to win an independent position, persons of princely rank, for instance, form an excep- tion. In their case we regard it as quite proper that a man should become married at eighteen or nineteen, and a maiden at fifteen or sixteen years of age. Princes come of age when they are eighteen years old, and are consid- ered competent to rule the most numerous people. Com- mon mortals do not come of age until they are twenty- one years old. Woman at the Present Day 165 This difference of opinion in regard to the age at which marriage is desirable, shows that only social considera- tions are taken into account, that have no bearing upon man as a sex being. But nature will not be fettered by definite social conditions and the views that have sprung from these conditions. As soon as a human being has attained maturity, the sexual impulse manifests itself with all its vigor. The advent of puberty with the female sex differs ac- cording to the individual, the climate and the mode of life. In the torrid zones it sets in as early as the ninth or tenth year, and sometimes one meets women of that age with their first babes in their arms; but they are faded when they have attained their twenty-fifth or thir- tieth year.* In the temperate zones girls usually attain puberty at fourteen or sixteen years of age, in some cases later still. The age of puberty also differs with girls liv- ing in the country from those living in cities. Among the healthy, robust country girls who work hard, as a rule menstruation sets in later than among our poorly nourished, effeminate, ethereal young ladies in the cities, who suffer from over-excitement of the nerves. In the country puberty usually developes in the normal way. In the city its normal development is an exception, and not infrequently it is accompanied by various symptoms of disease that drive physicians to despair. Often physicians are obliged to say that the only certain cure would be marriage. But in many cases this cure cannot be applied, owing to the unsurmountable obstacles. All these factors show where we must seek a change. To begin with, we need a complete revolution in our educational methods. We need a system of education that takes both the physical and intellectual qualities into consideration. Furthermore, we need an entirely different mode of living and working. But both cannot be brought about except by a complete transformation of social conditions. Our social conditions have created a profound contra- diction between man as a sex being and man as a social *E!y Metschnikoff The Nature of Man. 1 66 The Chances of Matrimony being. This contradiction has never been so noticeable as in the present age, and it leads to many evils and dis- eases to which women especially are subjected. In the first place the woman's organism is far more influenced by her sex mission than man's organism (for instance, the regular recurrence of menstruation) ; in the second place she is confronted by the greatest number of obstacles that prevent her from satisfying her strongest natural impulse in a natural way. This contradiction between natural impulse and social constraint leads to anomalies, to secret vices and excesses that are bound to undermine even strong constitutions. Unnatural satisfaction is fre- quently aided in a most shameless manner. In the adver- tisements of newspapers and periodicals, certain manufac- tures are recommended in a more or less veiled manner. These advertisements appeal to the wealthy classes of society, because the price of the manufactures are so high that a person of moderate means could not buy them. Besides we find advertisements of obscene pictures, entire series of photographs, and poetry and prose of a similar character, whose very titles are intended to produce sen- sual excitement. These matters ought to claim the atten- tion of the police and public prosecutors. But these gen- tlemen are too busy persecuting Socialism, "that will destroy the home and the family," to give their full atten- tion to such doings. A part of our novels influence the sentiments of the reading public in the same direction. It is really not to be wondered at if sexual debauchery, artificially stimulated, gradually becomes a social disease. Many women of the wealthy classes lead an idle, self- indulgent life. They stimulate their nerves by the most extraordinary means, and indulge in a certain enjoyment of art that creates an exaggerated sentimentality and heightens their nervous irritability. All this increases the sensual passions and naturally leads to excesses. Among poor people sexual irritability is frequently heightened by certain kinds of hard work, especially such work that compels people to lead a sedentary life which creates con- gestion of the blood in the abdominal organs. One of the most dangerous occupations in this respect is constant work at the sewing machine, an occupation in which a Woman at the Present Day 167 great many women are employed at present. This work is so detrimental to the health of women that ten to twelve hours of it daily will shatter the strongest consti- tution in a few years. Excessive sexual irritability is also brought about by long hours of work in a high tempera- ture, for instance in sugar refineries, laundries, printing establishments, etc. The same may be said of night work with artificial light in overcrowded work-shops, espec- ially where members of both sexes work together. Here again we are confronted by a number of evils that clearly show the unhealthful and irrational character of present-day conditions. But these evils that are deeply rooted in our social conditions, cannot be removed by moralizing or by resorting to palliative measures, such as social and religious quacks always have in readiness. It is necessary to strike the root of the evil. The only redemption will be to bring about social conditions that shall enable all persons to obtain a natural education, to lead a healthful mode of life and work, and to find normal satisfaction of all natural and healthy desires. Many obstacles do not exist for the man that do exist for the woman. Owing to his position of rulership, his free choice of a mate is in no wise hampered, except by the social considerations enumerated above. But the nature of marriage as a means of support, the numerical superiority of women, and custom, all prevent the woman from asserting her wishes. She is obliged to wait until someone seeks her. As a rule she gladly avails herself of the first opportunity of finding a husband who will save her from the social disregard and indifference that are the usual portion of that unfortunate being, the old maid. Many women look down with disdain upon those of their sisters who are possessed of sufficient human dignity not to sell themselves into the prostitution of marriage to the first man who comes along, but prefer to walk on life's thorny path alone. Nevertheless the man who wishes to marry for love has social obstacles to consider. He must ask himself: can I support a wife and the children who are likely to come, without being weighed down by finan- cial cares? If the man has an ideal conception of mar- riage, if he is determined to let his choice be influenced by 1 68 The Chances of Matrimony love only, this question becomes all the more important. At present conditions of earning and property are such, that many men must answer this question in the negative, and they accordingly prefer to remain unmarried. Many men do not acquire an independent position, suited to their demands, until late in life, and are not able to sup- port a wife according to her station in life unless she has a considerable fortune of her own. It must be admitted of course, that many young men have an exaggerated idea of what constitutes living according to their station ; but owing to the false education of many women and their social habits, these young men must indeed be prepared that their wives will make demands upon them that will exceed their means. They frequently do not make the acquaintance of the good, modest women who are simple in their tastes, because they are modest in their manners also and are not met with in society where men have ac- customed themselves to seek wives, while the women they do meet often are the kind who seek to fascinate a man by outward appearances and to deceive him in regard to their personal qualities and their material position. When this type of woman has attained an age at which marriage becomes urgent, lures of all sorts are resorted to all the more eagerly. When such a woman has suc- ceeded in capturing a man, she has become so accustomed to outward show, extravagance in dress and costly enjoy- ments that she wishes to maintain them in her married life. Here men find themselves on the verge of an abyss, and many prefer to leave the flowers that bloom at this abyss unplucked. They prefer to pursue their path alone and seek entertainment and enjoyment while maintaining their freedom. Deception and fraud are common prac- tices in bourgeois society. It is not surprising that they also play a part in the contracting of marriages and entail severe suffering of both parties. Statistics show that the educated and wealthy classes as a rule marry later in life than the lower classes. Ac- cording to Westergaard the average age of marriage in Copenhagen was : among professional people, merchants, manufacturers and bankers, 32.2 years ; among mechanics and small dealers, 31.2 years; among clerks and commer- Woman at the Present Day 169 cial employees, 29.7 years; among waiters and domestic servants, 28, and among factory workers, sailors and day- laborers, 27.5 years. In Prussia from 1881 to 1886 the average ages at which men married were : miners, 27.6 ; factory workers, 27.7; metal workers, 28; stone-masons, 28.2; building trades, 28.6; workers in wood, 28.7; machinists, 29; teaching, 29.1; agriculture, 29.6; railway service, 30; commerce, 30.9; physicians, clergymen and officials, 31.8 to 33.4. According to Ansell the average age at which the well-to-do and educated classes married in England from 1840 to 1871, was 29.95 years; but since then it has been raised. From 1880 to 1885, the average ages at which men of different professions married, were as follows : years years Miners 23.56 Clerks 25.75 Textile workers . . . .23.88 Merchants 26.17 Clothing trades 24.42 Farmers 28.73 Mechanics 24.85 Professional men Day-laborers 25.06 and capitalists. .30.72 These figures show how marriage is influenced by social position. The fact that the average age of mar- riage in most European states has been somewhat low- erred during the last decades, is due to the general growth of industrialism. This may be seen in Germany, Austria and Sweden where the increase of early marriages is in connection with the growing number of persons em- ployed in industry. In older industrial countries, as France and England, the average age of marriage has been raised. Russia forms an exception ; here the rise in the average age of marriage is due to the abolition of com- munal property. The number of men who are prevented from marrying for numerous reasons is constantly increasing. This ap- plies especially to the men of the upper classes and the higher professions ; firstly because they are more preten- tious, and secondly because these men are best enabled to find companionship and pleasure outside of marriage. Conditions are especially unfavorable to women in places where there are many pensioneers with their families, and i yo The Chances of Matrimony few young men. There we find from twenty to thirty women among hundred who are unable to marry. The lack of men seeking marriage is most severely felt by those women, who have been accustomed by their social position to require a certain standard of life but who have no dowery. This is especially true of the young girls of those numerous families that depend upon a fixed salary which leaves them socially respectable but poor. These girls often become dangerous competitors to the working girls who earn their living by embroidery, making under- wear, making artificial flowers, hats, gloves, etc. ; that is, in all those trades in which the employers prefer to have the work done in the homes of the workers. These ladies often work for the lowest wages because they are not obliged to earn their living entirely but only wish to add to the family income or to earn enough to pay for their clothes. Employers favor the competition of these ladies, because it enables them to reduce the wages of the poor proletarian workers and to drive them to the utmost exer- tion of their strength. Many wives of government offi- cials, whose husbands are poorly paid and cannot main- tain them according to their standard of living, also em- ploy their spare time in such sordid competition, which means increased exploitation among large strata of female proletarians. The agitation carried on by the bourgeois women's clubs to elevate women's work and to gain admission for women into the higher professions, is especially destined to improve the position of women of the upper classes. In order to do this successfully, these clubs seek the patronage of ladies of high rank. In this respect the bourgeois women only follow the example of the bour- geois men, who also seek such patronage and become interested in such endeavors that only show small, never large results. In this way people waste a tremendous amount of effort, and deceive themselves and others in regard to the necessity of thorough-going reform. In these circles no doubt is permitted to arise as to the justice and wisdom of our present state and social order. The conservative nature of such endeavors prevent clubs of this kind from being permeated by so-called destruc- Woman at the Present Day 171 tivc tendencies. At a convention of women in Berlin during the spring of 1894, a minority expressed the thought that it might be well if the bourgeois women would co-operate with the proletarian women, that is, the Socialist women ; but with a majority of the delegates this suggestion called forth a storm of protest. But the con- servative tendencies of the bourgeois women will not accomplish the liberation of womankind. How many women are excluded from marriage owing to the causes previously stated, cannot be definitely de- termined. The numerical superiority of women in Ger- many is distributed very unevenly, both in regard to the different countries and districts and in regard to age. The following table has been compiled from the census of 1900 (Statistic of the German Empire) : Number of women for every 1000 men under 15 15 to 40 40 to 60 over 60 Berlin IOI2 1015 1015 986 1015 IOOO 999 993 989 991 1044 1030 1024 997 1041 974 1031 1015 1035 954 1191 1107 1083 1070 1134. 1079 1038 1089 1099 1008 1659 1360 1163 H57 1179 1 173 1454 1276 1214 1 120 Kingdom of Saxony " " Bavaria to the right of the Rhine " " Bavaria to the left of the Rhine " Wurtemberg Baden Hamburg Province of Brandenburg 4< 44 Pomerania " " the Rhine German Empire 995 1008 1087 1218 At the true marriageable age, from 15 to 40 years, the numerical superiority of women in the entire German Empire is 8 for every 1,000 men. The number of male inhabitants between 15 and 40 years of age is 11,100,673 ; the number of female inhabitants between 15 and 40 years of age is 11,187,779. So we have a super-abundance of 87,106 women. In 1900 there were 11,146,833 German women of child-bearing age (18 to 45 years). Among these only 6,432,772 (57.71 percent) were married ; 283,629 (2.54 percent) were widowed; 31,176 (0.28 percent) were 172 The Chances of Matrimony divorced, and 4,399,286 (39.47 percent) were single. The following table shows the proportion of the sexes in other countries : In the year Number of women for every 1000 men under 15 15 to 40 40 to 60 over 60 Germany 1900 1896 1881 1888 1896 1899 1890 1899 1891 1891 1901 1900 1897 1891 1891 1891 1891 1891 1891 995 1005 998 969 963 992 978 971 1006 973 968 979 943 978 978 976 977 979 989 1008 1046 1029 952 IO2I 1059 1012 853 984 1031 1080 1016 1075 1073 1037 969 996 962 827 698 877 927 008 1087 1079 982 225 1005 1103 1029 988 1018 1031 1073 1146 1096 1165 1103 989 943 95i 679 559 898 661 939 I2l8 1130 I33 804 980 1148 1108 1063 1117 H45 1179 1252 1227 1389 1032 987 1015 1146 665 611 632 654 1019 Austria Hungary Servia .... Italy . . Switzerland lyOUxembourg Belgium Netherlands Denmark Sweden Kngland and Wales Scotland Ireland United States of America . . RfiTVDt Japan . . . New South Wales Queensland Tasmania New Zealand Cape of Good Hope This table shows that in all countries having a similar economic structure, similar conditions exist in regard to the proportion of the sexes. In all these countries then a great many women, apart from all other obstacles already mentioned, have no prospect of becoming mar- ried. In England in 1901 among 1,000 women over 15 years only 496.4 were married; in Scotland, 442.8; in Ire- land, 370.9; in bweden, 468.2; in Norway, 469.9. How do these facts impress those persons who oppose the struggle of women for independence and equal rights by relegating them to marriage and the home? It is not due to ill will on the part of the women if so many fail to marry. But what becomes of these victims of our social condi- tions? That nature has been sinned against is expressed Woman at the Present Day 173 in the peculiar features and traits of character by which old maids and ascetic old bachelors are distinguished from other persons in all countries and climates, and goes to show the strong and harmful influence resulting from the suppression of natural instincts. Many forms of hysteria among women are due to this cause. Hysteria is also caused by dissatisfaction in marriage, which sometimes results in sterility. These are the general characteristics of modern mar- riage and its results. From them we must draw the fol- lowing conclusion: Present-day marriage is an institu- tion that is closely connected with existing social condi- tions, with which it must stand and fall. But this mar- riage is in a state of decline and dissolution as bourgeois society itself. Which are the salient points that we have determined in regard to bourgeois marriage? i. The birth-rate is declining although the population is increasing, which shows tnat the economic status of the family has deteriorated. 2. Divorces are increasing more rapidly than the population is growing, and in most cases women are the ones to seek divorce, although they suffer most in con- sequence of it, both economically and socially. This shows that the unfavorable factors in marriage are in- creasing, that marriage is in a state of dissolution. 3. The marriage-rate is declining, notwithstanding the fact that the population is increasing; which proves that in the eyes of many persons marriage no longer accom- plishes its social and moral purpose and is regarded as worthless or pf doubtful value. 4. In almost all civilized states there is a disproportion in the number of the sexes, the female sex predominating. This is not due to natural causes, since more boys than girls are born, but to unfavorable social and political factors that are rooted in conditions of state and society. As all these unnatural conditions that are especially harmful to women are established by the nature of bour- geois society and increase with the duration of its exist- ence, this society proves itself incompetent to abolish the evils and to liberate woman. To accomplish this a dif- ferent social order will be necessary. 174 CHAPTER XII. Prostitution a Necessary Social Institution of Bourgeois Society. i. Prostitution and Society. Marriage constitutes one phase of the sex relations of bourgeois society; prostitution constitutes the other. If men fail to find satisfaction in marriage, they, as a rule, seek it with prostitution ; and those men who for one reason or another refrain from marrying, seek satisfac- tion with prostitutes also. To those men then, who vol- untarily or involuntarily lead an unmarried life, and to those who do not find their expectations realized in mar- riage, opportunities for satisfaction of the sexual impulse are far more favorable than to women. Men have always regarded it as their "just" privilege to employ prostitution. But they are relentless in con- demning a woman who is not a prostitute, when she has "fallen." That natural impulses are implanted in women as well as in men and that these manifest themselves par- ticularly stongly at certain periods of a woman's life, does not alter their judgment. By means of his ruling position man compels woman to suppress her most powerful instincts, and makes chastity the condition of her social position and of marriage. Nothing can prove the dependent position of woman in a more emphatic and revolting way than these vastly differing conceptions in regard to the satisfaction of the same natural impulse. Man is especially favored by conditions. The results of sexual intercourse have been assigned to the woman by nature, while man has the enjoyment only without trouble or responsibility. This natural advantage of men over women has fostered the unbridled lust which characterizes a great many men. But as a great many causes prevent or limit the legitimate satisfaction of the sexual impulse the result is its illegitimate satisfaction. Prostitution thus becomes a necessary social institu- tion of bourgeois society, just as the police, the standing army, the church and the capitalist class, This is no ex- Woman at the Present Day 175 aggeration ; we can prove it. We have shown how pros- titution was regarded as a necessary institution in ancient society and how it was organized by the state in both Greece and Rome. We have also shown what views pre- vailed in regard to it during the Christian middle ages. Even St. Augustin who was, after Paul, the staunchest pillar of Christianity and ardently preached asceticism, could not refrain from exclaiming: "Suppress the pub- lic prostitutes and the force of passion will overturn everything." St. Thomas Aquin, who is still considered the greatest authority on theology, has expressed the same opinion more forcibly still by saying: "Prostitu- tion in the cities is like the cess-pool in the palace; if you remove the cess-pool the palace will become an un- clean and evil smelling place." The provincial council at Milan in 1665 held the same view. But let us consult some modern opinions. Dr. F. S. Huegel says: "Advancing civilization will gradually clothe prostitution in more pleasing forms, but only with the destruction of the world will it come to an end !"* That is a bold assertion, but whoever cannot think beyond the form of bourgeois society, whoever does not admit that society will transform itself to attain healthful and natural conditions, must agree with Dr. Huegel. M. Rubner, an authority on hygiene, professor at the University of Berlin, and director of the Hygienic Institute, expresses a similar opinion. He says : "Pros- titution of women has existed at all times and among all peoples. It is indestructable because it serves the sexual impulse and springs from human nature and because in many cases the tendency to prostitution is due to an inate vice of some women. Just as we find in every popu- lation geniuses beside idiots, giants besides dwarfs, and other abnormities, so we also find by the chance of birth abnormities which must lead to prostitution."** None of the above-named conceive the thought that a different social order might remove the causes of prosti- *F. Huegel. History, Statistics and Regulation of Prostitution in Vienna, 1865. **Max Rubner Text Book of Hygienne. Leipsic, 1907. 176 Prostitution a Necessary Social Institution tution, and none seek to investigate the causes. Some who take up this problem faintly recognize that unfor- tunate social conditions, weighing heavily upon countless women, might be the chief cause why so many sell their bodies. But they do not draw the conclusion that if this be the case, it becomes necessary to bring about different social conditions. Among the few who recognize that economic conditions form the chief cause of prostitution is Th. Bade.* He says : "The causes of the boundless moral degradation from which the prostitute girls emerge are founded on social conditions. They are especially due to the decline of the middle classes, particularly the artisan class, among whom only very few continue to ply their trade independently." Bade concludes his ob- servations by saying: "Material need which has de- stroyed many middle class families and continues to de- stroy them also leads to their moral degradation, espe- cially to that of the female sex."** But prostitution is not an institution of nature that, as R. Schmoelder says : "Will remain a constant companion of humanity ,"t it is a social institution without which we cannot conceive bourgeois society. The police physician of Leipsic, Dr. J. Kuehn, says: "Prostitution is not only a bearable, but a necessary evil. It protects women from adultery (which only men have a right to commit the author) and guards virtue (of course the virtue of women because men are not required to be virtuous the author) against assault and destruc- tion."^ These words grossly characterize the incarnate selfishness of men. Kuehn maintains the correct position *H. Bade. Procurers and public dance halls. **Statistics gathered by the Berlin police in 1871-72 concerning the parentage of 2,224 enrolled prostitutes showed the following figures : 1,015 equal 47.9 per cent, came from the artisan class; 467 equal 22.0 per cent, were daughters of factory laborers ; 305 equal 14.4 per cent, of minor officials; 222 equal 10.4 per cent, of merchants, etc.; 37 equal 4.1 per cent, of farmers, and 26 equal 1.2 per cent of mili- tary men. With 102 the father's profession could not be determined. fR. Schmoelder, Punishment of fornication as a trade. ffj. Kuehn. Prostitution in the nineteenth century from the stand- point of police sanitation. Woman at the Present Day 177 of a police physician, whose duty it is to guard men against unpleasant diseases by the police surveillance of prostitution. Only the man is taken into consideration to whom celibacy is horrible and a torture, but the mil- lions of women doomed to celibacy must content them- selves. What is considered right in the man's case, is considered wrong, immoral and criminal in the woman's. Another interesting gentleman is Dr. Fock, who re- gards prostitution as a "necessary correlation of our civ- ilization."* He fears an overproduction of human beings if all persons should marry after having attained maturity, and therefore considers it important that pros- titution should be regulated by the state. He considers police surveillance of prostitution justifiable, and that the State should furnish men with prostitutes who are free from syphilis. He declares himself in favor of closest surveillance of all women who can be convicted of lead- ing a disorderly life. But can this surveillance be car- ried out, if ladies leading a disorderly life belong to the upper classes? It is the old story. Dr. Fock also recom- mends that a tax should be levied upon prostitutes and that they should be confined to certain streets. In other words, the Christian state should make prostitution a source of income by state organization and protection of vice in the interest of men. Dr. Henry Severus,** who also favors legal recognition of prostitution maintains an original point of view. He regards it as a useful institution, because it is a necessary correlation of marriage, and that without it the free choice in marriage would be impaired. According to him prostitution is a sort of safety-valve of bourgeois society. He claims: "Much of the poverty that leads to such deplorable social conditions may be traced to the fact, that marriages are recklessly contracted, without ques- tioning how the necessary means of livelihood might be obtained. It is in the interest of the state, that such marriages should not be contracted, for the children that spring from them cannot be sufficiently provided for by *Dr. Fock Prostitution in its ethical and sanitary aspect. **Dr. H. Severns Prostitution and the state. 178 Prostitution a Necessary Social Institution their parents, nor do they belong in the foundling hos- pital, being legitimate children, and thus become a peril to society. "Prostitution," he goes on to say, "prevents that the force of natural instinct should lead to the con- tracting of marriages that result in an increase of those elements of the population who, owing to lack of educa- tion and an unfortunate childhood, developes sentiments that are hostile to the state and become enemies of society." So according to this, state regulation of vice furnishes a protection and a remedy against socialism a view that may at least lay claim to originality. So we may reiterate our assertion, prostitution is a necessary social institution of bourgeois society, just as the police, the standing army, the church and the capi- talist class. 2. Prostitution and the State. State supervision and organization of prostitution does not exist in the German empire as it does in France; prostitution is merely tolerated. Disorderly houses are prohibited by law and procurers may be severely pun- ished. But notwithstanding these laws in many German cities, among others in Mayence, Magdeburg, Altona, Kiel, Nuremberg, Worms, Freiburg, Leipsic, Regens- burg, Hamburg, Augsburg, Wuerzburg, disorderly houses exist that are tolerated by the police.* This seems an incredible state of affairs and its contradic- tion to the laws must be well known to our government officials. According to German law, persons renting an apartment to a prostitute are subject to punishment. On the other hand, the police are obliged to tolerate thou- sands of prostitutes and to protect them in their trade if they submit to the prescribed rules, for instance, to regular examination by a physician. But if the state makes concessions to prostitutes and supports them in the plying of their trade, it is necessary for them to have a residence also ; in fact, it becomes necessary to public health and order that their trade should be carried on *Paul Kampffmeyer Prostitution as a social class phenomenon and the social and political struggle against it. Woman at the Present Day 179 in definite quarters. What contradictions! On the one hand the state officially recognizes prostitution ; on the other hand it persecutes and punishes prostitutes and procurers. Moreover, this attitude of the state confirms, that to modern society, prostitution is a sphynx whose riddle it cannot solve. Religion and morality condemn prostitution, the laws punish it, and yet the state tol- erates and protects it. In other words, our society that prides itself on its morality, its piety, its civilization and culture must suffer itself to be polluted by the slow poi- son of immorality and corruption. Still another conclusion follows from these conditions : the Christian state admits that marriage is insufficient and that the man is justified in seeking illegitimate satisfaction of the sexual impulse. The woman is taken into consideration by this same state only, inasmuch as she yields to the illegitimate satisfaction of male lust, that is, becomes a prostitute. The police supervision and control of enlisted prostitutes does not include the men who mingle with the prosti- tutes, which ought to be a matter of course if the medical surveillance were to be partly effective at least, quite dis- regarding the fact that justice demands that the law should be equally applied to both sexes. This protection of the man from the woman by the state overturns the nature of conditions. It appears as if men were the weaker, and women the stronger sex, as if women were the seducer, and poor, weak man the seduced. The myth of temptation of Adam and Eve in Paradise continues to influence our conceptions and laws and sustains the Christian assumption, that "woman is the great seducer, the source of sin." Men ought to be ashamed of the pitiable and unworthy part they are play- ing, but it is pleasing to them to be regarded as "weak" and as "victims of seduction" for the more they are pro- tected the more they may sin. Wherever men come together in great numbers, they do not seem to be able to enjoy themselves without pros- titution. That was seen among other instances by the occurrences at the rifle match in Berlin during the sum- mer of 1890. These occurrences caused 2,300 women to sign a petition to the mayor of the German capital,, which i8o Prostitution a Necessary Social Institution read as follows: "We beg your honor to permit our quoting what has been reported in regard to this festival by the press and other sources. These reports, which we read with the greatest indignation and disgust, among other things thus described the entertainments provided at the festival: 'First, German Herold, greatest Cafe Chantant of the world ; hundred ladies and forty gentle- men; besides small variety shows and rifle ranges from which exceedingly obtrusive women molested the men ; furthermore free concerts, where lightly garbed wait- resses boldly and unrestrained, with seductive smiles forced their attentions alike on men and youths, on col- lege boys and fathers of families. But the 'lady' who was almost nude and who invited them to visit the booths 'The Secrets of Hamburg, or a Night in St. Pauli/ might at least have been removed by the police. But the worst, something that plain men and women from the provinces can hardly accredit to the far-famed capital of the empire, was the fact that the committee on arrangements had permitted, that instead of waiters, young women in great numbers were engaged as waitresses and bar-maids with- out pay. We German women, as mothers, wives and sis- ters, frequently have occasion to send our brothers, hus- bands, sons and daughters to Berlin in service of the fatherland, and so we beg your honor, trusting to your influence as chief executive of the national capital to in- vestigate these occurrences and to prevent a repetition of these orgies, especially at the forthcoming celebration of the victory at Sedan." During all large festivals, including the national ones, when men come together in great numbers, similar scenes occur.* The German governments made frequent attempts to do away with the contradiction that exists between the legal theories and actual practice in regard to prostitu- tion. They introduced bills among other things, which authorized the police to assign definite places of residence *"When the Farmers' Association convenes in the Circus Bush, or large conventions are being held in Berlin, there is a rise in price of human flesh." Satyr Life at Night in the Friedrich Strasse, Ber- lin, 1907. Woman at the Present Day 181 to the prostitutes. It was admitted that prostitution could not be suppressed and that it would therefore be better to limit it to certain places and to control it. Such a law on this all were agreed would have reinstated the public brothels that had been officially abolished in Prussia during the forties of the last century. The intro- duction of these bills caused great excitement and aroused much protest. It was stated that the state by ex- tending protection to vice spread the opinion that prosti- tution was not averse to morality and was an officially sanctioned trade. These bills that met with much op- position in Parliament, have until now, remained un- settled. But their very introduction shows the predica- ment of the state. State regulation and control of vice not only create the belief among men that the state favors prostitution, it also leads them to believe that this regulation protects them from disease, and this belief makes men more reck- less and increases the employment of prostitution. Pub- lic brothels do not diminish sexual diseases, they promote them, because men become more reckless and careless. To what conceptions the official protection of brothels leads may be seen from the term applied to the licensed prostitutes in England, who were called "Queen's women" because they had obtained official recognition through a law enacted by the queen. Experience has taught, that neither the introduction of public brothels under police supervision nor regular medical examination insure safety from contagion. To an inquiry from the woman's committee of Vienna for "combatting the state regulation of vice Dr. Albert Eulenburg wrote as follows: "In regard to the question of police supervision of prostitutes I fully share, as a matter of principle, the point of view set forth in your petition, though, of course I recognize the practical diffi- culty of its immediate application. I regard this practice which has been introduced in most countries as unjust, unworthy, and moreover as entirely unsuited to attain the object stated with any certain degree of safety." On July 20, 1892, the Berlin Medical Society declared that 1 82 Prostitution a Necessary Social Institution the reinstatement of public brothels would be undesir- able, both from a hygienic and moral point of view. The nature of these diseases is such that in many cases it cannot be recognized easily, or at once, and to attain a certain degree of safety several daily examinations would be necessary. But this is impossible, owing to the great number of women in question and the large expense it would entail. Where 30 to 40 prostitutes have to be examined in one hour, the examination is nothing more than a farce, and in the same way one or two weekly examinations are entirely insufficient. Dr. Blaschko* says: "The belief, that control of prostitutes furnishes protection against contagion, unfortunately is a wide- spread and detrimental error. Rather can it be asserted that everyone who asociates with a prostitute or a frivol- ous girl faces a grave danger each time." The success of these measures fails also because the men who carry the germs of disease from one woman to another remain entirely free from control. A prostitute who has just been examined and found healthy may be- come infected by a diseased man in the very same hour, and before the next examination takes place, or before she herself has become aware of the disease, she may have infected a number of othei visitors. The control is an imaginary one. Besides the obligatory examinations by male instead of female physicians deeply injure the sense of modesty and help to destroy it completely. This statement is confirmed by a great many physicians who perform such examinations.** The same is admitted even in the official report of the Berlin police department, where it says it must be admitted that official enrollment *Handbook of Hygiene, published by Th. Weyl, M. D. Hygiene of Prostitution and Venereal Diseases, compiled by Dr. A. Blaschko, Berlin. **"As a matter of fact the system of regulation does not success- fully fight the venereal diseases, nor even noticeably diminish them. The delusive feeling of safety given to men makes them more reck- less. The increase in the number of correlation heightens the dan- ger of contagion by at least as much as it has been diminished by the removal of a few who were seriously diseased." August Forel The Sex Question, Munich, 1907. Woman at the Present Day 183 still increases the moral degradation of those affected by it.* The prostitutes do whatever they can to escape this control. Another evil result of these measures is, that it is made very difficult, indeed almost impossible to prostitutes, to return to a decent means of livelihood. A woman who has fallen into police control is lost to society ; as a rule she miserably perishes after a few years. The fifth con- gress for combatting immorality, held in Geneva, thus expressed itself forcibly and correctly against the state regulation of vice : "The obligatory medical examination of prostitutes is a cruel punishment to the woman, for in those who are subjected to it the last remnant of modesty that may still exist in the most depraved, is forcibly de- stroyed. The state that seeks to regulate prostitution by police control forgets that it owes equal protection to both sexes, it degrades and demoralizes the woman. Every system of official regulation of vice permits of ar- bitrary police rule and leads to the infringement of per- sonal safety against arbitrary arrest and imprisonment, against which even the lowest criminal is guarded. As these encroachments occur only at the expense of the woman, they lead to an unnatural inequality between her and the man. The woman is degraded to a mere object and is no longer treated as a person. She is excluded from the law." How little police and medical control avail has been strikingly shown in England. Before the beginning of official regulation, in the year 1867, the number of ven- ereal diseases in the army were, according to a military report, 91 per 1,000. In 1886, after the regulation had been in effect for nineteen years they were no per 1,000. In 1892, six years after the regulation laws had been re- pealed they were only 79 per 1,000. Among civilians the cases of syphilis were 10 per 1,000 during the years 1879 to 1882, that was during the years of public regulation. After the abolition of public regulation, from 1885 to 1889 they were only 8.1 per 1,000. Third report of the royal police department of Berlin for the years 1881 to 1890 184 Prostitution a Necessary Social Institution The prostitutes themselves were far more affected by the regulation laws than the soldiers. In 1866 there were among 1,000 prostitutes, 121 cases of disease. In 1868 after the law had been in force for two years there were 202 cases among 1,000. After that the number gradually decreased, but in 1874 there still were 16 cases more per thousand than in 1866. The death rate among prosti- tutes also increased appallingly during the reign of that law. When at the close of the sixties of the last century the English government attempted to extend the regula- tion laws to include all English cities, a storm of indig- nation arose among English women. They regarded the law as an insult to their entire sex. The habeas corpus, they claimed, that fundamental law which guaranteed protection to every English citizen, was to be abolished for women ; every brutal police officer impelled by re- venge or other base motives, would be permitted to at- tack the most respectable woman if he suspected her of being a prostitute, while the licentiousness of men would not be interfered with, but would on the contrary be protected and fostered by law. The fact that English women under the leadership of Josephine Butler championed the most degraded of their sex, caused ignorant men to misconstrue their intentions and to make insulting remarks about them. But regard- less of these attacks they opposed the extension of the obnoxious law with utmost energy. In newspaper articles and pamphlets arguments in favor of it and against it were fully discussed, until its extension was prevented, and in 1886 is was repealed.* *The most reliable supporters of the women were the English workingmen. In her famous publication on "The History of a Crusade," Josephine Butler says: "We resolved to appeal to the nation. In the fall of 1869 we sent personal letters to every mem- ber of Parliament of both houses and to many other leaders of political and religious parties. Of all the replies received only very few expressed complete agreement with our point of view. As we obtained so little encouragement from those circles whose interest we had hoped to win, we turned to the working class population of the country. I am conscious of the fact that the working class has its faults and is no less devoid of egotism than other classes of the Woman at the Present Day 185 The German police has a similar power, and sometimes cases have been called to public attention in Berlin, Leip- sic, Cologne, Hannover and many other places, showing that abuses or "misunderstandings" easily occur with the exercise of this power, but not much is heard among us of an energetic opposition to such transgressions.* In Norway, brothels were prohibited in 1888, and in the cap- ital, Christiania, the obligatory registration of prostitutes and the medical examination connected with it was abolished. In January, 1893, the same ordinance was enacted for the entire country. Very correctly Mrs. Guil- laume-Shack says in regard to state "protection" for men : "To what purpose do we teach our sons to respect virtue and morality if the state declares vice to be a necessary evil ; if young men, before they have even at- tained intellectual maturity, are given women stamped like commodities by the public authorities as playthings of their passions ?" A man inflicted with a sexual disease may indulge in unbridled licentiousness and may infect any number of these unfortunate beingfs, most of whom have been driven by seducers or by bitterest need into this abominable trade. The law leaves him unmolested. But woe to the poor, diseased prostitute who does not immediately sub- mit to medical treatment! The garrison towns, uni- versity towns and sea port towns, where many strong, healthy men aggregate, are the chief centers of prostitu- tion and its dangerous diseases, which are disseminated all over the land and everywhere spread suffering and de- struction. The moral qualification of a great number of population. But I am firmly convinced that when the people are appealed to in the name of justice they almost invariably . show a loyal and reliable conviction." *In 1901 it occurred in Vienna that a French lady was abused by the police agent, Newhofer, amidst the shouts of a mob, was imprisoned among prostitutes and subjected to a forcible medical examination. This case led to five interpellations in the diet. In IQO2 in Hamburg and Kiel ladies were arrested as prostitutes and were treated with brutality. These occurrences led to a gigantic meeting of protest in Hamburg on September 8, that was attended by members of all parties. 1 86 Prostitution a Necessary Social Institution our students is described in the following manner in the "Gazette for Combatting Public Immorality."* Among a majority of the students the views concerning moral questions are appallingly base, almost depraved." From these circles that boast about their "German spirit" and "German morals," our public officials, prosecutors and judges are obtained. How bad matters must be, espe- cially among students, may be seen from the following: "In the fall of 1901, a large group of professors and phy- sicians, among them leading men in their professions, published an appeal to German students, in which they called special attention to the deplorable results of sexual debauchery, and also warned the young men of excessive indulgence in alcoholic drinks, which in many cases have a stimulating influence on sexual debauchery. At last people are beginning to recognize that the policy of silence is a mistaken one, and that we must call a spade a spade, if we would check an immeasurable disaster. Among other classes of society also this warning should not remain unheeded. The Biblical utterance that the sins of the fathers shall be visited upon their children applies in its fullest measure to the man afflicted with a sexual disease; un- fortunately also to his innocent wife. "Apoplectic strokes among young men and women, forms of paralysis of the spine and softening of the brain, various nervous diseases, weakening of the eye sight, inflammation of the bowels, sterility and general debility are frequently due to no other cause than a neglected case of syphilis, that has, for good reasons been kept secret. As conditions are to-day ignorance and carelessness transform blooming daugh- ters of the nation into weak and sickly creatures who must pay with chronic diseases for the extravagances of their husbands before and outside of marriage."** Dr. A. Blaschko says among other things: "Epidemics like cholera, small pox, diphtheria and typhoid terrify the people, because the suddenness of the results are clearly *August 15, 1893, Berlin. **The detrimental results of prostitution. Dr. Oscar Lassar, Berlin, 1892, August Hirschwald. Woman at the Present Day 187 visible to everybody. But syphilis is regarded by society with an appalling- indifference. And yet syphilis is far more widespread and much more terrible in its effects than any of the above-mentioned diseases."* The fact that we regard it as "indecent" to discuss such matters, accounts for this indifference. Even the German diet could not bring itself to provide legally for the treatment of persons afflicted with sexual diseases by means of the sick benefit funds, as in the case of other diseases.** The poison of syphilis is the most tenacious and the hardest to eradicate of all poisons. Many years after the disease has been apparently cured the evil results frequently manifest themselves in the wife of the dis- eased or in his new-born children, and countless sick- nesses of married women and children are due to the sexual diseases of husbands and fathers. In a petition addressed to the German Parliament in the fall of 1899 by the society "Jugendschutz" (protection of the young) it was stated that there are about 30,000 children in Germany who are blind from birth due to contagion from gonorrhoea, and that among 50 per cent of childless women, sterility is due to the same cause.f As a matter of fact an alarmingly large number of marriages is childless, and moreover the number of childless marriages is increasing. Feeble-mindedness and idiocy among chil- dren is also not infrequently due to the same cause, and many instances have shown what disasters can be caused with vaccination by a single drop of blood inoculated with the poison of syphilis. The great number of per- sons suffering from a sexual disease has caused sev- eral suggestions to be made for the enactment of Treatment of sexual diseases in sick benefit fund institutioons and hospitals, Berlin, 1890. **The ordinance of the insurance laws which enabled communities to refuse the payment of sick benefits in cases of sexual diseases was repealed by a law on May 25, 1903, that went into effect January i, 1904. {Examinations in asylums for the blind showed that the follow- ing number of persons were blind from birth through infection: Berlin, 21.3; Vienna, 31; Breslau, 35.1; Budapest, 47.9; Munich, 73.8. Th. Weyl, Social Hygiene, Jena, 1904. 1 88 Prostitution a Necessary Social Institution a national law providing special treatment for persons so afflicted. But until now no such step was taken, probably because one feared the enormity of the evil that would then become manifest. Medical authorities have generally gained the conviction, that gonorrhoea, which was formerly regarded as harmless, is one of the most dangerous of these diseases. This disease con- tinues to act upon the human system even after it has been apparently cured. As Dr. Blaschko reported in a lecture in Berlin on the 2oth of February, 1898, the medi- cal examinations of prostitutes reveal only one-fourth, or at best one-third of the actual number of cases. As a matter of fact, the overwhelmingly great majority of prostitutes are afflcted with this disease, while only a small percentage of the cases are properly diagnosed. Of those in whom the disease is recognized it is again only a small percentage with whom a permanent cure is ef- fected. Here society is confronted by an evil for which it has no remedy as yet, but which is an imminent peril to mankind, especially to its female half. 3. The White Slave Trade. As the number of men increases who refrain from mar- riage, be it by choice or under the pressure of circum- stances, and who seek illegitimate satisfaction of the sex- ual impulse, the temptations and opportunities for illegi- timate satisfaction increase likewise. Because immoral enterprises yield high profits many unscrupulous persons are engaged in them, and resort to the craftiest methods to attract customers. Every requirement of the patrons according to position and rank and means is taken into consideration. If the public brothels could reveal their secets, it would become known that their inmates, who are of lowly birth, ignorant and uneducated, but pos- sessed of physical charms, have intimate relations with educated and cultured men who occupy prominent social positions. Here they freely come and go, public officials, military men, representatives of the people, judges, the aristocracy of birth and finance, of commerce and in- dustry. Many of these men are regarded as upholders of Woman at the Present Day 189 public morality and guardians of the sanctity of marriage and the family, and some are leaders of Christian charit- able undertakings and members of organizations "to com- bat prostitution." In Berlin, the owner of one of these establishments serving immoral purposes even publishes an illustrated gazette, in which the doings of his patrons are described. In this establishment 400 persons can be seated, and every evening a fashionable gathering as- sembles there, among them (so the gazette tells us) many members of the aristocracy." Frequently well known actresses and famed belles of the demi-monde are present. The merriment reaches its height when in the wee hours of the morning the proprietors arrange an eel-catching tournamentt. Then the fair patronesses squat about the tanks with their clothes tucked up and try to catch the eel, and so forth. The police is well aware of these doings, but carefully refrains from interfering with the amusements of fashionable society. The following circu- lar, sent by the management of a Berlin dancing establish- ment to fashionable men, is another shameless form of pandering. It reads: "The undersigned management of the hunting establishment to whom you, dear sir, have been recommended as a passionate hunter, beg to call your attention to a newly-opened hunting ground with a splendid stock of deer and to invite you to the first chase on August 26th. Special circumstances make our new hunting grounds particularly convenient and pleasant: they are located in the heart of the city and the game- laws are not enforced." Our bourgeois society is like a great masquerade in which all seek to deceive one another. Every one wears his official gown with dignity, while inofficially he indulges his passions without re- straint. Yet, outwardly, all feign decency, religiousness and morality. In no age was hypocrisy as widespread as in ours. The supply of women for immoral purposes increases faster than the demand. Unfavorable social conditions, poverty, seduction, and the fact that many women are attracted by the outward glitter of an apparently free life, help to furnish victims from all strata of society. In i go Prostitution a Necessary Social Institution a novel by Hans Wachenhusen* we find a characteristic description of the conditions that prevail in the German capital. The author thus describes the purpose of his novel: "My book especially tells of the victims of the female sex and their increasing depreciation as a result of our unnatural social conditions, partly through their own fault, partly through a neglected education and the love of luxury. It tells of the surplus of this sex that makes the lives of those, who are born and grow up, more hopeless each day. I wrote as a public prosecutor might write, who had gathered data from the life of a criminal to determine his guilt. If a novel is supposed to be drawn from imagination, then the following is not a novel, but a faithful portrayal of life." In Berlin con- ditions are neither better nor worse than in other large cities. Whether orthodox St. Petersburg or Catholic Rome, Christian Berlin, or heathenish Paris, Puritan London or frivolous Vienna is more nearly like ancient Babylonia, it is hard to determine. Similar social condi- tions bring forth similar results. "Prostitution has its written and unwritten laws, its resources, its various resorts from the lowliest, to the glittering palace, its countless degrees from the lowest to the most cultured and refined. It has its special amusements and its spe- cial places of meeting, its police, its hospitals, its prisons and its literature.** "We no longer celebrate the festivals of Osiris, the Bacchanalia and the Indian orgies in the spring month, but in Paris and other large cities in the darkness of night behind the walls of public and private houses, orgies and Bacchanalia take place that beggar description.f Under such conditions the traffic in women assumes huge dimensions. It is carried on in the midst of civiliza- tion on a large scale and in a well organized manner, and is but rarely detected by the police. An army of male and female jobbers, agents and transporters carry on the trade in as cold-blooded a manner as if they were barter- *"What the street engulfs." Social novel in 3 vols., Berlin. A. Hoffmann & Co. **Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell The Moral Education. fMantegazza L' Amour Dans L'Humanite. Woman at the Present Day igi ing a commodity. Certificates are made out that con- tain an exact description and qualification of the various ''pieces" and are handed to the transporters as a bill of lading for the customer. As with all merchandise, the price varies according to the quality, and the "goods" are assorted and shipped from different places and countries according to the taste and requirements of the custo- mers. By skilful manipulations the traders seek to es- cape the pursuit of the police, and sometimes large sums are employed to bribe the guardians of law and order. A number of such cases have been revealed in Paris.* To Germany belongs the deplorable reputation of being a market for women to half the world. The ramb- ling spirit, which is innate in the German people, also seems to affect a portion of the German women, so that they furnish a larger quota to international prostitution than the women of other nations, with the exception of Austria and Hungary. German women populate the harems of the Turks and the public brothels in the in- terior of Siberia and as far as Bombay, Singapore, San Francisco and Chicago. In his book on travel "From Japan, through Siberia to Germany," the author, W. Joest, says the following about the German white-slave trade: "In our moral Germany, people often grow indig- nant over the slave trade carried on by some negra sov- ereign in western Africa, or over conditions in Cuba or Brazil, while we ought to consider the beam in our own eye. In no other country of the world white slaves are bartered to the same extent, from no other countries are such large quantities of this living merchandise shipped as from Germany and Austria. The course taken by these girls can be clearly traced. From Hamburg they *The relation of the police to prostitution is an interesting one in more than one respect. In 1899 it was shown in a trial in Berlin that a police commissioner employed a prostitute to watch and ques- tion a student whom he suspected of being an anarchist. In Prague the wife of a common policeman had her license for maintaining a disorderly house revoked because her husband had ill-treated a prisoner. So the police rewards its officers bv giving them licenses for the maintenance of disorderly houses. What lovely conditions! 1 92 Prostitution a Necessary Social. Institution are shipped to South America, Bahie, Rio de Janeiro; the greater part are bound for Montevideo and Buncos Ayres, while a few go through the Straits of the Magel- lan to Valparaiso. Another stream is directed over England to North America, but there competition with the domestic product is unfavorable to the trade, so the girls are shipped down the Mississippi to Texas and Mexico. From New Orleans the coasts down to Panama are furnished. Other troops of girls are sent across the Alps to Italy and on to Alexandria, Suez, Bombay, even to Hongkong and Shanghai, Dutch India and eastern India, especially Japan are poor markets, because Hol- land will not tolerate white girls of this sort in its col- onies, and because in Japan the native girls are far too pretty and cheap. Moreover, the trade must reckon with American competition from San Francisco. Russia is supplied by eastern Prussia, Pomerania and Poland. The first station is Riga. Here the dealers from St. Peters- burg and Moscow assort their merchandise and send it in great quantities to Nishny Novgorod across the Ural Mountains to Irbit and Krestowsky and even into the interior of Siberia. In Tschita, for instance, I met a German girl who had been traded in this way. This trade is thoroughly organized agents and traveling salesmen carry on the negotiations. If the foreign office of the German Empire would ask its consuls for reports on this trade interesting tables might be compiled. That this traffic is flourishing, has been repeatedly stated by Socialist deputies in the German Parliament. Other centers of the white-slave trade are Galicia and Hungary, from where women are sent to Constantinople and other Turkish cities. Especially many Jewesses, who are otherwise rarely met with in public brothels are bartered to the Turks. * The prices for the journey and other expenses are usually paid the agents in advance. In order to deceive the public authorities, fictitious tele- grams, that are not likely to attract attention, are sent to the customer. Some of these telegrams read: ''Five kegs of Hungarian wine will arrive in Varna to-mor- row," meaning five beautiful girls"; or "Have shipped three barrels of potatoes by S. S. Minerva." This refers Woman at the Present Day 193 to three less beautiful girls : "Common goods." Another telegram reads: "Will arrive next Friday per S. S. Kobra ; have two bales of fine silk on board." 4. The Increase of Prostitution. Illegitimate Motherhood. It is difficult to estimate the number of prostitutes impossible to determine it exactly. The police may ap- proximately determine the number of women for whom prostitution is the sole or chief source of income, but they can not determine the far greater number of those who resort to prostitution as a partial support. Nevertheless the numbers that have been determined are enormous. According to Oettingen at the close of the sixties of the last century the number of prostitutes in London was estimated to be 80,000. In Paris on January I, 1906, the number of enrolled prostitutes was 6,196, but more than one-third of these manage to evade police and medical control. In 1892 there were about 60 public brothels in Paris, harboring from 600 to 700 prostitutes ; in 1900 there were only 42. Their number is constantly decreas- ing (In 1852 there were 217 public brothels). At the same time the number of private prostitutes has greatly increased. An investigation, undertaken by the munic- ipal council of Paris in 1889, estimated that the number of women who sell their bodies had reached the enorm- ous figure of 120,000. The chief of police of Paris, Lef- rine, estimates the number of enrolled prostitutes at 6,000 and the number of private prostitutes at 70,000. During the years 1871 to 1903 the police inhibited 725,000 har- lots and 150,000 were imprisoned. During the year 1906, the number of those who were inhibited amounted to no less than 56,196.* The following numbers of prostitutes were enrolled with the Berlin police: In 1886, 3006; in 1890, 4,039; in 1893, 4,663; in 1897, 5,098; in 1899, 4>544> and in 1905, 3,287. In 1890 six physicians were employed, who per- formed examinations for two hours daily. Since then the *Dr. Licard de Planzoles La Fonction Sexuelle. Paris, 1908. 1 94 Prostitution a Necessary Social Institution number of physicians has been increased to twelve, and since several years a female physician has been employed to perform these examinations, notwithstanding the ob- jections of many male physicians. In Berlin, as in Paris, the enrolled prostitutes only constitute a small fraction of the entire number, that authorities on this subject have estimated to be at least 50,000. In the single year 1890 there were 2,022 waitresses in the cafes of Berlin, who, with very few exceptions were given to prostitution. The yearly increase in the number of harlots inhibited by the police also shows that prostitution in Berlin is growing. The numbers of those inhibited were: In 1881, 10,878; in 1890, 16,605; in 1896, 26,703: in 1897, 22,915. In the year 1907 17,018 harlots were brought to trial before the magistrates, which was about 57 for each day the court was in session. How large is the number of prostitutes throughout Germany? Some claim that there are about 200,000. Stroehmberg estimates the number of enrolled and pri- vate prostitutes in Germany to be between 75,000 and 100,000. In 1908 Kamillo K. Schneider attempted to de- termine the exact number of enrolled prostitutes. His table for the year 1905 includes 79 cities. "As besides these there are other large places in which a considerable number of girls may be found, he believes 15,000 to be a fairly correct estimate of the entire number. With a population of approximately 60,600,000 inhabitants that means one enrolled prostitute for 4,040 inhabitants." In Berlin there is one prostitute for 608, in Breslau for 514, in Hannover for 529, in Kiel for 527, in Danzig for 487, in Cologne for 369, and in Brunswick for 363 in- habitants. The number of enrolled prostitutes is con- stantly decreasing.* According to various estimates the ratio of the number of public controlled prostitutes is to the number of private prostitutes, as I to 5, or I to 10. We are, accordingly dealing with a vast army of those to whom prostitution is a means of subsistence, and con- formably great is the number of victims claimed by dis- ease and death. *Kamillo Karl Schneider The Prostitute and Society a Sociolog- ical and Ethical Study, Leipsic, 1908. Woman at the Present Day 195 That the great majority of prostitutes grows thor- oughly tired of their mode of life, that it even becomes revolting to them, is an experience on which all authori- ties are agreed. But very few of those who have fallen victims to prostitution ever find an opportunity to escape from it. In 1899 the Hamburg branch of the British, Continental and General Federation undertook an in- vestigation among prostitutes. Although only few answered the questions put to them, these answers are quite characteristic. To the question "Would you con- tinue in this trade if you could find some other means of support?" one replied, "What can one do when one is despised by all people?" Another replied "I appealed for help from the hospital"; a third, "My friend released me by paying my debts." All suffer from the slavery of their liabilities to the brothel keepers. One gave the information that she owed her landlady $175. Clothes, underwear, finery, everything is furnished by the keepers at fabulous prices ; they are also charged the highest prices for food and drink. Besides, they must pay the keeper a daily sum for their room. This rent amounts to $1.50, $2 or $3 daily. One wrote that she was compelled to pay her procurer from $5 to $6 daily. No keeper will permit a girl to depart unless she has paid her debts. The statements made by these girls also cast an unfavor- able light on the actions of the police, who side more with the brothel keepers than with the helpless girls. In short, we here behold in the midst of Christian civiliza- tion, the worst kind of slavery. In order to better main- tain the interests of their trade, the brothel keepers have even founded a trade paper that is international in char- acter. The number of prostitutes increases at the same rate at which the number of working women increases, who find employment in various lines of trade at starvation wages. Prostitution is fostered by the industrial crises that have become inevitable in bourgeois society, and to hundreds of thousands of families mean bitter need and desperate poverty. A letter sent by the chief of police. Bolton, to a factory inspector on October 31, 1865, shows that during the crisis of the English cotton industry 196 Prostitution a Necessary Social Institution caused by the Civil War in the United States, the number of young prostitutes increased more than during the pre- ceding twenty-five years.* But not only working girls fall victims to prostitution. Its victims are also re- cruited from the "higher professions." Lombroso and Ferrero quote Mace,** who says of Paris: "The certifi- cate of a governess of a higher or lower grade is far less an assignment to a means of support than to suicide, theft and prostitution." Parent-Duchatelet has at one time compiled statistics which showed the following. Among 5,183 prostitutes there were 1,441 who were driven to prostitution by ut- most need and misery. 1,225 were orphans and poor. 86 had become prostitutes to support old parents, young brothers and sisters, or their own children. 1,425 had been deserted by their lovers; 404 had been seduced by officers and soldiers and had been carried off to Paris. 289 had been servant girls who were seduced by their employers and subsequently discharged, and 280 had come into Paris to seek employment. Mrs. Butler, the ardent champion of the poorest and most unfortunate of her sex, says: "Accidental circum- stances, the death of a father or a mother, unemploy- ment, insufficient wages, poverty, false promises, seduc- tion, the laying of snares may have driven her into her misfortune." Very instructive is the information given by Karl Schneidt in a pamphlet on "The Misery of Waitresses in Berlin,"* in regard to the causes that drive so many of them to prostitution. He says that a sur- prisingly large number of servant girls become wait- resses, which means in nearly all cases that they become prostitutes. Among the answers Schneidt received to his list of questions that he circulated among waitresses are the following: "Because I became pregnant by my em- ployer and had to support my child" ; "because my book of references was spoiled"; because I could not earn enough by sewing and such work" ; because I had been *Karl Marx, Capital. **Ibid. *Berlin, 1893. Woman at the Present Day 197 discharged from the factory and could not find other employment"; "because my father died and there were four younger ones at home," etc. That servant girls, who have been seduced by their employers, constitute a large quota of the prostitutes is a well known fact. Dr. Max Taube* makes some very incriminating statements concerning the great number of seductions of servant girls by employers or their sons. The upper classes also furnish their quota to prostitution. Here poverty is not the cause, but seduction, the inclination to lead a frivol- ous life, the love of dress and enjoyment. A pamphlet on "Fallen Girls and Police Control"** contains the fol- lowing statement in regard to the prostitutes from these classes: "Horror stricken many a worthy citizen, min- ister, teacher, public official or military man learns that his daughter is secretly addicted to prostitution. If all these daughters could be named a social revolution would have to take place, or the public ideas concerning virtue and morality would be seriously impaired." The high class prostitutes, the smart set among them, are drawn from these circles. A great many actresses also owing to a glaring disparity between their salary and the cost ot their wardrobe, are compelled to resort to this vile means of support.! The same is true of many other girls who are employed as salesladies and in similar positions. Many employers are so infamous that they seek to jus- tify low wages by hinting at the assistance from "friends." Seamstresses, dressmakers, milliners, factory workers numbering many thousands are subjected to the same conditions. Employers and their assistants, mer- chants, landed proprietors, etc., frequently regard it as their privilege to make female workers and employees subservient to their lusts. Our pious conservatives like *Mnx Taube. M. D. Protection of Illegitimate Children, Leipsic, 1893, Veit & Co. **Berlin, 1889, Wm. Iszleib. fin a pamphlet on "Capital and the Press," Berlin, 1891, Dr. F. Mehring relates that a talented actress was employed at a well known theatre at a monthly salary of $25, while the expenses for her ward- robe amounted to $250 in a single month. The difference was made up by a "friend." 198 Prostitution a Necessary Social Institution to point to the rural conditions in regard to morality as a sort of ideal compared to the large cities and indus- trial districts. But whoever is acquainted with the con- ditions knows that they are not ideal. We find this opinion confirmed by a lecture delivered by the owner of a knightly estate in the fall of 1889, which newspapers in Saxony reported in the following manner: "Grimma. Dr. v. Waechter, owner of a knightly es- tate, at a meeting of the diocese which was held here delivered a lecture on sexual immorality in our rural com- munities, in which local conditions were depicted in no favorable light. With great frankness the lecturer ad- mitted that the employers themselves, even the married ones, frequently maintained intimate relations with their female employees, and that the results of such relations were either atoned for by a payment of money or were hidden from the eyes of the world by a crime. Unfor- tunately it could not be denied, that immorality was in- troduced into the rural districts not only by country girls who had been employed in the cities as wet nurses and by boys who had become demoralized while serving in the army, but also by educated men, by managers of the large estates and army officers, who come into the country during manoeuvres. Dr. v. Waechter claims that here in the country there actually are few girls who have attained their seventeenth birthday without having fallen." The honest lecturer had to pay for his love of truth by being socially ostracised by the offended offi- cers. Reverend Dr. Wagner had a similar experience when he ventured to say some disagreeable truths to the landed proprietors in his book on "Morality in the Coun- try."* The majority of prostitutes are driven into their un- fortunate trade at an age at which they cannot be re- garded as competent to judge their actions. Among the women who secretly prostituted themselves arrested in *At the conference of the purity societies on September 20, 1804, at the instance of Dr. Wagner an investigation was decided upon. The results of this investigation have been published in two volumes, entitled: The Sexual Morality of Protestant Country People in the German Empire, 1895-1896. Woman at the Present Day 199 Paris from 1878 until 1887, 12,615 equal 46.7 per cent, were minors. Of those arrested from 1888-1898, 14,072 equal 48.8 per cent, were minors. Le Pilleurs gives the following resume of the prostitutes of Paris, which is as concise as it is pathetic : "Defloured at 16, prostituted fct 17, afflicted with syphilis at 18."* Among 846 newly en- rolled prostitutes in Berlin in 1898 there were 229 minors. There were: 7 at the age of 15 59 at the age of 18 21 " " " " 16 49 " " " " 19 33 " " " " 17 66 " " " " 20** In September, 1894, a scandalous affair was revealed in Budapest, where it became known that about 400 girls not more than fifteen years of age had become the vic- tims of rich libertines. The sons of our "propertied and cultured classes" not infrequently consider it their right to seduce the daughters of the poor and then to forsake them. These confiding, inexperienced daughters of the poor, whose lives are often devoid of all joy and who sometimes have no friend or relative to protect them, easily fall victims to the art of the seducer, who ap- proaches them with all the temptations of pleasure and affection. Bitter disappointments and despair and event- ually crime are the results. Among 2,060,973 children born in Germany in 1907 179,178 were illegitimate. One can imagine the amount of care and heart-ache that the births of these illegitimate children mean to their mothers, even if some of them are legally married later on 'by the fathers of their children. Infanticide and the suicide of women are in a great many cases caused by the misery and need of forsaken women. The trials for infanticide present a sombre but instructive picture. In the fall of 1894 a young woman was on trial in Krems, Austria. Eight days after her confinement she had been discharged from the lying-in hospital in Vienna, with her infant and penniless, and being desperate she had *Prof. S. Bettman Medical Supervision of Prostitutes. Hand- book of the social science of medicine, Jena, 1905. **Ibid. 20O Prostitution a Necessary Social Institution killed her child. She was condemned to death. In the spring of 1899 the following was reported from the pro- vince of Posen : "On Monday last the 22-year-old work- ing girl, Katherine Gorbacki, from Alexanderruh, near Neustadt was on trial for murder. During the years 1897 and 1898 the defendant had been employed by the Provost Merkel in Neustadt. As a result of intimate relations with her employer, she gave birth to a daughter in June last. The child was placed with her relatives. The provost paid $2 for the child's board during each of the first two months, but then refused to meet any fur- ther expenses. As the girl could not meet the expenses for the child's maintenance, she decided to do away with it. On a Sunday during September last she smothered the child with a pillow. The jury convicted her of mur- der in the second degree and admitted extenuating cir- cumstances. The public prosecutor moved to inflict the maximum penalty, five years imprisonment. The judge .sentenced her to three years in prison." Thus the seduced and forsaken woman, disgraced and desperate, is driven to the utmost, and kills her own off- spring. Then she is brought to trial and is sentenced to long periods of imprisonment, or even to death. But the real unscrupulous murderer is allowed to go unpunished. Perhaps shortly after the tragedy he will marry a girl from some good and righteous family, and will become a highly honored and pious man. Many a man is held in great esteem who thus polluted his honor and his con- science. If women had a voice in the making and admin- istration of the laws things would be different. Evi- dently many cases of infanticide are never discovered. In July, 1899, in Frankenthal on the Rhine a servant girl was accused of having drowned her new-born, illegiti- mate child in the Rhine. The public prosecutor asked all police departments along the Rhine from Ludwigs- hafen to the boundary of Holland to report whether with- in a definite time the body of a child had b^en washed ashore. The surprising result of this inquest was, that the police departments within the stated time reported no less than 38 bodies of infants that had been fished from the Rhine, but whose mothers had not been found. Woman at the Present Day 201 The most cruel system is resorted to, as previously stated, by the French legislation, which forbids to seek the father, but instead maintains foundling hospitals. The law framed at the convention of June 28, 1793, reads : "La nation se charge de Teducation physique et morale des enfants abandonnes. Desormais, ils seront designes sous le seul nom d'orphelins. Aucunne autre qualification ne sera permis" (The nation undertakes the physical and moral education of abandoned children. Henceforward they will be known only by the name of orphans. No other designation will be permitted.). That was a very convenient method to men, for thereby they could turn over their individual obligations to the com- munity and were spared from being publicly exposed. National orphan and foundling asylums were erected. In 1833 the number of orphans and foundlings amounted to 130,945. It was estimated that every tenth child was a legitimate one that its parents wished to get rid of. As these children were not properly cared for, their mor- tality was very great. At that time 59 per cent, died during the first year ; up to the twelfth year 78 per cent. died ; so only 22 from 100 children attained the twelfth year. At the beginning of the sixties of the last century tnere were 175 foundling asylums; in 1861 there were ad- mitted into these 42,934 enfants trouves (foundlings) 26,156 enfants abandonnes (abandoned children) and 9,716 orphans; together this made 78,066 children who were maintained at public expense. All in all the num- ber of abandoned children has not decreased during re- cent decades. Foundling asylums maintained by the state were also established in Austria and Italy. "Ici on fait mourir les enfants" (here children are made to die) ; a monarch is said to have suggested these words as a suitable inscrip- tion for foundling asylums. In Austria the foundling asylums are gradually disappearing. At present only eight remain, but at the close of the nineties of the last century these still contained over 9,000 children, while more than 30,000 children were placed outside of the asylums. During recent years the number of foundlings has greatly decreased, for in 1888 there still were 40,865 202 Prostitution a Necessary Social Institution children who were public charges in Austria; 10,466 were in asylums; 30,399 were placed in private care. Their maintenance cost 1,817,372 florins. Mortality was not as great among the children placed in asylums as among those privately cared for; this was especially so in the province of Galicia. Here, during the year 1888 31.25 per cent, died in asylums far more than in the asylums of other countries ; but of those who were pri- vately cared for 84.21 per cent, died; a wholesale butch- ery. It seems as if Polish mismanagement endeavored to kill off these poor, little creatures as quickly as pos- sible. In Italy 118,531 children were admitted into asylums from 1894 to 1896. Annual average: 29,633; boys: 58,- 901; girls: 59,630, illegitimate, 113,141; legitimate, 5,390 (only 5 per cent.). How great the mortality has been may be seen from the following table.* 1890-1892 1893-1896 1897 Number of children admit- ted 9^549 109,899 26,661 Died during first year 34>i86 41,386 9,71 1 Percentage 37.3 37.6 36.4 Mortality of illegitimate children in Italy 25.0 27.2 23.4 Mortality of legitimate chil- dren 18.0 17.5 15.9 The record was broken by the foundling asylum Santa Cosa dell' Annunziata in Naples, where in 1896 of 853 infants 850 died. In the year 1907 the foundling asylums admitted 18,896 children. During the years 1902 to 1906 the mortality of these unfortunate little ones was 37.5 per cent; that means that more than one-third of the children maintained by the state die during the first year.** It is a generally known fact, that the rate of mortality is always higher among illegitimate children than among legitimate ones. According to Prusian sta- *S. Turcranji and S. Engel. The Foundling System in Italy. Quarterly journal of public hygiene, 1903. **Encyclopedia of Social Science ; 3d edition, vol. iv., 1909. Article : Foundling Asylums. Woman at the Present Day 203 tistics the following number of deaths of infants occurred for every 10,000 births. 1881-1885 1886-1890 1891-1895 1896-1900 1904 City 211 210 203 195 179 Legitimate Country 186 187 187 185 172 Illegitimate City.... 398 395 35 374 333 Country 319 332 336 336 306 "It is a striking fact which clearly shows the connec- tion between prostitution and the unfortunate condition of servant girls and menials employed in the country, that of 94,779 illegitimate children born in 1906, 21,164 were the children of servant girls and 18,869 were the children of girls otherwise employed in the country. To- gether this made 40,033 or 42 per cent. If servants em- ployed in the country and female farm hands are taken together, they constitute 30 per cent., while girls indus- trially employed constitute 14 per cent (13,460)."* The difference in the rate of mortality between legiti- mate and illegitimate children is especially marked dur- ing the first month, when the mortality of illegitimate children is on an average three times as great as that of legitimate children. Lack of care during pregnancy and during the confinement and improper care of the child after birth are the simple causes of this great mortality of illegitimate children. Ill treatment and neglect help to increase the number of the victims. The number of still- born children is greater among the illegitimate than among the legitimate also. This is probably chiefly due to attempts on the part of the mother to bring about the death of the child during pregnancy. To this must be added the cases of infanticide that are not found out because the murdered child is counted among the still-born. Bertillion claims, that to the 205 cases of infanticide recorded in the legal documents of France, should be added at least 1,500 alleged still-births and 1,400 cases of intentional killing by starvation.** The following table shows the number of legitimate *Encyclopedia of Social Science, 1009. **Schnapper Arndt. 204 Prostitution a Necessary Social Institution and illegitimate children in various European countries for every 100 still-births. During the years legitimate Illegitimate Germany 1891 1900 .I5 4.25 Prussia I9OO IQO2 7 02 A AI Saxony . 1891 1900 7 71 424. Bavaria 1891 1900 2.98 1.61 Wurtemberg 1891 1900 7.-7Q ^.48 Baden 1891 1900 2.62 Austria iSQS IQOO 2.64 * 86 Switzerland l8Q7 IQOT. 7 4Q 6 14 Prance 1891 1895 4.4O 7.54 Netherlands 1891 I9OO 4.0,8 8.11 Denmark jgq-i 1804 2.40 **.2O Sweden igoi 1805 2.46 ^.^o Norway 1391 1900 2.47 4.06 Finland 1891 1900 2.54 4-43 Italy !89i 1896 3.89 5.16* The survivors revenge themselves on society for the ill-treatment accorded them by furnishing an unusually high percentage of the criminals of all grades. 5. Crimes Against Morality and Sexual Diseases. We must still briefly dwell upon another evil that is often met with. An excess of sexual enjoyment is far more harmful than the want of same. An organism abused by excesses is eventually destroyed. Impotence, sterility, idiocy, feeble mindedness and other diseases result. Temperance in sexual intercourse is as necessary as temperance in eating and drinking, and other human requirements. But young men living in luxury seem to find it very difficult to be temperate. Therefore we often find senility among young men of the upper classes. The number of old and young roues is large, and because they are satiated and dulled by excesses, they require special stimulants. Beside those in whom love for their own sex (sodomy) is innate, there are many who suc- cumb to this perversity of the Greek age. Sodomy is *F. Prinzing The Causes of Still-Births. General records of sta- tistics, 1907. Woman at the Present Day 205 far more widespread than most of us imagine ; the secret documents of many police departments might reveal apalling facts.* Among the women, too, the perversities of ancient Greece have been revived. Lesbian, or Sapphic love is, so Taxel claims, prevalent to an enormous degree among the fashionable ladies of Paris. In Berlin about a quarter of the prostitutes indulge in this perverse pas- sion and it is not unknown among the fashionable women, either. Another unnatural satisfaction of the sexual desire are the criminal assaults upon children that have greatly increased during the last decades. The following num- bers of persons were convicted of crimes against morality in Germany: In 1895, 10,239; in 1905, I3,43 2 ; in 1906, [ 3>557- Among those were 58 persons in 1902 and 72 in 1907, who were convicted of criminal assaults upon chil- dren. The following number was convicted of fornica- tion with persons under fourteen: In 1902, 4,090; in 1906, 4,548; in 1907, 4,397;. In Italy the number of crimes against morality was: 1887 to 1889, 4,590; 1903, 8,461 ; which is 19.44 per cent, and 25.67 per cent, for every 100,000 inhabitants. The same fact has been ob- served in Austria. Very correctly H. Herz says: "The rapid increase in crimes against morality during the period 1880-1890 shows that the present economic struc- ture with its decrease in the marriage rate and its insta- bility of employment is in no small degree the cause of the low standard of morality."** In Germany members of the learned professions fur- nish about 5.6 per cent of the criminals ; but they furnish about 13 per cent, of those convicted of criminal assaults upon children. This percentage would be higher still if members of those circles would not have ample means to conceal their crimes. The terrifying revelations made by the 'Tall Mall Gazette" at the close of the eighties of the *The trials of Moltke, Lynar and Eulenburg have since revealed a more revolting picture than one could suspect. They have shown how widespread is this perversity among the higher strata of society, especially among military men and in court circles. **Dr. Hugo Herz Crimes and Criminals in Austria, Tuebingen, 1908. 206 Prostitution a Necessary Social Institution last century concerning the criminal abuses of children in England, have shown the widespread existence of frightful conditions. < Concerning venereal diseases and their increase, the following table, showing the number of cases treated in German hospitals, contains valuable information : Gonorrhoea Syphilis. Gonorrhoea Syphilis 1877-1879.. 23,344 67,750 1892-1894.. 50,541 7 8 >93 1880-1882.. 28,700 79,220 1895-1897.. 53,587 74,092 1883-1885. .30,038 65,980 1898-1901 . .83,374 101,225 1886-1888.. 32,275 53,664 1902-1904. .68,350 76,678 1889-1891.. 41,381 60,793 If we take the average annual number of persons af- flicted we find that within a period of 25 years the cases of gonorrhoea have increased from 7,781 to 22,750 and those of syphilis from 22,583 to 25,559. The population has increased only by 25 per cent, while the cases of gonorrhoea have in creased by 182 per cent and those of syphilis 19 per cent! We have another statistic that does not cover many years, but just one single day which shows how many patients afflicted with venereal dis- eases were under medical treatment on April 30, 1900. The Prusian minister of public instruction has caused this investigation to be made. A list of questions was sent to every physician in Prussia. Although only 63.5 per cent, of these replied, the investigation showed that on April 30, 1900, there were about 41,000 persons in Prusia afflicted with venereal diseases. 11,000 were newly infected with syphilis. In Berlin alone there were on this day 11,600 persons afflicted with venereal diseases, among them 3,000 fresh cases of syphilis. For every 100,000 adult inhabitants, the following number were un- der medical treatment for venereal diseases. Men. Women. In Berlin 1419 457 " 17 cities having more than 100,000 inhabitants 999 457 " 42 cities having 30.000 to i;x>,ooo 584 176 " 47 cities having less than 30.000 450 169 " other cities and rural communities 80 27 In the entire German Empire 282 92 Woman at the Present Day 207 The cities mainly afflicted are those situated at har- bors, college and garrison towns and large industrial cen- ters (In Koenigsberg for every 100,000 inhabitants, 2,152 men and 619 women are diseased; in Cologne 1309 men and 402 women; in Frankfort 1,505 men and 399 women). Of Berlin Dr. Blaschko says: "In a large city like Berlin annually of 1,000 young men between 20 and 30 years, almost 200, abo t One-fifth, become diseased with gonorrheoa and about 24 with syphilis. But the time during which young men are exposed to venereal infec- tion is much longer than one year. For some it is five years, for others ten years and more. After five years of unmaried life then a young man will become diseased with gonorrhoea once and twice in ten years. After five years every tenth young man, after eight to ten years every fifth young man would acquire syphilis. In other words, of the men who marry after their thirtieth year every one would have had gonorrhoea twice, and every fourth or fifth one would be inflicted with syphilis. These figures have been compiled by careful calculation, and to us physicians who learn of so many misfortunes that are concealed from the eyes of the world, they do not appear exaggerated." The results of the research of April 30, 1900, are con- firmed by a careful study of this problem in connection with the Prussian army compiled in 1907 by the surgeon- major, Dr. Schwiening.* It was shown that the various divisions of the army annually show about the same number of recruits afflicted with venereal diseases. Some divisions have a particularly large number of cases, espe- cially the division recruited from the province of Bran- denburg. Berlin is mainly to blame that 2 per cent, of these recruits are diseased. Dr. Schwiening's compila- tion of the percentage of diseased recruits from the vari- ous government districts clearly shows the extension of venereal diseases among civilians. Of 1,000 enrolled re- cruits the following number was afflicted : * Director general of the army medical department, Dr. Chum- burg, The Venereal Diseases, Their Nature and Dissemination. 208 Prostitution a Necessary Social Institution 1903 1904 1905 Berlin 40.9 37.2 45.2 27 cities having more than 100,000 inhabitants 14.9 16.7 15.8 26 cities having 50,000 to 100,000 inhabitants... 11.6 9.6 9.5 33 cities having 25,000 to 50,000 inhabitants 8.2 6.8 9. i Cities having less than 25,000 inhabitants and rural communities 4.3 5-O 4- State 7-6 8.1 7-8 The greatest number of diseased recruits came from Shoeneberg, having 58.4 for every 1,000 enrolled. In large cities outside of Prussia, the following numbers were recorded: Hamburg, 29.8; Leipsic, 29.4; Dresden, 19; Chemnitz, 17.8; -Munich, 16.4. According to G. v. Mayer the increase of venereal diseases for every 1,000 inhabitants from 1903 to 1904 was: Prussia, 19.6; Austria and Hungary, 60.3; France, 27.1; Italy, 85.2; England, 125; Belgium, 28.3; the Netherlands 31.4; Rusia, 40.5; Denmark, 45. The increase in venereal diseases is espe- cially great in the navy. In the German navy from 1905 to 1900 the number of cases were: On ship-board abroad, 113.6 per thousand; in domestic waters, 58.8; on land, 57.8. In the English navy there were in 1905 121,55 cases and in 1906 121,94 cases. We have seen that our social conditions have produced all sorts of vices, excesses and crimes that are constantly increasing. The whole social organism is in a state of un- rest by which the women are most deeply affected. Wo- men are beginning to realize this more and more and to seek redress. They demand in the first place economic independence. They demand that women, like men, should be admitted to all trades and professions accord- ing to their strength and ability. They especially de- mand the right to practice learned professions. Are these endeavors justified? Can their aims be realized? Will they bring relief? These are the questions we must seek to answer. Woman at the Present Day 209 CHAPTER XIII. WOMAN IN INDUSTRY. i. Development and Extension of Female Labor. The endeavor of women to earn their own living and to attain personal independence is, to some extent at least, regarded as a just one by bourgeois society. The bourgeoisie requires an unhampered release of male and female labor power in order that industry may attain its highest degree of development. The perfection of ma- chinery and the division of labor, whereby each single function in the process of production requires less strength and mechanical training than formerly, and the growing competition, not only between individual manu- facturers, but also between entire manufacturing regions, states and countries causes the labor power of woman to be sought more and more. The special causes which lead to an increased employ- ment of female labor in a growing number of trades have been set forth in a previous chapter. One reason why employers resort more and more to the employment of women beside men, or instead of men, is, that women are accustomed to require less than men. Owing to their nature as sex beings, women are obliged to offer their labor power cheaper than men. They are, as a rule, more subjected to physical derangements that cause an interruption of their work, and owing to the complication and organization of modern industry, this may lead to an interruption in the whole process of production. Preg- nancy and child-birth lengthen such periods of interrup- tion.* The employer makes the most of this fact and *A number of lists from sick-benefit funds, compiled by the fac- tory inspector Schuler, showed that female members were ill 7.17 days annually, while male members were ill only 4.78 days annually. The duration of each illness was 24.8 for female members and 21.2 for male members. O. Schwartz, The results of the employment of married women in factories from the standpoint of public hygiene. German quarterly gazette for public hygiene. 2io Woman in Industry finds ample indemnification for these occasional inter- ruptions by the payment of considerably lower wages. Moreover the woman is tied to her particular abode or its immediate environment. She cannot change her abode as men are enabled to do in most cases. Female labor, especially the labor of married women workers- appears particularly desirable to employers in still another way, as may be seen from the quotation from "Capital," by Karl Marx on page 129. As a worker the married woman is "far more attentive and docile" than the unmarried one. Consideration for her children com- pels her to exert her strength to the utmost in order to earn what is needful for their livelihood, and she there- fore quietly submits to much that the unmarried working woman would not submit to, far less so the working man. As a rule working women rarelv combine with their fel- low workers to obtain better working conditions. That also enhances their value in the eyes of the employers; sometimes they even are a good means to subdue re- bellious male workers. Women moreover are more pa- tient, they possess greater nimbleness and a more de- veloped taste, qualities that make them better suited to many kinds of work than men. These womanly virtues the virtuous capitalist ap- preciates fully; and so, with the development of indus- try, the field of woman's work is extended each year, but and this is the decisive factor without materially improving her social condition. Where female labor power is employed, it frequently releases male laboi power. But the displaced male workers must earn their living; so they offer their labor power at lower wages, and this offer again depresses the wages of the female workers. The depression of wages becomes a screw set in motion by the constantly revolving process of de- veloping industry, and as this process of revolution by labor-saving devices also releases female workers, the supply of "hands" is increased still more. New branches of industry counteract this constant production of sur- plus labor power, but not sufficiently to create better conditions of labor. In the new branches of industry Woman at the Present Day 211 also, as for instance in the electrical, male workers are being displaced by female workers. In the motor fac- tory of the General Electric Company most of the ma- chines are tended by girls. Every increase in wages above a certain standard causes the employer to seek further improvement of his machinery, and to put the automatic machine in the place of human hands and human brains. In the beginning of the capitalistic era only male workers competed with one another on the labor market. Now sex is arrayed against sex, and age against age. Women displace men, and women in turn are displaced by young people and children. That is the "moral regime" of modern industry. This state of affairs would eventually become unbear- able if the workers, by organization in their trade unions, would not counteract it with all their might. To the working woman, too, it is becoming a sheer necessity to join these industrial organizations, for as an individual she has still far less power of resistance than the work- ing man. Working women are beginning to recognize this necessity. In Germany the following numbers were organized: in 1892, 4,355; in 1899, 19,280; in 1900, 22,884; in 1905, 74,411; in 1907, 136,929; in 1908, 138,443. In 1892 women constituted only 1.8 per cent, of all members of trade unions; in 1908 they constituted 7.6 per cent. According to the fifth international report of the trade union movement the numbers of female members were in Great Britain, 201,709; in Erance, 88,906; in Austria, 46,401. The endeavors of employers to lengthen the work day in order to extract larger profits from their workers is met with little resistance by women workers. That ex- plains why in the textile industry, for instance, in which more than half of the workers are women the work day is longest. It was necessary therefore that government protection by limiting the hours of work should begin with this industry. Women being accustomed to an end- less work day by their domestic activity, submit to the increased demands upon their labor power without of- fering resistance. 212 Woman in Industry e^: IO ON ON ON M O\ to ONGO N M co O - IO co 10 -<3- O VO M 10 r- lOOO ON ^- 10 "3- N 10 Tt- 10 Tj- CO "3- co CO rj- q vq Tt -" 10 M" o"vo" ^vcT Mt^cOOt^t^ ^M ONQO r^oo oo oo* M* to MCOVO fO ON ON IO IO r ^ ^ # M O CO"MD~ rf ON vovO t^OO TfOOvX C (N H 00 1^ (N Tl- O O ONOO OMCO CO lOONt-HVOvO ^ r< Tj-00 W M !-HV> M O r^iOM IOONQVO CO* CO CO w* t< TfrOiOiOl^ ON^rOiOC< ON l^ Tf O 00 fO ON M W ro fO ioO ON ON M CO fOOO COOOO"-i IO CS tO D" O* ^f O* O iO O* to rf ONVO" t^ 1-1 CN vO Tf co ^vO M Tj- t-i M*v)* O*< IO CN* COCO'vO* IO CN* IO VO CN M CN CO tO J?2': E S cToO 00* rO *o o 3 3 CN i-HO t^CN M ONM COONOCO rf O Tl-vO M ^00^ t^ IO O^ O^ r^ ONCO* CN* CN* O*CO* COOO* OVO* O* T? IO ON f^vO CN CO cOvO 00 IO co IO CN CN vO M cO\O O fO iO CN \O *-^ M* cO ON cOvO* M* ON cO CN* M* of t-T ON CO* 00* ON ON iO s ? VO* Tp vo" rf CN" -<" 8cO CN 00 O ONlO-^-cO w^vo M_ co M^ ^^^ t-T CN" CN" t^ 10 r-^vo" rf O* VO lOOO t^lOCNl-HCSMON rf COOO \O CO cOO-^-tOON vo T rtvo 555 39,222 30,346 Agriculture .................... 4,585,749 Clothing and cleaning ............ 883,184 Commercial lines ................. 545,i%7 Textile industry ................ 528,235 Restaurants and cafes ............ 339*555 Articles of food and luxury ...... 248,962 Metal works .................... 73,039 Stone and pottery .............. 72,270 Paper industry ................... 67,322 Wood and carving industry ...... 48,028 216 Woman in Industry The following are the trades in which more women than men are employed in Germany : Women. Men. Agriculture 4,217,132 2,737,768 Textile industry 466,210 390,312 Clothing trades 403,879 303,264 Cleaning trades 85,684 58,035 Restaurants and cafes 266,930 139,002 Domestic service 279,208 36,791 Nursing 129,197 78,520 These figures clearly show us the prevailing state of affairs in Germany. Although the number of persons gainfully employed has increased more rapidly than the population, the growth of female labor still exceeds this increase. The employment of women is rapidly growing in all lines of industry. While the male laboring popu- lation is relatively stationary, the female laboring popu- lation shows a relative and absolute growth. In fact the increase in female labor constitutes the chief portion of the general increase of persons gainfully employed in the entire population. The number of female members of families supported by men rank from 70.81 per cent, in 1895 to 63.90 per cent, in 1907. Woman has become such a powerful factor in industry that the Philistine saying, the woman's place is in the home, seems utterly void and ridiculous. In England the following numbers of persons were industrially employed: For every I00 persons gain- fully employed Total Male Female Male Fern. 1871 11,593,466 8,270,186 3,323,280 1881 11,187,564 7,783,646 3,403,918 69.59 3041 1891 12,751,995 8,883,254 4,016,230 68.09 3 l -9 l 1901 14,328,727 10,156,976 4,i7i,75i 70-09 29.91 Within thirty years the number of men gainfully em- ployed increased by 1,886,790 persons = 22.8 per cent; the number of women gainfully employed increased by 848,471 = 25.5 per cent. It is especially noteworthy that during 1881, the year of a crisis, the number of men em- parent one, since most of the wives and daughters of Woman at the Present Day 217 number of women employed increased by 80,638. The relative decrease of female labor in 1901 is only an ap- parent one, since rriost of the wives and daughters of farmers are now counted as having no profession. Be- sides, during the last twenty years those industries have grown mostly in which male labor is chiefly employed, while the textile industry has relatively, and since 1891, positively declined. Percentage Female of workers increase among 1881 these Stone and pottery industry. . 582,474 805,185 53 5,006 Metal works and manufac- facture of machinery. . 812.915 1,228,504 52 61,233 Building trades 764,911 1,128,680 47 2,485 Textile trades 1,094,636 1,155,397 5 663,222 Nevertheless female labor has again increased at the expense of male labor. Only the share in increase of female labor that was 12.6 per cent, from 1851 to 1861 and 7.6 per cent, from 1871 to 1881 was reduced to 1.8 per cent, from 1891 to 1901. In the year 1907 the follow- ing numbers were counted in the textile industry : 407, 360 men = 36.6 per cent, and 679,863 women = 63.4 per cent. In the clothing trades and in commerce female labor has increased much more. But it is furthermore seen that older women are displaced by younger ones, and as women under 25 are mostly unmarried and the older ones are mostly married, or widowed, it is seen that women are displaced by girls. The following are trades in which more women than men are employed in England: Women Men Domestic service 1,690,686 124,263 Clothing trades 711,786 414,637 Textile trades 663,222 492,175 Among these cotton 328,793 193,830 wool and yarn 153,311 106,598 hemp and jute 104,587 45>73 2 silk 22,589 8,966 embroidery 28,962 9,587 In almost all the branches women receive considerable less pay than men for the same amount of work. A recent 218 Woman in Industry inquiry showed that the average weekly wage in the tex- tile industry was 28 shillings I penny for men, and only 15 shillings 5 pence for women.* In the bicycle indus- try where female labor has rapidly increased as a result of the introduction of machinery, women receive only from 12 to 18 shillings per week, where men received from 30 to 40 shillings.* The same conditions are met with in the manufacture of paper goods and shoes and in binderies. Women are paid especially low wages for the manufacture of underwear; 10 shillings per week is considered a goed wage. "As a rule a woman earns half or one-third of a man's wage."* A similar difference in remuneration between men and women is met with in the postal service and in teaching. Only in the cotton in- dustry in Lancashire both sexes working an equal length of time earned almost equal wages. In the United States we find the following development of female labor: i88o ^ igoo Agriculture 594,5 10 678,884 977>336 Learned professions 177,255 311,687 430,597 Domestic and personal service 1,181,300 1,667,651 2,095449 Commerce and transpor- tation 63,058 228,421 5Q3'347 Manufacture 631,034 1,027,928 1,312,668 Total, women 2,647 J57 M-7 3,914,571 17-4 5.319,397 18.8 men. 14,774,942 85.3 18,821,090 82.6 23,753,836 81.2 17,422,099 100 22,735,661 100 29,073,233 100 Here we see that the number of women gainfully em- ployed has grown from 3,914,571 in 1890 to 5,319,397 in 1900. It has increased more rapidly than the population which increased from 62,622,250 persons in 1890 to 76,- 303,387 in 1900; only by 21 per cent. In the same inexor- able way the number of employed men is decreasing, since they are being displaced by women. Now for 100 persons gainfully employed there are 18.8 women, while * Textile Trades in 1906. London, 1909. ** E. Cadbury ,C. Matheson and C. Shaun Women's work and wages. London, 1906. j" E. Cadbury and F. Shaun Sweating. London. 1907. Woman at the Present Day 219 in 1880 there were not more than 14.7 per cent. Of 312 occupations there are only 9 in which no women are em- ployed. According to the census of 1900, we even find among them 5 pilots, 45 engineers and firemen, 185 black- smiths, 508 machinists, n well-borers, 8 boilermakers. "Of course these figures are not of great sociological im- portance, but they show that there are very few occupa- tions from which women are absolutely excluded, either by their natural capacity or by law.* Women are espe- cially numerous in the following occupations: Servants and waitresses, 1,213,828; dressmaking, 338,144; farm labor, 497,886 ; laundresses, 332,665 ; teachers, 327,905 ; in- dependent farmers, 307,788; textile workers, 231,458; housekeepers, 147,103 ; salesladies, 146,265 ; seamstresses, 138,724; nurses and midwives, 108,691 ; unqualified trades, 106,916. In these 12 occupations 3,583,333 = 74.1 per cent, of all bread-earning women have been counted. Be- sides there are 85,086 stenographers; 82,936 milliners; 81,000 clerks; 72,896 bookkeepers, etc., together 19 occu- pations, comprising over 50,000 women = 88.8 per cent, of all women breadwinners. Women predominate in the following trades : For every 100 persons employed. Manufacture of underwear. . . .Women 994. . . .Men 0.6 Millinery Dressmaking , Manufacture of collars, Weaving Manufacture of gloves. Bookbinding Textile trades Housekeeping , Nursing Laundry work , Domestic service Boarding , Stenographers , Teachers Music teachers . 98.0 96.8 77.6. 72.8. 62.6. 50.5. 50.0. 947- 89.9. 86.8. 81.9. 834- 76.7. 734- 56.9- o.O 3-2 22.4 27.2 374 49-5 50.0 5-3 IO.I 13.2 18.1 16.6 2 n 26.6 * Statistics of women at work. Washington, 1908. 22O Woman in Industry Of 4,833,630 women employed in gainful occupations aged 16 years and more, 3,143,712 were single, 769,477 were married, 857,005 were widowed, 63,436 were di- vorced. The American report says: "The increase in the percentage of persons gainfully employed was great- est for the married women, since it was by one-fourth greater in 1900 than in 1890. In 1890 there was only one married working woman among 22; in 1900 there was one among 18." The number of widowed and di- vorced women is very great, both relatively and actually. In 1900 among 2,721,438 widowed women 857,005 = 31.5 were earning their living, and among divorced women the percentage was still greater. Of 114,935, of these 49 per cent, were earning their own living in 1890 and 55.3 per cent, in 1900. Thus more women became self-sup- porting each year. Among the 303 occupations in which women are employed there are : 79 w th less than 100 women 59 31 125 63 TOO tO 5OO 500 to iboo more 1000 5000 " Among 100 persons from 16 years up we find the fol- lowing wage-scale: Men Women Less than 7 dollars.. 18 Less than 7 dollars. 66.3 7 to 9 dollars. .15.4 7 to 9 dollars.. 19.6 9 to 20 dollars. .60.6 9 to 15 dollars. . 13.2 20 to 25 dollars.. 4.8 15 to 20 dollars.. 0.8 More than 25 dollars.. 2 20 to 25 dollars., o.i Average weekly wage $11.16 $6.17 We see that 60.6 per cent, of the men earn more than $9, while only 13.2 per cent, of the women earn more than $9, and more than two-thirds (66.3 per cent.) earn less than $7.* The average weekly wage for men is $11.16; the average weekly wage for women $6.17, almost half of the man's wages. Among government employes the difference is equally great. Among 185,874 persons engaged in civil service there were 172,053 men = 92.6 * Earnings of wage-earners. Bulletin 93, page u. Washington, 1908. Woman at the Present Day 221 per cent., and 13,821 women 7.4 per cent. In the Dis- trict of Columbia, the seat of the national administration, the percentage of female labor amounts to 29 per cent. And yet 47.2 per cent, of the women earn less than $720, while only 16.7 per cent, of the men earn less than $720.* In France, according to the census of 1901, the laboring population amounted to 19,715,075 persons, 12,910,565 men and 6,804,510 women. They are distributed among various trades as follows : Men. Per Cent. Women. Per Cent. Agriculture 55i76i7 7 2 2,658,952 28 Commerce 1,132,621 65 689,999 35 Dom'tic service. 223,861 23 791,176 77 Learned prof... 226,561 67 I73 2 78 33 Industry 3>695> 2I 3 63.5 2,124,642 36.5 "The female laboring population amounts to one-half of the male laboring population."** As in all other coun- tries, fewest women are employed at those occupations that require greatest physical strength (In mining 2.03 women for 100 men; in quarries 1.65 in metallurgy, 1.06). The greatest number of women are employed in the tex- tile trades, 116 women for 100 men in the clothing trades, in laundries, 1,247 women for 100 men, and in the manufacture of underwear 3,286 women for 100 men.*** It generally holds true, as Mme. C. Milhand states, that the greatest number of women are employed in those in- dustries where the hours of work are particularly long and wages particularly low. "It is a sad fact that while the industries, where the hours of labor are short, only employ a few thousand women, those where the hours of work are long, employs hundreds of thousands of them."t In regard to the wage scale E. Levasseur says that a woman's wage rarely amounts to two-thirds of a man's wage and more frequently only to one-half.tt *Executive civil service of the United States. Washington, 1908. **C. Milhand L'ouvriere en France. Paris, 1907. ***E. Levasseur- Questions ouvri^res et industrielles en France sous la troisi^me rpublique. Paris, 1907. fC. Milhand L'ouvri&re en France. Paris, 1907. tfE. Levasseur Questions ouvrires et industrielles en France sous la troisiSme r^publique. Paris, 1907. 222 Woman in Industry 2. Factory Work of Married Women. Sweatshop Labor and Dangerous Occupations. Married women form a large percentage of working women and their number is steadily increasing, which means a serious problem in regard to the family life of the working class. In 1899, German factory inspectors were instructed to investigate the work of married women and to inquire into the causes which lead them to seek employment.* This investigation showed that 229,- 334 married women were employed in factories. Besides 1,063 married women were employed in mining above the ground, as was shown by the report of the Prussian min- ing authorities. In Baden the number of married work- ing women increased from 10,878 in 1894 to 15,046 in 1899, which is 31.27 per cent, of all adult female workers. The following table shows the distribution of married women factory laborers among the various trades : Textile industry m,i94 Articles of food and luxury 39,080 Stone and pottery industry I9>475 Clothing and cleaning trades 13,156 Paper industry 11,049 Metal works 10,739 Wood and carving industry 5,635 Polygraphic trades 4>77o Manufacture of machinery 4493 Chemical industry 4,380 Various 5,363 Total 229,334 Besides the textile industry, the manufacture of articles of food and luxury, especially the manufacture of tobacco, gives many married women employment. Then comes the paper industry, especially employment in work shops foi the assorting of rags, and employment in brick yards. Married women are mainly employed in difficult occupa- *Employment of married women in factories. Compiled from the annual reports of factory inspectors, for the year 1899 in the Home Department. Berlin, 1901. Woman at the Present Day 223 tions (quarries, brick yards, dyeing establishments, man- ufacture of chemicals, sugar refineries, etc.), implying hard and dirty work, while young working girls under twenty-one find employment in porcelain factories, spin- ning and weaving mills, paper mills, cigar factories, and in the clothing trade. The worst kinds of work, shunned by others, are taken up by the elder working women, especially the married ones."* Of the many replies in regard to the causes which lead married women to seek work only a few need to be men- tioned. In the district of Potsdam the main reason given for the factory labor of married women was, that the earnings of the men were insufficient. In Berlin accord- ing to the reports of two inspectors 53.62 per cent, of the women who helped to support their families stated, that the earnings of their husbands were insufficient to sup- port them. Similar information was given by the factory inspectors for the districts of western Prussia, Frank- fort, on the Oder, Franconia, Wurtemberg, Elsatia, etc. The inspector for Magdeburg gives the same cause for the majority of married working women, but also states that some married women must work because their hus- bands are dissolute and spend all their earnings on them- selves. Others again, it was reported, worked as a mat- ter of habit and because they had not been trained to be housekeepers. It may be true that these causes hold good in a minority of cases; but the great majority of these women work because they must. The factory inspector for Alsace states as the main cause for gainful employ- ment of married women in modern industry, the demand for cheap labor, created by the means of transportation and by unrestricted competition. He furthermore states that manufacturers like to employ married women be- cause they are more reliable and steady. The factory inspector for Baden, Dr. WoerishofTer, says: "The low wages paid to women workers is the main cause why *"In the centers of the weaving industry the percentage of married women among factory workers rises far above the average 26 per cent; for instance, in Saxony- A Itenburg to 56 per cent, and in Reuss to 58 per cent." R. Wilbrandt, The weavers at the present time. Jena, 1906. 224 Woman in Industry employers resort to female labor wherever it can be made use of. Ample proof of this assertion can be found in the fact, that wages are lowest in those industries in which the greatest number of women are employed. As female labor can be employed to a great extent in these indus- tries, it becomes a necessity to the working class families that the women should seek employment." The factory inspector for Coblentz says: "\Vomen usually are more industrious and reliable than young girls. Young work- ing girls generally have an aversion against disagreeable and dirty work, which is accordingly left to the more unassuming married workers. Thus, for instance, dealers in rags frequently employ married women." That the wages of working women are lower every- where than those of workingmen, even for equal work, is a well known fact. In this respect the private employer does not differ from the state or community. Women employed in the railroad and postal service receive less than men for the same kind of work. In every community women teachers receive a lower salary than men teachers. This may be explained by the following causes : Women have fewer needs and are, above all, more helpless; their earnings are in many cases only additional to the incomes of fathers or husbands, the main supporters of the fam ilies; the character of female labor is amateurish, tem- porary and accidental ; there is an immense reserve force of female workers which increases their helplessness ; there is much competition from middle class women in dressmaking, millinery, flower and paper goods manu- factory, etc. ; women are usually tied to their place of residence. All these causes make the hours of work longest for women unless they are protected by legisla- tion. In a report on the wages of factory laborers in Mann- heim in 1893 the late Dr. Woerishoffer divides the weekly wages into three classes.* The lowest class comprises weekly wages up to 15 marks ($3-75), the middle class from 15 to 24 marks ($3-75 to $4), and the high class *Woerishoffer The social status of factory workers in Mannheim. Woman at the Present Day 225 above 24 marks ($6). These wages were distributed among the workers as follows : Low class Middle class High class All the workers. .20.8 per cent 49.8 per cent 20.4 per cent Male " ..20.9 " 56.2 22.9 Female " ..99.2 ' 0.7 " o.i The majority of the working women were paid starva*- tion wages, as the following table shows : marks ($1.25) " from 5 to 6 ($1.25 to $1.50) ' ($I. 5 " $2.00) ' ' 5-47 ;; 43.96 ($2.00 " $2.50) ' 27 ' 4 I ','. 12 "15 " more than 15 ($250 ;; $ 3 .oo) ; ($3.00 $3.50) ($3.75) ' 12.38 5.3 " 0.74 " An inquiry by the department of factory inspection of Berlin showed that the average weekly wages of work- ing women was 11.36 marks ($2.82); 4.3 per cent, re- ceived less than 6 marks ; 7.8 per cent. 6 to 8 marks ; 27.6 per cent. 12 to 15 marks; n.i per cent. 15 to 20 marks, and i.i per cent. 20 to 30 marks. The majority (75.7 per cent) earn from 8 to 15 marks. In Karlsruhe the average weekly wages of all working women amounts to 10.02 marks.* Wages are lowest in the domestic industries for both men and women, but especially for women, and the hours of work are unlimited. Also domestic industry frequently implies the so-called sweating system. A sub-contractor distributes the work among the workers and receives for his remuneration a considerable amount of the wages paid by the employer. How wretchedly female labor is paid in these sweated trades, may be seen from the fol- lowing reports on conditions in Berlin. For men's col- ored shirts, manufacturers paid from 2 to 2% marks in 1889. In 1893 they obtained them for 1.20 mark. A seamstress of medium ability must toil from dawn to darkness to finish from 6 to 8 shirts daily; her weekly wages amounts to from 4 to 5 marks. An apronmaker earns 2% to 5 marks weekly, a tiemaker 5 to 6 marks, a skillful shirt-waist maker 6 marks, a very skilled worker *Mary Baum Three classes of women wage-earners in industry and commerce of the city Karlsruhe. 1906. 226 Woman in Industry on boys' suits 8 to 9 marks, a worker on coats 5 to 6 marks. An experienced seamstress on fine men's shirts can earn 12 marks per week if the season is good, and if she works from 5 o'clock in the morning until 10 o'clock at night. Milliners who can copy models independently earn 30 marks monthly; experienced trimmers who have been working at their trade for years earn 50 to 60 manes per month during the season. The season lasts five months. An umbrellamaker earns 6 to 7 marks weekly with a twelve-hour day. Such starvation wages drive working girls to prostitution, for even with the most modest requirements no working girl can live in Berlin for less than 9 to 10 marks per week. All these facts show that the modern development of industry draws away women more and more from the family and the home. Marriage and the family are being disrupted, and so from the standpoint of these facts also it becomes absurd to relegate woman to the home and the family. Only they can resort to this argument who go through life blindly and fail to see the trend of de- velopment, or do not wish to see it. In many branches of industry, women are employed exclusively; in a great many they constitute the majority of workers, and in most of the remaining branches women find more or less employment. The number of working women is steadily growing and new lines of activity are constantly being opened to them. By the enactment of the German factory laws of 1891 the work day of adult women workers in factories was limited to eleven hours, but a number of exceptions were permitted. Night work for women was also prohibited, but here too exceptions were made for factories that run day and night, and for manufactures limited to cer- tain seasons. Only after the international convention at Bern on September 26, 1906, determined on a night's rest of eleven hours for factory workers, and after Socialists for many years energetically demanded the prohibition of night work for women and the establishment of an eight-hour day, the government and the bourgeois parties are yielding at last. The law of December 28, 1908, limits the hours of work for women to ten hours daily in all Woman at the Present Day 227 factories where no less than ten workers are employed. On Saturdays and on days preceding holidays the limit is eight hours. Women may not be employed for eight weeks prior to and after their confinement. Their re- admission depends upon a medical certificate stating that at least six weeks have elapsed since their confinement. Women may not be employed in the manufacture of coke, nor for the carrying of building materials. In spite of the energetic opposition of Socialists, an amendment was accepted that the controlling officials may permit over- time work for 50 days annually. Especially noteworthy is the clause which constitutes a first interference with the exploitation by domestic industry. This clause de- termines that women and minors may not be given work to take home on days when their hours of work in the factory have been as long as the law permits. Regardless of its imperfections the new law certainly means progress compared to the present state of affairs. But women are not only employed in growing numbers in those occupations that are suited to their inferior phy- sical strength, they are employed wherever the exploiters can obtain higher profits by their labor. Among such oc- cupations are difficult and disagreeable as well as danger- ous ones. These facts glaringly contradict that fantastic conception of woman as a weak and tender creature, as described by poets and writers of novels. Facts are stub- born things, and we are dealing with facts only, since they prevent us from drawing false conclusions and in- dulging in sentimental talk. But these facts teach us, as has been previously stated, that women are employed in the following industries : The textile trades, chemical trades, metallurgy, paper industry, machine manufacture, wood work, manufacture of articles of food and luxury, 2nd mining above the ground. In Belgium women over 21 are employed in mining underground also. They are furthermore employed in the wide field of agriculture, horticulture, cattle-breeding, and the numerous trades connected with these occupations, and in those various trades which have long since been their specific realm dressmaking, millinery, manufacture of underwear, ami as salesladies, clerks, teachers, kindergarten teachers, 228 Woman in Industry writers, artists of all kinds, etc. Tens of thousands of women of the poorer middle class are employed in stores and in other commercial positions, and are thereby almost entirely withdrawn from housekeeping and from the care of their children. Lastly, young, and especially pretty women, find more and more employment as waitresses in restaurants and cafes as chorus girls, dancers, etc., to the greatest detriment to their morals. They are used as bait to attract pleasure-seeking men. Horrible conditions exist in these occupations from which the white slave traders draw many of their victims. Among the above-named occupations there are many dangerous ones. Thus danger from the effects of alkaline and sulphuric fumes exists to a great degree in the manu- facture and cleaning of straw hats. Bleaching is dan- gerous owing to the inhalation of chloral fumes. There is danger of poisoning in the manufacture of colored paper, the coloring of artificial flowers, the manufacture of metachromatypes, chemicals and poisons, the coloring of tin soldiers and other tin toys, etc. Silvering of mir- rors means death to the unborn children of pregnant workers. In Prussia about 22 per cent, of all infants die during their first year of life; but among the babies of working women employed in certain dangerous occupa- tions we find, as stated by Dr. Hirt, the following appall- ing death-rate ; mirror makers, 65 per cent., glass cutters, 55 per cent. ; workers in lead, 40 per cent. In 1890 it was reported that among 78 pregnant women who had been employed in the type founderies of the government dis- trict of Wiesbaden, only 37 had normal confinements. Dr. Hirt asserts that the following trades become especially dangerous to women during the second half of their preg- nancy; the manufacture of colored paper and flowers, the finishing of Brussels laces with white lead ; the mak- ing of metachromatypes (transfer pictures), the silvering of mirrors, the rubber industry, and all manufactures in which the workers inhale poisonous gases, such as car- bonic acid, carbonic oxide, sulphide of hydrogen, etc. The manufacture of shoddy, and phosphoric matches are also dangerous occupations. The report of the factory inspec- tor for Baden shows, that the average annual number of Woman at the Present Day 229 premature births among working women increased from 1039 during the years 1882 to 1886 to 1,244 during the years 1887 to 1891. The number of births that had to be preceeded by an operation were on an average 1,118 from 1882 to 1886, and 1,385 from 1887 to 1891. More serious facts of this sort would be revealed if similar investiga- tions were made throughout Germany. But generally the factory inspectors in framing their reports content them- selves with the remark: "Particular injuries to women by their employment in factories have not been ob- served." How could they observe them during their short visits and without consulting medical opinion ? That furthermore there is great danger to life and limb, espe- cially in the textile trades, the manufacture of explosives and work at agricultural machinery has been shown. Moreover a number of enumerated trades are among the most difficult and strenuous, even for men ; that can be seen by a glance at the very incomplete list. It is very easy to say that this or that occupation is unsuited to a woman. But what can she do if no other more suitable occupation is open to her ? Dr. Hirt* gives the following list of occupations in which young girls ought not to bfe employed at all on account of the danger to their health : Manufacture of bronze colors, manufacture of emery paper, making of straw hats, glass cutting, lithographing, combing flax, picking horse hair, plucking fustian, manu- facture of tin plate, manufacture of shoddy and work at flax mills. In the following trades young girls should be employed only if proper protection (sufficient ventilation, etc) has been provided: Manufacture of wall paper, porcelain, lead pencils, lead shot, volatile oils, alum, prussiate of potash, bromide, quinine, soda, peraffine and ultramarine (poisonous), colored paper (poisonous) colored wafers, metachromatypes, phosphoric matches,** Paris green and artificial flowers. Further occupations on the list are the cutting and assorting of rags, the assorting and cut ^'Industrial activity of women **By an international agreement between Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland on Sept. 26, 1906. the use of white phosphorus in the manufacture of matches will be 230 Woman in Industry ting of tobacco leaves, assorting of hair for brushes, clean- ing (with sulphur) of straw hats, sulphurizing of India- rubber, reeling wool and silk, cleaning bed-feathers, coloring and printing of goods, coloring of tin sol- diers, packing of tobacco leaves, silvering mirrors, and cutting steel pins and pens. It is certainly no pleasant sight to behold women, even pregnant women, working at the construction of railways, together with men and drawing heavily loaded carts, or helping with the building of a house, mixing lime and serving as hod-car- riers. Such occupations strip a woman of all womanli- ness, just as, on the other hand, many modern occupa- tions deprive men of their manliness. Such are the re- sults of social exploitation and social warfare. Our cor- rupted social conditions turn the natural order upside down. It is not surprising that workingmen do not relish this tremendous increase of female labor in all branches of industry. It is certain that the extension of the employ- ment of women in industry disrupts the family life of the working class, that the breaking up of marriage and the home are a natural result, and that it leads to a terrible increase of immorality, deegneration, all kinds of disease and infant morality. According to the statistics of the German Empire, infant mortality has greatly increased in those cities that have become centers of industry. As a result infant mortality is also heightened in the rural dis- tricts owing to the greater scarcity and increased cost of milk. In Germany, infant mortality is greatest in Upper Palatine, Upper Bavaria and Lower Bavaria, in some localities of the government districts of Liegnitz and Breslau and in Chemnitz. In 1907 of every 100 infants the following percentage died during the first year of life: Stadtamhof (Upper Palatinate) 40.14 per cent.; Parsberg (Upper Palatinate) 40.06; Friedberg (Upper Bavaria) 39.28; Kelheim (Lower Bavaria) 37.71; Munich 37.63; Glauchau (Saxony) 33.48; Waldenburg (Silesia) forbidden from January I, 1911. In Germany the manufacture of these goods has been prohibited since Jan. I, 1907, and since Jan. I, 1908, they may neither be sold nor otherwise distributed. In Eng- land a similar law was enacted in 1909. Woman at the Present Day 231 32.49; Chemnitz, 32.49; Reichenbach (Silesia)), 32.18; Annaberg, 31.41, etc. In the majority of large manufac- turing villages conditions were still worse, some of which had an infant mortality of from 40 to 50 per cent. And yet this social development which is accompanied by such deplorable results means progress. It means progress just as freedom of trade, liberty of choosing one's domicile, freedom of marriage, etc., meant progress, whereby capitalism was favored, but the middle class was doomed. The workingmen are not inclined to support small trades people and mechanics in their attempts again to limit freedom of trade and the liberty of choosing one's domicile and to reinstate the limitations of the guild sys- tem in order to maintain industry on a small scale. Past conditions cannot be revived ; that is equally true of the altered methods of manufacture and the altered position of women. But that does not preclude the necessity of protective legislation to prevent an unlimited exploitation of female labor and the employment in industry of chil- dren of school age. In this respect the interests of the working class coincide with the interests of the state and the general humane interests of an advanced stage of civilization. That all parties are interested in such pro- tective measures has frequently been shown during the last decades, for instance, in Germany in 1893, when an increase of the army made it necessary to reduce the re- quired standard, because our industrial system had greatly increased the number of young men who were unfit for military service.* Our final aim must be to remove the disadvantages that have been caused by the introduction of machinery, the improvement in the means of produc- tion and the modern methods of production, and so to organize human labor that the tremendous advantages machinery gave to humanity and will continue to givfc *The following percentage of men examined were found fit for military service: 1902, 58.5; 1903, 57.1; 1904, 56.4; 1905, 56.3; 1906, 55.9; and 1907, 54.9. The following percentage had to be discharged owing to disability after they had been enrolled : from 1881 to 1885, 2.07 per cent ; from 1891 to 1895, 2.30 per cent ; from 1901 to 1905, 2.47 per cent. W. Claassen The decrease of military efficiency in the German Empire. 232 Woman in Industry may be enjoyed by all members of society. It is prepos- terous and a crying evil that human achievements which are the product of social labor, should only benefit those who can acquire them by means of their power of wealth, while thousands of industrious workingmen and women are stricken by terror and grief when they learn of a new labor saving device, which may mean to them that they have become superfluous and will be cast out.* What should be joyfully welcomed by all thereby becomes an obejct of hatred to some, that in former decades fre- quently led workingmen to storm factories and demolish the machinery. A similar hostile sentiment prevails to some extent at present between working men and work- ing women. This sentiment is unnatural. We must therefore seek to bring about a state of society in which all will enjoy equal rights regardless of sex. That will be possible when the means of production become the property of society, when labor has attained its highest degree of fruitfulness by employing all scientific and technical improvements and advantages, and when all who are able to work shall be obliged to perform a certain amount of socially necessary labor, for which society in return will provide all with the necessary means for the development of their abilities and the enjoyment of life. Woman shall become a useful member of human so- ciety enjoying full equality with man. She shall be given the same opportunity to develop her physical and mental abilities, and by performing duties she shall be entitled to rights. Being man's free and equal companion no un- *In December 1871, factory inspector A. Redgrave delivered a lecture at Bradford in which he said among other things: "My attention has recently been called to the changed appearance in the wool mills. Formerly they were full of women and children; now the machines seem to do all the work. Upon my inquiry a manu- facturer gave me the following information : 'under the old system I employed 63 persons; after the introduction of improved machinery I reduced my hands to 33 ; and recently, as a result of further great improvements, I was able to reduce them from 33 to 13'." Within a few years then the number of workers was reduced by almost 80 per cent while the same amount of goods were produced. Further interesting information on this subject may be found in Capital by Karl Marx. Woman at the Present Day 233 worthy demands will be made upon her. The present development of society is tending in this direction, and the numerous and grave evils incidental to this develop- ment necessitate the introduction of a new social order. CHAPTER XIV. The Struggle of Women for Education. i. The Revolution in Domestic Life. Although the change in the position of women is ob- vious to all who go through life with open eyes, we still continue to hear the idle talk that the home and the family are woman's natural sphere. This cry is most loudly raised wherever women attempt to enter the learned professions to become teachers at higher insti- tutions of learning, physicians, lawyers, scientists, etc. The most ridiculous objections are resorted to and de- fended in the guise of scientific arguments. In this re- spect, as in many others, supposedly learned men base their arguments on science to defend what is most ridic- ulous and absurd. Their main objection is, that women are intellectually inferior to men; that in the realm of intellectual activity they cannot attain any noteworthy achievements. Most men are so prejudiced in regard to the professional abilities of women, that whoever resorts to arguments of this sort is sure to meet with approval. As long as the general status of culture and knowledge is as low as at present, new ideas will always be met with rigorous opposition, especially when it is in the interest of the ruling classes to limit culture and knowledge to their own strata. Therefore new ideas are at first up- held only by a small minority, and this small group is subjected to ridicule, slander and persecution. But if the new ideas are good and rational, if they have sprung up as a natural consequence of existing conditions, they will be disseminated, and the minority will eventually become the majority. It was thus with every new idea in the course of human history, and the idea of obtaining 234 Tne Struggle of Women for Education woman's true and complete emancipation will meet with the same success. Were not the believers in Christian faith at one time a small minority? Was the reformation not ushered in by a small and persecuted group? Did not the modern bourgeoisie contend with overwhelm- ingly powerful opponents? Nevertheless they were victorious. Or was Socialism destroyed in Germany by twelve j^ears of persecution by exceptional laws? The victory of Socialism was never more certain than when it was thought to be destroyed. The assertion that housekeeping and child-rearing is woman's natural sphere is as intelligent as the assertion that there must always be kings, because there have been kings as long as there has been a history. We do not know how the first king originated, just as we do not know where the first capitalist appeared. But we do know that monarchy has been greatly transformed in the course of thousands of years, that it is the tendency of evolution to diminish the power of kings more and more and that the time will come and that time is not far dis- tant when kings will be quite superfluous. Just as mon- archy, so every institution of state and society is subject- ed to changes and transformations and ultimate destruc- tion. In the historical expositions of this book we have seen, that the present form of marriage and the position of woman have by no means always been what they are to- day. We have seen that both are the product of an histo- rical line of development that is still in progress. About 2 >35 years ago Demosthenes could assert that woman had no other vocation but to give birth to legitimate children and to faithfully guard the house. To-day this conception has been overcome. No one could dare to defend this standpoint to-day without being accused of contempt of women. Indeed there are some even to-day who secretly share the view of the ancient Athenian, but no one would dare to express publicly what one of the foremost men of ancient Greece asserted freely and openly as a matter of course. Herein lies the progress. Now, although modern development has undermined millions of marriages, it has on the other hand influenced the evolution of marriage favorably. Only a few decades Woman at the Present Day 235 ago it was a matter of fact in every citizen's and peasant's home, that women not only sewed, knitted, washed, cooked, etc., but that they also baked the bread, spun and weaved, and bleached, brewed beer and manufac- tured tallow candles and soap. Running water, lighting and heating by gas not to speak of electricity besides numerous other modern housefurnishings were unknown in those days. Antiquated conditions persist even to- day, but they are exceptions. The majority of women are relieved from many occupations that were inevitable formerly, because many things can be made better and cheaper industrially than by the individual housewife. Thus, within a few decades a great revolution has taken place in our domestic life to which we pay so little heed, only because we take it for granted. People do not notice transformations even when they take place under their very eyes as long as they are not sudden and disturb the accustomed order, but they resent new ideas that threaten to interfere with their treading of the beaten path. This revolution in our domestic life that is still going on, has considerably changed the position of woman in the family in still another respect. Our grand- mother could not and would not think of visiting thea- tres, concerts and places of amusement even on week days. Nor would any woman in the good old days have dared to bother about public affairs as so many do to- day. At present women organize and join clubs pursuing the most varied, aims, they found newspapers, subscribe to them and edit them and hold conventions. As work- ing women they organize industrially and attend the men's meetings. In some localities of Germany they even possessed the right to elect members to courts of trade, but of this right the reactionary majority in the diet deprived them again in the year of the Lord, 1890. Although these altered conditions have their dark sides too, the bright sides predominate, and not even any re- actionary would wish to abolish them again. The women themselves, regardless of the conservative character of most of them, have no inclination either to return to the old, patriarchal conditions. In the United States, society is organized along bour- 236 The Struggle of Women for Education geois lines also, but it is not burdened with old European prejudices and antiquated institutions, and is therefore much more inclined to adopt new institutions and ideas if they hold promise of advantage. There, since quite some time, the position of woman is regarded differently than in Europe. Among wealthy circles women have been relieved not only of baking and brewing, but of cooking as well, and the one kitchen of an apartment hotel replaces many individual kitchens. Our army offi- cers, who are no Socialists or Communists, have a similar method. In their casinos they form a sort of house- keeping community, appoint a manager, whose business it is to purchase the food wholesale, and to draw up the menus, and the food is cooked by steam in the kitchen of the barracks. They live far more cheaply than they could in a hotel, and their food is at least as good. Thou- sands of wealthy families live in boarding houses or ho- tels all year or part of the year without missing their domestic cooking. They, on the contrary, regard it as a great comfort to be relieved of the private kitchen. The general aversion of rich and wealthy women against kitchen work does not seem to signify that this occupa- tion is a part of woman's "natural sphere." Indeed, the fact that rich families and large hotels employ male cooks makes it appear as if cooking were man's work. Let these facts be noted by men who cannot conceive woman except surrounded by pots and pans. Nothing could be simpler than to combine a central laundry with a central kitchen as has already been done in all large cities by wealthy private residents or speculators and to make the institution general. With the central kitchen, central heating, hot water supply, etc., might be connected, and much troublesome work entailing a great waste of time and effort would be abolished. Large hotels, many private houses, hospitals, schools, barracks and other public buildings have these and other modern improvements, as electric light, bath- ing establishments, etc. The mistake is that only public institutions and wealthy persons profit by these improve- ments. If made accessible to all, they would save a tremendous amount of time, effort, labor and expense, Woman at the Present Day 237 and would considerably heighten the general well being. In the summer of 1890 German newspapers published reports of progress being made in the United States in regard to central heating and ventilation. In these re- ports, among other things, the following was stated: ''Experiments that have recently been made, especially in North America, to heat entire blocks or portions of a city from one centrally located place, have been success- ful in no small degree. The construction has been so carefully planned and so practically applied, that the fa- vorable results and financial advantages will undoubtedly lead to an extension of this system. Recently further ex- periments have been made to provide not only the heating but also the ventilation of entire districts from centrally located places." Many of these contemplated improvements have since been realized and further improved. Narrow-minded philistines shrug their shoulders when such and similar plans are discussed ; and yet in Germany, too, we are in the midst of a new industrial revolution, whereby the in- dividual kitchen and other housework will become as su- perfluous as labor by manual tools became superfluous by the introduction of modern machinery. As late as the be- ginning of the nineteenth century, even a Napoleon could deride as a crazy idea the project of moving a vessel by steam. People who were considered intelligent, regarded the plan of building a railroad as an absurdity; they claimed that no one could live in a vehicle travelling at such high speed. In the same manner many new ideas are dealt with to-day. If some one had told our women a century ago that they should get their water from a fau- cet in the kitchen instead of drawing it from the well, he would have been accused of seeking to encourage laziness in housewives and servants. But the great technical revolution along all lines is in full swing. Nothing can stay its progress. It is the his- torical mission of bourgeois society that has ushered in this revolution, to lead it to its climax, and everywhere to bring to light the germs of transformation, which a so- ciety organized on a new basis will merely need to gen- eralize and to make the common property of all. 238 The Struggle of Women for Education The development of our social life does not tend to lead woman back to the home and hearth, a state that fanatics on domesticity desire, and for which they clamor as the Jews in the desert clamored for the lost flesh-pots jf Egypt. It demands the release of woman from her nar- row sphere of domestic life, and her full participation in public life and the missions of civilization. Laveleye is right when he says* : "With the growth of what we call civilization, the feelings of piety toward family life de- crease and its bonds become looser and have less influ- ence on the actions of men. This fact is so general that it may be regarded as a law of social development." Not only has the position of woman in the family changed, but also the position of son and daughter in their relation to the family. They have gradually obtained a degree of in- dependence that was unheard of formerly. This is espe- cially so in the United States, where young persons are educated to become self-reliant and independent to a far greater extent than in Europe. The dark sides that are incidental to this form of development also are not neces- sarily connected with it, but are rooted in the social con- ditions of our time. Bourgeois society does not produce any new and pleasing phenomena that do not have a dark side as well. As Fourier already pointed out with much perspicacity, all its progress is double-edged. Like Laveleye, Dr. Schaeffle also recognizes the changed na- ture of the modern family as a result of social develop- ment. He says :** "Thruout history we find the tendency of the family to return to its specific functions. The fam- ily abandons one provisionally and temporarily main- tained function after another and, inasmuch as it only filled out the gaps in social functions, it yields to the in- dependent institutions of law, order, power, divine ser- vice, teaching, industry, etc., as soon as such institutions are developed." *Original Property. Chap. XX, Household Community. Leipsic, 1879. ^Structure .and Life of the Body .Social. Vol. J. Tuebingen, 1878 Woman at the Present Day 239 2. THE INTELLECTUAL ABILITIES OF WOMEN. Women are advancing, tho at present only a small mi- nority strives to advance, and of these again only a few are fully conscious of their aims. They not only wish to measure their strength with that of men industrially and commercially, they not only wish to hold a more inde- pendent position in the family, they also wish to employ their intellectual abilities in higher positions and in pub- lic life. They are met time and again with the argument that they are unfit by nature for intellectual occupations. The question of the practice of learned professions only concerns a small number of women in present-day so- ciety, but it is important as a matter of principle. The majority of men seriously believe that women must re- main subjected to them intellectually also and that they have no right to seek equality; therefore they are vehe- mently opposed to the intellectual ambitions of women. The same men who do not object to women being em- ployed in difficult and dangerous occupations that threaten their womanliness and injure their maternity, would bar them from professions that are far less difficult and dangerous and far better suited to their physical abili- ties. In Germany, the lively agitation for the admission of women to universities, has called forth a great number of opponents who especially oppose the admission of women to the study of medicine. Among these are Poch- hammer, Fehling, Binder, Hegar, and others. J. Beeren- bach seeks to prove that women are not qualified for sci- entific study, by pointing out that no genius had as yet sprung up among women. This argument is neither valid nor convincing. Geniuses do not drop from the sky ; they must have an opportunity for development, and such op- portunity women have been lacking, for since thousands of years they have been oppressed and deprived of oppor- tunity for intellectual development, and thereby their mental abilities have become atrophied. A considerable number of distinguished women exist even to-day, and if one denies the existence of potential geniuses among them, that is as far from being true as the belief that there were no more geniuses among men than those that were recognized as such. Every country schoolteacher knows 240 The Struggle of Women for Education how many able minds among his pupils are never devel- oped because they lack opportunity for development. In- deed we all have in our day met persons in whom we recognized rare ability and who, we felt, would have be- come a credit to the community, if circumstances had been more favorable to them. The number of talents and geniuses among men is far greater than could be revealed until now. The same is true of the abilities of women that have for thousands of years been far more hampered, repressed and cramped than those of men. We have no standard whereby we can measure the amount of intel- lectual strength and ability among men and women, that would unfold if they could develop under natural con- ditions. To-day it is in human life as in plant life. Millions of precious seeds never achieve development because the ground on which they are cast is unfertile or is already occupied, and the young plant is thus deprived of air, light and nourishment. The same laws that apply to nature apply to human life. If a gardener or farmer would claim that a plant could not be perfected without having made an attempt to perfect it, his more enlight- ened neighbors would consider him a fool. They would hold the same opinion of him if he would refuse to inter- breed one of his female domestic animals with a male of more perfect breed to obtain more perfect stock. There is no peasant to-day who is so ignorant not to recognize the advantage of a rational treatment of his vegetables, fruit, and cattle ; whether his means allow the application of advanced methods is another question. Only in regard to humanity even educated people will not admit what they regard as an irrefutable law with the rest of the organic world. Yet one need not be a scientist to derive instructive observations from life. How is it that peasant children differ from city children ? How is it that children of the wealthier classes are, as a rule, dis- tinguishable from the children of the poor by facial and bodily traits and by mental qualities? It is due to the difference in their conditions of living and education. The one-sidedness of training for a certain profession leaves its particular imprint upon a person. As a rule a Woman at the Present Day 241 minister or a school teacher can easily be recognized by his bearing and the expression of his face, as also a mili- tary man. even in plain clothes. A cobbler is easily dis- tinguished from a tailor, a carpenter from a locksmith. Twin brothers who greatly resembled each other in their youth, will show marked differences in a more advanced age if their occupations have been very different from one another ; if, for instance, one is a manual laborer, say a blacksmith, and the other has studied philosophy. Heredity on the one hand and adaptation on the other 3 are decisive factors in human development as well as in the animal kingdom, and man, moreover, is the most adaptive of all creatures. Sometimes a few years of a dif- ferent mode of life and a different occupation suffice to alter a person completely. External changes are never more clearly seen than when a person is transplanted from poor and narrow circumstances to greatly im- proved ones. His past can perhaps be disavowed least in his mental culture. When people have attained a certain age, they frequently have no ambition for intellectual im- provement, and often they do not need it either. A par- venu rarely suffers from this shortcoming. In our day money is the chief asset, and people bow far more readily before the man with a great fortune than before the man of knowledge and great intellectual abilities, especially if it is his ill fortune to be poor. The worship of Mammon was never greater than in our day. Yet we are living in the "best of worlds." Our industrial districts furnish a striking example of the influence of decidedly different conditions of life and education. Even externally, workers and capitalists dif- fer to such an extent as if they were members of two dif- ferent races. These differences were brought home to us in an almost startling manner at the occasion of a cam- paign meeting during the winter of 1877 in an industrial town of Saxony. The meeting, in which a discussion with a liberal professor was to take place, had been so ar- ranged that an equal number of both parties were pres- ent. The front of the hall was occupied by our opponents, almost without exception healthy, strong, and some stately figures. In the rear of the hall and on the galler- 242 The Struggle of Women for Education ies were the workingmen and small traders, nine-tenths of them weavers, mostly small, narow-chested, hollow- cheeked figures whose faces bore the imprints of care and need. The one group represented the well-fed virtue and morality of the bourgeois world, the other represented the worker bees and beasts of burden on whose labor the gentlemen waxed strong. If one generation were reared under equally favorable conditions of life the dif- ferences would be greatly decreased and would quite dis- appear among their progeny. It is usually more difficult to determine the social posi- tion among women than among men. They easily accus- tom themselves to altered conditions and readily adopt more refined habits of life. Their adaptability is greater than that of the more clumsy man. What good soil, air and light are to the plant, that to man are healthful social conditions, which enable him to develop his physical and mental qualities. The saying that "man is what he eats" expresses a similar thought somewhat too narrowly. Not only what a man eats, but his entire standard of life and his social environment ad- vance or hamper his physical and mental development, and influence his feelings, his thoughts and his actions favorably or unfavorably, as the case may be. We see every day that persons living in good financial circum- stances go to ruin mentally and morally, because outside of the narrow sphere of their domestic and personal rela- tions, unfavorable influences, social in character, were brought to bear upon them and gained such control over them that they were driven into evil ways. The social conditions under which we live are even more important than the conditions of family life. But when the social conditions of development will be the same for both sexes, when there will be no restriction for either, and when the general state of society will be a healthful one, woman will rise to a height of perfection that we can hardly conceive to-day, because until now no such con- ditions have existed in human evolution. The achieve- ments of individual women justify our highest expecta- tions, for these tower above the mass of their sex just as male geniuses tower above the mass of men. If we apply Woman at the Present Day 243 the standard of rulership, for instance, we find that women have shown even greater talent for ruling than men. To mention just a few examples : There were Isa- bella and Blanche of Castilia, Elizabeth of Hungary, Katherine Sforza, Countess of Milan and Imola, (Eliza- beth of England, Katherine of Russia, Maria Theresa, and others. Basing his assertion on the fact that women have ruled well among all nations and in all parts of the globe, even over the wildest and most turbulent hordes, Bur- bach is led to remark that according to all probability women would be better qualified for politics than men*. When in 1901 Queen Victoria of England died, a large English newspaper made the suggestion to introduce fe- male succession exclusively in England, because the his- tory of England showed that its queens ruled better than its kings. Many a great man of history would shrivel considera- bly if we always knew how much was due to his own ef- forts and how much he owed to others. As one of the greatest geniuses of the French Revolution, German his- torians regard Count Mirabeau. Yet research has re- vealed the fact, that he owed the preparation of almost ail his speeches to the willing assistance of a few learned men who worked for him secretly and whose labor he skillfully made use of. On the other hand, women like Sappho, Diotima, at the time of Socrates, Hypatia of Alexandria, Madame Roland, Mary Wollstonecraft, Olympe de Gouges, Madame de Stael, George Sand, and others, merit our highest admiration. Many a male star pales beside them. The influence of women as mothers of great men is also well known.. Women have accom- plished as much as they could accomplish under exceed- ingly unfavorable circumstances, and that entitles us to great expectations for the future. As a matter of fact, women were admitted to competition with men in various realms of activity only during the second half of the nine- teenth century. The results obtained are very satisfac- tory. But even should we take for granted that women, as a *>.r. Havelock Ellis. Man and Wom women prefer to desist from marriage, as was frequently seen in France. In most Romanic countries women cannot act as wit- nesses to legal documents, contracts, wills, etc. In France this was the case until 1897. But they are per- mitted by a strange inconsistency to act as witnesees at court in all criminal cases, where their testimony may perhaps lead to the execution of a human being. In criminal law woman is everywhere regarded as man's *A. Chapman and M. Chapman The Status of Women under the English Law. London, 1909. **L. Bridel La puissance maritale. Lausanne, 1879, Woman at the Present Day 277 equal, and crimes and transgressions committed by her are measured by the same standard as those committed by man. Our law-makers seem blissfully unconscious of this glaring inconsistency. As a widow, a woman may make her will, but in a great many states she is not ad- mitted as a witness to a will, yet she may be appointed as executrix. In Italy women are admitted as witnesses in civil law since 1877. The privileged position of men is especially manifest in the divorce laws. According to the "Code Civil," in France a man might obtain a divorce if his wife commit- ted adultery ; but a woman could not obtain it, unless her husband had brought his concubine into their home. This article has been changed by the divorce law of July, 27, 1884, but in French criminal law the distinction has been maintained, which is very characteristic of the French law-makers. If a woman has been convicted of adultery she is punishable by imprisonment of from three months to two years. But the man is punishable only if he has maintained a concubine in his own house- hold, as per the former article of the "Code Civil." If found guilty, his only punishment is a fine of from 100 to 2000 francs. Such inequality before the law would be impossible if there were women in the parliament ol France. Similar laws are in force in Belgium. The pen- alty for adultery when committed by a woman is the same as in France. The man goes unpunished, unless adultery has been committed by him in his and his wife's domi- cile ; in that event he may be punished by imprisonment of from one month to one year. In Belgium the injustice is not quite as glaring as in France, but in both coun- tries we find one standard of law for the man and an- other one for the woman. Under the influence of French law similar provisions have been made in Spain and Portugal. According to the civil law of Italy, enacted in 1865, a woman cannot obtain a divorce on the ground of adultery, unless her husband maintains his concubine in his own home, or in a place where her presence ap- pears as a particular insult to the wife. In 1907, to- gether with the enactment of June 21, which has modified a number of articles of the Code Civil in regard to mar- 278 The Legal Status of Women riage, both chambers finally adopted the law of July 13, whereby the wife became the sole owner of property earned by her, or obtained by inheritance or gift. The husband has been deprived of his former control over the personal property of his wife. That is the first breach in French law, and thereby French women have obtained the same legal status that was obtained for English women by the law of 1870. Much more advanced than the "Code Civil" and more advanced also than German civil law, is the new civil law of Switzerland that was adopted on December 10, 1907, and will come into force on January i, 1912. Until now the various cantons of Switzerland had their own laws. In Geneva, Waadt, and Italian Switzerland the> were partly founded on the "Code Civil." In Bern and Lucerne they were founded on Austrian law, and in Schwytz, Uri, Unterwalden, etc., the old common law prevailed. Now Switzerland is to have a uniform code of laws. The freedom of the wife and the children is as- sured. The new law provides that the wife is entitled to one-third of her husband's income, even if she is only oc- cupied as his assistant or housekeeper. In regard to in- heritance, also, the laws are more favorable to women than the German laws. When a man dies, his wife is not only entitled to one-half of his property, but also, to- gether with the man's parents, to the lifelong use of the income from the other half. If people owe money to a man who fails to provide for his wife and children, the judge may instruct them to pay these debts, not to the man himself, but to his wife. The law no longer forbids a divorced person to marry the person with whom he has committed adultery. The property rights of married per- sons are mainly determined by the marriage contract that may be drawn up by both before and during mar- riage. Illegitimate children in cases where the mother^ had been given a promise of marriage are not only en- titled to alimony from their father, as according to the new German law, but they are also entitled to their fa- ther's name, and thereby obtain the full rights of legiti- mate children. Swedish women are given full control over their own Woman at the Present Day 279 earnings by a law of Dec. n, 1874. In Denmark a simi- lar law was enacted in 1880. According to Danish law no claims may be made on a woman's property for the payment of her husband's debts. The Norwegian law of 1888 and the Finnish law of 1889 are quite similar. The married woman has the same control over her property as the unmarried woman ; only some exceptions are pro- vided for that are stated in the law. In the Norwegian law it is clearly stated, that the woman becomes a de- pendent by marriage. "In the Scandinavian countries, as elsewhere, this uni- versal movement to extend the property rights of women originated in the same way as it did in England : through the gainful employment of married women. The ruling classes were far more willing to abandon the patriarchial superiority of the common man over his working wife, than that of the man from their own ranks over his prop- ertied wife."* In the law of May 27, 1908, Danish legislation ad- vanced still another step. If a husband and father fails to provide for his family, the wife and children may have the sum, awarded to them by the authorities, advanced out of the public funds. In most countries the father has the sole control over the children and the right to determine their education. Only in some countries the mother is given joint control with the father in a more or less subordinate way. The old Roman principle, whereby the father had complete power over his children, everywhere forms the key-note of legislation. In Russia married women have some control over their property, but as bread-winners they remain utterly sub- servient to their husbands. No pass which is absolutely essential for any change of residence is ever issued to a married woman without her husband's consent. In or- der to accept a position or to practice any trade or pro- fession, she must also have her husband's permission. Di- vorce is made so difficult, that it can be obtained only in very rare cases. The position of Russian women was *Marianne Weber Wife and Mother in the Evolution of Law. Tubingen, 1907. 280 The Legal Status of Women much more independent formerly in the old peasant com- munities, which was due to the remaining communistic institutions or to the reminiscences of these institutions. The peasant woman was the manager of her own estate. Communism is the most favorable social condition for women. We have seen this from our exposition of the matriarchal period.* In theUnited States the women have succeeded in win- ning almost complete equality before the law; they have also prevented the introduction of English and other laws regulating prostitution. 2. The Struggle for Political Equality. The evident inequality of women before the law has caused the more advanced among them to demand politi- cal rights, in order to attain their equality by means of legislation. Tile same thought has also led the working class to direct their agitation toward the conquest of po- litical power. What is right for the working class, can- not be wrong for the women. Being oppressed, devoid o^ rights and, in many instances, disregarded, it is not onl> their right, but their duty to defend themselves and to adopt any method that appears good to them, so that they may win an independent position. Of course these endeavors are opposed by the usual reactionary croak- ings. Let us see to what extent these are justified. Women possessing eminent intellectual abilities have *The correctness of this conception may be seen from the comedy by Aristophanes, "The Popular Assembly of Women." In this com- edy Aristophanes depicts how the Athenian state was so mismanaged that no one knew what to do. In the popular assembly of the citizens of Athens the prytanes submit the question how the state is to be saved. A woman, disguised as a man, moves to entrust the govern- ment to the women, and this motion is carried without resistance, "because it was the only thing not yet tried in Athens." The women proceed to steer the ship of state and immediately introduce com- munism. Of course, Aristophanes ridicules this condition, but the characteristic part of his play is, that he has the women introduce communism as the only rational social organization from their point of view, as soon as they come into power. Aristophanes had no idea of how much truth was in his jest. Woman at the Present Day 281 influenced politics at all times and among all peoples, even where they were not endowed with the power of sovereigns. Even the papal court was not exempt from this. If they could not exert any influence by means of the rights conceded to them, they did so by their intellec- tual superiority, even by intrigues. For many centuries their influence was particularly strong at the court of France, as also at the Spanish and Italian courts. At the close of the seventeenth century, at the court of Philip V. of Spain, Marie of Tremonille, Countess of Bracciano and Princess of Ursin, was the prime-minister of Spain for thirteen years, and during this time very ably con- ducted Spanish politics. As the mistresses of rulers, many women have succeeded in obtaining a great politi- cal influence ; we need but mention the well-known nameb of Maintenon, the mistress of Louis XIV., and Pompa- dour, the mistress of Louis XV. The great intellectual awakening of the eighteenth century, that produced men like Montesquieu, Voltaire, d'Allembert, Holbach, Hel- vetius, La Mettrie, Rousseau, and many others, did not fail to affect the women. This great movement, which questioned the justification of the fundamental principles of the state and feudal society and helped to undermine them, may have been joined by some women to follow the fashion, to satisfy their love of intrigue, or for othei unworthy motives. But a great many women were im- pelled to take part in this movement by their profound interest and enthusiasm for its noble aims. Decades be- fore the outbreak of the great revolution, which swept over France like a purifying cloud-burst, tore the old or- der asunder and cast it down, causing jubilation among the most advanced minds of the age, women had thronged into the scientific and political clubs, where philosophical, scientific, religious, social and political problems were discussed with unwonted daring, and had taken part in the discussions. When at length, in July, 1789, the storming of the Bastille ushered in the great revolution, women of the upper classes and women of the common people participated actively and exerted a very noticeable influence both for and against it. They par- ticipated excessively in both good and evil wherever an 282 The Legal Status of Women opportunity presented itself. The majority of historians have taken more notice of the excesses of the revolution than of its great and noble deeds. These excesses, by the way, were only too natural, for they were the result of tremendous exasperation at the unspeakable corruption, the exploitation, the imposition, the baseness and villany of the ruling classes. Under the influence of these biased descriptions, Schiller wrote the lines : "And women there become hyenas and mock at horror and despair." And yet in those years women have set so many noble exam- ples of heroism, magnanimity, and admirable self-sacri- fice, that to write an impartial book on "the women in the great revolution," would mean the erection of a noble monument in their honor.* According to Michelet, wom- en even were the van-guard of the revolution. The gen- eral poverty and want from which the French people suf- fered under the predatory and disgraceful rule of the Bourbon kings, especially affected the women, as is al- ways the case under similar conditions. Being excluded from almost every decent means of support, tens of thou- sands of them fell victims to prostitution. To this was added the famine of 1789, which increased the suffering of women and children to the utmost. This famine led them to storm the town-hall in October and to march in masses to Versailles, the seat of the court. It also caused a number of them to petition the national assem- bly "that the equality between man and woman be rein- stated, that work and employment be opened to them and that they be given positions suited to their abilities." As the women recognized that they needed power to win their rights, but that they could attain power only by or- ganizing and by standing together in great numbers, they organized women's clubs throughout France, some of which had a surprisingly large membership, and also took part in the men's meetings. While brilliant Madame Roland preferred to play a leading political part among the 'statesmen" of the French Revolution, the Giron- distes, passionate and eloquent Olympe de Gouges took *Emma Adler Famous Women of the French Revolution Vienna, 1906. Woman at the Present Day 283 the leadership of the women of the people and espoused their cause with all the enthusiasm of her fervent tem- perament. When the assembly proclaimed "the rights of man" (les droits de rhomme), in 1793, she promptly recognized that they were only rights of men. In opposition to these, Olympe de Gouges, together with Rose Lacombe and others, wrote "The rights of Women," in seventeen articles. On the 28 Brumaire (November 20, 1793), she defended the rights before the Paris Commune, with ar- guments that are still fully justified. In her argumenta- tion the following sentence, characteristic of the situa- tion, was contained : "If a woman has the right to mount the scaffold she must also have the right to mount the platform." Her demands remained unfulfilled. But her reference to the right of woman to mount a scaffold met with bloody confirmation. Her defence of the rights of women on the one hand, and her struggle against the atrocities of the assembly on the other, made her appear ripe for the scaffold to the assembly. She was beheaded on the 3d of November, of the same year. Five days later Madame Roland was beheaded, also. Both went to their death heroically. Shortly before these executions, on October 17, 1793, the assembly had shown its attitude of hostility toward women by deciding to suppress all the women's clubs. Later on, when the women continued to protest against the wrong perpetrated against them, they were even forbidden to attend the assembly and the pub- lic meetings, and were treated as rebels. When monarchical Europe marched against France, and the assembly declared "the fatherland to be in dan- ger," Parisian women offered to do what was done twen- ty years later by enthusiastic Prussian women, to bear arms in defence of the fatherland, thereby hoping to prove their right to equality. But they were opposed in the commune by the radical Chaumette, who addressed them thus: "Since when are women permitted to den> their sex and to make men of themselves? Since when is it customary for them to neglect the tender care of their households, to forsake the cradles of their children, to come into public places, to speak from platforms, to en- 284 The Legal Status of Women ter the ranks of the army, with one word, to perform those duties which nature has destined man to perform? Nature has said to the man: 'Be a man! The races, the hunt, agriculture, politics, all exertions are your privi- lege/ She has said to the woman : 'Be a woman! The care of your children, the details of the household, the sweet restlessness of motherhood, these are your tasks.' Foolish women, why do you seek to become men? Are human beings not properly divided? What more do you ask? In the name of Nature, remain what you are, ana far from envying us our stormy lives, make us forget them in the midst of our families by letting our eyes rest upon the lovely sight of our children, happy in your ten- der care." Undoubtedly the radical Chaumette expressed the opinion held by most men. It is generally consid- ered an appropriate division of labor .that men defend the country and women care for hearth and home. For the rest the oratorical effusion of Chaumette consists of mere phrases. It is not true that man has borne the burdens of agriculture. From primeval days down to the present woman has contributed a large share to agriculture. The exertions of the hunt and the races are no "exertions/' but a pleasure to men, and politics entails dangers only for those who combat current opinions, while to others it offers at least as much pleasure as exertion. Nothing but the egotism of man finds expression in this speech. Aims similar to those pursued by the Encyclopedists and the great revolution in France found expression in the United States, when, during the seventies and eight- ies of the eighteenth century, the colonists won their struggle for independence from England and established a democratic constitution. At that time, Mercy Ottis Warren and the wife of the second president of the United States, Mrs. Adams, together with a few other women, favored political equality. It was due to their influence that the State of New Jersey bestowed the right of suffrage upon women, of which it deprived them again in 1807. In France, even before the outbreak of the revolution, Condorcet, later a Girondist, published a brilliantly written essay in favor of woman's suffrage and the political equality 01 both sexes. Woman at the Present Day 285 Inspired by the great events in the neighboring coun- try, it was brave Mary Wollstonecraft, born in I7S9, who proclaimed woman's cause at the other side of the chan- nel. In 1790 she wrote a book in opposition to Burke, one of the most vehement opponents of the French Revo- lution, in which she defended the rights of man. Soon after she proceeded to demand the rights of man for her own sex. In her book, published in 1792, "A Vindica- tion of the Rights of Women," she severely criticised her own sex, but demanded and bravely defended complete equality for women in behalf of the common welfare. She met with vehement opposition and was subjected tJ severe and unjust attacks. Heart-broken by bitter in- ward struggles, she died in 1797, misunderstood and ridi- culed by her contemporaries. At the same time, when the first, serious endeavors to obtain political equality for women were being made in France, England, and the United States, even in Ger- many, which was particularly retrogressive then, a Ger- man writer Th. G. v. Hippel anonymously published a book in Berlin, in 1792, on the "Civic Improvement in the Condition of Women," in which he defended the equal rights of women. At that time a book on the civic improvement in the condition of men would have been equally justified. We must therefore doubly admire the courage of this man, who, in his book, ventured to draw all the logical conclusions from social and political sex equality and defended same very ably and intelligently. Since then the demand for political rignts of women has remained dormant for a long time ; but gradually it has been taken up again by the woman's movement in ail countries and has become realized in a number of states. In France the St. Simonists and Fourierists favored sex equality, and, in 1848, the Fourierist Considerant moved in the constitutional committee of the French parliament to bestow equal political rights upon women. In 1851, Pierre Leroux repeated the motion in the chamber, but likewise unsuccessfully. At present matters have an entirely different aspect. The development of our social conditions and all social relations have undergone a tremendous transformation 286 The Legal Status of Women and have at the same time transformed the position of women. In all civilized states we find hundreds of thou- sands and millions of women employed in the most varied professions, just like men, and every year trie number of women increases, who must rely on their own strength and ability in the struggle for existence. The nature ot our social and political conditions, therefore, can no longer remain a matter of indifference to women. They must be interested in questions like the following: Whether or not the control of domestic and foreign af- fairs favor war ; whether or not the state should annually keep hundreds of thousands of healthy men in the army and drive tens of thousands from the country; whether or not the necessities of life should be raised in price by taxes and duties at a time when the means of subsist- ence are very scarce to a great majority, etc. Women also pay direct ancf indirect taxes from their property and their earnings. The educational system is of the greatest interest to women, for the manner of education is a determining factor in the position of their sex; it is of special importance to mothers. The hundreds of thousands and millions of women em- ployed in hundreds of trades and professions are person- ally and vitally concerned in the nature of our social legislation. Laws relating to the length of the work- day, night-work, child labor, wages, safety appliances in factories and workshops, in one word, all labor laws, as also insurance laws, etc., are of the greatest interest to working women. Workingmen are only very insuf- ficiently informed about the conditions existing in many branches of industry in which women are chiefly or ex- clusively employed. It is to the interest of the employ- ers to conceal existing evils that they have caused; and in many instances factory inspection does not include trades in which women are exclusively employed ; yet in these very branches of industry protection is most need- ful. We need but point to the workshops in our large cities, where seamstresses, dressmakers, milliners, etc., are crowded together. We hardly ever hear a complaint trom their midst, and there is no investigation of their condition. Women as bread-winners are also interested Woman at the Present Day 287 in the commerce and custom- laws and in all civil laws. There can no longer be any doubt, that it is as important to women as it is to men, to influence the nature of our conditions by means of legislation. The participation of women in public life would give it a new impetus and open new vistas. Demands of this sort are briefly set aside, with the re- ply: "Women don't understand politics; most of them do not wish to have a vote and would not know how to use it." That is both true and false. It is true that until now, in Germany, at least, not very many women have demanded political equality. The first German woman to proclaim the rights of women, as early as the sixties of the last century, was Hedwig Dohm. Recently the Socialist working women have been the chief supporters of woman's suffrage and have undertaken an active agi- tation for the winning of the ballot. The argument that women have until now shown only a very moderate interest in politics, does not prove any- thing at all. If women have failed to care about politics formerly, that does not signify that they ought not to care about them now. The same arguments that are advanced against woman suffrage were, during the first half of the sixties, advanced against universal manhood suffrage. In 1863 the writer of this book himself was among those who opposed it. Four years later it made possible his election to the Diet. Tens of thousands experienced a similar de- velopment. Nevertheless there still are many men who either fail to make use of their political right, or do not know how to use it. Yet that would be no reason to de- prive them of it. During the parliamentary elections usu- ally from 25 to 30 per cent, of the voters fail to vote, and among these are members of all classes. While among the 70 to 75 per cent, who do vote, the majority, in our opinion, vote as they ought not to vote if they understood their own advantage. That they do not understand is due to a lack of political education. But political educa- tion is not obtained by withholding political rights from the masses. It is obtained only by the practice of politi- cal rights. Practice alone makes perfect. The ruling classes have always known it to be in their own interest 288 The Legal Status of Women to keep the great majority of the people in political de- pendence. Therefore it has been the task of a determined, class conscious minority to struggle for the common good with energy and enthusiasm, and to arouse the masses from their indifference and inertia. It has been thus in all the great movements of history, and therefore it need not surprise or discourage us that it is the same with the woman's movement. The success that has been obtained so far shows, that work and sacrifice are not in vain and that the future will bring victory. As soon as women shall have obtained equal rights with men, the consciousness of their duties will be awakened in them. When asked to vote they will begin to question "why" and "for whom." Thereby a new source of interest will be established be- tween man and woman that, far from harming their mutu- al relation, will considerably improve it. The inexperi- enced woman will naturally turn to the more experienced man. Therefrom an exchange of ideas and mutual in- struction will result, a relation that until now has been very rare between man and woman. This will give theii life a new charm. The unfortunate differences in educa- tion and conception between the sexes that frequently lead to disputes, breed discord in regard to the various duties of the man and injure the public welfare, will be adjusted more and more. A congenial and like-minded wife will support a man in his endeavors, instead of hin- dering him. If other tasks should prevent her from being active herself, she will encourage the man to do his duty. She will also be willing to sacrifice a fraction of the in- come for a newspaper and for purposes of agitation, be- cause the newspaper will mean instruction and entertain- ment to her, and because she will understand that by the sacrifices for purposes of agitation, a more worthy human existence can be won for herself, her husband and her children. Thus the common service of the public welfare, that is closely linked with the individual welfare, will elevate both man and woman. The opposite of that will be at- tained which is claimed N by short-sighted persons or by the enemies of equal rights', and this relation between the Woman at the Present Day 289 sexes will develop and become more beautiful as im- proved social conditions will liberate both man and wom- an from material care and excessive burdens of toil. Here, as in other cases, practice and education will help along. If I do not go into the water I will never learn to swim ; if I do not study and practice a foreign language, I will never learn to speak it. That is readily understood by everyone ; but many fail to understand that the same holds true of the affairs of the state and society. Are our women less capable than the inferior Negro race that was given political equality in North America? Or shall a highly cultured, educated woman be entitled to fewer rights than the most coarse and ignorant man, only because blind chance brought the latter into the world as a male being? Has the son a greater right than the mother from whom he has perhaps inherited his best qualities and who made him what he is? Such "justice" is strange, indeed. Moreover, we are no longer risking a leap into the dark and unknown. North America, New Zealand, and Finland have paved the way. On the effects of woman suffrage in Wyoming, Justice Kingman, from Laramie, wrote to "The Woman's Journal," on November 12, 1872, as follows: "It is three years to-day that women wer& enfranchised in our territory and were also given the right to be elected to office, as all other voters. During this time they have taken part in the elections and have been elected to various offices ; they have acted as jurors and as justices of the peace. Although there probably still are some among us who oppose the participation of women, on principle, I do not believe any one can deny that the participation of women in our elections has exerted an educational influence. The elections became more quiet and orderly, and at the same time our courts were enabled to punish various kinds of criminals who had been allowed to go unpunished until then. When the territory was orgainzed, for instance, there was hard- ly a person who did not carry a revolver and make use of same upon the slightest provocation. I do not remember a single case where a person had been convicted of shoot- ing by a jury composed entirely of men ; but, with two 01 2go The Legal Status of Women three women among the jurors, they always followed the instructions of the judge." The prevailing sentiment in regard to woman suffrage in Wyoming, twenty-five years after its introduction, was expressed in a proclamation by the legislature of that state to all the legislatures of the country. It read : "Whereas, Wyoming was the first State to adopt woman suffrage, which has been in operation since 1869, and was adopted in the constitution of the State in 1890; during which time women have exercised the privilege as generally as men, with the result that bet- ter candidates have been elected for office, methods of election purified, the character of legislation improved, civic intelligence increased, and womanhood developed to a greater usefulness by political responsibility; therefore, Resolved, by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring, that, in view of these results, the enfranchisement of women in every State and Terri- tory of the American Union is hereby recommended as a measure tending to the advancement of a higher and better social order." It is certain that the enfranchisement of women has shown many advantageous results for Wyoming, and not one single disadvantage. That is the most splendid vindication of its introduction. The example set by Wyoming was followed by other states. Women were given full parliamentary suffrage in Colorado in 1894, in Utah in 1895, in Idaho in 1896. W r omen have munici- pal suffrage in Kansas, and school suffrage, tax- paying suffrage, etc., in a number of other states in th* Union. In 1899, after the innovation had been in force in Colorado for five years, the legislature decided upon the following resolution, by 45 against 3 votes : "Whereas, equal suffrage has been in operation in Colorado for five years, during which time women have exercised the privilege as generally as men, with the result that better candidates have been selected for office, methods of election have been purified, the char- acter of legislation improved, civic intelligence in- Woman at the Present Day 291 creased and womanhood developed to greater useful- ness by political responsibility; therefore, Resolved, by the House of Representatives, the Sen- ate concurring, that, in view of these results, the en- franchisement of women in every State and Territory of the American Union is hereby recommended as a measure tending to the advancement of a higher and better social order." In a number of states the legislatures have passed woman suffrage bills, but these decisions were annulled by the vote of the people. This was the case in Kansas, Oregon, Nebraska, Indiana, and Oklahoma. In Kansas and Oklahoma this proceeding has been twice repeated, and in Oregon even three times. The noteworthy fact is that each time the majorities against the political emanci- pation of women became smaller.* "The municipal rights obtained by women are very va- ried, but, taken all in all, do not amount to much. As a matter of course, women enjoy the full municipal rights of citizenship in those four states in which they have been given national suffrage. But only one other state, Kansas, has given women municipal suffrage, which also includes school and tax-paying suffrage and makes them eligible to school boards. A limited municipal suffrage, founded upon an educational qualification, has been ex- ercised by the women of Michigan since 1893. Louisi- ana, Montana, Iowa, and New York give women the right to vote on municipal questions of taxation. The women have not obtained as much influence in the gen- eral administration of municipal affairs as they have in regard to the administration of schools. They have school suffrage and are eligible to school boards in the following states: Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, New Jersey, Dela- ware, Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Montana, Arizona, Oregon and Washington. In Kentucky and Oklahoma they have school suffrage, but are not eligible to office ; in Ken- *At present suffrage amendments are pending in Washington and Oklahoma. (Tr.) 292 The Legal Status of Women tucky the school suffrage is limited by certain restric- tions. In Maine, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Louisi- ana, Iowa and California, women are eligible to school boards, but only to certain offices."* In New Zealand, women have had full parliamentary suffrage since 1893. They have actively participated in the parliamentary elections, more actively than the men, but they are not eligible to office. Only men may be elected. In 1893, of 139,915 women of voting age no less than 109,461 registered ; 785 for each 1000 ; 90,290 645 for each 1000 took part in the elections. In 1896 108,783 (68 per cent.) of the women voted; in 1902, 138,565 J ^ 1905, 175,046. In Tasmania, women were given municipal suffrage in 1884 and national suffrage in 1903. In South Australia, women have had national suffrage since 1895, in West Australia since 1900, in New South Wales since 1902, in Queensland since 1905, in Victoria since 1908. Feder- ated Australia introduced parliamentary woman's suf- frage in 1902. The parliamentary suffrage implies the eligibility of women to parliament, but until now no woman has been elected. Women who are of age may vote for members of parliament and be voted for on the same terms as men. The municipal administration is less democratic. The right of participation in the adminis- tration of municipal affairs is connected with military service. Since 1889, tax-paying women are eligible to the charity-boards of town and rural communities. They may also be elected as directors of charitable institu- tions and members of school boards. The grand general strike of October, 1905, and the victory of the Russian revolution made possible the res- toration of the constitution in Finland. The working class, by bringing pressure to bear upon the National Diet, succeeded in obtaining the passage of a law that provided for the introduction of universal suffrage, in- cluding the women. Only such persons were excluded who received aid from public funds, or who owed their personal tax to the state, 50 cents for men and 25 cents *Clara Zetkin Woman Suffrage. Berlin, 1907. Woman at the Present Day 293 for women. In 1907, 19 women, and in 1908, 25 women were elected to the parliament of Finland. In Norway, women participate in the adminstration of schools since 1889. In cities, the city councils may ap- point them to school boards, and women having chil- dren of school age take part in the election of school in- spectors. In the rural districts all who pay school taxes, regardless of sex, are entitled to take part in the school meetings of the communities. Women may hold the of- fice of school inspector. Gradually women were given a voice in other municipal matters also. In 1901, municipal suffrage was extended to all Norwegian women who had attained their twenty-fifth year, who were Norwe- gian citizens, having been in the country at least five years, and who paid taxes on an income of at least 300 crowns, in the rural districts, and 400 crowns in the cities, or whose husbands paid the required amount of taxes. Women answering- these requirements were also made eligible to municipal offices. By this law 200,000 women were enfranchised, 30,000 of them in Christiania alone. During the first election in which the women par- ticipated, 90 women were elected as members of town and city councils, and 160 as alternates. In Christiana, 6 women councillors and one alternate were elected. On July i, 1907, the Norwegian women were given parlia- mentary suffrage, but not upon the same terms as men. Parliamentary suffrage was extended to women on the same terms on which they had been given municipal suf- frage; 250,000 proletarian women still remain excluded from political rights. In Sweden, unmarried women take part in municipal elections since 1862, on the same terms as men; that is, they must be of age and must pay taxes on an income of at least 140 dollars. In 1887 only 4000 women among 62,000 voted. At first, women were not eligible to any municipal office, but in 1889 a law was enacted which de- clared them eligible to school boards and boards of char- ity. In February, 1909, Swedish women were declared eligible to all town and city councils. In 1902 parliamen- 294 The Legal Status of Women tary woman suffrage was rejected by the lower house by 114 against 64 votes; in 1905 by 109 against 88 votes. In Denmark, after many years of agitation, women were given municipal suffrage in April, 1908, and were also made eligible to municipal offices. All those women are enfranchised who have attained their twenty-fifth year and who have an annual income of at least 225 dol- lars in the cities (less in rural districts), or whose hus- bands pay the required amount of taxes. Moreover, ser- vant girls are enfranchised, in whose case board and lodging are added to the wages they receive. During the first election in which women participated, which took place in 1909, seven women were elected to the city council of Copenhagen. In Iceland, women have munici- pal suffrage and are eligible to municipal offices since 1907. The struggle for woman suffrage in England has a considerable history. According to an old law, in the mediaeval ages, ladies of the manors had the right of suf- frage and also exercised judicial power. In the course of time they were deprived of these rights. In the election reform acts of 1832, the word "person" had been em- ployed, which includes members of both sexes. Yet the law was construed not to refer to women, and they were barred from voting wherever they made an attempt to do so. In the election reform bill of 1867, the word "person" had been replaced by the word "man." John Stuart Mill moved to reintroduce the word "person" instead of "man," explicitly stating as the object of his motion that thereby women would be given the suffrage on the same terms as men. The motion was voted down by 194 against 73 votes. Sixteen years later, in 1883, anothei attempt was made in the house of commons to introduce woman suffrage. The bill was rejected by a majority of only 16 votes. Another attempt failed in 1884, when a much larger membership of the house voted down a suf- frage bill by a majority of 136 votes. But the minority were not discouraged. In 1886 they succeeded in having a bill providing for the introduction of parliamentary Woman at the Present Day 295 woman suffrage passed in two readings. The dissolving of parliament prevented a final decision. On November 29, 1888, Lord Salisbury delivered an address in Edinburgh, in which he said, among other things: "I sincerely hope that the day may not be dis- tant when women will participate in parliamentary elec- tions and will help to determine the course of the gov- ernment." Alfred Russell Wallace, the well-known sci- entist and follower of Darwin, expressed himself upon the same question in the following manner : "When men and women shall be free to follow their best impulses, when no human being shall be hampered by unnatural restrictions owing to the chance of sex, when public opin- ion will be controlled by the wisest and best and will be systematically impressed upon the young, then we will find that a system of human selection will manifest itself that will result in a transformed humanity. As long as women are compelled to regard marriage as a means whereby they may escape poverty and neglect, they are and remain at a disadvantage compared to men. There- fore the first step in the emancipation of women is to re- move all the restrictions which prevent them from com- peting with men in all branches of industry and in all oc- cupations. But we must advance beyond this point and permit women to exercise their political rights. Many of the restrictions from which women have hitherto suf- fered would have been spared them if they had had a di- rect representation in parliament." On April 27, 1892, the second reading of a bill by Sir A. Rollit was again rejected by 175 against 152 votes. On February 3, 1897, the house of commons passed a suffrage bill, but, owing to various manoeuvres of the op- ponents, the bill did not come up for the third reading. In 1904 the same scene was re-enacted. Of the members of parliament elected to the house of commons in 1906, a large majority had declared themselves in favor of wom- an suffrage prior to their election. On June 21, 1908, a grand demonstration was held in Hyde Park. On Feb- ruary 28, a bill providing that women should be given 296 The Legal Status of Women parliamentary suffrage on the same terms as men, had been passed by 271 against 92 votes.* In regard to municipal administration, woman suf- frage in Great Britain is constantly expanding. In the parish councils tax-paying women have a voice and vote as well as men. Since 1899, women in England have the right to vote for town, district and county councils. In the rural districts all proprietors and lodgers includ- ing the female ones who reside in the parish or district are entitled to vote. All inhabitants who are of age ma> be elected to the above-named bodies, regardless of sex. Women vote for members of school boards, and, since 1870, are eligible to same on the same terms as men. But in 1903 the reactionary English school law las deprived women of the right of being elected to the school board in the county of London. Since 1869 independent and unmarried women have the right to vote for the privy councils. Two laws enacted in 1907 made unmarried women in England and Scotland eligible to district and county councils. But a woman who may be elected as chairman of such a council, shall thereby not hold the office of justice of peace that is connected with it. Wom- en are also eligible to parish councils and as overseers of the poor. The first woman mayor was elected in Aide- burgh on November 9, 1908. In 1908 there were 1162 women on English boards of charity and 615 women on school boards. In Ireland, tax-paying women have had municipal suffrage since 1887, and since 1896 they may vote for members of boards of charity and be elected to asme. In the Birtish colony of North America, most of the provinces have introduced municipal woman suf- frage on similar terms as in England. In the African colonies of England, municipal woman suffrage has like- wise been introduced. In France the first slight progress was brought about by a law enacted on February 27, 1880. By this law a *A similar bill, known as the "conciliation bill," drawn up by a committee consisting of members of all parties, passed its second reading in July 1910 by 299 against 189 votes. Prime Minister As- quith prevented the third reading and final vote upon the bill during that session of Parliament. (Tr.) Woman at the Present Day 297 school board was created consisting of women school principals, school inspectors, and inspectors of asylums. Another law of January 23, 1898, gave women engaged in commerce the right to vote for members of courts of trade, and, since November 25, 1908, women may be elected as members of courts of trade themselves. In Italy women may vote for members of courts of trade and be elected as such since 1893. They are also eligible to boards of supervisors of hospitals, orphan asylums, foundling asylums, and to school boards. In Austria women belonging to the class of great landowners may vote for members of the Diet and the imperial council, either personally or by proxy. Tax- paying women, over 24, may vote for town and city councillors ; married women exercise the suffrage indi- rectly through their husbands, others through some other authorized agent. All the women belonging to the class of great land-owners have the right to vote for members of the Diet, but, with the exception of Lower Austria, they do not exercise it personally. Only in the one domain referred to, the law of 1896 provides that the great landowners, regardless of sex, must cast their vote in person. Women may also vote for members of courts of trade, but may not be elected to same. In Germany women are explicitly excluded from vot- 1 ing for any law-making bodies. In some parts of the country women may vote for town-councillors. In no city or rural community are women eligible to municipal offices. In the cities they are also excluded from the right to vote for any office. The exceptions to this rule are some cities in the Grand-duchy of Saxony-Weimar- Eisenach, in the principalities of Schwarzburg-Rudol- stadt, and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, in Bavaria, and the little town of Travemuende, in Lubeck. In the Bavarian cities all women who are house-own- ers, and in the cities of Saxony- Weimar and Schwarz- burg, all women citizens are given the suffrage, but only in Travemuende are they permittel to exercise it in per- son.* In most of the rural communities where the right 'Political Manual for Women. Berlin, 1909. 298 The Legal Status of Women of suffrage depends upon a property or tax-paying quali- fication, women are included in this right. But they must vote by proxy and are not eligible to any office themselves. This is the case in Prussia, Brunswick, Schleswig-Holstein, Saxony-Weimar, Hamburg, and Lubeck. In the Kingdom of Saxony a woman may ex- ercise the suffrage if she be a landowner and unmarried. When she becomes married, her suffrage devolves upon her husband. In those states in which municipal suf- frage depends upon citizenship, women are generally ex- cluded. This is the case in Wurtemberg, in the Bavarian Palatinate, in Baden, Hessia, Oldenburg, Anhalt, Gotha, and Reuss. In Saxony-Weimar-Eisenach, Coburg, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, and Schwarzburg-Sondershau- sen, women can become citizens on the same terms as men, and they have the suffrage, not limited by any property qualification. But here, too, they are prohib- ited from exercising this right in person. In those Prussian districts where a limited form of woman suffrage exists, the enfranchised women partici- pate directly or indirectly in the elections for members of the dietines. In the electoral groups of great landown ers and the representatives of mining and manufacturing establishments, the women vote for members of the dietines directly ; but in the rural communities they vote indirectly, since here the town council does not elect the representatives themselves, but only their electors. As the local dietines elect representatives to the provincial diets, the small number of enfranchised women are en- abled to exert a very modest influence on the administra- tion of the provinces. During recent years women have been admitted to boards of charity, and have been made overseers of the poor and of orphan asylums in growing numbers and with marked success. (Bavaria constitutes the only ex- ception.) In some cities (in Prussia, Baden, Wurtem- berg, Bavaria and Saxony), they have also been admit- ted to school boards, and in one city (Mannheim), they have been made members of a commission for the inspec- tion of dwellings. Insurance against sickness is the only public institution in connection with which women may Woman at the Present Day 299 vote and be voted for. They remain excluded from vot- ing for members of courts of trade. The above-quoted instances show that suffrage in Ger- many and Austria is determined, almost without excep- tion, not by the person, but by property. Politically, hu- man beings are mere ciphers if they have no money and no possesions. Neither intellect nor ability, but prop- erty is the determining factor. It is very instructive to note this fact in regard to the morality and justice of the present state. We see that a number of exceptions have already been made to the theory that women are in the same class with minors and that the franchise must accordingly be withheld from them. And yet people vehemently op- pose the endeavor to give women full political equality. Even progressive people argue that it would be danger- ous to enfranchise women because they are conservative by nature and are susceptible to religious prejudices. But these arguments are true to some extent only, so long as women are maintained in ignorance. Our ob- ject must therefore be to educate them and to teach them where their true interest lies. Incidentally it may be stated that the religious influence on elections has been overestimated. The ultramontane agitation was so suc- cessful in Germany only because it wisely combined the religious interests with social interests. For a long time the ultramontane chaplains vied with the Socialists in re- vealing social deterioration. It was this that caused them to become so influential with the masses. But with the end of the struggle between church and state this in- fluence gradually declines. The clergy are obliged to abandon their struggle against the power of the state ; ac the same time the increasing class differences compel them to show greater consideration for the Catholic bourgeoisie and the Catholic nobility and to be more reticent in regard to social questions. Thereby they lose their influence upon workingmen, especially if considera- tion for the ruling classes compels them to faver or to tolerate actions and laws that are directed against the interests of the working class. The same reasons will eventually also destroy the influence of the clergy upon 300 The Legal Status of Women women. When women learn in meetings, or from news- papers, or by personal experience, where their true inter- ests lie, they will emancipate themselves from clerical in- fluence just as men.* In Belgium, where ultramontanism still predominates among large circles of the population, a number of the Catholic clergy favor woman suffrage because they deem it an effective weapon against Socialism. In Germany, too, a number of conservative members of the Diet have declared themselves in favor of the woman suffrage bills introduced by Socialist members and have explained their position by asserting that they consider woman suffrage a weapon against Socialism. Undoubtedly there is some truth in these opinions, taking into considera- tion the present political ignorance of women and the strong influence exerted over them by the clergy. But still this is no reason to disfranchise them. There are millions of workingmen, too, who vote for candidates ot bourgeois and religious parties against their own class interest and thereby prove their political ignorance, yet no one would propose to disfranchise them for this rea- son. The withholding or the rape of the franchise is not practiced because the ignorance of the masses including the ignorance of women is feared; for what these masses are, the ruling classes have made them. It is *That this danger exists the clergy themselves have soon recog- nized. Since the woman movement has grown and developed even in bourgeois circles, the leaders of the Catholic party recognized that they could no longer oppose it, and they accordingly completely reversed their attitude. With that sublety which has always char- acterized the servants of the church, they favor at present what they opposed until quite recently. They not only favor higher education for women, they also declare themselves in favor of unrestricted right of assembly and organization for women. Some of the more far-sighted even support woman suffrage, hoping that the church may derive the greatest gain from the introduction of same. In the same way the industrial organization of women is supported by the Catholic clergy, even the organization of servant girls. But all these social endeavors are fostered, not from an innate sense of justice, but to prevent the, women from flocking to the camp of religious and political opponents. Woman at the Present Day 301 practiced because the ruling classes fear that the masses will gradually become wise and pursue their own course. Until recently the various German states were so re- actionary that they even withheld from women the right of political organization. In Prussia, Bavaria, Bruns wick, and a number of other German states, they were not permitted to form political clubs. In Prussia the;y were not even permitted to participate in entertainments arranged by political clubs, as was distinctly set down by the supreme court in 1901. The rector of the Berlin University even went so far as to forbid a woman to lec- ture before a social science club of students. In the same year the police authorities of Brunswick forbade women to take part in the proceedings of the social con- gress of Evangelists. In 1902 the Prussian secretary of state condescended to give women the permission to at- tend the meetings of political clubs, but under the con- dition that they had to take their seats in a part of the hall specially set aside for them, like the Jewish women in their synagogues. Nothing could have better charac- terized the pettiness of our conditions. As late as Febru- ary, 1904, Pasadowsky solemnly declared in the Diet: "Women shall keep their hands off politics." But eventually this state of affairs became unbearable even to the bourgeois parties. The new national law on as- sembly and organization of April 19, 1908, brought the only marked improvement by establishing equal rights of women in regard to political organization and public as- sembly. The right to vote must of course be combined with the right to be elected to office. We hear the cry: "How ridiculous it would be to behold a woman on the plat- form of the Diet!" Yet there are other states where women have ascended to the platforms of parliaments, and we, too, have long since become accustomed to sec women on platforms in their meetings and conventions. In North America women appear on the pulpit and in the jury-box; why not on the platform of the Diet? The first woman to be elected to the Diet will know how to impress the other members. When the first workingmen were elected to the Diet they, too, were the objects, of 302 The Legal Status of Women cheap wit, and it was asserted that workingmen would soon recognize the folly of electing men of their type. But the working-class representatives quickly succeeded in winning respect, and at present their opponents fear that there may be too many of them. Frivolous jesters exclaim: "But picture a pregnant woman on the plat- form of the Diet; how shocking!" Yet the same gentle- men consider it quite proper that pregnant women should be employed at occupations which shockingly de- grade their womanly dignity and decency and undermine their health. That man is a wretch, indeed, who dares to ridicule a pregnant woman. The very thought that his mother was in the same condition before she gave him birth must drive the blood to his cheeks in shame, and the other thought, that his wife's being in the same con- dition may mean the fulfillment of his fondest hopes, must silence him.* The woman who gives birth to children is serving the community at least as well as the man who risks his life in defence of the country. For she gives birth to and educates the future soldiers, far too many of whom must sacrifice their lives on the battlefield. Moreover, every *"Half of the women members of Parliament in Finland are wives and mothers. Three of the Socialist married women members be- came mothers during their parliamentary activity without any other disturbing results except that they remained away from the sessions for a few weeks. Their pregnant condition was regarded as some- thing natural that was neither wonderful nor noteworthy. It may rather be said that this factor was of educational value to the assem- bly. In regard to the parliamentary activity of these women mem- bers it should be noted that their parties elected them to the special committees also, which proves that they were convinced of their abil- ity. The committee on labor where the laws for workingmen's pro- tection, workingmen's insurance, and the new trade laws were drawn up, consisted of twelve men and four women, and three women had been chosen as alternates. The legislative and constitutional com- mittees each had two women members, and for each there was one woman alternate, and the women have ably maintained their place in these committees." Miss Hilda Paerssinen, member of the diet of Finland "Woman Suffrage and the Participation of Women in the Parliamentary Work of Finland," Documents of Progress. July, 1909. Woman at the Present Day 303 woman risks her life in becoming a mother. All our mothers have faced death in giving us life, and many of them have perished. In Prussia, for instance, the num- ber of deaths in child-birth including the victims of pu- erperal fever by far exceeds the number of deaths from typhoid. During 1905 and 1906 0.73 and 0.62 per cent, of typhoid patients died. But among 10,000 women 2.13 and 1.97 per cent, died in child-birth. "How would conditions have developed," Professor Herff rightly remarks, "if men were subjected to these sufferings to the same ex- tent? Would not the utmost measures be resorted to? 5 '* The number of women who die in child-birth, or are left sickly as a result of same, is far greater than the number of men who die or are wounded on the battle- field. From 1816 to 1876, in Prussia alone, no less than 321,791 women fell victims of puerperal fever; that is an annual average of 5363. In England, from 1847 to 1901, 213,533 women died in child-birth, and still, notwithstand- ing all hygienic measures, no less than 4000 die an- nually.** That is a far greater number than the number of men killed in the various wars during the same time. To this tremendous number of women who die in child-birth must furthermore be added the still greater number of those who become sickly as a result of child-birth and die young.*** This is another reason why woman is entitled to full equality with man. Let these facts be especially noted by those persons who advance the military service of men as an argument against the equal rights of women. Moreover, our military institutions enable a great many men to escape the performance of this duty. All these superficial objections to the public activity of women would be impossible if the relation of the sexes *Professor Dr. Otto v. Herff The struggle against puerperal fever. Leipsig, 1908. **W. Williams Deaths in Child-bed. London, 1904. ***"For every woman who dies in child-birth we must assume from fifteen to twenty who are more or less seriously infected with result- ing diseases of the abdominal organs and general debility from which they frequently suffer for the remainder of their lives." Dr. Mrs. H. B. Adams The Book of Woman. Stuttgart, 1894. 304 The Legal Status of Women was natural, instead of there being an artificially stimu- lated antagonism between them. From their early child- hood on the sexes are separated in their education and their social intercourse. It is especially the antagonism we owe to Christianity that keeps the sexes apart and maintains one in ignorance about the other, whereby free social intercourse, mutual confidence and the ability to supplement each other's traits of character are prevented. One of the first and most important tasks of a ration- ally organized society must be to remove this detrimental discord and to restore the rights of nature. We begin by making even the little children in school unnatural, firstly, by separating the sexes, and secondly, by failing to instruct our children as to the sex nature of human beings. In every fairly good school natural history Is being taught at present. The child learns that birds lay eggs and hatch them. He learns when birds mate and that both the male and female bird build the nest, hatch the eggs and feed the young. He also learns that mam- mals bring forth their young alive. He hears of the mating season and 'that the male animals fight one an- other for possession of the females. Perhaps he even learns how many young one or another species of animal usually brings forth and how long the female is preg- nant. But profoundest secrecy is maintained in regard to the origin and development of the human being. When the child seeks to satisfy its natural curiosity by ques- tioning his parents, especially his mother he rarely ven- tures to question the teacher he is told the most ridicu- lous fairy tales that cannot satisfy his thirst for knowl- edge and that must exert an all the more harmful influ- ence when, some day, he nevertheless learns the true na- ture of his origin. There are few children who have not learned of it by the time they are twelve years old. In every small town, and especially in the country, even very young children have occasion to observe the pair- ing of poultry and domestic animals at close range in the yards, in the streets and on pasture. They hear that the pairing of domestic animals and the birth of the young is discussed without a sense of shame by their parents, their eider brothers and sisters and the servants. All this Woman at the Present Day 305 causes the child to doubt the truth of what his parents told him in regard to his own coming into the world. Finally the child learns the truth, but not in the manner in which he ought to learn it if his education were a nat- ural and rational one. The fact that the child keeps his knowledge a secret leads to an estrangement between him and his parents, especially between him and his mother. The parents have accomplished the opposite of what they sought to accomplish in their ignorance and short-sight- edness. Those who recall their own childhood and the childhood of their playmates know, to what this may lead. An American woman* tells us that in order to satis- factorily answer the constant questions of her eight-year- old son as to his origin, and because she did not wish to tell him fairy tales, she revealed to him the truth about his birth. The child, she says, listened to her with ut- most attention, and from the day upon which he had learned how much suffering he caused his mother, he had treated her with unwonted tenderness and respect and had also transferred these feelings to other women. The writer upholds the correct, view that only by means of a natural education men can be led to treat women with more respect and self-control. Every unprejudiced person is bound to agree with her. Whatever starting-point one may choose in the criti- cism of present-day conditions, one is bound always to reiterate the following : A thorough reorgainzation of our social conditions, and thereby a thorough transformation in the relation of the sexes, is needful. Woman, in order to attain her aim more quickly, must look about for allies, and she naturally finds such allies in the proletarian movement. The class-conscious proletariat has long since commenced to storm the fortress of the state that is founded on class rule, which includes the rule of one sex over the other. The fortress must be surrounded on all sides, and, by arms of all calibers, it must be forced to surrender. The beleaguering army finds its officers and suitable arms on all sides. The social sciences, the nat- ural sciences, historical research, pedagogics, hygiene and ^Womanhood, Its Sanctities and Fidelities by Isabella Beecher Hooker. New York, 1874. Lee, Shepard & Dillingham. 306 The Legal Status of Women statistics furnish the movement with arms and munition. Philosophy comes forward, too, and, in Mainlaender's ''Philosophy of Deliverance," proclaims the early realiza- tion of the "ideal state." The conquest of the class-state and its transformation is made easier by dissension in the ranks of its defend- ers, who, notwithstanding their community of interests against the common enemy, fight one another in the struggle for the spoils. The interest of one group is op- posed to the interest of another. Another point in our favor is the growing mutiny in the ranks of the enemy. To a great extent their soldiers are blood of our blood and flesh of our flesh, but, owing to ignorance, they, until now, fought against us and against themselves. More and more of these join our ranks. We are, furthermore, helped by the desertion of honest men of intellect, who were hostile to us at first, but whose superior knowledge and profound insight impels them to rise above their narrow class interest, to follow their ideal desire for justice, and to espouse the cause of the masses that are longing for liberation. Many still fail to recognize that state and society are already in a state of decay. Therefore an exposition of this subject also becomes necessary. CHAPTER XVI. The Glass -State and the Modern Proletariat. i. Our Public Life. The development of society has been a very rapid one in all civilized states of the world during recent decades, and any new achievement in any realm of human activity still hastens this development. Thereby our social con- ditions have been put into a state of unrest, fermentation and dissolution, the like of which had never been known before. The feeling of security of the ruling classes has been shaken, and the institutions are losing their old sta- bility whereby they might resist the attacks that are made upon them from all sides. A feeling of discomfort, inse- curity and dissatisfaction has taken possession of all strata of society, the highest as well as the lowest. The tremendous exertions made by the ruling classes to re> move this unbearable state of affairs by patching and mending the body social, prove useless because they are insufficient. They only increase their sense of insecurity and heighten their discomfort and unrest. They have scarcely inserted one beam into the dilapidated structure in the form of some legislation, when they discover a dozen other decayed spots that require repairs stih more urgently. At the same time they have constant quarrels and serious differences of opinion among themselves. A measure introduced by one party to appease the growing dissatisfaction of the masses, is condemned by the other party as an unpardonable weakness and leniency that is bound to stimulate a desire for still greater concessions. That is clearly seen by the endless discussions in all par- liaments, whereby new laws and institutions are con- stantly being introduced without attaining any state of rest and satisfaction. Among the ruling classes them- selves certain extreme differences exist, some of which 308 The Class-State and the Modern Proletariat are insurmountable, and these still intensify the social conflict. The governments and not only those in Germany sway to and fro like reeds shaken by the wind. They must lean on something, for they cannot exist without a support, and so they incline first toward one side and then toward another. There is hardly a progressive state in Europe in which the government can count upon a permanent majority in parliament. Social extremes break up the majorities; and the constant fluctuations of the market, especially in Germany, undermine the last remnant of confidence that the ruling classes still placed in themselves. To-day one party is in control and to- morrow another. What the one has constructed with much difficulty is torn down by the other. The confu- sion increases, the dissatisfaction becomes more lasting, the struggles multiply and wear out more human strength in a few months than formerly in an equal number of years. Besides, the material demands, in the form of va- rious taxes, are constantly increasing, and there is no limit to the public debts. The modern state is by its very nature a class-state. We have seen how it became necessary to protect private property and to regulate, by means of laws and institu- tions, the relations of the proprietors to one another and to the non-possessors. Whatever forms the appropria- tion of property may assume in the course of historical development, it is established by the very nature of pri- vate property that the greatest proprietors are the most powerful persons in the state and shape it in accordance with their interests. It is, furthermore, established by the nature of private property that an individual can never obtain enough of same and employs all available means in order to increase it. He therefore endeavors so to shape the state that it may best enable him to attain his ends. Thereby laws and institutions of the state nat- urally develop into class laws and class institutions. But the powe'rs of the state, and all who are interested in maintaining the present order, would not be able to up- hold it long against the mass of those who are not inter- ested in its maintenance, if this mass would recognize the The State and Society 309 true nature of existing conditions. This recognition must therefore be prevented at any cost. The masses must be maintained in ignorance concerning the nature of existing conditions. They must be taught that the present order has always existed and will always continue to exist, that seeking to overturn it, means to rebel against the institu- tions of God himself. That is why religion is made to serve this purpose. The more ignorant and superstitious the masses are, the more favorable are the circum- stances to the ruling classes. To maintain them in igno- rance and superstition is in the interest of the state ; thai is, in the interest of those classes who regard the state as an institution to protect their class privileges. These are, besides the propertied class, the hierarchy of church and state, who all unite in the common task of protecting their interests. But, with the endeavor to win possessions and with the increased number of possessors, the general status of civilization is raised to a higher level. The circle of those increases who seek to participate in the fruits of progress and who succeed in so doing to a certain degree. A new class arises on a new basis. It is not regarded by the ruling class as being entitled to equal rights, but is prepared to venture anything in order to attain equality. Finally new class struggles arise and even violent revo- lutions, whereby the new class obtains recognition and power. Especially by espousing the cause of the mass of the oppressed and exploited, it attains the victory with their aid. But as soon as the new class has come into power it unites with its former enemies against its former allies, and after some time class struggles begin anew. The new ruling class has meanwhile imprinted the entire body social with the character of its means of subsistance ; but as it can increase its power and its possessions only by letting a part of .its achievements fall to the share of the class that it oppresses and exploits, it thereby heightens the ability and understanding of that class. By so doing, the ruling class furnishes the oppressed class with the weapons that shall achieve its own destruction. The 310 The Class-State and the Modern Proletariat struggle of the masses now becomes directed against all class rule, in whatever form it may exist. This last class is the modern proletariat, and its histori- cal mission will be not only to achieve its own liberation, but also the liberation of all who are oppressed, which in- cludes the liberation of woman. The nature of the class state not only involves the po- litical oppression of the exploited classes, it also involves that they are made to bear the heaviest burdens for the maintenance of the state. That is made easy when the burdens are imposed in such a manner that their true character is concealed. It is obvious that high direct taxes must foster a rebellious spirit if the income of those on whom they are imposed is a small one. Wisdom therefore bids the ruling classes to be moderate in this respect, and to introduce a system of indirect taxation in- stead by placing a tax on the most necessary commodi- ties. Thereby the taxes are paid for in the price of the commodities in an invisible way, and the majority remain ignorant as to the amount of taxes that they actually pay. To what extent the consumer is taxed on bread, salt, meat, sugar, coffee, beer, oil, etc., is difficult to calculate, and most persons have no idea to what extent they are fleeced. These taxes weigh heaviest on large families; they are therefore the most unjust form of taxation imag- inable. On the other hand, the possessing classes pride, themselves on the direct taxes that they pay, and by the height of these taxes they measure the political rights that they enjoy and that they withhold from the non- possessing classes. Moreover, the possessing classes pro- vide aid and assistance from the state for themselves by means of the tariff and other institutions that amount to millions of dollars annually at the expense of the masses. The masses are furthermore exploited by the increased cost of living as a result of capitalistic organization and the formation of trusts; these the state either favors by its policy or suffers to exist, and in some cases it even supports them by actual participation. As long as the masses can be kept in ignorance con- cerning the nature of all these measures, they in no way endanger the state or the ruling social order. But as soon The State and Society 311 as the exploited classes become conscious of their ex-/ ploitation and the growing political education of the masses enables them to become so the glaring injustice of these measures arouses bitterness and indignation. The last spark of confidence in a sense of justice of the ruling powers is destroyed. The true nature of the sta%e that resorts to such measures,the true nature of the so- ciety that favors them, become recognized. The struggle for the ultimate destruction of both is the result. In their endeavor to do justice to the most conflicting interests, state and society organize one institution upon another, but no old one is thoroughly removed and no new one is thoroughly carried out. Half measures are re- sorted to that fail to satisfy anyone. The new require- ments of civilization that have grown up among the peo- ple require some consideration, if the powers that be are not to risk everything. To meet these requirements even insufficiently entails a considerable expense, all the mort so because there are a number of parasites everywhere. But alongside of these new institutions all the old insti- tutions that are averse to the purposes of civilization are maintained. As a result of social extremes they are even expanded and become all the more troublesome and op- pressive, because increasing knowledge and judgment loudly proclaim them to be superfluous. The police de- partment, the army, the courts, the prisons, all are ex- tended and become more expensive ; but thereby neither the outward nor the inward security is strengthened ; ra- ther the contrary takes place. A highly unnatural condition has gradually developed in regard to the international relations of nations to one another. These relations increase with the growing pro- duction of commodities, with the increased exchange of commodities that is constantly made easier by improved methods of distribution, and by the fact that economic and scientific achievements are becoming the common property of all nations. Trade and customs treaties are made, and, with the aid of international means, expensive thoroughfares are constructed. (The Suez Canal, the St. Gothard Tunnel, etc.) Individual states support steam- ship lines that help to increase the traffic between va- 312 The Class-State and the Modern Proletariat rious countries of the globe. The Postal Union was formed a marked progress in civilization international congresses are held for various practical and scientific purposes ; the mental products of the several nations are disseminated among all the civilized nations of the world by translation into their respective languages, and by all these international activities the ideal of the brotherhood of man is fostered and increased. But the political and military condition of "Europe and the rest of the civilized world forms a striking contradiction to this development. Jingoism and national hostilities are arti- ficially fostered here and there. Everywhere the ruling classes seek to maintain the belief that the people are brimful of hostile feeling toward one another and are only waiting for an opportunity to attack and destroy each other. The competitive struggle of the capitalist classes of the various countries among themselves, be- comes, international, and assumes the character of a strug- gle of the capitalist class of one country against the capitalist class of another country. This struggle, sup- ported by the political blindness of the masses, causes the nations to vie with one another in warlike prepara- tions the like of which the world has never seen before. This rivalry created armies of a prodigious size ; it cre- ated tools of murder and destruction for warfare on land and sea of such perfection, as could be made possible only by our age of advanced technical development. This rivalry creates a development of the means of destruc- tion that finally leads to self-destruction. The main- tenance of the armies and navies necessitates an immense expense that grows with every year and is ultimately bound to ruin the wealthiest nation. During the year 1908 Germany alone spent over 15 million marks ($3,7559 2 >250,ooo in 1907 and 1908. In Japan the expenses for army and navy, including the pensions, amounted to $51,250,000 in 1875 and to $551,000,000 in 1908 and 1909. As a result of these expenses objects of education and civilization are grievously neglected. The expenses for external defense predominate and undermine the true pur- pose of the state. The growing armies comprise the healthiest and strongest elements of the nation, and for their education and training all physical and mental forces are employed, as if training for wholesale murder were the most important mission of our age. At the same time the tools of warfare and murder are con- stantly being improved. They have attained such a de- gree of perfection in regard to speed, range, and force of destruction, that they have become a terror alike to friend and foe. If this tremendous apparatus should be set in motion which would imply that the warring European forces would take the field with from 16 to 20 milion men it would be seen that it has become uncon- trollable and indirigible. No general can command such masses ; no battlefield is large enough to draw them up ; no administration can provide for their maintenance during any length of time. In case a battle had taken place there would not be sufficient hospitals to care for the wounded, and to bury the dead would become almost impossible. If we furthermore take into consideration *A. Neymarck La Statistique internationale des valeurs mobiliers. Bulletin de 1'institut international de Statistique. Copenhagen, 1908. 314 The Class-State and the Modern Proletariat what disturbances and devastations would be wrought by a European war on the field of economics, we may say, without fear of exaggeration : The next war will be the last war. The number of failures in business would exceed all previous records. The export trade would come to a standstill and thousands of factories would ac- cordingly be forced to shut down. The supply of pro- visions would run short, whereby the cost of living would be enormously increased. It would require mil- lions of dollars to support the families whose bread-win- ners had gone to war. But whence should come the means to meet all these prodigious expenses? At present the German empire alone spends from eleven to twelve million dollars daily to maintain its army and navy in readiness for war. The political and military status of Europe has taken a trend of development that may easily end with a catas- trophe by which bourgeois society will be engulfed. On the height of its development this society has created conditions which make its own existence untenable. It- self the most revolutionary society that has hitherto ex- isted, it has furnished the means for its own destruction. In a great many of our municipalities a desperate state of affairs gradually begins to prevail, since it be- comes almost impossible to satisfy the annually increas- ing demands. These demands are especially heavy in our rapidly growing large cities and industrial centers, and most of them cannot meet the demands made upon them in any other way than by raising the taxes and by borrowing. Schools, building of streets, illumination, water-works, sanitation, educational and wellfare work, police and administration entail constantly increasing expenses. Besides, the well-to-do minority makes very heavy demands on the community. Higher institutions of learning are demanded, the building of museums and theatres, the laying out of fine residential districts and parks, with appropriate illumination, pavement, etc. The majority of the population may object to these privileges, but they are an innate part of the nature of conditions. The minority are in power and they use this power to satisfy their requirements of civilization at the expense The State and Society 315 of the community. These increased requirements are justified, too, for they represent progress. Their only shortcoming is that they are mainly enjoyed by the pos- sessing classes alone, while they ought to be for the common enjoyment of all. Another evil is that the ad- ministrations are often expensive without being good. Not infrequently the officials are incompetent and lack proper understanding; while town or city councillors are generally so much engaged with the care for their private existence that they are unable to make the sacrifices that a thorough performance of their duties would require. Often public positions are used to further private inter- ests to the detriment of the community. The tax-payers must bear the consequences. A thorough and satisfac- tory reform of these conditions cannot be attained by present-day society. In whatever form the taxes may be levied, the dissatisfaction increases. In a few decades most of the municipalities will be unable to satisfy their demands by the present form of taxation and adminis- tration. In the municipalities, as in the state, the need of a thoroughgoing transformation becomes manifest. In fact, the greatest demands for purposes of civilization are made upon them ; they form the nucleus from which the social transformation will proceed as soon as the will and power for such transformation exist. But how shall this be attained while private interests control every- thing and public interests are of secondary importance? This is,briefly stated, the condition of our public life, which is but a reflection of the social condition of so- ciety as a whole. 2. Aggravation of Social Extremes. In present-day life the struggle for existence is becom- ing increasingly difficult. The war of all against all is raging and is waged relentlessly, often without any dis- crimination in the methods employed. The French say- ing: "Ote-toi de la, que je m'y mette" (get out of there that I may take your place), is practiced in actual life. The weak must make way for the strong. If the material force of money, of property, does not suffice, the mean- 3i6 The Class-State and the Modern Proletariat est methods are resorted to that a desired aim may be attained. Lies, fraud and deception, forgery and per- jury, the worst crimes are commited for this end. As one individual is arrayed against another in this warfare, thus we find class against class, sex against sex, age against age. Advantage is the only arbiter of human re- lations; every other consideration is set aside. As soon as advantage requires it, thousands upon thousands of workingmen and women are cast out into the street, and become public charges or enforced vagabonds. In masses workers wander from place to place through the length and breadth of the land, and society fears and de- spises them more and more as the duration of their un- employment makes their external appearance more shabby, and, eventually, also demoralizes their character. Respectable society does not know what it means to do without the simplest requirements of order and cleanli- ness for months, to wander about with an empty stom- ach, and to reap nothing but ill-disguised disgust and contempt from those who are the upholders of this sys- tem. The families of these unfortunates suffer the hard- est privations and become dependent on public charity. Sometimes despair drives parents to awful crimes against their children and themselves, to murder and suicide. Especially during hard times these deeds of despair in- crease to an appalling degree. But the ruling classes are not perturbed by such occurrences. The same editions of the daily papers that report such deeds, caused by pov- erty and despair, also contain reports of festive revelries and glittering official pageants, as if there were joy and abundance everywhere. The general need and the increasingly difficult strug- gle for existence drive more and more women and girls into lives of degradation and ruin. Demoralization, bru- tality and crime increase, while the prisons, the peniten- tiaries and the so-called reformatories can hardly contain the mass of their inmates. Crime is closely connected with social conditions. So- ciety does not wish to admit this fact. Like the ostrich, that conceals its head in the sand not to see approaching danger, we deceive ourselves in regard to these con- The State and Society 317 ditions that should lead to self-accusation. We try to persuade ourselves that it is all due to laziness, love of pleasure and lack of piety on the part of the workingmen. This is self-delusion and hypocrisy of the worst kind. As social conditions grow more unfavorable for a majority of the population, crimes become more numerous and more severe. The struggle for existence assumes its most cruel and violent form and creates a condition in which men regard one another as mortal enemies. So- cial bonds are severed and human beings treat each other with hostility.* The ruling classes who do not see, nor wish to see, to the bottom of things, seek to remedy these evils in their own way. When poverty and need increase, and, as a result, demoralization and crime increase likewise, the source of the evil is not sought out in order to plug up this source, but the products of these conditions are punished. As the evils grow and the number of evil- doers increases, persecutions and penalties are made more severe. The belief seems to be that the devil can be driven out by Satan. Even Professor Haeckel deems it justifiable to punish crime with severe penalities and to resort to capital punishment.** On this point he is fully agreed with reactionaries of all shades who otherwise are his mortal enemies. Haeckel holds the opinion that in- corrigible criminals and wrong-doers should be exter- minated like weeds that rob the plants of air, light and the soil to grow in. If Haeckel had devoted himself partly to the study of social sciences instead of devoting himself to the natural sciences exclusively, he would know that these criminals could be transformed into use- ful members of human society, if society would offer *Plato already recognized the results of such conditions. He wrote: "A state in which classes exist is not one single state but two. The poor form one, and the rich form the other. Both dwell together, but always way-lay one another. Finally the ruling class becomes unable to wage a war, for then it depends upon the masses whom, when armed, it fears more than the enemy." Plato, The State. Aristotel says: "Widespread poverty is an evil, for it can hardly be prevented that such persons become promoters of disorder." **Natural History of the Creation. 318 The Class-State and the Modern Proletariat them the needful conditions of existence. He would know that the extermination of individual criminals would no more prevent the perpetuation of new crimes, than weeds could be prevented from growing while their roots or their seeds remained. Man will never be able to prevent absolutely the formation of harmful organisms in nature. But he will be able so to improve the social order that he himself has created, that the conditions of existence shall be favorable to all, that each individual shall be enabled to develop freely, and shall no longer be compelled to satisfy his hunger, his desire for posses- sions, or his ambitions, at the expense of others.* They who seek to remove crime by removing its causes cannot favor violent methods of repression. They cannot prevent society from protecting itself in its own way against criminals whom it can, of course, not give free scope, but they demand all the more urgently a transformation of society that would mean a removal of the causes of crime. The connection between social conditions and misde- meanors and crimes has frequently been shown by statis- ticians and political economists.** One of the most fre- quent misdemeanors, that is regarded as a misde- meanor by our society, in spite of all its Christian teach- ings about charity is mendicancy. In connection with this subject the statistics of the Kingdom of Saxony teach us that the increase of the great crisis that began in Germany in 1890 and attained its height from 1892 to 1893, the number of persons punished for mendicancy in- creased likewise. During 1890 the number of persons punished for this misdemeanor was 8,815; during 1891, 10,075, an d during 1892, 13,120. Similar facts were ob- served in Austria, where, during 1891, 90,926 persons *A siijiilar thought is expressed by Plato in his "State" : "Crimes are caused by ignorance, by bad education and institutions of the state." Plato was better acquainted with the nature of society than many of his learned followers two thousand and three hundred years later. That is not very encouraging. **M. Sursky New facts concerning the economic causes of crime. "New Era." The State and Society 319 were convicted of mendicancy and vagrancy, and 98,998 persons during 1892.* This is a considerable increase. Pauperization of the masses on the one hand and in- creasing wealth on the other is the stamp of our period. The trend of present-day development may be well judged from the fact that in the United States five men John D. Rockefeller, the late Harriman, J. Pierpont Mor- gan, W. K. Vanderbilt, and G. J. Gould in the year 1900, owned together over 800,000,000 dollars, and that they possessed sufficient influence to control the economic life of the United States and partly also that of Europe. In all civilized countries the large combinations of capi- talists form the most noteworthy phenomenon of the re- cent period and are constantly gaining more social and political importance. CHAPTER XVII. The Process of Concentration in Capitalistic Industry. i. The Displacement of Agriculture by Industry. The capitalistic system of production not only domi- nates the social organization but also the political organ- ization. It influences and controls the thoughts and sen- timents of society. Capitalism is the ruling power. The capitalist is lord and master of the proletarian, whose la- bor power he buys as a commodity to be applied and made use of, at a price that oscillates according to sup- plv and demand and the cost of production, as with every other commodity. But the capitalist does not buy labor power "to please God," or to render a service to the workingman as he sometimes seeks to present it *H. Herz Crime and Criminals in Austria. The author says: "The prevailing economic status must be taken into consideration in the judgment of crime. The organization of production and con- sumption and the distribution of wealth has a marked influence on crime in many ways." 320 Concentration in Capitalistic Industry but to obtain surplus value by it, which he pockets in the form of profit, interest and rent. This surplus value squeezed out of the workingman inasmuch as it is not spent by the employer for his personal enjoyment is crystallized into capital, and enables him steadily to en- large his plant, to improve the process of production, and to employ more labor power. Thereby again he be- comes enabled to encounter his weaker competitor, as a horseman, clad in armor, might encounter an unarmed pedestrian, and to destroy him. This unequal struggle is developing more and more in all domains, and woman, furnishing the cheapest labor power, beside the child, plays an important part in this struggle. The result of these conditions is, that the line of demarcation becomes sharper between a relatively small number of powerful capitalists and the great mass of non-possessors of capital, who depend upon the daily sale of their labor power. With this development the position of the middle classes is becoming more and more unfavorable. One line of industry after another, where until re- cently the small manufacturers predominated, are being taken hold of by capitalistic enterprise. The competition of the capitalists among themselves compels them con- stantly to seek new realms to be exploited. Capital goes about "like a roaring lion seeking something to devour." The small men are ruined, and if they do not succeed in finding some other field of activity which is becoming increasingly difficult they sink down into the class of wage-workers. All attempts to prevent the decline of handicraft and the middle class by means of laws and in- stitutions that have been taken from the shelves of the past, prove useless. They may deceive one or another for a little while in regard to his true position, but soon the delusion is dispelled by the force of facts. The process of absorption of the small ones by the great ones is becoming clearly evident to all with the unrelenting force of a natural law. In what manner the social structure of Germany has been transformed during the brief period of twenty-five years from 1882 to 1895 and from 1895 to 1907 that The State and Society 321 may be seen by a comparison of the census figures from these years, as shown by the following table : Persons gainfully employed in principal calling Increase (+) or decrease ( ) since 1882 1882 | 18 5 1907 Agriculture 8,236,496 6,396,465 1,570,318 397,582 1,031,147 1,351,486 8,292,602 8,281,220 2.338,5 i 432 49i 1,425,961 2,142,808 9,883,257 11,256,254 3,477,626 47 ,695 1,738,530 ?,? !.-.; + 1,646,761 = 19.89 + 4.859,789 = 75.98 T 1,907.308 = 121 46 + 74,"3= 18.63 + 707.383= 68,56 + 2,050,497 == 151,40 Commerce and Traffic .... Domestic service Public service and learned professions No occupation Total 18,986,494 22,913,683 30,232,345 j +11,145,851 = 53.95 Persons gainfully employed including their families Increase (-{-) or decrease ( ) since 1882 1882 1895 1906 Agriculture 19,225,455 16,058,080 4,531,080 938,294 2,222,982 2,246,222 18,501,307 20,253,24 1 5,^66,836 886,807 2,835,014 3,327,069 17,681,176 26,38 ,537 8,278,239 7*2,748 3,407,126 5,174,703 1,544,279 = 18.18 +10,328,457= 64.25 + 3,747,159 = 82.69 145,546= 15.57 + 1.184,144 = 53-33 -f 2,928,481 = 130.36 Industry Commerces and Traffic .... Domestic service Public service and learned professions No occupation Total 45.222, 'I 3 51,760,284 61,720,528 4-19,878,066= 34.27 These figures show that during the twenty-five years referred to, a considerable shifting of the population and its occupations has taken place. The population em- ployed in industry, commerce and traffic has increased at the expense of the agricultural population. Almost the entire increase in population 6,548,171 from 1882 to 1895, and 9,950,245 from 1895 to 1907 has been absorbed by the former. Although the number of persons gain- fully employed in industry as their principal calling has increased, this increase has not kept pace with the gen- eral growth of the population, and the number of the members of the families of persons so employed has even decreased by 1,544,279=8 per cent. Industry (including the building trades and mining), commerce and traffic, present a different aspect. Here the number of persons gainfully employed and their fam- ilies have considerably increased; in fact, they have in- creased more rapidly than the population. The number of persons employed in industiy exceeds the number of 322 Concentration in Capitalistic Industry persons employed in agriculture by 1,372,997=15 per cent. The number of the members of their families ex- ceeds the number of the members of families of persons employed in agriculture by 8,705,361=49 per cent. The numbers of persons employed in commerce and traffic, together with their families, show a still greater increase. The result is that the agricultural population, which is the real conservative portion of the population and forms the mainstay of the old order of things, is being repressed more and more and overtaken by the popula- tion engaged in industry, commerce and traffic. That the number of persons engaged in learned professions and their families have increased likewise, does not alter these facts. The strong increase in the number of per- sons having no occupation and their families is due to the growing number of persons living on their rents, includ- ing accident, invalid and old-age insurance, the greater number of persons dependent on charity, students of all sorts, and inmates of poorhouses, hospitals, insane asy- lums and prisons. Another characteristic fact is the slight increase in the number of persons employed in domestic service and the direct decrease in the number of servants. This shows, firstly, that fewer persons can afford to employ domestic help; it shows furthermore that proletarian women who strive for greater independence, like this profession less and less. In 1882 the number of persons engaged in agriculture as their principal calling constituted 43.38 per cent, of persons gainfully employed; in 1895, 36.19 per cent., and in 1907 only 32.69 per cent. The agricultural population including the families of those gainfully employed in agriculture in 1882 constituted 42.51 per cent, of the en- tire population ; in 1895, 35.74 per cent., and in 190*7 only 28.65. P er cent. Those employed in industry as their principal calling constituted, in 1882, 33.69 per cent, of the entire population; in 1895, 36.14 per cent., and in 1907, 37.23 per cent. Including their families, they con- stituted 35.51 per cent, in 1882; 39.12 in 1895, and 42.75 in 1907. The following figures show the percentage of persons employed in commerce and traffic : The State and Society 323 Persons employed. Including their families. 1882 8.27 10.02 1895 10.21 11.52 1907 ii-5o 1341 We see, then, that in Germany, at present, 56.16 per cent, of the population (in Saxony even 74.5 per cent.) de- pend upon industry and commerce, and that not more than 28.65 P er cent, (in Saxony only 10.07 P er cent.) are engaged in agriculture. 2. Increasing Pauperization. Preponderance of Large Industrial Establishments. It is also important to state how the population em- ployed in gainful occupations is divided among independ- ent workers, employes and laborers, and what propor- tion of each of these is furnished by either sex. This information may be gathered from the table on the fol- lowing page. This table shows that the number of persons independ- ently engaged in agriculture increased by 280,692 from 1882 to 1895, an increase of 12.5 per cent.; but that from 1895 to 1907 it decreased by 67,751, so that from 1882 to 1907 the number of independent persons in agriculture has increased by only 212,941=9.2 per cent. On the other hand the number of workingmen that had de- creased by 254,025=4.3 per cent., from 1882 to 1895, has, since 1895, increased by 1,655,677=29.4 per cent. Upon examining this increase more closely we find that it is mainly due to female members helping to support the families. (Among the total increase of 1,990,930 are 170,532 male and 1,820,938 female.) When we take only the rural day-laborers and help into consideration, we find that the male workers have decreased by 381,195 per- sons, while the female workers have increased by 45,942 persons. Altogether this shows the considerable de- crease of 335,253 persons among agricultural laborers. In agriculture, then, not only the number of independent persons, but also the number of help and day laborers has decreased. The increase in the agricultural occupa- tion, compared to the previous census, is due to the 324 Concentration in Capitalistic Industry fl t>. O4 ON O O4 CO 04 OO Tj- iO O 1-1 O4 vO vo iO M_ ON C4 1 s"l cO O* of 00 co VO 04 >0 CO -^ if) vo" (J? CO ^1- tC tC M- oo" M" M" co rf rC 11 vf I" ON O O t--. rt cO . ^ 8^ i 1 ? s o 9 O^ QO rC co cf tO vo" O M" M* IO vo" 1 fO 00 M CO ON o? co 8 S- co_ 3 rO ci iO ^" ^O M" cT co of * *"* II ON TJ- 00 M M C4 . 0^ 04^ oT 00 CO C4 CO to Tt O4 CO 1 {.3 *4 M" IO CO * OO O O $r ^4 i CO 01 to CO ^ t^ cT 2 00 Tf 04 M vO t^ O ON Q s O^ * 1 IO 04 of vo" CO M CO O_ ON CO" of co ON 04 vO g 04 00 O 04 VO^ vO vO ON O\ GO GO iO O O^ o *^ 10 r*. S O4 I (-T M | "5, 1 vo f vO O O M^ CO M Tt M Tfr CO to O t- Tj- 04 CO r^* o^ o^ i n to 4 W CO^ 00 vo" * ON * 0? co ON M" ^ ot M S % NH 04 <0 cO M *L . 1 vO t ss M O CO M X I s - M ^ IO M iO ON CO s 04 VO ON - ON vO t s * ON t^^ 10 ^2 10 o_ o I i a a o M" CO t-^ a 56i 10,927 19,655 1880 11,564 10,374 21,136 1890 8,969 8,054 3 2 >279 1900 6,903 6,283 44,734 1905 5.995 5*602 46,264 1906 5785 5423 45*867 1907 5*5 2 8 5,251 46,355 So the number of breweries decreased, from 1873 to 1907, by 8033=59.3 per cent. ; that of breweries de- creased by 5676=51.9 per cent., but the production of beer increased by 26,700,000 hectolitres = 135.7 per cent. 328 Concentration in Capitalistic Industry This signifies a downfall of the small concerns and a tre- mendous growth of the large concerns, whose productiv- ity has been multiplied. In 1873, 1450 hectolitres and in 1907 8385 hectolitres were produced by each brewery. Tt is the same wherever capitalism rules. Similar results are shown by the German coal-mining industry and other mining industries of the German Em- pire. In coal mining the number of concerns that amounted to an average of 623, from 1871 to 1875, dwin- dled down to 406, in 1889. But at the same time the pro- duction of coal rose from 34,485,400 tons to 67,342,200 tons, and the average number of persons employed in- creased from 127,074 to 239,954. The following table il- lustrates this process of concentration in the mining of mineral coal and brown coal, until 1907: v Number of r Concerns Mineral Coal Employed ' Quantity Number of looo tons Concerns Brown Coal Quaptitv A Empfo e y?d - Ioootons 1900 338 413,693 109,290.2 569 50,911 40,498.0 1905 331 493,308 121,298.6 533 54,969 52,512.1 1906 322 I37,H7.9 536 58.637 56,419.6 1907 313 545 ,'330 143,185.7 535 66,462 62,546.7 We see, then, that, in the production of mineral coal since the seventies, the number of concerns has de- creased by 49.8 per cent., while the number of wage- workers employed has increased by 216.9 P er cent., and the output even by 420.6 per cent. The following table shows the development in the entire mining industry : Y Number of Average number Quantity concerns employed 1000 tons 187175 3,034 277,878 51,056.0 1887 2,146 337,634 88,873.0 1889 1,962 368,896 99,414.0 1905 1,862 661,310 205,592.6 1906 1,862 688,853 229,146.1 , 1907 1,958 734,903 242,615.2 Here the number of concerns has decreased by 35.5 per cent., while the number of wage-workers employed increased by 164.4 P er cent., and the output, 374.5 per cent. The number of employers had grown smaller but wealthier, and the number of proletarians had greatly in- creased. In the industrial districts of the Rhine and Westpha- The State and Society 329 lia there still were 156 mines in 1907, but 34 of these con trolled more than 50 per cent, of the output. Although the census enumerates 156 mines, the coal trust, which controls the mines with but a few exceptions, had only 76 members. To such extent the process of concentra- tion has developed. According to the reports of Febru- ary, 1908, the output of the coal trust amounted to 77.9 million tons of coal.* In 1871 there were 306 blast-furnaces, employing 23,- 191 laborers and producing 1,563,682 tons of crude iron. In 1907, 303 blast furnaces, employing 45,201 laborers, produced 12,875,200 tons. In 1871 crude iron was pro- duced at the rate of 5,110 tons for every blast-furnace; in 1907 at the rate of 42,491 tons for every blast-furnace. According to a list published in "Steel and Iron," in March, 1896, only one blast-furnace in Germany was able to produce crude iron at the rate of 820 tons in 24 hours. But in 1907 there were 12 blast-furnaces that could, with- in 24 hours, produce 1000 tons, and more.* In 1871-1872, 311 factories in the beet sugar industry consumed 2,250,918 tons of beets. In 1907-1908, 365 fac- tories consumed 13,482,750 tons. The average consump- tion of beets per factory was 7,237 tons during 1871-1872, and 36,939 tons during 1907-1908. This mechanical revolution does not take place in industry alone, but also in commerce and traffic. The following table shows the development of German maritime trade : Year Sailing vessels Regist'd tonnage Number of crew 1871 4,372 900,361 34,739 looi 2,272 525,140 12,922 1905 2,294 493,644 12,914 1908 2,345 433,749 12,800 1909 2,361 416,514 12,844 Less than in 1871 2,011 less 483,847 less 21,895 Sailing vessels, then, are considerably diminishing, and among those still existing the registered tonnage and the number of the crew is decreasing. In 1871 there were, for each sailing vessel, 205.9 registered tonnage and 7.9 members of the crew. In 1909 each sailing vessel had an *Otto Hue History of the development of the mining industries. 330 Concentration in Capitalistic Industry average of but 176.4 registered tonnage, and only 5.4 members of the crew German maritime trade by steam navigation presents a different aspect, as the following table shows : Ocean-going Year steamships Regist'd tonnage Number of crew 1871 147 81,994 4,736 1901 1,390 1,347375 36,8oi 1905 1,657 1,774,072 46,747 1908 1,922 2,256,783 57,995 1909 1,953 2,302,910 58451 More than in 1871 1,806 2,221,006 53,715 Not only had the number of steamships greatly in- creased, their tonnage had increased more still, but, in proportion to this increase the number of the crew had decreased. In 1871 a steamship had an average tonnage of 558 tons and a crew of 32.1 men. In 1909 it had an average freight capacity of 1230 tons and a crew of only 29 men. The rapid increase of motor power employed is an- other symptom of capitalistic development. In the terri- tory of the German "Zollverein," according to Viebahn, 99,761 horse-power were used in 1861.* In 1875, in Ger- many, factories employing more than five persons, used, 1 5575 horse-power, and in 1895, 2,933,526 horse- power, almost three times the number used in 1875. Rail- roads, street cars and steamboats are not contained in this list. The following list shows the amount of horse-power used in Prussia: Stationary Movable boilers and steam engines traction engines 1879 888,000 47,000 1896 2,534,900 159400 1900 3,461,700 229,600 1905 4,684,900 315,200 1906 4,995,700 334400 1907 5,190,400 363*200 So the amount of horse-power employed in Prussia in 1907 is six times greater than in 1879. How tremendously *A. Hesse Statistics of Trade. The State and Society 331 industry has developed since the census of 1895 can be seen by the fact that the number of stationary engines in Prussia has increased by 35 per cent, from 1896 to 1907. The productiveness of the machines has increased by 105 per cent, during this period. While, in 1898, 3,303 steam engines of 258,726 horse-power served to run dy- namos, there are 6,191 of 954,945 horse-power in 1907. That is an increase of 87 and 269 per cent.* The follow- ing figures show the increased application of steam- power in the most important industries (expressed in horsepower) : Industry 1879 1897 1907 Mining and foundries 516,000 1,430,000 2,284,000 Masonry and bricks 29,000 132,000 255,000 Metallurgy 23,000 57,ooo 113,000 Machines 22,000 61,000 329,000 Textile 88,000 243,000 323,000** Notwithstanding this fabulous development of the pro- ductive powers and the immense concentration of capi- tal, attempts are still being made to deny these truths. Such an attempt was made at the eleventh session of the International Institute of Statistics in Copenhagen in August, 1907, by the French economist, Ives Guyot. On the basis of careless statistics, he moved to abolish the word "concentration" from statistics. Among others, Carl Buecher answered him as follows: "An absolute in- crease in the number of manufactories may easily coin- cide with a concentration of same. Wherever the census enumerates individual establishments, it is unavoidable that many should be counted twice. A bank with 100 trust-funds is counted as 101 ; a brewery that has opened and fitted out 50 saloons, is counted as 51 establishments. The results of such statistics prove nothing in regard to the phenomenon in question. Investigation so far shows that agriculture alone does not seem to be subjected to the process of concentration. It is evident in mining, *A. Hesse Statistics of Trades. **Prof. Dr. S Reyer Kraft Economic, Technical and Historical Studies in the Development of the Power of States. 33 2 Concentration in Capitalistic Industry commerce, transportation, building trades and insurance. In industry it is difficult to recognize, because every civilized nation in a healthy state of development must present an extension of industrial production, for the fol- lowing four reasons: I. Because occupations that were formerly domestic in character have been taken over by industry 2. Because natural products have been re- placed by industrial products (wood by iron ; woad, mad- der and indigo by tar-colors, etc.). 3. Because of new inventions (automobiles). 4. Because of the possibility of exportation. For these reasons concentration on a large scale takes place in industry without any diminu- tion in the number of establishments, even with an in- crease in same. Wherever industry creates commodities ready for use of a typical character, the destruction ot the independent small concerns is inevitable. The capi- talistic forms of production are accordingly rapidly de- veloping in the most important lines of industry. It is not wise to oppose the Socialists where they are right, and they are undoubtedly right in their assertions in re- gard to increasing concentration."* The same aspect presented by the economic develop merit of Germany is presented by all the industrial states of the world. All the civilized states endeavour to become industrial states more and more. They not only seek to manufacture articles of industry to supply their own demand, but also to export them. Therefore we not only speak of a national market, but also of the world market. The world market regulates the prices ofc countless articles of industry and agriculture and con- trols the social status of the nations. That industrial realm which has attained the greatest importance in re- gard to the relations of the world market, is the North American Union. Here the main impetus is given whereby the world market and bourgeois society are revolutionized. The census of the last three decades showed the following figures: *Bulletin de 1'institut international de statistique. Copenhagen, 1908. The State and Society 333 Amount of capital invested in industry. 1880 2,790,000,000 dollars 1890 6,525,000,000 " 1900 9,813,000,000 Value of Industry. 1880 5,369,000,000 dollars 1890 9,372,000,000 1900 13,000,000,000 The United States, accordingly, is the leading indus- trial country of the world. Its exportation of products of industry and agriculture increase with each year, and the tremendous accumulations of capital that are a nat- ural result of this development seek investment beyond the boundaries of the country, and influence the industry and trade of Europe to a marked degree. It is no longer the individual capitalist who is the motive power under- lying this development. It is the group of captains of in- dustry, the trust, that is bound to crush the most power- ful individual enterprise, wherever it chooses to turn its activities. What can the small man amount to in the face of such development, to which even the great must yield? 3. Concentration of Wealth. It is an economic law that, with the concentration of industry and its increased productivity, the number of workers employed relatively decreases, while the wealth of a nation, in proportion to the entire population, be- comes concentrated in fewer hands. That can be clearly seen by the distribution of the income in various civilized countries. Of the larger German states, Saxony possesses the oldest and best statistics on the income tax. The present law is in force since 1879. But it is advisable to take a later year, because during the first years the assessments were, on an average, too low. The population of Saxony in- creased by 51 per cent, from 1880 to 1905. The number of persons assessed increased by 160 per cent, from 1882 to 1904; the assessed income by 23 per cent. Until the 334 Concentration in Capitalistic Industry beginning of the nineties an income up to 300 marks per annum was exempt from taxation, after that up to 400 marks. In 1882 the number of persons exempt from taxes were 75,697=6.61 per cent.; in 1904, 205,667= 11.03 P er cent. It must be noted that, in Saxony, the in- comes of wives and of members of the family under 16 are added to the income of the husband and father. The taxpayers having an income from 400 to 800 marks formed 48 per cent, of those assessed in 1882; in 1904 only 43.81 per cent. A part of them had advanced into a class with a higher income. The average income of the taxpayers of this class had increased by 37 per cent from 421 to 582 marks during this period, but still re- mained behind the average of 600 marks. The taxpayers having an income from 800 to 1250 marks formed 12 pei cent, of those assessed in 1882, and 24.38 per cent, in 1904. But those with an income from 1250 to 3300 marks formed 20 per cent, in 1882 and only 16.74 per cent, in 1904. In 1863 Lassalle computed that only 4 per cent, of all incomes in Prussia were over 3000 marks annually. When we consider that, in the meantime, rents, taxes and the cost of living have increased, and that the de- mands in regard to the standard of living have grown, it becomes evident that the position of the masses has relatively scarcely improved. The medium incomes of from 3,400 to 10,000 marks in 1904 formed only 3.24 per cent, of those assessed, and the incomes of over 10,000 marks less than i per cent. The number of taxpayers with incomes from 12,000 to 20,000 marks, 0.80 per cent. The number of incomes of over 12,000 marks has in- creased from 4,124, in 1882, to 11,771, in 1904; that is, by 188 per cent. The highest income in 1882 was 2,570,000 marks; in 1906, 5,900,600 marks. These figures show th'i following facts : The lower incomes have increased some- what, but in many cases this increase has been more than equalized by the increased cost of living. The middle classes experienced the least improvement; but the num- ber and the income of the richest people show the great- est increase. Accordingly the class extremes became more marked. In his investigations of the distribution of income in Prussia from 1892 to 1902, Professor Adolf Wagner has The State and Society 335 ascertained the following- facts. He divides the popula- tion of Prussia into three large groups: The lower group (lowest up to 420 marks; medium, 420 to 900; highest, 900 to 2,100) ; the middle group (lowest, 2,100 to 3,000; medium, 3,000 to 6,000 ; highest, 6,000 to 9,500 marks) ; the upper group (lowest from 9,500 to 30,500; medium, 30,500 to 100,000, and highest over 100,000). The entire income is divided almost equally among these three groups. The 3.51 per cent, of the upper group control 32.1 per cent, of the entire income. The lower group, in- cluding the 70.66 per cent, of those exempt from taxation, also controls an income of 32.9 per cent, of the entire in- come ; and the middle s^oup, with 25.83 per cent, controls 34.9 per cent, of the entire income. If we take into con- sideration only those incomes that are subject to taxa- tion, we find that all those having an income from 900 to 3000 marks, who formed 86.99 P er cent, of those enumer- ated in 1892, and 88.04 P er cent, in 1902, controlled over half of the assessable income, 51.05 per cent., in 1892, and 52.1 per cent, in 1902. Incomes of over 3000 marks, which formed, respectively, 13 and 12 per cent, of those enumerated, controlled about 49 per cent, of the entire assessable income in 1892 and 48 per cent, in 1902. The average income of the small taxpayers throughout Prus- sia amounted to 1374 in 1892 and to 1348 in 1902; it had, accordingly, diminished to 1.89 per cent. On the other hand the average income of the large taxpayers has in- creased from 8,811 marks, in 1892, to 9,118 marks, in 1902, or by 3.48 per cent. Upon the upper group, which formed only 0.5 per cent, of all those enumerated in 1892 and 0.63 per cent, in 1902, 15.95 percent, of the entire in- come devolved in 1892, and 18.37 P er cent, in 1902. The increase is slightest with the lowest arid medium class of the middle group. It is somewhat greater with the highest class of the lower group. But it is greatest and increasingly great from class to class, with the highest class of the middle group and with the entire upper group. The greater the income of a group of those enu- merated, the richer they are; the more, accordingly, their number relatively increases. The number of those hav- ing high and highest incomes increases, who, on an aver- age, also attain increasingly large incomes. In other 336 Concentration in Capitalistic Industry words, a growing concentration of incomes takes place, not only among particularly rich individuals, but among the economically high and highest group of the popula- tion, that is rapidly growing and yet comprises a rela- tively small number. "This shows that the modern economic development has indeed been favorable to the entire population by increasing the income and by in- creasing the number of members of each economic-social class, but that the distribution has been a very uneven one, the rich being mostly favored, then the lower classes, and the middle class least. It shows, accordingly, that the social class differences, inasmuch as they depend upon the size of the income, have increased."* The Prussian income-tax assessments of 1908 show- that there were 104,904 taxpayers with an income of more than 9,500 marks, representing a total income of 3,123,- 273,000 marks. Among these were 3,796 with an income of more than 100,000 marks, representing a total income of 934,000,000 marks ; 77 were enumerated with an in- come of more than a million. The 104,904 taxpayers, or 1.78 per cent., with an income of more than 9,500 marks, represented the same total income as the 3,109,540 (52.9 per cent.), with an income of from 900 to 1,350 marks. In Austria about 24 per cent, of the assessed net in- come devolved upon approximately 12 to 13 per cent, of the taxpayers having incomes of from 4,000 to 12,000 crowns. If the incomes up to 12,000 crowns are taken together, this group comprises over 97 per cent, of the taxpayers and 74 per cent, of the income. The remain- ing 3 per cent, of the taxpayers control 26 per cent, of, the assessed income.** The minimum exempt from tax- ation is higher in Austria than in Prussia 1,200 crowns, or 1,014 marks. The small taxpayers having an income of from 1, 200 to 4,000 crowns formed 84.3 of all taxpayers in 1904. The number of richest persons having an in- *Adolf Wagner A contribution to the method of statistics of the national income and national wealth and further statistic investiga- tions of the distribution of the national income in Prussia, founded on the new income statistics, 1892 1902. Gazette of the royal Prus- sian bureau of statistics, 1904. **F. L. The distribution of the income in Austria. Leipzig, 1908. The State and Society 337 come of more than 200,000 crowns was 255 in 1898, and in 1904 it was 307, or 0.032 per cent, of all taxpayers. In Great Britain and Ireland, according to L. G. Chiozza Money, half of the national income (over 4,150,000,000 dollars) belongs to one-ninth of the popula- tion. He divides the population into three groups: The rich, with an income of more than 700 pounds sterling; the wealthy, with an income of from 160 to 700 pounds sterling; and the poor, with an income of less than 160 pounds sterling. Including Income in Class Persons families pounds sterling Rich 250,000 1,250,000 585,000,000 Wealthy 750,000 3,750,000 245,000,000 Poor 5,000,000 38,000,000 880,000,000 According to these figures, more than one-third ot the national income belongs to one-thirtieth of the popula- tion. The investigations of Booth for London, and of Rowntree for York, have shown that thirty per cent, of the entire population lead an existence of direst life-long poverty.* For France, E. Levasseur compiled the following fig- ures, on the basis of the statistics of inheritance: "Two- fifths of the national wealth are owned by 98 per cent, having less than 100,000 francs ; about one-third is owned by a small group of 1.7 per cent., and a quarter of the en- tire national wealth belongs to a wee minority 0.12 per cent."** All these figures show how great are the numbers of the non-possessing masses, and how thin the strata of the possessing classes. "The growing inequality," says G. Schmoller, "is un- deniable. It cannot be doubted that the distribution of wealth in Central Europe, from 1300 to 1900, became in- creasingly unequal, though of course the inequalities va- ried in the different countries. Recent development, with its growing class distinctions, has greatly increased the inequalities in income and wealth."*** *L'. G. Chiozza Money. Riches and Poverty. London, 1908. **E. Levasseur. ***G. Schmoller Principles of Economics. Vol. II. 338 Crisis and Competition This capitalistic process of development and concen- tration, that takes place in all civilized countries, com- bined with the prevailing anarchy in the methods of pro- duction, that so far was unable to prevent the formation of trusts, inevitably leads to overproduction and to an overstocking of the market. We enter upon the crisis. CHAPTER XVIII. CRISIS AND COMPETITION. i. Causes and Effects of the Crises. The crisis arises because no standard exists whereby the real demand for a commodity may at any time be measured and ascertained. There is no power in bour- geois society that is enabled to regulate the entire pro- duction. In the first place, the consumers of a commodity are scattered over a wide area, and the purchasing ability of the consumers, who determine the consumption, is in- fluenced by a number of causes that no individual pro- ducer is able to control. Moreover, every individual pro- ducer must compete with a number of other producers whose productive abilities are unknown to him. Each one seeks to defeat his competitors by every means at his com- mand : by a reduction in prices, by advertising, by giving credit for prolonged periods, by sending out drummers, and even by cunningly and insiduously disparaging the products of his competitors, the latter means being espec- ially frequently resorted to during critical times. The en- tire realm of production accordingly depends upon the subjective discretion of the individual. Every manufac- turer must dispose of a certain quantity of goods in order to subsist. But he seeks to sell a far larger quantity, for this increased sale determines not only his larger income, but also the probability of his triumphing over his com- petitors. For a while sales are insured, they even in- crease ; this leads to more extensive enterprises and to in- creased production. But good times and favorable con- ditions tempt not only one but all manufacturers to multi- The State and Society 339 ply their efforts. Production by far exceeds the demand. Suddenly it becomes manifest that the market is over- stocked with goods. The sales slacken, the prices fall, production is limited. To limit production in any branch means to decrease the number of workers employed in this branch, and a reduction in wages, whereby the work- ers in turn are compelled to limit their consumption. The inevitable result is, that production and consumption in other branches slacken likewise. Small dealers of all kinds, shopkeepers, bakers, butchers, etc. whose chief customers are workingmen fail to dispose of their goods and also suffer want. The effects of such a crisis may be seen from the statis- tics of the unemployed that were compiled by the trade- unions of Berlin at the close of January, 1902. In Berlin and suburban towns there where over 70,000 persons who were entirely unemployed, and over 60,000 who were partly unemployed. On February 13, 1909, the trade- unions of Berlin took another census of the unemployed and found that there were 106,722 unemployed persons (92,655 men and 14,067 women).* In England there were 750,000 unemployed persons during September 1908. These figures represent workingmen and women who were willing and eager to work but unable to find work. The deplorable social conditions of these human beings may be easily imagined! Since one industry furnishes the raw material to an-' other and one depends upon the other, the ills that befall one must affect the others. The circle of those affected widens. Many obligations that had been entered upon in the hope of prolonged favorable conditions cannot be met, and heighten the crisis that grows worse from month to month. A heap of accumulated goods, tools and machines becomes almost worthless. The goods are frequently sold underprice and this often leads to the ruin of the owners of such goods as well as to the ruin of dozens of others who in turn are compelled to sell their goods underprice also. But even during the crisis the methods of produc- tion are constantly improved in order to meet the in- *Unemployment and Statistics of the Unemployed in the Winter of 1908 to 1909. Berlin, 1909. 34 Crisis and Competition creased competition, and this means again forms a cause for new crises. After a crisis has lasted for years and over-production has gradually been removed by selling the products underprice, by limiting production and by the ruin of smaller manufacturers, society slowly begins to recuperate. The demand increases again, and prompt- ly the production increases also, slowly and carefully at first, but more rapidly with the prolonged duration of favorable conditions. People seek to reimburse them- selves for what they have lost and seek to secure their portions before a new crisis sets in. But as all manufac- turers are guided by the same impulse, as they all seek to improve the means of production in order to excel the others, a new catastrophe is ushered in more rapidly and with still more disastrous results. Countless lives rise and fall like bubbles, and this constant reciprocal action causes the awful conditions that we experience during every crisis. The crises become more frequent as produc- tion and competition increase, not only among individ- uals, but among entire nations. The small battle for cus- tomers, and the great battle for markets becomes in- creasingly severe and is bound to end with enormous losses. Meanwhile goods and supplies are stored away in masses, but countless human beings who wish to consume but are unable to buy, suffer hunger and privation. The years 1901 and 1907-08 have proven the correctness of this representation. After years of business depression, during which capitalistic development nevertheless con- tinued to progress uninterruptedly, the upward course set in, stimulated to no slight extent by the changes and new equipments that the army and navy required. During this period a tremendous number of new industrial enter- prises sprang up, and a great many others were increased and expanded to attain the development made possible by their technical means and to heiehten their productivity. But in the same way the number of enterprises increased that were transferred from the hands of individual cap- italists to capitalistic associations (stock companies), a transformation that is always accompanied by an enlarge- ment of the manufactory. Many thousands of millions of marks represent the newly formed stock companies. The State and Society 341 Moreover, the capitalists of all countries seek to form national and international agreements. Trusts spring up like mushrooms from the ground. These endeavour to de- termine the prices and to regulate production on the basis of exact statistical research to avoid over-production and reduction in prices. 'Entire branches of industry have been monopolized in this way to the advantage of the manufacturers and to the disadvantage of the workers and the consumers. Manv believed that thereby capital had obtained the means that would enable it to dominate the market in all directions. But appearances are deceiv- ing. The laws of capitalistic production prove stronger than the most cunning representatives of the system, who believed to have regulated it. The crisis came, never- theless, and it was seen again that the wisest calcula- tion proved faulty and that bourgeois society cannot es- cape its fate. But capitalism continues in the same manner since it cannot change its substance. By the way in which it is bound to act, it upsets all laws of bourgeois economics. Unrestricted competition the alpha and omega of bour- geois society is supposed to place those most capable at the helm of all enterprises. But experience shows that as a rule it places those at the helm who are most shrewd and cunning and least troubled by a conscience. More- over, stock companies set aside all individuality. The trust goes further still. Here not only does the individual manufacturer cease to be an independent person, the stock company too becomes a mere link in a chain that is controlled by a board of capitalists whose main purpose is to plunder the public. A hand full of monopolists be- come the IP asters of society; these dictate the prices to be paid by the consumers for commodities, and to the workers their wages and standard of living. This development shows how superfluous private enter- prise has become, and that production conducted on a na- tional and international scale is the goal toward which society is bent. The only difference will ultimately be that organized production and distribution will benefit the entire community instead of benefiting the capitalistic class only, as is the case to-day. 342 Crisis and Competition The economic revolution above described, which is rapidly driving bourgeois society to the heights of its development, is constantly intensified by new, important events. While Europe is being more threatened each year, both in its foreign and domestic markets, by the rapidly growing North American competition, new en- emies are arising in the far East who make the economic conditions of the entire world still more critical. Competition drives the capitalist around the globe, as the Communist Manifesto expresses it. He is constantly seeking new markets, that is, countries and nations where he can dispose of his goods and create new demands. One side of this endeavour maybe seen from the fact that since a few decades the various states are eagerly engaged in colonization. Germany was foremost among these and succeeded in taking possession of large tracts of land, but these possessions are chiefly occupied by people of a very primitive degree of civilization who have no demand worth % speaking of for European products. The other side of this endeavour is directed toward carrying capitalistic civilization to nations who have already attained a higher degree of civilization, but who until recently were rigor- ously opposed to modern development. Such are the East Indians, the Japanese, and especially the Chinese. These are nations that comprise more than one third of the entire population of the earth. When once given an impetus they are well able as the Japanese have already demonstrated during the war with Russia to develop the capitalistic method of production quite independently, and to do so, moreover, under conditions that will be ac- companied by disastrous results to the more advanced nations. The ability and skill of these nations is well known, but it is equally well known that their wants are few due to a great extent to the warm climate and that, when compelled to do so, they rapidly adapt them- selves to changed conditions. Here the old world, includ- ing the United States, is being confronted by a new com- petitor who will demonstrate to the whole world that the capitalistic system is untenable. In the meanwhile, the competing nations, especially the United States, England and Germany, seek to outdo one another, and all means are resorted to in order to obtain the largest possible The State and Society 343 share in the control of the world's market. This leads to international politics, to interference in all international events of importance, and in order to interfere success- fully, the navies especially are developed and increased as never before, whereby the danger of great political catastrophes is heightened anew. Thus the political realm grows with the realm of economic competition. The contradictions grow on an international scale, and in all countries that have undergone a capitalistic development they bring forth similar phenomena and similar struggles. Not only the method of production but also the manner of distribution is responsible for these unbearable con- ditions. 2. Intermediate Trade and the Increased Cost of Living. In human society all individuals are linked to one an- other by a thousand threads that become more compli- cated and interwoven with increasing civilization. When disturbances occur they are felt by all members. Disturb- ances in production affect distribution and consumption and vice versa. A marked characteristic of capitalistic production is the concentration of the means of produc- tion in increasingly large factories. In distribution the opposite trait becomes manifest. Whoever has been driven by competition out of the ranks of independent producers, in nine cases out of ten seeks to win a place as dealer between producer and consumer to obtain a living.* This accounts for the surprising increase of per- *"The decline of ancient handicraft is not the only cause that accounts for the great increase in the small retail trade. The grow- ing industrialization and commercialization of the country notwith- standing its tendency toward manufacture on a large scale always furnishes new ground for small businesses. Inventions that create new branches of industry also cause the rise of new small establish- ments for the distribution of these products. But the main cause of the great increase in retail trade is, as expressed in a report sub- mitted to the government of Saxony by the Dresden chamber of commerce, that trade on a small scale has become the rallying place of many persons who despair of making their living in any other way." Paul Lange Retail Trade and Middle Class Politics. "New Era." 344 Crisis and Competition sons engaged in intermediate trade, dealers, small shop- keepers, hucksters, agents, jobbers, etc. as has been statis- tically proven in a previous chapter. Most of these per- sons, among whom we find many women independently engaged in business, lead a precarious existence. Many, in order to subsist, must cater to the basest fashions of their fellow-men. This accounts for the tremendous prevalence of advertising especially in regard to every- thing in connection with the gratification of the love of luxury. Now it cannot be denied that in modern society the de- sire for the enjoyment of life is very noticeable, and view- ed from a higher standard this fact is gratifying. People begin to understand that in order to be human they must lead lives worthy of human beings, and they seek to grat- ify this desire in the manner in which they conceive the enjoyment of life. In the display of wealth society has become much more aristocratic than in any former period. The contrast between the richest and the poorest is greater than ever. On the other hand, society has become more democratic in its ideas and laws.* The masses de- mand greater equality, and since in their ignorance, they do not yet recognize the means to achieve true equality, they seek it in trying to ape these in superior social posi- tions and to obtain every enjoyment within their reach. Various stimulants serve to gratify this desire and the results are frequently detrimental. A desire that is jus- tified in itself leads to devious paths in many cases; it even leads to crimes, and society punishes the perpe- trators without changing matters in the least. The growing number of persons engaged in interme- diate trade has led to many evils. Though the persons thus engaged work hard and are frequently burdened with care, most of them form a class of parasites who are unproductive and live on the products of the labor of others as well as the employing class. An increased cost *In his first adaption of Raus's "Text Book of Political Economy," Professor Adolf Wagner expresses a similar thought. He says: 'The social struggle is the conscious contradiction between the economic development and the social ideal of freedom and equality as expressed in political life." The State and Society 345 of living is the inevitable result of intermediate trade. The price of provisions is thereby raised to such extent that they sometimes cost twice and three times as much as is obtained by the producer.* But if provisions can not be raised in price any more, because a further raise would limit the consumption, they are diminished in quantity and quality, adulteration of food and the use of incorrect weights and measures is resorted to. The chemist Chev- alier reports that among various articles of food he found the following number of methods of adulteration : coffee, 32 ; wine, 30 ; chocolate, 28 ; flour, 24 ; whiskey, 23 ; bread, 20 ; milk, 19 ; butter, 10 ; olive oil, 9 ; sugar, 6, etc. A great deal of fraud is practiced in the grocery stores with goods that have been previously measured or weighed and pack- ed. Frequently only 12 or 14 ounces are sold for a pound, and in this way the lower price is made up for. Working- men and other persons of small means suffer most from these fraudulent methods, because they are obliged to buy on credit and must therefore hold their peace even where the fraud is perfectly evident. In the bakery trade also incorrect weight is frequently resorted to. Swindle and *In his book on "Domestic Industry in Thuringia," Dr. E. Sax tells us that in 1869 the production of 244% million slate pencils had yielded 122,000 to 200,000 florins in wages to the workingmen, . but their final sale had yielded 1,200,000 florins, at least six times as much as the producers had received. During the summer of 1888, 5 marks were paid for 5 hundred-weights of haddock by the wholesaler. But the retailer paid 15 marks to the wholesaler, and the public paid the latter 125 marks. Large quantities of food moreover are destroyed because the prices do not make their transportation worth while. For instance, during years when the catch of herrings has been an over abundant one, loads of them have been used as manure, while there were thousands of persons in the interior who could not afford to buy herrings. The same occurred in California in 1892 when the crop of potatoes was too abundant. When in 1901 the price of sugar was very low, a trade paper seriously suggested to destroy a greater part of the supplies so that the price could be raised. It is well known that Charles Fourier was inspired to his ideas of a social system be- cause while he served as apprentice in a commercial house in Toulon, he had been ordered to throw a load of rice over board to raise the prices. He reasoned that a society which resorts to such barbarous and irrational methods must be founded on a false basis, and so he became a socialist. 346 Crisis and Competition fraud are inevitably linked with our social conditions, and certain institutions of the state, for instance high indirect taxes and duties, favor swindle and fraud. The laws en- acted against the adultery of food accomplish but little. The struggle for existence compels the swindlers to re- sort to more cunning methods, and a thoroughgoing and severe control rarely exists. Serious control is also made impossible because it is claimed that in order to detect every adultery, an expensive and extensive organization would be required and that legitimate business would also be damaged thereby. But whereever the control does in- terfere successfully, a considerable increase in prices en- sues, because the low prices were possible only by means of adulteration. In order to diminish these evils from which the masses always and everywhere suffer most, cooperative stores have been established. In Germany especially army and navy stores and civil service stores have been developed to such an extent, that many commercial enterprises were ruined by them. But the workingmen's cooperative stores have also developed tremendously during the last decade and have partly even undertaken the manufacture of cer- tain commodities. The cooperative stores in Hamburg, Leipsic, Dresden, Stuttgart, Breslau, Vienna, etc., have become model establishments and the annual sales of the German cooperative stores amount to hundreds of mill- ions of marks. Since a few years the German cooperative stores have central establishments in Hamburg where the goods are purchased wholesale on the largest scale ; this enables the various branch stores to obtain these goods at the lowest possible price. These cooperative stores prove that the scattering methods of intermediate trade are superfluous. That is their greatest advantage beside the other advantage that they furnish reliable goods. The material advantages to their members are not very great nor do they suffice to bring about any marked improve- ment in their social status. But the establishment of these cooperative stores proves the existence of a wide- spread recognition that intermediate trade is superfluous. Society will ultimately achieve an organization that will do away with commerce, since the products will be turned over to the consumers without the aid of other interme- The State and Society 347 diate agents than are required by transportation from one place to another and by distribution. When the common purchase of food has been achieved, the common prepara- tion of food on a large scale appears to be the next logical step. This again would lead to a tremendous saving in labor power, space, material and many other -expenses. CHAPTER XIX. The Revolution in Agriculture. i. Transatlantic Competition and Desertion of the Country. The economic revolution in industry and trade has also largely affected agricultural conditions. The commercial and industrial crises affect the rural population likewise. Hundreds of thousands of members of the families of farmers are temporarily or permanently employed in in- dustrial establishments of various kinds. This manner of employment constantly expands, firstly, because the great number of small farmers do not have enough work on their own farms to keep themselves and the members of their families usefully employed, and, secondly, because the large farmers find it profitable to have an important portion of the products of their soil transformed into in- dustrial commodities right on their own farms. In this manner they save the heavy expense of shipping the raw material, for instance, potatoes and grain for the manu- facture of alcohol, beets for sugar, cereals for flour or for brewing beer, etc. They, furthermore, are enabled to establish a mutual relation between agricultural and in- dustrial production and can employ the labor power on hand to better advantage. The wages are lower and the workers are more willing too than those in cities and in- dustrial centers. Expenses of buildings and rents as well as taxes are considerably lower too, for the large land owners in the rural districts are both the makers and executors of the law; they furnish many representatives from their midst and control the administration and po- lice force. That is why the number of factories in the 348 The Revolution in Agriculture country increases each year. Agriculture and industry are becoming more and more closely linked, and the large agricultural establishments mainly profit from this fact. The capitalistic development that the large estates have undergone, in Germany as elsewhere, has created conditions similar to those in England and the United States. We no longer meet with those ideal conditions in the country that still existed a few decades ago. Mod- ern civilization has gradually taken possession of the country, too, in the remotest places even. Militarism es- pecially has unintentionally exercised a revolutionary in- Ifiuence. The great increase in the standing army has made itself especially severely felt in the open country. A great portion of the troops for the standing army is drawn from the rural population. But when the peas- ant's son, or day laborer or farm-hand, returns to the country, after an absence of two or three years, from the city and the barracks, where the atmosphere has not been an exactly moral one, he has become acquainted with many new ideas and requirements of civilization that he seeks to satisfy at home as he did away from home. To make this possible his first demand is for higher wages. The old modesty and contentedness have been shattered in the city. In many cases he prefers to stay away from the country altogether, and all endeavours, supported by the military authorities, to lead him back, remain unsuc- cessful. Improved means of traffic and communication also tend to raise the standard of requirements in the country. By his associations with the city the farmer becomes acquainted with the world in an entirely new and tempting way; he is influenced by ideas and learns of requirements of civilization that have been entirely foreign to him until then. That causes him to become dissatisfied with his position. The increased demands made upon the population by state, county, community, etc., effect the peasant as well as the rural worker and make them more rebellious still. To this other most im- portant factors must be added. European agriculture, and especially German agricul- ture, has entered upon a new phase of its development since the close of the seventies of the last century. The State and Society 349 While, until then, the nations depended upon the farm products of their own agriculture, or, as England, upon that of the neighboring countries France and Germany the situation now began to change. As a result of the tremendously improved means of transportation navi- gation and the construction of railways in North Amer-- ica provisions began to be shipped from there to Eu- rope and lowered the prices of grain, so that cultivation of the chief kinds of grain in Middle and Western Eu- rope became far less profitable, unless the entire con- ditions of production could be changed. Moreover, the realm of international grain production greatly expanded. Besides Russia and Roumania, who made every endea- vour to increase their export of grain, products from Ar- gentine Republic, Australia, India and Canada appeared upon the market. In the course of development another unfavorable factor was added. Influenced by the causes above enumerated, the small farmers and rural workers began to desert the country. They either emigrated be- yond the seas or scores of them moved from the country to the cities and industrial centers, so that labor power in the country became scarce. The antiquated, patriar- chal conditions, especially in Eastern Europe, the ill- treatment and almost servile status of the farm-hands and servants still heightened this desertion of the coun- try. To what extent this shifting of the population has effected the rural districts from 184.0 until the census of 1905, may be seen from the fact that during this period the Prussian provinces East-Prussia, West Prussia, Po- merania, Posen, Silesia, Saxony and Hannover lost 4,049,200 persons, and Bavaria, Wurtemberg, Baden and Alsace-Lorraine had a loss of 2,026,500, while Berlin in- creased by migration by about 1,000,000 persons, Ham- burg by 402,000, the Kingdom of Saxony by 326,200, the Rhine provinces by 343,000, and W'estphalia by 246,100.* 2. Peasants and Great Landowners. As a result of all these changes, agriculture began to suffer from a want of capital. Accordingly the former ^Quarterly Gazette for Statistics of the German Empire. 35 The Revolution in Agriculture line of development, whereby the great landowner bought up the small and medium-sized farmers and made them part of his property, gave way to the opposite tendency. But this pressure also brought about, that the clumsy character of agricultural enterprises was gradu- ally modified, because people recognized that it would no longer do to follow the beaten path, but that it had be- come necessary to adopt new methods. The national gov- ernment, as well as the state governments, endeavored to relieve agriculture from its exigency by appropriate trade and tariff policies and by direct expenditures for various improvements. Recently the medium and great landowners are quite successful again wherever the farms are conducted in keeping with modern technical development, as may be gathered from the fact that the prices of farms have greatly increased. If agriculture is to prosper in capitalistic society, it is necessary that it should be conducted by capitalistic methods. Here, as in industry, it is important that hu- man labor should be replaced or aided by machinery and technical improvements. That this is being done may be seen from the following: During the period from 1882 to 1895 the number of steam-ploughs employed in agri- culture in Germany has increased from 836 to 1696, and the number of steam-threshing machines has increased frorn 75,690 to 259,364. Compared to what might be done in the way of agricultural machinery, these figures are still exceedingly low and prove the undeveloped state of agriculture; they also prove that lack of means and the small size of the individual farms have so far made the application of machinery impossible. The ma- chine, in order to be truly advantageous, requires appli- cation on a large area of land devoted to cultivation of the same kind of crop. The great number of small and medium-sized farms, the scattered fields and the great variety of crops have prevented a successful application of machinery. The tables on page 351 show how the farming area is distributed in the German Empire.* *Karl Kautsky The Agrarian question and temporary results of the agricultural census of June 12, 1901. Quarterly Gazette for Statistics of the German Empire, 1909. The State and Society 35i Among the 5,736,082 farms counted in 1907 there were no less than 4,384,786 of less than $ hectares 76.8 per cent., that can furnish but a poor existence to their own- ers, unless the soil is particularly good, or unless de- voted to horticulture. A great many of them could not even be used in this way, since there are 2,731,055 farms among them of one hectare, and less, in area. Farms Number of Farms Increase or Decrease 1882 . 1895 1907 From 1882 to 1895 From 1895 toigoy Less than 2 hectares 2 to 5 ha. 5 " 20 20 " 100 " Over loo " 3,061,831 981,407 926,605 281,510 24,991 3,236,367 1,016,318 998,804 281,767 25,061 3,378.509 1,006,277 1,065,539 262,191 23,566 + 174,536 + 34,9H + 72,199 257 + 70 + 142,142 10,041 + 66,735 19,576 1,495 5,276,344! 5.558,317! 5,736,082! + 281,973 I -f 177.765 Farms Farming area in hectares Increase or Decrease 1882 1895 1907 From 1882 to 1895 From 1895 to 1907 Less than 2 hectares 2 to 5 ha. 5 " 20 " 20 " 100 " Over loo " 1,825.938 3,190,203 9,158,398 9,908,170 7,786,263 1,808,444 3,285,984 9,721,875 9,869,837 7,831,801 1,731,317 3,304,872 10,421,565 9,322,106 7,055,013 - 17,494 + 95,78l + 568,477 38,333 + 45,538 77,127 + 18,888 -f 699,690 547,731 - 776,788 |3i,868,972 l 32,5i7,94i ; 3i,834,873| + 648,969 I 683,068 But even among the farms of more than 5 hectares there are many that yield only a poor product, notwith- standing hard and long labor, owing to poor soil, unfa- vorable climate, bad location, lack of proper means of transportation, etc. It may be said without exaggera- tion that fully nine-tenths of the farmers lack the means and the knowledge to cultivate their soil as it might be cultivated. Neither do the small peasants receive a fair price for their products, since they depend upon the in- termediate trader. The dealer who traverses the coun- 352 The Revolution in Agriculture try on definite days or in definite seasons and usually trades off his merchandise to other dealers again, must obtain his profit. But to gather in the many small quan- tities means much more trouble to him than to procure a large quantity irom a great landowner. The peasants owning small and medium-sized farms therefore receive less for their products than the great landowners, and if their products are of inferior quality, which is frequently the case owing to their primitive methods, they must accept almost any price. Sometimes they cannot even wait for the time when their product will bring the high- est price. They owe money on rent, interest and taxes , they must repay loans, or must settle bills with trades- people and mechanics, therefore they are obliged to sell no matter how unfavorable the time may be. In order to improve their property, or to satisfy joint-heirs or children they have mortgaged their farms. As they have few lenders to choose from, the conditions are not very favorable. A high rate of interest and definite dates of payment weigh heavily on them. A poor harvest or a faulty speculation in regard to the kind of product that they expected to sell at a good price often drive them to the verge of ruin. Sometimes the products are bought and the capital is loaned by one and the same person, and in that event the peasant is entirely in the hands of his creditor. In this manner the peasants of entire villages and districts are sometimes in the hands of a few credit- ors. This is the case with the peasants who raise hops, wine, tobacco, and vegetables in Southern Germany, and on the Rhine, and with small farmers in Central Ger- many. The creditor fleeces the peasants mercilessly. He allows them to remain on their farms as apparent own- ers, but as a matter of fact they no longer own them. Frequently the capitalistic exploiter finds this method far more profitable than to cultivate the land himself, or to sell it. In this manner thousands of peasants are re- corded as owners of farms who are virtually not the own- ers. As a matter of fact, many great landowners, too, who managed badly or were unfortunate or took the property under unfavorable conditions, fell victims to capitalistic extortioners. The capitalist becomes master The State and Society 353 of the soil, and, in order to increase his profits, he divides up the farm into lots, because in this way he can obtain a far higher price than if he sold it undivided. With a number of small proprietors he furthermore has the best prospect to continue his usurious trade. As is well known, in the city, too, those houses yield the highest rents that contain the largest number of small apart- ments. A small number of farmers take the opportunity and buy portions of the divided estate. The capitalistic benefactor is willing to turn over larger portions to them also upon a small payment. The remainder of the price he takes as mortgage at a high rate of interest, and there the difficulty begins. If the small farmer is fortunate and succeeds in making his farm pay he escapes ; other- wise his lot will be as described above. If the small farmer loses some of his cattle, that is a great misfortune for him ; if he has a daughter who marries, the purchase of her outfit increases his debts and he loses a cheap labor power ; if a son marries, the latter demands his share of the farm, or a payment in money. Frequently he cannot afford even necessary improvements. If his stock does not provide sufficient manure as is often the case his soil becomes poorer in quality, because he can- not afford to buy manure. Sometimes he is too poor to buy good seed even ; the use of machinery is denied him, and a change of crop adapted to the chemical nature of his soil is frequently unfeasible. Neither can he apply advantageous methods offered by science and experience in the improvement of his stock. Lack of proper fodder, lack of proper stalls, lack of other necessary appliances, prevents it. So there are many causes that make exist- ence difficult to the small farmer. It is quite different with the large estates, where a com- paratively small number of farms cover a large area. We see from the statistics that 23,566 farms, having an area of 7,055,013 hectares of cultivated soil, cover 2,019,824 hectares more than the 4,384,786 farms having an area of less than five hectares. But the numbers of the farms and the numbers of the owners do not coincide. In 1895 there were no less than 912,959 leased farms of all sizes, 1,694,251 farms that were partly owned and partly leased, 354 The Revolution in Agriculture and 983,917 farms that were cultivated in different ways, as farms loaned to officials, as part of communal prop- erty, etc. On the other hand, single individuals own a. number of agricultural estates. The greatest German landowner is the King of Prussia, who owns 83 estates, with an area of 98,746 hectares; other great German landowners are: Prince of Pless owning 75 estates of 70,170 hectares Prince Hohenzollern-Sigmar " 24 " " 59,968 " Duke of Ujest " 52 " " 39,742 " Prince Hohenlohe-Oehringen " 39,365 '' Prince of Ratibor " 51 " " 33,096 " In 1895 the entailed estates in Prussia comprised an area of 2,121,636 hectares, or 6.09 per cent, of the entire area of the land. The 1045 entailed estates were owned by 939 proprietors, and their common property was by 206,600 hectares larger than the entire Kingdom of Wur- temberg, which covers an area of about 1,915,000 hec- tares. The large landowners are naturally interested in maintaining the present conditions. Not so the small proprietors, who would draw great advantages from a rational transformation of the conditions. It is an innate characteristic of large ownership of land that it seeks to enlarge its possessions more and more, and to take pos- session of all the farms within reach. It is so in Silesia, Lausitz, the Dukedom of Hessia and in ohter districts from which purchases of peasants* estates on a large scale are frequently reported. In Austria the large estates predominate far more than in Germany, or particularly in Prusia. Here, besides the nobility and the bourgeoisie, the Catholic Church has succeeded in taking possession of a lion's share of the soil. The expropriation of peasants is in full swing in Austria also. In Styria, Tyrol, Salzburg. Upper and Lower Austria, etc., all means are applied to drive the peasants from their native soil and to turn their farms into gentlemen's estates. The same scenes that were at one time enacted in Scotland and Ireland may now be ob- served in the most picturesque parts of Austria. Indi- viduals, as well as. societies, purchase enormous tracts of land, or rent what they cannot purchase, and transform The State and Society 355 them into hunting grounds. Trespassing on the valleys, hills and hamlets is prohibited by the new masters, and the stubborn proprietors of some estates, who refuse to comply with the demands of the gentlemen, are annoyed so long in various ways that they yield and sell their property. Soil that has been cultivated for ages, where for thousands of years many generations made a living, are transformed into a wilderness where deer may roam about, and the mountains that have been taken posses- sion of by the capitalistic nobility or bourgeoisie are the hunting grounds of the chamois. Poverty spreads over entire communities because they are denied the right of driving their cattle on the Alpine pastures. And who are these persons who are robbing the peasant of his property and his independence? Besides Rothschild and Baron Meyer-Melnhof, the Counts of Coburg and Mein- ingen, Prince Hohenlohe, the Duke of Liechtenstein, the Count of Braganza, the Duchess Rosenberg, the Duke of Pless, the Counts Schoenfeld, Festetics, Schafgotsch, Trauttmannsdorff, the Baron Gustaedt Hunting Club, the Count Karoly Hunting Club, the Noblemen's Hunt- ing Club of Bluehnbach, etc. Everywhere the great landowners are extending their property. In 1875 there were only 9 persons in Lower Austria who owned more than 5000 yokes each, with an area of 89,490 hectares ; in 1895 there were 24 persons who owned an area of 213,574 hectares. Throughout Austria the great landowners con- trol an area of 8,700,000 hectares, while 21,300,000 hec- tares belong to the small landowners. The proprietors of entailed estates, 297 families, own 1,200,000 hectares. Millions of small landowners cultivate 71 per cent, of the entire area, while a few thousand great landowners control more than 29 per cent, of the entire area of Austria. There are few land-revenue districts in which there are no great landed proprietors. In most of the districts there are two or several landowners who exert a determining political and social influence. Almost half of the great landowners hold property in several dis- tricts of the country, a number of them in several crown- lands of the empire. In Lower Austria, Bohemia, Mo- ravia, and Silesia there is no district without them. Only industry succeeded in dislodging them to some extent ; 356 The Revolution in Agriculture for instance, in Northern Bohemia and at the boundary of Bohemia and Moravia. In all other parts of the coun- try the large estates are increasing: In Upper Austria, where, of all crown-lands, we still find a class of peasants that is fairly well off; in Goerz and Gradiaska, in Styria, Salzburg, in Galicia and Bukovina. They are increasing less rapidly in those countries that already are the do- mains of the great landowners Bohemia,, Moravia, Si- lesia and Lower Austria. In Lower Austria, of the en- tire ground comprising 1,982,300 hectares, 393 great land- owners owned 540,655 hectares, and the Church owned 79,181 hectares; 13 estates comprise 425,079 hectares= 9 per cent, of the entire area; among these, Duke Hoyos- Sprinzenstein owns 33,124 hectares. The area of Mora- via covers 2,181,220 hectares. Of these the Church owned 81,857 hectares, and 116 estates of more than 1000 hectares each comprised a larger area than the 500,000 estates up to 10 hectares, that form 92.1 per cent, of all estates. The area of Austrian Silesia covers 514,677 hectares. Of these the Church owned 50,845 hectares, and 79 proprietors together owned 204,118 hectares. Bo- hemia, with an area of 5,194,500 hectares, has about i,- 2 37>o85 great landowners. The distribution of property is characterized by an unusual number of estates of smallest dimensions, and by extensive large estates. Al- most 43 per cent, of all the estates are smaller than y?. hectare, and more than four-fifths do not exceed 5 hec- tares. These 703,577 estates (81 per cent.) only cover 12.5 per cent, of the area of Bohemia. On the other hand, 776 persons own 35.6 per cent, of the entire area, while they only form o.i per cent, of all estates. The unequal distribution of property is more striking still when we analyze the larger class, those over 200 hec- tares. We then obtain the following result : 380 persons own each 200 to 500 hectares . .together 1 16,143 hectares 141 " " " 500 " 1000 " . . " 101,748 " 104 " " " looo "2000 " .. " 150,567 " 151 " " " over 2000 " .. " 1,436,084 " Of the last-named group, 31 persons own 5,000 to 10,- ooo hectares each ; 21 persons own 10,000 to 20,000 hec- tares each, and tfie Princes Mor. Lobkowitz, Ferdinand The State and Society 357 Kinsky, Karl Schwarzenberg, Alfred Windischgraatz, the Dukes Ernst Waldstein, Johann Harrach, Karl Btiquoy own 20,000 to 30,000 hectares each. Clam-Gal- las and Lar. Czernin own over 30,000 each. The Prince of Lichtenstein owns 36,189 hectares; Prince Max Egon Fuerstenberg, 39,162 hectares; Prince Colloredo Manns- feld, 57,691 hectares, and the Prince of Schwarzenberg, 177,310 hectares=34 per cent, of the entire area of Bo- hemia. The Church owns 150,395 hectares=3 per cent, of the area of Bohemia.* These figures were compiled in 1896; since then matters have grown still worse. Ac- cording to the agricultural census of 1902 there were 18,437 estates (0.7 per cent, of the entire number) that covered 9,929,920 hectares, or one-third of the entire area. In the district of Schwaz seven Alps and in the dis- trict of Zell sixteen Alps that had hitherto served as pas- tures to the cattle, were shut off by the new landlords and transformed into hunting grounds. Pasturing of cattle is prohibited along the entire Karwendel range. The leading nobility of Austria and Germany, besides rich bourgeois parvenus, purchased areas up to 70,000 yokes, and more, in the Alpine regions and had them fenced in as game preserves. Entire villages, hundreds of farms disappear, the inhabitants are driven from their native soil, and the place of human beings and of ani- mals intended for human food, is taken by deer and stags and chamois. Not a few of these men who have devas- tated entire provinces in this manner, afterwards speak on the needy condition of the peasants in the parliaments, and abuse their power to employ the aid of the state in the form of taxes on grain, wood, live stock, meat, whis- key, etc., at the expense of the propertyless classes. In the most advanced industrial states it is not the love of luxury of the privileged classes that dislodges the small estates, as is the case in Austria. Here the in- creasing demands of a rapidly growing population make it necessary to organize farming along capitalistic lines, in order to produce the required amount of food. This may be observed in a country so highly developed indus- *The Propertied and Propertyless Classes in Austria. T. W. Tei- fen. Vienna, 1906. 358 The Revolution in Agriculture trially as Belgium. According to the "Annual Statistics," quoted by Emile Vandervelde in an article, "Landed Property in Belgium During the Period from 1834 to 1899," it says: "Only farms of less than 5 hectares, and especially those of less than 2 hectares, have diminished in number. But the farms of more than 10 hectares have increased to 3,789. The concentration of landed prop- erty that is in keeping with modern industry and cattle breeding on a large scale, may here be clearly observed. Since 1880 a development has set in that takes the op- posite course of the one that took place from 1866 to 1880. While, in 1880, there still were 910,396 farms, only 829,625 remained in 1895 ; that means a decrease by 80,- 771 farms=9 per cent., in fifteen years. As a matter of fact, this decrease has affected only farms of less than 5 hectares. On the other hand, farms of from 5 to 10 hec- tares increased by 675 ; those of from 10 to 20 hectares by 2,168; from 20 to 30 hectares by 414; from 30 to 40 hec- tares by 164, from 40 to 50 hectares by 187, and those of over 50 hectares by 181." 3. The Contrast Between City and Country. The condition of the soil and its cultivation is of the greatest importance to the advancement of our civiliza- tion. The existence of the population primarily depends upon the soil and its, products. The soil cannot be in- creased at will ; the manner of its cultivation is therefore the more important. The population of Germany, which grows by about 870,000 persons annually, requires a con- siderable import of bread and meat, if the prices of the most necessary articles of food are still to be within reach of the masses. But here we are confronted by sharp-contrasting interests between the agricultural and industrial population. That part of the population that is not engaged in agricultural pursuits, is interested in obtaining articles of food at low prices, since their well- fare, both as human beings and as individuals engaged in industry and commerce, depends upon it. (Every in- crease in the cost of articles of food leads to a deteriora- tion in the standard of living of a large portion of the population, unless the wages of the population depend- The State and Society 359 ing upon agricultural products should be raised also. But an increase in wages usually implies an increase in the prices of industrial products, and that may result in a decline of sales. But if wages remain stationary, not- withstanding the increased cost of articles of food, the purchase of other commodities must be limited, and again industry and commerce suffer. Matters have a different aspect for those engaged in agriculture. Just as persons engaged in industry, they seek to obtain the greatest possible advantage from their occupation, and it does not matter to them from which particular product they obtain it. If the import of for- eign grain prevents their obtaining the desired profit from the cultivation of grain, they devote their soil to the cultivation of other products that are more profitable. They cultivate beets for the manufacture of sugar, and potatoes and grain for the manufacture 01 whiskey, in- stead of wheat and rye for bread. They devote the most fertile fields to the cultivation of tobacco, instead of to the cultivation of vegetables and fruit. Others use thou- sands of hectares of land for pastures for horses, because horses bring high prices for military purposes. More- over, great stretches of forest land, which could be em- ployed for agricultural purposes, are reserved as hunting^ grounds for sportsmen of rank. This is sometimes the case in regions where a few thousand hectares of forests might be cut down and transformed into fields, without any harmful results ensuing, due to a decrease in humid- itty by the cutting down of the forest. In this manner thousands of square miles of fertile soil might still be won for agricultural purposes in Germany. But this transformation is contrary to the material interests of a part of the bureaucracy, the forest- and game-keepers, as well as to the interests of the great landowners, who do not wish to give up their hunting-grounds and to deny themselves the pleasures of the chase. It is a matter of course that such clearing of forests could take place only where it would be truly advantageous. On the other hand, large areas of mountain and waste land might bt planted with forests. Recently the great influence of forests on the forma- tion of moisture has been denied, as it appears, unjustly 360 The Revolution in Agriculture so. To what marked degree the forest influences the moisture of the land, and thereby the fertility of the soil, is shown by some striking facts given in the book by Parvus and Dr. Lehmann, "Starving Russia." The au- thors assert, on the ground of their own observations, that the boundless and desultory devastation of forests in the most fertile provinces of Russia, was the chief cause of the failure of crops from which these at one time fertile regions suffered severely during the last few decades. Among many other facts, they pointed out that during the course of time five little rivers and six lakes disappeared in the government district of Stawropol; in the government district of Busuluk four rivers and four lakes disappeared ; in the government district of Ssamara six small rivers, and in the government district of Bugu- ruslaw two small rivers disappeared. In the government districts of Nikolajewsk and Novausensk four rivers are barely maintained by the construction of dams. Many villages that formerly had running water in their vicinity are robbed of this advantage, and in many places the depth of wells is 45 to 60 yards. As a result of this dearth of water the soil is hard and cracked. Wtih the cutting down of the forests the springs dried up and rain became scarce. Capitalistic cultivation of the soil leads to capitalistic conditions. For a number of years a portion of our farmers derived enormous profits from the cultivation of beets and the manufacture of sugar connected with it. The system of taxation favored the exportation of sugar, and in such a manner that the revenue of the taxes on sugar-beets and on the consumption of sugar was to a considerable extent employed as bounties for exporta- tion. The reimbursement granted to the sugar manu- facturers per hundred-weight of sugar was considerably higher than the tax paid by them on the beets, and placed them in a position to sell their sugar at low prices to foreign countries, at the expense of the domestic tax- payers, and to develop the cultivation of sugar-beets more and more. The advantage gained by the sugar manufacturers under this system of taxation amounted to over 31 million marks annually. Hundreds of thou- sands of hectares of land that had formerly been de- The State and Society 361 voted to the cultivation of grain, etc., were now em- ployed to raise beets; countless factories were erected, and the inevitable result was the panic. The high profit obtained from the cultivation of beets also caused a rise in the price of property. This led to a wholesale pur- chase of the small farms, whose owners were tempted to sell by the high prices they could obtain for their prop- erty. The soil was made to serve industrial speculation, and the raising of grain and potatoes was relegated to soil of inferior quality, which heightened the demand for the importation of products of food. Finally the evils that had arisen from the allowance on export of sugar and had gradually assumed an international character, compelled the governments and the parliaments to abol- ish this system and thereby to revert to somewhat more natural conditions. Under present-day conditions the small farmers cannot attain the social status to which they are entitled as citi- zens of a civilized state, no matter how hard they may work and how much they may deny themselves. What- ever the state and society may do to uphold these classes that form a considerable basis of the existing form of state and society, their endeavours remain patch-work. The agrarian taxes harm this portion of the agricultural population more than they benefit them. Most of these farmers do not produce as much as they need for the maintenance of their own families. They must purchase part of their supplies, the means for which they obtain by industrial or other additional labor. A great many of our small farmers are more interested in a favorable sta- tus of industry and commerce than in agriculture, be- cause their own children make their living by industry or commerce, since the farm offers no employment and no income to them. One failure of crops increases the num- ber of farmers who are obliged to purchase agricultural products. So how can agrarian taxes and prohibition of importation benefit those who have little to sell and must occasionally buy much? At least 80 per cent, of all agri- cultural establishments are in this position. How the farmer cultivates his soil is his own affair in the era of private property. He cultivates whatever 362 The Revolution in Agriculture seems most profitable to him, regardless of the interests and requirements of society; so "laissez f aire !" In in- dustry the same principle is applied. Obscene pictures and indecent books are manufactured, and factories are established for the adulteration of food. These and many other activities are harmful to society ; they undermine its morals and heighten corruption. But they are profita- ble, more so than decent pictures, scientific books and unadulterated food. The manufacturer, eager for profits, must only succeed in escaping the notice of the police, and he may ply his trade in the knowledge that society will envy and respect him for the money he has made. The mammon character of our age is most forcibly ex- pressed by the stock exchange and its dealings. Prod- ucts of the soil and industrial products, means of trans- portation, meterological and political conditions, want and abundance, disasters and suffering of the masses, public debts, inventions and discoveries, health or dis- ease and death of influential persons, war and rumors of war often invented for this purpose, all these and many other things are made the object of speculation and are used to exploit and cheat one another. The kings of capital exert the most decisive influence on the weal and woe of society, and, favored by their powerful means and connections, they accumulate boundless wealth. Gov- ernments and officials become mere puppets in their hands, who must perform while the kings of the stock exchange pull the wires. The powers of the state do not control the stock market, the stock market controls the powers of the state. All these facts, which are becoming more evident every day because the evils are daily increasing, call for speedy and thoroughgoing reforms. But society stands helpless before these evils and keeps going about in a circle like a horse in a treadmill, a picture of impotence and stupidity. They who would like to act, are still too weak ; tney who ought to act, still lack understanding; they who might act, do not wish to. They rely upon their power and think, as Madame Pompadour expressed it : <4 Apres nous le deluge!" (May the deluge come after we are gone!) But what if the deluge should overtake them? I>0rtalt2atum of CHAPTER XX. \ THE SOCIAL REVOLUTION. i. The Transformation of Society. The tide rises and undermines the foundation of state and society. Every one feels that the pillars are swaying and that only powerful props can support them. But to erect such props means great sacrifices on the part of the ruling classes, and there the difficulty lies. Every prop- osition, the realization of which would seriously damage the material interests of the ruling classes and would threaten to question their privileged position, is bitterly opposed by them and roundly condemned as a measure destined to overturn the present order of state and so- ciety. But, without questioning and ultimately removing the privileges of the ruling classes, the diseased world cannot be cured. "The struggle for the liberation of the working class is not a struggle for privileges, but one for equal rights and equal duties and for the removal of all privileges." This declaration of principles is contained in the Socialist plat- form. It follows that nothing can be attained by half measures and small concessions. But the ruling classes regard their privileged position as natural and self-understood; they will admit of no doubt in its permanence and justification. So it is quite natural that they oppose and combat every attempt to shatter their privileges. Even proposed measures and laws that do not change their privileged position and the present order of society in the least, cause the greatest excitement among them, if their purse-strings are loosened thereby or likely to be loosened. In the parlia- ments mountains of paper are printed with speeches until the laboring mountains bring forth a ridiculous mouse. The most self-understood demands of workingmen's pro- 364 The Social Revolution tection are met with as much opposition as if the exist- ence of society depended upon it. When, after endless struggles, some concessions are won from the ruling classes, they act as if they had sacrificed a part of their fortune. They show the same stubborn opposition when called upon to recognize the oppressed classes on a basis of formal equality; for instance, to discuss questions of labor agreements with them as with their equals. This opposition to the simplest things and the most self-understood demands confirms the old experience that no ruling class can ever be convinced by reason, unless the force of circumstances compels discretion and com- pliance. But the force of circumstances may be found in the growing measure of understanding created in the op- pressed by the development of our conditions. The class extremes are constantly becoming more severe, more no- ticeable and more evident. The oppressed and exploited classes begin to recognize that existing conditions are un- tenable; their indignation increases, and with it the im- perious demand to transform and humanize conditions. As this perception grows and reaches ever widening circles, it finally conquers the vast majority of society, which is most directly interested in this transformation. But to the same extent in which this perception of the untenableness of existing conditions and the need of their transformation grows among the masses, the power of re- sistance of the ruling classes declines, since their power is founded upon the ignorance and the lack of under- standing of the oppressed and exploited classes. This re- ciprocal action is evident, and therefore everything that advances it must be welcomed. The progress of capital- ism on the one hand is balanced on the other by the growing perception that the existing social order is ad- verse to the wellfare of the vast majority of the people. Although the solution and removal of social extremes will require great sacrifices and many exertions, a solution will be found as soon as the extremes have attained the height of their development, toward which they are rap- idly advancing. What measures are to be resorted to at the various stages of development, depends upon circumstances. It The Socialization of Society 365 ivity of social labor, until now a source of misery and op- pression for the exploited classes, will then become a source of well-being and harmonious development for all. 2. Expropriation of the Expropriators. The transformation of all means of production into common property forms the new basis of society. The conditions of life and work for both sexes in industry, agriculture, traffic, education, marriage, science, art and social intercourse become radically different. Human lift is given a new purpose. Gradually the organization of the state also loses ground; the state disappears; it, so to say, abolishes itself. In the first part of this book we have shown why the state had to arise. It is the product of development from primitive society, founded on communism, that be- comes dissolved as private property develops. With the rise of private property antagonistic interests are formed within society. Differences of class and caste arise that necessarily lead to class struggles among the different groups and threaten the maintenance of the new order. To keep down the opponents of the new order and to protect the threatened proprietors, an orgainzation is re- quired that opposes such attacks and declares property to be "righteous" and "sacred." This organization, which protects and maintains private property, becomes the state. By laws the state secures the proprietor's right to his property, and upon those who would attack the order laid down by law it turns as judge and avenger. By their innermost nature, then, the interests of the rul- ing, possessing class, and of the powers of the state, al- ways are conservative. The organization of the state only changes when the interest of property demands it. Thus the state is the indispensable organization of a so- ciety founded on class rule. As soon as class extremes have been removed by the abolition of private property* it becomes unnecessary and impossible. The state gradu- ally ceases to exist with the passing away of class rule, as surely as religion ceases to exist when belief in superior beings and occult powers is no longer met with. Words 366 The Social Revolution is impossible to predict what measures will be necessi- tated by circumstances in particular instances. No gov- ernment, no prime-minister, be he the most powerful per- son, can predict what circumstances will compel him to do a year hence. It is all the more impossible to predict measures that will be dictated by circumstances unknown to us at present. The question of measures is a question of tactics to be observed in a struggle. The tactics are influenced by the opponent and also by the resources at the command of both parties. Means that are splendid to-day may be harmful to-morrow, because the circum- stances that justified their employment may have changed. It is but necessary always to keep our aim be- fore us ; the means for attaining same depend upon time and circumstances. But the most effective means that time and circumstances permit of should be resorted to. In depicting future developments we must therefore re- sort to hypothetical methods; we must surmise certain conditions. Proceeding from this point of view, we surmise that, at a given time, all the depicted evils will have developed to such extremes and will have become so evident and tan- gible to the great majority of the population, that they come to be regarded as unbearable; that a general, irre- sistible demand for a thoroughgoing transformation will manifest itself, and that, accordingly, the quickest help will be considered the most appropriate. All social evils, without exception, spring from the present social order, which, as has been shown, is found- ed on capitalism, on the capitalistic method of produc- tion. This method of production enables the capitalist .class the owners of all the means of production, the ground, mines, raw materials, tools, machines, means of transportation to exploit and oppress the masses, which leads to insecurity of existence and to the degradation of the exploited classes. Accordingly the most rapid and direct way would be to transform capitalistic prop- erty into common, or social property by a general ex- propriation. The production of commodities will be so- cialized; it will become a production for and by society. Manufacture on a large scale and the increasing product- The Socialization of Society 367 must have a purport ; when they lose same they cease to convey a meaning. Here a reader who is capitalistically minded may ob- ject and may ask on what legal ground can society justify these overthrowing changes? The legal ground will be the same that always was found, when similar changes and transformations were needful : The common well- fare. Society, not the state, is the source of law. The state is only clerk to the society, whose duty it is to meas- ure and dispense the law. Until now, ruling society was always but a small minority, but this small minority acted in behalf of the entire nation and represented itself as being society, just as Louis XIV. represented himself as being the state : "L'etat cest moi." (I am the state.) When our newspapers report: "The season has begun, society is returning to town ;" or : "The season is over, society is hastening to the country," they do not mean the people, but the upper ten thousand who constitute society as they constitute the state. The masses are the "plebs," the vile multitude. In the same way, everything undertaken by the state for society in behalf of "the com- mon welfare," has, first and foremost, served the inter- ests of the ruling classes. "Salus reipublica suprema lex esto" (the welfare of the republic shall be the supreme law), is the well-known legal principle laid down by the ancient Romans. But who formed the Roman republic? The subjected peoples, the millions of slaves? No! The comparatively small number of Roman citizens, above all the Roman nobility, who permitted the slaves to sup- port them. When, during the middle ages, nobility and princes robbed the communal property, they did so on the legal ground of "the common welfare," and in what manner they disposed of the communal property and the prop- erty of the helpless peasants, the history of the middle ages, down to recent times, has amply shown. The agra- rian history of the past thousand years is a history of uninterrupted robbery of communal and peasant prop- erty, practiced by the nobility and the Church in all civilized states of Europe. When the great French Revo- lution then proceeded to expropriate the property of the 368 The Social Revolution nobility and the Church, it did so "in behalf of the com- mon welfare," and the greater part of the eight million of property holders who form the chief stay of Bourgeois France, owe their existence to this expropriation. In be- half of the "common welfare/'Spain took possession of much Church property, and Italy confiscated it entirely, applauded by the most ardent defenders of "sacred prop- erty." The English nobility for centuries robbed the Irish and English nations of their property, and from 1804 to 1832 legally presented itself "in behalf of the common welfare" with no less than 3,511,710 acres of communal property. When, after the great North Amer- ican civil war, millions of slaves were emancipated, who had been the lawfully acquired property of their masters, without reimbursing the latter, this was done "in behalf of the common welfare." Our entire bourgeois develop- ment is an uninterrupted process of expropriation and confiscation. In this process the mechanic is expropri- ated by the manufacturer, the peasant by the great land- owner, the small dealer by the large merchant, and, finally, one capitalist by another. To judge by the decla- mations of our bourgeoisie, all this is being done to serve "the common welfare," in the "interest of society." On the 18 Brumaire and December 2, the followers of Napoleon "saved' "society" and "society" congratulated them. When society will save itself by taking back the property it has created, it will perform the most note- worthy deed. For then its actions will not purpose to suppress one to the advantage of another, but to obtain equality of opportunity for all and to enable each and every one to lead an existence worthy of a human being. It will be the grandest measure, morally, ever enacted by society. In what forms this great process of social expropriation will be consummated and under what conditions, is of course quite impossible to predict. In his fourth social letter to v. Kirchmann, entitled "Capital,"* Rodbertus says : "A confiscation of all private property in land, is not a chimera, but quite possible *Berlin, 1884. The Socialization of Society 369 from the standpoint of political economy. It would also be the most radical help for society. For society suffers from the increase of rent in land and capital. With the abolition of private property in land, traffic and the prog- ress of national wealth would not be interrupted for one moment." What do the Agrarians say to this opinion of one who was formerly a member of their party? The further course of events, after such a measure has been resorted to, cannot be definitely laid down. No hu- man being is able to foresee how coming generations will shape the details of their social organizations, and in what manner they will best succeed in satisfying their requirements. In society, as in nature, there is constant change. One thing appears while another disappears; what is old and wasted is replaced by what is new and full of vitality. Inventions and discoveries along varied lines are made whose significance cannot be foreseen, and when applied, such inventions and discoveries may revo- lutionize human life and the entire social organization. In the following, therefore, we can only discuss the development of general principles. They may be laid down as a logical outcome of the prior explanations, and to some extent it is possible to overlook in what manner they will be carried out. Even heretofore society could not be guided and directed by single individuals, al- though it sometimes appeared so. But appearances are deceiving; presuming to direct, we are being directed. Even heretofore society has been an organism that de- veloped in accordance with definite, inherent laws. In the future the guidance and direction, according to the will of individuals, will be entirely out of the question. Society will then be a democracy that will have unrav- elled the secrets of its nature. It will have discovered the laws of its development and will consciously apply them to its further growth. 370 Fundamental Laws of Socialistic Society CHAPTER XXI. Fundamental Laws of Socialistic Society. i. Duty to Work of All Able-bodied Persons. As soon as society has become the owner of all means of production, the duty to work of all able-bodied per- sons, regardless of sex, becomes a fundamental law of socialized society. Society cannot exist without labor. It therefore is justified in demanding that all who seek to satisfy their requirements, should also serve to the best of their physical and mental abilities in producing the commodities that are needful to satisfy the requirements of all. The silly assertion that the Socialists wish to abolish work is an absurdity. Lazy persons, shirkers of work, are met with in bourgeois society only. Socialism is agreed with the Bible in asserting that "he who will not work neither shall he eat." But work shall be useful, productive activity. The new society will therefore in- sist that everyone choose some definite industrial, agri- cultural, or other useful activity, whereby he performs a certain amount of labor for the satisfaction of existing requirements. No enjoyment without labor, without la- bor no enjoyment. Since all are obliged to work, all have the same interest in having three conditions of labor complied with. Firstly, that the work-day shall not be too long and that the work shall not require over-exertion ; secondly, that the work shall be varied and as agreeable as possible; thirdly, that it shall be as productive as possible, since on this the length of the work-day and the number of obtainable enjoyments depend. But these three conditions again are determined by the number and the nature of the means of production and the workers; they are fur- thermore determined by the required standard of living. Socialistic society does not establish itself in order to lead a proletarian existence, but to abolish the proleta- rian manner of living of the great majority of people. It seeks to grant to everyone the fullest measure of the comforts and joys of life, and so the question arises : To what extent will the requirements of society grow? The Socialization of Society 371 In order to determine this an administration will be necessary that comprises all fields of social activity. Here our municipalities will form an appropriate foundation. If they are too large to permit of obtaining an insight, they may be divided into districts. As in primitive so- ciety, all members of the communities who are of age, regardless of sex, will participate in the elections and choose the persons who are to take charge of the ad- ministration. At the head of all local bodies there will be a central administration. This let it be noted will not be a government with ruling powers, but an ex- ecutive board of managers. Whether this board of man- agers is to be elected by the entire population or by the local boards is not essential. These questions will not be as important then as they are now, for election to these offices will not mean greater power and influence and a higher income. They will be positions of trust to which the fittest, be they men or women, will be elected, and they can be recalled or re-elected, as conditions may de- mand, or as it may seem desirable to the voters. All of- fices are temporary. The persons who hold these posi- tions, therefore, cannot be regarded as officials. Their function is not a permanent one, nor is a hierarchical order of advancement provided for. Viewed from this standpoint, it also becomes a matter of indifference whether there will be any intermediate bodies between the central administration and the local administrations, as provincial administrations, etc. If considered neces- sary they will be instituted ; if not, they will be omitted. All that will be determined by experience. If progress in the development of society should make old institutions superfluous, they will be abolished without any ado and without any conflict, since no one is personally inter- ested in their maintenance, and new ones will be insti- tuted instead. This thoroughly democratic administra- tion is very different from the present. At the present time what battles in the newspapers, what a warfare of tongues in the parliaments, what piles of documents in the government offices, to accomplish an insignificant change in the administration or government ! To begin with, the main task will be to determine the existing forces, the number and kind of rae.ans of produc- 372 Fundamental Laws of Socialistic Society tion, factories, workshops, means of transportation, area of land, and the previous productivity. Further it will be necessary to determine the supply on hand and the num- ber of articles and products required to supply the de- mand in a given length of time. As at present the state and the various municipalities annually determine then budgets, this will in future be done for the entire social demand, and changes made necessary by new or in- creased demands can be fully taken into consideration. Statistics here become the main factor. They are the most important auxiliary science in the new society, since they furnish the standard whereby all social activ- ity may be measured. Statistics are being used for simi- lar purposes at present on a large scale. The budgets of nation, state, and municipality are founded on a great number of statistical investigations that are annually un- dertaken by the various branches of administration. Ex- perience of long duration and a certain stability in cur- rent demands simplify them. Under normal conditions every manufacturer and every merchant is also enabled to determine his requirements for the coming quarter of a year and in what manner he must arrange his produc- tion and his purchases. Unless excessive changes occur he can meet them readily and without much difficulty. The experience that the crises are brought on by blind, anarchistic production ; that is to say, because goods are produced without any knowledge of the stock on hand, the sales, and the demand for the various articles on the world market, has caused the captains of industry in va- rious branches as already stated to form trusts. The object of these trusts is to determine prices on the one hand, and on the other to regulate production. By the producing ability of each individual concern and by the sales it is likely to make, the amount of goods to be pro- duced for the coming months is determined. Failure to comply with these rules is punished by a fine and by pro- scription. The manufacturers form these agreements not to benefit, but to harm the public, and solely for their own advantage. Their purpose is to use the power of co- operation to insure the greatest advantage for them- selves. By regulating production it becomes possible to exact the payment of prices that can never be obtained as The Socialization of Society 373 long as the individual manufacturers compete with onfc another. So the manufacturer enriches himself at the expense of the consumer, who must pay the fixed price for the article that he needs; and, as the consumer is in- jured by the trusts, so also the worker. Regulation of production by the manufacturers releases a number of workers and employes, and these, in order to live, must underbid their fellow-workers. Moreover, the social power of the trust is so great that the labor unions, too can rarely cope with them. The employers, accordingly, enjoy a double advantage ; they receive higher prices and pay lower wages. This regulation of production by as- sociations of employers is the opposite of that which will take effect in Socialistic society. To-day the interest of the employers is the determining factor; in the future it will be the interest of the general public. But in bour- geois society even the best organized trust cannot over- look and compute all the factors. Competition and specu- lation on the world market continue to rage, in spite of the trust, and suddenly it becomes manifest that the cal- culation is faulty, and the artificial structure breaks down. Like industry, commerce also posseses far-reaching statistics. Every week the large centers of commerce and seaport towns publish lists of the supplies on hand of kerosene, cotton, sugar, coffee, wheat, etc. Sometimes these statistics are not exact, because the owners of the goods occasionally have a personal interest in preventing the truth from becoming known. But, taken all in all, these statistics are pretty reliable and enable those inter- ested to judge the probable aspect of the market in the near future. But here, too, speculation enters into con- sideration that frequently deceives and upsets all calcu- lations and often makes it impossible to carry on an hon- est business. Just as a general regulation of production is made impossible in bourgeois society by the conflicting interests of the countless private producers, so the regu- lation of distribution is made impossible by the specula- tive nature of commerce and by the conflicting interests of the great number of persons engaged in it. But what has been accomplished so far gives an idea of what can be ac- complished as soon as private interests disappear and the common interest predominates. An example of this is, 374 Fundamental Laws of Socialistic Society for instance, the harvest statistics compiled annually by various states, that make it possible to calculate the crops, the amount needful to supply the domestic de- mand, and the probable prices. But in a socialized society conditions will be perfectly orderly, since the solidarity of society will have been es- tablished. Everything is carried out, according to plans, in an orderly way, and so it will be easy to determine the amounts required by the various demands. When some experience has been gained, everything will run smoothly. When the average demand for meat, bread, shoes, garments, etc., has been statistictlly determined, and when the output of the respective establishments of production is known, the average daily amount of socially necessary labor can be established. It, furthermore, can be determined whether more establishments of produc- tion are needed, or whether some can be dispensed with as superfluous and can be fitted out for other purposes. Every individual chooses the branch of industry in which he wishes to be employed. The great number of very different realms of activity makes it possible to take the most varied wishes into consideration. If there is an excess of workers in one branch and a lack of work- ers in another, it will be the duty of the administration to make the necessary arrangements and to bring about an equalization. To organize production and to give op- portunity to the various forces to be employed at the right place, will be the chief task of the elected adminis- trations. As all perfect themselves in their particular tasks the wheels run more smoothly. The different branches of industry and sub-divisions elect their man- agers, who must control the work. But these are no slave-drivers, as overseers and foremen are to-day, but fellow-workers who simply practice the administrative function entrusted to them, in place of a productive one. It is not impossible that at a more advanced stage of or- ganization and with a more perfect education of all its members, these functions will become alternating and will, in definite rotation, be overtaken by all persons con- cerned, regardless of sex. The Socialization of Society 375 2. Harmony of Interests. Labor, organized on a basis of complete freedom and democratic equality, with one for all and all for one, will call forth a rivalry and a desire to create that are no- where met with under the present industrial system ; and this joy of creation will enhance the productivity of labor. Since all work for one another, they are interested in having all objects well made and with as little waste of time and strength as possible, be it to save labor, or to gain time for the manufacture of new products destined to satisfy higher demands. This common interest will cause all to seek to improve, simplify and hasten the process of work. The ambition to discover and invent will be stimulated to the highest degree, and people will endeavours to outdo each other in new ideas and sugges- tions.* So the opposite of what is claimed bv the op- ponents of Socialism will be true. How many discover- ers and inventors perish in bourgeois society! How many are exploited and cast aside ! If intelligence and talent were to hold the foremost place in bourgeois so- ciety, instead of property, the greater part of the employ- ers would have to make way for their workingmen, fore- men, mechanics, engineers, chemists, etc. These are the men who, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, have made the discoveries, inventions, and improvements that are applied by the man with the full purse. How many *"The force of rivalry that leads to supreme efforts to win the praise and admiration of others, has been shown by experience to be H useful one wherever persons compete with one another, even in regard to frivolous matters and such matters from which the public derives no benefit. But a rivalry as to who can best serve the com- mon welfare, is a sort of competition that Socialists do not repu- c-iate." John Stuart Mill, "Political Economy." Every society, every orgamration of persons having the ?ame aims and a common cause, also furnishes many examples of a nobler endeavor that leads to no material success but to a purely ideal one. The persons vieing with each other are indeed impelled by the ambition of serving the com- mon cause and of winning recognition. But this sort of ambition is a virtue since it serves the common good and at the same time gives satisfaction to the individual. Ambition is harmful only when it is satisfied at the expense of others or to the detriment of society. 376 Fundamental Laws of Socialistic Society thousands of discoverers and inventors have failed be- cause they could not find a man who would furnish the money to carry out their discoveries and inventions, and how many meritorious discoverers and inventors are crushed by the social misery of daily life, is quite beyond our calculation. Not the persons endowed with a quick intelligence and a clear brain are masters of the world, but those endowed with ample means, which does not im- ply that a clear brain and a full purse cannot belong to the same person. Everyone engaged in practical life knows with how much suspicion the workingmen regard every improve- ment, every new invention that is introduced to-day ; and their suspicion is entirely justified. For, as a rule, not the workers but the employers are the only ones to de- rive any advantage from it. The worker must fear that the new machine, or the improvement, will make him su- perfluous and turn him out into the street. Instead of joyfully acclaiming a new invention that is a credit to humanity and ought to be a boon to him, he curses it. Many an improvement in the process of production in- vented by workingmen has never been introduced. The inventor keeps his invention to himself, because he fears that it will harm him, instead of benefiting him. Such are the natural results of conflicting interests.* *v. Thuenen "The Isolated State," says: "The conflicting in- terests are the reason why proletarians and possessors are hostile to one another and will remain unreconciled as long as the discord in their interests has not been removed. Not only by the wealth of the employer, but also by invention in manufactory, by the building of roads and railways, and by the opening of new markets, the national income may be greatly increased. But in our present social order the workingman derives no benefit from this increase. His status re- mains the same, and the entire increase in income falls to the share of the employers, capitalists and landlords." '. This last sentence is an almost verbal anticipation of a declaration by Gladstone in the English parliament, in 1884. He said: "This intoxicating growth of wealth and power (experienced by England during the last twenty years) has been limited exclusively to the possessing classes;" and v. Thuenen says : "in the separation of the worker from his product the evil lies" Morelly says in his "Principles of Legislation": "Property divides us into two classes, the rich and the poor. The The Socialization of Society 377 In Socialistic society the conflict of interests will be re- moved. Everyone will develop his abilities to serve him- self and will thereby serve society. At present, satisfac- tion of personal egotism and service of society usually are extremes that exclude each other. In the new so- ciety these extremes will not exist. Satisfaction of per- sonal egotism and service of society will be harmonious ; they will coincide.* The splendid influence of such a status of morals is obvious. The productivity of labor will rapidly in- crease. Especially will the productivity of labor grow, because the dissemination of forces among hundreds of thousands of tiny manufacturers with imperfect tools and insufficient means, will cease. It has been previously shown among how many small, medium-sized and large manufactories German industry is disseminated. By gathering in all the small and medium-sized manufac- tories into manufacture on a large scale in great estab- lishments that will be furnished with all the most mod- ern technical improvements, a tremendous waste of ef- fort, time, material of all kinds (light, heat, etc.), and space will be removed, and the productivity of labor will be heightened. The difference that exists between the productivity of small, medium-sized and large manufac- tories, may be illustrated by an example from the indus- trial census of Massachusetts of 1890. There the factor- ies in ten chief branches of industry are divided into three classes. Those that produced less than 40,000 dol- lars' worth were placed in the lower class; those that former love their property and do not care to defend the state. The latter can not love their fatherland for it gives them nothing but misery. But under Communism every one loves his fatherland for by it everyone obtains life and happiness." *In weighing the advantages and disadvantages of Communism, John Stuart Mill says in his "Political Economy": "No field can be more favorable to this conception (that public interest and private in- terest are identical) than a communistic association. All the ambition as well as the physical and mental activity, that is at present directed upon the pursuit of sporadic and selfish interests, would demand a different sphere of activity, and would find it in the service of the common good of society.'' 378 Fundamental Laws of Socialistic Society produced between 40,000 and 150,000 dollars* worth in the middle class, and those that produced over 150,000 dollars' worth, in the upper class. This division pre- sented the following figures : Number of Establish- ments Percentage of all Establish- ments Value of Production Percentage of entire Value of Production Lower class .... Middle class . . . Upper class .... 2,042 968 686 55-2 26.2 18.6 51,660,617 106,868,635 390,817,300 9-4 19-5 71,1 3,696 100. 549,346,552 IOO. Twice the number of small factories, compared to the large and medium-sized ones, turned out only 9.4 per cent, of the entire production, while the large factories, which formed only 23 per cent, of the. total number, pro- duced almost 2y 2 times the quantity of all the others. But even the large establishments could be organized much more rationally still, so that the total production might yield a still far greater quantity. How much time can be gained by placing production on a rational basis? That has been shown by interesting calculations made by Th. Hertzka, in his book on "The Laws of Social Evolution," published in 1886. He calcu- lated how much time and labor power would be needful to satisfy the demands of the population of Austria, which was 22 millions strong at the time. For this pur- pose, Hertzka investigated the productivity of the large establishments in the various lines of industry and based his calculations on the results. This calculation includes the farming of lo 1 /^ million hectares of cultivated soil arc* 3 million hectares of pasturage, which should suffice to supply said population with meat and the products of agriculture. Furthermore, Hertzka included in his calcu- lation the building of homes, in such a manner that every family might have their own house, with a space of 150 square meters, for- a period of fifty years. It was found that, for agriculture, building, the production of flour and sugar, coal-mining, iron and machine industry, the clothing industry, and the chemical industry, 615,000 The Socialization of Society 379 workers would be needed, who would have to work throughout the year for the present average number of hours daily. But these 615,000 workers formed only 12.3 per cent, of the able-bodied population of Austria, not counting the women, nor the male inhabitants under 1 6 or over 50. If the 5 million men available at the time of the calculation were employed like the 615,000, each of them would have to work only 36.9 days, about six weeks annually, to supply the most needful requirements for 22 million human beings. But, if we assume 300 work-days annually, instead of 37, we find that, under the new organization it would be necessary to work only ifys hours daily to supply the most necessary requirements. Hertza also takes the requirements of luxury of the better situated classes into consideration and finds that the manufacture of such articles, to supply the demands of 22 million people, would require 315,000 more workers. According to Hertzka, then, about I million workers, 20 per cent, of the able-bodied male population of Austria, excluding those under 16 and over 50, would be needed to supply the entire needs of the population in sixty days. If we again take the entire able-bodied male population into consideration, we find that they would have to per- form only about 2^/2 hours of work daily.* This calculation will not surprise anyone who is well acquainted with existing conditions. If we furthermore assume that, with such a short work-day, only the sick and the invalids must be excluded, while men over 50 might still work, and youths under 16 might be active to some extent, and that the women might also serve in in- dustry, except those who are engaged in child-rearing, the preparation of food, etc., we find that the hours of work might be shortened still more, or that the demands *In his "False Doctrines," Engen Richter ridicules the enormous shortening of the hours of work predicted by us that would result if all were obliged to work and if the process of production were or- ganized in accordance with the highest technical development. He tries to belittle the productivity of large manufacture and to enlarge the importance of small manufacture, in order to assert that it would not be possible to produce the required amount. To make Socialism seem impossible the upholders of the present "order" must try to discredit the advantages of their own social system. 380 Fundamental Laws of Socialistic Society might be greatly increased. Nor will any one deny that tremendous, incalculable progress may still be made in perfecting the process of production, a factor that will create further advantages. On the other hand, many re- quirements will be satisfied that only a small minority can satisfy to-day, and, with the higher development of civilization, new requirements will arise that will also have to be satisfied. It must be iterated and reiterated : The new society will not elect to lead a proletarian ex- istence. It will demand the existence of a highly civil- ized people for all its members from the first to the last. But it shall not only satisfy all the material require- ments, it shall also grant to all ample opportunity and time for the study of science and art, and for recreation. 3. Organization of Labor. In a number of other very essential points the social- istic co-operative system will differ from the bourgeois individualistic system. The cheap and poor goods that make up a large portion of bourgeois production, and necessarily must make up a large portion of it, because a majority of the customers can afford to purchase only cheap goods that wear out quickly, will be eliminated. Only the best will be produced that will last long and will not have to be renewed as often. The fads and fol- lies of fashion that only favor extravagance and bad taste will disappear. Doubtless our wearing apparel will be better suited to its purpose and more tasty than to- day for the fashions of the last century, especially those of the men, have been conspicuous by their bad taste but new fashions will no longer be introduced every few months. The present follies of fashion are caused, on the one hand, by the competition of women among them- selves, and on the other by conceit and ostentation and the desire to display one's wealth. Moreover, a great many persons depend upon these follies of fashion to- day, and it is to their interest to encourage and stimu- late them. Together with the follies of fashion in dress, the madness of fashion in the style of dwellings will dis- appear. Here eccentricity is rampant to-day. Styles that have required centuries to become evolved among The Socialization of Society 381 various nations we are no longer satisfied with Euro- pean styles, but turn to those of the Japanese, Indians, Chinese, etc. are used up in a few years and set aside. Persons engaged in mechanical arts hardly know what to do with all the designs and models. They have barely adapted themselves to one style, trusting to recover their expenses, when a new style appears that necessitates further sacrifices of time and money and of physical and mental forces. In this mad rushing from one fashion to another and from one style to another the nervousness of our age is vividly reflected. No one would claim that there is any sense or reason in this rush and haste, or that it might be regarded as a healthful state of society. Socialism will give greater stability to the habits of life. It will make rest and enjoyment possible and will liberate us from the present haste and excitement. Nerv- ousness, the scourge of our age, will disappear. Work will be made as agreeable as possible. To ac- complish this, the places where production is carried on will be furnished practically and tastily, every means will be resorted to that danger may be eliminated, and that evil smells, smoke, etc., and all unpleasant and harmful factors will be done away with. At first the new society will produce with the means of production taken over from the old society. But these are insuf- ficient. The workshops are scattered and are not prop- erly constructed or furnished, and tools and machinery do not come up to the demands of the great number of persons employed and their desire for safety and com- fort. To create a great many large, light, airy, well- equipped workshops becomes an imminent necessity. The arts and crafts, genius and skill, are immediately given a vast realm of activity. All branches of machine manufacture and the manufacture of tools, the building trades and the trades of interior decoration find ample opportunity for occupation. Whatever the human mind is able to invent in the way of convenient and agreeable buildings, appropriate ventilation, lighting and heating, and technical and mechanical improvements, will be in- stituted. To save motor-power, light and heat, as well as time and labor, and to insure the comfort of the work- ers, it will become desirable to concentrate the work- 382 Fundamental Laws of Socialistic Society shops in definite places. The dwellings will be separated from the workshops and freed from the unpleasantness of industrial activity; and the unpleasantness will be di- minished and finally abolished by all sorts of institutions nad appliances. Even the present status of technical knowledge gives us sufficient means to deprive the dan- gerous occupations, like mining, the chemical trades, etc., of their dangers entirely. But these means are not ap- plied in bourgeois society, because they entail a heavy expense and because no one is duty bound to do more for the protection of the workingman than is absolutely necessary. The dangers of mining, for instance, could be removed by working the mine in a different manner, by a thorough system of ventilation, by the installation of electric light, by a considerable shortening of the hours of work, and by a frequent change of shifts. It does not require special ingenuity to find safety appliances that will make accidents in the building trade next to im- possible and to make this sort of work particularly agree- able. For instance, ample contrivances might be made to shield the workers at large buildings and at all out-of- door work from the sun and the rain. In socialistic so- ciety, which will control an abundance of labor power, it will also be a simple matter to have frequent relays of new workers and to concentrate certain tasks upon defi- nite seasons or definite hours of the day. The problem of abolishing dust, smoke, grime and un- pleasant odors, can also be solved entirely even to-day by chemistry and mechanics. But it is not done, or in- sufficiently done, because the private employers do not care to meet the heavy expense. The future places of production, wherever they may be, below the earth or above, will differ most favorably from the present ones. In private industry improved appliances are mainly a question of money. If they pay they will be established. If they do not pay, the health and life of the workingman are of no concern.* *"Capital," says the "Quarterly Reviewer," "flees tumult and quar- rel and is of a timid nature. That is true, but it is not the whole truth. Capital abhors the absence of profits or very small profits as nature abhors empty space. With appropriate profits, capital be- The Socialization of Society 383 In socialistic society the question of profits will have ceased to exist. This society will recognize no other consideration but the welfare of its members. What is to their advantage must be established. What is likely to harm them must be refrained from. No one will be compelled to enter into dangerous undertakings. If tasks are undertaken that entail dangers one may be as- sured that there will be many volunteers, all the more so because the undertakings will not serve destruction but the advancement of civilization. 4. The Growth of the Productivity of Labor. A far-reaching appliance of motor-power, and of the most perfect machines and tools, a detailed division of labor and a skillful combination of the various forces, will so heighten the productivity of labor that the neces- sary quantities of all commodities can be produced, not- withstanding a considerable shortening of the hours of work. Increased production will be to the common ad- vantage of all. The share of each individual increases with the productivity of labor, and the increased pro- ductivity of labor again makes it possible to reduce the time required for the performance of socially necessary labor. Among the motor powers that will be applied, elec- tricity will most likely hold the foremost place. Bour- geois society everywhere presses it into service, and the more this is done the better it is for general progress. The revolutionizing effect of the most powerful of all natural forces will only hasten the overthrow of the bourgeois world and help to usher in Socialism. But only in socialistic society will the force be generally ap- plied and turned to the best advantage. Both as a motor- power and as a source of light and heat it will contribute comes bold. If ten percent, are insured, it can be applied every- where ; 20 percent., and it becomes aggressive ; 50 percent., positively reckless ; for 100 percent, it tramples all human laws under foot ; 300 percent., and there is no crime it will not risk even at the peril of the gallows. If tumult and quarrel bring profit, it will encourage both." Karl Marx Capital. 384 Fundamental Laws of Socialistic Society largely to the improved standard of living of society. Electricity is distinguished from every other force by the fact that it exists in nature in abundance. Our streams, high and low tide of the sea, wind and sunlight will fur- nish countless horse-powers when we shall thoroughly understand how to apply them. "A wealth of energy that by far exceeds all demands is furnished by those parts of the surface of the earth that are so regularly subjected to the heat of the sun that it might be applied to regular technical operations. Per- haps it would not be an exaggerated precaution if a na- tion would even now secure a share in such places. The required areas need not even be very large ; a few square miles in Northern Africa would suffice for the require- ments of a country like the German Empire. By concen- trating the heat of the sun a high temperature can be produced, and thereby everything else portable me- chanical work, charging of batteries, light and heat, and, by electrolysis, even fuel."* The man who opens up these vistas is not a dreamer, but an appointed professor at the Berlin University and president of the Royal Physical and Technical Institute, a man who ranks high in the scientific world. At the 79th congress of the British As- sociation in Winnipeg (during August, 1909), the famous English physicist, Sir S. Thompson, said : "The day is not too far distant when our life will be revolutionized by applying the rays of the sun. Man will liberate him- self from his dependence upon coal-and-water power, and all large cities will be surrounded by immense apparatus, real sunbeam traps, into which the heat of the sun will be gathered, and the obtained energy will be stored away in tremendous reservoirs. It is the force of the sun, stored away in coal, in waterfalls, in nourishment, that performs all the world's work. How great is this tribute of force that the sun pours down upon us becomes evi- dent when we consider the fact that the warmth received by the earth when the sun is high and the sky is clear, according to the researches of Langley, equals an energy of 7000 horse-powers per acre. Although our engineers *"The Energy of Labor and Appliance of the Electric Current" by Fr. Kohlrausch. Leipsic, 1900. The Socialization of Society 385 have not yet found the way to apply this gigantic source of power, I do not doubt that they will ultimately succeed in finding it. When the supply of coal in the bowels of the earth has been exhausted, when the water-powers will no longer suffice to meet our requirements, then we will ob- tain from this source all the energy needed to complete the work of the world. Then the centers of industry will be removed to the glowing deserts of Sahara, and the va- lue of the land will be measured by how well it is suited to the erection of the great 'sunbeam traps.' "* Accord- ing to this, our anxiety that we might at some time lack fuel, is removed. The inventions of the accumulators would make it possible to store a large quantity of force away for future use at any time and place ; so that, be- sides the power furnished by sun and tide, the power fur- nished by the wind and by mountain torrents, which can be obtained only periodically, might be stored and ap- plied. So there may finally be no human task for which motor power cannot be supplied if necessary. Only by the assistance of electricity has it become possible to em- ploy water-power on a large scale. According to T. Koehn, eight European states have the following supply of water-power at their disposal. Horse- Per 1000 powers inhabitants Great Britain 963,000 23.1 Germany 1,425,900 24.5 Switzerland 1,500,000 138 Italy 5,500,000 150 France 5,857,000 169 Austria and Hungary 6,460,000 454-5 Sweden 6,750,000 1290 Norway 7,500,000 3409 Of the German states, Baden and Bavaria control the largest amount of water-power. Baden alone can obtain *As early as 1864, Augustin Mouchot made an attempt to make the heat of the sun serve industrial purposes directly and constructed a sun-machine that was improved by Pifre. The largest sun-machine (heliomotor) is in California and serves as an apparatus for pump- ing. The water in the well is pumped up at the rate of 11,000 litres a minute. 386 Fundamental Laws of Socialistic Society. 200,000 horse-powers at the Upper Rhine. Bavaria has it its disposal 300,000 horse-powers that have so far not been applied, besides 100,000 that are applied. Professor Rehbock estimates that the theoretical energy of the en- tire amount of water flowing upon the surface of the earth amounts to eight thousand million horse-powers. If only 'the sixteenth part of this could be efficiently ap- plied, 500 millions of permanently serviceable horse-pow- ers could still be won, an amount of energy ten times as great as the energy obtained by the mining of coal dur- ing the year 1907, approximately calculated at 1000 mil- lion tons. Although such calculations are of a purely theoretical character at present, they still show what achievements we may anticipate in the future from the use of "white coal." The Niagara Falls alone, which flow from lakes covering an area of 231,880 kilometers about 43 per cent, of the entire area of Germany might furnish more water-power than exists in England, Ger- many and Switzerland combined. ** According to another calculation quoted in an official report, the United States have water-power at their disposal of no less than twenty million horse-powers, which represent an equivalent of three hundred million tons of coal annually.* The mills that will be driven by means of this white or "green" coal, with the force of the gushing mountain streams and waterfalls, will have no smokestacks and no fire. Electricity will also make it possible to more than double the speed of our railroads. At the beginning of the nineties of the last century, Mr. Meems, in Baltimore, declared it to be possible to construct an electric car that would make 300 kilometers an hour, and Professor Elihu Thomson, in Lynn, believed that electric motors could be constructed that would make it possible to cover 260 kilometers in an hour. These expectations have nearly been realized. The trial-rides made on the military rail- way Berlin-Zossen, during 1901 and 1902, showed the possibility of speed up to 150 kilometers an hour. Dur- ing experiments made in 1903, the Siemens car attained a *T. Koehn Some Large European Water- Power Plants and Their Economic Significance. **Supply and Distribution of Cotton. Washington, 1908. The Socialization of Society 387 speed of 201 kilometers, and that of the General Electric Company, 208 kilometers. In the succeeding years steam locomotives have also attained a speed of 150 kilometers an hour, and more. The present aim is to attain 200 kilometers per hour. Already, August Sherl has entered the arena with his new project of rapid transit, which relegates the existing railway lines to freight service and proposes to connect the large cities by monorail train service, with a speed of 200 kilometers.* The question of transforming railroad service from steam into electricity is a current topic in England, Aus- tria, Italy, and America. Between New York and Phila- delphia an electric train is to run at a speed of 200 kilo- meters an hour. The speed of ocean vessels will increase in the same manner. Here the determining factor is the steam tur- bine.** "It holds the foremost place in technical interest at present. It seems destined to displace the piston. While most engineers still regarded the steam turbine as a task of the future, it had become a present-dav problem that attracted the attention of the entire world of tech- nics by its success. It remained for electrotechnics, with its rapidly running machinery to create a large field for the practical application of this new power engine. The by far greatest number of all steam-turbines in use to- day serves to drive dynamos.f The turbine has espe- cially proved its superiority over the piston in naviga- tion. The English steamship "Lusitania," which is equipped with steam-turbines, during August, 1909, made the journey from Ireland to New York in 4 days n hours and 42 minutes/ft with an average speed of 25.85 knots an *In 1908, the Prussian department of public works decided to transform the steam-railways Leipsic-Bitterfeld, Magdeburg and Leipsic, Halle into electric railways. **While the old steam-engine turns the driving-wheels in a round- about way (by the transmission of the motion of the piston rods), the steam-turbine produces a direct rotary motion, like the wind turns the wind-mill. fC. Matchoss The Evolution of the Steam-Engine. ftDuring September, 1910, the Mauretania broke this record by hour and one minute. Tr. 388 Fundamental Laws of Socialistic Society hour. The steamship "America," constructed in 1863, the fastest vessel at the time, made 12.5 knots an hour.* The day is not distant when the problem of electric propellers for large vessels will be satisfactorily solved. They are already in use with smaller vessels. Simplicity, safety, good self-regulation, and absence of shaking make the steam-turbine the ideal power for the creation of electric energy on board. Electricity will eventually be generally applied to both railway and steamship service. By electricity the technics of moving loads has also been revolutionized. "Steam-power, having made it pos- sible to construct lifting-engines with natural force, elec- tric transmission of power led to a complete revolution in the construction of lifting-machines by giving these ma- chines freedom of motion and constant readiness for use/' Electric power has, among other things, led to a complete transformation in the construction of the cranes. "With its massive curved beak of rolled iron, resting upon a heavy foundation of stone-masonry, with slow motions and the hissing noise of the puffed-out steam, the steam-crane conveys the impression of resem- bling a gigantic, prehistoric monster. When it has grasped a load it exhibits a tremendous power for lifting, but it needs the assistance of human beings, who, by means of chains, fasten the weights to its hook. Owing to its clumsiness and slow motions it is serviceable only for the lifting of very heavy loads, but not where quick action is needed. Even externally the modern electric crane presents an entirely different aspect. We behold graceful steel trellis-work stretched above the hall, and from this is stretched out a slender pair of tongs, which is movable in all directions. The whole mechanism is controlled by a single man. By means of a gentle pres- sure on the levers, he directs the electric currents and drives the slender steel limbs of the crane to rapid action. *During the fifties of the last century, the sailing vessels took about six weeks to reach New York. The steamers crossed in two weeks. During the nineties, the voyage was made in a week, and now it is made in 5^ days. As a result of this progress, the two continents are brought nearer to each other now than Berlin and Vienna were a century ago. The Socialization of Society 389 Unaided, they grasp the glowing steel and whirl it through the air, while no other noise is heard but the low buzzing of the electro-motors."* Without the aid of these machines the steadily increasing transportation of masses of goods would not be possible. By a compari- son of the wharf-crane at Pola and that at Kiel, the de- velopment, in regard to the increase of lifting-power from the middle to the end of the nineteenth century, may be judged. The lifting-power of the former was 60 tons, that of the latter, 200 tons. The manufacture of Besse- mer steel only is possible when rapidly working lifting- machines are at hand, for otherwise the tremendous quantities of liquid steel that are produced in a short time could not be transported in the casting-moulds. In the iron-works of Krupp, in Essen alone, 608 cranes are in action, having an aggregate lifting-power of 6513 tons, equal to a freight train of 650 cars. The low cost of freight, which is a condition of present-day international commerce, would not be possible, could not the capital invested in vessels be put to such intense use by the rapid process of unloading. The equipping of a vessel with electric cranes led to a reduction in the annual cost of traffic from 23,000 to 13,000 marks, almost bygone-half. And this comparison takes into consideration only the progress of a single decade. The technics of navigation and transportation present new achievements almost daily along all lines. The problem of aerial navigation, which seemed insoluble but two decades ago, is practically solved. At present the dirigible balloons and flying machines do not serve the easier and cheaper transportation of the masses, but only sport and military purposes. But later on they will en- hance the productive forces of society. Great progress has also been made by wireless telegraphy; its indus- trial value grows each day. In a few years, accordingly, traffic will be placed on a new basis. Mining, too, is in a state of transformation at present that still seemed inconceivable ten years ago. Electricity *O. Kammerer The Technics of Moving Loads, Formerly and at the Present Time. Berlin, 1907. 390 Fundamental Laws of Socialistic Society. has been introduced and has revolutionized the machines, the pumps, and the winding-engines. Marvelous are the prospects revealed by the former French minister of public instruction, Professor Berthelot (died March 18, 1907), in an address on the future sig- nificance of chemistry, delivered at a banquet of the syndicate of manufacturers of chemicals. In this ad- dress, Mr. Berthelot depicted the possible achievements of chemistry in the year 2000, and, though his descrip- tion contains some humorous exaggerations, it also con- tains much that is true, of which the following is a brief synopsis. Mr. Berthelot gave a resume of what chem- istry had accomplished in a few decades and enumerated, among other things: The manufacture of sulphuric acid, of soda, bleaching and dyeing, beet-sugar, thera- peutic alcaloids, gas, gilding and silvering, etc. Then came electro-chemistry, which completely transformed metallurgy, the chemistry of explosives, which provided mining and warfare with new engines, and the marvels of organic chemistry in the manufacture of colors, per- fumes, therapeutic and antiseptic remedies, etc. But all this, said the lecturer, was only a beginning. Far greater problems would soon be solved. In the year 2000, agri- culture and peasants would have ceased to exist, as chem- istry would have made cultivation of the soil superfluous. There would be no coal-mines and, accordingly, no miners' strikes. Fuel would be replaced by chemical and physical processes. Tariff and warfare would be abol- ished ; aerial navigation, employing chemicals as a means of locomotion would have done away with these anti- quated institutions. The problem of industry consists in finding sources of power that are inexhaustible and can be renewed with the least possible amount of labor. Un- til now we have generated steam by the chemical energy of burned coal. But the coal is difficult to obtain, and the supply is diminishing daily. It becomes necessary to utilize the heat of the sun and the heat inside the earth. There is good reason to hope that both these sources will find unlimited application. Thereby the source of all heat and of all industry would be made accessible. If water-power were also applied, all imaginable machines might be run on the earth. This source of power would The Socialization of Society 391 barely diminish in centuries. By means of the warmth of the earth many chemical problems might be solved, among others the chemical production of food. Theo- retically this problem is already solved. The synthesis of fats and oils is long since known, sugar and the hy- drates of carbon are known also, and the synthesis of the nitrogen-compounds will soon become known. The problem of food is a purely chemical one. As soon as the necessary cheap power could be obtained, by means of carbon from carbonic acid, oxygen and hydrogen from water, and nitrogen from the atmosphere, food of all kinds would be produced. What had heretofore been done by the plants would henceforth be done by indus- try, and the products of industry would be more perfect than those of nature The time would come when every one would carry a box of chemicals in his pocket from which he would satisfy his need of nourishment in albu- men, fat and hydrates of carbon, regardless of time and seasons, of rain and drought, of frost, hail and destruc- tive insects. This would lead to a transformation that was as yet beyond our conception. Orchards, vinevards and pastures would disappear. Man would become more gentle and humane, because he would no longer live upon the murder and destruction of living beings. Then the difference between fertile and unfertile regions would also disappear, and perhaps the deserts would become the favorite resorts of man, since they are healthier than the damp and marshy plains where agriculture is carried on at present. Then art and all the beauties of human life would attain their fullest development. The earth would no longer be disfigured by the geometrical figures drawn on its surface by agriculture, but would become a garden in which grass, flowers, shrubs and forests might be grown at will ; all humanity would dwell in plenty, in a golden age. But man would not fall a victim to laziness and corruption. Work is needful to happiness, and man would work as ever, since he worked for his own welfare, for the development of his mental, moral and aesthetic possibilities. The reader may accept as true from this address of Berthelot whatever he chooses. The fact remains that 392 Fundamental Laws of Socialistic Society future development will lead to a tremendous improve- ment in the quantity, quality and variety of products, and that the comforts of life of coming generations will in- crease to a degree that we can barely conceive to-day. Professor Elihu Thomson agrees with Werner Sie- mens, who declared at the convention of scientists in Berlin, in 1887, that it would become possible by means of electricity to transform the elements directly into food. Werner Siemens held the opinion that it might be possi- ble, at a remote time, to produce artificially a hydrate of carbon, as grape-sugar or starch, whereby the possibility would be given "to make bread of stones." The chem- ist, Dr. H. Meyer, declared that it would be possible to make ligneous fibre a source of human nourishment. In the meantime (1890), ,Emil Fisher has actually produced grape-sugar artifically, and has thereby made a discovery that Werner Siemens considered possible only "at a re- mote time.'' Since then chemistry has made still further progress. Indigo, vanilla and camphor have been arti- ficially produced. In 1906, W. Loeb succeeded in achiev- ing the assimilation of carbonic acid, outside of the plant up to the production of sugar by means of electric ten- sion. In 1907 Emil Fisher obtained one of the most com- plicated synthetic bodies that is closely related to natural protein. In 1908 Willstatter and Benz produced pure chlorophyl and proved it to be a compound of mag- nesium. Thereby the main problem of organic chemistry to obtain albumen may find its solution in a future not too far distant. 5- Removal of the Contrast between Mental and Manual Work. A need, deeply rooted in human nature, is the desire for freedom of choice and for the opportunity of a variation of occupations. Just as the best food becomes disgusting if the same thing is constantly placed before us, so an oc- cupation repeated daily in treadmill fashion weakens and dulls. Man performs his task mechanically and does what he must do, but without enthusiasm or joy. A num- ber of talents and abilities are innate in every human The Socialization of Society 393 being that need but to be awakened in order to find ex- pression and produce favorable results. Only thereby man becomes a perfect human being. Socialistic society will offer ample opportunity for the satisfaction of this desire for variation. The immense increase in productive forces, combined with a simplified process of work, will not only make it possible to limit the hours of work con- siderably, it will also make it easy to master a number of varied accomplishments. The old system of apprenticeship has already been abandoned. It still exists, and is possible only among undeveloped and antiquated forms of production, as rep- resented by small manufactures. But as these will com- pletely disappear in the new society, all forms and institu- tions peculiar to them will disappear also. New ones will take their place. Even at present it can be seen in any factory how few workingmen have learned and practice a definite trade. The workingmen employed in some line of production or other may have learned the most varied trades. Usually a short time is sufficient for them to gain experience in one detail of the process of production, and to this one detail they are tied down then, according to the prevailing system of exploitation, for long hours, without the slightest variation, and without any regard for their personal tastes and inclinations. At the ma- chine they become machines.* This state of affairs, too, will be removed by the new social order. There will be ample time to practice manual skill and to develop the mechanical arts. Large, splendidly equipped polytechni- cal schools will make it easy for both young and old to learn an occupation. Chemical and physical laboratories, in keeping with the standards of these sciences, will be erected, and capable teachers will be on hand. Only then will people fully recognize what a wealth of talent *"The great mass of workingmen in England, as in most of the other countries, have so little free choice in regard to their occupa- tion and place of residence, they depend so absolutely upon fixed rules and the will of others, as could be possible under any system with the exception of real slavery." John Stuart Mill Political Economy. 394 Fundamental Laws of Socialistic Society and ability has been suppressed or wrongly developed by the capitalistic system of production.* Not only will it be possible to satisfy the desire for variation, it must be regarded as the purpose of society to satisfy this desire, since the harmonious development of man depends upon it. The professional types that we meet with in present- day society be these types the product of a definite, one- sided occupation or of laziness will gradually disap- pear. There are exceedingly few persons to-day who possess the possibility of a variety of occupations. Rarely one finds persons so favored by special circum- stances, that they can escape the monotony of their daily task and can, after the performance of physical work, re- cuperate by mental work. On the other hand, we some- times find mental workers who devote part of their time to some manual work, gardening and the like. The bene- ficial effects of an occupation founded on a variation of mental and physical work are obvious. Such occupation is the only one adapted to natural needs. It is taken for granted, of course, that every occupation must be prac- ticed with moderation and according to individual strength. In his book on "The Significance of Science and Art," Count Leo Tolstoi condemns the hypercritical and un- natural character that art and science have assumed as a result of our unnatural social conditions. He roundly condemns the fact that present-day society holds physical labor in contempt and advises a return to natural con- ditions. He asserts that every human being who wishes to live naturally and to enjoy life should spend his day firstly, at physical work in agriculture ; secondly, at some *A French workingman, who has returned home from San Fran- cisco, writes : "I would have never believed that I would be able to practice all the trades that I have practiced in California. I had been firmly convinced that I was good for nothing except printing. But in the midst of these adventurers who change their trade more read- ily than their shirt, I did as the others. Since mining was not suf- ficiently remunerative, I left and moved into the city. Here I suc- cessively became typographer, slater, plumber, etc. As a result of this experience of being fit for all tasks, I feel less of a mollusc and more of a human being." Karl Marx Capital Vol. I. The Socialization of Society 395 manual trade; thirdly, at some mental occupation, and fourthly, in intellectual social intercourse. No human be- ing should perform more than eight hours of physical work. Tolstoi himself lived up to this ideal and claimed that he has only become truly human since he adopted this mode of life. But Tolstoi overlooks that what is possible for him, the man of independent means, is not possible for the vast majority of people under pres- ent-day conditions. A man or woman who must work ten or twelve hours daily, and sometimes longer, to make a bare living, and who has grown up in ignorance, cannot adopt Tolstoi's mode of life. Neither can all those adopt it who are in the midst of the struggle for existence and must conform with its requirements ; and of the few who might live in this manner, many would not wish to. It is one of the illusions in which Tolstoi indulges, to believe that exhortations and examples might transform societies. The experience made by Tolstoi, in regard to his mode of life, proves it to be a rational one. But to make this mode of life general, different social conditions, a new society, will be needed. The coming society will establish such conditions. It will produce countless scientists and artists, but all of these will devote a part of the day to physical labor, and the remainder of the day they will devote to their studies, their arts and to social intercourse, according to their tastes and wishes.* *\Vhat people may achieve under favorable conditions of develop- ment is shown, for example, by the life of Leonardo da Vinci. He was a splendid artist, a famous sculpturer, an able architect and en- gineer, a military engineer, a musician and an extemporizer. Ben- renuto Cellini was a famous goldsmith, an excellent modeller, a rec- ognized military engineer, a good soldier and a capable musician. Abraliam Lincoln was a wood-cutter, a farmer, a boatsman, a clerk and a lawyer, before he became president of the United States. It may be said without exaggeration that most people are engaged in occupations that are not suited to their abilities because their career has been shaped, not by choice, but by the force of circum- stances. Many a poor professor might make a very competent shoe- maker, and many a good shoemaker might become a good professor also. 396 Fundamental Laws of Socialistic Society The present contrast between mental and manual work, a contrast that is intensified by the ruling classes, who are anxious to secure their mental superiority also, will, accordingly, have to be removed. 6. Increase of Consumption. The above enumerated facts prove that panics, crises, nad unemployment will be. impossible in future society. Crises arise because capitalistic production, incited by the desire for profit, and without any reliable means of esti- mating the true demand, leads to over-production and to over-stocking of the market. Under capitalism the prod- ucts assume the character of goods that their owners in- deavor to exchange, and the consumption of goods de- pends upon the consumer's purchasing ability. But this purchasing ability is very limited among a vast majority of the population who are not paid the full value of their labor and whose services are not wanted if their employ- ers cannot squeeze profits out of them. Purchasing abil- ity and the ability to consume are two entirely different matters in bourgeois society. Many millions are in need of new clothes, shoes, furniture, linens and articles of food, but they have no money, and so their needs, their ability to consume, remains unsatisfied. The market is over-stocked, but the masses are hungry; they wish to work, but cannot find anyone willing to purchase their labor-power, because the employers can derive no profits from employing them. Perish, become a vagabond, a criminal, I, the capitalist, cannot help it, because I cannot use goods that I cannot sell at a profit. In his position the capitalist is entirely justified in taking this attitude. In the new society this contradiction will be removed. The new society will not produce "goods" to be "bought" and "sold," it will produce commodities for consumption, not for any other purpose. The ability to consume will not be limited by the purchasing ability of each individu- al, but by the common ability to produce. If there is suf- ficient labor-power and sufficient means of production, every want can be satisfied. The social ability to con- sume knows no bounds except the satisfaction of the con- sumers. The Socialization of Society 397 If there will be no "goods'" in the new society there will ultimately be no money, either. Money appears to be the counterpart of goods, but is goods itself. Yet, at the same time, money is the social equivalent, the stand- ard of value for all other goods. But the new society will not produce goods, it will produce commodities whose manufacture will require a certain measure of so- cial w T orking-time. The average time required to produce a given commodity is the only standard by which it will be measured for social consumption. Ten minutes of so- cial working-time at one commodity equal ten minutes of social working-time at another commodity, no more and no less. Society will not wish to "earn," it will merely wish to bring about the exchange of commodities of the same quality and of the same value among its members, and eventually it will not even be necessary to determine the value. Society will simply produce what it needs. If it should become evident, for instance, that three hours of work daily are necessary to produce all the required products, three hours will be the fixed time.* If the means of production should be improved to such extent that the supply can be furnished by two hours of work, it will be two hours. If, on the other hand, the demands should grow and the increased productivity of the process of work would not sufficice to satisfy these demands, the working-time would be lengthened. It can easily be calculated how much social labor will be necessary for the manufacture of each product.** *It must be noted again and again that production will be or- ganized according to the highest scale of technical development and that all will be engaged in it, so that, under favorable circumstances, a working-day of three hours may still prove too long. Owen, who was a large manufacturer and was therefore competent to judge, estimated in the early part of the nineteenth century that a work- ing-day of two hours would be sufficient. **"The amount of social labor represented by a given product need not be determined in a round-about way; daily experience will show directly how much on an average will be required. Society will be able to calculate how many hours of work are represented by a steam-engine, a hectolitre of wheat of the last harvest, or a hundred square yards of cloth of a certain quality. Society will accord- ingly not think of expressing the quantities of work contained in the 398 Fundamental Laws of Socialistic Society Thereby the relation of this portion of work to the en- tire working-time can be calculated. Any kind of certificate, a printed piece of paper, gold or tin, enables the holder to exchange same for various kinds of commodities.* If he finds that his wants are less than what he receives for his services, he can work less, ac- cordingly. If he wishes to give away what he does not use, nobody will prevent him from so doing. If he volun- tarily chooses to work for another, so that the other one may idle, or if he wishes to divide his share of the social products, no one will restrain him. But no one can corn- products that will then be directly known in the relative, fluc- tuating, uncertain manner of a third product, inevitable at present, instead of expressing them by their natural, adequate, absolute meas- ure-time. It will be necessary to arrange the plan of production in accordance with the means of production, including labor-power. The usefulness of the various commodities, balanced with one an- other and with the amount of work necessary for their production will ultimately determine the plan. Everything will be adjusted in a very simple way without the intercession of the famous Value'." Fr. Engels Mr. Eugen Duehring's Transformation of Science. *Mr. Eugen Richter in his "False Doctrines" is so amazed by the fact that in socialistic society the use of money will be dropped (it will not be abolished outright but will simply become superfluous because the products of labor will no longer have the character of goods), that he devotes a special chapter to this incident. The thing that especially puzzles him is that it will be immaterial whether the working certificate will be a printed piece of paper, gold or tin. He says : "With gold the demon of the present world order would enter the socialistic state again" (Mr. Richter obstinately overlooks that eventually there will be only a socialistic society, not a socialistic "state," for a great deal of his argumentation would then loose ground), "for gold has independent value as a metal and can easily be hoarded, and so the possession of pieces of gold would make it possible to accumulate values to escape the duty to work and even to loan out money on interest." One must consider one's readers very stupid to place such bosh before them. Mr. Richter who can- not free himself from the conception of capital, cannot see that where there is no capital, no goods, there can be no money, and that where there is neither capital nor money there can be no interest. We should like to know how a member of socialistic society could "hoard" his golden working certificate or could even loan it on in- terest, when all the others also own what the one offers and on which he lives. The Socialization of Society 399 pel him to work for another person's advantage, no one can deprive him of a part of the share he is entitled to for his services. Everyone will be able to satisfy all de- sires and requirements possible of fulfillment, but not at the expense of others. He receives from society the equivalent of what he produces, no more and no less, and remains free from exploitation. 7. Equal Duty to Work for All. "But how will you discriminate between thrifty and lazy, intelligent and stupid persons?" That is one of the quetsions most frequently asked by our opponents, and the answer we give them puzzles them greatly. But these wise questioners never stop to think that, among our hierarchy of officials, the distinction between thrifty and lazy, intelligent and stupid persons is not made, but that the length of service usually determines the salary and promotion. Teachers and professors many of whom are the most naive questioners have their salaries determined by the position they fill, not by the value of their services. In many cases officials, military men and scientists, are not promoted according to their abilities, but according to rank, relationship, friendship, and the favor of women. That wealth is not measured either by intelligence and thrift, may be seen by the three-class- electoral-system of Prussia. We find saloon-keepers, bakers and butchers, many of whom are not able to speak grammatically, enrolled in the first class, while men of intelligence and science, the highest officials of the state and the nation, are enrolled in the second or third class. There will be no difference between thrifty and lazy, intelligent and stupid persons, because that which we understand by these terms will have disappeared. So- ciety, for instance, calls some people "lazy" because they have been thrown out of employment, have been driven to a life of vagabondage, and have finally become real vagabonds. We also apply this term to people who are the victims of a bad education. But whoever should venture to call lazy the man of means who spends his time in idleness and debauchery would commit an insult, for the rich idler is a "respectable" man. 400 Fundamental Laws of Socialistic Society Now what aspect will matters assume in the new so- ciety? All will develop under similar conditions of life, and everyone will perform the task assigned to him by ability and inclination. Therefore the differences in achievements will be slight.* The social atmosphere that will incite each to excel the others will help to level the distinctions. If a person should realize that he is unable to accomplish in one line of work what others accomplish, he will choose some other line better suited to his strength and his abilities. Everyone who has worked to- gether with a great many persons knows that people who were inefficient at one task have proved very efficient when given another. By what right can anyone ask for privileges? If some person is so incapacitated by nature that it is quite impossible for him to accomplish what others accomplish, society cannot punish him for the shortcomings of nature. On the other hand, if some one has been endowed by nature with abilities that elevate him above the others, society need not reward him for that which is not his personal merit. It must, further- more, be remembered that in Socialistic society all will have the same opportunities for education, so that all can develop their knowledge and ability in accordance with their talents and inclinations. As a result, knowledge and ability will be far more developed than in bourgeois society. It will be more evenly distributed and yet more varied. When Goethe, during a journey along the Rhine, stud- ied the Cathedral of Cologne, he discovered, by perusal of the architectural deeds that the architects of old had paid all their workingmen alike by time; they did so be- cause they desired good workmanship conscientiously carried out. To bourgeois society this seems an anom- aly. Bourgeois society has introduced the piece-work *"A11 normal well developed human beings are born with approx- imately the same degree of intelligence, but education, laws and cir- cumstances make them differ from one another. Individual interest, properly understood, is identical with the common or public in- terest." Helvetius Man and His Education. In regard to the great majority of men, Helvetius is right; what does differ are the talents for various occupations. The Socialization of Society 401 system, by means of which the workingmen compel one another to overwork and make it all the easier for the employer to under-pay and to resort to a frequent reduc- tion in wages. What is true of material productivity is equally true of the mental. Man is the product of time and circumstances. If Goethe had been born in the fourth instead of in the eighteenth century, under equally favor- able circumstances, instead of becoming a great poet and scientist he would probably have become a great father of the Church who might have outshone St. Augustine. Again, if Goethe had not come into the world as the son of a rich patrician of Frankfort, but as the son of a poor shoemaker, he would hardly have become minister to the Grand-duke of Weimar, but would have lived and died a respectable master-shoemaker. Goethe himself recog- nized of what great advantage it was to him to have been born in a materially and socially favorable position which helped him to attain his development; he thus expresses himself in "Wilhelm Meister." If Napoleon I. had been born ten years later he would never have become Em- peror of France. Without the war of 1870 to 1871, Gam- betta would never have become what he has been. If a gifted child of intelligent parents should be placed among savages it would become a savage. Men are what society has made them. Ideas are not the product of higher in- spiration sprung from the brains of a single individual, but they are a product, created in the brains of the indi- vidual by the social life and activity amidst which he lives and by the spirit of his age. Aristotle could not have the ideas of Darwin, and Darwin had to reason differently from Aristotle. We all reason as the spirit of our age that is, our environment and its phenomena compels us to reason. That explains what has been frequently observed, that different people sometimes fol- low the same line of reasoning simultaneously; that the same inventions and discoveries are made at the same time at places situated far apart. That also explains that an idea expressed fifty years ago may have found the world indifferent, but the same idea expressed fifty years later, may agitate the whole world. In 1415 Emperor Sigismund could dare to break the promise given Huss and to have him burned at the stake in Constance. In 4O2 Fundamental Laws of Socialistic Society 1521, Charles V., although a far greater fanatic, had to permit Luther to go in peace from the diet at Worms. Ideas are the product of social co-operation, of social life. What is true in regard to society in general, is es- pecially true in regard to the various social classes that compose society at any given epoch of history. Because every class has its peculiar interests, it also has its pe- culiar ideas and views. These conflicting ideas and inter- ests have led to the class struggles that filled the annals of history and have attained their culmination in the class extremes and class struggles of the present day. The feelings, thoughts and actions of a person are, there- fore, determined not only by the age in which he lives, but also by the class to which he belongs. Without mod- ern society no modern ideas could exist. This is clear to everyone. In the new society let it be remembered the means that each individual will employ for his edu- cation and development will DC the property of society. Society cannot feel obliged to reward particularly what it alone has made possible, its own product. So much in regard to the qualification of physical and mental labor. From this the further conclusion may be drawn, that no distinction will be made between higher and lower grades of work; as, for instance, at present mechanics consider themselves superior to day-laborers who perform work on the roads, etc. Society will have only such work performed as is socially useful, and so every kind of work will be of equal social value. Should it not be possible to perform some kinds of dirty and dis- agreeable work by means of mechanical or chemical de- vices which will undoubtedly be the case, to judge by the present rate of progress and should there be no vol- unteers, it will be the duty of each worker to perform his share of such work when his turn comes. No false pride and no irrational disdain of useful labor will be recog- nized. These exist only in our state of drones, where idleness is considered enviable, and where those workers are the most despised whose tasks are the hardest and most unpleasant ones, and often the most needful to so- ciety. To-day the most disagreeable tasks are the ones most poorly paid. The reason for this is that we have a great many workers who have been maintained at a low The Socialization of Society 403 level of civilization, whom the constant revolution in the process of production has cast out into the street, as a reserve force, and who, in order to live, must perform the lowest kinds of work, at wages that even make the intro- duction of machinery for such work "unprofitable." The crushing of stone, for instance, is notoriously one of the most disagreeable and most poorly paid employments. It would be a simple matter to have this crushing of stones done by machinery, as is generally being done in the United States. But in Germany there is such an abun- dance of cheap labor, that the introduction of the stone- crusher would not "pay."* Street-cleaning, the cleaning of sewers, collecting ashes and garbage, work in shafts and caissons, etc., might, even at the present time, with the aid of proper machinery, be performed in such a man- ner that most of the unpleasantness connected with them for the laborers, would disappear. But, as a matter of fact, a workingman who cleans sewers, to guard human beings against the dangers of germs of disease, is a very *If one had to choose between Communism with all its chances and the present social order with all its suffering and injustice; if it were a necessary result of private property that the products of labor should be divided as we see them to-day, almost in a reverse ratio to the work performed that the largest shares fall to those who have never worked at all, the next largest to those whose work is almost nominal, and so on along the line, the remuneration becoming smaller as the work becomes more difficult and disagreeable, until at last the most wearing and exhausting labor cannot even be certain of earning the most needful means of existence; if, we say, the alter- native would be : this or Communism, all scruples in regard to Com- munism, both great and small, would be like chaff in the scales." John Stuart Mill Political Economy. Mills has honestly tried to "reform" bourgeois society and to "make it listen to reason;" of course, in vain ; and thus like every rational human being capable of recognizing the true nature of conditions, he finally became a Socialist. He did not dare to confess to this during his life-time, but caused his autobiography, containing his socialistic confession of faith, to be published after his death. His position was similar to Darwin's, who did not wish to be regarded as an atheist during his life-time. Bourgeois society drives thousands to such hypocrisy. The bourgeoisie feigns loyalty, piety and submission to authority, because their rule depends upon the recognition of these virtues by the masses, but inwardly they jeer at them. 404 Fundamental Laws of Socialistic Society useful member of society, while a professor who teaches falsified history in the interest of the ruling classes, or a theologian who seeks to mystify the minds by the teaching of supernatural doctrines, are very harmful indi- viduals. A great many of our present-day scientists and schol- ars represent a guild that is employed and paid to defend and vindicate the dominance gf the ruling classes, by means of the authority of science, to let this dominance appear just and necessary, and to maintain existing preju- dices. In truth, this guild, to a great extent, poisons the minds, and performs work hostile to the advancement of civilization, in the interest of the bourgeoisie and its clients.* A social condition that will henceforth make the existence of such elements of society impossible, will perform a liberating deed. On the other hand, true science is often connected with very disagreeable and revolting work. For instance, when a physician dissects a corpse in a state of decompos- ition, or operates upon a purulent part of the body, or when a chemist examines faeces. . These tasks are often more revolting than the most disagreeable work per- formed by unskilled laborers. Yet no one will admit that this is so. The difference is that the performance of the one work requires profound study, while the other work can be performed by anyone without previous prepara- tion. This accounts for the great difference in their esti- mation. But in future society, where, by means of equal opportunities of education for all, the distinctions of edu- cated and uneducated will disappear, the distinction be- tween skilled and unskilled labor will disappear also. This is all the more so because the possibilities of tech- nical development are unlimited, and much that is manual work to-day will be performed by machines and mechani- cal processes. We need but consider the present develop- ment of our mechanical arts; for instance, engraving, wood-cutting, etc. As the most disagreeable tests often are the most useful ones, so our conceptions, in regard *"Learning often serves ignorance as much as progress." Buckle "History of English Civilization," The Socialization of Society 405 to pleasant and unpleasant work, like many other con- ceptions in the bourgeois world, are superficial and i'ounded entirely on outward appearances. 8. Abolition of Trade. Transformation of Traffic. As soon as the new society will have placed production on the basis sketched above, it will as we have already noted cease to produce "goods," and will only produce, commodities to supply the social demand. As a result of this, trade will also cease to exist, as trade is needful and possible only in an organization of society founded on the production of goods. By the abolition of trade a great army of persons of both sexes will be mobilized for pro- ductive activity. This great army becomes one of pro- ducers; it brings forth commodities and enables society to increase its demands, or makes possible a still further reduction of the hours of work. To-day these persons live more or less like parasites on the products of the toil of others. Still they often work very hard and are bur- dened with cares, without earning enough to supply their wants. In the new society commercial men, agents, job- bers, etc., will be superfluous. In place of the dozens, hundreds and thousands of stores of all kinds that we find in every municipality to-day, according to its size, there will be large municipal store-houses, elegant baz- zars, entire exhibitions, that will require a compara- tively small number of persons for their administration. The entire bustle of trade will be transformed into a cen- tralized, purely administrative activity. The discharge of its duties will be simple and will become still more sim- plified by the centralization of all social institutions. Traffic will experience a similar transformation. Telegraph and telephone lines, railroads, mail service, river and ocean vessels, street-cars, automobile cars and trucks, air-ships and flying machines, and whatever all the institutions and vehicles serving traffic and communi- cation may be called, will have become social property. In Germany many of these institutions, like the mail, the telegraph, the telephone system, and most railroads, have already been made state institutions ; their transformation into public property is a mere matter of form. Here pri- vate interests can no longer be injured. If the state con- 406 Fundamental Laws of Socialistic Society tinues to operate in the present direction, so much the better. But these state-owned institutions are not so- cialistic institutions, as is erroneously assumed. These institutions are exploited by the state, according to the same capitalistic principles as if they were privately owned. Neither the officials nor the workingmen are particularly benefited by them. The state does not treat them differently from a private employer. When, for instance, in the bureaus of the national navy and the rail- road administration orders are issued not to employ workingmen who are over forty years of age, that is a measure which proves the class character of the state as a state of exploiters, and is bound to rouse the indigna- tion of the workers, buch and similar measures resorted to by the state in its capacity of employer, are much worse than when resorted to by private employers. The latter is always a small employer compared to the state, and the employment that he refuses may be granted by another. But the state, monopolizing certain branches of employment, may, by such maxims, with one blow drive thousands into poverty. These are not socialistic but capitalistic actions, and Socialists have everv reason to protest against the assumption that the present state- owned institutions are socialistic in character and may be regarded as a realization of socialistic aims. As large, centralized institutions will replace the mil- lions of private dealers, and agents of all kinds, so the en- tire system of transportation will also assume a different aspect. The millions oi small shipments that are sent out daily to an equal number of owners, and entail a great waste of work, time and material, will be absorbed by shipments on a large scale, sent out to the municipal store-houses and the large centers of manufacture. Here, too, work will become greatly simplified. As it is much simpler to ship raw material to a factory employing 1000 workingmen than to ship it to hundreds of scattered small factories, so the centers of production and distribution for entire muni ipalities, or for parts of same, will mean a considerable saving. This will be to the advantage of so- ciety, but also to the advantage of each individual, for public interest and personal interest will then be identi- cal. The aspect of our places of production, of our means The Socialization of Society 407 of transportation, and especially also of- our residences, will thereby become entirely changed. They will obtain a much more cheerful aspect. We will be freed, to a great extent, from the nerve-racking noise, speed and con- fusion of our large cities, with their thousands of vehicles of all kinds. The building of streets, street-cleaning, the manner of living, the intercourse of people with one an- other all will experience a great transformation. It will then be possible to carry out hygienic measures easily, which to-day can be carried out only at a great expense and insufficiently, and often only iix. the residential quar- ters of the wealthy classes. Under such conditions traffic and transportation must attain their highest development. Perhaps aerial naviga- tion will be the favorite means of transportation then. The means of transportation are the veins that conduct the exchange of products the circulation through the entire body social, and are therefore particularly adapted to the dissemination of an equal standard of comfort and culture. To provide for the extension and ramification of the most perfect means of transportation to the remotest portions of the provinces will become a necessity to the public welfare. Here the new society will set tasks for itself that by far exceed those of present-day society. This highly perfected system of communication will also decentralize the masses of humanity that at present con- gest our large cities and centers of industry, and will scatter them broadcast over the land. This will not only be of the greatest benefit to public health, it will also have a decisive influence on the material and intellectual progress of civilization. CHAPTER XXII. Socialism and Agriculture. i. Abolition of the Private Ownership of Land. Land, being the prime raw material for all human labor and the basis of human existence, must be made the prop- erty of society, together with the means of production 408 Socialism and Agriculture and distribution. At an advanced stage of development society will again take possession of what it owned in primeval days. At a certain stage of development all hu- man races had common ownership of land. Common property is the foundation of every primitive social or- ganization ; it is essential to its existence. Only by the rise and development of private property and the forms of rulership connected with it, has common property been abolished and usurped as private property, as we have seen, not without severe struggles. The robbery of the land and its transformation into private property formed the first cause of oppression. This oppression has passed through all stages, from slavery to "free" wage-labor of the twentieth century, until, after a development of thou- sands of years, the oppressed again convert the soil into common property. The great importance of the soil to human existence was the reason why the ownership of the soil constituted the chief cause of conflict in all social struggles of the world in India, China, Egypt, Greece, Rome, the Chris- tian middle ages, the realms of the Aztecs and Incas, and in the social struggles of modern times. Even at the present day men like Adolf Samter, Adolf Wagner, Dr. SchaerHe, Henry George, and others, who do not believe in other forms of common property, favor the common ownership of land.* *During the centuries when common ownership of land still pre- dominated, but the robbery of land assumed ever greater portions, fathers of the church, popes and bishops have also preached com- munistic doctrines. Of course, the syllabus and the encyclical letters of the nineteenth century no longer contain references of this sort, and the popes too have become subservient to bourgeois society and rise to defend it against the Socialists. Bishop Clemens I (died 102 A. D.) said: "The use of all worldly things should be common to all. It is wrong to say: This is mine, this belongs to me, and that to someone else. It is this which has caused dissention among men." Bishop Ambrosius of Milan, who lived around 374, exclaimed: "Nature gives all blessings to all men in common ; for God has cre- ated all things for the common enjoyment of all, that the earth should be common property.. Nature accordingly has created the right of common ownership, and only unfair usurpation creates the right of private property." In his Book of Homilies directed against The Socialization of Society 409 The welfare of a population depends primarily upon the cultivation of the soil. To develop this cultivation to the highest degree is eminently to the interest of all. That this highest degree of development cannot be at- tained under the rule of private property, has been shown. To obtain the greatest possible advantage from the soil, not its cultivation alone must be taken into con- sideration. Other factors must be considered to which neither the largest private owner nor the most powerful association is equal, factors that may exceed even the jurisdiction of the state and require international consid- eration. 2. The Amelioration of Land. Society must consider the land in its totality, its topo- graphical condition, its mountains, plains, forests, lakes, the wickedness and depravity of the people of Constantinople, St. John Chrysostomus (died 408) wrote: "Let no one call anything his own.. From God have we received everything for common enjoy- ment, and mine and thine are words of falsehood!" . St. Augustin (died 430) said: "Because we have private property, we also have law suits, hostility, dissention, wars, rebellion, sin, injustice, murder. Whence come all these scourges? Only from property. So, my brethren, let us refrain from owning things, or let us, at least, refrain from loving what we own." Pope Gregory the Great (about 600) exclaimed : "Let them know that the earth whence they come and of which they are made is common to all men, and that the fruits which the earth brings forth should therefore belong to all without distinc- tion." . Bossuet, the famous bishop of Meaux (died 1704), says in his "Politics of the Holy Scripture :" "Without the governments the earth and its products would belong to all men in common, just as air and light. According to the prime right of nature, no one may lay claim to anything. All things belong to all. From bourgeois government property derives its origin." The last sentence might be more clearly expressed in the following manner: because common property became private property, we have obtained bourgeois gov- ernments that must protect it. One of the moderns, Zachariae, says in his "Forty Books on the States:" All sufferings of civilized na- tions may be traced to the private ownership of land." . All the men quoted above have more or less correctly recognized the nature of private property. As St. Augustin says: Since its existence it has brought into the world law suits, hostility, dissention, war, rebellion, sin, injustice, murder, evils tht will disappear again by its abolition. 410 Socialism and Agriculture rivers, ponds, heathers, swamps and moors. Besides the geographical location, which is unalterable, this topo- graphical condition exerts a certain influence upon the climate and the nature of the soil. This is a vast field of activity, where much experience is still to be gained and much experimentation still to be performed. Until now the state has accomplished but little along these lines. Only moderate means have been applied to such tasks of civilization, and even if the state desired to adopt effective measures, the large landed proprietors, who have a decisive voice in legislation, would prevent the carrying out of such measures. Without interference with private property nothing effectual could be done. But since the state is founded en the "sanctity" of private property, and since the large owners of private property are its chief supporters, it is prevented from proceeding in the manner that has been designated. It would be necessary to undertake the amelioration of land on a grand scale, to plant forests here and cut down forests there, to irrigate and to drain; to mix different kinds of soil, to break ground and to plant, in order to attain the highest degree of fertility. A highly important factor in the amelioration of the land would be an extensive system of rivers and canals, to be conducted according to scientific principles. The question of cheap transportation by water, so important to present-day society, would be of minor importance to the new society. Nevertheless transportation by water will be regarded as a very convenient means of trans- portation, requiring the least expenditure in strength and material. But of the greatest importance an extensive system of rivers and canals will be for purposes of irriga- tion and drainage, for the transportation of manure and ether materials for the amelioration of the land^ and for the distribution of the crops. It has been determined by experience that countries where water is scarce, suffer much more from cold win- ters and hot summers than countries having an abundant water supply. For this reason maritime countries rarely suffer from extremes of temperature. Such extremes of temperature are neither advantageous nor agreeable to plants or human beings. An extensive system of canals, The Socialization of Society 411 combined with measures for the preservation of forests, would have a beneficial influence. Such systems of canals and large basins, to collect and preserve mas*ea of water, would prove especially beneficial, when the melt- ing ice and snow, in spring, or heavy rain-falls ciuse rivers and streams to rise and to overflow their banks. The construction of similar canals and basins would be required for the mountain torrents. Floods, with their ravaging effects, would then become impossible. Exten- sive surfaces of water and the increased evaporation would probably also cause rain to fall more regularly. These improvements would also make it possible to es- tablish pumps and lifting apparatus for an extensive irri- gation of the land whenever necessary. Wide stretches of arid land might be made fertile by artificial irrigation. Where at present the grazing sheep barely find sufficient nourishment and where, at best, only emaciated looking trees stretch their lean branches skyward, an abundance of crops might be raised and a dense population might obtain nourishment and enjoyment. It is, for instance, only a question of the amount of labor employed, to transform the stretches of sandy soil of the March, humorously called "the sand- box of the German Empire," into an Eden of fertility. This was pointed out by one of the lecturers at the Ger- man agricultural exhibition, in Berlin, during the spring of 1894.* But the landowners of the March do not have sufficient means to undertake the building of canals, irri- gation, amelioration of the land, etc., and so, just beyond the walls of the national capital wide stretches of land remain in a condition that will seem incredible to com- ing generations. On the other hand, by means of canaliz- ation, wide stretches of swamps, moor-land and marshes might be drained and won for cultivation ; thus, in north- ern and southern parts of Germany, the canals might fur- ther be used for the breeding of fish, and small communi- *An official report on the world's-fair in Chicago contained the following: "The utilization of water to raise fruit and vegetables becomes increasingly desirable. Water companies established for this purpose might transform deserts into edens." 412 Socialism and Agriculture ties that are not located near rivers might use them to erect bathing establishments. * A few examples will suffice to show the influence of irrigation. In the vicinity of Weissenfels, 7^ hectares of irrigated meadows yielded 480 cwt. of hay, while 5 hectares, located beside these, that were not irrigated, yielded only 32 cwt. The former produced more than ten times as much as the latter. Near Riesa, in Saxony, 65 acres of irrigated meadows increased the net proceeds from 5,850 to 11,100 marks. By an investment of 124.000 marks for irrigation of the arid lands at the right bank of the Lippe, an annual gain of approximately 400,000 marks was obtained. The amelioration of the land under- taken in Lower Austria cost about one million crowns and increased the value of the produce by about six mil- lion crowns. The expensive improvements paid. Other parts of Germany, besides the March have an exceed- ingly sandy soil, and here the harvests are only fairly satisfactory, after a rainy summer. If these vicinities could be furrowed with canals, properly irrigated and ameliorated, they would shortly bring forth five and ten times their present amount. Examples are at hand in Spain, showing that well-irrigated soil brought forth 37 times as much as soil that had not been irrigated. So water is all that is needed to bring forth fresh masses of nourishment from the soil. Hardly a year passes in which not one or the other of the German states and provinces is ravaged by floods. Large tracts of the most fertile land are carried away by the force of the water; others are littered with stones, sand and rubbish, and are made unfertile for years to come. Entire orchards that have required decades to be grown are uprooted. Houses, bridges, streets and dams are washed away, railroads are ruined and human lives *"In a highly cultivated part of the Austrian monarchy in Bo- hemia 6^6,000 hectares of farm land are in want of drainage. 174,- ooo hectares of meadows are either too moist or too dry. Of course, matters are much worse in those vicinities that are less developed agriculturally, as especially in Galicia." Dr. Eugene v. Philippovitch Political Economy. The Socialization of Society 413 are sacrificed, flocks perish and crops are destroyed Wide stretches of land that are exposed to frequent rav- ages from floods are not cultivated at all, or only slightly, since their owners do not wish to suffer constant loss. Devastation of the forests, especially on the mountains, and particularly by private owners, increases the danger from floods. The mad devastation of the forests, prompt- ed by a desire for profit, has led to a diminution of the fertility of the soil in the German provinces of Russia and Pommerania, in Corinthia and Styria, as also in Italy, France, Spain, Russia, and other countries. Frequent floods are the result of the devastation of forests on the mountains. The inundations of the Rhine, the Oder, and the Vistula are ascribed mainly to the devastation of forests in Switzerland, Galicia, and Poland. The same causes lead to the frequent inundations in Italy, especially of the River Po. As a result of the same causes, Madeira, large portions of Spain, the most fertile provinces of Russia, and stretches of land in Asia Minor, which were at one time fertile and blooming, have lost much of their fertility. 5 " At last even bourgeois society has begun to recognize that, in this respect, it will no longer do to maintain the policy of "laissez faire," and that, by sensible measures, applied on a large scale, the destructive forces can be transformed into constructive ones. So the construction of large dams was undertaken to collect immense quanti- ties of water and to utilize the water-power to supply electric power to industry and agriculture. The Bava- rian state especially has undertaken to dam the mountain streams on a grand scale to obtain power for the running of electric railways and other industrial undertakings. Agrarian old Bavaria is thereby rapidly becoming a mod- ern industrial state. *According to Schwoppach, the forest is of immeasurable value by preventing of washing away the soil on the mountains and pre- venting the soil from becoming sandy in the plains. The devastation of forests in Russia is a chief cause why the cultivated land is be- coming increasingly sandy. 414 Socialism and Agriculture 3. Changed Methods of Farming. It is self-understood that these great tasks cannot be accomplished at once; but the new society will devote all its strength to these and similar undertakings, since it will be the avowed purpose of this new society to per- form tasks in the interest of civilization and to permit nothing to interfere with their performance. In the course of time it will accomplish works the very thought of which would make present-day society dizzy. Measures and institutions like the ones described above will make agriculture much more favorable. Still other points are to be considered in connection with the improved methods of farming. At present many square miles of land are planned with potatoes to be used mainly for the distilling of whiskey, which is consumed almost exclusively by the poor and needy portion of the popula- tion. Whiskey is the only stimulant they can obtain, the only banisher of care. But among the truly civilized people of the new society the consumption of whiskey will disappear; the soil and the labor power will be em- ployed to raise wholesome food. We have already point- ed to the cultivation of sugar-beets and the manufacture of sugar for export. In Germany more than 400,000 hec- tares of land, best suited to the raising of wheat, are de- voted to the cultivation of sugar-beets, to supply England, Switzerland, the United States, etc., with sugar. Our standing army, the scattered methods of production and distribution, the scattered methods of farming, etc., make it necessary to breed millions of horses, and large areas of land are required to pasture them. The thor- oughly transformed social and political conditions will enable the new society to utilize most of this land for agricultural purposes. Recently areas of many square kilometers have been withdrawn from agriculture, entire villages have been wiped out, because the new long- range firearms and the new methods of combat necessi- tate drilling-grounds on which whole troops may manoeu- vre. Such use will never be made of the land in the future. The great realm of agriculture, forestry and irrigation has already been made the subject of discussion, and a The Socialization of Society 415 considerable literature exists on the subject. No par- ticular field has remained unconsidered. Forestry, irri- gation and drainage, the raising of grain, the cultivation of vegetables, fruit, berries, flowers and ornamental plants, the raising of fodder for domestic animals, cattle- breeding, raising of poultry, fish and bees, the prepara- tion of dung and manure, the use of waste materials in farming and in industry, chemical examinations of the soil, and its preparation for one or another kind of crop, the nature of seeds, rotation of crops, farm implements and machinery, proper construction of farm-buildings, conditions of climate, etc. all these things have been made subjects of scientific discussion and investigation. Almost daily new discoveries and experiences lead to im- provements along one line or another. Since the re- searches of Thaer and J. v. Liebig agriculture has be- come a science. Indeed it has become one of the first and ioremost sciences and has attained a degree of impor- tance that few realms of productive activity can equal. But if we compare this tremendous progress along all lines with the true status of agriculture, it must be ad- mitted that, so far, only a small fraction of the private owners have been able to make use of this progress, and all only pursue their private interest, regardless of the public welfare. The great majority of our farmers, we may say about 99 per cent, of them, are quite unable to make use of the progress and the advantages offered by science and by technical improvements, because they lack the necessary means, or knowledge, or both. Here the new society will find a field that has been well pre- pared, both theoretically and practically, and that it will only need to organize to attain the grandest results. 4. Agriculture on a Large and Small Scale. Electric Appliances. While even among Socialists some persons still hold the opinion, that small farmers are able to compete with the large agricultural enterprises by means of their own thrift and that of their families, experts have come to hold a different opinion. By over-exertion the peasant may achieve his utmost, but from the standpoint of a 4i 6 Socialism and Agriculture civilized human being his position is a deplorable one. No matter how much he may achieve, the modern tech- nical development and the science of agriculture can achieve more. But, above all, only by the appliance of science and technique does the peasant attain the full de- velopment of a civilized human being, while to-day he is the slave of his property and the helot of his creditor. The advantages of farming on a large scale are im- mense. To begin with, the area that can be utilized is considerably enlarged, because the numerous paths and roads and ridges necessitated by the disjointed proper- ties, disappear. Fifty persons, working on a large farm regardless of the more rational implements used by them can accomplish much more than 50 persons work- ing on scattered farms. Only farming on a large scale makes it possible to combine and direct the forces so as to obtain the best results. To this must be added the immense advantage derived from the application of all kinds of machinery, the use of the produce for industrial purposes, the more rational methods of cattle and poultry breeding, etc. Electric appliances especially furnish ad- vantages to agriculture that overshadow every other method of cultivation. P. Mack* has ascertained that the introduction of machinery led to a saving of over 5000 days' labor by horses, and that a single investment of 40,000 marks capital led to a cheapening of the product of over 12,000 marks' or 48 marks per hectare. This computation did not even take into consideration the in- crease in produce from the introduction of deep plough- ing, or the more exact cultivation by machinery.* Deep ploughing led to an increase of from 20 to 40 per cent, in the cultivation of grain, and up to 50 per cent, in the cultivation of potatoes, turnips, and the like. Taking *P. Mack Althof-Ragnit Cavalry-Captain and Owner of Manorial Estate The Development of Agriculture by Cheapening of the Cost of Production. An Investigation of the Service rendered Agriculture by Machines and Electricity. Koenigsberg, 1900. *The packing into subterranean pits (Campbell) has become a very significant factor in recent years. In some regions of North America where rain is scarce, marvelous results have been obtained by this method. The Socialization of Society 417 an average of only 20 per cent., Mack showed that, on the farm under consideration, this meant a gain of 55.45 marks per hectare ; together with the saving referred to above, this made a gain of 103.45 marks per hectare. Mack pointed out that it was necessary to establish a sufficient number of power plants, whereby not only all the machinery employed could be set in motion, but heat and light could also be supplied. By means of the elec- tric plants, the dwellings, streets, stables, barns, store- houses and factories can be lighted, and if it should be- come necessary, crops can be reaped at night. Mack calculated that, by the general introduction of electricity, two-thirds of the animals employed for drawing and carrying loads (1,741,300) heads) might be dispensed with, which would imply an annual net profit of 1,002,- 989,000 marks. The application of electricity makes agriculture more and more a purely technical, industrial process. The following compilation shows the manifold applicability of electricity in agriculture :* The following can be run by electric motors: i. Machines that heighten the gross proceeds: A. for tilling: seed-assorter and electric ploughs. B. for the harvest : mowing-machines with binders ; machines for reaping potatoes ; irrigation-works. 2. Machines for reducing the cost of production: A. lift- ing machines, unloading machines in barns, grain ele- vators, pumps for liquid manure. B. means of transpor- tation : groves, straps and bellows, field-railways, spin- dles and cranes. C. for utilization : straw-presses, corn- mills, chaff-cutters. 3. Machines of agricultural indus- try: A. distillery machines and machines for the manu- facture of starch ; water-pumps for various purposes. B. dairy implements: refrigerators, centrifuges, churn- ers, kneaders, presses, etc. C. saw-mills, circular-saws and saw-frames. D. drills, turning-lathes, machines for wheel-making. 4. Food-chopping machines, for cattle- breeding: chaff-cutters, turnip-choppers, meal, potato and oat-ginders, etc. ; squeezers, water-pumps. Investi- gations have shown that about 15 per cent, of all farm- *Kurt Krohne The Expanded Application of Electricity in Agri- culture. Journal of Electrotechnics, 1908. 4 z8 Socialism and Agriculture labor can be performed in this economical way, by the aid of electric motors. The amount of manual labor power required for the threshing and preparation of 1000 kilograms of grain was ascertained : Number of hours required. 1. When all the work was done by hand 104 2. When small thrashing-machines and riddling ma- chines were employed 41.4 3. When an electric thrashing-machine of 20 horse power was employed 26.4 4. When a giant electric thrashing-machine with winnowing and riddling machine, elevators, etc. was employed 10.5 There is nothing to prevent the general introduction of electric ploughs. Like the electric railway, the electric plough has already attained a high degree of develop- ment. The heavy and expensive steam-plough can be rationally employed only on large areas and for deep ploughing. It is especially serviceable for heightening the crops of potatoes, etc. But the electric plough can be used equally well for deep and shallow ploughing. It makes it possible to cultivate the soil on steep inclines, where it is difficult to plough with horses, or oxen even. It is a great labor-saving device, as may be seen from the following comparison of expenses for ploughing, when horses, oxen, a steam-plough and an electric plough were used : 4 6 8 .4 Horses 1 5O voo 4. 2O 7.7O I"! . 7Q Oxen 3.65 4.65 5.80 7.QO IO.2O Steam-plough rented from .... 6.00 6. 70 7.60 Q.IS IO.7O