A most interesting series of articles on "Industrial Condi- tions
in Germany" has been appearing in the Times during the last sit weeks. That on "Amusements " in Tuesday's issue is full of sidelights on the German character. To begin with, there are no " spectacular " games in Germany; indeed, "games may be ruled out as an item in industrial life." Theatres and music-halls count for more, but for nothing like so much as in England and America, and it is noticeable that while drink is always, food is generally, served in German music-halls. There are fewer theatres—unlike England, where the smallest manufacturing towns have one—and "the spectacle which may be seen night after night in our in- dustrial towns of galleries crammed with boys—in music- halls smoking cigarettes—is unknown in Germany." But every large town has a municipal theatre with stock companies and a varied repertory, and a high aim is main. tamed in the choice of works. The writer's conclusion on the drink question is that drinking is more diffused in Germany; that, though public-houses are more frequent, the working classes as a body drink very much less than our own, and, what is most significant, throughout Saxony it is considered bad form for women to frequent public-houses. Finally, "_there is no horse-racing, betting, or bookmaking," while " the safety- valve of State lotteries is now so arranged as to be as little seductive as possible to the poorer classes, particularly in Prussia." To put it briefly, commercial development in Germany is as largely determined by character as by scientific training or fiscal policy.
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