SILENT MILLS IN GERMANY

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2717, 11 March 1916, Page 3

SILENT MILLS IN GERMANY

'• TEXTILE TRADES IDLE. A' gloomy description of the condf. tion of the German textile .industries'', is given, by. the ."Vossische' Zeitung," ■which does'not hesitate to admit "the"; prevalence in them of-"great unemployment." This unemployment, it,.says,. Was." "caused'' in ."'the' "J first' in stattce" „ the lack; of raw material,, which neceseitated an economic management of. the stocks.The,Government-saw itself com- ■. peiled to sequestrate this material in order, in the first instance, to provide- '■ for the "needs' of. the army. In addition''it" issued several orders lestricting- production in many branches, that ■■ •of cotton-yarhs-and pure-woollen-stuffs bethg tfio. mSs't*Mpof&rit.- t ' This necessitated a further order limiting the —ork in tho mills. On August 4, 1914, the. worlc m all spinning, weaving, and knitting establishments ■ was restricted • -to-five days a week. But most mills which had no military orders on'.hand_. were compelled to rcduce their time far below the legal-limits, so; that a large number of workers either became totally .unemployed or only worked a fqw hours per'week;■ / The article proceeds to give several instructive particulars: The lace and embroidery industry 7 in Vogtland has been entirely shut down;, since the beginning of tho war. Along ■ with it the pliish and velvet industry, - has been gravely hit by tho prohibition placed by the Government on .the ■ ; manufacture of these stuffs. The cotton and worsted mills in Saxony are working,, at most, two or three daye., a week. Home weaving there, almost entirely ceased. In the hosiery branch almost- everywhere half'of tha machinery is at a standstill. This groat reduction of; the working time is. the more calamitous for tho workers, as ; ' in many districts the wages are very low. A daily wage of 555. 6d. for men is by no means rare, so. that at present, when the mills are running shorty time, an average earning of from 3s.' 21d. to 6s. 6d. per week is of frequent occurrence. The result of this distressful stateof affairs is that thousands upon thousands of workers—mostly women, juveniles, and men over 45 —are thrown upon public charity, which has been or- ! ganiscd by the municipalities, with the aid of the State, on a vast scale. In Bavaria, for instance, tho unemployed receive regular war lelief from, the. communities (altogether apart from the I'oor .Law) to: the amounts of from Is. • to 2s: 3d. ,per day, with additional 2id.' for every child, in a'.-cordanco with the, . a'sei' sex, and family status of the recipients.