Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 2.djvu/83

 THE GERM AX IXXER MISSION 69

at the Berlin house, but the soldiers have their own services, compulsory as drill, in their own chapels at the barracks. The halls of the associations are provided with tables for refresh- ments, with libraries, sometimes with gardens and gymnasiums. Social festivities are frequent, and educational classes are some- times provided.

An institution which bears the distinctively German stamp is the home for travelers (Herberge zur Heimat). In 1893 there were 426 of these, and they are joined in a confederation whose network stretches over the country. Each is under the charge of a "house father," who manages the hostelry, keeps order, and conducts religious services. These inns are intended to be a substitute for the demoralizing lodging-houses of the towns, and they certainly have given the advantages of competition to decent workingmen. Many of the anti-church and Socialistic class naturally dislike them, but statistics and observation show that they are much used and meet a real need.

The Workmen's Colonies are among the most interesting creations of the Inner Mission, and among the most instructive social experiments of our age. 1 In 1880 a beginning was made of a system of stations for assisting penniless wanderers (Natu- ralverpflegungsstationen). The communal and provincial authorities, largely under the influence of the energetic Pastor von Bodelschwingh, promoted this system, hoping to regulate vagabondage and test the sincerity of the tramping fraternity by offering lodging and food in return for work. Von Bodel- schwingh found that many of these men were without skill or character, and could not find work. So he was thus led to estab- lish a permanent agricultural colony where men could find a home, be trained to labor, and finally be placed in regular occu- pation. There are now about twenty-five of these colonies in Germany; a few of them in cities. The extravagant hopes of those who imagined this institution would "solve the social question" have been disappointed. It is not a panacea. A

'See K. <;. l'i MIODY, Forum, February 1892. G. BKRTHOLD, Die der dftttschtn Arbtittrkolonitn, Liepzig, 1887.