"Yes, that may be correct, but it does not ring true. _Pflichttreue_ has
an ethical significance which your translation does not convey.
"I have noticed that your conductors shed their uniforms the instant
they leave their trains, as if they were ashamed of their job. With us,
any uniform, whether a railroad conductor's or a general's, is gloried
in, and honored because of the work it represents."
The Nebraskan thought us too democratic for uniforms, which is the
reason we do not value them more than we do.
"It is not the uniform, it is our work in which we glory. A shoemaker
with us is as proud of his job as the Emperor is of his. He is Emperor
by the grace of God, because he believes it is a God-given task to which
he must be faithful, and we once had a shoemaker who called himself with
equal pride, 'Shoemaker by the grace of God.'
"This pride spiritualizes the simplest and commonest work by making
every man a conscious part of the state, and he works for its glory and
power. It is a glory shared by his wife and family," and the Herr
Director pulled from his pocket a German newspaper. "Look at this
funeral notice. The widow signs herself not only as the widow of a
particular man, but as the widow of a man who did something of which she
is still proud. While she remains a widow she will sign herself _Amalia
Henrietta Schmidt Koenigliche Hof Opern Obo Spieler's Wittwe_."
"How can we be proud of our jobs," queried the Nebraskan, after his
hearty laugh at _Amalia Henrietta Schmidt_, "when we never have a job
which we expect to hold permanently? I started out with school teaching,
then I got hold of a good thing in the way of Carborundum and made
grindstones. That's what took me to Europe. When that business went bad,
I bought out the livery stable in my town, and now I am in the moving
picture business. If I could sell out at a good price I'd do it and take
up any old thing as long as there is money in it."
He was right. Our work is not sacred to us, for too often it is only the
means to an end, and frequently a very selfish end. Because Germany has
had centuries of carpenters and tinkers and shoemakers who planed boards
and mended pots and shoes "by the grace of God," and swung the hammer as
if it were a sword, they are now wielding the sword as if it were a
hammer.
In some way we must get this spiritual appeal of the job, which means
not only that we shall have to dedicate ourselves to our task in a
manner worthy of its significance, but that the state must have this
spiritual attitude towards the worker, and treat him as though worthy of
his place in the economy of the nation. It is this wise provision for
the workers' efficient education, the state's recognition that the
well-being of the individual is its concern, which has given to Germany
the unfailing devotion of all her people.