"The Yearning For Social Justice" by Nikolaus Osterroth

Osterroth describes the miserable working conditions of the mine:

• The miners must work long hours in grueling conditions
• Long term effects include elongated arms and crooked backs
• For the women who used to work in the mines, the work would cause premature births and damage to child-bearing organs

Osterroth's first acquaintance with the Social Democrats:

• With worker resistance against the new work rules, the miners turned to the Catholic Priests for guidance
• The Priests believe that God wants the miners to be humble servants to the mine owners
• The workers beleive that the priests should tell the owners that their actions are unchristian and hardhearted but instead the priests are accepting gifts from the owners
• Osterroth finds a Social Democrat leaflet and is encouraged by what he finds
• He agrees that the government and bourgeois had gone to far and it was time for the workers to unite through unions and stand up for their rights
• He is encouraged by the leaflet and decides to join the Social Democratic Party movement
• On May Day he gives a speech to demonstrate worker's solidarity and their defiance of capitalism