* J r % V jse •%’ -y" 1 . .* xv wmm v : *\! r' 1:C m /TT, X, :(?ym .1% fifi. Wt ■ : M m. & *i.i *¿ié m^tá tí- mm fV#.; # mmi • • \¿4 ,1* A- • ■• Asrt w : KŸ# ■M 3* ïMÊim MB X g\ *?> SN M# i*-J--* . / :X: \ S Jwfex Mt • ■ • A m w. BI ? : IltSll < i - *S 7t >-50 -"X \ ¥■ m V-Í Y# ** jiffl X. ts * & as » X. r % rr> & r V A*fA * # jÜÍ cK;>' :*$* & Wiäm m -m. I , ZBW Deutsche Zentralbibfiothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften FS I i Ufei/ «fe* 1 c k\ \ COST OF LIVING IN GERMAN TOWNS. REPORT OF AN ENQUIRY BY THE BOARD OF TRADE INTO WORKING CLASS RENTS, HOUSING AND RETAIL PRICES, IN THE PRINCIPAL INDUSTRIAL TOWNS WITH AN INTRODUCTORY MEMORANDUM AND A COMPARISON OF CONDITIONS IN GERMANY AND THE UNITED KINGDOM. PRINTED FOR HIS MAJESTY’S STATIONERY OFFICE By DARLING & SON, Ltd., 34-40, Bacon Street, E. And to be purchased, either directly or through any Bookseller, from WYMAN and SONS, Ltd., Fetter Lane, E.C., and 32, Abingdon Street, Westminster, S.W. : or OLIVER & BOYD, Tweeddale Court, Edinburgh; or E. PONSONBY, 116, Grafton Street, Dublin. I Cd. 4032.] Price 4&IW, TOGETHER WITH THE RATES OF WAGES IN CERTAIN OCCUPATIONS OF THE GERMAN EMPIRE. Presente!) to both Douses of Parliament bn tomnntnb of Dis ¿Rajestg. LONDON: 1908. ; : < i . Aó/ CP CD 'üffiek - *i*n >í nie 1 To the President of the Board of Trade. Sir, The volume which I have the honour to submit herewith embodies the results of the second part of the enquiry now being conducted by the Board of Trade, in accordance with your directions, with regard to the cost of living and the well-being of the working classes in industrial towns in some of the principal commercial countries. The first volume, relating to towns in the United Kingdom, has already been published (Cd. 3864). The present Report refers to the German Empire, in which 33 representative towns have been investigated containing an aggregate population of some nine millions. As in the case of the United Kingdom, the enquiry related to rents and housing, prices of commodities and cost of living of the working classes, together with the rates of wages and hours of labour prevailing in certain trades. The particulars obtained, together with a good deal of supplementary information on matters relating to local industrial conditions, are given in detail under the various towns, and the most important results of the enquiry are summarised in the preliminary Memorandum, which also contains a section comparing these results so far as possible with the corresponding information for English towns contained in the recently published Report. Any precise statistical comparison of cost of living in Germany and England is by no means a simple matter. Even when all the difficulties of maintaining the same standard of investigation throughout have been successfully ­ overcome, there remains a difficulty inherent in the nature of things arising from the different habits and modes of living in the two countries. The point is well illustrated by the interesting result obtained from the present investigation, that an English workman migrating to Germany, and maintaining, ­ so far as possible, his own standard of living, would find the cost of rent, food, and fuel raised by about one-fifth, while the German workman who migrated to England, but retained his own habits of living, would find his expenditure on the same items reduced by less than one half that amount. While attention is called in the report to this essential ambiguity in international ­ comparisons, the subject is naturally treated for the most part in the present Report from the point of view of the English workman. The comparison of the rates of wages has been confined to certain standard trades, as in the United Kindom Report, for the reasons stated in full in that volume. The general result of the comparison is to show that in German towns, the workmen engaged in these trades receive about 1 7 per cent, less in money wages in return for a week’s work of about 10 per cent, longer duration than the corresponding English workmen. In other words, their hourly rate of money remuneration is about three-quarters of the corresponding English rate, while the cost of food, rent, and fuel (measured by the English standard) is about one-fifth higher. 2000 Wt 8738 6/08 D & 8 1 29088 i«/ m V * While, in order to preserve comparability with the English figures, the bulk of the statistics contained in the present volume refer to October, 1905, a separate section has been inserted, giving the results of supplementary inquiries as to the movement of wages and prices since that date in certain towns. I should add that the corresponding enquiry with regard to French towns is now practically complete, and the results will be ready for publication in a few months time. I am, &c., H. LLEWELLYN SMITH. S-S IV 10th April, 1908. PREFATORY NOTE. To the Secretary of the Board of Trade. Sir, The report which I have the honour to present herewith contains the results of an investigation undertaken by the Board of Trade in the principal industrial towns of the German Empire, in order to obtain, in regard, to the condition of the working classes there, information comparable to that given for the towns of the United Kingdom in the Report on the Cost of Living of the Working Classes (Cd. 3864), issued by this Department in January, 1908. The investigation has reference primarily to the rents of working-class dwellings, the prices usually paid by the working classes for food and fuel, and wages and hours of labour ; and a very large amount of original statistical material of great value relating to these subjects has been collected. It is with these matters that the General Report, and the separate Town Reports which follow it, are mainly concerned ; but at the same time it has appeared desirable, in order that the statistical data may be more fully understood, to include in the Town Reports much additional information bearing on these subjects, which was obtained in the course of the Enquiry. In order to arrive at some estimate of the standard of living prevalent among the German industrial classes, over five thousand budgets showing the expenditure on food by a working-class family in a normal week, and representative of numerous occupations and of all grades of working-class incomes^ were obtained from the various towns, and the principal results furnished by an analysis of these budgets are set out in the General Report. As one of the main purposes of the investigation was to obtain information which could be compared with that already procured for towns of the United Kingdom, the Enquiry was conducted so far as practicable on identical lines, and the statistical material collected relates in the main to the same date (October, 1905), though information was procured for a later date (March-April, 1908), and is included in the Report, in a number of instances, particularly in regard to prices and wages. All the German towns dealt with in the present volume were visited, in some cases more than once, by Officers of the Department, and much valuable assistance was readily given to them in their enquiries by the Municipal Authorities of the towns investigated, in particular by the Burgomasters and the Directors of the Municipal Statistical Bureaux, by the Secretaries of Chambers of Commerce, by a large number of employers of labour, by numerous officials of trade unions, by the Workmen’s Secretariates, and by many tradespeople of all kinds, as well as by His Majesty’s Consular Representatives in Germany. The cordial thanks of the Department are due to all those who thus in various ways assisted in obtaining the very extensive and detailed information which has now been brought together. As a basis of comparison for the German towns among themselves the levels of rents, prices, and wages in Berlin have been taken as standards, and index numbers calculated for each of these items in every town, so as to afford an indication of the relative levels of the towns. The index numbers for rents and prices in each town have also been combined in a single index number, in order to determine the relative level for each town of the cost of living of the working classes, so far as it consists of expenditure on housing and food ; and for this purpose, as the expenditure on food is much greatei than that on rent, prices have been given a weight of four and rents a weight of one in the construction of the combined index number. In the matter of wages the comparison has been made only in respect of certain occupations which are found to a greater or less extent in all the towns, namely,, the building trades, engineering, printing, and some municipal employments. VI The same method of index numbers has also been adopted in comparing in the second part of the General Report the results of the investigations made in Germany and the United Kingdom respectively. The comparison actually made is with England, as the various divisions of the United Kingdom were treated separately in the Report already mentioned, the levels of the cost of living in Scotland and Ireland in relation to that of England being determined by separate series of index numbers'. Thus any one who desires to do so can without difficulty compare the figures for Germany with those for Scotland or Ireland. The comparison relates to rent and prices, and also to wages in three comparable groups of occupations—the building trades, engineering, and printing. In order to illustrate as concretely as possible the results obtained by this comparison, the illustration has been adopted of an English workman migrating to Germany, working there at his old trade, and endeavouring to maintain his accustomed dietary and standard of housing. It was pointed out in the Prefatory Note (p. vi.) to the Report on the Cost of Living of the Working Classes in the United Kingdom that, valuable as the method of index numbers is as a means of consolidating data and comparing things otherwise difficult to measure, the results which it yields are at best only approximate, and can be regarded only as subject to many qualifications, arising, for instance, in the case of prices, from differences in the articles or amounts of articles consumed in various parts of a country, or in the case of rents from differences in the kind of accommodation. This difficulty, already considerable when one part of a country is compared with another, becomes much more accentuated when the comparison is attempted to be made between two countries which differ greatly from each other in the customs and standard of living of their inhabitants. Between the United Kingdom and Germany the differences in some respects are very marked. The prevalent type of working-class housing in England and Wales, and to a lesser degree in Ireland, is a self-contained twostoried dwelling, possessing generally four or five rooms and a separate scullery ; in Germany the predominant type is a fiat of two or three rooms with appurtenances, in a large tenement house. The German housing system thus approximates more closely to the Scottish type—blocks of flats of two, three, or four stories—than to the English. English, but not Scotch, rents of workingclass dwellings usually include local taxation, which is based on the rentable value of the dwelling ; in Germany local taxation is levied on an entirely different basis, and is not included in rent. In regard to food- the British workman’s meat consists mainly of beef and mutton, whilst pork (even including bacon) is relatively small in amount ; the German workman, on the other hand, eats chiefly pork (including sausage) and beef, and only a very little mutton. The pure wheat bread °eaten by the working classes of the United Kingdom is replaced in Germany either by pure rye bread, or more commonly by some mixture of rye and wheat. These are only a few indications of the difficulties which arise in international comparisons, and though a full account is given in the General Report of the methods which have been adopted in the endeavour to overcome the difficulties, it appears desirable to repeat here the warning that in the construction of comparative index numbers it is impossible to make full allowance for diversity of national habits, tastes, and prejudices. Nevertheless, as will be seen from the General Report, international comparisons can be made by these means, and the results obtained are of great interest and value. Thus it may be pointed out that there is little if any difference between the general levels of rent in Germany and England, though rents in England include a considerable element of local taxation, whilst rents in Germany do not ; and that rents in Berlin exceed those of all the other German towns investigated (except Stuttgart) to practically the same extent as rents in London exceed those which prevail in other towns of the United Kingdom. Further the range of town price-levels in Germany, as in the United Kingdom, is not very great, though somewhat wider in the case of the German Vil towns, with the result that the differences between the cost of living (so far as it relates to expenditure on rent, food, and fuel) in one or another of the German towns investigated are not very much larger than those which exist between the towns of the United Kingdom. The general level of prices is, however, distinctly higher in Germany than in the United Kingdom, and in this connexion an important instance of the effects of differences in national habits may be noticed. The English workman going to Germany and maintaining his accustomed standard of living would find his expenditure on food and fuel substantially increased ; but in spite of the generally higher level of prices in Germany the German workman coming to England, and maintaining his own standard, would not find his expenditure reduced in a corresponding proportion. This is due mainly to the fact that the German workman takes much more than the English workman of certain food commodities, chiefly potatoes and milk, which are cheaper in German than in English towns. Finally, whilst nominal rents are as high in Germany as in England—and in fact higher, since they do not include local taxation, which the German workman must pay separately—and whilst the general level of food prices in the German towns is also higher than in England, wages in those trades for which a comparison has been made are substantially lower, even when longer hours are worked. I have, &c., ARTHUR WILSON FON. ■ / ». «P *1 ? ' R .. CONTENTS PAGE PREFATORY NOTE v MAP OF THE GERMAN EMPIRE, SHOWING GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION OF TOWNS INCLUDED IN THE REPORT (to face p. xi) GENERAL REPORT Introduction Part I.—Report on German Conditions— (i) Housing and Rents (ii) Food and Food Prices— Budgets of Working-class Families ... Retail Prices, (iii) Rents and Prices combined (iv) Wages and Hours of Labour (v) Relation of Hates of Wages to Rents and Prices (vi) Some Industrial Groups (vii) Changes in Prices and Wages since October, 1905— Changes in Prices Changes in Wages xi xi xviii xxiv ... xxviii xxix ... xxxiv XXXV ... xxxvii ... xxxviii Part II.—Comparison of Conditions in Germany and the United Kingdom— (i) Housing and Rents ... (ii) Prices and Budgets— jPrices ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Budgets ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... (iii) Wages and Hours of Labour— ages ^ ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Hours of Labour (iv) Summary of Conclusions ... xl xlii xlvi xlix 1 li Appendices-Table A.—Geographical Grouping of Towns.—Index Numbers of Rent, Prices, Rent and Prices combined, and Wages ... Table B.—Grouping of Towns according to Population.—Index Numbers ' of Rent, Prices, and Rent and Prices combined Table C.—Towns arranged alphabetically.—Index Numbers of Rent, Prices, Rent and Prices combined, and Wages ... Table D (i).—Hours of Labour in Germany Table D (ii).—Hours of Labour in England and Wales Table E (i).—Average Monthly Prices of Grey and Black Bread from October, 1905 to March, 1908 Table E (ii).—Average Monthly Prices of Beef from October, 1905 to April, 1908 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Table E (iii).—Average Monthly Prices of Pork from October, 1905 to April, 1908 ... i Table F (i).—Condensed Budgets—Germany Table F (ii).—Condensed Budgets—United Kingdom DETAILED TOWN REPORTS Berlin Aachen •••. * Aschaffenburg ••• . Barmen ... Bochum ... Bremen ... Breslau ... ... ••• ••• Brunswick Chemnitz... Crefeld Dantzig ... ... ... ... Dortmund Dresden ... Düsseldorf * Elberfeld Essen Hamburg (with Altona) ... • • Königsberg Königshütte ’ Leipzig Magdeburg Mannheim 29088 liii liv Iv lvi lvi lvii lviii lix lx lxi 1 39 53 67 78 94 113 126 138 150 164 177 189 206 220 233 247 274 288 300 315 327 b DETAILED TOWN REPORTS—continued. PAGE Mülhausen in Alsace 349 Munich 367 Nuremberg ... 382 Oschersleben 396 Plauen . v 403 Remscheid 415 Solingen 428 Stassfurt 439 Stettin 449 Stuttgart 460 Zwickau 481 Appendices I-—Wages and Hours of Labour at October, 1905— Building Trades ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 492 Engineering Trades 493 Breivery Employees ... ... ... ... ... ... 493 Printing Trades ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 494 Employees of Local Authorities 494 . II.—Weekly Rents ... 496 III. — Retail Prices at October, 1905— Groceries and other Commodities... ... ... ... ... 497 ^^1 eat *.* ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 199 IV. —Daily Wages of Adult Male Workpeople at Düsseldorf ... ... 501 V.—Specimen Factory Rules and Conditions of Municipal Employment— ­ I.—Rides of a Magdeburg Iron Foundry and Machine Works 502 II.—Regulations for Municipal Employees at Mannheim ... 503 VI.—Wages Agreements and Miner’s Wages Ticket—* I.—Agreement in the Berlin Engineering Trade ... ... 508 II.—Agreement in the Berlin Metal Trade ... ... ... 508 III.— Wages Ticket of a Westphalian Miner ... ... ... 509 VII.—Housing and Lodging House Regulations— I.—Housing Regulations of Barmen 510 II.—Police Regulations relating to Lodgers at Mannheim ... 511 III. —Information Required before Lodger Certificates are granted 512 IV. —Form of Agreement between Landlord and Tenant at Berlin ... ... ... ... • •• ••• » 513 VIII.—Regulations relating to the Inspection and Sale of Food— I.—Provisions of the Imperial Meat Inspection Law of June 3, 1900 • •• ••• ••• ••• 516 II.—Municipal Regulations respecting the Trade in Meat, etc., in Munich ... ... ... ... ... ... 518 III. —Police Food Regidations at Barmen 519 IV. —Police Ordinance relating to the Trade in Milk at Mülhausen ... 519 IX.—The Comparability of German and British Statistics of Unemployment ­ 521 525 Index - 1". - ■ À . » û \ » >• 0 m <1 V r £ Ü'J > u O •i Q a * m jo > < ^\V\l *Öa ù. & zx> => -V Cs N ^@A90S> y i GENERAL REPORT. The number of towns visited by the investigators of the Board of Trade in the course of the Enquiry, of which the results are summarised in this General Report, was 33 : of these 19, or more than one-half, are in the Kingdom of Prussia, five in Saxony, three in Bavaria, and the remaining six in other states of the Empire ; the map given as a frontispiece to this volume shows their wide geographical distribution. The populations of the towns range from 2,040,000 in Berlin and 803,000 in Hamburg to 25,000 in Aschaffenburg, 18,000 in Stassfurt and 13,000 in Oschersleben ; but it must be pointed out that the inhabitants of the 33 towns do not constitute the whole industrial population to which the results of the present investigation apply, for Charlottenburg and other urban areas surrounding Berlin are dealt with in the report upon that city, Altona (168,000 inhabitants) is included with Hamburg and Leopoldshall with Stassfurt, and in other cases—of which Königshütte is a notable example—the particular town forming the subject of a report is only the centre of a district throughout which almost identical conditions prevail. The range of industrial occupations covered by the reports is very wide—it includes coal-mining, the metal industries, engineering and shipbuilding, ­ the hardware and cutlery trades, the textile trades (cotton, wool and silk), paper-making, brewing, printing, the chemical trades, sugar-refining, the various branches of the building trades, dock labour, a number of miscellaneous trades, and the municipal services. One of the purposes of the Enquiry being to obtain, so far as possible, information comparable with that given for the towns of the United Kingdom in the Report on the Cost of laving of the Working Classes (Cd. 3864), issued by the Board of Trade in January, 1908, the information collected for the present volume relates mainly to the same date (October, 1905) as the information contained in that Report ; but some additional data relating to later dates are included in the separate town reports, and also in this General Report (pp. xxxvii-xxxix). These also include much information as to the general conditions of industrial life and labour in Germany, including such matters as the distribution of occupations and organisation of industry, wages agreements and hours of labour, factory rules, workmen’s societies and institutions, housing, public health administration, vital statistics, municipal enterprise and local taxation. The purpose of this General Report is, first, to summarise the results arrived at in respect of the three main heads of the Enquiry—rents, prices and wages, and to compare the German towns among themselves in regard to these matters ; and, secondly, to endeavour to make such comparisons as may be possible between these results and those arrived at for the English towns in the report already mentioned. PART I.—REPORT ON GERMAN CONDITIONS. (i) Housing and Rents. In order to ascertain the rents paid for the kind of dwellings usually occupied by the German working classes, information was obtained from the municipal authorities, from individual house-owners, and from large numbers of tenants through the trade unions. In each town a number of houses were visited by the Board of Trade investigators, partly for the purpose of verifying the information obtained as to rents, and partly that some account might be given in each case of the general character and standard of housing accommodation. The prevalent type of working-class dwelling in Germany is a flat in a large house containing a minimum of six or seven tenements. This may fairly b 2 290 S 8 Xll be described as the common type of housing accommodation for all classes in Germany, and it is a characteristic feature of German towns that, whilst there are purely working-class districts, yet the working classes are generally scattered throughout the whole of a town, occupying either the upper floors of houses whose lower floors may be occupied by middle-class tenants, or else housed in buildings —the " back houses” (Hinterhäuser) referred to below—which lie concealed behind the better-class houses visible from the street. There are some exceptions, ­ but as a general rule the large house with a considerable number of tenements is becoming more and more predominant. Bremen is unique amongst the large towns of Germany in that a very considerable proportion of its population live in one-family houses ; in Remscheid and Solingen houses of an old type for one or two families, and in Crefeld two-family houses, originally built for weavers, are still important ; houses of a similar size are also found to some extent in a number of other towns (as, for example, in Elberfeld, Königshütte, and Munich), but almost everywhere, even in the quite small towns, they are giving way before the large houses with many tenements. In some of the larger towns these erections often resemble large barracks built round small paved courtyards, there being in addition to the block fronting upon the street another block lying behind and parallel to it (Hinterhäuser or Hofhäuser), and not infrequently also one or more side blocks (Seitenhäuser or Flügelhäuser) either isolated or running back from the front block and connecting ­ it with the one at the rear. The rents in these back and side houses are as a rule lower than those paid in the front blocks. In the more modern erections there-are many variants of this plan, tending on the whole to the elimination of either the back or the side blocks, or of both. The traditional and still normal working-class dwelling in such a house consists of three rooms, called respectively “ Stube, Kammer, Küche ” (livingroom, bedroom, and kitchen), together with certain appurtenances such as a share of the cellar for the storage of fuel, &c., and even for laundry use, and the use, on a particular day, of a loft for drying purposes.- A large number of the newer tenements have at the front or (more usually) back a balcony which is used in this latter way also. Two-roomed tenements, usually with appurtenances, are also very common, and these two types—with the three-roomed tenement predominant—may be taken as representing the prevalent standard of workingclass housing throughout Germany. Four-roomed tenements are of importance ­ in this connexion only in rare cases, the chief being Leipzig, where the general level of housing for the working-class population appears to be higher than in any other of the large towns investigated, with the exception of Bremen. Tenements of one room, though fairly frequent, are not sufficiently so to be regarded as constituting an important type, whilst working-class dwellings of five or more rooms are scarcely to be found. The rooms on any floor of a tenement house are frequently so arranged that any combination of rooms may be made for letting purposes, and this is facilitated where, as in the Rhineland-Westphalia industrial area, in most parts of Northern Germany and in Mülhausen, the tenant has himself to provide heating and cooking stoves—the open fireplace is practically unknown in Germany. In Saxony, and generally in South Germany, on the other hand, the stoves are fixtures supplied by the landlord. Of each of these general types there are naturally many variations of which descriptions will be found in the separate town reports. One of the chief difficulties in classification is caused by the kitchen. In Stuttgart a so-called “ kitchen ” is always additional to the two or three rooms of the tenement but it is a quite small place, capable, indeed, of use for culinary purposes, but not as a living-room. The same is true, to a greater or less extent, in other towns such as Aschaffenburg, Hamburg, Munich, Nuremberg, Brunswick, Bochum and Mülhausen ; but on the other hand the kitchen elsewhere is often a fairly l ar p- e room and used as a living-room. In a number of cases the practice prevails of letting an attic with each tenement. This applies more especially to Saxon towns and in Chemnitz every tenement is required to comprise an attic capable of bein j' used as a bedroom. Only where attics are so used have they been counted as rooms when a “ two-roomed ” or “ three-roomed ” tenement is spoken of. For the purpose of comparison, therefore, it has appeared desirable to reckon as “ rooms ” all kitchens large enough to be used to any extent as living-rooms Xlll and all attics large enough to be used as bedrooms ; and this has been done in the tables of predominant rents given in this Report. The rents most usually paid in each town for each kind of accommodation are set out in the separate reports and also in Appendix II. (p. 496). From the data given in that Appendix, which are based on rent quotations obtained in this Enquiry for over 107,000 working-class tenements, the following Table has been constructed to show the predominant range of rents for tenements of various sizes in Germany ' as a whole, excluding Berlin ; it should be stated that the rents include the charge for water, and in some causes small charges for chimney-sweeping and the removal of refuse, but they do not include any element of local taxation, except, of course, in so far as a landlord may have succeeded in shifting some part of his burdens—e.g., that of the land tax—on to the tenant by means of an increase in the rent charged. The tenant’s direct contributions to local taxation will be discussed later. Predominant Bents in Germany (excluding Berlin). Number of Rooms per Tenement. Two rooms Three rooms Four rooms No. of Towns to which the figures relate. Predominant Range of Weekly Rents. Number of Towns in which the Mean Rent is Within the limits of the Predominant Range. s. d. s. d. 2 8to3 6 3 6,,4 9 4 3.,6 0 Below the limits of the Predominant Range. A hove the limit of the Predominant Range. It will be seen from this Table that the three-roomed tenement was found to be an important type of working-class housing in every one of the towns investigated, that two-roomed tenements were of importance in two-thirds of the towns, and four-roomed tenements in rather less than one-half of the total number. A comparison of the rents given in this Table with those prevalent in Berlin for similar tenements of two or three rooms only—for working-class dwellings of a larger size occur in Berlin only in insignificant numbers — shows the extent to which rents in the capital exceed those charged elsewhere. Comparison of Bents in Berlin and in other German Towns. Berlin Other German Towns Predominant Range of Renta For Two Rooms. s. d. s. d. 5 0 to 6 0 2 8,,3 6 For Three Rooms. d. s. 0 to 9 6 „ 4 ;, while the mean rent for two rooms in Berlin is os. 6d., in the other a whole it is only 3s. Id., and for three rooms in Berlin it is 8s. l^d., Thus, towns as a and elsewhere only 4s. 1 \d. It is noteworthy that Stuttgart is nearly as highly rented as Berlin, the mean rents for two and three rooms in that town being 5s. 2d. and 8s. 1 \d. respectively. It did not appear possible to use the predominant range of rents of workingclass tenements in Berlin directly as the basis for a comparison of the rent levels of the various towns, for rents of two-roomed and three-roomed tenements only were obtained for that city, inasmuch as the rents of four-roomed tenements there are beyond the means of the working-classes, whereas in several other towns fourroomed tenements constitute an important type of working-class housing. I or the reasons indicated in the Report on the towns of the United Kingdom (Cd. 3864 (1908) p. xiv.), a comparison based on the rents of tenements of one type only—three-roomed in the present case—would be unsatisfactory, and accordingly the following method was adopted. The means of the predominant rents for each cîassTjf tenements in the whole of Germany, given in the above Table, were taken as the base, and the ratios of the mean predominant rents in each town to the mean predominant rents for all Germany were worked out ; the XIV average of the ratios gave an index number for the town compared with the predominant level of the towns investigated. The resultant index number for Berlin was then taken as a basis and the index numbers for the other towns adjusted accordingly. In the following Table the index numbers so calculated are given, showing the relative level of rents in each of the German towns as compared with Berlin, the predominant rents in the capital being taken as the base ( = 100). Rent Index Numbers in Descending Order. Town. Berlin Stuttgart Düsseldorf .. Dortmund .. Aschaffenburg Hamburg Mannheim Königsberg Munich Essen Solingen Index No. 100 97 79 68 67 66 64 62 63 62 61 Town. Bochum Elberfeld Barmen Remscheid Breslau Dresden Nuremberg Aachen Crefeld Bremen Plauen Index No. 57 57 57 56 56 54 53 53 52 52 52 Town. Leipzig Dantzig Mülhausen Königshütte Stettin Magdeburg Chemnitz Zwickau Brunswick Stassfurt Oschersleben Index No. 51 49 48 47 46 43 40 38 37 33 28 It will be seen that, as already indicated, there is little difference between the rent levels of Berlin and Stuttgart. Düsseldorf is the next highest-rented town, but the rents there are 20 per cent, lower than in Berlin and Stuttgart. In Dortmund they are 32 per cent, lower than in Berlin, and so the scale descends to Brunswick, a large town with rents 63 per cent, lower than in Berlin, and to Stassfurt and Oschersleben, where the rents are respectively only about one-third and one-quarter of those prevalent in the capital. The index numbers for eight of the 32 towns lie between 60 and 70, and for 12 towns between 50 and 60 ; for two towns they are above 70, and in 10 cases below 50. In the next Table the towns are grouped according to certain geographical districts, which are indicated on the map given as a frontispiece to this volume. Two of these groups are very small, appearing to consist of only two towns each ; but with the North Sea Ports of Hamburg and Bremen the large town of Altona is included, since it is scarcely separable—from the economic point of view—-from Hamburg, and the Silesian group is representative, since it includes Breslau, the second largest city of Prussia, and Königshütte, which, as already pointed out, is the centre of an extensive district of almost identical character. The towns in each group are shown in Table A, appended to this General Report. Rent Index Numbers for Geographical Groups. Geographical Group. Mean Rent Index N umber. Berlin Central Germany Rhineland-Westphalia :— (a) Textile Towns (b) Hardware Towns South Germany Saxony Silesia Baltic Ports North Sea Ports ISo. of Towns 100 35 55 61 65 47 52 52 59 It appears from this Table that the Central Germany group has a remarkably low index number ; it is true that the group contains two very small towns—Stassfurt and Oschersleben, but it also includes Magdeburg, with its quarter of a million inhabitants, and Brunswick with a population of 136,000, and both of these large towns have low rent index numbers. The highest rent level is shown by the South Germany group ; this includes Stuttgart with an index number of 97, three towns with from 62 to 67, Nuremberg with 53, and Mülhausen with 48. The Rhineland-Westphalia Hardware group, which comes very close to the South Germany group, shows a very much narrower range ; Düsseldorf is high, with an index number of 79, but for three towns the range is from 62 to 68, and Bochum and Remscheid are close together with 57 and 56 respectively. The index number for the North Sea Ports represents simply the mean of Hamburg with 66 and Bremen with 52. The towns of the Rhineland-Westphalia Textile group all come within the very narrow range of 52 to 57, and form practically two pairs—Elberfeld and Barmen with 57 each, and Aachen and Crefèld with 53 and 52 respectively. In the Silesia group Breslau has an index number of 56, and Königshütte one of 47. Of the Baltic Ports, Königsberg, which is a fortified city incapable of much expansion, has a comparatively high index number (62), whilst Dantzig and Stettin are close together with 49 and 46 respectively . The range of the Saxony towns is fairly wide, from 54 to 38, but three fall within the narrow limits of 54 to 51, and the other two have index numbers of 40 and 38 respectively. The towns may also be grouped according txp the number of their inhabitants, and in the following Table the mean rent index numbers are given for each population group. Rent Index Numbers for Population Groups. Population Group. No. of Towns Nil* 10 Mean Rent Index Numbers. Berlin (2,040,000) Other Towns with populations exceeding 400,000 ... Towns with populations from 300,000 to 400,000 ... „ „ 200,000 „ 300,000 ... „ „ 100,000 „ 200,000 ... „ „ under 100,000 100 58 59 55 47 * The only German town falling within this population group is Frankfurt-on-Main, which is not largely industrial, and therefore was not investigated. Though this table shows on the whole a fall in the mean level of rents as we pass from the larger to the smaller towns, yet the range within each group is as a rule extremely wide, as will be seen from Table B. attached to this General Report, in which the towns are grouped according to population. In the group of towns with populations of over 400,000 the range is comparatively narrow, from 51 for Leipzig to 66 for Hamburg ; but in the group with populations between 200,000 and 300,000 the range is remarkably wide, being from 40 for Chemnitz to 79 for Düsseldorf and 97 for Stuttgart ; four fall within the narrow range 52 to 62, whilst three have index numbers below these limits and two above. In the next group (with populations between 100,000 and 200,000) the extreme range is from 37 to 68, with six out of the ten towns falling within the narrow limits of 52 to 57. Finally, the group of smallest towns show a range of from 28 to 67, and whilst four out of the seven are within the limits 28 to 47, the other three are within the range 56 to 67. On the whole, therefore, it appears to be impossible to relate the varying rent levels of the towns closely to differences in population, although there is a broad distinction between the larger and the smaller towns. XVI Numerous efforts have been made in Germany for the improvement of the housing conditions of the working classes, and some account of them will be found in the separate town reports. They fall into three main groups :— (i) Municipal Action.—So far as the actual supply of housing accommodation ­ is concerned the German municipal authorities, where they have done anything at all, have as a rule, limited their action to the provision of dwellings for some of their officials and workpeople, though at Mülhausen and Elberfeld they have gone further than this. In a number of cases, as at Stuttgart and Mannheim, they have made advances at rates of interest lower than the market rates, to societies formed for the erection of improved working-class dwellings ; and it may be remarked here that advances to such societies are frequently made from the funds of the compulsory schemes for insurance against old age and invalidity. Other forms of municipal action in regard to housing are improvement schemes (as at Hamburg) ; the acquisition of land (the « municipalities of Breslau, Stettin, Aachen, Dortmund, Leipzig and Mannheim, for example, are large landowners) for the systematic planning of town development in the interest of slum prevention and transit facilities, and the subsequent sale of part thereof for building purposes, subject to conditions imposed by the municipality ; the organisation (as, for instance, in Hamburg, Stuttgart, Nuremberg, Mannheim, Solingen, Düsseldorf, Essen and Dortmund) of a systematic inspection of dwellings ; the enactment of more or> less stringent building byelaws and housing regulations ; and the enforcement of regulations as to lodgers, particularly where, as in the great Rhineland-Westphalia coal and iron area, the recent rapid industrial development has brought a large influx of unmarried workmen from other parts of Germany. Examples of these various activities are described in the reports on the separate towns. (ii) Housing by Employers.—In a large number of instances employers have thought it necessary or desirable to provide housing accommodation for their workpeople. This has been so particularly in the Rhineland-Westphalia district, where the very rapid growth of the industrial population in recent years has put a great strain upon the supply of housing, but it has also been the case elsewhere. The most conspicuous example of this kind of housing enterprise is furnished by the large workmen’s colonies established by the Krupp firm in Essen, but much has also been done by colliery proprietors in and around Essen, Bochum and Dortmund, and at Königshütte and Zwickau ; by the proprietors of iron and steel works at the same three western towns and in Aachen and Düsseldorf ; and by various firms elsewhere, for instance in the suburbs of Berlin, at Mülhausen, Mannheim, and Stassfurt. At Munich and Nuremberg the Bavarian State Railway Administration has provided housing for some of its employees ; the Baden State Railways have done the same at Mannheim ; employees of the Prussian State Salt Mines are housed at Stassfurt, and, as already mentioned, some of the municipal authorities have taken similar action. (hi) Housing by Building Societies and Semi-Philanthropic Enterprise.—In a large number of the towns efforts towards the improvement of the conditions under which the working classes have to live have taken the form of building societies, formed to erect dwellings to be let to persons belonging to the industrial classes on moderate terms—generally on condition that the tenants must be shareholders in the society or must be acquiring 1 their tenements. Examples of such action are to be found in Berlin, Nuremberg, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Mannheim, Remscheid, Magdeburg, Aachen, Bremen and Mülhausen—to name only a few examples. In other cases dwellings have been erected by semi-philanthropic societies contenting themselves with a limited rate of profit, as at Berlin, Munich, Düsseldorf, and Stuttgart ; or by purely philanthropic effort, as at Leipzig, Dantzig and Bremen. In many instances capital has been obtained by the various building societies, of both types, on loan from the State Insurance Funds ; the Rhineland Provincial Insurance Board alone had by the end of 1904 lent over £2,200,000 for the erection of working-class dwellings. Local Taxation in Germany.—It has already been stated that the rents quoted in this Report do not include any payments in respect of local taxes and it appears desirable to give in this place some account of municipal taxation in Germany, in so far as it affects the working classes. Inasmuch as XVll the other states of the German Empire have adopted, in this connexion, very much the same system as Prussia, it will suffice to indicate in detail only the methods adopted in that country. There the principal sources of municipal revenue—other than the proceeds of municipal enterprise—are the income tax, the land and building tax, the trade or occupation tax (Gewerbesteuer), and the tax levied on the sale of real estate ; the first three of these are general, and the last is rapidly coming into favour. Other taxes of secondary importance are levied upon dogs, upon entertainments, and upon beer in the form of a consumption ­ tax ; but these are not universal. Several towns have of recent years adopted an “ increased value ” or " unearned increment ” tax. But the income tax remains the most important source of revenue, and it is the only direct tax which falls everywhere upon the working classes, since it is payable by all citizecs in receipt of more than a specified income, whether they are householders or not. The municipal income tax is a percentage of the State Income Tax, varying from town to town and from year to year according to local needs, and is based on the assessment made for the state. The State Income Tax, as fixed by a law of the year 1891, falls on all incomes, whatever their source, exceeding 900 marks, or £45 a year, and is levied according to a sliding scale of which the first ten stages are shown in the following Table :— Annual Income. Over £45 „ £52 10s. » £60 „ £67 10s. ,, £75 „ £82 10s. » £90 „ £105 ,, £120 „ £135 to £52 10s. inclusive „ £60 „ £67 10s. „ „ £75 ,, £82 „ £90 „ £105 „ £120 „ £135 „ £150 Annual State Income Tax. £ s. 0 6 0 9 0 12 0 16 1 6 11 16 2 12 The tax is thus progressive, amounting to 0 66 per cent, on the lowest incomes and rising gradually to T7 per cent, on £150. It then rises gradually to 3 per cent, on incomes of £500, and to a maximum of 4 per cent, on incomes of over £5,000. Assessment is by “ households,” that is, the incomes of husband, wife, children and other dependents are added together and taxed on the total ; but the incomes of wives living permanently apart from their husbands are assessed separately, as are also such incomes of children and other members of the household as are not at the disposal of the head of the household. Certain deductions are made before the taxable income is arrived at, chiefly of contributions ­ to sickness, accident and old age insurance, and to widows’, orphans’ and pension funds, and life insurance premiums up to £30. Further, in the case of incomes not exceeding £.150, £2 10s. is exempted from taxation for every member of the family under 14 years of age not assessed independently, and where there are three or more such persons in a household there* must be a reduction by at least one group in the schedule of income groups. In the case of income not exceeding £475, extraordinary obligations in regard to the support and education of children and relatives, chronic sickness, debt or other misfortunes may justify a reduction by at most three groups. The percentage addition to the State Income Tax levied by the local authorities ­ in Prussia varies considerably. In Berlin it has been for some years 100 per cent., but elsewhere it is generally much higher ; at the date of the Board of Trade Enquiry it was 135 per cent, at Aachen and 136 per cent, at Breslau, whilst in Bochum it was 160 per cent., in Barmen, Elberfeld, Essen, Dortmund and Königsberg 200 per cent., in Solingen 215 per cent., and in Remscheid 230 per cent. Taking 150 per cent, as a normal amount, a workman whose net income (i.e., after the above-specified deductions had been made), either alone or with his family, was 30s. a week would pay (as having an income of between £75 and £82 10s.) a total income tax of £2 12s. 6c?., viz., £l Is. to the State, 29088 e m #0 BSni ÎWl XVlll - %-and £1 Ils. 6c?. to the municipality ; thus paying 3*4 per cent, of his assessed income. A workman with £2 a week would pay £3 17s. 6c?., viz., £l 11s. to the State and £2 6s. 6c?. to the municipality, or 3*7 per cent, of his assessed income. Incomes under £45 a year are exempt from State taxation but may be taxed for local purposes at the discretion of the municipality. The Communal Taxation Act fixes below this minimum three income groups, to each of which a base rate of taxation is assigned. The scale is as follows :—Incomes up to £21, two-fifths per cent, of income up to a maximum of Is. 'l\d. ; incomes from £21 to £33, 2s. 4\d. ; incomes from £33 to £45 inclusive, 4s. In theory the full local additional percentage may be levied upon these base rates, but in practice the municipalities either exempt these three grades of income altogether or levy a lower percentage upon them. In many towns a further percentage of the -State Income Tax is levied by the religious communes (parishes), or the municipalities on their behalf, as a Church Tax for the upkeep of churches, support of clergy, &c. Each person liable to State Income Tax is taxed for this purpose by the religious community to which he legally belongs, whether Protestant, Roman Catholic or Jewish, and the liability can only be escaped by formal withdrawal from the Church. The Church Tax varies with local needs, and in some of the towns investigated it is as high as 50 or 60 per cent, of the State Income-Tax. In Berlin it is only 13^ per cent, and falls only on persons who pay on incomes exceeding £75. In most of the other states of the German Empire the methods of local taxation are approximately the same as those of Prussia ; but some of the Saxon and South German towns retain for local revenue purposes the “ octroi ” system, i.e. taxes imposed on a number of articles, chiefly food and beverages, brought within the municipal boundaries for consumption there. Such duties, which are usually very low in amount, are levied on numerous commodities at Dresden, Munich. Nuremberg, Aschaffenburg, and Mülhausen, and at Mannheim only on wine and beer (though in this last case there is also a consumption tax levied by the State of Baden on meat). (ii.)—Food and Food Pkices. Budgets of Working-class Families. For the purposes of this Enquiry a large number of forms asking for particulars as to the weekly income and the expenditure on rent and food for one week by a workman and his wife and children living at home, were distributed by means of trade unions and other workmen’s societies in the various German towns covered in this investigation, and after a certain number of returns had been rejected on account of the inadequacy of the information given, or for other reasons, 5,046 were left available for statistical purposes. The following Table shows the geographical and industrial grouping of the Budgets so obtained :— Geographical Group. Berlin Central Germany Rhineland-Westphalia (a) Textile Towns . (&) Hardware Towns South-west Germany Saxony Silesia Baltic Ports North Sea Ports ... Total Number of Budgets. 413 295 518 798 687 666 378 700 591 5,046 Industry. Metals and Engineering Building ... Textiles and Clothing ... Woodwork and Furnishing Printing and Paper Transport and Commerce Food, Drink and Tobacco Mining and Smelting ... Leather Glass, Pottery, Stone and Bricks Chemicals, Gas, &c. Factory Workers Workmen undefined Other Total Number of Budgets. 1,142 1,015 430 363 354 293 231 192 151 86 31 188 305 265 5,046 XIX The next Table shows the distribution of the Budgets according to family incomes :— Amount of Weekly Income per Family. Number of Budgets. Under 20s. 20s. and under 25s. 25s. „ 30s. 30s. „ 35s. 35s. „ 40s. 40s. and over ... 193 872 1,329 1,223 692 737 With regard to the statistics of families with the higher ranges of income it must be remembered that the amount of the family income is often due to the supplementary earnings of the wife or of children living at home, rather than to the high earnings of the head of the family. This is particularly the case where the income amounts to 40s. a week or more ; as will be seen from the next Table the average number of children living at home was, in the families of this class, much higher than the average number for all the families from which budgets were obtained. The next Table shows the average family income in each class, and the average amount contributed thereto by the husband, wife, and children respectively. Limits of Family Income. Under 20«. 20a. and under 25s. 25«. and under 30«. 30«. and under 35«. 35«. and under 40«. 40«. and over. Average number of children living at home ... Average family income :— Husband W" if e ... ... ... ... Children ... Total 237 s. d. 16 104 0 8# 0 02 2-28 s. d. 21 7 o 114 0 2 2 51 s. d. 25 3& 4| 251 s. d. 29 04 1 114 o 104 17 7f 22 84 27 1 31 104 2-79 s. d. 32 04 2 8 1 114 36 8 3 76 s. d. 33 24 2 12 94 84 48 84 It appears, then, that the contribution to the family income by members living at home, other than the head, amounts in the highest income group to nearly 32 per cent., whereas in no other group does it exceed 13 per cent. It is obvious that such families, with a more than normal number of wage earners, and usually, therefore, with older children, will have a more than average consumption of food. The following Table shows the general results of the enquiry. It gives the average, for each income-class, of the receipts and detailed expenditure upon food during a representative week by the working-class families to which the returns relate, and also the quantities of the various commodities consumed. All children living at home, whatever their age, have been included, but returns in which lodgers appeared have been excluded. c 2 29088 XX Average Weekly Cost and Quantity of certain Articles of Food consumed by Workmens Families in German Towns, 1906-07. Limits of Weekly Income Under 20«. 20«. and under 25«. 25«. and under 30«. 30«. and under 35«. 35«. and under 40«. 40«. and above. Number of returns 193 872 Average weekly family income ... s. d. 17 7| s. d. 22 8* 1,329 1,223 692 737 s. d. 27 1 s. d. 31 10* s. d. 36 8 s. d. 48 8* Average number of children living at home. 2 37 2-28 2 51 2 51 2-79 3-76 Weekly Cost. Bread and flour Meat (beef, pork, mutton, veal) . . Sausage Meat (other kinds), including fish ... ... .. • ... Bacon ... ... ... ... Eggs ... ... ... ... ... Fresh milk Cheese Butter ... ... ... ... Margarine ... Potatoes ... ... ... ... Other vegetables and fruit Rice, barley and oatmeal ... Macaroni Coif ee ... ... ... ... Sugar ... ... ... ... Cocoa and chocolate Syrups Salt and condiments Lard, suet and dripping ... “Other” Meals away from home Bccr ... ... ... ... ... Average food bill per family (with beer). Average food bill per family (without beer). s. d. 2 5% 2 3 0 11* o 3* 0 5* 0 3* 0 2* 0 8 0 4 0 9* 0 2* 0 1* 0 0* 0 5§ o n 0 0* 0 Of 0 1*. 12 3* 12 1* d. P 0 6 0 6 è S* l ? 0 10 0 6 0 2* 0 1 0 7 0 4* 0 1 0 0* 0 2* 0 7* 0 4 0 5 0 5% 15 1* 14 7* s. d. 2 10* 2 9* 1 4 0 4* 0 6* 0 2* 0 7* 0 5* 0 6* 0 8| 17 6* 16 10* s. d. 3 0* 3 4* 1 7* 0 4* 0 7* 0 8* 1 4f 0 4* 1 6* 0 5* 0 10* 0 9Î 0 2* 0 1* 0 8* 0 5 0 2 0 0* 0 2* 0 8 0 5 0 8 0 10* 19 9 18 10* s. d. 3 5 3 9* 1 9* 0 5* 0 11* 0 0* 22 2* 21 If 5* 0 7* 28 8* 27 4* Weekly Amount. Bread and flour Meat (beef, pork, mutton, veal) Sausage Bacon ... ... ... Fresh milk ... Eggs Cheese Butter Potatoes Coffee Sugar lb. 21-99 3- 14 125 055 pts. 8-76 No. 4- 2 lb. 0-35 0 55 28-13 0- 49 1- 81 lb. 2333 3-30 155 0-70 pts. 11-09 No. 7-4 lb. 0-42 0- 90 25-57 0 64 1- 83 lb. 2505 383 1-68 0 70 pts. 12-30 No. 9-2 lb. 0- 46 112 23 96 0 73 1- 96 lb. 26-06 454 2-07 0- 75 pts. 1283 No. 10-2 lb. 0-62 1- 37 23-81 0- 77 1- 98 lb. 29-83 519 2-20 0- 84 pts. 14-45 No. 116 lb. 0 60 1- 48 2463 0-86 214 lb. 38-21 6-85 2 92 101 pts. 16-10 No. 14 4 lb. 0- 77 1- 87 33-55 112 2- 67 XXI It will be seen that the proportion of the income spent on food diminishes as the income increases ; the following Table shows the proportions for each income-class :— Limits of Family Weekly Income. Under 20a. 20a. and under 25a. 25a. and under 50a. 30a. and under 35a. 35a. and under 40a. 40a. and above. Percentage of weekly income spent on food (excluding Beer). 68-7 64-5 62 3 59 2 57 7 56 3 Bread and Flour.—The heading “ bread ” covers all the numerous varieties and grades of bread sold in the German towns. White (wheaten) bread is eaten by the German workmen to only a very small extent, and then chiefly in the form of breakfast rolls ; " black ” rye bread, from flour once or twice ground, is used extensively in all parts of Germany ; and between these two extremes there are many varieties, chiefly of bread composed of rye and wheat (or in some instances, as at Dresden, rye and maize) in varying proportions, and usually known as “ grey ” bread. A typical case is Barmen, where the kinds of bread sold, and all bought by the working-classes, are described as being made of rye once-ground, rye twice-ground, two-thirds rye and one-third wheat, two-fifths rye and three-fifths wheat, one-third rye and two-thirds wheat, and wheat (this last in the form of sweet loaves or rolls). Whilst there is thus nothing approaching to a standard quality of bread throughout Germany, so also there is no standard size for the loaf, and consequently in the same town loaves are sold often in numerous sizes ; a rise in the price of cereals may thus bring either a decrease in the weight of loaves without a rise in price, or a rise in price and no diminution in weight. Flour is bought by the working-classes only to a small amount ; it is wheaten flour, used chiefly for the making of pastry. The average weekly consumption of Bread per family as shown by the budgets varied from lbs. in the case of the lowest income-class to 35¿ lbs. in the highest class, where the number of children living at home is larger than in any other group and the family income is much augmented by their earnings. The weekly consumption of Flour per family ranged from 1& lbs. to 3 lbs. Meat.—The total weekly expenditure on meat of all kinds (including bacon, fish, &c.), as shown by the budgets, ranged from 3s. 11 d. in the lowest income-class to 8s. 11|d. in the class of family incomes above 40s. The average for all incomes is 5s. 11 \d., or 18*8 per cent, of the average family income for all classes. The proportion of the amount expended on meat of all kinds (including bacon and fish) to the family income is distinctly higher in the two lowest income-classes than in the other four ; in these latter, though the actual expenditure rises with the income, its proportion to the income appears to be a fairly constant one, as the following Table shows :— Weekly Income. Under 20s. 20s. and under 25s 25s. „ „ 30s 30s. „ „ 35s 35s. „ » 40s 40s. and over Percentage of Income spent on Meat, Bacon and Fish. 22 2 19 3 18 6 18-8 18 4 18 4 The kinds of meat principally consumed by the German working-classes are beef, pork and sausage (chiefly of pork). The following Table, which gives the respective proportions of the different sorts of meat to the total weekly amount of all kinds consumed, as shown by the budgets, clearly demonstrates the overwhelming importance of the three principal items :— Percentage of total weekly consumption. Beef. 29-8 Sausage. 26-7 Pork. 213 Bacon. 10 4 Veal. 5*9 Mutton. 3-5 Other kinds. 24 Total. 100-0 XXll Inasmuch as the sausage is largely composed of pork, it will be seen that the three forms of pork together constitute about 58 per cent, of the total meat consumption, and beef another 30 per cent. ; the other kinds of meat are therefore of relatively small importance. The proportions, as shown by the budgets, vary, however, considerably from town to town. Thus the highest consumption of Beef is shown by Munich, where it is 53 per cent, of the total weekly consumption ; it is lowest at Brunswick, only 19 per cent. The proportion of Pork is greatest at Bochum, where it amounts to nearly 32 per cent. ; at Düsseldorf, which is lowest but one in the list, it is nearly 11 per cent, and then drops to 5 per cent, at Barmen. Sausage, of which a very large number of varieties are sold, ranges from 41 per cent, at Stassfurt to 12^ per cent, at Aachen. Bacon is 29 per cent, at Königshütte, but then drops sharply to 19^ per cent, at Aachen, and declines to 1^ per cent, at Nuremberg, I ^ per cent, at Munich, and 0'3 per cent, at Aschaffenburg. It may be remarked that " bacon ” in Germany is of two kinds, one consisting wholly of fat, and the other “ streaky ” ; the former is used almost solely for frying purposes. What are regarded in England as the best cuts — from the back—are not sold ; the fat is removed entirely from the back and ribs, and the remainder of those parts is sold as pork chops ; " streaky bacon ” therefore consists solely of cuts from the belly. Veal forms 11^ per cent, of the total consumption at Munich, and 9^ per cent, at Stuttgart ; the proportion gradually falls to 0*7 pei cent, at Bremen. Mutton, against which there appears to be a marked prejudice in certain parts of Germany, is 9 per cent, at Stettin and 8 per cent, at Berlin, but in 19 of the towns it forms less than 3 per cent, of the budget meat consumption. “ Other kinds (including fish) ” are most important at Elberfeld, where they constitute no less than 17 per cent, of the whole amount ; the next town in order is Königsberg, where they form only 6 per cent., and in 19 towns they are less than 2 per cent. Under this heading many items are included—such as various kinds of smoked or otherwise preserved meat, minced meat, game, liver, horseflesh, &c. The fish consists very largely of smoked or fresh herrings. The consumption of the various kinds of meat in each town is of course affected by geographical situation, by local agricultural conditions and by local tastes and customs. Reference has already been made to the prejudice which appears to exist in some parts of Germany against mutton ; the consumption reaches its lowest point in the towns of the South Germany group, where it is only 1 per cent, of the total meat consumption shown by the budgets for the towns as a whole ; in both the Rhine!and-Westphalia groups it is only about 2 per cent., and in Silesia 3 per cent. ; its maximum for any “ geographical group” is 8 per cent, in Berlin. South Germany again has a remarkably low figure for bacon—2i per cent. ; in the other geographical groups the range is from 6^ per cent, in Berlin to 17 per cent, in Silesia. On the other hand South Germany takes the highest place for beef, with 43 per cent. ; elsewhere the range is from 35^ per cent, in the textile towns of Rhineland-Westphalia to 22^- per cent, in Silesia. The proportion of sausage is abnormally high among the geographical groups in Central Germany, where it reaches 37 per cent. ; at Berlin it is 29 per cent., and for the other groups the range is a narrow one, from 24 to 26^ per cent. South Germany is again highest in regard to veal 8 per cent. ; and Central Germany lowest, with 4 per cent. Finally, the proportion of pork to the total meat consumption is lowest—14 per cent. in the Rhineland-Westphalia textile towns (where beef consumption is high), and highest in the Baltic Ports and Silesia (25^ and 26^ per cent, respectively), where the beef consumption is lower than in any other geographical group with the exception of Central Germany. In this connexion it is proper to point out that the average consumption of meat per head of population, as calculated by the municipal authorities from their slaughter-house returns, will be found in many of the town reports to be much higher than that shown by the budgets. This discrepancy is mainly due first to the conspicuous fact that the consumption of meat amongst the German middle classes is very great, and secondly to the fact that the proportion of children in the budget families is clearly likely to be very much greater than in the population as a whole, since family budgets were sought for. XXlil Horseflesh.—So far as this item appears in the budgets it is included under “other meat,” and probably also to some extent under “sausage.” The following Tables based on the official reports issued by the municipal authorities of the towns investigated, summarise such data as are available in respect of the consumption of horseflesh in the towns investigated. It should be observed, however, that in some cases the municipal slaughter-house serves a somewhat larger area than that of the municipality. Where there are no entries exact data are not available. Consumption of Horsefesh, 1904 and 1905. Aachen Berlin... Bochum Brunswick Crefeld Dortmund Essen ... Hamburg Leipzig Munich Plauen Solingen Stassfurt Stuttgart Zwickau Population in 11)05. 144,048 2,040,148 118,464 136,397 110,344 175,577 231,396 802,793 503,672 538,983 103,810 50,209 18,310 246,988 68,502 Number of Horses Slaughtered. 1905. 1904 445 11,192 572 234 5171 805 848 4,436 o70(tons) 2,592 332 951 215+ 174 609 13,752 321 596* 916 1,125 5,360 817 (tons) 2,898 359 1,132 195 2845 285 * In 1905-6. t In 1904-5. Î Weighing 55 tons. § Weighing 72 tons. Population in 1905. Per capita Consumption of Horseflesh per annum. Barmen Bremen Breslau Chemnitz Dresden Königsberg Plauen Stettin 156,147 211,861 470,751 244,927 511,050 223,770 1904. lb. II 5,2 4 1 3 103,810 224,119 H 2 1905. lb. 2 6 4 24 1 31 In reference to this consumption of horseflesh it may be remarked that the meat may be sold only in the shops of butchers dealing in that commodity alone, and under the same strict municipal supervision as other meat. The prices are very much lower than those of other meat (the maximum price beinoin October, 1905, rarely more than b^d. a lb. for the best cuts, and the minimum being as low as 2¿tí?. a lb. in Mülhausen, Nuremberg and Plauen) ; but whilst this consideration is doubtless of importance in promoting the sale there is evidence also that in some cases the meat is eaten because of a real taste for it Turning to other articles of consumption, it will be seen that the number of Eggs rises steadily with the increase of income, from 4*2 in the lowest income class to 14 4 in the families with incomes of 40s. and above ; the average weekly expenditure thereon rising from 3\d. to Is. The rise in the amount of Fresh Milk is also very marked : the consumption per family with incomes under 20s. a week is 8| pints, and it rises to 14J pints in the highest income class but XXIV one (35s. and under 40s.), where the average number of persons per family is only slightly higher than in the lowest class, and to a little more than 16 pints in the highest class of all. Butter shows a very pronounced increase in amount with the rise in family income ; the average quantity consumed weekly being in the lowest income class only a little over ^ lb., and then rising to about 1 ^ lb. in the group with incomes of 35s. and under 40s., and to over 1|¡ lb. in the highest group. The expenditure increases in very nearly the same ratio. The proportion of the weekly outlay on food which is expended on butter ranges from 3'7 per cent, in the towns of the South German group to 13*7 per cent, in the Saxony towns ; it will be remembered that the towns of South Germany have also a relatively low consumption of bacon and pork. The demand for Margarme (which is sold at a wide range of prices) varies greatly : at Stuttgart, Mülhausen, Nuremberg (all southern towns) and Chemnitz, the sale is said to be small ; at Aachen and Leipzig its use appears to be chiefly for cooking purposes ; whilst in Berlin, Munich, Solingen, Elberfeld, Remscheid, Brunswick and Stassfurt, the sale is reported to be large. It will be seen that the budgets do not show any marked variations in the expenditure on this item, except in the two highest classes, where it is probably used for cooking. Of Cheese numerous varieties are sold—the kind most commonly bought by the working classes being Limburg, which is the cheapest. Other kinds in demand are Tilsit, Münster, Dutch, German Emmenthal and Swiss—the lastnamed being very dear and bought only rarely by the working classes. In many cases small cheeses are sold by piece and not by weight. The budgets show only a small consumption, ranging from ^ lb. to § lb. per week, at a cost of from 2J(7 to 6^(7. The amount spent on Potatoes does not vary greatly, and ranges from about 10(7. in each of the three lowest groups to Is. 2|c7. in the highest group. The consumption is large, from 24.lbs. to 33^ lbs. On the other hand the expenditure on Other Vegetables and Fruit, which is only 2|(7. in the lowest income class, rises sharply to 6(7. in the next class (20s. and under 25s.), and then gradually to Is. \\d. in the highest class. Coffee accounts for an expenditure of 5j(7. in the lowest income class, rising to Is. 0^(7. in the highest, the range of quantities being from ^ lb. to a little over 1 lb. Cheap coffee substitutes are largely used by the German working classes, especially roasted barley, malt, and rye, which are mixed with the coffee in varying proportions. ^ The amount of Sugar consumed is small, and the range is not wide, being only from about If lbs. to a little less than 2f lbs. ; the expenditure varies from 4j(7. to 6^(7. Generally “ cube ” sugar is bought for use with coffee, and “ white granulated ” for other purposes. Retail Prices. \ 1 Information as to the prices commonly paid by the working classes for food commodities, for fuel and for paraffin oil was obtained from a large number of shopkeepers in each of the towns investigated, and also from the co-operative societies, where these existed. The predominant prices for each commodity in each of the towns are given in the separate town reports and also in the Appendix III., pp. 497-500. It must be remembered that the prices there shown are not necessarily the minimum prices at which the commodities could be obtained —probably in most cases they are not—but simply the prices which the working classes did in fact usually pay in the month of October, 1905 ; and where a range of prices is given, it is because they appear to be of equal popularity. The differences between one town and another, accordingly, represent often not so much differences in the cost of identical commodities as variations in local tastes and sometimes in local standards of comfort. The following Table presents the predominant range, for Germany as a whole (including Berlin), of retail prices commonly paid by the workingclasses for certain commodities. Prices at Berlin fall within the limits of the / XXV predominant range for all commodities except sugar (white granulated) and wheaten flour, for which they are above the limits, and potatoes, for which t íey are below the limits :— Predominant Range of Retail Prices in German downs {including Berlin) in October, 1905. Commodity. Number of Towns included. Coffee ... per lb. Sugar (white granu- „ lated). t Bacon Cheese (Dutch) ... „ ¡ „ (Limburg) . . „ ' j Butter ... ... ,, Margarine „ Potatoes ... ... per7lb. Flour, wheaten ... „ Bread, grey ...per 41b. j Milk per qt. fBeef per lb. t P ork ... » Coal percwt Paraffin oil ... pergal. 33 33 33 12 27 33 32 33 33 32 33 33 33 31 33 Predominant Range of Retail Prices, October, 1905. Number of Towns in which the Mean Predominant Price is Within the limits of the Predominant Range. Below the I Above the limits of the limits of the Predominant Predominant Range. | Range. 11 d. 22 2p7., 2# 24 8|(7. to lid. 30 8# „ 9# ; 8 „ 6&(7. 23 Is. Id. „ Is. 2fd. 27 7# „ 81(7. j 25 2^(7. „3(7. ! 25 1 l\d. „ Is. lf(7. ¡ 20 4# „ 6^(7. ! 27 2^(7. „ 2§(7. 25 7^(7. „ 8^. ' 26 8|(7. „ 11(7. 29 101(7. „ Is. 4(7. 19 9^(7. „ 11(7. 30 3 4 2 1 3 2 6 5 7 3 7 6 4 6 1 8* 5 1 3 1 4 1 3 6 2 1 1 0 6 2 # The price usually paid in each of these towns is either 11(7. or Is. 1(7. f The prices relate to the cuts taken into consideration in constructing the Prices Index Numbers. For Coffee the price oilld. was almost universal ; a higher price, generally I*. l(/.,^vas\tated to be frequently paid by the working classes in the towns of South Germany, and in Leipzig, Flauen and Königshütte. The price paid for Sugar is also very uniform, the extreme range in October 1905, being from’2^.-to 2|d. The lower limit was quoted as the sole working-class price only in Zwickau, Breslau and Dantzig, and the upper limit occurred only in Berlin, in three of the hardware towns of Rhineland-Westphalia (including Düsseldorf, where 2|d. was the only price quoted as predominantly paid), and in Plauen. In the case of Bacon it was not possible in obtaining prices to adhere to one particular quality or brand throughout all the towns The prices given in the above Table relate to both “ fat bacon {fetter Speck), and streaky bacon (,durchwachsener Speck). In many of the towns (as will be seen from Appendix III, p. 497) there is no difference between the range of prices of the two kinds though elsewhere the range for streaky bacon is naturally the higher of the two. Fat bacon is used, as already pointed out, almost solely for cooking purposes. d 29088 , XXVI For Butter the extreme range of prices was from Is. (a price which was given as predominant only in Hamburg-Altona) to Is. 3\d. The kinds usually bought are slightly salted. For Potatoes the predominant prices quoted per 7 lb. showed, as was to be expected, a somewhat wide range—from 1 ^d. in Stettin and Königshütte to 3in Brunswick and Stassfurt. For Bread it appeared desirable to use, for statistical purposes, the prices for the numerous kinds of " grey ” bread (z.g., a mixture of rye and wheat in various proportions), since these were obtainable for all the towns investigated, whilst prices for black (rye) bread were procurable in only 15 out of the 33 towns. As there is in Germany nothing approaching to a standard quality loaf, and the proportions of rye and wheat in grey bread vary considerably, the extreme range of prices in October, 1905, was very wide, the limits being 4\d. and vS^rf. per 4 lbs. The lower limit was quoted in Magdeburg, Brunswick and Stassfurt (all in the Central Germany group), and in Flauen, whilst the upper limit was quoted only in Remscheid. The predominant range (as shown in the above table) was 4jc/. to The price of Milk showed singularly little variation, the range being only from 2d. to 3d. per quart. The lower limit was, however, quoted only in Oschersleben, and the upper limit of 3d. only in Mannheim ; in all the other towns the price was 2\d. to 2\d. The prices of Coal are affected to a large extent by the distance of each town from the coalfields. The entire range in October, 1905, was from l\d. per cwt. at Königshütte, the centre of the Silesian coal area, and &\d. at Essen and Bochum, in the midst of the Rhineland-Westphalia coal district, to Is. H^d. at Stuttgart and Is. 9¡d. at Mülhausen—both of these being South German towns remote from sources of supply. In the mining districts coal is frequently supplied cheaply at the pits to the miners, or even free (as at Königshütte) ; elsewhere briquettes are largely used by the working classes (for instance, at Berlin, Aachen, Düsseldorf, Leipzig and Brunswick) for heating purposes ; as is also lignite (brown coal), often in the form of little more than coal-dust, for cooking purposes. The Meat consumed in Germany is almost entirely home-killed meat. The variations in price between the towns are not very great, ranging as expressed in index numbers (Berlin = 100) from 94 to 116, the differences between one town and another being due probably both to differences in the actual prices for identical commodities and to varieties of taste and habit. From the Tables in Appendix III (pp. 499, 500), it will be seen that as a rule there are for each kind of meat no differences in price, except for the very best cuts (such as beef steak and mutton or pork chops), between one cut and another. This is due to the fact that in most of the towns neither the butchers' nor their customers distinguish, ­ either in quoting prices or in cutting up the meat, between the various parts except, as already indicated, in the case of certain special cuts which are not bought to any large extent by the working classes. The meat is generally sold entirely w ithout bone, or with only a small, proportion of bone. It may be added that in most of the German towns, where as a rule the inspection of the meat supply is very stringent, there is an institution known as the “ Freibank,” practically a municipal meat stall or shop, where the flesh of animals which has fallen short of the standard of soundness imposed by the municipal inspectors is sold at a low price after being subjected, if necessary, to treatment (usually boiling) intended to render it safe for human consumption. This institution is found, for example, at Berlin, Breslau, Munich, Leipzig, Chemnitz, Königsberg, Mülhausen, Brunswick and Zwickau. Though of some importance to the very poor, the amount thus sold at the " Freibank ” in any town is very small relatively to the total consumption of meat. In order to obtain for each town an indication of the level of prices there as compared with other towns, index numbers have been constructed, the level of XXVll prices in Berlin being taken as the base (= 100). In order to allow lor the varying importance of the prices of the different articles, as judged by the normal weekly expenditure of a working-class family, recourse was had to “ weighting,” and for this purpose average quantities estimated from the Budgets shown on p. xx, have been adopted, but “bread and hour” have been divided into 25 lbs. of bread and 2 lbs. of flour (the remaining ¿ lb. being omitted as representing probably various kinds of fancy bread and pastry). For meat only beef and pork have been included, with weights of 2} lbs. and If lbs. respectively. No information as to the average coal consumption per family per week was given in the budgets, but from independent enquiries it appears that an estimate of 1^ cwt. may be taken as approximately correct. The following, therefore, are the quantities of the selected commodities assumed, on the basis of 5,046 weekly budgets, to be consumed by a German workingclass family in a normal week :— Coffee ... ... ... Sugar (white granulated) Bacon Cheese Butter Eggs Potatoes fib. 2 lbs. f lb-¿lb. If lbs. 10 26 lbs. Flour (wheaten) Bread... Milk ... Beef ... Pork ... Coal ... 2 lbs. 25 lbs. 6& qts. 2Í lbs. If lbs. 1 Jr cwt. The predominant prices in each town as ascertained for the various articles are weighted in accordance with the above quantities, the total expenditure so obtained being expressed as a percentage of the corresponding total as compiled for Berlin ; the results are shown in the following Table :—-Prices Index Numbers in Descending Order. Berlin = 100. Town. Index No. Town. Index No. Town. Index No. Barmen Mannheim Mülhausen Stuttgart Munich Nuremberg Remscheid Bremen Chemnitz Dresden Aachen 110 109 109 108 107 107 105 105 1(>5 103 103 Düsseldorf Elberfeld Plauen Königsberg Brunswick Solingen Aschaffenburg Leipzig Crefeld Berlin Stettin 102 I Essen 102 102 101 101 101 101 101 Zwickau Oschersleben Stassf urt Magdeburg ... Hamburg-Altona Dantzig Bochum 100 i Dortmund 100 99 Breslau Königshütte... 99 98 98 98 97 97 97 96 96 95 86 There are thus no less than 20 out of the 33 towns which have a prices index number higher than Berlin. The total difference between the highest and lowest towns is 24 points, as compared with 72 points in the case of rents ; if, however, Königshütte (whose index number for prices is very low) be excluded, the maximum difference in price levels is only 15 points. It will be observed that five out of the six towns at the head of the list are situated in South Germany. The following Table shows the prices index numbers for each of the geographical groups for which rent index numbers have already d 2 29088 XXVlll been given ; in addition to the total index number separate index numbers are also given for food other than meat, meat and coal :— Prices Index Numbers for Geographical Groups. Geographical Group. Mean Prices Index Number. Number m of I Food Towns - I other than Meat. Meat. Total Food. Coal. All Commodities. ­ Berlin •• Central Germany Rhineland Westphalia :— {a) Textile Towns... (b) Hardware Towns South Germany Saxony Silesia ... ... ... Baltic Ports North Sea Ports ... 100 97 107 105 104 100 92 97 100 100 106 110 103 107 114 104 108 111 100 99 108 105 105 103 94 99 102 100 95 80 70 119 95 67 101 96 100 99 104 100 107 102 91 99 101 Prices are thus shown to be highest in South Germany, and lowest in Silesia, the price of coal being an important factor in both cases. The textile towns of the Rhineland-Westphalia area which form the second highest-priced group have low coal prices—they are near to a source of supply—but high index numbers for meat and other food. Saxony has the highest index number for meat prices of any of the groups, and this, combined with a fairly high index number for coal, gives it third place. The Baltic Ports show low numbers for food other than meat, but high numbers for meat. Co-operative Societies.—In connection with the retail prices of commodities it may be remarked that, although the co-operative distribution movement is not so extensively developed in Germany as it is in the United Kingdom, it has yet a considerable hold in certain places, particularly in Breslau and in Saxony ; in the latter area the co-operative societies are reported to be strong in every one of the five towns investigated. Similar societies of importance exist in other towns, such as Stuttgart, Mannheim,- Barmen, Hamburg, Bremen, Remscheid, Dortmund, Magdeburg, Stettin, and Zwickau ; in yet others,‘ such as Berlin, Aachen, Mülhausen, Bochum, and Düsseldorf, they are relatively very weak. It may be pointed out here that the rules of the co-operative societies generally permit the sale to non-members of only articles of the societies’ production (e.g., bread). The case of Essen is peculiar, since there the prices charged by the working-class shops of the town are ruled by those charged in the numerous shops of the co-operative society established in connection with the Krupp Works (which, however, is scarcely a co-operative society in the ordinary sense of the term), and the shops of the town society. Similar stores instituted ­ by firms for their workpeople are found in some other cases, e.g., at Königshütte and Magdeburg. In order to resist the co-operative movement, ­ combinations of traders have in many towns adopted a system of discounts, given in the form of stamps exchangeable ultimately for goods or for cash. The “ multiple shop ” system appears to have made so far but little progress in Germany. (iii) Rents and Prices Combined. The next Table gives for each of the 33 German towns index numbers showing the relative levels of that part of the cost of living which is due to expenditure on food, fuel, and housing accommodation. As the amount which has to be expended on food, &c., is very considerably greater than that which has to be spent on rent, a weight of four has been given to prices, and a weight of one to rent. CwmMW Æmfg and Pr/cgg m Dggc6/%&^ G/'^r. Town. Stuttgart Mannheim Berlin Barmen Munich Düsseldorf Mülhausen Nuremberg Remscheid Bremen Aschaffenburg Index No. Town. 106 100 100 99 98 97 97 96 95 94 94 Dresden Königsberg Aachen Elberfeld Solingen Chemnitz Planen Essen Leipzig Hamburg-Altona Crefeld Index No. Town. 93 93 93 93 93 92 92 92 91 91 90 Dortmund Stettin Brunswick Bochum Dantzig Breslau Magdeburg Zwickau Stassfurt Oschersleben Königshütte. Index No. 90 88 88 88 87 87 86 86 85 84 78 Stuttgart heads the list, under the combined influence of high rents and high prices, whilst the position of Mannheim is due mainly to high prices, and that of Berlin to high rents. The place of Königshütte at the bottom of the list is due to the very low level of prices ruling there, whilst for the three towns immediately above it the determining factor is low rents. The extreme range for the 33 towns is from 106 to 78—a difference of 28 points, but if we exclude Stuttgart and Königshütte the extreme difference is only 16 points, and 20 of the towns, or nearly two-thirds, lie within the narrow range of 96 to 88. Thus there does not appear to be a very marked difference between the towns in respect of that part of the cost of living which is represented by the expenditure on food, fuel, and housing. In the following Table the combined rents and prices index numbers are given for the geographical groups of towns. Combined Bents and Prices Index Numbers for Geographical Groups. Geographical Group. Number of Towns. Mean Index Numbers. Rent. Prices. Rent and Prices Combined. Berlin Central Germany Rhineland Westphalia :— (a) Textile Towns lb) Hardware Towns South Germany Saxony Silesia Baltic Ports North Sea Ports 100 35 55 64 65 47 52 52 59 100 99 104 100 107 102 91 99 101 100 86 94 93 99 91 83 89 93 Thus when rents and prices are combined, South Germany, with a relatively high level of both prices and rents, comes next after Berlin, and very close to it.° The Silesian group of towns is lowest, owing to medium rents and low prices ; the low level of Central Germany is due solely to the influence of low rents. (iv.) Wages and Hours of Labour. From a large number of returns made for the purposes of this investigation by German employers, and from other sources, much information was obtained as to wa<?es and hours of labour in many branches of industry, and this is set out in the separate town reports, and to some extent also in a subsequent section of this General Report (pp.xxxv,xxxvi), and in Appendix L, pp. 492-495. Ina number of cases it was possible to obtain “ standard rates,” i.e., rates fixed for a definite period by agreement between employers and employed. Such agreements exist for the printing trade throughout Germany—in this case there is a minimum rate, with an addition which varies from town to town according to an estimate of the local cost of living ; for brewing there are local or special agreements (i.e., agreements made for the whole district or between individual firms and their employees) in all the towns in which that industry is carried on to any considerable extent ; and there are local agreements for some branches of the building trade in nearly all the towns investigated. In all these cases the agreements are as to time rates. There are numerous and complicated piecework XXX agreements for the cutlery industries of Solingen, and the various branches of the rasp, file, and small tool industry of Remscheid. There are agreements (either of time-rates or piece-rates) also in one town or another for a^number of the smaller trades, such as wood carving at Berlin, Breslau, and Chemnitz ; silk dyeing and printing at Crefeld ; bookbinding at Stuttgart, Leipzig, and Mannheim ; bespoke tailoring at Königsberg ; the ready-made clothing industry at Berlin ; shoemaking at Stuttgart ; and milling at Mannheim and Breslau. In the metal and engineering industries, as in the textile group, scarcely any agreements exist. It will be seen, therefore, that they relate almost solely to the smaller industries, and particularly to those which have more or less the character of handicrafts. The agreements as a rule are concluded for two or three years, though the minimum period may be as little as one year, and the maximum as much as five years. Specimen agreements are given in Appendix VI., pp. 508, 509. Where time-rates were not in force employers were asked to give the predominant earnings for each of the various classes of workmen in a full week, exclusive of overtime, in October, 1905. In order to facilitate comparison between the towns included in this investigation, it was necessary to choose trades which are represented in all the towns, with the fewest possible exceptions. The only trades answering to this requirement are the building trade, engineering, printing, and certain municipal employments. Brewing is represented in 23 towns, but comparison is rendered extremely difficult by the fact that in some of the towns beer is supplied tree to the employees, in others they have a choice between an allowance of beer and a money equivalent, and in yet others no allowance is made at all. The detailed rates of wages—whether ‘'standard rates” or predominant earnings—in these occupations are given in Appendix I., pp. 492-495. The following fable shows the predominant range of wages throughout Germany for each of the occupations in these trades, except brewing. The rates are in all cases weekly rates, and in the building trades in particular these are greatly dependent on the number of hours worked. Predominant Range of Weekly Wages in Certain in October, 1905.* Occupations in Germany Occupations^ Number of Towns included. Predominant Range of Weekly Wages at October, 1905. Number of Towns in which the mean wage for the given occupation was Within the Predominant Range. Below the Predominant Range. Above the Predominant Range. Building Trades :—t Bricklayers and Masons. Carpenters ... Joiners and Cabinet Makers. Plumbers Stucco workers Painters Labourers ... Engineering Trades : Moulders . . Fitters Turners Smiths Pattern-makers Labourers ... Printing Trades :— Compositors, Machine _ minders and Pressmen. ­ Municipal Employees :— Road Makers Road Sweepers Gas Stokers Gas Labourers Waterworks Labourers. ­ 32 32 30 28 26 29 32 21 28 28 23 28 28 32 30 26 29 29 29 26s. 11 d. to 31s. 3d. 26s. 11(7. „ 31s. 3d. 24s. „ 27s. 24s. to 28s. 6(7. 33s. to 36s. 24s. to 29s. 8d. 19s. 6(7. to 24s. * 3* 's. to 34s. 26s. „ 32s. 27s. „ 33s. 28s. 6(7. to 33s. 25s. 6t7. „ 30s. 18s. to 22s. 24s. 9(7. to 25s. 11(7. 18s. to 21s. 7(7. 17s. 2(7. to 21s. 24s. to 30s. 18s. to 22s. 6(7. 18s. „ 21s. 7(7. 19 16 16 20 13 25 18 10 18 17 12 15 22 21 18 18 22 23 16 * Berlin is not included in this Table. t Wages are for a full week in summer. XXXI In the next Table the index numbers for each of these occupations are given for the 33 towns, which are arranged in geographical order ; the level of wages in Berlin for each occupation is taken as equal to 100. Wages Index Numbers. Towns. Berlin. Central Germany Magdeburg Brunswick Stassfurt Oschersleben Rhineland Westphalia (a) Textile Towns— Elberfeld Barmen... Aachen... Crefeld ... (&) Hardware Towns-Düsseldorf Essen ... Dortmund Bochum Remscheid Solingen South Germany :— Munich... X uremberg Stuttgart Mannheim Mülhausen Aschaffenburg Saxony Dresden Leipzig ... • Chemnitz Plauen ... Zwickau Silesia :— Breslau ... Königshütte Baltic Ports:— Stettin ... Königsberg Dantzig... .North Sea Ports :— Hamburg-Altona Bremen... Building. Engineering. Skilled Men,. Unskilled Labourers. 100 81 89 71 91 89 82 79 78 85 83 81 83 83 87 85 78 75 81 69 71 83' 88 78 81 68 76 65 79 80 74 102 89 100 89 89 76 67 94 89 70 85 103 99 101 96 85 103 89 73 81 89 76 76 90 95 80 77 66 78 58 67 90 72 125 100 Skilled Men. Unskilled Labourers. Printing. Skilled Men. Municipal Employees. 100 90 91 80 83 -91 96 90 98 99 90 87 97 83 88 84 96 67 65 83 95 73 65 95 71 67 97 79 100 99 89 91 89 96 87 101 103 99 99 96 108 89 89 85 83 101 81 83 106 96 71 78 88 83 85 96 89 100 92 80 80 88 88 8<S 88 90 92 90 88 88 88 94 92 94 90 80 80 94 96 90 88 86 92 84 90 88 88 100 92 100 92 81 65 85 40 89 84 93 87 90 87 91 89 91 86 87 91 81 72 90 89 87 76 69 81 72 78 76 78 93 101 The next Table gives the wages index numbers for skilled and unskilled men in the building and engineering trades, for the printing trades, and for municipal employees, in each of the geographical groups, wages in Berlin being taken as the base. » XXXll Wages Index Numbers for Geographical Groups. Geographical Group. Number of Towns. Mean Wages Index Number. Building. Skilled Men. Unskilled Men. Engineering. Skilled Men. Unskilled Men. Printing. Municipal Employees. ­ Berlin Central Germany Rhineland Westphalia :— (a) Textile Towns ... (b) Hardware Towns South Germany Saxony Silesia Baltic Ports North Sea Ports 100 83 82 84 77 80 71 78 96 100 80 85 98 81 82 68 76 113 100 86 92* 93 81 79* 95* 69* 88 100 92 95* 99 87 88* 88* 84* 93 100 85 88 89 88 91 88 89 96 100 79* 85 90 85 82 77 77 97 * The number of towns included is less than the total number in the geographical group. For skilled men as a whole, and for municipal employees, the North Sea Ports thus show the highest level, whilst for unskilled men in the engineering and building trades the level is high—quite abnormally so in respect of the building trade. The general level of wages is high for skilled and unskilled alike in the Rhineland Westphalia hardware towns, whilst the lowest position is taken by the Baltic Ports. Hours of Labour.—In the following Table the hours of labour are given for each of the occupations selected for the purpose of comparison between the various towns. Hours of Labour in certain Occupations. Occupations. No. of Towns included. ­ Building Trades* :— Bricklayers and Masons Carpenters Joiners and Cabinet Makers. Plumbers Stucco-workers Painters Labourers 33 33 30 29 26 30 33 Engineering Trades ... ; 29 Printing Trades 33 Municipal Employees :— Road Makers : 31 Road Sweepers ... j 27 Gasworks Labourers... 26 Waterworks Labourers ; 28 Number of Towns in wbicb tbe usual Hours of Labour per Week (excluding intervals) were Under 54. 54. — 33 Over 54 and under 57. 57. Over 57 and under 59. 59 and under 60. 60. 13 13 9 12 9 15 13 14 19 14 21 21 Over 60. * Hours in summer. The predominant number of hours of labour per week in summer are thus in the building trades as a whole from 57 to 60, with 59 to 60 as the number for bricklayers, masons, carpenters, and labourers. In the engineering trades the predominant number is again from 58 to 60. In the printing trades a XXX in 54-hour week is universal, whilst on the other haiyl for municipal employees 60 hours must be taken as the normal working week. Deductions from Waqes in respect of Workmen's Insurance.—A factor of considerable importance in the labour conditions of Germany is the existence of a system of compulsory working-class insurance against accidents, sickness, infirmity, and old age, part of the cost of which has to be borne by the workpeople, inasmuch as they are compelled to submit to the deduction from their wages of certain sums as insurance premiums. In the case of accident insurance the law requires that the whole of the cost be borne by the employer, who, for this purpose, is required to join one of the trade associations for mutual insurance (Berufsgenossenschaften), at present 66 in number, formed in compliance with this law. But although the employer is prohibited from deducting anything from the wages of his workpeople in respect of this branch of insurance, part of the cost is nevertheless borne by the latter, since during the first 13 weeks after an accident the expenses arising therefrom fall upon the Sickness Insurance Fund, i.e., upon a fund to which the workman is bound to contribute. Under the Sickness Insurance Law two-thirds of the cost of insurance has to be borne by the worker and one-third by the employer. The latter is responsible for the payment of the whole premium, but may deduct two-thirds of the amount from the worker’s wages at the next pay-day. The amount of the worker’s share may not be less than 1 per cent, and not more than 4 per cent, of his wages. The actual amounts vary in the different kinds of funds recognised under this law, but about 87 per cent, of the workmen insured are insured in funds to which their contributions may not be less than 3 or more than 4 per cent, of their wages ; probably 3^ per cent, may be taken as the normal amount. For this the benefits received are (1) free medical treatment and sick-pay (one-half the average earnings) for 26 weeks ; or (2) hospital maintenance and one-quarter of the average earnings (the money being paid to dependents) ; and (3) funeral money. In the case of infirmity and old age pensions the law fixes the actual amount of the premium at a figure which varies according to the wage class to which the insured worker belongs, five such classes being distinguished. The classes and weekly premiums are as follows :— Wage Class. I. II. III. IV. V. Limits of Yearly Earnings. Up to £17 10s. Over £17 10s. and under £27 10s. „ £27 10s. „ £42 10s. „ £42 10s. „ £57 10s. Over £57 10s. Weekly Premiums. 1-7 d. 2'4d. 29d. 36d. 4-3 d. One-half of the contribution has to be paid by the employer ; in practice he pays the whole and deducts the workers’ share from the wages at the next pay-day. Thus, in the two highest wages-classes—to which the majority of adult working-men belong—the weekly contributions actually paid by the workmen are P8& in Class IV. and 2'2d. in Class V. A minimum of forty contributory weeks is required in each year. A pension lor permanent incapacity (i.e., inability to earn one-third of the current local rate of wages) can be claimed at the end of two hundred contributory weeks ; old age pensions can be claimed first at 70 years of age. From the above data it may approximately be calculated that the compulsory ­ deductions from weekly wages for insurance premiums (estimating the sickness insurance premium at 3^ per cent.) are for a wage of 20s. a week-10-2d. ; for 25s. a week, 12'7d. ; for 30s. a week, 14-8d. ; and for 35s. a week, 16’9d. On the whole the ratio of insurance contributions to wages may be taken at something over 4 per cent. In the case of the workers engaged in coal, lignite, metalliferous, and salt mines in Prussia in 1906, the total insurance ­ deductions amounted to 4 9 per cent, of the total earnings, but this higher rate may be due to the fact that in the mining industry, which is separately organised for insurance purposes, the men voluntarily contribute a little more than 1fie law requires, and get correspondingly higher benefits. 3908$ XXXIV In regard to all standard rates of weekly earnings given in this Report it must be remembered that the earnings of the workmen are subject to this compulsory deduction. (v.) Relation of Rates of Wages to Rents and Prices. The following Table shows for each of the geographical groups the mean index numbers for rents and prices, and for rents and prices combined, together with the mean index numbers for the weekly rates of wages for skilled men in the building, engineering, and printing trades. Geographical Group. Number of Towns. Mean Index Numbers. Rent and Prices. Rent. Prices. Rent and Prices combined.* Wages (Skilled Men). Building. ­ Berlin Central Germany Rhineland Westphalia :— (а) Textile Towns (б) Hardware Towns South Germany Saxony Silesia Baltic Ports North Sea Ports 100 35 55 61 65 47 52 52 59 100 99 104 100 107 102 91 99 101 100 86 94 93 99 91 83 89 93 100 83 82 84 77 80 71 78 96 Engineering. ­ Printing. 100 86 92f 93 81 79f 95f 69f 88 100 85 88 89 88 91 88 89 96 * In the construction of this index number prices have been given a weight of four and rent a weight of one. t In these cases the number of towns included is less than the number in the geographical group. From this Table it does not appear possible to draw any conclusions as to the extent to which wages vary from one district to another with variations in that part of the cost of living which is represented by expenditure on food and housing accommodation. The available data are hardly sufficient for the determination ­ of the problem ; but the above Table does not seem to indicate any immediate relation between the level of rent and prices on the one hand and of wages on the other. If the mean of the wages index numbers for the three trades (building, engineering, and printing) be taken in each group, and the results combined with the index numbers for rents and prices combined, an approximate comparison ­ of the average level of " real ” wages may be made, i.e., of the money wages expressed in terms of their purchasing capacity (as shown by the index numbers of rent and. prices combined) rpk ~ — * —^ " Table :— The results are set out in the following Geographical Group. Number of Towns. Mean Index Numbers. Rent and Prices combined. Berlin Central Germany Rhineland Westphalia :— (a) Textile Towns (b) Hardware Towns South Germany Saxony Silesia Baltic Ports ... North Sea Ports 100 86 94 93 99 91 83 89 93 Wages of Skilled Men in Building, Engineering, and Printing Trades. 100 85 87 89 82 83 85 79 93 Approximate relative level of “ Real Wages.” 100 99 93 96 83 91 102 89 100 XXXV (vi.) Some Industrial Groups. Finally, it appeared desirable to bring together the data available in respect of certain towns in which particular industries are carried on to such an extent as to give them a distinct character. This is done in the following Tables, which give such data for groups of towns in which coal-mining, engineering, shipbuilding and the manufacture of textiles are respectively important. For the textile group it is impossible to summarise the wages, since the variety of occupations and their differences between one town and another are so great, but information as to wages in the textile trades will be found in the separate town reports. (a.) Coal Mining. Population, 1905 Percentage of population employed in mining, ­ smelting, &c.,* in mines and works subject to inspection. Index Numbers :— , Rents ... ... ... ... ... Prices Rents and Prices combined Wages in Coal Mining Industry :— Hewers ... ... ... ... ... Putters and Trammers Surface Labourers Birth-rate per 1,000 of population, average of 5 years 1901-5. Death-rate per 1,000 of population, average of 5 years 1901-5. Infantile Mortality per 1,000 births, average of 5 years 1901-5. R hineland-W estphalia. Bochum. 118,464 58 57 96 88 31*. 18*. id. to 21*. Id. 15*. to 21«. 41-3 216 164 Dortmund. 175,577 5-6 68 96 90 30*. to 36«. 17*. 8d. „ 19*. 10d. 18«. Id. to 21*. 41-8 ¡94 177 Saxony. Zwickau. 68.502 17-5 38 98 86 20*. 15*. id. 33-1 216 Silesia. Königshütte. 66,012 7-6 47 86 78 27*. Id. 18*. Id. 17*. Id. The number employed in and about mines cannot be separately stated. (b.) Engineering. Brunswick. Population, 1905 Percentage of population employed in machinery, implement, and apparatus ­ making, in places subject to industrial inspection. Index Numbers Rents Prices Rents and Prices combined . Wages in engineering trades Fitters Turners .. Smiths Pattern-makers.. Labourers.. Birth-rate per 1,000 of population, average of 5 years, 1901-5. Death-rate per 1,000 of population, average of 5 years, 1901-5. Infantile Mortality per 1,000 births, average of 5 years, 1901-5. 136,397 6'4 37 101 88 31«. to 33*. 28«. 10(1 „ 29s. 6<1 33*. to 35s. 5d 26s. 6d to 28s. 10d 18s. „ 21«. 28-6 182 191 Chemnitz.! Essen. Magdeburg. 224,927 9'7 40 105 92 21s. to 24s. 24s. „ 26s. 1 25*. „ 27*. 25*. „ 27s. 14*. „ 17s. 36-0 21-8 302 231,360 9-0 62 99 92 30*. to 39*. 32«. 61 to 39*. 30*. to 36*. 27s. 20s. to 23*. 43-4 18-4 157 240,633 43 97 86 27s. to 33*. 30*. „ 36s. 30*. „ 33*. 27*. „ 31*. 19s. 2d to 24*. 28-1 18-4 236 Mannheim. ! Mülhausen, j Nuremberg. 163,693 5'8 64 109 100 32«. 30*. to 34*. 61 32s. 6d 32s. to 35«. 21s. „ 23s. 41-4 208 234 94,498 5'9 48 109 97 19*. to 24s. 20s. 6d to 23s. 23s. 6d „ 25*. 23s. to 24s. 17*. to 18*. 6d 28 5 198 202 294,426 53 53 1(7 96 25*. to 32*. 0d 28s. „ 34*. 9d. 24*. 4d to 28*. 17s. 6d to 19*. 5d 37 6 21-3 247 * Cannot be stated. e 2 29088 NXXVl (c.) Shipbuilding. Hamb irg-Altoia. Population, 1905 Index Nümbebs Rents Prices Rents and Prices combined Wages in Engineering and Shipbuilding ­ Trades:— 971,113 66 97 91 Time. Fitters .. Turners Smiths Patternmakers . Angle-iron smiths Platers Ri vetters .. .. Caulkers .. Holders-up Platers'helpers .. Engineering 'Shipbuilding Labourers Birth-rate per 1,000 of population, average of 5 years, 1901-5. ' Death-rate per 1,000 of population, average of 5 years, 1901-5. Infantile Mortality per 1,000 births, average of 5 years, 1901-5. 25s. 2(7. to 30s! 25s. 2d. „ 30s. 21s. 35s.KM. to 28s. 10(7. 21s. to 22s. 2d. 21s. „ 22s. PM. 18s. to 21s. 21s. Hamburg. Piece. Bremen. Stettin. 211,861 52 105 94 Mixed Time and Piece. 30s. to 36s. 30s. 30s. 30s. 33s. 33s. 33s. 36s. 36s. 36s. 39s. 39s. 39s. 24s. to 30s. 24s. „ 27s. 24s. to 30s. Altona. 264 163 174 283 173 187 25s. to 27s. 26s. „ 30s. 25s. „ 33s. 22s. KM. to 24s. 21s. to 26s. 6(7. 25s. to 27s. 23s. „ 27s. 16s. to 22s. lOd. 18s „ 19s. 10d. 18s. to 23s. 18s. „ 21s. 18s. „ 22s. 30-7 168 162 224,119 46 99 Time. Piece. Dantzig. > 159,648 49 97 87 Piece. 22s. 20s. 22 s. 10(7. 20s. 5(7. 5(7. to 21s. 20s. 5(7. 20s. 5(7. 18 s. 18s. 7(7. 26s 6(7. to 24s. 24s. 24s. 29s. 26s. • to 27s. 6(7. 26s. 26s. 342 229 282 21s. to 22s. 4(7. 22s. id. 22s. 4(7. to 22s. 10(7. 23s. 6(7. to 25 s. 22s. 10(7. 22s. 10(7. 19s. id. 18s. to 19s. * 18s. „ '19s. t 347 228 237 * Except Labourers, who work at time rates. t Time rates. (d.) Textiles. Rhineland. Elberfeld. Barmen. Aachen. Crefeld, Population, 1905 Branches of Textile Industry predominant ­ in town. Percen ta ge of popu lation employed in textile factories and workshops ­ subject to inspection. Index Numbers Rents ... ... ... i.. Prices ... ... Rents and Prices combined... Birth-rate per 1.000 of population, ­ average of five years - 1901-5. Death rate per 1,000 of popula tion, average of five vears 1901-5. Infantile Mortality per 1,000 births average of five years 1901-5. 102,853 Cotton 156,080 Haberand Wool, dsshery. 4-8 57 102 93 320 17 2 164 12-8 57 110 99 314 15 2 136 144,095 Wool. 53 103 93 316 191 207 110,344 Silk. 12-2 52 100 90 26-7 15-0 153 Alsace. Mülhausen Saxony. Chemnitz. Plauen 94,498 Cotton. 14 7 43 109 97 28-5 19-8 224,927 Hosiery. 8-3 40 105 92 30-0 21-8 302 105,381 Lace. 174 52 102 92 38-0 17-8 213 * This figure cannot be given, the Aachen inspection district being larger than the municipal area. XXX Vil (vii) Changes in Prices and Wages since October, 1905. In the separate reports information is given for each town in regard to the movement of prices between the standard date, October, 1905, and the date at which the town was visited for the purpose of this Enquiry. But it appeared desirable to obtain some information as to the movement of prices up to a more recent date, and for this purpose supplementary investigations were made in April, 1908, in six representative towns—Berlin, Aachen, Chemnitz, Magde-Jzanqf, Mannheim and Mülhausen—with a total population of about three millions. Information was also obtained so far as possible in regard to the movement of wages during the same period. The results of these supplementary ­ investigations are summarised in the following paragraphs. * < Changes in Prices. The upward movement in the price of Bread which set in during 1905 continued, with a certain break towards the end of 1906, until the beginning of the present y&ar, since when there has been a slight fall in price in some of the towns. The general movement is illustrated by Table E (i) on page lvii which shows the official monthly average prices, since October, 1905, published by the municipal authorities of Berlin, Magdeburg, Mannheim and Mülhausen, for rye bread of various grades, the prices being cited in pfennige per kilo, as in the original returns, in order to exhibit the variations more clearly. In these towns it will be seen that prices, after rising in the first part of 1906 showed a slight downward movement in the latter part of that year, after which time the upward movement was resumed until it culminated in November and Dezember of 1907 or January of 1908. The following Table summarises in English units the prices of rye bread of various grades at October, 1905, and February, or March, 1908, for all the six towns visited. Town. Price of rye bread perSt^^p October, 1905. February or March, 1908. Increase per cent. Aachen Berlin .. Chemnitz Magdeburg Mannheim Mülhausen d. 41 4| 51 d. 51 61 61 6 51 24 32 32 25 14 10 The rise in price thus ranges from 10 to 32 per cent, and the average advance is 23 per cent, or approximately an increase of one-quarter as compared with October, 1905. In regard to Meat, Table E (ii) on page lviii shows similarly the official monthly average prices of Beef\ for the six towns, from October, 1905, to the most recent months for which information was obtainable. It will be seen that the movements are comparatively small and very irregular ; on the whole the highest level was reached towards the end of 1906, since which time in spite of marked fluctuations in some cases, prices on the whole have tended downward. ­ Taking together the prices recorded in all the six towns at October, 1905, and the°latest available date in 1908, in the same way as the bread prices above, it appears that in the latter month prices had returned to practically the same level as in October, 1905. In the case of Pork, on the other hand, there has been a considerable fall in prices, the greater part of this having taken place since the autumn of 1906. The monthly prices given in Table E. (iii) on page lix, show an average fall of 15 per cent. XXXVlll Comparatively little information has been obtained in regard to Groceries, returns being available only for Aachen, Mannheim and Mülhausen. So far as it is possible to judge from these few returns, prices appear to have undergone little change. On the whole, then, it would appear that the marked increase in the price of bread in Germany between October, 1905, and the early months of 1908, was to some extent off-set by the lower price of pork, whilst the prices of beef were at practically the same level as at the earlier date, though it must be remembered that during a considerable part of the intervening period meat prices had been at a very much higher level. # Changes in Wages. There has been on the whole a marked upward movement in the predominant ­ weekly rates of wages or earnings between October, 1905, and March, 1908,—a period of great industrial activity and expansion—in all the towns and in all the industries investigated. The following table shows the percentage changes in the predominant weekly earnings in various branches of the Engineering Tracies in five towns ; it will be seen that the rise has varied from 11 to 15 per cent, for most sections of the trade in Magdeburg and Mannheim, from 5 to 8 per cent, in Berlin and Mülhausen, and from 2*7 to 3 per cent, at Chemnitz. The general average suggests a rise of something over 8 per cent, for the trade as a whole. Part of these increases has undoubtedly been effected in the face of a fall in piece-rates, owing ip the speeding-up of machinery, and the introduction of more efficient methods. Percentage Increases in Predominant Weekly Wages in the Engineering Trades between October, 1905, and March, 1908. Occupation. Berlin. Chemnitz. Magdeburg. Mannheim. Mülhausen. Average, Moulders Fitters Turners Smiths Pattern-Makers Labourers ... Per cent. 5*4 7- 9 4- 5 5- 9 1-4 8- 0 Per cent. 2-8 2-8 2-8 2-7 2-7 30 Per cent. 13-7 131 115 11-6 125 11-0 Per cent. 14-9 13-4 150 18-0* 148 6-4 Per cent. 9-1 7-0 7-1 4- 6 5- 5 52 Information from one firm only. Per cent. 9-2 8-8 8-2 8-6 7-4 6-7 In the Building Trades the general movement has again been upward, as is shown by the following Table, which gives the percentage changes for certain occupations for which data comparable to that for October, 1905, could be obtained ; in only one case, that of the bricklayers and masons at Aachen, was a decline reported. The average increase for the occupations included in this Table is a little over 7 per cent. In the building trades wages are, as a rule regulated by agreements ; wages are generally increased at each revision of the agreements, and where, as in some instances, there have been two revisions since October, 1905, the advances have been considerable. Percentage Increases in Predominant Weekly Wages in the Building Trades between October, 1905, and March, 1908. Occupation. Aachen. Bricklayers Masons. Carpenters ... Painters Labourers ... and Per cent. (-3-4) 9-4 7-3 130 Berlin. Per cent. 2-8 2-8 212 2-7 Chemnitz. Magdeburg. Mannheim. Per cent. 11-5 115 0-0 171 Per cent. 3-9 3-9 3-6 7-3 Per cent. 81 13-6 00 Average. Per cent. 4-6 6-9 9-1 8-0 XXXIX In the Printing Trades the wages of both hand and machine compositors have been increased by the revised national agreement which came into force in January, 1907, and will remain in operation until December 31st, 1911. Under this agreement " local additions,” taking the form of a percentage added to a general minimum rate, are fixed according to the estimated cost of living in the various towns. The effect of the new agreement amounts, in the towns recently re-visited, to an increase of 11 per cent, in rates of wages. As regards the Textile Industries, wages in the woollen industry at Aachen have risen on the average by some 6 per cent., or from 5 6 per cent, for dyers to nearly 9 per cent, for weavers. The increase in the latter case is, however, an increase of earnings partly accounted for by the introduction of the two-loom system. Labourers’ wages appear to be unchanged. At Mülhausen labourers’ wages in the same trade have risen by some 5 per cent, and wool washers’ wages by 10 per cent., but in other sections of the trade there is little change to report. In the Mülhausen cotton industry labourers’ wages and carders’ wages have advanced by 20 per cent., blowing-room hands’ by 9 per cent., weavers’ and spinners’ by 8 per cent. In the dyeing trade at the same town wages are unaltered. The wages of Municipal Employees appear to have risen generally in all the towns investigated, though the information obtained is rather sporadic. At Berlin roadmakers’ wages have been increased by 7'0 per cent., the wages of waterworks labourers by 10‘6 per cent., and those of gasworks stoker.s by 4*3 per cent, while the wages of the gasworks labourers have remained unchanged. At Chemnitz the wages of gasworks stokers and labourers have been increased by 7*4 and 13 5 per cent, respectively, and those of waterworks labourers by 15*0 per cent. At Magdeburg the wages of the gasworks stokers have risen by 7*5 per cent. At Mannheim all the municipal employees are classified into four groups, and in these groups the commencing wages have been increased by 8*8 to 11*2 per cent., and the maximum wages by 7*6 to 9 per cent. At Mülhausen a somewhat similar classification of the employees is adopted, and the rise in mean wages in the different classes ranges from 2 to 13 per cent. The employees in several of the towns had petitioned for increases of pay on the ground of the increased cost of living. If the figures given may be taken as typical, there would seem to have been an average rise of some 7 or 8 per cent. If the data for all the above-mentioned trades be taken together, an estimate of a rise of 8 or 9 per cent, in the general level of weekly wages and earnings between October, 1905, and March, 1908 (that is, in a period marked until near its close by great industrial activity), may be regarded as approximately ­ accurate. This rise in wages has been accompanied by some tendency to reduction of hours, especially where the normal hours previously exceeded 57-60 per week. In the Engineering Trade at Berlin hours have been reduced by some 6 or 7 per cent., in Mannheim by 2J per cent., and in Mülhausen by 3J per cent., though at Chemnitz and at Magdeburg the predominant hours are unchanged. In the Building Trade the more important changes are reductions of 6 per cent, in the hours of masons, carpenters, cabinet-makers and labourers at Chemnitz, and the same for painters at Magdeburg. The hours for bricklayers, masons, carpenters and labourers have been reduced by some 3 per cent, at Aachen, and those of masons and carpenters by 2 per cent, at Magdeburg. Otherwise there is little change to report. In the Printing Trade hours are unchanged. In the Woollen Industry hours are unaltered at Aachen, but have been reduced by about 4 per cent, at Mülhausen, where the normal hours in the Cotton Industry have also been reduced from 66 to 60, or by 9 per cent., and those in the Textile Printing and Dyeing Trade by about 2J per cent. The hours of Municipal Employees appear to have remained, for the most part, unchanged, but the hours of stokers and labourers in the Berlin gasworks have been reduced by 26 per cent, and 10 per cent, respectively. PART IL—COMPARISON OP CONDITIONS IN GERMANY AND THE UNITED KINGDOM. Id the following pages the data collected in England and in Germany, as regards the rents of working-class dwellings, the prices paid by the working classes for articles of common consumption, wages and hours of labour, are brought together and compared. Such a comparison is full of difficulties arising from the differences of national habits and national organisation, but it is as well to remember that they also ocour, though in a less aggravated form, in comparing even different parts of the United Kingdom itself, e.g., England and Scotland. The difficulties of comparing rents in England and Scotland owing to the difference in types of housing, or food prices in view of the distinct national dietaries, were briefly indicated in the report on the English Towns (Cd. 3864, pp. xx.-xxi.). In section (i.) the rents and housing of the working-class tenements of the two countries are compared ; section (ii.) then deals with budgets and prices, and section (iii.') with wages and hours of labour. Finally, in the last section (iv.) the combined results are summarised. Before this comparison could be fully carried out it was necessary to supplement in some respects the data for the United Kingdom contained in the report already mentioned. The information collected in the course of that enquiry as regards hours of labour was given, in the reports on the several towns, only as regards the building trade. Data as to this trade, engineering and printing have now been summarised in one table (vide Table D (ii.), p. Ivi). Further, the German system of local taxation being wholly different from the English, and local taxes not being levied upon a rent basis or included in the rents paid by the working-classes, it was necessary to obtain more information ­ as regards the incidence of local taxation on working-class dwellings in England than was available in any official publication ; the results of the special enquiry made for this purpose are briefly referred to below (p. xlii). (i.) Housing and Rents. The essential difference between the housing of the working classes in Germany and in England will have been clearly indicated in the preceding part of this general report. The German working classes are housed almost exclusively in large tenement buildings, frequently constructed round a central courtyard, each building containing a number of separate dwellings ; in this respect the housing in Germany resembles the Scotch type of housing more nearly than the English. On the other hand, the English working man for the most part, if we except a few towns chiefly in the north of England, rents a small separate house. In the case of Germany, tenements of two rooms and three rooms are the most frequent for working-class households ; in England, tenements of four and five rooms are the predominant types. At the same time the rooms of the German tenement are as a rule distinctly both larger and loftier than the English. The predominant rents for tenements of two, three and four rooms in Germany were given in the Table on p. xiii. A corresponding Table for England and Wales will be found on p. xiv. of the report on the United Kingdom. Bringing the figures together''we have the following comparison :— Predominant Range of WeeJdy Rents in England and Wales and Germany. Number of Rooms per Tenement. Predominant Range of Weekly Rents in England and Wales. Two rooms ... Three rooms ... Four rooms ... 3s. to 3s. 6c?. 3s. 9d. „ 4s. 6d. 4s. 6c?. „ 5s. 6d. Germany. 2s. 8c?. to 3s. 6d. 3s. 6d. „ 4s. 9c?. 4s.'3c?. ,, 6s. Ratio of Mean Predominant Rent in Germany to that in England and Wales, taken as 100. 95 100 102-5 xli The Table shews an approximate equality of rents that is somewhat surprising, more particularly when it is remembered that the English rents cover all local taxation while the German rents do not, local taxation in Germany being paid in the form of an income tax. If the mean of the index numbers in the last column might be taken as representing roughly the rent level in Germany as compared with that in England, we should find the German rent level slightly, though very slightly, the lower of the two, in the proportion of 99 : TOO. A comparison on these lines, though apparently straightforward, is however liable to be somewhat misleading, for the reason that rents of two, three and four-roomed tenements were not obtained from all the towns investigated in each case. It is necessary, therefore, to adopt some more perfect method of comparison less open to possible bias. This has been done by reworking all the rent index numbers for German towns to the basis used for the United Kingdom, viz., the mean predominant rents of tenements in the middle zone of London. In the Table below are given the rent index numbers so obtained for the towns investigated in Germany as compared with London, the index numbers having been calculated precisely as in the case of the towns of the United Kingdom, and being directly comparable with the figures of the Report on those towns (Cd. 3864, p. xv. and Table E, p. 1.). Rent Index Numbers of German Towns estimated on the London basis, in descending order. Town. Berlin Stuttgart Düsseldorf Hamburg Aschaffenburg Dortmund ... Mannheim ... Essen Königsberg ... Munich Solingen Index No. Town 100 97 79 70 69 68 66 63 62 62 62 Elberfeld Barmen Bochum Dresden Breslau Nuremberg Remscheid Bremen Leipzig Aachen Crefeld Index No. Towr 58 57 57 57 56 56 56 55 54 53 53 Plauen Dantzig Mülhausen Stettin Königshütte Magdeburg Chemnitz Brunswick Zwickau Stassfurt Oschersleben Index No. 53 49 49 48 47 44 42 39 38 34 28 The whole series of numbers is very similar to that given for English towns, but the rent levels of German towns show a somewhat greater variation than those in the English table. Of the 73 English towns 40, or 55 per cent., fall within the group of index numbers 50 to 59 ; 23 per cent, have higher index numbers and 22 per cent, lower. Of the German towns 12, or only 36 per cent., fall within the same group 50 to 59, while 33 per cent, of the towns show higher index numbers and 30 per cent, lower. For the English towns there are 36 index numbers higher than 55, and 35 lower, and the arithmetic mean is 56'2 ; for the German towns there are 15 index numbers higher than 56 and 15 lower, and the arithmetic mean is 57*0. The ratio of the arithmetic mean for Germany to that in England is 101 : 100, and this ratio, or the index number 101, is taken for the purposes of this report, as representing approximately the rent level in Germany as compared with England. It is evident from the result of this method of calculation and from the preceding estimate that there is no great difference one way or the other between the rents payable for a given number of rooms of working-class accommodation in the industrial towns of the two countries. 29088 xlii There is, however, as already mentioned, a very important difference between the services obtained for the payment of rent in England and in Germany. When an English workman has paid his rent he has in nearly all cases not only paid for the use of the rooms that he inhabits, but also for all the services provided by the Local Authority out of the rates. The landlord, that is to say, in most cases pays the rates for which the tenant would otherwise ­ be directly liable, and recoups himself out of the rent charged. In a few cases in England and Wales where such payment by the landlord is not in force an amount equivalent to the rates was added by the investigator to the rent paid by the tenant, so that the rents stated in the Report on the United Kingdom in all cases include, or cover, the payment of rates. But in Germany local taxation is paid by means of an addition to the State income tax, and, consequently, the workman who has paid his rent has nevertheless still to pay taxes. The rents of the two countries may be rendered strictly comparable as regards the services covered by the rent paid only by deducting from the English rent a proportion equivalent to that paid on account of local rates (so as to exclude local taxation on both sides of the account), or by adding to the German rent a proportion equivalent to the average income tax paid by a workman ­ inhabiting a tenement of each given size (so as to include local taxation on both sides). The latter process, however, offers such great difficulties that the attempt to form any such estimate has had for the present to be abandoned. Even as regards the first process, there are unfortunately no official statistics which enable the exact relation of local rates to rents in England to be determined. Accordingly, with a view to making some estimate as to the amount of rates paid by the working classes in the towns investigated, the Local Authority of each town on which a report had been made, was asked to state, if possible, the total rates paid during the year 1905 on typical working-class tenements of the predominant rents given in the report on their town. From replies received from 50 towns it is possible to estimate that local rates form in most cases from 20 to 26 per cent, of the total rent paid by the tenant, or an average of about 23 per cent. In a number of towns, however, this includes the rate for water, which is frequently, though not always, a municipal service ; and this particular service is also generally included in the rent in German towns. The amount of the water rate has not always been distinguished in the replies received, but in those cases in which information is given the water rate amounts usually to about 5 per cent, of the rent. As an approximate estimate, then, it appears that local rates, less the water rate, may be taken as forming some 18 per cent, of the rent paid for working-class tenements in the industrial towns of England and Wales. If this deduction is made from English rents, so as to render them more comparable with the German figures, we find that German rents (apart from local taxation) bear to English rents (apart from the portion that has to be allocated by the landlord to local taxation) the ratio of 101 to 82, or 123 to 100. In other words, the workman ­ in a German town pays for housing accommodation about one-quarter more than the workman in an English town, for the same number of rooms, exclusive in both cases of local taxation. (ii.) Prices and Budgets. Prices.—The difficulties in the way of any complete comparison of the relative prices ruling for similar commodities in England and in Germany, so far as they affect the expenditure of the working classes of the two countries are sufficiently obvious from what has been said above as to the differences between the budgets. The German drinks coffee, not tea ; he eats grey bread not white ; he consumes practically no mutton and a good deal of pork. Further than this it must be remembered that some commodities which are nominally . the same are yet not in all cases strictly comparable. Thus German meat is in general sold without bone and without fat, as mentioned above, while bacon is chiefly sold as pure fat for cooking purposes, &c., and the typical German Limburg cheese is unknown in England. Neglecting, however, such minor differences, the predominant prices paid by the working classes of the two countries for commodities quoted in both were as follows :— Predominant Bétail Prices in England and Wales and Germany, in October, 1905. Commodities. Sugar, white Butter Potatoes ... Flour, wheaten Milk Beef Mutton Pork Bacon Coal Paraffin oil granulated per lb. ... per 7 lb. ... per qt. ... per lb. per cwt. per gal. Predominant Prices in October, 1905. England and W ales. 2d. Is. lid.* 2\d. to 3\d. 8d. 3d. 7 id. Ed. (7#. 1 4d. lOd. 4d. 8&d.f 6d.$ 9d.t 5d.j 7Id. to 81d. Id. 91d. Id. 9d. Is. 8d. Germany. 2|d., 2\d. Is. Id. to Is. 2fd. 2^d. „ 3d. ll^d. „ Is. l|d. 2#, 2# I 7|d. to 8fd. 7|d. 8|d. 8#d. 10%d. 91d. 9id. lid. lid. Is. Id. lid. Ratio of Mean Predominant Price in Germany to Mean Predominant Price in England, taken as 100. 119 105 88 140 75 122 137 123 123 124 135 * Mean of Colonial or Foreign and Danish, t British or home-killed. X Foreign or Colonial. The predominant prices for England are cited from p. xxiii of the Report on the Enquiry into Prices, &c., in the Towns of the United Kingdom. As about 40 per cent, of all meat consumed in the British Isles is Foreign or Colonial, and the percentage of foreign meat for working-class consumption is certainly higher, it has been thought sufficient to take the average of the predominant prices of the two classes of meat in each case for comparison with the German figures. The price of " Foreign ” or Colonial butter has been similarly combined with that of Danish. The German prices are cited from the Table on p. above, It will be seen from the index numbers, or ratios of German prices to English, in the last column that the prices paid by the German working classes in October, 1905, were, in most cases, from 20 to 40 per cent, higher than the prices paid by the English working classes at the same period. But there were two very striking exceptions, viz., the prices paid for milk and for potatoes. For milk the German price was only 2\d. to 2Jd. a quart, as against 3d. to 4d. in England, a difference amounting to 25 per cent, of the English price. In the case of potatoes the predominant prices in Germany ranged from 2\d. to 3d. per 7 lbs., in England from 2^d. to 3\d. The difference is over 12 per cent, of the English price. Of the remaining commodities, butter was about 5 per cent, dearer in Germany, beef, pork, bacon and coal from 20 to 25 per cent, dearer, mutton, wheaten flour, and paraffin oil oo to 40 per cent, dearer. If we take the arithmetic mean of the above numbers' as a rough index to the relative price levels of the two countries, for commodities common to both, it is 117 for Germany, as compared with 100 in England. It does not follow, however, that this ratio fairly represents the relative prices paid in the two countries for the necessaries of existence. In the Report on the United Kingdom, the price levels of different towns were compared by the amount required to purchase the groceries, meat and coal in an approximate average working-man’s budget. It seems fair to apply the same principle to the present case, and to ask, if the average British working-man went to live in Germany, and tried to live there as nearly as possible in the same way as he had previously lived in England, purchasing the same food in the same quantities, how much more would he have to pay ? An attempt has been made to answer this question in the following comparative budgets / 2 30088 I ¿ xliv Cost of the average British Working-man’s Budget (excluding Tea and Coffee) at the predominant prices paid by the Working Classes of (1) England and Wales, (2) Germany, in October, 1905. 2. Commodity, Quantity in average British Budget. Predominant Prices at October, 1905, in England and Wales. Germany. Cost in Pence of quantity in Col. 2 in England and Wales. Germany, Sugar Bacon Cheese Butter Potatoes Flour (wheaten) Bread (wheaten, in England). Equivalent wheaten flour in Germany, Milk ... Beef ... Pork ... Mutton Coal ... 5^ lb. St ;; 2 » 17 „ 10 „ 22 „ 22 „ 5 qts. U lb. 01 „ 4 „ 2 cwt. 2d. per lb. 7d. to 9d. per lb. Id. per lb. Is. 1 \d. per lb. 2\d. to 3^(7. per 7 lb. 8(7. to 10d. „ 4\d. to 5\d. per 4 lb. 3d. to Ad. per qt. 6f(7. per lb. l\d. to 8\d. per lb. d. per lb. 9\d. to Is. per cwt. Total cost of the above... Index Number 2\d., 2\d. per lb. 8f(7. to 11(7. „ 5d. ,, G^d. ,, Is. Id. to Is. 2§d. per lb. 2\d. to 3d. per 7 lb. ll^e7.to Is. Ifd. „ 11 \d. to Is. If d. per 7 lb, 2\d., 2|d. per qt. 7|d. to 8|d. per lb. 8# „ lid. „ 7\d. „ 9\d. „ 10|(7. to Is. Ad. per cwt. 124 185 100 39| if 1 5 13* 26$ 2184 118 The answer obtained in this way is that the English working man would have to spend nearly 219 pence in Germany in order to purchase the same goods that he could have bought for 185 pence in England, or in other words he would have to increase his expenditure in the ratio of 100 to 118. This method of approaching the question has, accordingly, led again to_ practically the same conclusion, viz., that prices in Germany may be taken as about 18 per cent, higher than in England. But the difficulties of the comparison are illustrated by the omissions and assumptions made in compiling the two budgets used. The Englishman’s tea has been omitted, as he would find it simply unobtainable in Germany, at a price which he could pay. If he substituted the German’s usual j lb. of coffee at 11 d. for his accustomed 0'6 lb. of tea at Is. 6(7., he would save 2\d. Again, as the Englishman ­ could seldom purchase white household bread in Germany, we have credited him with the purchase of 22 lbs. of flour, assuming, say, that he would bake at home. Actually 22 lbs. of flour are not required for making 22 lbs. of bread, but no allowance has been made for the cost of other materials nor of baking, and as the predominant cost of bread per lb. "in England (1*25(7.) is almost identical with the cost of flour (1*29(7.) the method adopted seems fair. If he consumed instead 22 lbs. of German grey bread, in lieu of the wheaten bread to which he was accustomed in England, he would save about 8 Ä d. a week. If then our English emigrant took to grey bread and coffee in place of white bread and tea, his total weekly expenditure would be only about 12 per cent, more than in England. But that is merely to say that if he lived more like the German his expenditure would be less ; and the mode in which the above table has been constructed gives the more accurate answer to the question as to the expenditure of an English emigrant who retained, as far as possible, his English habits and English food. It is proposed, therefore to take the figure 118 as representing, for working-class expenditure from ’ the English standpoint, the price level in Germany as compared with the price level in England. xlv On the other hand the average German working man coming to England would not find his expenditure on food, &c., reduced in anything like so high a ratio as 118 :100 if he retained his accustomed habits. For he purchases, to take only two items that affect the question, 26 lbs. of potatoes against the Englishman’s 17 lbs. and 6J quarts of milk against the Englishman’s 5 quarts, and both potatoes and milk are dearer in this country than in Germany. Using in fact the approximate quantities of the average German budget, as employed for the comparison of the price levels in German towns, we obtain the figures of the Table below :— Cost of the average German Working-man's Budget (excluding Tea and Coffee) at the Predominant Prices paid hy the Working Classes of (1) England and Wales, (2) Germany, in October, 1905. Commodity. Quantity in average German Budget. Sugar Bacon Cheese Butter Potatoes Flour (wheaten) Bread (wheaten in England). Bread (wheat and rye in Germany) Milk Beef Pork Coal Total cost of the above ... i Index number ... 2 lb. ¿ : 25 „ 6# qts. 2* lb. H » 14 cwt. Predominant Prices at October, 1905, in England and Wales. 2d. per lb. Id. to 9r?. per lb. 7d. per lb. Is. 1 \d. per lb. 2\d. to B\d. per 7 lb. Sd. to 10c?. „ 4#¿?. to 5#í?. per 4 lb 3d. to 4d. per qt. j6#d. per lb. 7\d. to 8^c?. per lb. 9\d. to Is. per cwt. Germany. 24c?., 2\d. per lb. 8|d to 11c?. „ 5c?. to 6#t?. „ Is. lc?. to Is. 2|c?. „ 21c?. to 3c?. per 7 lb. ll#i?.tols.lM „ 4|c?. to 6#é?. per 4 lb. 2&C?., 2#c?. per qt. 7fc?. to 8fc?. per lb. 81c?. to lie?. „ lOf c?. to Is. 4c?. per cwt. Cost in pence of quantity in Col. 2 in England and Wales. 22# 14# 12# 16 141# 100 Germany ; ■a 35# 17 3 20 152 108 The average German emigrant to England would accordingly only decrease his expenditure in approximately the ratio of 108 :100. In this comparison, as in the preceding, tea and coffee are excluded. If we exclude bread as well, on the ground that the qualities are not the same in the two countries, bread being an item on which the German’s expenditure would be decreased by over 10 per cent, in spite of his substitution of white bread for grey, the ratio for the remaining commodities is only 106 :100. The Englishman, however, is hardly much concerned with this aspect of the matter. For him the rise in expenditure on food, &c., would be about 18 per cent, if he should go to Germany, in so far as he could purchase the same commodities at all. Before concluding this section on the comparative prices of England and Germany, it should be pointed out that the average working-class budgets of the two Reports, while sufficient for the purposes for which they were used, do not form a satisfactory basis for comparison of the prices paid, apart altogether from the relative unreliability of the data as compared with prices obtained directly from dealers doing a large working-class trade. In the first place the budgets were not collected at the same period in the two countries. The British budgets were collected during the years 1903-04, the German during the years 1906-07. Further, while the German budgets were drawn from all the towns of the present investigation, and from no others, the British budgets collected at an earlier date did not cover nearly so extensive a field as the subsequent inquiry into the conditions of the working classes in industrial towns. xlvi Budgets.—The details as to the budgets collected from German workingclass families have been set out above (pp. xviii-xxiv). The British budgets were not dealt with in quite as full detail in the Report on the United Kingdom, as they had been obtained in an earlier investigation, to the Report on which reference must be made for the full particulars ([Cd. 2337], 1904). It is not possible to compare the two sets of budgets as a whole, as representing the conditions and standard of comfort prevailing among the working classes of the two countries, since the various grades of income are in neither case represented in their true proportions. It is, however, of some interest to compare the budgets relating to families with identical incomes in the two countries. We can learn from the comparison how the English and German housewife respectively, having a given sum of money to spend, would apportion the expenditure on the different items of food, and what results are obtained from the outlay in each case. For this purpose the groups of German and English families with incomes of 25s. and under 30s., 30s. and under 35s., and 35s. and under 40s. were taken. It will be seen from the condensed budgets given on pp. lx-lxi that the average income in each of these groups is almost the same in the two countries. It must, however, be remembered that the average number of children per family is, for the families represented by the budgets, distinctly lower in Germany than in the United Kingdom ; the differences are shown in the tables yited. The percentage of the family income spent on food (excluding beer) is slightly higher in England than in Germany for each of the three income-classes, but the difference may be more than accounted for by the smaller households of the latter country. The actual percentages run as follows :— Limits of Weekly Income. Percentage of Income spent on Food. United Kingdom. Germany. 25s. and under 30s. ... 30s. ,, 3ds. ... 3as. ,, 40s. ... 66 65 61 62 59 58 As regards the articles on which this portion of the family income is spent, the salient points of difference are as follows : The bread of the German working classes is, with very few exceptions, not pure wheaten bread as in the British Isles, but bread baked from a mixture of rye and wheaten flours in various proportions. In towns where pure rye bread is consumed it is frequently eaten as a sandwich with slices of white bread. There is practically no home baking such as still survives in some towns of the north of England, all bread being baker’s bread. As regards the meat, the fresh meats chiefly consumed are beef and pork, as against beef and mutton in England. Mutton, in fact, appears to be somewhat despised in Germany, and very little is consumed by any class of the population. In addition to this consumption of fresh meat, there is a very large consumption of sausage in various forms, over a quarter (by weight) of the total meat consumed being sausage ou the average of the German budgets (cf. p. xxi). On the other hand, in most towns, there is a relatively small consumption of items corresponding to those which form the bulk of the “ other meat ” in the English budgets, i.e., sheep’s heads, tripe, heart, liver, &c., and tinned meats ; the place of these in the bill of fare of the German working class is for the most part taken by sausage. There is no tea bought by the working man in Germany, the equivalent drink being coffee, mixed with such cheaper substitutes as roast barley, and " malt coffee.” The differences in the amounts consumed and the sums spent on the chief commodities are brought out by the condensed budgets given on pp. lx, lxi, and by the following Tables based thereon. \ xlvii (a) Ratios of the quantities of certain articles of food consumed hy workmen's families in Germany, possessing certain incomes, to the quantities of the same articles consumed by working men's families in the United Kingdom with corresponding incomes. (Quantities in U.K. = 100.) Limits of Weekly Income. Bread and flour Meat and fish* Eggs Fresh milk ... Cheese Animal tatst Potatoes Sugar 25s. and under 30s. 30s. and : under 35s. 84 88 106 159 66 113 151 42 89 90 90 130 78 115 148 41 35s. and under 40s. 99 95 97 140 78 120 155 41 * Including an allowance for weight of fish in Germany and for weight of other meat and fish in the United Kingdom. See explanation below, t Butter, margarine, lard, suet, and dripping. (6) Ratios of the amounts spent on certain articles of food consumed by workmen's ­ families in Germany, possessing certain incomes, to the amounts spent on the same articles by working men's families in the United Kingdom with corresponding incomes. (Expenditure in the U.K. = 100.) Limits of Weekly Income. Bread and flour Meat and fish Eggs ... Fresh milk ... Cheese Animal fatsf Potatoes Vegetables and fruit Farinaceous foods (other than bread and flour). Tea, coffee, cocoa, &c. Sugar ... ... ... ... 25s. and under 30s. 30s. and under 35s. 87 103 88 132 68 115 105 114 85 66 47 92 100 77 110 75 112 100 93 71 65 47 35s. and under 40s. 102 105 79 118 88 117 115 87 83 67 47 t Butter, margarine, lard, suet, and dripping. The quantities of bread and flour consumed in Germany are from 10 to 16 per cent, less in Germany than in England in the case of the families wdth incomes of 25s. hut under 30s., and of 30s. but under 35s., though for the families with incomes of 35s. to 40s. the consumption is much the same. Owing to the price of grey bread in Germany being higher than that ot white bread in England, the expenditure of families with the higher incomes on bread and flour is even slightly higher in Germany than in England. As regards meat and fish, the German expenditure exceeds the English by less than 1 per cent, in the case of the families with incomes of 30 to 35 shillings, and in the lower and higher income classes the excess is only 3 to 5 per cent. A comparison of quantities offers some difficulty, for practically all the meat is bought by weight in Germany, while in England some 18 per cent, of the money spent on meat and fish is expended on “ meat not bought by weight," such as the miscellaneous items mentioned on the last page. In the above Table (a) a proportionate allowance has been made for the weight of " other meat and fish " in the United Kingdom budgets, on the basis of the expenditure, and a similar small allowance for the consumption of fish in Germany. The results are no doubt very rough, but probably sufficiently accurate for present purposes ; and it appears that the weight of meat consumed in Germany is about 12 per cent. xlviii less than in the United Kingdom for the families with incomes of 25s. and under 305., and 5 per cent, less in the case of families with incomes of 35s. and under 405., in spite of the higher expenditure in each case. The comparison of meat consumptions is, however, rendered somewhat doubtful by the fact that meat is generally sold in Germany free from bone and fat ; if a deduction were made from the English consumption on this account, the net amounts consumed in the two countries by families with the same incomes would be more nearly equal. The result is, of course, somewhat affected by the smaller number of children in the German family. The consumption of eggs appears from these budgets to be relatively higher in Germany than in England for the lower-waged classes and smaller for the higher-waged classes. The German consumption of milk exceeds the consumption in English families of the same income by 30 to 59 per cent., though owing to the lower cost of milk in Germany the expenditure only exceeds the English by 10 to 32 per cent. The English consumption in the three income groups rises with the scale of family income, from 7*7 pints to 10 3 pints, whilst the German consumption is as high as 12*3 pints for families with incomes of 25a. but under 30s., and rises only to 14 5 for families with incomes of 35s. and under 40s. In the case of cheese the consumption in the three German income groups is much lower than in the corresponding English groups (being only 66 to 78 per cent.), but of the animal fats such as butter, margarine, lard, suet, and dripping the consumption is markedly higher than in England. Potatoes form a very important item in the budget of the German workingman, ­ the consumption in the three income groups being from 48 to 55 per cent, greater in Germany than in England, income for income, although, the price being lower in Germany, the expenditure in the central income class is the same in the two countries, and for the other two classes the difference of expenditures is only 5 to 15 per cent. The relative consumptions of vegetables and fruit can only be judged from expenditures : judging from this, the German consumption is higher than the English in the case of the families with lower incomes and lower in the case of those that are better off. On the same basis of expenditure, it would appear that the German consumption of farinaceous foods other than bread and flour (rice, oatmeal, &c.) is substantially less than the English. On tea, coffee, and cocoa the German expenditure is about 35 per cent, lower than the English, the differences between the three income groups being in this respect very slight. The expenditure on sugar is less than half that of the English households, the consumption being little more than 40 per cent, of the English. When it is remembered that the English working-man also consumes a considerable amount of sugar in the form of cheap jams, &c., the contrast as regards this item is worthy of note. On “ other items ” the average weekly expenditure in the three English income groups ranges from Is. 4\d. to Is. 10^cl. ; the German groups show an average expenditure of only 8Jd. to 9fd., which suggests a somewhat greater variety in the English dietary. When allowance is made for the smaller number of children in the German families, the German dietary would appear to provide almost the same amount of nutrition as the English. The difference, if any, must be extremely slight. Certain items might seem to suggest that the living is on a somewhat lower scale, notably the much larger expenditure shown by the United Kingdom budgets on “other items,” the free use of “coffee substitutes” in Germany, on which comment is made in several of the reports, and the use of grey (wheat and rye) bread in lieu of white bread. But the difference in nutritive value between the two kinds is not great, and the use of rye bread is probably in part a national habit, like the use of oatmeal in Scotland, rather than a deliberate resort to a cheaper though less appreciated food. If the latter were the case, we should expect to find a higher consumption of white bread among the families with higher incomes, and a consequent increase in the average price paid for bread.- xlix As a matter of fact, if we divide the average amount paid for bread and flour by the number of pounds consumed, we find the following average prices paid per lb. in all the successive income groups :— Limits of Income. Under 25s. 25s. and under 30s. 30s. „ „ 35 s. 35s. „ „ 40s. 40s. and over Average price per lb. paid for Bread 1-32 d. l-33d. 137(7. 1-34(7. 1-38(7. It will be seen that while there is a slight rise in the price paid as we pass from the poorer to the better-off classes, the rise is so small and so irregular that it cannot mean any appreciable consumption of white bread. That cost alone does not condition the dietary is also indicated by the fact, to which attention has been already directed, that mutton, although largely consumed in England, is practically not eaten at all by the German working classes in spite of the price being fully Id. a lb. less than that of pork. The consumption of horseflesh has been fully dealt with above (p. xxiii), and no more need be said on the subject here. (iii.) Wages and Hours of Labour. Wages.—The predominant rates of weekly wages for the building, engineering and printing trades of Germany—the only occupations (apart from municipal employments) which are found in practically all the towns investigated—were given in the Table on p. xxx above. A corresponding Table for England and Wales will be found on p. xxxiii of the Report on the United Kingdom. Bringing the data together, we have the following comparative Table :— Predominant Weekly Wages in England and Wales and in Germany. Trade. Predominant range of Weekly Wages at October, 1905, in England and Wales. Germany. Ratio of Mean Predominant ­ Wage in Germany to Mean Predominant Wage in England, taken as 100. Building Trades Bricklayers Masons Carpenters ... Plumbers ... Painters Labourers ... Engineering Ti udes Fitters Turners Smiths Patternmakers Labourers ... Printing Trade:— Compositors All the above trades (average) 37 s. 6(7. to 40s. 6(7. 37s. 2(7. ,, 39s. 4(7. 36s. 2(7. „ 39s. 4(7. 35s. 4(7. „ 39s. 9(7. 31s. 6(7. „ 37s. 6(7. 23s. 6(7 „ 27s. 32s. to 36s. 32s. „ 36s. 32s. ,, 36s. 34s. „ 38s. 18s. „ 22s. 28s. „ 33s. 26s. 11(7. to 31s. 3(7, 26s. 11(7. „ 31s. 3(7. 24s. to 28s. 6(7. 24s. „ 29s. 8(7. 19s. 6(7. to 24s. 26s. to 32s. 27s. „ 33s. 28s. 6(7. to 33s. 25s. 6(7. 30s. 18s. to 22s. 24s. 9(7. to 25s. 11(7. 75 77 70 78 86 85 88 90 77 100 83 83 29088 9 1 In the case of the building trades the weekly wages given are, for both countries, the wages for a full working week in summer. In the case of the engineering trades, the English wages are the standard time rates recognised by the unions concerned ; the German rates, on the other hand, are in most cases based on returns of actual earnings, and it is consequently doubtful how far the two sets of returns are strictly comparable. The standard time rates being often exceeded by actual earnings on piecework, it is probable that the German rates appear somewhat too high relatively to the English. The compositors rates in both England and Germany are standard rates. For skilled men in the building trades the German wages are about 75 per cent, of the English ; for skilled men in the engineering trades about 85 per cent, of the English* ; for compositors in the printing trade (hand compositors) the ratio is about 83 per cent. Building trades' labourers in Germany earn about 86 per cent, of the weekly earnings of the corresponding class in England, and it is only the lowest paid class of all—the engineering labourers—whose earnings in Germany are as high as in this country. It is evident that the weekly wages in Germany are as a whole considerably below the level of those prevalent in England. If we may take the arithmetic mean of the individual index numbers, given in the last column of the above Table, as representing approximately the level of German wages compared with English, we find that, on the whole, the wages of the German workman are to the wages of the corresponding English workman in the selected trades as «3 to 100. The above comparison is probably slightly too favourable to Germany owing to the fact that the Engineering trades (in which for reasons already given the German wages are likely to be overstated in comparison with the English) are over-represented in the statistics. Seeing that most of the above data for Germany are based on the gross wages, before the compulsory deductions on account of insurance which have been dealt with above (p. xxxiii) have been made, it might at first sight appear that a correction should be made for such deductions, and the figure (83) for Germany somewhat reduced. In point of fact, however, the deductions from the German workman’s wages for insurance correspond in part to the payments of the British working man to his friendly society or sick club for similar benefit« and in part to savings, and only differ from these in being compulsory. There does not seem to be, therefore, any reason for making a deduction from the predominant German wage rates to make them comparable with the English. ! Hours of labour.—A table giving the usual weekly hours of labour in the towns investigated for the several standard trades was given above on p. This subject was not dealt with so completely in the Report on the United Kingdom, and no corresponding table was there given for the standard trades in England. This omission has now been supplied from the data collected for the English Report, and a table is given in the Appendix to this introduction (Table D (ii) ip. lvi). It will be seen that while in Germany 60 hours or 59-60 hours a week are markedly the most frequent for all trades except printing, in England and Wales the distribution is, lor the building trades at least, so irregular that it is almost impossible to give any range narrower than 49 to 57 hours as at all predominant. This I renders the use of the u predominant range ” an unsatisfactory method for the present case, and it becomes better to use the simple arithmetic mean of the usual working hours in the several towns investigated. These have been taken but to the nearest half hour and are collected in the Table below, for the same trades as in the Wages Table :— ‘ h * This figure is probably somewhat too high (see above). U Average usual Hours of Labour per week in England and Wales and in Germany. Trade. Average usual Hours of Labour per week in England and Wales. Germany. Ratio of average Hours of Labour in Germany to those in England taken as 100. Building Trades :— Bricklayers and Masons Carpenters Plumbers ... Painters Labourers ... Engineering Trades Fitters Turners Smiths Patternmakers Labourers ... Printing Trade Compositors All the above trades (average) 52i 53 53% 53i 52& 53 53 53 53 53 52& 59 59 58 59 59 59& 59; 59¡ 59% 59* 54 112 111 108 110 112 112 112 112 112 112 103 111 It will be seen that, except in the case of the printing trade, which is a highly organised trade in Germany, and for which the working hours have been fixed by agreement at the relatively low level of 54 per week, the hours of labour in Germany are from 8 to 12 per cent, higher in Germany than in England. On the average of the above trades, German hours exceed English by rather more than 10 per cent. Hourly rates.—If, however, for the trades considered, German weekly wages are to English weekly wages approximately as 83 to 100, while hours of labour during the week are as 111 to 100, the hourly earnings of the German workman must be to those of the Englishman, roughly, as 75 to 100. That is to say, for the building and engineering trades in the towns investigated, the average hourly earnings of the workman in Germany are only about three-quarters of those of the English workmen doing the same work. IV.—Summary of Conclusions. Summarising the preceding sections, it has been found that, as regards rents :— Net rents of working-class dwellings in Germany are to gross rents (including rates) of working-class dwellings in England as ... ... .. ... ... ... 101 to 100 Net rents of working-class dwellings in Germany are to net rents of working-class dwellings in England (excluding that portion of English rents representing local taxation) as ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 123 to 100 As regards prices :— On the basis of the ordinary English standard of consumption the expenditure of the workman on food and fuel in Germany, is to his expenditure in England as 118 to 100 If the expenditure on rent be combined with that on food and fuel, the expenditure on the latter items being taken, with sufficient accuracy for present purposes, at four times the former, the results are ;— The expenditure on food, fuel, and rent of the workman in Germany, on the same basis as above, would be to that of the same workman in England, on the same items but including local taxation, as ... ... ... ... 115 to 100 9 2 29088 The expenditure on food, fuel, and rent of the workman in Germany would be to that of the same workman in England on the same items, exclusive of local taxation, as 119 to 100 It appears, therefore, that an English workman in Germany, and living so far as possible as he had been accustomed to live in England, would find his expenditure on rent (exclusive of local taxation), food and fuel increased by some 19 per cent, (or roughly by one-fifth). As regards wages and hours of labour :— Weekly money wages of the working classes in German towns are to weekly wages of the same classes in England, in the trades selected for comparison, as ... ... .. 83 to 100 Average usual working hours per week of the working classes in German towns are to those of the same classes in England, in the trades selected for comparison, as ... ... Ill to 100 Consequently the hourly rates of money wages for the working-classes in German towns are to those of the same classes in England, for the trades selected for comparison, as 75 to 100 Thus on the above basis the German rate of money wages per hour is about three-quarters of the English rate, and the cost of rent, food and fuel nearly one-fifth greater than in England. It may be as well to repeat here the two principal limitations of this estimate, viz., (1) the data as to wages and hours of labour are based on the building, engineering, and printing trades alone ; (2) the comparison of cost of living is based on the English standard of consumption, and covers only expenditure on food, fuel, and house room, or rather over three-quarters of the whole expenditure. lili dû a. Table A. Geographical Grouping of Towns.—Index Numbers of Rent, Prices, Rent and Prices combined, and Wages. v\ ages. Rent and Prices combined. ­ Building Engineering. down. Municipal ­ Work men. Rent. Prices. Printing. ­ Labour ers. Labourers. ­ Skilled. Skilled Berlin 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 Central Germany Brunswick .. Magdeburg .. Oschersleben Stassfurt 88 81» 89 89 92 91 37 101 86 81 89 90 99 43 97 65 84 91 67 83 89 28 98 81 85 71 76 80 91 33 98 Mean 79 86 S3 SO 86 S3 35 99 92 Rhineland, Westphalia {a) Textile Towns. Aachen Barmen Crefeld Elberfeld 89 53 93 96 SS 103 110 100 102 79 70 87 80 57 99 S9 96 88 82 91 st 58 90 » 78 85 '.Ml 101 57 85 93 ss 89 91 Mean 55 104 94 88 S3 82 S3 92 95 (b) Hardware Towns Bochum Dortmund ... Düsseldorf ... Essen Remscheid ... ' Solingen 57 96 83 96 87 87 96 88 68 96 90 84 101 90 90 99 90 79 102 97 85 103 93 98 103 90 62 99 92 83 87 99 99 99 92 56 105 91 95 83 85 97 108 ss 89 61 101 93 87 103 88 88 89 Mean ... 64 93 90 100 98 93 84 99 89 South Germany :— Aschaffenburg Mannheim ... Mülhausen ... Munich Nuremberg ... Stuttgart 67 101 109 109 107 107 108 94 71 65 71 76 83 80 100 81 91 64 96 89 90 101 is 97 69 81 76 67 80 81 91 62 98 85 S3, 89 94 SO 53, 96 78 73 86 88 92 85 97 106 81 75 84 87 83 94 Mean 65 107 99 77 81 81 87 88 85 Saxony :— Chemnitz Dresden Leipzig Plauen Zwickau 105 103 101 102 98 92 78 40 80 73 71 87 90 93, 83 90 S3, 34 106 94 90 88 91 95 95 96 96 89 51 92 81 77 88 52 76 86 68 66 65 78 3,8 86 69 91 102 80 79 47 88 82 91 Mean Silesia :— Breslau Königshütte.. 56 95 87 76 78 95 88 81 92 47 86, 78 58 60 84 72 52 83 68 91 71 95 88 88 77 Mean Baltic Ports :— Dantzig Königsberg .. Stettin 49 97 87 74 72 67 78 85 93, 80 62 ,101 90 76 88 79 46 99 88 67 71 90 78 83 78 89 52 99 76 69 Mean 84 89 77 North Sea Ports :— Bremen Hamburg-Altona 105 94 89 102 100 125 52 79 89 92 100 101 91 66 97 97 93 96, 101 93 96 Mean 59 113 88 93 96 97 Table B. Grouping of Towns according to Population.—Index Numbers of Pent, Prices and Pent and Prices combined. Town. Population in 1905. Index Numbers. Rent. Prices. Rent and Prices combined. Berlin ... ... ... ... Other Towns with over 400,000 inhabitants ­ :— Hamburg-Altona Munich Dresden Leipzig Breslau ... Mean From 300,000 to 400,000 inhabitants From 200,000 to 300,000 inhabitants ;— Nuremberg . Düsseldorf Stuttgart Chemnitz Magdeburg Essen ... Stettin Königsberg Bremen Mean From 100,000 to 200,000 inhabitants, Dortmund Mannheim Elberfeld Dantzig Barmen Aachen Brunswick Bochum Crefeld Plauen Mean Under 100,000 inhabitants Mülhausen Zwickau Königshütte ... j Remscheid Solingen ' Aschaffenburg Stassfurt " ' Oschersleben... ! ! . j .. Mean 2,040,148 971,113 538,983 516,996 503,672 470,904 294,426 253,274 249,286 244,927 240,633 231,360 224,119 223,770 214,861 175,577 163,693 162,853 159,648 156,080 144,095 136,397 118,464 110.344 105¡381 94,498 68,502 66,042 64,340 49,018 25,891 18,310 13,251 100 66 62 54 51 56 58 53 79 97 40 43 62 46 62 52 59 68 64 57 49 57 53 37 57 52 52 55 48 38 47 56 61 67 33 47 100 97 107 103 101 95 101 107 102 108 105 97 99 99 101 105 103 96 109 102 97 110 103 101 96 100 102 102 109 98 86 105 101 101 98 98 100 100 91 98 93 91 87 92 96 97 106 92 86 92 88 93 94 94 90 100 93 87 99 93 88 88 90 92 92 97 86 78 95 93 94 85 84 89 - * The only town in Germany having from 300,000 to 400,000 inhabitants in 1905 was. Frankfort-on-Main. This town was not selected for investigation. Table O. Towns arranged alphabetically.—Index Numbers of Rent, Prices, Rent and Prices combined, and Wages. Town. Aachen I ... Aschaffenburg Barmen Berlin Bochum Bremen Breslau Brunswick Chemnitz Crefeld Dantzig Dortmund Dresden Düsseldorf Elberfeld Essen Hamburg-Altona Königsberg Königshütte Leipzig Magdeburg Mannheim... Mülhausen... Munich Nuremberg Oschersleben Plauen Remscheid... Solingen ... Stassfurt ... i : Stettip— ... Stuttgart ... Zwickau ... Rent. 53 67 57 100 57 52 56 37 40 52 49 68 54 79 57 62 66 62 47 51 43 64 48 62 53 28 52 56 61 33 46 97 38 Prices. 103 101 110 100 96 105 95 101 105 100 97 96 103 102 102 99 97 101 86 101 97 109 109 107 107 98 102 105 101 Rent and Prices combined. ­ 93 94 99 100 88 94 87 88 92 90 87 90 93 97 93 92 91 93 78 91 100 97 98 96 84 92 95 93 ,85 99 j 88 108 106 98 r 86 Wages. Building. Skilled. Labourers. ­ 79 71 82 100 83 89 76 89 78 78 74 84 83 85 89 83 102 80 65 88 81 81 69 85 78 91 81 83 87 .71 79 75 68 Engineering. Skilled. Labourers. ­ Printing. ­ 70 76 89 100 96 100 78 89 80 85 72 101 90 103 94 99 125 90 58 95 89 89 76 89 73 67 77 85 103 — 76 ■ 67 81 66 96 65 91 100 87 79 95 91 73 90 67 90 83 98 99 97 95 90 96 67 83 88 83 97 88 80 71 84 65 87 83 96 100 96 89 88 89 71 101 85 99 106 103 99 96 96 99 101 81 89 85 89 108 89 91 83 83 78 88 80 88 100 88 92 92 92 90 88 88 90 94 90 88 92 100 88 84 96 88 90 80 94 92 80 88 88 88 - 80— 90 94 . 86 Municipal ­ Workmen. ­ 89 71 80 100 87 101 81 92 87 84 78 90 90 93 85 87 93 76 72 89 91 81 91 86 65 76 91 89 84~ - 78 87 69 lv i Table D (i). HOURS OF LABOUR IN GERMANY. Occupations. Building Trades* :— Bricklayers and Masons .. Carpenters ... Joiners and Cabinet Makers Plumbers ... Stucco-workers Painters Labourers ... Engineering Trades Printing Trades Municipal Employees :— Road Makers Road Sweepers Gas Labourers Waterworks Labourers ... Number of Towns included. 33 33 30 29 26 30 33 29 33 31 27 26 28 Number of Towns in which the usual Hours of Labour per week (excluding intervals) were Under 54. 54. 33 Between ­ 54 and 57. 57. Over 57 and under 58. 58 and under 59. 59 and under 60. 60. 13 13 9 12 9 15 13 14 19 14 21 21 Over 60. Hours of labour in summer. Table D (ii). HOURS OF LABOUR IN ENGLAND AND WALES. 1. Building Trades. Occupations. Number of Towns included. ­ Number of Towns in which the usual Hours of Labour per week in Summer (excluding intervals) were 44 and under 49 49 and under 50 50 and under 51 51 and under 52 52 and under 53 53 and under 54 54 and under 55 55 and under 56 56 and under 57 57 an d over Bricklayers Masons... Carpenters and Joiners Plumbers Plasterers Painters Bricklayers’ Labourers Masons’ Labourers Plasterers’ Labourers... 72 72 72 69 70 71 72 72 70 14 20 13 11 13 5 14 20 13 1 I 4 1 I ?! 1 2 9 10 8 8 14 9 10 18 13 15 18 18 10 : 18 8 i 13 9 i 18 11 10 11 11 ]0 12 11 10 10 2. Engineering and Printing Trades. Trade. Number of Towns included. Hours of Labour per Week (excluding intervals). 50 and under 52 52 53 534 53* 54 55 55& Engineering Printing 59 55 1 19 10 34 4 16 13 lvii Table E (i). Average Monthly Prices of Grey and Black Bread (in Pfennige per Kilogram) from October, 1905, to March, 1908. Month. October, 1905 November, „ December, „ January, 1906 February, „ March, • „ April, May, „ June, August, September, „ October, „ November, „ December, „ January, 1907 February, ,,. March, „ September, October, „ November, „ December, „ January, 1908 February, „ March, „ “ Grey ” Bread. Mannheim (1st quality;. Mulhausen. 28 32 Berlin. Black Bread. Magdeburg. Mannheim (2nd quality). 28 Mülhausen. 29088 h lviii Table E (ii). Average Monthly Prices of Beef {in Pfennige per Kilogram) from October, 1905, to April, 1908. Month. Aachen. Berlin. Chemnitz. Magdeburg. Mannheim. Mülhausen. October, 1905 November, „ December, „ January, 1906 February, „ March, „ April, „ May, „ June, ,, July, „ August, „ September, „ October, „ November, „ December, „ January, 1907 February, „ March, „ April, „ May, „ June, „ JBly, „ August, „ September, „ October, „ November, „ December, „ January, 1908 February, „ March, „ April, „ 155 147 145 145 145 145 145 160 158 168 166 153 153 156 158% 156% 156 155 161% 165 161% 155% 156% 160 155 156% 158 158 156 154% 154% 154% 154§ 152% 154 154 156% 160 162 162% 162 160% 159% 159% 157% 157% 157% 156% 158 158% 158 158 158 158 157% 157% 163% 160 160 160 160 160 160 158% 158% 163% 163% 170 175% 170 174 170 171% 170 160 160 160 160 170 173% 166% 163% 160 165 166% 161% 158% 170 170 170 170 170 170 162 156 160 165 173 173 170 168 168 162 162 163 155 149 149 156 164 164 164 163 167 157 156 147% 147% 147% 147% 147% 147% 147% 147% 147% 147% 161% 161% 161% 161% 163% 163% 163% 163% 163% 163% 163% 163% 163% 163% 160 156% 153% 148 148 148 148 149% 148 149% 148 148 148 152% 157% 157% 157% 157% 157% 157% 157% 157% 157% 154% 154% 154% 154% 154% 154% 154% 154% 154% 154% lix Table E (iii). Average Monthly Prices of Pork (in Pfennige per Kilogram) from October, 1905, to April, 1908. Month. Aachen. Berlin. Chemnitz. Magdeburg. Mannheim. Mülhausen, October, 1905 November, „ December, „ January, 1906 February, „ March, „ April, May, June, „ July, „ August, „ September, „ October, „ November, „ December, „ January, 1907 February, „ March, „ April, „ May, „ June, „ July, „ August, „ September, „ October, „ November, „ December, „ January, 1908 February, „ March, „ April, „ 220 220 220 220 220 200 200 220 230 230 220 200 196 200' 200 200 200 206 220 220 206 200 200 200 200 200 180t 174 170 170 176 I884 190 176 173i 173i 1751 1661 179 180 176 186 186 185 184 176 174 174 177 181 181 175 167 166 161 156 153 154 156 159 168 169 164 161 159 159& 158& 155 180 180 180 180 190 190 185 170 170 175 180 180 185 170 170 170 160 160 155 150 150 155 170 170 170 165 165 165 165 1524 150 166% 166§ 166# 166§ 166# 166§ 1634 153& 1584 1631 166# 166§ 166§ 1534 156§ 146§ 150 1434 1434 130 1364 1534 1534 1464 1414 U14 141# 1384 1334 180 180 180 180 200 200 180 170 170 170 190 200 200 200 160 160 160 150 150 140 160 170 150 150 150 150 150 188 188 188 188 188 188 188 188 168 178 186 188 188 188 188 188 188 178 176 176 170 170 180 184 184 184 184 180 168 168 * From March, 1907, price of leg without bone only, t From March, 1907, mean of prices of leg, chops and belly. lx Table F (i). Condensed Budgets—Germany. Average Weekly Cost and Quantity of certain Articles of Food, consumed by Workmen's Families, whose incomes fall within certain limits, in all Districts of Germany, 1906-7. Limita of Weekly Income. Number of Returns ... Average Weekly Family Income Under 25 «. 25«. and under 30«. 1,065 I 1,329 s. d. 21 9J s. d. 27 1 30«. and under 35s. 1,223 s. d. 31 10J 35«. and under 40«. 692 s. d. 36 8 40«. and above. 737 s. d. 48 8j Average number of children living at home 2'3 25 25 Cost. 2-8 Bread ... Flour y ... Meat of all kinds Fish Eggs Milk Cheese ... Animal fats* ... Potatoes Vegetables and fruit . Farinaceous foods other than bread and flour.f Coffee, cocoa, &c. Sugar ... ... ... ... ... ... Syrups, condiments, and “ other items ” ... Meals away from home Total expenditure on food ... d. 31 0Î s. 2 0 4 vj 0 2# 0 10 o 54 0 3* 0 7& 0 4 0 6i 0 4i 14 II s. d. 2 64 1 0 4 0 0 7j 1 3& 0 3# 2 42 o 102 0 8 0 42 0 91 0 4# 0 0 62 16 102 o 102 0 5 0 82 0 8 18 102 o 112 0 52 0 92 0 9 21 If 3-8 s. d. 4 02 0 52 8 74 0 42 1 0 1 92 0 62 3 82 0 54 0 1H 1 3Î 27 42 Bread ... Flour Meat of all kinds allowance for fish) Eggs Fresh milk Cheese ... Animal fats* ... Potatoes Sugar ... ncluding an lb. Ño. pints lb. Quantities. 2138 166 583 6-9 1057 040 2-56 26*04 183 2315 1- 90 6-69 9-2 12-30 0- 46 2- 79 23-96 1- 96 2416 1-90 7-82 10-2 1283 062 3-07 23-81 1-98 27 69 2-14 8-77 116 14-45 0-60 3 45 24-63 214 * Butter, margarine, lard, suet, dripping, t Macaroni, oatmeal, pearl barley, &c. 35-21 3- 00 11-35 14 4 16-10 0-77 4- 23 33-55 267 lxi Table F (ii). Condensed Budgets—United Kingdom. Average Weekly Cost and Quantity of Certain Articles of Food consumed by Jf orkmen's Families, whose incomes fall within certain limits, in all Districts of the United Kingdom, 1904. Limits of Weekly Income. Number of Returns ... Under 25s. 261 25s. and under 30s. 289 30s. and under 35s. 35s. and under 40s. 40s. and over. 416 382 596 Average Weekly Family Income ... s. d. 21 4i Average number of children living at home 31 s. d. 26 Ilf s. d. 31 Ilk s. d. 36 61 s. d. 52 0& 3-3 32 3*4 Bread and flour Meat (bought by weight)* Other meat (including fish) Eggs ... Fresh milk Cheese ... Animal fats f . Potatoes Vegetables and fruits Farinaceous foods other than bread and flour.J Tea, coffee, cocoa, «fee. Sugar Other items § Meals away from home Total expenditure on food Cost. s. d. 3 01 3 21 0 71 0 51 0 8 0 4| 1 8 0 81 0 41 0 41 0 111 0 8 1 1 0 11 14 4f s. d. 3 31 4 11 0 81 0 81 0 111 0 51 0 94 21 0 10 17 101 s. d. 3 31 5 11 0 10 0 11 s ? 2 41 0 101 0 10 0 6 1 4J 0 101 1 71 0 4 20 91 1 51 0 111 1 101 0 61 22 31 44 d. ? 7$ 0 8 3 8 1 1 1 3* 0 7 1 101 1 3 2 61 0 9 29 8 Bread and flour Meat of all kinds (including an allowance for fish) Eggs ... Fresh milk Cheese ... Animal fats f Potatoes Sugar ... lb. Ño. pints lb. Quantities. 28-44 6-42 6-2 5-54 0-67 2- 05 14-05 3- 87 29 97 7- 57 8- 7 7-72 0-70 2-47 1584 4-62 2944 8-66 11-3 9-85 0-79 2-67 16-11 4-79 2999 9-25 12-0 10-34 0-77 2-87 1587 5-21 37-76 11- 87 16-3 12- 63 1-02 3-96 19-93 6-70 t Butter, margarine, lard, suet, and dripping. * Including bacon. $ Rice, tapioca, oatmeal. § Currants, raisins, jam, marmalade, treacle, syrup, pickles, condiments, and “ other items. 29088 Jk T" r BERLIN. When in 1871 Berlin, already the capital of the Prussian monarchy, became the metropolis of a united Empire, its population was 824,484. At the census of December 1st, 1905, its population numbered 2,040,148, the increase since the preceding census of 1900 having been 151,300, or 8'01 per cent., and during the preceding decade 362,844, or 21*63 per cent. ISTor has this expansion been the result in any notable degree, as in the case of many large towns, of the incorporation of outlying townships. There are in the street nomenclature of Berlin “ chaussées ” and “ allées ” which speak of the absorption of former rural areas, and in these streets may still be seen old-fashioned buildings whose origin goes back to the time when the " chaussee ” or “ allee ” was a sandy road leading through a forest of fir trees or through open com land, but Berlin’s growth has been due pre-eminently to the inrush of population which began with the industrial and commercial development that immediately followed the war of 1870-1. The percentage of the total increase due to this movement from the outside and to excess of births respectively is here shown for successive inter-censal periods :— Inter-censal Periods. 1871 to 1875 1875 „ 1880 1880 » 1885 1885 „ 1890 1890 „ 1895 1895 „ 1900 1900 „ 1905 Percentage of total increase due to Excess of Immigration over Emigration. Excess of Births over Deaths. 74*78 55-65 68-40 70-60 16-57 59-99 46-26 2522 44-35 31-60 29-40 8343 4001 53-74 It was found at the census of 1905 that of 2,040,148 inhabitants only 822,270, or 40*3 per cent., were born in Berlin ; of 1,217,878 born elsewhere, 1,062,074, or 52T per cent, of the total population, came from other parts of Prussia, and 103,674, or 5T per cent., from other German States. The effect of this recent development, and of the entire transformation which the original town, save in a comparatively limited area, has undergone, is that Berlin can claim to be one of the most modern of capitals. The structure and laying out of the town have followed practical lines, and have been deliberately devised for practical ends. The streets are long and run in straight lines, and their symmetry is perfect. To that extent convenience is served in a high degree, though the total effect is somewhat monotonous to anyone accustomed to the unsystematic formation of the ordinary English town ; for one street succeeds another, as one house succeeds another, alike in plan and structure, until any sort of curve or corner would be a relief to the eye. There is a Berlin and a Greater Berlin. The nuclei of Berlin proper were the two townships of Berlin and Kölln, Wen dish colonies, one on the right and the other on the left bank of the Spree, which early in the fourteenth century joined together, and for a time ruled themselves as a republic. In the seventeenth century the small towns of Friedrichswerder and Dorotheenstadt were added, though the united population at the beginning of the eighteenth century is only estimated to have been 57,000. The four original components of Berlin still 29088 A 2 BERLIN. give their names to districts of the city, but to them have come in course of time 24 others. Greater Berlin is an area of indefinite limits, though it is generally held to comprise a group of 29 suburbs, of which the largest are Charlottenburg, Rixdorf, and Schöneberg, with populations in 1905 of 239,559, 153,513, and 140,010 respectively. The population of all the suburbs was 953,293, making the population of Greater Berlin 2,993,441, against 2,544,427 in 1900, or an increase of 17*65 per cent. It is noteworthy, however, that the growth of Berlin proper, as distinguished from the extra-metropolitan area, is rapidly reaching the inexorable ' limits imposed by the municipal boundaries on the one hand and the sanitary regulations as to housing accommodation on the other. In the west, south, and south-east the town has already advanced to the confines of adjacent suburbs, and it is only in the north and the north-east that any considerable expansion is yet possible. Not only so, but the purely business parts of the Centre are slowly but surely being depleted, as warehouse and shop more and more take the place of dwelling houses. The last census showed a decrease of population in a number of districts in or near to the Centre, and the time will undoubtedly come when Berlin will have its “ City,” a very busy area on the working days of the week, yet uninhabited and half deserted when business is temporarily at a standstill. Within 28 of the administrative “districts” (Bezirke), into which the wards are divided, the decrease between 1900 and 1905 amounted to from 10 to 20 per cent., and in 130 “districts” it was between 5 and 10 per cent. On the other hand, in 75“ districts ” the population increased more than 10 per cent., m 33 more than 50 per cent., and in 22 more than 100 per cent. While, however, owing to purely physical reasons, Berlin is quickly exhausting its capacity for expansion, the adjoining towns and suburbs, some of which still rank administratively as “ villages,” are growing with extraordinary ­ rapidity. This will be seen from the following table :— Berlin ... Charlottenburg Schöneberg Rixdorf Lichtenberg Reinickendorf Gross Lichterfelde Wilmersdorf Rummelsburg Pankow Tegel ... Zehlendorf Oberschönweide Population. 1875. 966,858 25,847 7,467 15,323 12.379 4,976 2,051 2.367 2,712 3,937 1,267 2,246 155 1885. 1,315,287 42,371 15,872 22,775 15,847 7,219 5,899 3,616 5,618 5,061 1,652 2,719 1895. 1,677,304 132,377 62,695 59,945 30,314 10,677 15,960 14,351 16,427 11,932 2,710 6,031 625 1900. 1,888,848 189,305 95,998 90,422 43,371 14,779 23,168 30,671 16,884 21,524 7,140 8,837 5,850 1905. 2,040,148 239,559 141,010 153.513 55,391 22,445 34,331 63,568 32,989 29,077 12,223 12,024 14,101 Increase per cent, during period 1900-1905. 8-01 26 55 46-89 69-77 27-71 5187 " 48-18 107-26 95-39 3509 71-19 36 06 14104 In some cases the growth of the suburbs is due to their popularity for residential purposes, but in others—Rummelsburg, Oberschön weide, and Te^el are examples—it is specially due to the multiplication of their industries and the consequent immigration of labour. Like most large towns Berlin has developed on the lines of class segregation. The official, professional, and leisured classes have their special residential districts, whilst in other districts the population is overwhelmingly of the working-class order. The former have appropriated the west and south, and the latter claim the north and east, while the classes and masses come into close contact in the north-west, on the fringe of one of the busiest •industrial areas in Berlin. Speaking generally, the working-class element is densest in the Wedding, Moabit, Prenzlauer and Schönhauser Allee districts of the North, in Reinickendorf, also lying to the North, in Weissensee in the North East, in the districts converging on the main arteries running East and in Rixdorf in the South East ; though lying outside to the Easf are towns like Rummelsburg and the two Schönweides, with a large labouring population! BERLIN. 3 .As the working classes are localised residentially, so industry, too, has in course of time taken a certain geographical distribution. Thus in the North and West are the large engineering and electrical works, though small concerns are to be found in other parts of the city. The East has become the special centre of the wood and textile industries, and to some extent of the paper goods industry and the clothing trade (though the traditional home of this trade is the Centre), while on the outskirts in this direction are various chemical and dye works. The brass and metal goods, the lamp and button, and the bijouterie industries are located in the East and South, and to some extent in the Centre. The printing and lithographic works, in so far as they are not diffused throughout the business parts of the town, tend to concentrate in the South. Even in the parts of the city in which the working classes chiefly live, one meets with few such outward signs of poverty as are to be seen in any large English industrial town. But when from the broad boulevards one turns into the courtyards behind the street fronts and ascends to the higher stories where the working classes live, one is faced with contrasts hard to reconcile with the impressions which have been derived outside. As often as not the dwellings will be found to consist of two rooms only—one used as a living and bedroom, and thus occupied day and night all the year through, and the other a small kitchen, which is likewise made to serve as a bedroom—and here may be crowded together a family of four, five, six, or more persons. At the census of December, 1900, there were in Berlin 4,086 dwellings consisting only of a kitchen, and 11 per cent, of them were inhabited by four persons and upwards, while over 24,000 households lived in basement tenements. The furniture of a working-class dwelling, even of the better class, is, as a rule, but scanty, though it should be observed that " over-furnished ” homes are unusual in Germany in any rank of life. Where a room is used both as a living and bedroom, a table, several chairs, and a simple wardrobe, with the beds, generally exhaust all the available space. It is noteworthy that pianos are not met with in wmrking-class dwellings, though the Germans are, as a nation, very musical, and Berlin is an important centre of the piano industry. Even sewing machines are not common unless used as a means of livelihood. The kitchen furniture is confined to a couple of chairs, a crockery rack, and the necessary cooking utensils, unless the apartment be used also as a livingroom. It is often remarked that beggars are seldom seen in German towns, and Berlin is no exception to the rule. The explanation is not that there is no poverty, but that the law does not tolerate open mendicity. During the year 1905, 8,301 persons were convicted of begging, at the two courts of summary jurisdiction, Alexanderplatz and Moabit, and 5,152 of being culpably without a place of abode ; the corresponding convictions in 1904 were 10,069 and 3,295. A large number of Berlin’s mendicants find their way to an institution at Rummelsburg several miles away, known as the " Municipal Workhouse.” During the administrative year 1905—6, 1,888 persons (178 of them women) were sentenced to detention in this Workhouse. Of the men 47*7 per cent, were imprisoned for begging, while 48* 1 ^per cent, were imprisoned for wandering about without shelter. Of the women 78*1 per cent, were sentenced for professional prostitution, 17*4 per cent, for homelessness, and 4*5 per cent, for begging. No fewer than 73*3 per cent, of the men and 68 per cent, of the women had been punished before. It may be noted, also, that on an average 2,500 persons enter the municipal and philanthropic shelters for the homeless every day in the year. The city enjoys admirable means of communication both within the municipal area and between this area and the suburbs. The electric tramways are almost entirely in private hands, but the powers of control exercised by the municipality secure the utmost consideration for the community, which is shown by an abundance of travelling facilities and very low fares. The State Metropolitan ­ and Suburban Railways (Stadt- und Bingbahn) maintain a constant and expeditious service of trains, and when the contemplated scheme of electrification A 2 29088 4 BERLIN. has been carried out, the heavy traffic will be still more efficiently handled. The latest additions to the means of locomotion are overhead and underground lines intersecting the city in various directions. Nevertheless, the motor bus and horse bus still play an important part in the transport arrangements of Berlin. Home and work often lie far apart, however, and even with excellent tram wry communication the journey to and fro takes a large slice out of the day’s leisure. One of the main causes of the agitation for a shorter workday is the loss of time caused in this way. A special source of interest to Berlin workmen in the summer time are the garden allotments which have been provided in increasing numbers during recent years. On the outskirts of the city and between suburb and suburb it is usual to let the land still unbuilt on in this way. Each area is known as an Arbour Colony ( Laubenkolonie) from the fact that the first thing the allotment holder does is.to build himself a summer-house, and as a rule the Colonies bear distinctive names. Very little public drunkenness is seen in Berlin. There is much drinking, and the licensing facilities are exceptionally numerous, but on the other hand beer is the principal beverage drunk and it is light. At the same time a fondness for a spirit known as " Schnaps ” is said to be spreading amongst the lower grades of the working classes, and it is noteworthy that most factory regulations strictly prohibit the drinking of " Schnaps ” during work hours, a practice at one time very common. The " on ” licences for the sale of intoxicating liquors numbered 12,368 in 1905, equal to one for every 165 inhabitants. The following table shows the birth and death-rates and the infant mortality rate for a period of five years :— Year. I 1901 ! 1902 1903 1901 ¡1905 Birth-rate per-1,000 of mean Population. 26-7 26-0 24 9 24-9 24 6 Death-rate per 1.000 of mean Population. 181 16-2 16-6 17-0 171 Infant Mortality per 1,000 Births. 224 181 198 203 206 I he birth-rate of 1905. was the lowest yet recorded : in 1895 it was 28'4 per 1,000 : in 1890, 31 8 per 1,000 ; and the highest rate was 45’4 per 1,000 in 1876. It is interesting to compare the rate of births in working-class with those in residential districts (stillborn infants, the number of which is about 1 per 1,000 of the population, are here included) :— District. Birth-rate per 1,000 of Population. 1905. Residential. Registrar's district II. Registrar’s district III. Working Glass. Registrars district VIl.b ... Registrar’s district XIII. ... Registrar’s district X.& and c Registrars district VIII. ... 1211 1527 29-70 3200 3160 28 67 1904. 12-97 1518 3043 32 58 35 96 29-29 1903. 12-65 15-41 31-49 3210 3603 29 30 1902. 12-20 1568 3250 34-62 34-87 3157 BERLIN. % It appears from these figures that while the birth-rate is much larger in the working-class districts, it has also fallen there, during the four years, to a greater extent than in the residential districts. I he marriage-rate for the whole city in 1905 was 22’16 per 1,000 of the population, which was a higher rate than for the preceding four years and above the average of the preceding 12 years. The death-rate in 1905 was 17*1 per 1,000 against 17*0 in 1904. There has been a steady decline in the death-rate for many years ; in 1895 it stood at 20*24 per 1,000, and in 1885 at 24*40. As part of a systematic crusade against the needless sacrifice of infant life, the municipal authorities maintain a series of seven dispensaries established in working-class districts, at which advice is given to mothers as to the right nursing and feeding of their children, and, if necessary, pure sterilised milk is supplied either gratis or at a reduced charge. The dispensaries are conducted independently of the Poor Law, so that pauperisation and civil disqualifications may not be involved by the acceptance of assistance. Other dispensaries serving the same end have been established by philanthropic ­ societies, which, indeed, led the way in the matter, and very encouraging results have been achieved, though the institutions in operation are held to be quite disproportionate to the great existing need. The town of Charlottenburg has four similar agencies. There the rate of infant mortality was 156 per 1,000 births in 1905, against rates of 171 in 1904 and 226 in 1895. In 1905 the mortality from tuberculosis in Berlin was 2*56 per 1,000 of the population, viz., 3*0 in the case of males and 2*1 in the case of females. The death-rate from pulmonary consumption was 2*1 per 1,000 (males 2*5 and females 1*7). A good work is being done by the various dispensaries which have been established in Berlin, Charlottenburg, and Schöneberg in the interest of consumptives. Among the undertakings carried on by the town are waterworks, gas works (though the English company which introduced the gas supply still serves an exclusive area), a cattle market and abattoir, a series of 14 market halls, a river dock, a fire insurance society, baths and swimming establishments on the river and elsewhere, a savings bank, libraries and reading rooms, and gymnastic halls. The electrical power and light works and the tramways are still in the hands of private companies, but the Municipal Council is now constructing several tramway lines, and it intends to extend this department of public enterprise as opportunity offers. Meantime it derives a large revenue from both the tramway and electrical companies, and in its contracts with the former, as well as with the elevated and underground railway companies, it provides for the properties being acquired by the town at a future date. The municipality maintains many institutions, which do not come under the Poor Law, for the special benefit of the working classes and the poor. There are six Convalescent Homes, situated in the country, admission to which is, as a rule, by payment ; there are public rate-supported hospitals and asylums for the afflicted of all kinds (chief amongst them the new Rudolph Virchow Hospital) ; there are refuges for the homeless of both sexes ; and the town also subsidises labour colonies, labour registries, people’s kitchens, and a large number of miscellaneous philanthropic agencies. In addition, 26 paid School Doctors watch the health of the children attending the elementary schools. The work of Poor Law Administration is carried out, under the direction of permanent officials, by 4,380 voluntary almoners, who are divided into 382 committees. The entire cost to Berlin of poor relief, both indoor and outdoor, was in 1905 nearly a million pounds. Occupations, Wages, and Hours oe Labour. In the course of the past 20 or 30 years Berlin has developed a large and many-sided industry. The census of December, 1900, enumerated 410,314 persons resident in the city who were engaged in trades and industries as wage- BERLIN. earners, irrespective of the place of employment. These persons were grouped as follows :— Groups of Trades and Industries. Building * Metalworking Machine, implement, and apparatus making. Textiles Clothing Cleaning Printing, lithography, bookbinding, &c. Paper and paperhanging Woodworking and carving Chemicals Resins, varnishes, oil, soap, candles, &c. Stone and earth Food, drink, and tobacco ... Leather ... ... ... Art industrial occupations ... Agriculture, forestry, gardening, &c Total Females. Males. 48,877 124 2,722 60,840 36,556 4,885 5,791 5,401 30,488 63,251 8,232 3,915 2,933 15,570 8,245 10,815 39,510 1,207 4,030 702 3,864 571 3,817 309 26,943 5,372 7,370 897 2,741 172 3,702 456 304,445 105,869 Totals. 49001 63 568 41,’441 11,192 93,739 12,147 18,503 19,060 40,717 4,732 4,435 4,126 32,315 8,267 2,913 4,158 410,314 * As the census was taken in December, the total number of building trade employees would be understated, for a large number of rural masons, labourers, and other workers come into town in the summer and return in late autumn. In factories and workshops under inspection alone 323,788 persons were employed in 1906, viz. :— Adult males ... ... ) , i ,,, -, ( 206,846 „ females [ ( above 16 >’ ears ’ \ 98,239 Juveniles (14 to 16 years) 18,635 Children ... ... (under 14 years) . 68 These workpeople were engaged in 17,915 undertakings of all kinds, in Berlin, Charlottenburg, Rixdorf, and Schöneberg, subject to supervision by the factory inspectors, and so may be regarded as representing the “industrial population” in the limited sense of the factory inspectors’ reports. The principal industries and the workpeople employed in them were as follows (children under 14 years only numbered 68) :— Group of Trades. Number of Establishments. ­ Number of Workpeople. Males over 16 years. Females over 16 years. Juveniles and children ­ (16 years and under). Total. Metalworking Machine, implement, apparatus making Textiles Clothing and cleaning Printing, lithography, bookbinding, Paper ... ... ... ... Woodworking and carving ... Chemicals Resins, varnishes, oil, soap, candles, Stone and earth Food, drink, and tobacco ... Leather &c. &c. 1,050 1,357 242 7,582 781 437 1,393 130 135 213 3,947 218 27.770 68,233 3,369 12,017 19,353 6,633 25,497 2,207 5,630 3,577 22,559 5,079 4,662 13,340 4,050 50,681 6,092 8,969 1,734 888 839 371 5,102 1,192 2,527 4,192 410 4,797 2,011 1,726 1,303 165 110 217 833 377 34,959 85,765 7,829 67,495 27,456 17,328 28,534 3,260 6,579 4,165 28,494 6,648 The importance and wealth of Berlin as an industrial centre are chiefly attributable to its extensive and highly-developed metal industries. No less than 37*2 per cent, of all the workpeople enumerated by the Factory Inspectors in 1906 belonged to these various industries, and the adult males employed in them represented 46'4 per cent, of all the male workpeople engaged in factories and workshops. The electrical industry is especially noteworthy Several large Arms virtually monopolise its output, for, though there are manvwLrksin various parts of the city and its environs, probably half of them beW to a BERLIN. single powerful combination. When, in 1905, there was a general lock-out in this industry, it was reported that over 30,000 workpeople were affected. So strong is the position of the leading electrical companies that in conflicts with labour they have invariably succeeded, while, owing to the ability of the large companies ­ to withstand pressure from the labour organisations, the smaller concerns enjoy a certain measure of protection which would not otherwise fall to them. The other branches of the engineering trades include large foundries, “ construction ” works, railway material works, besides general machine works. The brass and copper industry includes many concerns engaged in the production of lamps, for which Berlin has long been noted. The pianoforte industry embraces a large number of firms, some of which manufacture extensively for export. The wood industry includes important furniture manufactories ; there are a number of works engaged in the manufacture of paper and cardboard into boxes, fancy and otherwise ; and the leather industry comprises the production of bags, étuis, and fancy goods of various kinds. There are also several chemical works on the outskirts of the city ; and chemical cleaning and dyeing works employ together several thousand workpeople. In several of the suburbs there is an extensive textile industry, including carpet weaving and the manufacture of shoddy. Some of the works of the latter kind were originally established by English firms from the Yorkshire shoddy districts. Beer brewing is also an important industry in Berlin, in spite of the popularity of “ imported ” beers, by which are generally understood Bavarian and Pilsen beers. There are over 30 breweries in the neighbourhood, employing some 7,000 men. The building trades take a prominent place in the economic life of the town owing to the rapid growth of Berlin and the suburbs during recent years. Counting to these trades bricklayers, stone-cutters, joiners and carpenters, painters, plasterers, plumbers, roofers, glaziers, labourers, and excavators, they are estimated to give employment in normal times to nearly 100,000 men. Of industries employing a large amount of female labour may be named the papei industry, the manufacture of body linen, in which 18,000 persons of both sexes are engaged, either in workshops or at home ; and the clothing trade, which has long been established in Berlin, though English and American competition would ; ppear to be making itself severely felt. The turnover in the ladies’ and children’s mantle trade alone is estimated at about £10,000,000. Over 200 firms are engaged, and their wages bill with the contractors who work for them is understood to amount to £1,000,000. These contractors number between 3,000 and 4,000, and the tailors in their employment number some 40,000, of whom 13,000 are engaged in workshops and the rest at home, 90 per cent, of the latter being females. The costume, coat, and blouse trade is estimated ­ to employ between 2,000 and 3,000 contractors and 12,000 workshop and home workers. The men’s and boys’ clothing trade employs about 22,000 workers, and its turnover is estimated at from £3,750,000 to £4,000,000, of which £1,000,000 is paid in wages. The home workers in this trade are estimated at 20,000, and 80 per cent, of them are females. Further, of the 67,495 employees engaged in 1906 in the clothing and cleaning factories and workshops 50,681, or 75 per cent., were females above the age of 16, these being more than half of the female workers of that age employed in all the factories and workshops ­ of Berlin. It is estimated that about 10 per cent, of the female employees under factory inspection are married. There is a growing tendency towards the specialisation of labour, and it shows itself in various industries. For example, the fine and exact work which needs to be done in the electrical industry has brought into prominence the “ mechaniker,” who may be described as a superior fitter. He puts together the parts of a piece of fine mechanism, and may be compared, in the delicacy of his work, to a watch and clockmaker. So, too, the pipefitters are not merely differentiated from plumbers and fitters in general, but are classified according as they are engaged on electrical installations, on central heating apparatus, on gas aiid water installations, or on general outside work. In the building trade, likewise, a clear distinction is drawn as to the rates of pay between the brick - laver, the stonecutter {Steinmetzer) who does profile work, the sculptor (Bildhauer) ­ who works on figures, and the fixer ( Versetzer) who puts into position the finished stones. Still minuter distinctions apply to the workers in plaster, 8 BERLIN. who play so important a part in the building trade owing to the custom of building in brick, faced and ornamented with stucco, cement, and the like. There is no uniformity in the duration of the Berlin workday. In -the engineering and electrical trades it is variously 9, 9^, and 10 hours, in the chemical industry 10, in the pianoforte and wood industries predominantly ­ 9, and in the building trades the same, though the bricklayers and carpenters are agitating for an eight-hour day. Most factories and workshops work from (5 to 6 or 5.30, allowing, besides an hour or an hour and an half at noon, short intervals for breakfast and for coffee in the afternoon—the latter called " Vesper ”—but there is a disposition to abolish the afternoon break and cease work sooner instead. It is the almost universal rule in Berlin for employers and workpeople to be under no obligation to give notice. There are eight recognised public holidays, and of these the working classes have the full benefit, viz., New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Whit Monday, Ascension Day, the Prussian National Penance Day, and Christmas Day and the day following ; and a small section of the Social Democratic Trade Unionists insists on observing May Day in spite of the penal measures taken against absentees by the employers. The employees in several factory industries are pressing for the introduction of an eight hours day, yet though isolated firms have introduced it with satisfactory results, there is no likelihood of any widespread reduction of hours to this extent for a long time to come. Where the day has been reduced to eight hours there is only a single break at noon, the breakfast interval and the old-fashioned “ Vesper ” being abolished, and it is found that a considerable amount of time is saved by the abolition of stoppages. A leading engineering firm, employing several thousand men, resorted to an eight hours day in several departments as a temporary measure with a view to running double shifts, and the experiment succeeded so well that it is proposed to make the change permanent. On this subject the Berlin Chamber of Commerce reports in its review of the economic events of the year 1906 :—“ The lack of workpeople was in part caused by the reduction in the hours of labour in many industries on the pressure of the workpeople and their organisations. Thus the daily duration of work in the State and municipal undertakings in the machine branch and in allied industries is now 9 hours where it was 9J and 10 hours a short time ago. Stubborn opposition is shown by the workmen to overtime, even when high wages are offered. Opinions differ as to whether the curtailment of hours is equalised by the higher productivity of labour. One large establishment in the engineering industrv takes the affirmative view. . . . It is more frequently contended, however, that the workpeople are contented with their past earnings, which they have succeeded in maintaining in spite of the curtailment of hours owing to the simultaneous increase of the time or piece rates, and they do not show the least desire to earn more by piece work in the same time or willingness to work overtime. This may in part be a result of individual disposition, but it must chiefly be attributed to the labour organisations, which, by holding out the fear of the piece rates being reduced, induce the workers not to exceed their past output. It is also hoped by this means, and by the refusal to work overtime to increase the demand for labour.” The rates of wages ruling in Berlin are relatively high in the skilled trades though against this advantage must be set the fact that rents and the general costs of living are also high. The piece system is almost universal where skilled labour is employed. In the engineering trade the highest wao-es are paid in certain branches of the electrical industry, though owin^ to the large inrush of workpeople the general rates now ruling in this industry do not exceed the rates in the engineering trade as a whole to the extent they once did. Here piecework is general, the number of hours worked ranges from 54 to 60 per week, and there is, as a consequence, great diversity in earning. Thus moulders who in ordinary machine shops earn from 34s. to 38s. lOofTper week earn in electrical works from 38s. to 40s. 6(7. ; fitters in machine shops earn from 30s. to 33s., and in electrical works 32s. 5(7. to 36s. ; turners in machine shops earn from 37s. 3d. to 38s. 10d., and in electrical works 35s. 8(7. to 42s • smiths in machine shops from 30s. to 31s. 2d., and in electrical works from 31s. 4d. to 42s. 6(7. ; pattern-makers in machine shops earn from 36s. to 37s and in electrical works from 37s. 10(7. to 45s. 10(7., while labourers earn from 20s to 23s. 7(7. and 22s. 9(7. to 24s. respectively. BERLIN. 9 In the pianoforte industry cabinet makers as a rule earn from 405. to 44s. 10(7. ; soundboard (“ belly ”) makers 33s. to 40s., regulators and stringers 35s. to 40s., and note and keyboard makers 33s. to 36s. In one important manufactory wages have increased as follows since 1900 :— 1900. 1905. s. d. s. d. Cabinet makers ... ... 40 9 ... 44 10 Regulators and stringers 40 0 ... 46 4 Soundboard makers ... 37 10 ... 38 0 Tuners ... ... ... 47 6 ... 55 0 Labourers ... ... 23 5 ... 26 9 An instructive comparison covering a longer period is also possible in two branches of the wood industry. Herr Heinrich Freese, the owner of a large Venetian blind and wood paving manufactory, has for many years kept comparative ­ returns of the wages paid to ail classes of his employees, and the following figures are taken from his books :— Weekly Earnings (piecework without overtime). Year. 1888 1890 1892 1894 1896 1898 1900 1902 1903 1904 1905 Hours ! of Labour R1 - -, Per day. Makerg< Joiners. 9" 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 s. d. 26 5 28 8 28 7 27 2 29 5 31 3 31 3 31 9 34 11 37 1 37 0 s. 22 25 27 27 29 30 32 31 33 35 36 d. 3 10 2 4 6 5 3 6 10 5 8 Blind Fitters. Painters. Painters (rough work). S. 25 28 28 26 d. 9 2 3 4 28 5 29 9 30 10 31 8 32 11 31 11 35 8 s. d. 35 2 34 11 33 0 31 4 33 2 30 0 37 11 35 9 39 6 42 1 44 11 s. 22 21 9 21 20 23 10 19 10 22 0 20 1 20 4 27 11 26 11 Circular ! Sawmen Metal Sewers and Workers, (females). Planers. S. d. 23 4 24 11 24 3 27 0 27 6 30 2 28 10 30 4 33 7 35 9 33 3 s. d. 28 4 30 7 25 3 24 11 24 7 24 10 29 8 29 31 27 30 s. d. 11 0 14 6 13 0 11 1 12 8 11 6 12 5 12 10 13 1 13 8 14 8 In the following comparative table referring to workmen of the same employer lost time and overtime are included, yet (in Herr Freese’s opinion) without prejudice to the relative value of the figures :— Wood-paving Department. (Time Wages for a working day of 9 hours duration). 1892 1894 1896 1898 1900 1902 1903 1904 1905 Year. Foremen. S. d. 25 10 30 5 31 11 24 10 26 2 28 3 29 10 30 6 30 6 Paviors (skilled). S. d. 19 6 24 4 19 2 21 6 23 0 23 9 24 11 23 9 25 8 Paviors (assistants). s. d. 18 4 19 3 17 9 18 4 19 9 20 9 21 10 20 2 22 4 Labourers. S. d. 19 2 21 0 18 6 19 3 20 4 20 & 21 0 24 0 27 4 In the beer brewing industry the Tvages of brewers and coopers are 32s., and of bottlers 20s. Qd. to 22s. 6d. ; draymen receive commission on the beer delivered, which is chiefly paid by the customer. The custom of the " freedrink ” or 11 house drink,” a perquisite of so much beer per day, still continues ; brewers as a rule are allowed 3^ quarts, and artisans half that quantity, though there is a tendency to restrict beer drinking on the premises, and in several breweries cold coffee is given instead in summer, while the workmen at another large brewery have the right to exchange their free beer tickets for money at the rate of about Id. per pint, or for food obtainable at the canteen. The custom of the “free drink” is, however, menaced, for the Imperial Insurance Board discourages it owing to the many accidents which are traceable to its abuse, and only the settlement of the question whether the old perquisite shall be abolished B 29088 10 BERLIN. without compensation stands in the way of its disappearance in Berlin. The practice of sleeping in formerly prevailed here, but it has been abolished, to the satisfaction of both employers and workpeople. Of other workpeople, bakers in private employment earn as a rule 27s., with 3s. supplied in kind, while bakers in co-operative concerns earn 35s. There are many small button factories, for the most part employing ten or a dozen workpeople. Workers in horn and mother-of-pearl earn 32s. per week, in composition, 26s., and in metal (mostly girls), 18s. Wages in the building trades have steadily increased of late years, until in most branches the rates now prevailing are the highest in Germany. All the rates are hourly and are regulated by agreements. The agreement of the hod carriers introduces the reciprocal principle, by requiring minimum work in return for minimum wages ; 26 bricks must be carried at a time to cellar, ground floor, and first story, 24 to the second and third stories, and 22 to the fourth and higher stories. It is possible to follow the course of bricklayers’ and carpenters’ wages for a series of years. In 1879 the usual rate of pay in each case was from 4d. to 4^7. per hour. According to the central unions of these trades later rates have been as follows, the rates since 1899 being fixed by agreements :— Bricklayers. 1885 1890 1895 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 72d. 7-5 d, 7-8(7. 7- 8d. 8- ld. 8-4d. 8- 7(7. 9- 0(7. Carpenters. 5- 1 d. 6*0 d. 63d. 6- 3(7. 7- 8(7. 7-8(7. 7- 8(7. 84(7. 84(7. 8- 7(7. 9- 0(7. A comparison of these rates suggests that the higher price of labour is an equal factor with the higher price of land in causing the increase in rents which has occurred during recent years. Side by side with this increase in the rate of wages there has been a decrease in the number of hours. Prior to 1870 the rule was eleven hours daily, but by 1872 the ten-hours day had been introduced ; the years 1896 to 1899 saw the struggle for a nine-hours day, embodied in the wages agreement of the latter year ; the masons are now agitating for a day of eight hours. A large number of home industries afford occupation for a host of workpeople ­ of both sexes in Berlin and neighbourhood. The principal industries which are in part or altogether carried on in the homes of the workers are various branches of the clothing industry, the manufacture of linen underwear, of hats caps, ties, feathers, and flowers, the tobacco, boot and shoe, leather and paper goods industries, the manufacture of baskets and sticks, and the cigar and cigarette industry. It is estimated that the home workers of all classes kreativ exceed 100,000. In 1905 the Berlin Chamber of Commerce instituted an investigation into the extent, character, and conditions of these home industries, as a result of which it was found that female workers—to a large extent married—greatly predominate, further, that the home work is to a very great degree unskilled and that it is a means of livelihood to a large number of physically deteriorated workers who are unsuited to factory employment. The two most striking peculiarities of the clothing trade are that it is seasonal, as a consequence of which earnings are very irregular, and that it is overwhelmingly in the hands of middlemen. The latter word ' is the obvious rendering,, of the German term " Zwischenmeister,” for though the word “ sweater ” is quite familiar to persons engaged in this trade there is a reluctance to allow that any analogy exists between the Berlin “ middleman ” and the " sweater ” of the London East End. It is only rarely that clothing manufacturers ­ have workshops of their own, and where they exist it is for the^ making of high-class goods of a special kind. Virtually the whole trade is in the hands of the middlemen, with whom their employers make contracts at the beginning of BERLIN. 11 each season. Thus there is no contact whatever between the manufacturers and the tailors who do the work. The Berlin clothing manufacturer is, in fact, only a manufacturer in name ; the real manufacturer is the contractor, who is supplied with the cloth to be cut up, works to his models on commission, and for the rest engages his labour on the cheapest terms which the market allows.. The question has often been asked, is the middleman a necessary element in the clothing trade? In Berlin the answer is in the affirmative, and it is contended that the abolition of this intermediary form of employment would revolutionise the conditions under which the clothing trade has for years been carried on, without any guarantee that the workers in general would benefit. The investigation made by the Berlin Chamber of Commerce established the fact that of the money paid by the manufacturer to the middleman the latter retains about one-half in the ladies’ dress and mantle trade, which entails on him most expense both in the preparatory and finishing processes, for he has to pay the cutters, button-hole makers, ironers, &c., while in the cheaper men’s and boys’ clothing trade he retains about one-third of the gross proceeds, from which again have to be deducted the costs of his own workshops. Many of the middlemen are not tailors by trade, but merely enterprising men of good organising capacity who have seen a " good thing ” in the clothing trade and from small beginnings have built up a remunerative connection. Owing to the seasonal character of the trade and the irregular hours worked the earnings of the tailors are very unequal. Approximately they may be given as follows for a full week’s work, payment being by piece :— (1) Ladies’ and children’s mantle trade, men 30s. per week, women 16s. ; (2) Ladies’ costume, coat, and blouse trade, women 15s. 6d ; (3) Men’s and boys’ dress trade, men 25s. to 35s., women 14s. For one or two months in the year, however, there is little or nothing to do. Tailors employed in workshops have better wages, and in the season good men can regularly earn 36s. It must be remembered that a large proportion of the home workers are married women, who in this way seek to supplement the earnings of the chief bread-winner, and are only able to devote odd hours to the work. How largely the custom of home working is a result of poverty may be concluded from a statement made in a memorial lately addressed to the Berlin Tramway Company by their employees : "The tramway employee is unfortunately unable to dispense with the earnings of his wife, even in normal domestic conditions, if he would maintain his family properly. The wife has really no choice in the matter.” So, too, of 2,051 municipal employees interrogated on the subject in 1905, 416, or 20*2 per cent., replied that their wives worked for money, 170 at charing, 161 as home workers, 17 in factories, and 68 in other ways. The earnings of 66 were under 3s. per week, those of 278 were from 3s. to 6s., of 46 from 7s. to 10s., and 25 earned more than 10s. weekly. Although the tramways, the electric power and lighting service, and some of the gasworks are still in private hands, the municipality of Berlin is the largest of local employers, its workpeople of all classes numbering some 13,000. The general rate of pay for unskilled labourers is 21s. for 60 hours’ work, rising to 24s., according to the years of service. Twelve years ago threepence per hour was a common rate for labourers employed on street and other outdoor work. The drivers of the principal Tramway Company begin with 25s. per week and rise to a maximum of 33s. after 20 years’ service, and the conductors begin with 22s. and rise to 30s. For several years the municipal workpeople of Berlin have enjoyed various concessions such as summer holidays, special help in sickness, pensions, and grants to widows and orphans. Here the municipality is following in the footsteps of the larger employers of labour, some of whom make liberal provision of the kind. The Siemens-Schuckert-Halske Electrical Companies paid in the year 1905-1906, in connection with their various establishments ­ in Berlin and elsewhere, £7,230 in 310 old-age and other yearly pensions, £4,171 in temporary grants to 403 widows and 385 children, £102 to six widows on re-marriage, and £274 in benefactions to 253 other individuals, making a total grant of £11,777. Pension and distress funds also exist in connection with the Borsig, Loewe, Berlin-Anhalt, Keyling & Thomas, and other engineering works, as well as with the Tramway Company. Gifts at Christmas, at marriage, and at the confirmation of children are common, and some firms not only keep open the positions of men called to military service but make grants to their families during their absence. 29088 B 2 H ma % Ä: ' . 12 BERLIN. The following Table summarises the information obtained in this enquiry as to the wages and hours of labour in Berlin :— Wages and Hours of Labour in the Principal Occupations, October, 1905. Building Trades (regulated by agreement)* Foremen... Bricklayers Stone-cutters Carpenters Joiners and Cabinetmakers ... Plumbers and Fitters ... Sculptors and Modellers (in plaster) Glaziers ... ... ... ... ... Roofers ... ... ... ... ... Stucco-workers... Painters, skilled men . . „ unskilled men Hod carriers Lime slackers and Water carriers Bricklayers’ labourers... Engineering Trades :— Moulders Fitters ... Turners Smiths ... Smiths’ strikers Pattern-makers... Core-makers Planers ... Borers Angle-iron smiths Boilersmiths Ri vetters Coppersmiths ... Labourers Electrical Industry :— Moulders Fitters ... ... ... ... Turners ... Smiths ... ... ... ... Pattern-makers... Tool-makers Electrical instrument makers Electro-mounters Labourers Copper and Brass-founding Works :— Moulders Fitters ... Turners Smiths ... Pattern-makers... Braziers ... Polishers, Drillers, Filers Wire drawers ... Labourers Lamp Manufactories :— Fitters ... Braziers Labourers Textile, Clothing, and Allied Trades :— Dyeing and Chemical cleaning Works D y ers ... ... ... ... . Washers Labourers Carpet weavers 50s. to 54s. 39s. Id. 35s. 8d. 39s. le?. 31s. lid.] 32s. Id. 36s. 34s. 9c?. 39s. lc?. 42s. 29s. 5d. 26s. 9c?. 36s. 5d. 28s. 4c?. 25s. 8c?. 34s. to 38s. 10c?. 30s. to 33s. 37s. 3c?. to 38s. 10c?. 30s. to 31s. 2c?. 27s. 36s. to 37s. 36s. 27s. 23s. 8c?. 30s. 11c?. 31s. lc?. 31s. 4c?. 30s. 20s. to 23s. Id. 38s. to 40s. 6c?. 32s. 5c?. to 36s. 35s. 8c?. „ 42s. 31s. 4c?. to 42s. 6c?. 37 s. 10c?. to 45s. 10c?. 33s. 6c?. to 42s. 33s. 6c?. „ 42s. 28s. to 30s. 22s. 9c?. to 24s. 36s. to 40s. 39s. 37s. 30s. 42s. 36s. 36s. 36s. to 38s. 22s. » 26s. 27s. to 36s. 27s. » 32s. 21s. 23s. and 24s. 20s. to 23s. 18s. and 19s. 24s. „ 25s. Weekly Hours of Labour. 53% 50 57 to 60 57 „ 60 57 „ 60 57 „ 60 57 „ 60 57 „ 60 57 „ 60 57 „ 60 57 „ 60 57 „ 60 57 „ 60 54 to 60 54 „ 60 54 „ 60 54 „ 60 54 „ 60 54 „ 60 54 „ 60 54 „ 60 54 „ 60 57 to 60 57 „ 60 57 „ 60 57 „ 60 57 „ 60 57 „ 60 57 „ 60 57 „ 60 57 „ 60 * r f he wa & es an . d llom ' s of labour stated for the building trades are for a full week in summer t Average earnings in 190o. BERLIN. ia Weekly Wages. Printing and Allied Trades (agreement rates) Printers Machine compositors—news ... ,, — „ jobbing Lithographers Chromo printers Bookbinders Wood-working Trades :— Furniture Factories :— Joiners and Cabinetmakers ... Upholsterers Polishers Stainers Yarnishers Carvers Machine turners, moulders, &c. Labourers Hand-rail makers (workshop) ... Wheelwrights—box-makers „ wheel-makers ... Wood carvers Piano Manufactories :— Joiners ... Cabinetmakers ... Instrument makers Stringers Key makers Regulators Soundboard (“ belly ”) makers Polishers and Finishers Labourers Food, Drink, &c. Trades :— Bakers Breweries—brewers „ coopers „ bottlers ... „ labourers Leather Trades :— Tanners Dressers ... Yarnishers Saddlers... Girdlers ... ... ... ... Labourers Miscellaneous Trades and Industries, Button makers, horn „ mother-of-pearl „ composition ... „ metal (girls)... Linoleum Works :— Machine men ... „ (large machines) Engravers Printers ... Labourers Rubber Works :— Mixers ... Rubber workers Unskilled workers Furriers ... Chemical workers Carters in industrial concerns ... 28s. 2c?, 35s. 2c?. 36s. Id. 27s. 28s. to 30s. 24s. 36s. to 38s. 32s. „ 39s. 29s. „ 34s. 24s. 3d. to 28s. 31s. 33s. to 35s. 10c?. 32s. to 35s. 7c?. 21s. and 22s. 29s. 11c?. 31s. 10c?. 29s. 2c?. 45s. 40s. to 44s. 10c?. 33s. to 36s. 33s. „ 36s. 35s. „ 40s. 33s. „ 36s. 35s. „ 40s. 33s. „ 40s. 40s. 21s. to 24s. 24s. to 27s. (with bread valued at 3s.). 32s. 32s. 20s. 6c?. to 22s. 6c?. 23s. „ 26s. 26s. to 30s. 30s. 22s. to 25s. 24s. „ 27s. 22s. „ 27s. « 24s. 32s. 32s. 26s. 18s. 23s. 27s. and upwards 29s. 32s. 18s. to 20s. 30s. 24s. to 28s. 18s. to 24s. 27s. 20s. to 20s. 9c?. 27s. to 30s. Weekly Hours of Labour. 54 48 54 54 54 54 52 52 52 52 52 52 52 52 52 53 53 54 54 54 54 54 54 54 54 54 70 57 54 60 57 54 54 54 54 54 54 54 54 54 54 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 54 60 66 14 BERLIN. The following were the rates of wages and hours of labour of workpeople ­ employed in the municipal and other public services of Berlin and Charlottenburg in October, 1905 :— Hoad Maintenance :— Foremen Paviors Road makers Street cleaners Gasworks :— Foremen Stokers Labourers ... Waterworks :— Labourers ... Electrical Works, and Electric Lighting :— Engine-men Stokers Mounters and Installers Fitters Dynamo attendants Electric Tramways :— Drivers Conductors Weekly Wages. Berlin. 21s. 6d 21s. to 24s. 45s. 36s. 4d. 25s. 2d. 21 s. Id. to 24s. 26s. 29s. 8d. 31s. 4d. 5d. to 29s. 8c?. 39s. Id. 23s. Ir?. Charlotten burg. Weekly Hours of Labour. Berlin. 24s. 3c?. to 30s. 24s. 3c?. „ 30s. 24s. 21s. 11c?. to 27s. 8c?. 35s. to 45s. 36s. „ 40s. 24s. ,, 27s. 36s. 32 s. 31s. 32s. 25s. to 33s. 22s. ,, 30s. 60 60 57& 65“ 60 60 66 66 66 66 66 54 60 Charlottenburg. 60 60 60 64 65 to 70 65 „70 60 70 75 75 60 It will be understood that the wide range in wages shown in several employments is caused by the method of progressive remuneration according to years of service. Many of the industries of Berlin have of late years been greatly disturbed by disputes, and the relationships between capital and labour in general would appear to be very strained. What are called " Trials of strength " (" Kraftproben ”) are of constant occurrence where the organisation of the workpeople seems to offer a fair prospect of success, though many disagreements do not take the form of a strike or a lock-out. Nevertheless, during the year 1905 there were within the district of the Berlin Merchants’ Association 323 strikes, affecting 1,772 concerns and 31,906 workpeople. Of these strikes, 27 occurred in the metal industries, 84 in the wood industries, and 61 in the building trades. During the same year also there were 12 lockouts, affecting 36,665 workpeople, of whom 26,980 were employed in four works. On the side of the workpeople the effect of this constant resort to hostilities is seen in the tendency to a still closer and stronger organisation ; the employers are also combining to a degree never known before, and a form of insurance against strikes is becoming popular in several industries. An attempt has been made to set up labour organisations independent of the militant Trade Unions but only limited success has been achieved. Such organisations are known by the name " Yellow.” The disposition to regulate wages by agreements operative for several years becomes stronger year by year, and, in 1906, 40 such agreements were known to exist in Berlin. The building trades have universally adopted this method of collective bargaining, and agreements have also been concluded, fixing the wages and other conditions of employment of brewers, yellow metal workers, wire workers, pipe layers, furriers, lithographers, wood carvers, balustrade makers, carpet weavers, tailors- in the ready-made clothing trade, carters and draymen, house refuse carriers, transport labourers in the corn trade, &c. Here, as elsewhere, however, the wages agreements are confined—apart from the building trades—either to what is known as the BERLIN. 15 “ small industry,” including the handicrafts, or to the unskilled occupations. Employers in the " heavy ” engineering and metal trades resist the innovation as an attempt to impose the principle of uniformity of payment where remuneration has hitherto been determined by individual capacity, and only in an indirect and incomplete form are wages agreements introduced in these trades. This is where wages disputes between individual firms and sections of their employees are settled on conditions which are reduced to writing and signed by both parties. It is not uncommon for such agreements to be printed and circulated by the men’s organisations, and they represent at present the nearest approximation in the large productive industries to the wages agreement ­ as generally understood. In illustration of the temper which characterises the relationships between employers and employees it is worthy of note that in the more recent wages agreements, not a few of which are the direct outcome of strikes, it is not uncommon to find the stipulation : " Workpeople may not be penalised for having brought about the conclusion of this agreement.” On the other hand, a two years’ agreement was concluded in February, 1907, between the employers in the yellow metal industry and the Hirsch - Duncker Machine-builders’ and Metalworkers’ Union, by which the latter withdrew its demand for minimum rates of wages and a wages agreement for the entire industry " because the competition of the provinces and of foreign countries at present makes it impossible to apply arrangements of the kind to all undertakings,” and provision was made for the settlement of future disputes by arbitration in the event of employers and workpeople failing to come to terms. The endeavour which employers are making to protect themselves by insurance ­ against the losses incidental to labour disputes, whatever their issue, has so far been confined in Berlin to several industries, but the movement appears likely to attract widespread support in the near future, though its permanent success will depend on practical difficulties which as yet there has been no opportunity of fairly facing. The Association of German Employers’ Unions, the Union of German Metal Manufacturers, and the Employers’ Federation for the Building Trade have been the first organisations to move in the matter. The Insurance Company formed in connection with the first of these organisations provides for compensation being paid to its members in the event of strikes, and also of lock-outs where the latter are enforced by resolution of the parent Association ; moreover, if, owing to a partial strike, other portions of an undertaking are brought to a standstill, the claim for compensation applies in respect of this indirect area of dispute. Employers can only insure themselves jointly as members of associations, and the entrance fee is 2s. per £100 of the aggregate wages bill, with Is. per £100 as a yearly contribution. In the event of a stoppage of his works by strike or sanctioned lock-out, an employer may claim compensation, and it becomes the duty of the board of control to consider all the circumstances and to award such an amount as it thinks proper. The maximum indemnity is 12J per cent, of the average daily wages of the workpeople affected for each day of the stoppage, but only to the number of 1,000 ; from 1,001 to 2,000 the compensation is reduced to 10 per cent. ; from 2,001 to 4,000 to per cent. ; from 4,001 to 8,000 to 5 per cent. ; and over 8,000 to 2\ per cent. By way of illustration, an association of employers or an individual employer with 4,000 workpeople, paid at 4s. per da^, would receive 12£ per cent, of 4s. per man daily on the first 1,000 men = £25 ; 10 per cent, of 4s. on the next 1.000 men = £20 ; and 7J per cent, of 4s. on the remaining 2,000 men = £30 ; a total of £75 per day. The premium, on the basis of Is. per £100 of wages, assuming ­ 300 working days at 4s. to the year, would have been £120. The scheme ofthe Metal Manufacturers’ Union is on the same lines except that the entrance fee is 6<i. per £100 of the wages and the yearly contribution 6s. per £100, while the maximum compensation payable is 25 per cent, of the average daily wages of the first 1,000 workmen, 20 per cent, from 1,001 to 2,000, 15 per cent, from 2.001 to 4,000, 10 per cent, from 4,001 to .8,000, and 5 per cent, from 8,000 upwards. Here the maximum compensation on 4,000 workmen with the same earnings as before would be £150 daily, wdiile the yearly contribution would be £720. The scheme of insurance for the building trade provides for a yearly contribution by employers of 2s. per £100 of wages, to be increased to 4s. if necessary, wdiile the maximum compensation that can be granted is 25 per 16 BERLIN. cent, of the average daily wages of all workmenTup to 500, 12^ per cent, from 501 to 1,000, 7^ per cent, from 1,001 to 2,000, 5 per cent, from 2,001 to 4,000, and 2^ per cent, from 4,000 upwards. How far the several scales of compensation ­ correspond actuarially to the premiums payable will only be learned by experience. It is to be noted, however, that it rests entirely with the executive of each insuring society to determine the amount that should be granted in every individual case, and that a claim to compensation cannot be enforced at law. Housing and Rents. Several broad generalisations may safely be passed upon the housing conditions of Berlin. In the first place, Berlin is essentially a town of large houses. “ Barracks ” is the name given locally to the oppressive structures which rise to a height of five stories in every part of the town and stretch far behind the street front, around and alongside of narrow courtyards circumscribed so as to afford merely the irreducible minimum of light and air which the sanitary regulations require. Further, the tendency is for the working classes to be satisfied with diminishing accommodation. Yet, while their dwellings are small as to number of rooms, a certain compensation is afforded in many cases by the relatively large cubical contents of the living rooms proper. Finally, for this limited accommodation a high price has to be paid. All these characteristics of Berlin dwellings have a common origin in the fact that Berlin is distinctly a town of modern growth, the rapidity of whose expansion has given rise to inflated land values, which in their turn have reacted prejudicially both upon housing conditions and rents. It may be well at the outset to illustrate these several points by figures. First as to the size of the houses. Of every 1,000 dwelling-houses (i.e., blocks) enumerated in Berlin and 25 immediate suburbs, in December, 1900, 58 had but one story, 94 had 2 stories, 92 had 3 stories, 215 had 4 stories, 466 had 5 stories, 71 had 6 stories, and 4 had 7 stories. In Berlin proper 539 houses per 1,000 had 5 stories, and 99 had 6 or 7 stories. In the independent suburb of Schöneberg the corresponding figures were 657 and 77. From the ’sixties onward the disappearance of one-story houses has been rapid. Bei ween 1864 and 1871, just before the great boom, the decrease was 8 per cent., while the decrease of two and three-story houses was 41, per cent. On the other hand, the four-story houses increased 11 per cent., and the fivestory houses 50 per cent. With the growth of the houses in size grew, too, the number of the basement dwellings, at least for a time, until new byelaws came into force restricting them. In 1867 there were in Berlin 14,292 such dwellings, in 1871 there were 19,208, or one-ninth of the whole. In 1900 469,710 rented dwellings were classified as to position as follows :— Basement Ground floor Entresol (mezzanine) 1st story 2nd ,, ... ... 3rd ,, ... •*-4 th. ,, ... ... 5th ,, ... ... In different stories Totals Front Houses. 12,941 23,513 7,224 44,872 51,948 54,900 45,536 1,753 2,988 245,675 Rate per 1,000 Dwellings. 27-6 50*1 15 3 955 110-6 116-9 96 9 3-7 6-4 Back Houses. 5230 11,147 36,500 6,302 39,203 42,156 44,273 41,337 2,179 938 224,035 Rate per 1,000 Dwellings. 23 7 77-7 13-5 83 5 89 7 94 3 88-0 4-6 2-0 Totals. 477-0 24,088 60,013 13,526 84,075 94,104 99,173 86,873 3,932 3,926 469,710 BERLIN. 17 As to the size of dwellings, while the average number of living rooms was 2*15 in 1890, it was 2'11 in 1895, and 2*07 in 1900, though including kitchens the corresponding figures were 3’05, 3*02 and 2*99. At the same time the number of persons per dwelling has gradually decreased since 1875, a circumstance to which, however, only a partial economic significance can be attached, for the birth-rate and the average size of families have also decreased in the meantime. While the average number of persons per dwelling was 4 40 in 1875 and 4*18 in 1890, it was 3'89 in 1900 and 3*77 in 1905. The number of persons per heatable room has decreased in a less degree, the average in 1890 being 1 *95, and in 1895 and 1900 1*88, or, reckoning kitchens, 1'37 in 1890, 1-31 in 1895, and T30 in 1900. Classifying the small rented dwellings of Berlin, according to the division recognised by the municipal authorities, it is found that of an aggregate of 470,977 dwellings in December, 1900, 356,781 fell into the following categories :— Dwellings consisting of Only kitchen One unbeatable room without kitchen One unbeatable room with kitchen Two unbeatable rooms without kitchen Two unbeatable rooms with kitchen One heatable room without kitchen One heatable room with kitchen ... One heatable and one unbeatable room without kitchen One heatable and one unbeatable room with kitchen ... Two heatable rooms without kitchen Two heatable rooms with kitchen Two heatable and one unbeatable room, without kitchen One heatable and two unbeatable rooms without kitchen Three unbeatable rooms without kitchen Three heatable rooms without kitchen ... Total of above types Other types Grand Total Number of Dwellings. 4,086 658 1,392 27 272 32,812 170,182 1,417 24,267 2,320 118,562 330 84 6 366 356,781 114,196 470,977 Percentage of Total Dwellings. 09 0T 03 00 00 7-0 36-1 0-3 5-2 0-5 252 04 o-o o-o 0-1 75-8 24-2 1000 A few words of explanation seem necessary here as to the description of rooms as " heatable ” and " unbeatable," since it underlies the entire system of house enumeration in Berlin and many other German towns. When it is stated that the mode of heating is by stoves, whose flues pass into central chimneys which serve all the stories of a house, the terms “ heatable ” and “ unbeatable ” appear to explain themselves. As used for statistical purposes, however, they are very vague, and in the opinion of many German authorities artificial and misleading. The traditional and normal accommodation of working-class dwellings, and, indeed, of small dwellings generally, used to be " Stube, Kammer, Küche,” or " Living-room, bedroom, and kitchen,” the living-room having a stove and the bedroom being without. When rents were lower than now the “ Stube ” was used as a dayroom only, and corresponded to the downstairs ­ living-room in an English working-man’s cottage. For a long time, however, ­ the " Stube ” has had to serve as a bedroom as well, since a dwelling of two rooms, a kitchen and a room for all other purposes, has become the predominant working-class type in Berlin. The ‘‘Kammer ” in the old sense is gradually disappearing, though where it exists it is used as a second bedroom, even if without a window. In the light ot this traditional division of a dwelling, it is easy to see how the living-room or " Stube ” came to be regarded as the unit of accommodation and the anteroom or " Kammer ” was viewed as subsidiary. Hence it comes to pass that dwellings described as consisting of one or more " rooms ” and a kitchen may have these anterooms as well, and in better houses the anterooms are at times spacious, though they suffer from the defect that they cannot be heated, and sometimes are dark as well. 29088 c 18 BERLIN. If for present purposes the distinction between “ heatable ” and “ unbeatable" rooms be disregarded, the small dwellings of Berlin as enumerated in 1900 may be more summarily and also more satisfactorily classified in the following groups :— Dwelling consisting of Number. Percentage of Whole. One room Two rooms ... j Three rooms Only kitchen ... One room without kitchen ... One room with kitchen Two rooms without kitchen Two rooms with kitchen ... Three rooms without kitchen 4,086 ) 37,556 33,470 i m i i75 > 338 143 ’^gg j 143,887 80 37-2 306 It is interesting to compare these percentages with the corresponding percentages for London :— Tenements of London. Number. Percentage. Berlin. Number. Percentage. One room Two rooms Three rooms Four rooms and over Total 149,524 201,431 181,542 487,049 14-7 19-8 17-8 47-8 1,019,546 37,556 175,338 143,887 114,196 80 37 2 30-6 242 470,977 The following table shows the number of occupied tenements of from one to four rooms in London and Berlin according to the censuses of 1901 and 1900 respectively (rented dwellings alone being counted in the case of Berlin), with the average number of persons per tenement of each size :— Number of Rooms per Tenement. One room... Two rooms Three rooms Four rooms One to four rooms Number of such Tenements. London. 149,524 201,431 181,542 139,533 672,030 Berlin. 37,369 175,163 143,744 56,197 412,473 Number of Persons. Total. London. Berlin. 304,874 701,203 752,221 691,491 2,449,789 67,645 629,929 608,671 239,171 1,545,416 Per Tenement. London. Berlin 204 3- 48 4- 14 4-96 3 65 181 3 60 423 4-26 3 75 At the census of December, 1900, of the total population of Berlin, 96*7 per cent, lived in rented dwellings, and of these 84*6 per cent, lived in dwelling's of not more than four rooms, while in London only 54 per cent, of the total population lived in tenements of not more than four rooms. In Berlin 3*7 per cent, of the population occupying rented dwellings lived in dwellings consisting of one room only, 34 5 per cent, in dwellings of two rooms, 33 3 per cent in dwellings of three rooms, and 131 per cent, in four room dwellings. The corresponding percentages for London (all occupied dwellings—not rented onlvl were 6 - 7, 15*5, 16’6 and 15'2 respectively. ^ While the large " barrack,” built round a courtyard, is the typical Berlin house, several variations of this type are clearly recognisable, and they can be placed in a certain chronological sequence, according broadly with the building by-laws which have been issued from time to time. Disregarding for the moment the fast disappearing relics of old Berlin, buildings anterior to sanitary regulations of any kind, and embodying the most primitive principles of domestic architecture, the worst houses are those which were built under the by-laws ot 1853, when Berlin was a town of some 428,000 inhabitants with an industry of growing yet still insignificant proportions. BERLIN. 19 The building regulations of 1853 accepted things much as they were ; they introduced no restrictions as to the proportion of a building site which should be left open, and they left the water and closet arrangements very defective. The next important revision of the by-laws was that of January 23,1887, and the main provisions of that date have continued to the present day. Midway between 1853 and 1887 occurred the most baneful period of speculation which the real estate market of Berlin has ever experienced. It immediately followed the establishment ­ of the Empire, and was stimulated not only by the feverish activity which at once marked the commercial and industrial life of the capital, but also by the flooding of the money market by the French indemnity. The building regulations of the time were not stringent enough to check the excesses of the house speculators, who built wherever land could be bought most cheaply and were indifferent as to the means by which their handsome profits were obtained. This period saw a wide development of the courtyard system of building, but it was a development on unhealthy lines. As the by-laws did not specially determine the maximum proportion of a plot which might be covered with buildings, the courtyard was unduly restricted. Again, though there were basement dwellings (Kellerwohnungen) before, they multiplied during this period, with results from which Berlin suffers to the present day. Yet there were improvements as well. For example, while formerly the closets were largely found in the courtyards, they were now more frequently placed on the stairs within the .house. The by-laws of 1887 were specially important, since they systematically prescribed how a building plot should be used—how much of it might be built upon, how much must be left free ; they marked, in fact, the beginning of the Berlin Corporation’s serious crusade on behalf of free light and air for the dwellings of the working class. Restrictions were also imposed as to basement dwellings. The alterations introduced into the existing by-laws, which date from August 15, 1897, refer chiefly to the height of the back houses in relation to the courtyards. Speaking generally, it may be said that the worst dwellings fall to the period before 1880 ; since then the standard has generally improved, and this applies as much to convenience of structure as to sanitary conditions. The great blot upon the housing arrangements of Berlin is the " barrack n system of building, coupled with—and indeed under present conditions implying—small and ill ventilated courtyards to which the sun is at best but a fleeting visitor. This system is seen at its worst when one back building is followed by another and then by another, divided only by a similar courtyard of even smaller proportions. It will be convenient here to refer to the principal requirements of the building by-laws, for in every town these by-laws serve as a test by which to judge the existing housing conditions, tinder the code of 1897 the regulations as to the proportion of a building site which may be built upon are uniform in the case of all plots not exceeding 32 metres (105 feet) in depth, whether the land has been built on before or not. Where this depth is exceeded a distinction is made between building plots situated within the former walls and those outside this area. In other words, greater density of building and thus of population is allowed in the old town. In determining the amount of a given site which may be built upon, Berlin departs from the usual German plan of fixing a definite proportion of the total surface. Here the plot is divided on the plan into two or three strips according to its area, of which the first, having a depth of 6 metres (19J feet) from the street building line, may be entirely covered with buildings, but the second only to the extent of seven-tenths ; where the plot is deeper than 32 metres (105 feet) five-tenths or six-tenths of the remainder may as a rule be built on, according as the plot is outside or within the old town area. The areas of these proportions are then added together and they form the total surface which may be covered, but the actual location of the required open space is not fixed by the by-laws. As to light and ventilation, it is required that all rooms not lying on the street front and intended for permanent habitation must have direct communication ­ with a chief court, the minimum area of which must be 80 square metres (96 square yards), with a distance of at least 6 metres (19J- feet) from wall to wall. Where, however, the area to be left open, as reckoned according 20 BERLIN. to the foregoing rules, is less than 80 square metres (96 square yards) the chief court may be reduced to 60 square metres (72 square yards), with 6 metres (19J square feet) from wall to wall, provided the remaining space is used for an inner court or light shaft (Lichthof) with an area of at least 10 square metres (12 square yards), and a distance from wall to wall of at least 2 metres (6J feet) ; where the area to be left open is less than 60 metres (72 square yards) the chief court may be restricted accordingly, yet only to a minimum of 40 square metres (48 square yards), with 6 metres (19| feet) from wall to wall. Should the portion of a building plot lying beyond the first division line (to a depth of 6 metres, or 19^ feet) have an area of less than 50 square metres (60 square yards), no chief court is necessary, provided all rooms receive light and air immediately from the street, and an inner court of at least 25 square metres (30 square yards) in extent and 4 metres (13 feet) from wall to wall be constructed. Should a building plot not exceed 6 metres (19^ feet) in depth no court of any kind is necessary. As to the height of front houses, it is prescribed that the front walls must always be 12 metres (39 feet) high, but they may not exceed 22 metres (72 feet). Within these limits variations are allowed, as, for example, that buildings erected in the street may be as high as the street is wide, subject to the maximum above stated. The general rule for the height of a back building is that it may not exceed by more than 6 metres (19J feet) the extent of the court before it, as measured from the boundary wall. As to stories, the recognised division of a house is into basement, ground floor (Erdgeschoss), first, second, and higher stories, and attic story. The maximum number of stories permissible is five, and the floor of the highest story may not be more than 18 metres (59 feet) above the level of the court. The average height of the rooms must be at least 2*80 metres (9 feet 2 inches), and no floor may be more than ^ metre (1 foot 8 inches) below the surrounding surface, unless a light and ventilation area at least 1 metre (3 feet 3 inches) wide runs along the outer wall, when a depth of 1 metre (3 feet 3 inches) may be permitted. Such are the main requirements of the byelaws, and, so far as new buildings are concerned, they are carefully enforced. It may be noted, however, that Berlin has not yet seen its way to adopt a system of house inspection. Where there are complaints by the police, by sick fund controllers, by medical officers, by poor law officials and visitors, or by tenants, the dwellings are visited and reported on, and in this way many evils are abated in the course of a year, but no systematic attempt is made to discover insanitary conditions, and so to supersede unofficial informers. As an illustration of conflict between precept and practice, it may be stated that an investigation, made in 1905, of several thousand dwellings inhabited by members of the Berlin Local Sick Fund for mercantile employees showed that 28*40 per cent, of the rooms in the case of male members, and 26*87 per cent, in the case of female members, were below the height stipulated by the building byelaws—viz., 2*80 metres (9 ft. 2 in.). Of the basement dwellings, 37 per cent., and of the attic dwellings 50*53 per cent., were under 2*50 metres (8 feet 2 inches) high. Similarly, of 357 dwellings of member of the Painters’ Sick Fund investigated, 24 per cent, were under the regulation height. One of the first things to strike a visitor to the working-class streets of Berlin is the multiplicity of basement shops. Even in West-end districts it is not uncommon for the basement rooms of a mansion, with garden in front, to be occupied by a grocery or vegetable dealer ; but in the Industrial quarters basement shops and workshops run along both sides of the street. They are invariably kept by small tradespeople—food and fuel dealers shoemakers, ­ tinsmiths, and the like—who live on the premises, often in very restricted quarters, defective in light and ventilation. Above the basement lies the parterre or ground floor, raised a few steps above the street level. In busy streets this, too, is generally given up to business premises though at times to a restaurant or beerhouse, suited in style and charges to the character of the lesident population. A common door gives access to the flats, but where there is a back building, which is generally the case, entrance is by a wide portal, with staircase on one side or both, beyond which lies the courtyard. BERLIN. 21 Various forms and combinations of the back house have in course of time been evolved. The simplest and the original form is an extension of the front building on both sides to the rear by wings which are connected by a “cross” (quer) building running parallel with the street, so that a rectangular space is enclosed forming the courtyard or Hof. The building regulations, however, do not stipulate how architects shall dispose of the space behind the front house, and the latitude thus allowed to them has led to a diversity of practice. Sometimes a middle wing projects behind the front house, with open space on both sides, this wing leading to a cross-building ( Quergebäude ) extending the entire width of the plot. The back house may also take the form of an isolated lateral block surrounded on three sides by the courtyard, or instead of this “side building,” as it is called, there may be a “middle building” standing back on the boundary line with open space on either side. or in front. The semi-detached back house, whether a wing or a cross-building, is invariably entered from the courtyard by a separate door. The most notorious “ barrack ” house of Berlin, and the classic example ot a congested building site, is situated in the northern part of the city and bears the name Meyershof. It is a property consisting of a front house and five parallel buildings behind, divided by courtyards some 24 yards wide by 12 yards deep. Each of the back buildings is entered by two doors from its own court, and the uniform height is five stories with basements. The basements are still used as dwellings in some cases, but the great majority have gradually been diverted to business purposes. The entire property contains 250 dwellings, and in these dwellings are housed some 800 persons. The usual accommodation comprises either a large living and bedroom and a large kitchen, or a living and bedroom, an anteroom, and a small kitchen. Each tenant has also the right to a corner of the large attic. The dwellings are approached from corridors entered from small landings, and as a rule there are three dwellings to each corridor. The closets were formerly in the courtyards ; now a room on each corridor has been set apart for the purpose, and it serves for three households. There is little difference in the cubical capacity of the dwellings, whether consisting of one or two rooms and a kitchen, for the second living room has, as a rule, been formed by converting the large kitchen into two apartments. The usual dimensions are as follows :—Living and bedroom, 17 feet by 15 feet by 9 feet 3 inches high ; ante-room (often used as a second bedroom, though it is not heatable and has no arrangements for ventilation), 12 feet by 4 feet 6 inches by 9 feet 3 inches high ; kitchen, 12 feet by 6 feet by 9 feet 3 inches high. The rooms are papered, and if better lighted would wear a friendly aspect. The courtyards, on the other hand, are dismal in the extreme. No sun enters them, and as half the area is taken up with carts, coals, wood, and odd lumber, but a small space remains as a playground for the children. Meyershof is the largest individual property occupied entirely by working-class households, but houses consisting of four parallel blocks, with three intervening courtyards, each smaller, darker and duller than the other, are common. The rents in Meyershof range from £10 10s. to £12 per annum (equal to from 4s. to 4s. Id. per week, without rates), according to story, for a large room and a kitchen. Little can be said in favour of the courtyard system of building, much in disfavour, and that from various standpoints. It is merely a builder’s device for exploiting costly sites to the best monetary advantage, and it cannot be pretended that it ranks in the evolution of domestic architecture as an improved type. Nothing could be more depressing than the sight of the huge structures which surround many of the courtyards in working-class districts of Berlin. The street outside may be monotonous in the uniformity of its long rows of high buildings, each like the other in every detail of structure and external finish, yet it is wide and spacious, and the colouring of the inevitable stucco brightens the scene. Entering a typical courtyard, however, one finds oneself standing upon an arid piece of plaster, as a rule quite deserted. Looking around and above, the eye rests upon large expanses of wall and window rising to a height of five or six stories. There is no noise in the courtyard, for the convenience of 20 or 30 families requires absolute quiet, and the house regulations ­ are stringent upon the point : in most houses even the playing of children in the courtyard is expressly forbidden. 22 BERLIN. But the hygienic disadvantages of the courtyard system are most serious, and the chief are defective ventilation and an absence of direct sunlight. The rooms which open upon the courtyard depend upon it for all the light and air they receive ; and while the light is deficient the air is polluted. For the air supply of the courtyard itself is derived from the street as a rule only through contaminated ­ channels—entrance halls and passages whose doors are only opened at need—and within the courtyard no free movement of the air is possible. The objections to the close courtyard are still greater when, as at times happens, a portion of the back house round a courtyard is taken up by cattle and horse stalls. The courtyard system of building is unreservedly condemned by many housing reformers and is probably defended by none. “ The system of courtyard ­ dwellings,” says Dr. R. Eberstadt, “ is both from the hygienic and social standpoint equally injurious. The court is surrounded on four sides by walls 20 metres (65 feet) high, so that the air within is stagnant and never forms currents ; no sufficient motion of the air is possible. During the warmer seasons of the year this evil is increased by the close temperature and defective cooling of the air. The extension of the courts by a few metres offers no remedy ; a thorough renewal of the air can take place neither in the walled-in courts nor in the adjacent dwellings. In-draught and through-draught are blocked in every direction, and whether this immovable cube of air is a little larger or smaller makes little difference to the faultiness of the whole arrangement.” Of recent years an improvement has been introduced here and there in the form of a garden or planted space instead of the ugly rectangle of plaster, in which event the back house surrounding the court is known as a " garden house,” but this applies only to buildings of a better type, and for the present the “ garden house,” in Berlin at least, must be regarded as a luxury of the West-end. Apart from these reservations as to back buildings and courtyards the housing conditions in the newer districts would be very satisfactory were the dwellings larger and the rents lower. Houses of the “ barrack ” type seldom consist of less than five stories, and the art of compact building is here exemplified as nowhere else, yet the general aspect of the dwellings, both externally and internally, is pleasing. The structure itself is attractive, and good workmanship has been put into it ; the staircases are light and airy, the corridors spacious, the rooms high ; the walls have been papered or stencilled, electric bells take the place of the old-fashioned knocker, and not infrequently each dwelling has a small balcony before or behind. The tenants of such dwellings have both cellars and lofts, and in some cases there is a washhouse for common use. To the kitchen a small larder is sometimes attached ; the closet stands in the corridor, but baths will be sought in vain. How little diffused are even the more urgent conveniences of domestic life in Berlin may be judged from the fact that not half of the dwellings enumerated in 1900 had separate kitchens. Of every 1,000 dwellings only 107 at the front and 19 at the back had larders, 77 at the front and 5 at the back had bathrooms, and 291 at the front and 150 at the back had independent closets. In the workingclass districts baths were non-existent, and larders almost so. The general arrangement of working-class dwellings of predominant types and of different periods may be illustrated here by examples visited. The first is a house in the Prenzlauerallee, in the north of the city built in 1876. There are on each floor four dwellings, two on each side of the landing, approached from a common corridor ; while an isolated room is situated at the head of the stairs. Two of the tenements are of a single room and kitchen, and two are of two rooms and a kitchen, and the odd room can be let separately or be combined with one of the other tenements. The dimensions of the rooms are :—Living and bedrooms 17 feet 7 inches by 13 feet 17 feet 7 inches by 7 feet 10 inches, and 20 feet 6 inches by 7 feet 10 inches • while the kitchens measure 16 feet 3 inches by 6 feet 6 inches and 16 feet 3' inches by 7 feet 2 inches. The height of the rooms is 10 feet 5 inches. Behind the courtyard there are two dwellings of two rooms and a kitchen on each floor. There are here no corridors, but the kitchen is entered direct from the landim/ BERLIN. 28 and all three apartments are in communication. The large rooms are 14 feet 8 inches by 10 feet 1 inch, the smaller 14 feet 8 inches by 6 feet 6 inches, and the kitchens 14 feet 8 inches by 6 feet 2 inches. The second house to be referred to lies in the Saarbriickerstrasse, built in 1882. It is a more elaborate structure, and upon each floor are six dwellings, three consisting of one room and a kitchen, and three of two rooms and a kitchen. The house is a double one, with two entrances, and all dwellings have separate corridors save one, which is entered direct from the landing. In three dwellings the rooms are communicable. The dimensions of the larger rooms are 18 feet 10 inches by 13 feet 8 inches, and 13 feet by 12 feet 4 inches ; of the smaller rooms 18 feet 10 inches by 8 feet 2 inches, 8 feet 10 inches by 7 feet 6 inches, 13 feet by 7 feet 10 inches, and 13 feet by 6 feet 10 inches ; and of the kitchens 14 feet 4 inches by 8 feet 2 inches, 14 feet 4 inches by 7 feet 10 inches, and 14 feet 4 inches by 7 feet 6 inches. The height of the rooms is 8 feet 2 inches. The third house is a typical working-class house in the Strelitzerstrasse, built in 1903, and so embodying the newer ideas of convenience. From the landing access is afforded to three corridors, each leading to one dwelling only. Two of the dwellings on each floor consist of two rooms and a kitchen, and the other of one room and a kitchen ; and all alike have small larders off the kitchen and w.c.’s on the corridor. The depth of the larger living rooms is 17 feet 11 inches, the width 13 feet, while two other rooms are 13 feet by 12 feet, and 17 feet 11 inches by 5 feet 2 inches ; all the kitchens measure 13 feet by 7 feet 10 inches. A majority of the wage-earners of Berlin inhabit dwellings consisting of only a living and bedroom (combined) and a kitchen, while a great many have to be contented with a single room. Of 8,773 Berlin working-class dwellings whose rents were classified for the purpose of this report, 58 per cent, consisted ­ of a room and kitchen, and 40 per cent, of two rooms and a kitchen. A portion of the loft or a portion of the cellar for storage purposes often goes with each dwelling, and the tenants of better houses may have both these appurtenances. Speaking generally, it is in the back buildings, and not in the dwellings that look on the street, that the working classes are found. The only exception is in districts which are almost exclusively populated by the workers. While the working-class dwelling is thus small as to number of rooms, it is necessary to point out that the Berlin living-room, on the whole, is a room of relatively large superficial area, at least in the houses of modern erection. In a two-window room a depth of from 14 feet 6 inches to 17 feet, with a breadth of 14 feet to 15 feet, is common, while one-window rooms in the same house, with an equal depth, may be from 9 feet toll feet 6 inches broad. The largest room and the darkest in the dwelling, where it occurs, is that known as the “ Berlin room.” This room is a local feature and is found alike in houses of the middle and the working-class, though predominantly in the former. It is an incident and almost a necessity of the courtyard system of building already referred to. As the back rooms of the house are built around a rectangular space from which the rooms derive their air and light, each of the extreme corners must either be utilised as a dark closet or it must be thrown into the adjacent room looking on to the courtyard. The latter alternative has been adopted by Berlin architects, with the result that at each corner of the courtyard is a deep room lighted by a single window which is generally in line with the wall, though occasionally it is built transversely so as to receive more light. This is the “ Berlin room,” and in middle-class households it is invariably used as the dining-room. The only part of the room which is sufficiently lighted is the immediate neighbourhood of the corner window ; the other end of the room is wrapped in perpetual gloom. Nevertheless, large as are many of the rooms in which the working classes live, their size is no adequate compensation for their fewness, for there is little or no advantage in having large and lofty rooms unless they can be ventilated, and the effect of living in dwellings of a single room and a kitchen is that proper ventilation is not possible ; the same rooms are used day and night, and the air that is polluted during sleep cannot be renewed as in the case of dwellings 24 BERLIN. in which the rooms, if smaller, are of such number that one can exclusively be set apart for day use. The apportionment of the rooms in many of the older houses is very promiscuous by reason of the fact that the original design of the builder has been departed from ; thus a suite of three rooms and a kitchen may have been divided into two dwellings, or out of two suites three dwellings may have been formed. The result of this division of suites is often a very inconvenient combination of rooms ; for example, there may be two kitchens upon one corridor, the second kitchen going with a self-contained room on the landing. Often one comes across cases in which single rooms have been divided into two with a view to converting them into tenements of a room and a kitchen for the sake of the higher rent obtainable, and sometimes the kitchens so constructed are without windows and are lighted by the open door or by gas. Three and even four dwellings to a corridor are not uncommon, though in many dwellings the kitchen is entered direct from the landing. Many of the so-called kitchens, however, are only such in name. In the older houses they are often mere corners or boxes, without windows, in which cooking is difficult and even dangerous. The expression “ cooking facilities,” which is often used to describe the space that serves as a kitchen, is significant of the pinching policy which has been pursued by builders in the past in the arrangement of this part of the dwelling. The closet arrangements are ample in the new houses, where they are generally found in a corner of the corridor within each separate dwelling. In the older houses this satisfactory condition of things is seldom found. Here the closets were originally placed in the courtyards, and the number was never proportionate to the households for whom they were intended. When modern ideas of hygiene and domestic convenience required the removal of the closets from the public courtyard, the landing was the only available position, and here they will be found in most houses of the earlier period, one serving for all the families on a flat. The building regulations now in force require that closets shall have an area of at least one square metre (10 - 8 square feet) with a distance from wall to wall of at least 0'80 metre (2 feet 7 inches) ; also that they shall be lighted and ventilated directly from the outside or from a light shaft open at the top ; but these conditions have not in the past been observed, even in houses inhabited by the middle classes. Often the provision of this kind is very inadequate. An enquiry on this subject made in 1905 of 13,221 members of the Local Sick Fund for mercantile employees elicited the fact that in 9,554 cases the closet was shared by 1 to 10 persons, in 1898 cases by 11 to 15 persons, in 744 cases by 16 to 20 persons in 456 cases by 21 to 30 persons, in 95 cases by 31 to 40 persons, and in 29 cases by over 40 persons. A similar enquiry referring to 450 dwellings occupied by members of the Machine Builders’ Sick Fund in 1903 showed that the closet was used in 145 cases by from 1 to 5 persons, in 176 cases by 6 to 12 persons in 58 cases by 13 to 20 persons, and in 25 by 21 to 60 persons. Probably no large city in the world wears externally an aspect more pleasing than Berlin. The city is modern ; save for a diminishing area in the Centre its buildings are almost of yesterday ; its newer streets are wide, well made and well kept, and avenues of trees and bright, green open spaces are common • while the municipal authorities and the police exercise a scrupulous care that the building regulations are not evaded. The visitor, observing all these outward signs of order and well-being, is naturally apt to conclude that Berlin has in some way been protected against the social evils which have made their appearance in other large centres of population. The fact is that, metaphorically speaking, Berlin puts her wealth into her front windows ; the scarcity is kept in the background. At the census of December, 1900, there were in Berlin no fewer than 24,088 rented basement dwellings of all kinds in which 91 426 persons were housed. A large number of these dwellings—like the porters’ quarters of West End houses—were free from objection ; but that cannot be said of the majority, and least of all of the 11,147 basements in back buildings in which 08,660 persons lived. 6 It is in the basement dwellings that the worst housing conditions and the worst poverty are found. Low rooms, damp, decay, and absence of sufficient BERLIN. 25 light are characteristics common to most of such dwellings inhabited by workingclass households, and these defects are often met with in aggravated form. Many of these dwellings are approached through dark corridors and passages along which it is necessary to grope one’s way step by step, and it is no uncommon custom to keep a small lamp burning all day long. Basement rooms were visited in which no direct light ever enters, yet they were used as living rooms by day and as bedrooms by night. Notes like the following were the result of house visitation in the Centre, where basement dwellings of the worst class abound :— “ Basement dwelling, consisting of one room, 14 feet by 10 feet by 7 feet high, with kitchen, reached by a descent of nine steps ; damp. Six persons sleep in the one room. The kitchen has a brick floor. Rent 14s. monthly ; tenant a labourer with wages of 20s. per week.” “ Basement dwellings, each consisting of one room and a kitchen, and costing 20s. monthly. Lime falling from the brickwork, never repaired, dark rooms in spite of whitewashing of area walls.” " Basement dwellings of two rooms and a kitchen ; dark, small and low. Rent 22s. 6c?. per month.” “ Basement dwelling of one room and kitchen, costing 17s. W. per month ; inhabited by a saddler, his wife, two children, and an adult lodger. A bed in the kitchen. The corridor pitch-dark.” " Basement dwelling, consisting of one room, costing 9s. per month ; a small iron stove used for cooking and heating. Another, consisting of one room and kitchen, 18s. per month ; three beds in the room, with a sofa used as a bed and a cradle.” " Basement dwelling, consisting of two rooms and kitchen, rent 19s. ; occupied by six persons. Rooms small, dark, and cold ; two beds in kitchen. Size of rooms, 10 by 10 by 12 feet.” “ Basement dwelling, consisting of three rooms and kitchen, one room used as a workshop. One dark bedroom has three beds, another similar room has two beds, and the kitchen has two beds.” The accommodation most usually met with in basement dwellings is one living room and a kitchen, and from 14s. to 18s. per month is a common rent. A fitting counterpart to the basement dwellings of the older parts of Berlin is found in the attics and higher stories of the same districts, and the Centre is again specially instructive. In the narrow by-streets found here housing conditions of the worst kind exist—dilapidated buildings, which would appear to be never repaired,-narrow and dark staircases at times dangerous of ascent, rickety balustrades, rotten floors, and rooms at once small, low, and poorly lighted. There is, however, much bad property in the North and East as well, and where the worst dwellings are, there also is the worst poverty. Rents entirely disproportionate both to the quantity and the quality of the accommodation are charged. For two small rooms, each 10 by 10 by 7 feet, and a kitchen, 9 by 9 by 7 feet, the monthly rent was 26s. 6&, a lodger at 10s. helping the tenant to eke out the rent ; in another case, a living room, a dark anteroom, and a kitchen cost 30s. monthly ; in another, two rooms and a kitchen cost 24s.,'and here again lodgers were kept ; in another, a labourer earning 26s. per week paid 26s. per month, with the help of lodgers, for a room and a kitchen ; and in another, a widow with her two sons and daughter paid 22s. 6d. monthly for a dwelling consisting of a living room, 10 feet square and 6 feet 6 inches high, a bedroom, in which stood three beds, and a kitchen without window. In one dwelling consisting of a large room and a kitchen, a family of ten persons, the parents and eight children, lived. The rent was 5s. per week. In the kitchen were six beds. Both husband and wife were employed in the clothing trade, and they earned together about £45 per annum, in addition to which they received £10 in poor relief. A tenement in another house consisted of a single room, rented at 12s. per month, and it contained three beds. A room in the same house served a tailor as living room, bedroom, and workshop, the rent being 9s. per month. In a dwelling consisting of one room and a kitchen, rented at 18s. 6d. per month, the husband and wife had beds in the kitchen, and the living D 29088 26 BERLIN, room, which had no separate entrance, was let to two lodgers In another dwelling of the same size both living room and kitchen contained two beds. The closet arrangements in houses of this class are often of a very primitive kind ; they are seldom found within the dwelling, and sometimes they take the form of a cupboard-like structure erected on the landing. It is not intended to represent the conditions here described as typical of Berlin as a whole, yet they are nevertheless very common in all the older quarters of the city, and no picture of Berlin working-class homes would be true which ignored these darker features. Mention has already been made of the interdependence of Berlin and its suburbs in the matters of work and housing accommodation, and more particular reference to several of the adjacent towns seems called for. Charlottenburg, on whose outskirts are found many large engineering and electrical works, is in all respects a replica of Berlin, of which it is a westerly prolongation. Instead of adopting an architectural style of its own, as was possible thirty years ago, when its population was only 25,000, or one-tenth of the present figure, Charlotten burg has slavishly followed the lead of its big neighbour, and the “ barrack ” house and the courtyard are in full possession. The result here, as in Berlin, is an increasing density of population, more stories per building, more dwellings per story. While in December, 1900, there were 12‘3 households per building, the number was 13'2 in 1905, and the average number of persons per building was 52-50 in 1900 and 56 03 in 1905, the highest local figures being 118-14, 95*88, 98, and 83*52. On the other hand, there is a greater diffusion ­ of the population at Charlottenburg, and few districts are exclusively inhabited by working-class tenants ; these are found chiefly in the side streets and the back houses around the courtyards. The streets are wide, asphalt is general save in the older parts, where setts remain, and a good deal of planting has been done. Though the builder has done his best to sweep away all traces of former architecture, many old houses of one or two stories, with high gables, red roofs, and wooden shutters, still stand in busy streets. As Charlottenburg is so modern the general conditions of housing are very favourable ; the only serious defect is the limited accommodation with which working-class households ­ have to be content. At the census of December, 1905, the 56,269 households of the town were lodged in dwellings of the following character and size (heatable and unbeatable rooms being classified indiscriminately) :— Dwellings consisting of Number of Dwellings. Percentage of the whole. One room Two rooms Three rooms Kitchen only ... One room without kitchen ... \ One room with kitchen 1 Two rooms without kitchen l Two rooms with kitchen ... I Three rooms without kitchen Larger accommodation... Total 119 11 351 1,202 [ A ’ d0A 12 !o![12.M1 17 ’ 4 ^ 117,501 24,876 56,269 2-4 22-3 311 442 100-0 In districts where the working classes live in large numbers the proportion of small dwellings is far greater. The usual size of a working man’s dwelling in Charlottenburg is one or two rooms with a kitchen ; dwellings of three living and bed rooms are very rare, and even with two rooms the tenant is often conípelled to take lodgers. The fiats do not differ in structure from those of modern Berlin houses ; corridors are general and not infrequently there are two dwellings upon one corridor. Charlottenburg has also imitated Berlin to the extent of introducing the basement as a recognised part of the housing system. It is no longer approved save under important restrictions which limTt its old subterranean character, yet there were still 665 basement dwellings of all kinds at the census of December, 1905, 203 being in the Castle district 1X9 i n the Inner Town, and 60 in the East district. ’ Hitherto Charlottenburg has not suffered from lack of buildino- enterprise ánd the municipality has not felt called upon to undertake housing reform’ A committee of the Town Council does indeed exist for the purpose of BERLIN. 27 “deliberating upon the question of dwellings for families of small means,” but its functions have hitherto been of a nominal character. At the present time, however, the town contemplates the lease of public land to a “ public utility ” Building Society which desires to erect blocks of working-class dwellings. A “ family house ” for the reception of homeless people is maintained by the municipality, but those using it are expected to pay 6s. or 7s. per month, when possible, for the quarters allotted to them. About 50 families can be accommodated, ­ and the average size of the tenements is two rooms (one small) and a kitchen. One of the most progressive suburbs of Berlin is Rixdorf, which is more and more becoming the special home of the lower middle and working classes, a preference which it enjoys almost solely by reason of the lower rents at present prevalent. At the census of December 1st, 1900, Rixdorf had a population of 90,422, but at the census of 1905 the number was 153,513, showing an increase oí 69*8 per cent., against an increase of 8*01 per cent, in Berlin. Rixdorf is a town of Bohemian origin, the first inhabitants of the village (Dorf) having been “ Herrenhuter ” or Moravians, who enjoyed the protection of Frederick the Great ; and a number of old-fashioned houses of one story or one story with attic in the Richardstrasse perpetuate the memory of the foreign colony. For the rest Rixdorf is entirely modern, and while its wide streets have been well built, and in many cases beautified by trees, the place has a distinctly workingclass character. Here, as in Berlin, the large block system of building prevails, and houses of five and six stories are the rule. Houses containing 24 dwellings are not uncommon, and one property consists of a front building and five parallel buildings behind, with courts between entered from the side ; here live 135 households, representing a population of about 600. One or two living and bedrooms with kitchen form the normal accommodation of the working classes. Basement dwellings are comparatively rare. Rents are still moderate in Rixdorf as compared with Berlin, yet they are steadily increasing as population moves out of the city in this direction and the more eligible building ground is appropriated. Two other suburbs of Berlin, which are very notably undergoing transformation ­ under the pressure of industrial development, are Reinickendorf and Tegel. A few years ago they were mere villages ; to-day they are thriving towns, thanks to the removal thereto of various engineering works and factories from Berlin and the migration in their train of a large working-class population. In both places modern buildings are gradually taking the place of the small one-story, single-family houses which formerly predominated ; but these buildings are not so large as in Berlin, nor is the desire to economise space so evident as there. Tegel has a large hinterland of forest and open country ; but the commune of Reinickendorf, though it still possesses wide expanses of field and wood, will far more speedily be built in, and even now there are signs on every hand that the clutch of a great city is upon it. A large number of the resident workpeople are employed in Berlin and use the tramway at a cost of 7^6?. per week for six journeys each way. The authorities of both places are doing their best to ensure that expansion shall follow healthy lines as far as possible, and an effort is being made to check speculation by the recent introduction of a municipal tax on unearned increment. In a city so large as Berlin, where the population is so widely diffused, the rents habitual to each class of society must necessarily show a considerable range. Locality, character of street, style of building, and position of flat are all factors which make for diversity in the cost of housing, even for an equal number of rooms. In determining, for the purpose of this report, the predominant ­ size of dwelling used by the working classes and the predominant rents paid, about 10,0U0 small dwellings in essentially working-class districts of Berlin and the suburbs have been classified as to cost and number of rooms. The dwellings chosen as typical in accommodation were dwellings of two rooms and three rooms, the two rooms consisting of a heatable living and bedroom and a kitchen, and the three rooms consisting of two heatable rooms with a kitchen. The streets from which the Berlin dwellings were taken lie in the North and East. 29088 D 2 BERLIN. ^8 lili Predominant Penis of Working-class Dwellings in Berlin and Suburbs. Berlin— North East Together ... Charlottenburg Rixdorf Reinickendorf— Old buildings New Predominant Weekly Rents. Two rooms. 4s. 7d. to 5s. 9d. 5s. to 6s. 2d. 5s. to 6s. 4s. Id. to 5s. 9d. 4s. to 5s. 2s. 4d. to 2s. 10c?. 2s. 10c/. to 3s. 5d. Three rooms. 6s. 4c/. to 8s. 4c/. 7s. 4d. to 9s. 3d. 7s. to 9s. 3c/. 7s. to 9s. 3c/. 5s. 9c/. to 6s. 9c/. 4s. Id. to 5s. 9c/. 6s. 9c/. to 7s. 8c/. In general it may be said that there is a difference of about 2s. per room per month as between front and back dwellings. The only local tax which wage-earners pay is a supertax of 100 per cent, of the State income tax, for there is no householders’ rate as understood in England. All persons with incomes over £45 are liable to the payment of the State tax, but liability to the payment of the local surtax begins with an income exceeding £21. The municipality of Berlin, however, in virtue of the option secured to it by law, exempts from local taxation all incomes not exceeding ­ £45. Thus, of a total of 699,860 individuals who might have been assessed to the communal income tax in 1905,137,613, or 19*6 per cent., were exempted. The following individuals with incomes between £45 and £150 were taxed for local purposes, and also paid the same amount in State income tax :— Table showing incomes assessed for local taxation :— Income. Over £45 but £5210s. £60 but £67 108 £75 but £82 108 £90 but £105 „ £120 „ £135 „ not over £52 10s. but not over £60 not over £67 10s. . but not over £75 not over £82 10s. . but not over £90 not over £105 ,, £120 „ £135 „ £150 Total Local Tax. 0 12 0 16 No. of Persons. 189,015 117,907 59,611 41,987 18,795 20,767 17,543 16,756 10,876 11,984 505,241 Per cent, of the Whole. 37 41 23-34 11-80 831 3 72 4-11 3-47 3-32 2-15 2-37 100-00 It appears that of a total estimated revenue from the communal income tax due in 1905 from individuals (companies excluded) of £1 408 800 £338,288 or 24 per cent, fell on the 505,241 taxpayers (90 per cent, of the whole) with incomes not exceeding £150, and £109,762 or 7-8 per cent' fell on the 306,922 taxpayers (54-6 per cent, of the whole) with incomes between £45 and £60, this latter amount being about 7s. 2d. per head, which was their total direct obligatory contribution to the rates. There are other municipal taxes, but either they are property or trade taxes, or they are luxury taxes, like the dog tax and the local excise on beer The net yield of all the communal taxes in the financial year 1904-5 was £1 18a. Id. per head, against £1 15a. 6d. in 1903-4. With a view to increasing its resources and at the same time to imposing a certain indirect check upon speculation in building land, the City Council of Berlin some vears Lo introduced a tax upon all transactions in real estate. The amount is 2 per cent of the purchase money where the land is not built upon, and 1 percent on land built upon, and the yield in 1905 was £330,000. This tax is now bLim? supplemented by a tax on unearned increment (the " increased value tax ”1 which was in piinciple approved by the Council in the spring of 1907 Already V*1 BERLIN. 29 the unearned increment tax is in force in several of the suburbs of Berlin, as well as in the adjacent rural circuit of Teltow. All that is necessary to its introduction in a Prussian town is a resolution of the local government body ratified by the provincial governor. Bents are continually rising in Berlin, for great as is the amount of building the supply has never exceeded the demand to such an extent as to transfer the advantage of competition from the side of the landlords to that of the tenants. The percentage of empty dwellings in 1906 was 2‘4 against 2T in 1905, and 1*82 in 1904, but small as this percentage is—the percentage accepted by German housing statisticians as “ normal ” is from two to three—it must be remembered that a considerable deduction must be made on account of buildings in bad repair or for other reasons unattractive to householders. Herr Heinrich Freese, of Berlin, already referred to, who classified the rents of his workpeople in 1892 and again in 1903, came to the conclusion that dwellings of a single room cost 53'34 per cent, more in the latter year, dwellings of a room and kitchen 8*84 per cent, more, and dwellings of two rooms and kitchen 17T7 per cent. more. Investigating further the relation between rent and income, Herr Freese found that, comparing the aggregate amount of rent paid by his married workpeople with the aggregate amount of their income, rent absorbed the following proportions, in 1892 and 1903 :— Number of Rooms in Dwelling. Percentage of Income spent on Rent. 1892. One room ... One room and kitchen Two rooms and kitchen ... Three or four rooms and kitchen... 9-56 17-25 15-09 14-20 1903. 17-03 17-57 17-64 17-02 He came to the conclusion that while on an average his workmen had to devote the earnings of 43^ days (out of a total of 300) to the payment of rent in 1892 the earnings of 49f days w-ent in that way in 1903. The causes of. this rise in rents are not far to seek. The higher cost of labour in the building trades and the higher cost of material, whether stone, brick, iron, or timber, are to a large extent responsible, but an equal or more important factor is the greatly increased value of building land. It is not improbable that the latter factor will operate even more strongly in the future, in spite of the possibility of temporary checks, for the incorporated area of Berlin proper is virtually built up already and expansion is now only practicable in the suburbs. It mio-ht be supposed that the growth of the suburbs would relieve the congestion and with it the pressure of rents which prevail in Berlin, yet such a supposition is negatived by the fact that Berlin’s population has been reinforced ­ during the past ten years (1895 to 1905) not only by an excess of births over deaths numbering 165,952, but by an excess of immigrants over removals to the extent of 196,892. The consequence is that the population per hectare (2J acres) on a total municipal area of 6,349 hectares was in 1905 321, where it was 264 in 1895, while in the most densely populated of the suburbs, viz., at Bixdorf and Schöneberg, it is only 149 per hectare. There are a multitude of houseowners who own a single block and occupy one of the dwellings therein, and thus keep themselves in close touch with their tenants. The house regulations may be enforced more rigidly than when the landlord lives at a distance, but order and cleanliness gain by the fact that “ Der Wirt ” (or his wife) manages the whole property from his residence in " Front house, parterre, right.” Where the landlord does not live on the premises an agent (“Verwalter”) commonly accepts and discharges tenants and receives rents in his place. Almost invariably the agent follows some other occupation, and his commission often takes the form of a reduction in rent, or he may have a free dwelling if the property to be managed be extensive. 30 BERLIN. Quarterly tenancy is the rule in Berlin ; but many landlords let their dwellings only by the month. Most changes of tenancy occur at the April term, though many also at October ; custom discourages removals in January and July. A printed contract regulates the relationship between landlord and tenant, and this contract has in course of time developed into a long document of many clauses and over 2,000 words, the reading, not to say the understanding, of which would take far more time than working people are, as a rule, disposed to spend on legal technicalities. In general the landlord does not regard himself responsible for internal repairs of any kind, and, if he makes them, it is during vacancies, when otherwise tenants might be difficult to obtain. Where landlords definitely acknowledge liability of this kind, it is understood that new wallpaper can only be expected every eight years, the repainting of the floor every six years, and the repainting of doors and windows every ten years. In some cases the tenant’s rent contract provides for special payments for chimney sweeping, for the removal of refuse, for the lighting of the stairs and landings, for the water, and even a small item for the use of the address board in the main entrance, but as a rule these extras are grouped in a single sum, which is fixed at 8 per cent, of the rent. A more particular charge is that for the keeping clean of the stairs, landings, and approaches. This duty does not devolve on the tenant in Berlin, but is undertaken by the landlord, who as a rule engages some woman resident on the premises to do the work with other odd jobs in return for a payment of from 10,9. to 2,5s. a month, according to the size of the house, and the tenants are required to contribute Qd. a month extra towards this expenditure. The removal of house refuse is entirely a landlord’s affair, and it is done by a company, formed by the property owners for the purpose. The refuse is deposited in large tin receptacles in the courtyards, and thence is fetched by the scavengers daily. As in other towns where working-class housing is dear the rent has often to be met with the aid of lodgers. " A bedroom to let ” is a device very commonly met with at the entrance of a Berlin working-class house ; sometimes half-a-dozen such notices may be seen affixed to the door or its portals. At the beginning of 1907 there were in the whole of Berlin 34,044 rooms let to lodgers, the latter comprising 45,090 males and 9,218 females, an average of 1'6 persons per room. It is usual to let a bed and supply coffee and rolls or coffee alone for breakfast, and the price is 10s. to 12s. per month where two persons share a room. As the value of coffee and two rolls is estimated at 10 pfennige or \\d. per day, and the use of utensils, cleaning, and in some cases simple washing are also included, it is clear that no large margin remains. It is not, however, from the standpoint of profit that the householder and his wife view the lodger ; they are satisfied if" his presence makes it easier to meet the landlord’s quarterly call when it comes round. How unpopular and yet how necessary is this plan of sub-letting is testified by Herr H. Freese who says in the report on the earnings and house rents of his workpeople already referred to :—" In part the decrease in lodgers (in 1903 as compared with 1892) is clearly attributable to the growing indisposition to sub-let. I have often neard workmen, who have been many years with me, say that they would count themselves well-off if they could only come to the stage at which they would no longer be compelled to take lodgers.’’ Nevertheless, Herr Freese’s investigation showed that of the families enumerated, only 17*0 per cent, were able to rent dwellings of two rooms and a kitchen without taking lodgers. One result of the high rents which rule in Berlin is a gradual movement of the population into the suburbs to the South, and in a less degree to the East and North, where as yet rents are more moderate, and this exodus applies to the working class quite as much as to the middle class. The working classes prefer where possible to live in the suburbs, even when they are compelled to work in Berlin. It is this steady movement outwards that accounts, even more than the transference of industrial establishments, for the rapid expansion !!\nT n !v 7e ur 3 °l R p d r rf ’o J IcketS a í, low rates are issued to workpeople both by the Greater Berlin Tramway Company which maintains an elaborate system ot communications throughout the whole area of Greater Berlin, and the BERLIN. 31 Metropolitan and Suburban Railway, which is a State enterprise. The “ Great Berlin ” Tramway Company issues four classes of tickets, each offering special advantages :—(1) Tickets at §d. per week for one journey one way per day, and at Is. for the double journey ; such tickets must be used before 7 a.in. and after 5 p.m. (2) Return tickets at Is. available six times a week for an uninterrupted journey on any line. A journey of 20 kilometres (about 12\ miles), occupying an hour, may be travelled twice a day for this price, subject to the foregoing condition as to hours. (3) Monthly tickets available at any time over one line only at a charge of 7 s. 6d. (4) The “ West Suburban” system issues weekly half-price tickets at 7d., 9d., and Is. 2^d., available for there-and-back journeys over one line without limitation as to hours. The cheaper tickets are largely used by women who take their husbands’ dinners out to the suburbs. Un the two systems nearly 2,000 workmen’s tickets are issued weekly, half being 7d. tickets of class No. 4. Workmen’s weekly tickets are also available on the Metropolitan and Suburban Railway, and 2,174,475 were issued in 1903. The tickets, as a rule, cover 12 journeys per week (six each way), and the cost is 3^., 7d., 11 d., and Is. 2^d., according to the distance. For many years earnest efforts have been made by “ public utility ” and similar building societies, not working for gain, to alleviate the housing difficulty in Berlin. One of the most active of these societies is the " Savings and Building Society,” which builds and lets houses of an improved type, without selling them. At the same time fixity of tenure and also of rent is guaranteed to a tenant so long as he meets his obligations. Only members are accepted as tenants, and in order to be a member it is necessary to take at least one share, of the value of £15, though as many as ten shares may be taken at option. The members are admitted to a large share in the administration of the Society’s affairs, and each block of dwellings constitutes a self-governing colony. Up to the present the Society has erected seven blocks of houses containing 725 dwellings, made up as follows':— 237 dwellings of one room and kitchen, with cellar and attic. 446 dwellings of two rooms and kitchen, with cellar and attic. 42 dwellings of three rooms and kitchen, with cellar and attic. The rents range according to type of house and situation from £21 to £31 10s. per annum for dwellings of three rooms and kitchen, £12 18s. to £27 for two rooms and kitchen, and £10 10s. to £16 Is. for one room and kitchen. The best of the dwellings, though also the dearest, are a new group forming the Nord-Ufer colony. They are 185 in number, 98 consisting of two rooms and a kitchen, and 72 of one room and kitchen, and they accommodate in the aggregate ­ nearly 800 persons. The Society not only pays its way, but after meeting all liabilities is able each year to devote a considerable sum to purposes of common benefit, such as libraries, kindergartens, lectures, concerts and festivals. It is not claimed that the Society is able to supply dwellings that can compete in cheapness with those of private owners, but its dwellings are marked by a superiority of structure and arrangement, which suggests rather a middle than a working class clientele. Its houses are primarily intended, indeed, to serve as models, and to set a standard of excellence for private builders to imitate. An important work in the same direction is also done by the Association for the Improvement of Small Dwellings. It is the object of this society to meet the case of persons of very limited income who are of necessity compelled to inhabit small dwellings of one or at most two rooms and a kitchen. The society has confined its operations to the east of the city, where the pressure is always greatest, and in the "VVeisbachstrasse and neighbourhood it has built a colony of dwellings of a plain yet substantial character. The site was largely the gift of Herr Weisbach, while of the capital required the shareholders subscribed £25,000 and the remaining and larger portion took the form of mortgages' and a loan from the Berlin Central Insurance Board. The buildings are of four stories, and they contain 410 dwellings of one and two rooms with kitchen and small larder, though there is great variety in the size of the rooms. The dwellings and their rents are grouped as follows 160 dwellings of one room with kitchen, let at rents ranging from 20s. 6d. to 23s. 6d. per month ; 228 dwellings of two rooms (mostly one double-window and one single-window 32 BERLIN. room) with kitchen, the rents of which range from 25s. to 29s. per month where both rooms are small, from 29-s. to 33s. where one room is large and the other small, and from 35s. to 39s. where both rooms are large. There are also six single-room dwellings let at 12s. per month and eight dwellings of three rooms and kitchen let at from 41s. to 45s. per month. It is claimed that the rents are 20 per cent, below those of similar dwellings in the immediate locality. Baths exist for the common use of the tenants free of charge ; there is a kindergarten in which children between the ages of three and six years are received from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and there are two playgrounds for the use of boys and girls. The buildings do not compare either in external appearance or in internal comfort with the houses of the Savings and Building Society, but they are intended for a different class of tenants and the rents charged are proportionately lower. The Patriotic ( Vaterländischer) Building Society has built two blocks of 300 dwellings, but its work follows a political and confessional direction, and the tenants are not drawn from the working-class indiscriminately. Among other societies of the kind are the Berlin Co-operative Building Society, whose operations are confined to the suburbs. Formerly it built small houses and sold them to the tenants ; now small houses are no longer profitable, owing to the high price of land, and large buildings, of which it remains the owner, have now to be erected. The Social Democrats have also established a building society, bearing the name “ Paradise,” but its operations are limited. Another effort on the same lines is that of the " Great Berlin ” Tramway Company Employees’ Building Society, with a membership of 1,600 out of a total staff of 8,000. It is the object of the society to provide for its members, by purchase, lease, or erection, cheap and healthy dwellings in which the tenants shall enjoy a certain fixity of tenure. In order to acquire membership it is necessary to take a share of the value of £15, upon which interest of 4 per cent, is paid ; ten such shares can be taken if desired, and payment may be in instalments. ­ Most of the capital is provided by the Tramway Company at 3 per cent, interest. The usual Berlin “ barrack ” style of building has been chosen, five stories being usual, built round a rectangular courtyard, the appearance of which is brightened by shrubs and grass plots. At the end of 1905 five blocks had been built, containing 286 dwellings, two being of three rooms and kitchen, 120 of two rooms and kitchen, and 164 of one room and kitchen, each with cellar and attic ; no fewer than 171 dwellings had bathrooms adjacent to the kitchens. It is intended in course of time to build a house at every one of the Company’s 20 depots. Few employers have found it necessary to provide dwellings for their workpeople, and such enterprise is only found in several of the outside suburbs where large works have been established out of reach of suitable housing accommodation. Finally must be noticed the excellent provision made for their comrades on the road by the Social Democratic Trades Federation and the Hirsch Duncker Central Trade Union, both of which have commodious lodging houses in which a bed with coffee in the morning can be obtained for 5d. or Qd. The Roman Catholic and Protestant Church organisations also make provision for travelling workpeople in “ homes ” and “ hospices ” conducted on a religious basis. * Retail Prices. Groceries and other Commodities. Berlin is provided with an excellent system of public market halls, conveniently distributed throughout the city. They are 14 in number and were built during the past 20 years at a cost of about £1,400 000 of which exactly halt represents the cost of the sites alone. How important a part the market halls ¡day in the commissariat arrangements of the community may lie judged from the fact that the goods received m the two central markets bv rail amounted in the year 1905-6 to nearly 100,000 tons, to which came large supplies by water. A considerable trade in meat is done in the public markets BERLIN. 33 and the fish trade is almost wholly carried on there, but the markets are more particularly ­ used for vegetables, fruit, and farm produce. There is no approach to uniformity in prices, the general rule being that the prices prevalent in each market correspond to the social character of the population served, though it follows that the quality of a given commodity is proportionate to the price charged. There are also stores of the “ multiple ” type, and every working-class street has an abundance of small grocery shops, often located in the basements, and conducted by women, whose husbands follow independent callings. There are many co-operative societies, whose trade is predominantly a working-class trade. The largest in turnover if not in membership is the “ Co-operative Society for Berlin and Neighbourhood.” This society had 4,947 members in 1905, and its 16 shops had a sale of £33,290. The " Berlin ” Co-operative Society had in 1906 a membership of 6,000, and its 1 5 shops in the city and suburbs had a turn-over of £29,000. The Charlottenburg Co-operative Society, with a membership of 1,265, had, in the same year, a turn-over at its three shops of £8,500. The other societies are not strong. The bulk of the business done by the co-operative stores is in groceries and food stuffs generally, and kitchen necessaries ; but, in addition, they carry on what are called “ contract businesses,” that is, they arrange for companies or private traders to supply to their members on reduced terms commodities ­ which they cannot conveniently stock, such as boots and shoes, coal, fresh meat, drugs, kitchen utensils, clothing, &c. The members of the co-operative ­ societies are not so attached to their stores as is the case in English towns, and the relatively small turnover would appear to indicate that membership ­ is in many cases quite nominal, and that the shareholders prefer to trade elsewhere. The “ Co-operative Society for Berlin ” had a turnover in direct trade of only £6 14s. per head in 1905, and that of the “ Berlin ” Co-operative ­ Society was still less. The progress made by the co-operative societies has, however, led to an extensive ­ discount system on the part of private traders, and especially those who depend for the most part on working-class patronage. Thus butchers often allow a discount of 5 per cent., bakers 5 or 10 per cent., and other tradespeople give less or more according to the class of goods. The discount generally takes the form of a check in the first instance, and the checks are changed for money or goods when they have accumulated to a stipulated sum. A large part of the bread consumed by the working classes is baked at co-operative bakeries, and the fact is not without influence upon the prices of private bakers. The staple loaf is a grey mixed rye loaf costing 6d. ; and the cost of a 4-lb. loaf in October, 1905, was 5\d. “ Black ” bread, heavier in substance and without mixture of wheat, cost 4¿97. Wheaten bread is only sold in the form of rolls, which are eaten with coffee at breakfast. These rolls are delivered by the bakers in the early morning hours to their middle-class customers in baskets and nets left outside the kitchen door overnight. Weights taken regularly by the Statistical Office from a large number of shops show that the 6d. rye loaf has varied as follows during the last 11 years, the equivalent prices per 4-lb being given side by side : — 1X96 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 Weight of 6d. Loaf in English lb. 5 26 493 438 4-55 4-60 4-44 4 55 Price per 4lb. 1 1 1903.. . 1904.. . 1905.. . 1906.. . 1907.. . Dec. 1, 1907 Weight of 6d. Loaf in English lb. 4 60 4-66 4 53 402 3 60 325 Price per 41b. d. I ÿ 6| It is also interesting to follow the fluctuations of corn and bread prices at identical periods. The following table shows the rise and fall of the prices of wheat and rye, and also of wheaten and rye bread, in percentages year by year BERLIN. since 1891. In the case of corn the calculations are based on wholesale prices ; in the case of bread, upon the retail prices of 34 bakers. It will be seen that the rise or fall of either wheat or rye seldom produces an immediate increase or decrease in the price of bread to the same extent :— Movement of Prices in Berlin.—Average Yearly Increase or Decrease per cent. Rye Bread. 34 Year Rye. litó. Wheat. Wheaten Bread. 1891- 1892 1892- 1893 1893- 1894 1894- 1895 1895- 1896 1896- 1897 1897- 1898 1898- 1899 1899- 1900 1900- 1901 1901- 1902 1902- 1903 1903- 1904 1904- 1905 The best wheaten flour cost in 1905 Is. 3\d. per half-stone, and rye flour The coffee most used by the working classes cost in October, 1905,11 d. per lb. ; it is invariably bought in the roasted bean, for German families of every rank «rind the coffee fresh as required, and it is still no unusual thing for the roasting to be done at home. A good many “ surrogates ” or substitutes are used with and instead of coffee, the price ranging from 1 £d. to 5(7. per lb. Thus roasted rye cost Hd. per lb., roasted barley 2d., and roasted malt 2|(7. and 3§d., all of which are largely mixed with coffee and chicory, with the result that the price of the mixture is barely half that of the pure article. The two kinds of sugar mostly used are loaf or cube sugar at 2\d. per lb. for coffee, and white granulated at 2\d. and 2\d. for cooking and other purposes. Fresh butter cost in 1905 Is. 1<7. to Is. 2±d peril) but there was a large consu mption of margarine at 8f ¿7. The kinds of cheese chief! v eaten are Limburg at bhd. to 6J(7., and Tilsit at 8§d. Swiss cheese at 1L7 is sold in less quantities, but there is a considerable sale of cheap strong smelling cheeses to the poorer classes. Bacon is bought in small quantities at 8U to 1M- br and 9§d. to Is. for streaky. It is chiefly used to give taste and succulency to other dishes. The milk supply of the city has for some time been a matter of controversy The quarrel originated m the dissatisfaction of the producers and contractors with the prices obtained from the dealers, wholesale and retail, and it led to the formation of an organization of landowners and farmers of the province of Brandenburg (behind whom stood the powerful Agrarian League) with a depot in Berlin known as the “ Milchcentrale. 1 quarts, of which 107,370 quarts were delivered by 926 cowsheds in the four BERLIN. 35 supply was extended by the Farmers’ Association as far as the provinces of West Prussia and Posen, while successful experiments were made by the dealers in the importation of milk from Denmark. The dispute benefited no one, and the originators and shareholders of the " Milchcentrale ” lost heavily. Now, as before, the milk supply of the city is in the main furnished by several dairy companies and over 1,200 private dealers. The largest dairy company has a daily output of 105,000 quarts of milk, which is distributed by a small army of girls dressed in blue. The ruling prices per quart in October, 1905, were 2^d. and 2jd., the higher figure being charged when the milk is delivered in the dwellings. There is a growing consumption of milk by the working classes. Not only is its more liberal use encouraged by the various societies which are combating consumption and infant mortality, but workmen more readily take to it than formerly, and it is no uncommon thing to see masons carrying bottles of milk to their work. The milk trade is carefully regulated by the police. Formerly three kinds of milk might be sold, “ full milk ” containing at least 2*7 per cent, fat, “ half milk ” with at least 0 5 per cent, fat, and skimmed milk. Since 1902, however, the intermediate quality has been prohibited, and only “full milk” with 2*7 per cent, fat and skimmed milk with a less percentage of fat are now recognised. The coal used by the working classes cost in October, 1905, 1.9. 2\d. per cwt., and that was also the price of coke. They buy as a rule, however, in smaller quantities, and poorer households fetch their coal in pails, which hold about 16 lb., costing 3d., a price which works out at Is. 9d. per cwt. Coke similarly bought cost 1 \d. per pail of about 9 lb. Briquettes costing 8 a penny are, however, more used than coal or coke. To economise fuel the large square cooking range is often discarded and a small portable iron stove is used instead ; it stands beside the range, into which its flue passes. In this way a penny a day can be saved, which is a consideration in households of restricted means. Paraffin oil is the almost universal illuminant in middle-class quite as much as in working-class households. The American quality at 1 Id. per gallon is mostly used. Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and March, 1907. Predominant Price. Commodity. October, 1905. March, 1907. Coffee Sugar :— Loaf • • • • • White Granulated Bacon :— Fat Streaky ... Eggs Cheese :— Tilsit Limburg ... Swiss Butter Margarine ... Potatoes Flour :— Wheaten ... Rye Bread :— Black Grey Milk... Coal ... ... .« Coke ... Paraffin Oil... ... per lb. ... No. per Is. ... per lb. ... per 7 lb. per 4 lb. ... per quart ... per cwt. ... per gallon. lid. 2# 2#., 2|d. 8§d. to 10# 91d. to Is. 17 8§d. 5Id. to 6#. lid. Is. Id. to Is. 2#. 8|d. 2d., 2fd. Is. 3\d. 11 id. 4%d. 5#. 2#, 2&d. Is. 2|d. Is. 2|d. lid. lid. 2#. to 2|d. 2# 8|d. 9# lid. 8%d. 6d. to 6# Is. Id. Is. 24d. 8#. 2fd. Is. 3\d. 11# 6d. to 6gd. 6d. to 7d. 2§d. Is. 5d. to Is 6#. Is. 4d. lid. 36 BERLIN. MW. Berlin has a large and well-equipped public abattoir, through which the bulk of its fresh meat supply passes. There is a special abattoir for horses, however, and this is under police control. The municipal cattle market serves as a distributing ­ centre for a large area of Prussia. Most of the meat consumed in Berlin comes from the East of Prussia, Mecklenburg, Pomerania and Schleswig-Holstein, but sheep come from Bavaria and Hesse as well, formerly there were large imports of live cattle for the Berlin market, but those from the West have been stopped by the stricter veterinary measures now enforced. A few sheep come from Austria, but no pigs now come from abroad. During recent years there has been a steady diminution in the consumption of fresh meat per head. The rate has been estimated as follows by the Berlin Statistical Office, the area of calculation being the city and a radius of about 5 miles :— Consumption of Fresh Meat in Berlin. ¡ 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 Year. Consumption per head. lb. 165- 70 167*16 168-89 166- 87 165-11 168-61 178-20 176-75 16520 16621 No estimate has been attempted since 1903, because the available data of calculation are no longer sufficiently exact. In 1905 4'9 percent, less meat was killed at the municipal abattoir as compared with 1904, though the population ­ had increased by 2 5 per cent., and owing to the higher prices it is unlikely that the present consumption per head is greater than that of 1903. Returns of weekly expenditure were obtained from 413 families, comprising ­ 1,863 persons. These showed an average meat consumption per head of 29h ounces, or at the rate of 96 lb. a year. Of this 291 per cent, was pork and bacon, 29 per cent, sausage, and 26 per cent. beef. Mutton amounted to 8 per cent., an unusually large proportion. The following return of animals slaughtered in the abattoirs is instructive as showing the kinds of meat of which the consumption is specially liable to fluctuation :— Cattle Calves Sheep Pigs ... Horses* 1905. 167,279 166,150 464,364 964,612 13,752 1904. 162,398 166,996 439,163 1,005,027 11,192 1903. 153,426 156,984 413.388 895,206 11,218 1902. 162,167 156,017 445,972 761,097 12,616 1901. 190,390 163,342 461,356 797,165 11,693 * Including 862 killed at Rixdorf in 1905 and 416 in 1904 ; in 1901-3 there were no horses slaughtered at Rixdorf. Pork is the meat most favoured by the working classes, and even a slight increase in price seriously affects the sales. Thus, the number of pigs slaughtered in 1905 was 40,415, or 4 per cent, less than in 1904 ; but the actual decrease of meat was still greater, for the average weight of the animals sank from 185-9 lb. in 1904 to 172*7 lb. in 1905, a further decrease of 7T per cent. Nor was the deficiency covered by the larger slaughter of cattle and sheep, for these only increased by 4,923,182 lb., against a deficiency in pork of 20,246,028 lb. Thus in 1905 the consumption of pork was 10 lb. per head less than in 1904. After pork, the working classes consume the cheaper qualities and cuts of beef by preference ; mutton is not popular, and veal is too dear. Taking the averages of all the mean retail prices of meat at Á*%* * 37 BERLIN. the market halls of the city, as published by the Municipal Statistical Bureau, it is found that there have been some fluctuations during the past six years, with a general upward tendency :— Mean Retail Prices of Meat in Berlin for the years 1901—1905. Description of Cut. Beef :— Fillet Leg, shank Breast Belly Mutton :— Leg, back Breast, belly ... Veal :— Leg, back Breast Shoulder, belly Pork :— Back, rib Shoulder, belly Leg Bacon, Smoked .. Ham :— Smoked Without bone .. Price per lb. 1901. s. d. 0 111 o ï 1 0 61 0 7! 0 61 0 81 0 7| 0 61 0 81 0 61 0 1\ 0 8Ï 0 Ilf 1 ?! 1902. 1903. 1904. 1905. s. d. 0 111 11 0 0 0 61 71 0 81 0 7 0 81 0 8 0 71 0 71 0 8" 0 9 01 4 s. d. 1 Of 0 81 0 71 0 6) 0 81 0 81 0 8 0 7i 0 9 0 7| 0 71 0 81 1 01 i H s. d. 1 oi 0 81 o 0 61 0 Si o 71 0 81 0 8 0 7i 0 8i 0 61 0 71 0 81 31 s. d. 1 01 0 9 0 8 0 7 V o% 0 71 0 91 0 81 0 8 0 91 0 71 0 81 0 9 1 1 1 41 The Table below shows the predominant prices paid by the working classes in October, 1905, and March, 1907. It will be seen that in the intervening period there was little change in the price of beef, some rise in mutton and in veal, and a fall in the price of pork. The cuts of beef mostly bought cost in October, 1905, from 6Jd. to 8|d. per lb. ; steak, costing 11 d. to Is. Id., is seldom bought. Mutton ranged from 7\d. to 9|d., rising to lie/, for chops, which, again, the working-man’s wife does not buy. Veal cost from 7fd. to Is. and pork from Id. to 10^d., except chops, which cost 1 Id. to Is. :— Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and March, 19Ó7. Description of Cut. Predominant Prices per lb. October, 1905. March, 1907. Beef :— Ribs ... ... "• Silverside Shin, with bone Shin, without bone Steak ... * * * * * * 1 lank ... ••• ••• Mutton :— Leg ••• ... ... Shoulder... Breast Neck Chops, trimmed... Veal :— Hind-quarter Shoulder, with bone ... „ without bone Shin ... . » * • ' Loin ... ... " Pork :— Leg ... •• Fore Loin Belly Spare Rib Chops 7fd. to 8|d. 8|d. 1 Id. 61d. 7)d. 11 d. to Is. Id. 6\d. to 7|d. 91d. 81d. 9fd. 9%d. 7# 7|d. 9|d. to lid. 9|d. to Is. 8^d. Is. Id. 7# 9fd. to lid. 8fd. 9¿d. 83d. 7d. to 8fd 9\d. „ 10id. lid. to Is. 7|d. to 8|d. 9|d. „ lid. 6|d. „ 7|d. 7fd. „ 8|d. lid. „ Is. Id. 73d. „ 8%d. 9fd. „ lid. 8fd. „ 93d. 7 3d. „ Sifd. ' 8|d. lid. 73d. 93d. lid. „ Is. S£d. ,, 93d. Is. Id. 73d. lid. Id. to 7fd. 73d. ,, 83d. Id. 8|d. to 93d. 93d. „ lid. 38 BERLIN. Meat of an inferior quality which is yet not so bad that the inspectors have to condemn it as unfit for human food is passed on to the “ Freibank” shops for sale under close veterinary supervision. There are four such shops, located in working-class districts, and there is always an excess of demand over supply. A crowd of women as a rule gathers at the doors long before the opening hour, and the stock of meat is soon sold. If the inspectors think necessary they can order the defective meat to be boiled before exposure for sale. The prices of all “ Freibank ” meat are fixed jointly by the authorities and representatives of the dealers concerned, and the proceeds are paid over to the latter less a deduction to cover expenses. Not more than three kilograms or about 6J> lb. may be sold to one person, and dealers and restaurant keepers may not be purchasers. During the year 1904/5 29,308 cwts. of meat passed through the “Freibank” shops, this being equal to a consumption of 1‘8 4 lb. per head of the population. The average price realized was about 3\d. per lb. There is a considerable consumption of horseflesh in Berlin. The animals are required to be killed at a special abattoir distinct from the municipal abattoir, and under the management of the police authority. The number of carcases used for food has increased as follows during the past ten years :— Year. 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 Number of animals slaughtered. 7,382 8,513 9,753 9,483 10,185 Year. 1901 1902 1903 1904 J 905 Number of animals slaughtered. 11,693 12,616 11,218 11,192* 13,752t * Including 416 slaughtered at Rixdorf. t Including 862 slaughtered at Rixdorf. In general it may be said that the consumption is only limited by the supply, which is no longer so elastic as formerly. Horseflesh may not be sold in shops together with other kinds of meat. The usual price in 1907 was 5^d. per lb. for fillet, 4^d. for parts for ordinary joints, and 3|d. for minced meat. Several kinds of horse sausage are made, and have a good sale. The best fresh sausage and salami sausage cost 8§d. per lb., inferior fresh sort 5^d. } and hard keeping sausage 4^d. Pickled horseflesh costs 5^d. per lb., and in several horse meat shops rissoles and warm sausages are sold at a little over a halfpenny each at certain hours of the day. 39 AACHEN. Aachen, better known to English people as Aix-la-Chapelle, is the Belgian door into Germany. It is one of the largest towns of the Rhineland province of Prussia, with a population at the census of December. 1905, of 144,095. Its growth during the past 30 years has been steady, yet unmarked by any noteworthy ­ fluctuation save during the inter-censal period 1895-1900, which saw the incorporation of the adjoining town of Burtscheid (1897), whose population in 1895 was 15,871. The entire area of the municipality in 1904 was over 9,785 acres. The following Table shows the increase at each quinquennial census since 1875 :— 1875.. . 1880.. . 1885.. . 1890.. . 1895.. . 1900.. . 1905.. . Census Year. Population. 79,606 85,551 95,725 103,470 110,551 135,245 144,095 Increase. Increase per cent. 5,945 10,174 7,745 7,081 24,694 8,850 7- 5 11-9 8- 1 6-8 22-3 6-5 The incorporation of another township, Forst, since the last census increased the population to 151,971. The area of the municipality is now 12,650 acres. The population of Aachen is less recruited from the outside than is the case with the centres of the Rhenish engineering trade. It is estimated that 70 per cent, of the inhabitants are indigenous. The town’s industrial importance lies in the fact that it is the centre of high-class cloth manufactures. The most striking feature of the ground-plan of Aachen is an inner ring of streets surrounding the oldest part of the town, in the centre of which stand the Minster and the Town Hall. On the site of this ring were the earliest walls, ballia and moats, and the streets which form the rude circle are still called “Graben” (moats). The first important extension of the town in the Middle Ages carried it beyond the limits of the original walls, especially to the north, south and east. Around the extended town fortifications were similarly placed, and the track of these is seen in a second and still more irregular ring of streets, several of which are likewise called “ Gräben.” Within the inner ring of “ Gräben ” the streets are very narrow, save where clearances have been made ; and within the second ring there is never any space to spare ; beyond the limits of the old town, however, fine streets stretch out in all directions, and a good deal of planting has been done. Open spaces have also been set apart as playgrounds. What the new Aachen, as designed, is to be like is shown by the spacious avenues which have been created in the north of the town during the last few years. To some extent the town may be said to have its future in its own hands in this respect. For some years, under the direction of the present Chief Mayor, the municipal authority has purchased large areas of land, all of which,' sooner or later, will come into the market for building purposes. These building areas have already been laid out, and by the possession of them the Town Council is at any time able to determine, within certain limits, in which directions town extensions shall take place, and so to check the manipulation ­ of the estate market by private persons. As soon as the Town Council sells land in one place it buys again elsewhere, for the plan is followed of keeping in constant circulation the funds used in this way ; none of the profits on sales are ever used towards reducing the rates. But the town has gone further, for it has purchased a large forest, on the outskirts, to serve for all time as a public park. In 1905 the town’s estate had an area of 4,087 acres. It is literally true that the development oí the town has been planned for years to 40 AACHEN. come, and so far as foresight can avail the defects of the past have been prevented ­ for the future. No more manufactories are allowed within the residential portions of the town, and special districts have been set apart for house property suited to different classes of the population. The undertakings carried on by the municipality include the waterworks, electricity works, cattle market and abattoir, baths, library, reading rooms, museum, theatre (now leased), an orchestra, a Kurhaus, a savings bank, and a chemical laboratory. The tramways are in private hands, and the town is supplied with gas by the Imperial Continental Gas Company, whose seat is in London, in virtue of a contract which runs until 1912. From both these undertakings, however, the town derives revenue. The Tramway Company pays to the town 1 per cent, of the surplus of its receipts after deducting working expenses up to an excess of £25,000, and 10 per cent, beyond that amount, the present yield being £350, while the Gas Company pays a royalty on all gas sold, and the revenue which accrued to the town from this source in 1905 was £8,500. The town supplies the tramways with electric power. By its latest contract with the Tramway Company the municipality reserves the right to purchase in 1915 or later. In the interest of working - class and other small tenants the municipality ­ subsidises a free House Agency ; it assists a Labour Registry, and provides it with offices rent free, and it also contributes to the support of a People’s Inquiry Office and a writing-room for unemployed persons. For some years the town has systematically carried on relief works (including woodcutting ­ and stone-breaking) during the winter months. Aachen had in 1905 a birth-rate of 29*7 per thousand of the population, the lowest recorded, and comparing with 35 0 per 1,000 in 1890. The illegitimate births in 1905 were 5 5 per cent, of all births, which was the highest proportion yet recorded, comparing with 4'0 per cent, in 1890. In 1905 the general death-rate of the town was 18'9 per 1,000 ; the rate has decreased considerably since 1893, when it was nearly 26 0 per 1,000, but the low rate of 1903, viz., 17-2 per 1,000, is for the present unique. The deaths of children under one year (still-born infants not counted) were in 1905 at the rate of 215 per thousand born. In this respect there has been great and continuous improvement ­ during the past 15 years, for the rate has fallen in the interval from 380 per 1,000. Of late years philanthropic societies, working hand in hand with the municipality and the medical profession, have energetically striven to combat the excessive mortality amongst children of tender age by measures directed to their better nursing and feeding. One of the most practical of their efforts is the maintenance of a creche for the reception of infants whose mothers work in the factories. The following Table gives the rate of births and deaths for a period of nine years :— Year. 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 Birth-rate per 1,000 of population. 342 35 2 33 9 33 9 343 321 305 312 29-7 Death-rate per 1,000 of population. 20-9 201 22 5 214 19- 9 20- 9 17 2 18-1 18-9 Infantile Mortality per 1,000 births. 251 250 251 231 213 201 193 201 215 It will be observed that there has for some years been a gradual decrease in the natural growth of the population. The excess of births over deaths in 1905 was 10-8 per 1,000 (comparing with 13*9 per 1,000 in the whole of X russia, and 13*2 in the whole of Germany), against 13 3 per 1,000 in 1897. A visitation of the homes of the working classes reveals the existence of a large amount of poverty. The standard of housing is for that reason, amongst others, an inferior one. The organisation of labour would not appear to have made in Aachen the progress which one notices in industrial towns lying AACHEN. • 41 further east. The Roman Catholic organisations are the strongest, but no prominence is given to the militant aspect of trade unionism. Here as in the French districts adjoining Belgium on the west, the unskilled Belgian workman offers considerable competition in the labour market, and it is held that his willingness to accept low wages is prejudicial to the native workers. As a rule the Belgians live in villages within a few miles of the frontier, and do not settle in Aachen. Many Dutch workmen are also engaged in the building trades. Occupations, Wages and Hours of Labour. The textile industry is the principal source of employment at Aachen, and in its various branches about a third of the entire manual working classes are engaged. At the beginning of the year 1906 the industrial and trade sickness insurance funds had 41,563 contributing members, and of these 13,393 were engaged in the textile industry, chiefly in the many cloth manufactories ­ for which Aachen is famous. The manufacture of needles is also one of Aachen’s staple industries, and employs several thousands of persons, a far larger majority being here males than in the case of the textile industry. Other important occupations are the machine and card-making industries, while, smaller numbers of workpeople are engaged in the chemical, soap, and tobacco manufactures, ­ the last employing women almost exclusively. At a short distance from the town are the iron and steel works of the Rothe Erde Company. A considerable proportion of the women who work in the cloth mills are married ; of a total of 5,383 female workers in the cloth industry, on December 31, 1902, 1,198, or 22'2 per cent, were married. The following is a classification of the industrial workpeople employed in 1905 in the district of the Aachen Factory Inspector, which includes, besides the town itself, the adjacent villages of Eupen, Malmedy and Montjoie, though about four-fifths of the workpeople belong to Aachen :— Groups of Trades. N urn her of Establishments. ­ Metal-working Machine, implement, and apparatus making. Textile Clothing and cleaning Printing, lithography, bookbinding, ­ &c. Paper Woodworking and carving Chemicals ... « ••* Begins, varnishes, oil, soap, candles, &c. Stone and earth Food, drink, and tobacco ... Leather ... ... ••• ••• Miscellaneous Total 95 68 211 248 23 10 57 8 22 52 •251 65 4 1,114 Number of Workpeople. Males over 16 years. Females I Juveniles, | Children over 16 14 to 16 under 14 years. years. ¡ years. 2,967 3,196 8,788 117 341 569 712 96 296 784 750 654 23 19,293 1,543 83 6,898 786 79 225 74 18 43 19 1,562 7 11,337 869 230 1,082 238 84 101 58 6 8 56 261 16 2 3,014 27 Total. 5,383 3,512 16,776 1,143 505 899 844 120 347 859 2,581 677 25 33,6,1 Of 33,671 industrial workpeople of all ages, 20,868, or 62 per cent., were males. Of a total of 12.803 female workers, 7,215, or 56'3 per cent., were over the ao-e of 21 years ; of the remainder, 4,122, or 32*2 per cent., were between 16 and 21 years ; 1,454, or 11*3 per cent., were between 14 and 16 years ; and 12 were under 14 years. Only 27 children under 14 years were engaged in industrial occupations, and 8 of these were employed in the textile factories. The hours of labour are generally 10 per day, or 57 to 60 per week. In the cloth industry the usual division of the day is as follows :—7 to 8 ; pause to 8.15 ; 8.15 to 12 ; pause till 1.30 ; 1.30 to 4 ; pause till 4.15 ; 4.15 to 7. On Monday morning work begins at 8, and on Saturday it ends at 5.30. Several mills work one or two hours less, but others work from 64 to 68 hours. In the iron and metal trades a 10 hours day is also fairly general. Although virtually F 29088 4 2 AACHEN. the whole of the workpeople of Aachen are Roman Catholics, the Church festivals and “ Mary days,” apart from the statutory holidays, are no longer observed ; the only exceptions are Corpus Christi and Good Friday. On the other hand, ecclesiastical festivals are observed by the public authorities. Most of Aachen’s industries employ an increasing number of workpeople, though the town’s growth has for a long time been comparatively slow. The cloth industry shows the steadiest progress ; the manufacture of needles holds its own very well ; but the card-makers, who 20 years ago numbered over 20 firms, have dwindled to a few large concerns. A fortnight’s notice before ceasing employment is the general rule, and wages are paid weekly. Both in the cloth and the several branches of the iron and metal industry payment is by piece, and fixed daily or weekly wages are the exception. List rates are observed in the cloth factories, these rates varying according to the class of work done and the machinery used. Male weavers earn in a full week from 21s. to 24s., but female weavers not more than 18s. The general rate for finishers is from 15s. to 18s., with an average of 16s. The earnings ­ of male spinners range from 20s. to 25s., while dyers earn from 15s. to 18s. Many of the textile workers are Belgians, who cross the frontier on Monday and remain in Aachen all the week. In the engineering works skilled men, paid by piece, earn from 30s. to 36s. per week, and labourers from 17s. to 21s. In the needle manufactories needle makers earn 24s., pointers from 30s. to 35s., polishers from 24s. to 27s., and stampers 30s. In the card-making works setters earn 40s. and finishers from 25s. to 27s. Piece-work is also the rule in these trades. Few wages agreements have as yet been concluded in the building trades at Aachen, though efforts are being made in that direction, consequent upon repeated disputes. Payment is by the hour ; the predominant rate is 5d. to 6<A, though rates of 4d. are common. With a ten hours day, masons and bricklayers earn 27s. weekly, carpenters, joiners, and cabinet-makers from 22s. 10¿/. to 27s., plumbers 27s., painters 25s. 2<L, roofers and tilers 26s. 5d., and bricklayers’ labourers from 15s. to 21s. Among miscellaneous trades the agreement rate for printers is 24s. 9d. for compositors, machine minders and pressmen, while for machine compositors it is 30s. 11 d. for news hands and 32s. 2d. for jobbing hands ; chemical workers earn 24s., bakers 22s. and 16s. 9d., according as they are first or second hands, 10s. Qd. being here reckoned as the value of board and lodging, and carters from 17s. to 19s. 6d. The usual wages of unskilled labour range from 3s. to 3s. Qd. per day, giving weekly rates of 18s. and 21s., of which the former predominates. It may be noted that the u local, rate for day labour,” as fixed by the administrative authorities for insurance calculations, is 2s. 4^d. for adult males, with Is. 4ft/, for juveniles. aW Æbwrs q/" LaWr m äß PrmwpaZ Occwpa&ms, OcMcr, 1905. Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours of Labour. Building Trades* :— Masons and Bricklayers Carpenters, Joiners and Cabinetmakers Plumbers ... - Painters Roofers and Tilers Bricklayers’ labourers 22s. 10(7. to 27s. 15s. to 21s. 27s. 60 60 60 60 60 60 Engineering Works :— Moulders Fitters ... Smiths ... Turners ... 60 60 60 60 60 60 Pattern-makers.. Labourers 30s. „ 33s. 17s. „ 21s. summer. * The wages and hours of labour stated for the building trades .re for a full week in AACHEN. 43 Weekly Wages. Iron and Steel Works :— Steel rollers—1st men... V » 2nd. ,, 3rd Welders ... Chargemen Wire rollers Planers ... Core-makers Smelters... Labourers Copper and Brass Works Rollers, 1st men „ 2nd „ Furnace men Brassfounders Labourers Needle Factories :— Needle-makers ... Pointers Polishers Stampers Textile Trade ( Woollen) W eavers—male... „ female Spinners Finishers Dyers Fullers Strippers Pressers ... Printing Trade :— Printers ... Machine Compositors—news... „ „ jobbing Miscellaneous Trades :— Card-makers—setters ... „ finishers Chemical workers Bakers—1st hands ,, 2nd ,, ... ... Carmen ... 46s. 10Æ 37s. 10(7. 30s. 42s. 27s. 26s. to 30s. 24s. „ 30s. 30s. 21s. to 24s. 15s. 19s. 22s. 6d. 21s. 21s. 21s. 18s. 24s. 30s. to 35s. 24s. „ 27s. 30s. 21s. to 24s. 18s. 20s. to 25s. 15s. „ 18s. 15s. „ 18s. 18s. 6(7. 16s. to 18s. 23s. 24s. 9(7. 30s. 11(7. 32s. 2(7. 40s. 25s. to 27s. 21s. „ 24s. 22s.* 16s. 9(7.* 17s. to 19s. 6(7. Weekly Hours of Labour. 72 72 72 72 72 72 59 59 59 60 60 60 60 60 60 50 to 60 50 „60 50 „ 60 50,, 60 60 60 60 60 60 66 64& 69 54 48 57i to 66 57&„66 60 * 10s. 6(7. being here counted as the value of board and lodging. The following were the wages and hours of labour of municipal employees at the same date :— Weekly Wages. Road-making and Cleaning Foremen... Paviors ... Road-makers Road sweepers* Electric Works and Lighting Engine men Stokers ... Fitters and Installers ... Waterworks .-— Labourers 24s. to 36s. 27s. „ 36s. 15s. 6(7. to 22s. 10(7. 12s. 20s. 5(7. to 24s. 18s. to 24s. 27s. 20s. 5(7. Weekly Hours of Labour. 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 * The road sweepers are men incapable of full work who would otherwise fall on the poor rates. F 2 29088 44 AACHEN. Taking wages at Berlin as 100, wages at Aachen are represented in the building trades by 79 for skilled men and by 70 for labourers ; in the engineering ­ trades by 96 for skilled men and 87 for labourers ; and in the printing trades by 88. A considerable amount of miscellaneous work of an industrial kind is done in the homes of the poorer classes at Aachen. Spooling finds light employment for many men and women. Cigar making, from tobacco leaf supplied by the employers, employs a large number of women, though often amid conditions which would be all the better for systematic regulation, for the work is done in rooms which serve both for living and sleeping. The folding and gumming of needle cases is another home employment. Children of school age may also be seen in many tenements busily engaged in threading hooks and eyes upon cards, in sorting needles, and in hammering off the glass heads of fancy pins which have been spoiled in course of manufacture. The mother, who superintends the operations of the little workers seated on the floor or around a table by the window, will tell you that work is conscientiously restricted to three hours a day, but the assurance is given apologetically rather than convincingly. The ■earnings of these children are insignificant ; the sewing of three cards of 48 pieces each (24 pairs of hooks and eyes) is remunerated at the rate of half a farthing. Housing and Bents. The most striking fact which an investigation of the housing conditions of Aachen brings to light is that, while the rents of dwellings are relatively low, nearly half the households of the town live in tenements of one or two rooms. The census of December, 1905, showed that there were 82,143 dwellings in Aachen, and that of these 4,395, or 13 7 per cent., were dwellings of one room ; 10,301, or 32'0 per cent., were dwellings of two room» ; 7,045, or 21*9 per cent., of three rooms ; 3,681, or 115 per cent., of four rooms ; 2,215, or 6*9 per cent., of five rooms ; 1,437, or 4 5 per cent., of six rooms ; and 3,069, or 9'5 per cent., of more than six rooms. Assuming three rooms to indicate a standard of accommodation consonant with due requirements of health and morality, it will be seen that only 54 3 per cent, of the dwellings reach that standard. " The detailed analysis is as follows District. Number of Dwellings of One room. Two rooms. Three rooms. Four rooms. Five rooms. Six rooms. Over six rooms. Total Number of Dwellings. la 16 1 c 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Totals . 591 1,233 1,215 38 661 48 411 67 86 45 4,395 1,045 2.G50 1,758 140 2.427 224 1,349 208 319 181 82(X 1,374 1,049 171 1,550 295 993 234 360 199 10,301 I 7,045 481 655 469 123 709 225 397 195 275 152 3,681 261 383 255 125 342 254 192 145 176 82 192 233 209 106 164 154 89 91 140 59 434 351 280 380 232 511 172 413 176 90 3,824 6,879 5,235 1,083 6,085 1,741 3,603 1,353 1,532 808 2,215 1,437 3,069 32,143 Confining attention to working-class districts only—or those at least, in which working-class families predominate—the conclusions are still more striking There are four such districts (16, l c , 3, and Õ in the official regster), and their aggregate dwellings at the last census numbered 21,802. Of these dwellings only 46 per cent, were of three or more rooms, nearly 08 per cent, were of two rooms, and 10 per cent, were of one room. A classification of 784 purely working-class dwellings, made for the purpose 3TX; ii'7 ÂÍ* ë nu £ ta3 AACHEN. 45 of one room only, 41 ■ 7 per cent, of two rooms, a'nd 14*6 per cent, of three rooms ; the corresponding percentages for 1904, in respect of 1,107 tenements visited, were 27*3, 43*7, and 17 5. To say that the housing system assumes the dimensions and the importance of a social problem at Aachen is a statement which the foregoing figures alone would appear to justify, and a nearer acquaintance with the facts will confirm such a statement. Several circumstances have united to place Aachen at a disadvantage in the matter of its housing conditions. In the first place, it i§ a town of great age, and, like all old towns, it has developed slum districts so extensive as to be beyond the summary process of extinction. In the inner circle of the town, the district within the “ Gräben ” already alluded to, the houses are, for the most part, several centuries old, and the worst of these houses are behind the street front, down narrow passages and around ill-lighted and sometimes evil-smelling courts, one leading into another through a second corridor gloomier than the first. The buildings themselves are often dilapidated, and, from the hygienic standpoint, are dear, even at the low rents charged for them. The people who live in these houses, which are to be found by whole streets together, are people of small earnings, and to a large extent they include that residuum which in every large town gravitates naturally to the cheapest and lowest class of dwelling. Amongst the dwellings of even the poorer class of wage earners the most perfect order and neatness may often be observed ; yet, on the whole, Aachen does not represent the German home at its best. The people who have poor dwellings appear to be contented with them, and there is a certain absence of ambition to live as well as means might allow. They were born there, so they elect to live and die there, though roomier homes, healthier surroundings, and a more cheerful outlook are to be had in the newer parts of the town at little, if any, more cost. The prevailing type of house at Aachen is that known as the “ threewindow house.” In the ground floor front are the entrance and two windows, lighting one or two rooms according to the width of the house, and on each of the stories above are three windows, two lighting a large room and the other serving for a small one. This is the traditional Aachen house, and the type is still followed to-day with such modifications as the modern building regulations prescribe. According to these regulations a house may not be built higher than the width of the street plus 9 feet 9 inches in the inner districts (i.e., within the old “Gräben,” denoting the boundaries of the old town), or the width of the streets in the outer districts, with a maximum of 65 feet in either case. Side-houses may not be higher than the width of the adjacent court plus 19 feet 6 inches. It is also ordered in the case of new houses that where more than three stories are built above the ground floor and where there are more than ten rooms on a floor the landings and stairs must be of stone or ■cement. The general rule is three or four stories, with an attic in addition. Not uncommonly the roof of the building at the rear or side is flat and is used as a drying ground. I he average width of a single house, ¿.e., a house with passage and one adjacent suite of rooms on the ground floor, is 22 feet 9 inches. As a rule the façades of the older working-class houses are very plain. On the other hand monotony is broken owing to the fact that the houses do not appear to have been built a street at a time but singly or several together, and each builder has followed his own ideas as to height, width, and other details. All houses are painted, and not always in the same shades or even the same colours, so that there is no trace of sameness. The structure of a typical “ three-window ” house may here be described. The house is entered right or left of the partition wall as the case may be. In the middle of the corridor is a door leading into the front room, and at the end are the stairs, with a second corridor leading to the courtyard. At the foot of the stairs a second door opens into the back room, which, with the front room, forms the parterre dwelling. The smallest room in a suite is invariably chosen as the kitchen, and the stove is portable and belongs to the tenant. Adjacent to the courtyard behind is the “ side house ’ ’ (Seitenbau ), which is a lower building whose downstairs rooms open into the courtyard, while the rooms upstairs are reached from the landings which serve for the 4fí AACHEN. t .4 ■ A front house. Two rooms downstairs always imply three rooms upstairs, the corridor space and a few feet from the remaining width making a serviceable third room. At the top is the attic or loft, which is used for drying clothes and for storage purposes. Water is not supplied into each tenement, but is obtained from a common tap on each landing. There is also a privy or w.c. for each landing, except in old houses, where it is frequently found in the courtyard. Many houses, both old and new, have a “ tip ” arrangement on each floor for rubbish. In the side wall is a large iron door covering a drop, through which ashes, &c., are shot into a pit under the «ourtyard floor. The arrangement is not a desirable one, unless the pits are well looked after, and though it has so far been permitted the authorities seem disposed to enforce the more usual pan system. Most houses have good cellaring, in which every tenant has a share, and not a few have also a small piece of grass which serves as a drying ground and as a playground for the children. Balconies hardly exist at all, though house reformers are conscious of their value, and the local building society has begun to introduce them in its newer houses. A double house is entered by a passage formed in the centre of the block. On each side will be found two rooms of different size, and behind these and approached through them, yet also by a separate door, two ocher rooms of corresponding size. The four rooms on each side of the passage can be let as one dwelling, or they may be divided into dwellings of two and two rooms or of three rooms and one. The staircase ascends in the centre of the house, and on each landing are two suites of four rooms, the front rooms of each suite being divided by a brick wall and the back rooms by the next flighc of stairs. The rooms of each suite are communicable, so that they may be combined according to the convenience of tenants. At the top of the house is the usual loft. At the rear of such a double house is the “ back house ” (Hinterbau), with a courtyard on either side. Upon each landing are four rooms, w^hich here are arranged as two-room dwellings and cannot be otherwise combined. Access is gained to the dwellings of the “ back house ” by the same landings which serve for the front house. In these double houses the water supply, the privy or w.c., and the refuse tip are arranged as in the single houses. The dimensions of the rooms naturally vary a good deal, but typical downstairs rooms of larger size are 15 feet 5 inches deep by 11 feet 8 inches wide, and 14 feet 2 inches deep by 15 feet 6 inches wide, with a height of from 9 feet 9 inches to 11 feet 4 inches, and typical small rooms downstairs are 15 feet 5 inches deep by 8 feet 11 inches wide and 14 feet 2 inches deep by 12 feet 8 inches wide, with the same elevation. The rooms in the back and side houses are generally of equal size, the average dimensions being 13 feet deep by 11 feet o inches wide. It is noticeable that in the newer houses low rooms are very rare, even in the upper stories, while the landing space and the stairs are as a rule ample as to size and well lighted. On the .other hand, the water and closet arrangements do not appear to be commendable ; as to the latter, 20 persons are allowed to one w.c. and this is always placed on the open landing. Number of Rooms per Tenement. Predominant Weekly Rents. One room Two rooms Three rooms Is. Gd. to 2s. 2d. 2s. 8d. „ 3a. Gd. 3s. Gd. „ 4s. Id. The rent index number for Aachen, Berlin being taken as 100, is 53. AACHEN. 47 local super-tax incomes between £33 and £45 are also liable, the tax being 135 per cent, of an assumed State tax of 4s. The effect of the super-tax is that small incomes would pay the following amounts for local purposes :— Amount of local surtax. 5s. 5d. 8s. Id. 12s. 2d. 16s. 2d. 21s. Id. 28s. 4d. 35s. Id. 41s. KM. Incomes. £33 to £45, inclusive £45 to £52 10s., inclusive £52 10s. to £60, inclusive £60 to £67 10s , inclusive £67 10s. to £75, inclusive £75 to £82 10s., inclusive £82 10s. to £90, inclusive £90 to £105, inclusive While the housing accommodation provided during the last 30 or 40 years is good, and increasingly so as it is of more recent origin, there is a vast amount of unequivocal “ slum ” property. The conditions in some of the older houses are extremely bad —dilapidated buildings, dark and fetid approaches, landings which barely allow of the doors turning on their hinges, small and low rooms, damp and rot in wall and wood, and a mass of poverty, dirt, and squalor beyond description. Many of the staircases are enveloped in pitch darkness, so that it is necessary to grope one’s way by the help of a rail, and others so steep that it is unsafe to descend them face forward. In such districts house regulations are of no avail, and it would be useless to attempt to enforce their provisions as to cleanliness and order, for dirt and grime seem to belong to the natural order of things. In normal houses, however, tolerable tidiness is preserved in the approaches, and in many cases, where children are not too numerous, the condition of things is beyond reproach. The rule is that stairs and landings must be brushed every day and washed twice a week (on Wednesday and Saturday), the tenants taking the duty in turn, and, where the landlord lives in the house or is represented by a good agent, the rule is faithfully observed. Several extracts from the report of the House Inspector for the year 1904 will give a fair indication of the prevalent deficiencies. “ During the year,” he writes, “ 114 properties, containing 174 inhabited houses (¿.<?., blocks) were inspected. These 174 houses contained 1,106 tenements, with 2,390 living and bedrooms, including kitchens (an average of 2T6 rooms per dwelling). 1,808 of these rooms were used as bedrooms, 1,752 by members of the tenants’ families, and 56 by lodgers or servants. Of the 2,390 rooms, 1,089 were used exclusively as bedrooms, 719 as kitchens and bedrooms, and 582 as livingrooms or kitchens. In these 2,390 rooms were 616 male and 623 female persons under 12 years, and 1,534 male and 1,540 female persons above 12 years, these all being members of the tenants’ families ; while in the 56 rooms occupied by lodgers and servants were 38 males and 11 females. Of the 1,107 inhabited dwellings inspected, 278 consisted of one room, 467 of two rooms, 190 of three rooms, 79 of four rooms, 15 of five rooms, and 31 of more than five rooms. There were 47 empty dwellings, containing together 78 rooms—viz., 24 of one room, 17 of two rooms, four of three rooms, and two of four rooms. Complaint was laid in respect of 64 alcove bedrooms, 11 bedrooms on account of overcrowding, 105 bedrooms on account of non-separation of sexes, 77 bedrooms where the floor was less than 10 inches above the earth level, 34 bedrooms on account of damp, three bedrooms on account of bad doors, 47 bedrooms whose windows were insufficient in size, 22 bedrooms with defective flooring, and 10 bedrooms which were simultaneously used as workshops. The following were also condemned:—16 buildings with defective stairs or balustrades, one building With defective roof, 23 dwellings in which the plaster on ceilings and walls wits defective, 35 properties with defective w.c. arrangements, two cellars and eio'ht attics on account of accumulations of filth, 27 buildings with defective chimneys, and three properties without proper water supply.” Unquestionably the most serious aspect of the housing question at Aachen is the smallness of the dwellings (two rooms, as has been shown, being the predominant size), for it is here that the children problem comes in. Large families are common among the working classes of Aachen, and under such circumstances the observance of hygienic and moral conditions of life is a matter 48 AACHEN. of extreme difficulty. Of 47 6 tenements reported upon by the Municipal House Inspector in 1905, 168 consisted of two rooms, and the average population per room was four persons. The municipal authorities require that after the age of 12 years children shall no longer sleep in their parents’ room, and, if of different sex, shall sleep in different rooms. Where the family numbers eight, and the rooms are only two, a problem of great perplexity faces the parent sooner or later. Should a municipal mandamus be received, the first device is for one of the two rooms to be given to either sex, parent and children of all ages sharing quarters as best they may. Then comes a new increase to the family, and the makeshift breaks down. A third room must be taken, or the municipal authority be defied. No doubt it is defied often enough ; but, if a larger house be rented, quality has often to be sacrificed for the sake of quantity. Even so, it is probable that not more than 25 per cent, of the working class households of Aachen live in dwellings of three rooms. In order to help somewhat to meet the case of large families the Benevolent Building Society of Aachen ( Gemeinnützige Baugesellschaft) began work some ten years ago. By the aid ( I ) of money subscribed by shareholders in return for three per cent, interest. (2) of loans obtained from the Old Age Insurance Authority of the province at 3 and 3& per cent., and (3) of loans otherwise raised on mortgage, 17 blocks of houses, containing altogether 240 tenements of two, three and four rooms have been built in suitable parts of the town, and these tenements are let by preference to respectable working men with large families. Houses of 48 rooms were built at first, but now houses of 25 rooms only, and the cost of a house of the latter kind is £1,250 for land and building together, £10 being reckoned per room for land and £40 for building costs. Tenements of three rooms are built as much as possible, and the rent for such accommodation varies, according to the character and situation of the building, from 3s. 2(7. to 4s. 6d. per week ; while dwellings of two rooms cost from 2s. to 3s., and dwellings of four rooms from 4s. 2d. to 5s. There are also a few single room tenements for old persons. On the whole the rents work out at about 5s. per room per month, which is below that of private houses generally. Yet the Society is able to pay the interest on capital and loans and to meet the 1J per cent, on building costs which the Insurance Authority requires byway of redemption. At the present time it has at call over £25,000 available for building purposes, and it is only the difficulty of obtaining eligible sites at reasonable prices which restrains its operations. The houses already built are as convenient as the limitations of space allowed, and they are eagerly sought after. The largest building scheme so far undertaken is the colony in the Sandkaulstrasse, where a site of ground 42,250 square feet in extent was purchased and used for the erection of ten large detached houses containing 267 rooms, forming 100 dwellings. The average number of persons per dwelling is five, but some of the families number nine, ten, and even twelve. Several of the houses have balconies ; for the use of the housewives there are grass-plots for drying purposes ; to young people a large room is allotted as a readingroom ; and the children have an extensive playground, partly covered. The special merit of the Society’s work is that its aim is to help the very poor who, through being handicapped by many children, are nowhere welcome tenants and aie unable to pay for decent accommodation elsewhere, proportionate to their needs. A good work is also done by a free House Bureau, carried on by ; benevolent society with municipal help in the interest of the working classe and small tenants generally. ° The municipality of Aachen owns a number of dwellings which ar let to its workpeople. They mostly consist of three or four rooms, and th rents vary from £8 to £10 per annum. The houses have been built o bought for convenience, However, and they do not in any way form part of plan of housing reform The only industrial company in the neighbourhoo. which provides houses for the workpeople is the Rothe Erde Steel and Iro, Company, which owns altogether some 800 single dwellings, each of four room noth attic, cellar storehouse and garden. In Aachen itself the fact tha so many ot the mills are in the heart of the town enables workpeople to liv near,to their employment, while those who work outside the town like to liv within it. AACHEN. 49 There is no great amount of professional house building and owning at Aachen. A few large properties are found in single hands, but a marked feature of the system of tenure is the existence of a large class of small owners, holding one or more blocks of tenements (though seldom more than one) and living on the spot. These householders are locally known as " four penny ” (“ vier-groschen”) landlords, yet they have their virtues. In the first place they are their own rent collectors ; hence there exists between landlord and tenant a direct personal tie, which in a large town is a consideration of importance. In the second place they live within reach of their tenants, and being thus able to exercise continual oversight they exert a powerful influence favourable to order, cleanliness and decorum. Many of these small landlords not only take an evident pride in keeping their property in good condition, but they control the habits of their tenants where control is needed. Where the owner does not live on the spot, an agent, who occupies one of the tenements—always on the ground floor or the first story—receives his rents and exercises the regulative functions of the proprietor. His usual remuneration is a rent-free dwelling, though payment by commission is also common. A less laudable arrangement is the letting of whole blocks of dwellings to local residents who sub-let them for a profit. Here a tendency to force rents to as high a level as possible is inevitable, and where in addition the tenant-in-chief is a shop-keeper as well, an indirect form of pressure can be exerted on the tenants in the matter of trading. The disadvantage of this form of sub-letting is that there is every form of inducement on the part of the speculator to aim at rack rents, for he can only recoup himself'and protect himself against risks by requiring from the tenant something over and above what the landlord himself regards as a legitimate rent. These arrangements are made only from month to month, since the risk of loss by vacancies is too great to tempt even the most venturesome ­ to take a property on lease. As a rule a whole “ house ” of ten or a dozen dwellings is rented in this way, but two houses are also frequently rented, and in one case a large landlord has let the whole of his working class property, to the extent of 150 tenements, in this manner. The tenant-in-chief pays the water dues and the cost of chimney-sweeping, and also defrays the cost of all repairs below 5s. Retail Prices. Groceries and other Commodities. The working classes of Aachen buy to a very exceptional extent in the small provision shops which are found in abundance in the industrial quarters. There are no multiple undertakings of any consequence, and though there are two Co-operative Societies they do not sell to the public generally. Co-operation ­ has not, in fact, taken firm root in the town, and the explanation is due to three things—to a certain conservatism which characterises the population in all matters of custom and use, a disinclination to associate for the furtherance of common ends, and perhaps even more the preference of a large section of the working classes for credit, which is against the principles of orthodox co-operation. The favourite domestic beverage is coffee, which is drunk in all degrees of strength, and both “ black” and "white" (i.e., with milk) according to taste ; the prevalent price in October, 1905, was 11 d. per pound. Tea is not drunk by the working classes, and to no great extent by others, though its use would appear to be increasing. The working class grocer only “ stocks ” two kinds of sugar, lump (or “ cube ”) sugar for coffee and white granulated for general cooking purposes. The former costs from 2^d. to 3d. and the latter about 2±d. per lb. The favourite cheese is Limburg, which was sold in pats of about 11 lb. at a price of about 5d. per lb. Dutch cheese at 8|d. to ILL per lb. was also largely eaten, Swiss cheese at 11 d. to Is. Id. per lb. to a smaller extent, and a host of special and fancy cheeses are offered in the better shops, but they are delicacies beyond the reach of the working classes. On the whole quite as much fresh butter as margarine is eaten, save by poorer families, though for cooking margarine is universally bought. Much of the butter is imported from Switzerland and Holland and is known technically as “sweet cream butter.” The prevalent price in 1905 was Is. Id. to Is. 2|d. per lb. The usual domestic loaf, the only one standardised by the Bakers’ Gr 29088 50 AACHEN. Guild, is a loaf of black bread, made of pure rye once ground, weighing 2 kilogrammes or 4 4 lb. English and sold in October, 1905, at the uniform price of A^d. per 4 lb. English. Much “ grey ” bread (made of rye mixed with wheat), and “ white ” bread (wheat mixed with rye) is also eaten, and what the Guild of Bakers calls a “household” bread, made of rye and wheat, is baked in small loaves. Wheaten flour is only used in working class households for fancy baking and the predominant price was ll^rf. to Is. O^c/. per 7 lb. ; rye flour is not sold at all by retail dealers. Nearly the whole of the bread supply is baked by small bakers, for the factory baker is very rare at Aachen. Coal is the usual fuel ; briquettes are also used, but coke hardly at all. Coal is sold by the bushel, a measure which should contain half a hectolitre, but which is a very uncertain indicator of weight. Probably not one coal dealer in twenty is able to guess how much coal he sells as a bushel, though he himself buys by weight ; everything depends on the class of coal, its size, and its degree of humidity, uncertain factors which explain a variability extending from 75 to 100 pounds German, the latter equal to the English hundredweight. ­ The ruling price is about Is. per cwt. Predominant prices paid by the working classes in October, 1905, and May, 1906. Commodity. Predominant Price. October, 1905. May. 1906. Coffee Sugar : — Loaf ... ... White Granulated Bacon :— Fat Streaky Eggs, Foreign Cheese :— Dutch Limburg Swiss Butter Margarine ... Potato.es Flour (Household) Bread (Rye)... Milk ... Coal ... ... ... Paraffin Oil per lb. per Is. per lb. per 7 lb. per 4 lb. per quart per cwt. per gallon lid. 2\d. to 3d. 9# 11 d. 13 8£(7. to 11 d. 5(7. 11 d. to Is. 1 d. Is 8 f(7. 3t7. 111(7. to Is 41(7. 1(7. to Is. 2|(7. 0f(7. 2|(7. Is. 10(7. 11(7. 2# 2# 8|d. 9|(7. 14 8f(7. to 11(7. 5(7. 11(7. to Is. 1(7. Is. 1(7. 8£(7. 3(7. ll\d. to Js. 01(7. 4^(7. 2|(7. Is. 10(7. Meat. A comparison of the slaughterings at the public abattoir during recent years shows a marked diminution in the case of oxen and other cattle, sheep, calves, and latterly also in pigs, but an increase in horses : Oxen and steers Other cattle ... Pigs ... Sheep Calves Horses and ponies 1900. 3,294 4,840 24,365 8,193 17,639 466 1901. 3,408 4,571 22.932 8,093 17.932 473 1902. 1903. 3,760 4,027 23,362 7,552 16,492 466 3,582 3,984 28,629 6,378 16,084 431 1904. 3,370 4,013 30,848 6,026 16,433 445 1905. 3,052 4,300 23,411 6,519 15,899 609 The working classes oí Aachen are not large AACHEN. 51 The cattle killed for food come in part from the surrounding districts, but also from the Cologne market and from Denmark. The veal is almost wholly of local origin. The sheep come from all parts of the country, and ultimately reach the Aachen abattoir through the hands of a single large dealer, who acts as general receiver. The pigs slaughtered come largely from the Cologne and Hamburg markets, but also from the adjacent district. It is a peculiarity of the meat trade here that pork in all forms is almost exclusively retailed by special pork butchers, so that such a thing as a piece of pork, or even a sausage, is hardly ever seen in an ordinary butcher’s shop. Workingclass families eat, for the most part, beef and pork, and invariably cuts from the cheapest joints. Of the total meat consumption shown by the food returns above referred to 43 per cent, consisted of beef, 37 per cent, of pork and bacon, 5 per cent, of veal, which is too dear for the working-man’s table, and 2 per cent, of mutton, which is not held in esteem, and 12 per cent., an unusually small proportion, of sausage. In October, 1905, the price of beef ranged from 7fd. to 9Jd. per lb., except steak, which cost Is. Id., and is not bought by working people. Pork cost from 8fd. to Is. 1 d. The price of mutton ranged from 7|¡d. to lie?., and of veal from 9|d. to lit?. Small purchases are the rule, for the housewife buys from day to day just the quantity needed for the midday meal ; for other meals, when meat is taken, sausage of the cheaper kinds, bought a few slices at a time, has to serve. Predominant prices paid by the working classes in October, 1905, and May, 1906. Description of Cut. Predominant Price per lb. October, 1905. May, 1906. Shin Beef :— Ribs Silverside with bone without bone Steak ... ... ... Flank Mutton :— ... ... ... Shoulder Bi east ... ... ... N eck ... ... ... Chops (trimmed) Veal :— Hind Quarter ... with bone without bone Loin ... ... ... Pork :— Fore Loin Beilj ... ... ... Spare Rib Chops ... ... ... Shoulder 7|d. to 81 d. 8# 7# 8§d. 9fd. 8 £d. 9# Is. Id. 7# 9fd. to lid. 8§d. 9%d. 7K 7fd. to 91d. lid. to Is. Id. 9fd. to lid. 9¿d Is. Id. lid. 9%d. Is. to Is. Id. 9|d. to lid. 8%d. „ 9#d. lid. to Is. Id. 7|d. to 8|d. 8 Id. 9 Id. 7# „ 8# 9# Is. Id. 7|d. lid. 9fd. to 9|d. 7# „ 8%d. 8%d. lid. to Is. Id. lid. 9\d. to lid. Is. Id. „ Is. 2fd. lid. 9id. to lid. 9§d. 8%d. lid. It is possible to trace the average retail prices of certain kinds of meat for a series of years, on the basis of the weekly or monthly quotations collected by the Municipal Market Committee :— Average y earl o retail prices of certain kinds of Meat. 1897. Beef :— Le% Belly Pork Veal M utton Smoked bacon d. 1 7| 7* 1898. d. I 1899. 1900. d. 8 i d. ? 91 81 ? 1901. 1902. d. 8 ! d. 1 a 1903. 1901. 1905. d. 9 . P 81 8& d. :i 94 9“ 81 d. 9 7 10% 91 Si a 2 29'JSf< 52 AACHEN. It will be seen that the prices of most articles steadily increased during these years. There are at Aachen several horseflesh butchers, who do a regular trade at prices varying from 3^6?. per lb. for soup meat to 5%d. for the best joints for roasting. Sausage costs 4\d. a lb., and “ meat pasties ” are sold in large numbers at a halfpenny each. The horse butchers complain, however, that their supplies are gradually decreasing, and one reason given for this is the substitution of electric for horse power in the tramway system. Predominant prices in Berlin being taken as 100, the index numbers for Aachen are as follows :—Food, other than meat, 105 ; meat, 111 ; all food, 106 ; coal, 81 ; and food and coal, 103. The index number for rent and prices combined is 93, Berlin being 100. 53 ASCHAFFENBURG. The industrial importance of Aschaffenburg, in Bavaria, arises from the fact that it is a principal centre of the coloured paper trade. The town is situated to the south-east of Frankfort on the right bank of the Main (which is at present only navigable for small craft), and is almost equally distant from the frontiers of Prussia, Hesse, and Baden. It has a population (census of December, 1905) of 25,892. In this enumeration are included the two small incorporated suburbs of Damm and Leider. In 1900 (before this municipal extension) the population was 18,093, in 1895 it was 15,831, and in 1890, 13,630. Aschaffenburg has made steady growth during the past twenty years, yet owing to its geographical position, and the absence of varied industries, it is in the main dependent upon the natural increase of population, and has not experienced any such remarkable turn in its fortunes as has fallen to so many German industrial towns since the early ’seventies. The situation of the town is a very pleasant one, standing as it does on high ground, surrounded by woods and orchards. It is a real combination of town and country, for not only do a considerable number of its factory workers come in from the neighbouring villages, but agriculture stretches to its very gates. Much has been done to modernise the appearance of the streets, but half of them are old-fashioned, quiet thoroughfares, almost devoid of traffic. Narrow alleys conduct by steep inclines to the high levels from which the surrounding country can be surveyed. The houses in these parts of the town are very old and very picturesque, with carved doorways, oaken timbers, and high roofs of red or glazed grey tiles. The streets are unevenly paved, and" many are not paved at all. White and red sandstone obtained from the vicinity is largely used for building, with gneiss for the foundations, but brickwork and stucco are also common. The manufacture of coloured papers of all kinds was introduced into the town at the beginning of the nineteenth century, at which time there was a resident population of about 6,000, whose other labour outlets were mainly confined ­ to small breweries, distilleries, and tobacco manufactories. In addition to its paper mills the town has now several engineering and machine works, a copper rolling mill, a number of beer breweries, a very considerable clothing trade, besides industries of minor importance, though paper continues to be its main interest. At the present time Aschaffenburg is impatiently awaiting the beginning of a project which will give a great stimulus to its prosperity. This is the deepening of the Main from Offenbach, a work which the Government of Prussia is to execute as far as Hanau, and that of Bavaria from Hanau forward to Aschaffenburg. The river is to have a navigable depth of 8 feet, which will enable vessels of much greater draught to bring coal and other merchandise to the town. Aschaffenburg has already a small dock, constructed alongside the river, but a new one will be necessary to cope with the greatly increased traffic expected when the canal scheme has been carried out. The municipal authority shows great energy, and strives to promote the development of the town in every way possible with its limited resources. It freely buys land for town extension and improvement purposes, and of one considerable estate acquired in 1900 a large part has already been sold for industrial works of various kinds. Its revenue includes a considerable sum derived from forests (by the sale of timber, bark, fuel, &c.) and orchards. The undertakings of the town include gasworks, waterworks, markethall, slaughter-house, a pawnshop, and a savings bank. There is no tramway system, nor yet a public electric light service. Aschaffenburg still" maintains its old system of octroi. The town is surrounded by a network of tollhouses (Accisstellen) in which dues are levied upon farm stock, coal and other fuel, bread and flour, beer and malt entering the town. The tax on bread is 1 pfennig per kilogramme per 4 lb.) ; on flour 6& per cwt. ; upon coal 20 pfennige (2^/.) per ton ; upon wood ’fuel from 10 to 15 pfennige (1 \d. to \%d.) per cubic metre (34*3 cubic feet) ; on beer 65 pfennige (7£d.) per hectolitre (about 54 ASCHAFFENBURG. 22 gallons) ; on oxen 6s. 3\d. per head, on cows 3s. 5W., on calves Is. 1 on pigs Is. OW., on sheep and on meat 1 \d. per stone ; but animals intended for food may be killed in the abattoir without extra charge. The town has a favourable health record. The death-rate in 1905 was 16 per 1,000, which is 6 per 1,000 less than the rate for all Bavaria, while the infantile mortality was 140 per 1,000 births in 1905 and 158 per 1,000 in 1904. The deaths from pulmonary consumption were 2 23 per 1,000 inhabitants in 1904 and 1*81 per 1,000 in 1905. Both the general and infantile death-rates have fallen during late years. The birth-rate in L905 was 30*70 per 1,000, and the natural increase of population was at the rate of 14*70 per 1,000. The proportion of illegitimate births was 5*8 per cent, of all births in 1904 and 6*2 in 1905, comparing with a proportion of 12*6 per cent, for all Bavaria and 8*5 for all Germany (1905). So far as his means allow the workman systematically saves. The municipal ­ Savings Bank has 5,000 depositors, and at least 60 per cent, of them are believed to be wage-earners, who are able to put by over £7 10s. a year on the average, though it is impossible to say how far the deposits represent aggregate family savings. In 1895 the additional investments made a total of £20,800, in 1905 they were £45,750, and the amount increases yearly. Interest of 3J per cent, is allowed, and deposits may be made to a maximum amount of £500 for every member of the household. Occupations, Wages, and Hours of Labour. The paper industry is the principal single source of employment in Aschaffenburg, but considerable numbers of workpeople are engaged in the various engineering and metal works, also in glue-making, and the clothing trade is very important, both for the town and the surrounding villages. The following is a classification of " industrial workpeople ” subject to the factory inspection regulations in 1905 :— Group of Trades. Number of Establishments. Number of Workpeople. Male. Female. Total. Building Metalworking Machine, implement and apparatus making. Clothing and cleaning ... Paper Woodworking and carving Stone and earth ... Food, drink and tobacco Other Total 49 56 14 128 9 51 17 103 37 723 340 253 318 1,265 271 145 404 167 3 11 5 69 203 37 66 726 351 258 387 1,468 271 145 441 233 464 3,886 394 4,280 These figures do not, however, include a large number of workpeople who, though belonging to the industry of Aschaffenburg, live in a number of villages situated within a radius of twelve or fifteen miles from the town viz the home workers of the clothing trade. The usual hours of labour are 10 and 10¿ per day, excluding intervals ; work beginning at six or seven o’clock a.m. and ending at the same hour m the evening, though on the eve of a high festival it is customary to close an hour or two hours earlier In the paper industry wages are paid both week y and fortnightly, in the clothing industry and the building trades weekly, and in the engineering and metal trades fortnightly It is an almost universal rule to require and to give 14 days’ notice before the cessation of employment, but in several works no notice whatever i» necessary on either side. Aschaffenburg observes an exceptional number of ASCHAFFENBURG. 55 Christi, Ascension of the Virgin (15th August), All Saints, and two days at Christmas (25th and 26th December). Local feasts reduce the usual working days of the year to 300, but in addition a considerable number of workpeople in the paper mills, who live outside and cultivate patches of land, invariably absent themselves a few days during the summer for the purpose of engaging in urgent farm work. There are no. powerful labour organisations at Aschaffenburg, and the working classes in general do not readily respond to appeals for combination. As Roman Catholicism is strongly in the ascendant the Catholic or “ Christian ” Trade Union holds the balance of power, and its " Workmen’s Secretariate ” is a centre of much quiet activity. The Social Demo ora tic organisation is less important, though it claims to have adherents belonging both to the Protestant and the Roman Catholic faith. It is significant that as yet no wages agreements have been concluded between employers and workpeople, though in the building trade the former regard them as inevitable, since other towns have set the example. The Chamber of Handicrafts ( Hand werk s-kammer) for Lower Franconia and Aschaffenburg regulates the conditions of apprenticeship in various trades, and also determines the number of apprentices allowable in every trade within its jurisdiction. The duration of apprenticeship is now confined within a minimum period of three years and a maximum of four years, and apprentices may be attached to workshops and undertakings in the following proportions : fitters’ and mechanics’ shops, two apprentices to every master and one additional for every journeyman, to a-maximum of six ; glaziers, one apprentice to every master and two apprentices to one or two journeymen ; joiners, two apprentices to every master and a further apprentice to every two journeymen, to a maximum of six ; masons and carpenters, one apprentice to the first three journeymen, two to four journeymen, and to every three additional journeymen another apprentice, to a maximum of six ; bakers, two apprentices to every concern ; paperhangers, one apprentice to the first two journeymen and one more to every additional journeyman, to a maximum of three. Apprentices are indentured under a contract approved by the Chamber. The wages ruling in the paper and glue industry range from 16s. 10d. to 25s. for skilled men—the majority earning over 21s.—and 15s. 7d. to 20s. for general labourers. Paper pulp makers earn from 30s. to 36s. for skilled work and from 18s. to 24s. for unskilled work. In the engineering workshops the wages of skilled men range from 21s. to 24s. with little difference as between one class and another, while unskilled men receive about 16s. Qd. to 18s. per week. The fixed money wages in the brewing trade range from 23s. Id. (brewers, maltsters, coopers), to 24s. 3d. for skilled men (artisans), while draymen receive 22s. and labourers 20s. 4d. Beer allowances are given, however, to the amount of 5 and 6 litres (8| to 10J pints) per day, and where the beer is not •consumed money payment may be claimed at the rate of 1 d. per pint. The system of beer allowances is becoming unpopular, and it is expected that it will before long be abolished in favour of a fixed money payment. . There are 40 breweries of various sizes in Aschaffenburg and the immediate vicinity, and they employ some 600 workmen. In the building trades the usual wages of foremen are 28s. 10d., those of skilled workmen range from 19s. 2d. to 27s., and labourers receive from 19s. 2d. to 19s. 10d. The best paid men are the bricklayers, masons, stonecutters, and painters, while the lowest rates fall to the plasterers, plumbers, joiners and cabinetmakers. The stucco workers are a small and select class of men and earn as much as 36s. It is usual in the building trade for all works to be contracted for together in the case of private works and for the tenders to be let separately in the case of larger public undertakings. The erection of the shell of a building (“Rohbau ”) invariable falls to one entrepreneur, but the woodwork and internal fittings generally go to different contractors. Many Italians visit Aschaffenburg as navvies, but they seldom settle as in other towns, and the foreign element in general is negligible. The yrao-es of municipal employees are rather lower than those ruling in private enterprise. The hours of labour range from 57 to 60, except for gasstokers, who work 72 hours. 56 ASCHAFFENBURG. Waqes and Hours of Labour in the Principal Occupations, October, 1905. Weekly Hours of Labour. Weekly Wages. Building Trades* :— Bricklayers and Masons Stonemasons Carpenters ... Joiners and Cabinetmakers ... Plumbers Stucco-workers... Plasterers Painters ... Labourers Engineering Trades :— Moulders Fitters ... Turners .. Smiths ... Pattern-makers... Copper rollers ... Coppersmiths at hammer Labourers Coloured Paper Industry :— Machine men ... Colourers Brushers Polishers Rollers ... Printers ... Marblers... Labourers Food and Drink Trades :— Bakers, 1st men ,, 2nd ,, ... ... ... ,, 3rd ,, ... « » ••• Brewers ... ... ... ••• ••• Brewers coopers ... ... ... ... „ labourers Draymen Printing Trades :— Compositors, Machine minders,and Pressmen Machine compositors—news „ „ jobbing Wood Pulp Industry .— Boilers ... Labourers 24s. to 25s. 2d. 24s. 4(7. 22s. 10(7. 19s. 2d. 21 s. 36s. 21s. Id. 27s. 19s. 2d. to 19s. 10(7. 24s. 21s. to 24s. 21s. 21s. to 24s. 21s. „ 24s. 30s. 42s. to 48s. 18s. 21s. Id. to 24s. 21s. and 22s. 18s. to 20s. 18s. „ 21s. 20s. „ 26s. 25s. „ 27s. 22s. and 23s. 16s. 10d. to 20s. 23s.f 20s.t 19s.| 28s. 2d.% 28s. 2d.% 25s. 4<74 26s. 2d.% 22s. 6(7. 28s. 2d. 29s. 3(7. 30s. to 36s. 18s. „ 24s. 60 54 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 54 48 54 60 60 * The wages and hours of labour stated for the building trades are for a full week in summer. t Including board and lodging, reckoned at 10s. J Including the value of the beer allowance. The wages of municipal workpeople were as follows at the same date :— Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours of Labour. Road Making and Cleaning :■ Foremen... Road makers Gasworks : — Foremen Stokers ... Labourers Waterworks :— Labourers 16s. to 19s. 10(7. 14s. 3Æ „ 16s. 6(7. 28s. 10(7. 24s. 18s. 18s. 57 57 57 72 60 60 From the above Table it will be seen that wages at Aschaffenburg are very low. Representing wages at Berlin by 100, the index numbers for Aschaffenburg ­ are—for the building trades, 71 for skilled men and 76 for labourers, for the engineering trades 65 for skilled men and 83 for labourers and for the printing trades, 80. ASCHAFFENBURG. 57 In the ordinary industrial life of Aschaffenburg there are few opportunities for women’s labour. The town has no textile industry of any consequence ; the workers in the clothing trade live for the most part outside in the villages ; hence the lighter operations incidental to the paper industry employ a majority of the women and girls who are classified as " industrial workers.” Taking the whole of these workers only 9*2 per cent, are females, and excluding the paper industry only 6*7 per cent, of the workers are females. The earnings of women are, nevertheless, an important factor in the household economy, and in the absence of more settled opportunities of bread-winning, female labour is employed in a variety of ways unusual in England. The task of newspaper distribution falls almost exclusively to women, who devote their spare hours to the work in the early and later hours of the day, and receive from the publishers a small sum monthly per copy delivered. Women may be seen drawing light carts in the streets, and they regularly come in from the country with loads of farm produce drawn by oxen or cows. Wood - chopping in the street is another occupation in which women of robust build frequently engage, though machines are taking the place of the hatchet in this industry, and one may see motor-driven guillotines cutting timber into faggots before the houses of the middle classes. At Aschaffenburg also women and even stalwart girls act as hod carriers for masons and bricklayers. In their heavy hods they carry up the inclined plane that conducts from the ground to the upper stories as many as 16 or 18 bricks,, each weighing 7 to 8 lb., making a load of well over a cwt. The mortar carriers take a lighter load. These women are paid 3s. to 3s. 6d. a day for 11 hours of such work. Not far from the town is a cigar industry of some extent, whose workers are mostly women and girls, who are employed both at home and in small factories. Standing at the outskirts of Aschaffenburg between 11 and 12 o’clock in the forenoon, upon one of the main highways which connect the town with the surrounding country, one may, on any day of the week save Sunday, observe a long procession of women and children bearing baskets and other food receptacles to the town. They come from the villages, bringing the dinners of the husbands, fathers, and brothers who are at work in the paper factories. It is an old tradition of Aschaffenburg’s industrial life that the workmen in these factories are to a large extent drawn from the country districts, where they live in houses of their own and follow the simpler kinds of agriculture on a small scale. Schweinheim, Glattbach, Haibach, Hösbach and Goldbach are some of the nearest villages which supply the factories with the needful labour. These workers are not townsmen who have migrated to the country ; they are the sons of peasants for whom the land has failed to provide adequate employment, but who yet, in looking to the town for a livelihood, retain a direct stake in the land as both cultivators and owners. The holdings are not large, and they do not represent agriculture in its more progressive forms. The maximum size is a " Tagwerk ” (literally “ day’s work ”) which is a little more than a third of a hectare or five-sixths of an acre, but the majority of the properties do not exceed a half or a third of this area. The land is also seldom found together ; as a rule it consists of small parcels which have been bought in different places as opportunity and means have allowed,, though this applies equally to the larger peasant properties. The result, of this arrangement is a great waste of time and labour, and a re-partition of the parcelled land would probably be a general boon. As it is, most of the land so held is situated from a mile to a mile and a half from the centre of the village. To purchase one of these small labourer’s properties does not require much capital. Half a “ Tagwerk ” can be bought for any sum between £10 and £50, according to the quality of the land, and a portion of the money can always be obtained on mortgage from the local Raiffeisen bank or from private banks in Aschaffenburg on long terms of repayment. The houses are acquired in the same way, by savings supplemented by a loan, the rate for which is usually 4 per cent. £250 will build a single-family house containing four or five rooms and a kitchen. All that is produced on these farms is used at home— rye, potatoes, beet, milk and butter, bacon, and vegetables. Only on larger 29388 H 58 ASCHAFFENBURG.* holdings, when two and three cows are kept, can any produce he turned into money. Some of the peasants cultivate fruit with success. Dessert apples and pears of good stocks are grown, and for the former as much as 8a. to los. per cwt. can be obtained, though cider-apples only fetch 6s. In the working of the farms the wives and daughters take a prominent part. Often, indeed, the great bulk of the work falls upon them, and the men only give a hand in the early morning or late evening during the busy seasons. TV here the work is more equally distributed the men take occasional " days off” from their factory employment, ­ and the manufacturers are never unwilling to encourage their interest in rural life and labour. At least one Aschaffenburg firm, indeed, has a loan fund for the purpose of advancing money to its workpeople to enable them to buy plots -of land in the villages ; advances are made up to £7 10s. on any one transaction, and repayment may be made at Is., 2s., or 3s. at once, interest of 2 per cent, being charged on the outstanding debt meantime. Most of the properties are mortgaged to the extent of one-half, but their owners make steady efforts to free themselves from debt. Another Aschaffenburg industry whose workpeople live for the most part out of the town is the ready-made clothing industry. There are in Aschaffenburg about a dozen factories of different size engaged in the manufacture of men’s and boys’ clothing. The cutters, packers and distributors work and live in town, but the great majority of the tailors are scattered about in the villages of the Spessart, as the district surrounding Aschaffenburg is called. Work is fetched and brought back twice a week by rail and road, and at each visit of the workers there is a settlement of accounts. The amount which is paid in wages by Aschaffenburg manufacturers alone—for some of the tailors work for employers in other towns as well—is estimated at from £1,400 to £1,650 per week, the higher figure being the estimate of one of the largest employers of labour, while the number of workpeople of both sexes wholly or partially employed is placed at 2,500. In his last report the Factory Inspector for the district remarks—" The Wages in the main go to the Odenwald and Spessart villages. The often lamented migration from the country is in this way checked, and the money benefits the other manual occupations and visibly promotes the prosperity of the entire population.” At the present time the supply of workers is not equal to the demand, though a man can earn 4s. 6d. a day where he earned 2s. and 2s. 6d. 20 years ago. Men’s and boys’ clothes of a cheap kind are made exclusively, and the chief sale is to the towns of Rhenish-Westphalia, Alsace-Lorraine, Baden, and Wurtemberg, and to Switzerland and Holland ; not 10 per cent, of these Bavarian goods are sold in Bavaria. Every worker is restricted to a certain garment—coat, waistcoat, trousers, overcoat, as the case may be. In nearly all cases the machines used now belong to the workers : their cost is from £4 to £10. The busiest times are late spring and winter, and while many home workers have fair employment all the year round, an average would probably be from 30 to 32 weeks. It is seldom that a tailor Is without the help of some assistant, old or young, who relieves him of the simpler operations incidental to his work, like tacking, buttonhole making and button sewing, so that he may confine his attention to straightforward machine work. Now and then, however, a tailor owns a buttonhole machine and works for others. The earnings of the tailors vary greatly according to the class and quality of clothing made and the number of assistants employed. The work is all piece-work and the normal rates for single garments vary from la. to 2a. 3d. for coats, according to size and quality of material, 6d. to Is. for trousers, the same for waistcoats, and 2a. to 4a. for overcoats, the workers providing their own thread and silk. Beginners .earn not more than la. 6d. or 2a. a day, but a man soon "gets his hand in, owing to the use of the machine, and he can then double these earnings In good times independent workers earn 5a. a day, and inferior men 3a. and 3a. bd., but taking the year together these averages are not reached. It must aisc be remembered that from the gross earnings have to be deducted the cost of materials, light, oil, charcoal for the flat iron, and wear and tear of machines. Although relatively high wages sire the rule they are the results of excessive exertion, 1^, 13, and 14 hours a day being common. Even earnings ASCHAFFENBURG. $9 of 80s. a week, when divided between 72 or 84 hours of work, only give a rate per hour of between 4d. and 5d., without deductions, and in most cases 3d. and 3\d. represent a maximum hourly rate. The Aschaffenburg Chamber of Commerce comments in its report for 1905 : fc£ It is an evil which should be discouraged that in the endeavour to ) get on ’ as quickly as possible the tailors work long hours and keep their assistants at work as long. The tailors themselves admit the charge, but on the other hand they plead that as they work by piece and are subject to the fluctuations of the market, they must make the best of every good opportunity when it occurs. But, adds the Chamber of Commerce, “ the circumstance that by far the greater part of the home workers engaged in the Aschaffenburg clothing industry do not sit uninterruptedly in the workshop, but have simultaneous employment in agriculture, has an extremely favourable influence on their health.” This is the effect that would he anticipated did a systematic combination of indoor and outdoor work really exist. In practice, however, it is not generally the case that the tailor devotes any large portion of his time to farm work, and very many of the workers of both sexes never once work on the farm all the year round. A common arrangement is for the head of the family to he responsible for the farm and for grown-up children to work at the sewing machines and on the bench, the mother and the younger people, if such exist, helping as occasion offers. Ho one who has seen the workers in their homes can doubt that overwork is common. In order to see the village tailors of the Aschaffenburg clothing trade at work it is not necessary to go far. A typical village is Sulzbach, lying only a few miles away, and having a population of about 1,000. In 25 per cent, of its households tailoring is carried on, and it is noteworthy that of the persons so employed over 80 per cent, are adults, more than half of these being females, while 35 per cent, are married. The village is irregularly built, and some of the older houses, which stood long before the clothing trade brought hitherto unknown sources of income to the village, are typical peasant dwellings of the poorer sort. The newer houses, on the other hand, are very good, and reveal a degreee of comfort and welfare which is seldom characteristic of rural life under normal conditions. They are as a rule single-family houses, consisting of a ground floor and an upper story or attic, giving two rooms and a kitchen below and two rooms above. The living and bedrooms vary in size from 160 to 200 square feet, but the kitchens are little more than half this size. The windows are small, but that is a peculiarity of the locality. A house of this kind, with the land upon which it stands, costs about £200. The smaller farms have an area of some 30 ares or J acre, the larger ones of 2 hectares or 5 acres. The cropped land is devoted to rye, oats, maize and potatoes. Few of these rural tailors are merely tenants : a system ot peasant proprietorship on a small scale is the rule of the country, though only in exceptional cases are the holdings entirely unencumbered. A frugal family first save £50, £75, or £100, and whatever beyond this is necessary to the purchase of a little plot of land they borrow from the Raiffeisen credit bank at 4 or A\ per cent. The cost of land per are (= 100 square metres = nearly 4 poles) varies from 10s. to £2 10s. according to position, and upon both land and buildings the bank is generally ready to lend up to two-thirds of the ascertained value. After the land comes the house, as soon as the savings have acrain accumulated, so that another appeal can be made to the bank, and the ambition of the peasant tailor is then complete. Almost everyone saves, be it little or much. Every Sunday a treasurer goes round to the tailors’ houses to receive the surplus money that can be spared as a result of the weekly settlement in Aschaffenburg, and as soon as. £5 has accumulated in any man’s name it is deposited in the bank and receives interest.. The weekly savings may not exceed 2s, 3 5 . or 4s., but in many cases a family is able to put by as much as £20 and £25 in the course of the year. In a town of Aschaffenburg’s size it is impossible that the efforts which employers make, outside the obligations imposed by the law, for the amelioration ­ of their workpeople’s condition can be on a ambitious scale. Nevertheless, much is done by them to encourage on the workers’ part a feeling of solidarity 29088 tí 2 60 ASCHAFFENBURG. of interest. Several firms conduct pension funds independently of the insurance law for the benefit of old workpeople. After 25 years of service employees become entitled to pensions of 25s. a month, and after 30 years of service to 30s., while widows also receive grants, and allowances are made to orphans under certain conditions. The workpeople pay contributions from an early age, and the employers add a third or a half on their own account. One firm has a savings and loan bank which all workpeople are required to join. The weekly deposit is 30 pfennige (3¿c?.), which is deducted from the wages, and the firm adds two-thirds of this amount in every case. Loans may be contracted ­ to the extent of the deposit, to a maximum of £5, and they are repayable ­ at from Is. to 4s. per week, interest of 3 per cent, being charged. At some factories, canteens are kept, at which wholesome food may be bought at cost price, or where food brought from home may be warmed for dinner. Housing and Rents. In Aschaffenburg proper, disregarding the suburb of Damm, there is no distinctively industrial quarter. There are districts in which professional and commercial families specially live, but the working classes are found wherever rents are within their means, and not in any one quarter. Only the district known as Damm, which is now incorporated in the municipality of Aschaffenburg, is exclusively industrial in character. The great majority of working-class households live in tenements or onefamily houses of three rooms and a kitchen. The Aschaffenburg kitchen is almost invariably very small and incapable of use either as a living or a bedroom. ­ One-room tenements are so rare as to be of no account, while tenements of four rooms are entirely beyond the means of most working people. Ho classification of the dwellings of the tow» exists, but of the 1,002 tenements contained in the 257 houses built during the years 1901 to 1905, 13'6 per cent, were of two rooms and kitchen, and 59'0 per cent, were of three rooms and kitchen. The division was as follows :— Year. No of houses built. No. of Tenements. Two rooms and kitchen. 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 24 39 65 44 85 Total 1901-5 257 14 17 31 19 56 Three rooms and kitchen. 54 83 135 117 202 137 591 728 =.72*7 per cent. Four rooms and kitchen. Five to seven rooms and kitchen. 12 20 54 30 60 176 6 15 34 19 24 98 274=27*3 per cent. Total. 86 135 254 185 342 1,002 These figures, of course, cover dwellings of every class. More definite testimony is borne to the predominant size of working-class dwellings by the enumeration of the rents of 340 separate tenements made for the purpose of this report and determined chiefly by visitation. Only one of these tenements* consisted ­ of a single room ; 44, or 12 9 per cent., consisted of two rooms with kitchen ; 275, or 80‘9 per cent., of three rooms with kitchen, and 20, or 6"0 per cent., of four rooms with kitchen. There are no basement dwellings, but attic dwellings are very common. An ancient town, Aschaffenburg has its full portion of neglected, dilapidated ­ and otherwise out-of-date property. There are narrow Gassen or alleys m which the sun is rarely seen, and the houses are rickety without and decayed within ; below, two contiguous blocks may be two feet apart, and above, at the eaves, they may touch, apparently depending upon each other for support. In such old streets the houses are often built round small courtyards not more than 12 feet square. They make picturesque ASCHAFFENBURG. 61 sights, but from the standpoint of housing, they are open to every possible objection. They are. however, gradually disappearing. In some of the older houses, now inhabited by working people, one comes across fine carved oak work—massive balustrades and doors—indicating that they were once the houses of well-to-do citizens. Many of these antiquated buildings have been condemned, and are now used as workshops and warehouses. A notable feature of some of the older survivals is the " Kniestock ” (literally “ Knee-story ”), or double attic, where, from the steep roof, one series of dormer windows projects above another ; low rooms are here the rule, and the slanting ceiling further diminishes the cubical space. When the worst has been said of the old houses, however, one excellent feature of the housing arrangements of Aschaffenburg, even in the centre of the town, remains, viz., the absence of high buildings. Very few houses exceed three stories and the ground-floor, and even on the outskirts the speculative builder has scarcely dared to defy local tradition in this respect. Where three stories are exceeded the fourth takes the form of an attic story, with dormer windows or roof lights. Three stories are the normal limit ; many houses consist of but the ground-floor and a story above ; and a number have but a single habitable story with perhaps a loft above lighted from the roof. Not only so, but there is little overcrowding, since with the country so near there could be no valid excuse for this. As a rule the houses have plenty of open space, the only exceptions being those built centuries ago round close courtyards, and they cannot be regarded as representative. Back gardens are not uncommon. There are, indeed, back-houses, but they are divided from the houses on the street line by ample areas. The building regulations are not so stringent as in larger towns which have had to grapple with serious housing difficulties. It is required that a tenement shall in general consist of at least one heatable room and one bedroom of 25 square metres (269 square feet) superficial area, together with a kitchen, a storeroom for wood, coal, &c., and a privy with separate entrance, and the height of the rooms must be at least 8 feet 9 inches, except attic rooms, which may be 8 feet 2 inches, maintained over half the floor surface. Furthermore, it is required that the rooms shall provide at least the normal cubical space per person (343 cubic feet for an adult and 171J for a child), while in the interest of ventilation, light, and security in the event of fire, it is stipulated that at least a quarter of a building plot must remain open at the rear. It is not required that the conveniences shall be within the dwelling ; they may be placed on the landings, but they must not be outside the house. Few of the old houses of Aschaffenburg, and not a large number of the new ones, have water-closets. The cesspool system of drainage is still in vogue. As the three-room tenement predominates, a description of such a dwelling of modem erection may be given here. Such tenements may be constructed singly (that is, one on each floor) or in pairs (that is, two entered from each landing), but in each case the internal arrangement is much the same. The landing gives approach to an open or closed corridor, upon which the doors of all the & apartments abut. Two rooms will generally be lound to the front, while behind are the third room, the kitchen, and the convenience, unless this be off the stairs half way up from one landing to another. It is the rule for all the rooms in a suite, save the kitchen, to be intercommunicable, even if they have separate doors opening upon the corridor or landing. The latter arrangement ­ is especially convenient when lodgers are kept, and it also enables a single room to be let off as a complete tenement in exceptional cases. In typical tenements the corridors are 13 feet long and 3 feet 3 inches wide ; the livino- and bedrooms have a depth of 13 feet G inches at the front of the house and 13 feet 10 inches at the back, while the width varies from 9 feet 9 inches to 14 feet 8 inches. As already stated, the Aschaffenburg kitchen is almost invariably very small and incapable of use either as a living or a bedroom, ­ but in exceptional cases many kitchens may be found with dimensions of 13 feet by 10 feet. Many of the newer houses have balconies to the back, constructed either of concrete or iron, with a plain iron-rail protection, which serves in the stead of a clothes-drying cord. In the general finishing of A % v:* íw •-' v > . em. 62 ASCHAFFENBURG. working-class houses of recent date there has been a decided advance both in comfort and appearance. The walls are no longer left lime-washed or roughly painted, but are neatly papered, and the floors are painted where formerly bare deal was thought good enough. The only part of Aschaffenburg which is entirely given up to the working classes is, as already stated, the recently incorporated suburb of Damm. Here a considerable part of the resident factory population lives alone in the neighbourhood ­ of the principal paper mills which give them employment. The streets are plain and irregular ; many of the houses are one-family houses and the rest contain from two to four tenements, the usual size being either two or three rooms with a miniature kitchen. The rooms of a typical tenement in this quarter were found to have the following dimensions :—No. 1, 16 feet 3 inches by 13 feet : No. 2, 15 feet by 9 feet 9 inches : No. 3 and kitchen, 9 feet 9 inches square, the height of the lower rooms being 9 feet. The attics in these houses offer as a rule inferior accommodation. The building of the Damm quarter is of a very rough kind. No expense has been incurred for external ornamentation or internal finish ; the houses have been built for people of restricted means, and to the wants of such people they correspond. With the Damm colony may be classed a smaller group of working-class dwellings in the Fabrikstrasse (Factory Street), not far distant, which are built in pairs, divided by a space giving access to gardens or courtyards behind. These houses consist of two stories and an attic story, and most of the tenements have three rooms and a kitchen, one tenement to each floor. The general dimensions of the rooms are from 11 to 14 feet deep and 10 feet wide, with a height of 9 feet. The tenant of one such tenement was a labourer with 9 children and weekly earnings of 3s. 6d. per day in summer and 2s. 6(7. on on average in winter, though several members of the family supplemented his own income. His rent, 28s. 6(7. per month, represented about one-third of his unaided earnings. There were beds in every room. Houses are let by the month, and signed contracts of tenancy are rare in the case of working-class dwellings. It is the general rule for the water rate to be included in the rent. The municipal authorities undertake the duty of collecting domestic refuse, which is deposited at the street door at any hour of the day in pots, pans, dishes, and boxes, for any receptacle is allowed. Rents in Aschaffenburg are high. Taking the predominant rents in Berlin as 100, the index number for Aschaffenburg is 67, a figure exceeded by only three other of the towns investigated for the purpose of this report. There has for several years been a steady rise in the rents of dwellings of small and medium size in consequence of the development of industry and the growth of the town ; and there is no prospect of a decline, for there is no over-building and the demand for working-class houses always keeps well abreast of the supply. Taking the town as a whole working-class rents fall within the following range, but the lower figures represent the Damm district, which is still by far the cheapest part of the town :— Number of Rooms per Tenement. Predominant Weekly Rent. Two rooms with kitchen* Three rooms with kitchen* 2s. 9d. to 4s. 2d. 4s. 7d. to 5s. 9(7. * This is almost invariably too small for use as a living room. In Damm the best of a not very superior class of tenements of three rooms with kitchen can always be had for os. 9d. per week. Four-room tenements are abnormal for working-class families, and when tenanted seldom cost more than those of a room less, for they are taken because of special cheapness. It is noticeable that families with few children often have a preference, which takes the practical form of a reduction in the rent to the extent of several shillings a month. It is estimated that ten per cent, of the families rentin°' tenements of three and four rooms take one or two lodgers, who pay as a rule 15,?. per month, this sum including morning coffee. ASCHAFFENBURG. 68 The income tax is the only tax which falls on the working classes, and it falls lightly owing to a system of graduation which relieves small incomes. At present the super-tax levied for local purposes is 140 per cent, of the State income tax, so that wage earners pay taxes as follows :— Class. Income. £25 or less Over £25 but not over £37 10s. £37 10s. £45 £52 10s. £60 £70 £80 £90 £45 £52 10s. £60 £70 £80 £90 £100 State Income Tax. S. d. 0 6 6 0 8 0 10 0 Municipal Super-tax. s. d. 0 8& 1 5 2 9& 4 2& 5 74 7 0 8 4§ 11 2& 14 0" Total. s. d. ? ! 12 0 14 4| 19 2% 24 0 There is no absolute exemption, since the local franchise is dependent upon the payment of taxation. There is a good deal of speculative building at Aschaffenburg, for banks and other loan agencies freely advance money on first mortgage at 4 per cent, and these credit facilities are largely used. Such owners count on living rent free by the letting of a couple of houses. A net return of 6 per cent, is obtained without difficulty. Thus in one case investigated a house of three tenements rented at £2 14^. per month together gave the owner £6 Is. 3d. per cent, upon his purchase money after the payment of repairs and water rent, and a larger property, whose three tenements were rented at £3 12s. per month, yielded £6 4s. per cent, after the same deductions. So far neither the municipality nor the philanthropic employer has seriously invaded the private builder’s domain. The town owns but a few dwellings, and they are intended for officials only. One of the larger firms of paper manufacturers owns twenty houses, divided into tenements of three and four rooms, which are let to the workpeople at the reduced rent of 18s. a month. Each tenant has also a small garden plot. The houses were bought standing, however, and were not built as an experiment in housing reform. The municipal authority exercises a systematic though not over-rigorous form of house inspection by means of a Housing Commission which was called into existence in 1901. The members consist of the President of the Building Bureau (Bauamt), the local Medical Officer of Health, a legal official, and two citizens, who are appointed for a period of six years. It is the business of this Commission to supervise all dwellings of three or fewer rooms, all dwellings in which lodgers are received for payment, all professional lodging-houses, and such others as may for special reasons need oversight. In the event of abuses being discovered the offenders are first " admonished,” then “ warned,” andonly in bad cases are severer measures resorted to, for the .Commission is a tentative institution and it prefers the velvet glove method of reformation. Retail Prices. The prices of ordinary groceries of the kind comprised in the term “colonial produce” naturally do not differ materially between town and town. It is in respect of country produce that Aschaffenburg complains of high prices. Its own rural “ Hinterland ” does not provide the requisite supplies, for in the Spessart region kitchen gardening is not extensively followed, the peasants beino- too much engrossed in industrial employments, and the market is largely supplied from other towns, like Schweinfurt and Würzburg. Moreover Aschaffenburg suffers from the propinquity of Frankfort, which attracts supplies that should naturally remain in Bavaria. On the whole, however, it cannot be said that prices in. Aschaffenburg are high. Taking predominant prices in Berlin as 10Ò, the Aschaffenburg index numbers are. 98 for groceries and dairy produce, 102 for meat, and 99 for these two groups combined. The M s » > 64 ASCHAFFENBURG. index number for coal is 115, and this has the effect of raising the general prices index number for Aschaffenburg to 101. The index number for rent and prices combined is 94. The working classes of Aschaffenburg in October, 1905, bought most of their coffee at the almost national price of 11 d. per lb., though as much as Is. Id. is frequently paid ; while loaf sugar cost 2\d., and white granulated ­ about the same. Fresh country butter cost from lio?. to Is. per lb., and artificial butter under the name of “ Palmin ” was sold to a limited extent at Id. per lb. The cheese mostly eaten was a “ Limburg ” variety, costing 5^6?. per lb., and Swiss cheese at 116?. was eaten to a small extent. The general price of bacon was 9\d. per lb., and that of ham 11c?. Two kinds of bread are consumed by the working classes. One is “ black ” bread or “ Kornbrod,” made of rye, and costing in October, 1905, 4£c?. for the English 4 lb. The other kind is “mixed white,” consisting of two-thirds wheat and one-third rye, and costing 5§d. for the English 4 lb. The former bread is most eaten. The Guild of Bakers adjusts the price from time to time according to the price of corn, and the bread can only be sold in loaves of 5 lb. and 2^ lb. The best quality wheaten flour cost about Is. per 7 lb. English. There are 43 bakers’ shops in the town, and the grocers sell little bread. Milk was sold at the rate of about 2\d. per quart. The town has a large covered market, in which vegetables, fruit, poultry and game, bakery, and to a small extent meat are exposed for sale on Wednesday and Saturday, when the spacious halls and the street below present a very busy scene. The chief business is done from 7 a.m. to 12 o’clock, after which the country people may be seen yoking up the cattle to their drays and carts preparatory to the journey home to the surrounding villages. In the fruit season the neighbouring country sends unlimited supplies of apples, pears, and plums to the market, and, at the date of this investigation, good dessert apples were selling retail at a little over 1 \d. per lb., pears at from l\d. to 2d., and cooking plums at 16?. Coal was sold to working-class houses in sacks of a cwt. at a price in October, 1905, of Is. 4fd. for nuts of second quality, mostly Ruhr coal ; while coke cost Is. per cwt. The usual price of paraffin is 10^6?. per gallon, the better American kind being chiefly in demand. The following Table shows the predominant prices of various commodities in Aschaffenburg in October, 1905, and also at the date at which the town was visited for the purposes of this enquiry :— Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and September, 1906. Predominant Price. Commodity. October, 1905. September, 1906. Coffee Sugar :— Loaf ... ... White granulated Bacon :— Fat Streaky ... Eggs Cheese :— Limburg Swiss Butter Palmin (Margarine) Potatoes Flour (Household)... Bread :— “ Mixed White ”... Black Milk ... Coal ... Coke ... Paraffin oil per lb. » per Is. per lb. » per 7 lb. per 4 lb. per quart per cwt. per gallon 1 Id. to Is. Id. 2\d. 2\d. 9§d. 9#d. 14 5\d. lid. lid. to Is. Id. l|d. Is. O^d. Is. Id. 2&d. 2|d. lid. lid. 15 5d. to 5Id. lid. lid. to Is. Id. Id. 2ld. Is. Ofd. 5|d. 4# 2&d. Is. 4fd. Is. lO^d. 6d. 5 Id. 2%d. Is. 4\d. Is. 10\d. ASCHAFFENBURG. 65 Meat. The working-classes of Aschaffenburg have the reputation with the butchers of being large meat eaters. It is estimated that the consumption per head of the total population in 1905 was 145'8 lb., against 148*7 lb. in 1904 and 1G6'7 lb. in 1908. During this period there was a notable decrease in the number of oxen and pigs slaughtered for home consumption, but a large increase in that of cows and bullocks, as well as in animals regarded as inferior (sheep, goats, &c.) :— Oxen Cows and bullocks Calves ... Pigs Sheep Lambs ... Goats Kids Sucking pigs 1903. 1904. 1905. 740 2,867 4,042 12,836 273 109 108 471 697 2,322 3,890 13,989 246 107 121 988 502 652 2,708 4,022 12,319 319 76 103 991 4 In the surrounding industrial villages the meat consumption is much smaller, for farinaceous foods play a more prominent part in the household dietary. Here, as in South Germany, mutton is but little eaten, and the amount killed at the abattoir does not amount to 0'5 per cent, of the total meat sent to market. Returns of weekly expenditure on meat were obtained from 53 workingclass households, representing 275 persons, and indicated a consumption far below that estimated for the town as a whole. The average weekly consumption ­ per head in these was 21^ ounces, equivalent to about 70^ lb. a year. Beef formed by far the largest item, amounting to 45T per cent., sausage amounted to 34 per cent., and pork and bacon together to 13 per cent. The best beef is ox flesh, then comes the flesh of young cows (two to three years old), which costs from bd. to fd. per lb. less, while the flesh of older cows costs Id. and 1 \d. less than good ox flesh. The great bulk of the retail trade is done in private shops scattered throughout the town. Some of these shops sell ox beef only (these are the best), others sell only “cow beef,” others only pork, while others again sell all kinds of meat. The butchers of Aschaffenburg are united in a Guild, with the result that uniform prices have for several years prevailed in the town. 1 he predominant price of beef bought by working people was in October, 1905, 8Jrf. per lb., with 9%d. for steak ; mutton cost likewise 8\d. with 9%d. for chops ; veal (of which working people do not buy much) cost 7|<7., and pork cost from ${d. to 9fd. with lid. for ham. Of sausage there is a very large consumption. The kind most bought by working people is one made of beef and pork, the best quality costing 8£</. to 10fo(. per lb., and a second quality 6Id. to 8fd. Cheaper sorts, like blood and liver sausages, cost also from 6W. to 8|d. per lb. The supply of beef comes for the most part from Bavaria, either direct from the grazing districts or from the Munich market, but a portion comes also from the Frankfort market. The mutton eaten is almost wholly of local origin, and the same may be said of the veal, while the pork is either local or is bought from the Frankfort market, and in that case is of North German origin. The following Table summarises the predominant prices paid by the working classes for meat in October, 1905, and September, 1906. During the interval between these dates there was an all-round rise of about 1(7. per lb. 66 ASCHAFFENBURG. Predominant Prices paid bg the working classes in October, 1905, and September, 1906. Description of Cut. Predominant price per lb. October, 1905. September, 1906. Beef :— Ribs ..» Silverside Shin, with bone Steak Flank Mutton : — Leg Shoulder Breast Neck Chops (trimmed) Yea! :— Hindquarter Shoulder, with bone Loin ... ... Cutlets Pork :— Fore Loin Belly Spare Rib Chops 8 d 81d 9M 8fd. 9W. i-id. 7W. Is. 3jd 84d 8fd d. 9 W. 8|d. 8gd. 8# lid. 8%d. 9*d. 9|d. 9fd. 9fd. lid. 8|d. 8#d. 89d. Is. 4 9 id. 9 Id. 9*d lid. Virtually no horseflesh is eaten at Aschaffenburg. Several enterprising butchers have tried to introduce it, but without success, for local taste and prejudice are against it Horse sausage has also been offered, but similarly declined, and the amount sold is negligible and comes from Frankfort. At the time of the investigator’s visit a solitary sausage formed the entire stock of the little tradesman, resident in a street appropriately called “ Horse-market,” who has for some time vainly tried to push this commodity, and he spoke despondently of the prospects of this subsidiary branch of his trade (for he was not a butcher), and admitted that horseflesh was unpopular. 67 BARMEN. Barmen is one of the principal industrial towns of the Rhineland, and with its sister town Elberfeld, from which it is geographically inseparable, is situated in the Wupper Valley, one of the larger depressions of what is known as the Berg country, stretching roughly from the river Ruhr on the north to the Sieg on the south. The town may be said to devote the whole of its energies to manufacturing, in which respect (as well as in others) it differs from Elberfeld, a part of whose attention is absorbed in the business of exporting not only its own manufactures but also those of Barmen. Of the two towns, the latter has grown the less rapidly in the last 25 years. Its population at the end of 1905 was 156,000 as compared with 96,000 in 1880—an increase of 62^ per cent, while in Elberfeld the population has grown by 72^ per cent, during the same period. The population of Barmen at the last six censuses, and the increase in population during each intercensal period, is shown in the following Table :— Year of Census. Population. 1880 1885 1890 1895 1900 1905 95,951 103,068 116,141 126,992 141,944 156,080 Increase. Increase per cent. 7,117 13,073 10,851 14,952 14,136 74 12 7 93 11-8 10-0 The mean population, the birth-rate, death-rate, rate of natural increase, and rate of infant mortality of Barmen, for each of the last live years for which the figures are available, were as follows :— Death-rate Year. Mean Population. I Rate of Natural Increase Infant Mortalityrate per 1,000 Births. 1901 ... 1902 ... 1903 :.. 1904 ... 1905 ... Birth-rate per 1.000 of Mean Population. 33-4 142,650 16-4 17-0 138 316 16-2 146,421 154 129 31-0 14-2 16-8 149,671 111 153,800 31-0 144 16-6 137 30-2 14-9 155,500 15-3 143 The death-rate of Barmen is one of the lowest recorded in any German town ; and this is also true of the infant mortality-rate in spite of the fact that many married women are employed in the local factories. In outward appearance Barmen conveys an impression of greater prosperitv than its neighbour, Elberfeld. Narrow, tortuous streets are the exception. rather than the rule. Steep gradients are not wanting (one of these is ascended by an electric tramway on the cogged line principle) but, owing to the valley of the Wupper being wider here than at Elberfeld, the town is less hemmed in and the slopes are not disfigured by tier upon tier of tall tenement 29038 T o 68 BARMEN. houses approached ny successive flights of steps. Except for short distances in a few of the chief thoroughfares, the roadways are paved with cobbles and the streets are therefore noisy. As in Elberfeld, most of the older houses are faced with slate either in its natural colour or painted black. The windows of such houses are provided with green shutters and the sashes and frames are painted white, while in many cases the doors are elaborately carved. This picturesque type of house is gradually disappearing, however, and its place is being taken by the less picturesque but more convenient houses of the stucco-fronted type now common to most German towns. Locomotion is cheap and convenient and is provided by the municipal electric tramways as well as by the famous hanging railway (also electric) which runs along a track suspended about 60 feet over the Wupper and supported by iron girders fixed in either side of the river bank. By either of these means it is possible to get from one end of the town to the other in a quarter of an hour for about a penny. Signs of extreme poverty are not in evidence among the working classes, This may perhaps in some measure be attributed to the system of poor-relief (the Elberfeld system) which makes each “ almoner ” responsible for the care of two or three families only. But even those among the working classes who are reported to be the most discontented, viz., the members of the Social-Democratic Trade Unions, concede that the proportion of extreme poverty is small and attribute this to the character of the local industry—mainly textile—which gives employment in their homes to many who are unfitted through age or infirmity to work in the factories. While the death rate is one of the lowest recorded in any German town there are not wanting signs of weakness among the very young, due, in all probability, to lack of attention from mothers who are engaged in the factories all day. Occupations, Wages, and Hours of Labour. The principal manufactures of Barmen consist of articles coming under the general head of haberdashery, and among such articles those fur which the town has acquired a world-wide reputation under the name of “ Barmen goods,” viz., braids, galloons, trimmings, elastic and other webbings, mohair and other laces (boot, shoe and corset), tapes, dress-linings (Italian cloth) and bindings, hat-bands and ribbons of cotton, silk, or half-silk, dress goods and umbrella stuffs of silk and cotton, glazed yarn (“iron yarn ”), Turkey-red yarn, upholstery goods and carpetings. All of these are classed in local statistics under the general heading of “ textiles,” and employ some 20,000 workpeople, or a little inore than half of the occupied population of the town. With respect to yarn it may be noted that in Barmen only the glazing and dyeing processes are cairied on, and that there are no spinning mills. Other local industries of importance aie the manufacture of pianos, textile machines (for braiding’ and weaving), buttons, buckles, hooks and eyes, envelopes and other paper goods. In the most important of the trades, ¿.c., textiles and engineering, the piece-wage system preponderates, and in the former the bulk of the operatives are women and young girls, whose earnings do not come within the scope of the piesent inquiry. In the case of all piece-wage workers the endeavour has been made to ascertain the amount usually earned in a full week (without overtime), but owing to the widely differing degrees of skill and earning power among such operatives the ranges of earnings shown are somewhat wide it happens „also m some cases that the earnings of workpeople who rank as ‘ skilled or semi-skilled amount to less than the time-wages of men in the same establishment who rank as “ unskilled.” Thus in a dyeing-mill i'cottonpiece goods) where the bulk of the male dyers and finishers earn only 19s. 6rf. per week, the carmen are paid 23s. Again, in a foundry and machine-shop, 40 turners and fitters are returned as earning 2(is., and the carman is paid 25s. The idea ot fixing the conditions of employment by formal agreement between organisations oí employers and workmen respectively has made but little progress in barmen, and except for carpenters, stucco-workers, painters, printers and brewery workers, no such agreements were in force at October 11)00. It does not appear, however, that even in the trades where the conditions of labour are fixed by agreements, those conditions are everywhere observed. BARMEN. 69 The following Table shows the predominant wages and usual hours of labour per week in Barmen at October, 1905 :— Wages arid Hours of Labour in the Principal Occupations, October, 1905. Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours of Labour. Building Trades* :— Bricklayers and Masons Carpenters Plumbers Stucco Workers Painters... ... Labourers Engineering Trades :— Moulders ... Fitters ... ... ... ... ... ... Turners Patternmakers Labourers Boiler Making :— Angle-iron Smiths Caulkers Ri V otters ... ... ... ... ... Holders-up Textile Trades :— Ribbon Weaving Trimmings Manufacture Elastic Webs, Laces, Cords and Braids— Weavers Other ... ... ... ... ... ... Carpet Weaving Dyeing, Finishing, Glazing, Mercerising, etc. Breweries :— Skilled Workmen Labourers Printing Trades :— Hand Compositors, Machine Minders, and Pressmen. Machine Compositors, Jobbing Do. Newspaper Work ... Miscellaneous Trades :— Pianoforte Making : Makers ... Machine Tenters Labourers Manufacture of Buttons and Buckles Paper Envelope Making Muncipal Employees :— Road Making : Unskilled Men ... Skilled Men (Surveyors’ Assistants) Gasworks : Stokers ... Labourers Waterworks : Labourers Electric Lighting and Power Supply : Mechanics, Stokers, Installers and Fitters 30s. 30s. 8c/. 24s. 35s. lid. 20s. to 24s. 27 s. 22s. 10i7. 27s. Gd. to 29s. 35s. to 36s. 30s. 27s. 20s. to 22s. 40s. 32s. to 35s. 35 s. 24s. to 25s. 24s. to 28s. 22s. „ 27s. 28s. „ 30s. 21s. „ 22s. 28s. 19s. Gd. to 22s. Gd. 24s. to 27s. 22s. 24s. 9d. 32s. 2d. 30s. 11c/. 24s. to 30s. 20s. 18s. 21s. to 24s. 21s. 6c/. 15s. to 21s. 24s. 27s. 21s. 27s. 24s. 60 59 57 57 54 60 60 58% to 60 58% „60 58% „60 58% ,,60 58%,, 60 60 60 60 60 58% to 60 58%,,60 58%.,60 58% ,, 60 58% 58% to 60 Mechanics, Stokers and Draymen, 72, Others, 60, 54 54 48 54 54 60 56 to 59 61 60 60 51 60 60 65 * The wages and hours of labour stated for the building trades are for a full week in summer. m connection with the figures in the above Table the following remarks relating to certain occupations should be noted. Building Trades.—The wages and hours of painters as fixed by agreement are 27s. for a week of 60 hours, but from 20s. to 24s. for a week of 54 hours is the rate frequently paid. m BARMEN. Textile j rades— An inquiry into warnings, which covered all the principal textile establishments in Barmen, was carried out by the Municipal Statistical' Office, at the end of 1904, when conditions were practically the same as at October, 1905. So far as adult male operatives are concerned, the municipal inquiry gave the following results, which supplement and at the same time confirm the data procurable in the course of a short visit : ! Ranges of weekly earnings of adult male operatives 1 in the principal Textile Establishments in Barmen, in 1904 (in shillings). Occupation. Ribbon Weavers Weavers of upholstery goods and carpeting Braid Makers (i.e., at braiding machines) Warpers (webs, laces and braids manufacture) Dyers of piece goods and yarns . Turkey-red Dyers Finishers or Dressers Glazers or Mercerisers Smiths, Fitters, &c Bookbinders (pattern books, &c.) Stokers Total skilled Packers, kc Workmen in warehouses Labourers, undefined Total unskilled Over 16 to 18 32 6 14 10 1 3 71 20 7 11 38 Over 18 to 20 Over 20 to 22 77 3 21 9 11 2 10 10 2 9 1 155 28 4 26 58 142 1 94 23 39 7 25 25 1 16 4 Over 22 to 24 Over 24 to 26 Over j Over 26 28 to to 23 30 144 79 5 45 3 17 43 6 15 1 377 41 15 31 87 363 40 13 27 80 174 4 23 5 19 10 9 41 6 11 9 311 30 4 17 51 130 18 37 11 8 5 24 7 2 11 253 10 3 5 18 84 15 8 1 6 2 2 11 11 1 11 152 12 Over 30 to 32 42 10 5 74 From the above it would appear that the usual earnings of skilled men in the textile trades in Barmen are from 20s. to 28s., and those of unskilled men from 18s. to 26s. per week. Printing Trades.—The conditions of labour in the principal establishments of the printing trade are regulated by the general agreement in force in all parts of the Empire. This agreement follows the plan of fixing minimum rates, with an additional percentage which varies as between town and town according to the cost of living. The wages given in the Table are the minimum wages for Barmen, including the additional percentage. Miscellaneous Trades.—In the manufacture of buttons and buckles, where the great mass of the operatives are semi-skilled, the predominant earnings are those shown in the Table. The small proportion of more highly skilled operatives, such as engravers, galvanizers. etchers, lacquerers, painters, polishers, fitters, &c., are paid weekly rates, which range from 24s. to as much as 50s., the most highly paid class being the painters, whose work is of a very artistic nature. Municipal Employees.—The municipality of Barmen has altogether some 500 workpeople in its regular employ, exclusive of the drivers, conductors and linemen in the tramway service. Practically the whole of the men are paid time wages—a rate per day which is increased according to the length of service. The work of street cleaning is let to a contractor. Taking the level of wages in Berlin as 100, wages in the building trades at Barmen would be represented by 82 for skilled men and 89 for labourers ; in the engineering trades by 91 for skilled men and 96 for labourers ; and in the printing trades by 88. Housing and Rents. Working class streets are to be found in almost all directions in Barmen and it cannot be said of any particular part of the town that it is a purely working class quarter. Streets of this kind are recognisable rather by the number and appearance of the children on the doorsteps and pavements than by the outward appearance of the houses, which are lor the most part modern and of the stucco-faced four storey type, built to accommodate eight or ten families. The older slate-faced houses are not, as a rule, occupied by workpeople, who prefer the more modern houses, and who have a certain margin of choice owin" to the fact that the supply ot small dwellings is, and has been for long, in excess of the demand. An enumeration of the unoccupied dwellings on November 4 1905, showed the proportion to be 6 8 per cent, of the whole. The great bulk BARMEN. of these were dwellings of £15 a year or under. The municipality maintains a " Dwellings Registry Office,” where those who have house-room to let, whether furnished or unfurnished, and those in search of such accommodation, may register their requirements. Since January 1st, 1906, the office has been issuing a fortnightly Journal giving full particulars, including the rents, of all houses, tenements and lodgings to let. The paper can be bought for a halfpenny and a six-months’ advertisement in its pages costs only 2Je/, per house, tenement or lodging. Information is given verbally at the office free of charge. The housing question does not, however, appear to have been at any time an acute problem in Barmen if one may judge by the fact that the municipality has not found it necessary to take any other action in the matter than that just described. There exists, indeed, an Association (a joint stock society) of local merchants and manufacturers formed in 1872 with the object of “providing cheap and healthy dwellings for the working classes,” According to the rules of the society, whose share capital amounts to £37,500, the dividend payable on shares must not exceed 4 per cent. Up to May, 1905, this society had built 387 houses of the cottage type to be acquired by workpeople on the deferred payment system. Some of these houses are built to accommodate four families, but the majority contain two tenements only. They are pleasantly situated in semi-rural surroundings on the slopes above the town and each has its own garden. The same society has built seven large tenement houses containing altgether 59 tenements intended only for letting. Of these tenements no less than 19 were unoccupied on May 1st, 1905. In Barmen, as in nearly all the larger cities of Germany, a census of dwellings took place on December 1st, 1905, and the publication of the results has thrown more light on the housing conditions of that town than any previous census of che kind. The population of Barmen at the end of December, 1905, was 156,000. At the beginning of that month there were found to be 153,152 people housed in the 36,311 existing occupied dwellings, and these were distributed as shown below :— Number of habitable rooms in dwelling. Population housed in such dwellings. Total. 1 Room 2 Rooms 3 „ 4 „ and upwards 2,220 37,195 44,073 27,654 42,010 Per cent. 1-5 24 3 28 8 18-1 27 3 153,152 100-0 According to the standard adopted in connection with the English census a tenement is “ overcrowded ” when it “ contains more than two occupants per room, bedrooms and sitting rooms included.” If we apply the same standard to Barmen we find that 20 per cent, of all two-roomed and 1 < per c roomed tenements are overcrowded. I his is shown by the fob cent, of all threelowing table Number of Persons in each Tenement. Tenements of 1 Room. 2 Rooms. H Rooms. Per cent. 79-4 15*5 4-2 0-7 0-2 4 Rooms. 100-0 1000 1000 100-0 5 Rooms and over. 100-0 72 BARMEN. There are, however, certain features associated with defective housing elsewhere ­ in Germany which are practically non-existent in Barmen. One of these is the " back-house,” the nature of which is fully explained in reports on other towns. Only about one tenement in ten of the working class type is situated in such a house in Barmen. The proportion of basement tenements, moreover, is so small as to be negligible, viz., 176 in a total of 36,311 dwellings. The proportion ­ of attic tenements also is small, only 47 per cent, of the two-roomed and 2 9 per cent, of the three-roomed tenements being situated higher than the third storey. Barmen resembles most other German towns in the fact that practically the whole of its population lives in flats. Thus, of the 36,311 dwellings which were occupied at the date of the housing census, only 1,160 or less than 3 per cent, consisted of a whole house. In addition to the two or three rooms which constitute the usual working class dwelling, each occupier of such a tenement has allotted to him a portion of the cellarage and has a right to the use of the loft for drying clothes. In some cases part of the cellar-space is fitted up as a washhouse for common use, and in the more recently built houses, where each tenement has a balcony at the back, the latter is not infrequently used for drying. Seven or eight appears to be the most usual number of rooms on each storey of a tenement house. To illustrate the arrangement of the tenements and their rooms the following examples may be taken. Example I.—On reaching the stair landing on the first or any succeeding floor one finds on either side a door. Through these doors admission is obtained to corridors, one belonging to the right-hand, and the other to the left-hand, tenements. A description of the tenements on one side will suffice in this case, as the arrangement of the four rooms constituting the two tenements is the same on both sides. The first of these consists of a front room and a back room, each entered by a door from the corridor. The back room has a window looking into a backyard, and the front room a window looking into the street. The second tenement consists also of a front room and a back room, and is entered by a door from the corridor leading into the back room, admission to the front room being obtained by means of a door connecting the t\\ o rooms. Here also the back room has a window looking into a backyard and the front room a window looking into the street. It may be mentioned that the front rooms of the tenements just described are connected by a common door, as also are the back ones. These doors are kept locked, so as to separate the tenements, but admit of being used to form tenements bavina different arrangement or number of rooms. Similar use can be made of a locked door connecting the front rooms of the tenements on the immediate rio-ht and left of the landing. In this class of house there are on each landing two w.c.’s ; also a tap and metal trough affording the water supply. ' ’ 1 1 ‘ Example IL—In this case, which is apparently less common than the above, there are three tenements on each floor, two on the left of the landing and one on the right, and there is only one corridor, which is entered by a door on the right of the landing. The first of the left-hand tenements consists of two front rooms, and the second of two back rooms. Each of these tenements is entered by a door from the corridor leading, in each case, il Z room nearer the landing. Each room in the back tenement has a window looking into a backyard, and each room in the front tenement a window looking into the street. The third tenement on the floor, viz., the one to the right °of the landing, consisting of three rooms, two front and one back, is entered^ a door leading into the back room. J he back room has a window looking into the backyard, and each of the front rooms a window looking into the street provid%dtttrha%nd%°l^roa:C^rl%%it%r'"^ ^conies are BARMEN. 73 In the following table the whole of tenements consisting of either two or three rooms are classified according to their yearly rents :— For two-roomed tenements the predominant yearly rents range from £6 6s. to £10, and for three-roomed tenements from £8 16s. to £15. Reducing these figures to a weekly basis, the following results are obtained :— These rents include the water rate. Rents in Berlin being taken as 100, the Barmen index number is 57. The rooms obtainable for the above rents are on the whole large and well provided with light and air. Exceptions to this rule are so few that they may be ignored. Ground floor rooms are loftier than those above ; a height of 12 feet on the ground floor is so common that it may be said to be the rule, whilst on the second and third floors the rooms are usually from 10 to 11 feet high and on the top floor about 8 feet. In most cases the rooms measure 15 feet in length and 10 to 12 feet in width. Floor coverings of any kind are seldom used, and an appearance of great cleanliness is conveyed by a coating of light brown paint, on the polishing of which much labour seems to be spent. In Barmen all incomes of over £45 a year are subject to a municipal income tax amounting to twice the State income tax. The following Table shows the municipal tax paid on certain ranges of incomes not exceeding £120 a year. Number of Tenements of Yearly Rent. 3 Rooms. £3 15s. and under £3 16s. to £5 ... £5 Is. to £6 5s.... £6 6s. to £7 10s. £7 11s. to £8 15s. £8 16s. to £10 ... £10 Is. to £11 5s. £11 6s. to £12 10s. £12 11s. to £13 15s. £13 16s. to £15 £15 Is. to £17 10s. £17 11s. to £20 £20 Is. to £22 10s, £22 11s. to £25... £25 Is. and over 88 468 408 62 19 12 5 4 1 1,286 1,250 1,433 1,210 1,300 36 170 472 588 484 73 21 7 7 5 Totals ... 8,342 Predominant Rents of Working Class Dwellings. Number of Rooms per Tenement. Predominant Weekly Rent. Two rooms 2s. 5(7. to 3s. 10Æ Three rooms 3s. 5d. to 5s. 9(7. Income. Municipal Tax. More than £45 up to and including £52 10s 12s. 18s. 24s. 32s. 42s. 52s 62s. 72s. 29088 K 74 BARMEN. RETAIL PRICES. Groceries and other Commodities. There are no " multiple ” firms for the sale of groceries and similar commodities ­ in Barmen, and the working classes have to choose between one or other of the many private grocers and the Co-operative Society “ Vorwärts ” with its 5,600 members, its 15 branch stores, and sales amounting to about £83,500 (year ended June 30th, 1905). The competition of the co-operative stores is strongly resented by the private shopkeepers, and has led to the formation (quite recently) of an association ­ for purposes of defence, styling itself " Society for the Defence of Commerce and Industry.” Membership of this society is not confined to grocers and provision ­ dealers, but includes shopkeepers of all kinds, for its policy is also hostile to the principle of large private stores selling a great variety of commodities. The principal feature of this society is its " Savings-Discount Branch.” This branch supplies members with stamps — resembling small, oblong, postage stamps—for which it charges at the rate of 10s. per 1,000. Every member is obliged to give one or more of these stamps to every customer who pays cash for his purchase, the number being proportionate to the value of the purchase. Customers can obtain from any member of the society a book into which such stamps are pasted, the books being provided with spaces to hold either 500 or 1,000 stamps. When the book is full, it is worth to the holder 5s. in the former and 10s. in the latter case, for he can offer it in payment for those amounts respectively to any shopkeeper belonging to the society. Or he can deposit it with the society which treats it as a savings deposit and pays interest at the rate of 5 per cent, per annum. Each book contains a list of the local shopkeepers belonging to the society arranged according to the class of article sold. The society claims as one of the advantages of the savings-stamp system that it has enabled many of the poorer classes to clear themselves gradually of debts arising out of longstanding accounts by paying in the books when full, and being credited with the amount in part payment of the old account. The society repurchases the books filled with stamps from its members for 9s. 6d. and 4s. 9d. respectively. This system is common in other Rhineland towns, including Elberfeld and Düsseldorf. The following table shows the predominant prices paid by the working classes for groceries and other commodities in October, 1905, and May, 1906. There was no appreciable movement of prices during the intervening period. PredommaMd Pnces joafd /Ac lEorhW/ GWes w OcMer, 1905, aW May, 1906. Commodity. Coffee Sugar :— Loaf ... ... White granulated Bacon :— Fat Streaky Eggs Cheese :— Dutch .. Limburg Butter Margarine Potatoes ... Flour (household) Bread (see special note Milk Coal ... ... Paraffin oil per lb. in per Is. per lb. per 7 lbs. text as to this) , per quart ... per cwt. per gallon Predominant Price. October. 1005. lid. 2fd., 3d. 2|d., 2# 9|d. 9f d. 14 8#d 5\d. Is. 3\d. id. to 8fd. 2^d to 3¿d. Is. 1 \d. 2iyd. Is. Old. 9 |-(i. to lOd. May, 1906. lid. 2%d., 3d. 2fd., 2\d. 91 d. 9|d. 17 8|d. 5\d. Is. 2fd. id. to 8|d. 2\d. to 3\d. Is. lfd. 2\d. Is. Ofd. 9 Id. to lOd. barmen. 75 The above prices call for no special comment except in the case of bread, which, as in other Rhineland towns, is offered for sale in great variety of shape and quality. There are two qualities of black bread ; one consists wholly of rye flour with the husk retained and is baked in loaves of 7 or of 3^ German pounds costing 70 or35 pfennige respectively, that is to say, 4^d. per 4 lbs. avoirdupois. This is the cheapest kind of black bread, and is extremely solid, and said to be the most nutritious of all the breads sold. Little of any other kind of bread was eaten by the working classes twenty-five years ago, and most of the old people still prefer it to any other and deplore the “ fastidiousness ” of the present generation. This kind of black bread is sold as often by the pound cut into thin slices, and then the price usually charged is 16 pfennige, which works out at a price of Gd. for 4 lbs. avoirdupois. The next quality of black bread consists of pure rye, twice ground, with part of the husk removed. It is baked in loaves weighing either 4J or 2£ German pounds costing 70 and 35 pfennige respectively, that is to say, about 6£<i. for 4 lbs, avoirdupois. This bread is only sold by the loaf. Next comes what is known as Mang-brot, which consists of twothirds rye and one-third wheat ; the loaf weighs some 3§ pounds German, and costs 70 pfennige, or a little over Sd. per 4 lbs. avoirdupois. Then comes Feinbrot, or fine bread, consisting of one-third rye and two-thirds wheat flour more finely ground. The loaves weigh 3^ lbs. and cost 60 pfennige, that is to say, 7hd. per 4 lbs. avoirdupois. The next variety of bread is that called Graubrot (grey bread) and is mostly eaten with cold meat or some kind of sausage or cheese. It is made in loaves of 3 or of 1^ German pounds costing 50 and 25 pfennige respectively, or about l\d. per 4 lbs. avoirdupois. It consists of three-fifths wheat and two-fifths rye flour. A fifth variety of bread is that known as Stuten. The Stute weighs one German, or 11 of an English pound, and consists entirely of wheaten flour with an admixture of sugar and frequently with a few currants thrown in. One such loaf costs 25 pfennige or 3d. Lastly there are the rolls of fine wbeaten flour costing two pfennige each and weighing 10 or 11 to the German pound. The exact proportion in which these various kinds of bread are consumed by the working classes cannot be determined. In the opinion of those most competent to judge (including the President of the Bakers’ Guild) it may, however, be assumed that, excluding the Stuten or sweet loaves and the rolls, the proportions would be about equal, so that the average price which the working classes in Barmen pay for their bread per 4 lbs. may be calculated as follows : — 1. o. 4. o. Black bread, heavy variety :— Pure rye, sold by the loaf Do. do. pound (sliced) Black bread, superior (rye twice ground) “ Mang Brot,” two-thirds rye and one-third wheat " Fein Brot,” one-third rye and two-thirds wheat' Grey bread, two-fifths rye and three-fifths wheat 4£(/. 6d. 61 d. 8d. l\d. 7\<l. Average 6U. With regard to statistics of retail prices in Barmen, it may be mentioned that, since January, 1906, the Municipal Statistical Office has been collecting, at the end of each month, returns of retail prices of meat, fish, groceries, bread, and coal. The data are supplied on forms filled in regularly by 22 grocers, 22 butchers, and 5 coal dealers, and the averages calculated from these returns are published in the monthly bulletin issued by the Statistical Office. Meat. As in Elberfeld and Düsseldorf, the whole of the meat supply is in the hands of local butchers of the “ family ” type and the great bulk of the meat consumed is of German origin. The town also resembles Elberfeld and Düsseldorf ­ in the fact that it possesses no municipal retail market for the sale of meat K 2 29088 76 BARMEN. or other articles of food. The only foreign meat now in the market is imported alive from Denmark. After being kept in quarantine for 10 days, it is sent to the municipal slaughter house, where it must be slaughtered within four days. The consumption of Dutch slaughtered meat had ceased since the application of the new customs tariff. Barmen butchers complained very much of the high prices of stock for slaughtering purposes, the wholesale price per pound being very little short of what it is possible to get the retail buyer to pay. It appeared that the chief sufferers—besides the butchers themselves, many of whom are going out of business—are the middle classes, to whom the butcher has to look for his profit, " the prices charged to the working classes having already reached the point beyond which the latter would cease altogether to consume meat.” As * it is they only eat such cuts as the middle-class customer would not buy— flank and shin of beef and neck and breast of mutton. The consumption of mutton is, however, very small, and the same is true of meat of every description other than beef and pig. Thus the total consumption of meat of all kinds in Barmen (in 1904) was estimated at 111 lbs. per head of population, and this comprised 51 lbs. of beef and 43 lbs. of pig in various forms (fresh pork, bacon, sausage, etc.). The remainder consisted of veal, mutton, goat, and horseflesh. There is reason to believe, however, that the consumption of the workingclasses would be below this figure. An analysis of 153 returns of family expenditure on food obtained in Barmen in connection with this inquiry showed a meat consumption per head of 720 persons of 16^ oz. per week, or at the rate of 53¿ lb. a year. Of this, 47 per cent, was beef, 30 per cent, sausage, and 21 per cent, bacon and pork. It was found that sausages of various kinds were largely eaten as a substitute for fresh meat, but it was not possible to ascertain precisely of what meats they are composed. The sausages sold by purveyors of horse-flesh— there are five establishments in Barmen where no other kind of meat is sold— are of course an exception to this rale. The best quality of horse sausage, which is euphemistically called Cervelcitwurst, is sold at 5Jd. per pound, the “ fillet steak ” costs 6Jjd., the lean cuts which go by the name of u roast beef,” cost 5|d., and the other cuts—as well as minced horse-flesh—are sold at 4Jd. A dish of cooked horse-flesh, with potatoes, is sold for 3\d. The number of horses slaughtered for consumption in Barmen during the year 1905 was 666, in addition to which 15 were brought as dead meat from other localities and passed as fit for consumption. The corresponding figures for the preceding year were 566 and 26. fWWwaMf Pncgg y;azd //¿g IKorLA? CWggg m OcMgr, 1905, and May, 1906. Description of Cut. Shin Beef :— Ribs Silverside \ with bone [ without bone Steak ... Flank Mutton :— Le^ .. ... Shoulder Breast ... Neck ... Chops (trimmed) Fork :— Leg .... ... Fore loin Belly Spare rib Chops Predominant price per lb. October, 1905. 7d. to 7f d. 8fd. to 8fd. 7^d. 8f d. to 11 d. Is. Id. 6&d. to 7%d 9fd. to lid. 8fd to 9fd. 7d. to 8 Id. . 8¿d. lid. to Is. (very little sold) 9fd. to lid. (always converted into bacon) lid. lid. May, 1906. 7d. to 7fd. 8%d. 7%d. 8|d. to lid. Is. Id. 6^d. to 7|d. 9|d. to lid. 9f d. „ 9%d. 7|d. „ 8f d. 8%d. lid. to Is. 9|d. 9fd. to lid. 9fd. „ lid. BARMEN. 77 A point which should be mentioned in connection with me sale of meat and other kinds of food (including bread) is the existence of a police regulation which prohibits the fingering of such articles of food by customers in shops. A notice calling attention to this regulation is in many cases exhibited. The fines for contravention range from one shilling to thirty shillings, and the shopkeeper ­ is liable if he permits such contravention on the part of a customer. The level of prices in Barmen is higher than in any other of the towns investigated. Predominant prices in Berlin being taken as 100, the following are the prices index numbers for Barmen :—Food, other than meat, 116 ; meat, 109; all food, 114; coal, 83; and food and coal, 110. The index number for rent and prices combined is 99, Berlin being taken as 100. - BOCHUM. Bochum is one of the largest towns in the Prussian province of Westphalia and is a principal seat of the coal and iron industry in North Germany. It is one of the many towns whose great expansion has taken place in the last thirty years. In 1871 its population but slightly exceeded 20,000 ; since then it has nearly quadrupled, and the incorporation in 1904 of several industrial suburbs— Hamme, Hofstede, Gramme, and Wiemelhausen—brought the population at the census of December, 1905, to 118,464. The incorporation increased the municipal area from 1,558 to 6,518 acres. Bochum is in the midst of a large number of coal mines, and itself rests upon land which has long been worked for minerals at all depths and in every direction. There are other industries,—chemical, cement, brewing and distilling, hardware, &c.,—but coal and iron dominate every other interest and give to the town and district, as to Westphalia generally, a distinctive and unmistakable character. For the purposes of the legislation governing the inspection of industries and trades the Bochum mining district is divided into a northern and a southern section ; the production of coal in North Bochum in 1905 was 3,807,337 tons and in South Bochum 2,088,358 tons, while the production of coke was 1,012,807 tons and 738,581 tons respectively. ­ The production of the entire Dortmund district, to which Bochum belongs, was 65,374,000 tons of coal, 11,277,000 tons of coke, and 2,158,000 tons of briquettes. Next in importance are the smelting and iron and steel works, the latter multifarious in output, though special attention is given to locomotives, ­ machinery of the larger kinds, waggon building, rough and fine plate iron, pipes, smaller ordnance, and railway material generally. The following Table shows the population at the last seven censuses, and also the increase in population in each intercensal period :— Census Year. 1871 1875 1880 1885 1890 1895 1900 1905 Population. 21,193 28,368 33,440 40,767 47,601 53,812 65,551 118,464 Intercensal Increase. 7,175 5,072 7,327 6,834 6,241 11,709 52,913 Increase per cent. 33'9 17-9 219 16 8 13*1 217 80-7 The growth of Bochum during the past fifty years has involved the transformation ­ of an insignificant agricultural town into a busy centre of industry and commerce. Just over half a century has passed since the founding (November! 1854) of the well-known iron and steel works (with which "collieries and smelting works are combined) known by the collective name " Bochumer Verein ” and the history of this great undertaking is virtually the history of Bochum. Ihe pnncipal workshops of the Verein are still in the heart of the town, though, indeed, they may be said to form, with the extensive blocks of workmen’s dwellings adjacent to them, a distinct industrial settlement. When these works were established Bochum was in the main a community of peasants and small traders, whose. houses were of the type characteristic of rural Westphalia ­ to-day—half-timber-work (“ Fachwerk ” ) structures of one or two stories, with high roofs and diminutive windows, and rooms few and small. lf fy y ears a g° a whole street of such peasants houses stood where trafile is now busiest. Scattered throughout the town a hose of them still survive, a reminder of the time when Bochum was a rural commune and interested chiefiy in agriculture. Many of these old half-timber-work houses, strung together by stout oaken beams, stand on the street line, but others are hidden away behind modern buildings ; standing back with plenty of open space to spare, BOCHUM. 79 as the custom was,they suggest in their obscurity rather the “back houses” of congested towns than the historical type of domestic architecture in this part of Westphalia. In general there is little crowding of buildings in Bochum. There is still abundant space and it is liberally used ; narrow courtyards are unusual. Bochum is smoky and grimy and untidy, not from fault of government but as the result of its industrial character and environment. Brick faced with plaster is the usual building material, and when finished the surface is painted in yellow, light green, red, grey, even white, but these colours are speedily effaced by the all-pervading smoke. The houses have monotonous fronts, with little or no ornament or at best a modest attempt at relief in stucco or a course of coloured tiles. The town has grown to its present form and proportions without conformity to deliberate plan. The business streets are narrow, even to the exclusion by police ordinance of cyclists, and the tramway system, which is not yet municipalised, works here with a single line. The best of the streets "are paved with setts, but many streets are not paved at all, and in the less improved districts the causeways are not flagged. Several lines of railway transect the town, with the result of level crossings which seriously inconvenience traffic. There are signs that the municipality is struggling with a heavy task, and the recent incorporation of several undeveloped suburbs has enormously added to its administrative obligations. A complete system of sewerage remains yet an object of desire, for in the past the value of sanitation has been inadequately recognised. In the industrial and poorer parts of the town open gullies, obstructed drains, noisome cesspools, and accumulations of unregarded refuse offend the senses, though neglected areas like these are counterbalanced by many well-kept thoroughfares in parts of the town more exposed to public gaze. The undertakings carried on by the town include the gasworks, waterworks, electric light and power works, abattoir, a people’s library and reading-room, a swimming and bathing establishment, arid a savings bank ; it also subsidises the drama and music to the extent of £400 per annum. At the end of the financial year 1904 -1905 the town owned real estate to the value of £850,000, and property of all kinds to the value of £1,070,000, against loans to the amount of £860,000, leaving a credit balance of £210,000. The working population of Bochum and district contains a strong foreign element, and a far stronger admixture of Polish labour, drawn to Westphalia on the one hand by attractive earning facilities and on the other by the desire to escape the stagnant life of rural East Prussia. Perhaps it is this diverse constitution of the working class that accounts for the large number of ill-dressed adults and neglected children who are seen on the streets, and for the very noticeable absence of comfort in many of the dwellings. The best homes are equal to the best anywhere else, but the normal condition does not favourably impress the observer. It is the boast of the largest industrial company in the Bochum district that during a career of several decades there has been no strike amongst its workmen. ^ Even to-day, when labour organisation is so general and so vigorous, the misunderstandings which inevitably arise from time to time are still found capable of amicable adjustment. “Blue Monday” is a continual source of complaint in the engineering trade, and the 1 played shifts ^ (^c/efeierte Schichten') are the despair of some of the collieries in busy times. By way of illustration, in one large mine 8'52 per cent, of an aggregate of nearly 500,000 shifts absence the great majority The loss in wages was nearly £10,000. The cost of poor relief, exclusive of administration, in Bochum was in 1904 3s. o-hl per head of the population, a higher figure than had been reached since 1886, when it was 3s. 9d. " From 1899 forward there has been a gradual yearly increase from 2s. 5&7. per head. On the other hand the proportion of the entire communal taxation expended in this way has decreased since 1901. The municipal savings bank does a good deal to promote thrift amongst the 80 BOCHUM. working classes, and its patrons include a large proportion of small depositors. At the end of 1904 the 21,007 depositors had accounts as follows :— Savings. No. of Depositors. ! Percentage of whole. To £3 inclusive Over £3 to £7 10s. inclusive „ £7]0s.„ £15 „ £15 „£30 „ £30 „£150 „ £150 „ £500 „ £o00 ... ... ... 3,960 2,916 9,73, 3 325 6,211 1,540 318 18-8 13 8 13 0 15-7 29 5 7-3 1*5 The statistics of population show that Bochum had a death rate in 1905 of 19'4 per 1,000. The death rate for the whole of Westphalia in that year was 18*3 per 1,000. The birth rate was 42*9 per 1,000 in 1905, comparing with a birth rate of 39*7 per 1,000 for all Westphalia. In 1903 the birth-rate of Bochum was 39'4 per 1,000 and the death-rate 20*5. The incorporation of the four outlying communes has thus been accompanied by a higher birth-rate and a lower death-rate. The illegitimate births in 1905 and 1904 were 3*1 per cent, of the whole, against a proportion of 2*6 per cent, for Westphalia generally. The deaths under one year were 151 per 1,000 births in 1905 against 174 per 1.000 in 1904. The deaths from tuberculosis in 1905 were at the rate of 5*6 per 1,000 of the population, against 4*2 per 1,000 in 1904. The following Table shows the birth and death-rates and the infantile mortality for the period of years :— Year. Birth-rate per 1,000 of Population. Death-rate per 1,000 of Population. Infantile Mortality per 1,000 births. 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 42 4 40 5 39*4 42 9 251 21*5 20-5 # 19-4 184 169 144 174 151 * Owing to the incorporation of several townships in this year the rate is not available. . Occupations, Wages, and Hours oe Labour. Of 134,279 workpeople employed in 1905, in 13 groups of industries carried on within the district of the Bochum Chamber of Commerce, 91,860, or 68*4 per cent., were engaged in coal mining ; 18,082, or 13*5 per cent., in smelting works ; 6,514, or 4*9 per cent., in metal manufacturing processes ; and 5,408, or 4 per cent., in machine works of various kinds ; and if to these be added o,814, or 4*3 per cent., employed in the mineral industries (ore raising, &c.), 9o*l per cent, of the whole were engaged in the various branches of the coal and iron industries. I he district of the Bochum Chambei of Commerce includes several large towns and a number of rural communes, yet, as the industrial character of the district is uniform, these figures faithfully reflect the predominant position of coal and iron in the economic life of the whole of this important part of Westphalia. Bochum merely typifies the rest of the Buhr coal basin. In the two mining districts of .North Bochum (in which the town falls) and South Bochum there were in work, in 1905, 2o pits, vith a total of 26,935 men (16,099 in North Bochum and 10,836 in South Bochum). Some of the collieries are within the municipal area, and even within call of busy commercial thoroughfares, but others are at a considerable distance from the town. BOCHUM. '81 The conditions of labour in the coal mines have been modified in some respects by the law which was passed by the Prussian Parliament in consequence of the Westphalia miners’ strike of 1905. Thus the system of “Nullen”— the disallowance of lorries containing an excessive amount of stone—has been abolished, and fines (which may not exceed 5&. for a single month) have been introduced instead. Workmen’s Committees (Ausschüsse) have been made obligatory in all collieries employing at least 100 men. The hours of hewers and trammers are now eight daily, the day being divided into three shifts : Morning shift, 5.80 to 1.30 ; afternoon shift, 2 to 10 ; night shift, 9 to 5. Those of other underground workers, drivers, &c., are nine, and surfacemen work 10 hours, between 5.30 a.m. and 5.30 p.m. Fourteen days’ notice is universal, the notice taking effect at the end of a month. The wages books are made up to the month’s end, and wages are paid in the second half of the following month, though payments on account to the extent of half the amount due may be claimed during the first half. In the iron, steel and engineering works the usual hours are 10 daily, between six and six, with three intervals amounting to two hours, or, in one case, from 7 to 6.30, with a single noon interval of an hour and a half. Wages are paid fortnightly, a week after the lists are made up, and a fortnight’s notice, tendered on the 1st or loth of the month, is required on either side. The coal miners are paid for the most part by piece (Gedinge), after deductions covering the cost price of explosives, light, &c. Most of the colliery companies provide dwellings for a large proportion of their men, especially where the mines are situated in the open country, and the rents for these dwellings, which are below the rents that would have to be paid in town, are deducted at the monthly settlements. The highest wages are those of the hewers, who earn, as a rule, 31s. per week of six shifts. Trammers earn from 18s. 4¿. to 21s. Id. ; wall builders, 30s. 4d. to 34s. 2d. ; drivers, 19s. bd. to 20s. bd. ; while adult workers at the pithead earn from Ids. 10¿¿. to 21s. Cokemakers earn from 24s. to 27s. The hewers and trammers form 50 per cent, of the entire workers in most mines, the other underground workers 28*4 per cent., and the adult workers overhead 18*4 per cent. It has been estimated that during the period 1898 to 1904 the wages of the underground workers in the Dortmund district amounted to 46*6 per cent, of the value of the coal output, coke and briquettes being disregarded, this percentage comparing with 36 5 per cent, in the State mines of the Saar basin and 27*2 in Upper Silesia. The past 30 years have seen a steady upward movement in miners’ wages throughout the whole of Westphalia, and, while there have been temporary fluctuations, the level now reached has only once before been exceeded—viz., in 1900, which was a year of unparalleled prosperity in this industry. The following record of this movement of wages refers to one of the largest collieries in the Bochum district ; the figures represent the average earnings per shift for the whole of the men employed :— 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 Year. s. d. 2 11 2 8 2 10 2 11 2 10 2 10 2 9 2 9 2 10 3 2 3 6 Year. 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 s. d. 3 8 3 6 3 2 3 5 3 10 4 0 4 2 4 4 4 3 3 10 4 2 4 2 4 3 29088 Figures not available. L 82 BOCHUM. An analysis of the average net wages per shift of 25,789 adult miners in the North and South Bochum districts during the last quarter of 1905 gives the following result : — Underground Workers :— Hewers and Trammers . Repairers, &c. Surface Workers—Adults. North Bochum. Number of Workpeople. 8,096 4,471 3,185 Net Wa?es per Shift. S. d. 5 2 3 4 3 4 South Bochum. Number of Workpeople. 5,243 2,883 1,911 Net Wages per Shift. S. d. 4 9 3 5 3 4 A wider survey is covered by the returns published by the official “ Zeitschrift für das Berg-, Hütten-, und Salinenwesen.” These show that the net wages per shift of coal miners in the Dortmund district (including Bochum) have ranged as follows between the years 1886 and 1905 :— Years. 1886 1890 1895 1900 1905 Average ofi All Workmen. Hewers and Trammers. S. d. 2 7 s. d. 2 11 4 0 3 9 5 2 4 10 Other Underground ­ Workmen. .9. d. 2 2 2 11 2 8 3 4 3 5 Surface Workmen. S. d. 2 4 2 10 2 9 3 4 3 5 A return of the Knappschafts-Verein at Bochum, the miners’ association which administers the Insurance Laws in relation to this industry, shows that in 1905, 6'7 per cent, of its 269,699 members had daily earnings of 2s. Id. or under, 16 4 per cent, earned from 2s. Id. to 3s. 10<A, 32*4 per cent, earned from 3s. 10c/. to 5s., and 44 5 per cent earned over 5s. The yearly output per head, averaged over the entire number of miners employed, has been as follows in the Dortmund mining district during the past six years:—1900, 267 tons; 1901, 243 tons; 1902, 241 tons; 1903, 257 tons ; 1904, 254 tons ; 1905, 248 tons. The output averaged over the hewers and trammers only was as follows :—1900, 520 tons per head ; 1901, 483 tons ; 1902, 480 tons ; 1903, 515 tons ; 1904, 508 tons ; 1905, 497 tons. In addition to the provision of cheap dwellings upon a large scale—a subject dealt with more particularly in the section " Rents ”—some of the colliery companies extend certain of the benefits conferred upon the miners by the Insurance Laws to the members of their families. In several cases the wives and children of miners receive medical attendance free of charge, and in one instance dental attention is added. One company pays half the cost of hospital treatment for any member of the household where necessary, and sends batches of children to health resorts every summer. A good deal is also done to promote the welfare of the younger colliers and the unmarried men generally. The latter in 1905 formed 38*2 per cent, of all the miners in the pits of North Bochum and 37T per cent, in the pits of South Bochum. For these workmen there exist special boarding houses at which lodging and food are provided at cost price or even less, and the unmarried men of one colliery are obliged to use the quarters so offered. In the outside districts young men living away from home generally lodge with miners’ families, paying from £2 to £3 per month for full board and the share of a bedroom. Two large colliery companies conduct co-operative stores for the benefit of their men, the profits being divided amongst the purchasers at the year’s end. All these institutions and efforts, however, are secondary in influence and importance to the wide-reaching system of insurance provided by the law. It is estimated that the cost to employers and employees of the threefold insurance benefit amounts to £8 10s. per head annually. In the coal mines of Westphalia there is a large and increasing proportion of German-Polish labourers, and the amount of foreign labour has also grown considerably during recent years. Of the miners in the entire Dortmund mining district, as delimited for administrative purposes, 33 69 per cent, were BOCHUM. 83 Poles and East Prussians in 1905 against 24*91 per cent, in 1893, and 6*79 per cent, were foreigners against only 2*72 per cent, in 1893. In the North Bochum district 34*27 per cent, were Germans from Upper Silesia, Posen, West Prussia, and East Prussia in 1905, and in the South Bochum district 31*17 per cent., against percentages of 21*76 and 23*05 respectively in 1893. The foreigners in the mines of North Bochum in 1905 were 4*30 per cent, of the whole, against 1*23 per cent, in 1893, and in South Bochum they were 2*15 per cent., against 1*05 in 1893. One-half were Austrians, more than a quarter were Italians, and the rest were mainly Dutch and Russians. The Poles, though German subjects, do not enjoy general popularity amongst their fellow-workmen. They consort but little with the Germans, and speak only their mother tongue. But in the eyes of the organised miners of German nationality their greatest fault is that they resolutely keep aloof from the German trade unions, whether Social Democratic or Roman Catholic, and combine in associations of their own. Nor do the Poles invariably receive a good name from the employers and mine officials. Speaking of them according to experience, some of these praise the Poles as workers, while others place them below all non-German workers in point of efficiency. The fact seems to be that the Pole begins life as a coal miner with all the faults of inexperience, ­ for he is a migrant whose earlier years have been passed in the towns and villages of Eastern Prussia, but he soon settles to the work and in the end earns as much as his fellows who have grown up in the mining industry. The Poles are not, however, allowed to work alone, and to the last the language difficulty is serious, for though they learn to speak German it is on compulsion, and they do not like it. In manner of life the Poles learn much to their advantage from the Germans in orderliness, cleanliness, and self-respect ; they live frugally, and are able to save. The industries of Bochum itself and their relative importance will be seen from the following enumeration of workpeople employed in the inspected factories and workshops of the town in 1906 :— Group of Trades. Number of Establishments. Number of Workpeople. Male. Female. Total. Building ... ... ••• ... • •• Mining and smelting Metal working Machine, implement and apparatus making. Clothing and cleaning Printing, lithography, bookbinding, &c Woodworking and carving Chemicals ... Resins, varnishes, oil, soap, candles, &c Stone and earth Food, drink and tobacco Leather and paper Total ... 89 4 20 25 111 21 27 8 6 35 210 4 560 1,183 6,889 790 972 49 330 858 122 222 820 867 19 13,121 494 *9 87 3 669 1,183 6,889 790 972 543 412 858 122 225 820 954 22 13,790 The wages of skilled men in the engineering trades average _ , , „ . . _ about 30a. weekly, and those of labourers are 21a. The following is a comparative record of daily wages in this industry, extending over the last ten years, as kept by a local firm of standing :— 1895. 1900. 1905. Moulders Fitters... Turners Smiths Pattern-makers Labourers Number of hours generally worked s. d. 4 3 4 3 4 1 3 11 3 7 2 11 66 s. d. 5 0 4 8 66 s. d. 5 4 4 10 4 10 4 11 4 9 3 6 60 L 2 29088 84 BOCHUM. The chemical industry is confined to the production of goods intended for manufacturing purposes, and comprises only a few works of small extent. The wages of the more skilled men range from 245. to 27s. 8d., and those of labourers from 195. 2d. to 235. The Cement Syndicate of Rhenish Westphalia, which has a yearly sale of nearly 4,000,000 barrels of 374 lb. each, has its seat at Bochum, but the industry is not peculiar to the town. Beer brewing is an important industry in the town and district, Bochum itself having six breweries employing some 350 men. In addition to their wages the men have beer rations varying from 3 to 5 litres (5J to 8J pints) daily. The beer is reckoned at 15 plennige per litre (about Id. per pint) though the retail price is from 25 to 30 plennige, but it is unusual to make a money payment when it is not drunk, nor may it be taken away, as is the case in some towns. Formerly, all unmarried brewers lived on the premises, beds being provided for them, while they bought their own food and cooked it in the common kitchen. The custom was abolished in most breweries at the men’s request, and an allowance of 155. per month was made instead. Now the men live less economically and many of them would gladly return to the old arrangement, but the employers, having adapted themselves to the altered conditions, are unwilling to reintroduce the living-in system. The hours in this trade are 10 daily ; the notice on either side is usually 14 days in the case of married men, but in the case of unmarried men some firms only give and require 18 hours’ notice. In the building trades a number of wages agreements are already in force, and the tendency is to regulate the conditions of labour in these trades more and more by this method. The duration of work in summer is 10 hours daily, the term of notice is variously a week or a fortnight, and wages are paid every two weeks. Wages in these trades range in general from 27s. to 305. 7d. for skilled men, the lower rate falling to stonemasons, joiners, cabinet-makers, plumbers and fitters, and the higher rate to masons and bricklayers and carpenters, but outside these rates are painters at one extreme with 2os. 10d. and stucco workers at the other with 365. Bricklayers’ and masons’ labourers receive 24s. 7d. Few women or girls are employed in the staple industries of Bochum, in any capacity whatever, and in general female labour plays there a very insignificant part in industrial organisation. As a rule the wages of municipal employees increase with the years of service, a fact which will explain the wide range shown in some cases. The hours of labour vary from 63 to 72. TFuyga nW T/m/ra q/ Aoòowr m /Ae PrzW/W Oœwpa&'fms, Oc&Agr, 1905. Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours of Labour. Building Trades* :— Masons and Bricklayers Stonemasons Carpenters Joiners and Cabinetmakers ... Plumbers Stucco-workers Painters Bricklayers’ and Masons’ Labourers 30s. Id. 27 s. 30s. Id. 27s. 27 s. 36s. 25s. 10(7. 24s. 7(7. 59 54 59 60 60 60 60 60 Engineering Trades :— Moulders Fitters . . Turners ... Smiths Pattern-makers... Labourers 30s. to 32s. 29s. & 30s. 29s. & 30s. 29s. to 31s. 28s. 6(7. 21s. 60 60 60 60 60 60 * The wages and hours of labour stated for summer. the building trades are for a full week in BOCHUM. 85 Weekly Wages. Weekly Honrs of Labour. Iron and Steel Works :— Blastfurnacemen Cupola furnace and Converter men Smelters... ... ... ... Rollers ... Heaters at rolling mills Furnacemen at rolling mills ... Rail trimmers Transporters Labourers Coal Mining :— Hewers (coal) ... Rock hewers and Wallers Repair men Trammers Overhead men Coke makers Printing and Allied Trades :— Compositors, machine minders and pressmen (agreement). Machine compositors—news (agreement) ... ,. „ jobbing (agreement) Bookbinders Food, &c., Trades :— Bakers, 1st men „ 2nd men Brewers ... Brewers’ coopers „ labourers „ draymen Miscellaneous Trades :— Chemical workers, skilled „ „ unskilled. 27s. 4c?. 27s. Id. 28s. 2d. 27s. Id. to 80s. 30s. 22s. 10c?. to 24s. 34s. 10c?. „ 36s. 24s. to 27s. 11c?. 19s. 6c?. to 22s. 6c?. 31s. 32s. to 34s. 28s. 10c?. 18s. 4c?. to 21s. 7c?. 15s. „ 21s. 24s. „ 27s. 24s. 9c?. 30s. 11c?. 32s. 2c?. 24s. 23s. 6c?. to 25s. 20s. 4c?. to 21s. 3c?. 25s. 5c?. „ 26s. 6c?. 26s. 6c?. „ 27s. 8c?. 20s. 9c?. „ 23s. lc?. 24s. 3c?. „ 25s. 5c?. 24s. to 27s. 8c?. 19s. 2c?. to 23s. 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 48 48 48 48 54 60 54 48 54 57 63 63 60 72 60 to 66 60 „ 66 The following were the wages at the same date of employees in the public services :— Street Making and Cleaning Paviors ... Paviors’ labourers Road-makers Road-sweepers ... Carmen ... Weekly Wages. 30s. 21s. to 24s. 15s. 7c?. to 28s. 10c?. 16s. 10c?. to 21s. 18s. to 21s. Weekly Hours of Labour. 51 to 54 in winter, 63 in summer. Gasworks :— Foremen... Stokers ... ... • •• ... • * Labourers Waterworks :— Labourers Electric Works and Electric Lighting :— Engine-men Stokers ... ••• ••• ••• •* Erectors and Installers Fitters 48s. 24s. to 30s. 18s. to 22s. 10c?. 18s. to 22s. 10c?. 30s. to 36s. 21s. Id. to 27s. 30s. to 33s. 30s. 72 72 72 72 72 ZD tí tí 9 tí 72 72 72 J o tí t—I Electric Tramways (private) :— Drivers ... ... ... Conductors 23s. to 27s. 7c?. ... 21s. 11c?. to 26s. 6c?. 86 BOCHUM. Representing wages in Berlin by 100, the wages of skilled men in the building, engineering and printing trades at Bochum would be represented by 83, 87 and 88 respectively, while the wages of labourers in both the building and engineering trades would be 96. Housing and Rents. The dwellings of the working classes of Bochum must not be sought in the busy centre of the town, for there dear land and high rents leave no room for small tenements. Further away from the centre the pressure diminishes, and shops below and two or three stories of dwellings above are the rule, the highest rooms being occupied by artisans and working people. In the neighbourhood ­ of the iron works it often happens that the smaller officials and foremen inhabit the dwellings immediately over the business premises on the ground floor, and above them live the so-called " little people.” It is on the outskirts of the town, however, that the working-classes are chiefly found. There whole streets of large houses consist of labourers’ tenements, always excepting the front premises on the ground-floor, which are used as shops, workshops, or both combined. The style of building is not attractive. Brick with stucco facing, painted, yet seldom relieved by any plastic ornament, represents the working-class house at its best ; common brickwork in its rawest state is not uncommon ; while in some districts blocks of brick and timber buildings of the old “ peasant ” type still stand in isolated positions and And ready tenants in people whose means do not allow them to be too discriminating in the matter of house accommodation. In general, however, Bochum’s dwelling houses are of modern erection, though they may not represent a very high standard of excellence. A local peculiarity, which extends to the suburbs as well as to the town, is the practice of laying the ground floor 3 feet or more above the street level, the effect of which is to save excavation for the cellaring ; the feature is chiefly characteristic of the older buildings, but it has not yet been abandoned in the case cf new erections. As a rule there are from five to seven rooms on a landing, and these rooms are divided into two or three tenements according to the class of tenants for whom they are intended. Five rooms are found to work out best, inasmuch as they afford to two families the accommodation usually required by the workingclasses in Bochum, viz., tenements of two and three rooms. It is not uncommon for all the rooms on a landing to be inter-communicable, an arrangement which further facilitates their apportionment as tenancies change ; invariably the rooms in a single tenement are en suite. Tenements of a single room are very rare and for practical purposes may be disregarded, while four rooms are seldom rented by working people, save in the case of dwellings provided by their employers and let at a reduced rent. Of 412 tenements in private ownership whose rents were obtained by visitation or inquiry of their owners for the purpose of this report 140 or 34 per cent, consisted of two rooms, 202 or 49 per cent, of three rooms, and 61 or 14*8 per cent, of four rooms ; only 9 were tenements of a single room, and these were for the most part sublet or occupied by poor widows. Kitchens are not let separately, save in large dwellings, and a workingclass rent contract makes no mention of such a room, the usual specification being “ — rooms with (or without) attic (Bodenzimmer), cellar, drying-loft (Trockenboden), ­ and wash-house,” though it is understood that where drying-lofts and wash-houses exist small tenants have only a joint use of them. In practice the same room is used as a kitchen by successive tenants, for the plainest apartment,, and by preference one at the back of the house, is generally devoted to this purpose, but in size it is hardly inferior to the other rooms, and where the dwelling is small and the family large it is used as a living room, and even as a bedroom as well. In typical tenements of three rooms one room generally has separate ingress from the landing, so that it may be let separately if desired, and this room is often let to lodgers, who can come and go at will without trouble to the rest of the household. Separate corridors or fore-spaces ( Vorpldtze) are not yet universally regarded as essential. Often the dwelling is entered through the kitchen direct from the landing j the most favourable arrangement is a corridor for two adjacent dwellings. A variant upon the latter plan is a passage open to the landing, from which the rooms are entered, though there seems no reason BOCHUM. 87 why these spaces should not be closed and so converted into corridors of the normal kind. In the absence of corridors, however, the landings are often very spacious, at least in the newer houses, and an area of 12 feet by 8 feet is not rare. The water tap—there is never more than one—is not always within the dwelling ; it may be on the landing, in which case two families at least share the same supply. The privy or water closet (it is generally the former) is as a rule found on the landing ; only in houses of a good class is it within the tenement. It is noticeable that the balcony at the back of the house is now coming into fashion at Bochum, after having had a long vogue in other towns of North-Western Germany. In spite of all old survivals the town of Bochum proper, the nucleus of the present municipal area, is in large measure a town of modern buildings, and the mass of the dwellings conform broadly to the regulations of the Building Police (Bau-Polizei) in matters of accommodation and sanitary convenience. The permissible height of buildings depends upon the width of the street. A height of 32 feet 6 inches is allowed in all streets ; in streets between 32 feet 6 inches and 36 feet 8 inches wide, only buildings of two stories besides the ground floor and 39 feet in height may be erected ; where the street is between" 36 feet 8 inches and 44 feet wide a height of 44 feet is allowed; yet here, again, there may only be two stories besides the ground floor. For the rest, the number of stories is not limited so long as the height of the building does not exceed the distance between the opposite street building lines. The minimum height of a room used for human habitation, whether living or bedroom, is 9 feet 2 inches, though in the case of attic rooms with sloping walls it is sufficient if the mean height reaches this measurement. By way of guarding against congested areas it is provided that normally only three-fourths of a building plot may be built upon, the remaining space being as a rule reserved as a courtyard or a garden. Basement dwellings are only allowed if the windows rise at least 3 feet 3 inches above the adjoining level. In one part of the town, in the neighbourhood of the Rhenish Railway, only buildings not exceeding three stories, in blocks of two houses, with a maximum front together of 97 feet 6 inches, and with garden space before them, are allowed. The regulations require that there shall be a closet for every two families in a house, and in the newer houses each floor has two such adjuncts. The following notes relate to tenements in typical working-class houses visited :— (1) A house containing two tenements on each floor. The entrance is at the side and in this case the tenements have a common corridor, from which five of the seven rooms are directly entered. The whole of the rooms are intercommunicable, with the result that they are capable of combination in various ways—two tenements of four and three rooms respectively, two of three rooms or three of two rooms and a single room over, for one room has a separate entrance from the landing and is a typical lodger’s room. The width of the front rooms on the upper stories varies from 10 feet 1 inch toll feet 8 inches, and that of the rooms at the back from 10 feet 5 inches to 12 feet 3 inches, while the depth of the rooms at the front is 15 feet 6 inches, and at the back 12 feet 2 inches alongside the corridor and 16 feet 4 inches at the end of it. The height of the rooms on the first three stories is 11 feet 4^ inches and that of the attic rooms 9 feet 9 inches. The corridor has a length of about 25 feet and a width of 4 feet 2 inches, while the landing is about <S feet square. The water closets are all on the intermediate landings, with ventilation direct from the open air. (2) The second house has five rooms on each landing, which can be combined ­ into two tenements of 3 and 2 rooms respectively, two tenements of 2 rooms each and one of a single room, or—a less probable case—a large tenement of 4 rooms, with an odd room to be let separately. The landing is here in the middle of the house and, as always, at the back, and it gives direct entrance to three rooms. There is no corridor, but the rooms are larger than those of the former house, though the height is the same. A large proportion of the coal miners do not live in the town at all, but outside in colonies near their work or in the villages adjacent. In the neighbourhood ­ of every pit are found rows and groups of houses of all kinds and sizes, which have been built without plan or system for the miners’ accommodation. 88 BOCHUM. Most of the houses on the outskirts are small, generally of two stories or of one story with or without attic rooms above. They are cheaply built and their arrangements are of the simplest. In the village of Hamme are scores of miners’ houses of small size, containing two tenements of two or three rooms below and one or two rooms above ; the rents vary from 10s. Qd. to 12s. 6d. per month. Many of these tenements have plots of land attached and stalls for goats or pigs. The goat is assiduously fostered in the Bochum district. It is known as the “miner’s cow,” and it saves the milk bill of hundreds of families in the colliery districts of Westphalia. So important has the industry of goat grazing and breeding become that regular goat fairs are held yearly at Dortmund, and the agricultural societies encourage the improvement of the stock by the offer of premiums. Allotment gardens are also popular. A very important factor in the housing arrangements of Bochum are the colonies of houses which have been erected by the large collieries and iron works. The Bochumer Verein, which owns coal mines, iron and steel works, and machine works, has provided nearly 1,500 dwellings of all kinds, most of them in or near the town, others situated some distance away. Of these dwellings about 1,000 consist of three rooms, 100 of four rooms, two only are of two rooms, and the rest have five, six, or more. As a rule the houses are built in small detached blocks, and the English plan of living rooms below and bedrooms above is favoured. Cellarage is universal, gardens are usual, and a large proportion of the dwellings have outbuildings for goats, pigs, and even cows. The average rent per room is about a shilling a week, which is much under cost. The large colony of Stahlhausen, in the neighbourhood of the original Bochum Works, may be regarded as a model in its way. An abundance of trees and planted spaces gives to the surroundings of the houses a rural aspect, and an air of comfort and well-being rests upon the place. While the dwellings are commodious, the convenience of their inhabitants is studied by the provision of promenades, playgrounds for the children, and a co-operative store for the supply of food and other articles of domestic use. The latest housing project of this firm is a colony of some 70 dwellings of the “single-family” type, with two rooms below and two above, built in rows in picturesque style and intended to be let at £9 or £10 per annum. For the unmarried workmen there is a large boarding-house (Kosthaus) at Stahlhausen, in which 1,000 men are lodged and fed at a charge of 10d. per day or 6s. 8d. per week, which is barely half the cost of board in private houses. Among the regular lodgers are many Poles and Italians. Other workmen’s colonies in the immediate vicinity of the town are those built by the companies owning the Dannenbaum, Hannibal, Constantin der Grosse, Hanover, and Lothringen collieries. In the districts of North and South Bochum 1,825 purely miners’ dwellings have been provided by the companies, the return varying from 2\ to 3 per cent. The rents range from £4 10s. to £6 per annum for two rooms with appurtenances, from £4 10s. to £7 10s. for three rooms, and from £6 to £9 for four rooms. A Building and Savings Society has also built 122 workmen’s dwellings in several parts of the town and suburbs. The rents are fixed as nearly as possible at cost price, and at present run as follows :—1st story, £3 17s. per room per annum ; 2nd story, £4 2s. : 3rd story. £3 17s. ; 4th story, £3 10s. The municipality has done little or nothing directly in regard to housing. It owns a number of tenements, but they are only intended for its workpeople, and their acquisition has been dictated by convenience rather than by benevolent motive. The rent varies from £4 to £4 10s. per room per annum, equal to from 4s. Id. to 5s. 2d. per week for a tenement of three rooms, though attic tenements of this size are let for less than 3s. per week. It is customary to reckou rent at Bochum at so many marks per room and year, and the rates vary not only as between the old town and the newly incorporated suburbs^ but also as between different parts of the town, and, a^ain, within the same building it varies according as the story is lower or hu her. The usual range may be taken as from 80 to 100 marks per room yearly in the old ton n, and fiom oO to 80 marks in the new municipal area. It will be undeistood, howe\er, that three rooms, as a rule, cost less proportionately than BOCHUM. 89 two. The following rents are for houses in private ownership only, and take no account of the large employers’ colonies. They are also based on returns obtained from the incorporated townships, where dwellings are cheaper, as well as from the old town :— Number of Rooms per Tenement. Predominant Weekly Rent. Two rooms . Three rooms 3s. to 3s. 9d. 3s. to 5s. M.* * The lower figure is often met in the suburbs, where three-roomed tenements are even more common than in the town. Rents in Berlin being taken as 100, the index number for Bochum is 57. Intimately connected with the rents of working-class dwellings, when comparison ­ is made between Germany and other countries, is the question of local taxation. The only direct tax which falls on the working class is the income tax. The State levies this tax on all incomes of 900 marks (£45) and upwards on a graduated scale, and the municipality levies a variable percentage of the tax for local purposes, this surtax being at the rate of 160 per cent, in 1904 and 190 per cent, in 1905. Thus persons in receipt of incomes between £45 and £105 paid the following direct taxes in the latter year :— Groups. Income. Amount of Tax per annum. State. Municipal. Total. £45 but not over £52 10s. Over £52 10s. but not over £60 „ £60 „ „ £67 10s. ,, £67 108. „ „ £75 „ £75 „ ,, £82 108. „ £82 108. „ „ £90 „ £90 „ „ £105 £ 8. d. 0 6 0 0 9 0 0 12 0 0 16 0 110 16 0 111 0 £ s. 0 11 0 17 1 2 W d. 5 1 10 5 19 11 9 5 18 11 £ 8. 0 17 1 1 2 3 d. 5 6 1 14 10 6 5 0 11 3 15 5 4 9 11 For local purposes, however, persons with a lower income than £45 are brought in. Up to 1905 incomes of from £21 to £33 per annum were nominally assessed at 2‘40 marks (2s. 4¡d.) and incomes between £33 and £45 at 4a., and were taxed accordingly at 190 per cent, of these amounts in that year. The exemption limit has now for local purposes been raised to £33. In 1904, 17,500 heads of households and individuals, representing 30,168 persons, were entirely exempted from State and local taxation, and 7,619 heads of households and individuals, representing 15,033 persons, were exempted from State taxation but for local purposes were assessed at 2s. 4 jd. and 4a. Of those who in the old town paid State income tax and the full local surtax in 1904 35*5 per cent, fell to Group No. 1 (incomes from £45 to £52 108.), 23'8 per cent, to No. 2, 10*9 per cent, to No. 3, and 6*9 per cent, to No. 4, making 77*1 per cent, assessed on incomes below £75 per annum. The corresponding percentages in the four incorporated parishes were as follows :— Assessed under group. Grumme. Hamme. Hofstede. Wiemelhausen. Old Bochum. No. 1 j, 2 » 4 Total under £75 18-6 31-6 36-0 4-6 90-8 245 30-8 26 7 8-7 907 29-0 33-0 25 5 3-0 905 24- 4 27 3 25- 4 5-6 82-7 25# GP 77/ For several years rents have been slowly increasing—more, however, in the town than in the suburbs—owing to the growth of population caused by the extension of the collieries and a dearth of dwellings. Quarterly tenancy is the local custom, and notice on either side must end with March, June 29088 M 40 BOCHUM. September or December. Rent ,is payable on the first day of the month or quarter, according to agreement, and whether it is paid in advance or not depends on circumstances. As a rule, the cost of water, of chimney sweeping, and of removing refuse is borne, in the first instance, by the landlord, though it comes upon the tenant either in or with the rent ; in many cases, however, these items are lumped in a separate monthly charge. In tenements of three and four rooms it is common for lodgers to be taken by way of relieving the rent. Where possible a room is let to two young men (or women, as the case may be) at a charge of irom 125. to 155. per month, inclusive of coffee and rolls for breakfast ; though if the room is furnished in superior style, I85. to 205. may be charged ; tor the other meals the lodgers make their own arrangements, and as a rule they are taken either at the works canteen or at an eating-house. Before rooms can be let to lodgers they must be approved by the police, who issue certificates, which must be displayed on the walls of the rooms so used. The rooms are visited by the police or other municipal officials at least once a year. No record is kept of the number of lodgers at any one time, but every year between 600 and 700 new certificates are issued, and between November 1st, 1901, and January, 1906, nearly 20,000 lodgers had been reported to the police. A system of general house inspection, on the other hand, has not as yet been introduced into Bochum. The Health Committee of the Corporation, the Building Bureau, and the police co-operate with a view to detecting insanitary conditions, and, where found, remedying them, but no regular visitation takes place. Retail Prices. Groceries and other Commodities. The working classes of Bochum are like those of similar towns everywhere in that the character of their labour in the mines and ironworks and their comparatively good earnings dispose them to live as well as possible. There are co-operative stores in connection with two large works, and another unattached store conducted as a purely working-class undertaking. The stores of the Bochum Verein have a nominal membership of 5,000, and they supply a large part of the groceries and other household requirements of the workpeople employed by this Company. The firm of Krupp has also a store for the benefit of the colliers who work its mines outside Bochum. In both cases the trading profits go to the members in the form of a yearly dividend. The Bochum and District Co-operative Society has a membership of over 1,300, but its turnover is disproportionately small. The Society sells only for cash, however, and the Bochum working-man prefers credit, and, indeed, is almost compelled to have it in many cases, where his wages are paid only fortnightly or monthly. But the German Co-operative Society, here as elsewhere, is not an aggressive institution. For this the regulations under which it is allowed to trade are largely responsible. The general principle is sale to members only, save in the case of commodities, like bread, which it actually produces, for these may be supplied to the outside public. This restriction stifles enterprise ; the shops of the Bochum Society are open only for two or three hours in the forenoon and an equal time in the afternoon. Thus the members know when they can be served, and if they should have needs at any other hour they have either to wait or to go elsewhere ; the reports of the Bochum Society, with their complaint of inadequate patronage for staple articles of consumption, seem to indicate that they do the latter. The prices charged by the co-operative stores are not, in general, lower than those of the private traders, though no bread in the town is cheaper than theirs. For the Polish and Italian workmen special grocers’ shops exist, in which their favourite foods can be obtained. In determining predominant prices, regard has been had to the large proportion ­ of working-class custom which falls to the two industrial co-operative stores referred to. In October, 1905, the predominant price of coffee was lid. per lb., though qualities as high in price as Is. Id. were sold. Loaf sugar cost 2Jd., and granulated 2d. to 2JJ. per lb. Fat bacon cost 8jd. per lb., and streaky bacon 9|J. Dutch and Limburg cheeses were the kinds most eaten, the former costing 8|d. to 9fd. per lb. and the latter 5hd. to 6^d., while BOCHUM. 91 Swiss cheese cost 11 d. or Is. The price of fresh “country” butter was from Is. Id. to Is. 2d. per lb., but a large amount of margarine was sold at from 6W. to 8jd. The bread trade was divided amongst the 170 private bakers and the co-operative societies. The Guild of Bakers regulates the price of bread sold by its members, altering the weight when there is any material fluctuation in the price of flour. Grey bread, made one-third of wheat and two-thirds of rye, is most commonly eaten by the working classes, and a 4-lb. loaf cost 5\d. In practice this bread is usually sold in Bochum in loaves of about 6^ to 8 lb. English weight, though smaller sizes are also baked. All wheat bread cost If A per lb., and was sold in loaves at 6d. and Is. Genuine “ black ” rye bread cost about Id. per lb. in the loaf, though in this bread there is considerable variety both in weight and price. It is commonly sold in slices, machine cut, and in that form cost in October, 1905, 1Jd. per lb. Milk cost 2fd. per quart, and potatoes 3d. per 7 lb. Coal was sold by retail traders at 8^d. per cwt., but the miners are supplied on special terms at the pits ; coke cost lid. per cwt. American petroleum is the illuminant chiefly used, and the price was 10(7. per gallon. Bochum is without public market halls, but markets for vegetables and fruit are held in the open in several parts of the town, either on Monday and Wednesday, Tuesday and Friday, or Saturday, according to locality. Much latitude is also allowed by the authorities to the small stall-holders who frequent odd corners and vacant spaces in quest of a livelihood. The following Table summarises prices as above stated for October, 1905, and gives for comparison the prices at the time of the investigator’s visit in September, 1906. The prices of the majority of the commodities show a slight rise :— Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October 1905, and September, 1906. Commodity. Coffee Sugar :— Loaf White Granulated Bacon :— Fat Streaky... Eggs Cheese :— .Dutch Limburg Swiss Butter Margarine Potatoes Flour (Household) Bread :— White (Wheaten) Grey Milk Coal Coke Paraffin Oil per lb. per Is. per lb. per 7 lb. per 4 lb. per quart per cwt. » per gallon Predominant Price. October, 1905. lid. 2\d. 2d. to 2\d. 8§d. 9# 14 to 17. 8# to 9M. 5\d. to 6^d. lid. to Is. Is. Id. to Is. 2d. GW. to 8fd. 3d. 10%d-6^d. to 7d. 5 W. 2|d. 8W. lid. lOd. September, 1906. lid. to Is. Id. 2\d. 2\d. to 2\d. 8§d. to 9§d 9fd. to lid. 11 to 12& 9# 5\d. to GWlid. to Is. Id. Is. 2\d. l%d. to 8fd, 2\d. 10|d. to 11W-GW- to Id. " 54d. 2# : 8W. lid. • lOd. Meat. The working classes of Bochum, or at least the more highly paid of them, are regarded by the butchers as amongst their best ■ customers. • Of butchers’ shops there are 120 in the town, representing 1 per 1,000 of the population, both urban and suburban. For the past few years no statistics have been prepared by the municipal authorities on the local meat consumption, but the latest estimate was from 123*2 to 127*6 lb. per head. It is not unlikely,»however, that the recent incorporation of four outlying parishes will have reduced the average. Such a consumption, however, would appear to be far in excess of that 29088 • M 2 92 BOCHUM. usual in working-class households. Returns of meat expenditure prepared for the present investigation by 62 families, comprising 326 persons, showed a consumption of 24‘28 oz. per head per week, equal to 78'92 lb. per annum. The working-man buys meat of good quality, and eats principally pork and beef. The consumption of pork and bacon alone formed, according to these returns, the high proportion of 43\3 per cent, of the whole, beef accounting for 26T per cent., and sausage 23 per cent. Pork has, however, the important merit that it cuts better, and with less waste, than other meat, besides giving as a by-product the much desired “ pork dripping,” which is a popular substitute for butter. Mutton is disregarded ; in the public abattoir only 1,494 sheep were slaughtered in 1904 against 10,815 cows and oxen, 7,056 calves, 35,234 pigs, and 572 horses and foals ; the only decrease as compared with the preceding year was in sheep, The meat eaten in Bochum comes largely from Westphalia, pork, veal, and mutton almost exclusively so ; the beef comes from Holstein and from Denmark after undergoing quarantine, though East Prussia supplies a little through the Berlin and Magdeburg markets. The retail price of beef in October, 1905, was 7£d. per lb. for most cuts, though steak cost 9|f/. to lldL Mutton cost from 7jd. to 8Jd., but chops generally cost lid. Veal cost 9gd. except shoulder without bone, which cost Is. 3\d. Pork ranged from 8£d. to 10^d. Sausage forms an important part of the flesh diet of the working classes. " Plock ” sausage and “ cervelat ” sausage are the kinds most eaten. The former is made in winter during the cold weather, and is ready for use in spring. It is a “ keeping ” sort, and cost Is. 3 d. per lb. “Cervelat” also keeps a long time, and cost Is. 5d. per lb. Both these sausages are made of pork with a small admixture of beef. “Eleisch” (literally meat) sausage is similarly made, but does not keep ; it cost 9^d. per lb. “ Mett ” sausage, made of pork only, cost Is. Cheaper kinds of sausage are “ liver,” at 6|¡d., “ blood ’ (made of pig’s blood and bacon) 5^d., and “ Binder ” sausage made of lungs, <fcc., 3^d. The following Table summarises the prices paid by the working classes for meat in October, 1905, and at the time of the investigator’s visit. The prices of nearly all meats had risen during the year by Id. to 1 \d. per lb. Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and September, 1906. Description of Cut. Shin Beef :— Ribs ... ... .. Silverside ... ( with bone ( without bone .. Steak ... ... .. Flank Mutton :— Leg ... ... * « Shoulder Breast ... Neck ... ... .< Chops (trimmed) Veal :— Hind Quarter ... Shoulder < with b0M Loin Shin Pork :— Leg Fore Loin Belly Spare Rib Chops ... ( without bone Predominant Price per lb. October, 1905. 7d. 7&d. 7# to 7|d. 7f to 8£d. 9£d. to 11c?. 7£d. 8£d. 8fd. to 8fd. 7fc?. to 8£d. 7%d. lid. 9|d. 9¿d. Is. 34d. 9£d. 8|d. to 9|d. 8£d. to 10fd. 9fd. 8§d. 8|d. to 9|d. lid. September, 1906. 84d. 8§d. 8# to 8£d. -9|d. lid. 8£d. 9£d. to 9|d. 9|d. to 9|d. 8fd. . 8gd. lid. to Is Id. lid. 9|d. to lid Is. 4\d. lid. lid. lid. to is. 9fd. to 9|d lid. lid. to Is. j O i BOCHUM. 93 The trade in horse flesh is considerable and increases. It is in the hands of three special butchers, one of whom also keeps a restaurant in which horse meat only is sold, a liberal portion costing 3d. with potatoes ; two animals are consumed weekly in this way. The usual price of horseflesh is 4\d. to 5J d. per lb., with 6¿d. for fillet. Chopped meat for "beef steak” and for eating raw costs 5^d. } and sausage 4\d. to 6jd. per lb., the latter quality having an addition of pork. Buyers commonly take from 2 to 3 lb. at once, according to the size of the family, but twice the quantity at the week end. The horses are all killed at the public abattoir and come from the mines and from the agricultural districts. A well regulated horse butcher’s shop is quite as attractive in fittings is one for the sale of beef or pork, and its marble slabs and tiled walls are no less clean, though the strong and pungent odour that is apt to pervade the place may unfavourably prejudice a first acquaintance. Prices of food at Bochum are at about the same general level as in Berlin, the index number for groceries and dairy produce being 102, and for meat 103, prices at Berlin being represented by 100. Coal is, of course, very much cheaper in Bochum than in Berlin, the index number here being 58, and this low figure has the effect of reducing the general prices index number to 96. Dortmund, Breslau and Königshütte are the only towns covered by this investigation in which the prices index number is as low as or lower than 96. The index number for rents and prices combined is 88. * ' .L r : V nowr o . if .."ï 77; i> r .7 17 i 94 BREMEN. The historic Hansa City of Bremen is a State as well as a municipality, for though Bremen parted with its independence in customs matters in 1888 it has retained its political independence, and its government is still the limited republican form under which it has lived for so many centuries. Though Bremen is famous as a maritime trading town, it lies 75 miles distant from the open sea, and 37^ miles from its harbour, Bremerhaven, with which it is connected ­ by the river Weser. The entire area of the State territory is 63,357 acres (about 99 square miles), of which 13,178 acres fall to the town of Bremen proper, 173 acres to the small town of Vegesack, 2,172 acres to Bremerhaven, 47,000 acres to a number of villages lying on both sides of the Weser, and 833 acres to the river bed. The town itself has been extended six times since 1848 r the last extensions (of 1901-2) taking in the villages of Walle, Gröpelingen, Hastedt, Schwachhausen, and Woltmershausen, with an area of 7,478 acres. The whole of the adjacent country lies low and but little above the.sea level, and banks have had to be constructed outside Bremen as a protection against the river floods. At the census of December, 1905, the State of Bremen had a population of 259,433, and the town one of 211,931. The modern growth of Bremen has been marked by no such startling leaps as have been experienced by some German towns more closely identified with industry, but its history has since 1871 been a history of steady and healthy progress. The following Table shows the movement of the towns’ population during the intercensal periods since 1871 Year, Population. Intercensal Increase. Increase Per Cent. 1871 1875 1880 1885 1890 1895 1900 1905 82,969 102,499 111,940 118,043 124,955 141,133 161,184 211,931 19,530 9,441 6,103 6,912 16,178 20,051 50,747 23 5 92 5'5 59 12 9 142 315 The increase during the period 1900-1905 was enhanced by the incorporation ­ in 1902 of townships having a population of 21,940. The population of the whole State increased from 112,402 in 1871 to 156,723 in 1880, 180,443 in 1890, 224,882 in 1900, and 259,433 in 1905. The increase of population in recent years has been confined to the suburbs, for in the older districts, the “ Old Town ” and the “Hew Town,” a gradual decline has for a long time been in progress owing to the conversion of dwelling houses into business premises and the clearances made for the erection of public buildings. The “ Old Town,” indeed, reached its highest figure in 1842, since when it has more and more taken the “ City” character, and the 26,372 inhabitants of that year fell to 18,088 in 1905. So, too, the “ New Town ” had in 1905 13,708 inhabitants against 15,070 in 1895, when its highest population ­ was recorded. It is noteworthy that of Bremen’s population in December, 1900, 54*3 per cent, were born in the town. Like Hamburg, Bremen was crippled as an industrial centre so long as it did not form part of the German Customs Union, for goods produced within or imported into the City Republic were dutiable directly they crossed the adjacent frontiers of Prussia or Oldenburg. Since 1888, however, the industrial importance of Bremen has rapidly increased, and the State authorities are doing their utmost, by the extension of the existing harbours and docks, to attract capital and enterprise to the town. The census of December, 1900, showed that 45'6 per cent, of the population were engaged in industry, 36*7 per cent, in trade and commerce (including domestic service), 2*2 per cent, in agriculture and gardening, while the remaining 15*5 per cent, represented the official, professional, and leisured classes. The local industries include shipbuilding, which is also carried on at Bremerhaven, Geestemünde, and Vegesack ; engineering works, corn and rice milling, jute spinning and weaving, wool combing and washing, tobacco and cigar manufactures, beer brewing and spirit distilling, oil mills, small chemical works, timber yards, and the manufacture of sails, rope, and ships’ tackle. In the jute factories are many Poles and foreigners, chiefly women. BREMEN. 95 While, however, Bremen is seeking its fortunes more and more in industrial undertakings, for the present its reputation rests, as in the past, upon its shipping trade. Several great steamship lines have their headquarters ­ here, the most notable being the North German Lloyd, and Bremen’s mercantile marine numbered in 1905 629 vessels with a registered tonnage of 695,796, including 390 steamships with a tonnage of 517,211, while the entire mercantile marine of the Weser numbered 906 vessels with a tonnage of 762,679, including 491 steamships with a tonnage of 551,931. In that year 4,784 ships carried merchandise seawards from the Weser harbour and 4,335 came in, the outgoing tonnage being 3,456,045, the incoming tonnage 3,350,198. Of the incoming ships 1,909, or 44 per cent, (representing ­ 1^ per cent, of the tonnage), were from German ports, and 677, or 15*6 per cent, (representing 12*3 per cent, of the tonnage), were from British ports. The bulk of Bremen’s import trade is restricted to a few articles, but of several of these it handles more than any other Continental port. Its imports of cotton in 1905 had a value of ¿B 19,915,000, of wool £5,699,000, of corn and flour £4,608,000, of tobacco and cigars £2,929,000, of rice £1,383,000, and of timber £972,000 ; other articles largely imported are rice, coffee, cork, indigo, and petroleum. The value of Bremen’s entire imports in 1905 was £67,062,940, and of its exports £63,612,210. Bremen is also the principal emigration port of Germany, and in 1905, no fewer than 186,856 persons—the great majority being foreigners—were conveyed by the several shipping lines engaged in this trade on the Weser. Bremen’s shipping facilities include a large customsfree harbour, 2,166 yards long by 130 yards wide, situated in a customs-free area 225 acres in extent ; timber and factory docks, 1,625 yards long by 87 yards wide ; and a projected industrial and commercial harbour, for the export industry especially, which will be constructed adjacent to the river and as near to the town as possible, will consist of a long basin with five docks from 368 to 1,190 yards long. Among the public services owned and managed by the municipality are the water works, gas works, and electricity works, but the tramways are in private hands. The extensive harbours and docks at Bremen, Vegesack and Bremerhaven belong to the State of Bremen. Bremen gives the impression of a well-toido commercial town. Although there has been much rebuilding during recent years, especially in the centre, the past and its memorials have been respected. The old Merchants’ Guild House (now used by the Chamber of Commerce), the Gewerbehaus or Industrial Hall (originally the Cloth Hall, or home of the Guild of Cloth Merchants), the Rathaus or Town Hall, and the old Corn House are among the monuments of Bremen’s great days as a Hansa City, and other relics of the past are seen in the half-timber-work buildings, primitive in structure and dilapidated within and without, which still stand in busy streets. The aspect of many of the streets, in the " New Town ” especially, is made picturesque by the diversity of their architecture. Old and new houses of various styles and sizes alternate, most of them consisting of one or two stories, and nearly all being roofed with red tiles. At Bremen’s very door one comes across thatched cottages and in the centre of the town windmills are preserved in working order, though more for ornament than utility. Though the town has both an " Old” and a " New down, the areas so described only contain 15 per cent, of the total population, nor does the “New Town” represent modern Bremen, which must rather be sought in the suburbs. The Weser intersects the town, cutting off the “ New Town ” and several other wards from the rest of the municipal area, but the population ­ across the river only forms 23 per cent, of the whole. There are a few factories in the town, but more characteristic of Bremen s commercial position are the “Packhäuser” or warehouses which line the river banks, tall brick buildings rising to a height of five and even seven stories. These warehouses are in part used for cotton, tobacco, wool and rice, but the bulk of Bremen’s merchandise is stored at the various docks. Most of the streets are narrow, save in the suburos, where space has not oeen economised so rigidly, but small parks and (areas either planted with trees or laid out as gardens) are not wanting. The only areas that suggest congestion are the "Gänge” or passages* which are a peculiarity of Bremen, * See infra, " Housing and Rents.” BREMEN. yet if the houses here stand thick on the ground they seldom rise beyond a single story. Everywhere the streets are clean and wholesome, though the irregular setts with which they are paved make rough going in most parts. Perhaps no German town bears so close a resemblance to an English town in its general housing arrangements as Bremen, for the one-family house is here predominant. Of late years houses intended for two and three families have, it is true, become common, yet at the last census (December, 1905), the average number of households per inhabited building was only 1*78, a lower figure than is recorded by any other large German town. The terraces of houses—each with a small garden in front—in which the middle classes live, and the rows of one or two story cottages occupied and often owned by working people, are equally characteristic of the town, and give to an English visitor home suggestions which he will probably derive nowhere else in Germany. Thanks to its situation, to good administration, and possibly also to its housing conditions, Bremen has a favourable health record. Its death rate in 1905 was 16 5 per 1,000 of the population. The death rate from pulmonary consumption in 1905 was 1*8 per 1,000 of the population, and the rate of mortality from tuberculosis in general was 2*5 per 1,000. The rate of infant mortality in 1905 was 179 per 1,000 births. Like most German towns Bremen has a declining birth-rate ; the rate in 1905 was 29*8 per 1,000 of the population against 31*1 in 1901. The following Table gives the birth and death-rates and the infantile mortality for a series of years :— Year. Birth-rate per 1,000 of Population. Death-rate per 1,000 of Population. Infantile Mortality per 1,000 Births. 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 311 309 30-9 30*8 29*8 17*6 16 5 16-3 16 9 16*5 158 144 160 170 179 It may be noted that the Bremen Association for Combating Consumption has established a day sanatorium upon a rural estate in the neighbourhood, and it is specially open to members of the General Local Sick Fund. The patients attend at 9 a.m. and remain at the sanatorium until 7.0 p.m., when they are sent back to Bremen by tramway at the expense of the Sick Fund. Systematic endeavours are also being made to diminish infant mortality by an “ Association for the Protection of Mothers and Children,” which takes care of mothers during confinement, and maintains a home and " kitchens ” for children. Among other notable institutions existing for the special benefit of the working-classes is the Legal Advice Agency conducted by the Citizens’ Association. In 1905 this agency gave advice and information on 10,166 subjects to 9,227 inquirers. During the same year the Social Democratic Workmen’s Secretariate gave advice and information on 13,000 subjects to 10,046 applicants. In general the working classes appear to enjoy a favourable standard of life. The one-family house system gives the workman a convenient backyard ­ with outbuildings, which he can use for pigs or fowls, and in this way the household diet is often made more substantial at little extra cost. One working man visited by the investigator, a carpenter, who lived in his own cottage and had a stye at the back, said that his three pigs cost £13 when fed up, and when killed he had 616 lb. of meat, which he used at home. At the current price of pork and bacon this meat was worth 10<A per lb. and it had cost less than half that sum to produce. So, too, for the same practical reason, the workman is often an allotment gardener. Outside the town many acres of land have been parcelled up for use in this way. Sunday is the chief gardening day of the week, but employers sometimes complain that the men work in their allotments early in the morning and tire themselves before arriving at the factory. The Bremen w orkman lives well and saves if he can,” is the verdict passed upon the providence of the wage-earner. However he may live, the workman certainly saves, and this characteristic is particularly exemplified by the large number of working class house owners, a phase of Bremen life to which reference is made in the account of housing conditions. In addition a considerable amount of money is deposited in the two Savings Banks. BREMEN. 97 Occupations, Wages, and Hours of Labour. The principal industry on the Weser is shipbuilding, but this industry is less carried on nowadays at Bremen than at Bremerhaven and Geestemünde, nearer the sea. At Bremerhaven are the large shipbuilding yards of the Seebeck and Rickmers companies, at Geestemünde is that of the firm of Tecklenborg, while nearer Bremen are the Weser yard at Gröpelingen and the Vulcan yard at Vegesack. These firms employ together more than six thousand men, and the industry is steadily growing, insomuch that several companies stated early in 1907 that they could not procure sufficient skilled labour. On the other hand it is alleged that the progress of the industry is hindered by the frequency of labour disputes. Shipbuilding belongs to Germany’s younger industries ; on the Weser it can hardly be said to have got upon its feet as yet, and employers complain that their workmen have not “ lived into ” the industry, and that their restlessness discourages enterprise. Next in importance to shipbuilding are the engineering works, of which there are many, both large and small. Corn and rice milling employs many hundreds of workpeople, and one of the largest industrial concerns in the district is the wool combing factory at Blumenthal, with over 1,200 employees. The following statement shows the number of establishments ranking as “factories” in the Free State area, and the number of their workpeople in the principal industries, in 1906. As showing the industrial development of Bremen, Bremerhaven, and Vegesack during recent years, it may be stated that while at the close of 1879 there were 169 industrial undertakings, with 5,800 workpeople of both sexes, subject to inspection, there were 898 such undertakings employing 16,562 workpeople in 1899, and 1,007 undertakings with 23,939 workpeople in 1905. In 1906 1,127 establishments employing 26,173 workpeople (20,596 adult males, 4,386 adult females, and 1,191 juveniles), were subject to inspection in the State area. The principal industries were :— Groups of Trades. Number of Establishments. ­ Number of Workpeople. Males over 16 years. Females over 16 years. JuvenTes 14 to 16 years. Children under 14 years. Total. Metal working Machine, implement, and apparatus ­ making. Textiles ... ... ... ... Clothing and cleaning Printing, lithography, bookbinding, ­ &c. Woodworking and carving Resins, varnishes, oil, soap, candles, &c. Stone and earth ... ... .. Food, drink, and tobacco Miscellaneous T otal ... ... ... 74 61 17 305 67 131 21 18 380 53 1,127 2,681 8,587 671 249 888 2,269 1,390 554 2,727 580 13 9 1,329 1,749 346 289 69 7 486 89 20,596 4,386 195 354 92 167 112 143 5 13 56 53 1,190 2,889 8,950 2,093 2,165 1,346 2,701 1,464 574 3,269 722 26,173 Bremen has a large number of seasonal labourers who come in the spring or early summer, and disappear towards the end of the year. Among them are brick makers, bricklayers and painters, herring fishers, and many unskilled labourers, the last named coming from the East of Prussia and dividing themselves between agriculture and outdoor labour in the streets, docks, and factories. It is this class of unsettled workers which swells the number of Bremen’s lodger population. The working classes of Bremen are well organised, and this fact no doubt explains the pertinacity with which the labour associations are pressing on the employers the conclusion of wages agreements. Already most of the building trades are embraced by these agreements, and the movement also applies to some extent to industries which rank as. factory and workshop industries within the meaning of the Imperial Industrial Code. In 1905, no less than 11*1 per cent, of all the “ industrial ” workpeople of Bremen, as 290* i N 98 BREMEN. enumerated by the Factory Inspector, were employed subject to wages agreements. They included 825 workmen in breweries, 1,110 employed in printing and lithographic establishments, 657 locksmiths and fitters, and 61 workmen employed in manufactories of heating apparatus. FTo wages agreements have been concluded in the heavy trades. The usual hours of. labour are 10 or 10^ daily. There is amongst the organised workmen a strong agitation in favour of a reduction to 9 hours, but Bremen’s somewhat isolated position as an industrial town is prejudicial to its success, and concessions made in this respect are sporadic and isolated. It is the almost universal rule to dispense with notice on either side, employers especially preferring, under existing circumstances, to enter into no binding obligations as to the period of service, so that workpeople can be discharged, or can cease work, any day. From the workpeople’s standpoint this loose arrangement ­ is less desirable, since so many of them are householders. Wages are paid either weekly or fortnightly, according to the industry. There has been a steady, if slow, rise in wages during the last few years, and it is estimated that in general the advance has been quite 10 per cent, since 1898. At the same time, the cost of living has greatly increased, partly because of the abolition of free imports within the Free State of Bremen, and partly because of the higher imperial taxation, and it is generally allowed that the advantage of higher wages has in this way been altogether neutralised. In the shipbuilding yards it is customary to set new men to work on time rates, and they continue on this basis for some weeks, every man being paid according to his capacity. The rate is revised from time to time, and only later is payment by piece introduced. As a rule four days of the week are worked on piece and two days on time rates, the former being about 30 per cent, higher than the latter. Sixty hours work per week are universal in this industry. The wages of skilled men range from 23s. to 27s. and of labourers from 18s. to 22s. In the engineering works skilled men earn from 25s. to 30s. and labourers from 18s. to 21s. In the saw mills and timber yards machine-men earn from 24s. to 27s. 6<i. and labourers 24s. In the corn, rice, and starch mills the predominant rate of wages is 24s. per week, while pressers in the oil mills receive from 24s. to 25s. 10d. Wages in the building trades are for the most part regulated by agreements, and the hours of labour in summer are 54 weekly. It is possible to give comparative rates of wages in one branch of the wood-working industry covering ­ a series of years. The return relates to a large joinery establishment employing machine power. From 1888 to 1890 the working day consisted of 10 hours and since 1890 of 9 hours :— Record of Daily Wages Paid in a Bremen Joinery Establishment from 1888^1904. Year. 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 Adults. Highest Daily Rate of Wages. S. d. 3 44 3 6) 3 4% 3 6 3 101 3 11 4 ; 3 7 91 Lowest Daily Rate of Wages. s. d. 2 0 2 11 2 4 3 0 2 6 41 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 4q 3 81 3 8 3 44 3 6 3 91 ä* 8 3 J uveniles. Highest Daily Rate of Wages. S. d. ? ¡ 2 111 1 1 1 2 1 1 I 7 II Lowest Daily Rate of Wages. s. d. f ê i 0 ? 4 4 n BREMEN. 99 Coming to miscellaneous industries and trades, wool-sorters receive from 20s. to 25s. weekly, wool-combers, 18s. to 19s. 2d., brewers, 29s., brewers’ bottlers and cellarmen, 24s., and brewers’ assistants and draymen, 25s. ; and bakers receive for 74 hours’ work 24s. and 22s. as first and second men respectively, these rates including 12s. charged as the equivalent of board and lodging, for the living-in system is general. In the printing trades the agreement rate for compositors, machine minders, and pressmen is 25s. 11(7., utb the actual rate paid is usually higher. The jute spinning and weaving industry is carried on almost entirely by female labour, but the best paid men receive 24s. to 80s., and ordinary labourers receive 15s. for a week of 60 hours. Ropemakers earn from 24s. to 24s. Id. for 66 hours. There is a considerable cigar industry in the town, but the, work done in the factories consists for the most part of sorting and packing, and the actual work of manufacture is done where labour is cheaper. Working by piece, sorters can earn from 19s. to 25s. per week of 60 hours and in exceptional cases even more. The municipality has retained in its hands all the usual public services, with the exception of the tramway system, which is worked by a Company, though a good deal of the municipality’s carting is done by contractors on yearly agreements. The rates of wages paid by the municipality depend on the years of service. The following were the predominant rates of wages in the principal trades and industries in October, 1905 :— Weekly Wages Weekly Honrs of Labour. Building Trades (agreement rates)* Bricklayers Carpenters Joiners ... Plumbers Glaziers ... Roofers ... Fitters ... Stucco-workers, in workshops „ on buildings Labourers Shipbuilding and Boiler-making Angle-iron Smiths Boilersmiths Ri vetters Caulkers Holders-up Boilersmith’s Labourers Other Labourers Engineering Trades :— Moulders Fitters ... Turners ... Smiths ... Patternmakers Labourers Textile Trades ;— Woolsorters Woolcombers ... Jute Weavers (Better men) Other Jute Workers ... Ropemakers Printing Trades:— Compositors, Machine-minders, and Pressmen. ­ Machine Compositors—News „ „ Jobbing Bookbinders 38s. 9d. 33s. 9d. 27s. 6(7. 29s. 8d. 24s. 4d. 33s. 9d. 23s. 3d. 33s. Id. 35s. Id. 25s. 8(7. 24s. to 26s. 6(7. 25s. to 27s. 23s. „ 27s. 16s. to 22s. 10(7. 18s. „ 19s. 10(7. 18s. to 23s. 18s. „ 22s. 24s. to 25s. 25s. „ 27s. 26s. „ 30s. 25s. „ 33s. 22s. 10(7. to 24 s. 18s. to 21s. 20s. to 25s. 18s. to 19s 2(7. 24s. to 30s. 15s. 24s. to 24s. 7(7. 25 s. 11(7. 32s. 4(7. 33s. 8(7. 22s. to 25s. 54 54 54 54 54 54 54 54 54 54 60 60 60 60 60 60 60, 60 60 60 60' 00 6Ò 60 66 60 60 60 54 48 54 54 "The wages and hours of labour stated for the building trades are for a full week in summer. 29088 N 8 100 BREMEN. Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours of Labour. Food, Drink, âc., Trades :— Bakers, first men ' „ second men ... „ third men Brewers Brewers’ Bottlers and Gellarmen „ Assistants and Draymen Corn Mills—Roller men , Under Millers ... „ Ordinary Millers „ Granary men Rice and Starch Mills—Millers „ „ Coopers .. .. Labourers Wood Industries :— Machine Sawyers, Planers, and Groovers Block Cutters ... Sawmill Labourers Coopers in Oil Mills ... „ Rice and Starch Mills Harbour and Docks :— Stevedores and Longshoremen General Labourers Miscellaneous Industries and Trades Oils Mills—Oil Pressers „ Coopers „ General Labourers „ unskilled hands ... Wood Carriers (agreement) ... Carters ... Earthenware Workers.. 24s.* 22s.* 19s.* 29s. 24s. 25s. 27s. 25s. 6(7. 24s. 21s. 7d. 24s. 29s. 20s. 25s. to 27s. 6(7. 24s. to 25s. 24s. 27s. to 28s. 6(7. 29s. 27s. 22s. 6(7. to 25s. 2(7. 24s. to 25s. 10(7. 27s. to 28s. 6(7. 25s. 2(7. 18s. to 21s. 24s. 23s. 6(7. to 24s. 22s. to 24s. 74 74 74 60 60 60 72| 57 57 57-60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 584-63 58&-63 60 60 60 60 60 60 57 Including 12s. as the equivalent of board and lodging, t Including time taken for meals at work. The following were the rates of wages paid at the same date to employees of the Municipality and the Tramway Company :— Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours of Labour. Road Maintenance and Gleaning :— Foremen * Paviors and Roadmakers Paviors’ Labourers Roadsweepers ... Carters (work done by Contract) Gasworks :— Foremen Foremen’s Assistants .. Stokers ... Yard Labourers Waterworks :— Labourers Electric Power and Light Works :— Enginemen ... ... ... Stokers ... ... ... ... Fitters and Installers Tramways (private) :— Drivers ... Conductors 24s. 25s. 8(7. 22s. 10(7. 21s. 24s. 38s. 6(7. to 57s. 8(7. 34s. 7(7. „ 51s. 11(7. 30s. 10(7. „ 34s. 4(7. 22s. „ 25s. 22s.to 25s. 30s. 9(7. to 42s. 4(7. 30s. „ 33s. 28s. „ 31s. 24s. 3(7. to 26s. 6(7. 22s. to 24s. 3(7. 57 57 57 57 63 60 56 56 60 60 56 56 60 The wages index numbers for Bremen are as follows, the corresponding figures for Berlin in each case being 100 :—Building trades, skilled men, 89, labourers, 100 ; engineering trades, skilled men, 79, labourers, 89 ; printing trades, 92. BREMEN. 101 An interesting light was thrown upon the earnings of manual workers in Bremen by the Municipal Commission which investigated the housing conditions ­ of the poorer classes in 1904. The incomes of 939 families were tabulated, and it was found that in 55*5 per cent, of the cases the earnings of the head of the family were not supplemented by earnings of wife or children, in 14 7 per cent, of the cases the wife earned, in 26*5 per cent, the children earned, and in 3*2 per cent, both wife and children earned. The total family income, including profits from lodgers, fell into the following groups :— Yearly Income. £30 and under From £30 to £40 „ £40 „ £50 „ £50 „ £60 » £60 „ £75 „ £75 „ £100 Over £100 Number of Families. 106 95 230 206 159 90 53 939 Percentage of the whole. 113 10-1 246 219 16-9 9-6 5*6 100-0 Housing and Rents. The fact has already been noted that the historical type of dwelling-house in Bremen is the single-family house, and this holds good, within limits, for rich and poor alike. Fewer working-class families, it is true, live in houses of this class than formerly, yet Bremen still continues to be essentially a town of small buildings ; though the four or five-story house has made its appearance it is an alien introduction, and is stamped as such by its isolated and incongruous position amongst the mass of lowlier structures. How slight is the progress made in Bremen by the modern large house, dominant elsewhere in Germany, will be seen from the following table showing the number of households per building and the number of persons per building at various periods from 1871 onward :— Year. Number of Households per Inhabited Building. 1871 1875 1880 1885 1890 1895 1900 1905 137 1-44 145 153 1-59 164 1-68 1-78 Number of Persons per Inhabited Building. 66 6-8 6- 9 7- 2 7-5 7-6 7-6 7-9 While the number of inhabitants per building has increased during the last 30 years, the increase is much less than that which has occuired in towns in which the barrack-house predominates. There are fewei inhabitants per bouse in Bremen than in any “ large town towns with a population of 100 000) in Germany ; in 1900 Crefeld came nearest to Bremen’s average of 7*6 persons per house with 13*96, and the next lowest figures were 15*82 in Cologne, 16*97 in Strassburg, and 17*44 in Aachen. It is noticeable that where the State of Bremen is susceptible to Prussian influence, viz., at Bremerhaven, the one-family house is the exception. In this town the number of households per building was 4*16 in 1905, and the number of inhabitants per building 20*1, against 2*79 and 14*7 respectively in 1871. At Lehe, across the Prussian frontier, the large house is supreme. The fact cannot be overlooked, however, that it becomes increasingly difficult to preserve the single-family house except on such a scale as to size and cost as only people of means can afford, and that houses for tne accommodation of two and three families are nowadays built more and more. Nevertheless, in 102 BREMEN. 1900 more than half the houses in Bremen (52’5 per cent.) were still one-family houses. The largest proportion occurred in the five suburbs last incorporated, viz., 65T per cent., while the proportion of one-family houses in the New Town was 63 8 per cent. It is noteworthy, too, that a majority of these one-family houses were owned by their occupiers. Incidentally the tradition of the town has prevented the growth on any large scale of the professional house proprietor who lives on the difference between his rents and the interest he pays to the mortgage bank for borrowed money. For this reason the “house agent” or vice-landlord,” as he is called in Hamburg, is almost unknown in Bremen. Perhaps no German town has a greater diversity of dwelling-houses than Bremen, and save that the single-family house predominates it is impossible to speak of any types of architecture as specially distinctive. (a) The simplest and most primitive form of the single-family house is a low building of one story, with high pitched roof, allowing of attic rooms, yet without cellar except in the more modern representatives of this type. (b and c) Two modifications of this dwelling have basement stories, the floors of which are about a yard below the level of the street, on which account the ground floor is approached by a flight of stone or concrete steps. The basement story often forms a distinct dwelling, approached by separate entrance from a front garden or from the corridor within. In any case there is again a spacious attic lighted by skylights ­ or by a dormer window. Many of these attics in the earlier houses are approached from the corridor by open steps, and even by ladders, and they are often unceiled and unplastered. (d) A further modification consists of the building out of a portion of the attic, either to the front or back, so that a window takes the place of the. skylight, and good rooms can be arranged. (e, /, and g) The next form consists of the simple addition of a story, subject to which modification types a, b and c are almost exactly repeated. Where these two-story houses accommodate two families, which is generally the case in buildings inhabitated by working-class households, the upper story is always approached from the common corridor, except in the case of an unusual type of house (h) which has two street doors side by side, one for each dwelling, and here the dwellings are entirely distinct, (i) This type of house is also found with three stories. (J) To these types of dwellings, which may be regarded as native to Bremen, must be added the large multiple house common throughout Germany, in which two families live on each floor, but this is here an exotic. The great majority of the working classes live in dwellings containing two or three rooms, with a kitchen. At the census of 1900 the whole of the dwellings in the town were classified as follows :—One room, with or without kitchen, 3'8 per cent. ; two rooms, with kitchen extra, 26’8 per cent. ; three rooms, with kitchen, 26T per cent. ; four rooms, with kitchen, 17’6 per cent. ; five rooms, with kitchen, 8'7 per cent. ; six rooms and over, with kitchen, 17 percent. Of 3,217 married workpeople interrogated on the subject in 1902 227, or 7'0 per cent, lived in dwellings consisting of one room, with kitchen ; 1,550, or 48T per cent, in dwellings of two rooms, with kitchen ; 985, or 30’6 per ’cent., in dwellings of three rooms, with kitchen ; 362, or 112 per cent., in dwellings of four rooms, with kitchen ; and 93, or 3"0 per cent, in dwellings of five rooms, with kitchen. Almost invariably the street door leads into a corridor, which either goes through to the back yard, in which case it is only three or four feet wide, or is divided in the middle, so that the second half serves as a kitchen, in which case the width is greater. Should the house be a single-family house with attic, two rooms at most will be found downstairs, and many of the earlier houses have only one room below besides the kitchen. If there are two rooms one will generally he reserved as the “good room,” or parlour—an apartment held in high honour in Bremen working-class homes—and the second will serve as a bedroom. In a room upstairs beds will also be found, with lumber for which there is no place below. This room, which is reached by simple wooden stairs, from the corridor or kitchen, is often open from wall to wall ; but where the family is numerous or grown up, it may be roughly divided into two sections. While a separate kitchen is regarded as essential to even the smallest dwelling, its proportions are as a rule very modest, and 6 feet square is a very common size. BREMEN. 103 There are whole streets of these small one-family cottages in Bremen, alike in the old districts and the new, and they give to the town so clear an impress that comparison with other German towns is impossible. In the streets of quite modern construction, houses intendel for two families are more common ; but the size of the tenements and the general scheme of the rooms are much the same as in the older houses. Here, too, the street door opens into a corridor, beyond which lies the kitchen, which either gives access to the back yard, or, if the house have a basement, to a balcony. The two or three living and bedrooms run through from front to back, the " good room ” facing the street, and the centre room, should one exist, being, as before, lighted from the corridor, though the existing building regulations proscribe this room. On the upper floor there is one room extra above the corridor, making a tenement of three or four small rooms and a kitchen. Occasionally the rooms alongside the corridor, both upstairs and downstairs, are intercommunicable. Should there be an attic the space is divided between the tenants, and the same applies to the cellar where it exists. A double house of this type cost its owner £439, though now worth more, and its two tenements were let for £12 10s. each per annum. Where there is a basementstory its rooms may form a separate tenement, or they may be allotted to the tenements above. It is not uncommon for a tenant on the ground floor to have his kitchen in the basement, and here may at times be found a wash-house which serves for all the house. In one house of the kind visited £6 10s. per annum was paid for a basement tenement consisting of a living-room, a kitchen, and a dark pantry ; and in another £8 15s. was paid for two rooms and kitchen below and a room above. The conveniences are found within the house or in the backyard, according to the age of the property. The following are the proportions of rooms in typical two-story houses of modern date :—" Good room ” or parlour, 12 feel 6 inches deep, 10 feet 9 inches wide, and 10 feet 6 inches high ; large bedroom, same measurement ; small bedroom, 10 feet 9 inches by 6 feet 6 inches by 10 feet 6 inches ; kitchen, 7 feet 10 inches by 7 feet 10 inches by 10 feet 6 inches. Many of the houses in these modern working-class streets have small gardens in front and not uncommonly verandahs as well, in both respects imitating the one-family houses of the middle classes. The usual building material is either good red or yellow brick or common brick plastered and painted a light colour. A peculiarity of the housing of Bremen are the “ Gänge "or" Passages ” found both in the Old or Hew Towns, but principally in the latter, where the more primitive and more dilapidated of the “ Passages ’’ are found. Some of the " Passages ” consist of double rows of cottages, and others are built in single rows, the windows of one row looking on the back walls of the next, and invariably they are very narrow, 5 feet being no uncommon width. Occasionally a " Passage " is reached from a street which is in itself not much wider than a " Passage," or in architecture superior to it. Thus Great Krummen Street leads into “Small Krummen Street,” and out of "Small Krummen Street” issue several typical "Passages,” one of them being 5 feet wide, though consisting of a double row of cottages. Some of the Passages are blind alleys, while others are connecting links between parallel streets ihe houses in these "Passages” are nearly all single-family houses, and, being back to back, the conditions of light and ventilation are not favourable, though they Would be much more unhealthy than they are, except foi the fact that most of the buildings are low. _ , . . . , , The fabric is of brick or half-timber work, and, as a rule, is in an advanced state of decay. The internal arrangements are, for the most part, primitive in the extreme. The door leads into a space which is neither corridor nor kitchen yet which serves for both. On the other side of the ground floor will be found a living-room (sometimes dignified by the name “good room ) and a bedroom, seldom well lighted—not only because neighbours houses are only a lew feet away, but because the rooms are low and the windows proportionately small. Upstairs, beneath a high-pitched roof, is the attic, bare to the ti es, and serving as a spare bedroom and general store place. In the larger of these ‘ Passage houses the three lateral room arrangement already referred to (the middle room lighted from the corridor or kitchen) sometimes prevails, and the attic is divided into two apartments. The water supply is outside in the Passage, and one 104 BREMEN. tap serves many households. Here, too, the privy arrangements are very defective, being found sometimes in the attic (on the pan system) and sometimes ­ in a boxed-off corner of the corridor. Typical measurements of “ Passage ” house rooms are as follows :—Living-room, 9 feet 6 inches long, 11 feet wide, 9 feet high ; downstairs bedroom, 11 feet 6 inches by 8 feet 2 inches by 9 feet y kitchen, 8 feet 2 inches by 6 feet 6 inches by 9 feet, the last measurements applying likewise to “ middle ” bedrooms. The rents vary according to the size and state of repair, but the majority range from os. to 8&. 9d. per week. One consequence of the Bremen small house is the smallness of the rooms, for the Bremen working class household holds firmly to the tradition that a dwelling should consist of a living room, a kitchen, and bedrooms, and that these rooms should not, save at need, be used promiscuously. Hence it is that three and four-room dwellings predominate. While thus a number of rooms is obtained at the expense of size, most housing reformers are agreed that the bargain is a good one from the standpoint of health and morality. Large rooms, such as are often seen in modern houses of the “barrack” type, are never met with in Bremen. On the contrary, the living and bedrooms of working-class dwellings closely resemble in size, as in arrangement, the same rooms of an English urban cottage, though the Bremen kitchen, as a rule, falls out of the comparison owing to its exceptional smallness. Of 3,983 rooms of all kinds in small dwellings measured several years ago, 2'9 per cent, were found to have an area of 4 square metres (1 square metre equals about 10J square feet) or under ; 8*3 per cent, from 4 to 5 square metres ; 14"3 per cent, from 5 to 6 square metres ; 10*6 per cent, from 6 to 7 square metres ; 8’2 per cent, from 7 to 8 square metres ; 9"7 per cent, from 8 to 9 square metres ; 13"2 per cent, from 9 to 10 square metres ; 16"6 per cent, from 10 to 12 square metres ; 13*0 per cent, from 12 to 15 square metres ; 17 per cent, from 15 to 20 square metres ; and 1"5 per cent, from over 20 square metres. Applying the usual German standard of 353 cubic feet space for each adult, and 17G^ cubic feet for children under 14 years, it was found that 414 per cent, of the 1,954 bedrooms in these dwellings had less than this space per head, 23 6 per cent, allowed from 35"31 to 52.97 cubic feet, 15"5 per cent, allowed from 52*97 to 70*63 cubic feet, and 19*5 per cent, allowed over 70*63 cubic ieet. In other words, two-fifths of all the bedrooms were deficient in cubical capacity, and thus were regarded as overcrowded. Bremen has no formal system of house inspection, but care is taken that the building regulations are observed in the case of all new erections, and where possible of alterations. These regulations provide that in the newer portions of the municipal area only from two-thirds to three-quarters of a site may be covered with buildings, front gardens being first deducted. The height of a building on the street level may in general not exceed 61 feet in the town, and 48 feet 9 inches in the rural area, but in any case the maximum is the width of the street. The minimum height of rooms is 9 feet, except in the cellar story, where a height of 8 feet 1¿ inches is allowed if the rooms are not used as family dwellings and are not facing the courtyard. Predominant Weekly Rents. The following statement of the predominant rents of working-class dwellings is based upon a classification of over 2,000 rents obtained from different portions of areas right and left of the river :— Number of Rooms per Tenement. 2 rooms and kitchen 3 „ Predominant Weekly Rent. 3s. 6c/. to 4s. 7d. 4s. Id. „ 5s. 5d. Taking rents in Berlin as 100, the corresponding figure for Bremen is 52. Four taxes fall on the working classes of Bremen (u) the income tax, common to all German towns, and if occupiers (b) a special street lighting and pavement rate, (c) a water rate, and (d) a sewerage rate, the last three %ates being based on the rent. The income tax falls upon all incomes of £45 and upwards (before 1905 the exemption limit was £30), and consists of a multiple, fixed every year according to requirements, of a “ tax unit,” fixed by State law. BREMEN. 105 For some years past the multiple has been 6| in Bremen and 6 in the rest of the State territory. The following Table shows the State unit for certain incomes, together with the actual amount of taxation payable :— £45 to ¡£50 Above £50 £55 £60 £65 £70 £75 £80 £85 £90 £95 Income, inclusive to £55 inclusive „ £60 „ „ £65 ,, £70 „ £75 „ „ £80 „ ,, £85 „ £90 „ » £95 „ £100 „ Amount of Tax Unit S. d 1 0 3 0 Amount of Tax on Basis of 6£ units. s. d. 6 6 8 1& 9 9 11 41 13 0“ 14 7t 16 3 19 6 22 9 26 0 29 3 The tax increases by 6d. for every additional £5 of income until the group £230—£235 is reached ; after that the rise is 9d. 'for every additional £5 of income, after £260 it is Is., after £300 it is Is. 3d., after £330 it is Is. 6d., and incomes above £600 pay as “ tax unit ” a definite percentage rising from 1 per cent, by twenty steps to a maximum of T20 per cent., which is the “ tax unit ” for incomes exceeding £10,000. The tax is collected in moieties in August and November. It is to be noted that as Bremen is an independent State there is only one income tax, which is at once a State and a communal tax. The street lighting and pavement tax is essentially a tax on householders, and amounts to ò 1 per cent, of the rent in the town and 5 per cent, in the rural area. Where the occupier is also the owner the tax in the case of buildings is 0T2 per cent, of the valuation in the town and OTOo per cent, in the rural area, and in the case of land 3 and 2| per cent, of the net revenue in town and country respectively. Persons who have received poor relief from the public funds more than once during the preceding financial year are exempted from the lighting tax. The water rate is levied both on occupiers and owners. Owners pay in the town O'04 per cent, on the valuation of the building for taxation purposes, or 1 per cent, of the net annual value, and tenants pay 0‘8 per cent, of the rent, while in the rural area owners pay 0'04 per cent, of the valuation, or 1| per cent, of the annual value, and tenants 1 per cent, of the rent. The sewerage rate payable by occupiers is § per cent, of the rent, equal to about Id. in the pound, and by owners 0'04 per cent, on the valuation. The three rates together form 6| per cent, of the rent in the case of occupiers, and 0'2 per cent, of the taxation value of the building in the case of owners. On a dwelling rented at 3a. 6d. per week the lighting, pavement, and water rates would amount to 9a. 11 d. per annum, on one rented at 5a. to 16a. Id. It is noticeable that a considerable disparity exists between the rents of working-class dwellings in Bremen and in the other towns within the, State area or immediately contiguous, a disparity not invariably to the former s disadvantage. ­ Classifying all the rents of Bremen, Bremerhaven, and Vegesack in ■1900, so far as they could be estimated, they fell into the following groups Annual Rent of £5 or less £5 Is. to £7 10s. £7 11s. to £10 £10 Is. to £12 10s. £12 11s. to £15 £15 Is. to £17 10s. £17 11s. to £20 £20 Is. to £25 £25 Is. to £40 Over £40 and uncertain Bremen. 3- 6 12 5 18 5 13 4 14 2 5-6 5-8 4- 9 5- 9 15 6 Bremerhaven. Vegesack. Percentage of the whole. 16 3-0 11-8 15 6 12 6 90 8- 7 9- 1 7-9 20 7 12-1 13- 4 163 7- 0 10-4 3-2 6-7 8- 8 T-3 14- 3 106 BREMEN. Thus, while the rents of £10 and under formed 34*6 per cent, of the whole in Bremen and 41’8 per cent, in Vegesack, they only formed 16*4 per cent, of the whole in Bremerhaven ; and while the rents of from £10 to £20 were 39*0 per cent, of the whole in Bremen and 27*3 per cent, in Vegesack, they were 45*9 per cent, of the whole in Bremerhaven. The principal reason for the higher rents in the comparatively small town of Bremerhaven, whose population in 1905 was 22,920, is to be found in the high cost of land caused by the limited area of this portion of the State of Bremen. Not only is Bremerhaven bounded on the west by the river Weser and on the north by the river Geeste, but to the east and south it is hemmed in by Prussian territory, so that expansion is virtually impossible. On the other hand, the conditions which circumscribe the growth of Bremerhaven do not apply to Geestemünde nor yet to Lehe, which lies also in Prussia north of the Geeste. Hence it comes about that Bremerhaven workpeople live largely in Prussian territory. Printed rent contracts are usual, even in the case of small dwellings, and tenancy is either monthly, quarterly, or half-yearly, rent being paid in advance only in the case of monthly tenants. A considerable percentage of the working-class households of Bremen increase their incomes by letting a bedroom or the share of a room to lodgers, and the presence of a large number of unmarried men in the shipbuilding yards and engineering works enables this to be readily done. The extent to which the taking of lodgers is conditioned by monetary considerations is illustrated by the fact that while the proportion of Bremen households with lodgers or foster children was in 1900 24T per cent, in the town generally, in three districts largely inhabited by the working classes and persons of small means the percentage ­ was 45 - 0. It has been found that lodgers are taken most in dwellings with a rent of from 4s. to 5s. 9cl. per week—in other words in four-room dwellings —also that families with few children take lodgers far more rarely than those with many. The usual charge for lodging alone is from Is. Gd. to 2s. per week, for lodging with coffee and roll for breakfast from 2s. to 2s. Gd., and for lodging and full board 10s. per week. There are no special lodging-house regulations, but the police have power to step in where unhygienic conditions are known to •exist and to require their abatement. The rent paid by the Bremen working classes is estimated to form about 20 per cent, of the income of the head of the family, or 15 per cent, of the total family income. This estimate is based on an investigation into the housing conditions and the earnings of 889 families made by a special Municipal Housing Commission in 1904. A classification of these 889 returns gave the following result :— Number of cases. Ratio of rent to Income. Income Groups. £20 and under Over £20 up to £25 £25 £30 £35 £40 £45 £50 £60 £75 £100 £30 £35 £40 £45 £50 £60 £75 £100 Total ... («) Counting income of head of family only. 25 17 15 14 37 44 67 89 33 6 2 349 (&) Counting entire family income, including sub sidiary earnings. 40 23 38 29 59 90 123 198 150 86 53 (a) Counting income of head of family only. 889 58-4 304 21-7 215 20-4 208 19-6 18-2 17-0 12-6 10-6 20 7 (&) Counting entire family income, including subsidiary ­ earnings. 35-6 29-4 23-8 235 18- 9 19- 5 183 15-8 142 12-2 9-4 15-4 BREMEN. 107 Wives’ and children’s earnings are reckoned in the above table as “ subsidiary earnings ” ; there may be included in the case of the former profits from lodgers, estimated at £4 per annum where only rooms were occupied and £o where full board was given in addition. Bremen is not merely a town of small houses, it is also a town of small owners. While in 1900 only 2*5 per cent, of the inhabited dwellings of Berlin were owned by their occupiers, and 93*7 per cent, were rented dwellings, 40*3 per cent, of the private houses in Bremen were owned by their occupiers, and 58 per cent, were rented ; the remnant in each case consisted for the most part or official dwellings. The census of Bremen in that year showed that 25’3 per cent, of the heads of households belonging to the industrial class lived in their own homes, while the percentage in the case of workers engaged in trade and shipping was 27'2. An inquiry made in 1902 of 3,073 workmen of all classes showed that 631 or 20\5 per cent, owned their houses, while of 144 female workers interrogated 8 or 5 5 per cent, were house owners. This large number of small proprietors is explained by two facts, viz., the comparative cheapness of the Bremen one-family houses of the earlier types, and the credit facilities at the disposal of provident working-men. It is estimated that the price of a onestorv single-family house without basement ranges from £200 to £275, of a similar house partly cellared from £250 to £300, of a similar house with basement ­ and attic rooms built out front or back from £300 to £350 ; while twofamily houses with two stories answering to these three types cost from £375 to £425, from £425 to £475, and from £575 to £625 respectively. Of houses visited by the investigator one, consisting of two rooms and kitchen downstairs, and two small rooms upstairs, with garden behind, cost its owner £275, and to rent it would have cost him £18 per annum ; another with the same accommodation, ­ cost £200, of which the owner, a harbour labourer with 25&. 10(7. per week, paid £50 down and borrowed £150 at 4 per cent, interest. In the latter case interest on purchase money (£8), ground tax (8s.), and repairs (£l), were equal to a rent of 3s. 8d. per week. The desire to own his house is a powerful social instinct in the native-born Bremen working-man. Most of the houses owned by working people have been built by contractors or Building Societies, and it is seldom that a working man has a house built to his own plans. Where a man buys from a builder he must pay down a substantial proportion of the purchase money and obtain the balance from a bank on mortgage ; where he buys from a Building Society he pays the purchase money by instalments, conveniently spread over a certain number of years, with interest seldom exceeding 4 per cent. There are several societies of this kind in Bremen and neighbourhood. The " Bau und Sparverein ” (Building and Savings Society) has built a large number of small houses, each consisting of ground floor and attic, with yard, washhouse, and pig-stye adjacent. A “ Public Utility ” Building Society has existed at Bremen since 1887, and has done still more to perpetuate the traditional one-family dwelling, and to encourage working people to become house owners, though it has been found necessary, in the interest of cheapness, to build some of the more recent houses for two households. ­ Since its establishment this society has erected 582 houses, of which 225 have already passed into the hands of tenants, and 15 have been acquired by the State. An important work has also been done by a Building Society established at Blumenthal, near Bremen, in the provision of dwelling houses for employees of the Vulcan Shipbuilding Company and other industrial undertakings. ­ They are one and two-family dwellings, and to each garden ground is allotted. U p to the year 190o, the society had built 247 houses containing 487 dwellings, and the great majority had been sold to their occupants on the principle of payment by instalments. The dwellings are of brick, simple in structure, yet ample in size for families of normal size, consisting of two rooms and kitchen downstairs, and two or three small bedrooms with storage room above, and so economically have they been built that the purchase price for the freehold only ranges from £150 for a single house to £230 for a double one. There has been little building by employers and none by the municipality. A philanthropic institution known as the Kohlenkampf Stiftung o 2 29088 108 BREMEN. has, however, erected a number of attractive self-contained cottages, commodious and equipped in superior style, which are let by preference to large families at about £10 per annum, a figure which is much below cost. The owning of a house can, under certain circumstances, be a specially profitable investment. Owing to the possibility of borrowing most of the purchase money on easy terms, a workman is sometimes able to pay the entire interest on a double house with the rent received from one of the two dwellings, in which case he lives in the other dwelling almost free of cost. Owing to the favourable housing conditions of the town there is no widespread ­ tendency on the part of working people to live far away from work. An investigation made in 1902 into the housing of 6,062 Bremen workmen belonging to various trades and industries showed that all but 223 or 3 7 per cent, lived within the municipal area, while of the 223 84 lived in rural communes belonging to the State territory, and 134 outside in the adjacent States of Prussia and Oldenburg. Workmen who live in the suburbs as a rule walk to and fro. Those, however, who need to use the tramway enjoy no preferential treatment, so that a double journey each day costs Is. 2\d. per week nr £3 2s. 5d. per annum, which is equal to a third of the rent of a three-room dwelling within the town. A cheap steam ferry service can, however, be used by workmen engaged in the factories west of the town and living across the river ; the boats can be used four times a day for 10 pfennige (1^g?.), making an expenditure of l\d. weekly or £1 11s. 2d. per annum. Workmen living nutside the State territory are dependent upon the railway. Retail Prices. Groceries and other Commodities. Bremen has as yet no public market halls, but for farm and garden produce, for fish, and other articles of food open markets are held at stated times in convenient places under municipal control, while vegetables are largely sold from door to door by growers from the country. The working classes, however, obtain the bulk of their food supplies from the retail shops. There are no large multiple firms of the kind common in England, but the Co-operative Society, with twenty-two shops and over 10,000 members, cultivates a working-class trade, having a turnover in 1906 of £132,000. Two kinds of bread are chiefly eaten, grey bread, made of sifted rye, and black bread, made also of rye, coarsely ground, with bran ; about twothirds of the bread consumed by the working classes is of the former kind. Bread is not sold by weight, but at fixed prices, the usual loaves costing 4\d. or 9\d. ; yet while the weight broadly fluctuates with the price of flour, the increase or decrease is seldom immediate. A four-pound loaf of grey bread would have cost, in October, 1905, ö^d., and the same loaf of coarse black bread 4\d. White (wheat) bread may be had in the form of small cakes, the price being about 2d. per lb. Of a sale of bread at the Co-operative Society’s stores amounting to £14,392 in 1906, white rolls, rusks, and fancy cakes represented the small sum of £1,863, while of grey bread 94,494 loaves were sold at 9Jc?., and 176,715 at 4|g?., and of black bread 52,210 loaves were sold at 9\d., and 58,456 at 4jrl, together with 155,713 small white cakes. The price of wheat flour was Is. Ifd. for 7 lb., and that of rye flour 9\d. to 10d. for the same quantity. 1 he usual coffee consumed by the working classes cost 11g/. per lb., but many cheap " surrogates ” are used. Thus, with sales of coffee amounting to 167,490 lb. in 1900, the Co-operative Society sold about 53,510 lb. of “ surrogates.” The most popular of the substitutes, which are generally mixed with pure coffee, are malt coffee, which cost in October, 1905, 4\d. per lb., “ coffee essence ” at Q^d. per lb., chicory at 5J<i, roasted rye at 2\d., roasted wheat at 2f(/., " coffee flour ” (consisting of chicory and corn) at 3|c/., and fig coffee at 6¿¿. Sugared coffee was also bought at lit/, per lb. Two kinds of sugar are chiefly bought, viz., cube sugar, used for coffee, costing 2|d., and white granulated, costing 2\d. Fresh butter cost Is. Id. per lb., but there was a large consumption of margarine at from 6^d. to ; thus while the BREMEN. 109 Co-operative Society sold 205,865 lb. of butter in 1906 it sold 329,912 lb. of margarine. The cheese mostly bought was Limburg, costing 6Jc/. per lb., and Dutch, but Swiss cheese was also bought in smaller quantities at 9to Is. Id. per lb., and there is a considerable sale of small soft cheeses. More fat than streaky bacon is bought, but the price of both was 8§d. to 9\d. per lb. in October, 1905, and 8jrf. in April, 1907. The uniform price of milk was 2Juf. per quart. There had been no great fluctuation in the prices of food stuffs, except meat, during recent years, up to 1905, as is shown by the following comparison prepared by the Municipal Statistical Office, and based on retail quotations obtained from all parts of the town :— Retail Prices 1902-1905. Commodity. 1902. 1903. 1904. 1905. Coffee :— Santos No. 1 Santos No. 2 Sugar :— Cube Granulated Rice (Rangoon) Butter (Medium) ... Margarine Cheese :— Dutch Swiss Limburg Wheaten Flour :— Medium Fine Rye Flour :— Sifted Unsifted per lb. per 7 lbs. s. d. 0 8-4 0 7*5 0 3*7 0 3-9 0 18 1 03 0 7.0 0 89 1 02 0 65 1 17 1 4 0 95 0 84 s. d. 0 83 0 7*3 0 3-4 0 35 0 19 1 05 0 7 1 0 8-7 1 04 0 6*5 1 1-7 1 44 0 9-5 0 84 s. d. 0 87 0 7*6 0 2*7 0 29 0 19 1 05 0 7*1 0 8*9 1 04 0 6*5 1 21 1 4*4 0 9-9 0 80 s. d. 0 87 0 7-7 0 2-9 0 32 0 1-9 1 11 0 71 0 9-1 1 0-4 0 6-5 1 21 1 4-4 0 9-9 0 80 Since 1905, however, as is shown by the figures in the following Table, the price of bread and flour has risen, the price of 4 lb. of grey bread in April, 1907, being 6^&, as against 5\d. in October, 1905. Coal is sold by the dealers by the hectolitre, the weight of which. is variable, and may fall anywhere between loO to 165 English lb. The quality bought by the working classes costs Is. 4\d. per cwt. ; if bought by the 11 Eimer,” a measure containing about lo lb., the cost is Is. 8JcZ. German and English coal are equally used. A large amount of coke is burned. It is a common thing for small grocers to sell coal, but since 1905 a large part of the coal trade has passed into the hands of a ring, known as the “ Kohlen-Kontor. While gas and the electric light are increasingly used in houses of the better class, paraffin continues to be the almost exclusive illuminant of the working classes, the usual quality being that at 10\d. per gallon. 110 BREMEN. Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and April, 1907. Predominant Price. Commodity. Coffee Sugar :— Loaf ... ... White granulated Bacon : — Fat Streaky Egge, Foreign Cheese :— Dutch Limburg Swiss ... Butter Margarine Potatoes Flour :— Wheat... Rye ... Bread :— Black ... Grey ... Milk Coal Coke Paraffin Oil per lb, per Is. per lb. » per 7 lbs. per 4 lbs. » per quart, per cwt. per gallon October, 1905. lid. 2# 2# 8fd. to 9|d. 8fd. to 9|d. 14 8f d. 6&d. 9f<7. to Is. Id. Is. id. 6W. to 8|d. 2\d. Is. Ifd. 9\d. to KM. 4# 5\d. 2#d. Is. 4id.* 9|d. to 10\d. 10^6?. April, 1907. 11 d. 2\d. 8id 8^(7. 17 lid. 6W. lid. Is. id. 6$e?. to 8M 2^. Is. lid. 9£d. to 10c?. 4# 6^. 2| d. Is. 4 id.* 10W. to 11W. 10 \d. * Coal is frequently also sold by the “ Eimer ” of about .15 lb. ; in such quantities the price is about Is. 8\d. Meat. The consumption of meat per head shown by the annual returns of the public abattoir is relatively high. The Municipal Statistical Office has for some years kept a record of the meat consumption per head of the population, based on the amount of meat which passes through the public and private abattoirs and the amount imported. Since 1901, however, the estimate has not included imported meat, so that the figures for the years 1902-1905 are not comparable with those for earlier years. Since 1901 the consumption, less meat imported, has been as follows :— 1902. 1903. 1904. 1905. 1906. Beef Pork Veal Mutton Horse Lbs. 3927 4913 15-27 4*05 6 75 Total 114-47 Lbs. 39 64 56 21 13-81 3 81 5 57 119-06 * Including goat. Lbs. 3927 5630 12-61 3-61 5-61 117-39 Lbs. 40 52 55 84 12 83 3 65* 5-98 119-00 Lbs. 39-66 55 26 11-04 3-41 5T7 114-54 It will be seen that nearly half the meat consumed is pork, while the consumption of beef is about a third of the whole. Here, as elsewhere in Germany, mutton is but little esteemed. An estimate based solely upon returns of working-class meat consumption obtained for this enquiry from 204 households containing 920 persons, showed an average weekly consumption of 30^ ounces, or at the rate of 99^ lb. per year. Of this 35 per cent, was pork and bacon, 29 per cent, was sausage, and 26 per cent, beef ; mutton amounted to only 1 per cent BREMEN. Ill It is the custom of most Bremen butchers to sell the meat without bone, the bone being disposed of for soup, and the effect is a higher level of prices than would otherwise be the case. The best cuts of beef bought by the working classes cost in October, 1905, 9\d. per lb., and the general range was between this figure and 8^/., except for steak, which cost Is. Id. and is beyond workingclass households, and shin, which sold at 5^6?. Pork cost 9|d. to lid. per lb. Veal, which is little eaten by working-class families, cost from lid. to Is. Id. per lb., except shin, which cost 5¿d., and mutton cost from 8jd. to lid. A great variety of sausage is sold both by butchers and by special dealers in preserved meats, and, as no cooking is necessary, this kind of meat enters largely into the dietary of working-class families ; pork and beef are the principal ingredients. The sausages most in demand are “ Flock ” sausage, costing lid. to Is. 3d., according to quality, and liver, “red” (blood), and “ Mett ” (soft pork) sausages, which all cost from 8fd. to lid. per lb. Attached to the public abattoir is the customary Freibank, at which inferior meat is sold. Meat that does not pass the veterinary inspectors as of standard quality is only sold in the raw state if deemed to be quite innocuous ; the doubtful meat is boiled on the premises in large coppers. As a rule the best of the inferior raw meat fetches five-eighths of the market price of good meat, but the average price of the Freibank meat is only one-half that of the quotations given above. Boiled beef and veal fetch about 2^d. per lb., and boiled pork 3\d. A small deduction—a little over a farthing per lb.—is made for expenses, and the rest of the proceeds is handed to the owners of the meat sold. The “ Freibank ” is located in a separate building entered direct from the road, and sales of meat are as a rule held four times a week, between the hours of 3.0 and 5.0 p.m. There is always an abundance of buyers, and more often than not the supply of meat falls below the demand. The average attendance is 250, but at times as many as 400 persons are counted. The buyers are first admitted, fifty together, into a large waiting room, and after each has received a card they pass into the “ Freibank ” room 10 at once. No one is allowed to buy more than 6*6 lbs. (English) of meat, and restaurant and refreshment-house keepers are not supplied at all. The soup from the boiled meat is distributed to buyers free of charge in quantities of about a quart. The following statement ­ shows the extent to which the “ Freibank ” meat offered for sale has increased during the past four years :— Year. 1901- 2 1902- 3 1903- 4 1904- 5 1905- 6 Beef. Cwt. 8120 1010-5 1482-2 1569-8 1874-0 Kind of Meat. Pork. Cwt. 646-1 825-9 994-2 8055 596 3 Veal. Cwt. 48-5 839 78-7 54-5 50-2 Mutton. Cwt. 5-7 7-8 31-3 27-8 16 4 Total Quantity. Cwt. 15123 1928-1 2586-4 2457-6 2536-9 Value. £ S. 2,412 14 3,070 5 4,536 9 4,125 7 4,493 18 There is a special department in the abattoir for hoi ses ; it is equipped with all modern improvements, and has its separate entrance and exit. According to a recent report of the director, “ with the exception of the department for pigs no part of the municipal abattoir has grown so much during the past 35 years as that devoted to horses. In the first complete year, 1883-4, only 978 horses and 78 foals were killed, but in 1905-6 2,403 horses and 45 foals, making a total of 2,449 against 1,056 22 years ago. Meanwhile, the population of Bremen itself had nearly doubled. Horseflesh is sold by several butchers, who are prohibited from dealing simultaneously in other kinds of meat. The usual price is about 4\d. per lb., though fillet costs a little more where this cut is sold separately, and chopped meat may be had as low as 3\d. Boiled horsemeat is sold at 4}¿d. and smoked meat at o^d., v hich is the general price of horsemeat sausage, of which a considerable amount is sold. 112 BREMEN. The following were the prices usually paid by the working classes for meat in October, 1905, and at the time of the investigator’s visit in April, 1907. In the interval pork had fallen by nearly 2d. per lb., but the prices of beef, mutton and veal had remained substantially the same :— Predominant Prices paid by the Worhinq Classes in October. 1905, and Aprs'/, 1907. Predominant Price per lb. Description of Cut. October, 1905. April, 1907. Beef :— Ribs Silverside oy. j with bone n ( without bone Steak ... ... Flank Mutton :— Leg ... ... Shoulder Breast Neck Chops Veal :— Hindquarter j with bone Shin Loin Pork :— Leg Foreloin Belly-Spare Rib Chops Shoulder without bone 8fd. to 9fd. 9# 5 \d. 8fd. to lid. Is. Id. 8fd. lid. 9\d. 9#d. 8#d. lid. Is. to Is. Id. lid. to Is. Is. Id. 5\d. lid. 9# lid. 9#d. 9#d. lid. 8fd. to 9|d. 9&d. 5\d. 8fd. to lid Is. Id. 8# lid. 9|d. 9# 8 3 d. lid. Is. to Is. id. lid. to Is. Is. Id. 5\d. lid. 8^d. 8&d. 7K 7%d. 8|d. Prices of meat and coal are high at Bremen, but other commodities are at about the usual level. Taking Berlin as 100, the index number for food other than meat is 101 ; for meat, 116 ; for coal, 110 ; and for all commodities together 105. The index number for rent and prices combined is 94. BRESLAU. 113 BRESLAU. Breslau, the second city of Prussia and the sixth in point of population in Germany, is the capital of the Prussian province of Silesia, the south-easterly projection of the German Empire, bounded on its eastern side by Russian Poland and on its southern side by the Austrian provinces of Bohemia, Silesia and Galicia. The position of the town on the Oder, at the point where that river begins to be navigable for larger craft, has been the chief factor in the development of Breslau into one of the greatest of Germany’s inland trading centres. Thn development has been greatly accelerated since the transport facilities afforded by a waterway which connects the town with the Baltic Sea (and by the Oder-Spree Canal with Berlin) have been supplemented by the provision of railways which make it possible to reach Berlin in five hours, Dresden in three and a half hours, and Königshütte (the centre of the Upper Silesian black country), in a little under three hours. The surrounding country is almost exclusively agricultural, the nearest town of any note as a manufacturing centre being Liegnitz, about 40 miles to the west, where the main lines from Berlin and Dresden unite and form an important railway junction. At Oppeln, about 50 miles south-east of Breslau, and half-way towards Königshütte another junction is formed, from which one line branches southward to the Austrian frontier town of Oderberg, where the lines converge from Vienna, Buda-Pest, and Cracow. The other branch continues south-east to Königshütte and the Upper Silesian coal and iron towns, and is met near the junction of the German, Russian, and Austrian frontiers (Dreikaiser ­ ecke) by the line from Warsaw and St. Petersburg. There are five railway stations in Breslau and these dealt with 3,272,000 tons of merchandize (exclusive of consignments of less than half a ton) in the course of 1904. Of this amount 2,612,000 tons represented goods entered and 666,000 tons goods despatched. Among the former the chief articles, according to weight, were coal and coke (1,224,000 tons), timber (225,000 tons), building stone (193,000 tons), cereals (150,000 tons), lime and cement (73,000 tons), and iron and steel wares (23,000 tons). The goods of which the greatest quantities were despatched by rail were fertilizers (100,000 tons), flour and cereals (79,000 tons), and timber (63,000 tons). As regards the river trade, figures are available for a year later. In the course of 1905, 11,182 vessels (mostly large barges either towed or propelled by sails) arrived in Breslau carrying 456,000 tons of merchandize, and 11,093 vessels left the town with 651,000 tons ; in addition 11,462 vessels passed through on their way up or down stream carrying 1,606,000 tons of merchandize. The goods carried down-stream from Breslau far exceed those brought up to the town from the lower Oder. The former consist mainly of coal, iron, sugar and cereals, and the lattei of ores, bricks, petroleum, cereals and fish. The activities of the municipality embrace all the usual public sei vices,, including the gas, water and electricity supplies. The town al»o owns about nine miles out of a total of 33 miles of the electric tramway system, and holds shares to the value of £325,000 in one of the two local tramway companies. The principal theatre is also municipal property and is supported at considerable cost, as would appear from the fact that in the three years 1901-3 the expenses exceeded the receipts by a total of £14,000. As a landowner the municipality ranks third among the great towns of Germany for it owns 16,200 acres, of which some 2,000 are within the urban area. Its revenue from this source in 1903 amounted to £25,000. Since September, 1901, a town harbour has been in existence formed by the construction of locks enclosing a portion of the Old Oder, which is the largest of a number of arms into which the river divides near the city. 29088 P 114 BRESLAU. The total area of the town on December 19th, 1905, was 10,400 acres, of which about one-fourth was occupied by houses (including their yard or garden spaces) ; one-fifth by streets, roadways and railway lines, and about one-twentieth by water. In respect of its public parks and open spaces, which cover an area of 953 acres, Breslau is particularly fortunate. In central or old Breslau alone there are 90 acres of tree-planted open spaces, nearly one-half of which consist of the promenades occupying the site of the ramparts which were demolished between 1307 and 1813, and encircled the old town on all sides except the north, where the Oder formed a natural defence. The original moats survive in a series of ornamental lakes following the line of the promenades, so that the old or inner town is still more or less surrounded by a belt of water. The number of recreation and ornamental grounds is being constantly added to by the efforts, not only of the municipality, but also of a private society of citizens one of whose aims is to ensure that all pieces of waste or wayside land within the urban area shall be planted with trees or flowers or otherwise made to contribute to the amenities of the town. The population of Breslau has increased fourfold since 1850 and doubled since 1875. The number of its inhabitants at the end of 1905 was 470,751. The mean yearly increase of the population in each quinquennial period since 1871 has been as follows :— Quinquennial Period. Mean Yearly Increase Population (per cent. 1871-75 .. 1875-80 .. 3 54 2 68 of ). 1880-85 ... ! 1885-90 ... I 1890-95 ... I 1895-1900 ! 1900-05 ... 1- 89 2 27 217 2- 66 214 In each of the two last quinquennial periods, part of the increase was caused. by the incorporation within the municipal area of certain outlying parishes. If the area had remained the same, the mean yearly increase would have been 2*25 per cent, in 1895-1900 and 1*98 per cent, in 1900-05, instead of 2'66 and 2T4 per cent, respectively. Of the total increase of the population between 1871 and 1905 about two-thirds has been due to the arrival of new settlers, and one-third to natural growth. Both the birth and death rates have declined considerably in the last 25 years, but the death rate has declined the more rapidly, as may be seen from the following Table :— Quinquennial Period. 1881-85 1886-90 1891-95 1896-1901 1901-05 Mean Annual Birth-rate per 1,000 of Population. Mean Annual Death-rate per 1,000 of Population. 36 6 35 8 35 3 343 32 2 314 29 0 27 4 25 0 23 8 Thus, in the 25 years under review, the preponderance of the birth-rate over the death-rate has increased from 5 2 to 8'4 per 1,000 of the population. The decline in the general death rate has been accompanied by a fall in the rate of infant mortality. Even now, however, few of the larger cities of Germany show higher rates of infant mortality than Breslau, where for every 1,000 children born (exclusive of still-births), there were in 1905 252 deaths of BRESLAU. 115 infants under a year old. The extent to which matters have improved in this respect in Breslau during the 15 years 1891-1905 is indicated by the fact that the infantile mortality during 1891-5 averaged 280 per 1,000 births, during the following quinquennium 278, and during 1901-5, 248. The birth, death, and infantile mortality rates for the years 1901-5 are shown in the following-Table :— Year. 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 Mean Population. 427,164 431,866 438,984 453,231 465,500 Birth-rate Death-rate Rate of Natural ­ Increase per 1,000 of Mean Population. 332 33 4 310 317 30-8 25 7 22 7 23 8 234 23 5 7*5 10 7 72 83 7 3 Infant Mortality Rate per 1,000 Born. 277 215 260 236 252 Occupations, Wages, and Hours of Labour. That commerce and transport rather than manufacturing are the dominant factors in Breslau’s prosperity will have been inferred from what has already been said. The exact proportionß in which the occupied population is divided between the two at the present time cannot be stated ; but at the date of the last occupation Census (in 1895), it was found that 33,405 out of a total of 108,255 occupied persons in Breslau were employed in commerce and transport. Among the manufacturing industries of the town by far the most important, from the point of view of numbers employed, were the clothing trades. These occupied a total of 25,209 persons, including 12,900 in tailoring and dressmaking, ­ and 4,448 in boot and shoe-making, while the engineering trades employed 7,293 persons. In 1896, that is to say, the year following that in which the occupation Census took place, there were 26,970 workpeople in Breslau employed in factories or workshops subject to inspection. By 1904 that number had increased to 37,212, distributed among the principal groups of industries as shown below :— Group of Trades. Number of Establishments. Building 7.7 Metal-working, Engineering, and Shipr building. ■Textiles ... ... ... ... •• Clothing and Cleaning Printing, Lithography, Bookbinding, &c Paper ... ... ... ... ... Wood-working and Carving Stone and Earth Pood, Drink, and Tobacco ... Other ... ... ... ... * - * T otal ... . * * 13 212 59 1,123 89 50 97* 37 213 84 1,977 Number of Workpeople. Males. 470 13,116 480 1,257 1,806 575 2,622 1,067 2,394 1,236 25,023 Females. 1 654 1,657 5,465 605 1,080 906 145 1,483 193 12,189 Total. 471 13,770 2,137 6,722 2,411 1,655 3,528 1,212 3,877 1,429 37,212 The above table does not present a true picture of the relative importance of the various trades, as only those establishments are included which come under the Factory and Workshop Laws with regard to inspection. Thus the Workpeople employed in the building trades are only represented to the number of 471, whereas the actual number must be well over 10,000 (at the date of the occupation Census of 1895 it was 9,195). The clothing trades, again, are represented as employing only 6,722 workpeople, whereas in 1895 the number was 25,209. There are, in fact, relatively few of the larger sort of factories and Works in Breslau such as exist in towns of a pronounced industrial character. 116 BRESLAU. The few trades in which noteworthy exceptions to this rule are to be met with are comprised in the following industrial groups. 1. Metal-working, Engineering and Shipbuilding : This group comprises some large works engaged in the building of river craft (more especially iron-plated barges of great carrying capacity), the manufacture of railway and road wagons and vans, and iron structural work, including bridge building. 2. Textile Trades: Some large worsted and cotton spinning mills fall within this group. 3. Food, <f c. Preparations : Breweries, sugar refineries, steam bakeries and corn mills are among the largest of the industrial enterprises in Breslau. The Trade Union movement in Breslau is still comparatively young, and the number of workpeople organised for the purpose of securing better conditions of labour is small in proportion to the general body of manual workers, nevertheless their influence in promoting the principle of collective bargaining is becoming more and more noticeable. The Unions affiliated to the Breslau Trades Council numbered 53 with a total of 27,025 members in 1906, their membership having increased by about 10,000 since 1904. All the Unions affiliated to the Trades Council belong to the " Free ” or Social Democratic group, by far the most important in numerical strength and funds among the various groups of Trade Unions in Germany. The following statement shows the extent to which certain groups of trades were represented in the membership of the Unions affiliated to the Trades Council in 1905 (the latest year for which a classification of the membership according to trades is available) :— Group of Trades. Building ... ... ... ... ... Metal-working, Engineering, and Shipbuilding. ­ Clothing ... ... ... ... ... ; Printing and Bookbinding ¡ Wood-working I Food, &c. preparation J Transport, &c Other Trades Total ... Membership of Trade Unions in 1905. 6,895 4,260 1,458 1,268 3,020 1,017 2,897 3,342 24,157 In August, 1906, 20 wages agreements between Trade Unions and Employers’ Associations were in operation in the town, and of these, eight had reference to various trades connected with building, viz., masons and bricklayers’ ­ labourers, stonecutters, carpenters, joiners, makers of earthenware sanitary fittings (e.g. basins, sinks, &c.), makers of plaster casts, and stove fixers. The other 12 agreements concerned the brewery workers, compositors, process and copperplate printers, bookbinders, tailors, umbrella makers, cabinet-makers, wood turners, wood carvers, coach-builders, coppersmiths, and millers. Most of these agreements contain a clause fixing the minimum rate of time wage (usually per hour) to be paid to a competent workman in his trade and the number of hours which shall constitute a day’s work. From these data it has been possible to compute for a certain number of trades in Breslau the minimum rate of weekly wages and the usual length of the working week prevailing in a number of trades in Breslau at October, 1905, and the Results are embodied in the table given below. Similar information is at the same time given for a number of trades for which no wages and hours agreements BRESLAU. ni were in operation in October, 1905. In regard to these trades the information was obtained by the courtesy of a number of the principal employers of labour who furnished returns extracted from their paysheets. In those trades the majority of the men worked as a rule on the piece-wage system, and the employer was asked to state the amount most frequently earned in a full week without working overtime. Wages and Hours of Labour in the principal occupations, October, 1905. Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours of Labour. Building Trades* :— Bricklayers and Masons 30s. 60 Stonemasons : On Buildings... In Workshops Carpenters Joiners ... 26s. 5d. 24s. 30s. 22s. lid. 48 48 60 54 Plastic moulding makers : On Buildings In Workshops Plumbers and Fitters ... Painters Labourers 36s. 27s. 27s. 24s. 19s. 2d. to 21s. 48 48 60 60 60-64 Metal, Engineering, and Shipbuilding :— Fitters : In Shipyards In Railway, &c., van construction In Iron structural work Turners : In Shipyards... In Railway, &c., van construction Smiths : In Shipyards... In Railway, «fee., van construction Patternmakers ... Angle-iron smiths : In Shipyards In Iron structural work Platers (in Shipyards) Rivetters : In Shipyards... In Iron structural work Caulkers (in Shipyards) Holders-up ( „ ) Shipwrights (iron and wood) Labourers : Shipyards ... ... ••• Railway and van construction Iron structural work 31s. 3d. 28s. 21s. 6d. 34s. 27s. 33s. 32s. 30s. 20s. 24s. 29s. 24a 24s. 25s. 19s. Gd. 30s. 18s. to 20s. 6d. 17s. Its. Textile Trades :— Worsted Spinners Dyers Labourers Printing and Allied Trades :— Hand Compositors, Machine-minders, and Pressmen. Machine Compositors : News ... Jobbing Process Printers Copperplate Printers ... Bookbinders 20s. to 25s. 21s. „ 22s. 18s. 25s. lid. 32s. 4d. 33s. 8d. 24s. 30s. 14s. to 17s. 594 57 60 594 57 594 57 594 59& 60 59& 594 594 594 60 57 60 624 624 624 54 48 54 5L 51 59 Wood-working Trades :— Wood Carvers ... Joiners (furniture) Upholsterers 17s. lOd. 16s. 2d. 18s. 51 54 51 * The wages and hours of labour stated for the building trades are for a full week in summer. ns BRESLAU. Weekly Wages Weekly Hours of Labour. Food, &c., Preparation Trades :— Breweries : Brewers Coopers Labourers Steam Bakeries : Journeymen Bakers Labourers Corn Mills (Millers) ... Sugar Refineries (unskilled men) 25s. to 26s. 25s. „ 26s. 18s. „ 20s. 20s. „ 26s. 18s. 6d. to 20s. 19s. 12s. to 16s. 60 60 60 53-60 60 72* 60 Including intervals for meals, &c. On the basis of figures given in the above Table, the level of wages of skilled men in the building trades is represented by an index number of 76, and of labourers by 78, wages at Berlin being taken as 100. In the engineering trades, wages are comparatively higher, the index numbers being 95 for skilled men and 88 for labourers. The index number for wages in the printing trade is 92. For the tailoring trade, wdiich (ns has already been seen) employs more workpeople than any other single trade in Breslau, the wages and hours of labour obtaining at October, 1905, could not be ascertained with any degree of certainty, owing to the very large number of small workshops among which the workpeople are distributed, the preponderance of the piece-work system and the fact that uniform conditions of labour were not introduced until April 2nd, 1906, under an agreement concluded on March 18th of the same year. Under this agreement, which relates to the u bespoke ” tailoring trade, the hours of labour in workshops are fixed at 10 per day, or 60 per week, exclusive of mealtimes, and each establishment is placed in one of four classes according to the quality of goods made. For journeymen employed on time wage the rates are fixed at 24& or 25s. per week in Class I., 23s. in Class II., 21s. in Class III. and 19s. in Class IV. The weekly wages and hours of labour of certain of the principal classes of workpeople directly employed by the municipality at October, 1905, are shown below :— Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours of Labour. Street Maintenance and Gleaning .-— Road Sweepers Carters ... Gasworks :— Gas Stokers Yardmen (Labourers) Waterworks :— Labourers Electric Tramways :— Drivers ... Conductors Electricity Works and Electric Lighting Enginemen Stokers ... ... ... ... .. Fitters .* Installators 16s. Id. 18s. to 20s* 30 s. 18s. 19s. to 25s. Id. 20s. 4d. 19s. 2d. 22s. Id. 20s. lOd. 18s. lOd. 16s. 2d. 67 76 72 and 96 in alternate weeks, f 60 64 75A 77“ 60 and 70 in alternate weeks. 60 * In addition, the men receive allowances in respect of house-rent and uniform amounting in all to £8 per annum or 3s. Id. per week, f Intervals for meals and rest are here included. Housing and Rents. In December, 1900, the most recent period for which full and precise data are available with regard to housing conditions in Breslau, there were found to be 101,128 dwellings in the town. Of these, 92,157 were being rented, while BRESLAU. 119 inîthe remaining 8,971 the occupiers paid no rent either because they were the owners or in consideration of some service rendered, e.g., by a person who acts as general caretaker and collector of rents for the whole of the tenements in a large building and discharges the duty imposed by the municipality on the houseowner of cleansing the footpath and part of the roadway outside the house every day. The following Table gives a classification of the 92,157 rented dwellings according to their size (number of rooms), and shows the manner in which the population was distributed among the tenements of different size :— Number of Rooms in Tenement. 1 room 2 rooms 3 " 5 or more rooms Number of Tenements. 6,206 41,707 21,106 11,331 8,807 92,157 Population housed in each class of Tenement. Total. 14,318 169,016 89,649 48,760 45,503 367,216 Per cent. 39 46-0 244 133 124 1000 From the above it will be seen that practically three-fourths (74\3 per cent.) of all persons who rented their dwellings occupied three rooms or less, and that ■close upon one-half (49*9 per cent.) lived in two rooms or less. The number of dwellings consisting of a whole house is so small as to be negligible. Over 99 per cent, of the dwellings enumerated at the census of 1900 were situated on one or other of the floors of a tenement house. This will be seen from the following statement :— Situation of Dwelling. Proportion of all Dwellings so Situated. Cellar (basement) Ground floor 1st floor... 2nd „ ... 3rd „ ... 4th „ ... 5th „ (or higher) On more than one floor Per cent. 38 157 200 20 6 201 16 8 2*1 09 1000 The few dwellings which consist of the whole of a house are comprised among those whose position is described as u on more than one floor, a group which represents less than 1 per cent, of all dwellings. What are known as “ cellar ” or basement tenements {Keller-Wohnungen) are to be seen much more frequently in Breslau than in the cities of West Germany. Their occupants in very many cases carry on the business of greengrocer ­ and huckster in the room which is entered from the street and live in the back part of the premises. Nearly 15,000 persons were found to be living in 3,853 basement tenements at the end of the year 1900. How far matters have improved since the year 1900 in respect of ■overcrowding and the occupation of tenements cannot be stated in figures until the detailed results of the latest housing enumeration (December, 1905) have been published. An investigation was, however, made in 1905 by the Association of Local Sick Funds (for the statutory Insurance of Workpeople against Sickness) into the housing of members on the sick list, and the conclusion arrived at was that matters had not improved. I he Report speaks of damp cellar dwellings, dark and windowless rooms, absence of ventilation and heating arrangements, of beds shared by sick and well, and of overcrowding of an aggravated kind. 12 O BRESLAU. It should be observed, however, that the tenements referred to in the Report were in almost every case to be found in .the older parts of Breslau, either in what may be termed the “City” or in some of the older suburbs which are by now scarcely less central than the City. It was stated, moreover, that several of these defective tenements had been condemned and demolished since the issue of the report. The oldest and most central part of the town—the part bounded on the north by the river and on the other sides by the semicircle of promenades and lakes into which the ramparts and moats of former times have been converted—is being given over more and more to business and becoming less of a residential quarter. In 1871 there were still 73,000 people living in this part of Breslau, and by 1905 the number had fallen to 53,000. Among these, as among the resident population of almost any part of the town, are comprised a certain proportion of working-class families, occupying either the basement or the top-floor tenements. The great bulk of the industrial working classes, however, live further out, and more especially in the north-western suburb known as the Nikolai Vorstadt, the only part of the urban area where factory chimneys are a prominent feature, and where any large proportion of the houses are found to be inhabited exclusively by working-class families. On the occasion of the Housing Census of 1900, the amount of overcrowding was found to be greatest in this part of Breslau, 10*3 per cent, of all the dwellings and 17*5 per cent, of the population being described as coming within the definition of what, in German housing statistics, constitutes “overcrowding.” The term is held to apply whenever a dwelling comprising only one heatable room is inhabited by six or more persons, or when a dwelling comprising only two such rooms contains 10 or more persons. As the table given above shows, the working classes of Breslau live in tenements consisting of either two or three rooms, and more frequently in two rooms than in three. In the former case the larger room serves as general living-room and kitchen, and the other as bedroom. The three-roomed tenement consists either of a living-room, a kitchen and bedroom, or of a general livingroom and kitchen combined, and two bedrooms. Where the tenement has a separate vestibule (as is the case in all but the very oldest houses), that space frequently contains the cooking-stove and*serves as the kitchen, being windowless ­ artificial light has to be used. This arrangement is to be found in about one of every three working-class tenements in Breslau. Every tenement has, in addition, a small attic compartment (used as a lumber room), a separate compartment in the cellar, and the use of the loft-space, immediately beneath the rafters, for drying laundry on certain days. The household water supply is rarely situated inside the tenement, and has to be fetched from taps fixed on the stair landings of the various floors. Gas is seldom supplied either for lighting or cooking, and the number of tenements having exclusive use of a closet is so small as to be negligible. On the other hand it may be noted that the dry-closet system, which constitutes an unpleasant feature in the working-class tenements of many German (and especially Saxon) towns, has been entirely superseded in Breslau by the modern arrangement with its flushing apparatus. Through the courtesy of the Chief Burgomaster it has been possible to ascertain in respect of 1,200 working-class tenements situated in various parts of Breslau the rents which were being paid in December, 1905, as returned by the occupiers on the Census Schedules. Of these 1,200 tenements, 865 consisted of two, and 335 of three rooms. Tenements with lodgers or sub-tenants were not included. From the data so obtained the predominant rents charged for tenements of two and three rooms were found to be as shown below. Predominant Rents of WorJcing-class Dwellings. Number of Rooms per Tenement. Predominant Weekly Rent. Two rooms . Three rooms 3s. 3d. to 3s. 8d. 3s. (jé¿. ,, 4:S, 7d. Rents in Berlin being taken as 100, the index number for Breslau is 56. BRESLAU. 121 Among a number of two-roomed tenements visited for the purposes of this Report the following, which were being let at rents falling within the above limits, may be taken as average samples. 1. Tchepenerstrasse in Nikolai Vorstadt:—Each tenement consisted of a large room, used both as general living room and bedroom, and a kitchen. In both rooms the height from floor to ceiling was 9 feet. The living room, which had two windows, measured 17 feet by 13 feet, and the kitchen, with one window, 12 feet by 9 feet. Each tenement had a separate vestibule and the use of one of the two water-closets on the stair landing ; also the usual cellar and attic compartments, with the use of the general washhouse on the ground floor and the general drying loft beneath the rafters. The rents were 15s. per month, i.e. 3s. 5d. per week. (For precisely similar accommodation in the newest tenement houses in the same street, as much as 18s. per month (4s. 2d. per week) was being charged when the windows gave on the street.) 2. Courts off the Friedrich Wilhelmstrasse and Antonienstrasse (older and more central parts of town) :—In old tenement houses, in the inner town, dating from the year 1692, and situated in courts approached from the street through archways, rents of 15s. to 17s. per month (3s. bd. to 3s. 116?. per week) were being paid for two-roomed tenements in which, though one of the rooms was windowless, both were fairly large and lofty. The dimensions were found to be, in the living room, 24 feet by 13 feet ; in the bedroom, 24 feet by 10 feet. The height from floor to ceiling was 11 feet. The water-closets of these tenements were in the courts in a number corresponding to one for every three families. It will be understood that except water-rate, no element of rates or taxes is comprised in the rents stated above. Here as in other Prussian (and, indeed, most German) towns the principal source of municipal revenue consists of a local income tax levied simultaneously with the State Income Tax, and standing in a fixed ratio to the latter. In Breslau the municipal income tax is now 136 per cent, of the State Income Tax. All incomes of over £45 a year are subject to both. The amount payable in respect of municipal income tax on the various income classes within which most workmen’s families in Breslau would fall, are shown below. Income Class. Over £45 to £5,2 10.s.... „ £52 10s. to £60... „ £60 to £67 10s.... „ £67 10s. to £75... „ £75 to £82 10s.... „ £82 10s. to £90... „ £90 to £105 ... Annual Municipal Income Tax. 8s. 2d. 12s. 3d. 16s. 4d. 21s. 9d. 28s. Id. 35s. 4c?. 42s. 2d. Retail Prices. The retail shops for the sale of household provisions in Breslau have a powerful competitor in the Breslauer Consumverein, which is the largest and one of the oldest of the many Co-operative Store Societies in Germany, and has 66 branch stores scattered throughout the different parts^ of the town. Its membership, drawn from all classes of society, numbered 8o,o()0 in 1905 and its sales in that year reached the sum of £809,000, on which a dividend (on purchases) at the rate of 11 per cent, was returned. The society owns the largest steam bakery in Breslau, its output of bread in 1905 amounting to 171 tons, in the making of which 99 journeymen bakers were employed. The existence of this society on the one hand and of certain large concerns of the “ Universal provider ” type on the other has led to the formation of counter organisations among the shopkeepers. Thus some 350 of the latter have formed a &xzr-Fergm RrWawer a society whose members undertake to give a discount of 5 per cent, on all cash Q 29088 122 BRESLAU. purchases. This discount is given in the form of stamps which the society redeems for cash at fixed intervals, in the manner described in the reports on other towns. (See e.g., Reports on Plauen, pp. 411, 412, and Barmen, p. 74.) An association registered as a co-operative society has also been formed among the grocers for the purpose of purchasing their trading stock in common, and so securing the advantages connected with buying on a large scale. (Ein- und Verkaufs-Genossenschaft Breslauer Colonialwaarenhändler.) This Society also carries on a co-operative bakery. It seems to be recognised among the local shopkeepers that the Co-operative Store Society, with its 66 branch stores and its large membership, acts as a regulator of the retail prices of a number of the principal household necessaries in Breslau, and a certain uniformity observable in the prices furnished in returns made by a number of tradespeople in different parts of the town as well as by the Co-operative Store Society appear to support this view. The prices of groceries and dairy produce in Breslau are comparatively low, while, on the other hand, meat is dear. Coal is fairly cheap, the Silesian coalfields ­ being near at hand. If prices at Berlin be represented by 100, the index numbers for Breslau would be 93 for groceries and dairy produce, 113 for meat, and 97 for all food ; 83 for coal ; and 95 for these commodities taken together. The index number for rent and prices combined is 87. Groceries and other Commodities. The following Table, showing the predominant retail prices charged in Breslau for certain of the principal kinds of household provisions other than butchers’ meat in October, 1905, and June, 1906, is based upon the returns referred to. Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and June, 1906. Commodity. Predominant Price October, 1905. June, 1906. Coffee (Santos) Sugar, White Granulated Bacon :— Fat ... Streaky Eggs (Austrian) Cheese (Limburg) Butter ... Margarine Potatoes Flour :— Wheat Rye ... Bread (of Rye) Milk ... Coal Paraffin :— American Russian per lb. per Is. per lb. per 7 lbs. per 4 lbs. per quart per cwt. per gallon lid. 2d. 9fd. to lid. 9|d. „ lO^d. 18 7# is. 2Id. to Is. 2fd. 6&d. 2d. to 2\d. 10 d. 8&d. to 9|d. 4 £d. 2^d. Is. 0£d lOd. 8d. lid. 2d. 8|d. to lid. 8|d. „ 10¿d. 18 6|d. Is. 0\d. to is. Ofd. 6^d. 2d. to 2^d. lOd. 8|d. to 9^d. 5d. 2id. Is. Old. lOd. 8d. Meat. Breslau draws practically the whole of its meat supply from its own province (Silesia) and the neighbouring province of Posen, as is shown by the fact that 99 per cent, of the beef, 82 per cent, of the pork, 99 per cent, of the veal, and the whole of the mutton brought into the town in 1906 came from those two provinces. Increasing dearness and scarcity of meat are complained of by employers, workpeople, and butchers. That the complaints are not groundless may be seen from the official statistics of the wholesale prices BRESLAU. 123 of meat, which show that in 1906 the most inferior qualities of beef in Breslau were from 23 to 32 per cent, dearer than in 1901, while pork, which had dropped somewhat in price since 1905 was still more than 8 per cent, dearer than in 1901. The wholesale prices of the various qualities of beef and pork in Breslau in 1901-6 are given below, in shillings per 220 lbs. dead weight :— Price in Shillings per 220 lbs. Deadweight. 1901. 1902. 1903. 1904. 1905. 1906 Oxen :— 1st Quality 2nd „ 3rd „ Bulls :— 1st Quality 2nd „ 3rd „ Cows and Heifers :-1st Quality 2nd „ 3rd „ Pigs :— 1st Quality 2nd „ 119-0 106-1 93-4 112-3 98-1 916 116-5 100-0 87-3 115-2 107-7 125-6 113‘9 93-2 118-6 101-8 93 6 121-5 1083 87-7 1148 1038 1291 110-6 89- 9 121-7 106-2 90- 4 1249 109-2 87 9 104-3 921 132-6 109- 0 94-5 124-1 110- 1 92-9 126-4 1120 92 0 1023 90-1 1384 1229 116-3 129-9 121-2 111-1 1300 119 3 113-0 1341 125-3 142-0 120-1 115- 1 132-1 124- 1 118-9 135-5 123-3 1153 125- 8 116- 6 Figures as to consumption of meat in Breslau, as estimated from the returns of the municipal slaughterhouse, are available for each of the years 1901-5, and are given below :— Pork Beef Veal ... ... ... ... Mutton and Goats’ Flesh ... Horse Meat Preparations (imported) Consumption of Meat per head of Population in Breslau. 1901. 1902. Meat of all kinds lbs. 53 43 11 4 5 10 lbs. 51 41 9 3 4 9 1903. 1904. 1905. lbs. 56 41 9 3 3 9 126 117 121 lbs. 58 40 10 2 4 10 124 lbs. 50 39 9 3 4 1906. lbs. 54 37 9 2 3 So far as the staple flesh foods, pork and beef, are concerned the effects of the movement of prices shown in the previous Table may in some measure be traced in the above consumption figures ; the continuous rise in beef prices,, for instance, is reflected in the reduced consumption of beef, while the fall in pork prices in 1902-4, and again in 1905-6, corresponds with the increased consumption of pork in those periods. It will be observed that the consumption of horse-flesh is large in comparison with other German towns, and that it exceeds the consumption of mutton (including goat-flesh). Considerable quantities of fowl and game of various kinds, the weight of which cannot be estimated, are also consumed in Breslau, though principally among the middle and well-to-do classes. Among the working classes the consumption of meat is undoubtedly very much smaller than that shown above for the whole population. Returns Q 2 29088 124 BRESLAU. furnished by 323 typical working-class families in Breslau as to the quantities of various household necessaries usually consumed showed a weekly consumption of 21J ozs., which would mean about 71 lbs. a year. Pork and bacon accounted for 38 per cent, of the total consumption, sausage for 28 per cent., and beef for 21 per cent., a somewhat low proportion. A considerable part of the consumption of sausage is accounted for by the practice among workmen in Breslau of eating sausage at their second breakfast. At this meal, which is brought from home and eaten at eight or half-past eight o’clock at the works, a man usually has as much sausage as can be bought for 10 to 15 pfennige (1 \d. to Ifd.). The kind most generally eaten is Knoblauchwurst, a variety in which liver flavoured with garlic is understood to be the principal ingredient, and which costs about 80 pfennige per half kilogram, or say 8f¿?. per lb. The following Table shows the predominant retail prices charged at butchers’ shops in Breslau at October, 1905, and June, 1906, for various cuts of fresh meat. Each price is based .on the returns made to the investigator by a number of butchers with large working-class custom, and having shops in different parts of the town. Predominant Prices Paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and June, 1906. Description of Cut. Predominant Price per lb. October, 1905. June, 1906. Beef :— Bibs ... ... Silverside Q-i . j with bone ömn I without bone Steak (Fillet) ... Flank Mutton :— Leg Shoulder Breast Neck Chops Veal :— Hindquarter ¿ with bone I without bone Shoulder Loin • Shin Pork :— Leg Fore-loin Belly Spare-rib Chops 8|d. to 91c?. 9# 7§í?. to 8fe?. 9fd. „ lOfd. Is. 4\d. 11 d. 9|c7. to 11c?. 9# 11c?. 11c?. to Is. 11c?. 11c?. 11 \d. to Is. 31c?. Is. lc?. 8fc?. to 11c?. 9M 9|c?. 8|c?. to 91c?. 9# Is. 8f<?. 9# 7 fe?, to 8|c?. 9# Is. 41c?. 81c?. to 8f d. 11 d, 9f c?. to 11c?. 9# 11c?. 11c?. to Is. 9fc?. „ 11c?. 101c?. „ 11c?. 11c?. to Is. 31c?. lie?. „ Is. lc?. 8|c?. „ 101c?. 8# 8fc?. to 9fe?. 7 fe?. ,, 8fe?. 8fc?. Is. to Is. lc?. On the question as to what qualities of meat the working classes usually buy in Breslau, the statements of the butchers were not unanimous ; some maintain that workpeople were content with nothing but the best, others that workpeople never buy the best meat and are only too glad to be able to get meat of any quality. The latter was, however, the more general opinion. With regard to the first of the above points it may be of interest to note the classification ­ of the cuts of beef, mutton, veal, pork, and horse recognised by retail sellers and buyers of meat in Breslau. The occasion may also serve to show the official retail prices of these cuts as ascertained by the Municipal Statistical Office. It should be explained that these prices are based on returns obtained month by month from certain butchers, each of whom is requested to state the highest and lowest price of each article during the month. A mean of the maximum prices is then taken, as also of the minimum prices. The official price of the article is the mean of these two means. BRESLAU. m The following Table shows the officially ascertained retail prices of the various locally recognised cuts of beef, mutton, veal, pork, and horse-flesh in Breslau, in October, 1905, and May, 1906, the latter being the most recent date for which such prices were procurable :— Beef :— Leg ... Ribs ... Belly... “ Roast beef Shin ... Brisket Fillet steak Other cuts Minced Mutton :— Leg ... Chops Other cuts Veal :— Leg ... Loin ... Chops Breast Other cuts Pork :— Leg ... Chops Belly... Other cuts Minced Horse :— Leg ... Fillet steak Karbonaden Other cuts Minced eisch Retail Price per lb. October, 1905. 9#. 8#. 8\d. 10# 9 d. 8# Is. 3d. 9Æ 10#. 10# 11# 10#. 10# 10#. Is. 101d 101(7. 9# 11# 91(7. 9^(7. 101(7. 3# 4# 41(7. 4(7. 4(7. May, 1906. 91(7. 8^(7. 81(7. 10# 91(7. 81(7. Is. 2# 8^(7. 101(7. 10# 111(7. 10#. 10#. 10#. 11# 9#. 9# 8# 11# 7# 8# 10(7. 41(7. 1# 4# 4(7. 4(7. It will be seen that in spite of the differences in method of collection and computation, the above prices in so far as they relate to the same cuts do not differ materially from those shown in the previous Table, and ascertained by direct inquiry at the shops. The figures also indicate, on the whole, a slight reduction of meat prices since October, 1905. With regard to horse-flesh it may be stated that there are in Breslau 12 shops at which no other kind of meat is sold. A visit to any of these establishments produces the impression that they do a very brisk business. Nevertheless, few workpeople appear to have any personal knowledge of the use of horse-flesh. This appeared to be the case also in regard, to the meat sold at the municipal meat stall, or Freibank, where the flesh of animals which have failed to pass the standard of soundness required by the meat inspectors is sold at reduced prices, after all precautions have been taken to render it safe for consumption as food. Some 16 tons of this inferior meat were sold at the Freibank during the month in which Breslau was visited for the purposes of this Enquiry (June, 1906). The sales at this establishment in 1905 amounted to 170 tons of which 27 tons had to be boiled or sterilized before sale. The price charged for raw beef was from 5(7. to 6(7. per lb and for boiled beef %7. to4#l Pork fetched 6(7. to6#. per lb. raw and 0(7. boiled. 126 BRUNSWICK. Brunswick, the capital of the duchy of the same name, is a large and flourishing town situated about 55 miles to the west of Magdeburg and 37 miles to the east of Hanover on the main line connecting all three towns with Berlin. It is a place of considerable industrial importance, and is a principal centre of the beet sugar and canned goods industries, Brunswick being situated in an extensive and fertile plain, the soil of which is peculiarly favourable to the growth of beetroot, asparagus, &c. The presence of potash mines within the borders of the State adds to the prosperity of the beet-sugar industry, inasmuch as the potash salts, the chemical products from these mines, when used as a manure, increase very materially the amount of saccharine matter in beetroot. The industries of Brunswick also include machinery works, beer brewing, and jute spinning. For many centuries the town has enjoyed a high commercial reputation, and as early as the middle of the 13th century it ranked third amongst the famous Hanseatic towns. Brunswick consists of two clearly defined parts, viz., the old and the new town, or as they are known locally, the inner and the outer town. As these terms suggest, Brunswick was formerly fortified, and it was further protected by the river Oker which partly encircled the walls, and also by a broad moat commencing from the river at the southern end of the town and rejoining it at the northern end. To-day spacious gardens and promenades occupy the lines of the old fortifications ; and, in addition, there are several large open spaces on the outskirts of the new town, and also two parks. Through what were once gateways in the city walls there run to-day fine straight and broad roads into the surrounding country, and the whole aspect of the new town is a tribute to the municipal policy which has not permitted the builder to follow his own caprice but has compelled him to conform to a well-devised plan of town extension. The old town contains many narrow and winding streets, and here are found fine specimens of the art of the 16th and 17th century builders —houses with overhanging storeys and massive carved beams. Nevertheless, Old Brunswick is amply provided with broad well-kept streets and fine open squares. An excellent system of electric trams connects the outlying portions of the town with the centre. Workmen’s tickets are only issued on the section which runs out to Wolfenbüttel, a distance of about seven miles, and the price of a weekly ticket covering twelve journeys is Is. 5d. The large factories are situated either on the confines of the inner town or outside in the open country. The municipality does not as yet undertake all the services which are usually found in public hands in German towns. The tramways and electric works belong to private companies, wdiilst the municipal undertakings comprise the gas and water services and the public abattoir. In 1883 the Elberfeld system of poor relief was adopted by the authorities, and remains still in force. Brunswick is a towm of rapid growth. In 1814 its population was 29,934. By 1861 it had increased to 42,209. Subsequent census returns are given in the following Table :— Year. Population. Intercensal Increase. Increase per Cent. 1871 1875 1880 1885 1890 1895 1900 1905 57,883 65,938 75,038 85,174 101,047 115,138 128,226 136,162 8,055 9,100 10,136 15,873 14,091 13,088 7,936 13-9 13 8 13 5 18 6 13-9 11-4 G'2 BRUNSWICK. 127 The extent of the municipal area in 1905 was 3,366 acres, and the density of population was 40 persons per acre. The vitality statistics of Brunswick at the present time compare favourably with those of other German towns. The following Table gives the more important of these statistics :— Year. Birth-rate per 1,000 of Population. Death-rate per 1,000 of Population. Infantile Mortality Rate per 1,000 births. 1879 1880 1885 1890 1895 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 38-1 370 346 353 333 313 315 300 29-0 27 5 252 28 4 25 6 23 6 24-0 21-4 19 5 19-3 16-8 19 3 17-8 17-6 231 240 222 215 229 216 209 147 206 187 205 It will be seen that there has during the last 26 years been a steady fall in the death-rate, which in 1879 was 10'8 per 1,000 more than in 1905. This improvement has been brought about by the efforts made on the part of the municipal authorities and also of the Society for the Promotion of Public Health—an organisation supported by voluntary contributions—in founding various institutions on behalf of children and sick persons, and in general in seeking to apply hygienic principles to the social life of the town. In this connection may be mentioned the four milk stations conducted by this society, which supply milk in bottles specially for infants and young children. The average amount sold daily in 1905 was 1,592 quarts. Creches, kindergarten schools, and a special school for children of defective mental capacity have been established, and shower-baths have been placed in the public elementary schools. Children whose homes are found to be detrimental to their physical and moral welfare are placed in an institution which at present has accommodation for 200 such cases, During the summer holidays poor children whose health needs recruiting are taken daily into the neighbouring forests, and during the summer of 1905 over 400 children took part in these excursions. School doctors have also been appointed in connection with the elementary schools, and the Public Health Society already named sends batches of the more delicate children to the seaside in summer. A “ People’s Kitchen ” also provides wholesome food at a low price. Occupations, Wages, and Hours of Labour. The industrial activity of Brunswick is very varied in character, and consequently offers considerable choice of occupations both to men and women. The trades employing the largest number of men are those connected with the manufacture of machinery and mechanical apparatus of various kinds, including sewing machines and machinery required in sugar factories, in mines, and in the canning industry. The manufacture of motor omnibuses and gasometers is also an important branch of industry. One large firm employing over 700 hands is engaged in making railway signals which are used on various continental lines. Altogether more than 8,000 workers are employed in 73 establishments engaged m the metal and machine industry. The canning of vegetables, asparagus, peas, beans,' &c., is an industry which is carried on not only in the town but throughout the whole State, which possesses altogether for this purpose 50 establishments with 3,174 employees, about half the total number of workers in this industry in the whole of Germany. In the town of Brunswick itself there are 26 concerns in which over 2,500 men and Women are engaged. This industry is carried on during the months from May to October, commencing as soon as the asparagus is ready for cutting. During the Remainder of the year very few men are retained, for the purpose of executing repairs and making the necessary preparations for the following season. The 128 BRUNSWICK., tins in which the vegetables are packed after being cooked are^made in local factories which employ several hundreds of men. The manufacture of beet sugar is likewise an industry in which the duchy as well as the town of Brunswick is interested. The total number of factories in the whole duchy is 35 and the workpeople employed number over 4,000, while in the town of Brunswick there are live concerns with nearly 800 employees, most of them men. Except in the case of the refineries, this, too, is a seasonal industry, commencing in September as soon as the beet crop is ready and lasting until about the end of December. Between seasons the unskilled labourers find employment in the brickfields, or in the building trade. The brewing of beer is also carried on extensively, and in 1905 a wages agreement affecting all the classes of workmen engaged in the breweries was signed by five local companies and one private firm. The textile industry is represented by one large jute spinning factory employing over 1,800 hands, two-thirds of whom are women and girls. In addition there are a number of small establishments for the manufacture of chemicals, of soap and oil, of paper goods, brushes, and cigars, employing altogether about 850 workpeople. One striking feature of the industrial life of Brunswick is the large amount of female labour which is employed. Of a total of 18,557 adult workers in establishments which come under the factory regulations, 5,493 or 29 per cent, are females. The majority of these find employment in the canning industry and in the spinning of jute, the former with 2,256 and the latter with 1,161. The clothing trade also employs 879 women besides 273 girls, whilst the remainder are mainly engaged in the manufacture of paper goods and cigars, and in several branches of metal working, such as the making of tins for the canning factories, work in which the principle of division of labour is carried to a high degree, so that the management of certain machines can be well entrusted to women. A large number of women are also engaged in their own homes in connection with the jute spinning and canning industries, making sacks of the woven jute in the one case, and preparing the vegetables for the preliminary process of boiling in the other. The former by working 10 hours can sew 120 sacks daily on an average, for which, after deducting the price of the sewing yam, they earn Is. 10d., whereas the latter, according to a report issued by the Factory Workers’ Union, are able to earn from 9s. to 18s. per week, the higher rates being probably earned where other members of the family assist in the work. During the canning season enormous consignments of vegetables pour into Brunswick by rail, and in order to dispose of them whilst they are fresh, long hours are worked in the factories, and, in addition, employers are compelled to engage out-workers, who carry the vegetables to and from the factories in baskets on their backs. An investigation conducted by the Factory Workers’ Union in 1905, into the condition of the workers in this industry, brought a number of abuses to light. According to the published report of this inquiry, women and girls were frequently compelled to work more than 13 hours a day —the maximum number allowed by law in this industry, except on Saturday, when -work must cease at 5.30 p.m.—and in some cases even 18 hours Were spent in one day in the factory. As a result of this exposure the Government ­ notified the local Chamber of Commerce that the police would be instructed to see that in future all infringements of the law in this respect were promptly punished. The report further complained that these long hours were spent in rooms the atmosphere of which was excessively warm and heavily charged with moisture, and also that the remuneration for such work was very inadequate, as the wages paid to females usually ranged from 1 \d. to 2\d. per hour, and rarely amounted to 2f<A The inquiry also elicited the fact that even on Sundays work was sometimes carried on for 10 and more hours. The earnings of home-workers were found to be less than those paid in the factories, and consequently the children were employed in the evenings. The distribution of the industrial population of Brunswick amongst the various trades and industries in 1906 is shown in the following table :— BRUNSWICK. 129 Group of Trades. Building Metal-working Machine, implement and apparatus making Jute spinning Other textiles Clothing and cleaning Printing, lithography, bookbinding, &c. Paper ... ... ... ... ... Timber yards and sawmills Brush-making... Chemicals Resins, varnishes, oil, soap, candles, &c. Brick and tile Other stone and earth trades Sugar manufacture Canned foods Cigar-making Other food, drinlg and tobacco trades Total Number of Establishments. ­ 7 26 47 1 4 276 32 7 14 2 3 6 6 12 5 26 8 102 584 Number of Workpeople. Males over 16 years. 340 850 6,958 590 10 87 785 86 186 10 124 220 304 225 688 240 133 1,228 13,064 Females over 16 years. 293 64 1,161 24 1,036 168 90 6 3 13 12 2 90 2,256 99 176 5,493 Juveniles 14 but not over 16 years. 7 46 391 135 287 57 48 13 1 2 3 5 4 35 7 94 1,135 Total. 347 1,189 7,413 1,886 34 1,410 1,010 224 205 14 139 235 311 229 778 2,531 239 1,498 19,692 The working-day usually lasts 10 hours, but a notable exception is the engineering trade, in which a 9J hours day is more general. Work begins as a rule at 6 a.m. and continues until 6 p.m., with intervals of half-an-hour for breakfast (from 8 to 8.30), one hour for dinner (from 12 to 1), and a pause in the afternoon called “Vesper” (from 4 to 4.30). A number of the large engineering firms, however, depart from this order, having introduced what is called “ English worktime,” under which arrangement the intervals for breakfast and dinner are shortened, the former to 20 minutes and the latter to half-an-hour, while the “Vesper” interval is abolished. Accordingly work ceases in these establishments at between 4 and 4.30 p.m. The proprietors of these concerns declare themselves to be very well satisfied with this disposition of the hours of labour. Some of the works also close an hour or two earlier on Saturday. Wages are generally paid at the end of the week ; in the breweries, however, the men receive their wages monthly, and are entitled to advances (“ subs ”) which may even equal the amount of a week’s earnings. In the building trades several wages agreements have for some time been in existence and the rates are nearly all for a week of 57 hours, except in the case of the stucco workers, who work 54 hours. The workmen engaged in the breweries also secured in May, 1905, a wages agreement which has been accepted by six large companies and one private firm. This agreement fixed the hours of labour at 10 per day or 60 per week. Draymen receive in addition to their wages a commission amounting to 6¿7. per 1,000 bottles sold. Free beer is also given daily to all employees in quantities varying from 5^ to 8f pints. After two to three years’ service with any firm an employee is entitled to three days’ 1 ’’ 1 5 and after four years’ service to four days annually besides the general s. In the Co-operative Society’s bakery first bakers earn 33s. and ordinary men 25s. 6d. to 27s. per week. In the rates given for the other bakers of the town 12s. per week is taken as the equivalent of board and lodging, as most w orkmen live with their employers. Printers receive, in addition to the minimum rate fixed by their union for the whole of Germany, a supplement of 15 per cent, according to the scale laid down for certain towns where local conditions call for a higher rate. Machine compositors when engaged on news work earn 32s. 4d. for 48 hours, and when on jobbing work 33s. 8& for 54 hours, though when paid by piece they often earn much more. nouclay holiday 29088 R 130 BRUNSWICK. Labour is well organised at Brunswick. The principal trade unions (most of which are of the “ Free” or Social Democratic type) are those of the metal workers, brewery workers, factory workers and labourers, and the workpeople engaged in the building trades. These organisations carry on a vigorous agitation and have secured an increase of wages in several industries. In connection with the Social Democratic Trades’ Federation, a Workmen’s Secretariate is carried on. Wages and Hours of Labour in the Principal Occupations, October, 1905. Weekly Hours of Labour. Weekly Wages. Building* :— Bricklayers and Masons Stonemasons Carpenters ... Joiners Plumbers ... Painters Stucco Workers Glaziers Roofers Hodmen Labourers ... Engineering :— Fitters Turners Smiths Strikers Moulders ... Pattern-makers Labourers ... Printing :— Compositors Beet Sugar :— Sugar Boilers Labourers ... Canned Goods :— Boilers Tinsmiths ... Firemen Labourers ... Manufacture of Cans :— Tinsmiths Tin Cutters and Fasteners Stampers Labourers ... Jute :— Spinners Weavers Calender Workers Labourers Brewing :— Brewers Coopers Engine-room Men Stokers Draymen ... Labourers ... Sawing :— Sawyers, Planers and Groovers Labourers ... Carmen 32s. 5d. 34s. 2c?. 31s. 4c?. 25s. 8c?. 22s. 10c?. to 28s. 6c?. 34s. 2c?. to 37s. lc?. 35s. to 40s. 6c?. 19s. 10c?. to 27s. 25s. 8c? 25s. 8c?. 22s. 10c?. 31s. to 33s. 28s. 10c?. „ 29s. 5c?. 33s. to 35s. 5c?. 25s. 2c?. to 28s. 10c?. 3is. 4c?. to 33s. 26s. 6c?. to 28s. 10c?. 18s. „ 21s. 25 s. 11c?. 30s. to 36s. 14s. 6c?. to 15s. (When paid by the piece, 23s.) 27s. to 32s. 21s. „ 23s. 18s. „ 21s. 18s. „ 21s. 27s. to 30s. 24s. „ 30s. 27s. „ 30s. 18s. to 19s. 6c?. 22s. to 24s. 24s. „ 26s. 18s. 16s. to 17s. 25 s. 25s. 23s. 22s. 22s. 20s. 24s. 21s. 7c?. 21s. 7c?. 54 57 57 57 57 57 54 57 57 57 57 57 to 60 57 to 60 57 to 60 57 to 60 57 to 60 57 to 60 57 to 60 54 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 * The wages and hours of labour stated for the building trades are for a full'week in summer. BRUNSWICK. 131 Weekly Wages. Baking :— First Bakers Second Bakers Third Bakers Municipal Employees :— Roadsweepers Carmen Paviors Paviors’ Labourers Road-menders Gas Stokers Gas Yard Labourers Labourers in Water Works Tramways : Electricity Works :— Drivers Conductors Inspectors ... Engine-men Stokers Installators Fitters Weekly Hours of Labour. 24s. to 26s. 20s „ 24s. 19s. „ 20s. 20s. 22s. 9d. 28s. 6d. 17s. 20s. 29s. 23s. 8d. 23s. 19s. to 22s. 18s. 6d. 25s. to 29s. 23s. 5d. „ 27s. 4d. 18s. to 20s. Id. 21s. to 26s. 5d. 24s. 7d. 57 66 57 57 57 72 60 60 74 74 74 60 60 60 60 Wages in the building, engineering, and printing trades are about Í 0 per cent, lower than in Berlin, the wages of skilled men in these trades being 89, 91, and 92 per cent, respectively of the wages for corresponding trades in Berlin. The wages of labourers in both the building and engineering trades in Brunswick are 89 per cent, of those in Berlin. Housing and Rents. The majority of the working-class population of Brunswick live in dwellings consisting of two or three rooms and a kitchen, and in considering the character of these dwellings, reference may properly be made to Old Brunswick first, since a very large proportion of the working classes resides in this quarter of the town. Here whole streets of houses date back to the 17th and even to the 16th centuries. These old streets are very picturesque, each storey overhanging the one below it, and the whole of the roofs being covered * with red tiles. The fronts of the houses are uniformly covered with plaster except in the case of the better class buildings, whose façades display old carved beams. The houses are built in rows, with no break as a rule from one end of the street to the other, and are mostly three storeys high. Entrance is gained in each case by a door opening directly into a lobby or corridor, varving from 3 to 6 feet in width, which runs right through the house to a courtyard at the back, do the right and left of this corridor are doors leading to the ground-floor tenements, one of which is frequently occupied by the owner of the house, who is in many cases a small tradesman. The corridor floor is invariably paved with brick, and from the centre or rear a narrow, steep staircase leads to the landing on the first floor. Opening the door at the end of the corridor, the visitor steps into the small courtyard, the dimensions of which vary from 10 feet square to 15 by 18 feet. Not unfrequently, even in Old Brunswick, gardens are situated at the back of working-class dwellings, although the tenants rarely have the use oí them. As back-houses are comparatively rare at Brunswick, the courtyard is not as a rule so gloomy and depressing as in many German towns. orkshops, stables and the like are often situated there, but as these buildings are not very high they do not obstruct light and ventilation to any great extent. Ihe watei tap or the pump which serves lor the use of all the tenements in the house, is found m the courtyard, as are also the closets. Lhe lattei «ne usually inadequate in number, one often serving for every three dwellings. It is estimated that 20 per cent, of the houses in Brunswick still have the cesspool or the pail system, and naturally most of these houses are in working-class districts. In the old part of the town considerable variety obtains in the arrangement of the tenements in the upper storeys. Generally, however, at the head of the R 2 29088 132 BRUNSWICK. stairs there is a spacious landing (“ Vorplatz”), which not only separates the tenements but serves as a playground for the children and a washplace for the housewives, though the drying of clothes has to be done in the loft. In addition to the rooms of the various dwellings grouped round the landing there is also at least one bedroom belonging to a dwelling situated on the floor beneath, for it is a peculiarity of Old Brunswick that the second bedroom of a tenement is invariably situated in a different storey. Cases occur indeed where each of four bedrooms in the top floor belongs to a different tenement. In many instances the landing is badly lighted so that the visitor on emerging from the stairs finds himself in semi-darkness, while the floor is often cemented and uneven.* In not a few houses the stairs, which have no side rails, resemble a series of ladders. Many of the upper rooms in these houses are so low that persons above medium height cannot walk upright. A whole family seldom lives in one room, nevertheless the dirt and gloom, the crowding together of tenements in a narrow area, the rickety state of floors and stairs, and in general the entire absence of conditions suggestive of home comfort impress the visitor unfavourably. Entering a typical working-class tenement in Old Brunswick, the living room will invariably be found to be well lighted, having two windows which usually overlook the street. The narrow wooden bedsteads found everywhere in German working-class homes are frequently so crowded into it that they touch each other. No provision is made for heating the room and beyond an occasional chair or large box there is nothing in the way of furniture. The regulations in connection with the newly established system of house inspection state that a bedroom shall be considered to be overcrowded when it does not contain 353 cubic feet of air space for each individual over 10 years of age sleeping in it, and 1761-cubic feet for each child under 10 years. The regulations also insist on the separation of the sexes in the case of unmarried persons and of children over 14 years of age, the separation to be effected by means of different rooms or cubicles. As a rule the bedroom is entered directly from the living room, but in the oldest class of houses these rooms are frequently separated by the recess which serves as a kitchen and which opens on to the landing. The kitchen cannot be regarded as a room, and is described truthfully by the local appellation of “ Kochstelle ” or " cooking place.” It is frequently nothing more than a small recess between two rooms and is quite dark, so that the housewife must light a lamp or candle when she wishes to cook. It is not surprising, therefore, that the cooking is frequently done in the living room on what is known as a “ canon stove,” which serves also for the purpose of heating. It is significant that in Old Brunswick the tall stove usually found in German households is seldom met with, its place being taken by the kind just mentioned, on which only two pans can be placed at the same time. A small portable oven, which resembles an iron box on four legs, is also found in nearly every home. The coke used in these primitive ovens is the residue of lignite after paraffin and other substances have been extracted ; it will smoulder for hours together and is kept burning day and night. The merit of cheapness is certainly possessed by these ovens, as they only cost from 4d. or 5d. per week for fuel. On the other hand, the fumes of sulphur, which are only in rare instances conveyed by a flue into the outer air, undoubtedly vitiate the atmosphere of the dwelling. Passing to the newer portion of the town a considerable improvement is observable both in the outward appearance of working-class dwellings and the general conditions within. Instead of running in rows the houses are mostly built in small blocks called “ double-houses,” separated from each other by passages usually 16 feet 3 inches in width. This "open style ” of building is prescribed by the municipal authorities for certain streets, which may be determined upon as circumstances require. I he building regulations limit the height of buildings used as dwellings in the old town to 65 feet and in the new town to 59 feet. The number of storeys is likewise restricted to three in certain streets in the new town, whilst four storeys are permitted in others. The height of buildings is also determined by its relation to the width of the street. Thus in the old town they may not rise higher than 28 feet when the width of the street does not exceed 21 feet 4 inches, when, however, the street is more than 21 feet 4 inches wide the height of the adjoining buildings may exceed its width by 6 feet 6 inches. In the new town, buildings may be erected to a BRUNSWICK. 133 height of 29 feet 6 inches when the street is not more than 29 feet 6 inches wide, but when the street exceeds this measurement, the height of adjacent buildings must not exceed its width. Most of the working-class dwellings in the new town were erected in the eighties and the nineties of last century and have fronts of bare pressed brick. Occasional blocks of older date betray themselves by the rough and grimy surface of their brick fronts, whilst their internal arrangements resemble those prevailing in the old town, except in the case of a few houses erected by employers of labour in the vicinity of their factories. Here the kitchen assumes the appearance and the proportions of a room, and the dimensions of the other parts of the dwelling are also on a more generous scale. Abundance of air and light is also a feature of these dwellings, which have at the back small gardens or a large court for use as a drying ground or a playground. The dominant type in the new town, however, is the double-house of from three to four storeys, the entrance, staircase and landings being in the centre of the block and the tenements situated to right and left of these. Streets of such houses present the appearance of a series of small barracks, as neither balconies nor decorations of any kind relieve the monotony of the house fronts, and the house doors are invariably behind. The entrance is reached by way of the side passage between two blocks and from the courtyard, where in many cases the closets are situated. Inside the entrance to the right is a short flight of steps leading down to the cellars where there is a wash-house for the whole block, with store places for wood and coal attached to the various tenements, whilst to the left is a short lobby. The doors opening into the ground-floor tenements are situated at the back of this lobby to right and left. Two flights of stairs lead to the first landing where the tenements are entered by doors to right and left, with sometimes a third small tenement in the centre. The same general arrangement holds good for all the upper storeys. In some of the more modern houses a closet is situated on the small landing midway between two floors and serves for two tenements, whilst in others there is a closet for each tenement. Entering one of these typical dwellings the visitor passes directly from the landing into the kitchen or living room, as the case may be, which communicates ­ with the other rooms belonging to the tenement. When a tenement consists of four rooms it is usual to find a short corridor running from the landing door, having two rooms on one side, and one on the other, and the fourth at the end. In this class of tenements the kitchen is not only spacious and well lighted but is tolerably well furnished, and the family meals can be taken in it. The bedrooms, even in this class of dwelling, rarely contain more than the beds and one or two chairs. The following are typical dimensions of the various rooms comprised in working-class tenements in the older part of the town The living room varies from 9 feet 9 inches to 12 feet 9 inches in length, and from 7 feet 9 inches to 9 feet 9 inches in breadth, the bedroom from 9 feet 9 inches to lo feet in length, and from 5 feet to 8 feet 5 inches in width, whilst the dimensions of the kitchen are from 6 feet 6 inches to 9 feet 9 inches in length, and from 5 feet to 8 feet 2 inches in breadth. The height of a dwelling is usually from 7 to 9 feet, but it is not unusual to find rooms in the upper storeys only 6 feet 2 inches, and even 5 feet 10 inches high. In the newer part of the town the living room measures as a rule 13 feet by 9 feet 9 inches to 11 feet 4 inches, the bedroom 9 feet 9 inches to 13 feet by 8 feet 2 inches to 11 feet 4 inches, and the kitchen 8 feet 2 inches to 9 feet 9 inches by 6 feet 6 inches to 9 feet 9 inches. Ihe height of rooms varies from 8 feet 9 inches to iO feet. A " Public Utility " Building Society has erected some 254 dwellings which are let at rents little less than those belonging to private owners, though, on the other hand, the accommodation is superior, ihe rents are as follows : Two rooms, and kitchen, 3a, 3d. to 3a. 5d. per week ; three rooms, and kitchen, 3s. 4d. to 4s. 4d. per week ; and four rooms, and kitchen, os. to os. ha. this society is able to obtain loans amounting to 8o per cent, of the value of the land and property from the State Insurance Society at the low rate of 3 per cent. It has also"received easy loans from the Imperial Home Ofhcein return for an undertaking that workmen and minor officials in the Imperial sei vice should have a certain number of dwellings allotted to them, formerly the tenants 134 BRUNSWICK. were induced to purchase their tenements, but since 1903 this practice has been abandoned. The society has undoubtedly exercised a good influence by raising the standard of comfort amongst the working classes, and by inducing private builders to improve the accommodation generally offered to this class of tenants. The following Table showing the predominant rents of working class dwellings in the old and new parts of the town respectively is based upon returns relating to 1824 tenements. Predominant Rents of Working Class Dwellings. Number of Rooms per Tenement. Three rooms ... Four rooms Predominant Weekly Rents. Older parts of Town. 2s. 4d. to 2s. lid. 2s. lid. to 3s. 6d. Newer parts of Town. 2s. 9d. to 3s. 6d. 3s. 6d. to 4s. The difference in rent between the various storeys in the town as a whole is very slight, except in the case of the fourth storey, which costs from 3d. to 6d. per week less than the floors beneath. Rent is usually paid by the month, and a month’s notice is in that case required on both sides. The rent includes the charges for water, for chimney cleaning, and, in the case of the better class dwellings, for the cleaning and lighting of the stairs. From these figures it is seen that rents in Brunswick are very low. Rents in Berlin being taken as 100, the Brunswick index number is 37. In only two of the towns investigated for the purposes of this report were rents found to be lower, these two towns being Stassfurt and Oschersleben, the smallest towns investigated. The taxes paid by the working classes of Brunswick are the State income tax and the municipal income tax. The former is levied upon annual incomes exceeding £45 and the latter upon those exceeding £30. The State tax is a fixed amount for each income group, whilst the amount of the local tax is determined by taking a multiple of the unit of taxation prescribed for each grade of income. This multiple varies from year to year according to the financial necessities of the municipality, and in 1905 was 10^. The following table shows the amounts paid in State and local taxes on incomes up to £150, which may be regarded as the limit as far as the working classes are concerned :— Incomes exceeding up to and including State Tax. Local Tax. Total. 3U 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100 105 110 115 120 125 130 135 140 145 £ 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100 105 110 115 120 125 130 135 140 145 150 £ s. d. exempted 3 11 5 3 6 7 9 0 10 0 11 0 13 0 14 0 15 0 16 11 0 18 3 0 19 6 6 10 1 5 9 0 4 7 0 10 1 5 0 7 1 11 3 1 13 10 1 16 5 0 10 0 11 0 12 0 13 0 14 0 15 0 18 1 1 4 7 11 1 15 19 3 7 12 2 17 3 2 3 7 3 13 d. 4 4 5 5 6 7 7 8 8 9 6 5 7 11 6 3 3 6 10 6 4 4 7 £ s. d. 0 6 4 0 7 4 0 8 5 0 13 4 0 15 9 0 18 1 10 5 12 9 15 1 17 6 1 11 6 1 15 9 2 0 2 2 4 10 2 9 9 2 14 9 3 0 1 3 5 7 3 11 3 3 18 6 4 5 11 4 13 7 5 1 5 5 9 6 BRUNSWICK. 135 Retail Prices. Groceries and other Commodities. From the multitude of shops to be found in the working-class streets of Brunswick it is evident that the workman mainly procures his food supply from small retail dealers, and also that this keen competition exercises a powerful influence upon prices. Multiple concerns are rare, though one proprietor owns 24 branch shops at which butter, eggs, cheese, sugar and milk are sold. Of the two public markets only one is of any importance. The co-operative society is a very vigorous institution ; it has 12 establishments and its membership in 1905 was 6,095. The turnover for that year was £102,734. The society’s bakery had an output of 594,097 loaves of rye bread, each weighing 4* 14 lbs., and 6,866,649 small rolls of wheaten bread. The report for 1905, in referring to the fact that the profits on the bakery department were less than those of the previous year, remarks “ The principal reason for this must be attributed to the rise in the prices of corn. Those who regard it as a piece of national good fortune when high prices prevail for meat and corn ought to be well satisfied at present. Whilst the average price per ton for rye in 1904 was £7, it rose during the closing months of 1905 to £8 7s. and £8 9s. according to quality. The price of wheat is likewise considerably higher than it was in the preceding year.” The competition of the co-operative society has led to the formation of an association of retailers for the purpose of giving discount to their customers on the check system, this dividend amounting to 5 per cent, of the value of their purchases. The bakers of the town are also organised in a Guild, one object of which is to restrict competition and to regulate prices. On the whole prices are fairly equal in all the working-class districts, and the following are those which predominated in 1905. Only the cheaper quality of coffee is purchased by the working classes and this is sold roasted at 11 d. per lb. Large quantities of malt coffee are bought, costing only about 3d. per lb., also coffee essence, roasted barley and chicory. Fine and lump are the only two kinds of sugar in demand, the former costing 2\d. and 2^d. per lb. and the latter 2hd. and 2\d. The cheese universally eaten is a “ country cheese ” which has a sharp flavour but is of inferior quality, being made from milk after the cream has been extracted. It is sold in s mall round pats at the rate of 3 for 1 \d. or 8 for od. Small quantities of Swiss, Tilsit and Limburg cheese are sold at Is., Is. and bl¿d. per lb. respectively, iresh or dairy butter costs from Is. Id. to Is. 2\d. per lb., and margarine 8§d. As to the relative quantities of dairy butter and margarine consumed by the Working classes, the sales of the co-operative society afford some indication, and the report for 1905 states that 231,039 lbs. of dairy butter were sold against 108,526 lbs. of margarine. Flour is not bought in large quantity as bread is seldom baked at home. The kinds of bread eaten are " white ” or wheaten and “ grey ” or rye-bread. The latter is the staple food and is made from finely ground and sieved rye. It is baked in long fiat loaves with rounded ends, weighing in October, 1905, from 4 to 4£ lbs. The price, which is 6d. per ~oaf, is everywhere the same and never varies, as the bakers reduce or increase the size and weight of the loaf according to the fluctuating prices °f rye. Wheaten bread is baked both in the form of loaves and of rolls ; the former, however, are too expensive for the working classes, milk instead of water being mixed with the flour, while the rolls, which are very small a nd are either circular or oblong in form, are sold at the rate of 5 for %nd are only eaten at “first breakfast ” with coffee. For his “second breakfast ” the workman eats sandwiches consisting of rye bread with slices of sausage, and either takes a “ nip ” of schnaps (inferior gram spirit) from a small flask which he carries in his pocket, or buys a bottle of beer from the factory canteen, where such an institution exists. The white rolls vary in height, and cost from 8^. to 1W. per 4 lbs. (English) 'according to the quality of wheat. The. coarser kind of rye bread, which is dark brown, is not Ja hed at all in Brunswick. The milk trade is largely in the hands of two large dairy companies and one private dealer. The price per quart for pure or “ full ” milk, as it is termed, is A better quality of skim milk containing 2 per cent, of fatty 136 BRUNSWICK. matter is also largely in demand and is sold at 1 hd. and 1|d. per quart, whilst an interior quality costs \d. a quart. The price of coal ranged from Is. 2Jd. to Is. 5d. per cwt. in October, 1905, and from Is. 4d. to Is. hd. in May, 1907. For heating purposes, however, the working classes burn almost exclusively briquettes, which can be obtained at about eight for a penny, whilst for cooking they use a kind of coke, obtained from lignite, the soft coal mined in the district, for which they pay from 11 ^d. to Is. 3d. per cwt. A careful housewife burns about \ cwt. of this coke per week. The paraffin sold is almost entirely American and costs 11 d. per gallon. The following table summarises the predominant prices paid by the working classes in October, 1905, and May, 1907. The chief differences in the prices of these two periods are to be noted in bacon, which had fallen about 1 d. per lb. ; and in wheaten flour and rye bread, which had both risen. Predominant Prices paid by the Workinq Ciasses in October. 1905, and 1907. Commodity. Predominant Price. October, 1905. May, 1907. Coffee ... Sugar :— Loaf ... ... White Granulated Bacon :— Fat ... Streaky Eggs ... Cheese :— Country Limburg Butter :— Fresh Margarine Potatoes Flour :— Wheat Rye ... Bread, Grey (Rye) Milk Coal Coke Paraffin Oil per lb. per Is. per lb. r per 7 lbs. per 4 lbs. per qt. per cwt. per gal. 1 Id. 2\d., 2fd. 2fd., 2\d. 8\d. to 11 d. 8fd. lid. 13,14 3d. 5fd. Is. Id. to Is. 2fd. 8fd. 2fd. to 3fd. 11 Id. to Is. Ofd. lOd. „ Is. Ofd. 4\d. ,, 5fd. 2# Is. 2fd. to Is. 5d. llfd. „ Is. 3d. lid. lid. 2fd., 2fd. 2fd., 2fd. 8|d. 8fd. 13,14 3d. 5&d. Is. Id. to Is. 2fd. 8fd. 2|d. to 4fd. Is. Ofd. lOd. to Is. Ofd. 5fd. 2&d. Is. 4d. to Is. 5d. llfd. to Is. 3d. lid. Meat. A walk through the working-class districts of Brunswick is quite sufficient to convince the observer that the consumption oí bacon and pork far exceeds that of beef and mutton. For whilst shop windows abound in which the former are exposed for sale, those containing beef and mutton are met with only at rare intervals. The following Table shows the number and the kind of animals slaughtered during the years 1901-1905 inclusive :— Year. Cows and Oxen. Pigs. Calves. Sheep and Goats. Horses. 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 10,134 10,513 10,747 11,263 11,774 62,065 62,758 70,295 76,272 75,020 10,873 9,665 10,389 10,777 11,009 13,981 14,131 13,719 14,694 12,735 258 258 241 234 321 It will be observed that while the number of pigs killed annually has increased considerably during the last three years, the increase in the case of beef and veal has been slight, while there has been a decrease in the case of sheep and goats. The return shows that in 1905, 87 more horses were killed BRUNSWICK. 137 in the abattoir than in the previous year, yet this does not represent the total amount of horse-flesh consumed, since a considerable amount is imported in a prepared state. The meat supply comes for the most part from the surrounding country. The predominant price of beef in October, 1905, was from l\d. to 9|d. per lb., except for steak, which cost from 11 d. to Is. 1(7. per lb., while the price of mutton was about 8Jc/. per lb., except in the case of chops, which cost 11 d. In May, 1907, the prices of beef and mutton were \d. to 1 d. per lb. higher than in October, 1905. Both steak and chops, however, are too dear for the majority of the working classes, nor is veal often seen in working-class homes, for the same reason. The prices generally paid for pork were from 7Jc/. to 9J/7. per lb. in October, 1905, and from Id. to 8|d. in May, 1907. As in other German towns large quantities of sausage are eaten, whilst those who find even the cheaper cuts of meat too expensive, buy what they require from the horse butchers, whose prices range from 3^d. to 4d. per lb. for ordinary cuts, and for fillet 5d. per lb. Great care is exercised that none but perfectly sound meat shall be allowed to pass into the market. All meat of poor quality, whilst not actually unfit for human consumption, is marked as inferior, and as such can only be sold at the municipal “Freibank,” and must not be bought either by butchers or keepers of restaurants. This class of meat may be sold in a raw state. If amongst the condemned meat any is found which may be consumed with safety after being sterilised, it is boiled and may then be exposed for sale at the “ Freibank.” The prices for this inferior meat in 1905 were—beef of all kinds 5c/. per lb. raw and 4d. per lb. cooked ; mutton 4d. per lb. both raw and cooked ; veal 4\d. both raw and cooked ; pork and bacon hd. per lb. raw, and 4d. per lb. cooked. Predominant Prices paid by the Workinq Classes in October. 1905, and Æoy, 1907. Description of Cut. Beef :— Ribs Silverside Shin \ bone • ( without bone Steak Flank Mutton :— keg ... ... ... Shoulder Breast Neck Chops Veal :— Hindquarter Moulder j ""bone Loin ... ... • •• Shin ... ... ... Pork :— Leg ... ... .. • Foreloin... Belly Spare Bib ... ••• Chops Predominant Price per lb. October, 1905. 7f d. to 8pZ. 84(7. ,, 9f(7. 5Id. „ 6W. 7# " 11 d. to Is. Id. 7# 8W. to 9f(Z. 8# 8^(7. 84(7. 11(7. 9|c7. to 11(7. 84(7. Is. to Is. 1(7. Ilc7. to Is. 74(7. „ 84(7. May, 1907. 8|(7. 94(7. to 9|(7. 6^(7. „ 7f(7. 74(7. „ 84(7. Is. 1(7. 74(7. to 84(7. 8f(7. to 11(7. 94(7. 84(7. to 94(7. 94(7. 11(7. Is. to Is. 1(7. 84(7. to 9§(7. Is. to Is. 1(7. 11(7. „ Is. 1(7. ?4(7. „ 84(7. 84(7. „ 94(7. 94(7. 84(7. 71(7. to 11(7. 94(7. „ 11(7. 7(7. ., 74(7. 74(7. 7(7. to 74(7. 84(7. 84(7. On the whole prices in Brunswick are at about the same level as in Berlin. Coal is dearer, but, as has been stated, is not much used. Taking Berlin as 100, the Brunswick index numbers are-for food, other tha,n meat, 99 ; for meat, 10a ; for food as a whole, 100 ; for coal, 107 ; and for all commodities, 101. The index number for rent and prices combined is 8S. 138 CHEMNITZ. The “ Saxon Manchester ” and “ the most important industrial city in Germany ” are expressions frequently applied to Chemnitz. Opinion would probably be divided as to how far the latter is justified, but the former is generally accepted as appropriate, and still occurs in German and English gazetteers. Apart, however, from the difference in population of the two towns (Manchester having 544,000 and Chemnitz only 245,000 inhabitants), the appellation “ Saxon Manchester,” if it ever was, is now no longer applicable to Chemnitz, for Manchester is now primarily a trading centre with few factories, while Chemnitz is a factory town of the most pronounced type. Chemnitz has not kept its factories well on its outer borders, as is the case in many German towns, and it is only since a comparatively recent date that the municipality has decided that certain areas shall be kept free from such buildings. There are few parts of the town, therefore, which do not afford a view of one or more factory chimneys, while from any point outside the town they are to be seen in countless numbers. The atmosphere is, however, not smoke-laden, probably because there is little opportunity for smoke to settle over a town situated one thousand feet above the sea level, and exposed to strong winds. Most of the buildings of the town are somewhat sombre, owing to the brick being exposed, instead of being covered with the ornamental stucco work so common in other German towns. Generally speaking, the streets are wide, clean, and paved with granite setts, only a very few of the narrower streets in the very centre of the old town being asphalted. For public lighting purposes gas is still used, although the municipality owns a large electrical power generating and distributing station. The town is practically devoid of slums, and at the same time well provided with public parks and recreation grounds. Two of the best of these, the “ Schlossteich ” and the “ Kiichwald,” the former with an extensive lake, lie close to the chief north-western workingclass suburb of Schlosschemnitz. Another, called the “ Zeisigwald,” is equally conveniently situated for the working-class district of Sonnenberg on the north-east. The growth of Chemnitz since 1871 has been rapid. The population at the date of the census and the intercensal increases have been as follows :— Year of Census. 1871 1875 1880 1885 1890 1895 1900 1905 Population. 68,229 78,209 95,135 110,817 138,954 161,017 206,913 244,927 Intercensal Increase. Intercensal Increase per cent. 9,980 16,926 15,682 28,137 22,063 45,896 38,014 14 6 216 16 5 25 4 15-9 285 18*4 The following Table shows the mean annual birth-rates, death-rates and rates of infantile mortality during the period 1901-5 :— Year. Birth-rate per 1,000 of Population. 1901 1902 ]903 1904 1905 38-7 36 8 35 0 35 7 340 Death-rate per 1,000 of Population. 24 2 2T5 212 22 0 202 Infantile Mortality per 1,000 Births. 344 284 291 307 286 During the period both birth and death rates have declined considerably, the latter much more rapidly than the former. The fall in the death-rate is to a great extent to be attributed to the decline in the infant mortality rate. During 1901-05 the annual number of infants dying before reaching one year of age for CHEMNITZ. 139 every 1,000 born was 302, as compared with 329 during 1896-1900 and 355 in 1891-95. Compared with that for 1891-95, the figure for 1901-05 thus showed a decline of 15 per cent. In spite of this decline the infant mortality rate of Chemnitz is still very high, being twice as great as that of Barmen, where the pioportion of the female population employed in factories is larger. The subject is one to which the Chemnitz Municipality has given much attention in recent years, and some success appears to have attended their efforts to cope with one at least of the causes of the evil, viz., the neglect or inability of women of the poorer classes to feed their children at the breast. Since 1904 a record has been kept by the authorities in respect to each child born as to whether or not it has been nursed by its mother during the first year of life. A comparison of the figures for 1904 and 1905 with those obtained by a special but partial inquiry covering the years 1901-3 shows that the proportion of breast-fed children has increased from 51*7 per cent, in 1901 to 69T per cent, in 1905. Among the means adopted in order to promote the proper feeding of infants among the poorer classes is that of free distribution of milk to the amount of a litre per day through the medical officers. Occupation, Wages and Hours of Labour. Among the many industries of Chemnitz those of machine-making and the manufacture of textile goods are by far the most developed. Of the 54,178 persons employed in factories or workshops subject to inspection in Chemnitz in 1905, 21,881 (or 40 percent.) were engaged in making machines and mechanical appliances of various kind, while 18,746 (or 35 per cent.) were engaged in the textile trades. The 21,881 operatives employed in machine-making include 4/10 working in establishments where only textile machinery is made ; 5,746 engaged in making other kinds of machinery, and 4,162 in tool making. Of the 18,746 persons employed in the textile trades, the most important group consists of 8,000 engaged in hosiery making, while 4,469 are employed in weaving mixed goods (including curtain net and upholstery material), 1,655 in cotton or cashmere spinning, and 3,025 in dyeing and finishing textile goods of various sorts, more especially hosiery. Among the other industries of some local importance ­ may be mentioned the paper and cardboard trades, employing 1,453 workpeople of whom 843 are engaged in making cardboard goods of various sorts. The Chemnitz industries, however, afford employment to a larger number of workpeople than would appear from the foregoing figures, which relate only to persons working in factories or in such workshops as are subject to inspection, and take no account of the building trades, or of the large number of people who, although not living in Chemnitz itself, but in one or other of the surrounding towns and villages of the Erzgebirge, nevertheless work regularly for Chemnitz firms, either directly as home workers, or indirectly as operatives in rural factories executing orders for Chemnitz firms. The following Table shows the number of workpeople employed in certain groups of trades in establishments subject to industrial inspection : Number of Workpeople. Groups of Trades. Metal working... ... ••• Machine, implement and apparatus making Textiles... Clothing and cleaning ••• Printing, lithography, bookbinding, &c. ... Paper ••• Woodworking and carving ... Chemicals Resins, varnishes, oils, soaps, candles, &c.... Stone and earth ••• ... Food, drink and tobacco Leather... Males over 16 years. Females over 16 years. 4,125 19,768 4,939 276 787 533 1,590 1!6 288 812 1,147 184 34,605 515 12,021 528 412 758 98 196 15 20 287 5 14,943 Juvaniles 14 to 16 years. 414 1,518 1,701 43 133 134 152 60 4 30 107 11 4,307 Children under 14 years. 23 80 85 29 20 28 23 8 1 24 o 323 Total. 4,650 21,881 18,746 876 1,352 1,453 1,863 420 308 862 1,565 202 54,178 S 2 29088 CHEMNITZ. 140 As regards the number employed in the building trades, no statistics of in the succeeding ten years, judging by the growth of the population, which has risen from 159,000 in 1895 to 244,000 in 1905. Assuming a corresponding expansion in che building trades, the number of workpeople employed in them would be little short of 8,000 in 1905. The number of persons working directly or indirectly for Chemnitz firms, but residing outside, cannot, of course, be stated even approximately, but is undoubtedly very large. Numbers of women from the surrounding towns and villages of the Erzgebirge may be seen at almost any hour of the day, with large baskets of hose slung knapsack-fashion over their shoulders, either going to, or coming from, some Chemnitz hosiery firm, from whom they receive regular employment in working ornamental designs in hand embroidery on the finer sorts of stockings and socks. Again, cartloads of hose made of Egyptian cotton in its natural colour are often to be seen entering Chemnitz from some outlying town, where the goods have been manufactured. These are on their way to some local dyeing mill, after leaving which they are exported as Chemnitz hosiery, mostly to the United States or South America. Indeed, it appears that the greater part of the hosiery exported from Chemnitz has been manufactured in some other town in the Erzgebirge, and this applies in a greater or less degree to many other articles supplied by Chemnitz firms. The town, therefore, is of great importance not only as a manufacturing but also as a distributing centre. Except for the inferior grades of unskilled labour, the piece-wage system is practically universal in all the greater industries of Chemnitz, so that in determining rates of wages it has been necessary in almost every case to ascertain from the factory pay-sheets the amount most frequently earned by an adult wage system is more generally in operation, very few wages and hours agreements have as yet been concluded, so that there is some, though not very much, variation in the conditions of labour among the many small enterprises engaged in those trades. This scarcity of wages agreements, in a town where labour is strongly organised, is noteworthy and difficult to explain. Indeed, the only trades in which the conditions of labour are regulated by agreements in Chemnitz are those of the brewers, printers, carpenters, joiners, painters, cabinetmakers, turners (wood), and coppersmiths. Returns of the predominant wages and hours of labour have been obtained from 35 of the principal employers of labour, including the municipality, which owns the gas works, the electric light and power supply, and the water works. In addition to these a return was obtained from the Metalworkers’ Federation with regard to the wages and hours of labour of a large number of its members working for a great machine-making concern, whose officials declined to furnish any information on the subject. The following table of predominant wages and hours of labour is based on these returns :— Wages and Hours of Labour in the Principal Occupations, October, 1905. * The wa 2 es and hours of labour stated for the building trades are for a full week in more recent date than those of the occupation census of 1895 are available. The number was then ascertained to be 5,073, but must have increased considerably workman in a full week without overtime. On the other hand, in the minor industries, such as the various branches of the building trades, where the time-Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours of Labour. Building Trades* .-— Bricklayers and Masons Carpenters Joiners ... Painters ... 64 57 52 54 64 Stonemasons Stucco workers Labourers summer CHEMNITZ. 141 Metal and Engineering Trades :— Machine and Tool Making : Moulders Turners Fitters Smiths Patternmakers Labourers Weekly Wages. of rotary and other hosiery Manufacture frames : Turners Fitters Men at boring and planing machines Labourers Boiler making and bridge construction : Angle-iron smiths Platers (boilersmiths) Platers’ (boilersmith’s) helpers Rivetters Coppersmiths Textile Trades: — Cotton Spinners Cashmere „ Weavers of “ Nottingham Net ” „ „ “Upholstery Stuff ” Hosiery making establishments : Men at hosiery frames Packers Finishers and labourers Cotton Yarn Dyeing : Skilled men Unskilled men (who form the great bulk of the men). Printing and Allied Trades:— Hand Compositors, Machine Minders and Pressmen. Machine Compositors, jobbing work ,, „ newspaper work Lithographic Artists Lithographers Process Printers Cardboard Goods Manufacture :— Bookbinders Labourers Brewing* :— Brewers and Coopers Weekly Hours of Labour. Small Breweries Medium „ Draymen Labourers Large Small Medium Large Small Medium Large Municipal Employees :— Road making and cleaning : Carters ... ... ... ... Others ... ... ... ... Gasworks : Stokers ... ... ... ... Yard labourers Waterworks : Labourers Electric light and power supply station Enginemen ... Firemen ... ... Installators ... Fitters... ... ... ... ... 32s. to 33s. 24s. „ 26s. 21s. „ 24s. 25s. „ 27s. 14s. „ 17s. 25s. „ 26s. 23s. „ 24s. 21s. 16s. to 18s. 25s. „ 27s. 24s. „ 25s. 14s. 20s. 25s. Id. 24s. to 25s. 21s. 25s. 20s. to 24s. 22s. „ 25s. 22s. 18s. 24s. 15s. to 17s. 25s. id. 32s. lid 31s. Sd. 27s to 29s. 26s. „ 29s. 32s. „ 38s. 19s. 13s. 22s. to 25s. 24s. „ 27s. 29s. 21s. 22s. 23s. 19s. 6d. 20s. 6d. 22s. 6d. 25s. 18s. 19s. 21s. 16s. 6d. 17s. 6d. 19s. 6d. 20 s. 23s. 28s. to 30s. 18s. „ 19s. 19s. „ 21s. 33s. 27s. id. 31s. id. 27s. id. 60 60 60 60 60 60 to 62 60 „62 60,, 62 60,,62 60 60 60 60 58& 65 63 60i to 61£ 58 ,,62& 58 „ 62& 58 „ 62& 60 „ 63 60,, 63 54 54 48 50 53 50 62 62 60 60 60 Irregular 60 60 60 54 60 56 60 65 56 56 60 60 * In addition to the wages shown, men over 20 are entitled to anything up to 10 pints of beer per day, and those under 20 to anything up to 5 pints per day. From this table it is seen that wages at Chemnitz are somewhat low. Taking Berlin as 100, the following are jRe wages index-numbers for Chemnitz Building trades, skilled men, fS, labourers, 80 ; engineering trades, skilled men, 73, labourers, 71 ; printing trades, 90. 142 CHEMNITZ. In the Building Trades the conditions of labour are regulated by agreement in the case of the joiners and painters only. In the case of the joiners, however, it would seem that the conditions were not being rigidly observed. The agreement ­ in force in October, 1905, provided a 58 hour week with minimum hourly rates of 4\8<f. for Bauanschläger (who fix doors, windows, &c., in buildings), and 4'4c/. for Bautischler (who do the rougher kinds of work). Returns obtained from leading employers in the building, trade, however, showed that joiners were often paid at higher rates and worked longer hours than those just mentioned, Thus, in the opinion of the President of the Builders’ Guild (an association of master builders), the predominant rate of wages were 5*04d. per hour and the most usual duration of the working week 64 hours, which would represent a weekly rate of 26s. lid. The remaining branches of the building trade call for no special comment except that women are employed as labourers at such work as mortar carrying. In the Printing and Allied Trades the wages and hours are regulated by the agreement which applies to the whole of Germany, and follows the plan of fixing minimum rates with an additional and variable percentage of these rates in a scheduled list of towns. Under this agreement the time (as distinct from piece) wages of compositors, machine-minders, and pressmen in Chemnitz are those shown in the Table. They are minimum rates, and in the case of hand-compositors on piece-work are often exceeded. In the case of machinecompositors, however, the minimum rates are also those actually earned in the time given ; since these men may not, under the terms of the agreement, be employed on piece-work. In the Brewing Trade conditions of labour are regulated by an agreement concluded between the 10 large brewing concerns of Chemnhz on the one hand and the men’s trade unions on the other. The hours of labour are fixed uniformly at 10 per day, or 60 per week, for the trained brewers, the coopers and the labourers, and at 12 per day, or 7 2 per week, for the enginemen and stokers. The rates of wages vary with the size of the breweries, which are divided into three classes, according to the quantity of malt used per annum. “ Small ” breweries are those using less than 5,000 centners (or 4,911 cwt.) of malt in the year ; “medium” breweries, those using 5,000 (or 4,911 cwt.) but less than 15,000 centners (or 14,7o2cwt.) ; and “ large” breweries those using 15,000 centners (or 14,732cwt.) and upwards. Again, in any given brewery, the wages are graduated according to length of service, and are the same for skilled brewers and coopers. Housing and Rents. Although factories are to be found in almost every direction in Chemnitz,, there is a tendency for the working-classes to confine themselves to certain quarters of the town, and more especially to the Northern and Eastern suburbs. The most typical working-class districts are Schlosschemnitz and the Schillerplatzviertel ­ on the North, Sonnenberg on the East, and the Siidost vier tel on the South-east of the older and central part of Chemnitz. The distance from the outermost parts of any of these districts to the very heart of the city is not much more than a mile, and can be covered in less than 10 minutes, at a cost of a penny, by using one of the electric tramways. In all these districts the general impression produced by the streets is one of monotonous regularity a long perspective of somewhat dull-coloured, massive-looking, four-storeyed houses. The streets intersect one another at intervals of 120 to 150 yards, so that the unbroken line of houses, extending from one cross street to the next, represents one side of a rectangular plot bounded by a similar row of houses on each of its other sides and enclosing about an acre and a half of land. The greater part of the space so enclosed is devoid of any building calculated to prevent free access of light and air to the back rooms of the enclosing rows of houses. Occasionally, it is true, one may find here some small factory, the chimney of which is not visible from the street ; or room may have been found for a further block of tenements constituting what is called a Hinterhaus or a Seitenhaus, according as its façade is parallel with, or at right angles to, the street which gives access to it. But such buildings are exceptional, and on the whole, Chemnitz must be said to compare not unfavourably in this respect with many other German cities. CHEMNITZ. 143 The following Table shows the distribution of the population on December 1st, 1905, according to the number of rooms which constituted the dwelling :— Number of Rooms. Number of Dwellings. Number of Persons housed in such dwellings. Total. Per cent, of Population. One room Two rooms Three „ Four Five and over Total 3,024 23,472 17,281 8,849 8,671 61,297 4,224 83,123 71,349 38,291 42,160 17 34 8 29 9 160 17 6 239,147 1000 From the above it would appear that 66‘4 per cent, of the population are housed in dwellings of three rooms or less. The actual situation is, however, somewhat more favourable than this. A noteworthy and special feature in the housing conditions of Chemnitz is that every tenement is required to include, as part of its accommodation, a garret-room capable of being used as a bedroom, and on the occasion of the housing census which yielded the returns on which the above Table is based, it was found that 12,426 such rooms were being used as bedrooms. Notwithstanding this, it is the custom in Chemnitz, when speaking of the number of rooms of which a tenement consists, to ignore the garret as a thing which is taken for granted. This custom has been followed by the compilers of the table, with the result that what are there described as tenements of two, three, and four rooms really represent tenements of three, four, and live rooms respectively. The salient facts in the distribution of the population of Chemnitz according to the size of the dwelling are therefore more correctly stated by saying that 66'4 per cent, of the population are housed in tenements of lour rooms or less, and that among these the greater proportion are housed in three-roomed tenements. Statistics of the rents and accommodation of every occupied tenement in certain typical streets in a number of the principal working-class districts have been furnished for the purposes of this enquiry by the Director of the Municipal Statistical Office of Chemnitz, the total number of tenements covered being 3,954. Of these 866 had to be eliminated, either because they were untenanted, or were combined with business premises, or because they were obviously not working-class dwellings. The remaining 3,088 dwellings, occupied exclusively by working-class families, consisted wholly of three-roomed and four-roomed tenements—2,433 of the former and only 655 of the latter. From this it appears safe to conclude that the great bulk of the working classes of Chemnitz are housed in dwellings consisting of three rooms. And this, it may be added, is also the minimum house-room permissible for a family undei the latest municipal housing regulations (issued in 1906). As a rule the typical working-class tenement of three rooms consists of two rooms below and one room in the attics ; the exception being where all three rooms aie in the attics. In addition each tenant has a railed-off portion of the cellar space allotted to him, and has a right to the use of the loft (situated above the attics) for the drying of washing on certain days. For laundry washing each tenement house bas a washhouse, usually situated in die yard, but sometimes in the cellar space. The rent charged for the accommodation just described \aries within wide limits Of the 2,433 working-class tenements of three rooms for which rents have been ascertained, 16 were let at as low a figure as &4 10s. or less per annum (Is. 9d. or less per week), while 59 were fetching A9 _s. or more, «.e., 3s. 6d. or more per week. The range within which the majority ol threeroomed tenements fell ivas from &6 to &8 8s. per annum, or expressed in weekly rents, from 2s. 4d. to 3s. 3d. Neither the very best nor the very worst tenements fall within this range. The nature of the accommodation obtainable at rents falling well within the two limits named may tie inferred from the following examples of three-roomed tenements. 144 CHEMNITZ Example I.—The tenements visited were on the first, second and third floors of a house of modern construction in the Freigutstrasse, in the Schlosschemnitz quarter, one of the northern suburbs of Chemnitz. On each floor were four tenements, two consisting of two rooms each at the back and two consisting of three rooms each in the front of the house. Each tenement had in addition, a bedroom in the attics. The landing at the top of the stone or concrete stairs gave access to all four tenements through one or other of four closed doors, of which there were two in front and one on either side of the visitor arrived on the landing. Either of the side doors gave access to a large livingroom and kitchen combined measuring 17 ft. by 13 ft. and well lighted by two windows looking into the acre and a half or so of land enclosed by four streets, of which the Freigutstrasse was one. This larger room admitted to an inner room of the same length as the living-room, hut only 7 ft. 8 in. wide, and with a single window looking into the same open space. This room was without a stove and was the main family sleeping-room, usually containing two beds, placed, not side by side (for the room was too narrow), but with the head of the one touching the foot of the other. Both rooms had the regulation height of 9 ft. 6 ins. The third room of each of these tenements was in the attics, and was used as a bedroom, either for the children who had grown too old to occupy the same room as the parents, or for lodgers. It was small—some 6 ft. 6 ins. by 8 ft. 6 ins.—and, according to the housing regulations, had a height of not less than 8 ft. 10 ins. The water supply was in the living-room. On each floor, and situated on the landing at the back of the house, were two closets (one for every two families), without flushing tanks and drained into cesspools. ­ The rent of these tenements was 156 marks per annum, or exactly 35. per week. Example II.—These were tenements on the first, second, and third floors of a house in the Sonnenstrasse, a typical working-class street in the Sonnenberg quarter, to the east of the central part of the city. Each floor contained eight rooms, occupied by four families. The rents of all four tenements were the same—viz., 150 marks per annum, or 2s. 10¡ ¿ d. per week. Each consisted of a good-sized double-windowed living-room (which also served as kitchen) measuring some 16 ft by 13 ft., an adjoining single-windowed bedroom, which was long and narrow, and the usual room in the attics. The height of the rooms was about 11 ft. The attic rooms were, however, very small—not more than about 6 ft. by 5 ft.—and therefore capable of holding little furniture beyond a somewhat short bed. For tenements of four rooms, as for those of three rooms, the rents vary within wide limits. Among the 655 four-roomed working-class tenements of which the rents were ascertained in the course of the investigation, the worst fetched £10 5s., and the best £17 per annum. The bulk, however, fell within the narrower range of £10 10s. to £12 per annum, or 4s. to 4s. 7d. per week. In a number of four-roomed tenements visited by the writer, and of which the rents (£11 14s. per annum, or 4s. 6d. per week) were within the predominant range just stated, the accommodation was as follows. Having entered by one of the doors facing him when he had arrived on one of the upper landings, the visitor found himself in a little vestibule of about 4J ft. by 5 ft. In front of him was the kitchen, long and narrow, measuring, roughly, 13 ft. by 5 ft. The remaining two rooms could be entered either from the kitchen or from the vestibule. One was the Gute Stube or “ parlour,” used on ceremonial occasions, and beyond was the bedroom. All rooms were well lighted, the " parlour ” by two windows and the bedroom and kitchen each by one looking into the street. The “parlour” measured about 17 ft. by 13 ft., and the bedroom 17 ft. by 8 ft. All rooms were 9¿ ft. high. The fourth room was in the attics and corresponded to that mentioned in the description of the three-roomed tenements. What was there said as to the cellar compartment, the use of the wash-house and the drying-loft, as well as the closet accommodation, also applies here. Stone or concrete staircases are universal in the tenement houses in Chemnitz, and have been obligatory under the housing regulations since 1885. The cesspool system is also universal, and, so far as working-class tenements are concerned, the entire absence of flushing tanks in the closets is an unpleasant CHEMNITZ. 145 feature, the disadvantages of which are accentuated by the fact that all closets are situated within the building. From what has been said above, it appears that the following are the predominant rents for three and four-roomed workingclass tenements :— Predominant Rents of Working-class Dwellings. Number of Rooms per Tenement. Three rooms Four rooms ... Predominant Weekly Rent. 2s. 4d. to 3s. 3d. 4s. to 4s. 7 d. Compared with rents in other towns, it will be seen that these rents are decidedly low. Taking rents in Berlin as 100, the corresponding figure for Chemnitz would be 40. With regard to the rents stated above, it has to be noted that they include no element of local taxation beyond the water rate. The amount payable by a workman in respect of local taxation is levied in the shape of a municipal income tax to which all incomes of over £20 a year are subject. This tax is additional to and quite independent of the State income tax, of which an account is given in the report on Dresden. The amount of the municipal income tax payable in Chemnitz on the various classes of income within which the yearly earnings of manual workers in that town would fall is shown in the following Table :— Annual Income. Yearly Amount of Municipal Income Tax. Over £20 £25 £30 £35 £40 £47 £55 £62 £70 £80 £95 to £25 ... „ £30 ... „ £35 ... „ £40 ... „ £47 10s. 10s. to £55 to £62 10s. 10s. to £70 to £80 ... „ £95 ... „ £110 ... 6s. 8s. 10s. 12s. 15s. 18s. 21s. 25s. 2d. 30s. 36s. 45s. Id. It may be added that, in the case of a family of which several members are earning, the municipal, like the State income tax, is levied separately on the income of each member whose income exceeds the limit of exemption (£20), and not on the family income as a whole. Retail Prices. There are few Grerman towns, if any, where co-operative societies have been more successful than in Chemnitz in securing the custom of the workingclass population in the matter of household provisions other than butcher’s meat. This is hardly to be wondered at in a town with so pronounced an industrial atmosphere and with a large proportion of its workpeople belonging to Trade Unions, in which the need for organised effort on the part of labour to get rid of every form of “ exploitation,” including that by the private trader, is being constantly inculcated. There are no less than five purely working-class co-operative societies for distribution in the town. The oldest and largest of these, the Aowgwmogrgm /wr has been in existence sin¿e 1866, and had at the end of 1905 a membership of 12,427, a share capital of £13,200, and a reserve fund of £5,500. It effected, m the course of 1905, sales amounting to £174,000 at 23 branch stores, in addition to a small amount (about £300) through private traders acting as its agents. A dividend at the rate of 13 per cent, was paid on purchases in 1905. Compared with this Society, the others are of minor importance, the largest (the Konsum- 146 CHEMNITZ. Verein Altchemnitz) having some 1,300 members and four branch stores, in which goods to the value of £17,000 were sold in the year ended August 31st, 1906. Groceries and other Commodities. Appended is a summary table showing the predominant retail prices of provisions, ­ other than butcher’s meat, as well as of coal and paraffin oil, in Chemnitz at October, 1905. The consumption of tea among the working classes is practically nil. The coffee most generally bought is of South American origin (Santos) and costs 11 d. per pound ; but the compound from which the family coffee is brewed costs considerably less, as it contains a large admixture of some such substitute as roasted barley or chicory at less than half the price. The sugar most generally consumed is the white granulated variety known as Melis, at %\d. per pound. Lump sugar at 2fd. is frequently used to sweeten coffee. Of bacon, as we know it in England, very little is eaten. Smoked bacon fat (Speck), entirely devoid of lean, costs exactly as much as streaky bacon, though it is used for frying or giving body and flavour to other foods, and not as an article of diet in itself. The eggs bought by working-class families are most frequently imported from Austria and were sold at a price corresponding to 17 for a shilling. Margarine is seldom used as a substitute for butter, although the quality of the latter most in demand cost Is. 2fd. the pound, as against 7f d. for margarine. Apart from the breakfast roll, no wheaten bread is eaten. There are three varieties of rye bread of varying shades of grey, and sold at prices the range of which was equivalent to one of 4¡¡d. to 5Jd. for four pounds. The loaves are baked in a great variety of shapes and sizes, and vary in weight with the price of rye. Besides the pure or " full ” milk, as it is called, at a price of 2£d. per quart, a good deal of skimmed milk at Id. per quart is used by working-class families. Coal is sold by the hectolitre, a measure of capacity the contents of which vary in weight according to the quality of the coal. From enquiries made among dealers and others, it appears that the hectolitre is taken to represent about 1^ centners, or 165 lbs. Reckoned on this basis, a hundredweight of coal such as the working classes consume cost from Is. 3£d. to Is. 5£d. at October, 1905. Considering that most of the coal is mined no further off than at Ölsnitz and Lugau in the neighbouring Erzgebirge, the price is somewhat high. Prices in September, 1906, when the town was visited for the purposes of this Enquiry, were the same as in October, 1905, with the exception of the price of coal, which was slightly lower than at the earlier date. Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and September, 1906. Predominant Price. Commodity. Coffee Sugar :— Loaf ... ... White granulated Bacon :— Fat Streaky Eggs Cheese :— Swiss Limburg Butter Margarine Potatoes ... Flour :— Wheat Ry e ... ... Bread, Rye (Grey) Milk Coal ... ... Paraffin oil per lb. per Is. per lb. per 7 lbs. per 4 lbs per quart per cwt. per gallon October, 1905. lid. 2# %\d. 11 d. 11 d. 17 Is. Id. 6&d. Is. 2|d. 7|d. 2^d. to 3d. Is. Old. lOfd. to Is. Old. 4^d. to 51d. 2|d. Is. 3\d. to Is. 5 Id. lOd. September, 1906. lid. 2# 2W. lid. lid. 17 Is. Id. §\d. Is. 2fd. 7# 21d. to 3d. Is. Old. 10fd. to Is. Old. 4 Id. to 51d. Is. 2Id. to Is. 4|d. lOd. CHEMNJTZ. 147 Meat. Practically the whole of the meat supply of Chemnitz is of German origin, the Kingdom of Saxony itself contributing one-third of the whole number of stock of all kinds passing through the public abbatoir and stock yard in 1905. Next to Saxony the most important sources of supply are the wholesale market at Berlin, with 14& per cent. ; Pomerania, with 12 per cent. ; Bavaria, with 10 per cent. ; and the Prussian province of Saxony with 8£ per cent. The only foreign source is Austria-Hungary, which contributed less than 1 per cent, of the total meat supply in 1905. The total meat consumption of Chemnitz in 1905, as estimated by the municipal authorities from the slaughterhouse returns, amounted to 213,568 cwt. or 98J lbs. per head of population, a decline of 8-^ per cent, as compared with the previous year when per capita consumption amounted to 108 lbs. These figures, it should be stated, do not include poultry, as to the consumption of which no data are available, but which, so far as working-class families are concerned, is of no statistical importance. Nearly 83 per cent, of all meat eaten is either pork or beef, as may be seen from the following Table in which the aggregate per capita consumption of meat is resolved into its component parts :— Per capita consumption in 1905. Proportion of all meats consumed. Pork (including Bacon) Beef.. Veal... Mutton Horse Dog ... Goat... All meat lbs. 46-66 3500 9-61 4-68 2-64 •06 -03 Per cent. 47-29 35-47 9 74 4-74 2 67 •06 -03 98-68 100-00 Returns of weekly expenditure on food, obtained for the purposes of this enquiry from 156 typical working-class families in Chemnitz, showed an average weekly consumption of meat per head of slightly less than 15 ounces a week, or at the rate of about 49 lbs. a year. Of this total 33 per cent, was beef, 27 per cent, was pork and bacon, and 25 per cent, was sausage, it can hardly be doubted that a considerable proportion of horse-flesh is comprised under the heading oí sausage, for, although close upon 1,000 horses are slaughtered for consumption in the course of the year in Chemnitz (the number in 1905 was 982) and the annual per capita consumption of horse-flesh in the town is 2| lbs., the class of meat is not separately distinguished in the family food returns obtained for this investigation. Among the wares exhibited for sale in all the horse-flesh shops in Chemnitz (of which there are eight), sausages composed entirely of this kind of meat occupy a prominent place. The prices charged at all thèse shops are the same and range from 45 to 60 pfennige the i kilo or 5d. to 6±d. per English pound, the latter being the price paid for the best kind of horse sausage (as compared with S^d. to 11 d. usually paid for sausages of beef, pork, &c., such as are most in favour among the working class). Chemnitz, like other German cities, has its or public meat stall for the retail sale of inferior meat at low prices, ihe inferiority may arise from various causes, which are determined at the time the carcase is inspected by public veterinary officers charged with that duty. In the case of beef and Pork the meat is most frequently that of animals from which certain organs or parts found to be affected by tuberculosis, have been removed. Sometimes the animal has not been specifically diseased, but the flesh has been found (in the case of pigs) to have a disagreeable odour. lo ensure absolute safety portions of the meat have sometimes to be boiled before being sold and the resulting liquor or gravy is supplied to the purchaser along with 29088 T 2 148 CHEMNITZ. the meat. In the case of pigs, the fat is sometimes melted down before being sold. There is a considerable " run ” on this inferior class of meat, so much so, that it has been found necessary to limit the quantity which may be sold to any one purchaser. This rule is, however, partly intended to prevent people buying with the object of re-selling, and it is further provided that none shall be sold to any person carrying on the trade of a butcher. Owners of carcases condemned ­ to be sold at the Freibank receive the amount realised on the sale of the meat subject to a deduction for the expenses incurred. They are, moreover, protected from loss by the system of compulsory insurance of cattle which is in, force in Saxony. The total sales of “ inferior ” meat at the Freibank in Chemnitz in 1905 amounted to 2,430 cwts., on which a sum of £6,234 was realised. It may be mentioned that horse and dog flesh are not sold at the Freibank though both are subject to the same rigid inspection as other kinds of meat. It was found, for instance, that no less than 293 of a total of 611 dogs and 127 of the 982 horses slaughtered for consumption in 1905 were more or less diseased, but only five of the dogs and nine of the horses were so badly affected as to necessitate the destruction of the entire carcase. The average prices charged at the Freibank were as follows :— Description of Meat Price per lb Boiled Raw 4%d. 5 Id. 34d Beef Veal Mutton Pork... Hog fat (melted ) 4 4d. 5 \d. 54d. 64d. In the case of beef and pork, which are the only kinds of meat to be considered in relation to the dietary of working class families, the Freibank prices for raw meat are just about half those charged in the ordinary retail shops as will be seen from the accompanying summary table of the predominant prices paid at such shops in Chemnitz, as ascertained from personal inquiries made of the proprietors :— Description of Cut. Beef :— Itit) ... ... ... Silverside Shin I V* bone ( without bone ... Steäk ... ... ... Flank Mutton :— Leg Shoulder Breast Neck Chops Veal :— Hindquarter Shoulder {"ne o - Loin Shin Pork :— Leg Foreloin Belly Spare rib Chops Predominant Price per lb. October, 1905. 8# 9¿d. 8# 9§d. 9|d. 8# 9#d. 9# 9Id. to 9§d. 9\d. to 9|d. 9# 9|d. 9# Is. to Is. 2\d. 9#d. 8%d. lid. to Is. Id. 9|d. to lid. 9# 11 d. 1 Id. September, 1906. 8# 9¿d. 8\d. 9# 9§d. 4 c 8# 9# 9K 9Id. to 9|d. 9|d. „ 9\d. 9f d. 9*d. 9# Is. to Is. 2\d. 9# 8# lid. to Is. Id. 9|d. to lid. 9# lid. lid. CHEMNITZ. 149 The foregoing table affords confirmation of what has been remarked in reports on other German towns, viz., that there is little difference in the prices charged for different cuts of meat by German butchers. The butcher knows what he must realise per pound on the average if he is to secure what he considers a fair profit, and the German housewife’s manner of buying meat makes it possible for him to charge much the same price for all cuts except beef steaks and mutton and pork chops. So far as working class diet is concerned, however, these cuts may be neglected, the usual request of the customer being for so much “ beef” or “ pork ” without reference to any special cut. The price of meat in Chemnitz is high, as also is the price of coal, notwithstanding ­ the comparative proximity of mines. Other commodities are at about the usual level as regards prices. Taking prices in Berlin as 100, the index numbers for Chemnitz are—for food other than meat, 100 ; for meat, 116 ; for coal, 112 ; and for these commodities together, 105. The index number for rent and prices combined is 92, the figure for rent alone being as low as 40, CREFELD Crefeld, the centre of the German silk industry, is situated in the Prussian province of Rhineland, four miles from the left bank of the Rhine and twelve miles north-west of Düsseldorf. It is peculiar among the large industrial towns of Germany on account of the remarkable fluctuation in the rate of its increase of population, and its relatively small progress in recent years. The following Table gives the population at intervals of ten years since 1840, and in 1905 :— Year. 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1390 1900 1905 Population. 25,897 37,129 52,442 57,772 73,872 102,376 106,886 110,344 Decennial Increase. 11,232 15,313 5,330 16,100 28,504 4,510 3,458* Decennial Increase per cent. 432 412 101 27-8 38 6 44 32* Five-year increase. These fluctuations are coincident with changes in the conditions of Crefeld's chief industry. The period from 1840 to I860 witnessed a great expansion of the silk industry, and was followed by a decade in which there was little forward movement. A fresh period of progress began after 1870, and this was followed between 1880 and 1890 by the rapid change from hand-weaving to machineweaving, ­ and the substitution of the factory system for the old domestic industry. The hand-weavers suffered badly—less perhaps in Crefeld itself than in the surrounding districts—but the rise of the factories brought for a time a rapid increase in the urban population. In recent years the strong tendency has been for the employers to erect factories outside the town limits, because of (a) the lower rates of wages, (b) cheaper land, (c) the encouragement, by the reduction or remission of some taxes for a term of years, and in other ways, received from the authorities of the outer districts. A wide range of goods is produced by the Crefeld silk industry, the principal articles being velvets, plushes, silk and velvet ribbons, silk dress and blouse stuffs, linings, waistcoat stuffs, tie, umbrella, and furniture stuffs, &c. As would be expected from the slow growth of the town, its population is indigenous to a far larger extent than in towns of more rapid development, like Düsseldorf, in the same province. While at the Census of 1900 only 44 8 per cent, of the inhabitants of the latter town were natives, the corresponding percentage in Crefeld was 62‘2. For many years Crefeld’s natural rate of increase of population has declined, for though the death-rate has steadily fallen, the birth-rate has fallen to a greater extent. In 1871 the birth-rate was 47 5 per 1,000, in 1880 it was 42, ten years later it was 39, in 1900 it was 28'8, in 1903 it was 26*6, in 1904 25*3, and in 1905 24 9 per 1,000. The general death-rate in 1905 was 14 0 per 1,000, against 14 8 in 1904, and 15 8 in 1901. 1 he number of marriages per 1,000 of the population in CREFELD. 151 1905 was 9 1 per 1,000, against 9*4 in 1904 and 8*8 in 1903. The Census of December, 1905, showed that there were 7,292 more females than males in the population (58,818 against 51,526). The following table shows the birth and death-rates per 1,000 of the population and the rate of infantile mortality per 1,000 births for five years :—: Year. 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 Birth-rate per 1,000 | Death-rate per 1,000 of Population. J of Population. 28-9 27 9 26 6 25 3 24*9 15*8 16 3 141 148 14*0 Infantile Mortality per 1,000 Births. 177 144 139 170 137 Crefeld presents an attractive appearance. The walls, which formed a • large oblong enclosing the old town, have been replaced by broad promenades with avenues of trees, flower beds, fountains, and frequent monuments. The streets are generally broad, with the exception of the old main street, which is rather narrow and inconvenient ; and a number of them are planted with trees.. In the new streets the houses are large, and there are good shops ; elsewhere many of the small houses originally built for the home-weavers remain—these are usually of two floors, including the ground floor, and considerations of light caused the streets to be comparatively broad. In general the town gives the impression of spaciousness and cleanliness. It possesses a small public garden, and a " Stadtwald” (practically a large park) ; the latter is situated at some distance from the centre of the town, but can be easily reached by a convenient service of electric cars. The municipality possesses its own electricity works, waterworks, gasworks, and slaughter - house ; it maintains a municipal theatre, public baths and library, and contributes towards a large museum and picture gallery ; it has also a savings bank (with 30,849 depositors in 1905, to whom it pays 3| and 4 per cent, interest), a public pawnshop, a large market hall, and a chemical laboratory. The municipality has recently endeavoured to promote the prosperity ­ of the town by acquiring land some three miles away on the bank oí the Rhine, and establishing there a dock connected with the town by a light railway ; the area so acquired has been incorporated in the town. The tramway system, which is well organised and efficient, and extends beyond the municipal boundaries, is in the hands of a private company ; and in addition to the ordinary lines Crefeld is connected with Düsseldorf and other towns by light railways. It should be added that there are at Crefeld large and admirably equipped schools of weaving and dyeing, founded by the 1 russian Government and enjoying a high reputation, which attract students from many countries . and other technical and commercial schools. The area of the municipality in 1906 was 6,950 acres, of which 1,750 acres were added by the incorporation of the rural district of Linn, rendered necessary by the construction of the Rhine dock. The town possessed in that year profit-yielding undertakings and properties valued at £1,411,880, and other real estate of an unremunerative character valued at £o31,270, besides movable property valued at £99,950, and invested funds to the extent of £473,450. As the municipal loans and debts stood at £1,647,740, there was a balance of assets over liabilities of £868,840. Occupations, Wages, and Hours of Labour. The industrial character of Crefeld’s population is very pronounced. With the exception of Barmen it had at the last occupation census a larger proportion of inhabitants engaged directly and indirectly in industry than any other “ large ” Prussian town (that is, a town with a population exceeding 100,000). The most recent industrial enumeration of the population is that of the ïactory 152 CREFELD. Inspector for 1906, which is confined to workers engaged in undertakings subject to inspection, and is as follows :— Group of Trades. Number of Establishments. Number of Workpeople. Male. Female. Total. Huildm^ ... ... ... ... ... Metal-working ... Machine, implement and apparatus making. Textiles ... Clothing and cleaning Printing, lithography, bookbinding, &c Paper ... ... ... ... Wood-working and carving Chemicals Resins, varnishes, oil, soap, candles, &c. Stone and earth ... Food, drink and tobacco Leather ... ... ... ... ... Total ... ... ... 189 70 80 200 241 44 24 80 13 13 17 300 6 402 975 1,987 8,060 365 609 315 565 240 183 224 679 85 73 62 5,391 1,007 304 123 87 31 28 1 105 402 1.048 2.049 13,451 1,372 913 438 652 271 211 225 784 85 1,277 14,689 7,212 21,901 The textile trades will be seen to employ 6T4 per cent, of all the workpeople ­ here enumerated, while of these textile workers 60 per cent, were males. Reference has already been made to the fact that during the decade 1880 to 1890 there was in the silk industry a transition from domestic industry to the factory system, resulting from the substitution of machinery for handweaving.* ­ This substitution is not yet quite complete, and in fact for some special branches (such as the weaving of special art-fabrics, g.y., for churches and ecclesiastical vestments) it cannot well be made. The following Table ives the numbers of hand-loom weavers in the various local Sickness Insurance dices in 1904 :— Area. Men. Women. Total. Whole Lower-Rhine Industrial District Of these :— (1) In Crefeld Town (2) In Crefeld Rural District ... 2,825 347 223 993 167 112 3,818 514 335 There are others not included in this return, and the total number of hand-loom weavers in the Lower Rhenish district has been estimated at 4,500. They are engaged in ordinary home industry, ou waistcoat stuffs, in the weaving of the art-fabrics already mentioned, and in the preparation of patterns in the factories. The weavers engaged in the last two of these occupations are a specially skilled class ; the others are either women with whom weaving is often a subsidiary employment, or elderly men who have been unable^ or disinclined, to adapt themselves to the new conditions. With these exceptions weaving in Crefeld itself has become entirely a factory occupation, carried on with machinery. The appended Tables give the number of factories, and the employees classified according to sex, and in the case of women according to age, in the three districts which make up the silk industry area ; the division is into the two great branches, silk stuff and ribbon weaving, and silk velvet and velvet-ribbon weaving. The figures include all occupations, and not merely weaving ; the men, however, are mainly engaged in the last branch :— * Use has been made in this report of Dr. Heinrich Brauns’ “ Der Uebergang von der Handweberei zum Fabrikbetrieb in der Niederrheinischen Samt- und Seidenindustrie ­ ” (1906). CREFELD. 153 No. of Factories A. Silk Stuff and Stuff-ribbon Weaving, 1904. Crefeld. Rural District around Crefeld. München Gladbach District. 61 21 34 Adult Males... Uv¡r2i: Males Females Children Juveniles 2,070 414 1,446 16 98 1 1,185 437 770 75 103 7 1,831 988 1,664 126 341 9 Total Number Employed ... 4,045 I 2,577 | 4,959 B. Velvet and Velvet-ribbon Weaving, 1904. Crefeld. Rural District around Crefeld. München Gladbach District. 21 1,643 214 862 5 24 2,748 20 3,400 678 961 160 168 11 5,378 10 934 92 177 45 44 4 1,196 In regard to these tables two points may be noticed :—(1) In the silk-stnif factories from 33 to 50 per cent, of the weavers are women ; in the velvet factories no women are employed as weavers, because the work is heavier. The employees in the other occupations in both groups of factories are almost entirely women. The proportion of weavers to the total number employed is considerably greater in stuff-weaving than in velvet weaving. (2) There is no hard and fast division between the two groups of weavers, and if occupation is slack in one branch some of the weavers in it may pass temporarily to the other. This frequently occurs, but it is stated to be much easier for the velvet weaver to go over to the stuff weaving than for the reverse process to take place. The next table shows the size of the factories in the whole of the Lower Rhine industrial region in 1904 :— No. of Employees. Up to 50 50-100 100-200 200-400 400-600 600-800 800-1,000 1,000-1,200 Total Stuff Factories. Velvet Factories. 54 27 23 9 1 1 14 7 15 10 2 1 2 116 51 The following comparative statement of the number of looms employed in the various branches of the entire Crefeld silk industry has been prepared by the local Chamber of Commerce :— No. of Looms. 1905 1904 1903 1902 414 1,627 360 1,619 532 1,758 614 1,875 51 57 230 126 408 173 425 140 3,149 8,082 2,826 7,378" 4,069 7,950 4,916 8,104 420 302 388 265 538 210 313 182 abroad belonging to Urefeld firms are omitted in 1905. * Several concerns 29088 Velvet and Velvet Fabrics— Hand Machine ... Firm-Edged Velvet Ribbons Hand Machine ... Hand Machine ... Firm-Edged Silk Ribbons Hand Machine ... 154 CREFELD. The ordinary hours of labour in both groups of factories are in the town of Crefeld from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. in summer, and from 8 a.m. to 8 pan. in winter, with two hours of intervals. On Saturdays work stops at 5'30 p.m. Work in the rural factories usually begins earlier—at 6'30 a.m. in summer and 7 or 7 30 in winter. Night-work does not exist and overtime is rare. Employment is apt to be very irregular as the trade fluctuates greatly ; the velvet industry is usually busy in the summer months, and the stuff industry in the winter, but lately employment in the velvet branch has been much more steady throughout ­ the year. Such factories as were visited, both in the town and outside, seemed clean, light, and well maintained, and the sanitary arrangements were fairly good. The male and female weavers are mingled together in the workrooms. ­ In velvet weaving the one-loom system is in force, whilst in stuff weaving the two-loom system is commonly employed, both for men and women. Another very important branch of the silk industry in Crefeld is dyeing. The following Table gives the number of factories and workmen employed in the town for the three years 1903-5 :— No. of Factories. 36 36 37 No. of Workmen. 2,753 2,659 2,907 Year. 1903 1904 1905 The hours of labour are 10 per day, usually from 7 a.m. to 6 30 p.m., with an interval from 12 noon to 1*30, and no other pauses. Other important branches of the industry are silk printing, which is a factory occupation, and the manufacture of silk neckties, which are made up by women working in their own homes for various manufacturers. Many of the silk stuff manufacturers employ domestic industry in various degrees, partly in Crefeld itself and partly outside. This is sometimes hand weaving, but for ribbons it is frequently mechanical weaving, and a short description of the small commune of Anrath, a few miles from Crefeld, may be added here. Anrath had formerly some 1,500 hand weavers (chiefly of velvets), and suffered greatly from the introduction of machinery and the factory system in the late eighties. Large numbers of able-bodied weavers had to be given poor-relief, and the efforts of the local authorities, both municipal and other, to devise occupations for the workmen were for long unsuccessful. Finally an attempt was made to establish silk-ribbon weaving with mechanical looms ; the municipality, with the aid of a loan from the Central Government, established in 1902 electric power works, and undertook to supply the power for the looms in the workers' own homes. The result has been a great revival ; the silk-ribbon weaving seems to be firmly established as a domestic industry, and the commune is again prospering, as was recently shown by the opening of a new town hall and an infirmary. The electric power costs to the worker 6s. a month per loom, and to prevent excessive hours of labour it is supplied only from 7'30 a.m. to 12 noon, and from 1*30 to 8 p.m. The industry in the commune suffers, of course, from the fluctuations common to the industry as a whole, but otherwise there can be no doubt of the success of the experiment. In October, 1906, there were 150 looms at work, owned by about 104 workmen Dr. Heinrich Brauns, as the result of his inquiries in 1905, estimated the cost of establishing a single loom, with the necessary equipment and accessories, at about £76 105. Ihe workman usually has the assistance only of members of his family—wife or children—even when he has more than one loom ; the employment of workers who are not of the family is very rare. The «ross earnings with one loom are normally about £65 a year ; in rare cases £70 may be reached, and very exceptionally, when the trade is unusually active, even £75. But the general rate is probably not above £65, and when allowance is made for interest on the expenditure incurred for the loom and the fitting up of the worXroom, for lighting and heating, rent, tools, and miscellaneous expenses, Dr. Brauns concludes that the normal net earnings do not exceed £41 to £45. The majority of the workmen are strongly and actively Homan Catholic, but nevertheless many of them vote Socialist, and a good number of Roman Catholics CREFELD. 155 belong to the local branch of the Socialist Union of German Textile Workers. There is also a " Christian ” (i.e. mainly Roman Catholic) textile-workers’ union, which, however, appears to be much less active and successful than the Socialist organisation. There are two Workmen’s Secretariates, one (quite new) founded and maintained by the Socialist trade unions, and the other founded by the " Christian ” unions. The former gives advice to members of the contributory unions on all questions affecting relations with employers, the insurance laws, civil code, &c. The Workmen’s Secretariate of the “ Christian ” unions is concerned ­ rather with propaganda work, but there is also a People’s Bureau, which was founded 14 years ago by the Roman Catholic unions, and gives free legal advice to its members, who pay 9d. a year subscription. The municipality has recently founded an Association for Social Welfare which will take over the maintenance of the People’s Bureau, and receive a grant from the town for that purpose. Finally it may be remarked that there is a general agreement that the consumption of spirits is diminishing, even among the weavers, and is being replaced by an increased consumption of beer. The success of this form of the temperance movement is ascribed to the combined action of societies, local authorities, and the trade unions of both camps. Wages in the Silk Industry. Piece-work is predominant in the weaving branch of the silk industry, (the only important exception being for the weaving of patterns), whilst timework ­ is the rule in dyeing and printing. There is no general wages agreement for weaving ; each firm makes its own rates, which are commonly very complicated ­ ; but the general results seem to be the same in all the factories. There are complaints in many cases as to deductions for faults, &c., but this practice is said to be less common than was formerly the case. As a rule only one day’s notice is necessary on either side, an arrangement which the workpeople prefer, though married men are often engaged subject to a fortnight’s notice. Wages are paid weekly. Coming to the wages of particular occupations, it must be remembered that both husband and wife frequently work in the factories ; and also that in stuff weaving there is usually no difference in the rates paid to the two sexes, though there may be in the actual earnings. In many cases, also, where the husband is employed in a factory, the wife and sometimes the daughter work at home at the sewing of neckties. Weaving.—The wages of the velvet weavers (mostly men) are decidedly higher than those of the stuff weavers ; the rates in both cases are so much per metre, and the earnings naturally vary within somewhat wide limits. Thus in one large velvet factory the wages of the weavers ranged in 1905 from 2ls. to 56s. per week, but the normal wages vary from 24s. to 2os. for a full week of 58? hours. But though employment amongst the velvet weavers has now for some time been fairly constant, this is not usually the case, and in 1905 the actual earnings of the velvet weavers in Crefeld were estimated to average only about 22s. weekly, while in the rural districts they were considerably lower. The velvet hand - weavers (for ordinary fabrics), of whom a few lemain in the district, working in their own homes, do not get beyond 18s. a w eek for 12 or 13 hours a day, and even then the worx is very irregular. The usual wages of stuff weavers, engaged in the manufacture of materials for dress and neckties, are from 21s. to 24s. per week of 58? hours, lhese rates are for a full week, but taking the year through it is rare for a stuff weaver to earn much beyond £45, equal to 17s. od. per week. Hand weavers can earn about 14s. to 15s. per day of 12 or 13 hours. Ribbon weavers with full work earn 30s. per week. Finishers both on silk and velvet earn 22s. ZWn? Tradf.—In this branch of the industry time-work is the rule, and the rates ¿re higher for colour dyers than for black dyers, since the work of the latter class is comparatively simple, and is little more than the carrying out of instructions, whilst the colour dyers, working according to samples, Imve to exercise a great deal of judgment and have a personal responsibility. The wages of dyers are regulated by agreement as follows : Black dyers, nom 29088 U 2 156 CREFELD. 19 to 21 years of age, 18s. ; over 21 years, 22s. §d. ; colour dyers, from 18 to 21 years of age, 23s. ; over 21 years, 27s. (Assistants in colour dyeing are paid at same rate as black dyers.) The rates are for 60 hours a week. Ten years ago the wages were 12 per cent, less and 20 years ago they were 15 per cent, less, the hours being then 66 weekly. The colour dyers are said to be about one-sixth or one-seventh of the whole number. The report of the Crefeld Chamber of Commerce for 1905 gives the following figures of workers and wages in the dyeing industry in its area for the three years 1903-5 :— Year. No. of Works. No. of Workmen. Amount paid in Wages. Average per Workman. 1903 1901 1905 36 36 37 « OO 2,659 2,907 £ 139,228 138,512 149,152 £ s. d. 50 11 6 52 5 4 51 6 2 Silk Printing. The following weekly rates are universal for this branch of the silk industry in Crefeld :—1st year after apprenticeship 18s. ; 2nd year after apprenticeship 21s. ; 3rd year after apprenticeship 24s. and 4th and subsequent years 27s. The working hours are 60 per week. It may be interesting to supplement the foregoing information by the following classification of the workers of all kinds above 16 years of age in 75 silk factories (clerks and officials excluded) according to income groups, based upon the earnings in 1905 :— Weekly earnings-Groups. -Income Males.* Females. Totals. Percentage of the whole. Up to 8s. Above 8s. „ 12 s. „ 16s. „ 20s. „ 24s. „ 28s. and up to 12s. „ 16s. „ 20s. „ 24s. „ 28s. Totals 89 72 169 919 790 158 165 2,362 235 471 937 417 57 2 2,119 324 543 1,106 1,336 847 160 165 4,481 72 121 24 7 29-8 18-9 3-6 37 1000 Of the men probably rather more than 90 per cent, are weavers. Building Trades.—Coming to other trades and industries, the usual wages of skilled men in the building trades range from 25s. to 30s. 8d. for a week of 59 to 60 hours, while labourers receive 21s. 10d. It is noticeable that carpenters are paid rather more than bricklayers and masons, a circumstance attributable to their better organisation. Most of the rates in this group of trades are regulated by agreements. Engineering Trades.—The engineering and machine works occupy a secondary place at Crefeld and are for the most part of comparatively recent introduction. Formerly the silk industry obtained its machinery from Saxony, but now a large part of it is made locally. The Factory Inspector’s enumeration ­ of industrial workpeople given above shows that 14T per cent, of these fall to the machinery and metal trades. The predominant rates of wages for skilled men in machine works are from 305. to 35a. for a week of 60 hours. In this industry 14 days’ notice is still usual, and most works pay wages fortnightly. There are several boiler works, and a large steelworks has recently been established on the outskirts of Crefeld, and is making rapid progress ; though the latter works lie at some distance, most of the employees live in the town. Other Trades.—There are several boot and shoe factories of small proportions, ­ soap making is an industry of growing importance, and there are in the outskirts some chemical works employed for the most part for local industry. The usual wages of unskilled workmen in the chemical industry are from I85. to 2I5. per week of from 57 to 60 hours. The following retrospective return of hourly rates of pay has been supplied by an old-established firm of CREFELD. 157 •Standing 1900-1905, 3*3d. ; 1870-1895, 3d. ; 1865, 2-4d. ; 1855, 2-ld. ; 1845, l'5d. ; 1838, l &f. In the baking trade the system of living-in is still universal. This system can only apply, of course, to single men, and when journeymen bakers marry they generally start for themselves or turn to some other trade. Wages are reckoned by the month, and the value of board and lodging is calculated at 12s. weekly ; including this allowance the predominant wage for first hands is 27 s. No Sunday baking is done at Crefeld. The level of wages of skilled men in the building trades at Crefeld is 78 per cent, of that for the same occupations in Berlin, while for labourers it is 85 per cent. In the engineering trade, the wages of skilled men and of labourers are 90 and 101 per cent, respectively of the Berlin level, and in the printing trades the corresponding figure is 88 per cent. Wages and Hours of Labour in the Principal Occupations, October, 1905. Weekly Wages. Weekly Horn's of Labour. Building Trades* :— Bricklayers and Masons Carpenters Joiners and Cabinetmakers Plumbers and Fitters Painters ... Stucco-workers Plasterers Hodmen Labourers Engineering Works Moulders Fitters ... Turners ... Smiths ... Pattern-makers Labourers Boiler-making Works :— Angle-ironsmiths Boilersmiths Ri vetters Holders-up Boilersmiths’ Helpers Labourers Textile Trades :— Silk and Silk ribbon Weaving and Finishing Stuff Weavers Ribbon Weavers Reelers ... ... ... ... ••• Finishers Velvet and Plush Weaving and Finishing :— Weavers... Finishers Bilk Printing :— Printers (full men) Labourers (agreement minimum) ... Silk Dyeing :— Independent Colour Dyers Black Dyers (adults) Cotton Spinning :— Spinners... Winders... Scutchers Boot and Shoe Trade :— Clickers Pressmen Lasters ... Heel-makers Labourers Pood and Drink Trades :— Bakers—1st men „ 2nd men Brewers (skilled) Brewers’ draymen 30s. Id. 30s. 8c/. 25s. 24s. 22s. 10d. to 26s. 5d. 30s. Id. 25s. 2d. 23s. 21s. 10c/. 33s. to 34s. Id. 27s. to 30s. 30s. „ 33s. 27s. „ 33s. 32s. „ 35s. 21s. „ 23s. 30s. to 31s. 2d. 33 s. 33s. 19s. 2d. to 21s. 16s. 2d. „ 18s. 22s. 2d. to 22s. 10c/. 21s. to 24s. 30s. 19s. 10c/. 22s. 24s. to 27s. 22s. 27s. 18s. 27 s. 22s. 6c/. 30s. to 31s. 19s. 2d. 21s. 20s. to 24s. 20s. „ 24s. 24s. 24s. 18s. 27s. t 20s. to 22s.f 26s. „ 28s. 23s. to 25s. 59 59 594 60 59& 594 60 59 59 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 58-584 58-584 58-584 58-584 58-584 58-584 584 60 60 64 64 64 594 594 594 594 60-64 60-64 60 60 * The wages and hours of labour stated for the building trades are for a full week in summer, t Including 12s. as the equivalent of board and lodging. 158 CREFELD. Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours of Labour. Chemical, Soap, &c., Industries :— Chemical Workers—better men „ „ unskilled Soap Makers Coopers .. * ... ... * « » * * » ... Printing Trades : — Hand compositors, machine minders, and pressmen. Machine compositors—news „ ,, jobbing ... ... 30s. 18s. to 21s. 23s. „ 24s. 24s. 24s. 9d. 30s. lid. 32s. 2d. 57-60 57-60 63 63 54 48 54 The wages of workpeople in municipal employment at the same date were as follows :— Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours of Labour. Gasworks :— Foremen... Gas-stokers Labourers Waterworks :— Labourers Electric Lighting and Power Works Engine-drivers... Stokers ... ... ... ... Fitters and Installers ... 31s. 6(f. 28s. 20s. 5d. 20s. 32s. 27s. 10c?. 30s. 5d. Tramways (private) Drivers ... Conductors 22s. Sd. to 26s. 9d. 20s. „ 24s. 70 70 60 60 74 74 72 664 71# Housing and Rents. For many years considerable attention has been given to building regulations ­ and to their enforcement ; and the bye-laws as recently revised are very detailed and stringent. They divide the municipal area into four districts— (1) the centre of the town, (2) other portions of the town already completely built over, (3) portions of the town now being taken up for building purposes, (4) the " residential district.” The third of these divisions is again sub-divided into (a) areas in which no special advantages under the building bye-laws are given to factories, (b) areas in which such advantages are given, (c) areas in which factories may not be erected at all. For all these various areas there are differences in the regulations. The houses which may be erected are divided into houses for one or two families, and houses for more than that number. The height of the houses which may be erected is fixed in relation to the width of the streets. Thus in district Ho. 1 the height of the front of the houses may not exceed 37 feet 4 inches if the street is not more than 26 feet wide ; and for every increase in width beyond that amount the houses may be increased a corresponding amount in height, with a maximum of 58J feet. In districts of the second class the height of the houses may not normally exceed the width of the street, but in streets less than 29J feet wide houses of this height may be erected, and with a width of from 29J to 40J feet a height of 40J feet is permitted ; the maximum in these districts is also 58J feet. In districts of the third class the maximum is 40^ feet, except for factories, which may have a height of 74 J feet, or more with special permission. For the residential quarter no such limit is prescribed. Dwelling-houses in the first and second districts may not be of more than four stories, including the ground floor and a mezzanine floor, and also the attic floor if more than half of it is intended for dwelling-rooms. Basements are counted as a story if the ceilings are more than 8 feet 1 \ inches above the level of the pavement. In districts of the third and fourth class the houses may not be more than three and two stories respectively,. CREFELD. 159 excluding the basements and attics. Ordinary dwelling-rooms must have an air space of 530 cubic feet if occupied by one person only, 706 cubic feet for two persons, and an additional 353 cubic feet for each additional person ; for children under 10 years of age the half of these spaces is allowed. The rooms must be at least 9 feet 9 inches in height, or 9 feet 1 inch for very small houses ; and for attics the minimum is 9 feet 1 inch. Attics may not he used as dwellings if their floors are more than 48| feet above the street, level. As regards sanitary arrangements, the general rule is that for every dwelling of more than two rooms and kitchen there must be a separate closet ; for smaller dwellings, and in houses where this regulation would be very diflic ult to carry out, one closet for every two families may be allowed. In factories there must be one closet for every 20 males, and one for every 15 females. The normal working-class house in Crefeld consists of two or three stories (including the ground floor) and attics ; naturally there are many loftier buildings, but in these usually only the upper floors are occupied by workmen. It is noticeable that the working classes retain their old preference for living in small houses containing if possible not more than two dwellings, and consequently ­ Crefeld continues to be essentially a town of small houses. At the Census of December, 1905, there were in the town 26,092 independent households, ­ and these were housed in 8,185 houses, giving an average of 3 2 households per house. The number of persons per inhabited house was 13*5, comparing with 13*9 in 1900, when Cologne, Aachen ( Aix - la - Chapelle ), Barmen, Elberfeld and Düsseldorf, the five other “large” towns in the Rhineland, had 15*8, 17 4, 18'3, 18*9, and 20 persons per inhabited house respectively. It is significant that a Building Society began to erect houses containing five and six dwellings, but it had to desist on account of their unpopularity, and now it only builds houses with two dwellings. There are still many one-family houses in Crefeld—low structures consisting of the ground floor and attic. The typical small house of two stories usually has a door and two windows on the ground floor, the door being in the middle, and three windows on the first floor. The rooms are generally well lighted and fairly large, since they were built mainly for the home weavers, and space for a loom and a good light were absolutely necessary. In some cases, where home weaving still continues, the weaving-room is also used as a dwelling-room to some extent. In the new houses each tenant usually has a separate part of the cellar for the storage of fuel, &c., and there is frequently a cellar for laundry work. Basement dwellings, though permitted subject to strict regulation, hardly exist ; and the same is true also of “back houses.” On the other hand “wing houses” (“ Fliigelhäuser ”), i.e., buildings forming a wing extending backwards from the front house, but usually only on one side of it, are common ; they may not be loftier than the front house and their height is also regulated by the breadth oi the courtyard, and by the further restriction that normally side wings of four stories in height are not permitted. The usual accommodation of a Crefeld working-class dwelling is tlnee rooms, though dwellings of two and four rooms are common. ^ Of 1, (98 dwellings whose rents were classified for the purpose of this lepoit 570 oi 47 6 per cent, consisted of three rooms, 259 or 21'6 per cent, of four looms, and 243 or 20’3 per cent, of two rooms. As a general rule each dwelling has attached to it a “ Speicherzimmer,” ?.<?., an attic which may be used foi various purposes, and frequently serves as a bedroom for elder children ; sometimes it is let to a lodger but the lodger system is not widespread in Crefeld. The kitchen is always included in the number of rooms ; and tenants must provide their own stoves, which for heating and cooking purposes cost as a rule nom A4 to A5, and for heating purposes alone Rom 15s. to Al 10a. The number of rooms which are heated depends almost solely upon the inclination and means of the occupier. Kents are paid monthly, and usually a quarter s notice is required, but it is a peculiarity of Crefeld that changes of dwelling take place only twice a year, on May 15th and November 11th, and the quarter’s notice is given to one or other ¿f these dates. Rents are as a rule assessed by the room, and it is assumed that a large room within the town costs in a front house from ¿4 .0s. to £5 a year, and a smaller room from £3 15s. to £4. In a wing house the rents are somewhat less, and the range for houses generally is from £3 to £o lbO CREFELD. per room per annum, but the rents of dwellings of two rooms are proportionately higher than those of three and four rooms. Attic rooms usually cost from £l to £1 05. On the outskirts rents are naturally lower. Rents in general have risen during the past three years, and they are understood to be still rising. The combined action of the house-owners would appear to be in part responsible for this, though a further reason is the admitted insufficiency of dwellings. At a recent meeting of the Town Council the Mayor estimated the number of empty dwellings in the town in October, 1906, at OT) per cent., though from 2 to 3 per cent, is regarded as a normal excess of supply above demand. The entire number of unoccupied dwellings of all kinds was 152, yet he added : “ If the house market was normal there should be from 370 to 630 more empty dwellings. It is, therefore, proved that a considerable deficiency of dwellings exists ; the supply in nowise corresponds to a normal state of things.” Rents are, however, slightly lower at Crefeld than at any of the other ten towns in the Rhenish-Westphalian district which are included in the scope of this enquiry. Taking rents at Berlin as 100, the index number for Crefeld is 52. The following Table shows the range of predominant rents paid by working-class households, but it should be observed that the rent of rooms on the ground floor is usually slightly lower than those for the first floor, since the ground floor tenants, in addition to being more disturbed, have also to clean the pavement in front of the house :— Number of Rooms per Tenement. Two rooms Three rooms Four rooms Predominant Weekly Rent. 2s. 11c?. to 3s. 6c?. 3s. 6c?. to 4s. 7c?. 4s. 4c?. to 5s. 2c?. There is a building society for the erection of workmen’s dwellings, which works at a maximum rate of interest of 4 per cent., and it has at present 128 dwellings in 25 houses. Usually the dwellings are of three rooms, though there are some of four and two rooms, and the rents range from £3 155. to £4 10s. a year for each room. It may be added that the typical weavers’ house outside Crefeld is of only one story, with a deep sloping roof containing one or two attics, whose windows are at the sides. The houses are of half-timber work or “Fachwerk,” often faced with slates ; they stand sometimes alone in a small garden (these houses are a relic of the early days of the weaving industry), and sometimes in long rows. Usually there is one large room in front (the old weaving room) and one or two rooms at the back. The establishment of factories in these districts has resulted in a demand for more houses, and a number have been built by employers. Valuable work has also been done by the Public Utility Building Society for the Rural District of Crefeld, which, after building a number of houses for two or more families, is now considering the advisability of adopting the one-family house as its general rule. The majority of the dwellings consist of four rooms or more. The municipal addition to the State income tax is at present at the rate of 180 per cent. The Church rates vary considerably according to the denominations ­ and parishes ; the Roman Catholics pay an addition to the State incometax of from 15 to 60 per cent., the members of the Evangelical Church from 17 to 35 per cent., the “ Old Catholics ” 25 per cent., and the Jews 37 per cent, sg Retail Prices. Groceries and other Commodities. Although the wages of the Crefeld working classes have increased of late years, the cost of living has increased likewise, though it is generally admitted that there has been a distinct improvement in the standard of life all round. There is a large market hall, and open markets are also held in the streets, but these serve in the main for farm and country produce, and the working classes obtain their grocery supplies for the most part from small dealers. There is a Co-operative Society with four shops and a membership in March, 1906, of 1,268, but its total sales in 1905-6 were under £11,000. Apart from this the .CREFELD. 161 “ multiple shop ” system exists only in the case of a large coffee company which has several shops, which deal, however, only in coffee, sugar, and biscuits. Black pure-rye bread, grey bread, containing an admixture of wheat, and also white bread are all consumed by the working classes ; slices of black and white bread are frequently eaten together, in sandwich form. Loaves are sold at various prices, 45, 55, and 60 pfennige (5¿d., 6Jd. and l\d.), and not by weight. The price of a 4 lb. loaf of black bread in October, 1905, was 3\d. to 4d., of a grey loaf of the same weight 5\d. and 6^d., and of white bread 6|d. and l\d. The prices of most groceries are fairly uniform throughout the town, the only important variations being in coffee (which is everywhere of all qualities and prices), sugar (which seems to be the commodity mainly affected by competition among grocers), and cheese. The price usually paid for coffee is 11 d. per lb. The practice of buying at small grocers’ shops “coffee water” (boiling water ready for use) is still common with a section of the factory population, especially where the wife works in the mill ; the sign “ Coffee water with milk sold here” may be seen in the windows of these small shops. The housewife takes her coffee in a jug, and obtains the necessary infusion at the price of \d. for two quarts. The principal kinds of cheese sold are Dutch and Swiss, but there are a good many other kinds upon the market, and in particular Limburg cheese. A very inferior Dutch cheese is obtainable for 6d. or 6|rd. Coal is principally used for fuel, little coke being burned, while briquettes, which are also used, cost 8Jd. per cwt. In connection with the question of food prices it may be noted that though wages are distinctly lower for the weavers (whether home or factory workers) outside the town and within it, food prices in the rural districts are no lower, and are frequently higher. An investigation made by the Landrath of Crefeld Rural District on 1st September, 1905, as to the average prices in the seven areas which make up that district showed that for pork, bacon, beef, veal, salt herrings, sugar, and petroleum the prices were in almost every case higher than in the town of Crefeld, and that for most other commodities the town and rural prices were about level. As the following Table shows, the prices of butter, milk, cheese, flour, bread, coal, and paraffin in September, 1907, were distinctly higher than at October, 1905 ; the prices of sugar, bacon, and potatoes, on the other hand, had fallen slightly :— Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and September, 1907. Predominant Price. Commodity. October, 1905. September, 1907. Coffee ... ... ... Sugar :— Loaf **• ... ... White granulated ... Bacon :— Fat ... ... ... Streaky Eggs ... ..# ••• Cheese :— Dutch .. ... Limburg Swiss Butter ... Margarine Potatoes Flour :— Wheaten Rye ... M. ••• Bread :— White Grey Black Milk ... ... ••• Coal ... ... ••• Coke ... ... ••• Paraffin per lb. per Is. per lb. per 7 lb. per 4 lb. per quart per cwt. per gallon 11 d. 2# 9# 13 8| d. 5 \d. 9\d. to 9|d. 10 id. 16 9# 7\d. 9# Is. Id. 7 d. 2fd., 3d. 11 \d. 9fd. to lOfd. 6W. to 7\d. 5\d. 3\d. 3\d. 4d. 10 ^d. 9\d. 9 id. 11 d. 2W. 2\d. 8|d. to 9\d. 9\d. „ 9fd. 12 „ 14 lid. 3\d. to l\d. 11 d. to Is. Is. 2\d. to Is. 3\d. 8# 2# Is. 0\d. to Is. lfd. 10£d. to ll\d. 7\d. 3\d. to l\d. 4RL 2# Is. Ofd. 9\d. 11 d. 29088 X 162 CREFELD. Meat. The following table gives the total consumption of fresh meat in Crefeld for the two years 1904-5 and 1905-6 : it includes animals slaughtered in the municipal slaughter-house, and animals slaughtered outside the town but brought to the slaughter house for inspection, as all meat intended to be sold in the town must be locally inspected :— Oxen and Bullocks Cows Young cattle Calves Sheep Goats Swine Spanish swine Horses 1904-5 1905-6 1,452 9,511 1,045 5,881 2,826 553 34,633 137 517 1,012 9,867 1,382 6,920 3,201 537 31,663 75 596 The meat consumption of the working classes would appear to be very unequal. The ordinary weaver is stated to have fresh meat at most twice a week, but this, whilst undoubtedly due in part to the high price, is also an effect of the national fondness for sausage, the better qualities of which are, however, but little cheaper than good butcher’s meat. Nevertheless, the consumption of meat indicated by returns of weekly expenditure under this head by 206 working-class families, representing 911 persons, reached the substantial total of 2¿ lb. per head weekly, or at the rate of 117*7 lb. annually. Of this, 33 per cent, was pork and bacon, 33 per cent, was beef, and 26 per cent, sausage. As this last commodity is for the most part made of pork, it will be seen how large a part the pig plays in the meat diet of the working-classes. The general price of pork in October, 1905, was about Id. per lb. higher than that of beef, viz., 9|d. against 8§d., except leg and chops in the case of pork, which cost 11 d., and beefsteak, which cost from 11 d. to 1.9. Id. From 8§d. to 9\d. was also the price of most cuts of mutton and veal, of which, however, the working classes eat but little. The prices ruling at the same month of 1906 were in general over Id. per lb. higher, and the increase affected the prices of 'the numerous kinds of sausage which form a large part of the food of the working-classes. The following are the kinds of sausage mostly eaten, with the prices per lb. :— Liver sausage (made of pig’s liver), inferior qualities, 4\d. to 5\d. ; ditto, best qualities, 8\d. to 9\d. ; blood sausage (made of pig’s blood, bacon fat, herbs, and sometimes meal), inferior qualities, 4^&, better qualities, 8fd. ; “ Flock ” sausage (usually beef), Is. Id. ; “ Mett ” sausage (the same, but of inferior quality and sometimes different make), lie?, and Is.. Rolled bacon costs Is. 4^d., but bacon sold in shops other than those of butchers is usually somewhat cheaper. The following Table shows the predominant prices paid for meat by the working-classes in October, 1905, and in September, 1907. It will be seen that on the later date the prices of beef, pork and veal had fallen back to, or even slightly lower than, the level of October, 1905, whilst the prices of mutton showed an advance :— CREFELD. 163 Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and September, 1907. Description of Cut. Predominant Price per lb. October, 1905. September, 1907. Shin Beef : — Rib ... ... .. Silverside ( with bone ( without bone «. Steak Flank Mutton :— Leg ... ... .. Shoulder Breast Neck Chops Veal :— Hindquarter with bone.. Shoulder Loin Shin Pork :— Leg Foreloin .. Belly Spare Rib. Chops without bon 8# 8|d. 8%d. 9^d. lid. to Is. Id. 7 „ 8fd. 8§d. 8^d. to 8|d. 8|d. Id. 8fd. to 9|d, 7§d. 8§d. lOJd. 9fd. 8# Is. to Is. Id. 9id. 8|d. to 9|d. lid. 9#d. 9§d. 9\d. to 9|d. lid. 8£d. to 8|d.i 8^d. 81d. to 8|d. 9&d. lid. to Is. Id. 8|d. to 8|d. 9fd. 81d. to 8|d. 81d. 8¿d. 8|d. to lO^d. 8|d. to lid. 8|d. „ 9|d. Is. to Is. Id. 8|d. to 9£d. 8#. 9^d. lid. 9|d. 8|d. to 9|d, ' 9Id. lid. 8|d, As the population of Crefeld is mainly Roman Catholic, a good deal of fish is eaten, especially on Fridays. The fish consumed by the working classes is usually only herrings, salt or pickled; the latter cost under Id. each, whilst salt herrings are somewhat cheaper and cost about 6|d. a dozen. Fresh herrings are obtainable usually only for a few weeks ; during that period they are sold by weight, usually at Id. per lb. A special Crefeld delicacy is “ fresh seamussels,” which are advertised by many of the cheaper restaurants. Horseflesh is much eaten (there are four or five horse butchers in the town), and the price has risen greatly during the last two years, the usual price being about 5d. per lb., as compared with 2fd. two years ago, whilst the best cut (the fillet) costs about 6|d. Prices in Crefeld were, on the whole, at about the same general level as in Berlin, though the prices levels for the chief groups of commodities differed considerably. Taking prices in the capital as 100, the corresponding figures for Crefeld would be 102 for food other than meat, 113 for meat, and 71 for coal, while for all commodities taken together the figure is the same as in Berlin, whilst the index number for rent and prices com! ined is 90. X 2 1 9038 DANTZIG. Dantzig is the natural sea outlet for the produce of an area more than twice the size of Ireland, drained by the Vistula, a river 650 miles in length, but of which only about 160 miles are in German, the remainder being in Russian and Austrian, territory. In former times the town actually occupied the position of shipping port for the produce of the whole of this area, but since the development ­ of the Russian railway system, the greater part of the Russian produce previously exported from Dantzig has been diverted to the ports of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. As the Vistula approaches the Baltic Sea it breaks up into a number of sluggish streams which flow through a delta of marshy land known as the Werder, about 35 miles wide on the Baltic shore. The main river, which reaches the sea on the western side of the delta, receives from the same side the Mottlau, a comparatively insignificant stream, and on this tributary, close to its junction with the Vistula, stands Dantzig, since 1878 the capital of the province of West Prussia. Until recent years Dantzig was somewhat off the main system of the Prussian State railways, a disadvantage which has now in some measure been remedied by the construction of two lines, one to Dirschau, 18 miles to the south-east, by which the port has been connected with the direct route between Berlin and St. Petersburg, and the other to Stettin, which links Dantzig with the rising towns of the north-west coast, and with the manufacturing centres of the Rhineland. The forwarding trade of Dantzig depends largely for its profit upon the Vistula as one of the cheapest means of transport. For this reason the regulation of the stream, from the point at which it enters Prussian territory, receives the most careful attention. Complaints have, however, arisen long since as to the condition of those parts of the river which flow through Russian and Austrian territory, where navigation is said to be rendered more difficult every year by the sandbanks which are allowed to form in the channel. As far back as in 1875 the Dantzig merchants endeavoured to get the governments of Germany, Russia and Austria to join in a mutual scheme of regulation ; but the effort was unsuccessful. These facts, combined with the lowness of water in the summer months, and the enforced idleness caused by frosts in winter, are resulting in much of the goods which were formerly transported by river being taken by the railway. Nevertheless, the traffic by the Vistula is still very considerable, the chief commodities forwarded downstream (apart from large quantities of timber floated down in rafts) being sugar and syrup, building materials, mill products and corn ; while in the other direction coal, stone and stonewares, sugar, metals and metalwork, salt and petroleum are the most important articles conveyed. The import trade of the town is concerned chiefly with articles of daily consumption, among which herrings and coal from the United Kingdom, and petroleum from the United States are the most important. British coal has a serious competitor in the product of the Silesian mines, of which large quantities are brought to Dantzig by rail and river. The importation of iron ore from Sweden for the use of the Upper Silesian works was begun in 1892 with 2,000 tons. By 1904 this figure had increased to 118,911 tons, and in 1905 the total imported and forwarded up-country was 183,148 tons. The staple exports of Dantzig are agricultural produce and timber. Among the former, corn occupies a prominent position, though its importance is declining in favour of other produce, more especially beet for the manufacture of sugar. The total exports of sugar from the port in 1905 amounted to 156,400 tons, of which 62,853 tons went to the United Kingdom. The portion of the trade of Dantzig which has varied least for the last 500 years is that of timber. Large rafts of pine, fir and oak trunks still come down the Vistula, though here DANTZIG. 16Õ . too the competition of the railway is being felt more and more every year. Of a total of £746,000 worth of timber brought to Dantzig by river and rail in 1905 more than half was exported to the United Kingdom. The staple manufactures of Dantzig are most concerned with the preparation ­ of the products of forestry and agriculture, and are represented by wood-sawing mills, corn-grinding mills, oil mills, sugar refineries, breweries and distilleries. But there are also important ship-building yards (including an Imperial shipyard) employing nearly 6,000 men, together with the machine shops and repairing works necessary for these industries. Lately a rail way-waggon works employing about 400 men, a rolling mill, and a screw, nut and rivet factory have been established. The rolling mill and the factory employ between them about 1,000 men. With its activities as a centre of trade and industry, Dantzig combines those of an important military station (it has a garrison of about 10,000 men), and in this respect it resembles Königsberg. While, however, the latter town is still completely encircled by a ring of moated fortifications, which impede its natural expansion to meet the needs of a growing population, Dantzig has, within the last 12 years, been partially relieved of this artificial restriction through the purchase by the Municipality from the military authorities of a portion of the land on the northern and western periphery previously occupied by the ramparts. All that is modern in Dantzig is therefore to be found in that part of the town. With the ramparts and moats remaining intact on the south and east, and with the Vistula on the north, the town is still surrounded by water to the extent of about three-fourths of its circumference. The centre of the town is traversed from south-east to north-west by two arms of the Mottlau, which form an island about half a mile in length and 250 yards wide at the centre, the shores of which are lined with high-gabled granaries. This part of Dantzig, known as the Warehouse Island (Speicherinset), is the centre of the commercial—as distinct from the industrial—activity of the town and its rough cobble-paved streets, rendered noisy by the traffic of heavy wagons and vans, have a character distinct from that of the streets of what may be called the mainland, that is to say, of the Old Town or City proper, bordering on the western side of the left arm of the Mottlau, and of the somewhat more modern residential district within the fortification on the south-east of the right arm of that river. The river-front on the City side contrasts with that of the opposite Speicherinsel in having no "warehouses but many small shops especially of the marine store kind. A feature of this part of Dantzig is that it squays are used as a market place for fish, fruit and vegetables, in which the stalls are represented by moored river craft. From the quays a number of parallel streets run inland towards the north-west, and these with their cross streets form the City of Dantzig of mediæval times. The limits of the ancient town are still indicated on the north and south by the names of the streets, which have superseded the ancient moats, viz., the Altstädtischer Graben and the Vorstädtischer Graben respectively. The stream of vehicular traffic across the Old Town from the western side to the river front is to a certain extent impeded by ancient gateways at the waterside and of several of the streets. In these streets, moreover, the space available for vehicles is greatly reduced by the balustraded stone terraces (JSßWZäog) which are peculiar to old Dantzig, and which project far into the cobbled madway from the doors of the old houses on either side. The houses themselves, formerly occupied by the families of wealthy merchants, have in the course of time been convened into tenement houses, a purpose for which the narrow frontage and relatively great depth of their sides renders them peculiarly unsuitable, especially when, as frequently happens, a number of the front rooms are let as offices. The largest industrial establishments of Dantzig, including the great Government ­ and private shipbuilding yards, are situated outside the line of the demolished fortifications on the northern side of the town close to the river Vistula, and of the industrial undertakings inside the existing circumvallation the most important belong either to the Stete or the Municipality, e.g the Royal Small Arms Factory and Ordnance Works on the south-east, and the 166 DANTZIG. municipal electrical works and public slaughter-house on the east. Generally speaking, the working classes of Dantzig seem inclined to choose a dwelling either in the immediate neighbourhood of these various works or else in the Old Town, rather than in the new suburbs which have sprung up on the north and west since the removal of the fortifications in these directions. This is a point to which further reference will be made later. Meanwhile it may be observed that the whole urban or municipal area of present-day Dantzig extends far beyond the lines of * the present fortifications ; the maintenance of these defences is a serious obstacle to the erection of houses within certain zones which are subject to what are known as the Rayonsgesetze or laws regulating the erection of houses within a fortified area. Thus while the urban district of Dantzig comprises an area of 7,874 acres, only 1,396 or a little more than one-sixth of this space is occupied by houses, and 500 acres by roads, streets and railways. On the other hand there are 1,020 acres of land used for military purposes, and only 20 acres of public parks and gardens. It is not to be supposed from this that the people of Dantzig have very restricted facilities for open-air recreation. The contrary is indeed the case, for there are large tracts of woodland owned by the municipality within easy reach of the town and kept in their natural state for the benefit of the inhabitants. The sea can be reached by train, electric tramway or steamboat for a few pence in less than an hour, and that these facilities are extensively used is evident from the fact that during a Sunday in summer the railways alone have taken from 26,000 to 28,000 passengers to and from the sea in the direction either of Neufahrwasser (the port of Dantzig) or of Zoppot, a sea-bathing resort a few miles further west along the Baltic shore. As regards the growth of population Dantzig ranks low among the great cities of Germany. At the Census of 1905 it was found to contain 159,648 inhabitants, the mean population being estimated as 158,300. The following Table shows the mean population, together with the birth and death rates and rate of natural increase of the population of Dantzig for the 15 years, 1891-1905 :— Year. Mean Population. Birth rate per 1,000 of mean Population. Death-rate per 1,000 of mean Population. Rate of Infantile Mortality per 1,000 Births. 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 3900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 121,140 122,380 123,390 124,310 125,230 127,400 130.300 133,270 136,560 139,530 142,790 146,240 153.300 156,100 158.300 35 7 321 331 331 32 8 33 4 334 342 362 34 2 35 8 361 343 334 331 254 22 7 26- 7 24-0 25 6 21-8 25 7 22-2 23-3 27- 9 23 6 22- 3 22-6 216 23- 3 269 259 299 264 295 245 303 243 266 320 266 209 244 220 246 In 1881 the mean population was 109,280, so that in the period of 25 years the increase in the population has been less than 50 per cent. While the birth and death rates show considerable fluctuations, the general tendency of both has been to decline, the latter more noticeably than the former. Dantzig has still a somewhat high rate of infant mortality ; it will be seen that the figures for the last five years show a considerable decline, the mean of the rates for 1901-5 being 237, as against 277 for 1891-5 and 275 for 1896-1900. In the matter of drainage and water supply Dantzig is in advance of many larger cities in Germany. Indeed, with respect to the former it claims to have been the first city on the Continent to introduce a trunk system of drainage. DANTZIG. 167 The Municipality owns 7,538 acres of land of which, however, only 538 are within the urban area. In addition it administers or controls 622 acres, of which 69 are inside the town. The gas, water and electricity supplies are municipal undertakings, but not the electric tramway. In October, 1904, a new technical high school was opened in Dantzig, at which practical scientific instruction in shipbuilding is given a prominent place in the course of study provided. Occupations, Wages and Hours of Labour. A general indication has already been afforded of the main directions in which the working classes of Dantzig find their employment. Materials do not exist for an exact classification of the whole body of workpeople according ­ to occupation groups, as the results of the last German occupation Census have not yet been published. The most that can be attempted therefore, is to show the distribution according to main groups of industry of those workpeople who are employed in establishments subject to inspection as factories or workshops. This is done in the following Table, of which the figures relate to the year 1906. Workpeople employed in Factories and Workshops in Dantzig in 1906. Group of Trades. Building » - - ... ... ... ... Mining and smelting Metal working Machine, implement and apparatus making (including shipbuilding). Textiles Clothing and cleaning Printing, lithography, bookbinding, &c Paper ... ... ... ... Woodworking and carving Chemicals ... Resins, varnishes, soap, oil, candles, &c Stone and earth Food, drink and tobacco ... Total Number of Establishments. 9 1 24 37 5 119 21 3 49 7 10 10 177 472 Number of Workpeople. Male. 481 319 288 8,011 47 23 414 19 1,190 72 387 251 1,824 13,326 Female. 10 107 816 318 53 53 241 18 30 764 2,410 Total. 481 319 288 8,021 154 839 732 72 1,243 313 405 281 2,588 15,736 As the above statement deals only with the labour employed in establishments ­ ranking as factories or workshops it fails to take account of two of the most important branches of employment for male labour in Dantzig, viz., the outdoor ­ building trades and dock and riverside labourers. The number of workpeople ­ employed in the building trades in Dantzig at the present time may be taken as being not less than 3,000 (the actual number in 189o was 2,o00) ; that of the dock labourers is estimated at 2,000. Outside the building trades the trade union movement is still somewhat undeveloped in Dantzig.' At the end of 1905 there were in all about 3,600 Workmen belonging to the unions affiliated to the local trades council ( (jewerk-Schafts-Kartell), and of those 2,100 were in the building trades, the largest union beino- that of the masons and bricklayers, which had 1,019 members. Of the other affiliated trades may be mentioned the metal-workers, with 510 members, the carpenters with 340, the bricklayers labourers with 300, the painters with 290, the compositors with 243, the wood-workers with 220, and the dock labourers with 127 members. As is usual where workmen’s organisations are undeveloped collective arguments fixing the conditions of labour are few, and they exist in Dantzig only for the masons and bricklayers and their labourers, for carpenters and joiners, plumbers and compositors. Except in the case of joiners, whose agreement fixes piece-work rates only, provision is made in each case for a minimum rate of time wage and a maximum working day, and the rates and 168 DANTZIG. hours so fixed have been used in calculating the weekly rates of wages and hours of labour in those trades for the present report. In all other cases it has been necessary to have recourse to the leading employers of labour, most of whom (including the imperial shipyard, the royal ordnance workshops, and the municipal authorities) readily furnished returns based on the records of their pay sheets for the month of October, 1905. Except for the most inferior kinds of unskilled labour payment by piece-work was found to be the rule in all the larger establishments. In order, therefore, to obtain figures comparable so far as possible with a weekly rate of wages, the employers were asked to return for each of the principal occupation groups the amount most frequently earned in a full week without overtime by men in that group, and the number of hours (inclusive of intervals for meals) constituting the regular working week. Subject to these qualifications the following Table is given. Wages and Hours of Lab oar in the Principal Occupations, October, 1905. Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours of Labour. Building Trades* :— Masons and Bricklayers Stonemasons Carpenters Plumbers and Fitters ... j Hodmen... ( Other Labourers Engineering and Shipbuilding :— Fitters ... ... Turners Smiths ... ... ... ... Patternmakers Angle-iron Smiths and Platers Rivetters Labourers Royal Ordnance Works :— Fitters Turners Smiths ... ... ... ... Patternmakers Labourers Printing :— Hand Compositors, Machine Minders and Pressmen Machine Compositors j Timber Trade and Woodworking :— Men in timber yards (semi-skilled) Labourers in same Parquetry making :— Machinists ... Labourers Glass bottle making :— Blowers and Gatherers Labourers Oil and Corn Mills and Starchmaking :— Millers ... . . ... ... ... ... Coopers ... ... ... ... ... ... Factory operatives Yardmen Sugar Refining :— Men at centrifugals Other pieceworkers Labourers (timework) 28a. 10(7. 30s. 27s. Id. 22s. 10(7. 19s. 6(7. to 21s. 3d. 17s. 8(7. to 19s. 6(7. 21s. to 22s. 4(7. 22s. 4(7. 22s. 4(7. to 22s. 10(7. 23s. 6(7. to 25s. 22s. 10(7. 19s. 2(7. 18s. to 19s. i 33s. 19s. 24s. 9(7. 30s. 11(7. 32s. 2(7. 30s. 21s. 25 s. 20s. 22s. to 23s. f 15s. 20s. 20s. 18s. 15s. 7(7. 18s. to 24s. 18s. „ 24s. 14s. 5(7. 60 60 60 59 59 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 55 55 54 48 54 54 54 68 68 48 54 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 * The wages and hours of labour stated for the building trades are for a full week in summer. f Besides free housing and coke. DANTZIG. 169 Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours of Labour. Steam baking :— Journeymen bakers Ovenmen Machinemen Municipal Workmen :— Street maintenance and cleaning Paviors Paviors’ helpers Roadmakers Roadsweepers and Carters Gasworks : Stokers Labourers Waterworks : Labourers Electric Supply and Lighting : Enginemen Stokers Erectors and Installators Fitters 24s. 26s. 26s. 28s. KM. 21s. 21s. 17 s. 3d. 24 s. 17s. 6<7. 17s. 6(7. 27 s. Gd. 25s. 2d. 24s. 24s. 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 72' 60 60 72 72 60 60 Including intervals for meals, rest, &c. With regard to the large body of labourers employed in the loading and unloading of merchandize no satisfactory data could be obtained for calculating weekly wages and hours of labour. A statement based on the pay sheets of 15 master-stevedores for October, 1905, showed the wages per day of 10 hours to be from 4s. Gd. to 5s. Gd. for stevedores. It was added that “ the men work only three to four days per week and are therefore unemployed about six months in the year.” The wages of quay labourers are given as 3s. Gd. per day, or with overtime, 4s. Wages at Dantzig are comparatively low. On the basis of figures given in the above table the following index numbers have been constructed, wages at Berlin being represented by 100. Building trades, skilled men, 74 ; labourers, 72 ; engineering trades, skilled men, 67 ; labourers, 85 ; printing trades, 88. Housing and Rents. Among the large cities of Germany, Dantzig has long had an evil reputation ­ for defective housing. Until the year 1896 the city was completely surrounded by a line of ramparts and moats similar to those remaining until the present day around Königsberg. A constantly growing. population with no room on which to build further dwellings inside the fortifications and the maintenance of prohibitive restrictions by the military authorities in respect to building for a considerable distance outside the fortifications made increased overcrowding inevitable. The first step towards removing the cause of this evil was taken in 1896, when the municipality purchased from the military authorities a portion of the land occupied by the ramparts on the western and northern side of the town. Much of the land set free in this way has, however, been used in providing a number of ornamental open spaces, and in particular a stretch of wide promenade along which the best hotels and modem buildings of Dantzig have been built. Little of the new land has so far been used for the erection of houses containing the kind of tenement (two oi three rooms) which the working classes could afford to rent. The absence until recently of traffic facilities to suburbs sufficiently far out to permit of building unhampered by the War Office restrictions applicable to fortress towns (these restrictions are still enforced round the greater part of Dantzig) has also delayed the relief which might otherwise have followed from the razing of part of the walls.. By the year 1900 the housing question had become acute, and the town council appointed a committee consisting of members of the executive of the council, and of working men, to inquire whether any dearth of working-class dwellings really existed, and if so, what remedial measures should be taken by the municipal authority. Y 29088 170 DANTZIG. At that time the inhabited dwellings of Dantzig numbered 29,759, and they were found to include-— 984 dwellings of 1 room without kitchen = 3*3 per cent. 13,118 „ „ 1 „ and „ = 44*0 „ „ 290 ,, ,, 2 rooms without ,, = 1*0 ,, „ 8,910 ,, ,, ,, ,, and ,, = 29'9 ,, ,, making 14,102 dwellings, or 47*3 per cent of the whole consisting of one room with or without a kitchen and 9,200, or 30'9 per cent, consisting of two rooms with or without a kitchen, while only 21'7 per cent, of the dwellings were of larger size. It was also found that 19,886 persons or about 14 per cent, of the entire population were housed in dwellings regarded by the Local Authority as “ overcrowded.” That matters have improved somewhat since the year 1900 is generally admitted, but the extent of the improvement cannot be measured until the results of the housing Census of December, 1905, have been published. A prominent member of the Town Council, Commerzienrat John Gibsone (a Dantziger of Scots extraction), who has taken a leading part in the efforts to improve the housing of the working classes in Dantzig, estimated in 1904 that if dwellings consisting of a single room with or without a kitchen were no longer to be allowed to house more than five persons, it would be necessary to provide at least 1,150 rooms for the accommodation of 5,746 individuals then living in overcrowded dwellings. In this respect the worst conditions are to be found in the oldest and most central part of the town, where the majority of the houses, dating from three centuries ago, were originally built for and inhabited by well-to-do merchants and other citizens. These houses are as a rule high gabled and narrow-fronted, with seldom more than three windows (and sometimes only one window), on each floor in front. What the house lacks in frontage is generally made up for in the depth of the site, the whole of which, with the exception of a narrow yard, which serves as an air shaft, is built upon. In such houses all the back rooms are badly lighted and ventilated, and it is of these rooms that the present working-class tenements are as a rule made up. The staircases are in many cases spiral, and so dark that a rope has to be held during ascent and descent. In a great many cases the plot contains a back house as well as a front house, the two being separated by a court, to which access is obtained from the street by descending some steps into a tunnel which passes beneath the ground floor of the front house, and re-ascending on the other side. The back house is as a rule of the hal f- ti m her work description of architecture, and less lofty than the front houses (similar subterranean court entrances are to be found in the older parts of Hamburg, e.g., in the Steinstrasse). This half-timberwork style of architecture is indeed very prevalent in many parts of Dantzig, especially in the neighbourhood of the fortifications, where, under the fortress regulations, all buildings, in as far as they are allowed to be erected at all, must be of such a nature that they can be quickly and easily demolished in the event of a siege. It may be doubted whether the fact that very many working-class families in Dantzig continue to live in the old City tenements is due to lack of better dwellings. That many who still live in the old houses, do so from choice, is quite certain. In several very defective tenements visited in the Old Town the occupiers, when questioned as to why they did not move into some of the modern, airy dwellings which were to be had for about the same, or at a lower, rent within a mile of the town, replied that it suited their convenience better to remain where they were. Some had actually tried the new tenements, and had been glad to get back to the old ones. One of the principal arguments adduced in favour of the old houses was that they were warmer, which meant a saving of fuel. The newer houses which have been built within a convenient distance of the town, are of flimsy construction—again the effect of the fortress regulations—and are exposed to the wind, whereas the old City houses, besides being more solidly built, are sheltered. Doth considerations are very important in a climate so severe in the winter as that of Dantzig. In one case the occupier—a trade union official—gave as his reason for not living in the suburbs that the danger of being " knifed ” on the way home at night would be a constant source of anxiety to his wife. In this connection it may be mentioned that cases of “knifing” (“ Messerstecherei ”) DANTZIG. 171 are somewhat frequent in Dantzig, especially after drinking bouts. With reference to this, Commerzienrat Gibsone observes : " It is highly discouraging to the Municipal administration which expends every year nearly £50,000 on education, £27,000 going to the elementary schools, that a majority of the hooligans and knifers are young people, who not long ago left the elementary school. The overcrowded dwellings are an effective breeding ground for roughs of this kind, and the demoralizing effect of spirits does the rest.” The typical working-class dwelling in Dantzig consists of a flat of either two or three rooms, together with a separate compartment in the cellar and the use of the loft space beneath the roof for drying laundry. The closet arrangements ­ are good in so far as there exists a modern drainage system combined with the general use of flushing tanks. In the newer houses the closets are on the stair landings, usually in the proportion of one to every two families. In the older houses these conveniences are more frequently in the yard or air shaft, sometimes in the proportion of one to eight or ten families. Through the courtesy of the Municipal authorities it has been possible to ascertain the rents of 3,180 working-class tenements in different parts of the town and suburbs. Of these, 1,570 consisted of two and 1,610 of three rooms. The following statement shows the predominant rents which were being paid in 1906 in four different parts of Dantzig with large working-class populations :— Predominant Weekly Rent. Two Rooms. Three Rooms. Old Town Niederstadt (South, intra-mural) Alt Schotland (South, extra-mural) Schidlitz (West, extra-mural) Together .. 2s. 4(7. to 3s. 3d. 2s. 4d. „ 3s. 6d. 2s. Id. „ 2s. 6<7. Is. 10Æ „ 2s. 4d. 2s. 4d. to 3s. 3s. to 5s. 9d. 3s. 6<7. to 4s. Id. 2s. 9c?. „ 3s. 8(7. 2s. 8(7. to 3s. 3s. 6(7. to 4s. 7(7. It will be seen that in the two suburban districts of Alt Schotland and Schidlitz, which are comparatively new, the rents both for two-roomed and three-roomed tenements are lower than in the two older, intra-mural districts of the Old Town and Niederstaãt. Comparing these rents with those for Berlin and representing the latter by 100, the figure for Dantzig is 49. These rents include water rate but no other element of taxation for local purposes. Here, as elsewhere in Prussia, the bulk of the money îequired for local purposes is derived from a Municipal income tax, which is levied by the Municipal Authority at the same time as the State income tax, and bears a fixed proportion to the latter. In Dantzig this proportion is 188 per cent., and all incomes over £21 per annum are subject to the tax. The following 1 able shows the amount of yearly income tax for municipal purposes payable on the different income classes within which the majority of working-class families would fall Yearly Income. | ¿nmoiR ^ ?az. Over £21 to £33 „ £33 „ £45 „ £45 „ £52 10s. „ £52 10s. to £60 „ £60 to £67 10s. „ £67 10s. to £75 „ £75 to £82 10s. „ £82 10s. to £90 „ £90 to £105 . £ s. d. 0 4 6 0 7 6 0 11 3 0 16 11 12 6 1 10 0 1 19 6 2 8 10 2 18 4 29088 172 DANTZIG. A few details of the most noteworthy schemes for relieving the pressure of the housing difficulty in Dantzig are added in conclusion of this section. During the past thirty years the " Ahegg Workmen’s Dwellings Endowment”—a ­ fund which owes its existence to the benevolence of a Dantzig family —has provided the means whereby the pressure of the housing question has been relieved in various parts of the town. The fund was established for the purpose of " erecting healthy family dwellings for working men, small mastercraftsmen, subordinate officials and people in a similar economic position, and enabling such persons to acquire their own houses,” and, originating in a gift of £3,000, it has increased by careful investment and by later benefactions to a capital of nearly £15,000. On the security of this capital and the property under its control the management of the Abegg Endowment borrows money from the State Insurance Authorities and private banks, and by the constant sale of the property it builds, the money at its disposal is kept remuneratively employed in increasing the number of small house-owners in Dantzig. A number of colonies and blocks of dwellings have been erected, consisting for the most part of single-family houses of the English pattern, though some are double houses, with one dwelling below and one above. The usual accommodation ­ of a single-family house consists of a living room and a kitchen below, and a large bedroom and an attic above, with cellar, yard and shed and a piece of garden ground ; each of the two tenements in a double-house has two rooms and a kitchen with cellar. The usual price of a small dwelling is about £160. Before a tenant can be regarded as a prospective owner he is expected to deposit £7 10s. In the next ten to fifteen years he pays lös. monthly, 13s. 4d. being for rent, and 2s. 8d. instalment of purchase-money ; at the end of this period the instalments at compound interest have accumulated to £30 and the house is then transferred to him with the guarantee of a loan on mortgage of £130 at 4 per cent, for at least ten years subject to regular repayments. A large dwelling costs about £300, and here the monthly payment until the formal transfer in 15 years’ time is 26s. 7d., of which 4s. 8d. are paid on account of purchase-money. Some hundreds of dwellings have passed into the hands of working people and small craftsmen owing to the operations of the Abegg Endowment to the benefit of the tenants’ pocket not less than their health, for the moderate repayments of purchase-money have often represented savings which might otherwise not have been made. Two defects of the earlier regulations have of late been remedied. One was the practice of speculative selling which had crept in amongst the owners, and which has now been prevented owing to the right of pre-emption reserved by the Abegg trustees. The other was the systematic letting of rooms to »lodgers, the result of which was to create the very evil of overcrowding which it was the purpose of the Endowment to combat ; this practice has also been checked. The houses are all substantially yet simply built of brick. The " Savings and Building Society of Dantzig ” has built a number of working-class houses each containing from eight to twelve dwellings which are let at from 10s. to 14s. monthly to members only. The usual accommodation consists of a living room, a bedroom and a kitchen, with vestibule, cellar compartment and garden ground. Every member must subscribe to the capital of the society at least the value of one share, viz., £10, though he may take as many as three shares if so minded, and his liability extends to twice the amount of his shares. Retail Prices. I he conditions of the retail supply of household provisions in Dantzig present no features calling for special comment, unless it be the absence of complaints among the private shopkeepers of .competition from working-class co-operative stores, the one co-operative distributive society in the town being so small as to be negligiole. (It has only 400 members, whose aggregate purchases, in 1905, amounted to scarcely £1,000.) A municipal market hall built at a cost of £25,000 was opened in 1896, and affords accommodation for about 962 stalls for the retail sale _of fish, fowl, greengroceries, butter, eggs, cheese and bread, ft is largely used by workpeople, though it does not appear that the prices DANTZIG. 173 charged there are lower than those for which similar articles can be bought at the shops. Prices at Dantzig are low. Taking the predominant prices at Berlin as 100, the index numbers for Dantzig are 98 for meat, 97 for other food, and 102 for coal, the general figure for prices being 98. Combining this figure with the index number for rent, a result of 88 is obtained, as compared with 100 for Berlin. Groceries and other Commodities. The following Table shows the predominant prices of certain household provisions other than butchers’ meat as charged by retail dealers in Dantzig at October, 1905, and October, 1906. Each price is based on the quotations of several dealers, among the latter being included the workmen’s co-operative society and stall holders in the municipal market. The makers of the returns were asked to give in each case the price of that quality of the article which was most generally bought by workpeople, but it would appear that, except in the case of coffee and sugar, the quality bought by workpeople is not cheaper than that bought by the middle classes. Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and October, 1906. Predominant Price. Commodity. October, 1905. October, 1906. Coffee Sugar, White Granulated Bacon :— Fat... Streaky Eggs ... Cheese :— Swiss Tilsit Butter Margarine Potatoes Flour :— Wheat Rye Bread, Rye Milk ... Coal ... Paraffin Oil per lb. per Is. per lb. per 7 lbs. per 4 lbs. per quart per cwt. per gallon Is 8|d. 2d. 9|d. 9§d. 8£d. to 9£d. 7£d. Is. 2\d. 7# 14d. lOfd. to ll^d. 8# õ|d. 2\d. 2d. to Is. 4d. 10 d. 8fd. 2\d. 9£d. 9|d. 11 9# 8£d. Is. 3£d. 7£d. 2£d. 10fd. to 11 \d. lOd. Ogd., ojjd. 2\d. Is. 2§d. to Is. i\d. lOd. The most general prices of coffee range from 8|¿. to about Is. od. per lb., and the quality usually bought by workpeople is that labelled “ Santos costing 84d per lb., a price lower than is paid for the article sold under that name m any of the other 32 towns covered by the present inquiry. The sugar used by working-class families for all purposes, including the sweetening of coffee, is a fine-grained variety of white granulated known locally as Streuzucker bacon, in the form with which we are most familiar with it m the United Kingdomthe rasher-is scarcely known in Dantzig, or, for that matter, in Germany richness to'otheÍdSies^íncluding vegetaMes^and^h^latterlsAlmost invariably boiled. The bread most generally eaten is the grey rje loaf, n Inch is reputed to weigh about 2-2 lbs. avoirdupois, and is sold for 2o pfenmge or about U. Fluctuations in the price of bread take the form of fluctuation in the weight of the loaf, the price of which remains the same. In October 190o the threepenny loaf weighed about one ounce more than m October 1906 Both Scotch and Silesian coals are used for domestic purposes, and of thetmo the former is the cheaper and more generally bought by workpeople. 174 DANTZIG. Meat. The meat consumed in Dantzig consists almost entirely of produce of the immediate Prussian hinterland, and includes no foreign meat whatever. The fact is a subject of loud complaint among all classes of the population, who regard it as the cause of the increasing dearness, and declining consumption of meat in the town. As evidence of the rise in the price of the two staple flesh foods, pork and beef, in Dantzig during the ten years 1897-1906, the following official average retail market prices may be adduced. In the source from which the figures are taken # it is stated that the prices are for meat of medium quality (Durchschnittswaare), and that they are based on the mean of the prices for cuts from the leg and from the belly respectively. The former, it may be noted, are usually understood to represent pure lean, while the latter contain strata of fat. The prices are shown in pfennige per kilogram, in order that the fluctuations may be more easily discernible, f Mean Prices of Pork and Beef in the Retail Market of Dantzig 1897-1906. Retail price per Kilogram in Pfennige. Pork. 117 128 123 113 129 135 120 116 145 159 Beef. 113 116 121 121 123 124 133 130 135 147 Year. 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 It appears therefore that in 1906 pork was 36 per cent, and beef 30 per cent, dearer than in 1897. While the former fluctuated considerably and reached its lowest prices in 1900 and 1904, the movement of beef prices has been steadily upward except between 1903 and 1904. For both kinds of meat the rise has been sharpest since the latter year. In that year a pound of pork cost 6^<A, and a pound of beef 7d., while in 1906 the former cost 8|/7. and the latter 8d. The statistics of meat consumption prepared by the Municipal slaughterhouse ­ show the per capita consumption of meat in Dantzig to have been as follows :— 1897. lbs. 148 1898. lbs. 135 1899. lbs. 149 1900. lbs. 151 1901. lbs. 133 1902. lbs. 113 1903. lbs. 117 1904. lbs. 119 Figures for the years subsequent to 1904 are not obtainable, but those for the eight years shown above indicate that the price of pork has a dominant influence on the total consumption of meat, for, with a rise in the price of pork, we find a decline in the total consumption of meat, and vice versa. Nor is this surprising having regard to the fact that the weight of pork consumed in the year exceeds that of all the other kinds of meat taken together. The exact proportion in Dantzig as shown by the report of the Municipal Slaughterhouse Administration for 1904,! are as follows : Pork, 58 per cent. ; beef, 30 per cent. ; * Statistisches Jahrbuch für das Deutsche Reich, 1907, p. 235. t Kilogram = 2 2 lbs. avoirdupois. 100 pfennige = about Is. { Verwaltungsbericht über den Städtischen Schlacht- und Viehhof zu Dantzig für das Jahr 1904. Dantzig, 1905, pp. 14-15. DANTZIG. 175 veal, 7 per cent. ; mutton and goat, 4 per cent. ; and horse, 1 per cent. It is to be observed that while bacon and sausages do not figure among the items just enumerated, both are comprised, inasmuch as they are made from the carcases of animals which have passed through the slaughter-house. From returns furnished for the purposes of the present inquiry by 264 typical working-class families in Dantzig as to weekly consumption and cost of various household provisions, it would appear that meat is used much more sparingly by the working classes than by the more favourably situated sections of the population. Among the 264 families, consisting of 1,306 persons, it was found that the per capita consumption amounted to about 26 ounces per week, which would mean a yearly consumption of about 83J lbs. per head as against 119 lbs. per head of the population of all classes, though the former figure covers meat of all kinds, whilst the average figure quoted for the whole population is exclusive of poultry and game, of which considerable quantities are eaten by the middle and well-to-do classes. Of the consumption shown by the budgets, 42 per cent, was pork and bacon, 25 per cent, sausage, and 22 per cent. beef. Veal accounted for 8 per cent. It will be noticed that among the flesh foods of the workman’s family the importance of pigs’ meat is somewhat obscured by the prominence of the item “ sausage,” which represents about one-fourth of the total weight of meat consumed. It has to be observed, however, that pork is one of the chief ingredients in the various kinds of sausages largely consumed by workpeople. Nor is it unlikely that a considerable part of the horseflesh consumed in Dantzig (75J tons in 1904) is sold in this form, if one may judge by the quantities of sausage exhibited in the shops where nothing but horseflesh is sold. The following statement shows the predominant retail prices charged at butchers’ shops in Dantzig at October in each of the years 1905 and 1906 for various cuts of fresh meat. Each price is based on returns made for the purpose of the present inquiry by a number of butchers with a large working-class custom, each doing business in a different part of the town :— Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and October, 1906. Predominant Price per lb. Description of Cut. Beef :— Rib Silverside Shin, with bone Steak Flank October, 1905. October, 1906. Id. 4 \d. 9M. 7#d. 8| d. 5d. 10 id. 8jt?. Mutton :— Leg ... ... .. Shoulder ... . Breast Neck Chops Veal :— Hindquarter Shoulder, with bone .. „ without bone Loin ... ... •• Shin Pork :— Leg ... Foreloin ... Belly Spare Rib Chops 8# 8¿d. 7# 9fd. 8K Id. to 8fd. Is. Id. 8|d. to 11 d. ,, 5\d. 8W. „ 8# 8fd. 8W. 8# 9# 9\d. 8\d. 8\d. 8fc?. 9\d. 9\d. 8 d. to 9 d. Is. 2§d. 8|i/. to 11 d. 4|d. „ 5fd. 8fd. „ 8fd. 8fd. 8%d. 9fd. 9\d. It will be seen that the general rise in the price of meat in Dantzig to which reference has already been made, is reflected m the above table. The 176 DANTZIG. mean of the prices of the different cuts of beef at October, 1906, is found to be 8d., and that of the different cuts of pork about 8%d. per lb., and it is worthy of note that these prices are practically identical with the mean prices of beef and pork in Dantzig in 1906, as ascertained by the Prussian Government and cited further back on the authority of the Statistiches Jahrbuch für das Deutsche Reich. It may be stated in conclusion that the meat prices shown in the table are based on returns from private dealers only, and do not take into consideration the low prices at which meat officially condemned by the slaughterhouse authorities as inferior can be bought at the Municipal Meat-stall provided for the purpose of selling such meat, i.e., at the Freibank. Some 99 tons of meat forming parts of the carcases of animals found, on inspection, to be suffering from some disease, were sold at the Freibank in Dantzig in 1904, after precautions had been taken (by boiling or otherwise) to render the meat safe for human consumption. People who w T ere unable or unwilling to pay the usual shop prices were able to buy beef at the Freibank for 3d. to 4d. per lb., and pork at about 5\d. Where the beef has been boiled, a portion of the liquor is supplied with the meat. 177 DORTMUND. Dortmund, the largest town of the Prussian Province of Westphalia,, situated amid the Hellweg plain in the north-east of the Rhineland-Westphalian industrial district, is one of the chief centres of the coal and iron industries, and is also famous for its breweries. Its great development began in the middle of last century, since when it has progressed in population and prosperity with extraordinary rapidity. The following Table shows the rate at which the population has increased since 1850, without any great extension of municipal territory :— Year. Population. 1850 1860 1870 1880 1885 1890 1895 1900 1905 11,216 21,477 39,385 66,544 78,435 89,663 111,232 142,733 Decennial Increase per cent. 9149 83 38 68 96 3474 5919 175,571 2301* * In five years. In 1905 there was an excess of males over females of 5,467, viz., 90,519 against 85,052. This phenomenal increase in the population has been due partly to a high birth-rate (the natural rate of increase during the past few years averaging over 22 per thousand per annum), but chiefly to a steady influx of workmen of whom only a small percentage are German, the great majority being Austrians, Italians, and especially Poles from the eastern provinces of Prussia and from beyond the German borders. Some not altogether satisfactory results of this immigration will be noticed subsequently. The following were the birth and death rates, with the infant mortality rates, for the years 1901-1905 :— Year. 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 Birth-rate per 1,000 of Population. 42 9 421 42 0 411 40-7 Death-rate per 1,000 of Population. 19 9 19 5 19-4 19-8 18-2 Infantile Mortality per 1,000 Births 190 159 169 181 184 The town retains a number of memorials of its past history. The walls were abolished soon after 1860, and replaced by broad promenades, but many old buildings still remain, including the ancient Rathaus, now used as a town museum, the old Guildhall, which dates from the commencement of the fifteenth century, and three large mediaeval churches. A certain number of old houses remain in the centre of the town, but they are rapidly giving way before the new buildings and improvements. In the outer districts of the town new streets of houses are rising swiftly to meet the increased needs ; the number of inhabited houses advanced from 7,321 in 1900 to 9,184 in 1905. The result of these changes in the centre, and of developments elsewheie, is that the whole town presents a curiously unfinished and transitional appearance. Ihe municipal authorities have taken the utmost trouble to control this development as much as possible ; they haVe marked out large areas, chiefly in the centre and south, in which factories are not permitted at all, and in the new industrial districts, which are mainly in the north and west, they have shown praiseworthy activitv in the acquisition of land and the planning of streets, often radiating from squares or 11 circuses, ' so as to secure sufficient width and open spaces, and to facilitate the provision of means of transit. z 29088 178 DORTMUND. The rapidity with which the town has grown makes the municipal administration a task of very considerable difficulty ; there are outlying districts with large industrial populations which practically form one town with Dortmund and should be included within its boundaries, but the municipal government does not care to take upon itself the additional responsibility. The town possesses its own water and electric-light works, and (like almost all large German towns) a municipal cattle market and slaughterhouse. The sanitary system appears to be good and well administered ; and there are large public baths. There is a small municipal museum, and recently a large and handsome municipal opera-house and theatre has been erected, and is at present leased. The town also possesses a pleasant park and an extensive " Stadtwald." There are no market-halls, and public markets are held in the various squares and other open spaces. The tramway service has recently passed from a private company to the municipality ; it is well organised, and appears to give general satisfaction. A Labour Bureau and a House Agency are also conducted by the municipality. Attached to the Labour Bureau there is a writing-room, which undertakes copying, addressing, &c., and in this way manages to provide some temporary occupation for unemployed clerks. One other enterprise of great importance in which the municipality has taken an active part is the Dortmund-Ems Canal, which has unquestionably rendered substantial aid to the industrial development of the town ; the municipality maintains the Dortmund “ harbour,” which does not yet pay its way, but is making rapid progress. Occupations, Wages and Hours oe Labour. Dortmund is concerned chiefly with coal-mining and with the manufacture of iron and steel, and manufactures thereof. The brewing industry is important, but it occupies, of workmen. relatively to the other industries mentioned, only a small number The following is an enumeration of the industrial undertakings in the town subject to inspection in 1906 :— Group of Trades. Building Mining and smelting Metalworking Machine, implement and apparatus making. Textiles Clothing and cleaning Printing, lithography, bookbinding, &c.... Paper Woodworking and carving Chemicals Resins, varnishes, oil, soap, candles, &c. ¡Stone and earth Food, drink and tobacco ... Leather Other... ... ... ... ... ... Total Number of Number of Workpeople. Establishments. ­ Male. Female. Total. 63 6 65 66 737 — 9,772 : — 1,423 [ — 6,438 , 1 737 9,772 1,423 6,439 4 121 34 14 76 24 i 33 106 1,062 542 ! 197 56 ; 74 1,024 36 6 13 49 383 6 9 434 : 264 : 1,110 I 2,012 I 71 54 g 86 26 205 14 915 24,067 1,734 57 1,168 739 130 1,060 434 350 1,136 2,217 71 68 25,801 Thus 37*9 per cent, of all enumerated workpeople fell to the mining and smelting industry and 30*5 per cent, to the machine and metal-working industries. It should be noted that the small figure given under the heading “ Building " is due to the fact that only works connected with the building trades which rank as factories, are embraced in this return, so that the great majority of workpeople employed in these trades are excluded. The "same limitation excludes the handicrafts and a large part of the clothing trade. Two great firms in Dortmund dwarf all the others. The first of these is the Union Company, which manufactures iron and steel, steel rails, steel bodies for tramcars, railway waggons, steel bridges and roofs, &c. In 1905 it employed 5,750 officials and workmen in the works proper, and 4,610 in its DORTMUND. 179 coal and iron mines. The second firm is the Hoesch Iron and Steel Works, which carries on the production of iron and steel, and manufactures thereof ; it had in 1905 4,126 workmen and officials at the works, and 3,589 in the coal mines. There are two other large firms, one for the manufacture of bridges, gasometers, &c., with 1,100 employees, and the other for machine-making with 1,500 employees. All the other works in Dortmund itself are small. In September, 1906, all were extremely busy, much overtime was being worked, and the large firms stated that they had great difficulty in procuring a sufficient number of workmen. The ordinary working day consists of 12 hours, with two hours of intervals ; the intervals are definitely fixed so far as practicable, but in blast furnaces, foundries, rolling-mills, &c. it is not possible for definite pauses to be assigned. The theory is that the workmen there get their meals as opportunity offers, and are entitled to intervals amounting in all to two hours ; but it is alleged that in practice, during times of high pressure, there are often scarcely any intervals at all. Work commences at 6 or 7 a.m. ; in the former case there is usually half an hour’s pause from 8 to 8.30 a.m., and lj> hours from 12 to 1.30 p.m. ; when work begins at 7 the pauses are usually 9 to 9.15, 12 to 1.30, and 4 to 4.15. In the great works there are night shifts also. In both the Union and Hoesch works wages are paid monthly, and advances are made halfway through the month to such workmen as wish for them ; in other works wages are paid half-monthly or weekly. Wages are in the main for piece-work. The Hoesch works present some interesting features. They cover a great extent of ground, and the abundance of space gives an impression of roominess, with ample air and light. There are elaborate lavatories, well provided with shower-baths, &c. Near the main entrance to the works, just within the gates, is a well-equipped ambulance station, with a doctor in attendance ; this is connected with the factory Sickness Insurance Society (established under the compulsory Insurance Acts), but medical assistance is given also to the wives and families of the workmen. Outside the works there is a large dining-hall for workmen, in which a dinner is provided for about 4d., but the hall is comparatively little used. Great numbers of the workmen go home to dinner, but for those who do not (and many in the foundries, blast works, &c. cannot do so) the dinners are collected in covered waggons. These go each morning to various appointed stations in the surrounding district (where the workmen chiefly live), collect the dinners there (they are brought by the wives and children) and convey them to the works, where they arrive about 12 o’clock noon. The firm also maintains a creche for children from 2 to 6 years of age (i.e. up to school age) ; the children are kept from 8 to 12 and from 1 to 4 o’clock. The nominal charge is 6d. per child per month, but in many cases this is reduced to 3d., and about one-third of the children are admitted free. Finally the firm possesses near the works 202 houses with 493 dwellings, built by the firm itself chiefly for foremen. The houses are mostly small houses for two families, each family having three or four rooms, and generally there is a small garden. The “ Union ” firm has also a small colony, not merely for foremen, but for workmen of any kind. The houses are usually for six families, and each is completely detached, with a garden in front. There is a creche for young children. ‘ There is also a small Co-operative Society for the workmen. As in the Hoesch works, the lavatory arrangements are good, and the canteen system is well organised. In the coal mines an eight hours shift is worked by the chief classes of men employed underground, the hewers and trammers, except in places where the ordinary temperature is more than 82 degrees Fahrenheit, in which case the hours of labour may not exceed 6 ; there are no pauses. In these nours i» included the time necessary for the men to get from the bottom of the shaft to the workplaces, and vice versa, but not the time occupied by the descent and ascent of the shafts. For other underground workers there is a nine hours shift. For above-ground workers there is a 12-hours day from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., with morning and afternoon nauses of half an hour each, and a one-hour interval at mid-day No women are employed at the coal mines m this district, and no youths under 16 years of age. Overtime is prohibited where the temperature is above 82 degrees Fahrenheit. Wages are either so much per shift, or more 29088 Z 2 180 DORTMUND. commonly piece wages paid to a gang (“Kameradschaft”) of from 4 to 10 workmen ; the price of the particular piece of work is settled between the manager and the eldest workman in the gang on behalf of himself and his fellows. Wages are paid monthly, but an advance is generally made halfway through the month. The workmen’s unions in Dortmund are not very strong. The branch of the Socialist German Metal Workers’ Union has only some 1,800 members, and the “ Christian ” or Roman Catholic unions are much weaker. The miners’ unions are also very small, the strongholds of the miners being at Bochum (for the Socialists) and Essen (for the “ Christian ” movement). There are two Workmen’s Secretariates at Dortmund. One of these has been founded, and is maintained, by the various Socialist unions, which contribute according to their membership. In 1905 there were 8,186 clients who made personal visits, connected with 8,579 cases, in addition to 411 cases dealt with by letter. The great majority of the clients, 6,355, were miners, and 32 per cent, of the cases were concerned with compulsory insurance. There is also a Secretariate established by the Catholic organisations, which deals with some 3,000 cases a year. One result of the activity of these two agencies is that the municipal authorities have themselves recently established a bureau for free legal advice. In the coal-mining industry hewers earned in October, 1905, from 30s. to 36s. and trammers from 17s. 8d. to 19s. 10d. per week of six shifts, each of eight hours, excluding the time taken by the descent and ascent, which makes about half an hour a day extra. Surface labourers earned from 18s. Id. to 21s. 0d. for 60 hours’ work. The following Table gives the average number of shifts, the average wages per shift, and the average net earnings (after deduction of insurance contributions, ­ &c.) of each workman in the entire Dortmund mining area for the years 1900-1905* :— Group. Underground Workers (Hewers and Trammers). Other Underground Workers ... ^ Above-ground Workers ... I Year. 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 Average Shifts per Workman. Average Wages per Shift. 309 291 288 304 296 283 327 306 297 311 301 291 339 325 322 332 333 334 s. d. 5 2 4 10 3 4 3 4 3 3 3 3 3 4 3 5 3 4 3 4 3 3 3 3 3 4 3 5 Average Annual Earnings per Workman. £ s. 79 12 72 7 65 14 70 11 70 15 68 10 54 16 51 4 47 15 50 17 50 49 56 54 52 54 14 55 16 57 3 * It must be remembered that the number of shifts and the total earnings in 1905 were affected by the great coal strike. In the engineering trades skilled men earn as a rule from 27s. to 32s. per week, moulders and smiths going up to 36s., while labourers earn from 20s. to 23s. In the iron and steel works first smelters earn from 33s. to 36s. and second smelters from 24s. to 27s., first and second puddlers from 33s. to 37s. 2d. and from 27s. to 30s. respectively, while leading rollers earn from 57s. to 63s., second men from 36s. to 39s., and other rollers 27s. to 29s. 5d. In these works the wages of unskilled labourers range from 18s. to 21s. It should be noted that wages agreements are usual in the building trades, these being concluded between the employers in the several trades and the two groups of trade unions (the Socialist and Christian) jointly ; the two societies of bricklayers have together some 2,400 members. DORTMUND. 181 1Vage s and Hours of Labour in the Principal Occupations, October, 1905. Weekly Hour* of Labour. Weekly Wages. Building Trades . Bricklayers and masons Stonemasons Carpenters Joiners and cabinetmakers Plumbers Stucco-workers, independent men »> » workshop men Labourers Coal Mining :— Hewers Repair hewers Trammers, under ground „ above ground - Coke-workers Labourers Engineering Trades :— Moulders Fitters Turners ... Smiths Pattern-makers Labourers Iron and Steel Works :— 1st Smelters 2nd „ 1st Puddlers 2nd „ 1st Welders H - ;;; •••' Rollers, leading men ... „ second men ... „ others Hammer-smiths Converter men, 1st men » „ others Ore transporters Weighmen Unloaders General labourers Boiler-making Works :— Angle-iron smiths Boilersmiths Ri vetters Holders-up Boilersmiths’ helpers Other unskilled labourers Beer Breweries :— Brewers Coopers Draymen Labourers ... ... Br intin g Trades :— Compositors, machine minders, pressmen Machine compositors, news ... „ „ jobbing 31a. 3d. 31s. 2d. 31s. 3d. 27s. 28s. 6d. 36s. 33s. 25s. lOd. 30s. to 36s. 23s. 3d. to 27s. 17s. 8d. to 19s. lOd. 19s. 2d. 19s. 2d. to 27s. 18s. 7d. „ 21s. 36s. 27s. to 32s. 27s. » 32s. 32s. „ 36s. 27s. » 29s. 20s. » 23s. 33s. to 36s. 24s. „ 27s. 33s. to 37s. 2d. 27s. to 30s. 52s. 5d. to 57s. 34s. lOd. 26s. Id. 57s. to 63s. 36s. „ 39s. 27s. to 29s. 5d. 33s. 39s. to 45s. 26s. Id. „ 31s. 3d. 24s. 8d. to 30s. 25s. 2d. „ 30s. 22s. 9d. „ 30s. 18s. to 21s. 35s. 9d. to 42s. 27s. to 33s. 27s. „ 33s. 25s. 6d. 25s. 6d. 19s. 2d. to 24s. 26s. 6d. to 31s. 2d. 26s. 6d. „ 31 s. 2d. 21s. lid. „ 24s. 3d. 19s. 2d. ,, 20s. 5d. 25s. 4d. to 30s. 31s. 8d. 32s. lid. 48t 48T 48f 60 60 60 57 to 60 57 „ 60 57 „ 60 57 „ 60 57 „ 60 57 „ 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 54 48 51 The wages and hours of labour stated for the building trades are for a full week in summer. t Exclusive of descent and ascent, making three hours per week additional. Wages at Berlin being taken as 100, the index numbers for Dortmund are— * or skilled men in the building trades, 84, and for labourers, 101 ; for skilled bien in the engineering trades, 90, and for labourers, 99 ; and for skilled men in the printing trades, 90. DORTMUND. '482 The following were the weekly wages of employees in the municipal and other public services at the same date :— Weekly Wages. Street and Road Department Road-makers Paviors ... Paviors 1 labourers Road sweepers ... Sewer labourers Excavators 21s. 37 s. 10 d. 22s. 10(7. 18s. to 21s. 21s. 21s. to 22s. 6(7. Weekly Hours of Labour. 63 63 63 63 63 63 Gasworks (private) Stokers ... Labourers 28s. 6(7. 22s. 6(7. 60 60 Waterworks :— Labourers 21s. to 22s. 6(7. 60 Tramways :— Drivers ... Conductors Electricity Works :— Engine-men Stokers ... Fitters and Installers 23s. 3(7. to 28s. 9(7.* 22s. 6¿7. » 28s. 9(7.* 27s. 8(7. to 34s. 7(7. 27s. 8(7. „ 34s. 7(7. 27s. 8(7. „ 34s. 7(7. 60 60 60 72 60 Rising to this maximum by yearly increments of about Is. 2(7. weekly. Housing and Rents. It has already been remarked that the municipal authorities have been very active in the enforcement of building regulations, and one result of this is that in the newer parts of the towns slums do not exist, and can hardly come into being in the future, whilst in the older streets they are rapidly being cleared away. There are, of course, many poor streets in which the housing conditions are very unsatisfactory, but there are few absolute slums. There are very few “back-to-back” houses, and no basement dwellings. The sanitary administration ­ of the town is good. The predominant type of house is one of three or four stories (including the ground floor and the attics, if such exist) in a new and broad street, and intended for six or eight families : generally it is of brick faced with stucco. The normal dwelling is of two or three rooms, including the kitchen, which here is always reckoned in the number of rooms ; each tenant must provide his own stoves, and usually therefore the number of rooms which are heatable depends on the means and inclination of the tenant. Of 2,793 dwellings whose rents were classified for the purpose of this report, 1,320 or 47 3 per cent, consisted of two rooms and 1,156 or 41*4 per cent, of three rooms. The following Table shows the number of dwellings and rooms in 1900, the latest year for which the detailed figures are available : — No. of rooms. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 or more No. of dwellings. Total 874 8,456 5,583 1,854 969 546 152 70 28 49 18,581 Percentage of the whole. 4- 7 45-5 30-0 10-0 5- 2 29 •8 •4 •2 •3 1000 DORTMUND. 183 The next Table (supplied by the Director of the Municipal Statistical Office, and relating to a slightly later date) shows the distribution of that part of the population which inhabited tenements of not more than four rooms :— No. of Persons in Household. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 or more No. of Households occupying 1 Room. 2 Rooms. 3 Rooms. 4 Rooms 414 215 130 66 33 15 9 5 1 2 345 1,699 2,506 1,804 1,241 726 362 176 53 35 98 652 996 1,051 971 766 509 326 166 96 47 263 303 345 274 262 175 96 66 49 It appears from these two Tables that in 1900 about three-quarters of the total number of dwellings in Dortmund were of two or three rooms, and that a large majority of these were in the occupation of three to five persons. The conditions appeared to be substantially the same in these respects in 1905. The town is, for the purposes of the building regulations, divided into the old town, two other zones, and certain great streets which are also lines of communication. In the old town and first zone not more than three-quarters of any piece of ground may be built upon, whilst in the second zone and great streets the maxima are two-thirds and two-fifths respectively : corner blocks are allowed a little more. The maximum height of buildings is proportionate to the width of the street. In the old town buildings 23 feet high may be erected in a street 13 feet wide or less, and the further proportions are :— feet to 26\ feet. 49J „ 69 Height of buildings. Width of street. 13 261 49¿ ,, „ In the other zones and great streets the figures are :— Width of street. j Height of buildings. To 36 feet. 36 feet. 32| feet. 49^ „ 494 „ to 69 feet. 36 feet to 49¿ feet. 4 9¿ feet. Over 49¿ feet. ! Equal to width of street. The minimum height of rooms in new buildings is 9 feet 9 inches, and of attics 8 feet 3 inches ; and there must be one water-closet for every two families. The dwellings of the German workmen are as a rule much superior in appearance to those occupied by the foreigners who have come into Dortmund in such great numbers in recent years. In both cases the rooms are usually very plainly, and frequently even very scantily, furnished, but in the dwellings of the foreigners there is often a painful lack of cleanliness. In both classes of dwellings there is much over-crowding, and an indifference to ventilation ; it is not uncommon to see three double-beds in a room so small tnat they leave hardly any space to move about. This undue crowding arises partly from the heavy cost of dwellings as compared with earnings, and partly from the development of the lodger system. The great number of workmen, often (in fact generally) unmarried, pouring into the town, and in search of accommodation, ­ has produced a large lodger-class, which may be divided into two groups (a) The “Kostgänger,” who get lodging and board (usually with the family). The customary charge for this accommodation is fiom 1 s. id. to Is. 1 ()d. per day, or £2 10s. per month. (5) The " Schlafgänger," who get only lodging and morning coffee. The “ lodging " here consists often only of a room shared with another"lodger, or even with two or three others, and frequently a room is shared with" members of the family. The customary charge for such accommodation ­ is £1 a month. The evil effects of such conditions—overcrowding complicated with this form of the lodger system—are evident both in regard to health and morals. The local authorities are doing their best to cope with the evil by means of regulations, but are admittedly unable to do more than mitigate it slightly. 184 DORTMUND. y m s ï? T"' J V The following notes as to typical working-class dwellings visited may serve to convey some definite idea as to the conditions in Dortmund :— (a.) A dwelling on the second floor, occupied by a workman and his young wife. There were three rooms, a kitchen 11 feet 4 inches square and two bedrooms, one 19 feet 6 inches long by 8 feet 1 inch, the other 16 feet 3 inches by 14 feet 7 inches ; the rooms were 10 feet 10 inches high. The rent was £15 a year. The second bedroom was occupied by four lodgers, sharing two beds. Two only lodged, and paid 95. a month each for sleeping room, without coffee ; the other two boarded as well, and paid I5. Id. a day each. These two were often at home all day when working on night shifts. (A) A dwelling on the first floor, in a street occupied mainly by Poles. The workman was a collier, earning about £l a week, and had three-quarters of an hours walk to the pit. He had a wife and five children at home, a son aged 23, just back from military service, a daughter of 20 (about to be married), a son of 17, another daughter of 16, and one younger daughter. The dwelling had three rooms, viz., kitchen 13 feet by 9 feet 9 inches, and two bedrooms respectively 13 feet by 9 feet 9 inches and 13 feet square, and the rent was £15 12s. a year. The parents and three daughters occupied one bedroom ; the two sons slept in the kitchen ; and the second bedroom was occupied by four lodgers. The tenants had to do all painting and cleaning themselves ; the walls were of plaster, washed blue ; the water-closet was on the landing of the staircase. This dwelling was part of a house containing eight families the staircase and walls were not clean, and the small yard at the back was untidy ; there were four water-closets (one on each landing) for the eight families. (c.) Another dwelling on the 1st floor, in a somewhat similar street, contained three rooms, viz., kitchen 10 feet 7 inches by 12 feet 2 inches, and bedrooms 13 feet by 9 feet 9 inches and 13 feet by 9, and the rent was £12 a year. The husband worked in a machine-factory and had a wife and seven children at home. The dwelling was in an eight - family house ; the house (one of three similar in all respects) was illequipped, except that there was a cellar in which each tenant had a separate part, and there was a common laundry ; there was one watercloset for each two families. (d.) A dwelling consisting of three attics, each with sloping roof : the largest room was 13 feet square and 9 feet 9 inches high. The windows were small, and were in the sloping part of the ceilings. The rent was £11 85. a year. (g.) A ground-floor dwelling in a street occupied chiefly by workmen ­ employed in the Hoesch works. There were three rooms, viz., a. large kitchen 19 feet 6 inches by 14 feet 8 inches with two windows, a small sitting-room 13 feet by 7 feet 4 inches, and a bedroom 13 feet by 11 feet 5 inches. There was no way of entering the bedroom except through the other two rooms. The water-closet was on the first landing outside ; the tenants had use of part of the cellar. The rent was £13 IO5. a year. The rents in Dortmund are usually reckoned at so much per room per year, " rooms ” including here the kitchen. An analysis of the rents of 4,113 dwellings obtained for the purpose of this report shows the predominant rents paid for dwellings of the sizes usually occupied by working-class families to be as follows :—■ Predominant Rents of Working Class Dwellings. Number of Rooms per Tenement. Predominant Weekly Rent. Two rooms Three rooms 3s. 6d. to 4s. 5s. 2d. „ 6s. DORTMUND. 185 The landlord pays the charge for water, and no rates are included in the rent. Rent is high in Dortmund. Of the 33 towns investigated, Berlin, Stuttgart, and Düsseldorf were the only towns in which tue rent level was found to be higher than here. Representing rents at Berlin by 100, the t corresponding figure for Dortmund is 68. The highest rents are found in the north-eastern and north-western parts of the town, and the lowest in the Hansch and harbour districts. There are some other factors of importance in regard to housing at Dortmund which must be noticed. The first of these is the work of the Savings and Building Society, which at the end of 1905 had 948 dwellings with a population of 4,840 persons, and is rapidly extending its operations. The society has received loans from the Central (Prussian) Government on condition of taking into its dwellings a number of postal employees (letter carriers, &c.), and railway servants. Persons desirous of obtaining accommodation ­ in these dwellings must be shareholders in the society, which is thus of the nature of a co-operative undertaking. In the erection of the houses considerable attention has been paid to architectural appearance, and care has been taken to avoid a barrack-like uniformity. The rooms are large and well-equipped, and the use of forecourts round which the buildings are ranged on three sides gives them a roomy and attractive appearance. The rents range from £6 IO5. to £7 14s. per annum for dwellings of two rooms, from £8 155. to £11 II5. for dwellings of three rooms, and from £10 8s. to £13 135. for dwellings of four rooms. The rents in the newer blocks are distinctly higher than in those erected earlier, though they are still considerably less than the normal rents in the town. In Dortmund itself there is some housing by employers, but not on any very large scale. Reference has already been made to the dwellings erected by the two largest undertakings. The dwellings built by the Hoesch works are chiefly for foremen and small officials, but the colony of the " Union ” works is really for workmen. It accommodates about 260 families, usually in two-family houses built in blocks of three together. There are small gardens in front of the houses, and a large drying ground for the whole colony. The dwellings are well built and equipped, and the rooms large. For three large rooms the rent is £7 IO5. a year (2s. 11c?. per week) ; for three small rooms £4 IO5. to £5 85. (I5. 9d. to 2s. Id. per week) if on the ground floor, and £4 45. (I5. Id. per week) if above (the houses are of only two floors). In a few cases the whole of a six-roomed house can be obtained for from £12 to £14 (45. Id. , to 5s. od. per week). Many of the coal-mines build houses for their employees, and there are a number of such miners’ colonies close to Dortmund. A fairly typical example of the best kind is the colony of the “ Minister Stein ” colony, with about 140 houses, well-built and well-grouped, with small gardens, and with a large and admirably-planned central building containing a library and readingrooms, baths for men and women, laundry, &c. The houses accommodate about 550 families ; the majority of the houses are for four families, but there are some for six and others for only two. The usual rent is os. per room pei month. The outward appearance of the houses is often better than the inside, and it is noteworthy that the tenants are permitted to take lodgeis. The only direct taxes which fall on the working classes are the income tax and the church tax. The income tax is a double one, vizState and Municipal. The State tax commences with incomes of over £45 a year, and does not (as in England) vary from year to year, but is a fixed amount on a graduated scale. The tax levied by the town for its own purposes is an addition of so much per cent, to the State tax, the rate at Dortmund being 200 per cent It should be noted, however, that every person with less than €150 income is allowed to deduct from his income for taxation purposes £2 IO5. for every child up to 14 years of age. But incomes of less than £4o do not escape local taxation ; if the local authority so chooses, it may assess them on the following basis :-Incomes up to £21, | per cent., 2.,., up to a maximum rate of 120 marks (I5. 2'4d.); incomes from £21 to £00 2'4I) marks (2& 4-8(7.) - incomes from £33 to £45, 4'00 marks (45.). The full local percentage may be levied on each of these three assessment bases. 2 A 29088 <186 DORTMUND. Dortmund makes use of its power in regard to the two upper grades ; and taxed in 1904 2,113 persons with incomes between £21 and £33, and 6,355 persons with incomes from £33 to £45. The effect of this double taxation of incomes is that the following taxes fall upon small incomes in Dortmund : — lucerne. State Income Tax. £21 £33 £45 £52 10s. £60 £67 10s. £75 £82 10s. £90 £105 £120 £135 to £33 » £45 „ £52 10s » £60 „ £67 10s „ £75 » £82 10s ,, £90 „ £105 » £120 » £135 „ £150 £ s. d. 0 6 0 0 9 0 0 12 0 0 16 0 1 0 6 0 11 0 16 0 2 0 12 0 Municipal Income Tax at 200 per cent. £ s. d. 0 4 9& 0 8 0 0 12 0 0 18 0 14 0 12 0 2 0 12 0 2 0 3 12 0 4 4 0 5 4 0 Total. £ s. d. 0 4 9& 0 8 0 0 18 0 17 0 16 0 8 0 3 0 18 0 13 0 8 0 6 0 16 0 The taxes levied for the upkeep of the churches, salaries of clergy, &c. are also percentage additions to the State income tax. Every head of a family or person living alone is bound to contribute to one or other of the religious “communes,” unless by an express act he has announced his withdrawal therefrom, this express act being a notification to the municipal authorities ; little use is made of the latter right. These church taxes are for the Evangelicals 25 to 40 per cent., the Roman Catholics 50. to 60 per cent, (in each case according to parishes), the Old Catholics 55 per cent., and the Jews 60 per cent. According to the foregoing scale a Dortmund workman, with no children, earning £80 a year pays £l Is. in State taxes, £2 2a. in local taxes, and if an Evangelical as much perhaps as 8a. 5d. in church taxes, if a Roman Catholic as much as 12s. 76?., making on an average £3 13s. 6c?. in the aggregate, equal to 4*5 per cent, of his income. Retail Prices. Groceries and other Commodities. In addition to the co-operative stores carried on for the benefit of the workmen employed at the “ Union ” works, there is in the town a large Co-operative Society of the usual working-class type. It had in the year 1905-6 over 3,000 members (more than half of them being miners), seven shops, and a turn-over of £22,180, in addition to £10,400 of business done with contractors in goods not sold in the stores. There is also a co-operative bakery which had 28 partners at the close of 1906, and had a turn-over during that year or £5,826. Its trade is a cash trade, and the society complains that the credit system encouraged by the private bakers hinders rapid progress. The ordinary meals of the better class of workmen are :— (1) Early breakfast—coffee and rolls ; (2) Breakfast (in the forenoon interval)—coffee (or beer), rolls, and perhaps sausage ; (3) Dinner—potatoes, vegetables, and meat ; (4) Afternoon meal—coffee (less frequently beer), and bread-and-butter sandwich ; and (5) Supper—some combination of sausage or bacon, cheese, vegetables, and potatoes. The less well-to-do workmen get fresh meat two or three times a week. Potatoes in various forms are a standard dish, and amongst the poorer classes constitute often the chief part of the mid-day meal. The bread eaten by the working classes is chiefly black and white, with a certain amount of grey bread. There is also a special kind of bread known as DORTMUND. 187 i “ Semmel,” which is a white bread with currants, and is said to be baked especially for Sundays. The usual price of black all-rye bread in October, 1905/ was 4d. to od. for 4 lb., of grey bread 4Jd. to 5Jd., and of white (wheat) bread 5\d. to l\d. for the same weight. The varieties of cheese mostly eaten ate Limburg, costing 5d. to 5Jd. per lb., Dutch costing 8fd., Swiss costing 11 d./ and Tilsit costing 9^¡d. Of 16,943 lb. of cheese sold in 1905-6 by the Co-operative Society named above 8,400 lb. were of Limburg and 5,120 lb. were Dutch. The coffee generally bought costs lid. per lb., but cheap substitutes are mixed with it to a large extent. Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and September, 1907. Commodity. Predominant Price. October, 1905. September, 1907. Coffee Sugar :— Loaf ... ... White granulated Bacon :— ~Fat ... Streaky Eggs, Country. Cheese :— Dutch Limburg Swiss... Tilsit... Butter ... Margarine Potatoes Flour :— Wheaten Rye ... Bread :— White Black Grey ... Milk ... Coal Paraffin... per lb. per Is. per lb. per 7 lb.* per 1 lb. per quart per cwt. per gallon lid. 2&d. 2\d., 2\d. 8|d. to 9§d. ‘ ‘ „ lid. 12 9§d 8§d. 5d. to 51d. lid.“ 9¿d. Is. l|d. 8|d. 2\d. to 2fd. 9\d, „ lOfd. lOd. 5fd. to 7fd. 4d. „ 5d. , ,, 5^d. 2|d. — 9|d. to lid. 9fd. „ 9Jd. #d: lid. 2 id. 2|d. 8§d. 8|d. to 9|d. 8,, 9 8# 5^d. lid. to Is. 9\d. Is. lfd. to Is. 2|d. 8#d. 2\d to 2|d. 11 \d. to Is. O^d. Is. Ofd. 71d. 4fd. to 5¿d. 6d. „ 7d. 2|d. 9#d. to Is. O^d. * - lid. * Sold in quantities of 110 lb. Mmf. '/ ï The following is a record of the animals killed at the municipal slaughterhouse ­ during the years 1904 and 1905 : — 1904. Cattle ... Pigs ... Calves... Sheep ... Horses 14,708 51,151 12,745 3,654 805 1905. 16,436 40,888 13,176 4,553 916 The working classes eat for the most part beef, pork, and bacon, with dusage of which these kinds of meat are the principal ingredients. Returns >f weekly expenditure on meat made to the Department in 1907 by’ 273 households, ­ representing 1,341 persons, showed a consumption of about l^ lb. per head, iqual to 92# lb. per annum. Of this 39 per cent, was pork and bacon, 28 per :ent. beef and 25 per cent, sausage ; mutton was only a little over 1 per cent. Chis consumption compares with 78'92 lb. per head per annum shown by imilar working-class returns in the neighbouring colliery town of Bochum and *3'29 lb. shown in Essen. 29088 2 A 2 188 DORTMUND. The consumption of horseflesh has increased of late. This is undoubtedly due to the enhanced prices of other meat and not to the growth of poverty. To the flesh of horses in good condition there appears to be no scientific objection ; its nutritive and digestive qualities alike are said to be good, and the dislike which it inspires in some places seems to be due to its appearance and taste. But the great defect in Germany is that worn-out horses are slaughtered, without being given two or three weeks’ grazing, which would put them into good condition. There is, as already indicated, a large consumption of sausage. The advance in the price of fresh meat made sausage dearer also, and in 1906 the following were the prices per lb. of the more popular kinds :—Blood sausage (“ black puddings ”), 6Jd ; liver sausage, inferior, 5Jd. ; liver sausage, better quality, 8J-<i. ; “Mett” sausage, 8%d.\ ham sausage, Is. 3Jd. ; while smoked ham cost Is. Id. Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and September, 1907. Description of Cut. Shin Beef :— Rib ... ... Silverside { with bone ( without bone Steak Flank Mutton :— Leg ... ... Shoulder Breast Neck Chops Veal :— Hindquarter Shoulder j withbone Loin Shin Pork :— Leg Foreloin Belly Spare-rib Chops without bon Predominant Price per lb. October, 1905. 71d. to 8fd. 81d. 7|d. to 8¿d. 9fd. „ Is. 9fd. „ lid. 7^d. 8|d. to 8|d. 8\d. ,, 93-d. 8$d. 7§d. 8|d. 8#d. 8jd. Is. id. 8fd. 8±d. 8#d. 8# 9fd. 9§d. 9|d. Is. 3\d. lOfd. 8#d. 8fd. „ 9|d. 8|d. „ 9|d. 7fd. „ 8|d. 8fd. ,, 9^d. lid. 8^d, September, 1907. 7|d. to 8|d. 8^d. 7 fd. to 8|d. 9|d. „ Is. 9|d. „ Is. 7%d. 8Jd. to 8|d. 8|d. „ 9\d. 8\d. „ 8|d. 7|d. „ 8|d. iL 8 \d. 9# 9§d. 9\d. to 9|d, Is. Id. „ Is. 3\d. 8|d. 8¿d. 9#d. 8|d. to 9|d. 9^d. 8¿d. 8|d. to 9|d. 9# Prices at Dortmund are low. Taking prices at Berlin as 100, the index number for the price of meat at Dortmund is 105, for other food 98, and for coal 70, the general figure for all commodities being 96. Of the 33 towns included in this enquiry, Breslau and Königshütte alone showed a lower prices level. The index number for rent and prices combined is 90. 189 DRESDEN. Dresden, the capital of the Kingdom of Saxony, lies on both sides of the Elbe, 116 miles south-east of Berlin. It is chiefly famous for its great art collections, and in order to be convinced that the city is not only a pleasure resort but also an important manufacturing centre, it is necessary to travel round the suburbs, more especially those known as the Friedrichstadt, Leipziger Vorstadt, Pieschen, Cotta, Löbtau, Mickten, Plauen, and Uebigau, all of which may be said to be working-class districts, in so far as that term can properly be applied to any part of a town in which the top story of almost any house is likely to be occupied by a working-class family. Even in the industrial suburbs, however, where several large factories are often to be found within a radius of 100 yards from a given spot, their position or construction is always such as to produce as little unsightliness as possible in the streets which, here as well as in the more central part of the town, are frequently bordered with trees. Except in the centre of what is called the " Old Town,” where the conditions ­ as to light and air are those of three centuries ago, the streets are laid out on lines which suggest a desire to make the surroundings as un-townlike as possible. With this object trees and shrubs have been planted on every available open space and along the sides and down the centre of many of the main thoroughfares. The Elbe, which divides the " Old Town ” from the “ New Town,” is used to the best advantage to add to the attractiveness of the city with its promenades, bathing establishments, garden restaurants, gondolas and decorated passenger steamers. A curious contrast with the general air of prosperity noticeable in the streets and shops, as well as in the adult population, is to be found in the large number of children of the poorer classes who, when the weather permits, go unshod. The fact would seem, however, to be traceable less to poverty than to local custom and a habit of economy, for unshod children are not to be met with on Sundays or holidays. The following Table shows the population of Dresden at the census of 1871 and at each subsequent census :— Year. Population. Increase. 1871 1875 1880 1885 1890 1895 1900 1905 177,040 197,295 220,818 246,088 276,522 336,440 396,146 516,996 20,255 23,523 25,270 30,434 59,918 59,706 120,850 Increase per cent. 114 119 114 124 217 17 7 30 5 It will be seen that in 1905 the population was nearly three times as great as in 1871 Part of the increase in population shown in the above table is due to the incorporation within the municipal area of outlying parishes, at various dates. Since April, 1901, for instance, 13 suburban parishes, with a total of 90,000 inhabitants, have been incorporated. Migration does not play an important part in the growth of the population, the average annual increase clue to the excess of immigrants over emigrant* during thl If) years 1896-1905 being only 4'6 per 1,000, as compared with 13 9 per 1,000 due to natural increase. Both the birth-rate and death-rate have fallen considerably during the last 15 years, the latter to a much greater extent than the former. Thus the mean of the rates for the period 1901-5 shows a decrease compared with the correspending mean for 1891-5 of 4 3 per cent, m the case of the births, and 190 DRESDEN“. 15*0 per cent, in the case of the deaths. The corresponding fall in the infant mortality-rate is 10*4 per cent. Year. Birth-rate per 1,000 of mean Population. Death-rate per 1,000 of mean Population. 1901.. . 1902.. . 1903.. . 1904.. . 1905.. . 32 6 313 314 303 28 2 18-0 17-0 17*4 17-7 17-7 Infantile Mortality per 1,000 Births. 190 165 192 192 211 There are few German cities in which municipal enterprise covers a wider field than in Dresden, where the Town Corporation affords direct employment to a larger number of workpeople than any single private employer. According to a recent report issued by the Municipal Statistical Office, there were, on 1st February, 1906, 3,505 " workpeople ” in the direct employ of the municipality. The term “ workpeople ” is here used in a limited, technical sense, with the result that only 517 of a total of 2,606 employees, who were taken over by the local authority when the electrical tramways were municipalized in 1905, are included in the above total ; the bulk of the tramway servants being omitted as being either above or below the rank of “ workpeople,” that is to say, they were either Beamten (officials) or Hilfsarbeiter ­ (not fully competent workpeople). The officials, who number some 1,450, include the tramway drivers and conductors. When the whole body of tramway servants are included the number of workpeople in the employment of the Dresden municipality amounts to some 5,600, of whom 77 are women. The distribution of the male workpeople among the various branches of municipal service was as follows on 1st February, 1906 :— Branch of Service. Electrical tramways Road and sewer construction and repair Gas works Street cleaning Electrical power generation and distribution Water works Parks and gardens Other branches of municipal service Total Number of Workpeople. 2,600 1,124 770 537 194 111 104 115 5,555 Occupations, Wages, and Hours of Labour. In Dresden, as in other towns in the Kingdom of Saxony, an enumeration takes place every year of the workpeople employed in the various branches of manufacturing industry, in. so far as the work is carried on in establishments subject to inspection under the Factory and Workshop Laws. Of the figures obtained in this way the latest available are those relating to the year 1904 These show that 18,000, or about 28 per cent, of all the workpeople belonging to establishments of the kind enumerated, were employed in the manufacture of metal goods, machines, and mechanical appliances. Some of the principal establishments in this group are those engaged in making kitchen fittings and photographic apparatus. The next most important group is that of the food, etc. preparation trades with 14,000 workpeople, including 5,600 cigarette and cigar makers, 3,000 chocolate and sweetmeat makers, and 1,600 brewery workers. The manufacture of various articles of wood and straw gave employment to 5,600 workpeople ; 4,400 were employed in the manufacture of porcelain pottery and cement wares (among the last-named more especially cement drain pipes), while 3,100 were employed in the manufacture of paper goods. In the DRESDEN. 191 case of two very important groups of trades—clothing and building—work is for the most part carried on under conditions which exclude these trades from the factory inspectors’ yearly enumerations, so that only a rough estimate can be formed of their relative importance from the data obtained on the occasion of the general industrial census of 14th June, 1895. According to that census there were in Dresden 6,806 persons employed in garment making, 3,600 in boot and shoemaking, and 16,000 in the building trades, and these numbers would have been considerably greater if they had included the establishments situated in the out-lying parishes which have since been brought within the municipal area of Dresden. General agreements between organisations of employers on the one hand and of workpeople on the other, fixing conditions of labour, exist for practically the whole of the building trades, as well as for the printing and brewing trades, and for coppersmiths and carters. From copies of these agreements it has been possible to compute the predominant rates of wages for competent workmen in the trades concerned, since provision is in all cases made for the rate of wages to be paid per hour, day, or week, as well as for the number of hours constituting ­ the working week. In the other branches of private industry carried on in Dresden, owing to the opposition of the employers, no advance whatever has yet been made towards the regulation of working conditions by collective agreements. In the case of these trades, therefore, the data regarding wages have had to be obtained from the pay-sheets of the principal industrial establishments, ­ and as the majority of the operatives in these establishments are paid on the piece-work system, the weekly rate represents as a rule the earnings for a full week without working overtime. It is also to be noted that in some of the most important of the local industries—more especially the cigarette, chocolate, sweet, condensed milk, and photographic paper industries—the bulk of the operatives are women and girls, so that the wages given below, being those of adult males only, cannot be regarded as typical for the trades in question. Wages and Hours of Labour in the Principal Occupations, October, 1905. Weekly Wages. Building Trades* :— Bricklayers and Masons Hod Carriers Carpenters Joiners ... Stone-cutters Stucco-workers Paperhangers Plumbers Painters ... Labourers (other than Hod Carriers) 29s. 7d. 32s. Qd. 31s. 2d. 24s. 5d. 27s. to 28s. 27s. 6d. 23s. 2d. Metal and Engineering Trades :— Machine Construction :— Moulders Fitters ... ••• • «• Turners ... Planers ... Pattern-makers... Labourers Manufacture of Kitchen Fittings : Tinsmiths Fitters ... Turners ... Metal Stampers Varnishers Japanners Labourers Manufacture of Photographic Apparatus Joiners ... Case-makers Unskilled workpeople Coppersmiths 30s. to 35s. 25s. „ 27s. 27s. „ 30s. 23s. 28s. 27s. 31s. 30s. 30s. 27s. 26s. 18s. 24s. Weekly Hours of Labour. 58 50 52 52 58 55 58 58-60 58-60 58-60 58-60 58 58 58 58 58 52 52 52 60 * The wages and hours oí labour stated for the building trades are for a full week in summer. 192 DRESDEN. Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours of Labour. Clothing Trades :— Boot and Shoe Manufacture :— Lasters ... ... ... ... Sole and Insole Workers Clickers ... ... ... ... Finishers Pressmen Men engaged on handsewn work Printing, Paper and Allied Trades :— Printing :— Hand Compositors, Machine Minders and Pressmen. Machine Compositors, jobbing work „ „ newspaper work Manufacture of Sensitized Paper for Photographic ­ Purposes. Manufacture of Cardboard Goods :— Fitters ... ... ... ... ... ... Bookbinders Trained Bookbinders employed in making imitation Leather Handbags. Food, Drink and Tobacco Trades :— Chocolate and Sweetstuff Industry :— Caramel Boilers Makers of Chocolate Goods ... „ Sugar Sweetstuffs „ Gingerbread Packers ... ... ... ... ... ... Warehouse and Yard Labourers Cigarette Making ;— Cigarette Machinemen Cigarette tube Machinemen ... Tobacco-cutters... ... ... ... ... Knife-grinders ... Day Labourers (including Packers) Bookbinders (for making cardboard boxes) and Cardboard Cutters. Brewing* :— Brewers ... ... ... ... ... ... Coopers ... ... ... ... ... ... Draymen Labourers Bread-baking (steam) and Corn-milling :— Bakers ... ... ... ... ... ... Workmen employed in grain lofts Earthenware and Cementivare Industries :— Manufacture of Dresden China :— Skilled men in the firing house (Firemen) Throwers Casters ... ... ... ... ... Painters ... Printers ... Muffle-furnacemen Hollow-ware Makers ... „ Pressers Sorters ... ... ... ... ... Packers ... Day Labourers ... Warehousemen 34s. 33s. 30s. 28s. 24s. 24s. 26s. 5d. 34s. 4c?. 33s. Id. 22s. 25s. 26s. 21s. 49s. 29s. 6é?. 33s. 9c?. 32s. 24s. 27s. 25s. 27s. 24s. 23s. 20s. 32s. 34s. 37s. 26s. 5c?. 26s. to 28s. 34s. 42s. 35s. 32s. 28s. 27s. 28s. 22s. to 24s. 19s. 57 57 57 57 57 57 54 54 48 58 59 59 59 0±7> 6l| 66 a 6lf 57 57 57 57 57 57 60 60 60 60-78 60 60 54 54 54 60 60 60 60 * The wages given include the estimated value of free beer and allowances in respect of rent. The wages index numbers for Dresden, on the basis of wages in Berlin being considered 100, are for the building trades, 83 for skilled men and 90 for labourers ; for the engineering trades, 83 for skilled men and 106 for labourers ; and for the printing trades, 94. The following remarks may be made as to the above Table :— Building Trades.—For bricklayers and masons, carpenters, joiners and labourers, the agreement now in force (since 1st April, 1905) remains valid DRESDEN. 193 until 31st March, 1908. Under that agreement the hourly rate for bricklayers and masons, carpenters and joiners was fixed at 6c?., to be increased from 1st April, 1906, to 6‘6c?., and from 1st April, 1907, to 7c?., while for labourers (other than hod carriers) the rates agreed to were 4'8c?., rising to o 3c?. and o'6c?. The length of the working day in winter was left to individual arrangement. For the summer season (1st April to 30th September) the hours, exclusive of intervals, were fixed as follows :—In 1905,10 per day, but 8 only on Saturdays ; in 1906, 9^ with 7\ on Saturdays ; and in 1907, 9 hours with 7 on Saturdays. The earnings for a full week under this agreement were, therefore, up till 1st October, 1905, 295. for bricklayers, masons, carpenters and joiners, and 23s. 2c?. for labourers other than hod carriers, while the present rates are 305. 2c?. and 245. 5c?. respectively. Under this agreement hod carriers are paid the same rate per hour as bricklayers, masons, carpenters and joiners, the explanation given for this curious fact being that the work of carrying bricks and mortar is exceedingly arduous and requires more than the average physical powers. Amongst the other principal groups of workpeople employed in the building trades the weekly wages of skilled men range from 24& 5c?. for paperhangers (who, it should be remarked, are also upholsterers and layers of linoleum, etc.) to 325. 6c?. for stone-cutters. The standard weekly hours of labour are 55 for painters, 52 for stucco-workers, paperhangers and marble-cutters, and 50 for stone-cutters. For one important group of workpeople usually classed with the building trades in British statistics, viz., plumbers, no strict comparison can he made. In Dresden, and indeed in Germany generally, the work of fitting and repairing gas and water pipes is done either by the Schlosser or the Klempner, both of them craftsmen for whom we have no exact equivalents in the United Kingdom. The Schlosser's craft, originally confined to the making of locks, has in course of time been extended so as to comprise a great variety of other smith’s work, requiring the use of the vice and file, as well as certain branches of the work undertaken only by plumbers in the United Kingdom. The craft of the Klempner (called a Spengler in South Germany) who was originally a tinsmith only, has undergone a somewhat similar evolution, and now comprises plumbing as well as the making and repairing of a variety of household requisites (such as lamps, chandeliers, etc.) of bronze, brass and iron. Ko general wages agreements are in force for the men belonging to either of these crafts, but returns furnished by large manufacturers who employ many Schlosser and Klempner, show that the majority earn from 27s> to 28s. in a full week without overtime. Printing, Paper, and Allied Trades.—The wages shown in the Table are those paid under the general agreement for the printing trades of Germany, to which reference has been made in the reports on other towns. In the manufacture of sensitized paper for photographic purposes the bulk of the operatives are women and girls. Such men as are employed in this industry are unskilled. In cardboard goods manufacture the two principal groups of skilled male operatives are fully qualified Schlosser (see u fitters in fable) and bookbinders respectively. The Schlosser's work in this industry consists in making the wire rivets and fastenings by which the goods are held together. Food, Drink, and Tobacco Trades.—Among the trades falling within this group the tobacco, cigarette, chocolate and sweetstuff industiies are of great local importance, but are carried on almost entirely with female labour. In cigarette and tobacco factories the male staff is made up of fitter s and mechanics, bookbinders and cardboard cutters, a few cigarette machinemen and cigarette-tube machinemen, knife-grinders, tobacco-cutters, and day labourers (including packers). In the chocolate and sweetstuff industry the male operatives- who here again are far outnumbered by the female—consist of makers of chocolate goods, makers of sweets composed entirely or mainly of sugar, caramel boilers, the gingerbread makers, the packers, the warehousemen and yardmen, and the Uread-bakino- and cornmilling are engaged in on a large scale by certain local firms who supply the greater part of the demand for these products in Dresden. Journeymen millers, a class of men who rank as " skilled, 2 B 29088 194 DRESDEN. inasmuch as they have served an apprenticeship, earn little more than many day labourers employed by the same firm ; thus, one of the principal steam bakeries had 10 millers who received 25s. for 60 hours’ labour, and 10 day labourers whose wages for an identical week were 21s. 4d. The preparation of condensed milk and other dairy produce is also carried on in Dresden on a large scale, and affords employment to many women and girls, but only to a few male workpeople. Earthenware and Cement ware Industries.—The manufacture of the renowned porcelain ware known as " Dresden China,” though carried on not in Dresden itself, but in Meissen, some 14 miles distant, may nevertheless be said to be indirectly a source of employment to workpeople in Dresden where it has stimulated the manufacture of high-class earthenware goods. Municipal Workmen. —Reference has already been made to the importance of the Dresden Municipality as an employer of labour. The question of the wages paid to such workmen has recently occupied the attention of the Municipal Council, and has led to the publication of a report on the subject by the City Statistical Office. The report deals with 3,505 out of a total of about 5,500 workpeople, the bulk of the tramway servants, who were taken over in the course of 1905 when the tramways were municipalized, being omitted. Of the 3,505 workpeople covered by the report 2,714, or 77 per cent, were unskilled, and 791, or 23 per cent, skilled. The following are the rates of wages of the unskilled male labourers in a lull week of 60 hours in the principal branches of municipal service on February 1st, 1906 :— Branch of Service. Rate of Wages per week (Unskilled Labourers). Tramways ... Road and sewer construction and repair Gasworks :— Men at furnaces Other workmen Street cleaning ... Electrical power generation and distribution Waterworks Parks and gardens d. 21 3 21 7 to 23 27 21 0 20 21 21 20 11 From the above it will be seen that the most highly paid of the unskilled labourers employed by the municipality are the furnacemen in the gas works, whose predominant wages are 27s. Id. per week, and that if this special body of men be left out of consideration, the wages of unskilled labour range from say 20s. to 22s. 6d. in the 60 hours constituting the regular working week. It should be added that practically the whole of the unskilled labourers are on time-wage. The relatively small number of skilled workmen employed by the municipality is mainly made up of fitters (Schlosser), smiths, masons and carpenters working on time-wages. For fitters and smiths the predominant weekly rates of wages range from 23s. 2d. in the electrical, to 25s. lOd. in the road and sewer making service. For masons and bricklayers the predominant rates range from 26s. Ilf/, in the former to 30s. in the latter, and for carpenters, from 24s. in the gas and waterworks to 30s. in the road and sewer making service. Housing and Rents. As regards the distribution of its working-class population, Dresden resembles Düsseldorf in so far as the whole of the factories and the greater part of the people who work in them are to be found on the outskirts of the town. Dresden, however, has none of the characteristics associated with an industrial town, and there is a more even distribution of the different social strata all over the urban area than one usually finds in such a town. The central and older part of Dresden is indeed declining steadily in populousness owing to migration to the suburbs and the conversion of dwellings into offices, but the process of DRESDEN. 195 decentralization is slow and the bulk of the upper storeys of the houses within a radius of a quarter of a mile of the Altmarkt (the very centre of the original Dresden) are still let for residential purposes, the occupiers of the topmost floors being almost invariably workpeople. In describing working-class dwellings in Dresden, therefore, it seems necessary to distinguish those in the centre from those at the circumference of the town, for most of the former are at least two. and many of them three centuries old, while few of the latter were standing three decades ago. Many of the side streets in this part of Dresden are too narrow to admit two horse-vehicles abreast. As regards internal construction the various houses in this quarter differ somewhat in detail, but so far as the provision of light and air is concerned, the principle is practically the same throughout. The tall narrow-fronted houses in one street stand back-to-back with similar houses facing another street. Only the rooms with windows looking into either of these streets can be said to be properly lighted, for the other rooms depend for light and air on windows looking into a court of such meagre dimensions as to be termed a “ shaft ” (light-shaft) and, as the houses have a depth of about 60 feet, all of them have rooms at the back which are windowless and only indirectly lighted from the next room, which is itself imperfectly lighted through a window in the “ shaft.” A somewhat detailed description of one of these houses seems necessary in order to render it possible to realise the nature of the dwelling accommodation available for working-class families in the older part of the town. A house in the Schreibergasse may be taken as a fair sample. Here the ground and part of the first floor are occupied by a shop and offices belonging to a cheese and butter business. The front of the house is divided from the back by the “shaft” or well. On the first floor there are two tenements, one at the back and one in front. The back tenement is reached through a passage about 18 feet in length by 5 feet in width lighted by three windows from the well or shaft. In this passage are two w.c.’s and also a metal trough and water tap. The tenement consists of four rooms and is occupied by a workman’s family (husband, wife and child), one room being let furnished to a single man, also a workman. The rent of. the four rooms is £12 per annum, or 4s. Id. per week. Two of the three rooms available for the workman and his wife and child have no light but such as enters from the general living room, which has two windows looking into the shaft. This is a good-sized room, measuring 17^ feet by 14 feet, and serves also as the sleeping room for the husband and wife. In the adjoining room the child sleeps. This is what is called an “ alcove,” a term locally applied to any room which derives its only light from some other room. The “ alcove measures 17£ by 8 feet. All three rooms have a height of ten feet. The lodger’s room is entered from the landing ; it has two windows looking into the shaft, and is slightly irregular in shape, being 8 feet 4 inches in wiath. at one end and 6 feet 8 inches at the other. The length is 15 feet and the height 10 feet 8 inches. In the front part of the house, on the same floor, only three of the five rooms are used for dwelling purposes, the other two foiming P ai t ° the business premises below, from which they are accessible by a separate staircase. Of the three rooms forming the tenement, one is practically a corridor (but is capable of being used for sleeping purposes), the others being akitchen and a bed-sitting room respectively. Both kitchen and corridor are dark, as they have no windows communicating with the open air ; the former lias á length of 15 Get, a width of 5 feet, and is 10^ feet high. The bed-sitting room, which lias two windows looking into the &Ar^6^u^ nieasures 16 feet by 10 feet and is the same height as the kitchen 10^ feet The rent oi this dwelling, which is occupied by an unmarried workman, is £lo per annum or 9d. per week, so that in the front part of the house what is practically a two-roomed dwelling fetches la. 2d. per week more than can be got for a four-roomed dwelling at the back. It should be stated that in addition to the accommodation just described, eacli tenant has a portion ot the cellamge below the house set apart for his own use, arid lias the right to malee use of the loft on stated days for drying laundry. Passing to the second floor of this house we find again a back tenement and a front tenement. The former is occupied by a working-class family and is practically a repetition of the corresponding dwelling on the floor immediately 29088 2 B “ 196 DRESDEN. below. The kitchen, like the “ alcove,” is only indirectly lighted from the living room, but the light in all the rooms is somewhat better, especially in the “ alcove,” which, besides the door, has two windows communicating with the living room. This seems to be the explanation of the fact that the rent is higher (£15, or 5s. 9c/. per week) than that charged for the corresponding tenement below (£12, or 4s. 7d. per week), although the rooms in the dearer tenement are less lofty. The front dwelling on this floor has hitherto been occupied by a middle-class family, and need not, therefore, be described in detail. It may be observed, however, that two of the four rooms (one being the kitchen) are only dimly lighted, owing to the absence of windows communicating ­ with the open air, and that the rent is £21 5s. per annum, or say 8s. per week. On this floor, the passage connecting the front with the back tenement has only one water-closet, which, it may be added, adjoins a larder. On the next, or third floor, is a tenement of a kind much sought after by workpeople in the inner town because of the number of rooms into which it is divided and the opportunities which it therefore affords for taking lodgers. It consists of six rooms and a separate corridor. The tenants, a childless workingclass couple, rent it for £21 5s. a year, or 8s. 2d. per week, and earn from £6 to £7 10s. a year by letting bedrooms, usually to single workmen. All the rooms are low (7 feet from floor to ceiling). The chief tenant and his wife occupy three rooms themselves, viz., a living room, an adjoining bedroom, and the kitchen. The living room has two windows and the adjoining bedroom one window looking into the street. The dimensions of the former room are 15 feet 11 inches by 11 feet 5 inches, and those of the latter 15 feet 11 inches by 6 feet 2 inches. The kitchen, which measures 9 feet 9 inches by 7 feet 6 inches, is dark, being only indirectly lighted from the corridor. Of the three rooms available for lodgers, one has a window looking into the street. This room, measuring 16 feet in length, is 7 feet wide at one end and 6 feet at the other. The two other lodgers’ rooms are dark. One of them measures 7 feet 6 inches by 4 feet 3 inches, and, having no window whatever, is entirely without light when the door is closed ; the other is reached through the kitchen and gets such light as it has through a couple of windows looking on to the general landing, which in its turn is imperfectly lighted from the well. This room is 8^ feet square. The back tenement on this floor is practically a repetition of the corresponding tenement on the floor below except that the ceilings are lower (7 feet 8 inches). The four rooms of which it consists are occupied by a workman and his family at a rent of £12 10s. per annum, or 4s. 10d. per week. Two of the rooms are practically without light, the other two being lighted by windows looking into the well. On the top floor of this house the front tenement, like the corresponding one on the floor beneath, although one of the kind much sought after by workpeople desirous of letting rooms to lodgers, was unoccupied at the date of this Enquiry. It consists of five rooms with a corridor, part of which also serves as the kitchen. This tenement was rented by its last occupiers for £17 10s. a year, or 6s. 9d. per week, and the same occupier is stated to have made £ll 10s. a year by letting off bedrooms. The ceilings are very low (6 feet 4 inches), and in each of the three rooms with windows looking into the street the outer wall slopes with the roof. Each of these three rooms has a length of 15 feet (exclusive of the floor space over which the wall slopes). The largest of them, which is the living room, has a width of 10 feet, while the other two, which are bedrooms, measure 8 feet and 6 feet across respectively. The two remaining rooms in this tenement are very small and dark, having no windows communicating with the open air. One of them measures &}¿ feet by 7 ¡¿ feet and the other 8¿ feet by 8 feet. The back tenement on this floor consists of three rooms occupied by a workman, his wife and two children, at a rent of £9 per year (3a. 6d. per week). The dwelling is entered through the kitchen, a long, narrow room (I8g feet by 5 feet) in which the ceiling is only 6 feet 4 inches from the floor, and in which the only light is that obtained through the doorway leading into the adjoining living room. The latter is fairly well lighted by two windows looking into the court-yard, is 18 feet 6 inches long and 10 feet wide, but only 6 feet high. The bedroom is entered and receives its only light through the door leading from the living room. It is 18J feet long, 7 b feet DRESDEN. 197 wide, and 6 feet 4 inches high. This is probably one of the most inferior types of three-roomed tenements in Dresden. From the foregoing it will be seen that there is a certain amount of variation in the rents charged for dwellings consisting of the same number of rooms in one and the same house. Thus we find three rooms on the first floor front costing 5s. 9d. a week, and three rooms at the back on the fourth floor costing only 3s. 6d. The former tenement, however, has one room containing two windows looking into the street and is more conveniently situated on the first floor. The latter is less easily accessible and none of its rooms are directly lighted from the street. Similarly, and for like reasons, we find four-roomed tenements varying from 4s. Id. (1st floor back) to 8s. 0d. (2nd floor front). These somewhat wide limits of variation prepare one for what is to be expected when the inquiry is extended to a larger number of examples. The rents of most of the three-roomed tenements in the old town fall within the range of 2s. 4d. and 5s. 9d., and most of the four-roomed tenements within the range of 3s. 6d. and 6s. 11 d. per week. The difference in the average weekly rent as between the three-roomed and the four-roomed tenements is only 7d. Among the many causes for variation in the rents payable for the same amount of house room, the facilities for heating in winter occupy a prominent place. For in Dresden, and throughout Saxony generally, the stove is a fixture and not (as in the Rhineland, for instance) the property of the tenant. Of two three-roomed dwellings, one having a stove in every room and the other with stoves in two of the rooms only, the former will always fetch the higher rent, other things being equal. The comparatively slight difference in the rents payable for working-class tenements of three rooms and four rooms respectively is in great measure due to the importance attached to a high in-door temperature in the winter. The majority of the industrial working classes in Dresden live in tenements of three rooms, and where a working-class dwelling has a fourth room, the latter is almost invariably stoveless and fetches but little, if any, extra rent. The dwelling may even fetch less rent than one of three rooms all provided with heating facilities. Thus, for 15 three-roomed tenements situated in the Zahngasse, Töpferstrasse and Webergasse (all narrow streets in Old Dresden), and having stoves in every room, the average rent was found to be 5s. 2d. per week, while for 25 four-roomed tenements in the same streets, but each with a stoveless room, the average rent worked out at 4s. 10c/. per week. The same thing is found to be true in respect to dwellings in the outlying and more modern parts of the town, where, as already stated, the bulk of the industrial working classes live. Rents, moreover, are but very little higher at the outskirts than in the inner town although the accommodation provided is as a rule far superior. Here we find that for the three-roomed tenements the bulk of the rents lie between the range of 3s. 6c/. and 5s. 9d. per week, and for the four-roomed tenements between 3s. 6c/. and 6s. 11 d. The average rent works out at 4s. 8d. for the former and at 5s. 2d. for the latter. As typical of the general principles on which the suburban streets and houses are constructed a rectangular block of buildings bounded by the four streets known as the Hechtstrasse, Erlenstrasse, Gustav Meyerstrasse and Fichtenstrasse, in the northern extension of this town, may be taken for illustration. Here, as in the old town, the building plok aie deep. Lut while in the old town the whole plot is covered with masonry, with the exception of the well or air shaft, here only about one-half of the site is built upon and the remainder left open. In point of structure, both external and internal, it is difficult to distinguish one house from another in a neighbourhood ­ of this kind. All are four-storied, with seven or eight windows on each story. All are entered through a large and somewhat ornate and massive doorway, admitting to a lofty tiled passage leading past the staircase to a yard or garden across which one has to pass in order to reach the Hinterhäuser or ba¿k houses. On either side of this passage and before reaching the staircase is a door admitting to the ground-floor tenements. Each of these consists of four rooms divided by a corridor into two pairs, of which the windows of the one look into the street while those of the other look into the ) ard or garden at the back, 198 DRESDEN. Instead of eight rooms as on the ground floor, the first and each succeeding floor has nine rooms (the extra room comprising the space corresponding to the entrance passage on the ground floor), and these are usually divided into three three-roomed tenements, or occasionally into one four-roomed, one three-roomed and one two-roomed tenement. Over the fourth floor is the loft, part of which is divided into as many small compartments as will allow a separate one, used as a box-room or lumber-room, for each tenant. The undivided part of the loft space is fitted up as a place in which the various families can dry their laundry. The whole of the cellarage is divided into compartments, each tenant being entitled to one (with a separate lock and key), which is generally used for the stowage of fuel or potatoes. On each landing are three water-closets with flushing tanks, and the water supply is in every case in the kitchen and not on the landing as in the older houses. All rooms on the same floor are of the same height from floor to ceiling. The following are the actual heights from floor to ceiling of rooms in a house selected at random in the Erlenstrasse, a modern street of the better sort largely inhabited by working-class families :— Ground floor ... First and Second floors Third floor Fourth floor 10 feet 3 inches. 10 „ 5 „ 10 „ 1 „ All rooms are well supplied with light and air through windows communicating ­ direct with the open air. The rent charged for the same amount of house-room varies somewhat according to the position of the tenement. As a rule tenements on the first, second and third floors are preferred to those on the ground or fourth floors. Thus in the house just referred to, four rooms on the ground floor can be had for £17 per annum (6s. 6(7. per week), while the corresponding tenement on the first floor costs £20 (7s. 8d. per week). For the three-roomed tenements, consisting in each case of one front room separated from two back rooms by a corridor, the rents paid are :— 1st floor ... ... £14 per annum (os. 5d. per week). 2nd „ £15 „ „ (5s. 9d. „ „ ). 3id ,, ... ... £lo ,, ,, (5s. 9dm ,, ,, ). 4th ,, ... ... £13 5s. ,, (os. 1 (7. ,, ,, ). In these tenements the kitchen, which is at the back, is usually long and narrow (about 14 feet by 6J feet) ; the bedroom, which is also at the back, measures some 14 feet by 13 feet, and the living room, which is in the front, some 16 feet by 13 feet. The second, third and fourth floors of this house have each a three-roomed tenement of which all the rooms are in front. On entering one of these tenements one finds one’s self in a small vestibule 6 feet by 5^ feet, with a door on the right admitting to the living room (16 feet by 13 feet), a door on the left admitting to the bedroom (16 feet by 7 feet), and a door in front admitting to the kitchen (10 feet by 5J feet). The rents charged for these tenements are :— 2nd floor ... ... £14 per annum (5a. 5d. per week). 3rd „ £12 10a. „ (4a. 10(7. „ „ ). 4th „ £12 „ (4a. 8(7. „ „ ). In many of the best quarters of the town, where the line of houses frontino* the street is exclusively occupied by middle-class tenants, there stands behind that line a second and sometimes even a third parallel row of buildings not visible from the street, and occupied almost entirely by working-class families. The width of the space separating the one row from the other is equal to the depth of the row, so that ample provision is made for light and air. The back rows of houses are known as Hinterhäuser or Hintergebäude and are reached from the street by passage-ways wide enough and high enough to admit fireengines in case of need. The Strehlenerstrasse, in one of the best quarters of the town, furnishes a good example of this style of utilizing deep building sites. The contrast between the working-class tenements in the inner town and those in the outlying and modern quarters will, perhaps, have been made sufficiently clear by what has been said. The accommodation in the outer town is much superior. There a dwelling without its own corridor or vestibule DRESDEN. 199 (however small) is scarcely to be found. Windowless rooms do not exist, nor are there any rooms in which the height from floor to ceiling measures less than 9 feet ; the water supply is in the kitchen, so that water need not be fetched from the landing. On the whole it must be said that there is no lack of cheerful and wholesome ­ tliree-roomed and four-roomed dwellings in Dresden ; the supply, in fact, exceeds the demand, as may be seen from the results of the yearly count of vacant dwellings published by the Municipal Statistical Office since 1899. The following statement* shows the number and percentage proportion of dwellings which were untenanted on 31st October of each of the years 1899-1905 :— Year. Untenanted Dwelling's. Total Number. 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 2,868 4,124 5,405 6,131 8,796 9,605 9,135 Percentage Proportion of all Dwellings. 3- 10 4- 33 5 51 6 09 7 21 7-58 7-08 Thus, both absolutely and relatively, the number of empty dwellings has increased each year from 1899 till 1904 inclusive, and for the first time shows a decline in 1905. To some extent this decline is due to a falling off in the supply of new dwellings through decreased building. The number of new houses and dwellings built in each of the years 1903-5 has been as follows :— Year. New Houses Built. 1903 1904 1905 No. 418 439 307 New Dwellings contained in those Houses. No. 4,369 4,063 2,818 Another cause of the decrease in the number of empty dwellings is the increased demand for housing arising out of the improvement of trade. Eighty per cent, of the empty dwellings are tenements consisting of four rooms or less, and it would seem that three-fourths of all households in Dresden, irrespective of their social status, live in such tenements. This is shown by the subjoined statement :— of the number of rooms stated below. \ Number of Rooms. One room Two rooms Three rooms Four rooms Five rooms Six or more rooms Proportion of all Households ­ (j.er Cent). 08 3*5 27-8 43 5 1 i\S ic*.; Monatsberichte des Statistischen Amtes der Stadt Dresden auf das Jahr 1905, Dresden, 1903, p. 19. 200 DRESDEN. The figures in this table relate to conditions as they were on the date of the Housing Census of December 1, 1900 ; but in the opinion of municipal officers of great practical experience in matters relating to housing in Dresden, the proportions shown above are not likely to have undergone any material change in the meantime. A similar census, of which the results have not yet been published, was undertaken at the end of 1905, and from the material collected on that occasion the Director of the Municipal Statistical Office has been good enough to furnish particulars of the rents of 1,502 working-class tenements consisting of not more than four rooms and distributed over the 17 urban districts into which the town is divided. Of the 1,502 tenements, of which the rents have been supplied, 955 consist of either three or four rooms. The tabulation of these gives the following results :— Predominant Rents of Working-class Dwellings. Number of Rooms per Tenement. Three rooms Four rooms Predominant Weekly Rents. 3s. 10(7. to 5s. 2d. 4.S. to 5s. 9(7. This result strengthens the conclusion to which one inclines after observing a large number of tenements occupied by working-class families in different parts of the town—viz., that the bulk of such families are housed in good threeroomed dwellings, or else in inferior four-roomed dwellings for which they pay little more (and sometimes even less) rent. Taking rent at Berlin as 100, the corresponding figure for Dresden is 54. No element of local rates or taxes (except water rate) is included in the rents given in the foregoing pages, since the occupier of a dwelling is assessed for his share of the general local burdens, not in his capacity of occupier, but in his capacity of earner of an income. One of the main branches of municipal revenue consists of an income tax levied over and above the State Income Tax, and standing in a fixed ratio to the latter. In Dresden this ratio is 54 per cent. All incomes exceeding £20 a year are subject to State Income Tax. The scale of the tax payable on incomes up to £110 per annum is shown below :— Class. la 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Yearly Income. Over £20 ,, £25 „ £30 ,, £35 „ £40 ,, £4? „ £55 ,, £62 „ £70 ,, £80 ,, £95 to £25 ... „ £30 „ £35 ... „ £40 „ £47 10s. 10s. to £55 to £62 10s. 10s. to £70 to £80 „ £95 „ £110 ... Amount of State Income Tax. Shillings. 1 2 3 4 7 10 13 16 20 26 36 The amount of a parent’s income assessed for income tax is reduced by £2 10s. in respect of every child between six and 14 years of age whom he has to support, so long as the parent’s income does not exceed £155 per annum. On the other hand, a child who is beyond the school age and helps regularly at the parent’s trade (otherwise than as an apprentice), even though such child receives no remuneration, is assumed to be earning the same amount as the parent would have to pay a stranger for the same services, and income tax has to be paid on that amount. From the scale it will be seen that 'a workman earning 20s. a week would come under Class 5 and pay 10s. a year State Income Tax. The tax (corresponding ­ to our local rates) payable by such a man would in Dresden represent 54 per cent, of 10s, or about os. 5d. per annum, that is a little more than id. a week. DRESDEN. 201 Retail Prices. In dealing with the subject of retail prices of food in Dresden special mention has to be made of two facts which are calculated to influence those prices in some measure. One is, that a considerable portion of the retail trade in provisions (other than butchers’ meat) .is in the hands of a few large undertakings ­ having between them about 70 branch shops in and about Dresden. The most important of these is the Consum-Ver ein “ Vorwärts,” one of the largest of the purely working-class co-operative distributive societies of a local character in Germany. Its membership on 30th June, 1905, was 23,092 (which may be taken to correspond to a working-class population of at least 100,000), and its sales during the year ended on that date amounted to £350,000 in 35 branch shops. A second undertaking of a somewhat similar character and doing business in the same class of goods is the Görlitzer Waareneinkaufsverein, formerly a co-operative association, but now registered as a joint-stock society owning 16 branch shops with a considerable working-class custom. A third large undertaking of the “ multiple ” order is engaged in dairying and has 20 branch shops selling butter, eggs, cheese and milk. In all the shops belonging to any one of these concerns the same article is sold at the same price, and as they are to be found in every locality where the working-class element is well represented, the possibility of any considerable local, variations in the prices charged by individual provision dealers is somewhat limited. The second fact to be noticed is the existence of a municipal tax on certain articles of food brought into the town, the tendency of which would be to increase the prices of those articles in comparison with towns where no such tax is imposed. The rates are, however, inconsiderable, as may be seen from the following table :— Rates of Octroi Duty levied by the Dresden Municipality on certain Articles of Food brought into the Town. (Beer, Venison and Game are also subject to this Tax.) Article. Wheaten flour ... Bread thereof ... ... ... Rye flour ... Bread thereof ... Wild rabbits Fish and lobsters Butter, meat extract, &c. Margarine Fresh meat, fat, &c. Salted and smoked meats Sausages Oxen, steers, cows Other horned cattle exceeding 3 cwt. in weight Calves over 14Ü lbs. and up to 3 cwt. in weight Calves weighing 140 lbs. or under ... Pigs Sheep Coats ... ... ... ... Unit. cwt. each lb. each Rate of Tax. S. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 ' 8 2 1 2 0 0 d. 2-1 11 6-1 5 5 0-6 0-2 1-1 0-2 0-2 03 0'5 0 0 0 0 0 6 18 It is evident from the above that the rates of the Municipal Tax are too small to have any appreciable influence in the direction of increasing the cost of articles lately consumed by the working classes. I rom another standpoint, however, the existence of the tax is of some importance, lor incidentally it furnishes useful data for ascertaining the consumption of certain articles of food in the town, a subject in which, as well as in the retail prices of food, the Municipal Statistical 0#ce has taken great interest for many years. In order to obtain trustworthy material for observing the course of retail piicesof provisions, an ofhcer of the Municipal Statistical Service has to visit a 2 C 29088 202 DRESDEN. number of representative dealers in such articles once a month and to ascertain from each the prices of the day. The information thus collected is tabulated and published in the Monthly Statistical Bulletin issued by the Municipality, which shows the highest, lowest and predominant price of each article. Groceries and other Commodities. The following table shows the predominant retail prices of groceries and other commodities (other than butchers’ meat) in Dresden at October, 1905. It is to be noted that each price quotation in the table is based upon the verbal statements of a number of different dealers with a large working-class custom, and relates to that quality of the article which workpeople are most in the habit of buying. Predominant Price. Commodity. October, 1905. June, 1906. Coffee Sugar :— Loaf ... . White granulated Bacon :— Fat Streaky Eggs Cheese, Limburg Butter Margarine ... Potatoes Flour Wheaten ... Rye Bread, Rye ... Milk Coal ... Paraffin Oil ... per lb. per Is. per lb. per 7 lb. per 4 lb. per quart per cwt. per gallon lid. 2W., 2M. 9fd. to lid. 9|d. „ lid. 14 &\d. Is. 2fd. to Is. 3fd. 8§d. 2d. to 2|d. Is. 3\d. Is. Cqd. to Is. l|d. 4|d. „ 5|d. 2#d. Is. Id. 9\d. to lOd. lid. 2|d., 2fd. 2W. 9|d. 9%d. to lid. lid. 17 „ 18 6^d. Is. 2\d. 8# 2d. to 2fd. Is. 3f d. Is. 0fd. to Is. lfd. 5d. „ 6d. 2gd. Is. Id. 9f-d. to lOd. With regard to the above Table, the following observations may be of interest. Coffee.—The kind most usually consumed by working-class families is of Brazilian origin and costs lid. per lb. Partly for economy and partly as a matter of taste it is usual to mix a certain proportion of malted barley with the ■coffee, usually two parts of coffee to one of barley. The latter costs from 2jd. to 3\d. per lb. according to quality. Sugar.—The kind most commonly bought is a fine-grained quality of white crystallised sugar known as Gemahlener or ground sugar. At October, 1905, this cost 2^d. per lb. It does not appear that lump sugar is largely consumed by the working classes, even for sweetening coffee. Eggs.—The kinds most consumed by working-class families are Russian and Austrian, and when bought singly, as they most frequently are, cost, in October, 7pf. each, which would represent from 14 to 15 for a shilling. Cheese.—The popular cheese is “ Limburg,” costing about Gjd. per lb. Bacon.—Only flank or belly pieces are made into bacon. The back, from which the best and dearest cuts are obtained in the United Kingdom, has the whole of the fat cut away from the lean, and the two are sold as separate articles.. The fat, which fetches from 9fd. to lid. per lb., is used either as lard or dripping, or else it is cut into dice and boiled with cabbage or other green vegetables as a means of flavouring the latter ; for in Germany green vegetables when boiled are considered tasteless unless flavoured with fat or vinegar. The remaining portion of the back, consisting of pure lean, is sold fresh as pork chops at lid. to Is. Id. the lb. (October, 1905), but is hardly an article of working-class consumption. The great bulk of the bacon sold in Dresden is German produce. A certain amount of American bacon was also in the market at October, 1905, and fetched the same price as the native produce. DRESDEN. 20% Butter is one of the most important items of diet in the working-class family budget in Dresden and throughout Saxony generally. An analysis of the household expenditure of 25 working-class families in Dresden for a whole year* showed that from 14 to 18 per cent, of the total food hill is spent on butter alone, z.<?., about the same proportion as is spent on meat. Margarine is also very largely eaten by working-class families. It is one of the very few articles of food of which the price has declined in Dresden in recent years. Bread.—The bread most generally eaten by all classes is composed entirely of rye or of rye mixed with a small proportion of wheat or of wheat and maize. The bulk of the supply comes from two or three large steam bakeries, one of them being that of the Co-operative Association “ Vorwärts,” already alluded to. Three grades are distinguished, the most usual prices of which at October, 1905, were 5|d., 5^., and 4\d. per 4 lbs. respectively. Loaves are usually of the reputed weight of either one kilog. or two, i.e., 2*2 or 4*4 lbs. avoirdupois, but bakers are free to increase or reduce the weight according to the price of hour. Coal.—The ascertainment of retail coal prices is somewhat complicated by the fact that coal is sold either by the hectolitre, a measure of capacity, or by the centner, which roughly corresponds to our hundredweight, or to be precise, 110*2 lbs. The weight of the coal contained in a hectolitre measure varies considerably. What the working classes consume consists most frequently of a mixture of equal parts of coal (obtained from the State mines close outside Dresden) and lignite imported from Bohemia. The former, purchased retail, costs 160pf. per hectolitre weighing about 140 (German) lbs. ; the latter, 140pf. per hectolitre of about 136 (German) lbs. The mixture is sold at 160pf. per hectolitre, which should represent 147 (German) lbs. This is equivalent to about Is. Id. per cwt. Meat. A great rise in the price of meat has taken place in Dresden, as in all other parts of Germany, during the last decade. Except for a comparatively short period the statistics of retail prices published in the Monthly Statistical Bulletin of the Municipality are not available for measuring the extent of that rise, owing to a change made in 1903 in the method of collecting the prices of beef, mutton, pork and bacon, but for this purpose recourse may be had to the returns of wholesale prices published by the Statistical Office. These are available for each of the years 1898-1905, and are shown in the following table :— Average Price per Civt. of Dead Meat in Dresden. Beef— Oxen— 1st Quality S: Bulls— 1st Quality 0 Sf 1st Quality 2nd „ 3rd „ 4th „ 5th Pork— I st Quality 2nd „ 1898. X. d. 65 7 61 2 56 5 52 2 61 0 56 8 51 10 61 8 57 4 53 0 49 0 44 11 61 11 59 4 1899. s. d. 64 9 60 7 56 9 52 8 61 8 57 9 61 11 58 0 54 0 49 8 45 11 53 8 51 7 1900. I 1901. s. d. 64 11 61 0 57 3 52 9 60 10 56 8 52 3 62 3 58 10 55 3 51 4 47 11 53 7 51 1 s. d. 65 2 60 9 57 1 53 1 59 9 55 7 51 3 62 11 59 3 55 5 51 5 47 0 61 0 58 7 1902. 66 1 61 1 56 9 51 9 62 5 57 9 53 2 63 4 58 11 55 0 51 1 46 7 63 10 61 6 1903. s. d. 69 9 65 7 60 5 52 10 65 60 55 65 5 61 2 56 8 52 3 48 5 56 2 53 9 1904. s. d. 70 1 65 10 61 0 53 2 65 9 60 7 54 11 65 4 60 11 56 5 52 1 49 4 55 8 53 6 1905. s. d. 76 0 71 8 67 5 61 7 73 7 69 3 64 0 72 67 63 58 53 11 70 8 68 2 Percentage increase in the 7 years. 15 9 17-2 19 5 18 1 20-6 22 2 24 5 17- 2 18- 2 19-0 19- 7 20- 0 141 14-9 price hal been ^in * Mitteilungen der Statistischen Amtes der Stadt Dresden. 16 Heft. pp. 87-88. Dresden, 1907. 29088 204 DRESDEN. bull beef has risen by no less than 24’5 per cent., fifth-grade cow beef by 20 per cent., and second-grade pork by 14*9 per cent, in the eight years covered by the Table. The manner in which the consumption of meat has been affected by this rise in the price may be seen from the following Table, showing the per capita consumption of meat in Dresden estimated from the Municipal slaughterhouse returns in each of the 10 years 1896-1905 :— Year. 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 Beef. lbs. 46- 97 47- 61 48- 05 47-59 47-08 45 96 4501 40-55 40-30 38-08 Veal. lbs. 17-58 17-07 16-87 16-24 1654 16 54 1525 1324 1373 3232 Mutton and Goatsflesh. lbs. 7-04 6-97 6-78 6-84 6-69 6-91 6-51 5-19 4-71 4-97 Pork and Bacon. lbs. 68-11 66-40 6371 65 93 68-66 64-46 57-95 5652 60-65 5392 Horseflesh. ­ lbs. 1-03 1-01 1-17 125 128 1-36 1-34 108 1-01 1-06 Game Prepared and Meats, &c.,J Poultry. I Imported. [ lbs. 9 24 9-15 8-65 8-58 6-56 6-71 6- 42 7- 74 10-34 8- 91 lbs. 3-19 330 376 3 85 3-50 330 3-26 2-53 2-62 2-88 Total. lbs. 153-16 151-51 148-99 150-28 150-31 145-24 135-74 126-85 13336 122-14 Thus, taking meat of all kinds, the consumption per head has fallen in 9 years from 153 lbs. to 122 lbs., or no less than 20 per cent. The consumption ­ of beef has fallen from 47 lbs. to 38 lbs., or 19 per cent., and that of pork and bacon from 68 lbs. to 54 lbs., or 6 per cent. Exactly three-fourths of all the meat consumed comes under one or other of these kinds (which also include sausages composed largely of beef or pork), and so far as veal, mutton, game and poultry are concerned, the working-class consumption is practically negligible. The only kind of meat of which the consumption has not regularly decreased is horseflesh, though the per capita figure for 1905, viz., 1*06 lbs., was considerably below those recorded in the years of depression, 1900-1902, when the consumption ­ amounted on the average to 132 lbs. per head of population per annum. There are 16 establishments in Dresden where nothing but horseflesh (occasionally also dogflesh) is sold. Comparatively little horseflesh is eaten in summer. The leading dealer in this article in Dresden informed the writer that he slaughters on the average only 25 horses per week in the summer as compared ­ with 60 in the winter months. The retail price of this description of meat is 4d. per pound all over Dresden, irrespective of the cut, except in the case of the fillet, which costs a penny more. Horse fat is sold at 5\d. per pound. The commoner kinds of sausage (i.e., imitation “ Blutwurst,” “ Leberwurst,” ­ and “Knoblauchwurst”), made of horseflesh, and frankly sold as .such, cost 4cl. per pound, horse sausage made in imitation of “ Metwurst,” however, costs 5\d. per pound, while imitation “ Cervelatwurst ” sells for as much as 8Jc/. per pound—about half the price of the genuine article, which is supposed to be made of venison. The amount of dogflesh eaten in Dresden is very small. The total consumption in 1902 was only 16 cwt., and in 1903, 31 cwt. Ko later figures have been published, but the quantity of this kind of meat eaten is stated to be increasing. The retail price is 4d. per pound. Turning again to the question of the aggregate meat consumption, it might seem that the figure for 1905, viz., 122 pounds per head of population, though greatly reduced in comparison with ten years ago, is still high enough % prove that the complaints of meat scarcity which are to be heard on all sides in Dresden are exaggerated. It has to be remembered, however, that in the above figure the difference in the quantities consumed by rich and poor, respectively, is disregarded. But nobody who has had an opportunity of observing the habits of the middle and well-to-do classes in Germany can avoid the conclusion that they are very large meat eaters. Dresden contains more than the average proportion of such persons, and these account for a large share of the total meat -consumption. The annual per capita consumption of meat among the working classes is less than that shown above for the whole population. This fact was DRESDEN. 205 illustrated by returns from 191 workmen’s families in Dresden, collected for the Board of Trade during the latter half of 1906 through the secretaries of various local trade unions, and amounted to only 20§ ounces per week, which would be about 67 lbs. per year. Of this amount 38 per cent, was beef, 26 per cent, pork and bacon, and 23 per cent, sausage. Were it possible to ascertain how much of this weekly meat supply was absorbed by the father of the family it would probably be found that very little remained for the wife and children. Indeed, statements made to the writer by members of trade unions and others acquainted with working-class ways of living point to the conclusion that the only member of the family who has meat regularly is the father' 1 . Appended is a statement of the prices of various joints of meat usually paid by the working classes in October, 1905, and in June, 1906 :— Predominant Price per lb. Description of Cut. Beef :— Ribs ... ... Silverside m ■ j with bone ( without bone Steak ... ... Flank Mutton :— Leg ... ... Shoulder Breast Neck Chops (trimmed) Veal :— Hindquarter Without “bon Shin Loin ... ... Pork :— Leg ... ... Foreloin ... Belly Spare Rib Chops October, 1905. 7|f?. 8ft?. to llf?. 8§d. 9# Is. If?, to Is. 3Ir?. 7# 9|f?. to Ilf?. 9# 7|í?. to 8|f?. 8# lit?. 9|f?. to Ilf?. 8|í?. to 9|f?. Ilf?, to Is. le?. 6&f?. 9|f?. to Ilf?. 9ff?. to Ilf?. 9 W. to Ilf?. 8# Ilf?, to Is. If?. June, 1906. 7%f?. 8fí?. to Ilf?. 8# 92f7. Is. If?, to Is. 3\d. 7§f?. 9|f?. to llf?. 9|f?. 7|í?. to 8|f? 8# llf?. 9|f?. to llf?. 8fí?. to 9|f?. llf?. to ls. lf?. 6|f?. 9|í?. to llf?. llf?. to ls. llf?. to ls. 9# Is. to ls. 2ff?. Here, again, it is to be borne in mind that the prices are those charged for those (more or less inferior) qualities of meat which are most generally bought by the working classes. It will be noticed that there were practically no changes in the prices of beef, mutton and veal, but the price of pork rose by a little more than Id. per lb. Representing predominant prices at Berlin by 100, the corresponding figures for Dresden are—for meat, 113 ; for other food, 103 ; foi coal, 8 , and for all commodities, 103. The index number for rent and pnces combined is 93. DUSSELDORF. The evolution of Düsseldorf on the Rhine into one of the most important of the large manufacturing towns of Germany took place in the last quarter of the 19th century, and the leaders of local enterprise date the era of its expansion from the Industrial Exhibition held there in 1880. In that year Düsseldorf numbered 95,458 inhabitants, while at the end of 1905 its population was 253,280, representing an increase of 165 per cent, in the interval. In 1905 Düsseldorf ranked in point of population as the tenth of German and the fifth of Prussian towns. Its growth has also been continuous and not the result of spasmodic influences. Between 1880 and 1885 the population increased by 20*7 per cent., between 1885 and 1890 by 25*6 per cent., between 1890 and 1895 by 21 7 per cent., between 1895 and 1900 by 21 "4 per cent., and between 1900 and 1905 by 18'4 per cent., the last quinquennial increase being the lowest relatively yet the highest in absolute numbers (38,569). It is noticeable, too, that the increase has, on the whole, been caused even more by additions from outside than by natural growth of population. Of 182,915 persons added to the population since 1871, 103,736 or 56*7 per cent, came from outside, and 79,179, or 43*3 per cent., represented excess of births over deaths. The following are the results of the past seven enumerations Census Year. Population. Total Increase. Increase owing to excess of births over deaths. Percentage ­ of total Increase. Increase owing to excess of immigrants over emigrants. Percentage ­ of total Increase. 1871 1875 1880 1885 1890 1895 1900 1905 69,365 80,695 95,458 115,190 144,642 175,985 213,711 253,280 11,330 14,763 19,732 29,452 31,343 37.726 38,569 3,555 6,073 7,276 9,927 13,366 18,676 20,306 31-4 411 36 9 33 7 42 6 49-5 52 6 7,775 8,690 12,456 19,525 17,977 19,050 18,263 68-6 58*9 63-1 66-3 57-3 50-5 47 4 In estimating the industrial importance of Düsseldorf, however, the “ rural circle” (Landkreis) bearing its name should also be considered, since many of the large works which are identified with the trade of the town are situated there. The population of this rural district has increased to the extent of 123 per cent, since 1880, viz., from 52,729 to 117,421, the quinquennial increases being : 1880-5, 8 9; 1885-90, 14*8; 1890-5, 13*6; 1895-1900, 28'9; and 1900-5, 21*6 per cent. The industries of the town include many large iron and steel and machine works, the manufacture of ordnance and cartridges, of chemicals, dyes and colours, several textile factories, and, in the adjacent small town of Gerresheim, glass blowing. Düsseldorf has many parks, avenues, and other planted spaces, and its public buildings are, for the most part, well-built and imposing. The streets are wide, well-paved and clean, and an efficient electric tramway system intersects the town in every direction and connects it with adjacent places. The tramways are municipal property. Düsseldorf has carried out the principle of the municipalisation of public works to an extent exceptional even for Germany. Not only are the usual undertakings connected with locomotion and transport, water and illumination in the hands of the municipality, but the town owns a large amount of land and house property, and does a regular business in the estate market as buyer and seller. It has constructed docks on the Rhine for several kinds of traffic ; it keeps a pawnshop and a mortgage agency ; it runs a theatre, a concert hall, and an orchestra ; it has a picture gallery, museums, libraries and parks, with markets, baths, savings bank, and abattoir. To the foresight and method which the local governing authority has brought to its work must also be attributed in some degree DÜSSELDORF. 207 the fact that Düsseldorf to-day combines all the activities and resources of a large industrial centre with the advantages of a residential town ; for the great works which have made Düsseldorfs wealth, and which give employment to the mass of its workpeople, are situated either entirely outside the town or on its extreme periphery. The appearance of the workmen creates on the observer a very favourable impression. They are well and neatly dressed, and the quality and condition of their attire seems to indicate that they go about the streets in one set of garments and work in another, a custom which is encouraged by the plentiful supply of lockers at the factories and workshops. It is also unusual to see workmen returning home unwashed, and here again the factory lavatories and baths must be cited in explanation. For some years the town has energetically pursued a policy of land purchase. In all quarters of the town and district eligible land is bought whenever a favourable opportunity offers, and gradually a very valuable estate is being built up. The idea is to lease or sell this land as the development of the town may require, so facilitating extensions where they are most desirable and combating unhealthy speculation by entering the market in competition with private individuals. A special fund has been set aside for the purpose of transactions in real estate, and the town is prepared to increase it as the success of this department of municipal trading may justify. Moreover, for the purpose of promoting healthy conditions of credit, the municipality in 1900 established a Mortgage Bank with a capital of a million pounds, raised on the credit of the town. The interest charged on advances is ^ per cent, more than the town pays for its own loans. Money is usually lent on dwelling houses up to 60 per cent, of the value, and on manufactories, inns and other business premises to a somewhat lower limit. Düsseldorf can claim relatively favourable vitality statistics. Its death rate in 1905 was 17 per 1,000 of the population, which was the lowest rate yet recorded, and the birth rate was 35T per 1,000, comparing with 40'7 per 1,000 in 1898, since when there has been a gradual decrease, though Düsseldorf here is not peculiar. The marriage rate in 1905 was 10T per 1,000, a rate only slightly below the average of the past ten years. The infant mortality rate in 1905 was 191 per thousand of the births, comparing with a maximum rate of 220 and a minimum of 176 during the past decade. The deaths from pulmonary consumption were equal to a rate of 1*47 per 1,000 of the population. The proportion of illegitimate to total births was 8 per cent. ; there has been a steady increase in the proportion from 6 4 per cent, in 1896 and 5*6 per cent, in 1899, the proportion of illegitimate births to the population having remained at about the same level, while the legitimate birth-rate has fallen over 4 per 1,000 of the population. The following Table shows the birth and death rates and the infantile mortality rate for a period of ten years :— Year. Birth rate per 1,000 of population. 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 39-8 39- 7 40- 7 395 38-9 38-3 373 36-0 35-6 35-1 Death rate per 1,000 of population. infantile mortality per 1,000 births. 18 3 19-9 191 202 19-4 188 183 17 3 18-0 17 0 184 220 206 209 197 206 176 188 204 191 Occupations, Wages and Hours of Labour. No exact data exist for determining the growth of the industrial population •of Düsseldorf during recent years, the most recent classification of the population according to occupations for which the data are av ailable oeing that obtained from the Industrial Census of 1895. Some idea of the growth of the principal 208 DÜSSELDORF. industries of Düsseldorf between 1875 and 1895 may, however, be obtained from the following table, based on the results of the three great Occupation Censuses of 1875, 1882 and 1895 Group of Trades. Number of persons occupied. 1875 Building... Smelting, &c Metal Working and Machine Making Textiles ... Clothing and Cleaning Commerce Other ... ... ... ... Total ... 1,491 1,392 3,017 1,703 2,701 2,516 5,941 18,761 1882 1,959 2,957 4,115 1,672 3,284 4,245 7,884 26,116 1895 6,896 4,403 10,172 3,172 5,004 7,914 16,019 53,580 The most recent classification of the purely industrial population is the official return of employees in factories and workshops and undertakings included with them, under official inspection. Of such employees there were, in 1905, 31,636, engaged in 917 undertakings, 27,244, or 86T per cent., being males. The great preponderance of the mineral, metal, and engineering trades is shown by the fact that they embraced 6T8 per cent, of all the workpeople, viz. :—mining, smelting, &c., 5,133, metal working, 8,213, and machine, implement and apparatus making, 6,205. After them came the textile trades, with 2,122 workpeople (of whom 1,054 or 49 7 per cent, were females), equal to 6*7 per cent, of the whole. Of the 4,382 female workers 1,361, or 31*0 per cent., were over 21 years of age, 2,257, or 51 4 per cent., were between 16 and 21, and 774, or 17*6 per cent., were 16 years or under. The return is as follows :— Group of Trades. ! Number of Establishments. ­ Mining, smelting, and salt works Metal-working Machinery, implement, and apparatus making. Textiles Clothing and cleaning -Paper ... ... ... ... Printing, lithography, bookbinding, ­ &c. Woodworking and carving Chemicals ... Resins, varnishes, oil, soap, candles, &c. Stone and earth Food, drink, and tobacco Leather Total... 22 117 28 242 26 39 79 15 35 197 3 917 Number of Workpeople. Males over 16 years. Females over 16 years. 5,029 7,542 5,788 1,011 285 583 991 1,800 179 500 927 1,281 7 25,923 169 12 876 1,183 236 371 70 163 234 81 221 2 3,618 Juveniles 14, but not over 16 years. 104 501 405 235 310 ■67 104 100 41 25 69 121 9 2,085 Children under 14 years. 10 Total. 5,133 8,213 6,205 2,122 1,786 886 1,467 1,970 383 759 1,077 1,623 12 11,636 The engineering trade of Düsseldorf is many-sided, and upon this trade the town rests its high industrial reputation. Most of the larger works are situated either upon the outskirts or at some distance from the town, though they are well served by the tramway system. The principal manufactures ­ are steam engines, locomotives, bridges, boilers, cranes, machine tools, mining plant, and electrical machinery. A considerable amount of work is done for the English market. There are also important iron and steel works, which produce plates and railway material, and there are ordnance and cartridge factories. The Düsseldorf machinery works rank amongst the best equipped DÜSSELDORF. 20& and best organised in Germany. There is a large use of labour-saving machinery ; American methods have been increasingly introduced during recent years, and American managers have of late come upon the scene. The workmen engaged in this industry are highly skilled, and their employers speak well of them. A ten hours’ day is almost universal. Work begins variously at 6, 6.30, and 7 o’clock, and the hour of closing depends on the number and duration of the intervals ; the usual number is three, but some works stop only at midday. The longest hours, viz., 65 per week, are worked in the textile factories, the employees in which are mostly females. Wages are as a rule paid fortnightly, and a week’s or a fortnight’s notice on either side is customary, though some firms dispense with notice altogether. At Gerresheim, several miles from the town, there are large glass bottle works, and in Düsseldorf itself are porcelain and earthenware factories. Glass blowers, working by piece, earn 33s. 2d. weekly, this including a house or a money payment of 4s. per week instead. A comprehensive idea of the range of wages in different industries is afforded by a return, given in Appendix IV. to this volume (p. 501), of the daily wages of 8,901 adult workpeople (i.e., workpeople of 20 years and upwards) enrolled in the Düsseldorf Local Sick Fund (Ortskrankenkasse). These workpeople ­ fell into the following wages groups :— Wages Groups. Under 3s. daily 3s. and under 3s. Gd. daily 3s. Gd. and under 4s. 0d. daily 4s. 0d. „ 4s. Gd. „ 4s. Gd. „ 5s. 0d. „ 5s. 0d. „ 5s. 6c?. „ 5s. Gd. and over Total ... Skilled Men. 78 196 947 1,893 1,377 542 178 5,211 Unskilled Men. No. Per cent. 15 38 18-2 36 2 26 5 104 34 100-0 158 996 1,443 866 191 33 3 3,690 Per cent. 4- 3 27 0 391 23-4 5- 2 0-9 0-1 1000 Together. No. Per cent. 236 1,192 2,390 2,759 1,568 575 181 8,901 2-7 13-4 26-8 310 17 6 6-5 2-0 1000 The largest employer of labour in Düsseldorf is the municipality itself. The hours of labour of municipal employees range from 60 to 78 per week. The wages of tramway drivers and conductors rise according to the years of service, those of the former ranging from 24s. Gd. to 38s. Gd. and those of the latter from 21s. to 28s., with 68 hours of work. Wages and Hours of Labour in the Principal Occupations, October, 1905. Weekly Wages. Building Trades*:— Masons and Bricklayers Stonemasons Carpenters Joiners and Cabinetmakers Plumbers Painters ... Stucco-workers... Plasterers Masons’ and Bricklayer’ Labourers Engineering Trades :— Moulders Fitters Turners ... Smiths ... Pattern-makers.. Cranemen Labourers 32s. 5d. 29s. 8c?. to 32s. 5c?. 34s. 2d. 27s. Id. 24s. 27s. 36s. to 37s. 10c?. 30s. 26s. 5c?. 37s. 30s. to 35s. 33s. „ 36s. 33s. „ 36s. 30s. „ 33s. 24s. lc/. 21s. to 24s. Weekly Hours of Labour. 60 54 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 * The wages and hours oí labour stated for the building trades are for a full week in summer. 2 D 29088 210 DÜSSELDORF. weekly Wages Weekly Hours of Labour. Boiler Works :— Angle-ironsmiths Boilersmiths Boilersmiths' Helpers Ri vetters Labourers Iron and Steel Works :— Puddlers Rollers ... Coremakers Shearingmen Smelters Pipe Welders Steel Furnacemeu and Founders Labourers Printing Trades :— Compositors, Machine Minders and Pressmen Machine Compositors—news... „ „ jobbing Bookbinders Other Trades :— Worsted Spinners Glass Bottle Blowers Porcelain Workers „ Painters Bakers—private „ factory 33s. Id. 31s. 10 d. 21s. to 24s. 31s. lOd. 21s. to 24s. 50s. to 60s. 36s. „ 50s. 30s. lid. 25 s. 37s. 5d. 50s. to 70s. 31s. 20s. to 25s. 25s. 4d. 31s. 8d. 32s 11(7. 25 s. 24s. to 27s. 33s. 2d. 15s. to 18s. 20s. „ 22s. 22s. „ 24s.* 24s. 6d. „ 28s. 6d. 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 72 60 54 48 54 54 60 461 60 60 66-80 72 * Including 10s. 6d. as the equivalent of board and lodging. The following were the weekly wages and hours of municipal workpeople at the same date :— Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours of Labour. Hoad Department :— Paviors and Flaggers Paviors’ Labourers Road Repairers „ Sweepers Carmen 34s. 6d. 28s. 6d. 21s. 20s. 22s. 6d. 60 60 60 60 60 Gasivorks :— Foremen Stokers ... Yard Labourers Waterworks :— Enginemen Stokers Labourers Tramways (Elect? ie) :— Drivers ... Conductors Electric Lighting :— Enginemen Stokers ... Fitters ... Harbour Works :— Crane and other Foremen Engineers, Cranemen, Stokers, &c. Shunters Gangmen 37s. 34s. 6d. 21s. 29s. 3d. 24s. 21s. 7 d. 24s. 6d. to 38s. 6d.* 21s. „ 28s.* 33s. 7d. 29s. lid. 25s. 24s. 26s. 5d. 21s: 19s. lOd. 84 84 72 78 78 72 68 68 76 68 61 60 62 60 60 From 1st to 16th year of service. DÜSSELDORF. 211 Wages in Düsseldorf are considerably higher than in almost all other towns in Germany. Representing wages in Berlin by 100, the following figures indicate ­ the level of wages in Düsseldorf in certain trades :—Building trades, 85 for skilled men, and 103 for labourers ; engineering trades, 98 for skilled men, and 103 for labourers ; printing trades, 90. The working classes of Düsseldorf, as might be judged from the character of the staple industries, are highly organised. All three types of Trade Unions —the Social Democratic, the Hirsch-Duncker, and the “Christian”—exist in the town and work on independent lines, occasions of common action occurring but seldom. The Social Democratic organisation has a large Central Bureau, the Gewerkschaftshaus, in which the allied societies and the Workmen’s Secretariate have their rooms, while the Roman Catholic societies are worked along with a Hospice for travelling and single workmen and a People’s Inquiry Bureau. The Hirsch-Duncker societies have also an Inquiry Bureau. Employment agencies are conducted by all three organisations. Housing and Rents. The census of December, 1905, showed that there were in Düsseldorf 12,846 dwelling-houses containing 57,416 dwellings, giving an average of 4 5 dwellings per house. Large buildings are becoming more and more the fashion, as land increases in value, yet Düsseldorf still retains a considerable proportion of houses of one and two stories, viz., 24 per cent, of the whole, though the number steadily decreases ; in 1893 the proportion of such houses was 36 per cent., and in 1878 54 percent. The one-story buildings have decreased from 24 per cent, in 1878 to 7 per cent, in 1905. The characteristics which, generally speaking, distinguish the streets of any modern industrial town in Germany from those of corresponding towns in the United Kingdom—such as greater width and regularity, brighter and more ornate house fronts, absence of advertisers’ hoardings and of public-house signs, wider and less crowded pavements—are particularly noticeable in those parts of Düsseldorf which are inhabited mainly by the working classes, namely, the Oberbilk, Flingern and Derendorf districts, the Grafenberger Allée, and the Coiner Chaussée. The stranger entering a street in any of these districts for the first time finds it difficult to reconcile its outward appearance with the fact that each house contains probably from eight to ten working-class families. As a rule the houses here are four stories high, and, as in practically all large German towns, the fiat system is universal. Another feature common to the workingclass dwellings is that every family renting a tenement in a house has a share in the cellarage, which, as a rule, is extensive and divided by means of wooden railings into separate compartments, each with its own lock and key. I hese cellars are generally used for the storage of coal and lumber. Again, each tenant in turn has a right to the use of the loft space immediately beneath the roof as a place in which to dry the family linen. The portion of the lort set apart for this purpose is in most cases that iurthest from the street, and is fitted with horizontal wooden bars (or occasionally with lines) on which the clothes are hung. The part of the attic space towards the front of the house is in most cases divided into habitable compartments with plastered sides and ceiling, and a small dormer window or skylight in the sloping side formed by the roof. These compartments are known as or éyMzcAgrnmmgr, and are let either separately or as adjuncts to the tenements below. It is therefore no uncommon thing in Düsseldorf to find a workman’s dwelling consisting of one or two rooms, say, on the ground floor and one in the loft. It is a peculiarity of the houses in the Rhineland and W estphalia that the kitchen is not, as a rule, reckoned separately. The reason for this is that the stove is portable and belongs to the tenant. As a rule a back room is used as a kitchen, though the choice depends in some measure on the Requirements of the family in bedroom accommodation. If large enough, the kitchen may also be used as a sitting-room. With few exceptions ail the houses aie provided v\ith w.c.’s on each landing ; in very many cases with one for each family. The floors of the landings and stairs are generally painted, and bv the teims of the contract the tenants of each flat are required to wash them twice a week on Wednesday and Saturday—in turn. The duty of sweeping and cleansing the pavement in front of the house falls to the tenants on tue ground floor. 29088 2 D 2 mm 212 DUSSELDORF. FS k a For the great majority of working-class families in Düsseldorf the dwelling consists of two or else three rooms, viz., a kitchen and general living room, and one or two bedrooms. Of the dwellings enumerated in December, 1905, it was found that 54 1 per cent, contained the accommodation stated below, viz., one, two, or three rooms of all kinds, though from this classification are excluded 1,007 dwellings stated to consist of an undefined number of habitable attics (Mansarden) or rooms not regarded as living-rooms in the technical sense :— One room. 1 habitable attic 1 living-room, without habitable attic or appurtenances ­ ... ... ... ... ... ... Two I ] living-room with habitable attic rooms 1 ^ living-rooms without habitable attic or other ' ( appurtenances Three i 2 living-rooms with habitable attic rooms. ( 3 living-rooms without attic or appurtenances ... Number. Per cent, of the whole. 5 0 1 In a house consisting of any given number of tenements the arrangement of the latter and to some extent the arrangement and size of the rooms composing the various tenements are not quite the same on the ground floor as on the upper floors. In the case of two-roomed tenements the most common arrangement ­ on the ground floor may be illustrated by a house in Herrmannstrasse, a typical working-class street. This floor contains three tenements of two rooms each—bedroom and kitchen. Two of these tenements are on the left, and one is on the right side of the main entrance to the house. Each of the rooms of the tenement on the right has a door opening on to the main entrance. To the first tenement on the left there is access either direct from the main entrance or through a corridor on the left, which is the only means of reaching the second tenement. On the first and second floors of the same house we again find one tenement on the right and two on the left side facing the stairs. The tenement on the right hand corresponds exactly to that on the ground floor on the same side, but the front room of each of the left-hand tenements is larger than the corresponding room below, one of them being larger by about the width of the lower main entrance. On each floor are two w.c.’s for the use of three families. (In the houses of more recent construction there is one for each family.) At the back is a large court for the common use of the tenants. A modification of the two-room tenements just described is seen in a large number of houses in the Birkenstrasse—another typical working-class street. Here we may find a two-room tenement on either side of the entrance passage, with direct access from that passage to each room. The purpose of this arrangement ­ is that the whole of the rooms may, if necessary, be let as one tenement. Between each two houses is an archway with a solid wooden gate, which gives access to a grass-covered courtyard at the back. On reaching the first or second floor landing of the same houses we find the entrance to a two-room tenement on the left (corresponding to the two rooms on the right of main entrance on the ground floor), while on the opposite side of the landing we enter a three-room tenement, of which two rooms face the main street and one, which is generally used as the kitchen, looks upon the courtyard. This tenement may also be entered by a door at the top of the stairs, the purpose being that this room may, on occasion, be let singly. The general impression produced by an inspection of the interiors of a large number of modern tenements in the working-class districts of Düsseldorf was one of spaciousness, combined with cleanliness and comfort. The usual height of the rooms on the ground floor was from 12 feet to 12 feet 6 inches, and on no story were they less than 10 feet high. The only part of the town in which the housing can be regarded as unequivocally bad is the Alte Stadt or Old Town. Most of the old houses here are very faulty, alike in the ventilation and lighting of their approaches— courtyards, staircases, corridors and vestibules—and in the cubical contents of their rooms. These dwellings often consist of narrow rooms, much dilapidated and badly needing both light and air, for the windows are small and open upon DÜSSELDORF. 213 a close courtyard. Some of these old houses are built in blocks round double courtyards, the first courtyard leading into the second by a passage which serves both as entrance and exit. The first courtyard may be 18 feet by 16 feet, the second only 16 feet by 12 feet. Houses of this kind have little or no attractions ­ save the sentimental one of age and association, yet it is a fact that tenants who might well afford newer and airier dwellings on the outskirts persist in living in the close purlieus of the Alte Stadt for no other reason than that they were born in the centre of Düsseldorf and are persuaded that nowhere else would a house be home for them. Fortunately the Old Town quarter is gradually becoming less congested. The decrease in its population shown by the census of 1905, as compared with that of 1900, was 1135 per cent. The appended table of rents, based on an enumeration of 752 tenements made for the purposes of this report, shows that for two rooms the most usual rent is 4& to 5s. and for three rooms 5s. to 7s. per week. A single room maybe had for 2s. 4d. per week. It is to be noted, however, that in these rents no element of rates is included, since in Prussia the principal basis of local taxation is income. On the other hand the owner pays the water-rent and the municipal charges in respect of chimney sweeping and the removal of household refuse. Number of Rooms per Tenement. Two rooms... Three rooms Predominant Weekly Rent. 4s. to OS. 5s. 4d. to 7s. It will be noticed that these rents are much higher than in most other towns in Germany. Rent at Düsseldorf is higher than at any of the 33 towns included in the present enquiry with the exception of Berlin and Stuttgart. Representing the level of rent at Berlin by 100, the corresponding figure for Düsseldorf is 79, as compared with 97 for Stuttgart, and 68 for Dortmund, the next most highly rented town. It may here be noted that the police regulations regarding dwellings prescribe ­ that bedrooms must provide at least 343 cubic feet of air space for every person above the age of 10 years belonging to the household, and for every child under 10 years at least 172 cubic feet, infants under one year being disregarded. The bedrooms must also be so arranged that unmarried people above 14 years of different sex may occupy separate apartments or divisions of the same, and a separate room or division be provided for every married couple and their children under 14 years. All bedrooms must have a lockable door and at least one window looking outside, opening, and equal in size to one-twelfth of the floor surface. Attic rooms are only permissible as bedrooms when their Avails are either plastered or faced with wood. A careful system of house inspection is carried on by the municipal authority. The practical work lies in the hands of trained officials, who are armed with ample authority, and the building and sanitary regulations aie enforced with as much stringency as is compatible Avith the existence of inherited difficulties which need patient treatment. . It has been stated that the majority of working-class households in Düsseldorf ­ lÍA r e in tenements of two and three rooms, one of these being the kitchen, and the fact may be noted that of 10,434 dwellings of all kinds erected in the town during the years 1902-5 no fewer than 53 per cent, were of these two sizes :— Year. 1902 ... 1903 ... 1904 ... 1905 ... Total, 1902-5 Percentages Number of Rooms. 38 26 30 28 122 12 336 537 590 734 2,197 211 488 794 997 1,062 3,341 394 669 651 618 32 0 2,332 22 3 320 338 260 271 1,189 11-4 130 134 115 109 8 and over 86 86 98 57 106 93 110 129 488 i 327 438 47 31 4-2 Total Number of Dwellings. 1,898 2,677 2,851 3,008 10,434 100-0 214 DÜSSELDORF. By the law of Prussia incomes not exceeding £45 are exempted from the State income-tax, and in Düsseldorf this exemption has since 1901 applied also to the communal income tax, which is 140 per cent, of the State tax. The amount of direct taxation which falls on small incomes is therefore as follows :— Income Groups State Income-Tax. £45 to £55 10s. £52 10s. to £60 £60 to £67 10s. £67 10s. to £75 £75 to £82 10s. £82 10s. to £90 £90 to £105 ... £ s. d. 0 6 0 0 9 0 0 12 0 0 16 0 110 16 0 111 0 Municipal Income-Tax. £ S. d. 0 8 4# 0 1% 7f 0 16 91 1 4 4f 1 9 41 1 16 41 2 3 5 Total. £ s. d. 0 14 4f 1 1 7J 1 8 9i 2 0 41 2 10 41 3 2 41 3 14 5 The aggregate number of State income-tax payers in 1905 was 60,965, and of these 54,187 or 88*88 per cent, paid on incomes not exceeding £150, their taxes forming 22*09 per cent, of the whole. The persons paying on incomes between £45 and £52 10s. numbered 18,689, or 30*6 per cent, of the whole, those paying on incomes between £52 10s. and £60 numbered 16,018 or 26*2 per cent., between £60 and £67 10s. 5,261 or 8 6 per cent,, between £67 10s. and £75 3,894 or 6*4 per cent., between £75 and £82 10s., 1,834 or 3 per cent., and between £82 10s. and £90, 2,281 or 3*7 per cent. The supply of working-class dwellings at Düsseldorf has for some time been in excess of the demand, with the result that rents are stationary and building operations on any large scale have temporarily ceased. Nevertheless, the housing question is regarded as an urgent one, and both the municipality and philanthropic associations have incurred considerable expenditure in the provision of healthy and commodious tenement dwellings for people of small means. The town has erected about 150 such dwellings, which are tenanted almost exclusively by workpeople and officials employed in public services. The majority (84) consist of three rooms, the rents of which range from £12 60*. to £21 6a. per annum, but 43 are tenements of two rooms, let at from £10 to £14 2s. ; the remainder of the houses are of four rooms. The property is well built, and the internal arrangements are superior in convenience to those met with in private property of the same class. The Düsseldorf Building and Savings Society (Bau- und Sparverein) has also done good work in the same direction during the few years of its existence, though it has a far more ambitious programme on hand. The association was formed for the purpose of erecting workmen’s dwellings by means of money offered on loan by the Old Age and Invalidity Insurance Board for the Rhineland, ­ and 39 blocks containing some 300 tenements have been built in various parts of the town. The plan of building followed admits of every dwelling being cut off from the landing by a separate corridor, thus securing greater privacy than is possible when living rooms are entered direct from the landing. Each block has from six to eight tenements of two or three rooms, exclusive of separate larders, attics, cellaring, and washing and drying loft for common use. Many of the houses have balconies either in front or at the back, and each block has a large piece of garden ground for the use of the tenants. The kitchens of two typical two-roomed houses have dimensions as follows:—Length, 15 feet 5 inches and 15 feet 7 inches respectively; width, 15 feet 2 inches and 11 feet 7 inches ; height, both 13 feet. The bedrooms of the same houses are of the following dimensions :—Length, 15 feet 10 inches and 15 feet respectively ; width, 11 feet 8 inches and 10 feet 10 inches, and height 13 feet. Whatever the type of house and whatever the situation, the rents are uniform at the rate of 9s. per room per month for parterre, and 9s. 6d. for the first and second floors. Attic rooms are let when desired for extra sleeping accommodation at 3s. per month each. . Each dwelling is let by formal contract, by which the tenant binds himself to observe certain regulations embodied in a “ House Order,” to keep the DÜSSELDORF. 215 property in good condition, to make all slight repairs up to a cost of 3s. at his own charge save in so far as they relate to the structure of the house, to live at peace with his neighbours, to pay his rent regularly twice a month, and to refrain from sub-letting without permission. A month’s notice, dating from the first of the month, must be given on either side. It should be noted that the society builds houses but does not sell them, and working men can only be accepted as tenants on condition of purchasing a share of £10, bearing interest at 4 per cent., which sum they must contribute by minimum instalments of los. 3d. per annum. They may, however, invest any sum beyond this £10 as a loan, at the same rate of interest. So far, the society has done exceedingly well, for while charging rents which are below those required by private owners for equal dwellings it has been able to pay to the Insurance Board the contract interest of 3 per cent, with 1J per cent, additional by way of redemption, and to return to its shareholders 4 per cent, on their invested capital of £7,000. There is also in Düsseldorf a Housing Association, whose object it is to " help necessitous and respectable families to obtain the minimum amount of living room and the indispensable articles of furniture, as well as to promote the comfortable arrangement and use of their dwellings.” Here, as elsewhere, the Central Insurance Board readily lends money for the erection of cheap dwellings to Building and other registered Co-operative Societies and to individual insured persons, and up to the end of 1904 the Board for the Rhenish Province had advanced £2,200,000 in this way. As a rule, 75 per cent, of the attested value, or 85 per cent, of the entire cost of building, is advanced at 3 or 3& per cent, interest, besides 1^ per cent, by way of repayment of loan. Where money is lent to individual workmen, it is on the guarantee of an accredited society. As a rule Düsseldorf workpeople prefer to live as near as possible to their employment. Hence it is that some of the larger industrial companies in the outskirts provide comfortable houses for a portion of their employees. The smaller officials and men of long service are generally given preference, and after them the heads of large families. The rents charged for these dwellings are invariably lower than those charged by private owners. Thus the average rent per room in the case of the 221 dwellings (with an aggregate of 735 rooms) belonging to the Düsseldorf Röhren- und Eisen walz werke is slightly under 6a. per month, and here a piece of garden ground is added to half the houses, an outhouse to many, and a cellar to all. Some of the large engineering works go beyond the requirements of the Insurance and Factory Laws in promoting the welfare and convenience of their workpeople. Special funds exist for the purpose of supplementing the benefits and pensions claimable under the Insurance Laws ; factory canteens and kitchens are not uncommon ; and bathing facilities are provided by several Works in addition to the more general arrangements for washing ; at one concern 14 bathing cells are in constant use and as many as 1,000 shower baths are taken weekly. Several employers maintain a creche, which is managed by sisters of the Red Cross. Little has been done in Düsseldorf to meet the needs of unmarried workmen ­ in the matter of lodging. As yet the large works have made no provision of the kind such as is found in Bochum, Essen, and other towns, and while the Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches conduct “ Homes ” and “ Hospices ” for the special benefit of workmen—especially those on the road attached to their distinctive faiths, the settled workman without home of his own is in the main dependent on private families, die accommodation he obtains is, as a i ule, tolerable enough, but in the measure that the lodger is well provided for, the accommodation that remains for the household with which he lives is too often unduly restricted. A good deal of the overcrowding of homes which comes before the notice of the housing inspectors owes its origin to the practice of subletting ­ in its various forms. An investigation made in Decernoei 1900, brought to light cases in which the majority of the rooms contained in a house were let to lodgers ; thus 7 out of 10, 8 out of 13, and even 18 out of 23 in one instance. Before long, however, it is likely that provision for unmarried men will be made by the establishment under public auspices of a large boarding house for the 216 DÜSSELDORF. reception of three hundred men. Already the town has given a site valued at £7,500 for the purpose, and an equal sum is to be raised by private effort to meet the cost of building and equipment. Retail Prices. Groceries and other commodities. There are no public market halls in Düsseldorf, and the working people purchase ­ from three classes of shops—(1) those of their own Co-operative Societies of which there are three kinds, answering to the different types of industrial organisation, viz., the Social Democratic Society, with ten stores and a family membership of 2,450, representing 12,250 consumers, the Roman Catholic, and the Hirsch-Duncker ; (2) those of private traders scattered throughout the working-class quarters of the town, and (3) the large shops of the “ multiple ” type. An open market is still held daily until one o’clock in the market place near the town hall, but the supplies consist chiefly of vegetables and agricultural produce (brought from the country by the wives and daughters of the growers), fish, fruit, &c. The working classes of Düsseldorf are in the habit of buying their food stuffs of good quality. Of bread many kinds are eaten, but there is no home-baking. “Grey bread” is the staple loaf. It is made either of pure rye-flour or, more commonly, of rye with an admixture of wheat, and is sold as a rule in loaves of from 1J to 2 lb. weight. It is bread of close texture, soft within the very hard and resisting crust, and very nutritious. The predominant price in both October, 1905, and May, 1906, was from 5\d,. to 6d. per 4 lb., the price of factory-made bread being rather less than that of the retail baker’s bread. A cheaper and coarser bread is black bread. It consists of unsifted rye, either once or twice ground according to price. This, too, is very largely eaten by the working-classes, and was sold at Id. to 1 \d. per lb. White bread is less commonly eaten, save in the form of breakfast rolls. The almost universal price for coffee paid by the working-class families was lid. per lb. A large amount of “ sugar coffee ” is sold. This is coffee roasted with a small amount of sugar, giving it a black glossy surface ; it goes farther than the ordinary coffee, and is used for the sake of economy. Roasted rye and malt are also substitutes for which there was a considerable demand at 2\d. and 2|rf. per lb. respectively in October, 1905. There is no demand at all for tea. The sugar exclusively used is loaf or “cube” sugar, for coffee, and white granulated, and the price was about 2f or 3d. per lb. for the former and 2\d. for the latter. Of margarine a large amount is consumed by the working classes,, though many grocers in the industrial quarters sell more fresh butter. As a rule only margarine of good quality finds a ready market. There are two kinds of bacon, the one consisting wholly of fat, w hile the other is of the kind commonly called “ streaky.” The former is not eaten as bacon, but used for frying other meat ; in fact, it serves the purpose of suet or lard, a circumstance wRich is somewhat surprising when one considers that the price in October, 1905, was usually about 9fd. per lb., while streaky bacon cost only Id. more ; indeed, in some shops the same price is charged for the one as for the other. It follows, therefore, that what are regarded as the best cuts of bacon in England, viz., those from the back, are not sold in Düsseldorf, and this appears to be the case in Germany generally. The fat is removed entirely from the back and ribs and sold in the form just described ; the remaining lean is then sold as pork chops. Bacon, as the term is understood in England, is made only from the belly, and is eaten boiled. The favourite cheese of the working classes is Dutch, at about lOd. per lb. Limburg cheese comes next in favour, at 5Id. per lb., and a smaller quantity of Swiss (“ Gruyere”) cheese is bought at 10\d. The price of milk was 2£dL per quart, but it is a common observation that the consumption is not as large as is desirable in the interests of young children. Hence it is that a society has been formed in Düsseldorf for the free supply of milk to families of restricted means. In the ordinary way milk is retailed in carts by farmers from the country, by dairies supplied direct from the farm, by small grocers in considerable number,. DÜSSELDORF. 217 and by kiosks located in convenient positions in the streets. Potatoes are bought by the “ Becher ” (or bowl), a measure containing 6g lb. For fuel the working classes use coal and briquettes. Coal is used almost exclusively for the cooking-stove ; it is bought either by the pailful, in the case of poor people, at a price of 2d. or 3<d. a pail, or by the hundred-weight, in which quantity it is delivered in the house at 11 \d. a cwt. For the heating-stove briquettes, which cost 10\d. per cwt., are largely used. The following were the predominant prices of various articles of common use paid by the working classes in October, 1905, and May, 1906. There was little change of price in the interval :— Predominant price. Commodity. Coffee ... ... ... per lb. Sugar :— Loaf ... White Granulated Bacon :— Fat Streaky Eggs :—■ Box per Is. Country Cheese :— Dutch per lb. Limburg Swiss Butter Margarine Potatoes ... ... ... per 7 lb. Flour,Wheaten (Household) ,, Bread (Rye) ... ... per 4 lb. Milk per quart Coal per cwt. Paraffin Oil per gallon. At October, 1905. At May, 1906. lid. 2fd., 3d. 2# 9§d. lid. 13 11 9|d. to lO^d. 5&d. 10£d- to lid. Is. 24d. to Is. %\d. 7|d. 2\d. to 3d. Hid. 5\d. to öd. 2$d. llid. 9fd. lid. 2|d., 3d. 2# 9|d. lid. 17 14 94d. to IQid. 5&d. 10fd. to lid. Is. 2fd. to Is. 3fd. 7# 2|d. to 3d. llid. 5\d. to öd. 2#d. ll^d. to Is Ofd. 9fd. to 9fd. The following comparative statement of prices has been extracted from the price lists of a “ multiple ” firm doing a large working-class trade Averaqe Retail Prices of certain Commodities in 1879, 1880, 1881, 1905, 1906, and 1907. Commodity. Coffee (roasted) :— 1st quality Ordinary ... Wheaten flour :— Finest Seconds Rice :— Carolina Rangoon ... Margarine Bacon (smoked) Mett sausage (best) Cheese :— Dutch Limburg (common) Swiss Petroleum per lb. per 7 lb. per lb. per gallon I 1879. 1880. 1*. 7 d. 9f d. la. 7f(7. la. Ifd. .3f (l. 2 d, 8p7. 6f(7. 7f(7. 7f d. 5 d. 11 d. llid. la. 7d. Is. la. Id, la. Ifd. 3f d. 2(7. 8f(7. 6f(7. 8\d. 8f(7. 5 d. Hid. 1 Id. 1881. la. Id. lid. la. Id. la. 2id. 3f(7. 2d, 7 d. 6fd. 8f(7. 8f(7. 5 d. 11 id, 9f(7. 1905. ! 1906. la. 3fd. 8f(7. la. Ifd, 10(7. 3f(7. If d. S\d. 8f(7. la. 10f/7. l\d. la. 8f(7. la. 5id. 8f(7. la. lid. 11&(7. 3 Id. 2d. 8f(7. 9^(7. 9(7. to la. 10(7. 5£(7. 1907. la. lid. 9f¿. la. 3p7. la. lf(7. 3f(2. 2(7. It may be added that a system of discounts, corresponding to the “ check ” system known in England, exists in connection with the working-class trade. With each purchase above 2\d. a ticket is given entitling the buyer to a discount of about 5 per cent, when his tickets reach a certain amount, as a rule 20s. This discount is returned in goods selected by the customer. 2 E 29088 218 DÜSSELDORF. Meat. The Düsseldorf supply of fresh meat consists almost entirely of German produce. Oxen, cows and heifers are brought in from Rhineland, Westphalia and Berlin ; calves from Hanover and Westphalia ; sheep from the latter province chiefly, and pigs from Mecklenburg, Oldenburg and Holstein as well as from Westphalia. A considerable amount of dead meat was still being imported from Holland in October, 1905, but since March, 1906, the supply from that quarter has almost ceased owing to the increase in the import duties. The nearest estimate of the meat consumption of the town is the quantity which passes into the market through the public abattoir. This amounted in 1905 to 143’8 lb. per head, against 147’2 lb. in 1904, and 120 3 lb. in 1903, but owing to the reservation named these figures must be regarded as understating the actual consumption. On the other hand, the consumption by the workingclasses as attested by 126 returns obtained for this enquiry, and representing 593 persons, of weekly expenditure on meat, only amounts to 25J oz. a head per week, or approximately 83 lb. per annum. Of this beef accounted for 35 per cent., sausage for 25 per cent., bacon and pork for 21 per cent., and mutton for 7 per cent. The last is a high proportion as compared with other German towns. The Düsseldorf workman rarely sees a joint of meat upon his table, small pieces weighing from half a pound to a pound being the usual quantities served over the counter. As will be seen from the foregoing figures, beef and pork are much more frequently eaten than mutton or veal. The meat is usually boiled in the first instance in order to make the indispensable soup. After that it is fried or otherwise browned on the surface, flavoured, and served with some kind of vegetable (very frequently beans) and potatoes. Steaks and chops are considered far too expensive, but it must be remembered that a mutton or pork chop is not the same thing in Germany as in the United Kingdom. Every vestige of the fat is carefully removed, so that it consists only of the bone and the lean part, frequently spoken of as the “ eye.” Such mutton as is eaten by the working classes usually comes from the neck or the breast. The same price is charged for any part of the neck, usually 6^d. to Id. per pound. Ko frozen or chilled meat is imported. Some 1,700 horses are slaughtered for consumption in the Düsseldorf abattoir in the course of a year and there are six butchers in the town who sell only this description of meat. The horses come from all parts of Germany, especially the East and South, but also from England. English horses are preferred. For an old worked-out horse £2 or £3 is given. Good horses, which happen to have been lamed, fetch as much as £7 and in exceptional cases £9. The carriage from England amounts to £4 and a duty of £2 10s. has to be paid ; an English horse costs the Düsseldorf butcher £10 on the average. Native horses can be got to the abattoir at a total cost of £4 to £5, or even less. The utmost care is taken that only healthy horses are offered as food. Both before and after killing, a horse is examined by the veterinary surgeon attached to the public slaughter-house and the butcher is required to keep a register, which is periodically examined, giving the following data : sex and colour, age, size, special characteristics, day of purchase, name of vendor and remarks as to its origin, certificate of veterinary surgeon as to condition on first and second examination respectively, day of slaughter and of sale elsewhere, and other remarks. One of the local restaurant proprietors, who sells only horse-flesh, cuts up two horses every Saturday and provides a dish of horse-flesh (stewed), including potatoes, at 35 pfennige (about 4d.). The usual retail prices of horseflesh per pound in Düsseldorf are as follows :— d. Fillet Steak Meat for boiling .. for roasting.. Liver Kidneys ... Sausage— From liver Hard (Plockwurst) DÜSSELDORF. 219 Except that the taste is somewhat sweetish and the colour a little dark, horseflesh, when carefully cooked, might very well pass for inferior beef, and there are those who profess a preference for it. The accompanying summary shows the prices most frequently paid for meat by the working classes of Düsseldorf, in October, 1905, and May, 1906. There was virtually no change in the interval. Description of Cut. Shin Beef :— Ribs Silverside ( with bone ( without bone Steak Flank Mutton :— Leg Shoulder Breast Neck Chops (trimmed) Veal :— Hind-quarter t.. Shoulder I ' vith bone Loin Pork :— Leg Fore Loin Belly Spare Rib Chops without bone Predominant price per lb. At October, 1905. 8fd. 71d. to 9 {d. 7d. to 71d. 11 d. Is. Id. 7d. to 7Id. 9\d. to 9|d. 8f d. GW. to Id. 6|d. to Id. 8fd. to 9fd. 9fd. to 10\d. 8fd. to 9^d. Is. Id. Is. 3id. 91d. to lid. 9fd. to Is. 9# lid. lid. At May, 1906. 8&d. 7|d. to 9\d. Id. to 7|d. lid. Is. Id. 7d. to 7|d. 9fd. to 9|d. 8|d. 8\d. to 7d. Gfd. to Id. 8|d. to 9fd. 9|d. to lOfd. 8|d. to 9fd. Is. Id. Is. 3\d. 9|d. to lid. 9|d. to lid. 9gd. lid. lid. Taking prices at Berlin as 100, the index number for meat at Düsseldorf is 108 ; for other food it is 106, and for coal 78. For all commodities it is 102. For rent and prices combined, the index number on Berlin (100) is 97, a figure well above the average. 29088 2 E 2 220 ELBERFELD. Elberfeld is one of the principal towns of the Rhineland, and in manufactures ­ and industries it most closely corresponds to Bradford amongst English towns. Like Barmen, which it adjoins, it is situated in the Wupper valley, one of the larger depressions of the Berg country, stretching roughly from the river Ruhr in the north to the Sieg in the south. Its population as enumerated at the census of 1905 was 162,853, against 156,966 in 1900, an increase of 5,887, or 3'7 per cent., against an increase of 12 7 per cent, during the preceding five years. Elberfeld does not gain as much as some industrial towns of North Germany by immigration : an exceptionally large proportion of its population is indigenous. The following Table shows the population of Elberfeld at the last seven censuses, and also the increase in population in each inter-censal period. Census Year. 1871 1875 1880 1885 1890 1895 1900 1905 Population. 71,384 80,589 93,538 106,499 125,899 139,337 156,966 162,853 Increase during Inter-censal Period. Persons. 9,205 12,949 12,961 19,400 13,438 17,629 5,887 Per cent. 12- 9 16-1 13- 9 18-2 10-7 12-7 3-7 Elberfeld is an industrial and trading town pure and simple. It literally fills the valley, rising up on both sides of the river in irregular streets and terraces ; the houses climb up steep declivities, some of which are rendered extremely quiet by the impossibility of vehicular traffic ; the streets are a perplexing zig-zag of unrelated lines and curves ; in short, wherever houses could be squeezed in, they have been built, and the result is a curious patchwork of architecture. Where the hillside has defied the resources of the builder, access is obtained to higher levels by flights of stone steps, varying in number from a score to a hundred ; in one place there is a sheer ascent of nearly a hundred and fifty steps. In the older parts of the town the traditional Berg style of domestic architecture predominates. The original Berg dwelling was a low structure of wood, brick and plaster, or even of straw and mud, and it has many representatives in Elberfeld to-day, though the modern builder does not perpetuate it. Later came a modification in the form of a facing of black slate, by way of protection against the weather, and this form of house is also met with in considerable numbers. High gables and large sweeps of roof are characteristic of all these dwellings. The streets are, for the most part, narrow, and few ot them are well-paved, while many are not paved at all. tip to recently the cesspool system of drainage was universal, and even now the gutters in many parts of the town receive the w^ash-water of the adjacent houses, to the disfigurement of the streets, though within several years the costly system of sewerage now in progress will remove this deficiency. Through the valley there flows the Wupper stream, made black and noisome by the in-pourings of trade effluents of every kind, while above it runs the ELBERFELD. 221 track of the suspended railway connecting Vohwinkel with Barmen, with Elberfeld between. Elberfeld cannot. be called an attractive town ; it is entirely industrial, and its street-names alone give an accurate clue to its multifarious activities, past and present, with their references to ribbons, embroideries, and belts, to weaving and knitting, to dyeing, bleaching, and tanning, to smiths, millers, carpenters, shoemakers, and the like. Nowadays Elberfeld’s staple industries are the textiles, yet hand weaving and other house industries are still extensively followed, and give employment to a considerable number of people. Elberfeld had in 1905 the relatively low death rate of 15’8 per 1,000 inhabitants, comparing with 16'5 per 1,000 in 1904 and 17*1 per 1,000 for the period 1901-5. The birth rate in 1905 was 30 5 per 1,000 against 31*6 in 1904 ; there has been a gradual decline since 1895, when the rate was 35. Never between 1810 and 1901 was the rate lower than 34 per 1,000. The rate of infant mortality in 1905 was 161 per 1,000 births against 158 in 1904, 169 in 1903, 170 in 1902, and 164 in 1901. The proportion of illegitimate births to all births (non-residents excluded) was 0T per cent, in 1905 against 6 per cent, in 1904, 5*8 per cent, in 1903, and 5 per cent, in 1902. The deaths from pulmonary consumption in 1905 amounted to 1*7 per 1,000 of the population ; and the deaths from consumption of every kind gave a rate of 2 per 1,000 of the population. The following Table gives the birtl¿ and death rates and the infantile mortality rate for the period 1901-5 :— Year. 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 Birth-rate per 1,000 of Population. 344 314 32 0 316 305 Death-rate per 1,000 of Population. 17 2 18-2 181 16-5 15-8 Infantile Mortality per 1,000 Births. 164 170 169 158 161 Among the undertakings under public management are the tramways, electrical power and light works, gas works, water works, cattle market and abattoir, a series of baths, a public hall and concert rooms, a museum and art gallery, a public library, technical schools of various kinds, a labour registry, a house agency office, a savings bank, a pawnshop, a children’s home and a creche, besides various poor law institutions. The town has also its official newspaper. Elberfeld originated a reformed system of poor-law administration which has been widely imitated in Germany and has attracted much attention in other countries. The basis of this system is out-door relief checked by efficient methods of visitation and scrutiny. The town is divided into districts of convenient size, to which are allotted almoners to the aggregate number of about 600. Each almoner is responsible for the periodical visitation of the homes of the people in his district, and with their conditions he is expected to be familiar. During the financial year 1904-5 7'4 per 1,000 of the population received out-door relief against 7*2 per 1,000 in 1903-4. Occupations, Wages and Hours of Labour. Elberfeld is one of the principal centres of the textile trades in the Rhineland. It is largely engaged in the manufacture of cotton and woollen stuffs, as well as silk and velvet goods. Plushes, upholstery, and general haberdashery goods are its special trade, and in the production of these a few large and many small factories are engaged. Its cotton printing, dyeing and finishing works are important, and here, too, the trade is distributed amongst a large number of small concerns. The chemical and colour industry also 222 ELBERFELD. employs large numbers of workers ; there are several machine works of some size ; the largest brewery of the Rhineland is here, and among other manufactures those of paper of various kinds and leather belting are deserving of note. The classification of the “ industrial workpeople ” of the town, employed in factories and workshops under inspection, is shown in the following table :— Group of Trades. Building Metalworking Machine, implement and apparatus making. Textiles Clothing and cleaning Printing, lithography, bookbinding, &c Paper ... ... ... ... ». Woodworking and carving Chemicals ... Resins, varnishes, oil, soap, candles, &c Stone and earth Food, drink and tobacco ... Leather ... ... ... ... Total ... N umber of Establishments. 36 105 51 239 136 41 21 84 13 5 24 284 15 1,054 Number of Workpeople. Male. 855 2,055 688 4,214 344 730 636 955 1,919 170 421 897 146 14,030 Female. 238 8 3,684 1,726 269 513 146 54 9 64 20 6,731 Total. 855 2,293 696 7,898 2,070 999 1,149 1,101 1,973 179 421 961 166 20,761 Of the workpeople here enumerated 7,898 or 38 per cent, belong to the textile industry, and of these 46 6 per cent, are females, though the proportion of female workers in general is only 32'4 per cent. Returns have been obtained concerning the wages paid in over twenty representative factories and other works. These returns are of the earnings of a full normal week, exclusive of overtime, since in the industries affected the piece wage system is most general. In the textile trades male weavers in general earn from 18s. to 19s. 3d. per week, but plush and ribbon weavers, 25s. to 30s. ; 25s. may be regarded as an all round average for weaving. Dyers earn 25s. and 26s. if independent men, except silk and plush dyers, wdio earn up to 32s., though the majority, who are unskilled, earn only 21s. and 22s. ; finishers earn from 22s. to 23s. 2c/., and cotton printers, 35s. In the engineering trades, skilled men earn from 27s. to 35s. 5c/., and labourers from 22s. 6c/. to 24s. 6c/. The rates of wages in some of the building and allied trades are fixed by agreement, the hourly rate for masons and bricklayers being 6c/., for carpenters, 6ic/., for painters, 5and for stucco workers, 8JcZ. A ten hours day is almost universal. Work begins as a rule at 6 or 7 a.m. and continues, with intervals of two hours in the aggregate, until the same hours in the evening, save on Saturday, when it ceases half-an-hour or an hour earlier. In the textile trade a fortnight’s notice as between employer and workman is customary, but in most industries no notice whatever is given on either side. Wages are for the most part paid weekly, except in the textile factories. There are no local holidays, but the statutory ones amount to eight days in the year, viz., New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Ascension Day, Easter Monday, Whit Monday, Penance Day, and Christmas and Boxing Day. ELBERFELD. 223 There is much organisation amongst the working classes and especially amongst workmen belonging to the more skilled trades and industries. It was estimated at the close of 1904 that of the brewers 85'5 per cent, belonged to trade unions of some kind, of the stonemasons 76 - 2 per cent., of the woodworkers .58*8 per cent., of the carpenters 56‘6 per cent., of the metal workers 37*7 per cent., of the painters and plasterers 32 per cent., of the textile workers 26'8 per cent., of labourers engaged in transport 22 per cent., and of masons’ labourers 10 per cent. The following table summarises the predominant wages and hours of labour in the more important occupations : — Wages and Hours of Labour in the Principal Occupations, October, 1905. Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours of Labour. Building Trades* :— Bricklayers and Masons Stonemasons Carpenters Joiners and Cabinetmakers ... Plumbers Painters ... Stucco-workers Artistic Smiths and Iron-workers Labourers ... ... ' ... Iron and Steel Works :— Sand Moulders (hand) Loam ,, ... ... „ „ helpers Machine Moulders „ „ helpers Planers ... Polishers Coremakers Labourers Textile Trades :— .Cotton and Woollen Weavers Plush Weavers ... Silk Ribbon Weavers Dyers cotton ... , , Sl.lli ... ... ... „ silk plush „ unskilled men ... Finishers Cotton printers... ... - Button making :— Engravers Solderers Other workmen Printing and Allied Trades :— Printers and Machine-minders Machine Compositors—news... „ „ jobbing Bookbinders Food, Drink, Ac., Industries : — Bakers, first hands „ second hands Brewers ... Brewers’ coopers „ labourers „ draymen Miscellaneous :— Chemical workers 30s. 42s. 33s. 29s. 8Æ 28s. 6(7. 27s. to 30s. 35s. 3(7. to 42s. 24 s. 24s. 36s. to 39s. 28s. „ 32s. 24s. „ 25s. 32s. „ 34s. 25s. 3(7. 30s. to 35s. 6(7. 27s. 28s. to 34s. 6(7. 22s. 6(7. to 24s. 6d. 18s. to 19s. 3(7. 23s. to 30s. 25 s. 22s. to 26s. 22s. „ 26s. 25s. „ 32s. 21s. „ 22s. 22s. to 23s. 2(7. 35s. 33s. 29s. 5(7. 27s. 24s. 9(7. 30s. 11(7. 32s. 2(7. 25s. to 27s. 28s. 24s. 27s. 27s. 22s. 27s. 19s. 60 60 60 54 57 60 56 to 60 60 60 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 59 to 60 56 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 59 59 59 54 48 54 60 72 72 60 60 60 60 54 * The wages and hours of labour stated for the building trades are fora full week in summer. On the basis of the rates given in the above Table, the level of wages of skilled men in the building trades is represented by 89 as compared with 100 in Berlin, while for labourers in the building trades the percentage is 94. The rates for printers are 88 per cent, of those in Berlin. 224 ELBERFELD. The following were the wages and hours of municipal workpeople at the same date :— Road Department :— Workpeople in the permanent service of the municipality receive, after a year’s uninterrupted employment, two-thirds of their wages during absence owing to military duties, if married or responsible for the support of relatives ; they are allowed to perform all their civic duties (e.g. as jurymen, electors, witnesses, members of public bodies, &c.), also urgent duties of a private character, without loss, and after four years’ service they have claim to an annual holiday of four days, and after ten years’ service to one of a week. Although the factory dominates the textile industry in Elberfeld to-day, the hand loom weaver is still a factor to be reckoned with, both by the manufacturer ­ who employs him and the house owner who finds him accommodation. In some hundreds of houses one room at least is given up to the loom and its auxiliary mechanism. For the most part it is the older generation, the handloom weavers by descent, who perpetuate this primitive form of production, ­ and comparatively few young people are to-day being brought up to their fathers’ calling in Elberfeld itself, though it is otherwise in many of the villages round about. The handloom weaver owns his loom, and works for wages, the manufacturer supplying all the raw material and cards, and paying the price fixed either on the delivery of a certain length of material or on the completion of the commission. In reality there is little difference between the position of the hand loom weaver and the factory operative, save the sentimental one that the home worker is his own master, to the extent that he is subject to no regulations as to when he shall begin and when cease work. In practice he begins quite as early as the factory weaver and he continues much longer. From twelve to fourteen hours a day is the usual worktime, the loom seldom stopping until dusk even in the long summer evenings ; yet the weaver has a certain compensation in the independence of his movements. As a rule the goods woven are waistcoat and other silk materials which are of too “ fancy ” a character for the power loom. The handloom weaver nowadays regards 25a. as good earnings for a long week’s work, in which the wife has done her part as well ; but earnings of 20a. and even. 15a. are not uncommon when work is interrupted or time broken. It should also be remembered that a large amount of time is lost when the loom is changed to a new class of goods, and for this loss, which may run to some days, the weaver receives no compensation. Bad times also come when there is no work at all, for the manufacturer has first to Foremen... Paviors ... Paviors’ labourers Road makers „ sweepers ... 32s. 31&. 6d. 21s. 19s. 6d. 21s. 60 60 60 60 60 Gasworks :— Foremen.. Stokers .. Labourers 47 s. 30s. 22s. 60 60 60 Waterworks :— Skilled men Stokers ... Labourers 60 56 60 Electrical Works and Lighting :— Fitters and Installers ... Enginemen Stokers ... Fitters ... 60 60 60 60 keep his factory employed and the hand loom weaver can only count on what I ELBERFELD. 225 remains over. Other goods still made at home in Elberfeld are pattern cards, button stuffs, and especially silk ribbons. In some houses the ribbon frame is run by a small motor, driven by electricity or gas, and here and there a ribbon weaver keeps two or more frames, employing youths to assist him. In such cases the earnings are larger, yet the home ribbon weaving industry is likewise subject to the uncertainties of employment, and the general return for a complete year’s work hardly exceeds £l or 25s. a week. Housing and Rents. It is characteristic of Elberfeld that the working classes are scattered throughout the town to a far greater extent than in most German towns, and there are no districts (though many streets) of a purely working-class character. In some measure this diffusion of the industrial element of the population is due to the survival of a great many houses of the Berg type of architecture, already described. These houses are found in all save the newer parts of the town, and their decadent condition and the restricted character of their accommodationlow rooms, narrow staircases, and small courts—have caused them to be occupied by people of slender means. In addition to this, however, the conformation of the land has proved an insuperable obstacle to any deliberate laying out of the town on what may be termed class lines. Houses have been built as space has been found or made for them. Undesirable sites have naturally been allotted to the less discriminating class of tenants, with the result that, save in a few situations high up the valley sides, people of all conditions find themselves living in contiguity. Further, the very industrial character of Elberfeld has encouraged this mingling of the population. In describing the normal homes of the working classes, the old Berg dwellings may be disregarded. They are numerous still, yet they are gradually giving place to larger structures, especially in the busy parts of the town, where the value of living space advances every year and makes small houses an increasingly unremunerative form of investment. Hence they can hardly be regarded as typical from the modern housing standpoint, and for present purposes they may be passed over. Two genuine types remain, the house of the early modern period and the house of the present day. The former is found in all parts of the town, the latter for the most part in the outer districts. The early modern house, going back any period beyond the last 25 years, generally has three or four rooms downstairs, let as one dwelling if consisting of three only ; and in the upper stories—two or three as the case may be—four rooms, let as two dwellings. Sometimes, however, ­ three rooms upstairs go together, and one is let to a widow or a married couple without children. The lower story is approached by a passage, at the end of which are the stairs leading to the higher stories, while right or left a door opens direct into the kitchen of the dwelling. \\ here four rooms below are divided into two tenements the passage runs between the two front rooms, and entrance is gained right and left at the foot of the stairs. Here the space occupied by the passage below allows either of the rooms above being larger or of a small room being added, making five rooms in all, which are let in two dwellings of three and two rooms respectively. As representing the later dwellings, which conform more faithfully to the municipal building regulations now in operation (see pp. 228, 229), two types may be taken—the house of four or five rooms below and five on each of the three upper stories, with the usual courtyard or open space behind, and the house of equal accommodation whose courtyard leads to a second block at Hie rear, known as the “ back house ” (“ Hinterhaus ”), similar in arrangement and number of rooms. Here the passage downstairs is in the centre, forming a division between the two tenements, which are entered on the right and left of the stairs. The rents of the tenements in the “ back house ” are always somewhat lower than those in the front block. It is characteristic of these houses that the rooms in the upper stories almost invariably open one into the other, so that a locked door is the only division between two tenements. The object is to facilitate the letting of the 2 F 29088 226 ELBERFELD. rooms according 1 to the changing requirements of the tenants. Thus a suite of five rooms will divide into tenements of four rooms and one, three rooms and two, or two tenements of two rooms and a single room. Sometimes the doorways between tenements are bricked up, but separately from the adjacent masonry, so that doors may be put in if desired. Another feature of the modern house is the balcony, which is perhaps the most agreeable of the modern innovations in the domestic architecture of Elberfeld and indeed of this part of Prussia generally. As a rule each tenement on the upper stories has its small separate balcony behind. Sometimes these balconies are constructed of simple iron railings, but more often they are substantially made of concrete. An improvement which is also very common in the newer houses is the addition of a vestibule between the landing and the rooms to which it gives entrance, thus securing greater privacy for the tenement as a whole and for the individual apartments. The only peculiarities about the highest story, known as the “attic” or “roof” story (“Dachgeschoss”), are that the ceilings sometimes ­ slope towards the gable end, the windows are, as a rule, smaller, and the rooms are less lofty than those below. Above this story comes a loft, which is properly so named, since it is generally approached by a rough staircase and in some of the older houses even by a ladder, while the roof and the walls are entirely unplastered. This space is commonly used for drying purposes where the accommodation in the house is insufficient. To every house is attached a portion of the cellar, each division being under lock and key. Water-closets are provided for the tenants on each landing, sometimes one for joint use, but in the newer buildings one for each tenement. The dimensions of the rooms in dwellings of modern erection may here be given, and as an illustration a new house of four stories, besides an attic story, containing eight tenements and 22 rooms (two being attic store-rooms), situated in the Cronenbergstrasse, is taken. The height of the basement rooms is 12 feet 8 inches, of the rooms in the first two stories 12 feet 1 inch, and of the uppermost story 11 feet 5 inches. The kitchens are 16 feet 2 inches by 12 feet 8 inches and 16 feet 7 inches by 12 feet 11 inches. The living and bedrooms are 16 feet 2 inches by 13 feet 2 inches, 16 feet 7 inches by 11 feet 5 inches, and 16 feet 7 inches by 12 feet 11 inches. There is ample cellaring, which is parcelled out amongst the tenants. Dimensions like these provide for the housing of families of normal size without overcrowding, and in most cases leave a considerable margin beyond the regulation cubical space per individual (see p. 229). The great majority of the working classes live in tenements of two and three rooms. Not counting attics, alcoves, and similar appurtenances where they occur, the dwellings of Elberfeld were classified as to rooms as follows in December, 1905 :— 1 Room. 2 Rooms. 3 Rooms. 4 Rooms. More than 4 Rooms. Total. Number of dwellings Percentage of the whole ... 3,417 8*4 14,929 36-9 8,771 21-7 6,203 153 7,188 17*7 40,508 1000 Naturally the proportion of working-class families occupying dwellings of three rooms and under is much larger. Of 1,364 strictly working-class dwellings classified according to size for the purpose of this report, 102 or 7*4 per cent, contained but one room, 785 or 57*6 per cent, contained two rooms, 410 or 30 per cent, contained three rooms, and 67 or 4*9 per cent, four or more rooms. Every tenant rents his house by a formal signed contract. This fixes the term of notice on either side, which may be a week, a month, or three months according to agreement ; it also lays down the house regulations which must be observed in regard to such matters as the washing of the floors and stairs, the ELBERFELD. 227 lighting of the approaches, &c. The local rule at Elberfeld is yearly tenancies as from the first of May, and save in exceptional cases rents are paid at the end of each fortnight or month. Elberfeld cannot by any means claim to be free from slums. In a town with so many antiquated buildings of the timber and plaster type, buildings crowded together end to end and back to back without regard to considerations of space, air, and light, such an immunity would be impossible. The old Berg houses are from the standpoint of sanitation very defective, but perhaps the least desmible dwellings are found in the quarters of the town inhabited by the poorly paid workers in the chemical industry. Yet the public authority is keenly alive to the sanitary aspect of the housing question, and its efficient system of inspection, carried out by specially trained officers, powerfully supports the efforts of the sanitary and building departments of the municipal service. This system of inspection was introduced in 1899, and the first thorough investigation ­ covered nearly four years, as a result of which 1Y8 per cent, of the dwellings visited had to be scheduled for attention. A second inspection in 1903 led to complaints being addressed to the users or occupiers of 112 per cent, of the dwellings visited ; in 1904 the percentage was 12. In the latter year the grounds of complaint were as follows:—(1) Too little light in the bedroom, 23*7 per cent, of the whole ; (2) Insufficient air space in the bedrooms, 24 7 per cent. ; (3) Persons of different sex sleeping in the same room contrary to regulations, 40 per cent. ; (4) A combination of the complaints 2 and 3, 115 per cent. These figures disregard damp, defective water-closet accommodation, contravention of the lodger regulations, &c. The taking of lodgers is not made directly dependent on police permission, except when persons of different sex are taken, but it is required that notice shall be given to the police within six days where rooms are to let, stating how many lodgers are taken and how they are housed. It is forbidden to let to lodgers rooms which communicate, even by a locked door, with the living and bedrooms of the rest of the household. The same space per person, viz., 343 cubic feet, must be provided as is prescribed in the case of bedrooms generally, and a separate bed must be provided for each lodger. In 1904, 1,188 rooms were let in 700 dwellings to 2,378 lodgers ; in 1903, 1,220 rooms were let to 2,425 lodgers in 661 dwellings. Kents have for some years been declining on account of overbuilding, induced by excessive speculation, which in its turn was encouraged by the low rate of mortgage interest, and the professional house-owner complains that the present rents, taken in conjunction with the high local taxes, makes his vocation a very unremunerative one. The following table shows the predominant rents of the two and threeroomed working-class tenements of which the rents were obtained for the purposes of this report :— Number of Rooms per Tenement. Predominant Weekly Rent. Two rooms Three rooms 2s. Gcf. to 3s. 6d. 4s. to 5s. 9d. Kent at Berlin being represented by 100, the corresponding figure for Elberfeld is 57. The municipal income tax falls on all incomes exceeding £21. In the case of incomes liable to the State income tax, viz., those exceeding £45, the local super-tax was 200 per cent, of the State tax in 1906. Lower incomes were assessed at assumed rates of 2s. 4 - 8d. on amounts between £21 and £33, and 45. on amounts between £33 and £45, and the local super-tax was 125 and 150 29088 2 F 2 228 ELBERFELD. per cent, ( instead of 200) of these rates respectively. The etfect of the double tax is that small incomes were liable to the following taxes : — Income. State Tax. Municipal Tax. Together. Exceeding £21 » £33 £45 £5210a. £60 £67 10s. £75 £8210s. £90 to £33 inclusive „ £45 „ „ £52 10s. „ „ £60 „ „ £67 10s. „ „ £75 „ „ £82 10s. „ „ £90 „ £105 £ S. dm 0 6 0 0 9 0 0 12 0 0 16 0 110 16 0 111 0 £ s. d. 0 3 0 0 6 0 0 12 0 0 18 0 14 0 1 12 0 2 2 0 2 12 0 3 2 0 £ s. d. 0 3 0 0 6 0 0 18 0 17 0 1 16 0 2 8 0 3 3 0 3 18 0 4 13 0 The municipality itself owns some 60 working-class dwellings of different types, most of which were built over 20 years ago. The oldest of the houses are of two stories and are constructed of brick, faced with wood. They have mostly four rooms, two of good size and two smaller, and each house has a patch of garden and a cellar, but no special washplace. The dimensions of the rooms are as follows :— (1) I Length. Width. 14 ft, 7 in. 12 ft. 12 ft. 2 in. 13 ft. 12 ft, 6 ft. 6 in. 9 ft, 9 in. 9 ft. 9 in. Height. 9 ft. 1 in. 9 ft, 1 in. 9 ft. 1 in. 9 ft. 1 in. These houses were erected at a time when home-weaving was commoner than now, and one of the rooms was intended for a loom. The newer houses are built more substantially and with greater attention to outward appearance and internal convenience ; the rooms are loftier, the approaches more spacious. A typical house of three rooms visited had the following dimensions : (1) 12 by 9 by 10 feet ; (2) 12 by 10 by 10 feet ; (3) 12 by 12 by 10 feet. The two rooms of a smaller house were both 12 by 10 by 10 feet. The rents of these tenements are somewhat below the normal rents for houses of equal accommodation, a dwelling of two rooms costing £7 per annum and one of three rooms £9, except in the attic story, where the rents are £5 and £6 10s. respectively. An agency of great public convenience is the municipal House Bureau, which was established several years ago for the purpose of negotiating dwellings for working people and small tenants free of charge. The registry was originally intended for dwellings up to a rent of £25 per annum, but this restriction has now been cancelled, though a small charge is made in the case of owners offering property above this rent. During the year April, 1904, to March, 1905, 2,400 applications were received from house-seekers against 1,767 during the preceding year, and about 1,000 dwellings are regularly on the books. The fact may be noted, as throwing light on the prevailing standard of house accommodation, that of the 1,767 persons who used the House Bureau in 1903, 193, or 10*9 per cent., sought tenements of one room ; 610, or 34 5 per cent., tenements of two rooms ; 517, or 29 - 2 per cent., tenements of three rooms ; the demand for tenements of from one to three rooms thus amounting to 74*6 per cent, of the whole. The municipal authority recently adopted an amended code of building regulations for the purpose of securing better housing conditions in the future extension of the town. The municipal area has been divided into an inner and an outer zone. In the inner zone it is prescribed that building sites may be built upon to the extent of three-quarters of their entire area. In the outer district half of the ground must be left free, and in the case of sites of ELBERFELD. 229 less than 240 square yards at least 120 square yards must be unoccupied ; but corner sites may be built upon to the extent of one-half. Where in the inner zone a street is 26 feet wide, the front of a building may have a height of 47 feet 6 inches ; where the street is more than 26 feet wide the height may increase to the same extent ; and where the street is narrower it must be to the same extent reduced. The highest number of stories permissible is five, including the basement. The height of back buildings is similarly regulated, except that the courtyard instead of the street is here the basis of measurement. In the outer district the shell of a building may not exceed 52 feet in height, and no dwelling house may have more than three stories in addition to the cellar and attic stories. The minimum permissible height of rooms in new buildings is 9 feet 9 inches, except in the case of attic rooms, which are allowed to have a mean height of only 8 feet 1^ inches. In addition, it is stipulated that in certain of the higher portions of the town the “ open ” plan of building must be followed ; here only detached houses of the villa type are allowed to be built, and industrial buildings of every kind are excluded. Coming to the internal arrangement of dwelling houses, it is required by the police regulations that bedrooms shall contain at least 353 cubic feet of space for each person above ten years belonging to the household using them, and for each child under ten years at least 176| cubic feet, infants under one year not counted. Where this condition as to space is not met, a room is held to be over-crowded. Single persons above 14 years of age must be able to sleep in separate bedrooms or compartments in the same, while every married couple must have a separate room or compartment for themselves and their children under 14 years of age. Every bedroom must have a window, opening outside, and not less in area than one-twelfth of the floor space ; but this provision does not apply to living-rooms. Attic rooms may only be used as bedrooms when they have completely plastered or boarded walls. Every house (not dwelling) must be provided with at least one privy, accessible to all residents. These regulations apply to all new buildings. Retail Prices. Groceries and other Commodities. Elberfeld is abundantly provided with shops for the sale of groceries. This appears to be particularly true of the working-class streets, in every one of which are to be found several such shops, all doing business in a very modest way and all apparently conducted by women. The only grocery enterprise of the “ multiple” sort is that carried on by the “Befreiung” Co-operative Society, which has 16 branch shops in the town, all selling at the same prices. This society numbers between 5,000 and 6,000 members in the town, and claims to be the regulator of retail grocery prices. There appear to be good grounds for the claim, for it happens not infrequently that a grocer on being questioned about prices will refer his questioner to the Co-operative Society as the most trustworthy authority on the subject. With regard to the quality of the articles consumed the following points may be noted. For coffee 11¿/. per lb. was the price almost invariably paid by workpeople in October, 1905, the kind sold being Santos. Along with the coffee it is usual to buy either roasted barley or rye, or prepared malt, which is mixed with the coffee in equal proportions. The prices were, for roasted barley 1Jd., for roasted rye 2d., and for prepared malt 2\d. per lb., the latter being the most in demand. There is little demand in Elberfeld for sugar-glazed coffee, the glazing being regarded as a device for concealing inferiority of quality. The Co-operative Society already named sold in the year 1904-5 33,100 lb. of malt coffee, against 73,952 lb. of bean coffee. White granulated sugar (Stampfzucker) is the only quality consumed, the price usually paid being a fraction under 2\d. per lb. I here is a large consumption of bacon, both fresh and cured, and the remarks made on this head in respect of Düsseldorf apply also to Elberfeld ; 9\d. per lb. was the price most generally paid both for fat and lean bacon. Austrian and Russian eggs are usually bought by the poorer classes in the winter months (including 230 ELBERFELD. October), and these are usually to be had at prices corresponding to 14 or 15 for a shilling. Dutch cheese at about 8fd. per lb. is the quality most commonly consumed. This is a most important article of consumption and is eaten at every meal—in very thin slices. Butter is regarded as a luxury, and if bought at all is fresh, and cost Is. %\d. per lb. in 1905. The working classes usually eat margarine, for which they paid about 8jd per lb. Whereas the Co-operative Society sold in 1904-5 but 61,354 lb. of butter to its members it sold 148,380 lb. of margarine and other substitutes for butter, and 33,500 lb. of pork dripping. Potatoes are cheap, the price per pail or “ becher ” (3 kilograms) being from 2Jd. to 3\d. for 7 lb. Bread is sold, not by weight, but by the loaf, which is not required to be of any standard weight. Four varieties are sold : (1) black bread, which is made wholly of unhusked rye, and is very heavy ; (2) Mangbrot, a greyish bread composed of twice-ground wheat and rye mixed, with part of the husks removed ; (3) a superior quality of grey bread composed of wheat and rye with the whole of the husks removed ; and (4 ) rolls, composed of the finest wheaten flour, and frequently made with milk. It is not possible to say with certainty of any of these varieties that it is the kind most commonly consumed by the working classes, and, in the opinion of the President of the Elberfeld Bakers’ Guild, all four varieties are now in about equal demand among the working classes. The wheaten roll is eaten at early breakfast, being split in two, spread with margarine, and combined with a slice of black bread (or Dutch cheese) so as to form a kind of sandwich. The rolls cost two pfennige each, and as they weigh about 13 to one pound, their price per 4 lb. would be slightly over Is. Black bread, for which a price corresponding to 4\d. to 6d. for 4 lb. had to be paid in October, 1905, is also sold in slices (machine-cut) when a somewhat higher price is charged—never less than 12 pfennige for half a kilogram, i.e., a price corresponding to 5d. for 4 lb. For the inferior kind of grey bread (Mangbrot) 12 to 14 pfennige per half kilogram were charged when bought by the loaf, and 16 pfennige when bought in slices. This would correspond to prices of b\d. to 6d. and Id. respectively for 4 lb. The superior kind of grey bread is never sold otherwise than in the loaf, and the price worked out at 20 pfennige per half kilogram, or a little under 8|d. per 4 lb. Coal is sold either by the centner (110 lb.) or by the bushel (Scheffel), which is supposed to contain a centner, but usually holds about 93 lb. The quality usually bought is that known as E"o. 3 nuts, a very small screened coal. The price in 1905, Is to Is. Id. per cwt., must be regarded as high, having regard to the quality of the article sold, and the proximity to the Ruhr coal fields. Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and May, 1906. Predominant price. Commodity. October, 1905. May, 1906. Coffee Sugar, white granulated Bacon :— Fat Streaky ... Eggs Cheese (Dutch) Butter Margarine ... Potatoes Flour (Household) Bread :— Grey Black Milk ... Coal ... Paraffin Oil per lb. per Is. per lb. per 7 lb. per 4 lb. per quart per cwt. per gallon lid. 2 \d. 9%d. 9\d. 14, 15 8fd. is. 2fd. 8f d. 2\d. to ò\d. Is. lfd. 5\d. to 6d. 4\d. to 6d. 2fd. Is. 0\d. to Is. Id. 9|d. to lOd. lid. 2&d. 9# 9# 18 8# Is. 2^d. 8|d. 2&d. to 3fd. Is. lfd. 5|-d. to 6d. 4fd. ,, 6d. 2# Is. Ofd. to Is. Id. 9¿d. to lOd. KLBËKFELD. 231 Meat. The great bulk of the meat retailed in Elberfeld is of native origin, and this applies as much to the shops patronised by the working classes as to those which for the most part depend on the middle classes. Frozen and chilled meat is virtually unknown. Such meat as comes from abroad is either Dutch or Danish, but the imports have almost ceased since the introduction of the revised tariff. The Elberfeld butchers draw their supplies of beef principally from Mecklenburg, Brunswick, Silesia, and East and West Prussia, the beef from the last-named provinces of Prussia coming through the Berlin market. The mutton is mostly of local origin, coming from Münsterland and Westphalia generally, but also in part from Mecklenburg and Brunswick. The veal comes largely from Westphalia and Oldenburg, and the pork from Westphalia, Schleswig-Holstein, and Mecklenburg. A stringent system of inspection is observed by the veterinary police, and the police regulations applicable to the sale of meat in shops are very carefully enforced. It is not permissible for buyers to touch meat with the naked hand, and dogs may on no account be taken into a shop ; not only so, but only clean, unused paper may be used for packing purposes. Beef and pork are the kinds of meat mostly bought by working people ; less mutton is eaten, and veal hardly at all on account of the high price. In general the lower qualities oí meat are bought except by the better paid artisan classes. The ruling prices for beef (except for steak, which is little bought by working people) were in October, 1905, from Id. to 9jc/. per lb., for mutton from 7|d. to 9|¡<¿., and for pork 9fa. It is to be noted also that there is a very large sale of sausage of various kinds, one merit oí which is that it is ready for eating and as a rule keeps fresh much longer than butcher’s meat. The following may be regarded as representative prices per lb. :—Pure pork sausage, 10^d. ; blood sausage, \\d. to 10Jt/. ; liver, Id. to 10^d. ; blood and tongue sausage, 11 ^d. ; pork and beef, 10^d. ; while the best “ Block ” sausage of prime beef and pork, which keeps for a long time, is sold at 1 s. 6d. Of these kinds of sausage the cheaper only are sold to the working classes. A working man’s wife as a rule buys meat in very small quantities. A quarter or half a pound is a common daily supply, and sausage is retailed in pennyworths ; only on Saturday are larger meat purchases made, though even then a pound and a half represents an exceptional transaction. It is impossible to give the annual consumption of meat per head of the entire population. Returns obtained for this report from 83 working-class households containing 446 persons showed an average weekly consumption per head of 21J ounces, or about 70 lb. a year. Of this approximately 27 per cent, was beef, 26 per cent, pork and bacon, and 19 per cent, sausage. No less than 17 per cent., or nearly three times as much as in other towns investigated, was " other meat,” and there is no doubt that this was largely horse flesh. At Elberfeld, as elsewhere, there are the usual horse butchers’ shops, though their trade has diminished owing to the higher price of carcases. The horses killed for food come for the most part from the rural districts. It no longer pays to import them from abroad since the duty has been increased. From £8 to £15 may be taken as the range of cost by the time the horse is in saleable condition. The usual retail prices at Elberfeld are from 5c/. to 6W. for the prime cuts known as “ filet ” and “ roast beef,” and 4\d. for the commoner ­ cuts and for chopped meat. Where a restaurant is carried on as an adjunct to a horse butcher’s shop a liberal meal of this flesh, with potatoes added, can be obtained for 3d. or 3\d. The liver, kidneys, lung, and heart are sold for dogs’ meat. Horse sausages are also in regular demand, and a tariff of charges exists as complete in its way as that for the reputable beef and pork sausages : thus horse flesh with pork admixture, Q^d. to 7\d. per lb., liver sausage (also mixed), 3\d., cervelat sausage, 8 j¿d., all-horse sausage for eating hot, 3\d. Cured horse flesh is also sold rolled at 7^d. a pound, fat at 4jd., and soup bones at 1 \d. a pound. Meat prices in May, 1906, at the date of the present Enquiry, show no sensible change as compared with prices in October, 1905, as appears in the following Table :— 232 ELBERFELD. Predominant Prices paid by the Working Ciasses in October, 1905, and May, 1900. Predominant price per lb. Description of Cut. October, 1905. May, 1906. Shin Beef :— Ribs Silverside i with bone ( without bone Steak ... ... . Flank Mutton :— Leg ■ ... ... « Shoulder Breast Neck Chops (trimmed) Veal :— Hind Quarter ... with bone Shoulder Loin Shin Pork :— Leg Fore Loin Belly Spare Rib Chops 1 without bone 7\cl. to 8f(7. 81 cl. to 8f(7. 7(7. to lid. 1 Id. to Is. Id. Id. 8^(7. to 91(7. 7# 71(7. 81(7. to 81(7. 91(7. 81(7. to 91(7. Is. to Is. Id. 9\d. to 9f(7. 81(7. to 91(7. 11(7. 91(7. 91(7. 91(7. 93(7. 71(7. to 81(7. 81(7. to 81(7. 7(7. to l\d. 91(7. 11(7. to Is. 1(7. Id, 91(7. 81(7. to 91(7. 71(7. l\d. to 81(7. 81(7. to 8f(7. 91(7. 81(7. to 91(7. Is. to Is. 1(7. 91(7. to 91(7. 81(7. to 91(7. 11(7. 9#(7. 91(7. 91(7. 91(7. If the level of predominant prices at Berlin be taken as 100, the level at Elberfeld is represented by 105 in the case of meat and of other food, while coal is represented by 86, the figure for prices as a whole being 102. Combining this with the index number for rent, the resulting figure is 93, as compared with Berlin = 100. 233 ESSEN. Essen, a town of the Prussian province of Rhineland, lies in the very centre of the great coal and iron district of Western Germany. Though noted at different epochs for weaving and the manufacture of weapons, and in the eighteenth century of some repute as a coal-mining centre, it was still only a village with just over 3,000 inhabitants at the commencement of the nineteenth century. Its progress continued to be very slow, even during the period of German industrial development after 1X40 ; and as late as 1850 its population was less than 10,000. Its rapid advance began with the rise to importance of the Krupp works in the decade following 1850. It has been estimated that nearly 70 per cent, of the inhabitants of the town are directly or indirectly dependent upon the Krupp firm, and this fact, taken in conjunction with the institutions founded by the firm, makes the conditions in Essen altogether abnormal. The municipal boundaries have been very greatly extended in recent years, and the following Table shows the increase of area (by incorporation) and the rise of population :— Year. 1860 1870 1880 1890 1895 1900 1905 Area. 2,415g acres. 2,415| ,, 2,415& „ 2,415j „ 2,4154 acres. 4,709* „ 6,245i „ Population. 18,435 43,528 56,944 78,706 96,128 182,100 231,396 No. of Dwelling Houses. 4,227 4,869 5,710 9,738 12,769 The increase of population since 1880 in each of the three districts which make up the present Essen is shown in the next Table :— Year. Essen. Altendorf. Rüttenscheid. 1880 1890 1895 1900 1905 56,944 78,706 96,128 118,862 130,490 22,229 31,892 40,280 63,238 78,472 2,751 4,457 6,040 14,735 22,434 Total. 81,924 115,055 142,448 196,835 231,396 The increase of population in these three districts during the twenty-five years, amounting to about 182 per cent., is due partly to a large influx of workmen, and partly to a high birth-rate. The next Table gives the birth and death rates for the five years 1901-5 : — Year. 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 Birth* per 1,000 of Population. 47-0 442 43 6 41*7 40-3 Deaths per 1.000 of Population. 211 17*7 19-8 17-7 15*5 Infantile Mortality per 1,000 Births. 163 146 172 152 150 In 1905 the population consisted of 119,661 males and 111,735 females. The town of Essen may be divided into three areas, or groups of areas : (a) The " old town,” which lies on the slopes of a small hill, in the centre of the town, with narrow streets, and squares which are used as market places. In this district there are many survivals of old Essen, in the shape of low houses of “ Fachwerk ” (Le., a wooden frame tilled in with brick or rubble, often faced with slates) ; these are often crowded together in picturesque and 2908$ 2 G 234 ESSEN. insanitary confusion. They are frequently occupied by small tradespeople, who have their shops on the ground floor and live above them. There are also a number of small quiet streets (“ Gässchen ’’) with houses of the same type but much better maintained, (b) The area, very much greater in extent, of new streets ; some of these have large and good shops, others have long lines of working-class houses, whilst others are given over to better class residences. These streets are always broad and well-made, and the sanitary conditions are good, (c) The “ colony ” areas, with workmen’s colonies of various kinds and various degrees of merit—the elaborate colonies built by the Krupp firm, the much simpler buildings erected by the colliery owners, and the new erections of the Building Society. The whole of the municipal area is undermined by various coal works, and the former lack of care in the making of the mines has caused subsidences in a number of places, and these, combined with the natural slope of the ground on which the old town is built, give the central districts a very uneven appearance. The town possesses its own waterworks, gas-works, and a slaughter-house ; it has public baths, a small library, and a municipal theatre which was founded by a private benefaction ; and there is a town park. The tramway service is in the hands of a private company, as the municipal authorities recently decided not to purchase. The town has ^ fine new municipal hall, and a few old buildings, including one church (the Münster-kirche) of great antiquity. There is the usual municipal savings bank, with 52,768 depositors in 1905, and deposits of £2,941,616, and the municipality carries on a. pawnshop, ­ a labour bureau, and a house agency, which let 1,058 dwellings during the year 1904-5. There are no public market-halls, but the markets are held in the old squares in the centre of the town almost every diy. It should also be noticed that the Association for Mining interests (a great mine-owners’ union) has its headquarters at Essen, that there is a very active Chamber of Commerce, and that the offices of the local rail way direction are also in the town. Occupations, Wages, and Hours of Labour. The following is the classification of the industrial workpeople of Essen alone those under factory inspection) in 1906 :— Group of Trades. Number of Establishments. ­ Number of Workpeople. Building Mining and smelting Metal working ... Machine, implement and apparatus making textiles ... ... ... ... Clothing and cleaning Printing, lithography, bookbinding, etc. Paper ... ... ... ... ... Woodworking and carving ... Chemicals Resins, varnishes, oil, soap, candles, etc. Stone and earth Food, drink and tobacco Leather ... ... .. ... ... Other ... ... ... ... ... Total 121 19 79 104 6 203 29 3 59 7 6 58 280 5 1 985 Male. 2,272 6,746 5,381 20,910 40 179 947 6 1,125 453 659 1,592 1,089 141 1,091 Female. Total. 8 37 1,100 149 25 36 13 60 1 42,631 1,429 2,272 6,746 5,381 20,918 77 1,279 1,096 31 1,161 453 659 1,605 1,149 142 1,091 44,060 * It is evident at once from this Table that the various iron and steel industries and coal-mining have an overwhelming predominance among the occupations of the town, and so far as the former group is concerned the great Krupp firm is supreme. The principal productions of the Krupp firm at its Essen works are war material (including cannon and all their accessories, ammunition, rifle barrels, and armour), railway, shipbuilding, and engineering materials of all kinds, sheet ESSEN. 235 steel and iron, tool steel, steel bars, and special steel to be used in the manufacture ­ of motor-cars. In addition there are the firm's large private gas-works, electric light and power works, and large coal mines engaged solely in the supply of the works. The normal working day (as in all Essen iron and steel works) is of 10 hours—from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., with intervals from 8 to 8.15 a.m., 12 to 1.30 p.m., and 4 to 4.15 p.m. ; but there are a number of modifications. Thus in a large number of departments in which operations are continuous (like smelting, puddling, hammer-works, Bessemer works, smithing, rollingmills, etc.), the shift is 12 hours with intervals taken at such times as the work permits, subject to the general rule of half an hour’s pause in every three hours. For the men in the iron and gun foundries, and the gun turners, the hours are from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m., with only one half-hour’s pause. Wages are paid fortnightly. The Krupp works are divided into two parts by a long road, into which most of the factory gates open. This road presents a remarkable sight when the day shift ends at 6 o’clock, with the thousands of workmen who pour along it. The spectator cannot but notice the generally clean and neat appearance of the workmen. To the supremacy of Krupp in Essen, and to the numerous philanthropic or semi-philanthropic institutions which the firm maintains, must probably be ascribed the comparative weakness of the trade unions for the iron and steel workers. Neither the local branch of the Social-Democratic Metal-Workers’ Association nor the branch of the “ Christian ” Union is strong ; and the union officials themselves admit that their progress is very slow. This is due to the facts that the Krupp firm declines to ' recognise the unions in anyway; that the majority (or at least a considerable proportion) of its workmen have been long in the service of the firm ; and, finally, that the conditions of employment are good, though there are inevitably complaints from time to time. The attacks of the Socialist Press upon the firm, and its hostile attitude to the firm’s benevolent institutions, houses and co-operative stores—which the Socialists regard as so much bribery of the workmen, or as attempts to enhance their dependence—-seem so far to have borne little fruit. The conditions in the coal mines of Essen are the same as those of the whole district ; they have recently been modified by the great coal strike of 1905 and the legislation which that evoked, though the alterations were comparatively slight. The hewers, trammers, and other underground workers have (normally) an eight hours’ shift with such pauses as the workers choose. These eight hours include all the time spent at the bottom of the shaft, but not the time occupied in the ascent and descent ; if, however, these take more than half-an-hour, the excess is now (since August, 1905) to be included in the eight hours ; the employers are endeavouring to prevent any such possible reduction of the actual hours of work by quickening the pace of the ascent and descent. For the - surface men a twelve hours’ day, with two hours of intervals, is the universal rule. No women are employed about the collieries in this district, and no youths under 16. For the underground workers overtime («.g., continuation of shifts beyond eight hours) and extra shifts are permitted, subject to the restriction that the miner must have at least an eight hours’ interval between his shifts. Wages are paid monthly ; but advances are made half-monthly, and these sometimes amount to 50 per cent, of the wages. These are for piece-work, either for the individual workman or for a gang ( u Kameradschaft ”). The following table shows the districts from which the miners are recruited in the three colliery areas around Essen :—• Area, East Essen... West Essen South Essen Number of Miners, 190“».. 14,884 19,307 14,956 Percentage from lour Eastern Provinces ­ of Prussia.* P re r mTinTr f of IU 1 Percentage from German Empire. other Countries. 40*64 43*52 20*71 55*65 49*39 72*05 3*71 7*09 724 " i.e., East Prussia, West Prussia, Posen and Silesia. 29088 2 G 2 236 ESSEN. The workmen from the four Eastern Provinces are mainly Poles ; the workmen from abroad are Poles from Austria and Russia, and some Italians. Under the new law Workmen’s Committees have to be formed in all mines with at least 100 employees, to represent the men in dealings with the employers. All workmen who have been in the employment of the same firm for one year without interruption are entitled to vote, and all who have been in the same employment for three years are eligible for election. Essen is the headquarters of the Christian (for the most part Roman Catholic) Miners’ Union, which is apparently making substantial progress ; and there is also a branch of the Socialist miners’ organisation. There is a Trades Federation House, which is the rallying-place of the various “ Christian " unions, and contains several of their offices. There are two Workmen’s Secretariates. One of these was founded by the " Christian ” unions, and is consequently the resort in the main of the Roman Catholic workmen ; it deals with some 300 clients a week. The other (a more recent creation) is maintained jointly by the various Socialist trade-unions ; in 1904 it dealt with 2,650 cases. The town authorities have now opened a bureau for free legal advice ; it is said, however, not to be much used by the workmen, who prefer to go to their own Secretariates. The Iron and Steel Industries.—The average wages in Essen in this group of industries are distinctly higher than the average for the whole Rhenish - Westphalian district. The wages paid by Krupp are naturally dominant for the town ; other firms must pay as much to prevent their workmen trying to transfer their employment ; it is even said that they must often pay more, so as to counterbalance the special advantages enjoyed by the employees of Krupp. This firm issues annually a statement showing the average daily earnings of all its employees (exclusive of officials), but inasmuch as no indication is given of the hours worked, the return is of value only as showing the general movement of wages. In the following Table the average daily wages are given for the 15 years (1891-1905) ; in making the calculations 300 working-days are almost invariably taken :— Year. 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 Average daily wage. Year. S. d. 4 01 ï* ÎÎ 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 Average daily wage. d, ! Year. 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 Average daily wage. S. d. 4 74 4 6f 4 61 4 104 5 l| It will be seen that the recovery from the depression of 1901-3 was rapid, and that in 1905 wages were far above the level of the prosperous year 1900. It is, however, objected by the workmen’s representatives that these averages are not averages for the “ normal ” working-day of 12 hours, but average earnings for days which include in many cases much overtime. The usual wages of skilled men in the engineering trades for a normal week are from 30a. to 35a., and for unskilled labourers from 20a. to 23a. Coal Mining.—In the coal mines the wages of the hewers ranged in October, 1905, from 30a. to 31s. 2d. per week of six 8-hour shifts, those of repair-hewers from 24a. to 28a. 10d., trammers had a predominant rate of from 18a. to 19a. 2d., and overhead workers from 20a. to 22a. 10d. The Building Trades.—As is natural in a town which has grown so rapidly, the building trades are very strongly represented in Essen. Thus the local branch of the Christian Bricklayers’ Union claims to have 1,300 members, and there is also a strong Socialist Union. There are wages agreements for all branches (except the plumbers), and these have been drawn up with the active assistance of the municipal authorities, who acted as mediators. The absence of any agreement for the plumbers is said to be due partly to the fact that they are very ill-organised, and partly to the fact that many are in the employ of the Krupp firm, which steadily refuses to come into any agreement ; the range of Wages is said to be great, and to be from 3\d. to 6(7. per hour. For the other ESSEN. 237 branches of the building trades the general range was from 27s. to 32s. 5d. for skilled men, except stucco-workers 35s. 5d., while bricklayers’ labourers earned 25s. Ad. Connected with Krupp’s works are a large number of institutions of various kinds, which must be noticed here, if any adequate idea of the position of the workmen is to be obtained. (a) Housing.—The firm has built a number of workmen’s colonies, with 4,327 dwellings in 1905. These will be described later ; here it is necessary only to remark that one of these colonies (Altenhof) is for aged, disabled and pensioned workmen, who receive their dwellings free of rent. There is also one large home for 600 unmarried workmen, who pay 9¡¡d. a day for board and lodging. There are two small homes (each accommodating 30) for foremen or the higher grades of workmen. (b) Co-operative Society.—In 1905 the Supply Stores (“ Konsum-Anstalt”) had 36 shops in Essen, for the sale of meat, bread, groceries in general, ironmongery, furniture, clothing, boots and shoes, &c. ; and 19 shops for the sale of potatoes, coal, &c. In addition it has a large bakery, producing between 11,000 and 12,000 loaves a day, a laundry, tailors’ and shoemakers’ workshops, 11 restaurants, and a number of other concerns. Only employees of Krupp, or their families, may purchase at the shops, and they receive a substantial dividend (recently 15 per cent.) at the end of the year ; but they have no share in the management of the central institution, which is administered entirely by the firm, and its accounts are not published. The prices charged, and their relation to town prices, will be discussed later. (3) Dining Halls.—There is one large dining hall, where 1,100 persons can dine at a time ; the meals are supplied at a cheap uniform rate by the firm. There are also several other halls in which workmen can take their dinners, and any members of their families (the wives and children who bring the meals) can sit with them, at numerous small tables, during the meal. In addition a number of heated waggons collect dinners and convey them to the various factory entrances. (4) Library.—The library founded by the firm for the workmen and their families has over 51,000 volumes, and in March, 1906, there were 13,450 readers on its list ; the average number of volumes lent out per month for the year 1905-6 was 32,333. (5) Health Institutions.—The firm maintains one ordinary hospital, two hospitals for contagious diseases, one medicinal baths establishment, and an admirably-equipped convalescent home. There are also good baths in one of the colonies. (6) Miscellaneous Institutions.—There is a club house for foremen, a domestic training school for girls, and some technical schools. The firm also makes large contributions, not prescribed by law, to special Workmen’s Pension Funds ; the workpeople are required to contribute to these funds, and in case they leave the employment of the firm or are discharged their contributions are forfeited. Wages and Hours of Labour in the Principal Occupations, October, 1905. Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours of Labour. Building Trades (agreement rates)* :— Bricklayers and masons Stonemasons Carpenters Joiners and cabinetmakers Plumbers Painters ... ... Stucco-workers Hodmen... ... Labourers 31s. 3c?. 29s. 8c/. to 32s. 5d. 30s. Id. 27s. 22s. 9d. to 25s. 10c/. 27s. 7d. „ 28s. 10c/. 35s. 5d. 21s. 9c/ 25s. Ad. 59 51 59 60 57 60 59 59 59 * The wages and hours of labour stated for the building trades are for a full week in summer. 238 ESSEN. Weekly Wages Weekly Hours of Labour. Engineering Trades :— Moulders Fitters ... Turners ... Smiths ... Pattern-makers... Milling machine men Planers ... Strikers Labourers Rolling Mills : — Welders—1st men „ 2nd „ „ 3rd „ First rollers Other rollers Heaters Cutters-off Labourers Collieries :— Hewers .. Repair hewers ... Trammers Horse-drivers ... Engine-drivers ... Stokers ... Coke-burners ... Overhead labourers Food and. Drink Trades.— Bakers—1st men ¿nd ,. ... ... ... ... Brewers and maltsters Brewers’ coopers „ draymen „ labourers Printing Trades :— Hand compositors, book printers and machine minders. Machine compositors—news „ „ jobbing 36s. to 41s. 30s. ,, 39s. 32s. 6(7. to 39s. 30s. „ 36s. 37s. 33s. 33s. 28s. 10(7. to 30s. 20s. to 23s. 60s. to 63s. 42s. ,, 45s. 37s. 2d. to 39s. 45s. 33s. to 39s. 25s. 2d. 21s. 18s. 30s. to 31s. 2d. 24s. to 28s. 10(7. 18s. to 19s. 2(7. 14s. 5(7. 34s. 7(7. 22s. 10(7. 22s. 10(7. 20s. to 22s. 10(7. 23s. 1(7. to 25s. 5(7. 20s. Ad. „ 23s. 1(7. 27s. to 30s. 27s. „ 30s. 22s. „ 24s 21s. 7(7. to 24s. 25 s. 11(7, 32s. 4(7. 33s. 8(7. 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 48 48 48 48 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 54 48 54 The following were the wages of municipal employees at the same date :— Weekly Hours of Labour. Weekly Wages. Street and Road Department ;— Road-makers ... ,, sweepers... ... ... Carters ... Gasworks :— Gas-stokers ... Labourers Watenvorks :— Labourers Electricity Works (private company) Engine-drivers ... Stokers ... ... ... Tramways (private company) i— Drivers ... Conductors 20s. 5(7. 18s. 7(7. 23s. 10(7. 27s. 21s. Id. 21s. 2os. 5(7. to 27s. 8(7. 30s. 25s. 2(7. to 32s. 10(7. 23s. 1(7. „ 30s. 9(7. 66 60 66 60 60 60 60 60 It will be seen from the above table that wages at Essen are comparatively high, Kepresenting wages at Berlin by 100, the level of wages of skilled men in the engineering trades and of labourers in both the building and engineering trades is indicated by an index-number of 99. The index-number for skilled men in the building trades is, however, much lower, viz.—83. In the printing trades it is 92. •“ ESSEN. 239 Housing and Rents. It will be convenient to consider first the general conditions of housing in Essen ; secondly, the character of the ordinary dwellings ; and finally the nature and extent of housing by employers. The following Table, supplied by the Director of the Municipal Statistical Office, shows the number of dwellings and the nature of the accommodation offered by them in 1900, and again in 1905, after the last extension of the municipal boundaries. It must be remembered that in Essen—as, indeed, in the whole of the Rhineland—the term “ heatable room,” common to other parts of Prussia, has no special meaning ; for the tenants must supply the stoves, and as a rule they can make as many rooms “heatable” as they choose ; and secondly, that the kitchen is always included in the number of rooms, and is practically always the living room. Dwellings with 1900. One room Two rooms Three rooms Four rooms Five rooms Six rooms Seven rooms Eight rooms Nine or more rooms Total 1.303 14,331 10,963 4,425 2,324 1,455 753 501 1,081 37,146 Percentage. 35 38 6 29-6 11-9 63 39 20 13 2-9 100-0 1905. 1,401 17,286 14,690 6,351 3,525 2,262 1,139 760 1,482 48,896 Percentage. 2- 9 354 300 13-0 7-2 4-6 23 1-6 3- 0 100-0 It appears from this that in 1905, 65'4 per cent., or very nearly two-thirds, of all the dwellings in Essen were of two or three rooms, and an additional 13 per cent, were of four rooms. In one respect Essen takes high rank among the great German towns ; it has few basement dwellings. In 1900, in the old town of Essen and Altendorf, which were amalgamated in that year, there were basement dwellings in only 44 houses, or 0 46 per cent, of the total number ; and this satisfactory state of affairs is undoubtedly due in large measure to the enforcement during the last twenty years of bye-laws which impose restrictions amounting practically to a prohibition of such dwellings. Another merit of Essen is the small number of courtyard houses (“ Hof hä user ”), i.e., houses not fronting on to the street, but lying behind street-houses, from which they are separated by a small courtyard. ­ In 1900 in the area already mentioned only 4 7 per cent, of the houses were of this type, and they contained an even smaller proportion (3*4 per cent.) of the total number of dwellings. On the other hand, attics are of great importance, and nearly three-quarters of the houses possess them. The attics are of two kinds, “ Mansarden,” which are intended for dwellings, and “ Speicherzimmer,” or lofts, which are only roughly finished off, and are not intended (at least primarily) as living rooms. The general custom at Essen is for an attic of some kind (or possibly two) to be let with each tenement, according to the number available and the wishes of the tenant ; they are used for all kinds of purposes, but especially as bedrooms for grown-up children or for lodgers. But the growing demand for houseroom has caused the attics, even when very ill-equipped for the purpose, to be let as complete and separate dwellings. As regards house-ownership it may be noted that in 1900, 8"62 per cent, of the total families occupied their own houses. The houses were divided between 3,870 owners, of whom 3,563 were private persons. At the head of the list was the Krupp firm, with 1,121 houses, containing 4,016 dwellings and 22,282 inhabitants ; the next was a builder with 114 houses. At the bottom of the list came 734 owners with two houses each and 2,426 owners with only one house apiece. The owners usually let the dwellings separately, but sometimes the whole house is let to a tenant, who then sub-lets such rooms as he does not himself need ; and usually the rooms are so built that almost any combinations can be made for letting purposes. 240 ESSEN. In the very centre of the town, with its old houses and narrow, irregular, and uneven streets, housing conditions are far from satisfactory. The old houses have small and dark rooms, the sanitation is often defective, and there is a general air of discomfort and neglect. But these streets and houses cannot fairly be regarded as typical ; they are giving way, if only gradually, before the builders. In the new streets the building regulations have been vigorously enforced, and the authorities have done their utmost to prevent overcrowding and the rise of slums, and have imposed fairly stringent sanitary requirements. The typical modern dwelling-house in Essen, throughout the whole of the working-class districts, contains accommodation for six or seven families. The general plan is everywhere the same ; the door is in the centre of the block, with two windows on each side on the ground floor, five windows on the first floor, five on the second, and above a “ half-story ” or attic floor, with often only two windows. Sometimes there are " half-houses ” (*‘ Halbhaiiser ”), %.g., houses with dwellings only on one side of the doorway. Asa rule there is one w.c. on each half-landing, for the use of two families, but in the newest houses there is one for each family. In the older houses the water-supply is on the landings, but in the newer ones it is within the dwellings. In new houses the rooms must be 10 feet 7 ins. high ; smaller ones may not be used as complete dwellings, but only as adjuncts to rooms of the full dimensions prescribed. The usual size of the working-class dwelling in Essen is three rooms; though many households occupy two or four rooms. Of 3,914 dwellings whose rents were classified for the purpose of this report, 1,609 or 41T percent, consisted of three rooms, 1,064 or 27*2 per cent, of two rooms, 1,039 or 26 5 per cent, of four rooms, and only 202 or 5 2 per cent, of a single room. The following are notes of typical dwellings :— (1) A house in a street built about 30 years ago, one of a number of identical houses in a group of streets of the same general type. The house contained 16 rooms, including attics, and was let to a single tenant for £70 per year (inclusive of water-charges). This tenant sublet 12 rooms and attics, charging 8s. 6& per month for each room and 6s. a month for each attic. One sub-tenant had a tenement of four rooms and an attic, and paid therefore £2 per month ; in one of these rooms he had four lodgers. The largest of his rooms was 14 ft. 7\ in. wide by 14 ft. 7tj in. long, and 11 ft. 4^ in. high, and was given up to his four lodgers. (2) A house in a street built six years ago, one of a number of the same kind. Each of the two dwellings on the ground floor consisted of two rooms, the bedroom being 14 ft. 7^ in. square and the kitchen 14 ft. 7¿ in. by 13 ft. The rent was 14s. per month, but was about to be raised to 15s. On the first floor there were also two dwellings, one of three rooms and one of two. The three-room dwelling consisted of a kitchen (14 ft. 1\ in. by 13 ft.), a parlour (14 ft. 7J> in. by 10 ft.), and a bedroom (14 ft. 7i in. by 11 ft. in.), and the rent was 21s. Qd. per month. The rent of the two-room dwelling was 15s. The floor above had the same dwellings, but the rents were a trifle lower. To each dwelling a share in the cellar was attached ; all papering and whitewashing had to be done by the tenants, the landlord doing it only for new-comers. The following table shows the predominant rents of working-class tenements as determined from the returns obtained for this report :— Predominant Rents of Working-class Dwellings. Number of Rooms per Tenement. Predominant Weekly Rent. Two rooms Three rooms h our rooms 2s. 9d. to 3s. 7c?. 3s. 8c?. „ 5s. 9c?. 5s. 9c?. „ 7s. 8c?. ESSEN. 241 In general rents are .highest in the centre of the town, and lowest in the Frohnhausen and Holsterhausen districts and in Altendorf, while the East and North take an intermediate position. The difference between the floors is usually very little—Is. or 2s. a month : generally the first floor is the dearest, and the ground and second floors cost about ;he same. Taking rent in Berlin as 100, the index number for rent in Essen is 62. One very useful institution found in Essen is the system of municipal house inspection, founded some years ago, and very successful ; in the three years 1903-5 over 8,000 dwellings were visited, and action taken to secure the remedying of defects. The principal of these were (a) inadequate sanitary equipment, especially the inefficiency of closet accommodation, and (5) overcrowding. The latter evil is due to two facts. The first is the indifference of the tenants themselves towards a proper standard of accommodation. This is in part due, undoubtedly, to the height of the rents as compared with wages ; but that this pressure of rents is not the sole cause of indifference appears from the reports of the House Inspection. In the report for 1905, for example, it is remarked that even in comparatively well-to-do and well-educated families little regard is paid to adequate sleeping accommodation or the separation of the sexes. The inspectors point out, as illustrating their contention that overcrowding ­ does not always arise fr un lack of means or lack of room space, that out of 224 cases of offences against the bye-laws which impose a minimum air-space in sleeping rooms of 353 cubic feet for each adult, 188 were remedied by the simple device of adopting a larger room as the bedroom, or by making an additional bedroom out of a seldom-used parlour. The other potent cause of overcrowding is the development of the lodger system. Not only does this take the form of the sub-letting of a room or an attic, but often a bed or part of a bed is let to the lodger, who takes either breakfast or all his meals with the family. The police regulations require the registration of all bedrooms occupied by lodgers, and impose various restrictions, but these are not always easy to enforce, especially in recent years, when there has been a great and very rapid influx of single workmen, or workmen whose families have been left behind, so that the temptation to the ordinary tenant to take such lodgers has been very great. The usual charge for board and lodging is 11s. or 11s. Qd. per week. The evils which the system brings in its train are recognised on all hands, and the authorities are doing their utmost to deal with them. There is one Building Society (“ Spar- und Bau-Genossenschaft ”) in Essen, but its operations are not very extensive. At the commencement of 1905 it had 55 houses with 284 dwellings, of which 48 had two rooms, 1 78 three rooms, and 58 four rooms ; in 186 dwellings there were small bathrooms, and in five houses there were common baths. These houses are of the ordinary type, but the society is now erecting, on the open outskirts of the town, a colony in which the houses are to be small, for the occupation pf only one or two families. Reference has already been made to the fact that a very considerable number of dwellings in Essen have been erected by employers. The most important work in^this direction has been done by the Krupp firm, which in 1905 had 4,327 dwellings in eight colonies, in addition to a number of dwelling houses scattered throughout the town. These colonies may be divided into two groups, the one representing the early efforts of the firm to meet the need for dwellings in the simplest and most severely practical manner ; and the other dating from 1890, in which, as the firm’s report states, “ in addition to practical considerations hygienic and aesthetic considerations were also borne in mind.” In the Alfredshof colony the houses are usually small, sometimes for one family only, but generally for two or three families, and only in a few cases for more : each dwelling is absolutely separate and has its own cellar and attic drying-room. Each house stands in its own small garden, and thus resembles a detached cottage ; and uniformity of style is carefully avoided. The rents for three rooms (the minimum) are about £10 10s. per annum, for four rooms (one small) £12, and for five rooms £15 10s. : the rents include water, but the tenants do the papering themselves. Gas is supplied at a cheap rate from the Krupp 2 H 29088 242 ESSEN. works. The Altenhof colony is for pensioned workmen and their wives, and consists of a number of detached houses for one or two (rarely three) families, and two larger houses for widowers and widows. The tenants here pay no rent. These two colonies create a very favourable impression, as does the Friedrichshof ­ colony, though it is built on a different plan. Its erection was commenced in 1899, and the dearness of the land compelled the adoption of the plan of large blocks of houses, each house being for six or in some cases only four families. They are grouped round three large courts, laid out partly as gardens and partly as playgrounds ; and a very successful attempt has been made to avoid the barrack-like impression which such buildings often give. In this colony there is a large building containing public baths and wash-houses, and a pleasant branch library. The other colonies are much less satisfactory. They belong in the main to the early period, and represent partly housing experiments of the older barrack type, and partly buildings erected hastily to meet temporary needs, but continued in use ever since. The only justification in these latter cases for continued use must be the great demand for house-room and the low rents. Thus in the Nordhof colony the houses are long low buildings of only two stories ; the lower parts of the walls are of brick, the upper parts of half-timber work, faced with wooden planks. The dwellings on the upper floor are approached by an outside wooden staircase at one end of each house, with a gallery running the full length. The closets are in groups in separate outbuildings. ­ The dwellings are not very well maintained, but they are cheap, e.g., 14s. per month for two rooms. The Schederhof colony consists of a number of large blocks, each of three houses ; each house has six dwellings (as a rule) on three floors ; there is also for each house a cellar and drying-room. The staircases ­ are rather dark ; the roads are not well kept ; and the general appearance is not attractive. Finally there is in the Cronenberg colony, much the largest of all, chiefly built in the years 1872-1874, but extended later. The colony consists of a number of barrack-houses, three stories high and containing each from 30 to 40 dwellings, with one entrance for every six dwellings. There are also smaller houses with only 12 dwellings each. There are in all over 1,500 dwellings in this colony. The streets are planted with trees, there are gardens to the houses, and a small park within the colony. In each colony there are branches of the Supply Stores, and the number of licensed houses is very limited ; in some of the colonies there are none. ' The great majority of the Krupp dwellings are of two or three rooms. In 1901 out of 4,083 dwellings (exclusive of 191 in the “pensioners’ colony” of Altenhof) 1,660 had two rooms, 1,869 had three rooms, and 448 had four rooms. The yearly rents are stated to be as as follows:—For a “barrack” dwelling (two rooms), £3 to £4 10s. ; for two rooms, £4 10s to £5 8s. ; for three rooms, £6 to £11 ; for four rooms, £8 10s. to £16. The rent is deducted from wages in advance. There is said to be so great a desire to get a Krupp dwelling, especially in the new colonies, that workmen put their names down on the list and sometimes wait several years for their turn. The colliery owners have also erected a large number of dwellings, chiefly on the outskirts of Essen. These are usually rows of small houses, and a fairly typical case is a colony in West Essen, consisting of a number of blocks of four or six houses each. One house visited had a kitchen 9 feet 9 inches by 11 feet 4l> inches by 8 feet 1^ inches., a bedroom of the same size opening out of it, and above two rooms of the same size, but with sloping roofs, together with a cellar, a small vestibule, and an outside closet. Water must be brought from a neighbouring pump, unless the tenants choose to make the connexion themselves. Each house has a small garden. The rent per house was 12s. 6d. monthly. Municipal taxation is high at Essen. The local addition to the State income tax is 200 per cent., and persons below the State exemption (£45) limit but with incomes above £33 pay 6s. local tax. The church taxes are 35 per cent, on the State income tax for members of the Evangelical Church, and 40-50 per cent, for the Eornan Catholics according to parish. ESSEN. 243 Retail Prices. Groceries and other Commodities. In the matter of the food supply, as in other respects, the conditions in Essen are abnormal. A short account has already been given of the “ Supply Stores ” founded by the Krupp firm for its employees, and limited to them. The purchasers receive a dividend at the end of each year’s trading, but in other respects the stores are not co-operative in the ordinary sense of the term, since they are run entirely by the firm itself, the workmen have no voice in the management, and (as the trading accounts are not published) there is no evidence as to the extent of the profits or the proportion thereof which is returned to the purchasers in the form of dividends. There is a real Co-operative Society in the town, which is large and important, for in August, 1906, it had 15 shops and 5,882 members, while its turnover in the year 1905-6 was £77,000. It is stated that nearly half of the members are Krupp workmen, who prefer to deal with a society in whose management they can have some share. The Krupp Supply Stores were founded in 1868, and were originally intended only for the employees of the firm, but this restriction, which was never completely enforced, was abandoned a few years later. For nearly 20 years the shops were opened to all inhabitants of Essen, but the shopkeepers of the town constantly complained of what they regarded as unfair competition. In the ’nineties the dividend system was introduced, but only for the Krupp workmen ; other purchasers were not to be entitled to share in the profits. Then in 1897 the sales were limited solely to the Krupp employees, and on this basis the stores are still conducted. Nevertheless, the prices charged in the Krupp stores to a large extent regulate the prices of private traders. Thus the officials of the Co-operative Society admitted that they have to direct their efforts towards keeping their prices on a level with those charged by the Krupp stores ; and they added that for some commodities—those purchased by the poorer classes of workmen—the Krupp prices were not infrequently below “ normal ” market prices, and that in any case the quality of the commodities sold by the Krupp stores was always good. With the 36 general Krupp shops (in 1905) setting prices which are closely followed by the 15 shops of the Co-operative Society, the other workingclass shops in Essen must make the same charges, or lower ones ; at any rate they cannot charge higher prices. There are a number of shops which do charge distinctly lower prices, but the quality of the goods sold by them to the poorest classes of the community is very inferior. The Krupp stores sell almost everything needed in a household, while the Co-operative Society deals only in " colonial produce,” bread, miscellaneous household stores, and preserved meats of various kinds. The only other example of the " multiple shop ” system is furnished by a large firm with ten branches in various parts of the town. Bread is sold in all qualities, shapes, and sizes, and both according to weight and at fixed prices, in which latter case the quantity varies with the ruling price of flour, whether rye or wheat. Loaves as small as 2 and 3 lb. and as large as 8, 9, and 10 lb. are sold. The usual retail trader’s price for the coarsest black rye bread in October, 1905, was 4\d. for 4 lb., grey bread cost 6£d., and white (pure wheat) bread 7\d. to 8fc/. for 4 lb. The price of black bread at Krupp’s stores was about 3d. for 4 lb. and of white bread 7\d. in October, 1905. The qualities of coffee chiefly sold cost from 9fd. to 1 Ad. per lb., but there are inferior qualities, and among the poor roasted barley, sold from 2\d. to 2Id. per lb., is much used as a substitute. Sugar here, as elsewhere, varies much in qualitv and price, and is the favourite subject of competition between grocers. The usual price of sugar bought by working people was 2^d. per lb. Fresh butter cost from Is. Id. to Is. 3Jd., and margarine, of which there was a large sale, from Gd. to 8£d. The kinds of cheese mostly eaten are Dutch, Limburg at öd. 2 H 2 29088 244 ESSEN. to 5^(7., Tilsit at 9fc7. and Swiss at 11(7. to Is. Owing to the presence of collieries in the vicinity the price of coal is low. Paraffin is the illuminant almost solely used by the working classes. The following table shows the predominant prices paid by the working classes in October, 1905, and September, 1907. It will be seen that most of the commodities included in this list show a marked advance in prices :— Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and September,< 1907. Commodity. Predominant Price. October, 1905. September, 1907. Coffee ... Sugar :— Loaf ... White Granulated Bacon ; Smoked :— Fat ... Streaky Eggs ... Cheese ;— Dutch Limburg Swiss Tilsit Butter... Margarine Potatoes Flour :— Wheaten Rye Bread :— White Grey Black Milk Coal ... Coke ... Paraffin Oil per lb. per Is. per lb. per 7 lb. per 4 lb. per quart, per cwt. per gallon. 9\d. to 11(7. 2\d. 2j(7., 2# 8f(7. to 10|(7. 91(7. „ 101 <7. 11 to 15 8§(7 to 9p7. 5(7. ,, 51,(7. 11(7. to Is. 9# Is. 1(7. to Is. 31(7. 6(7. to 8f(7. 21(7. 10f(7. to 111(7. 9^(7. „ 101(7 71(7. to 8f(7. 61(7. 3(7. to 41(7. 2W. 81(7. to 11(7. 101,(7. to Is. 01(7. 91(7. to 9f(7. 9f(7. to 11(7. 21(7. 21(7. 8g(7. 8f(7. to 94(7. 11 .. Id 9^(7. to 101(7. 51(7. 11(7. to Is. 9^(7. Is. 1(7. to Is. 31(7. 7(7. „ 8# 21(7. „ 2f(7. Is. 01(7. „ Is. 1(7. Is. 1(7. 8^(7. 61(7. to 7f(7. 31(7. „ 61(7. " 21(7. 91(7. to Is. 01(7. 111(7. „ Is. 11(7. 101(7. to 11(7. Meat. The following table shows the slaughterings in the municipal slaughterhouses ­ for the years 1894, 1895, and the three years 1903-1905, with the estimated weight in meat per head of population for each year :— 1894. 1895. Oxen and Steers... Cows ... ... ... Young Cattle (up to 21 years) Calves Pigs ... ... ... Sheep and Goats... Horses Estimated meat consumption as ) above ... ••• ... | Approximate population of area served by rhe muni- l cipal slaughterhouses ... ) Consumption per head ... 1,104 5,392 1,662 9,965 29,088 5,491 405 cwts. 110,400 130,964 lb. 92-7 1,060 5,925 1,609 9,531 35,124 5,061 346 cwts. 122,600 137,060 lb. 98-4 1903. 4,929 8,937 2,834 14,505 62,690 4,454 760 cwts. 230,500 194,646 lb. 1303 1904. 6,361 7,850 3,103 15,519 71,352 4,681 848 cwts. 254,000 206,276 lb. 135 4 1905. 7,981 7,264 3,593 15,501 63,676 4,910 1,125 cwts. 253,000 219,099 lb. 1270 ESSEN. 245 To this table the Municipal Statistical Office appends the following note:— “ These figures relate only to fresh meat. Of bacon, ham, sausage and similar meats, the imports by railway into the town exceeded the exports by 13,800 tons. It is, however, very difficult to estimate the amount consumed in the town, since there are in Essen important dealers whose branches are in the surrounding district. But if we assume that one-half goes out of the town, that leaves 70"4 lb. per head of the population to be added, but the amount is probably greater.” Taking into account this excess of imported meat, the consumption for the years 1903-1905 would be increased to 200*7, 205 J 8, and 197*4 lb. respectively. The slaughterhouse figures given above are not easy to interpret, and the figures for consumption per head are possibly subject to some error owing to the uncertainty of the population served by the slaughterhouses. Assuming their correctness, however, industrial progress in Essen appears to have brought with it a rise in the food standard, as measured by the consumption of fresh meat per head, in spite of the rise in prices. The following table gives the figures for the last 12 years :— Year. 1894 .. 1895 .. 1896 .. 1897 .. 1898 .. 1899 .. Amount per head in lb. 92-7 98-4 104-9 101-3 96-4 100-7 Year. Amount per head in lb. 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1230 116-5 115-7 130-3 135-4 127-0 The average for the period since (and including) 1900—a year of hitherto unexampled prosperity—has thus been much higher than for the preceding six years. The drop in 1905, however, certainly continued in 1906, owing to the continued rise of prices. To the same fact must be ascribed also the increased consumption of horseflesh, which is not, however, the highest on record, for in 1901, when the population was considerably smaller, 1,204 horses were slaughtered as against 1,125 in 1905. In 1900 the number slaughtered was only 855, and the abrupt increase in 1901 may have been due to a sharp rise (from 7\d. to §\cl. per lb. in the Krupp stores) in the price of pork, combined with a drop in wages (at Krupp from 4s. 9\d. to 4s. 7\d. a day). One other feature of the return is the very small consumption ol mutton, which, as sold in the town, is of inferior quality and unpopular ; it is noteworthy that the municipal slaughterhouse returns class sheep and goats together. The meat consumption in working-class families is no doubt far below the average consumption of the population generally. Returns of weekly expenditure ­ on meat obtained from 191 such families, representing 920 persons, show an average weekly consumption of 28^ oz., or at the rate of about 93^ lb. per annum. Of this 39 per cent, was pork and bacon, 27 per cent, was beef, and 27 per cent, also was sausage. The sale of meat at Essen has the peculiarity (encountered in other German towns also) that in most working-class shops and in the markets only one or two prices are quoted for each kind of meat. Thus in the butchers’ shops one sees boards on which the day’s prices are inscribed, but these give prices only for perhaps two qualities of beef, veal and mutton (where it is sold), and often only one price for pork. In general the range of prices for all kinds of meat is narrow, if special cuts, like beefsteak, mutton and pork chops, and loin in veal, be excluded. The following detailed return of predominant prices at October, 1905, is based on quotations obtained from the Krupp stores as well as retail shops in all parts of the town frequented by the working classes :— 246 ESSEN. Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and September, 1907. Description of Cut. Predominant Price per lb. October, 1905. September, 1907. Beef :— Rib Silverside Shin Steak Flank Mutton :— Leg Shoulder Breast Neck Chops Veal :— Hindquarter Shoulder with bo Loin Shin Fork :— Leg Foreloin Belly Spare rib Chops 7(7. to 7f(7. 74(7. Id, Id. 11 d, b\d. to 7fd, 9# 8# 74(7 7# Id, „ 8|d. 7 d, „ 8\d, 9|d, „ 1M. 8&7. „ 9|(7. 84(7. „ 94(7. 11(7. 84(7. 84(7. to 9^(7. 11(7. 8# 7# 7§(7. 9|(7. 94(7. 8^(7. „ 11(7. 7(7. to 81(7. 74(7. 81(7. 74^, Is. V. ?4^ 84(7. to 94(7. 84(7. - 7(7. 7(7. 94(7. 94(7. 94(7. 11(7. - 84(7. to 9|(7. 94(7. 84(7. 84(7. 11(7. 94(7. 94(7. 84(7. to 94(7, 84(7. 74(7. 94(7. 74(7. 84(7. 84(7. 9&(7. 94(7. As already stated, sausage would appear to form about 27 per cent, of the meat diet of the working classes. A large variety of sausage is eaten, and the following Table gives the prices charged in October, 1905, and September, 1906, by the Co-operative Society, with its 15 shops, for the sorts most in demand as well as for preserved meats :— Commodity. Prices per lb. October, 1905. Prices per lb. September, 1906. Liver Sausage ... Blood Sausage ... “ Fleisch ” Sausage Lung Sausage ... Garlic Sausage ... “ Mett ” Sausage Hesse Presskopf Bacon (fat and lean) 4^(7. to 9|(7. 4(7. 94(7. 84(7. and 9|(7. 94(7. 94(7. 9|(7. to Is. 11(7. 11(7. 54(7. to 11(7. 5tj(7. ,, 11(7. 9|(7 and 11(7. 11(7. 11(7. 94(7. to Is. Is. Is. Inferior qualities of bacon were obtainable in the town in 1906 at lower prices, 9Jd. for fat and 10\d. for lean, whilst for the lowest grades (almost solely fat) prices were in some cases as low as 8¿á. and 8 já. It should be added that horseflesh cost in 1906 3jd. and 4|á. per lb., which was a slight increase on the prices of the preceding year. There are several horse butchers’ shops in the centre of the town, conspicuous owing to their special signs. Compared with other towns in Germany the price of meat at Essen was very low. Taking predominant prices in Berlin as 100, the index number for the price of meat in Essen is 98. The index number for “ other food ” is 105, and for coal 66, prices as a whole being represented by 99. The index number for rent and prices combined is 92. 247 HAMBURG (with ALTONA). One of the Free Cities of Germany and the country’s principal seaport, Hamburg is generally associated with the Prussian town of Altona, which forms its western prolongation. The division between the two towns is purely a political and administrative division, and their mercantile and industrial interests are inseparable. For that reason the two towns will, as far as possible, be associated in the present report. The town of Hamburg alone had a population in 1905 of 802,793, against 705,738 in 1900, showing an increase of 97,055, or 13*75 per cent. To the State of Hamburg belongs, however, a rural area, and in 1905 the population of that area was 72,085, against 62,611 in 1900, showing an increase of 9,474, or 15*13 per cent. Hamburg’s increase during the past 40 years, which have synchronised with Germany’s greatest industrial development, will be seen from the following Table :— Census year. Population. Intercensal Increase. Increase per cent, in intercensal periods of 5 years.* 1867 1871 1875 1880 1885 1890 1895 1900 1905 271,200 302,082 350,344 412,314 474,439 573,198 625,552 705,738 802,793 30,882 48,262 61,970 62,125 98,759 52,354 80,186 97,055 1139' 15 98' 17*69 15 07 20*82 9*13 12*82 13 75 Intercensal period of 4 years prior to 1875. During the years 1871 to 1890 the growth of population was due more to additions from without than to natural increase (i.e., excess of births over deaths), and this was particularly the case between 1885 and 1890, when 73 per cent, of the total increase of 103,910 within the State (98,759 falling to the town) was due to excess of immigration over migration outwards. Between 1890 and 1900 the position was reversed ; of the increase of 79,146 inhabitants in Hamburg alone (ships in harbour not counted) during the five years 1895-1900, 47,961, or 61 per cent., was due to excess of births over deaths, and 31,185, or 39 per cent., to excess of immigration. During the last intercensal ­ period the former tendency asserted itself ; for of an increase in the town of 97,055 between 1900 and 1905, 38,289, or 39 per cent., fell to natural growth, and 58,766, or 61 per cent., to excess of immigration. In the rural portions of the State the increase of population was attributable to these two causes in almost equal measure. The population of the inner districts of Hamburg has on the whole decreased for some years, by reason of the clearance of old residential property to make room for public buildings, and of the increasing diversion of houses to commercial purposes. The population of Altona in 1905 was 168,320, against 161,501 in 1900, showing an increase of 6,819, or 4*2 per cent. The results of the last six censuses and the rates of increase are shown below :— Intercensal Increase. Increase per cent Population. Census year. 108,873 126,306 143,249 148,944 161,501 168,320 1880 1885 1890 1895 1900 1905 17,433 16,943 5,695 12,557 6,819 16*01 13*41 398 8*4 42 248 HAMBURG. The entire municipal area of Hamburg covers 19,027 acres, occupied in 1905 as follows :—Covered with houses, including courtyards, 5,366 acres ; roads, streets, and railways, 2,470 acres ; public gardens and parks, 671 acres ; cemeteries in use, 63 acres ; gardens, forest, and agricultural land, 7,350 acres ; and water, 3,107 acres. The outer area includes the districts of Geestlande, Marschlande, Bergedorf, and Ritzebüttel, with Cuxhaven at the mouth of the Elbe, having together an area of 83,237 acres, making the area of the entire State territory 102,264 acres (160 square miles). Hamburg’s growth by the absorption of a large immigrant population was specially stimulated after the middle of last century by the fact that within this Free State the right to a free choice of occupations was legalised some years before the principle was embodied in the legislation of the North German Confederation. The exceptional increase of population and the large addition from the outside which occurred between 1885 and 1890 were due to the inclusion of Hamburg in 1888 within the German Customs Union. Up to that year the city and port of Hamburg, together with the “old town ” of Altona— Ottensen being, therefore, excepted—and Wandsbeck, had constituted a customsfree area. The result was that all goods whether imported or manufactured on the spot, sent from Hamburg and Altona into the territory of the Customs Union were dutiable unless specially immune under the Customs Tariff. Hence the carrying on of industries was in both towns a matter of difficulty, and while Hamburg enterprise was compelled to seek an outlet in the “customs inland ” across the Prussian frontier, Altona’s industries became concentrated in Ottensen. The inclusion of the sister towns in the Customs Union of the Empire removed the disabilities under which they had laboured, but if they were henceforth ­ theoretically free to establish such industries as they would without the obstacle of duty-protected German markets, it was now no longer so easy to do this as it would have been twenty or thirty years before. Germany’s industrial advance had already begun ; the great staple industries had found their natural centres, and to this extent the relief to local enterprise came too late. Altona for a time positively lost ground, for many undertakings which had taken root in the town were removed to Hamburg owing to the more favourable conditions there prevailing, and its increase of population during the decade 1858-1895 was far less relatively than that of Hamburg. While, as has been shown, 73 per cent, of Hamburg’s increase during the period 1885-1890 was due to excess of immigration over removals, the percentage of Altona’s increase due to that cause during the same period was only 48, and during the following quinquennial period 4,406 more persons left Altona than took up their homes there, with the result that the nett increase of population was only 4 per cent. Hamburg’s expansion since 1888 has been unique, though it has been more commercial than industrial. As a result of its admission to the Customs Union, new harbours and docks, with warehouses of various kinds, had to be constructed at a cost exceeding five million pounds sterling, of which the Imperial Treasury contributed two millions by way of solatium. There is still, however, a large customs-free territory {Freihafengebiet), in which merchandise is received in bond for transhipment, subject to the usual duties if it enters Hamburg or any other part of the Customs Union. This Free Harbour area is 2,518 acres in extent, 1,245 acres being water. In 1906 the aggregate number of sea-going ships (including coasters) which entered the port was 15,778 of 11,039,000 tons register, and the number which cleared was 15,790 with 11,008,000 tons register. Of the vessels which entered, 3,913 with 3,814,997 tons register were British, and of those which cleared, 3,902 with 3,795,471 tons register were British. The total value of the Hamburg merchant fleet was estimated in 1905 at over twenty million pounds. Altona’s shipping trade is for the most part an incoming trade. The industries of Hamburg and district include shipbuilding, machine works, iron foundries, rice and corn mills, oil refineries, chemical, rubber, and asbestos factories, margarine factories, wool-combing, jute spinning and weaving, glass bottle blowing, tobacco and cigar manufactures, and a considerable clothing trade. Altona’s special industries include some important engineering works, which are largely dependent on the shipping trade, glass, margarine, and chemical works, timber yards and saw mills. HAMBURG. 24& Few towns are so diverse in character as Hamburg, and no indication of its architectural features can be conveyed in general terms. The historic town covers a large area on the right bank of the river Elbe, comprising the Old Town to the east and the “ "New” Town (which, where not rebuilt, is yet very antiquated) to the west. Next in point of age are the parishes of St. Georg and St. Pauli, the latter adjoining the town of Altona. A large number of suburbs of various ages cluster round the crescent formed by the early settlements, each having its distinctive class of residents, and in the centre lies the Alster Lake, a noble sheet of water, lined by villa residences. Other notable villa quarters are Harvestehude, Uhlenhorst, Rotherbaum, Winterhude and Eppendorf, and to the north, far away from the Elbe, but within sight of the Alster, while the working classes live chiefly in the Old and New Towns, in the harbour districts, and in the outskirts lying to the east and south-east. A peculiarity of the lower region of the town near to the harbour are the narrow necks of water known as “ Fleeten,” running inland from the river and penetrating in all directions, so forming canals by which the conveyance of merchandise of certain kinds is greatly facilitated. These “Fleeten” are lined with warehouses and inhabited buildings, often rising to a height of five and six stories, and they belong to the most picturesque features of the town. Modern Hamburg is in the main built of brick faced with plaster, and in this respect is like most other German towns, but the traditional style of building was half-timber work, which from the eleventh century down to fifty years ago predominated, until the building bye-laws of 1865 discouraged it, on the ground of danger, in favour of fire-proof material. The newer parts of the town are well and substantially built. The best of buildings soon look old, however, owing to smoke and a humid atmosphere, and the general aspect of the purely business streets, some of which are too narrow for the traffic they have to accommodate, creates an impression of sombreness. On the other hand, the quieter and less congested residential districts are interspersed by lakes, gardens and parks. Altona, on the other hand, has none of Hamburg’s bustle and turmoil. Overshadowed commercially by the larger town, it pursues a quiet but prosperous life of its own. While it is without the slums of the Hamburg inner town, it also lacks Hamburg’s finer parts, though there are wide streets in the new districts, many open spaces, garden suburbs, and several fine public buildings. The barrack house is still the exception here, and even in the principal streets buildings of two stories are common. The municipality of Hamburg has hitherto made it a principle to refrain from competing with private enterprise so long as the public interest and convenience ­ seemed to be properly safeguarded. Hence while the harbours are municipal (or State) property, the two tramway systems are in private hands, though the town receives 10 per cent, of the gross proceeds of the urban company, equal to £55,000 per annum. The hilliness of the ground and the narrowness of many of the streets prevent any thorough intersection of the town, but the communication with Altona and the outskirts is excellent. The gas, electricity, and water services are also municipal ; the water supply is obtained by pumping from the Elbe. As will be explained later* the town owns no workmen’s dwellings, but it offers facilities to societies and individuals desirous of erecting small tenements at low rents, and it has expended over half a million pounds during recent years in clearing insanitary areas of the Old Town. It is a peculiarity of the two representative bodies by which Hamburg is governed that one-half of the 18 members of the Senate must have studied law or finance, while seven of the other nine must be merchants, and that of the 160 members of the House of Burgesses, 40 are elected by the property owners, while 40 are elected by present or past members of the Courts, administrative authorities, and the Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and the remaining 80 by all citizens paying income tax. Hamburg’s vitality statistics show steadily decreasing birth and death rates The birth-rate of the entire State declined as follows between 1896 and 1905 :— 1896, 35 1 per 1,000 of the population ; 1897, 34*1 ; 1898, 33T ; 1899, 31 6 ; 2 I 29038 Infra, “ Housing and Rents.” M 250 HAMBURG. i » Fr I b R 1900, 30*2 ; 1901, 29 1 ; 1902, 28'2 ; 1903 and 1904, 27 1 ; and 1905, 26 8. The rate for the town alone was 25*8 per 1,000 in 1905, against 25*2 in 1904. The death-rate in the town has fallen from 17 3 per 1,000 in 1896 to 15*8 in 1905. The highest rate in 1905 occurred in the working-class district of Barmbeck, viz., 21*9 per 1,000, and districts of the Old Town, 19*9 per 1,000 ; while the residential suburbs of Harvestehude and Rotherbaum had rates of 9*3 and 10 4 per 1,000 respectively. The rate of infant mortality in 1905 was 174 per 1,000 births against 167 in 1904. It formed 28 3 per cent, of the total deaths in 1905, against 27'5 per cent, in 1904, 27*7 in 1903, 25*2 in 1902, and 32-4 in 1901. The following Table gives the birth and death rates and the infantile mortality rates of Hamburg for a period of five years :— Year. Birth rate per 1,000 of population. Death rate per 1,000 of population. Infantile mortality per 1,000 births. 1901 1902 1903 1901 1905 27-9 27 1 261 252 25-8 17-1 16 4 16 7 15 3 15-8 199 152 178 167 174 The deaths from pulmonary consumption were 1 *55 per 1,000 of the population in 1905, while the deaths from tuberculosis of all kinds gave a rate •of 2 per 1,000 inhabitants. The highest rate of mortality from consumption in 1905 occurred in the northern portion of the Old Town, viz., 2'06 per 1,000 inhabitants, comparing with a minimum rate of 0*34 per 1,000 in the Harvestehude residential suburb. Altona has a slightly higher birth-rate than Hamburg, viz., 26 2 per 1,000 in 1905, and the decline since 1896 has been less, for the rate then was 33'7 against 35 1 in Hamburg (the whole State). The death-rate of Altona in 1905 was 16*5 per 1,000 against 15*8 in Hamburg, and the infant mortality rate was 179 per 1,000 births against 174 in Hamburg, but here, too, there has been a steady improvement during recent years. A Table is appended giving the birth and death rates and the infant mortality rates of Altona for a series of years : — Year. Birth rate per 1,000 of population Death rate per 1,000 of population. Infantile mortality per 1,000 births. 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 307 29-7 27 5 27 5 26-2 194 16-9 17 1 16 7 16-5 236 155 184 183 179 Both at Hamburg and Altona various organisations outside the Poor Law endeavour more or less successfully to cope with the problems of disease and poverty. In the interest of infants there are free dispensaries and creches ; a forest sanatorium for consumptive children from the elementary schools is conducted ­ in a healthy neighbourhood an hour distant ; there are Holiday Colonies for the children of poor parents ; while, for the benefit of the labouring classes, there are labour registries, cheap lodging-houses, shelters for the homeless, people’s kitchens and coffee-houses, and societies which help needy tenants to pay their rents. Occupations, Wages, and Hours of Labour. In Hamburg, industry is secondary to the shipping trade ; in Altona, industry predominates, and the shipping trade is relatively insignificant. In 1905 the " industrial workpeople ” of the Free State, as enumerated by the Factory Inspector, formed 7*3 per cent, of the entire population, while the corresponding percentage in Altona in 1906 was 10*3 per cent. The ratio in Berlin was 12*5 per cent. HAMBURG. 251 The number of “industrial workpeople” within the Free State area enumerated in 1906 was 66,127, employed in 4,158 establishments, as against 48,714 employed in 2,065 establishments in 1902, since which year the number of industrial establishments has increased by 101 4 per cent, and the number of workpeople by 35*8 per cent. The workpeople fell in 1906 into the following classes : 51,844 employed in 1,062 factories, 8,662 employed in workshops employing motor power, and 5,621 employed in workshops in the clothing trade. The largest group of workpeople was that falling to the engineering trade, viz., 18,212 or 27'7 per cent, of the whole. The following Table classifies these industrial workpeople in detail :— Group of Trades. ! Number of Establishments. ­ Number of Workpeople. Males over 16 years. Females over 16 years. Juveniles 14 but not over 16 years. Total. Building Mining, Smelting, Salt-works, Peat-digging Metalworking Machine, Implement and Apparatus making Textiles Clothing and Cleaning Printing, Lithography, Bookbinding, &c. Paper ... ... ... ... ... Woodworking and Carving ... Chemicals Resins, Varnishes, Oil, Soap, Candles, &c Stone and Earth Food, Drink, and Tobacco Leather Other ... ... ... ... ... Total 127 6 364 374 25 1,500 250 24 360 54 84 43 899 40 8 2,616 559 5,017 17,141 302 1,255 3,194 138 4,685 1,723 2,269 1,185 6,437 2,722 65 14 389 425 463 7,424 1,153 159 358 256 276 52 2,390 971 2 4,158 49,308 14,332 Percentage of Total Workpeople ... 77 2 19-1 85 4 376 646 23 502 225 24 198 24 21 27 205 120 7 2,701 577 5,782 18,212 788 9,181 4,572 321 5,241 2,003 2,566 1,264 9,032 3,813 74 2,487 66,127 3 7 100 The industrial workpeople of Altona in 1906 numbered 17,713, employed in 1,079 undertakings. Of these 75*9 per cent, were males, and 72*2 per cent, adult males. The classification was as follows :— Group of Trades. N umber of Establishments. ­ Number of Workpeople. Males over 16 years. Females over 16 years. Juveniles It, but not over 16 years. Children under It years. Total. Building Metalworking Machine, Implement, and Apparatus making. Textiles Clothing and Cleaning Printing, Lithography, Bookbinding, ­ &c. Paper ... ... • •• ... Woodworking and Carving Chemicals ... Resins, Varnishes, Oil, Soap, Candles, &c. Stone and Earth Food, Drink, and Tobacco Leather Total 98 58 51 12 88 28 19 87 12 14 20 571 21 1,103 1,236 2,416 279 364 261 500 1,805 64 395 673 3,320 378 111 20 624 323 88 496 67 56 133 9 2,064 31 1,079 12,794 4,022 61 143 161 64 36 37 85 93 9 23 20 155 3 890 1,164 1,490 2,597 968: 725 387 1,082 1,965 129 551 702 5,541 412 17,713 No children under 14 years were employed in the factories of Hamburg, and only seven in those of Altona. 29088 2 12 252 HAMBURG. The Trade Guilds of Altona numbered 16 in 1906, of which 13 reported to the Chamber of Handicrafts 1,340 members, employing 3,346 journeymen and 784 apprentices, the largest guild being that of the builders with 61 employers and 1,693 workpeople. The working classes oí both towns are exceptionally well organised, and many of the larger trade unions of the “ Free ” or Social Democratic type have offices in the Central Hall (“ Gewerkschaftshaus ”) which has been built on the Besenbinderhof by the Trades Federation, a building of imposing exterior and proportions combining assembly and committee rooms, labour registries, an advice agency (“ Workmen’s Secretariate ”), a restaurant, and a lodging-house. The Christian and Hirsch-Duncker Unions have likewise their homes and miscellaneous agencies. In 1905 there were affiliated to the “Free” Trades Federation 94 unions having an aggregate membership of 57,248, Altona being here included. The largest unions were those of the metal workers with 8,885 members, wood workers with 5,484 members, masons with 4,471 members, labourers in trade and transport undertakings with 3,457 members, factory workers with 2,762 members, painters and varnishers with 2,110 members, and carpenters with 1,953 members. These various organisations have played a prominent part in the many disputes between capital and labour which have occurred during recent years, and which are to some extent responsible for the fact that the general level of wages in Hamburg is relatively high, especially in the building trades. The usual hours of labour in Hamburg are ten daily, though in some factories work ceases an hour earlier on Saturday. The work day as a rule lasts from 6 a.m. to 5.30 or 6 p.m., with intervals of half an hour for breakfast (8 to 8.30) and an hour or an hour and a half at noon, though the “ vesper ” interval at four o’clock is still observed in some works, in which event less time is allowed for breakfast. In one of the large oil factories an eight-hour day was introduced a short time ago, and it is stated to have worked very satisfactorily. ­ The only recognised holidays are the high festivals of the Church. In all industries employment from day to day is the rule, though in isolated works a week’s or even a fortnight’s notice must be given on either side. Wages are in most cases paid at the end of each week. The following observations may be added regarding the more important industries of Hamburg and Altona :— Shipbuilding and Engineering Trades :—The principal shipbuilding yards are on the islands south of the town, divided from the mainland by the North Elbe. Large engineering works are carried on in the industrial quarters lying to the west, Uhlenhorst, Barmbeck, &c., but Altona—and especially the Ottensen district—is the most important seat of the iron and machine industries, though similar works of large extent are also found at Harburg, on the other side of the South Elbe. Altona’s machine works are mainly dependent on the shipbuilding industry. Piecework is common in the shipbuilding industry and the engineering trades generally, but where time payment is the rule premiums are sometimes paid, and the piecework principle applies in effect by the observance of a rule like the following:—“Work is paid for by time and never by piece rates, nevertheless when the work costs less by time rates than the foreman calculated, the surplus is paid over.” The Building Trades.—Wages in the building trades are entirely regulated by collective agreements, applying both to Hamburg and Altona, the number of which is exceptionally large. Many of the agreements now in operation are the result of repeated revision, each one of which has implied some improvement in the workmen’s wages and general conditions of labour. In these trades a nine hours’ day predominates, but as it is customary to cease work half an hour earlier on Saturday, the actual number of hours worked per week is 53J>. It will be seen from the statement of agreement rates of wages given below that in the building trades proper the highest weekly earnings fall to the stucco workers, viz., 42s. to 48s., and stonemasons working in sandstone, viz., 42s. Ilc7. It is a peculiarity of Hamburg that bricklayers’ labourers engaged in the carrying of stone and mortar (hodmen), lime slaking, cement mixing, and letting down materials for drainage and wells are paid as much as bricklayers and carpenters, HAMBURG. 253 viz., 405. 2d. per week, while labourers engaged in other building work receive 32s. 1 g?., which is the rate for glaziers, plumbers and fitters. Oil, Rubber and Margarine Industries.—Employment for a large amount of unskilled labour is found in oil and rubber works in Hamburg and Harburg, at several margarine factories, the most important being at Altona, at chemical and asbestos works, and in numerous timber yards and sawmills. There is little difference in the rates of wages paid in these groups of industries. Unskilled men begin at from 16s. to 18s. per week and advance to 21s. and 22s., while better men can often earn 24s. Cigar and Cigarette Industry. — Both at Hamburg and Altona a large number of workers of both sexes are employed in the cigar and cigarette trade. There are a few small factories in which the actual manufacture of cigars takes place, but this is in the main a house industry, and the factory workpeople are employed in sorting, packing, box-making, labelling, &c. The home-workers are either employed directly by the manufacturers or they work for “ middlemen ” (“Zwischenmeister”), some of whom have as many as 15 assistants, though most have only one or two. The earnings of the home-workers vary greatly according to individual dexterity and the quality of the cigars made, but in general the rate earned per hour ranges from 3\d. to 4\d. for men. working independently, rates equal to from 17s. 6d. to 21s. 3d. per week of 60 hours, comparing with 30s. usually earned in factories by sorters. The Clothing Trade.—Another industry employing a large number of workpeople of both sexes at home as well as in workshops is the clothing trade, of which Hamburg is an important centre. In the workshops tailors earn from 27s. to 30s. per week, the lower figure being the minimum established by agreement, but in busy seasons their earnings are higher. The earnings of home-workers fall much below these rates and are unfavourably affected by the growth of the “ middleman ” system. Glass Bottle Industry.—Glass bottle blowing is an important industry at Altona and also in several small towns outside Hamburg, like Bergedorf, Geesthacht, &c. Glass workers in the country often live in factory dwellings, to which a little garden ground is attached, paying from £5 to £8 10s. for two living and bed rooms and a kitchen. Many Danes, Swedes, and Norwegians are employed in this industry. The Brewing Trade.— The wages of the brewery employees are regulated by an agreement. Brewers began in 1905 with a minimum weekly wage of 30s. rising after five years to a maximum of 33s. ; coopers began at 31s., rising in two years to 32s. ; draymen had 25s. and 26s., and in addition 2s. per day for food. Free beer is given to the workmen without restriction. The practice of living-in has been abolished. Harbour and Dock Labour.—The wages of harbour and dock labourers are likewise to a large extent regulated by agreements, mostly of a general character, though a few agreements between special firms and their workpeople also exist. Several keenly-contested disputes have drawn the harbour labourers closely together during recent years, and it is estimated that of some 17,000 men of all grades at least 12,000 are organised. In considering the rates of wages given below it should be remembered that there is a good deal of intermittent ­ work even in busy seasons, and that there are, moreover, two recurrent slack periods of about six weeks each, from the end of January to the middle of March, and from the end of June to the middle of August. The busiest seasons are spring and autumn, when work at good wages is abundant. During the past three years (1904 to 1906) the trade of Hamburg harbour has been abnormally active, and comparatively little slack time has been experienced. The largest group of harbour men are the stevedores, who number about 5,000, and have a good name for steadiness, smartness, and efficiency. The wages agreement current in October, 1905, fixed the rate of daily wages at 4s. Qd. for the loading and unloading of ordinary merchandise, 5s. Id. for chemicals and cement in sacks, and 5s. 4d. for ores, pig iron, loose corn, salt, guano, sulphur, salted hides, turpentine, gambier, and camphor. On piecework higher earnings were made, and there is at times much overtime. A full day 254 HAMBURG. lasts from 6.0 to 6.0, with intervals of half an hour for breakfast (8.0 to 8.30) r and an hour and a half at noon ; but if there is no noon break the day is held to be completed at 2.0 p.m. Half a day lasts from 6.0 to 11.30 a.m., or 1.30 to 6.0 p.m., and three-quarters of a day counts from 9.0 to 6.0, with a noon interval of an hour and a half, or from 9.0 to 2.0 without a break. The lightermen, numbering from 2,700 to 3,000, had an agreement rate of 4a. 6d. per day. Thirty years ago the usual rate was from 2s. bd. to 3a., and the first agreement, concluded in 1888, fixed the rate at 4a. Of the dockers (“ Quaiarbeiter”) from 1,500 to 1,700 are employed by the State and 1,100 by private shipping firms. Foremen in 1905 earned on the year’s average from 27a. to 30a. 9d., and permanent men from 23a. Id. to 27a. ; but casual assistants, of whom many are young men, did not exceed 20a., though on a piecework footing higher earnings were possible. The heaviest work done by stevedores is the unloading of English coal, in which about 500 men are usually engaged. Work is paid by piece and there are no regular hours. The men begin, as a rule, at 5.0 a.m., with intervals for meals, continue until the cargo is cleared, which may occupy from 12 to 14 hours in the case of small vessels and as long as 24 hours in the case of large ones. The earnings have not varied greatly of late years, and range from 27s. to 38s. 6d. per week on the year’s average ; but the earnings of single weeks are far higher. Bunker men and trimmers have about the same average earnings. There are some 300 dredgers in State employ, who earn 28s. per week on piece : they live for the most part in the outside districts, and have much slack time in wdnter. Bank repairers, who are all in State service, earn from 21s. to 26s. per week. Labourers employed in connection with the large warehouses receive from 30s. to 35s. per week if permanent men, and 4s. and 4s. 6d. per day for ordinary work if casuals. The number of these men is between 1,800 and 2,000. Labourers engaged in the corn trade, some 500 in number, receive from 3s. 6& to 4s. per day for day work and 5s. for night work. Warehouse labourers in Altona receive from 22s. to 25s. per week if handling hides, 30s. for corn, and as much as 35s. for coffee. Brick and stone unloaders, wdio are all pieceworkers, earn from 30s. 9d. to 38s. 9d. per week, but there is little work in winter. There are some 200 sail makers engaged in workshops, who work 10 hours per day and earn from 23s. Id. to 30s. 9d. per week according to capacity and regularity of employment. Ship-boiler cleaners, who are mostly young, earn from 15s. to 21s. per week, with 24s. for older men. Baking.—The practice of living-in still prevails to some extent in the baking trade, but it only applies generally to confectioners. Where a journeyman ­ has board and lodging with the master baker a deduction of from 10s. to 12s. is made from the money wages. Between the rates paid by private bakers and those paid by co-operative societies there is a difference of from 4s. to 5s. per week in favour of the latter. While first bakers in co-operative bakeries receive 30s. and 31s. per week, and second bakers 28s., the rates in private bakeries are 25s. to 30s. and 24s. respectively. The hours in co-onerative bakeries are also fewer. Employees of Co-operative Societies.—The co-operative movement is strong in Hamburg, and the two largest societies employ between them more than 400 persons. The remuneration of their -employees has of late been a burning question amongst German co-operators, and it is interesting to compare the wages paid by these rival societies. The predominant weekly rates were as follows in 1906:—(1) “1856” society—Warehousemen, 40s. to 50s. ; salesmen, 25s. to 30s.; and saleswomen, 18s. to 21s. (2) “Production” society—Warehousemen, ­ 36s. to 40s.; salesmen, 22s. 6(7. to 27s. ; and saleswomen, 15s. to 20s. Jute Spinning and Weaving.—At Schiffbeck, a village lying a short distance south-east of the town, in Prussian territory, is a large jute spinning and weaving factory worked almost entirely by foreign labourers, mostly women and girls, Poles, Austrians, Hungarians, Bohemians, and Finns. HAMBURG. 25õ Formerly a large number of Dundee women were engaged for the more responsible work, and a few still remain and earn 18s. and 20s. per week. About a third of the workpeople are married women. Wages and Hours of Labour in the Principal Occupations, October, 1905. Stonemasons Building Trades ( time rates fixed by agreement)'• Bricklayers and Masons (Carvers and Hewers) In sandstone Carpenters ... Joiners and Cabinet-makers Plumbers and Fitters Roofers Glaziers Í On buildings. (In workshops Stucco-workers Painters Decorators and Paperhangers ... Paviors Rammers and Paviors’ Labourers Bricklayers and Masons’ Labourers Navvies Tile-layers ... Stone-carvers Marble Masons „ Polishers Cement-workers „ Hodmen and Moulders Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours of Labour. 40s. 2d. 36s. 9c?. 42s. 11c?. 40s. 2c?. 29s. 2d. 32 s. 1c?. 37s. 5d. 32s. lc?. 42s. to 48s. 36s. „ 39s. 32s. 5c?. 27s. 36s. 9d. 33s. 11c?. 40s. 2c?. 26s. 9c?. 48s. 2c?. 48s. 32s. 5c?. 27s. 34s. 9c?. to 37s. 5c?. 29s. 5d. 53& 56& 50Ï 53? 53' 53& 53Í 531j 54 54 54 54 561 se; 53; 53; 53; f} 54 53& 53& The wages and hours of labour stated for the building trades are for a full week in summer. Shipbuilding Industry :— Moulders ... Fitters Turners Smiths Pattern-makers Angle-iron Smiths Boilersmiths Boilersmiths’ Labourers Ri vetters ... Caulkers ... Holders-up Labourers ... Weekly Wages. Piece. Time. Weekly Hours of Labour. 33s. to 36s. 30s. „ 36s. 33s. » 39s. 30s. „ 36s. 33s. to 39s. 33s. ,, 39s. 24s. „ 27s. 33s. „ 39s. 24s. to 30s. 24s. „ 30s. 27s. 24s. to 27s. 7c?. 26s. 5c?. to 30s. 24s. to 30s. 27s. „ 33s. 25s. 2c?. to 30s. 25s. 2c?. „ 30s. 21s. to 22s. 10c?. 24s. 25s. 10c?. to 28s. 10c?. 21s. to 22s. 2d. 21 s. 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 Weekly Wages. Fitters < Engineering and Metal Trades :— Moulders ... In machine shops In oil works ... In electric installation works (agreement) ­ ... ... ... In factories ... In breweries (agreement) ... Turners Smiths ... * * * ••• . . * Pattern -makers Erectors ... • •• ••• * * * ••• File-grinders (agreement) File-cutters (agreement) Labourers in machine shops 27s. to 30s. 30s. „ 36s. 27s. „ 33s. 27s. 27s. to 30s. 30s. » 31s. 30s. „ 36s. 30s. „ 36s. 30s. „ 36s. 36s. „ 42s. 34s. 2c?. 24s. 6c?. 18s. to 24s. Weekly Hours of Labour. 60 60 60 54 60 57 60 60 60 60 57 57 60 256 HAMBURG. Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours of Labour. Textile and Clothing Trades :— (a) Wool-combing— Wool-combers (b) Jute Spinning and Weaving Sorters Batchers Twisters Cop and bobbin winders Reelers Weavers (2 looms) Sizers Calenderers (c) Clothing Trade— Tailors (agreement) Printing and A llied Trades :— Compositors, Machine-minders, and Pressmen Machine Compositora { joJ,i ng I Lithographic Draughtsmen Lithographers Process Printers and Copper Printers Wallpaper Printers Wood Industries :— Wood-carvers Cabinet-makers (furniture) (agreement) Parquet-layers (agreement) Coopers ... ••• ••• * i In breweries (agreement) ... ” ¡ In oil works ... Sawyers, Planers, Groovers, and Moulders in timber mills Veneer-cutters in timber mills ... Box-makers in timber mills Labourers in timber mills Food, Drink, and Tobacco Trades :— (a) Bread Baling— -, , i Private bakeries 1st men 2nd men 3rd men Co-operative bakeries Private bakeries ... Co-operative bakeries Private bakeries ... Co-operative bakeries (b) Corn Milling— Chief Millers Under Millers Labourers ... (c) Margarine Factories— Journeymen (d) Beer Brewing— Brewers (agreement) Coopers ,, Labourers „ (e) Tobacco— Foremen ... Cigar-makers (home workers) „ Sorters „ Pasters, Packers, &c. Cigarette-makers 19s. 2d. to 19s. KM. 23s. 6c?. to 24s. 6c?. 23s. 6c?. „ 24s. 6c?. 16s. 6c?. 16s. 6c?. 16s. 6c?. 18s. 6c?. to 20s. 6c?. 23s. 6c?. 19s. 8c?. to 21s. 6c?. 27s. to 30s 28s. 2c?. 35s. 2d. 36s. 7c?. 30s. 3d. 30s. 3c?. 32s. 32s. 30s. 9 c?. 28s. lc?. 37s. lc?. 30s. to 32s. 31s. „ 32s. 27s. „ 33s. 27s. „ 30s. 30s. 30s. 21s. to 24s. 25s. to 30s. 30s. and 31s. 24s. 28s. 24s. 27s. and 28s. 35s. to 46s. 2c?. 30s. to 35s. 25s. „ 26s. 24s. 30s. to 33s. 31s. „ 32s. 24s. 25s. 30s. to 35s. 17s. 6c?. to 21s. 3c?. 30s. 20s. to 28s. 20s. „ 23s. 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 54 48 54 48 54 51 54 51 53 53 57-60 57 60 60 60 60 60 60-72 48 60-72 48 60-72 48 60 60 60 60 57 57 57 57-60 57-60 57-60 60 HAMBURG. 257 Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours of Labour. Glass Bottle Chemical, Glass, Oil, Rubber, &c., Industries Chemical works ... { I Blowers ( Labourers O" lift, India-rubber works j Miscellaneous Trades :— Leather-workers Saddlers Rope-makers Skilled Unskilled Transport Trades :— Furniture Removers (agreement) Carters (agreement) 21*. 24s. 28s. to 30s. 21s. 21s. 27s. 27s. to 30s. 21s. „ 24s. 20s. to 27s. 18s. „ 24s. 24s. 2¿. 21s. 28s. 6(7. to 30s. 26s. to 28s. 60 60 60 60 60 60 56&-60 564-60 60 60 60 60 60 60-66 It will be seen that the wages shown above for the building, engineering, and printing trades are exceptionally high as compared with those in other German towns. Representing the level of wages in Berlin by 100, the index numbers for Hamburg are :—As regards the building trades, 102 for skilled men and 125 for labourers; the engineering trades, £7 for skilled men and 96 for unskilled ; and the printing trades 100 for skilled men. The predominant rates of wages and hours of municipal and tramway employees in the two towns were as follows in October, 1905 :— Hamburg. Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours. Altona. Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours. Roadmaking and Cleaning Department. Paviors ... ... ... ... Paviors’ Labourers Roadmakers Road Sweepers Drivers ... Waterworks. Labourers Electricity Works and Electric Lighting. Engine Drivers Stokers ... Erectors and Installers Fitters ... ... ... .. Gasworks. Firemen Gas Stokers Yardmen Tramways (Private). Drivers ... Conductors 31s. 10 d. 28s. 10(7. 21s. 22s.10(7. 23s. 5(7. to 24s. 21s. to 22s. 10(7. 28s. to 37s. 24s. 6(7. „ 29s. 5(7. 24s. „ 27s. 24s. 6(7. ,, 33s. 7(7. 29s. 5(7. to 31s. 2(7. 31s. 2(7. to 35s. 21s. 7(7. 24s. 3(7. to 26s. 6(7. 21s. 11(7. to 23s. 1(7. 60 60 60 60 60 63 70 70 60 70 72| 72f 72| 57 64& 21s. 7(7. 22s. 10(7. to 24s. 28s. to 31s. 6(7. 24s. 6(7. to 28s. 28s. to 31s. ( (7. 27s. to 3Cs. 37s. 1(7. to 40s. 7(7. 31s. 6(7. to 35s. 22s. 10(7. to 24s. 60 60 70 70 70 60 70 70 60 L Work done by contract, t Less intervals for meals. 2 K 29088 258 HAMBURG. Asa result of an investigation of incomes made by the Hamburg taxation authorities several years ago, the conclusion was drawn that “ the majority of the population depend on incomes of from £50 to £60 per annum at the most.” Such incomes represent daily earnings of from 3s. 6d. to 4s., the range within which the wages of most unskilled factory and workshop labourers fall. Outside this range fall the great mass of skilled workmen on the one hand and at the other end of the scale the casual labourer whose pay is more or less rigidly regulated by the law of supply and demand. It may be noted that the “ locally usual ” rates of pay for day labour as determined for State insurance calculations are 3s. bd. for adult males (increased from 3s. in 1907), 2s. for adult females, Is. Qd. for juvenile males and Is. for juvenile females. The rate of 3s. bd. for men compares with 3s. 2^<A in Bremen, though until two years ago the Bremen “ official ” rate for adult male labour was 6d. higher than that of Hamburg. Many of the larger employers both in Hamburg and Altona maintain either wholly or partially special benefit funds which supplement the State insurance funds against sickness, accident, and old age and invalidity. Other firms have instituted holiday and pleasure funds, to which the workpeople contribute, and the proceeds of which are expended in summer on excursions, festivals, and other recreations. A number of smaller employers give their workpeople several days holiday yearly, paying their wages meantime, and in one case double wages are paid to men who spend their holiday in the country. As an illustration of care for the physical welfare of workpeople, the following extract from the factory regulations of a large indiarubber company may be quoted :—“ Workers under 18 years of age are required to take part in gymnastic exercises twice a week : in the gymnasium the orders of the teacher or his representative must be obeyed on pain of fine.” The following appears in the regulations of an important engineering firm and relates specially to painters and varnishers :— “ The workmen may only take food and drink or leave the works after they have changed their working attire and carefully washed their hands.” The factory canteen is also a recognised institution in some factories at a distance from the town. Here a wholesome dinner, consisting of soup, meat and vegetables, can as a rule be had for 4d., hot coffee or tea is sold at a nominal charge, and beer at cost price. In few cases do employers whose works are outside the town provide dwellings, experience having shown that such dwellings are unpopular and that the workpeople prefer to make their own arrangements and above all to live in the town. The State and municipal authorities of Hamburg control all the services generally found in public hands in German towns with the exception of the tramways. They also own and administer a large system of harbours and docks, with the result that the town is by far the greatest employer of labour. Wages as a rule are dependent upon years of service as well as capacity. The employees of the State are insured against old age and invalidity under specially favourable conditions securing them higher pensions than are contemplated by the Imperial Insurance Law. The weekly contribution is 15 pfennige or l’8rf. per week, and the pension is £10 after five years’ service with 20 pfennige (2*4d.) extra for every further week of contribution up to 1,000 weeks, and 10 pfennige (l*2c?.) extra for the next 520 weeks, when the maximum pension is reached. The effect is that after about ten years’ service a pension of £22 12s. is claimable. Subject to conditions premiums are wholly or partially returnable in the event of a right to pension not maturing. From the beginning of 1908 workpeople in the employment of the State will also have a conditional right to several days’ holiday once a year, viz., to three days if they have served three years unintermittently, and six days if they have similarly served six years. Housing and Rents. The working-class dwellings of Hamburg present all the diversity of character and quality which is invariably found in old towns, but the contrasts are here accentuated owing to the facts that Hamburg was of old fortified and that it contains a large seafaring and harbour population. The worst housing conditions exist in the Inner Town and in the neighbourhood of the harbour, and it is here that the labouring classes most directly dependent upon HAMBURG. 259 Hamburg’s maritime trade reside, while much superior conditions prevail outside the ancient area and in the suburbs, where the industrial and artisan classes are chiefly found. Centuries ago visitors to Hamburg spoke of it as a densely-built and congested town, and in spite of all that has been done by fire on the one hand and sanitary reformers on the other this characteristic still clings to it. For although during recent years a large amount of rebuilding has taken place Hamburg cannot be said to have been rebuilt, like so many large German towns : the architectural features which belonged to the late mediæval period are still conspicuous, and the Inner Town, with its narrow courts and alleys, its picturesque but unhygienic buildings, and its dense population, is now as ever typical of this ancient seaport. Light and air were brought into many dark places when the great fire of 1842 destroyed one of the oldest and most crowded quarters, and again some forty years later when Hamburg joined the Customs Union, and a whole district had to be cleared in order to make room for the necessary buildings, but the displaced population—numbering no less than 23,000—merely moved into the nearest available streets and increased the congestion there. While the Census of December 1, 1900, showed that the density of population in Hamburg as a whole was 106 persons to the hectare (about 2^ acres) of land surface, the ratio in some of the older districts was 472, 600 and 670, comparing with 70 or 80 in the residential districts. A striking feature of the Inner Town are the courts and wynds known as “ Terraces ” and “ Passages.” The earlier type of “ Terrace ” abounds in the harbour quarter, and is a long row or double row of high houses abutting upon a narrow yard from 4 to 5 feet wide. The houses are brick or half-timber work, as unattractive without as they are inhospitable within. Some of the " Terraces ” consist of back-to-back dwellings, and here light and ventilation are very inadequate. The “ Terraces ” of more recent construction are less circumscribed, and in some cases small gardens run along the entire length of the row of houses. Occasionally such a " Terrace ” connects two parallel streets. Where it is only entered from one side, the building regulations prescribe a maximum length of 162 feet ; where it is a thoroughfare, no limit is laid down. The courts and alleys common in the older parts of a large English or Scottish town are the nearest approximation to Hamburg’s i£ Passages ” or “ Gänge,” but the analogy is a feeble one, for many of the “ Passages ” of the Inner Town present conditions of congestion and dilapidation far worse than those usually suggested by the term “ slums.” These “ Passages ” lie behind busy streets and are approached by dark entrances seldom more than 2 feet 6 inches or 3 feet wide, and sometimes barely wide or high enough for a man of normal stature. In some cases the floor of the entrance lies six or more steps below the level of the street, rising again when the court is reached at the other end. The sight which there meets the explorer may be illustrated by a typical " Passage ” off the Steinstrasse, the centre of one of Hamburg’s most pronounced slum regions. This court has a length of about 90 yards and a width of 8 feet, narrowing, however, to 3 feet or less at the roofs, for each of the stories projects beyond the one below it. The court consists of a double row of houses of the 'back-to-back order, very dilapidated, and no longer meeting the requirements of the buildings byelaws, though as they will sooner or later be swept away in a general clearance, no unnecessary money is expended on them. Within there is equal evidence of neglect and decay, the woodwork being worn to pieces, the ceiling of the low rooms black with age, the tiled roofs defective. A steep flight of twenty steps, with a tread of six inches, leads to a landing, but it is the landing not of the first but the second story, for the first floor tenement is entered direct from the stairs. The tenements on one side of the court consist of one room and kitchen rented at 3s. Qd. per week, those on the opposite side of two rooms and kitchen, rented at 4s. 1(M., with 1 \d. weekly in each case for cleaning the yard. The size of the living and bedrooms varies from 7 feet by 7 feet to 10 feet by 10 feet, with 14 feet by 12 feet in exceptional cases, while typical kitchens measured were 10 by 4 feet and 10 by 5 feet ; 7 feet is the usual height. 29088 2 K 2 260 HAMBURG. Where the court contains a single row of houses its width is smaller —3 feet and 4 feet being common—and all the rooms of their three or four stories may lo.>k upon a dead wall of equal height. Often one court leads by a still narrower passage to another and smaller, and that by zig-zag windings to a third and fourth, the whole forming a maze of masonry which in the event of tire might prove the veriest death-trap, and that the more easily since the walls are often half-timber work and highly inflammable. Little provision exists for domestic convenience in these courts. As a rule the water supply is outside, and one tap serves for all the tenements. There is no room for drying clothes within the tenements, so they are suspended from wooden racks outside the windows or from cords stretched across the court from one house to another. But the old 11 Terraces ” and “ Passages ” are not by any means the only slum districts in Hamburg. The picturesque structures which line the " Fleeten,” and often rise to a height of five and six stories, contain tenements whose dimensions, condition, arid conveniences do not conform with current hygienic ideas ; and in general the housing arrangements of the Inner Town, so far as the working classes are concerned, are only kept tolerable by the strong action of the House Inspection Board. Windowless rooms are one of the worst defects of the older house property and against tenements containing such rooms the Board takes stringent action. The investigator may still come across pitch-dark bedrooms, landings and staircases in which a lamp burns all day long, and kitchens which daylight never enters, but the number of these is decreasing, owing to the increasingly vigilant control exercised. Often the inner rooms of a block of dwellings derive their light solely from a shaft running through the centre of the block. In general this light shaft is a makeshift, and, like most makeshifts, inadequate. The latest revision of the building bye-laws requires a “ light shaft ” to be 63^ square feet in extent, with a minimum measurement of 4 feet 10¿ inches, but the actual dimensions are often far less, and a “ light shaft ” 3 feet square is not uncommon. In one house visited four rooms on each story received light from an inner space 7 feet long by 2 feet 6 inches wide : of the five rooms in one tenement the “ best ” room and one bedroom were fairly lighted, one bedroom was almost dark, another wholly so, and the kitchen derived its only light from the open door. Two rooms in this tenement were let to lodgers for 2s. 6c?. and 3s. per week respectively. Before referring to more modern dwellings in Hamburg it may be well to indicate the main features of the building regulations. 1 hese stipulate that the usual height of a building may not exceed 97 feet 6 inches in the case of gable, and 78 feet in the case of other walls ; while the front wall may not be higher than the width of the street in the suburbs, though in the town and in bt. Pauli it may exceed the width of the street by 19 feet 6 inches. It is required that before every wall of a building not lying on the street and containing windows a space shall be left equal to one third of the height of the wall in the town and two-thirds in the suburbs, and this space must have an area of 21P3 square feet. The maximum number of habitable stories allowed in a front building is five, in addition to the basement, so long as this complies with the requirements, and if these are more than five stories, only the lower five may be used for dwellings. A height of 8 feet inches is required in all stories. The supple^ mentary regulations of the House Inspection Board stipulate that the entire air space of a dwelling must allow 257^ cubic feet for every child of school age, and 514J cubic feet for every older person, while bedrooms must allow 171| and 343 cubic feet respectively, though in calculating bedroom space, rooms immediately ­ adjacent may be counted. Back houses built in the form of “ Terraces,” " Passages,” and the like) may only have three stories, including the ground floor, and basements are there prohibited. Nearly every code of building regulations evolves a type of house with clearly marked features of its own, and the technical fiction of the “ cellar ” (a term identified with “ basement ” in this report) is HAMBURG. 261 the special characteristic of the modern Hamburg house, for the builders have interpreted the term “ cellar” in such a way that it really constitutes the ground floor. The bye-laws laid down the rule that the floor of a “ cellar ” (which might only be used as a dwelling in front houses) should not be more than 3 feet 3 inches below the surface. It was not re paire 1, however, that it must be so low as that, and the builder recognised that by keeping the cellar floor as near as possible to the level of the adjacent ground, he obtained six good habitable stories instead of five, and so had a better return for his money. Hence, cellar stories were for a long time built only one or two inches below the surface, until the question was, in 1888, submitted to the Court, which decided that the floor of a cellar within the meaning of the regulations must be at least 15 centimetres, ­ or about 6 inches, below the adjacent ground. Even so, the modern Hamburg cellar is only a cellar in name, and is practically the ground floor. The result is that the attics have to serve as storehouses for wood and miscellaneous ­ goods. There are many basement dwellings, real and nominal, both in the old and new parts of the town. At the Census of 1900, the number inhabited was 9,921, against 9,118 in 1895, 8,057 in 1890, 6,948 in 1885, 5,747 in 1880, and 4,439 in 1875. The number of inhabitants resident in basement dwellings in 1900 was 43,272, or 6'20 per cent, of the whole, while the basement formed 6’35 per cent, of all dwellings. Yet the low-lying and unhealthy basement dwellings attached to old houses in the Inner Town are gradually being disused, while those in the newer parts of the town—like Eppendorf and Barmbeck, vdiere the increase has latterly been greatest—are, as a rule, but little inferior to dwellings entirely above ground. Outside the old area of the town building has followed the usual German lines. The “ barrack ” house of five and six stories and many tenements early made its appearance, and the back house and side wing were largely developed during the last two decades of last century. The primitive Hamburg house was a structure of one and two stories, and the ancient and modern types may often be seen together to-day, the one 18 or 20 feet high, the other 60 or 70 feet. The tendency to build large houses is reflected in the growing density of population. Between 1885 and 1900 the number of persons per inhabited building increased from 17*88 to 21*71. It may be noted here that the single-family house plays nowadays but an insignificant part in the housing arrangements of Hamburg, and excepting some very old half-timber structures and several modern groups of one-story dwellings of a very circumscribed and simple character, it hardly exists so far as the working classes are concerned. In 1900 not 5 per cent, of the houses in Hamburg (excluding those in which business was carried on) were of the singlefamily type. The industrial working classes and other workers not employed in or about the harbour live largely in the east and north-east of the town, in Hammerbrook, Bill warder Ausschlag, Rothenburgsort, and especially Barmbeck, which is distinctively a working-class quarter. There both old and new houses are found, and according to their age is their quality, but dark corners are here exceptional. Blocks of from three to four stories are the rule, though five stories are not rare, and the usual accommodation is two or three rooms and a serviceable kitchen. Corridors are general and it is seldom that one corridor serves for two dwellings ; still more seldom that kitchens are shared. An abundance of windows is noticeable in the older houses, a characteristic of Hamburg dwellings which has descended from ancient times. Two-window rooms are popular, and one at least of this size belongs to a well-ordered tenement. The rooms of two typical dwellings visited in Barmbeck were found to have the following dimensions :—(1) Tenement of three rooms—“ Best ” or sittingroom 14 feet 34 inches by 13 feet by 8 leet 2 inches ; bedroom, 13 feet 8 inches by 8 feet 1 \ inches by 8 feet 2T inches ; kitchen, 12 feet 4 inches by 9 feet 3 inches by 8 feet 2 inches. This was the dwelling of a large household, insomuch that there were four beds in the bedroom and the corridor was used as a bedroom ; the rent was £11 10s. per annum or 4s. 5c/. per week. (2) Tene- \ HAMBURG. 262 ment of four rooms—“ Best ” room, 11 feet 4 inches by 9 feet 1 inch by 9 feet 3 inches ; living-room, 11 feet 4 inches by 7 feet 5| inches by 9 feet 3 inches ; bedroom, 9 feet 9 inches by 9 feet 9 inches by 9 feet 3 inches ; kitchen, 12 feet 4 inches by 9 feet 9 inches by 9 feet 3 inches. The corridor had a length of 12 feet and a width of 4 feet ; the rent was £17 per annum, or about 6s. 6d. per week. The houses in Rothenburgsort and the Bill warder district are of the same type, though many of recent erection enjoy accessories which the older houses lack, such as larders, attics and balconies. The balcony is increasingly popular, and builders cannot afford to omit it nowadays if they would attract tenants. Inter-communicable suites of rooms are not usual in working-class dwellings. The corridor or vestibule is universal in all save the old houses, and from this space, which is known variably as the " Vorplatz ” or “ Diele,” each of the rooms is approached. Often the corridor is large enough for the storage of superfluous furniture, clothes, &c., and not uncommonly it is used as a bedroom. The aspect of the homes of the working classes of Hamburg suggests that their occupants set great store by comfort, and do not willingly cripple their accommodation. Neatness, order, and cleanliness are plainly cultivated, and save in the dwellings of the poor, the furniture is ample if simple. One striking characteristic of the workman is his fondness for a " Good ” or “ Best ” room, answering to the English workman’s sitting-room or “ parlour,” though the furnishing is only seldom equal to that of the English “ parlour.” Whatever the size of the tenement, however large the household, one room is almost invariably set aside for special use. The kitchen may have to serve as the living-room, there may be four beds in one bedroom, but the “ Good ” or " Best ” room will not be diverted from its traditional purpose. So, too, a kitchen is regarded as no less indispensable than a “ Best ” room, and few dwellings of modern erection are without. At the Census of 1900 there were only 3,459 dwellings in all Hamburg (equal to 2'23 per cent, of the whole) without separate kitchens ; of these 293 or 8"4 per cent, had nevertheless three rooms, 1,500 or 43’3 per cent, had two rooms, and 1,574 or 45*5 per cent, had but one room. It is noticeable also that the dwellings without kitchens were found particularly in the older districts ; thus while the proportion was not 1 per cent, in the working-class district of Barmbeck, outside the ancient area, and only 0 32 per cent, in Billwärder Ausschlag, it was nearly 5 per cent, in the Altstadt. Hence it is that a working-class household regards three rooms (including the kitchen) as a minimum requirement, while a considerable proportion of the wage-earners are found in tenements of four rooms. At the Census of December, 1900, it was found that of 155,436 dwellings classified, only 1,574 or one per cent, consisted of a single room, 6,002 or 3"9 per cent, consisted of two rooms (the kitchen and non-heatable rooms being here indiscriminately regarded as rooms), 38,467 or 24'7 per cent, consisted of three rooms, and 58,234 or 37'5 per cent, consisted of four rooms. The proportion of three and four room tenements in the case of new buildings is still greater. The following classification of all the new dwellings which have been added during the past seven years shows that the three-room tenements form 31’6 per cent, of the whole and the four-room tenements 37*6 per cent. :— Year. Number of dwellings with rooms (including kitchen) as stated. 6 and more. Total. 1906 1905 1904 1903 1902 1901 1900 Totals Percentage 364 466 272 288 103 49 103 1,645 30 5,387 4,095 3,067 2,093 1,228 646 415 4,620 4,078 3,850 3,188 2,226 1,219 948 1,206 996 1,093 1,415 950 525 554 16,931 20,129 6,739 31-6 37 6 12-6 1,243 1,275 1,334 1,421 1,153 871 725 8,022 15 0 12,820 10,910 9,616 8,405 5,660 3,310 2,745 53,466 1000 HAMBURG. 263 Of 4,207 rent returns collected from working-class districts for the purpose of this report 322 or 7*7 per cent, related to dwellings of one and two rooms, 2,159 or 51-3 per cent, to dwellings of three rooms, and 1,726 or 41 per cent, to dwellings of four rooms. Baths, and still more bathrooms, are seldom found in working-class dwellings, but as the need of these conveniences receives growing recognition from other classes of society, a corner of the corridor or kitchen is sometimes found for a galvanised-iron bath in the newer houses in working-class streets. While in 1885 only 6*66 per cent, of all dwellings had a bathroom of some sort, 8*96 per cent, in 1890, 10*78 in 1895, and 13 22 in 1900, the percentage of all new dwellings built between the years 1896 and 1900 having baths was 36*30, though that of new dwellings with two and three rooms and kitchen was 4*36. Only in the case of the newer houses can the sanitary arrangements be said to be satisfactory. The closets are now found within the dwellings, or at least upon the landing or stairs, much more generally than formerly, though many are still outside, and in the case of the old alleys and “ Passages " half a dozen households are commonly served by a single w.c. In new houses it is required that the w.c. shall communicate by a window direct with the open air, but a great many are only ventilated by means of a small pipe. Modern working-class tenements in Hamburg only differ in one essential, and that is the number of their rooms, viz., either two or three besides the kitchen. The two types may be illustrated by houses in the Brauerknechtgraben (situated in the Improvement Area), and Stuvkamp, Barmbeck, respectively. In the former house there are two tenements on each floor, and the entrance is in the middle of the building. Each tenement has an ample corridor, from which access is given to all the three rooms, no two rooms being intercommunicable. The “ best ” room and a bedroom lie to the front and the kitchen is at the back, its French window opening on to a balcony, while off one corner is a small pantry. The w.c., as in all modern dwellings, is in the corridor. The dimensions of the living and bed rooms are 16 feet 2 inches by 9 feet 5 inches and 13 feet by 9 feet 5 inches, and of the kitchen 12 feet 8 inches by 9 feet 5 inches. The four-room tenements in the typical Barmbeck house have the same accessories of corridor (in this case, 6 feet 7 inches long by 4 feet 2 inches wide), pantry, and w.c., but here each of the two tenements found on every floor has two rooms to the front. All the apartments are entered from the corridor direct, and, as before, no two are inter-communicable. The dimensions of the living and bed rooms are as follows :—(1) 17 feet 2 inches by 12 feet ; (2) 12 feet by 12 feet ; (3) 12 feet by 9 feet 9 inches, while the kitchen is 14 feet 7 inches by 6 feet 6 inches. A noteworthy development in block building has of late been devised in the form of the " Horseshoe ” type of architecture. Here there is no courtyard behind, but the portion of the building site which according to the bye-laws must remain unoccupied is placed in front in the shape of a rough rectangle open to the street and built round on three sides. As this space is generally planted, the effect is as advantageous to the appearance of the street as it is to the amenity and value of the contiguous tenements, for a larger number of rooms can be built with a front aspect and the gloom of the courtyard is avoided. The only serious disadvantage of the “ Horseshoe ” . plan of building is that when the open space is used as a garden the children of the house have to play in the street. Naturally it is only large blocks that can be built in this way. Housing conditions, and with them the rents, vary greatly in Hamburg. In general the highest rents, even for inferior dwellings, are in the Inner Town, yet it is found that competition is gradually forcing up rents in the newer districts, though for the present a certain over-production—the number of empty dwellings in 1906 was 10,340 or 4*7 per cent, of the whole—may be expected to keep this tendency in check. The following is a statement giving the predominant weekly rents for the older and newer portions of the town 264 HAMBURG. Predominant Weekly Bents of Hamburg Working-class Tenements (without Bates). District. Inner Town (New Town, Old Town, and St. Georg). “ Passage ” Houses in New Town Improvement Area Suburbs of Barmbeck, Eimsbüttel, Uhlenhorst, and Bill warder Ausschlag. Hamburg as a whole Two Rooms and Kitchen. Three Rooms and Kitchen. 4s. Id. to 5s. 9d. 5s. 9d. to 7s. 8d. 4s. Id. „ 5s. 2d. 6s. 4d. 4s. Id. to 5s. 5d. 5s. 9d. to 7s. 4s. 7d. to 5s. 9d. 5s. 9d. to 7s. Having regard to the size of the town, these rents cannot he considered high. Taking rent in Berlin as 100, the corresponding figure for Hamburg is 66, a figure which is exceeded by four other of the 33 towns investigated for the purposes of this report. As Hamburg is at once a State and a municipality there is only one income tax, and this tax falls on all incomes above £45. The method of incidence is as follows. What is called a “tax unit,'’ which is progressive, is laid down, and each year a certain multiple of this unit (in 1906 it was 7) is levied according to requirements. The unit is Is. for incomes between £45 and £50, and it increases on a cumulative principle. On incomes between £50 and £100 the tax unit is Is. plus 2'4d. lor every £5 of income beyond £50 ; the unit continues cumulative until a rate of one per cent, is reached in the case of incomes of £1,500 ; then it increases by 40 steps to a maximum of 1*20 per cent, on incomes of £10,000. The working of this somewhat complicated system of assessment in the case of small incomes will be seen from the following Table :— Income Group. £45 to £50 Over £50 and to £55 » £55 ,, £60 ,, £65 ,, 270 ,, £75 » £80 ,, £85 ,, £90 ,, £95 £60 £65 £70 £75 £80 £85 £90 £95 £100 Tax Unit. S. d. 1 0 1 2-4 1 4-8 1 7-2 1 9-6 2 0 2 24 2 4-8 2 72 2 96 3 0 Total Taxation on basis of Seven Multiples. S. d. 7 0 8 4% 9 9& 11 2 12 7 14 0 15 4f 16 9% 18 2 19 7 21 0 Where a family consists of not less than four persons with an aggregate income not exceeding £250 the tax is reduced by one-quarter, and where the aggregate income in such a case does not exceed £ 100 the tax is reduced by onehalf, but should the family consist of six persons the reductions are one-half and three-quarters in the case of incomes not exceeding £'250 and £100 respectively. There are other ameliorations, as, for example, the exemption from taxation of such portion of an income as goes in contributions under the Imperial Insurance Laws. HAMBURG. 265 As Altona is a Prussian town, the usual State income tax is payable by all persons with an income exceeding £45. The municipal super-tax falls on incomes above £21. The taxes which fall upon small incomes are as follows : — Income Group. State Income Tax. Municipal Super-tax. Total Income Tax. Above £21 to £33 ... „ £33 to £45 ... „ £45 to £52 10s. „ £52 10s. to £60 „ £60 to £67 10s. „ £67 10s. to £75 „ £75 to £82 10s. „ £82 10s. to £90 „ £90 to £105 ... £ s. d. 0 6 0 0 9 0 0 12 0 0 16 0 1 1 0 16 0 111 0 £ s. d. 0 8 5 0 12 0 0 18 0 14 0 1 10 0 1 16 0 2 2 0 2 8 0 2 17 0 £ s. d. 0 8 5 0 12 0 14 0 1 13 0 2 2 0 2 12 0 3 3 0 3 14 0 4 8 0 Thus where Hamburg workmen with incomes of £l and £1 10«. weekly pay 85. 4Jr/. and 15s. 4j¿., respectively in income tax per annum, the same workmen in Altona pay £1 4s. and £3 3s. The effect of this higher taxation is that while a large number of Hamburg workmen are found in the factories of Ottensen, as a place of residence Altona does not attract them. Every year the municipal authorities of Hamburg enumerate the rents of the town, and in 1906 the rents of 185,220 inhabited dwellings were classified as follows :— Annual Rent. £5 or under £5 Is. to £10 £10 Is. to £15 ... £15 Is. „ £18 15s. £18 16s. to £22 10s. £22 11s. „ £30 Above £30 Equivalent Weekly Rent. Is. Ilf/, or under. Is. 1 lr/. to 3s. lOiZ. 3s. 10iZ. „ 5s. 9rZ. 5s. 9cZ. „ 7s. 2d. 7s. 2d. „ 8s. 8cZ. 8s. 8tZ. „ lis. 6¿Z. Above 11s. 6iZ. .Number. 1,299 8,171 43,555 31,311 27,033 28,869 44,982 Per Cent, of Whole. 0-7 44 23 5 16*9 14 6 15 6 243 The relative supply of smaller dwellings, those rented up to £20 per annum or 7s. 9d. weekly, during the period 1893 to 1906, is shown by the following table, giving the percentages of all inhabited dwellings which fell in each year to the rents specified :— Percentages of all rents which fell within the amounts stated. 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 Year. £5 and under. 09 0- 9 09 1- 0 1-9 09 0-9 0-9 0-8 09 0-8 0-8 0-8 0-7 0-7 £5 If. to £10. 10- 3 111 11- 6 119 11-6 116 9-7 8-5 72 72 62 58 52 49 44 £10 U. to £15. 27 3 283 29-2 29 4 29 7 29 5 29-1 28-1 26-8 26-9 25 7 24 9 25-0 24 6 235 £15 If. to £20. 18-5 18] J 7-7 17-5 17 6 17- 9 18- 7 19- 7 20- 6 20 7 213 216 22-8 23-5 It will be seen that the three groups of rents rising to £15 have for some years steadily decreased relatively to the whole, while the group of rents from £15 to £20 "has increased continuously since 1896. The Statistical Office of Hamburg has on five occasions during the last forty years investigated the relation between the rents and incomes of various 2 L 29088 266 HAMBURG. classes of the population, but chiefly of households of limited means. These investigations were made in 1868, 1874, 1882, 1890, and 1901. Normal families were chosen—i.e. such families as used their dwellings purely for habitation and in which no lodgers or other persons lived who might be supposed to contribute to the rent—and on the last occasion 55,513 individual cases were classified. The following were the results arrived at :— Income Class. From £45 to £60 (inclusive) „ £60 „ £80 „ £80 „ £120 „ £120 to £150 „ £150 „ £180 „ £180,, 2210 „ £210 „ £240 ,, £240 „£300 ,, £300 „2600 ,, £600 „21,500 „ £1,500 to £3,000 Over £3,000 Percentage of Income Expended on Rent in 1868. 19-81 19- 89 20- 27 19-45 19-59 19-28 18-89 18-55 15-99 11-51 6-68 372 1874. 20- 87 21- 13 20-88 19-21 19-03 18-17 17 38 17-35 15-48 10-75 7-44 3 78 1882. 21-86 18-94 1950 18-78 17-90 18 33 17-22 1833 1672 42 23 8-06 3-87 1891. 2412 2222 2209 20-81 19-15 18-71 17-88 17-71 15-12 1038 6-21 3-05 1901. 24-67 23-19 2161 2053 19-25 18-31 17-36 16-69 1430 9-61 5-99 3 04 These figures seem to show that the greatest pressure falls upon incomes of 305. per week and under, and that this pressure has increased more during the last 20 years covered by the return than during the preceding period. Most working-class tenancies are either monthly or quarterly, but fortnightly and weekly tenancies are not rare. The rent as a rule includes waiter and sometimes chimney sweeping, but the town collects all house refuse. The cleaning of the stairs and landings is in the newer property done by the tenants in turn. Printed contracts of tenancy are customary, and both husband and wife are required to sign, thus being made equally responsible for rent and for the observance of all conditions imposed. A common clause seldom met with elsewhere runs : “ The tenant undertakes to ventilate the rooms thoroughly at all times.” Payment of the rent in advance is not usually required, but the deposit of 10s. or more as security is often insisted on. In a large town like Hamburg house ownership affords an attractive channel for investment and speculation. In the year 1902 the 22,259 plots built upon were owned by 15,378 persons, and of the latter 12,249 or 80 per cent, owned one property each. Where the owner does not live on the premises he is often represented by a deputy known as the “ Vice,” who is charged with full powers. It is a common thing for working-class families to take lodgers ; the high rents and the ample size of so many of their dwellings encourage the practice. Of 132,056 dwellings used exclusively for habitation enumerated at the Census of 1900, 26,676 or 22 per cent, contained lodgers, but in New Town North the percentage was 30'1 and in St. George North 28"6. The usual charge for single men is 3s., 3s. 6d., or 4s. per week according to the locality and class of room, breakfast coffee being here included. No sanction is needed from the municipal authorities to the taking of lodgers except in the case of professional lodginghouses. House owners, however, generally stipulate in the rent contract that lodgers may not be taken without their consent. The State of Hamburg has hitherto refrained from competing with private adventure in the provision of working-class dwellings, yet it has during recent years put in force various positive measures for ameliorating the housing of the people. Its methods of procedure are (1) the clearance of insanitary property by carefully devised improvement schemes, (2) the disposal of cleared areas for the erection of improved dwellings to accommodate as far as possible the population displaced, (3) the encouragement of societies and individuals interested in the building of small dwellings, (4) the improvement of the means of communication with outside districts, (5) the careful enforcement of building and sanitary bye-laws revised from time to time according to altering conditions, and (6) an efficient system of house inspection. HAMBURG. 267 (1 and 2). The improvement schemes are the State’s most important contribution to the alleviation of the housing problem. It was the cholera epidemic of 1892 which roused the Senate and House of Burgesses to action. As a result of that calamity an extensive improvement scheme was prepared. A visit of inquiry and inspection was first made to English and Scottish towns, and ultimately three congested districts in the centre of the town were in 1899 marked for clearance, one in the Old Town adjacent to the harbour, and the others in the New Town, one of these also including a harbour quarter. This last area was first taken in hand ; its slums and rookeries were bought up and demolished, the ground was raised so as to avert any recurrence of floods, and the site was sold for small dwellings, of which a number of large blocks have already been erected. The cost to the town has exceeded half-a - million pounds. (8). The State has encouraged the erection of small dwellings both by (a) the sale of land for the purpose on special terms, and by (b) the exemption of such dwellings from the land tax. The dwellings built on land sold by the town may consist either of one living or bed room and a kitchen, with small pantry, of two living and bed rooms and kitchen, with pantry, or of three rooms, kitchen, and pantry, all having cellar and attic space. For the erection of such dwellings the State lends money on mortgage at 4 per cent. By a law of May 21st, 1902, small dwellings built for working-class families during the next three years were to be exempted from the land tax for ten years, provided the rents did not exceed 6s. per square metre surface, and 2,847 such dwellings have been erected subject to this immunity. (4). As the tramways are private property the State’s power to facilitate the movement of population to the outskirts is limited and can only be exercised indirectly. Only one of the tramway companies which run in Hamburg issues cheap workmen’s tickets, which are available in the early morning's. (5 and 6). A House Inspection Board (Behörde für WoJuiungspfiege) is responsible for the due observance of the sanitary regulations. The town is divided into 12 circuits (Kreise), and each circuit into a number of districts, to an aggregate of 118. Over each circuit is placed an honorary president, and to each district is attached a visitor (“Pfleger”), whose duty it is to visit dwellings regarding which complaint has been received, confer with the owners as to remedial measures, and to report to the Inspection Board on the result. The House Inspection Board generally acts on the complaint of private persons or of public authorities, including the police. In the year 1905, 1,393 complaints were received, and 2,691 defects and nuisances of all kinds were dealt with. Several building societies, established on a “ public utility ” or a commercial basis, have for some years been endeavouring to meet the demand for cheap and healthy dwellings for the working classes. The Hamburg Building Society (Bauverein zu Hamburg) had up to the end of 1906 erected in various parts of the town nine blocks containing 1,211 tenements, at a cost of ¿300,000 for buildings and sites. The rents range from ¿8 to £11 for two-room tenements, £10 10s. to £17 10s. for three-room tenements, and £14 Is. to £22 15s. for four-room tenements. The society’s next scheme will be the erection of a large number of small one-family houses, with gardens, upon a site some / 0,000 square yards in extent, which it has acquired for £7,750 near the Alster at Eimsbüttel. It has been found that dwellings of two rooms and a kitchen cannot be built under the most favourable conditions at a lower average rent than £10. The Society for the Building of Small Dwellings has erected blocks containing" over 800 tenements, the majority containing two rooms and a kitchen. The three-room tenements are let at from £9 to £ll 4s. per annum, and the two-room tenements at £6 10s. In the Amsel-strasse the “Daheim” (“Home”) Building Society has erected a large block of 170 dwellings, 116 consisting of two rooms and kitchen, let at from £9 10s. to £10 7s. per annum ; 48 of one room and kitchen, let at from £11 10s. to £14 ; and seven of three rooms and kitchen, let at £15 15s. to £17. 29088 2 L 2 268 HAMBURG. A further notable project of the same kind is the colony of 256 dwellings which has lately been built by the “Production” Co-operative Society in Barm beck. The large, massive, and imposing building surrounds a spacious rectangle, in the centre of which is a playground. The tenements are of two, three, and four rooms with a kitchen large enough to be used as a living room ; the corridors are airy, and most of the dwellings have balconies. The rooms are all well lighted, the kitchen walls are partly tiled, each dwelling has a clothes closet and a shower bath, and the storage attics are divided amongst the tenants, while in the cellars are wash-rooms for common use. The rents vary according to the story and range from £13 175. upwards for two rooms and a kitchen, from £20 upwards for three rooms and a kitchen, and from £22 10s. upwards for four rooms and a kitchen. Altona possesses the great advantage over Hamburg in housing matters that it is without the slums which are found in the older districts of the latter town, and it does not suffer from congestion. There is an abundance of land still unbuilt upon, and in the laying out of new streets, care is being taken to secure to all dwellings ample ventilation and light. The working classes live principally in the harbour district, in the north, in the districts adjoining Hamburg, and in Ottensen, to the west. Large buildings do not as yet predominate, ­ and the back house has not been much developed. The general arrangement ­ of the dwellings does not differ from that of Hamburg dwellings of modern erection, and here, too, tenements of two or three rooms and a kitchen are the rule. Tenements of a single room are forbidden by the bye-laws, but there are many basement dwellings. The Census of December, 1905, showed that 30‘0 per cent, of all dwellings contained a heatable room and a kitchen ; 33'4 per cent, two heatable rooms and a kitchen, and 19*2 per cent, three heatable rooms and a kitchen. The building regulations of Altona deviate in many details from those of Hamburg. They require that in the inner districts one-quarter of a building plot shall be left free in the case of houses containing not more than two dwellings on different floors, one-third where this number of dwellings is exceeded, and one-half in the case of back houses, and the area unbuilt upon must as a rule be 158J square feet for each dwelling in the block. In the outer districts the open space must be one-third or two-thirds of the plot, according to locality. Buildings on a street may in general be as high as the street is wide, and, in exceptional cases, one-tenth higher, to a maximum of 71 b feet, but the height may not exceed 35 feet 9 inches where the street is only from 26 feet to 35 feet 9 inches wide. In the case of a back building the maximum height is the depth of the space between the front of such building and the opposite boundary of the plot or structure standing upon it, but erections not exceeding 16 feet 3 inches in height and 264 square feet in area are here disregarded. It is required, moreover, that a back building shall be detached, and that the space dividing it from the front building shall be at least 32 feet 6 inches wide. A minimum height of 9 feet 9 inches is prescribed for rooms in new flat tenements with the exception of the highest story, which need only be 9 feet 1 inch. Attic rooms can only be used for habitation under special conditions. Rents are somewhat lower in Altona than in Hamburg, though the higher taxation in the former place often nullifies the difference. The usual rent of a three-room tenement (two living and bed rooms and kitchen) is 4s. 1(M., but as little as 4s. is paid for old property and as much as 5s. 9d. for new, and that of a four-room tenement ranges from 5s. 9<A to 6s. 9d. In the rent, water and chimney sweeping are included. It may be noted that while in 1905 the Hamburg dwellings rented up to £12 10s. inclusive formed 15*5 per cent, of the whole, the corresponding group in Altona formed 29 5 per cent, of the whole, and while the rents between £12 10s and £25 formed 52 per cent, of the whole in Hamburg, they formed 57'2 per cent, in Altona. The municipality of Altona owns a good deal of land and it tries as far as possible to check speculation in building sites, with a view to the promotion of healthy housing conditions, but it has not erected dwellings for the working classes. This has been done on a large scale, however, by the Savings and Building Society, which in 1906 owned 127 blocks containing 1,111 tenements, HAMBURG. 269 two-thirds of which contain two living and bed rooms and a kitchen, and the remainder three rooms and a kitchen. The rents of the three-room dwelling's range from 4s. 3d. to 4s. 6ú?. per week, and those of the four-room dwellings from 5s. 7e?. to 6s. '2d. One group of dwellings at Bahrenfeld has been built in villa style, with gardens. Retail Prices. Groceries and other Commodities. There are no large market halls in Hamburg, but in various parts of the town open markets are held for the sale mainly of farm and country produce, though household requisites and hardware are also retailed there. The town has an abundance of special shops for the sale of butter, cheese, and milk, but the first two of these articles are also to be had in most grocers’ shops. There are several strong co-operative societies, the principal being the " Production ” society, which is essentially a working-class society, with 46 shops (including 2 butcher’s shops and 2 baker’s shops) and a membership of 22,995, and the “ New Society of 1856 for the Distribution of Necessities of Life,” having 40 shops (three being for boots and shoes). The “Production” stores had a turnover in 1906 of £195,400, but it would appear that nearly half the members bought no goods ; the “ 1856 ” stores had a turnover of £294,369. Many kinds of bread are consumed in Hamburg, some coming from a distance, but the working classes almost exclusively eat “ Feinbrod ” or " fine bread,” so called because to the rye flour of which it is chiefly made a portion of wheat flour is added, and coarse “ black ” bread, consisting wholly of rye, roughly ground. Wheaten rolls (Rundstücke) are also eaten, but as a rule only at " first breakfast ” with coffee. Bread is not sold by weight but at different prices, and the amount obtained for each price depends upon the ruling price of flour. The loaves most commonly baked cost la., Gd., and M., and the greatest demand is for the Gd. size. Thus in the year 1906 the “Production” Co-operative Society baked 2,250 loaves at la., 527,099 at 6c?., 263,260 at 4c?., and 182,544 at 3c?. In the same year the “ 1856 ” Co-operative Society sold 1,840,826 lb. of "fine” bread and 2,758,082 lb. of ordinary rye bread. The predominant price of “ fine ” rye bread in October, 1905, was 5cl. to 5¿c?. for 4 lb. and of “ black ” bread 4c?. to 4\d. Since then the sizes of the several loaves have been reduced owing to the higher price of corn, and in 1907 the 4 lb. loaf of “ fine ” rye bread cost 5Jc?. to Gd. and the same of “ black ” bread cost 5c?. In its report for 1906 the “ Production” Co-operative Society, which baked bread in that year to the value of £26,779, states : “ The new duties which came into force on March 1st fell most perceptibly on all. kinds of bread corn, the result being an increase in the price of flour, in spite of the extraordinarily good harvest. The duties per 100 kilog. (220 lb.) were increased as follows :—On rye from 3s. Gd. to 5a., on wheat from 3g. Gd. to 5s. 6c/., and on flour from 7s. 3'Gd. to 10s. 2'4c?. While the good harvest would without doubt have led to a fall in prices (but for the higher duties), flour rose immediately, at times to the full extent of the duty and even beyond Though we gave way to the pressure of higher prices but slowly, it was necessary to reduce the weight to a small extent. ’ There is in Hamburg a large co-operative bakery, formed by journeymen bakers and assistants, and it had in 1906 a turnover of £46,409. No bread-baking is done at home, and the flour bought is used for cakes and puddings. Wheat flour cost in October, 1905, from lO^c?. to Is. 0^c?. per 7 lb. according to quality, and rye flour from 7|d. to 9\d. for the same quantity. Coffee is usually bought in qualities costing in 1905 from 9\d. and 1 Id. per lb., but the latter is the quality in most demand at the co-operative stores. There is, however, a large trade in substitutes. Thus the “ Production ” Co-operative Society sold in 1906 134,620 lb. of “ surrogates ” of various kinds, against 202,619 lb. of pure coffee, and the “ 1856 ” Co-operative Society sold 339,053 lb. of “ surrogates ” against 408,142 lb. of pure coffee. Coffee is usually bought in quantities of half a pound, and it is invariably ground at home. The price of sugar in 1905 was 2\d. for loaf, which is always used with •coffee, and 2\d. for white granulated sugar, used for cooking purposes. Fresh 270 HAMBURG. or “ dairy” batter cost from Is. to Is. 1 d. per lb., but the working classes use far more margarine than butter, though much of the margarine bought is for cooking. The “ Production ” Co-operative Society sold in 1906 542,366 lb. of margarine against 351,965 lb. of butter, and the “ 1856” Co-operative Society sold 1,516,940 lb. of margarine against 403,476 lb. of butter. Margarine is sold under several names and in many qualities, but the price generally paid in 1905 was 6J(7. per lb. The price of milk was 2£(7. per quart. Little of the milk supply is delivered to the houses ; it is mostly fetched from the dairy shops and the provision dealers who keep this article. The two large co-operative societies had in 1906 a daily sale of nearly 440 gallons. Many kinds of cheese are bought. The general classification is into “ hard ” and “ soft ” cheese, the former being as a rule sold by weight and the latter by the piece. The working classes chiefly eat the Dutch and Tilsit kinds, the former costing from 9^<7. to 11(7. per lb., and the latter from 7\d. to 8f,(7. Swiss cheese, for which there is a more limited demand, cost from 11(7. ¡to Is. 1(7., and Limburg cheese 6(7. As a rule small quantities, to the extent of from Id. to 3(7., are bought at once. Coal is the fuel usually burned, and English small nuts are largely bought. The qualities usually bought cost in October, 1905, from 11^(7. to Is. 0^(7. per cwt., but the Hamburg working man frequently does not store much coal at once, owing in part to the absence of cellar accommodation, but buys in small quantities of an “Eimer” or two (the “Eimer” holding from 15 to 20 lb.). When so purchasing he pays from Is. 4(7. per cwt. upwards. Coke cost from Is. 0\d. to Is. 1J(7. per cwt. As a rule small coal is used with briquettes, the latter costing from 9^(7. to Is. per 100, and the kitchen stove can be kept going for from 3J(7. to 4J<7. per day. The paraffin oil chiefly used is American, costing 8J(7. to 8f(7. per gallon. The following statement, showing the fluctuation of prices during a period of five years, relates to staple commodities sold by the “ 1856 ” Co-operative Society, which does a very large working-class trade in its 37 provision shops, distributed over the town and suburbs :— Retail Prices of Commodities in December of each Year. 1901. 1902. 1903. 1904. 1905. 1906. 4id. 5 id. Bid. lOd. 1«. Id. 2\d. 2 id. 2¡d. 2*d. 2jd. S*d. Is. 0id. Ill d. ?*d. 1«. 3fd. Is. l^d. Is Oid. 9%d. lid. lid. Bread, Rye „ Fine Flour, Rye, Coarse ,, ,, Fine... „ Wheat, Best "Sugar, Loaf „ Refined, Granulated „ Cube Potatoes, “ Egg ” „ “ Magnum Bonum ” Cheese, Tilsit Sausage, Brunswick Cervelat „ ,, Bed (I) „ ,, » (H) „ Coarse “ Mett ” (I) „ „ » (II) Cassel Spare Rib ... Bacon, Fat „ Lean and Belly ... Tinned Meat, German ... per 4 lb. per 7 lb. per lb. per 7 lb. per lb. 4 id. 5 d. 7%d. 9id. L?. Oid, 3*d. 3 Jd. 4d. 7jd. Is. 0\d. 7|d. Hid. 9*d. 94 d. 4d. 5d. 7fd. 9id. Hid. 3i d. 3i d. 3*d. 3d. 2\d. 7*d. llfd. 10id. 7|d. Is. l^d. Hid. lOjd. 9%d. 9|d. 9id. 4d. 5d. 7|d. 9id. Hid. 2id. 2&d. 2*d. 2\d. 2\d. 7fd. lid. 10id. 7fd. Is. Id. lid. lOd. Bid. Bid. 9id. 4d. 5d. 7fd. 9id. Is. Oid. 2|d. 2\d. 2|d. 3*d. 2i d. 7fd. lid. 10id. 6id. Is. 0|d. lid. lOd. 8d. 8d. 94d. 4d. 5 d. Bid. 9¿d. Is. Oid. 2id. 2i d. 2id. 2*d. 2d. 7*d. llfd. H|d. 7id. Is. 3id. Is. lid. Is. 0|d. 9%d. lid. 10id. * The heavy fall in the price of sugar in 1903 was due to the operation of the Brussels Convention. HAMBURG. 271 The following is a summary of the prices at October, 1905, and at the time of the investigator’s visit in April, 1907 :— Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and April, 1907. Commodity. Predominant Price. October, 1905. April, 1907. Coffee ... Sugar :— Loaf ... ... White Granulated Bacon :— Fat ... Streaky Eggs ... Cheese :— Dutch Limburg Swiss Butter ... Margarine Potatoes Flour :— Wheat Rye ... Bread :— Grey ... Black Milk Coal Coke Paraffin Oil per lb. per Is. per lb. per 7 lb. per 4 lb. per quart per cwt. per gallon 9fd. 2 )jd. 2\d. 9|d. to lid. 11 „ 17 9fd. „ lid. 6d. lid. to Is. Id. Is. to Is. Id. 5Id. to 6id. 2# lOfd. 9jd. 5d. to 5&d. 4d. „ 4fd. 2^d. llfd. to Is. Ofd. Is. Old. to Is. l^d. 8fd. „ 8fd. lid. 2 \d. 21d. 8i d. to 8Id, 8^d. 9#d. 16 lid. 6d. lid. to Is. Id. Is. Id. 6 Id. Í&. 10fd. to Is. lfd. lOd. to 10§d. to 6d. 5d. 2#d. Is. l^d. to Is. Is. 0¿d. 3d. Is. l-gd. 8jd. „ 8fd. Meat. Owing to its proximity to important grazing districts Hamburg is well supplied with meat. The bulk of the cattle required for food come from Schleswig-Holstein and the neighbourhood of Hamburg and from Denmark, but a large number of animals come also from Mecklenburg and the Prussian provinces of Hanover and Posen. The mutton chiefly comes from Schleswig-Holstein and the district around Hamburg, but also from Brunswick and the provinces of Hanover and Saxony. Most of the pork comes from Schleswig-Holstein and the surroundings, but a quantity also from Hanover and Mecklenburg, ­ and the same applies to the veal. A large quantity of dead meat still comes from Denmark and England, the former country sending in 1906 26,460 cattle, 7,204 calves, and 651 sheep, and the latter sending 5,127 cattle and 46 pigs. Holland sent 477 cattle, 145 calves, and 62 pigs. A large and increasing number of horses are slaughtered for human food, the majority coming from the neighbourhood, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg, and Hanover ; none now come from England. The following is a statement of all animals slaughtered at the abattoir, and all carcases received there from 1901 to 1906 :— Cattle. Calves. Pigs. Sheep. Horses. 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 65,933 67,400 72,923 83,999 98,699 94,224 62,096 63,489 60,405 58,383 62,947 61,707 243,116 228,279 282,886 334,659 294,019 283,600 84,146 85,292 84,863 84,580 89,442 89,274 3,904 4,519 4,595 4,436 5,360 5,502 From these figures it is not possible, however, to determine the yearly meat consumption per head of the population, for much of the meat which passes through the Hamburg abattoir goes to Altona and Wandsbeck, and on the other hand the latter towns send meat to Hamburg. As regards the 272 HAMBURG. consumption of meat by the working classes returns obtained from 387 families, containing 1,176 persons, showed an average weekly consumption of 28 ounces per person, which is at the rate of 91¿ lb. per annum. Pork and bacon amounted to slightly over one-third of the whole ; beef comes next with about 26 per cent., the cheaper qualities being chiefly eaten ; and then follows sausage with 23 per cent. Mutton and veal are but little eaten, the latter being ruled out owing to its high price. It is seldom that more than 2 lb. of beef is bought at once, and such purchases as a rule take place at the week-end ; during the week the usual purchase is three, four, or sixpence worth, according to circumstances. If the workman’s wife, who does the shopping, is buying pork she generally restricts her purchase to half-a-pound if the cut is foreloin or spare rib, but of cheaper cuts she may buy 1 lb. or 2 lb. at once. The predominant prices of beef as retailed in shops specially frequented by the working classes were in October, 1905, from l\d. to 8\d. for the better cuts, except steak, which the working classes seldom buy, and which cost from Is. 2d. to Is. 5^c?., while the cheapest cuts, shin with and without bone, cost 5d. to o^d. and 6^d. to Id. respectively. There was little variation as between one joint and another in the price of mutton, the price being about 9£¿7. Veal ranged from Q^d. to 7fd. for shin, and 8£¿7. for shoulder with bone to 9£(7. for hind quarter, 9\d. to 1W. for shoulder without bone, and 11¿7. for loin. The most usual price for pork at the same date was 8|\d., rising to 9£¿7. for leg and foreloin and to 11(7. for chops. The “Production” Co-operative Society has its own slaughterhouse and two meat shops, and in addition it delivers meat ordered by members to the nearest provision shops. The turnover in this department of its business in 1906 amounted to £30,000, equal to 15 4 per cent, of the ‘ society’s entire sales. Its prices are somewhat below those generally charged by private butchers. In general there has for several years been a steady advance in the price of meat, as may be seen from the following statement of retail prices per pound, prepared by the Bureau of Commercial Statistics for the Military Authorities :— 1903. Max. Min 1904. 1905. Max. Min. j Max. ! Min 1906. Max. Min Beef :— Leg Belly Pork Bacon (smoked) .. per lb. 10(7. 7#(7. 8# 9^(7. 81 d. 6# 7{(7. 8pi. 10d. 7# 8W. 8#d. 8|(7. 6|(7. 7¿(7. 8p/. 10W. 8<7. 10 d. 9(7. 7^(7. 8W. 9W. 11 id. 8f d. 10\d. 10§(7. 9\d. 8(7. 9 d. iopz. The Abattoir Authorities certify the following mean retail prices per pound for veal and mutton during the same years Teal .. Mutton per lb. 1903. 9f(7. 8^(7. 1904. 1905. 1906. 9&(7. 8&(7. 9|(7. 9(7. 10#(7. 9|(7. Sausage here as elsewhere forms an important part of the flesh diet of the working classes. Of the average meat consumption per head shown by the returns of working class consumption, 23 per cent, consisted of sausage. The varieties are numerous, but as a rule only the cheaper kinds are bought by working people and generally in small quantities. Among the more popular kinds are boiled “ Mett ” sausage made of pork, liver sausage, and blood sausage, costing in 1907 9\d. per lb., “red” pork sausage, costing 6J(7., “boiling” sausage, made of beef and pork, costing L0(7., while other kinds commonly stocked are tongue sausage, costing from 11|d. to Is. 3\d., “ salz ” sausage (pork), costing 9\d. to 11(7., Brunswick “ Mett” sausage, costing ll£(7., and “ Block ” sausage, made of ox flesh and pork, costing Is. 2^d. Hamburg has not a “ Freibank ” for the sale of such meat as cannot be certified by the Abattoir Inspector as of unobjectionable quality, but it protects the consumer by means of its meat boiling establishment. The meat which HAMBURG. 273 passes through the abattoir is divided into three classes—(1) that which is entirely fit for human food and which, duly stamped, goes into the market without any condition ; (2) meat of an inferior kind which is yet suitable for consumption but passes into the market with a different stamp, and (3) meat of an equivocal quality. Meat of the second quality would elsewhere go to the also sold by the Abattoir Authorities, who pay over to the owner the proceeds less a deduction for expenses. During the year 1906 there were boiled 229 cattle, 39 calves, 1,465 pigs, 143 quarters of beef, 1,133 lb. of beef, 1,236 lb. of veal, and 26,046 lb. of pork. The weight of the meat that remained was 3,074 cwt., and it was sold in 58,703 portions, an average of 6 lb. each. The amount of meat thus dealt with is much less since the amendment of the Meat Inspection Act of June, 1906. There is always a ready demand for this boiled meat, which sells for about half the price of fresh meat of good quality. In 1906 beef thus sold realised from o\d. to 4\d. per lb. and pork 5\d. per lb. There are a number of shops where horseflesh is exclusively sold, and they do an increasing trade. The best price is obtained for fillet, which sold in the spring of 1907 at l\d. per lb., while from o^d. to 6jd. was paid for steak, 3\d. to 4^d. for chopped meat, 4\d. for suet, 6^d. for smoked meat, and 4\d. lor sausage, which is made in winter. Connected with the public abattoir is a margarine and tallow factory, leased to the Guild of Butchers, who are under contract to take all the raw material which the abattoir is able to supply. As shown by the following table the price of beef and veal was much' higher in April, 1907, than at October, 1905 ; mutton had risen slightly, while pork had fallen :— Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and April, 19Ó7. Prices at Hamburg are low. As compared with prices at Berlin, which have been taken as 100, the prices of meat are represented by 105, of other food by 98, of food as a whole by 99, of coal by 81, and of all commodities by 97. The index number for rent and prices combined is 91. “ Freibank.” In Hamburg it is held that no high-class butcher buys it, and that it finds its way exclusively to small shops, where it is largely converted into sausage. Meat of the third quality is officially described as “ usable under certain conditions,” and the conditions imposed are that it shall be boiled and Predominant Price per lb. Description of Out. October, 1905. April, 1907. Beef :— Ribs Silverside Shin Í bone ( without bone 5cl. to 5\d. b\d. „ 7d. 1 s. 2|d „ Is. 5\d. 7# » 8# ' 8# 8fd. to 9§d. Flank Mutton :— Steak Is. 2\d. to Is. 5&a. 7id. „ 8§d. Leg Shoulder Breast Neck Chops Veal :— Hindquarter 9|d. Is. Shin Loin Pork :— Leg 8# 9|d. to 11 d. 6hd• „ i §d. lid. Belly Spare Rib Chops Foreloin.... 8W. to 9§d. 9# 8fd. 8&d. 9§d. to lid. 29088 2 M 274 KÖNIGSBERG. The town and fortress of Königsberg lies on the river Pregel at the extreme north-east of the kingdom of Prussia, at a distance of 366 miles northeastward ­ from Berlin. It is almost circular in shape, being confined within a ring of moated defences, which are continuous, except for about a mile on the south-east, where the swampy nature of the soil appears to have been considered ­ a sufficient defence in itself. This disc-shaped agglomeration, which ranks as a “ first-class fortress,” is traversed from east to west, and divided into a northern and a southern half by the Pregel, about five miles east of where that river flows into the Frische Haff. At a point about 1,000 yards east of where it enters the town, the river forms a loop, enclosing an island about 500 yards long, and 200 yards wide, which is the centre, and, at the same time, one of the oldest and most densely built parts of the town. At the eastern end of this island the river again divides, one branch, which maintains an easterly direction, being called the New Pregel, and the other, which flows first south and then south-east, the Old Pregel. Five bridges (the widest having a span of some 60 yards) connect the island with the surrounding town, and the raising of these bridges for the convenience of passing ships is a frequent cause of congestion in the street traffic. The general impression which Königsberg is apt to leave on its visitors is one of noisy streets, many of them too narrow for the traffic which they have to accommodate ; of bridges frequently uncrossable because raised for passing ships ; of narrow quays lined with quaint, high-gabled, half-timber-work warehouses, ­ and used at certain points as market places for the sale of fruit, fish, cheese, vegetables, meat, and other eatables ; and of sailing craft moored bowonwards to the quays, competing with the stalls on shore in the sale of produce. ­ Among other features likely to impress the visitor as distinctive of this locality are the comparative scarcity of open spaces for recreation and the marked prominence of the military element among the population. The noisiness of the streets is due to the nature of the paving (stone setts and rough, unevenly laid cobbles), in conjunction with traffic largely made up of drays laden with coal, ironwares, timber, cereals, flax, and other bulky merchandise, ­ the distribution of which constitutes the chief business of the port. The frequent necessity for crossing bridges is unavoidable, owing to the peculiar formation of the town. The use of the narrow quays as market places for the sale of produce is doubtless due to the scarcity of space arising from the fact that the town has been prevented from expanding with the growth of its population, owing to the enclosing ring of ramparts and moats, and the restrictions on building enforced by the military authorities on all land lying within a certain distance of the defences. Thus, within the first zone of 1,000 metres (about 1,093 yards) from the ramparts, no houses whatever may be built ; within a second and outer zone of prescribed width, only half-timberwork structures (capable of being rapidly demolished if necessary) are allowed. These restrictions are still in full force, and will remain so until an agreement can be reached between the town and the Government as to the price to be paid by the former for the land occupied by these extensive military works, which are now admittedly obsolete. There are, indeed, few German towns whose expansion has so long been hampered by fortifications. The mean population in 1890 amounted to 161,000, and, 10 years later, a further 27,000 people had to find accommodation within the same area, thus increasing the density of the population from 114 to 135 persons per acre. In one of the chief working-class quarters-^-Haberberg—close against the southern fortifications, the population increased during the same period from 158 to 218 per acre ; and, in the year 1895, there were only 68 unoccupied dwellings in the whole town. Under the circumstances it would be surprising if public parks and open spaces were a prominent feature in Königsberg. Unlike so many other of the larger German KÖNIGSBERG. 275 municipalities, that of Königsberg owns little or no land. There are, it is true, some small and well laid out public parks, but these are not readily accessible from the chief working class quarters, except at the cost of the return fare (2d.) on the Municipal electric tramway. The one really note-worthy intramural ­ open space is an ornamental lake about three-quarters of a mile in length, and varying from 50 to 150 yards in width, which runs north-east and south-west, and practically bisects the northern half of the town. But only a small proportion of the borders of this lake is open to the public, the greater part being occupied by the gardens belonging to hospitals, schools, clubs, and the offices of the military staff. Quick and cheap communication between all parts of the town and with a number of outlying pleasure resorts is maintained by the electric tramways, of which all but a single line are owned by the Municipality. Throughout the summer, pleasure steamers ply daily up and down the Pregel. The Town contributes £G00 per annum to the company which owns the theatre, on condition that any dividend in excess of 4 per cent, shall accrue to the municipality, which may use the money for the gradual acquisition of all the shares. The following Table shows the increase in the population of Königsberg since 1871 :— Year. Population. Increase. Increase per cent. 1871 1875 1880 1885 1890 1895 1900 1905 112,152 122,636 140,909 151,151 161,666 172,796 189,483 223,770 10,484 18,273 10,242 10,515 11,130 16,687 34,287 9-4 14-9 7-3 7-0 6-9 9-7 18-1 It will be seen that the population has increased fairly rapidly, considering the restriction of available building space, having doubled itself since 1871. In this increase the arrival of new settlers has, it would appear, been a stronger factor than the natural growth of the population ; for, during the period 1888-1905, the mean annual excess of immigrants over emigrants per 1,000 of the population was 7*7, while the rate of excess of births over deaths was only 6T per 1,000. The following table shows the birth, death, and infantile mortality rates at Königsberg for the years 1901-05 :— Year. Birth-rate per 1,000 of Population. Death-rate per 1,000 of Population. Infant Mortality Rate per 1 000 Births. 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 31-2 306 29-0 29-8 28-8 23-4 22 5 22 7 22-1 231 246 171 233 198 247 Formerly, the town was noted among the larger German cities for its low birth-rate, and the fact that it is no longer prominent in this respect is due to the birth-rate having since declined more rapidly in the other large towns than in Königsberg. Among every 100 children born in 1905, some 15 were illegitimate. ­ a proportion that compares favourably with that of other German university towns, g.y., Munich, .Dresden, Leipzig, Breslau, Halle, and Strassourg, where the illegitimate births represented 2i 2, 18 6, lo 8, 18 3, lb 1, and 18'b per cent, respectively of all births in 1905. Few German cities have so high a death - rate as Königsberg, although the figure has greatly declined in recent years, more especially since the substitution, in the year 1900, of modern drainage for the old cesspool system. The mean of the rates for the five years 1901-05 was 22’8, a proportion exceeded by only 2 M 2 29038 276 KÖNIGSBERG. three other large cities in Germany, viz., Breslau, Stettin, and Posen. The infantile mortality declined even more rapidly than the general death-rate. Thus, considering the number of infants under one year of age dying in a given year, for every 1,000 children born alive in that year, we find that the mean of these annual rates fell from 304 in 1881-5 to 268 in 1896-1900, and 217 in 1900-5. Occupations, Wages, and Hours of Labour. For purposes of an inquiry into the wages of the urban working classes in Germany, Königsberg is interesting, not as being a centre of German industry —a title to which the town can hardly lay claim—but as the most important city of Eastern Germany and one of the busiest seaports of the Empire, occupying a position so close to the Russian frontier that its prosperity is influenced no less by the political and economic happenings of Russia than by those of Germany. Many Königsbergers indeed speak of their town as a Russian seaport, for its chief business consists in the handling and exportation by sea of Russian produce, more especially timber, cereals, pulse, oil-seed, flax, and hemp. Moreover, of one at least of the chief articles imported into Königsberg ­ by sea, viz., cured herrings, the bulk—336,000 barrels out of a total of 450,000 imported in 1905—is sent to Russia. It may be added that of the 450,000 barrels, 258,000 were Scotch and 167,000 English. A classification of the workpeople of Königsberg, in so far as they are ■employed in establishments subject to inspection under the factory and workshop laws, is appended :— Group of Trades. Number of Establishments. Number of Workpeople. Males. Females. Total. Building Metal working and engineering ... Textiles Plothing and cleaning Printing, lithography, bookbinding, &c Paper ... ... ... ... Woodworking and carving Resins, varnishes, oil, soap, candles, &c Stone and earth Food, drink, and tobacco ... Other ... ... ... ... Total ... 78 74 14 79 24 7 81 6 11 358 21 834 4,718 156 85 529 717 2,394 288 406 2,221 464 753 12,812 1 32 401 848 228 278 178 18 13 957 310 3,264 835 4,750 557 933 757 995 2,572 306 419 3,178 774 16,076 The above table cannot be regarded as presenting an absolutely true picture of the relative importance of the various groups of industrial occupations in Königsberg, except in so far as the establishments where they are engaged come under the factory and workshop laws, and one of the largest groups of manual workers in Königsberg—that of the dock, wharf, and riverside labourers—is outside the scope of those laws. The same is true of the bulk of the men employed in the building trades. The number engaged in these two important groups of occupations is therefore, more or less, a matter of conjecture, except as regards particular branches where the labour leaders have made special efforts to extend the influence of the Trade Unions. It is known, for instance, to the Secretary of the Dock Labourers’ Union that there are some 700 stevedores in KÖNIGSBERG. 277 Königsberg, all of whom belong to the union. According to the same authority there are some 400 grain, &c., carriers, of whom 300 belong to the union, while of about 400 men working inside the granaries and warehouses only 150 are organised. In addition to the groups just named there is that of the transport workers engaged in the conveyance of goods in vehicles (other than railway) by land and water, and of these some 1,400 are organised. Thus it is certain that there are at least 2,500 men engaged in labour of a more or less casual nature directly connected with wharves and warehouses, and the probability is that this number is much greater. Among what may be termed industrial occupations the most important group is that comprised under the heading “ Metal-working and engineering,” including more especially the construction of railway rolling stock, in which some 1.900 men are employed by two firms. After metalworking ­ and engineering comes the food, drink, and tobacco group employing over 3,000 workpeople, of whom the greater number work in breweries and in tobacco and cigar manufactories. Saw-milling and wood-pulp making swell the figures of the wood-working group, which ranks third in local importance. Among the other trades affording a considerable amount of employment in the town, tailoring may be said to be the most important. The one really distinctive industry with which the name of Königsberg is associated—the amber industry —affords but little employment in the town. Since July 1st, 1899, the amber mines in the Samland district east of Königsberg have become the property of the Prussian Government, from whom the firms engaged in the manufacture of amber goods obtain their supplies of raw amber direct. The actual processes of manufacture, grinding, polishing, turning, &c., are however, for the most part, performed by home-workers, including women. The building trades, as already stated, are not properly represented in the table. That they afford employment to a very large number of workmen in Königsberg is beyond question, for they have been greatly stimulated by the necessity of providing house-room for the increasing population. The number of workpeople employed in the various branches of the building trade at the end of 1905 cannot have been far short of 5,000, for at the date of the occupation census in 1895 it was 4,145, and must have increased much more rapidly than the population as a whole, which was 14 per cent, greater in 1905 than in 1895. The relative importance of the various groups of trades in Königsberg is in some degree reflected in the grouping of the organised workers, of whom there were close upon 10,000 at the end of 1906 distributed in the manner shown below :— Membership of Königsberg Trade Unions at end of 1906. Group of Trades. Building Metal and engineering Clothing Transport and dock labour Printing and allied trades Woodworking Food preparation (bakers and millers) Municipal workmen Other (including unclassified) ... Total ... Membership of Trade Union. 2,555 843 644 2,497 392 1,201 132 600 992 9,856 The principle of fixing the conditions of labour by formal wages and hours agreements has been considerably developed in Königsberg, especially of late years. General agreements affecting the whole of the trade are in force for the plumbers, painters, joiners, and cabinet makers ; also for the fitters and smiths in the smaller establishments engaged in iron-construction work ; for the stevedores and for the bespoke tailoring trade. Most of the greater firms engaged in the timber export trade have separate agreements with their men. The following table gives the predominant wages and hours of labour in the principal occupations :— 278 KÖNIGSBERG. Wages and Hours of Labour in the Principal Occupations, October, 1905. Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours of Labour. Building Trades* :— Bricklayers and Masons Stonecutters Carpenters Joiners ... Plumbers Painters, skilled „ unskilled Labourers Metal and Engineering Trades :— Manufacture of railway carriages and locomotives ­ :— Skilled men Unskilled men Manufacture of gas meters :— Fitters ... ... ... ... ... Plumbers Turners Mechanicians (whose work corresponds to that of clock-makers). Smaller Engineering Establishments (iron construction for buildings) :— Fitters... ... ... ... ... ... Smiths ... ... ... ... ... Clothing Trade:— Tailoring (bespoke) :— Journeymen tailors (piece) „ „ (time) :— 1st grade goods 2nd ,, ,, ... ... ... ... Bid ,, ,, ... ... ... ... Transport and Dock Labour :— Loading and discharging Grain Trade :— Carriers of sacks from vessels to warehouse Men employed in grain lofts Timber Export Trade :— Unskilled labourers Miilsawyers Impregnators .. ... Printing Trade :— Hand compositors, machine minders, and pressmen. Machine compositors, jobbing work „ „ newspaper work Woodworking Trades : — Cabinet makers... Wood-pulp making :— Skilled mechanics ... Unskilled workpeople Food, Drink, and Tobacco Trades Brewing^ :— Skilled Unskilled Cigar and Tobacco Factories : Unskilled men 33s. 22s. 25s. 24s. 22s. 23s. 30s. to 35 s. 16s. I 24s. 9d. 22s. 10c?. 25s. 27s. 6c?. 23s. 9c?. 21s. 3c?. 22s. 36s. to 42s. 17s. 6c?. „ 21s. 3c?. 17s. 6c?. to 21s. 3c? (time) 19s. 4c?. to 21s. 6c?. (piece) 24s. Id. 31s. 4c?. 24s. 9c?. 32s. 2c?. 30s. 11c?. 22s. 24s. 21s. 21s. to 25s. 13s. 15s. 9c?. to 17s. 18s. 60 60 59& 60 60 60 60 60 59 60 60 60 60 60 55 (Irregular.) 60 60 . 60 60 60 54 54 48 60 66 70 60 51 63 60 * The wages and hours of labour stated tor the building trades are for a full week ir mer. f In addition to th 3& quarts of beer a day. summer. f In addition to the wage shown in the Table, workpeople in this trade are allowec KÖNIGSBERG. 279 Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours of Labour. Municipal Employees :— Road making and repairing :— Unskilled labourers Skilled paviors Street cleaning :— Sweepers Carmen Gasworks :— Stokers ... Labourers ... Waterworks :— Labourers Municipal Tramways :— Drivers Conductors ... Electric lighting and power stations Stokers Enginemen Erectors Fitters... Installators 15s. 28s. KM. 21s. 20s. 9d. 24s. (M. 21s. 18s. to 20s. 5d. 21 s. 22s. 9c?. 29s. 5cl. 25s. 6d. 21s. Id. 60 60 54-60 60-72 58| 54 60 68 68 48 54 54 Comparing these wages with those in Berlin, and taking the latter as 100, the index numbers for Königsberg are as follows :—Building trades, skilled men, 80, labourers, 90 ; and printing trades, 88. Metal and Engineering Trades. The two principal concerns in the engineering trades—one manufacturing railway carriages and the other locomotives—declined ­ to furnish data respecting the wages and hours of labour of their men, but, according to the information supplied by the metal-workers’ Union, many of whose members are employed by the firms in question, the predominant earnings in these establishments for a full week of 60 hours were those shown in the Table. In the smaller establishments employing fitters and smiths, e.g., in making and fixing railings and iron structures for use in connection with buildings, the conditions of labour have been regulated by agreement since May, 1905. Since October, 1905, the agreement has been revised, the hours of labour remaining the same, but the hourly rate being increased from 38 pfennige (about 4^d.) to 40 pfennige (about 4\d.) from May 1st, 1906, and to 43 pfennige (about b\d.) from April 1st, 1907. Clothing Trade. The bespoke tailoring trade is of considerable importance in Königsberg, owing to the strong military, official and scholastic element in the population, and the journeymen tailors are well organised. In so far as the work is done in workshops and not given out to homeworkers, its conditions are fixed by an agreement which provides for a working week of 60 hours. Transport and Dock Labour. For loading and discharging, the shipowners ­ deal with the master stevedores, whom they pay by the ton. The latter have now an agreement with the men for a day-shift of 10 hours, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., with intervals for meals amounting to two hours. For work done during the day-shift the rate of wages is 6<i. per hour. The time from 6 p.m. till 8 p.m, is paid for at the rate of 9\d., and every hour from 9 p.m till 6 a.m. at the rate of Is. The above agreement did not exist, however, at October, 1905, when each master stevedore paid whatever rate per hour he could get his men to accept. That the rates were then considerably lower is shown by a return furnished by one of the principal master stevedores, whose men at October, 1905, earned 22s. for 55 hours’ work, for which, under the present agreement, they would have received at least 27s. 6d. As a matter oí tact the same men at October, 1906, earned 28s. for 55 hours’ work. In the coal import trade practically the whole of the work is done on the piece-wage system, each of the principal firms having its own piece-wage list. In each such list provision is made for cases where time work may be necessary, and the rate invariably fixed is 4^d. per hour. Printing Trade. The conditions of labour in the printing trade are regulated by the agreement which exists for the whole of Germany, and fix.es 280 KÖNIGSBERG. a minimum rate of wages, increased by a percentage which varies between town and town, according to the cost of living. Including this increase, the weekly wages (on time work) in Königsberg are those shown in the Table. Woodworking Trades. In the wood-pulp making trade, which is of considerable local importance, the great bulk of the labour employed is unskilled. The wages shown in the Table are those for October, 1905. A year later they had improved, unskilled men earning 23s. in 70 hours, and* skilled mechanics 28s. in 66 hours. Tobacco Trades. The very small proportion of male labour (other than foremen) employed in cigar and tobacco factories is unskilled. Housing and Rents. Mention has already been made at the commencement of this report of the way in which Königsberg has been prevented by its fortifications from extending its boundaries so as to provide living space for a constantly increasing population. The disadvantages entailed upon the town through this cause have been aggravated by the fact that, besides being what is technically known asa" first class fortress,” Königsberg is also a great seaport, an important railway junction, the seat of a Provincial and District Government, the headquarters of an army corps and the seat of a University. Much space that would otherwise have been available as building land has been absorbed by these various public institutions. (The State Railway premises alone occupy an area of 101 acres inside the walls.) This has resulted in an ever-increasing congestion, wdiich gives the town an appearance of being overcrowded so far as its streets are concerned. Housing conditions, on the other hand, instead of deteriorating, have improved in recent years owing to the exigencies of the situation, which had reached a climax at the end of 1895 (wdien there were only 68 unoccupied dwellings in the whole town), having stimulated building enterprise. So great was this stimulus that quite one-third of all the dwellings of present-day Königsberg date from between 1895 and 1904. The increase in housing accommodation has been effected quite as much by demolishing old houses and erecting on the same site new ones with a larger number of rooms as by building on land which had previously been unoccupied. Indeed the probability is that the greater part of the increased accommodation lias been provided in the former way, if one may judge by the constant recurrence of new houses wedged between old ones in most parts of the town. The improvement in the supply of dwelling accommodation in the period 1895-1900 was shown by the housing censuses of those years. In 1895 it was found that 159,319 persons were housed in 84,832 rooms, or an average of 1*9 persons per room ; in 1900 there were 100,263 rooms with a total of 175,382 occupants or 1*7 persons per room. In 1895 5,264 persons were housed in basement dwellings consisting of 1,898 rooms or 2*8 persons per room. Five years later the number of basement dwellers had fallen to 4,609 persons, in 1,864 rooms, or 2 5 persons per room. The additional rooms required for the increasing population were provided in part by increasing the height of the houses. Thus, while in 1895 14'5 per cent, of all habitable rooms in Königsberg were situated on third, fourth or fifth stories, the proportion of rooms so situated was found to have increased during the succeeding five years to 18*1 per cent, of the total. The improvement in the supply of dwellings due to the increased activity of builders is also reflected in the increase in the number of unoccupied tenements from 68 in December, 1895, to 806 in April, 1900. Since October, 1901, an enumeration of unoccupied dwellings has taken place every year and has shown the following results :— Number of unoccupied dwellings. October, 1901 1902 1,434 1,269 1,809 1,953 KÖNIGSBERG. 281 It may be observed that the number of dwellings unoccupied at a given time is not an exact measure of the extent to which supply exceeds demand in the housing market at that time ; for among such dwellings there will always be a certain number which cannot really be said to be on the market. Thus of the 1,953 dwellings unoccupied in October, 1904, 49 were awaiting approval bv the police as being habitable, 28 had been condemned by the same authorities as not habitable, 46 were about to be demolished, and 51 were actually let but not yet tenanted, while 44 were combined with business premises and therefore available for a limited section only of the house-using public. After all these have been deducted from the 1,953 unoccupied dwellings of October, 1904, there still remain 1,735, and this figure may be regarded as constituting the real excess of supply over demand, and represents 4^ per cent, of all dwellings (unconnected with business premises) in Königsberg at that time. It cannot therefore be said that the scarcity of dwelling accommodation in Königsberg is any longer such as to cause concern, especially when it is observed that of the 1,735 dwellings which were untenanted in October, 1904, 1,314 or 76 per cent, were of the kind usually required by working-class families, inasmuch as they consisted of three rooms or less. On the other hand the rents charged for dwellings of this class are distinctly dear. As in all German cities where practically the whole population lives in flats, so in Königsberg, working-class tenements are to be found in the upper storeys of houses in almost all parts of this town. There are however, in Königsberg, certain quarters in many streets in which every house is occupied by workingclass families from ground floor to attic. The distinctive working-class quarters are situated close to the fortifications on the south, east and west of the town, in what are known as the Haberberg, Sackheim and Laak districts. Of these the Haber berg district on the south is the largest. For the purpose of the present inquiry particulars have been obtained of the rents which were being paid at December 1st, 1905, for all dwellings of three rooms or less in this working-class district and in the corresponding district of Laak on the west of the town. The number of dwellings of this kind in the two districts was found to be 6,951, or about 70 per cent, of all. Of these 6,951 dwellings 4,619 consisted of three rooms, 2,008 of two rooms, and only 324 consisted of a single room ; from this it would seem that the usual working-class tenement in Königsberg consists of either two or three rooms, and that a threeroomed dwelling is by far the most common. This conclusion is supported by statements furnished by 213 working-class families of various ranges of weekly income, in reply to the question, “ Of how many rooms does your dwelling consist ? ” The replies showed the following results Number of Rooms in Dwelling-. Number of Families. One room Two rooms Three rooms Four rooms Total 3 80 125 5 213 Of the 2,008 two roomed dwellings covered by the present inquiry, 1,196, or 60 per cent., were fetching rents lying between the limits of £8 1 os. and £10 10s. per annum, which would correspond to a range of 3s. 4d. to 4s. per week. Among the two-roomed tenements visited for the purposes of this report a large number situated in the Haberberg quarter were being let at a rent of £9 18s. per annum or 3s. 10d. per week, thus falling within the limits stated above. The characteristic feature of these tenements, which are contained in continuous rows of three-storeyed stucco-fronted houses in the Thomasstrasse, is that all of them open off a common corridor lying parallel to the line of the street, so that the windows of the rooms on one side of it look into the street, and those on the other side into a back yard. Both rooms of a tenement are always either at the 282 KÖNIGSBERG. front or at the back. Two of the tenements are in the front of the building, and the third is at the back, all three consisting of a combined living and bedroom and a kitchen. The dimensions of the rooms forming the two front tenements are :— Living and bedroom ... ... 15 feet by 13\ feet. Kitchen ... ... ... ... 15 feet by 8 feet. The first of these tenements is entered by either of two doors leading from the corridor, one into each room. The second is entered by a door leading from the corridor into the kitchen. The third tenement —the one at the back—is also entered by a door leading from the corridor into the kitchen. The dimensions of its rooms are Living and bedroom ... ... 14^ feet by 13^ feet. Kitchen ... ... ... ... 11| feet by 9 feet. Every tenement has the exclusive use of one of a row of water-closets situated in the corridor. In addition there is the usual cellar space and drying-loft accommodation. Among the three-roomed dwellings two kinds may be distinguished. The first and most common kind consists of a room with a stove (the " best room”), a stoveless bedroom, and a kitchen. The second type differs from the first only in having a stove in the bedroom as well as in the " best room ” and the kitchen. Among the 4,619 three-roomed buildings of which the rents were ascertained 2,761 belonged to the first, and 1,858 to the second category. Of the former, or more common, kind 1,277 or 46 per cent, were let at yearly rents of from £ll to £13, which, expressed in weekly rents, would correspond to a range of 4s. 3d. to 5s. 0d. The nature of the accommodation provided at a rent falling within these limits will be seen from a consideration of the arrangement and dimensions of the rooms on the first floor of one of a large number of similar houses in the Grosse Sandgasse in the H aberberg quarter of Königsberg. The ten rooms on this floor constitute four tenements, viz., two of two rooms each looking into a yard at the back, and two of three rooms each looking into the street in front. Here we are concerned with the latter only. Each of these contains a small vestibule, measuring 6J feet by 4J feet, the two vestibules being situated one on each side of the landing. Having been admitted by the tenant into the vestibule, the visitor is faced by a door leading into the kitchen, while a second door at his side leads into the living room, which communicates with the bedroom. The kitchen is not large, and its possibilities in point of space have been sacrificed for the sake of the vestibule, which is regarded as giving an air of refinement to the flat. The dimensions of the rooms forming one of the tenements are somewhat smaller than those of the rooms forming the other. The following are the dimensions of the rooms of the larger tenement. The kitchen measures 13 feet by 6J feet, and the living room, which is large, 17J feet by 12J feet, while the bedroom occupies a space roughly corresponding to that of the kitchen and vestibule combined, but somewhat wider at one end than at the other. All three rooms have a height of 9 feet 4 inches, and are well lighied by windows looking into the street, the living room having two windows, and the kitchen and bedroom each one. Thus ample opportunities for ventilation are provided, but in Königsberg, as in other parts of Germany, these opportunities ­ appear not to be greatly appreciated if one may judge by the small use that is made of them. On the landing are four water-closets (with flushing tanks), one for the separate use of each tenement. In addition there is the usual provision of cellarage, and of facilities for the drying of laundry in the loft. The rent of this tenement is 255 marks per annum, or 4s. 1 Id. per week. Coming to what may be called the superior type of three-roomed tenement —that which consists of two heatable rooms and a kitchen—one naturally finds a somewhat higher range of rents. Thus of the 1,858 tenements of this kind for which the rents were ascertained, 1,048, or 56 per cent., were let at £12 to £15 15s. per annum (4s. Id. to 5s. 10d. per week). In point of structure and size of rooms a tenement of this kind differs little, if at all, froiq KÖNIGSBERG. 283 the more common type with its one unbeatable room, the higher rent being paid for the increased comfort to be derived from an additional stove—a consideration of great importance in a cli mate so severe as that of Königsberg in the winter months. In summarising the results of the inquiry into working-class rents in Königsberg the two classes of three-roomed tenements may be thrown together. It is then found that of the 4,619 three-roomed tenements covered by the inquiry, 2,206, or 48 per cent., were let at rents of £11 to £13 15s. per annum, or 4s. 3d. to 5s. 3d. per week. Predominant Rents of Working-class Dwellings. Number of Rooms per Tenement. Predominant Weekly Rent. Two rooms Three rooms 3s. id. to 4s. 4s. 3d. to 5s. 3d. Rent in Königsberg is higher than in any other of the towns investigated in the eastern portion of the German Empire. Representing the level of rent in Berlin by 100, the corresponding figure for Königsberg is 62. The above rent includes the water rate, but no element of taxation for local purposes, such taxation being levied in the shape of an income tax supplementing, and bearing a fixed ratio to, the State income tax. In Königsberg the income tax for local purposes is exactly double the State income tax, to which all incomes of £45 per annum and upwards are subject. The amount payable in respect of local income tax for certain ranges of income in Königsberg is shown below. Incomes. Amount of local Income Tax. £45 to £52 30s. ... Over £52 10s. to £60 „ £60 to £67 30s. ., £67 10s. to £75 „ £75 to £32 10s. „ £82 10s. to £90 ,, £90 to £105 ... „ £105 to £120 £ s. d. 0 32 0 0 18 0 14 0 1 32 0 2 2 0 2 12 0 3 2 0 3 32 0 Retail Prices. Contrary to what one would expect in so important a town, the retail provision trade of Königsberg, so far as working-class custom is concerned, is still almost entirely in the hands of unpretentious shop-keepers, whose most serious competitors (in certain articles other than groceries), would seem to be the still less pretentious stall-holders at the semi-weekly markets held in different parts of the town where they are least likely to obstruct traffic. Working class co-operative distribution has made small progress, for the only working class co-operative enterprise—the Konsumverein far Königsberg und Umgegend—had, at the end of September, 1905, after three years’ existence, no greater a membership than 824, while its sales during the previous year were only a little in excess of £6,000. A second co-operative society composed of members of the official and military classes was, however, flourishing. The existence of a large number of small shop-keepers carrying on business in close proximity to each other among a population confined to a wallencircled town tends to produce local uniformity of prices, so that there was little difficulty in ascertaining the predominant prices of the principal articles of food, more especially as the municipal statistical office has for some years been regularly collecting and publishing information on the subject. 29088 2 N 2 284 KÖNIGSBERG. Groceries and other Commodities. The subjoined table summarises the data supplied in response to personal inquiries made among shop-keepers in different parts of Königsberg dealing in groceries, dairy produce and coal, as to the predominant retail prices of those articles at October, 1905, and November, 1906. Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and November, 1906. Predominant Price. Commodity. Coffee Sugar, White Granulated Bacon :— Fat Streaky ... Eggs Cheese, Tilsit Butter Margarine ... Potatoes Flour :— Wheat Rye Bread, Rye ... Milk ... Coal ... ... Paraffin Oil ... per lb. per Is. per lb. per 7 lb. per 4 lb. per quart per cwt. per gallon October, 1905. November, 1906. lid. 2id. 8# lid. Is. Id. to Is. 2\d. 7|d. 2W., 3d. 11 \d. 9\d. 4%d. 2\d. Is. Id. lid. lid. 2\d. 8gd. ’. to 1 12* 8|d. Is. Ifd. to Is. 2fd. 7fd. 2#, 3d. 9fd. to lid. 11 Id. 9f d. 5 fd. 2 fd. Is. 4d. lid. A few remarks are appended by way of comment on the prices of some of the above articles. The coffee most generally bought by working-class families is described as a “ mixture,” and invariably costs 1 mark per German, or lid. per English lb. Occasionally the “mixture” is described as “ Java,” or “ Campinas ” (Brazilian) coffee. The compound from which the domestic coffee is brewed, however, contains a considerable proportion of coffee substitutes such as roasted malt at 2\d. per lb. The sugar most frequently bought by working-class families is a fine white granulated variety described as Gemahlene Baffinade, and costs a little over 2\d. per lb. The consumption of this sugar is about nine times as great as that of all the other varieties together. What has been said in the reports on other towns with regard to bacon applies also to Königsberg. There are two varieties ; one consists of solid fat cut from the back, and the other is “ streaky” and cut from the belly of the pig. The “ streaky ” bacon costs 11 d. while the fat is sold for 8fd. per lb. Notwithstanding the proximity of the Russian frontier the local shopkeepers are unanimous in stating that only native eggs are consumed in Königsberg. The popular cheese is Tilsit, at 8\d. per lb. The bread most generally eaten is made entirely of rye, and is scarcely as dark in colour as any of the brown breads sold by bakers in England. The quantity almost invariably purchased at a time by the workman’s wife is the loaf costing 50 pfennige, or 6<A The next size is the loaf at 30 pfennige, or about 3\d. While the prices of these loaves never vary, the weight is constantly changing, nor is it the same in any two bakeries. In order to be able to trace the movement in the price of bread, the municipal statistical office has for some years pursued the plan of causing a number of loaves and rolls to be bought every week at various shops in different parts of the town. The goods are then brought to the statistical office and weighed separately so that the average weight may be arrived at. To obviate errors arising from the difference in weight between fresh bread and stale, all the goods bought must be 24 hours old. It may be added that the matter is so arranged that the baker does not know when the test loaves are being bought. At October, 1905, on the average of 4 weekly weighings of 11 loaves each, the 50 pfennige loaf was found to KÖNIGSBERG. 285 contain 2 302 kilograms of bread, or exactly 5 lbs. 1 oz., which corresponds to a price of 4§d. for 4 lbs. Bread was at that time dearer than in any month since February, 1903 (when the 6<7. loaf weighed 2*297 kilograms), and had been rising steadily in price since January, 1904, when sixpence worth of bread weighed 2*509 kilograms, or 7\ ozs. more. Thus, in January, 1904, 4 lbs. of bread were being sold for about 4\d. It may be added that the weight of the 6d. loaf has been declining steadily since October, 1905, and by October, 1907, it had reached 1*806 kilograms, which would correspond to a price of about 6d. for 4 lbs. Although fresh milk is cheap in Königsberg (about 2\d. a quart), the bulk of the milk used by working-class families is skimmed and costs about Id. the quart. The coal used for domestic purposes is imported from Scotland, and costs Is. 4(7. per cwt. when bought in small quantities. Meat. The whole of the meat consumed in Königsberg is home grown, and here, as in all other parts of Germany, pork is the principal flesh food, as may be seen from the subjoined table showing the consumption as estimated from the Municipal Slaughterhouse Returns :— Total and per capita Consumption of Meat in Königsberg, Year ended March 31 st, 1906. Consumption. Total. Pork (including Bacon) Beef Veal Mutton Horse Fresh meat of all kinds cwts. 114,694 76,371 13,385 8,831 6,566 219,847 Per capita. lbs. 58& 39 1 112 In the previous year the total consumption of meat was 250,362 cwts., and the amount per head of population 143 lbs., so that in a single year there was an absolute decline of 12 per cent, and a per capita decline of 22 per cent, in the meat consumption of the town. There can be no doubt that this was closely related to the great increase in the price of meat which Königsberg was experiencing in common with every other part of Germany. It need scarcely be said that the yearly consumption of meat per head is less among the working classes than that shown above for the whole population. Returns obtained for this inquiry from 224 working-class families containing ­ 1,022 persons, showed a meat consumption at an average yearly rate of 91J lb. Of this 37 per cent, was pork and bacon, 26 per cent, sausage, and 24 per cent. beef. The average wholesale price of pork in the Königsberg market in the year ended March %lst, 1906, was 64*88 marks (£3 4s. 10yt.) for 50 kilogs. (110 lbs.), or 31*2 per cent, above the corresponding price for the previous year, and this rise was accompanied by a decrease of 28*2 per cent, in the per capita consumption of this kind of meat. Beef prices in 1905-6 were only 4*6 per cent, higher than in 1904-5, but the per capita beef consumption was 12*7 per cent, less. Veal and mutton may be left out of consideration, especially in so far as the working classes are concerned ; but not horseflesh, of which the consumption increased from 5,268 to 6,566 cwt. (or 25 per cent.) in the aggregate, and from 3 lbs. to 3 lbs. 5 ozs. (or 11 per cent.) per head of population in 1905-6 as compared with 1904-5. By November, 1906, the date of the visit to Königsberg for the purpose of this report, meat prices had, however, dropped considerably, as may be seen from the following table :— 286 KÖNIGSBERG. Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and November, 1906. Description of Cut. Beef : — Bab ... ... ... Silverside Shin, with bone Steak Flank Mutton :— Beg ... ... ... Shoulder Breast Neck Chops Veal :— Hindquarter with bone without bone Shoulder, Loin Pork :— Leg Foreloin., Belly Spare rib Chops Predominant price per lb. - October, 1905. j November, 1906. 8W. 9(7. 7(7. 9(7. 8&(7. 9(7. 8# 8&d. 8\d. 11(7. 9W. 91(7. Is. 7(7. 11(7. 9(7. 10(7. %d. 11(7. 11(7. 7§(7. 81(7. 6^(7. 8^(7. 7%(7. 8j(7. 7M. 7^(7. 7^(7. 9§(7. 81(7. 8#(7. Is. 5|(7. 9§(7. 8f(7. 91(7. 8# 91(7. 91(7. In considering these prices in relation to those charged for the corresponding cuts in the United Kingdom, it has to be remembered that as a rule the German housewife, especially among the working classes, when buying meat, asks for so much beef, pork, &c., without any reference to the part of the carcase from which it is to be cut ; at the most she specifies whether it is intended for boiling or roasting. The butcher determines the average price per pound which he must realise on the whole carcase, and endeavours by judicious cutting to obtain a price as near that average as possible for every pound sold, irrespective of the cut. This accounts for the comparative uniformity of the prices. At the shops for the sale of horseflesh (there are nine such shops in Königsberg) no other kind of meats are sold, and the prices charged at all these shops for the various cuts from the carcase, as well as for the various products manufactured from horseflesh, are the same. They are as follows :— Retail Prices of Horseflesh and preparations thereof in Königsberg. Price. Steak from the leg Filet steak Fore quarter Minced horseflesh Corned „ (boiled) Smoked „ “ Lübecker ” sausage “ Cervelat ” „ “ Metadellen ” ,, “Pomeranian” „ “Country” „ Small sausages per lb per pair 2# I# 2f(7. 2^(7. 2f(7. 7# 7# 51,(7. 4(7. 5^(7. i¡li. Cuts of horseflesh may be bought at prices of a halfpenny or a penny per pound cheaper at the markets held twice a week in certain parts of the town, including the quays, but the appearance of the meat exhibited for sale by the stall-holders compares very unfavourably with that shown in the regular horseflesh shops, and is the reverse of appetising. KÖNIGSBERG. 287 Part of the meat consumed by the less prosperous working-class families is of distinctly inferior quality, inasmuch as it consists of parts of the carcases of animals which have been found by the public meat inspectors to be suffering from disease. One hundred and thirty tons of such meat were sold at the Freibank or municipal meat-stall in Königsberg in the year ended March 31st, 190b. Of this quantity some 15 tons had to be boiled before being offered for sale, as a precaution against injury to health. The lowness of the price of this meat as compared with that charged for sound meat by private tradesmen proves a great attraction to the poorer classes, as is evident from the rapidity with which each fresh supply offered at the Freibank is cleared out. Prices of Inferior Meat at Municipal Meat-stall (Freibank) in Königsberg, 1905-6. Raw. Boiled. Beef Pork Veal Mutton Por lb. 4\d. to 6rf. 3\d. to 4\d. 3|d. to 5\d. Per lb. 3Id. to 4jd. 3|d. to 5d. 3\d. to 3|d. Butchers are not allowed to purchase meat at the municipal meat-stall, and only a strictly limited quantity may be bought by any one person on one and the"same day, the object being to prevent people purchasing otherwise than for their own consumption or that of their family. The general level of prices in Königsberg is about the same as in Berlin, but the variation in respect of the different kinds of commodities is considerable. ­ Thus, taking prices at Berlin as 100, the index numbers for Königsberg are 113 for meat and 97 for other food, the figure for these two groups combined being 100 ; the price of coal is represented by 108, while for all commodities the figure is 101. The index number for rent and prices combined is 93. 288 KÖNIGSHÜTTE This is the largest and most central of a cluster of towns situated within a triangular area of about 150 square miles of coal and iron producing country in the extreme south-easterly corner of the German Empire, bordering on the Russian and Austrian frontiers, and known as the Upper Silesian Black Country. Of the towns grouped round Königshütte the most important are Gleiwitz, Beuthen, Zaborze, Kattowitz, Myslowitz, Ruda and Chorzow, with populations of 61,000, 60,000, 56,000, 36,000, 13,000, 13,000 and 10,000 respectively, while Königshütte itself numbers some 66,000 inhabitants. Though separate units for purposes of local government, all these towns have been brought into such close communication with each other, not only by railway but also by a system of electric tramways, that they may almost be regarded as forming a single urban agglomeration. The development of the Upper Silesian coal-mining industry may be said to have begun with the opening of the Brandenburg Mine near Ruda, a few miles west of Königshütte, in 1750. In the last decade of the eighteenth century two other mines were opened, and in connection with one of these (called the Königsgrube or King’s Mine), a blast furnace was erected in the year 1802, near some small pools a few miles east of Ruda, and this was the origin of the present town of Königshütte. Some forty years later the Upper Silesian railway was built, and immediately gave a great impetus to the local coal and iron industries. Succeeding years saw a rapid extension of transport facilities over the whole of the district and at the present day every mine and iron and steel works in the Upper Silesian Black Country is connected by a narrowgauge line with the Prussian State railway system and so brought into communication with all the great industrial and distributing centres of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Russia. Königshütte is within forty miles of the point where the river Oder becomes navigable, i.e. at the town of Ratibor, whence products of the Upper Silesian Black Country are conveyed in barges down the Oder to Breslau, Frankfort, Stettin and as far as Swinemünde on the Baltic Sea. Except for purposes of business, Königshütte has few visitors from other parts of Germany, and this is equally true of the other industrial towns in this remote corner of the Empire. In the stretches of open country lying between various centres of population and traversed by the electric tramway system already referred to, the winding gear of colliery shafts, mounds of colliery and blast furnace refuse, smoking chimneys and stagnant pools are the outstanding features. The environment is rendered additionally depressing by the appearance, at frequent intervals, of posts exhibiting the sign of a skull and cross bones, and intended as a warning that the adjacent surface has been rendered dangerous through the mining operations carried on beneath the soil. The appearance of the workpeople, which suggests cheerlessness and poverty, is in harmony with these surroundings. The men and women are neither so robust nor so well clad as those of North and West Germany, while their children almost without exception go barefoot in all weathers and, in general, give the impression of being indifferently cared for. Both in origin and sentiment the great majority of the workpeople of the Upper Silesian Black Country are Polish, and in their intercourse with each other seldom make use of any other language. In spite of their apparent inferiority of physique, however, they are regarded by local employers as being at least equal in endurance to the workpeople of German origin, and as they have also the reputation of being more tractable and less exacting in their standard of comfort than workpeople from other parts of Germany, they are preferred to the latter for all work in which the quality of endurance is the main requisite. Asa town Königshütte had no existence until the year 1869, its official recognition as such having been conferred by a Royal Order dated July 17th, 1868. The earliest census figure for this town relates to the year 1871, when KÖNIGSHÜTTE-. 2X9 the inhabitants numbered 19,536. Since that year the population has increased more than timefold, as shown by the following Table.— Year. Population. 1871 1875 1880 1885 1890 1895 1900 1905 19,536 26,032 27,522 32,019 36,501 44,715 57,919 66,012 Increase. 6.496 1,490 4.497 4,482 8,214 13,204 8,123 Increase per cent. 332 5-7 16 3 140 22 5 295 14-0 The nature of its industries and the rapid growth of a population, almost entirely working-class, which has accompanied the expansion of these industries since 1871, have produced conditions which have made it impossible for Königshütte to develop into an attractive town. The scarcity of tree-planted promenades and the general griminess of the brick-faced house fronts are in keeping with the smoke-charged atmosphere. The fact that this present town was formed by federating a group of industrial colonies separated from each other by areas of which a great part had been undermined and so rendered useless for building purposes, has caused Königshütte to assume a straggling form, except in the main thoroughfares (the Kaiserstrasse and Bergfreiheit running south-west, the Beuthenerstrasse running north and the Kronprinzenstrasse running west) ; the town looks deserted during the day-time, and even at night, when the streets look their best in the light of the electric lamps, they seem but little more frequented except by the comparatively small part of the population who are not manual workers. Many of the streets have an unfinished appearance, owing to the roadways being still unpaved. From the number of vacant shops which are to be seen in those streets it would seem as if the builders had over-estimated the probable demand for business premises, for many of these shops are now in process of conversion into groundfloor tenements. Facilities for outdoor recreation are not wanting even in the smoky atmosphere of Königshütte. There is a well-kept public park in the eastern suburb of Redensberg, while the principal iron and steel-making concern in the town has converted a portion of the land adjoining its works, near the centre of the town, into a garden primarily intended for the use of its own employees but to which the public have access ; here concerts are given by an orchestra supported by the same firm. Those among the people of Königshütte, however, who prefer to spend their Sundays and holidays in surroundings free from smoke, take the electric tramway to Kattowitz, where there are extensive parks and woods and few large collieries or iron works. It does not appear, however, that any large proportion of the working-classes of Königshütte are in the habit of going so far afield for their recreation, especially as the cost of the return journey on the tramway is about ninepen ;e. Among the public services sometimes undertaken by municipalities—other than the construction and cleansing of the roads—the waterworks is the only branch of municipal enterprise in Königshütte. Electrical power for the tramways (which are privately owned) and for the lighting of the entire Upper Silesian industrial district is furnished by a company from stations situated at Zaborze and Chorzow. Occupations, Wages, and Hours of Labour. At the end of 1905 there were in Königshütte some 9,000 workpeople employed in industrial establishments subject to inspection and distributed as shown below among the various groups oi trades distinguished in the German official statistics :— 2 o 99088 JLt-'Vl 290 KÖNIGS HUTTE. ai % g Group of Trades. Number oF Establishments. Number of Workpeople. Male. Female. Building ... ... ... ... ... Mining and smelting Metal working Machine, implement and apparatus making. Textiles Clothing and cleaning Printing, lithography, bookbinding, &c Paper Woodworking and carving Resins, varnishes, soap, oil, candles, etc. Stone and earth ... Food, drink and tobacco Total 203 176 4,492 666 1,959 16 502 123 21 8,178 891 Total. 192 4,994 666 1,960 9,069 In the above table trades are represented only in co far as they are carried on in establishments subject to inspection, and this largely affects the figures for some trades. In the building trades, for instance, the important groups of bricklayers ­ and labourers are omitted, nor is it possible to state even approximately the numbers employed in these two occupation groups. The great preponderance of the coal, iron and steel, and engineering trades, is shown by the fact that 7,620 of the total of 9,069 workpeople fall within the three groups in which those trades are comprised (¿.e., the second, third, and fourth groups in the table). The largest blast-furnace works in Silesia are situated within the town and in connection with these are puddling mills, steel-making (Bessemer, Thomas and Martin processes), iron and steel rolling mills and tube drawing works. There are also six pit shafts of state-owned collieries at work within the municipal area. The workpeople of Königshütte, being for the most part Polish and Roman Catholic in sentiment, have kept aloof from the German labour movement as represented by the great national federations of Social-Democratic Trade Unions (Gewerkschaften) which have gained a footing in every industrial town in other parts of the Empire. Strikes are extremely rare and collective agreements fixing standard rates of wages and other conditions of labour are unknown except in the printing trade, in which the men are organised in a branch of the National Federation of Printers and Typefounders. In the building trades, however, certain rates of time wages are recognised by the masters of the various trade guilds as locally current. The following table shows the rates of wages current in various building trades at October, 1905, together with the number of hours usually worked in those trades per week in summer. The minimum rates for the printing trade as fixed for Königshütte by the general agreement operative throughout the greater part of Germany are also shown. Predominant Weekly Rates of Wages. Usual Weekly Hours of Labour (exclusive of Mealtimes). Building Trades* :— Masons and Bricklayers. Carpenters Joiners Plumbers Painters (Fine work) „ (Rough work) Labourers Printing Trades :— Hand Compositors ... ) Machine minders and pressmen \ Machine Compositors j 22s. Id. 22s. Id. 27s. 0 d. 19s. 2d. 22s. lOd. 21s. Od. 15s. Od. 23s. 8d. 29s. 6d. 30s. 9d. 54 The wages and hours of labour stated for the building trades are for a full week in summer, KÖNIGSHÜTTE. 291 Comparing the wages shown in this table with those at Berlin and representing ­ the latter by 100, the Königshütte figures are represented by 65 for skilled men and 58 for unskilled men in the building trades, and by 8t as regards the printing trades. The coal-mines worked within the municipal area of Königshütte are owned by the State, but the conditions of labour are similar in every respect to those obtaining in the same industry throughout the Upper Silesian industrial district. The following particulars, based on the data as to wages and hours of labour in the whole of the Upper Silesian coal-mines, published by the Prussian Government, may therefore be taken as applicable to the coal-mines worked in Königshütte itself. The average earnings per shift of the principal catagories of adult male workers in and about the coal-mines of Upper Silesia in 1905 were as follows Average Earnings per Shift. 4s. 4 d. 2s. 9c?. 3s. 3c?. 2s. 8c?. Hewers Putters and trammers . Other underground men Surface men These figures represent the net earnings, after allowing for deductions in respect of insurance against sickness, old age and infirmity and in respect of blasting materials, lamp oil and tools. The insurance contributions, though compulsory, are for the men’s own advantage and should therefore be added to the earnings shown above. An addition should also be made in respect of certain advantages enjoyed by the men in the shape of free housing, coal allotments, &c. The insurance contributions amounted on the average to 98‘4 pfennige (say Is.) per week of six shifts in 1905, while the benefits in respect of housing, coals, &c., are estimated to have been worth an additional 7d. per week on the average. The average earnings (including all allowances) of coal-miners in Königshütte for a full week of six shifts may therefore be reckoned to have been as follows in 1905 Hewers ... Putters and trammers ... Other underground men Surface men Average Earnings in a full Week. 27s. Id. 18s. Id. 21s. Id. 17 s. 7c?. The average number of hours worked in a full week of six shifts in 1905 by the Upper Silesian Goal-miners was :— For hewers and trammers ... ... ... 59 hours. other underground workers surface-men 61 68 These figures include intervals for meals, but, in the case of the underground ­ workers, are exclusive of the time occupied in descent and ascent* With regard to the iron and steel making and engineering trades the following Table gives some indication of the level of wages prevailing at October,°1905, at the works of some of the leading concerns in and around Königshütte. The data on which the Table is based have been extracted from 29088 2 0 2 292 KÖNIGSHÜTTE. the pay-sheets for the month to which they relate and furnished by courtesy of the firms in question. Range of Weekly Earnings. Number of Workpeople (adnib males only). Total. Under 20s 20s. and under 25s. 25s. „ „ 30s. 30s. „ „ 35s. 35s. ,, ,, 40s. 40s. and over 1,906 2,118 818 508 195 66 5,611 Per cent. 34 0 37 7 14 6 9-0 3-5 1-2 100-0 Thus, out oí a total oí 5,611 men employed in certain of the principal iron and steel making and engineering concerns, 4,024, or nearly 72 per cent, earned less than 25s. per week in October, 1905, including payment for overtime. The average weekly earnings of some of the principal groups of workmen during the same month are shown below. Occupation. Average Weekly Earnings at October, 1905. Blast Furnaces :— Keepers Chargers Mine fillers Slag tippers Assistants of Chargers and Mine-fillers. Coke tippers ... Ore dischargers Labourers Puddling Mills :— First puddlers Second „ Third „ Fourth „ Hammer drive Fig-wheelers Shinglers Rail-weighers Coal trolleymen Cinder trolleymen Steel-making :— First melters ... Second „ Charge - wheelers, Hoistmen. Boilermen Fitters First moulders Second „ Fettlers Labourers Pitmen, Iron Rolling — Heaters... Stokers.... s. 50 35 34 26 17 18 26 15 31 25 23 28 35 19 22 16 17 46 1 34 2 25 11 19 17 38 29 18 16 39 26 Occupation. Average Weekly Earnings at October, 1905. Iron Rolling—continued. Chargers Forkers Cutters Markers Shearmen Wheelers Labourers Steel Rolling :— First heaters ... Second „ Stokers ... Chargers and Rollers Rail finishers ... Rail finishers’ helpers Machine-making :— Fitters Smiths -. Annealers Turners Drillers Moulders Core-makers ... Fettlers Boiler - making and Bridgebuilding :— Boilersmiths (platers) Caulkers Rivetters Drillers Fitters Strikers Labourers 22 20 34 29 21 19 to 23 14 37 4 33 7 24 10 22 0 25 5 19 10 28 6 31 10 30 33 24 31 25 24 29 26 27 24 99 19 11 21 1 In any comparison of the above wages with those for corresponding occupations in the United Kingdom allowance must be made for differences in KÖNIGSHÜTTE. 293 the nature of the work performed by men of a given occupation group in the two countries. One finds, for instance, that in Königshütte the work of the “ mine-filler ” at a blast-furnace is confined to the pushing of the ore-laden trolleys to the hoist at the base of the furnace, the trolley having previously been filled for him by a woman. In the United Kingdom the “ mine-filler ” has to fill his own trolleys as well as push them up to the blast-furnace. It should also be remembered that the figures in the table include earnings tor extra shifts. Thus the keeper at a blast-furnace in Königshütte working not more than 6 shifts (of 12 hours) in a week would earn 36s., while chargers and “ mine-fillers ” earn 27s. and 28s. respectively in 6 shifts of 8 eight hours. As indirectly bearing on the subject of working-class earnings in Königshütte, the following figures relating to the incomes of the occupied population of the town in 1904 may be of interest. For municipal purposes all incomes of £21 per annum and upwards are assessed for taxation. The total number of persons assessed for this tax in 1904 was 14,602, or approximately one person in every four of the population in that year. In the following table these 14,602 persons are classified according to ranges of income :— Range of Yearly Income. £21 and under £33 £33 ,, £45 £45 „ £150 £150 „ £300 £300 „ £475 £475 and upwards... Total Number of persons whose incomes fell within the ranges stated. 2,611 5,708 5,779 381 78 45 14,602 It would appear, therefore, that 8,319, or 57 per cent, of all persons assessed, had incomes of less (han £45, while in the whole town there were only 504 persons, or about 1 in every 29 assessed, whose incomes reached £150 a year. Housing and Rents. The housing conditions of the working-classes of Königshütte cannot be regarded as satisfactory, for at the end of 1905 70 per cent, of the total population ­ of this town were living in tenements of either one or two rooms, and the average number of persons per room was 2*7 for the one-roomed tenements and 2"3 for the two-roomed. This is shown by the following statement, in which the population of the town is classified according to the size ol the dwelling occupied at the end of 1905 :— Number of Rooms in Tenement. 1 room 2 rooms 4 „ 5 or more rooms Total Number of Tenements. 2,418 8,482 2,042 792 742 14,476 Population housed in such Tenements. Total. 6,508 39,385 10,939 4,178 4,206 65,216 Per cent. 100 604 16-8 64 64 100-0 Practically the whole working-class population of Königshütte may therefor ­ be said to live in tenements of one or two rooms. Many of these tenements are to be found in detached houses of the cottage type, having no upper floor, and dating from the time when the local coal-mining industry was entirely in the hands of the State. These houses were purchased by many of the miners on the extended payment system with State assistance, and were intended for 294 KÖNIGSHÜTTE. occupation by the miner’s family alone. In the course of time, however, they have passed into other hands and been converted into double tenement houses. As a type this class of tenement is rapidly disappearing, and the great majority oí the working-classes now live in three or four-storied tenement houses built to accommodate three or four families on each floor. Such houses are entered direct from the footway without any intervening fore-court, and a part of the yard-space at the back is, as a rule, occupied by a side wing of the main building, so that this space is directly overlooked by windows from two sides of the house. No official inquiry as to house rents such as was undertaken in all the greater cities of Germany in December, 1905, took place in Königshütte. Nevertheless, owing to the courtesy of Dr. Stolle, the Chief Burgomaster, it has been possible, with the co-operation of the local police, to ascertain the rents of 1,091 working-class tenements situated in different parts of the town. Of these tenements 159 consisted of a single room, 682 of two rooms, and 250 of three rooms. The predominant rents paid for the tenements of each kind in August, 1906, were found to be as follows :— Predominant Rents of Working-class Dwellings. Number of Rooms per Tenement. Predominant Weekly Rent. One room Two rooms Three rooms l.s. 2d. to Is. 5d. 2s. 2d. „ 2s. 9d. 3s, 3d. „ 4s. Id. From this it will be seen that rent in Königshütte is low. Taking rents in Berlin as 100, the corresponding index number for Königshütte is 47. Some idea of the nature of the accommodation afforded by typical tworoomed and three-roonied working-class tenements, i.e. by tenements let at rents falling within the limits of 2s. 4d. to 2s. 9d. per week for the former and os. 6d. to 4s. Id. per week for the latter, may be obtained from the following examples of tenements visited for the purpose of this report. Example 1.—Two-roomed tenements in the Schützenstrasse. These are contained in blocks of three storied houses, each house with a frontage of 63 feet and a depth of 37 feet, and having three windows on either side of the main entrance both at the front and the back. Two of the three windows belong in each case to the living room (which is also the bedroom) and one to the kitchen of one of the tenements, of which there are four on each floor, two in front and two at the back of the house. The larger room in each of these tenements measures 18^ by 15 feet, and the smaller room (the kitchen) 18.¿ by 9 feet. The height from floor to ceiling is in each case 9J- feet. The water supply is on the landing and the closets (without flushing tank) in the yard at the back of the house, in the proportion of one to every four families. To each tenement belongs a lumber room (too small to be used as a bedroom) on the top floor, where part of the space is also available for drying laundry. Apart from the defective closet accommodation and the absence of a vestibule these tenements are lacking in facilities for proper ventilation, being subject in this respect to the same disadvantages as back-to-back houses for, as both of the rooms of each tenement are either in the front or at the back of .the house no through ventilation is possible. The rent is 10 marks per month, or 2s. 4d. per week. Example 2.—A better type of two-roomed tenement is now being supplied in increasing numbers, especially in the northern extension of the town, (e.g., in the Kreutzstrasse) at rents of 12 to 14 marks per month, or 2s. 9d. to 3s. 3d. per week, the lower rent being charged on the third and the higher rent on the first floor. The houses containing these tenements are four-storied with a frontage of 70 feet, a depth of 40 feet, and the usual central main entrance communicating between the street and the yard at the back. On each floor are 10 rooms occupied by four families, of whom two have two rooms each KÖNIGSHÜTTE. 295 and the others three rooms each. Of the two roomed tenements one is in the front and the other at the back of the house, and each consists of a kitchen and a bed-living room. In the front tenement the rooms measure :—-Kitchen, 18 J feet by 10 feet. Bed-living room, 18J feet by 15 feet. In the back tenement the rooms measure :— Kitchen, 15& feet by 9J feet. Bed-living room, 19^ feet by 15|- feet. The height varies from 10J feet on the ground floor to 9J feet on the third floor. On each landing are two closets (tankless) for the use of the four families, and this (together with the fact that the tenements open off a common vestibule running at right angles to the stair landing) constitutes the chief advantage which these tenements have over those described in the previous example. Here too, the water supply is on the landing and each tenant has a lumber room and facilities for laundry drying in the attics, as well as the usual cellar compartment. Example 3.—This relates to three-roomed tenements, which, in so far as they are occupied by working-class families at all, are, as a rule, only to be found in the tenement houses of more recent construction, such as those in the Kreutzstrasse, containing the two-roomed flats described in the previous example. The three-roomed tenements there referred to cost 18 marks per month on the ground and third floors, 20 marks on the first and 19 marks on the second floor. These amounts correspond to weekly rentals of '6s. 6d. to 7d. The dimensions of the rooms in one of these flats were found to be as follows :— Kitchen 19J feet by 9J feet. Living room 19 J feet by 18J feet. Bedroom 19 feet by 15J feet. These dimensions apply to the corresponding rooms on all the floors, but the height varies slightly on the different floors as stated above. In any comparison of the above rents with those for working-class tenements in the United Kingdom it has to be borne in mind that the rent of a German dwelling comprises as a rule no element of local taxation, the bulk of funds needed for local purposes being raised by means of a local income tax. In Königshütte this tax which represents 250 per cent, of the State income tax, is levied on all incomes of £21 a year or more and the amounts payable on the income classes within which most workmen’s families would fall are shown below. Limits of Yearly Income. From £21 to £33 „ £33 „ £45 „ £45 „ £52 10s. . „ £52 10s. to £60 . „ £60 to £67 10s.. „ £67 10s. to £75 . „ £75 to £82 10s.. „ £82 10s. to £90 . „ £90 to £105 „ £105 to £120 . „ £120 „ £135 . „ £135 „ £150 . State Income Tax. £ S. d. Exempt. 6 0 9 0 12 0 16 0 110 16 0 111 0 1 16 0 2 4 0 2 12 0 Local Tax. £ s. d. 6 0 10 0 15 0 12 6 1 10 0 2 0 0 2 12 6 3 5 0 3 17 6 4 10 0 5 10 0 6 10 0 Retail Prices. Until quite recently it used to be a matter of complaint among the shopkeepers ­ of Königshütte that the facilities afforded by the Tramway system, by tempting the people to visit the neighbouring towns, more especially Kattowitz, which is less industrial and offers more opportunities for amusement, were drawing 296 KÖNIGS HÜTTE. away many of their customers. This cause of complaint, it seems, is gradually disappearing, partly because the novelty of easy access to the other towns has worn off, and partly owing to the increasing population of Königshütte and the establishment there of more attractive shops, including establishments of the universal provider type. Apart from such large concerns the numerous body of small shopkeepers in Königshütte have a competitor in the co-operative stores for the sale of household provisions, instituted by the leading coal and iron producing firm of the place, with the avowed object of " influencing and controlling the open market ” in the interests of its workpeople, the latter being the shareholders ­ of the societies which own the stores. The same firm has also established ­ a meat salting business (which it conducts itself) for the purpose of " regulating the price charged by private butchers and supplying good meat and sausages at reasonable prices.” In both respects the firm claims to be successful, but not without a certain sacrifice, owing to the cost of management being greater than that of private butchers, and to the fact that only the very best qualities of meat are supplied. Thus, on sales amounting to £20,600 in 1905, there was a loss of £1,300, which the firm made good out of its own resources. A custom which appears to be more general in Königshütte than in the industrial towns of the west, so far as the working-classes are concerned, is that of laying in, on pay day, a supply of provisions sufficient to last at least a fortnight, that is, until the next pay day, and the opinion exists locally that, in adopting this course, the housewives are influenced less by the advantage of paying a lower price for the larger quantity than by their anxiety to avert the risk of seeing a large part of the family income spent on spirits. The existence of this risk would appear to have been recognised by the municipality, which has found it expedient to require all spirit shops to be closed at 4 p.m. every alternate Friday,—the day on which most of the men in Königshütte draw their wages. Groceries and other Commodities. The following Table shows the predominant retail prices charged in Königshütte for the various kinds of household provisions of the quality usually consumed by the working-classes. The price for each article is based on the statements of several private retail dealers in that article doing business in different parts of the town. These prices relate to two different dates, the one being the month of October, 1905, and the other August, 1906, the time of the visit to Königshütte for the purposes of this Report. Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and August, 19Ò6. Commodity. Predominant Price. October, 1905. August, 1906. Coffee (Java) ... Sugar (broken loaf) Bacon :— 1 at ... ... Streaky Eggs (Austrian) Cheese j otoüteer Butter ... Margarine Potatoes Flour, Wheat ... „ Rye Bread (of Rye) Milk Coal (Nuts) Paraffin (American) per lb. No. per Is. per lb. per 7 lbs. per 4 lbs. per qt. per cwt. per gal. lid. to Is. Id. 2d, „ 2id, 9# 9# 14 to 17 Is. Id, to Is. 2\d. 9# 1 # to 1# 10# 11# 9# 4-#. 2# to 2# 7# 11 id, lid. to Is. Ic7. 2d. „ 2 id, 9# 9#. 17 to 20 5# ‘“'if d. Is. Id. to Is. 2# 9#. 11# 2d. to 2# 10# 9# 4#. 2# to 2# 7# 11# * As the cheese pats had to be weighed it was impossible to ascertain the prices according to weight for October, 1905, KÖNIGSHÜTTE. 297 From the above it would appear that except for eggs and potatoes, the supplies of which are affected by seasonal causes, the retail prices were the same at the two dates. With regard to some of the articles enumerated in the foregoing Table the following points may be noted. Sugar.—This article is almost invariably bought in the form of lumps, of irregular shape and size, such as might result from the breaking up of the loaf with a hammer. Sugar in the form of cubes or of granules is little used by the working classes. Bacon.—A great part of the bacon bought by workpeople consists of solid fat (speck), sold in slabs from three to four inches thick, cut from the back of a large and coarse breed of pig brought across the frontier from Russia. It is most frequently served in the popular Polish soup called Sur (Zur). This is made by mixing rye hour with sauer kraut water, allowing the mixture to ferment and then adding further water according to the quantity of soup required. This liquid, to which are added lumps of bacon fat, or else sausage, is eaten with potatoes and constitutes one of the most popular working-class dinners in Königshütte and throughout the Upper Silesian industrial district. Cheese.—This is little eaten except on Fridays and other Church days of abstinence from meat. The kinds eaten are the German product known as Harzkäse and the Austrian, known as Olmiitzer, both sold in small pats, the former at the rate of 3, and the latter at the rate of 6 for 10 pfennige (about 1 \d.). Samples of these cheeses weighed in the writer’s presence showed that if bought by weight they would cost 5\d. and 8§d. respectively per pound avoirdupois. Local taste requires that these cheeses should have reached a very high degree of " ripeness ” before being eaten. Potatoes.—These are usually bought by the centner of 110 lbs. and never in quantities of less than a reputed Viertel, which amounts to about 24^ lbs. English. Stocks are generally laid in in October, when they are cheapest. This would account for the differences in the prices shown in the Table for October, 1905, and August, 1906, respectively. Flour and Bread.—Flour is bought by the Viertel Centner, or quarter of a hundredweight at a time, and is chiefly used for making bread. According to the senior master of the Bakers’ Guild, about one-half of the population of Königshütte prepare their bread at home and get it baked in the bakery. The loaf most generally eaten contains about 90 per cent, of rye and 10 per cent, of wheat. Coal is bought by the ton, even by working-class families, the kind most generally consumed being that described as “ nuts.” There is also considerable demand for a quality described as Klein Kohlen (or small coal) which is sold at about 8a. per ton, and also for Staub Kohlen (or dust coal) at 3s. 6d. per ton. It has to be remembered, however, that most of the working-class families in Königshütte pay nothing for their coal, as most of the workmen in the town are employed at the collieries and iron and steel works, which supply them with free coal in quantities amounting on the average to five tons per annum each. Meat. As regards the supply of meat, the position of Königshütte and the other towns of the Upper Silesian Black Country is exceptional among the industrial towns of Germany inasmuch as a large proportion of the staple flesh food consumed, viz., pork, is foreign produce ; for, in respect of this part of the German frontier, the provisions of the law prohibiting imports of foreign live stock are relaxed and a certain maximum weekly number of live pigs are allowed to be brought from over the Russian frontier by rail to the public slaughterhouses of each of seven of the Upper Silesian industrial towns. Königshütte requires, on an average, 600 pigs per week and is permitted to import up to 480 per week from Russia. The Russian pig, it may be observed, is about three times the size of the home-bred animal and yields a much larger proportion of fat. No other kind of live stock may be imported from Russia 29088 2 P 298 KÖNIGSHÜTTE. On the other hand cattle are admitted from Austria while pigs are excluded. Before March 1st, 1906, when the new customs tariff came into operation, twothirds of the beef supply of Königshütte came from Austria ; since then the proportion of Austrian beef has dropped to one-tenth of the whole, the remaining nine-tenths being German. No detailed statistics are forthcoming as to the quantities of the various kinds of meat consumed in the town, but according to the statement of the Director of the public slaughterhouse of Königshütte, the per capita consumption of pork and beef amounts together to 123 lbs. per annum, viz., 82 lbs. of pork and 41 lbs. of beef. (These figures, it should be observed, take no account of imports of dead meat.) As regards other kinds of meat, it appears that some 3,300 calves, some 300 sheep, and about the same number of horses are slaughtered annually for consumption in the town. Dogs may not be killed at the public slaughterhouse, but, according to the authority already mentioned, they are more frequently eaten in Upper Silesia than in any other part of Germany. The retail prices of meat, as ascertained from various butchers established in different parts of the town, are shown below for October, 1905 and August, 1906. It will be understood that these prices relate to meat of the quality usually bought by the working classes. Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and August, 19Ò6. Description of Cut. Beef :— Ribs ... ... Silverside Shin, with bone Steak Flank Mutton :— Leg ... ... Shoulder Breast Neck Chops, (trimmed) Veal :— Hindquarter Í with bone Shoulder . Shin Loin Pork :— Leg Foreloin ... Belly Spare rib f 1 without bone Chops Predominant Price per lb. October, 1905. 7# 7# 6\d. to 71d. 7$d. „ 8¿d. 6id. 8\d. to 9%a. 7# 7# 7# 8|d. to 9|d. 8fd. 71d. to 8fd. lid. 7|d. 81d. to 8fd. 7# » *|d. 81d. Id. S$d. to 8|d. August, 1906. 7# 7# 6^d- to 7fd. 7# 8|d. 6&d. 8|d. to 9fd. 7|d. 7%d. 7# 8fd. to 9|d. 8|d. 7|d. to 8fd. lid. 73d. 8fd. to 8|d. 7 |d. „ 8fd. 8jd. Id. 8Id. to 8|d. The Table shows that the prices of meat as bought by the working classes were exactly the same in August, 1906 as in October, 1905. The lowness of these prices compared with those paid in the other industrial towns for which corresponding data have been obtained in the course of the present inquiry is noteworthy, having regard to the relaxation, in favour of Königshütte and the other Upper Silesian towns, of the law prohibiting imports of foreign live stock, nor is it possible to suggest any other explanation of the fact that among working-class families, far more meat is consumed in Königshütte than in any of the 32 other German cities investigated. Returns furnished by 55 typical working-class households consisting of 270 persons and representing different ranges of yearly income showed an average weekly consumption of only a little less than 3 lbs., or at the rate of 154 lbs. a year. Of this, 54 per cent, was pork and bacon, 25 per cent, beef, and 15 per cent, sausage. KÖNIGSHÜTTE. 299 In the reports on most of the other towns investigated, it has been possible to compare the average meat consumption per head of the working-class population with that of the whole population of the town, and it has generally appeared that among the former only about half as much meat was eaten as among the latter. This comparison cannot be made for Königshütte owing to the incompleteness of the data as to net imports of dead meat for local consumption. If the comparison were possible it would probably show the two figures to be practically identical, for almost the whole of the population of the town is working-class. Prices, like rent and wages, are very low in Königshütte, the general level of prices of meat, of other food and of coal being lower than in any other of the towns investigated. Taking prices in Berlin as 100, the index number for the prices of meat in Königshütte is 94 ; for other food, 90 ; for coal, 51 ; and for all commodities, 86, as compared with 95 in Breslau, the town having the next lowest index numbers. Combining this index number with that for rent, a result of 78 is obtained, which would indicate that the cost of living in Königshütte is very much lower than in any other towns included in the present inquiry. 29088 2 P 2 LEIPZIG. Leipzig, which may be said to be the commercial capital of the kingdom of Saxony, is situated like Dresden, the political capital, at some distance from the purely industrial zone, which extends from Plauen to Chemnitz along the German slopes of the Erzgebirge. The city lies in a fertile agricultural plain in the extreme north of the Saxon State, close to the southern border of the Prussian province of the same name, and within half-an-hour’s train journey of the great Prussian lignite mines at Halle. It has attained its present prominence among the great trading cities of Germany in spite of the disadvantage of being without any such special facilities for water transport as are enjoyed by many of the other great cities of Germany. Thus, while Dresden and Magdeburg are traversed by the Elbe, Munich by the Isar, and Breslau by the Oder, Leipzig, which is practically without water transport, ranks above them all in commercial importance, Berlin and Hamburg alone being its superiors in this respect. The city began to prosper early in the sixteenth century, when the Emperor Maximilian secured to it the privilege, denied to all other towns within a radius of 16 German miles, of holding annual fairs or markets. Since that time three great fairs, visited by buyers and sellers from all parts of Europe, have been held in the town regularly every year at New Year, Easter and Michaelmas respectively. The New Year fair lasts a fortnight, and is of interest only to the leather trade. The Easter and Michaelmas fairs each last three weeks, and are occasions for the purchase and sale of a great variety of goods, including books, furs, woollen and linen stuffs, groceries, toys, drugs, glass, china, majolica and pottery ware. The Easter fair is visited by fur dealers from countries so remote as Siberia, China, Japan, Tibet, and North and South America. It would seem as if the growing demand for improved means of transport for the merchants and merchandise proceeding to and from the Leipzig fairs must have suggested the first serious step in the introduction of railways into Germany. For, in December, 1837, when the railway from Leipzig to Dresden, was first opened to traffic, only one line of railway, four miles in length, which had been constructed 18 months previously, was in operation in Germany, viz., that between Niiremburg and Fürth. Since that time Leipzig, mainly owing to its fairs, has grown into a place of such importance in the German railway system that the State Railway Authorities of Prussia and Saxony have felt justified in deciding on the expenditure of 148,000,000 marks, or about £7,400,000, in building a new central railway station in the town. The municipality is contributing £900,000, while each of the two States referred to contributes £3,250,000 towards this new station, which is now in course of erection, and will, when finished, be the largest of the many great railway stations in Germany. Leipzig is noted among German cities for the multitude and wealth of the endowments left by its merchant citizens both in olden and modern times, and administered by the municipality. The town is also a very large landowner. Irrespective of the areas owned by one of the great endowments which it administers, and apart from the sites occupied by the town hall, municipal schools, gas, electricity and "water works, slaughterhouse, market, theatres, hospitals, and other public buildings, it owns about one-half of all the land comprised within the municipal area. It has long been part of its policy to purchase agricultural land at the outskirts, or beyond the precincts of the town, in anticipation of its becoming valuable for building purposes, and pending the maturing process much of this property is leased for agricultural purposes. Thus the receipts of the municipality in respect of agricultural rents amounted to £6,000 in 1904. In the same year it purchased 251 acres of land at the outskirts at an average price of £4 12s. 6d. per acre, and sold six acres of land matured for building at an average price of £15,000 per acre. LEIPZIG. 301 Public gardens and open spaces are one of the most prominent features of the town, and have been brought within easy reach of all classes of the population by a service of cheap and quick electric tramways run by private companies. What is now the central and business part of the town is separated from the more modern and mainly residential part by a wide zone of promenades expanding at intervals into squares and public gardens, and occupying the site of former fortifications. For eight weeks in the year, that is to say during the fairs, the widest parts of this zone are occupied by great numbers of booths engaged in the retail sale of glass, crockery and wooden utensils and ornaments, tobacco-pipes, toys, ready-made clothing and underwear, boots and shoes, and cheap confectionery and other comestibles. In 1904 (the latest year for which figures are available) these booths numbered 614 at the New Year, 1,321 at the Easter, and 1,178 at the Michaelmas fair. The resulting obstruction of traffic has now induced the municipality to purchase a plot of 25 acres in the extreme western suburbs, whither it is proposed that the retail traffic of the fairs shall be gradually transferred, and a sum of £20,000 has been voted by the Town Council to defray the cost of rendering the newly-purchased ground suitable for the accommodation of the booths. The open spaces secured through the razing of the fortifications represent, however, only a small fraction of the total extent of the open recreation grounds within easy reach of dwellers in all parts of Leipzig. The exceptional advantages which the people enjoy in this respect are due not only to the great area of the land owned by the municipality, and the endowments which it administers, but also to the even distribution of that land over all parts of the urban area. Partly by its extension outwards, and partly by the progressive incorporation within the city boundary of populous outlying parishes, the Leipzig of former days, which consisted of about 160 acres of narrow streets closely encircled by the fortifications, ­ which have since given way to promenades, has gradually assumed a shape somewhat resembling that of a Maltese cross with the arms pointingnorth, south, east, and west, and the spaces between the arms occupied by land owned by the municipality or administered by that body on behalf of city endowments. Some 2,700 acres of this property are woodland, of which the greater part is open to the public for purposes of recreation. The population of Leipzig has increased more rapidly since 1871 than that of any of the other great cities of Saxony. The number of inhabitants at each census from 1871 to 1905, and the intercensal increases during this period, were as follows :— Year. Population. 1871.. . 1875.. . 1880.. . 1885.. . 1890.. . 1895.. . 1900.. . 1905.. . 106,925 127,387 149,081 170,340 295,025 399,969 455,089 502,570 Increase. Increase per cent. 20,462 21,694 21,259 124,685 104,944 55,120 47,481 19-1 17-0 14-3 73-2 35 6 13-8 10-4 At the end of 1905 therefore Leipzig had a population nearly five times as great as at the end of 1871. A considerable part of the increase has, however, been due to successive incorporations of outlying parishes, more especially since the year 1889. In that year the two parishes of Anger-Crottendorf and Reudnitz with some 23,000 inhabitants were absorbed, and on January 1st of each of the years 1890, 1891 and 1892 additions of 57,000, 60,000 and 2,000 respectively were made to the population of Leipzig through the incorporation of 15 further parishes within the municipal area. 302 LEIPZIG. 2 The following’ Table shows the birth, death and infantile mortality rates for the five years 1901-5 : — Birth rate per 1,000 of population. Death rate per 1,000 of population. Infantile mortality per 1,000 births. 1901 1902 1903 1901 1905 330 315 301 301 29 3 18*6 16-2 17 9 18-1 17 3 235 189 244 243 229 In point of infant mortality Leipzig oceupies a middle position among the five principal cities of Saxony. To every 1,000 births in 1905 there were 229 deaths of infants under one year old. The corresponding rates for Zwickau and Chemnitz were much higher than this, viz., 291 for the former and 286 for the latter, while those for Dresden and Plauen were somewhat lower, viz., 211 and 204 respectively. As in all other German cities the rate of infant mortality has been declining in the last 15 years. Thus, wLereas the proportion of deaths of infants under one year old to every 1,000 births in Leipzig averaged 253 during the quinquennial period 1891-5, in 1901-5 it had fallen to 228. Occupations, Wages and Hours of Labour. Though its wealth has been acquired by trading, Leipzig has in recent times been assuming more and more of the character of an industrial town, and as such it now claims to have surpassed Chemnitz. It had on May 1st, 1905, a total of 71,001 workpeople employed in 1,649 establishments subject to inspection as factories or workshops. The following Table shows the distribution of these workpeople among the principal groups of trades :— Group of Trades. Building Metal-working and engineering Textiles Clothing Printing and allied trades Bookbinding, &c Woodworking and carving Food, drink, and tobacco ... Other Total . . Number of Establishments. 33 411 38 345 225 96 114 210 177 1,649 Number of Workpeople. 905 21,166 9,640 5,465 15,213 6,458 2,926 3,562 5,666 71,001 The great prominence of the printing and allied trades among the industries of Leipzig is reflected in the above figures, no less than 321 establishments, ­ with 21,671 operatives, being employed either in printing and similar processes or in bookbinding, &e. A considerable number, moreover, of the 21,166 operatives grouped under the heading " metal-working and engineering” are employed in the production of various kinds of plant required in printing and bookbinding works. Under the same heading are comprised the manufacture ­ of agricultural machines, wood-working machines, pianos, music-boxes, type-wu'iting machines and motor-car bodies. The next in importance among the industries of Leipzig is the woollen and worsted manufacture (wool and worsted spinning, wool-combing and wool-weaving). Among the wood-wmrking trades, furniture-making and parquet-laying are greatest in local importance. The building trades are practically unrepresented in the Table, being usually carried on under conditions which exclude them from the operation of the Factory and Workshop Acts. Acccording to an estimate made by the local Trades Council there are some 14,000 workpeople in these trades in Leipzig. Both as regards the numerical strength of its labour organisations and the influence of these organisations on local labour conditions, Leipzig stands out prominently among the great cities of Germany. On January 1st, 1907, the LEIPZIG. 303 trade unions affiliated to the Leipzig Trades Council {Gewerkschaftskartell) numbered some 54,000 members, or, say, one in every 10 of the population of the town. With the exception of Berlin and Hamburg, no other German city possesses so large a body of organized labour, and besides Berlin and Hamburg there are only two other German cities, viz., Nuremberg and Bremen, where the proportion of organized labour to total population is greater than in Leipzig. It should be added that the figures given above with regard to Leipzig relate only to what are called the “ free ” trade unions, and that with the addition of the Hirsch-Duncker (anti-Socialistic) unions the total number of organised workpeople in Leipzig would be somewhat larger. As might be expected under these circumstances, the number of trades in which the conditions of labour are regulated by collective agreements is larger in Leipzig than in most German towns. As a rule the operation of such agreements in Germany does not extend to the great industrial establishments, and is in the main confined to trades in which the employers are organised in guilds and have attained the status of master craftsmen {Handwerksmeister) by passing through the stages of apprentice and journeyman in the service of a guild member. Leipzig furnishes some notable exceptions to this rule, and in the printing and allied trades, in bookbinding, in certain of the wood-working trades, and in the breweries, the existing agreements are operative in large and small establishments ­ alike. All these agreements specify a minimum rate of, time - wage to be paid to qualified men, and the number of hours which shall constitute a day’s work, and from these data it is possible to calculate a standard weekly rate of wages. Where the time-wage system predominates, as it does in the building trades generally, the rate so calculated may be taken as representing the predominant weekly rate of wages of men throughout the trade. This is not the case, however, in the other trades, where piece-work is the rule and time-work the exception. There the amount earned in a full week, without overtime, as shown by the employers’ pay sheets, is usually greater—in many cases considerably greater—than the amount obtained by multiplying the standard rate per hour by the number of hours constituting the regular working week. The relation which some of the standard weekly time rates bear to what is actually earned on piece-work in a full week (without overtime) may be seen from the following examples based upon particulars extracted from the pay sheets of leading employers of labour in certain industries of great local importance. Engineering and Metal-working.—Patternmakers—who belong to the Woodworkers’ Union—are entitled, under the terms of their agreement, to 24s. 4d. for 54 hours on time-wage. Of five of the leading machine-making firms who furnished returns to the writer only two worked 54 hours, while two others worked 57 and one worked 60 hours per week. In one of the establishments working 54 hours the patternmakers earned 27s., and in the other 28s. 11 d. in the full week. In the establishment which worked 60 hours the patternmaker’s earnings were only 25s., while in the two establishments working 57 hours the majority earned 29s. 8d. and 34s. respectively. Regard being had to the relative importance of the firms, the predominant piece earnings of patternmakers lie somewhere within the range of 27s. and 34s. in a week of 54 to 57 hours. Typefounders, under their agreement, are paid 27s. 6c?. for a week of 54 hours when on time-wage. A return from one of the largest firms employing this class of labour in Leipzig, however, showed the average earnings for 1905 to have been 30s. Qd. per week of 54 hours. This figure was arrived at by dividing the year’s wages-bill for typefounders by the total number of days worked by that class, a full record being kept of the time worked by each man during the year. The resulting average day’s earnings was then multiplied by 6 to obtain the earnings for a full week. Printing Trade.—For hand compositors on time-wage the agreement provides a rate of 27s. for a week of 54 hours in Leipzig. The average earnings of 50 such compositors employed by the large firm referred to above were, however, found to be 33s. per week of 54 hours in 1905, while of 20 hand compositors employed by another (but less important) firm the majority were •returned as having earned 30s. per week of the same duration in October, 1905 304 LEIPZIG. Bookbindmg.—The standard time-wage for bookbinders, as stated in the Table, is 25s. for a week of 54 hours. The books of a firm employing 118 men of this trade, however, showed that the majority of these men earned 35s. per week of 54 hours in October, 1905. Woodworking Trades.—Cabinetmakers form one of the largest groups of skilled labour in pianoforte and music-box manufacture, and their standard time-wage is 25s. bd. for a week of 53 hours. The hours actually worked in the pianoforte trade are 53^, in which cabinetmakers on piece-work earn from 30s. to 40s. For men of the same trade employed in music-box manufacture the predominant piece-work earnings are from 30s. to 32s. in 54 hours. Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours of Labour. Building Trades* :— Bricklayers and Masons Stonecutters Carpenters Joiners Plumbers and Fitters .. Smiths (for Iron Work on Buildings) Glaziers : On Buildings... In Workshops Painters, skilled „ unskilled Labourers Fitters Turners -I Engineering and Metal-working Trades :— Machine Construction ... Paraffin Burner Manufacture ... Manufacture of Music Boxes, Typewriters and Motor Cars. Machine Construction ... Paraffin Burner Manufacture ... Smiths (Machine Construction) Founders (Paraffin Burner Manufacture) ... Drillers, Planers and Milling-Machinemen (Machine Construction). Patternmakers Typefounders Machine Construction ... Paraffin Burner Manufacture .. Labourers Textile Trades :— Worsted Yarn Spinners Wool Sorters Wool Combers ... Wool Dyers Storekeepers, Packers and Labourers Fur Dressing :— Furriers ... Labourers Pianoforte Making : — Instrument Makers Metal Workers ... Japanners Machinists Labourers Manufacture of Music Boxes, Typewriters and Motor Gars:— Mechanical Movement Makers Machinists Wheelwrights 32s. bd. 30s. to 32s. 32s. bd. 31s. 10(7. 27s. 24s. 4(7. 24s. 4(7. 29s. 8(7. 29s. 6(7. 26s. 23s. to 25s. 30s. to 33s. 35s. 30s. to 32s. 32s. „ 33s. 35s. 33s. to 35s. 30s. 32s. to 33s. 27s. „ 34s 30s. 6(7. f 18s. to 24s. 25s. 26s. to 28s. 22s. 6(7. 18s. 23s. 18s. to 21s. 30s. 21s. 30s. to 40s. 28s. „ 30s. 24s. „ 26s. 24s. „ 28s. 20s. „ 24s. 30s. „ 32s. 26s. „ 30s. 28s. „ 30s. 54 54 54 53 54 54 54 54 54 54 54 54 to 57 594 54 54 to 57 594 54 to 57 60 54 to 63 54 „ 57 54 57 to 60 594 62 to 65 62 to 65 65 65 62 to 65 60 60 534 534 534 54 54 54 * The wages and hours of labour stated for the building trades are for a full week in summer. t Average weekly earnings in 1905. LEIPZIG. 305 Weekly Wages Weekly Hours of Labour. Woodworking Trades :— Furniture Making : Cabinetmakers and Polishers Turners Parquet-layers Wheelwrights Food, &e. Trades :— Journeyman Bakers (employed by Co operative Societies). Brewing : Brewers and Coopers Draymen (Bottled Beer) ... „ (Cask Beer) Assistant Draymen Enginemen and Stokers Labourers (over 20 years of age) Printing Trades:— Hand Compositors Machine Minders Pressmen ( News | Jobbing Machine Compositors Music Printers Stereotypers Electrotypers Engravers Etchers ... Retouchers Bookbinding :— Binders Pressers and Operatives at Cover-making Machines. Warehousemen and Porters in Bookselling Trade 25s. 5d. 23s. 10 d. 35s. 8d. 24s. 4c?. 25s. 2d. 28s. to 30s. 27s. 23s. to 25s. 21s. „ 23s. 22s. „ 24s. 20s. ,, 22s. 27s. 33s. 9d. 35s. M 20s. to 24s. 27s. „ 33s. 30s. Id* 39s.* 32s. lid* 32s. Id* 25s. 33s. 6d 18s. to 25s. 53 53 51 54 52 60 60 60 60 60 60 54 48 54 54 54 54 481 521 521 54 54 60 to 66 Average weekly earnings in 1905. Wages are comparatively very high in Leipzig—much higher than in any other town in Saxony. Representing wages in Berlin by 100, the corresponding figures for Leipzig are—for the building trades, 88 for skilled men and 95 for labourers ; for the engineering trades 95 for skilled men and 96 for labourers ; and the printing trades 96. By way of concluding this section of the report a few particulars are added as to the conditions of labour of municipal workers. So far as employment of labour is concerned the most important of the services undertaken by the municipality of Leipzig is that of the gas supply, including street lighting by gas. The total number of workpeople employed in this service at the end of 1905 was 661, divided into four wage classes. The first and best paid class comprises the stokers in the retort houses and a small number of the more experienced artisans (masons, carpenters, pipe-layers). The scale of pay for this class ranges from 4s. Id. per day in the first to 5s. 2d. after the fourth year of service ; that is to say, from 27s. Qd. to 31s. per week, and it may be assumed that the majority of those employed at any given time would be men who have completed four years of service and reached the maximum rate of their scale. The stokers in the retort houses only work 45 minutes to an hour at a stretch, after which they rest for an hour to an hour-and-a-quarter, so that of the 12 hours during which they are on duty in the retort house their time of actual work at the furnaces only amounts to four-and-a-half to six hours daily. Stokers are required to bring two shirts every day besides the one in use, so as to be able to change after each spell of work at the furnaces. Coffee and warm shower baths are provided free at the works, and few if any of the men neglect to avail themselves of the latter at the end of their shift. The second wage-class comprises the general body of skilled artisans and the leading men in the ammonia factory. The wages range from 4a. 2d. to 29088 2 Q 306 LEIPZIG. 4s. 7d. per day, or, say, 25s. to 27s. 6<i. per week of 60 hours. The third class, comprising the general body of unskilled labourers, are paid from 3s. Id. to 4s. 2d. per day (21s. to 25s. per week of 60 hours) according to their service, and the fourth class, that of the lamplighters, 2s. 5d. to 2s. 10J. per week day, with 2s. Id. to 3s. for Sundays or holidays. The Parks and Public Gardens Department of the municipality employs on an average 270 workpeople (including 45 women) per week all the year round, the average number from April to September being 318, and from October to March, 222. The hours of labour are 10 in the spring and summer and from 9 to 9^ in the autumn and winter months. Of the 225 men employed in this branch, 176 are unskilled labourers, amongst whom the young and able-bodied are paid from 18s. to 21s., and the old and less capable from 14s. to 16s. per week of 60 hours. Gardeners on weekly wage are paid 23s. to 25s. The department concerned with the maintenance and cleaning of the streets employs from 400 to 500 men, including 280 street-sweepers working 54 hours per week, for which they are paid 19s. 6<A on the average ; the men in charge of gangs, of whom there are some 50, receive 2s. per week more. Compared with the other branches of the municipal service, the waterworks and electric lighting station employ little labour. The wages of 11 labourers returned as employed at the former in October, 1905, were 17s. 3d per week of 57 hours, while for August, 1906, 28 labourers were returned as earning 20s. 5d. per week of 60 hours. At the electric lighting station enginemen were paid 30s. and stokers 27s. per week of 64 hours, while fitters and installators were paid 28s. per week of 54 hours. The electric tramway service of Leipzig is in the hands of private companies. Housing and Rents. The housing conditions of the Leipzig working classes may be described as favourable in comparison with those of other German towns of the same size. The chief reason for this is to be found in the fact, already alluded to, that a very large proportion of the land lying within the town precincts is, and has for a long time been, owned by the municipality or administered by that body on behalf of certain city endowments. This land, of which the greater part remains open for the benefit of the community, is distributed over the entire urban area in such a way that dwellers in all parts of the town have ready access to some portion of it. It would in fact be difficult to find any street in Leipzig from which it would be necessary to walk more than a mile in order to reach one or other of the extensive recreation grounds at the disposal of the inhabitants. Where the municipality has sold public land for the erection of private houses—as it is constantly doing—it has been in a position to prescribe conditions which have ensured free access of light and air to the streets and dwellings erected on the new sites. The following Table shows the number of dwellings of different sizes in Leipzig on December 1st, 1905, and the distribution of the population among those dwellings :— Number of Rooms in Tenement. One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine Ten and over Total Number of Tenements. Population housed in such Tenements. Total. 1,392 3,051 20,689 44,869 22,230 10,634 5,019 2,639 1,528 2,607 114,658 1,968 8,355 71,743 195,513 102,201 50,097 25,185 13,750 8,409 17,078 494,299 Per cent. 0- 4 1- 7 145 39-5 20 7 101 5-1 2- 8 1-7 3-5 100-0 307 LEIPZIG. From this it appears that 74’7 per cent.—i.e., practically three-fourths of the population of Leipzig—live in tenements of three, four, or five rooms. Among these the four-roomed tenements represent the most important group, and it is these which are most in demand among working-class families, as will appear later. In Leipzig, as in all large cities with a history, there is a strong contrast between the central and oldest part of the town—the City, as it were—and the more modern parts lying outside the promenades which occupy the site of the old city walls. In 1871 there was still a population of 26,200 residing in the area comprised within the central zone, an area consisting of a congeries of narrow streets and dark airless courts. Since then the population of this area has declined to 14,600 (December, 1905), largely made up of caretakers of offices and shops, proprietors and staffs of restaurants, and wine and spirit taverns—which are particularly numerous in this part of Leipzig—-and Jewish fur dealers. The process of migration outwards is not confined to the City however ; it applies to the much wider area of what is known as " Old Leipzig,” the population of which has declined from 192,000 in 1900 to 188,000 in 1905. While a certain proportion of the industrial working-class population resides in this part of the town, there are no streets or districts in “ Old Leipzig ” which could be regarded as exclusively or even mainly working class in character. These are to be found only in the suburbs, more especially those of Schleussig, Lindenau, Plagwitz, and Kleinzschocher on the west, and Xeu Schönefeld, Reudnitz, and Volkmarsdorf on the east. In outer aspect there is very little to distinguish one working-class street from another in any of these suburbs. All are long, wide, straight, clean, and somewhat deserted-looking so far as vehicular traffic is concerned. All present on either side an unbroken line of four or five-storeyed stucco-faced houses with frontages of 40, 50, and sometimes 60 feet, rising direct from the footway without any intervening forecourt ­ or railings. The cleanliness, it may be observed, is secured by a municipal regulation which makes the owner of each house responsible for the cleansing, before a certain hour every morning, of that portion of the public thoroughfare which fronts his own property and extends as far as the middle of the settpaved roadway. Adequate provision for light and air in the front of the houses is secured by a regulation under which the height of the buildings must not exceed the width of the street. The same purpose is effected at the back by prohibiting, or restricting as far as possible, the erection of buildings on the rectangular areas of back-land enclosed through two parallel streets being intersected by two others. A rectangular block of working-class tenement houses formed through the intersection of the Ludwigstrasse and the Eisenbahnstrasse by the Louisenstrasse and the Kircliweg, four streets situated in one of the eastern suburbs already mentioned, may be selected by way of illustration. Here one finds a rectangle measuring 270 feet by 220 feet, formed by 12 tenement houses, and enclosing somewhat over half-an-acre of land overlooked by the surrounding back windows. This space is apportioned among the surrounding houses by means of concrete walls, and often provides the occupants of ground-floor tenements with an opportunity for gardening on a small scale. In very many cases the yards or gardens contain a wash-house for the use of the tenants in common, but laundry is never hung out to dry there, provision being made for this in the loft space immediately beneath the roof. But although this example may be regarded as typical of the plan on which most houses have been built in recent years in Leipzig, with a view to providing a sufficiency of light and air on both sides, the enclosed back land is not always kept so free of other buildings. There are numerous instances of its utilization for the erection of what are called back houses and side houses {Hinterhäuser and Seitenhäuser), especially in the outer districts of the area alreadv referred to as Old Leipzig. Thus within a mile to the south of the centre of the City there are many blocks measuring as much as 750 feet by 350 in which the houses visible from any of the four streets by which they are formed are occupied almost exclusively by middle-class families, but which conceal a large number of back houses consisting mainly of working-class tenements. Access to the back houses is only possible through the main 2Q 2 29088 308 LEIPZIG. doorway which gives admission to each front house, and is large enough to permit the passage of a fire-engine from the street to the back houses if necessary. Passing from the consideration of the tenement houses to that of the tenements themselves, there is found to be little if any variation of type. In respect to the number of rooms of which their dwellings most frequently consist, the working classes of Leipzig are more favourably situated than those of any of the other large cities included in the present inquiry, except Bremen, which occupies among German towns the unique position of having the onefamily house as distinguished from the tenement system of housing. Among all the towns visited, in which the tenement system of housing prevails, Leipzig is the only one in which working-class families were found to be most frequently occupying so many as four rooms. The evidence in support of this figure is partly statistical and partly based on local expert opinion. It may be well to note here that the official housing statistics hitherto published by the Municipal Statistical Office afford no safe basis for conclusions as to the number of rooms which usually constitute a dwelling, for in these, as in the corresponding statistics of most other German municipalities, the heatable room only has been treated as the unit of housing accommodation, and other habitable rooms have been neglected. In the housing census undertaken in Leipzig in December, 1905, however, all habitable rooms have been counted, and the examination of the whole of the schedules for two typical working-class districts, kindly undertaken for the purposes of this report by Professor Dr. Hasse, the director of the Statistical Office showed the following results :— Number of Rooms in Dwelling. District Schleussig (Western Suburb). Number of Workingclass Dwellings. District Neuschönefeld (Eastern Suburb). Number of Workingclass Dwellings. Both Districts together. Number of Workingclass Dwellings. One room Two rooms Three rooms Four rooms Five rooms Six rooms Total 8 30 159 333 84 11 625 20 20 272 341 47 4 28 50 531 674 131 15 704 1,429 It is seen from the above that of the 1,429 typical working-class dwellings dealt with, 074 (the largest group) consisted of four rooms. It is important to add that in all the tenements to which this Table relates the whole of the rooms were occupied exclusively by the family, none being let to lodgers. The preponderance of the four-roomed tenement as a working-class dwelling is also shown by returns furnished for purposes of the present inquiry by 195 workmen’s families, stating, inter alia, the number of rooms occupied. Of these 195 families 120 were renting four-roomed and only 58 three-roomed tenements. Though limited in scope the data obtained through these two independent channels afford adequate confirmation of the opinions previously expressed by representative workpeople, and by an official of over 30 years’ experience of housing conditions in Leipzig, as to the predominance of the four-roomed tenement. Each of the four or five storeys of any working-class tenement house contains, as a rule, either (a) three tenements of 4 rooms each ; (6) two tenements of 4 rooms and one of 3 rooms, or (c) two tenements of 4 rooms. A feature common to all modern houses, working-class or other, is the provision of a separate vestibule or corridor for each tenement—a convenience to which great importance is attached. It would seem, however, as if, in a three- or four-roomed dwelling, an unduly large proportion of the total available space is sacrificed for the sake of this outward sign of " gentility,” with the result that the kitchen and one of the bedrooms are invariably very small. The height of the rooms is usually three metres, or about 10 feet. LEIPZIG. 309 Their other dimensions would not differ materially from those given in the following concrete examples of four-roomed tenements visited for which rents of from £11 10s. to £15 per annum were being paid. Tenement A (on second floor of house in Wigandstrasse, suburb of Kleinzschocher). This consisted of a vestibule having on one side the kitchen and two bedrooms, each with a window looking into a backyard, and on the other side a living room with two windows looking into the street. The rooms measured as follows :— Living room 14 feet by 11^ feet. Bedroom, 1 18 „ 9 „ » Bedroom, 2 11 „ 5 „ Kitchen 11 „ 7¿ „ Tenement B (on second floor of house in Reuterstrasse, suburb of Lindenau). This also consisted of a vestibule having on one side the kitchen and two bedrooms, each with a window looking into a backyard, and on the other side a living room with two windows looking into the street. The rooms measured as follows :— Living room 15 feet by 9J feet. Bedroom, 1 19 „ 7J „ Bedroom, 2 13 „ 5 ,, Kitchen 13 ,, 6J ,, Tenement C (on first floor of house in Gutsmuthstrasse, suburb of Lindenau). This consisted of a vestibule having on one side the kitchen and one of the bedrooms, each with a window looking into a backyard, and on the other side the living room and another bedroom, the former with two windows and the latter with one window looking into the street. The rooms measured as follows :— Living room 15| feet by 11J feet. Bedroom, 1 17 „ 7 „ Bedroom, 2 15^ „ 8J „ Kitchen 11J „ 7 ,, The water-closets are situated on the stair landings, as a rule in the proportion of one to each family, taking the house as a whole. The cellar space is divided into as many compartments as there are tenements, and one such compartment, capable of being secured by lock and key, is assigned to each tenant for the storage of fuel, potatoes, &c. In the back-yard is a washhouse for the use of the tenants in common, and the loft space directly beneath the roof is fitted with rails for the drying of laundry. In a three-roomed tenement, all the rooms are, as a rule, in the front of the house, the central room occupying the space over the entrance door of the building. The most general range of rents for working-class tenements of three rooms is from 185 to 215 marks per annum, or 3a. 6d. to 4a. 2d. per week. The following table shows the predominant range of weekly rents for working-class dwellings of three and four rooms respectively :— Predominant Rents of Working-class Dwellings. Number of Rooms per Tenement. Predominant Weekly Rent. Three rooms Four rooms 3s. 6f?. to 4s. 2d. 4s. 5d. „ 5s. 9d. The rent index number for Leipzig, compared with 100 in Berlin, is 51. So far as can be judged from the annual statistics of unoccupied dwellings in Leipzig, the supply of tenements, especially of the smaller sort, more than keeps pace with the demand,. so that the Municipal Statistical Office has, in recent years repeatedly called attention to a tendency to “ overproduction of dwellings. When, in October, 1905, it was found that the number of 310 LEIPZIG. unoccupied dwellings in the town was less than the year before, viz., 4,719, or 3’96 per cent, of all dwellings as against 4,884, or 4 20 per cent, in October, 1904, the Statistical Office noted the decline with satisfaction as an indication of the efficacy of its warning. It is worthy of notice that 1,574, or over onethird of all the dwellings unoccupied in October, 1905, were four-roomed tenements, while 526 were three-roomed. The average yearly rent asked was £17 for the former and £12 for the latter, or, say, 6a. 6(7. and 4a. Id. per week respectively. These figures cannot be regarded as representing the average rents of working-class tenements, for, on the one hand they include a proportion of the newest and best dwellings, not intended for working-class occupation, and on the other they are based on the rents asked, which may be taken as being on the whole something higher than those ultimately obtained. While the municipality of Leipzig has so far seen no reason for taking any action with a view to increasing the supply of working-class dwellings, an important scheme has been carried on for some years by one of the many city endowments {Meyersehe Stiftung für Erbauung billiger Wohnungen), with the object of providing dwellings suitable to the needs of families with incomes of £45 to £80 per annum. Some 5,500 persons are now housed in dwellings erected by this endowment in the suburbs of Leipzig, and these dwellings are both cheaper and better than those supplied by private enterprise. The rents are fixed on the principle that, given two families with different incomes, but consisting of the same number of persons, both require the same amount of house room, and that the poorer of the two must be helped at the cost of the other, while the rent must in neither case exceed one-seventh of the family income. Hence, while the weekly rent of a flat in these tenement houses never exceeds 4s. 5d. for four rooms, nor 3s. Id. for three rooms, precisely similar flats are to be had in the same house for 3s. and 2s. 6(7. respectively, the only difference being that the dearer fiat is in each case on the first floor and the cheaper on the third. « The annual receipts from rents are sufficient to leave a surplus of 2£ to 3¿ per cent, for interest and sinking fund. House rents include no element of local rates, except the water-rate, the bulk of the municipal revenue being derived from a local income tax additional to the State income tax, and standing in a fixed ratio to the latter. All incomes exceeding £25 per annum are subject to the local income tax, which is paid twice a year and amounts in the first six months to 70 percent., and in the second six months to 65 per cent, of the State income tax. The annual amount payable in respect of local income tax in Leipzig on various rates of income up to £110 per annum is shown below :— Annual Income. Over £25 » £30 » £35 IS » 270 » £80 „ £95 to £30 ,, £35 ,, 240 „ £47 10s. 10s. to £55 to £62 10s. 10s. to £70 to £80 ,, £95 - „ £110 Amount of Local Income Tax. 2s. 8d. 4s. 0d. 5s. 5d. 8s. Id. 10s. 9d. 13s. 6(7. 17s. 6(7. 21s. 7(7. 28s. 4(7. 39s. 2(7. Retail Prices. Leipzig has become one of the principal centres of the working-class co-operative movement in Germany. There are close upon one hundred shops in Leipzig owned by co-operative distributive societies composed mainly of workpeople. One of these, the Konsumverein Leipzig-Plag witz, owns 73 shops, and had in 1906 upwards of 40,000 members, whose purchases in that year amounted to £765,000. Of the two other similar societies, one— the Konsumverein Leipzig-Mockau—with 4,600 members and 14 shops, sold £79,000, and the other—the Konsumverein Leipzig-Stötteritz—with 2,400 LEIPZIG. 311 members and 11 shops, £39,000 worth of goods in the same year. Of the aggregate sales of all three societies in 1906, about £190,000 represented goods which they themselves had produced, principally bread, flour, lemonade, cheese and underwear. Dividends on purchases were paid in 1906 at the rate of 10 per cent, by the largest of the three societies, and at the rate of 9 per cent, by each of the others. That the working classes of Leipzig obtain a large proportion of their household supplies from the co-operative stores is evident from the fact that the value of each member’s purchases averaged about £19 in the three societies mentioned. Two or more branch stores of co-operative societies are to be found in every working-class district, and their influence in determining the retail prices of provisions in their respective districts is hardly questioned by the private shopkeepers, many of whom endeavour, as in other industrial^ centres in Germany, to meet the competition not only of the co-operative stores, but also of the large concerns of the " universal provider ” type, by adopting a system of dividend on purchases similar to that in use at the co-operative stores. This system, as applied by private traders, is usually known as the Rabattmarkensystem, ­ inasmuch as it involves the issue of what are called discount coupons or stamps of a certain nominal value with each article sold, such coupons being redeemable in cash or in goods at fixed intervals. Groceries and other Commodities. The retail prices ruling in Leipzig for groceries and certain other household supplies of the quality most usually consumed by working-class families are shown below for two dates, viz., October, 1905, and September, 1906, being based upon returns obtained from the workmen’s co-operative societies and from some 20 private retail concerns (one of them owning several shops) in different parts of Leipzig. Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and September, 1906. Commodity. • J, Coffee Sugar (white granulated) Bacon :— Fat Streaky Eggs Cheese (Limburg).., Butter Margarine Potatoes Flour :— Wheat Bye ... ... ... Bread (of Rye) Milk Coal j Paraffin per lb. per Is. per lb. per 7 lbs. per 4 lbs. per quart per cwt. per gallon Predominant Price. October, 1905 11 d. to Is. Id. 2\d. 9^d. to lid. 9fd. „ lid. 14 4\d. to 5d. Is. 21d. to Is. 31d. 8|d. 2fd. to 2fd. Is. Ofd. to Is. If d. lOd. 4fd. 2&d. Is. 2id. lid. September, 1906. lid. to Is. Id lid. lid. 14 Ifd. to 5d. Is. 2Id. to Is. 31d, 8fd. 2\d. to 2fd. Is. Ofd. to Is. lfd. lOd. 5¿d. 21 d. Is. 2fd. lid. In connection with some of the above articles the following points may be noted. The coffee usually bought by workpeople is the cheapest procurable Brazilian at 11 d. to Is. Id. per lb., and is eked out by the addition of a proportion of one or other of a variety of substitutes, of which the most expensive (“ malt coffee ”) costs Ad. and the cheapest (roasted barley) about per lb. Some idea of the extent to which substitutes are used may be gathered from the records of the sales of one of the co-operative societies in 1904-05, which included 16,000 lbs. of " malt coffee” as against 74,000 lbs. of genuine coffee, while those of a second society showed 9,500 lbs, of the former to 42,000 lbs. of the latter. . ' As regards sugar, the preponderance of the white granulated variety oyer all others as an article of working-class consumption is shown by the records of 312 LEIPZIG. sales of the same two societies, from which it appears that of a total of 375,000 lbs. of sugar sold in 1904-05, 288,000 lbs. were of that kind. As regards bacon, the observations made in other reports—e.g., Düsseldorf, Königsberg, Chemnitz—apply equally to Leipzig. Margarine is not eaten as a substitute for butter, but like fat bacon is used for cooking. The sales of one co-operative society show a total of 85,000 lbs. of margarine against 170,000 lbs. of butter in 1904-05. The domestic consumption of rye hour is very small. In the returns of one co-operative society this article does not appear at all ; in those of another it figures in the sales to the quantity of 2,030 lbs. against 189,500 lbs. of wheaten flour. The bread most generally consumed by all classes of the population is made entirely from rye and usually sold in large loaves of the nominal weight of either 4 or 8 German lbs. No statutory weight is prescribed, however, so that the loaf varies with the price of flour. The price shown in the Table for September, 1906, is calculated from the actual weight of loaves on sale at a number of establishments visited on certain days in that month, while the price for October, 1905, can only be regarded as approximate, since it was impossible to ascertain the actual weight of loaves sold at that time. Coal is very sparingly used by the working classes in Leipzig. Fires, once lighted, are kept burning with briquettes, or else with coke dust (Grute), either of which can be had at 4d. or 5d. the hundredweight, that is to say, at one-third the price of coal. Fires " banked ” with coke dust in the evening are found to be still alight next morning. Meat. Besides Hamburg, Leipzig is the only large industrial city in Germany where the private butcher has to compete with the co-operative society for the custom of the working classes. The largest of the three co-operative societies referred to elsewhere has nine shops for the sale of fresh meat, its sales of that article in 1905-6 amounting to £62,000, besides some £10,000 worth of sausages disposed of at its various grocery stores. Both the co-operative society and the private butchers complain of increasing dearness and decreasing consumption of fresh meat, which consists exclusively of German produce. That the complaints of increasing dearness are not groundless may be seen from the following figures showing the wholesale prices of various qualities of beef and pork in Leipzig in each year from 1898 to 1906. The prices for each year represent the arithmetic mean of the 12 monthly market quotations for that year, and are stated in marks (= shillings) per 220 lbs. of dead meat :— Price in Shillings per 220 lbs. Dead Weight. 1898. 1899. 1900. 1901. 1902. 1903. 1904. 1905. 1906. Oxen :— 1st Quality 2nd „ 3rd „ 4th „ Butts.'— 1st Quality 2nd „ 3rd „ Cows and Heifers : 1st Quality 2nd „ 3rd „ 4th „ 5th „ Pigs :— 1st Quality 2nd „ 138-8 128-5 119-3 110-7 119-6 112-3 105-2 1303 124-6 114-8 105-8 954 1226 1151 139-1 130- 1 121-4 113-8 124-0 116-9 109-9 131- 8 1263 116-9 107-4 96-9 106-6 980 140-1 Í30-9 121-4 111-9 1248 118-0 110-9. 1329 127-8 117-8 107-6 96-1 106-9 99-8 140-1 130-0 118-5 106-7 1235 115- 0 1058 132-1 126-7 113-8 101-8 89-4 123-5 116- 6 141-8 132-5 1222 111-1 1263 119-2 111-6 135-0 129- 0 118-5 107-8 95-6 130- 3 123-7 147-1 139- 6 130-8 120-3 133-8 128-2 120-7 140- 4 1341 1256 114-2 100-5 111-2 104-4 149-3 141- 8 131-5 120-0 137-4 129-8 118-9 142- 4 1353 125-1 111-7 97-0 107-3 100-2 159-2 158-7 138-3 121-9 143-1 134-2 1219 151-2 145-0 1329 116-8 98-9 136-7 130-0 167-5 158-1 143-7 127- 1 149- 4 140-6 128- 4 1580 150- 7 138-2 124-2 106-4 143-4 138-6 LEIPZIG. 313 A rough calculation based on these figures shows that beef has risen about 21 per cent., and pork—the staple flesh food of the people—from 17 to 20 per cent., in price in the nine years covered by the Table. It will be seen that the rise in price since 1904 has been remarkable. The estimates as to the consumption of meat in Leipzig in each of the years 1902-1905, based on the municipal slaughter-house returns, are as follows Pork Beef ... ... ... ,, Mutton Meat preparations imported Total 1902. lbs. 593 49-2 16T 7-8 5 5* 137-9 Per capita Consumption. 1903. 1901. lbs. 693 44 9 15-1 7-4 5-5* 142-2 lbs. 77-7 47-8 17-0 6-8 55* 154-7 1905. lbs. 683 46-2 15-9 7-3 5-5* 143-2 * According to an official estimate. It would appear, therefore, that to every 100 lbs. of meat consumed in 1902 there were consumed 103T lbs. in 1903, 112 2 lbs. in 1904, and 103*8 lbs. in 1905. It will be noticed that the increased consumption between 1902 and 1904 is entirely due to pork, of which the best quality fell 17 and the second quality 19 per cent, in price in those two years. Similarly, the greater part of the decline in meat consumption in 1905, as compared with the previous year, was due to pork, of which the price has risen by 27 per cent, for the first and by 30 per cent, for the second quality. The per capita consumption of meat as stated above falls somewhat short of the actual consumption, for no account has been taken of poultry and game, of which the consumption must be considerable, if one may judge by the quantities exhibited for sale in the shops and at the market. Horseflesh has also been omitted from this calculation, and it is worthy of note in connection with the great rise in meat prices in 1905 that the consumption of horseflesh in Leipzig in that year amounted to 817 tons, or 247 tons more than the year before. The sale of this kind of meat in Leipzig is confined to six shops where no other kinds of meat may be sold. It may be assumed that the reduction of meat consumption which has been seen to have accompanied a rise in the price of meat is for the most part effected among the working-class portion of the population, who undoubtedly eat a much smaller quantity of meat per head than that shown to be consumed by the population as a whole. Returns furnished for the purpose of the present inquiry by 197 typical working-class families in Leipzig with various grades of income showed an average weekly consumption per head of a little over 21^ ounces a week, which would be equal to approximately 70 lbs. a year. Of this amount 32 per cent, was beef, 29 per cent, sausage (mainly pork), and 22 per cent, pork and bacon. The predominant retail prices of various cuts of meat in Leipzig at October, 1905, and September, 1906, are shown in the subjoined table based upon data obtained at 18 butchers’ shops in different parts of the town, including nine such shops owned by the principal workmen’s co-operative society. 2 R 29088 314 LEIPZIG. Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and September, 1906. Description of Cut. Predominant Price per lb. October, 1005. September, 1906. Shin Beef :— Ribs Silverside j with bone I without bone Steak '« Flank Mutton :— Lb^ ... ... Shoulder Breast Neck Chops Veal :— Hindquarter j with bone ( wi Shoulder without bone Shin Loin» Chops Pork :— Leg Foreloin ., Bèlly Spare Rib Chops 9|d. 8|(/. to 8|d ‘ „ H d. 7 d, „ 9fd 8|d. „ lid 9# 81d to 8|d 8|d 8^d 9^d 8fc?. 8^d 8|d 9W. 8|d Not sold. §\d. 9fd to lid 8|d 8|d 9# 9# 8#d 9|d to lid lid 9\d. to 9|d Is. 8^d to 9|d 9|d „ Is. lid to Is. Id 8|d to 9|d lid 9^d to 9|d 9;jd 9¿d 9Jd to lid lid 9|d Not sold. 7# lid 9|d to lid 9fd „ lid 9|d lid lid In considering the above prices it has to be remembered that they relate in many cases to cuts with which neither the local butcher nor his customers are familiar ; e.g., silverside and shin of beef, shoulder, neck and breast of mutton. Except when buying a chop or a steak, the working-class customer asks for so much beef or pork, mutton or veal, without reference to the portion of the carcass from which it is to be cut, and merely stating whether it is intended for boiling or for roasting. Most of the meat bought, even by middle-class families, is intended for boiling, and for that purpose flank of beef or belly of pork is most in demand. It would probably not be possible to obtain beef, mutton, veal cr pork anywhere in Leipzig at prices much lower than those given in the Table, except by going to the municipal meat stall (Freibank), where the flesh of animals which have failed to pass the meat inspectors is sold after being treated (by boiling or otherwise) in a manner intended to render it safe for human consumption. In 1904, the most recent year for which figures are available, 272 tons of this inferior meat (including 189 tons of beef and 68 tons of pork) were sold at the two municipal meat stalls. The highest price charged for beef was Id. per lb. raw, and 4|d. per lb. boiled. With boiled beef a certain amount of the liquor resulting from the boiling is supplied gratis. The lowest price for beef, whether boiled or raw, was 3\d. per lb. at the Freibank. Reference has already been made to the consumption of horse-flesh in Leipzig, and it only remains to add that the retail prices of this class of meat range from bd. to 7d. per lb. according to the cut. Prices in Leipzig are at about the same general level as in Berlin. Representing ­ the latter by 100, the index number for the price of meat in Leipzig is 111 ; for other food, 98 ; for food as a whole, 101 ; for coal, 100 ; and for all commodities, 101. The result of combining this figure with that for rent is 91 (compared with Berlin = 100). 315 MAGDEBURG. Among the three great cities on the Elbe—Hamburg, Magdeburg and Dresden—Magdeburg occupies the middle position both geographically and in point of importance as a trading centre. It is the capital of the Prussian province of Saxony and is regarded as the most centrally situated of the great cities of Germany. Its position on the Prussian railway system is such that it can be reached from Berlin on the north-east in two hours, from Leipzig on the south in three hours, from Brunswick on the west in an hour and a half, and from Hamburg on the north-west in a little less than four hours. Being the distributing centre for a wide agricultural area in which sugar and sugar beet are largely produced, it has come to be recognised as the leading market for sugar in Germany, while among the great German markets for farm stock and cereals it also holds a prominent place. Owing to its position on a great natural waterway navigable for large river craft from beyond the Austrian frontier to the North Sea the traditions and prosperity of the town have in the past been identified with commerce rather than manufactures. Like other German towns, however, whose early prosperity has been based on commerce, Magdeburg has, since the spread of railways, also developed into a considerable manufacturing town, its staple industries being sugar refining, the manufacture of machinery (more especially for agriculture and for the equipment of sugar refineries), steam fittings, ordnance and armour plates. The following Table shows the growth of the population of Magdeburg since 1871 : — Year. Population. Increase. 1871 1875 1880 1885 1890 1895 1900 1905 114,509 122,789 137,185 159,520 202,230 214,424 229,667 240,633 8,280 14,346 22,385 42,710 12,194 15,243 10.966 Increase per cent. 7-2 117 16 3 26-8 60 7-1 4-8 It will be seen that between the years 1885 and 1890 the increase of the population was greater than in any otner quinquennial period. This, it should be stated, is due to the incorporation within the municipal area in 1886 and 1887 of the outlying parishes of Neustadt on the north, and Buckau on the south. The following Table shows the birth-rates, death-rates, and infant mortality rates for the last five years for which the figures are available Year. Birth-rate per 1,000 of population. Death-rate per 1,000 of population. Infant mortality rate per 1,000 births. 19-0 244 1901 30-5 209 17-5 1902 29-2 180 232 1903 28-2 194 253 1904 26-8 18-1 244 1905 25-8 2 R 2 29088 316 MAGDEBURG. During the past 15 years there has been a steady decline in both the birthrate ­ and the death-rate of Magdeburg. The infantile mortality rate, however, has fluctuated considerably, as will be seen from the following Table :— Year/ 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 No. of children ­ dying before reaching ­ one year of age per 1,000 live-born. 239 269 255 258 272 ¡Year. 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 No. of children ­ dying before reaching ­ one year of age per 1.000 live-born. 239 263 273 253 267 Year. 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 No. of children ­ dying before reaching ­ one year of age per 1,000 live-born. 244 209 232 253 244 The total area comprised within the municipal boundary of Magdeburg is about 14,000 acres. Of this only 2,100 acres are occupied by buildings together with their yards or gardens. Of the remaining area 2,200 acres are occupied by streets, railways, public recreation grounds, and burial grounds, while 660 acres represent the water surface of the Elbe. The existence of so large an area of water within the precincts of the town is due to the fact that Magdeburg is traversed by two streams, the Elbe proper and the " Old Elbe,” which, before being re-united just within the northern boundary of the town, have formed an island about three miles in length, tapering to a point at one end and gradually widening to a maximum of about a mile towards its southern extremity, where the principal public recreation grounds of the town (the Rotes Horn and the Stadtpark) are to be found. (Indeed except for the Citadel, the municipal harbour and a small residential district, the whole of this large island lying within the municipal area of Magdeburg remains more or less rural in appearance.) The limits of what constituted Magdeburg before 1871 are defined by the left arm of the river Elbe on the east and by a semi-circle of open spaces corresponding to the line originally occupied by the fortifications on the southwest ­ and north. Within this limited area, measuring about a mile and half from north to south and about half a mile from east to west, are all the principal business streets and most of the offices of the Municipal and Provincial Administration, as well as the central railway station ; and although the central part of Magdeburg is being gradually deprived of its resident population by migration to the periphery, the process of depletion is much less rapid than in most other German towns. In December, 1905, there were still 56,000 residents in this part of the town, i.e., only 6,000 less than there were 15 years previously. The fact that a considerable proportion of those who still remained were people of the manual labour classes is a circumstance which distinguishes Magdeburg from most of the great German towns, in which the central parts are gradually acquiring a character similar to that of the City in London. This part of Magdeburg is traversed from north to south by two wide, straight business streets, each measuring about 150 feet across and so providing ample room for a double line of electric tramways. These streets, being near the central railway station, are among the first to attract the attention of visitors, and are apt to produce an impression of spaciousness which it takes some further experience of the town to correct. The space between these two main thoroughfares ­ and more especially that between the Breiteweg (the chief business street), and the river front (an area corresponding to that between the Strand and the Thames Embankment in London), consists for the most part of old, narrow streets in which the majority of the houses are inhabited from ground floor to attic, and where all that is least satisfactory in the housing conditions of the town is concentrated. MAGDEBURG. 31 7 Modern Magdeburg has grown up outside the lines formerly occupied by the fortifications on the north, south and west, while the presence of the Elbe and of the large island already referred to, seems to have checked the growth of the town in an easterly direction, especially owing to the fact that the greater part of the island has always been used as a public park. The more modern parts of Magdeburg have one feature in common with the old town, viz., that the space behind the houses which face any given street has as a rule been used for the erection of further blocks of what are called back and side houses (Hinterhäuser and Seitenhäuser) for the accommodation of people of smaller means than those who occupy the tenements of the front houses. (The back houses, for instance, are largely inhabited by workpeople.) As in most German towns where this system of building prevails, the back house is reached from the street through the main doorway of the corresponding front house, this doorway being, as a rule, wide enough to admit a fire engine in case of need. In other respects the contrasts between modern Magdeburg and the old town are considerable, the distinctive features of the former being the scarcity of the shops, the uniform width of the streets, the existence in many places of special tracks for cyclists, the paving of the roadways with stone setts instead of asphalt, and the extensive use of trees and shrubs for ornamental purposes. The principal factories and works are on the extreme northern and southern margins of the town, the Buckau and Sudenburg districts in the south (where most of the great engineering works and sugar refineries are situated) being the most characteristically industrial and working-class parts of the town. The chief municipal undertaking in Magdeburg, apart from such usual public services as street and sewer cleaning, the care of parks and open spaces, and the gas and water supply, consists in providing the greater part of the dock, quay and warehouse accommodation, including the use of electric cranes and other facilities for the transfer of goods from the river to the railways and vice versa. The municipality also owns or administers a large amount of land. Besides 674 acres occupied by its undertakings in Magdeburg, and 1,467 acres administered on behalf of endowments, the town owns 2,760 acres of extraurban land. About one-half of that land is irrigated with the town sewage. Of the remaining half the town itself farms 714 acres, a further 714 acres (including 267 acres of the sewage land) being let in small allotments on which the holders produce large quantities of fodder-turnips and market produce. The workpeople in the direct employment of the municipality number some 1,650, of whom 1,420 are men and 230 women. Of the men, the largest group, numbering 350, are employed in the parks and open spaces service ; after these come the municipal dock and warehouse service, with 270 men, the workshops of the gas and water supply with 155, and the gas works proper with 140 men. Of the women the principal groups are employed as unskilled labourers in the parks and gardens or on the irrigation land outside the town. Occupations, Wages, and Hours of Labour. In the absence of any statistics of occupations of more recent date than those of June, 1895, no precise statement of the present distribution of the manual labour classes of Magdeburg according to their occupations is possible ; nor has any classification of the workpeople employed in the factories and workshops of Magdeburg at a recent date been procurable. So far as the relative importance of the chief local sources of industrial employment are concerned, the results of the occupation census of June 14th, 1895, may however, still be accepted as approximately correct. Excluding the ‘‘ liberal professions,” the military and naval forces, and domestic service, there were altogether 65,161 occupied persons in Magdeburg on June 14th, 1895. Of these, 41,767 were employed in industry, 21,700 in commerce and transport, and 1,694 in agriculture and allied occupations. Of those employed in industry, 30,347, and ofthose employed in commerce and transport, 11,283, were classed as “workpeople,” making a total of 41,630 persons of the class with whom the present report is concerned. Assuming that number to have grown at the same rate as the population, there would have been about 47,000 occupied workpeople in Magdeburg in 1905. Among the 30,347 industrial workers enumerated in 318 MAGDEBURG. 1895, the largest numbers were found to be in the following occupation groups :— Occupation Group. Building Trades Metal and Engineering Trades Clothing Trades Food, &c., Preparation Trades Wood-working Trades Number of Workpeople. 4,096 10,149 3,104 5,084 2,359 About one-half of the whole body of industrial workpeople therefore belonged either to the metal and engineering group or to the food preparation group of trades ; and this is probably still the case at the present time, for the two dominant industries of Magdeburg, the manufacture of machinery of various kinds, and sugar refining, fall within these two groups respectively. A feature of some importance in the industrial life of Magdeburg is the rapid growth of labour organisations in recent years. The main body of the trade unions—the social-democratic Gewerkschaften—have formed a trades council to which 50 unions with 18,500 members were affiliated at the end of 1905. Since then the membership has increased still further, but exact figures for a more recent date are not available. According to the estimate of the trades council about 33 per cent, of all male workpeople in Magdeburg are members of one or other of the affiliated unions. Outside the trades in which the employers are associated in guilds, and in which the apprenticeship system is still in full operation, no success has so far attended the efforts of organised labour to promote collective bargaining in fixing the conditions of labour. Agreements fixing a minimum rate of wages and a maximum working day are therefore Confined to what are recognised as handicrafts, as for example the trades of mason and bricklayer, carpenter, joiner, slater, painter, wood-carver, tanner and compositor. Copies of the agreements in force in most of these trades, as also for the labourers in the building trade, have been secured through the courtesy of the Magdeburg Trades Council and have yielded material from which it has been possible to calculate rates of weekly wages which may be accepted as those at which the majority of the men in the trades concerned are paid. As regards the staple industries of Magdeburg—engineering and metalworking and sugar refining—where payment on the time-wage system is quite exceptional and only resorted to in the case of the most inferior classes of labour, and where, moreover, the conditions of labour are unaffected by wages agreements, the only means of ascertaining predominant weekly wages was to seek returns from representative employers in those industries based on the records of their pay sheets. Most of the employers approached for this purpose readily acceded to the request, and in the case of piece-workers showed for each occupation the amount most frequently earned in October, 1905, in a full week, exclusive of overtime, as well as the number of hours (exclusive of mealtimes) representing the regular working week. Subject to such qualifications as would result from the methods of inquiry just described, the following Table is given as representing the weekly wages and hours of labour of adult workmen in the principal trades in Magdeburg in October, 1905. Wages and Hours of Labour in the Principal Occupations, October, 1905. Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours of Labour. Building Trades* — Bricklayers and masons Carpenters Joiners ... Stonemasons Painters (skilled) „ (unskilled) Stonesetters Slaters Bricklayers’ labourers 29 s. 8d. 29s. 8c?. 25s. 6d. 27s. to 33s. 27s. 24s. 33s. Id. 27s. 4d. to 30s. 3c?. 22s. 10c?. 57 57 56 (Piecework) 60 60 57 57 57 * The wages and hours of labour stated for the building trades are for a full week in summer. MAGDEBURG. 319 —— Metal and Engineering Trades : Moulders Fitters Turners Smiths Patternmakers ... Coremakers Planers (skilled) Angle-iron smiths Boilersmiths (platers) Rivetters (by hand) „ (by machine) Semi-skilled workers at machines (planers, turners, &c.) Labourers Printing Trade :— , - Hand compositors, machine minders and pressmen. Machine compositors (newspapers) » „ (jobbing) Sugar Refining :— Workmen at centrifugals „ „ pans and loafmaking apparatus 4 „ „ cube sugar making ,, ,, mills ... ... ... «. « Sackcarriers, warehousemen Carmen (2 horses) Labourers Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours of Labour. 34s. to 37s. 27s. „ 33s. 30s. „ 36s. 30s. „ 33s. 27s. „ 31s. 22s. 3d. 32s. 32s. 29s. to 36s. 30s. „ 32s. 26s. 5d. 26s. 19s. 2d. to 24s. 24s. 9d. 30s. lid. 32s. 2d. 26s. to 27s. 18s. „ 21s. 26s. 27s. 28s. 6d. to 30s. 8d. 20s. „ 21s. 18s. 58 to 60 54 48 54 60 to 65 As compared with the level of wages at Berlin ( = 100), the index numbers for Magdeburg are as follows Building trades, skilled men, 81, labourers, 89 ; engineering trades, skilled men, 90, labourers, 99 ; printing trades, 88. Housing and Rents. Among German municipal statisticians it is held that the supply of houseroom in a town may be regarded as adequate so long as the number of unoccupied dwellings does not fall below a proportion of 3 per cent, of all dwellings. According to this standard it would appear that the supply of house accommodation in Magdeburg was insufficient from 1897 to 1902, but that the proper relation between supply and demand was restored in 1903, and has been maintained. This will be seen from the following statement showing the number and percentage of unoccupied dwellings in Magdeburg at a certain date in each of the years 1894-1905 :— Year. 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 Number of unoccupied Dwellings. Total. 3,522 2,866 2,031 1,077 617 467 417 600 1,238 1,773 2,210 1,879 Per cent, of all Dwellings. 6*93 553 390 205 1T6 086 0-77 109 220 3-08 3-74 3-10 Just about one-half (940 in a total of 1,879) of the empty dwellings enumerated in 1905 were in the old town, and therefore of relatively inferior accommodation, as regards light and air. More than half (57 per cent.) of the unoccupied dwellings consisted of three rooms or less, but it does not appear A w G -HC u» 320 - * m u >• 1 MAGDEBURG. that any large proportion of these small tenements were of the kind occupied by working-class families, for the average rents charged were :— For a single room ... ... ... £7 1 s. per annum. „ two rooms ... ... ... £9 Is. ,, ,, „ three rooms ... ... ... £16 4s. ,, „ These rents are much higher than those actually paid by working-class families for tenements of one, two and three rooms respectively. Evidence of this is afforded by an investigation undertaken recently by the municipal statistical office in Magdeburg into the housing conditions of the workpeople in the regular service of the municipality. Among 1,138 married men so employed 26 were found to be lodgers, while 113 lived outside the town. Among the 999 married workmen who were found to be living in Magdeburg, a few were housed rent free in consideration of services rendered either to the municipality or to their respective landlords. Omitting these, there remained for consideration ­ 944 dwellings of married municipal workmen living in Magdeburg and renting dwellings on the ordinary terms. Of these 944 dwellings, 716, or just over three-fourths, consisted of a general living room with a stove, a stoveless bedroom, and a kitchen (Stube, Kammer, Küche). The average rents paid were as follows :— Average Rent. ' Per Year. Equivalent per Week. One room (used for all purposes) Two rooms (living room and stoveless bedroom, ­ or living room and kitchen). Three rooms (living room, stoveless bedroom and kitchen). £ s. d. 4 2 0 6 9 6 7 17 0 s. d. 1 7 2 6 3 0 It will be seen that the average rent paid for three rooms consisting of a living room, a stoveless bedroom and a kitchen was os. per week, which is less than half the rent shown in the previous table as the average for unoccupied three-roomed tenements. Among a total of 58,319 dwellings in Magdeburg in December, 1905, 17,717 or 30 per cent, consisted of three such rooms as those just mentioned— a general living room with a stove, a bedroom without a stove, and a kitchen ; this represents the dwelling accommodation of the mass of the working-class families in Magdeburg. Of these 17,717 dwellings of the working-class type 10,900 were in " back-houses,” that is to say, houses which stand behind those visible from the street and which can only be reached from the street either through the main doorways of the front houses, or else—in the older parts of the town— through archway passages similar to those leading to the " courts ” in some of the older working-class districts of Liverpool. Other things being equal backhouse ­ tenements fetch slightly lower rents than front-house tenements in the same street, the difference in rent being greatest in streets—and there are many —where the former are inhabited mostly by working-class, and the latter mostly by middle-class families, and least in streets where both front and back-houses are largely tenanted by the working classes. Through the courtesy of the municipal statistical office of Magdeburg it has been possible to ascertain the rent paid for the whole of the above 17,717 threeroomed tenements of the working-class type in December, 1905. The aggregate yearly rent was found to be £149,941 or £8 9s. od. per tenement, which corresponds to a weekly rental of about 3s. 1& For 8,414, or nearly one-half of these dwellings, the rents ranged from 2s. 11 d. to 3s. 8d. per week. The predominant rents for typical working-class tenements of three rooms in Magdeburg in December, 1905, may therefore be stated at 2s. 11 d. to 3s. 8d. per week. Taking rent at Berlin as 100, the corresponding figure for Madgeburg is as low as 43. In most of the tenements of this kind visited for purposes of the present inquiry the rents were found to be within the limits stated. As regards the accommodation available at such rents in the old town, the dwellings contained MAGDEBURG. 321 in a house selected at random in the Kamelstrasse offer a fair example. The house in question has a street frontage of 80 feet, and extending backwards about 110 feet, forms a hollow rectangle enclosing a court measuring 60 feet by 30. The greater part of this court (which is reached from the street through either of two archways penetrating the front part of the house, and is paved with some material resembling asphalt) is occupied by a low outhouse. This structure, which was formerly a mortuary, contains 16 closets for the use of the 64 families (including 100 children) living in the house, and being in the centre of the court, is commanded on all four sides by the windows of the surrounding tenements. Of the 40 rooms on each of the five floors of the house only six have windows admitting light direct from the (narrow) street, and of the remaining 34 rooms on any given floor 17 are windowless back rooms, while the remaining 17 are lighted through windows looking into the court. The typical tenements here under consideration, i.e., those consisting of a living room, a bedroom, and a separate kitchen, are to be found only in the front part, or Vorderhaus, of this large building, those on the other three sides of the rectangular block being all two-roomed tenements, the occupiers of which share with one or two other families the use of a small dark space on each stair landing fitted up with a cooking stove and called a kitchen. Measurements taken in two of the three-roomed tenements gave the following ­ results :— Tenement (a) : (1) Living room with two windows looking into the street, 16 by 12 feet ; (2) bedroom with single window looking into the court, 16 by 5 feet ; (3) kitchen with single window looking into the court, 11 by 5 feet. Tenement (b) : (1) Living room with two windows looking into the street, 16 by 13 feet ; (2) bedroom with single window looking into the court, 16 by 6 feet ; kitchen with window looking into the court, 12 by 7 feet. The height from floor to ceiling is in all cases 8J feet. Taps, from which the water supply is drawn, are fitted on the various stair landings. Each tenant has a separate compartment in the cellarage and the right to use the loft space directly under the rafters for the drying of laundry. The rent is 168 marks per year, or about 3s. 2d. per week. A two-roomed tenement, with use of cooking stove on stair landing, costs 160 marks per year or about 2s. 10d. per week, in this house. In the Kleine Klostergasse, another typical street in the old town largely inhabited by working-class families, three-roomed tenements in court houses could be had for 120 marks per year, or about 2s. 4d. per week. In these the living rooms measured 13 by 8^ feet, the kitchens 8J by feet, and the bedrooms ­ 8J by 6J feet, the height from floor to ceiling being uniformly 8J feet. Passing from the old town to the outlying suburban district one may note in the construction of the tenement houses the same signs of a desire on the part of the builder to provide houseroom for as large a number of people as possible on any given building plot. For instance, in the district of Sudenburg on the extreme south-western margin of the town various blocks of tenements in the St. Michaelstrasse were visited. Here, as in the old town, the tenement houses were found to be built in the form of a hollow rectangle enclosing a court. In one important respect, however, they differed from the houses in the old town, viz., in the fact that there were no windowless rooms, an advantage secured by limiting the depth of the back and side wings of the house to the thickness of a single room. It is in these parts of the building more especially that the working-class tenements are situated. Each of the three rooms of which the tenement consists is lighted from the court, the kitchen and the bedroom each by one window, and the living room (which separates the kitchen from the bedroom) ­ by two. As regards the size of the rooms there is practically no difference between our tenement and another. The living room with its two. windows is generally the largest, measuring 14 by 10 feet, while the kitchen and bedroom^each measures 11 by 10 feet. The height from floor to ceiling is uniformly 9 feet. The closets are on the stair-landing, each family having one for its own exclusive use. (It should be added that all closets in Magdeburg, whether in the old houses or the new, are provided with flushing tanks, the cesspool system having for some years been entirely superseded by a trunk system of drainage). The rents of the tenements just described are 159 marks per 2 s 29088 322 MAGDEBURG. annum or about 3s. Id. per week. Where a small lumber room in the attics is let with the flat the rent charged is 174 marks or 3s. 4d. per week. It has to be noted that beyond the water rate no element of local rates is comprised in any of the rents stated. In Magdeburg as in other Prussian (and indeed practically all German) towns taxation for local purposes bears no relation to the rental value of the dwelling occupied, and is levied mainly in the form of a tax on income, supplementary to the State income tax and bearing a fixed proportion to the latter. All persons earning over £45 per annum are assessed for State income tax and pay an additional income tax to the municipality amounting to 140 per cent, of the State income tax. The amount of the former payable in Magdeburg on the various income classes, within which the bulk of the occupied working classes would fall, is shown below. Amount of Local Income Tax. 8s. 5d. 12s. 7d. 16s. 10 d. 22s. 5d. 29s. 5d. 36s. 5fï. 43s. 5d. Annual Income. Over £45 to £52 10s. „ £52 10s. „ £60 ... „ £60 „ £67 10s. „ £67 10s. „ £75 ... „ £75 „ £82 10s. „ £82 10s. ,, £90 ... „ £90 „ £105... Even at the time when the pressure of the housing question must have been greatest—as, for example, in the period 1898-9, when the proportion of all dwellings vacant was less than 1 per cent.—no steps for relieving that pressure were taken by the local authority. A society was, however, formed about that time by a number of working men {Mieter-Bau- und Sparverein) for the purpose of “ procuring cheap and healthy dwellings for working-class families of small means, and taking charge of the savings of members, at interest.” Originally each share was of the value of 30a. (acquired by weekly payments of 6<A), but the Society appears to have made no great progress until the value of the share was raised to £3, for it was not until this change had been made that the Society was able to acquire a suitable building site. Four tenement houses have now been erected, containing in all 38 dwellings, which are let to members at lower rents than those usually charged in Magdeburg for similar accommodation. ­ Thus two-roomed tenements are let at 120 marks, and three-roomed tenements at 135 to 165 marks per annum—i.e., at rents corresponding to 2s. 4A per week for the former and 2s. Id. to 3a. for the latter. In a certain sense the Society may be said to be assisted out of public funds, for, like similar societies all over Germany, it obtains loans on mortgage at 3 per cent, from the Old Age and Infirmity Insurance Institution. Requirements concerning light and air and the provision of separate w.cs. have to be fulfilled in all dwellings on which loans are made, and stringent rules have to be observed by tenants with regard to the taking of lodgers. Retail Prices. In Magdeburg, as in many other of the more industrial towns in Germany, the general body of retail dealers in household necessaries complain that their existence is threatened by competition with large aggregations of capital, as represented by the co-operative store, the " universal provider,” and the u multiple ” concern. With a view to meeting this competition, and especially that of the local co-operative society, the tradespeople have formed an association called a Rabattsparverein, the members of which undertake to give a discount of 5 per cent, on all cash purchases in the manner described in the reports on other German towns (see, e.g., Barmen, Düsseldorf, Plauen, Stuttgart). Owing to the representations of this Society the Provincial Governor, acting on the instructions of the Prussian Minister of the Interior, has issued an order prohibiting persons who hold official positions (including, for example, postmen and rail way men) from joining the local co-operative society. That Society, which is registered under the title of Consumverein Neustadt, has some 14,000 members, of whom about 11,000 are workpeople, and carries on the sale of groceries, bread, and fuel at 30 branch establishments in different parts of the town. That a considerable proportion of the household provisions used by working-class families is supplied by the co-operative society may be MAGDEBURG. 323 gathered from the fact that the sale at the Society’s shops in 1906 amounted to £241,000, or an average of £17 4a. per member, of which about two-thirds represented groceries (including coal, wood and other kinds of fuel), and one-third bread, produced in the Society’s bakery, which is one of the largest and most up-to-date establishments of its kind in Germany. The Society paid its members a bonus of 9 per cent, on their purchases in 1906. Besides the co-operative stores, the shops of certain “ multiple ” firms, some of which make a speciality of coffee and others of flour, are largely dealt with by working-class families, while the customers of the " universal provider ” establishments are for the most part people of the middle classes. Groceries and other Commodities. In order to ascertain the prices usually paid by the working classes for some of the principal household provisions other than butchers’ meat, returns have been obtained from a number of private dealers in such articles established in different parts of the town, and having among their customers a considerable proportion of people belonging to the working classes. Returns have also been furnished by the Co-operative Society, Consumverein Neustadt (which has uniform prices at its 30 branch shops), from a similar society composed of men employed at one of the principal engineering firms, and from two “ multiple ” firms, one for coffee and the other for flour. The price quoted by any establishment ­ for a given article has reference to the quality of that article most generally bought by working-class customers. From the data obtained in this way it has been possible to deduce for each of the articles enumerated in the following table the predominant price paid in October, 1905, and December, 1906 :— Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and December, 1906. Commodity. Predominant Prices. October, 1905. December, 1906. Coffee (“ Campinas ’ “ Santos ”). Sugar :— Loaf ... ... White granulated Bacon :— Fat Streaky Eggs, foreign Cheese :— Limburg Tilsit Swiss ... Butter Margarine ... Potatoes Flour :— Wheaten Rye Bread, of rye Milk, fresh Coal ... ... ... Paraffin oil or per lb. No. per Is. per lb. per 7 lbs. per 4 lbs. per quart. per cwt. per gallon. lid. 2\d. 2fd. 9# 11 d. 11 to 14 51 d. to 6^d. 8# Is. to Is. Id. Is. 2%d. 7§d. to 8fd. d. to 3d. 10|d. to Is. 0£d. lOd. 4\d. to 4§d. 2\d. to 21d. 10^d. to lid. 94d. lid. 2\d. to 2|d. 2^d. to 2|d. 9|d. 9|d. to lid. 11 to 14 5|d. to 6Id. 8§d. Is. to Is. Id. Is. 2\d. 7|d. to 8fd. 2|d. to 3d. 10|d. to Is. Ofd. lOd. 4\d. to 4|d. 21d. to 2|d. 10|d. to lid. 9 id. It would appear from the above that prices were generally the same at the two dates compared, the only exceptions being bacon and sugar, the former exhibiting a downward, and the latter an upward tendency. Certain of the articles mentioned in the table call for some comment. While the coffee most generally used by workpeople is the cheapest procurable, costing about lid. per lb. retail, the product from which a great part of the domestic “ coffee ” is brewed costs much less than this. In many cases the early morning and afternoon drink is made from " malt coffee,” which costs about 3\d. per lb. or from coffee with an admixture of some such substitute as 2 s 2 29088 324 MAGDEBURG. roasted barley, which is sold at 2d. per lb. Judging by the sales of the Neustadt Co-operative Society, it seems safe to say that little more than one-half of the material from which the “ coffee ” drunk by the working classes is brewed, consists of genuine coffee. Bacon in the form in which it is most generally known to British housewives—in ­ the form of rashers—is practically unknown to the working-man’s wife in Magdeburg, and the remarks made on this subject in the reports on other towns hold good here also. {See e.g., pp. 173, 202, 216, ante.) Margarine is not generally used as a substitute for butter. The sales of the Neustadt Co-operative Society in 1906 showed a total of 5,543 cwt. of the latter against 2,510 cwt. of the former. Of the three kinds of cheese distinguished in the table, that called “ Limburg ” is most generally eaten, but by far the most popular cheese is Kuhkäse, the price of which cannot be stated by weight. This variety of cheese, which is appreciated most when it has reached an advanced state of “ ripeness ” is sold in pats varying in price from 3 pfennige, or about a farthing, to 25 pfennige or about 3c?., the latter representing apparently about half a pound. The price shown in the table for coal is that of lignite from Bohemia, which, together with briquettes made from lignite is the usual working-class substitute for coal. When bought in quantities of half a ton and upwards lignite can be had at 9d. to 10c?. per cwt. Meat. The whole of the retail trade in fresh meat in Magdeburg is in the hands of small salesmen of the “ family-butcher ” type, there being no competition on the part of co-operative societies or “ universal providers.” Butchers, however, complain of the high prices and declining consumption of meat, and attribute them to the closing of the German frontier to foreign cattle. The whole of the fresh meat supply of the town consists of German produce, indeed, the greater part of it comes from the province of which Magdeburg is the capital. The official records of retail prices of beef and pork kept by the Municipal Statistical Office of Magdeburg, show that in the ten years 1897-1906, the average retail price of beef rose by 21 per cent., and that of pork by 38 per cent. In the case of beef the price itiovement has been steadily upward throughout the whole period, while in the case of pork it has been very irregular. This will be seen from the following statement which is extracted from the Statistisches Jahrbuch des Deutschen Reichs.* It should be stated that these prices relate to meat of " average quality,” and represent the mean of the prices for cuts from the belly and cuts from the leg. In order that the fluctuations may be more clearly discernible, the prices are here given in the form in which they were printed in the German source, i.e., in pfennige per kilogram. Average official retail juices of Beef and Pork in Magdeburg, 1897—1906. Year. Beef. 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1901 1905 1906 128 135 135 135 135 138 138 139 146 155 Pork. 120 132 130 130 130 147 140 130 146 166 Thus for a pound of beef, which in 1897 could be bought for 7c?., the price in 1906 was 8¿c?., and for a pound of pork, sold at 6\d. in 1897, the price in 1906 was 9c?. Data relative to the consumption of meat in Magdeburg are available only for the years 1903-1905,jr but these show a decline of 10 lbs. in the annual * XVIII. Jahrgang, p. 235. t Bericht über die Verwaltung und den Stand der Gemeinde-Angelegenheiten der Stadt Magdeburg, XVI. Schlacht- und Viehhof. Magdeburg, 1906. MAGDEBURG. 325 per capita consumption, viz., from 148 lbs. in the former to 138 lbs. in the latter year. The per capita consumption of 138 lbs. of fresh meat in 1905 was made up as follows :— Quantity. lbs. 64 8 509 7-1 4-6 • 4-0 . 6'6 1380 Proportion of all Meat. Per cent. 47-0 369 5-1 33 . -29 .48 100-0 Pork Beef Veal Mutton... Horseflesh Parts of various animals, e.g„, lung, liver, &c. Total Thus pork and beef together represent about 84 per cent, of the total consumption of fresh meat. The above figures comprise the meat of all animals killed in the Magdeburg slaughterhouse, as well as of all animals killed elsewhere, but passed through that establishment for inspection. They are not to be understood as implying that the whole of the meat to which they relate has been eaten fresh ; consequently they must be regarded as including the consumption of such articles as bacon, sausage, &c., in so far as fresh meat may have been converted into those articles after it has left the slaughterhouse. It has to be observed, moreover, that there is a considerable consumption of poultry and game in Magdeburg of which no record exists. Hares and wild rabbits are sufficiently cheap in comparison with present prices of butchers’ meat, to be largely consumed by working-class families. At the time of the writer’s visit to Magdeburg (December, 1906), a hare weighing 5J lbs. could be bought for 3s., that is to say at about Id. per lb., and a wild rabbit weighing lbs. for lid. to Is., or, say 4\d. per lb., both of which are prices considerably below those at which sound beef or pork could be bought. This may be seen from the following statement showing the predominant retail prices of various cuts of beef, pork, mutton and veal in Magdeburg in October, 1905 and December, 1906. Each price is based on statements supplied for the purpose of the present inquiry by a number of butchers in different quarters of the town. Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and December, 1906. Predominant Price per lb. Description of Cut. October, 1905. December, 1906. Beef :— -IRibs ... ... ... Silverside or . ) with bone ( without bone... Stedik ... ... ... Flank Mutton :— Leg ... ... ... Shoulder Breast Neck Chops Veal :— Hindquarter Shoulder Loin Shin Pork :— I with bone without bone Leg Foreloin... Belly Spare Rib Chops 8# 8fd. to 9|d. 8# 9| d. 11 d. 7§d. to 8£d. 8| 8# d. to 9|d. 8# 9# lid. 7fd. to 8£d. 9£d. 8fd. to 9£d. 7£d. „ 8£d. 7# 9fd. 9£d. 8£d. to 9f d. 7\d. „ 8jd. 7# 9# 8£d; to 9f d. • - 8|d. 9# 8£d. to 9fd. 8# 8£d. to 9£d. 8# 9#d. 8fd. to 9£d 8£d. 9|d. 9£d. 8|d. 8# 9fd. to lid. 9£d. 9£d. '8# 8£d. 9|d. to lid. 326 MAGDEBURG. According to this Table the predominant retail prices of meat as bought by working-class families were no higher in December, 1906, than in October, 1905. This would seem incompatible with the rise in officially ascertained retail prices of beef and pork as shown in the Table on p. 324, where a kilogram of beef which cost 146 pfennige in 1905 is shown to have cost 155 pfennige in 1906, and a kilogram of pork, sold at 146 pfennige in the former, to have cost 166 pfennige in the latter year. The equivalents in English money and weight are :— Price per lb. 1905. 1906. Beef ... ... ... ... ... Pork ... ... ... ... ... 8 d. 9 \d. In this connection the following points must, however, be remembered. The official figures are simple means of monthly ascertainments of the prices of particular cuts irrespective of the class of customers with whom the butcher has to deal. The prices returned for the purpose of the present inquiry relate to a particular month in each of the two years, and from among a dozen quotations for each cut, that price (or range of prices) only has been selected which appeared to be predominant. The butchers were, moreover, asked to state the prices usually paid by working-class customers. These prices, it would seem, are now in some cases lower than those charged for the same quality of meat to middle-class customers, and it is held among butchers that retail prices of meat have for some time been at a point beyond which workpeople will not go, and that the burden of any further rise must be borne by those who are best able to bear it. Under present conditions the per capita consumption of meat among the working-classes no doubt falls short of the amount shown above as representing that of the population as a whole. Evidence with regard to this is afforded by returns obtained from 99 typical working-class families in Magdeburg as to the quantity and cost of various household provisions usually consumed in the week. These showed an average weekly consumption per head of 23§ ounces, or at the rate of 77 lbs. a year. Of this, 34 per cent, was sausage, 29 per cent, was beef and 28 per cent, was pork and bacon. One-third of all the meat eaten by the working-classes takes the form of sausage, of which there is great variety in quality and price, from the article sold in the horsemeat shop for 3d. or 4d. per lb. to that sold as Schlackwurst at Is. bd. per lb. The sausage most generally eaten, however, is either Leberwurst or Rotwurst, either of which costs about 9d. per lb., that is to say, quite as much as an equivalent weight of beef or pork. The popularity of sausage appears, in fact, to rest not on considerations of economy, but on the fact that it saves trouble in cooking. Prices at Magdeburg are low, except as regards meat. Taking the level of prices at Berlin as 100, the index number for the price of meat at Magdeburg is 111, for other food 98, for all food 101, for coal 73, and for all commodities 97. The index number for rent and prices combined is 86, which would indicate that the cost of living is lower in Magdeburg than in any other of the large towns included in this inquiry. 327 MANNHEIM. Mannheim is politically the second capital of the Grand Duchy of Baden ; but, alike in population, wealth, and industrial importance, it claims primacy over its rival Karlsruhe. It is situated conveniently for commerce at the junction of the Rhine and Neckar, and has for neighbour Ludwigshafen, which, lies in the Bavarian Palatinate, just across the former river, here spanned by a noble bridge. Mannheim’s population in 1905 was 163,708, against 141,131 in 1900, showing an increase of 16 per cent, in the five years, against an increase of 55 per cent, in the preceding quinquennium. Between 1895 and 1900, however, the population was carried forward on a wave of industrial prosperity unique in the town’s annals, and after 1900 a reaction set in, which only ceased towards the close of 1904. Moreover, the incorporation of the suburbs of Waldhof, Käferthal, and Neckarau, composing New Mannheim, contributed largely to the town’s growth in the earlier period. Of an increase of 50,012 in the population between 1895 and 1900, 14,283 came through incorporation, 12,328 through excess of births over deaths, and 23,401 through immigration. The population of the old town increased 16 14 per cent, during 1900-5, and that of the new suburbs, which are industrial in character, only 13*07 per cent. Since 1871 the old town has more than trebled in population. The following Table shows the increase of population during various inter-censal periods, with the causes of increase. The vital statistics of the town are not unfavourable. The birth-rate in 1905 was 38*7 per 1,000, comparing with 33*1 for the whole of Baden and 33*0 for the Empire. The marriages in 1905 were 10*37 per 1,000 and in 1901 10*99, against 8*1 per 1,000 for Baden in general and 8*1 for the Empire in 1905. The death-rate was 19*0 per 1,000 in 1905 and 20*6 in 1904, comparing with 19*0 per 1,000 for the whole of Baden and 19*8 for the Empire in 1905. The illegitimate births in 1905 were 9*9 per cent, of all the births ; the infant mortality was 218 per thousand births, against 233 per thousand on the average of the preceding five years. During the past decade there has been a gradual diminution in the general mortality rate, as sanitation and social conditions have improved, but the progress made is more perceptible when the survey covers a longer period. During the first half of the 19th century the deaths exceeded the births ; the rate was as high as 45 per 1,000 in the twenties, and 28 and 29 per 1,000 from 1830 to 1840 ; even in 1870 it was 24 per 1,000. Since then the town has been greatly improved, and many salutary regulations safeguarding the health of the inhabitants and their homes have been introduced, with the result that the natural increase of the population is greater than ever before. Increase owing to Census Year. Population. Inter-censal Increase. Natural growth. Immigration. 1871 1875 6,847 7,012 7,808 17,785 2,479 3,664 3,649 4,724 4,368 3,348 4,159 13,061 1880 53,465 61,273 79,058 1885 1890 1895 12,061 7,337 4,724 1900 1905 141,131 163,708 12,328 15,362 23,401 7,215 * Added owing to the extension of the municipal boundaries. 328 MANNHEIM. The following Table gives the birth and death rates and the infantile mortality rate for a period of five years :— Year. Birth-rate per 1,000 of Population. Death-rate per 1,000 of Population. Infantile Mortality per 1,000 Births. 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 43 9 42 6 414 403 38 7 23'2 20-1 213 20 6 19-0 248 230 238 238 218 It is a peculiarity of the older part of the town that its streets are laid out in regular squares, so that they present the appearance of a chess-board. These squares (Quadrate) bear the letters of the alphabet from A to U, and the houses in each block are numbered from 1 forward round the four sides. Thus a stranger wishful to make a call is directed to A.8, L.20, or U.35, as the case may be. The arrangement suggests a modern origin, yet it has been in vogue for 200 years, and there is no disposition to abandon it. When the co-ordination of the squares has been learned there is no difficulty in finding one’s way about the town, and the street directory is superfluous within the area of the squares, for, though many small “ cross-streets ” ( Querstrassen) intersect the main thoroughfares, these, too, are numbered. The blocks are of unequal frontage, varying from 90 to 180 feet. Outside the old town the streets are named in the conventional way, yet even there the block system of building is followed. It is in the original area of squares that the oldest and worst property is found and the congestion of population is greatest. Many of the buildings in the by-streets are let off as workshops and warehouses. Brick is the usual building material ; but sandstone, with granite for the lower courses, is often used for buildings of a better class. During the past generation the economic life of the town has undergone a striking change. More and more Mannheim has ceased to be a trading town, and industry is now pre-eminent. The transformation has largely altered the character of the population. When industry placed its impress more distinctly on the town, workpeople were drawn to it from all parts of the Empire by abundant facilities for employment at wages higher than could be earned in less progressive places. There was a great influx in the years 1885-1890, bringing over 13,000 strangers to the town, over and above the loss by removals, with the result that for every 100 additions to the population by excess of births over deaths 276 resulted from immigration. Mannheim’s importance as a trading centre for corn, timber, petroleum, tobacco, coal, and colonial produce, which come and go by water and rail, continues unimpaired, but it is now the home of many and important industries as well. Though situated on the other side of the river in Bavarian territory, the extensive works of the Baden Aniline and Soda Company, employing 7,000 workpeople in 480 factory buildings, belong by origin to Mannheim, though Mannheim now only receives their ill-odours and the smoke of their fifty chimneys when the wind is in a particular direction. There are many large engineering works, one with 3,000 workmen, at which machinery in great variety is produced ; there are gas motor and motor car works, cable works, rubber and celluloid factories, paper and paper-pulp factories, large plate-glass works, a jute spinning factory ; and on both banks of the river are corn mills, oil factories, and extensive timber-yards, which supply many saw-mills with their raw material. On every side of the town are evidences of industrial expansion. The road to Rheinau is lined for several miles with factories and workshops, while the incorporated Waldhof district across the Neckar is being developed entirely on industrial lines. How susceptible Mannheim is to the fluctuations of industry and trade is illustrated by the percentage of empty dwellings at various times. In 1900, when the last wave of prosperity was at its highest, only 1'40 per cent, of the dwellings were vacant ; in 1901 the percentage was 5T2, in 1902, 6*76, in 1903, 6*61, and since then there has been a fall to 4*24 per cent, in 1904, 2 71 in 1905,. and 107 in November, 1906. In the years of high percentage the great majority of the empty dwellings were such as are tenanted by the working classes. MANNHEIM. 329 It is in the Waldhof quarter that the municipality has executed its most ambitious improvement scheme. Apprehensive that the plan (now sanctioned) for deepening the Rhine-Main canal as far as Aschaffenburg and the less certain yet inevitable proposal to rectify the Rhine as far as Basle would divert much of Mannheim’s transit trade, the municipal administration determined in 1895 to construct a new dock of large proportions with a view to attracting industrial undertakings to the town. To this end they bought an extensive area of land abutting on an arm of the Rhine, which was four miles long with an average width of 325 yards, and had been used for timber rafts. This sheet of water was deepened and converted into a dock navigable by heavy vessels, and communication ­ with the Rhine was established by locks. While the wharves were provided with every possible convenience in the form of railway connections, cranes, &c., the land on both sides of the dock was laid out for building purposes and thrown into the market. The bold scheme has proved a great success. A host of large industrial undertakings have sprung up on what was formerly undeveloped and almost unused land, and the Waldhof district is to-day the centre of a busy life and the home of a large and increasing population. This is only one of Mannheim’s docks, however, for besides the Rhine quays, about l|r miles in extent, there are in all eight docks for various merchandise. The municipality is the largest landed proprietor in the district, having altogether in 1904 saleable estate to the extent of 5,349 acres and to the value of some two and a quarter million pounds. Of this estate 2,183 acres consisted of agricultural land, 1,860 acres of wood, 111 acres of land for industrial purposes, and 616 acres of land for town extension and other purposes. From its town estate the municipality continuously sells eligible building land, while manufacturers and industrialists wishful to start new undertakings are offered sites outside on favourable terms, but the rule is invariably followed of employing a certain proportion of the proceeds of any sale of real estate in the purchase of land elsewhere. In Mannheim also, as in many other large German towns, the planning of the town is carried out on a systematic basis. Speculative builders are not allowed to build where and how they like. The streets of the future and the style of houses of which they shall consist are determined in advance, and the builder must fall in with the design which is prepared for him. Only thus is the administrative authority able (in its own words) to " take full advantage of all the arts of town building.” One method employed in the planning of new districts is the reparcelling of the land. An entire area is “ pooled,” so to speak, and the proprietors receive back the full value of their original properties though by a different apportionment. ­ Several districts have been laid out in this way. The attendant difficulties are many, however, and often they .would be insuperable were it not that a powerful lever is at the command of the municipality, when obstructive landowners have to be dealt with, in the form of compulsory expropriation. Much is done by municipal action to promote the health of the working classes in various ways. Strenuous efforts are being made to combat tuberculosis ­ and other infectious diseases. All deaths from consumption must be notified, and doctors in attendance upon advanced cases must notify these in the event of change of address, also cases in schools or training institutions ; upon notification the health authority adopts effectual measures of disinfection. The expenditure of the Poor Law Administration in relief of all kinds amounted in 1904 to about 4a. ßd. per head of the population, or 35. 6d. after deduction of repayments from other authorities and private persons. There is, however, a considerable amount of saving in a small way amongst the working classes. The Municipal Savings Bank had at the end of 1904 accumulated ­ investments of £1,200,000 standing in 34,048 names. Of these depositors 17*5 per cent, had savings to the amount of £2 10s. and under; 10 per cent, had from £2 11s. to £5 ; 20 per cent, had from £5 Is. to £12 10s. ; 16*2 per cent, had from £12 11s. to £25 ; and 15*6 per cent, had from £25 Is. to £50 ; making 79*3 per cent, of smaller investors, whose deposits made 30 per cent, of the whole. The entire funds averaged £35 5s. per head, and the new deposits of 1905 averaged £6 12s. per head. 2 T 29088 330 MANNHEIM. Formerly the town levied octroi upon bread, meat, and other articles of consumption. This tax is now restricted to beer and wine, and the proceeds amounted in 1904 to 2s. 2bd. per head of the population. The State, however, levies a special tax on meat. The tax on animals slaughtered within the Duchy is 4s. per head for cattle with a dead weight of less than 440 lb., 65. from 440 to 550 lb., and from 65. to 115. for animals above that weight ; while the tax on meat imported into the Duchy from other States is about Gd. per stone. Occupations, Wages, and Hours of Labour. It is specially characteristic of Mannheim that its staple industries are overwhelmingly ­ carried on by adult male labour ; the industries in which female and juvenile labour as a rule plays a great part take an insignificant position here. Of the industries controlled by the Factory Inspectors—and they represent, broadly, the entire industrial population—the principal are the engineering and metal industries, the leather and rubber, chemical, and wood industries, the industries producing food, drinks, and tobacco, and the clothing and chemical cleaning industry ; and of these only the last is predominantly a women’s industry, the percentage of female employees being 92‘2. Of the 26,932 industrial workpeople enumerated by the Factory Inspectors on October 2nd, 1905, 80'5 per cent, were males, and 92*3 per cent, were adults, i.e., over 16 years of age. In the largest industry of all, that connected with the manufacture of machinery, instruments, and apparatus, 96 2 per cent, of the workpeople were adults, and 93*3 per cent, were adult males. In the metal working industry 92'7 per cent, were adults, and 89T per cent, adult males. In the leather and rubber industry 89*8 per cent, were adults, and 65 5 per cent, adult males. In the wood industries 84*5 per cent, were adults, and 70 per cent, adult males. In the industries producing food and drinks 94*3 per cent, were adults, and 61 per cent, adult males. In the clothing and cleaning industries 78*7 per cent, of the workpeople were adults. After the last-named industries, with their 92 2 per cent, of female workers, representing 27 per cent, of all females employed, the industries offering most outlets to women and girls were the leather and rubber industry, with 15*4 per cent, of the whole, and the food industries with 18'9 per cent. The textile industries employed only 7'7 per cent, of the female workers. Of the 4,227 adult female workers of the town, 21*2 per cent, were married. The following table classifies in detail the industrial workpeople enumerated in October, 1905 :— Group of Trades. Building ... ... ... ... ••• Mining and smelting Metal working Machine, implement,and apparatus making Textiles ... ... ... ... ... Clothing and cleaning Printing, lithography, bookbinding, &c. ... Paper ... . ... ... ... ... Woodworking and carving Chemicals Resins, varnishes, oil, soap, candles, &c. ... Stone and earth Food, drink, and tobacco Leather ... ... ... ... ... Total In addition, there were 2,081 handicraftsmen, of whom 853 worked alone, 415 worked with one assistant each, 642 with from two to six assistants, 79 with from seven to ten assistants, and 92 with over ten assistants. A ten hours work-day is almost universal in the town and suburbs, the only exceptions of importance being several concerns in the chemical and allied trades, Number of Establishments. ­ 33 4 58 80 13 168 34 12 18 15 18 16 173 8 685 Number of Workpeople. Males Over 16 Years. 819 259 2,144 8,910 433 118 515 247 1,176 1,544 521 597 1,613 1,754 20,650 Females Over 16 Years. 87 277 342 1,099 212 240 241 50 114 51 863 651 4,227 Juveniles. 35 1 174 359 111 328 77 120 259 115 9 26 169 272 2,055 Total. 854 260 2,405 9,546 886 1,545 804 607 1.676 1,709 614 674 2,645 2.677 26,932 MANNHEIM. 331 which work 10^ hours, and several of the larger engineering concerns, which work only 9^ hours. The usual limits of employment are 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., and only rarely does work continue until 6.30. Between these hours there is a midday ­ pause of an hour and a half or an hour and a quarter, according to the distance of the factory from the workers’ homes, with a breakfast pause of half an hour, which is spent in or about the works, and a “ vesper ” (afternoon) pause at 4 o’clock of less duration. Night work is only usual where continuous operations are essential, but there has for a long time been a good deal of overtime. ­ In the engineering trade the term of notice is a week or a fortnight, though predominantly the latter ; in the less skilled industries it is a week. In some undertakings, however, no notice is required on either side, and but for the unpopularity of this arrangement with the working classes generally, many more employers would be glad to adopt it. It is the universal rule, however, that an engagement may be terminated either at the end of the day or at a moment’s notice during the first week of employment. Wages are usually paid fortnightly, several days’ pay being kept in hand, but interim advances up to a given proportion of average earnings may be claimed. The holidays observed are New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Ascension Day, Whit Monday, Corpus Christi, and two days at Christmas. Some of the brewers and a large number of the book printers have for some time given their employees several days’ leave during the year in addition, without deduction of wages. It is also not unusual for employers to make an allowance of 6cf., la., or even 2s. a work-day to the men who are absent on military duty. The works regulations which, according to legal requirement, are placed ' in the hands of all workpeople by their employers, do not materially differ from those usual elsewhere, though some of them contain stringent provisions on the subject of negligence. Thus, in several large works fines varying from 2\d. to half a day’s wages, with instant dismissal in aggravated cases, are threatened in the event of (1) late coming or too early leaving ; (2) loitering in a room where the offender is not working ; (3) “ sleeping or . being found in sleeping position or in general being unoccupied ” (both day and night shifts are here worked) ; (4) entering or leaving the factory yard otherwise ­ than past the porter’s lodge ; and (5) neglecting to warn strangers off the premises. In the building trades 9, 9J, and 10 hours a day are worked in summer, though 10 predominantly. As a rule no notice is required before the determination ­ of an engagement, though masons can only be dismissed or leave at the end of the day, and in the case of carpenters notice must be given on Thursday for the following Saturday. Wages are paid at the end of each week. In the carpenters’ wages agreement there is the stipulation that " May-day,” the recognised festival of the Social Democratic party throughout Germany, shall be observed as a holiday. The usual weekly rates of wages for skilled men in the engineering trade range from 305. to 305., though in isolated cases both higher and lower rates are paid ; labourers as a rule earn from 215. to 235. In the State Railway works skilled men earn from 195. 5c?. to 245. 11c?. and labourers from 155. 6d. to 175. 9d. It should be stated, however, that two large engineering works pay exceptionally high rates, which are nox representative of the trade generally. In the paper and wood pulp industry the wages in the higher branches of work range from 245. to 27s., but the rate for general labourers is from 185. to 215. A large number of men are employed in the lumber yards and the saw mills adjacent to the docks ; unloaders earn from 215. 7d. to 245., and inside men—joiners at the machine and sawyers—from 245. to 305., while ordinary labourers earn from 195. 10c?. to 205. 5c?. The general rate for unskilled workmen in the chemical industry is 18a. to 215. a week, and this rate covers the great majority, but furnace and apparatus men earn from 245. to 35s. ; between these two ranges there is much differentiation ­ according to the quality, danger, and difficulty of the work done. Wages in the rubber and celluloid industry, which is carried on in several neighbouring suburbs, are from I85. to 215. for ordinary labourers and 24a. for better men. 22088 2 T 2 332 MANNHEIM. In the soap and oil industry the rate of pay for unskilled labour is from 19s. 10c/. to 22s. 10d. Polishers and inlayers in the plate glass trade earn 25s. 2d., but they also live rent free. In this industry, as in others, there has been a steady advance in wages during late years, as the following table shows : — Weekly Bates of Wages in the Plate Glass Trade. 1896. 1870. 1888. 1906. Polishers, &c. ... Unskilled labourers s. d. 18 0 12 0 s. d. 20 5 12 0 s. d. 22 10 15 8 s. d. 25 2 20 5 The rate of pay for outdoor labour ranges from os. to 4s. per day. The municipal authority pays for such labour a standard rate of 21s. 7d. per week, which is somewhat above the rate paid to the lower grades of workers in industries which depend predominantly on unskilled labour. It may be noted that the wages of agricultural labour in the district around Mannheim are os. 4c/. per day in summer and 2s. Sd. in winter without food, and 2s. 6c/. and Is. lie/, respectively with food. Mannheim is an important centre of the tobacco and cigar industry, of which the Grand Duchy of Baden is peculiarly the home in Germany, since it both grows the tobacco plant in large quantities and manufactures the leaf in a multitude of towns and villages. In 1905 the cigar industry employed 16'9 per cent, of all the workpeople in Baden who were engaged in factories and workshops (in absolute figures 35,290 out of 208,993), as well as a considerable number of home workers. Mannheim itself has 41 tobacco factories which employed in October, 1905, 203 male and 820 female workpeople, ­ 242 of the latter being married. In the main, only the work of packing, sorting, and forwarding—together with a certain amount of manufacture for samples and for immediate local use—is done in town, however, and the real work of cigar making, in all its various processes, is a rural industry. The reason for this is that only in the country is a sufficiency of labour procurable at a low rate of pay. The work is as a rule piece work, and the earnings depend upon individual skill and celerity and also upon the quality of the cigars made. In town cutters can earn 20s. 4d. per week, sorters and packers from 14s. 5d. to 18s., and in the village factories male cigar makers earn from 12s. to 18s. 6c/. on piece, working 60 hours a week, and females 8s. to 12s 6c/. In the country whole families often work together, both in the factory and at home. The father may make the wrapper, his wife and girls do the rolling, and by thus co-operating as much as 30s. may be earned. As, however, work is in many cases intermittent and is made to fit in with household and other duties, earnings are very irregular. An enumeration made in 1905 by the Baden Factory Inspectors of the wages paid in eleven large cigar manufactories, employing 3,741 workpeople (32 58 per cent, males and 67*42 per cent, females), showed weekly earnings as follows (the figures are given for 1897 for purpose of comparison) :— Year. Percentage of the whole whose earnings were as under. 5s. but not over 105. Over 105. but not over 125. Over 125. but not over 155. Over 1Õ5. but not over 185. Over 185. but not over 215. Over 215. 1905 ... 1897 ... 61-65 64-0 16-65 21-66 15-50 11*28 414 179 104 0 67 1*02 0-60 MANNHEIM. 333 The average weekly earnings of all workers in these factories were 9s. o\d. in 1905 against 9g. l|d. in 1897. The male workers earned on an average 10s. 11 j¿d. in 1905 against 10s. od. in 1897, and the females 8s. 9d. against 8s. 6^. Wages and Hours of Labour in the Principal Occupations. October, 1905. Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours of Labour. Building Trades* :— Bricklayers and Masons Stonemasons Carpenters Joiners and Cabinetmakers Plumbers Painters ... Stucco-workers Glaziers ... Paperhangers Masons’ Labourers Navvies ... 30s. 32s. 5d. 27s. 27s. 27s. 25s. Id. 37s. Id. 25s. 10<7. 22s. 6<7. 22s. lOd. 24s. 60 54 60 54 54 57 57 60 54 60 60 Engineering Trades :— Moulders Fitters Turners ... Smiths ... Patternmakers ... Labourers 32s. to 33s. 6d. 32 s. 30s. to 34s. 6d. 32s. 6d. 32s. to 35s. 21s. „ 23s. 57 to 60 57 „ 60 57,, 60 57 ,,60 57 ,,60 57 ,,60 Boiler Works:— Boilersmiths „ Helpers ... Ki vetters 36s. Id. 30s. 4d. 34s. 57 57 57 Wire-drawing Works :— Wire-drawers ... Labourers 27s. to 33s. 18s. „ 21s. 63 63 Carriage Works :— Cartwrights Saddlers 36s. 37s. 2d. 60 60 Textile Trades :— Jute Factories—Weavers „ „ Beamers Labourers 18s. 24s. 15s. Id. 60 60 60 Printing Trades :— Printers and Machine-minders Machine Compositors—news „ y jobbing Bookbinders 25s. id. 31s. 8d. 32s. lid. 23s. to 28s. 54 48 54 54 Wood-working Industries :— Timber and Sawmills : Unloaders and Carriers Sawyers (Machine) ... Planers—Feeders „ Takers out Labourers Brewers’ Coopers Wood-pulp and Paper Industry :— Timber Unloaders Woodcutters Wood Cleaners and Grinders Pulp-makers Bleachers Callenderers, Cutters and Machinemen Packers and Sorters Labourers ... ••• ••• 21s. 7d. to 24s. 27s. to 30s. 21s. Id. to 24s. 15s. Id. to 20s. 5d. 19s. lOd. to 20s. 5d. 31s. Id. 21s. 21s. 27s. 24s. 24s. 21s. 24s. 18s. to 21s. 60 60 60 60 60 58& 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 * The wagesãnd hours of labour stated for the building trades are for a full week in summer. 334 MANNHEIM. Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours of Labour. Food, Drink, &c. Industries .— Bakers—1st men „ 2nd men Brewing—Maltsters ... „ Coopers „ Draymen ... „ Labourers ... Corn millers Tobacco cutters Cigar makers (in villages) Cigar sorters and packers Chemical, Rubber, Celluloid, &c. Industries Chemical works : Furnacemen Apparatus workers Labourers Rubber and Celluloid works : Acid workers Camphor workers Rubber „ General labourers ... Carmen—1 horse „ 2 horses Plate Glass workers Soap and Oil works—Labourers Cement makers... 25s. 20s. to 21s. 31s. Id. 31s. Id. 28s. 8c?. 25s. 22s. 10c?. to 25s. 2c?. 20s. 4c?. 12s. to 18s. 6d. 14s. 5d. to 18s. 24s. to 30s. 35s. 18s. to 21s. 22s. to 26s. 5d. 21s. Id. 24s. 18s. to 20s. 5c?. 24s. 25 s. 25s. 2d. 19s. 10c?. to 22 s. 10c?. 20s. 8c?. to 24s. 84 84 58& 58& 75 58i 60 53 60 54 60 and 70 70 60 and 70 60 to 61 60 „ 61 60 „ 61 60 „ 61 80 80 60 60 60 Wages are comparatively high in Mannheim—higher than in any other of the towns in South Germany investigated. Taking wages in Berlin as 100, the index numbers for the building trades in Mannheim are 81 for skilled men and 89 for labourers ; for the engineering trades, 96 for skilled men and 101 for labourers ; and for the printing trades, 90. The following were the rates of wages paid at the same time to municipal employees, and harbour and dock employees :— Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours of Labour. Road Department :— Foremen Paviors Pavions' assistants Road makers Road cleaners Gasworks :— Stokers ... Labourers Waterworks :— Enginemen and stokers Labourers Tramways {Electric) :— Drivers Conductors Electric Works and Lighting Enginemen Stokers ... Erectors and fitters Labourers Harbours and Docks {State) Wharf foremen „ labourers Cementers 27a. 30s. 21s. 7c?. 21s. Id. 21s. 7c?. 29s. 3c?. 22s. 3c?. 26s. 2d. 21 s. 7c?. 26s. 11c?. 25s. 9c?. 29s. 28s. 26s., 27s. 21s. 18s. lie?, to 24s. le?. 18s. 19s. 10c?. 57 57 57 57 57 60 60 60 60 60 60 69 68 64, 65 60 60 60 60 MANNHEIM. 385 A large number of working men live at a distance from their employment, and in the interest of these the municipal authorities issue cheap “ workmen’s tickets ” available on certain of the tramway routes. Books of 50 coupons, each available for one journey, are sold for 2s. 6d., so that the holder can for less than 1 id. a day travel to and from his work, however far away his home may be. These tickets are issued only to bona-fide workpeople with an income not exceeding £60 a year, and they may not be used on Sundays and festivals. During 1905 nearly nine-and-a-half million persons were carried on the three principal industrial routes. Labour organisations are numerous, powerful, and active in Mannheim. They are of three kinds, the so-called “ Free” organisations, which are Social Democratic, and which claim to have an aggregate membership of 12,000 ; the “ Christian ” organisations, which are in the main Roman Catholic ; and the Hirsch-Duncker organisations, which here carry on a vigorous propaganda. One effect of persistent organisation is seen in the multiplicity of the wages agreements which have been concluded in Mannheim during the past decade, especially in the building trades, which are now entirely regulated by formal wages compacts extending over a series of years. The earliest agreements of the kind were those of the printers, bookbinders, and a section of the cornmillers, concluded in 1896. Then followed the carpenters’ agreement in 1897 ; the glaziers, warehouse labourers, and potters obtained “tariffs” in 1898, and the shoemakers in 1899. With the beginning of the new century the “ tariff” movement made immediate and rapid progress, and by the year 1905 no fewer than 19 trade unions, representing 1,459 separate undertakings, both large and small, and 5,902 workpeople had secured agreements fixing wages, hours, and other conditions of employment, while a minimum wage had been obtained in 1,387 concerns having 5,330 workpeople. Many of these wages agreements were only concluded after a struggle conducted with great tenacity on both sides, and so recently as 1905 of 27 strikes of all kinds which occurred at Mannheim, nine had for their object the conclusion of wages agreements, though the object sought was only obtained in six cases. While a comparatively small proportion of the industrial workpeople of Mannheim are women (about 15 per cent.), employment is offered to a very large number of women and girls by miscellaneous occupations, some of them followed in the home. Amongst these are the sorting of coffee beans and wool, tobacco stripping, saffron plucking, sack mending, cardboard box making, the plaiting of horsehair work, corset sewing, the painting and putting together of dolls, &c. The earnings thus gained are small in comparison to the time occupied, for the home worker often sits at her task until far into the night, since the time spared from domestic duty is all she can give to this extra task, but they are a welcome addition to her husband’s wages. Mannheim may be counted as one of the most thriving of German industrial towns, and the standard of wages is in some trades relatively high, yet even here may be observed on a large scale the competition of women of the poorer class for the unconsidered odds and ends of employment which factory returns do not recognise and factory laws do not regulate. Sack mending is one of the meaner home occupations of poor women in Mannheim. The women fetch the torn sacks from the warehouses in perambulators or light handcarts, with scraps of material for patching, and by renovating 150 to 250 a week can earn, at the rate of three or four pfennige (§(/. to 4d ) per sack, from 45. 6<i. to 10s. As a rule, it is the wives of outdoor workers, coal carriers, and other seasonal labourers who are so employed. The delivery of the daily newspapers from house to house is another occupation that falls almost exclusively to women and big girls, not merely in Mannheim, but in German towns generally, for the employment of children on the streets is severely restricted. The German newspaper is virtually published by subscription, for the sale in shops and public places is comparatively small. The copies subscribed for—by the week, month, or quarter, as the case may be— are delivered in town at an inclusive subscription price, and for distributing the two editions each day the “ newspaper-woman ” (Zeitungsfrau) receives 15 to 20 pfennige (1§<Y. to 2£d.) per copy and month. Should she carry out 150 copies each day, her earnings may amount to from 22s. 6d. to 30s. per month. 336 MANNHEIM. A small trade peculiar to Mannheim is the hawking of shavings and sawdust ­ from the saw mills, and this, too, is specially a woman’s trade. At certain hours of the day the entrances to the large timber yards near the river will be found thronged by women and children, who have come with vehicles of all sorts and sizes—sack carts, handcarts, dog-drawn carts, perambulators, barrows, and improvised box carts—to buy the shavings and sawdust. These can be had at the rate of 10 pfennige (1 ‘2d.) for a large sack, nearly 5 feet high, and while they are used as fuel at home, they are also sold at 30 pfennige (3‘6d.) per sack, though the excess of 20 pfennige is but slight remuneration for the heavy labour involved. Another home industry in which women are engaged is the making of light wooden or cardboard boxes, the material for which is supplied. The price for a 100 boxes is about 2s. Qd., and a married woman working in odd times during the day and keeping at her task until a late hour at night can make 300 or 400 a week, thus earning 7s. 6d. or 10s. One such worker visited devoted two hours to her boxes between 5.30 and 8 a.m. ; then five hours between 1 and 7 ; then, the evening meal being over and the children put to bed, she generally worked two or three hours longer, her normal work day, in the absence of hindrances, being nine or ten hours. Much benevolent effort is put forth by large companies and private employers beyond the requirements of the Industrial Insurance and Factory Laws. The colonies of workmen’s dwellings which have been built in the neighbourhood ­ of Mannheim are referred to under the heading " Housing and Rents.” Other noticeable institutions are the canteens and kitchens, the lodging houses for single men, the baths, and the various benefit and relief funds for widows and orphans, sick children, aged workmen, &c. Several of the works outside the town, in the Waldhof district, have established canteens at which nutritious food is supplied under cost price. Soup and bread can be had for 1^¿L, and dinner complete for 3d., white wine for less than 3d. the gill, and red wine for about Id. more. Nevertheless, the workpeople do not invariably take kindly to the factory canteen and kitchen, and several canteens have had to be closed, while others have been handed over to private caterers. Lodging houses or bothies for unmarried men and men who have left their families behind are maintained by works carried on to a large extent by imported labour. In several factories outside the town a great number of Prussian Poles as well as Russians and other foreigners are employed, and free housing is generally part of the contract of service under which these men come west. In one lodging house alone there is provision for over 400 labourers, and it is generally full. While the bed is free, to the extent that no direct payment is made for it, food is supplied below cost, less than 2d. being charged for breakfast or supper and but little more for dinner. During a single year 82,450 breakfasts, ­ 34,345 dinners, 140,100 afternoon coffees, and 51,260 suppers were served, and the entire institution cost the firm £1,250. Handsome contributions are made yearly by many firms to their special benefit funds, most of which have their origin in bequests or benefactions by living donors prompted by notable events in their industrial careers, such as jubilees, important business extensions, and the like. One of the largest of these funds has an invested capital of £8,000. As a rule the employer determines the character and the measure of the grants made, but in one case a committee of the workpeople entirely controls the disposition of the funds available. In connexion with one of the foremost engineering works a system of assisted life assurance has been introduced with good results. Under a contract with a reliable society every workman is enabled to take out a small endowment policy on special terms, and the firm pays one-third of the premium after five years of service, half the premium after ten years, and two-thirds after fifteen years. Another firm (that of H. Lanz) has an unemployment fund. Of late years vigorous efforts have been made by some of the larger employers to encourage temperance amongst their workpeople. In their canteens prominence is given to " temperance drinks,” and in 1904 one firm, employing 1,600 men, sold no fewer than 160,900 .bottles of mineral water at from \d. to \d. a bottle. Other firms are in the habit of supplying coffee free to the workrooms during the afternoon pause. MANNHEIM. 337 It is a sign of the times that the large breweries of Mannheim have recently abolished the cifstom of “ free beer,” with the full concurrence of their workpeople, and have substituted a money payment equal to the old beer allowance on wholesale terms. The time-honoured “ free drink ” (Freitrank) was in most cases equal to nearly 4h quarts a day, and the workmen exercised their rights to the full. Now 5&. It/, per week is added to the wages in lieu of this allowance, and in other cases a sum proportionate to the beer allowance surrendered. The men are, however, still able to buy beer for their own consumption, at the rate of commutation, four times a day. The Factory Inspectors point out that the first result of the change was a reduction of the workpeople’s beer consumption to between a third and a quarter of the former amount, and coincident with this greater moderation in drinking were noted increased application and industry, less abstention from work, and less sickness. “ Free beer” to an unlimited amount is nevertheless the rule at some of the local breweries, and the custom of living on the premises has not yet died out. Housing and Rents. The great majority of the working-class households of Mannheim live in dwellings of two and three rooms, these rooms consisting either of a living and bedroom and a kitchen or two living and bedrooms and a kitchen. Of 26,333 rented dwellings not used for trade enumerated at the census of December, 1905, 816 or 3T per cent, contained a habitable room without a kitchen, 5,413 or 20’5 per cent, contained a room with a kitchen, 409 or T6 per cent, contained two rooms without a kitchen, 10,642 or 40'4 per cent, contained two rooms with a kitchen, and 4,856 or 18 4 per cent, contained three rooms with kitchen. Thus 22T per cent, of these dwellings contained two rooms of all kinds, and 65*6 per cent, contained one, two, or three rooms. The foregoing classification covers all rented dwellings, no portions of which are used for industrial purposes, but if the classification be confined to purely working-class districts the predominant type of house is seen still more clearly. Taking, for example, the districts of Schwetzingervorstadt and Neckarvorstadt in the old town, and the three incorporated suburbs which form New Mannheim (Käferthal, Waldhof, and Neckarau), it is found that the dwellings of two and three rooms—the kitchen being counted as a room—compose 75T per cent, of the whole, and if the dwellings of a single room be added, a total of 78*4 per cent, of " small ” dwellings is arrived at for these districts. The number of dwellings per building tends to increase in nearly every part of the town. For Mannheim as a whole it was 5'8 in 1905, against 5*5 in 1900, but in Schwetzingervorstadt it was 7*7 in 1905, against 7 2 in 1900 ; in Lindenhof 7'0 and 6'6 respectively, and in Waldhof 6'0 and 2 3. In almost all parts of the town are buildings containing over 25 households ; the maximum number being found in the new suburb of \\ aldhof. A considerable number of the tenements of two rooms and a kitchen are inhabited by households of the lower middle class ; working people oftener go below than above this accommodation, and when three living and bedrooms are rented it may as a rule be assumed that lodgers are taken. This paucity of rooms is, however, counterbalanced to some extent by the fact that the kitchen is almost invariably a fairly spacious apartment. All the rooms in a Mannheim tenement are heatable—nominally at least—and to that extent are convertible as to use. The kitchen itself not seldom serves as a bedroom as well ; the practice is discouraged, even forbidden, and carefully watched, yet the most careful scrutiny cannot prevent it, and where a household is pinched for space, to set up a bed in one corner of the kitchen is the first suggestion of necessity. Basement dwellings, however, are unknown in Mannheim, and the nearest approach are the half-basements attached to better-class houses for the porters’ families and to the public schools for the attendants. As the foregoing figures suggest, several districts of the enlarged municipal area are predominantly inhabited by the working classes, and it is noticeable that overcrowding has already made its appearance in these newer districts. Taking the average of the whole town, the number of inhabitants per room was, in 1905, 1-59, while 9*88 per cent, of the population lived in dwellings 2 u 29088 MANNHEIM. 338 containing one person and under per room, 55*98 per cent, lived in dwellings with a density of 1-2 persons per room, and 34*14 per c&nt. in dwellings with a density of over two persons per room. The greatest density fell to the Käferthal, Waldhof, and Neckarau area, for which the corresponding percentages were 0, 46*73 and 53*27. On the whole 34 per cent, of the population of the town were found at the last census to be “ living amid conditions which, as to density, left much to he desired.” Naturally it is in the narrower streets of the original town of lettered “ squares,” each a huge mass of brick and mortar, its sides pierced at intervals by archways and corridors leading into more or less circumscribed and gloomy courtyards, that the. worst overcrowding exists. There has been an improvement ­ since 1900, yet the census of December, 1905, showed that four “squares” had more than 10 persons per are (119J square yards), and one had 12*8, equal to one person to every 12 and 9 square yards respectively. Yet Mannheim is not a town of old houses ; 100 or 150 years mean comparative antiquity. The “ square ” system of building inevitably led to houses being packed together without the possibility of due provision for air space either within or without. Each house belonging to the block had its courtyard, and at a time when building by-laws did not exist the size of this enclosure depended very much on the whim of the builder. Many of these courtyards are barely 12 feet square, yet from such a space the back rooms of six or eight dwellings have to obtain all the ventilation and light that reaches them. The position of things is made worse when the narrow limits of the courtyard have been encroached upon by irregular erections of an obstructive kind, and congestion is seen in its worst form when, as occasionally happens, the street or alley in front is as narrow and dark as the courtyard. The interior of these older buildings represents Mannheim’s housing arrangements at their worst. The approaches, from the street passage forward, are ill-lighted, the rooms are much behind modern requirements alike in structure and space, sometimes one bedroom is only reached through another, and the water-closet (or privy) accommodation is very inadequate. Fortunately, such houses are abnormal when compared with the number and quality of working-class houses in general, and gradually they are disappearing in face of the more stringent health regulations enforced by the authorities. Indeed, next to the energy shown by the Municipal Council and the police in combating insanitary conditions of life, the most hopeful feature of the housing question in Mannheim is the fact that the old town is slowly but surely being renewed ; no small amount of property that was built only thirty or forty years ago is giving place to houses modern in construction and hygienic in surroundings. There are few “ barrack ” houses (Mietkasernen) of the kind so often met with in large towns, but one of them, known as the “ Spinnerei,” is unique in its way. Here tenants of the poorer class are alone found—outdoor labourers and other people of small earnings who are not superior to the somewhat promiscuous conditions of life which close association in a “ barrack ” house entails. Many of the tenements are as squalid as their tenants are poor. Overcrowding is almost inevitable, and in a tenement of two dark rooms and a small kitchen a family of eight persons—husband and wife and six children—was found. Many of these tenements consist of a single room only, the rent of which varies from Qs. to 12s. a month according to its size and the character of the tenement ; the majority, however, have two rooms or two rooms and a small kitchen. 1 In the newer parts of the town, housing conditions are for the most part satisfactory, so far as the structure and conveniences of tenements go, though even there disorderly households often make their homes and surroundings even as themselves. Thanks to the persistent endeavours of the Housing Committee ­ and their inspectors, overcrowding tends to decrease, and many owners, under the pressure of admonition and warning, have converted small tenements of one and two rooms into tenements of a more commodious and wholesome kind. The transition has not been free from inconvenience and even hardship to the tenants, to whom larger dwellings mean higher rents, nor from loss to the landlords, yet it is generally admitted that the social life of the town has benefited from every standpoint. MANNHEIM. 339 A typical house of modern character in a working-class district can best be described by a concrete example, and the one to which the following data refer is in the Rheinhäuserstrasse, just outside the Kaiserring, and on the outskirts of an important factory quarter. It is a house of four stories, with cellaring, of which each household has a separate portion, and an attic or loft for common use. The ground floor is divided into two tenements of one and three rooms respectively, with kitchens, and each of the upper floors into two tenements of two and three rooms with kitchens, the room lost in the basement being taken up by the main entrance. A passage leads from the street to an inner vestibule at the foot of the staircase, right and left of which are closed corridors belonging to the two tenements. Both below and above, the best rooms are at the front ; the kitchens are placed to the rear according to universal custom. The corridors are of unequal length, but the width is 3 feet 7 inches, and each gives access to every room in the tenement to which it belongs, as well as to the water-closet. The dimensions of the living and bedrooms on the basement are :—14 feet 11 inches by 12 feet 4 inches by 11 feet 8 inches ; 14 feet 11 inches by 14 feet 8 inches by 11 feet 8 inches ; 14 feet 11 inches by 10 feet 8 inches by 11 feet 8 inches ; and 15 feet 2 inches by 8 feet 7 inches by 11 feet 8 inches ; while the kitchens measure 15 feet 2 inches by 8 feet 7 inches by 11 feet 8 inches, and 15 feet 1 inch by 8 feet 7 inches by 11 feet 8 inches respectively. The stories above follow an identical plan. Each of the tenements has two rooms to the front, while the kitchen, water-closets, and the extra room of the three-roomed tenements are behind, and each apartment opens upon the corridor. The rooms of a suite are not always intercommunicable and the kitchens are all isolated. The height of the second story is 11 feet, and of the third and fourth stories 10 feet 8 inches ; the superficial dimensions of the living and bedrooms are 14 feet 11 inches by 10 feet 8 inches, and those of the kitchens are 15 feet 2 inches by 8 feet 7 inches. Where attics exist they are commonly used for drying clothes. In the older parts of the town this convenience is often lacking, and its place is at times taken by the flat roofs of the lower buildings. A more general custom is to hang the clothes on long cords stretching from wall to wall above the courtyard ­ and movable by a simple pulley arrangement. It is a good feature of the newer houses that the “ open ” style of building (i.e., building in detached blocks of moderate size) is largely followed, this securing ample space both laterally and behind. The practice of erecting back houses quite detached, with separate entrances, instead of connected with the front buildings as in some towns, is a further guarantee of fresh air and abundant light. At Mannheim, too, the balcony is increasingly fostered, and hundreds of tenements of recent erection are supplied with this arrangement. Mannheim has an elaborate body of building regulations, the basis of which is the division of the municipal area into building zones, in each of which special conditions are imposed as to the character and height of houses that may be erected, the proportion of the building site that must be left free, and other points. The regulations as to the internal arrangements of dwelling houses are especially rigorous. The height of all stories, even (save in old houses) the attic story if used for habitation, must be at least 9 feet 9 inches. Only in exceptional cases may rooms used for living or sleeping purposes have an area less than 162 square leet, and kitchens less than 130 feet. In general a watercloset must be provided for each dwelling, though in old property one may serve for a whole story, to a maximum of five rooms. Every house must be cellared, or otherwise be protected against damp, and while in special cases living and bedrooms may be allowed in stories the floors of which lie below the level of the adjacent street, it is only on condition that there is cellaring below and an open space around the outer walls. It is hoped that by the enforcement of these regulations the future growth and expansion of the town, and especially of the undeveloped districts, will follow normal and healthy lines, for only deliberate departure from the principles laid down can open the way for the congestion which exists in the old municipal area, and which it is now beyond the power of building regulations to remove. 2 U 2 29088 340 MANNHEIM. A Si ; * With the growth of industry and population in Mannheim there has been a marked rise in rents. At the beginning of the new century there was a temporary ­ decline in its fortunes ; many houses were empty, and rents fell. Since 1904 the demand for dwellings of the kind most needed has exceeded the supply, and rents have advanced, as a consequence, to the extent of from 5 to 10 per cent. A considerable amount of speculation has strengthened this upward tendency. In the following statement of predominant rents paid for working-class dwellings, tenements of one room with kitchen and of two rooms without kitchen are classed together, since the cost is approximately the same. Tenements ­ of a single room without kitchen are probably in most cases what are known as “ divided tenements,” that is, tenements formed by the curtailment of a normal suite of two or three rooms with kitchen, yet they play an important part in the housing system of Mannheim. As has already been shown, these tenements of one apartment form only 3T per cent, of all the rented dwellings of the town, but of the 2,156 rent returns which have been collected for the purpose of the present classification they form 14T per cent. The returns relate to 2,156 dwellings of the following sizes :— One room without kitchen ... 304 = 14T per cent. One room with kitchen ... Two rooms without kitchen Two rooms with kitchen ... Three rooms with kitchen 624 = 186 = 608 = 434 = 29-0 8'6 28-2 201 Predomina?it Rents of Working-class Dwellings. Number of Rooms per Tenement. Predominant Weekly Rent. One room Two rooms Three rooms Four rooms Is. 5d. to 2s. 4cl. 2s. 9cl. „ 3s. 8c/. 4s. 2d. „ 6s 0d. 6s. OcZ. „ 9s. 3c/. The rent includes, as a rule, the charge for water and the cost of refuse removal and chimney sweeping. Kent is high in Mannheim, the index number being 64, as compared with 100 for Berlin. The local taxes to which the working classes of Mannheim, as of Baden towns generally, are subject are a municipal income tax, based on the State income tax, and a church tax, which in the case of mixed marriages must be paid in moieties to both churches. The water rate is a separate charge, and is generally levied by the landlord in the rent. The State income tax falls on all incomes of £45 and above (before 1904 the exemption limit was £25), but the municipality assesses lower incomes at the uniform figure of £5, since the municipal franchise is based on the payment of local taxes. Incomes of £45 and above are taxed on a reduced assessment—£45 on £l0, £50 on £12 10a., £55 on £15, £60 on £17 10a., £65 on £20, £70 on £22 10a., £75 on £25, £80 on £27 10a., &c.— and the State income tax is 2a. 4'8<Z. per £5 (2-40 marks per 100 marks) of assessed income up to £10, and 3a. per £5 on assessed income from £12 10a. to £1,250. The effect is as follows :— Income Group. State Assessment. £15 £50 £55 £60 £65 £70 £75 £80 £ a. 10 0 12 10 15 0 17 10 20 0 22 10 25 0 27 10 State Income Tax. S. d. 4 10 7 6 9 0 10 6 12 0 13 6 15 0 16 6 MANNHEIM. 341 For local purposes incomes from £5 to £45 are assessed at £5, and above £45 the State assessment is taken, while the lax is variable from year to year ; in 1905 it was about half the State tax. The church tax is a percentage of the income tax, so far as the working classes are concerned, though persons who pay other local taxes—the land, house, or occupation taxes—pay a percentage on these as well. The Jews likewise pay a synagogue tax, levied in the same way. There is a certain inequality in the actual incidence of the income tax, inasmuch as small incomes are not always declared but may be assessed, but its operation may be illustrated by representative cases noted in the course of house visitation :— Occupation of Taxpayer. Annual Income. Fitter ... Moulder Plasterer Carpenter Glazier... Fitter .. Day Labourer Gas work er Stoker ... Lumberman Artisan Day Labourer £ s. d. 124 16 0 101 8 0 88 8 0 85 16 0 78 0 0 74 4 0 70 4 0 67 12 0 65 0 0 62 8 0 62 8 0 54 12 0 State Income Tax. S. d. 29 6 15 0 12 0 10 6 12 0 7 6 12 0 11 11 12 0 10 6 7 6 4 94 Local Income Tax. S. d. 14 4 7 6i 6 6 5 2 5 11 3 84 5 3 5 11 6 0 5 0 3 1 2 11 Church Tax. Total Taxes. S. d. 3 n 1 9 0 11 1 3 0 8& 0 10 1 o* 1 5 1 5 0 10 s. d. 47 5& 24 34 19 5 16 11 18 7& 12 0& 18 3& 19 3 19 5 16 4 11 54 7 84 Monthly tenancy is the rule, though rent is often paid fortnightly. Formal printed contracts of tenancy are customary, especially where house property is managed by agents for its owners. In these contracts the landlord usually reserves the right to give immediate notice, without waiting for the fortnightly term day, when a tenant is in arrear with the rent, even to the extent of three days, should there be reason to believe that his furniture is not free from debt and so cannot be pledged as surety for the rent, and when the value of his chattels is not sufficient to cover two instalments of the rent. The right to sublet can only be exercised subject to the landlord’s sanction, and some contracts prohibit ­ the taking of lodgers. A good deal of the working-class property is in the hands of large owners, for the most part builders in practice or retired, though many private investors have sought this outlet for their capital, and the number of small house owners is considerable. The dwellings mostly built and mostly in demand at the present time are those of two or three rooms with kitchen. During the past three years new tenements have been provided as follows :— 1903 1904 1905 Total, 1903-5 Percentage 1903-5 t 1905 One room (with kitchen). Two rooms (with kitchen). 92 93 63 248 76 421 396 433 1,250 38-1 35 7 Three rooms (with kitchen). 276 252 436 964 29-5 36-0 Four rooms (with kitchen). 106 130 172 408 12-5 14-2 More than four rooms (with kitchen). 141 152 108 401 12 3 8-9. Total. 1,036 1,023 1,212 3,271 100-0 1000 342 MANNHEIM. Of tlie 714 new dwellings provided in six working-class districts in 1905, 7'6 per cent, contained one room with kitchen, 44 6 per cent, two rooms with kitchen, 34 - 9 per cent, three rooms with kitchen, and 12 - 9 per cent, four rooms or more with kitchen. The tendency is more and more to erect houses as large as the building by-laws allow ; for these give the best return ; small houses do not pay save in the suburban districts, where land is less dear. The result of several investigations made between 1887 and 1889 into housing conditions in the older and industrial quarters of the town by the State District Administration (Bezirksamt), which exercises the police authority in Mannheim, was the introduction of a systematic and periodical inspection of dwellings. The organ of management is the Housing Committee, which is composed of permanent officials of the District Administration, the District Medical Officer of Health, members of the Municipal Executive, Poor-Law Doctors, Poor-Law Guardians, and others. The inspectors are known as " House Controllers/’ and they are trained men with all necessary technical knowledge of building, and thoroughly acquainted with the laws and local regulations bearing on housing and sanitation. The town is divided into districts, and for the good order of the houses in his district a "controller ” is responsible. Four grounds of complaint are recognised. (1) A dwelling is held to be “ crowded ” when it does not afford to every person inhabiting it, whether adult or child, a space of 686 cubic feet on the whole, and in bedrooms at least 343 cubic feet. (2) Rooms are held to be “unhealthy” which are damp, too low, un cellared, which lie below the level of the courtyard or the street, which have no direct light, which are not heatable., or are connected with buildings in which animals are kept or objectionable materials stored, which have no vertical windows or have a “ light surface ” less than one-tenth of the floor surface. Moreover, workrooms may not be used for sleeping purposes, and the absence of a water-closet to each story is also a ground of complaint. (3) Rooms are held to be “ unsafe ” when they lie above the attic story proper, when they are connected with industries liable to fire, and when the entrance is insufficient. (4) Finally, moral grounds of complaint are held to exist when the size and domestic arrangements of a dwelling do not admit of persons of different sex above 12 years of age sleeping in separate rooms, or when rooms approached through other bedrooms are let to lodgers or are allotted to servants. The regulations which underlie the system of house inspection are applied with varying degrees of stringency according to circumstances, but in general admonition and pressure go hand-in-hand. Thus where crowding is detected the householder receives a form to the following effect :— “The dwelling inhabited by you at the present time is too small for your family. We have therefore served upon the landlord the injunction that from (date) forward, it can only be inhabited by persons. For you a dwelling which meets the following minimum requirements is necessary in your own interest and in the interest of your family’s health, as well as for moral considerations,” (here follow the regulations as to dimensions of rooms, separation of the sexes, &c.). Only when warning is flatly disregarded are coercive measures taken, but reasonable allowance is always made for the pecuniary circumstances of families found to be living amid undesirable conditions. The municipality has not yet done much, nor as much as it intends, towards relieving the housing difficulty by the employment of public funds in the erection of cheap dwellings. Public help is offered, however, both to (1) societies and private persons desirous of erecting houses on “ public utility” lines, i.e., as a work of social benefit, the element of gain being entirely eliminated, and to (2) companies, private persons, &c., building for gain, subject to certain conditions. In the former case the town either leases land and foregoes ­ the costs of street construction, but requires the payment of ground rent, while restricting the owners to such a return as merely covers interest, cost of repairs, rates and taxes ; or it leases land and constructs the streets and either reduces or cancels the ground rent, but in this case the town must sanction the rents and it reserves the right to acquire the property after 50 years at the original cost, less allowance for depreciation at the rate of per cent, per annum. The tenements here contemplated are tenements of two and three rooms with kitchen, and weekly or fortnightly tenancy is encouraged. Where, in the second MANNHEIM. 343 case, companies and private persons build for gain the town sells the land outright but constructs the streets, stipulating that the dwellings shall not be altered in character and requiring sureties that the conditions of the subsidy shall be duly complied with. As yet this scheme cannot be said to have realised the hopes which were built upon it. Only one building society and several private persons have taken advantage of the town’s offer. The municipal authority has not been more successful in its efforts to call into being a society with ample resources for the purpose of undertaking building operations on a large scale on “ public utility ” lines. Meantime, the policy of the Mayor and Municipal Executive on the housing question is expressed in the following principle, which was laid down by them many years ago :— “ The town should gradually provide according to its financial power dwellings for its permanent workpeople and lower employees, and should act on the rule of not executing any large undertaking without at the same time providing for the erection of dwellings for all or a part of the servants and workpeople therein to be employed.” On two occasions the town has put this principle into practice. When in 1896 the “ Public Utility ” Building Society already mentioned liquidated, the town bought its house property in the Kleinfeld district for £9,000, and after spending nearly £1,000 more on repairs it let the dwellings to municipal workpeople, ­ so far as these wished to become tenants, and has done so ever since. There are now 58 dwellings of two or three rooms with kitchen, and the rent varies from 12s. to 28s. per month. The property is to a large extent of an inferior kind and unsuited to modern requirements, nor is it in high repute amongst house-seekers. In 1900 the municipality built four blocks of dwellings for its employees at the Public Abattoir. These dwellings consist likewise of two and three rooms with kitchen, corridor, and part of cellar and attic, with use of common wash-houses. Each block contains six dwellings, two on a floor, and the rents range from los. to 20s, per month for two-room tenements, and from 17s. to 25s. for three-room tenements. Many of these rents, however, are much below the market price and must in part be regarded as payment in kind. As an investment the project cannot be regarded as a financial success. The total cost of the property was £8,850 and the cost of upkeep is about £80 a year, while the gross rentals yield £278, which represents a return upon capital of about 2J per cent. In 1895 a second building society, known as the Savings and Building Association, entered the field of housing reform, but its work has so far been restricted to the erection of five blocks of houses in different parts of the town, containing altogether 49 dwellings. Of these dwellings three now consist of one room and a kitchen, 26 of two rooms and a kitchen, and 20 of three rooms and a kitchen, with share of cellar and attic in most cases. The single room dwellings are let at 15s., 16s., and 19s. per month, the two room dwellings at from 18s. to 27s., and the three-room dwellings at from 23s. to 35s., with water rate and sewerage due extra. The dividend paid to the members of the Association is 3^ per cent. The fact that much of Mannheim’s industry and most of its large factories lie on the periphery of the town has necessitated the erection by employers of workmen’s dwellings on a large scale. The oldest of such dwellings are those of the Plate Glass Manufactory at Waldhof, a branch of a large French undertaking ­ which has been established at Mannheim since the middle of the 19th century. The factory and its dependent colony of single and double-family houses constitute a distinct French settlement ; and the streets and terraces still bear French names. The housing arrangements are hardly in keeping with modern requirements, but the colonists live under the easiest possible conditions of tenure, and dwellings pass from father to son by natural succession. There are over 300 tenements, of two, three, and four rooms and kitchen, each with garden, stall, and cellar, and no direct rent is charged, though the rentable value is assessed by the State for purposes of taxation at £6 per house per annum and the market value is probably much greater. The paper-pulp and jute factories and several of the engineering works in the Waldhof district have also built houses for a portion of their workpeople, the rents, where charged, being considerably below those usual in the town for tenements of equaf size. Garden ground is generally attached to the dwellings or is available in the immediate neighbourhood. Several of these works also 344 MANNHEIM. provide dormitories for single and for foreign workmen. At the other side of the town, in the Rheinau and Neckarau suburbs, houses have been built of late years in considerable numbers by the chemical and rubber works. Here even more than at Waldhof the paucity of private dwellings and the relatively high rents of those which existed induced, and in some cases compelled, the employers to incur large expenditure in this way. The rest of the Rheinau and Neckarau workpeople live in the villages out in the open country and to a smaller extent in the town. Even in the villages rents often run as high as 80s. a month (equal to 7 s. a week) for two or three rooms and a kitchen. One large Neckarau firm encourages its workpeople to acquire their own dwellings by advancing money without interest to the amount of £50 ; the rest they are expected to save. Of nearly 1,000 married men employed by this firm 16 per cent, own their own dwellings. These employers seldom look for a profitable return upon their building enterprises in the form of interest—one of the largest of them only receives If per cent, and is satisfied with that—but the collateral advantage of having near at hand a body of workpeople who are not so ready (perhaps, also, not so able) to change their employment as are the unattached workers resident in the town, is held to outweigh the monetary loss. The Administration of the Baden State Railways also provides a considerable number of its employees with dwellings ; the smaller officials as a rule live rent free, while workmen are expected to pay about 4&. a week. Altogether more than a thousand working-class households, representing five times that number of individuals, live in dwellings provided by private employers at a cost much less than ordinary tenancy would entail. Across the river at Ludwigshafen the Baden Aniline and Soda Company has likewise a considerable colony of working-men’s houses. For many years—indeed, ever since Mannheim began to rank with the great industrial towns—the lodger question has proved one of the most difficult factors in the housing problem, and has continuously engaged the attention of the authorities. Where a working-class household inhabits a tenement of two rooms and a kitchen, it is a very common practice to let one of the rooms having a separate entrance from the landing to either one or two lodgers. The amount paid varies according to the district and the character of the accommodation. From 3s. to 4g. a week for bed and morning coffee is a usual price where a room is let to two persons ; a lower figure denotes an inferior household, while as much as 6s. and 7s. 6d. is charged when the lodger has the sole use of a room. The usual price for lodging and full board, which is an exceptional arrangement, ­ is 10s. 6d. to 15s. per week. There is, however, a large class of poorly paid workpeople—outdoor labourers and others, many of them Italians—who are content with very simple and inexpensive housing. They congregate in tenements ­ which correspond somewhat to the “ model lodging-houses ” of English towns, and, like them, need to be duly registered ; they pay 2s. a week for a bed, sleep four or more in a room according to its dimensions, and cook their own food, which they bring home every day, on the common stove. Under the regulations of November 10, 1904, now in force, stringent control of lodging-houses is exercised by the Police Authority acting through the Bezirksamt. No person can let rooms for payment without first obtaining police sanction. On application for permission being made, the tenement is visited by “ controllers,” with a view to learning whether the rooms intended for lodgers comply with the regulations. The first requirement—and this is a peculiar merit of the Mannheim lodging regulations—is that the letting of a room to lodgers shall leave the members of the family themselves all the accommodation called for by considerations of health and morality, and where this condition is not complied with, sanction is at once refused. In particular, it is required that the number of rooms left over—the kitchen disregarded—shall allow of the separation of the sexes and of each member of the family above 12 years of age sleeping alone, though two children under 12 years may use one bed. The result of this regulation is that only in rare cases can more than one room be set apart for lodgers, and to that extent lodger-keeping as a systematic profession is discouraged. ­ As to the lodgers themselves, it is required that they shall sleep apart from the rest of the household, save in cases specially sanctioned by the police authority ; no room may be let to lodgers which can only be approached MANNHEIM 345 through other bed or living-rooms, or the kitchen ; lodgers of both sexes (except married people or parents and children under 10 years) may not be taken in the same dwelling ; a room so used must afford each person sleeping in it a superficial surface of 4f square yards, and an air space of at least 343 cubic feet. Bedrooms must be lockable from within, and in the case of female lodgers, there must be a bolt as well ; and each lodger must have a separate bed, separate washing and drinking vessels, towel, and chair. When a room in which it is desired to take lodgers has been approved by the police, the tenant receives a “ bedroom certificate,” stating how many lodgers may be received, and this number may not be exceeded. He must also report to the police when the lodger or lodgers arrive, and also on every change. The “ bedroom certificate ­ ” must be exhibited in the room to which it refers. The effect of these regulations has been to counteract some of the evils which had become associated with the lodging-house system prior to the introduction of proper measures of supervision. Retail Prices. Groceries and other Commodities. The Mannheim workman has very extensive facilities for supplying his domestic needs to advantage. There are in the town some 540 grocery and food shops ; 45 other shops of the kind known as “ delicacy ” shops, in which are sold such comestibles as prepared meats, dried and preserved fruits, smoked meats and fish, honey, foreign cheeses, &c. ; a large trade is done by house to house dealers ; wholesale provision stores of the English "multiple” type have branches in all parts of the town ; and a co-operative society trades during its own fixed hours in nine several shops. There is a great amount of credit trading, a characteristic of the Mannheim housewife which is doubtless related to the custom of fortnightly wages settlements, but as the workman receives a payment on account in the interval his score is generally reduced if not liquidated when Saturday comes round. The qualities of coffee most bought are those at 11 d. and Is. Id. per lb. The sugar bought by working-class households is exclusively beet sugar, produced in Baden or Bavarian factories from beet usually grown in the neighbourhood of the works. The price of cube sugar in October, 1905, was 2\d. and 2\d. per lb. and of granulated sugar slightly less. Farm produce is sold not only in the ordinary provision shops but in special “land produce” shops (Landesprodu/cte-läden), which confine themselves to butter, cheese, milk and honey. There is a considerable sale of margarine or its German representatives (Palmin, Kokos, &c.), and pork dripping is also a popular substitute for butter. The cheeses mostly eaten are Bavarian " Limburg,” costing in October, 1905, 5¿¿/. per lb., Swiss cheese, which is the genuine product, costing Is. Id. to Is. 3^&, and a small so-called “hand cheese” made in the neighbourhood as well as in the Bavarian Palatinate across the Rhine. The sale of milk is stringently regulated by the municipal authorities, who have taken this commodity into their special care in the interest of infant health and life. The price in October, 1905, was 2fd. and M. per quart. The bread supply of the town is in the hands of some 260 bakers, in addition to the co-operative society, though some of the surrounding villages send into Mannheim a considerable quantity of “land” or country bread, which is highly esteemed. The bakers are united in a Guild, which fixes the price according to the price of flour, while the police authority exercises control over the weight and quality of the loaves sold. There are three staple kinds of bread—a “white” bread, consisting of two-thirds rye and one-third wheat, baked in long round loaves, in weight from one to 4 lb. German, and costing as a rule 6d. per 4 lb. English ; “grey” bread, similarly proportioned as to rye and wheat, though of inferior quality, equal in weight, and costing 5\d. per 4 lb. English ; and “black” bread, known also as “ Pfalz Kornbrod ” (Palatinate rye bread), a coarser kind costing M. per 4 lb. English. The first kind of bread is mostly eaten by the middle class, the second by the working classes. For the Italian labourers a special wheaten bread is made by some bakers. Coal is as a rule bought in small quantities day by day. The standard measure is the “Eimer,” holding about one-seventh of a hundredweight and 2 X 29088 846 MANNHEIM. costing nearly 2^d., which works out at Is. 4fd. per cwt. or 28s. per ton. Less usually a large “ Eimer ” of coal, containing a quarter of a hundredweight, is sold at a proportionate price. Many working-class families, however, obtain their coal supplies in larger quantities and at a cheaper rate from the factories at which the bread winners are employed ; here the cost is only Is. or Is. Id. per cwt. and the value of the quantity supplied is deducted from the wages at every settlement. Coke is used to a smaller extent and is obtained from the municipal gas works. Another fuel must be named which is peculiar to Mannheim working-class households, viz., the shavings and saw-dust which accumulate at the large timberyards. Sacks of this refuse are sold at the rate of 1 \d. each, and in many of the poorer homes no other fuel ever enters the stoves save in the cold seasons of the year. The paraffin oil mostly used is American costing KM per gallon. The co-operative movement has made considerable progress in Mannheim since its introduction a few years ago, and between the " stores ” of the working classes and the private businesses keen rivalry exists. Of the 3,500 members of the co-operative society, over 30 per cent, belong to the metal trades. The following Table summarises the prices of groceries, &c., in October, 1905, and also gives comparative prices at the time of the investigator’s visit in August, 1906. Milk and bacon were slightly higher at the later date, but other prices showed no sensible change. Predominant Priées paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and August, 1906. Commodity. Coffee Sugar :— Loaf ... . « White Granulated Bacon :— Fat Streaky ... Eggs Cheese :— Limburg ... Swiss Butter Margarine ... “Palmin” ... “Kokos” Potatoes Flour, Wheaten Bread :— Grey Black Milk ... Coal ... Coke ... Paraffin Oil per lb. per Is. per lb. per 7 lb. per 4 lb. per quart per cwt. per gallon Predominant Price. October, 1905. 11 d. to Is. Id. 2hd., 2|d. ~2&d. 8§d. to 91d. 9^d. 13 5 \d. Is. Id. to Is. 3fd. Is. 3Id. Id. to 8fd. Id. Id. 3d. Is. lfd. h\d. 5d. 2§d., 3d. Is. 4fd. Is. 3%d. to Is. 4|d. " lOd. August, 1906. lid. to Is. Id. 2# 2\d. 9|d. 9|d. to lid. 13 5 \d. Is Id. to Is. 3£d. Is. 3\d. 7d. to 8|d. 7 d. Id. 3d. Is. lfd 5 hd. 5d. 3d. Is. 4|d. Is. 3\d. to Is 4|d. lOd. Meat. A large proportion of the meat supply of Mannheim comes from the Grand Duchy of Baden. Wurtemberg is next in importance, particularly as concerns beef ; Bavaria also sends a good deal of beef ; while the pork comes chiefly from Mecklenburg, Hanover, Schleswig Holstein, Pomerania, and Baden. The mutton comes for the most part from the neighbourhood, but the consumption is not large. Of foreign countries only Austria is of importance, and that in respect of beef. During the last few years the meat consumption of the town, as estimated from the returns of the municipal slaughter-house, has steadily decreased both quantitatively and qualitatively. In 1902 the daily consumption of fresh meat was 0'363 lb. per head, in 1903 0*372 lb., in 1904 0*374 lb., and in 1905, 0*350 lb. ; but in 1901 it was 0*389 lb., in 1900 0*409 lb., and MANNHEIM. 347 in 1899 0*374 lb. The consumption per head for the year was in 1905 127*7 lb. against 136*5 lb. in 1904, 135*7 lb. in 1903, and 132*5 lb. in 1902. Returns obtained for this report from 132 working-class households, representing 623 persons, gave a consumption of 26 oz. a week, or about 84J lb. a year per head. Of this amount 37 per cent, was sausage, 36 per cent, beef, 20 per cent, pork and bacon. Mutton was less than 1 per cent. The lessened consumption of meat has been accompanied by a deterioration ­ in quality, for the demand for the better and dearer kinds of meat has decreased in favour of those held in smaller esteem. Thus in 1905 the consumption of ox and bullock beef and pork,which represent the highest grades of meat, decreased 10*9 and 12*9 per cent, respectively as compared with 1904, while that of mutton increased 10 per cent., that of cow beef increased 33*4 per cent., that of goat’s and kid’s flesh 37 per cent., and that of horseflesh 50*6 per cent. In absolute figures the consumption of mutton increased by 140 cwts., that of cow beef by 41,600 cwts., that of goat’s flesh by 88 cwts., and that of horseflesh by 860 cwts. In their report for 1905 the Baden Factory Inspectors state :—“How far-going has been the influence of the dearness of meat on the standard of life of large sections of the population may be judged from the fact that several large corn mills and one large food factory have sought and obtained permission to work on Sunday and to employ female employees in overtime. The reason given by the firms for the request was that the demand for flour and other substitutes for meat had increased so suddenly and so greatly that in spite of every exertion the orders received could not be executed in the normal work time.” The price of beef in October, 1905, ranged from 8\d. to 9%d. per lb., except steak, which is only bought by comparatively ­ well-to-do households and cost from *ò\d. to Is. 4^d. per lb. The predominant price of mutton was 8^. per lb., rising to 9¿t/., with \\d. for chops. The usual price of pork was from 8ft/, to 9|d. Veal cost from 8|c¿. to 9fd. per lb. except for the choicest cuts, which cost from Is. W. to Is. 3d. In connexion with the public abattoir what is known as “ Freibank ” meat is sold at low prices several times a week. This is meat which, though not bad enough for condemnation, is so inferior that the inspectors cannot pass it for sale in the open market. Such meat is, therefore, exposed on the “ Freibank ” (literally “ free bench ”) and is sold under the direct supervision of the market officials at prices fixed by them, the usual figures being 3^ /. and 4\d. per lb. The meat is only sold in quantities not exceeding 4*4 lb. to private persons ; dealers and victuallers are expressly forbidden to buy. In 1905 about 0*75 per cent, of the total meat consumption reached the public by way of the “ Freibank.” There is a great demand for this inferior meat. The evening before a sale is to be held announcement is made in the local newspapers, and next morning the precincts of the abattoir are crowded long before seven o’clock, the hour of opening. It is not unusual for a group of 100 to 150 persons, mostly housewives, to be assembled as early as five o’clock. They stand patiently in queue, and when the door is opened they are admitted at once ; the supply of cheap meat is generally exhausted long before the line of waiters outside have all been served. There is an increasing trade in horseflesh, and the limitation of the supply alone conditions the demand. It is not only sold in several butchers’ shops which exist solely for the purpose, but it is offered in the public markets, nor are working people the sole buyers. The price of the cheapest cuts, with bone, is 2fd. and 3\d. per lb., and without bone 4\d., while fillet costs 5^d. and smoked flesh the same. Small horseflesh sausages are sold at about \d. each, and a better sausage is sold at 4\d. per lb. In winter the horse butchers are seldom able to cover their demand for animals at once cheap and serviceable, for it is in the cold months that the “ keeping ” kinds of horseflesh sausage are made. The price paid for horses varies according to size and condition from €2 to ¿9. Of the town’s meat consumption in 1905,1*3 per cent, was horseflesh, a larger proportion than ever before. The following table summarises the predominant prices paid by the. working classes for beef, mutton, veal, and pork in October, 1905, and August, 1906. At the later date all meat prices were markedly higher than in 1905. Beef had risen by about \d. per lb., veal by about Id., and pork by 1 \d. 2X2 22088 348 MANNHEIM. Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and August, 1906. Description of Cut. Predominant price per lb. October, 1905. August, 1906. Beef :— Bib ... ... Silverside Shin ) with bone ( without bone Steak Flank Mutton :— Leg Shoulder Breast Neck Chops (trimmed) Veal :— Hindquarter with bone Shoulder Loin Shin Pork :— Fore Loin Belly Spare Rib Chops i without bo 8¿d 8fd 8fd 9# 9#d to Is. 4id 8fd 8fd 8fd to 9fd 8fd 8fd to 9fd 8fd to 11 d 8^d 8# Is. Id. 8fd to 9fd. 8fd. to 9|d. 91 d. 8§d to 9#d 9# 9# 8# 8# 8^d lid. 9|d. to Is. 5id 8|d 8# 8|d. to 9fd 7# 8# 8|d 8fd 9fd lid. 9^d 9# Is. Id. to Is. 3Id. 9# 9fd to lid lid 9#d lid lid Prices at Mannheim, as in South German towns generally, are very high. Taking prices at Berlin as 100, the index number for meat at Mannheim is 110, for other food 108, and for coal 115, the general level of prices as a whole being indicated by 109. The index number for rent and prices combined is the same as for Berlin, viz., 100, a figure which is exceeded by Stuttgart alone of the 33 towns included in the present inquiry. 349 MÜLHAUSEN IN ALSACE. Mülhausen is the second town in size in the Reichsland, as the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine, annexed by Germany in 1871, are called, and is an important centre of the cotton industry. It is emphatically a town of working people. The handicrafts which elsewhere occupy great prominence are here comparatively insignificant ; there is no large leisured class ; industry and, in a secondary degree, the wholesale handling of merchandise are the distinguishing marks of its economic life. The population in 1905 was 94,498. Owing partly to its geographical position, and also to its dependence upon a single industry, Mülhausen’s growth has for a long time been very equable. The movement of population since 1875 has been as follows :— Year of Census. Population. 1875 1880 1885 1890 1895 1900 1905 58,463 63,629 69,759 76,892 82,986 89,118 94,498 Increase. 5,166 6,130 7,133 6,094 6,132 5,380 Increase per cent. 8-8 9-6 10-2 7-9 74 6-0 The birth-rate and the death-rate have declined equally during the past twenty years. The average birth-rate during the period 1881-1885 was 36 per l’OOO of the population, and during the years 1901-1905 it was 28-5, showing a fall of 7 5 per 1,000 ; while the average death-rates at the same periods were 27 3 and 19*8 respectively, showing a decline of 7'5 per 1,000. These rates and the infant mortality rate have been as follows during the five years 1901-1905 :— Year. 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 Birth-rate per 1,000 of Population. 31-8 28-7 27- 6 28- 4 26-0 Death-rate per 1,000 of Population. 19-7 191 201 19- 9 20- 4 Infantile Mortality per 1,000 Births. 181 212 211 205 200 The deaths from tuberculosis in 1905 were equal to 2'74 per 1,000 of the population, comparing with 2'28 in 1904 and 2’0< in 1903. The general aspect of the streets of Mülhausen is unpretentious and in no way suggestive of a large town or in keeping with its industrial impoitance. There are spacious private gardens, still withheld from the builder’s hand, yet little public planting has been done The villa residences in which the well -todo families live form a colony apart, lying beyond the railway and the canal to the South, R quarter from which factories are excluded. 01 the factories some 350 MÜLHAUSEN. are in the centre of the town, in quiet yards in which one occasionally comes across clusters of trees and stretches of green sward, but the larger and newer ones are on the outskirts or outside the octroi boundaries. The general impression which Mülhausen makes municipally, as distinguished ­ from its industrial position, is that of a town of arrested development. ­ The town is unequally governed—in part well, in part indifferently —and there is evidently much leeway to be made up. The paving of the streets hos hardly been taken in hand seriously as yet, and away from the main thoroughfares the conditions of locomotion in bad weather are faulty, and good footways are rare. The drainage arrangements are inadequate, for a proper system of sewering has not been fully carried out, and only the newer houses are supplied with water-closets. The waterworks and electric light and power works which supply the town are in municipal hands, but the gas works and tramways are private undertakings. The town also owns the abattoir, baths and washhouses, a theatre, and a zoological garden, and it conducts a savings bank, an information agency, a house bureau, and a labour registry. Probably it is lack of resources that retards Mülhausen’s municipal development, ­ though another reason is its comparative poverty in communal lands. When the town was incorporated with France in 1798 the citizens disposed of their public lands, fearing that they might be appropriated, and Mülhausen passed naked into French hands. This absence of real estate has been a great evil, for Mülhausen has had to buy dearly as each new need has arisen. The mistake is being rectified, however, for the Town Council has of late years purchased a good deal of land both to use and to hold, £163,000 having been spent in this way since 1902, apart from the cost of land immediately needed for street purposes. The municipal expenditure per head increased between 1894 and 1904 from 18a. 4c/. to £l 18a. 8d. The wages of municipal labourers in every department have been increased,* public works have been systematically taken in hand for the occupation of the unemployed ; while an “old men’s gang” has been formed, into which are drafted outdoor labourers who are unfit for the heaviest work. Further relief in taxation has also been afforded to persons in receipt of small incomes. By the law of Alsace-Lorraine every person receiving 700 marks (£35) yearly in wages, salary, or emoluments is liable to State income tax, and according to the amount of the State tax is the subsidiary income tax levied by the communes for local purposes. Towns which levy octroi are, however, allowed to exempt incomes up to 1,300 marks (£65) from the payment of State income tax and to make the deficit claimable by the Treasury a charge on the octroi dues. Strassburg carries the exemption to 1,000 marks, Mülhausen began with 1,000 marks, but now goes to the maximum figure, and pays the State £3,500 a year in lieu of some 9,500 persons, nearly all working people, who would otherwise have been liable for income tax. One of the most important reforms in municipal administration ­ has been the introduction of a professional paid Mayor, a change which brought Mülhausen into line with German usage. The general level of wages in Mülhausen is not high (though in the smaller industrial towns of Alsace still lower rates are paid) and the machinery of the poor law and the many agencies of philanthropy are, even in normal times, charged with a great and pressing work of relief. The public expenditure on indoor and outdoor relief reported by the Poor Law Administration for the year 1904-5 was £20,414, representing 4s. 4^d. per head of the population, as compared with 3s. Q^d. expended on the same oehalf in Elberfeld, the home of reformed Poor Law Administration, while the number of individual cases of outdoor relief was equal to 11*4 per l,00u of the population, against 7*4 at Elberfeld. In addition to the ordinary forms of relief, soup is distributed every winter to 600 or 700 poor children in the elementary schools, a “ forest school ” is maintained during the summer for the benefit of sickly children, who learn, eat, and sleep in the open air ; and the See infra, “ Kates of Wages.” MÜLHAUSEN. 351 town also subsidises the “holiday colonies,” which offer to some hundreds of children the boon of several weeks of country life every year. The benevolent work carried on by private organizations includes homes for both old and young persons in straitened circumstances. Occupations, Wages, and Hours of Labour. The cotton industry dominates Mülhausen. One of its older streets, indeed, bears the name Manchester Street. The number of spindles in the eight important mills in 1905 was 520,300, the largest mill having alone 143,000, and four others having from 50,000 to 86,000. Eight important weaving mills had in 1905 8,100 looms, and there were several small concerns ; five of the largest had from 900 to 1,880 looms each. In the woollen industry there were 272,800 spindles, distributed amongst six firms, the largest with 115,000, and 1,000 looms. Several years ago it was estimated that of every 1,000 inhabitants 158 were workpeople employed in this industry, a larger proportion than in any other textile town in Geimany. From 50,000 to 60,000 tons of cotton are used yearly, from a quarter to a third being Egyptian, and the rest American and Indian. Mülhausen produces the better classes of goods, and does not endeavour to compete in the cheaper qualities largely made in the Rhenish-Westphalian textile district. It cannot boast of climatic conditions favourable to cotton spinning, and its remote inland position places it at great disadvantage, alike in the cost of fuel and other raw materials and in the matter of transport generally, in spite of the presence of the Rhine-Rhone canal at its very doors. Nevertheless, the enterprise of its manufacturers and merchants, and not less the manual aptitude of its working class, have overcome natural difficulties and given to the town much industrial importance. For the systematic training of the workers, there are special technical schools for weaving and spinning, founded in 1869, for design and draughtsmanship (textile and mechanical), dating from 1829, and for chemistry ; an art-industrial school for girls ; and schools for industrial and commercial education generally, and museums of industrial products. In the promotion of technical instruction the Industrial Society (Société Industrielle), established in 1825, and continued in undiminished efficiency to the present day, has taken a leading part. The society not only founds and maintains technical schools and classes, but encourages invention ­ by the offer of competitive prizes, and watches the interests of industry and commerce in every possible way. Its members represent all branches of local enterprise. The cotton trade has, however, passed through several periods of acute trial, particularly at the beginning of the ’seventies, when Alsace-Lorraine passed from France to Germany. For a time that transition paralysed Mülhausen’s industry. Many employers of labour, refusing to recognise the altered political order, at once withdrew from the town and province and took their capital to France ; and not a few sons of manufacturers attached to the old French connection left the country later rather than serve under the German colours. More important still, the entire conditions of sale were revolutionised. The markets of France were no longer free as of old, while the free markets of Germany were largely unknown, and the requirements of German buyers and merchants, as well as the best methods of distribution, had to be very closely studied before the ground lost in one country could be regained in the other. But the check proved only temporary, and directly the crisis had been passed both the cotton industry and the woollen industry entered upon a new era of prosperity, which has continued to the present day. Another important industry is calico printing, which has been carried on for more than a century, and has enjoyed from the beginning a less fettered development than either spinning or weaving, inasmuch as it did not displace hand labour and to that extent had no prejudice and opposition to contend with. There still live in Mülhausen, at the head of flourishing print works, equipped with every modern improvement, descendants of early calico printers who towards the close of the 18th century were in the habit of making two 352 MÜLHAUSEN. journeys a year to Manchester, travelling on horseback to the nearest French port and similarly forward from Dover, and bringing back “ per axle ” loads of calico to print. The engineering trade is also an old and extensive one, and the largest firm employs several thousands of workpeople. There are several chemical works in the town and neighbourhood, and besides its industries Mülhausen has a large trade in timber, grain, and wine. The classification of the " industrial workpeople ” of the town, engaged in undertakings subject to factory inspection, is shown in the following table, which refers to October 1st, 1905 :— Groups of Trades. Number of Establishments. ­ Number of Workpeople. Males over 16 years. Females over 16 years. Juveniles, 14 to 16 years. Children under 14 years. Total. Building Metal working Machine, implement, and apparatus ­ making. Textile Clothing and cleaning Printing, lithography, bookbinding, ­ &c. Paper .. ... ... ... Woodworking and carving Chemicals ... Resins, varnishes, oil, soap, candles, &c. Stone and earth ... Food, drink, and tobacco... Leather ... ... ... ... Miscellaneous Total 73 35 63 116 24 28 10 29 16 3 15 48 4 14 478 2,030 291 5,226 5,492 59 190 54 216 175 180 161 289 23 520 14,906 6 15 6,902 317 35 40 3 16 1 6 59 7,407 23 47 290 1.346 44 37 16 14 8 3 3 9 30 1,870 2 1 158 7 2 1 1 173 2,053 346 5,532 13,898 427 264 111 234 199 184 170 358 23 557 24,356 From this table it will be seen that the textile trade employed 13,898 of the total of 24,356 workpeople subject to factory inspection, or 57T per cent., while 5,878 workpeople, or 24T per cent., belonged to the metal and machine trades. Of the workpeople enumerated in the foregoing table, 8,462 or 34*7 per cent, were females, and of these 93 per cent, were engaged in the textile trade. Of the workers in the textile trade 60'9 per cent, were females. The great mass of the workpeople are Alsatians. Few of them are from the textile districts of North Germany, and those who come to Mülhausen in search of work seldom remain long, for they do not get on well with the native population, which associates more harmoniously with Germans of the South. A large number of Italians are found in the factories, men who originally came as navvies and outdoor labourers, but have turned to machine work, and show a tolerable aptitude for it. They are not efficient workers at first, but as soon as they master their new language—by which must be understood a local patois—they earn fairly good wages, though they are always distributed amongst the other operatives. In one bleaching works no fewer than 100 Italians are engaged with satisfaction to their employers. One never hears complaint of " driving ” in the textile factories, but on the other hand the employers complain of the Alsatian worker’s too easy-going disposition and unwillingness to exert continued effort. In the cotton factories spinners earn from 27s. to 30s. per week, weavers, both male and female, from 16s. 6d. to 19s. 67. In the woollen trade spinners earn from 28s. 10,7. to 32s. In the printing works printers earn from 28s. to 30s., and their assistants from 15s. to 18s. The wages of labourers in the allied chemical trade range from 27s. to 30s. for skilled men and 18s. to 2L$. for unskilled men, but the predominant rate for the latter is 18s. The following table, courteously supplied by a manufacturing firm of high standing, shows the weekly wages in the cotton industry during the past MÜLHAUSEN. 353 50 years. The daily duration of work was 13 hours in 1855, 1860, and 1865, and 11 hours in 1870 and later years : — Year. Hours of Work Daily. Spinners (Male Adults). Piecers (Male Adults). Rovers (Male Juveniles). Spoolers (Female Adults). Dressers (Male Adults). Weavers (Male Adults).* Weavers (Female Adults). Labourers (Males). 1855 . 1860 . 1865 . 1870 . 1875 . 1880. 1885 . 1890. 1895 . 1900 . 1905 . 13 J3 13 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 s. d. 15 0 16 0 16 0 18 0 19 0 19 0 20 0 24 0 26 0 27 3 30 0 s. d. 11 0 11 6 11 6 12 6 13 0 13 0 14 0 15 0 18 0 18 10 20 9 d. 8 O' 8 0 9 0 9 6 9 6 11 0 13 0 16 0 16 9 18 5 s. d. 6 0 6 6 7 0 8 0 10 0 11 0 11 0 12 0 13 6 14 1 15 6 s. d. 13 0 13 0 14 0 16 0 17 0 18 0 19 0 21 0 24 0 25 2 27 8 s. d. 9 0 9 6 11 0 12 6 14 0 14 6 15 0 17 0 18 0 18 10 20 8 s. d. 7 0 7 6 8 0 9 0 10 0 10 6 11 0 13 0 14 0 14 8 16 1 s. d. 8 0 8 0 8 0 9 6 10 0 12 0 12 0 13 0 14 0 14 8 16 1 * Three-loom weavers began to be numerous from 1898 forward, and four-loom weavers from 1900. Wages in the engineering trade do not compare favourably with those prevailing in the North of Germany, and the trade union officials maintain that nowhere in the wdioie country are they so low as in Alsace, and especially in the small towns, where mechanics earn as little as 16s. and 17s. per week. In Mülhausen the range for skilled men is from 19s. 2d. to 80s. in exceptional cases, while unskilled labourers earn from 17s. to 18s. 6d. It has been possible to obtain from an engineering firm of repute partial rates for this trade also, going back many years, and though they do not afford a basis for any comprehensive comparison they nevertheless illustrate in a striking manner the movement of wages and hours in important branches of the trade. For example, the wages of locomotive fitters in 1862 were 2s. 11 d. per day, and the hours of labour were 71 weekly, figures which in the same works compare with 4s. 2d. and 59| hours to-day. Foremen on locomotive building received in 1862 5s. 7d. per day, where the rate is now 9s. 2d. In 1867 the average daily wage for the whole of the works concerned was 2s. 5d., the number of hours weekly being still 71 ; in 1870 the average, similarly reckoned, was 2s. 6if. per day ; in 1875 the average was 3s., the number of hours being 65 weekly ; in 1880 the average was 3s., the hours being 63 ; in 1885 the average was 2s. 1 Id., the hours being as before ; and in 1890 the average was the same. Further, the wages of turners have increased since 1877 from 2s. 9d. to 3s. 10d. per day ; the wages of fitters from 3s. Id. to 4s. 1 if., and the wages of labourers from 2s. 6d. to 3s. I if. per day. The following comparison of average daily wages covers a period of 10 years :— Occupation. Fitters Turners Smiths Pattern-makers Labourers 1895. s. d. 3 5 3 10 3 10 3 11 2 10 1900. s. d. 3 5 3 10 3 8 3 7 2 10 1905. s. d. 4 1 3 10 3 11 3 11 3 1 Wages in the building trade are fixed by agreement with every individual employer, as general “tariffs” do not exist, The range is from 21s. Id, to 33s. 7if., though most rates fall within the range 24s. to 25s., while masons’ labourers eariT 18s. to 21s. In the municipal service bricklayers and masons receive 27s., stone-cutters 36s., carpenters and joiners 25s. 2d., painters 27s., and labourers 19s. 2d. It is usual for a contractor to take in hand all the works in the construction of buildings, save painting, plumbing, and stucco work, which he sublets. • 2 Y 29088 354 MÜLHAUSEN. In general the hours of labour vary between 9J and 11 per day. In the cotton and woollen mills 10^ and 11 are the rule, # work beginning at 6 a.m. and ending at 6 p.m., with an interval of an hour or an hour and a half at noon, and sometimes short pauses for breakfast and afternoon coffee. Several of the factories, however, close at 5 p.m. on Saturday. In the print and dyeing works the hours are 94 and 104-, and in the chemical and engineering works 10 and 10?. Wages are paid fortnightly, a week after the making up of the books, save in the engineering trade, where they are paid monthly, though fortnightly “ subs,” covering as far as possible the work done, may be claimed. There is a movement ­ amongst the workers in this trade favourable to the payment of wages weekly. In the textile works the usual notice is 14 days, though one large firm dispenses with notice altogether, and another purposes to do so, since it “ affords no protection whatever to the employers ; if the workpeople want to go they go, whether they act illegally or not.” In the engineering works both systems are in vogue, but the largest concern still adheres to 14 days’ notice on either side. Some of the factories observe a long list of festivals, embracing, besides those universally recognised by the calendar of the Protestant Church (Good Friday, Easter Monday, Whit Monday, and Christmas-day), Hew Year’s day, Ascension-day, Ascension of the Virgin; All Saints, Shrove Monday, and in addition the first Monday of a local wake known as “ Kilbe.” Wages and Hours of Labour in the Principal Occupations, October, 1905. Weekly Wages Weekly Hours of Labour. Building Trades^ :— Bricklayers and Masons Stonemasons Carpenters Joiners and Cabinetmakers Painters ... Glaziers ... Bricklayers’ and Masons’ labourers . Engineering Trades :— Fitters ... Turners ... Smiths ... Pattern-makers... Labourers Boilersmiths Boilersmiths’ labourers Textile Trades :— Cotton Mills :— Spinners... Piecers ... Carders ... ... ... ... ... Blowing-room hands ... Weavers ... Labourers Woollen Mills :— Spinners... Piecers ... Wool sorters Wool washers ... ... ;.. Bleachers Labourers Printing, Finishing, and Dyeing Works Printers ... Printers’ assistants Bleachers Dyers and Finishers 21s. Id. to 25s. 2d. 30s. 3d. 24s. to 24s. Id. 24s. „ 24s. Id. 24s. 24s. Id. 18s. to 21s. 19s. to 24s. 20s. 6(7. to 23s. 23s. 6(7. „ 25s. 23s. to 24s. 17s. to 18s 6<7. 23s. 6í?. 20s, 6c7. 27s. to 30s. 18s. 2(7. to 20s. 16s. 6(7. „ 21s. 15s. to 18s. 16s. 6(7. to 19s. 6(7. 15s. „ 18s. 28s. 10(7. to 32s. 18s. to 21s. 21s. „ 30s. 15s. 7(7. , 7 19s. 2(7. 15s. „ 18s. 15s. 7(7. to 19s 10(7. 28s. to 30s. 14s. „ 18s. 15s. „ 18s. 15s. „ 19s. 60 54 60 60 60 60 60 60 to 63 60 „ 63 60 »63 60.. 63 60., 63 61 61 66 66 66 66 66 66 61 61 61 61 584 to 63 "61 584 to 63 58^,, 63 584 „ 63 58&,, 63 * In 1907 thS maximum number of hours per day was 10. f The wages and hours of labour stated for the building trades are for a full week in summer. MÜLHAUSEN. 355 Printing Trades :— Compositors, Machine minders, and Pressmen Bookbinders Other Trades :— Chemical workers, skilled „ „ unskilled.. Bakers, 1st hands » 2nd „ Carters Weekly Wages. 23a. 27a. to 30s. 18s. 20s. 6d. to 25s. 6c?. t ' 18s. 6c/.f 18s. to 24s. Weekly Ht urs of Labour. 54 54 60 to 63 60 "63 84 84 61 * Agreement rate, but in practice 27s. is usually earned, t Including 10s. as equivalent of board and lodging. From the above figures it is seen that wages at Mülhausen are very low. Representing wages at Berlin by 100, the index numbers for Mülhausen are— for the building trades, 69 for skilled men and 76 for labourers ; for the engineering trades, 67 for skilled men and 81 for labourers ; and for the printing trades, 80. The majority rates of wages for workmen engaged in the municipal services were as follows at the same date :— Street Department (Municipal) Paviors ... Pavior’s assistants Road makers Road sweepers Carmen ... Water Works (Municipal) :— Labourers Electrical Works (Municipal) Engine man Stokers ... litters and installers ... Labourers Gas Works (Private) :— Stokers ... Labourers Electric Tramway (Private) :— Drivers ... Conductors Weekly Wages. 35s. 20s. 18s. 18s. to 25s. 21s. ,, 29s. 20s. ,, 23s. 28s. 26s. 28s. to 37s. 22s. 26s. Id. 18s. 24s. 6(7. 23s. Id. Weekly Hours of Labour. 57 57 57 57 57 57 74 78 69 67 84 60 734 73& The wages of day labour employed in the service of the town have greatly increased during the past several years, and this increase has not been without influence on the wages paid by private employers for similar labour. Where in 1902 the town paid 2s. 8d. per day of 9|> hours, it paid in 1903 for the same labour and hours 3s. 1§&, and in 1904 4s. 0\d. The large gang of outdoor labourers employed during winter similarly received in 1904 3s. 4J(/. per day against 2s. 8d. in 1902. For permanent unskilled labourers in municipal employment a schedule of wages has been drawn up, according to which labourers of the first class receive from 18s. to 25s. per week and labourers of the second class from 16s. to 21s. in the following gradations : Years of Service. 2-4. First-class men Second-class men s. 18 16 s. 20 17 5-7. 8-10. S. 21 18 s. 23 19 11-13. Over 13. S. 24 20 s. 25 21 29088 2 Y 2 356 MÜLHAUSEN. # Various privileges are also secured to permanent labourers in the public service. They may only be dismissed after a month’s notice, and if they have been employed for ten years, only by the express consent of the Mayor ; they receive half their wages during eight weeks of military service as reservists ; they ma y, by permission, attend elections, courts of law, funerals, and other urgent functions without loss of pay ; they are given from six to twelve days’ holiday a year ; when they complete 25 years of service they become entitled to a gift of £o and a fortnight’s holiday with wages paid ; and a pension begins to mature for them after 20 years of service, increasing with every additional year to a maximum of three-quarters of the ordinary wages, with a minimum of £12 10s., while undér certain conditions pensions are secured to widows and orphans. Organisation is not strong among the Mülhausen working classes. There are societies of textile workers, both of the “ Free ” (z’.e., Social Democratic) and Christian ” types, and also of metal workers, and the first of these at any rate claims a large membership, yet the practical efficacy of the local Trade Unionism appears to be very limited. It is noteworthy also that the hostility of employers to labour organisation is here more marked than usual, though with important exceptions, and an inquirer frequently meets with the remark that “ only the inferior workmen are organised : the better ones prefer to keep aloof.” It is certainly significant that, as already stated, the wages agreement, which is so important a feature in industrial relationships in other parts of the country, has not as yet secured an entrance into Mülhausen, even in the building trades, which in most large towns are entirely regulated by collective arrangements of the kind. In this connexion much voluntary action having for its object the welfare of the working class should not pass unnoticed. Apart from the insurance funds which exist by law, some of the larger firms maintain private relief funds of various kinds for the benefit of their employees or their families.. The factory savings bank is also a popular institution where introduced. One firm has established a system of bonuses for good conduct, and assists its employees to take out life insurance policies. The kitchen, refectory, and bath are also useful adjuncts to some of the more modern factories and are held in great esteem. There is very little systematic home industry at Mülhausen, though machine sewing and knitting and the sifting of horse-hair and hemp for mattresses and packing give employment to many women. Faggot cutting in the street is another of the functions that falls to women ; they are also employed in sweeping the streets in the early hours of the morning, working from four to seven o’clock at the rate of 10¿. for the three hours’ shift. In the textile factories a large number of married women are employed, and in general it may be said that where household duties do not impose insuperable difficulty the wives and mothers of the poorer class contribute an important share of the resources of the household. No statistics exist on the subject of married women’s labour in factories and workshops, but of 8,462 female workers subject to factory inspection in October, 1905, 5,114 or 60*4 per cent, were over 21 years of age. Housing and Rents. The streets of Mülhausen still lack in great measure the characteristics of a large modern town. In the matter of house building Mülhausen has moved slowly, certainly far more slowly than the sciences of public health, with the result that the house problem is a serious one. The housing conditions of the town cannot be regarded as satisfactory. There are good quarters where the working-man lives amid surroundings entirely healthy, and under conditions which are hardly excelled elsewhere, but these are not typical of the town as a whole. When all reservations have been made, the dominant impression left, after a visit to working-class homes of all sorts and conditions, is one of life at a somewhat low level. In fairness it should be added that the condition of things here indicated goes together with a large amount of poverty, of which it may reasonably be regarded as a direct result. MÜLHAUSEN. 357 Excepting the industrial quarter known in French phrase as the “Old ‘ Cite,’ ” which will be more particularly described later, the streets run irregularly, and the houses of which they consist are irregularly built, buildings of various styles, sizes, and heights alternating with picturesque inconsequence. The usual material is brick faced with plaster, painted in different colours— slate, yellow, brown—though many of the old houses are of brick below with a hieing of slates above. The fronts are, as a rule, free from plastic ornament of any kind, and if the flat surface has originally been relieved with rough stencil work the colours soon wash and wear off, giving the appearance of shabbiness and neglect. The roofs of the houses, and often of small factories, are of red tiles. Wooden shutters for the windows are common, and the intense heat of summer explains at once their use and necessity, though few sights can be more inhospitable and desolate than a second-rate Mülhausen street in August at mid-day, when every window is screened behind heavy, impenetrable boards. High houses are the exception, and denote the enterprise of the modern builder ; houses of two or three stories or two stories and an attic are the rule. Hence it is that in dwellings of the better grades the working classes will seldom be found. In industrial towns, more distinctively German in character, a certain stratification of different classes of society is facilitated by the “ flat ” system ; middle-class families occupying the lower stories, and working-class families the cheaper tenements above. The small house system of Mülhausen does not fit in with this distribution of society, and the working population congregates together. Nevertheless, excepting still the Cité, it is impossible to speak of typical working-class houses in a town where almost every house is a type for itself. In one part of the town are found rows of dwellings a single story high ; in another houses of one, two and three stories are huddled together without plan or method ; while leaving a main street for a moment one may suddenly come across a quaint old building with wooden balcony running along several sides, and upper rooms approached by steps from the outside. The least salubrious parts of the town lie in the Nordfeld district. Here, together with much good property, the most pronounced, of the slums are found. The dilapidated appearance of much of the poorer property of the town is largely due to its cheap construction ; it is very unsubstantially built, and soon falls into decay. The old houses disappear but slowly, however, for they return a high interest in proportion to their cost, and, as is so often the case in large industrial towns, prove an attractive investment. The cost of building land in Mülhausen varies from 12 to 30 marks per square metre (equal to 10s. and 26s. per square yard), according to position, but in districts suitable for working-class dwellings land can as a rule be obtained for the lower figure ; sites in the immediate vicinity of business streets cost the higher price. It is a good feature of the housing arrangements of this town that “ back houses ” and “ side houses ” are comparatively rare ; hence there are few circumscribed courtyards, and no “ light shafts ” of the kind habitual in towns of larger population and higher land values. As yet space has not been too frugally husbanded, and seriously overcrowded areas do not exist. Amongst the most spacious of the tenements are those found in buildings which were originally small bleaching factories, in the days when the textures to be bleached were still hung from the windows and so exposed to the sun. More than one such disused workshop has been elevated to the dignity of a school. The following figures indicate the division of the population according to inhabited buildings and households, as shown by the censuses of 1900 and 1905 : — Total population ... No. of households... No. of inhabited buildings No. of households (i.e., tenements) per building No. of persons per household ... No. of persons per building 1900. 89,119 20,880 6,467 322 4-27 138 1905. 94,514 22,358 7,091 3-15 423 133 358 MÜLHAUSEN. The building by-laws of the Town Council regulate the construction of dwellings in great detail, though no attempt is made to apply their sanitary provisions to old property in a rigorous spirit. As to new houses, it is laid down that five stories, including ground floor and attic, may not be exceeded, though in two quarters of the town, one residential and the other industrial—Rebberg and Cité respectively—there may only be one story besides the ground floor and attic. As a rule one-fifth of a building plot, with a minimum of 48 square yards, and a width of at least 9 feet 9 inches, must remain open ; though where a site abuts on two streets the proportion may be reduced to one-eighth. The height of buildings (i.e., of the outer walls), lining with a street, or within 13 feet of the same, may not exceed the width of the street by more than 6 feet 6 inches, and may not exceed 58 feet 6 inches, or be less than 29 feet 3 inches. Side and back houses are subject to the same conditions as front houses, but the width of the courtyard instead of the street is here taken. Living rooms must have a clear height of at least 9 feet 1 inch, and in the attic one of 8 feet 1 inch for at least one-half of the floor surface ; whilst both living and bedrooms must not be less than 7 feet 1 inch wide, with a superficial area of 9'6 square yards. Basement dwellings are forbidden, and the floors of workrooms ­ may only be 4 feet 10| inches below the surface, and even then must be free from damp. As to attic rooms, it is provided that they may only be used for permanent human habitation when they have plastered walls and ceilings and vertical windows. The usual accommodation of working-class families in Mülhausen is two or three rooms and a small kitchen, though tenements of one. room and a kitchen, and even of a single room, are not uncommon. Where working-people rent three rooms and a kitchen, it is usual to take lodgers should the size of the family allow of it. No complete classification of the tenements of the town has yet been attempted, but a record has been kept of new houses which have been erected since 1899, and it shows clearly that, taking the population generally, the preponderant demand is for tenements of three rooms. The following figures may be cited in proof of this statement :— Number of New Houses erected during the years 1900-1905, with Number of Tenements comprised therein and Classification of Tenements according to Rooms, the Kitchen being counted as a Room :— Year. 1900 1901 1902 1903 1901 1905 Totals Percentages New houses. 61 41 61 69 65 88 385 Number of tenements contained therein. 222 170 194 249 189 357 1,381 One room. 18 Two rooms. 1-3 46 26 16 9 12 45 154 Three rooms. 11-2 142 113 119 91 102 185 752 545 Four rooms. 26 15 26 103 17 72 259 18-7 Five rooms. 3 5 16 23 7 20 74 5 4 More than five rooms. 5 9 16 20 43 31 124 9-0 The returns of the Municipal House Bureau show that for all tenements of two rooms and a kitchen reported vacant tenants are found, and that the wants of the great majority of house seekers do not exceed three rooms. Thus, during the year 1904-5, 597 tenements were -reported to the Bureau as vacant, and of these 89 were of one room, 135 were of two rooms, and 201 of three rooms, these forming 71 per cent, of the whole. Of 532 tenements reported to the Bureau as having changed hands during that year, 61 were of one room, 135 (the total offered) were of two rooms, and 188 of three rooms, these forming 72 per cent, of the whole. Again, during the thiee years MÜLHAUSEN. 359 1902-5, 1,919 dwellings were sought, and 1,324 or 09 per cent, were of one, two, and three rooms without kitchen :— Year. Number of tenements sought. Number of tenements of One room. Two rooms. Three rooms. Three rooms or less. Total. Per cent. 1902- 3 1903- 4 1904- 5 Total 545 503 866 1,919 29 53 90 172 141 117 229 487 201 175 289 665 371 345 608 68 68 70 1,324 69 Of 748 returns from working-class households upon which predominant rents have been calculated for the purpose of this report, 65 or 8'7 per cent, were of tenements of one room without kitchen, 100 or 13 4 per cent, were of tenements of one room with kitchen, 290 or 38’8 per cent, were of tenements of two rooms with kitchen, and 293 or 39 2 per cent, were of tenements of three rooms with kitchen. The director of the House Bureau reported in 1904 “ tv lack of suitable working-class tenements of two, and particularly three, rooms with kitchen,” and added :—“In the mediation of dwellings the observation was made that the cases in which house owners on principle let only to childless families are increasing to a serious extent, so that families blessed with children can with difficulty find suitable dwellings. A tenant is often compelled to conceal the number of his family, a practice which as a rule leads to disputes with the landlord and a speedy notice to quit.” A typical modern working-class house, illustrative of housing conditions at their best, because it was erected under the existing by-laws, may here be described. It is a house of four stories, with two tenements on each floor, approached in the centre of Ihe building. On each floor entrance is obtained right and left to a corridor 8 feet long and nearly 4 feet wide, with doors into one of the two front rooms and the back room and the kitchen. The size of the rooms varies from 13 to 16 feet in length and 10 to 12 feet in width, while the kitchen is 12 feet by 8 feet, the height being 9 feet. One of the front rooms has two windows, and the rest have but one. The water-closets are outside on the landing, one for each tenement. The stairs are sufficiently broad, and the walls are plastered and afterwards stencilled in simple design. As in all newer houses there is good cellaring, and each household has a share. In Mülhausen not only the cooking stove but the heating stove as well invariably belongs to the tenant, who, as in the Rhineland, carries it with him from house to house as part of his furniture. Hence stoves of all kinds are used, the character and the quality depending upon the means of the owner. In the houses of artisans and working-people of good earnings the cooking range may have polished steel facings and cost as much as £2, but the usual contrivance is much simpler and cheaper, and the stoves found in most kitchens do not cost half this amount. The heating stove is a plain cast-iron upright structure, with perforated surface, and like the kitchen stove it burns coal and briquettes, though for economy’s sake much wood is also used for fuel. The very poor have a still cheaper arrangement for cooking—a mere oil or petroleum stove, costing a shilling or two. In many of the old houses an interesting survival of French influence exists in the form of the open hearth, raised some three feet from the ground and surmounted by a wide cupola-like smoke-conductor. The most primitive arrangement of the kind seen was a basement of brickwork 4 feet square and 1^ feet high, upon which rested a cheap iron stove, the smoke from which rose several feet in the air before gathering in a wide cupola communicating with the flue. In the front of the brickwork was a cavity used for the storage of fuel. The local custom is the monthly payment of rent, which as a rule includes the charge for water, which otherwise entails an extra charge of 1 s. a month. Notice to leave is generally given from the 1st to the 15th of the 360 MÜLHAUSEN. month, to take effect from the 1st of the following month. Many landlords, however, let their houses on the understanding that the tenancy is terminable any day on either side : in such cases it is customary to display the intimation by placard at the main entrance : “ Here no notice is given.” The most interesting feature of the industrial housing arrangements of Mülhausen is the experiment which has been carried on for more than half a century by a society philanthropic in its ends yet thoroughly business-like in the means by which these ends have been attained, and whose outcome is seen in the quarters of the town known as the Old and New Cités. Visiting the houses which form this distinctly industrial colony, one is able to observe by concrete examples the entire evolution of the Mülhausen working-class dwelling. The “ Société Mülhousienne des Cités ouvrières ” (Mülhauser Arbeiter- Q uarti er - Cesel 1 schaff ) was founded in 1853, with the object of erecting small dwellings which might be sold to workingmen at cost price or be let to them at rents which should not exceed interest on capital and the cost of repairs. The earliest of the houses so built date from 1853 to 1857, and though they are in structural and sanitary arrangements out of date they continue to lodge willing occupiers, who are in many cases owners as well. The houses of the original type were built in rows and were one-family houses, with a living room and a kitchen downstairs and two small bedrooms upstairs, the living room having an area of about 132 square feet, the bedrooms being 97 square feet and 90 square feet respectively, and the kitchen 66 square feet. The structure of the house is the simplest possible—the outer door opening direct iflto the kitchen, the kitchen opening laterally into the living room, and ending in a short flight of stairs, at the head of which are two plain rooms, 9 feet high, one reached through the other. There is cellaring, but the building is not high enough to afford loft space. There are 220 houses of this class. The second type of house did not materially differ, and with modifications it continued to be erected until the middle of the ’eighties, by which time 650 more dwellings had been added to the Cité. The principal improvement was the increase in the size of the rooms, though their number remained as before—downstairs ­ a living room and a kitchen, upstairs two bedrooms ; the area of the living room being 190 square feet and of the bedrooms about 190 and 90 square feet respectively, and the height of the rooms being 9 feet, as before. Like the houses of the first type these had small gardens to the front. The third type came in the years 1877 to 1887 and was a smaller structure. It was still a single-family house, but it had only one story, with cellaring, and contained two rooms and a kitchen. The kitchen was approached direct from the outer door and it opened in turn into the first room, which looked to the front, and gave entrance to a smaller room behind. Of this type 140 houses were built. A more important modification of the Cité design was marked by the next type, which was chiefly favoured between the years 1887 and 1893, and of which 200 houses were erected. Two single-family dwellings were now built together, in blocks of two stories and a cellar. Below were two rooms and a kitchen, and for the first time a corridor or vestibule was added, while above were a good bedroom and a store-room which could also on emergency be used for sleeping. It was a superior type of house in every respect and corresponded more faithfully with modern ideas of health and convenience. A later type, adopted in 1895, was a two-family house, built in couples like the last type, each of the two stories containing two rooms and a kitchen, while storage was provided both in the attic and the cellar. Here, again, the outer door opened into a vestibule, while all rooms were intercommunicable, their size being —kitchen 80 square feet, living and bedrooms each 150 square feet. All the later types have likewise gardens. Such was the original design of the Cité dwellings, as planned and first tenanted. In the main the general scheme remains unaltered, yet in course of time many of the older houses have undergone modification at the hands of successive owners. The benevolent design of the Société des Cités Ouvrières has one serious defect, in that no provision was made to prevent these working-class houses passing out of working-class occupation and possession. In the absence ot such a safeguard many of them were sold and re-sold, and ceased to be MÜLHAUSEN. 361 maisons ouvrières save in name, for their owners belonged to a different class altogether, and they altered and remodelled their houses to their liking. None the less, the Cité, both old and new, plays a very important part in the social life of Mülhausen, and is in many respects one of the bright spots in the housing arrangements of the working-classes. A large number of the dwellings belong to their occupiers, and where bought long ago the owners find themselves in possession of property which has increased 30 and even 50 per cent, in value. For example, small houses which were sold by the Society at a cost price of from £150 to £180 are now worth £250, and even more. To rent such houses costs from 25s. to 28s. a month. At the present time the Cité houses number between 1,200 and 1,300, and their 2,500 tenements accommodate some 13,000 people. To the institutions of the Cité belong a people’s kitchen and a bakehouse, where food is sold at very low prices, a washhouse and bathing establishment, a library, and a creche for the infants of working-class homes. This is not the only experiment in industrial dwellings—though it is the oldest and largest—which has been made at Mülhausen. Several other societies are endeavouring by practical efforts to raise the housing standard of the town and to educate the working-classes to the appreciation of comfortable and commodious homes. A notable work is that of the “ Union Home.” In 1901, M. balance gave to this society the sum of £4,000, afterwards increased to £5,600, as the nucleus of a fund for the erection of improved dwellings on the flat system for people of small means. The houses are of three stories and the tenements of two sizes—two rooms and a kitchen and three rooms and a kitchen, with cellaring. The entire floor space is about 480 square feet in the two-room tenements and 650 square feet in those of three rooms, and the height of the rooms is 9 feet. Each tenement has an ample corridor, in one corner of which is the water-closet, and the general arrangements are admirable. The building itself is substantially and attractively executed, and the entire cost of a double house containing 12 tenements of two rooms and kitchen, and two single houses each containing six tenements of three rooms and kitchen (making 24 tenements altogether) has been £5,600, the smaller tenements costing £223 each and the larger £242 on an average. The rents are fixed at 13a. 6d. per month for two-room tenements on the ground floor and 14a. 6d. above, and for three-room tenements 17a. 3d. and 19a. 3d. respectively. The “ Union Home” has also erected (1905-6) a number of tenements of two, three, and four rooms with kitchen in buildings consisting of four stories and attic. The kitchens are of large size, and correspond to the English working-class kitchen of the better class which is used as a living room. The general dimensions of the rooms are as follows :— A.—Tenements of two rooms and kitche7i. (1) 15 X 13 X 10 feet ; (2) 13 x 10 x 10 feet ; kitchen 14 x 10 x 10 feet. B.—Tenements of three rooms and kitchen. (1) 17 x 14 x 10 feet; (2) 14 x 12 x 10 feet; (3) 15 x 10 x 10 feet; kitchen 14 x 11 x 10 feet. C . — Tenements of four rooms and kitchen. (1 and 2) 14 x 12 x 9 feet; (3) 14 x 11 x 9 feet ; (4) 11 x 11 x 9 feet ; kitchen 11 x 11 x 9 feet. The water-closets are in the corridors, and each tenant has part of the attic and cellarage. The rents are 20s. per month for two rooms and kitchen, 26s. for three rooms and kitchen, and 32s. for four rooms and kitchen. A few tenements of one room and a kitchen are let at 12s. per month. The society has 44 of these dwellings (viz., 27 of two rooms and kitchen, seven of three rooms and kitchen, three of four rooms and kitchen, five of one room and kitchen, and two of two rooms with shop), and does not sell to the occupiers. To the best of the model working-class dwellings in Mülhausen belongs a series just built by the municipality. They are built detached, each block surrounded by a considerable piece of land, and the style of architecture suggests ­ rather a small suburban villa than a workman’s dwelling. Most of the dwellings consist of three rooms and a kitchen, with a portion of the attic and the use of a common drying-ground, and the rents for such accommodation 2 z 29088 362 MÜLHAUSEN. are 23s. and 24s. per month. These are not the only working-class houses belonging to the town, but they are the best. Several of the large employers whose works are outside the town also own a considerable number of houses, which are invariably let at low or nominal rents, and one firm facilitates the acquisition of its tenements by workpeople, who are allowed to pay by monthly instalments of 24s. Here, again, the usual accommodation consists of two or three rooms with kitchen. A large number of the working-people of Mülhausen still live in the villages in the immediate vicinity of the town. From these villages they come in daily by train or tram, and especially by the former, owing to the low fares charged by the railway authorities, who readily co-operate with the housing reform societies already named in checking congestion in the town, and in discouraging migration from the land. There is as yet no systematic inspection of houses, though in its absence a certain measure of control is exercised by the Building Police. There is a public House Bureau, which mediates between landlords and tenants, though its operations, while beneficial within their strict limitations, affect the working-class ­ in but small measure. In absolute figures the rents which the majority of working-class families pay at Mülhausen are not high. Relatively to income the case is different. Only the existence of a large class of cheap dwellings prevents the housing problem from being much more serious than is actually the case. These cheap dwellings are inferior in size, in convenience, in all the attributes of the model dwellings which have been described, but they meet an urgent need—the need of people whose small earnings do not allow of such an expenditure upon rent as is desirable. Inquiry has shown that 20 per cent, of income commonly goes in this way, and this is the basis upon which the promoters of the Cité Balance worked out their building scheme. A classification of the rents of the tenements visited for the purpose of this inquiry, and of small tenements registered by the municipal House Bureau during 1905, gives the following results :— Number of Rooms per Tenement. One room without kitchen One room with kitchen Two rooms with kitchen Three rooms with kitchen Predominant Weekly Rent. Is. 2d. to Is. Id. 2s. to 2s. 9d. 3s. 3d. to 4s. Id. 4s. Id. to 5s. 6c/. Representing rent at Berlin by 100, the corresponding figure for Mülhausen is 48. The dwellings to which the above rents refer are all situated in working-class districts, and include a considerable proportion of Cité dwellings of different types, but also many tenements of the poorest class such as are to be found in the Nordfeld district. They do not, however, include one-family houses (of three rooms with kitchen) in the Cité, of which there are between 800 and 1,000 letting, so far as they are not owned by their occupiers, at from 4g. 2d. to 65. 6c/. per week. There is a certain variation of rent according to story. As a general rule the highest rents in larger houses are paid in the first and second stories, the basement comes next, and the attic tenements are cheapest. The following is the approximate range. If the rents of basement houses do not seem to bear out the rule just stated, the reason is that the rents include many houses consisting of basement and upper story only, in which cases the lower tenements are invariably superior :— Weekly Rents of Tenements consisting of One room with kitchen. Two rooms with kitchen. Three rooms with kitchen. Basement First story Second story Attic story 2s. 4d. to 3s. 2s. Id. to 2s. 9d. 2s. 9d. Is. 10c/. to 2s. 6c/. 2s. 9c/. to 3s. 8c/. 3s. 3d. „ 4s. 7c/. 3s. 3d. „ 4s. 2d. 2s. 9d. ,, 3s. 8d. 4s. Id. to 6s. 4s. 10c/. to 6s. 11c/. 5s. Ic7. to 6s. 11c/. 4s. 7c/. to 5s. 4c/. MÜLHAUSEN. 363 Of 6.14 tenements classified according to story 138 or 22*5 per cent, were in the basement, 159 or 25*9 per cent, were in the first story, 148 or 24*1 per cent, were in the second, and 169 or 27'5 per cent, were attic tenements. For seven or eight years rents had been tolerably stationary, but heavy expenditure on sewerage and the asphalting of streets has added to the houseowner’s ­ burdens, and he is naturally seeking relief at the expense of his tenants. According to the observations of the House Bureau the average weekly rents of tenements of various size were as follows during the period 1902-3 to 1904-5 : One room with kitchen Two rooms „ Three „ 1902-3. 2s. 6(7. 3s. 3d. 5s. 4d. 1903-4. Is. 10(7. 3s. 3d. 5s. 6d. 1904-5. Is. Id. 3s. 6<7. 5s. M. Lodgers as a rule pay 10s. a week for board and bed. Unmarried day labourers usually take a bed only, for which they pay 5s. a month, joining rooms with others, and buy and even cook their own food. This is the usual mode of life of Italian labourers, of whom there are many at Mülhausen. The province of Alsace-Lorraine has its own system of taxation, and nominally taxation for State purposes falls on smaller incomes than in Prussia. Owing to the system of exemption already referred to, however, only persons with an income of £65 and upwards are liable to State or Municipal income tax at Mülhausen. The local taxes, for town and district, amounted in 1906 to 1 mark 42TO pfennige (a little over Is. 5d.) per mark of State tax. The following Table shows the incidence of these taxes on various groups of income subject to the exemption stated :— Income Group. State Income Tax. Local Taxes. Total. £25 and under ... ^ £25 to £30 inclusive £30 „ £35 £35 „ £40 „ £40 „ £45 £45 „£50 „ £50 „ £65 „ J £65 „ £80 £80 „ £100 „ At present exempted s. d 0 1 I 1 2 2 3 4 4 6 10& 8 6& 3 s. d. 0 81 1 6 1 9 3 0 3 5i 5 1* 6 9 9* 12 1| s. d. 1 2 2 64 5 104 8 9 10 7 16 8 20 8& There is also a tax for ecclesiastical purposes levied only on Protestants for their Church. Retail Prices. , Groceries and other Commodities. There is one large covered market at Mülhausen, and open markets are also held in five squares and other public places, subject to the control of the municipal authorities. The principal market days are Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, and while no restriction is placed on the class of goods that may he exposed for sale the chief trade is in farm produce and vegetables, fruit, meat, and fish, though at several of the markets hardware, brushes, textile stuffs and remnants, and the commoner kitchen requisites are sold. Moderate dues are levied for stalls and space. The great bulk of the trade in food stuffs is done in the grocery shops, here called “ Consumgeschäfte,” a term which must not he confused with “ Consumverein,” which is the usual name for the co-operative store in Germany. Coffee is the usual domestic drink, and the quality of bean generally purchased is that at one mark per German pound, equal to IW. per English pound. “ Loaf” or " cube ” is the sugar most used, for there is little demand for granulated ; the price of both kinds in October, 1905, was '¿^d. per lb. The predominant price of bacon was 8d. per lb., but far less cured bacon is used than fresh pork. The cheese universally consumed is " Münster ” (a town of Alsace), a round cheese made in weights of 1 to lb. and sold at from 8|d. to 9\d. per lb. Little Swiss cheese is eaten by the working class, though Mülhausen is onlv half an hour by train from the Swiss frontier and barely three hours from the famous Emmenthal, which gives its name to some of the 364 MÜLHAUSEN. best Swiss cheese ; the price of this kind was about Is. to Is. 3d. per lb. There is a small consumption of margarine, the price of which was 7(7. per lb., though lard is also used as a substitute for butter. The predominant price of wheaten flour was Is. 3\d. per 7 lb. There is no home baking, and the bread requirements of the town are supplied by some 170 public bakers, a co-operative bakery, and a factory bakery. The public bakers are organised in a Guild, which nominally regulates the price of bread in the town according to the prevailing price of flour, raising it or decreasing it by \cl. at once, though in practice changes do not take place at more frequent intervals than a year or a year and a half. Since the establishment of a co-operative and a factory bakery, keen competition has prevailed in this trade, and this competition has been intensified by the under-cutting of individual bakers hopeful of making up for small profits by a large turnover. The loaf mostly eaten is one of wheat 2\ kilogrammes or lb. in weight and sold in October, 1905, at 5J(7. and 6(7. per 4 lb. English. The loaves are oval and as much as 18 inches in length with a diameter in the centre of 6 or 8 inches. So-called “ Black ” bread is made either of inferior wheat or wheat with an admixture of one-quarter rye, the weight of these loaves being 3 kilogrammes or 6'6 lb. and the price in October, 1905, 4\d. and 5\d. per 4 lb. English. In each case the lower price is for the co-operative bakery’s bread. An all-rye loaf was sold by Guild bakers at 5J(7. per 4 lb. English. Milk is retailed by dealers who draw their small carts through the streets with the assistance of large dogs ; the universal price was 2J(7. per quart. The police regulations allow milk to be publicly sold in two qualities only—" fullmilk ” or uncreamed milk, and skimmed milk, the former having a minimum of 3 2 per cent, of fat. It is required that the vessels in which milk is exposed for sale shall contain in bold letters " full-milk ” (red letters) or “ skimmed milk ” (blue letters), as the case may be. There are also stringent regulations as to the conveyance of milk and its exposure for sale in public places. Besides beer, wine of local origin is drunk at meals ; it can be bought very cheaply, viz., white wine at from 4\d. to b\d. per quart and red at from 5\d. to Id. Mülhausen pays dearly for its coal, a circumstance due to its geographical position and distance from the coalfields. Belgian coal cost in October, 1905, Is. 9\d. to 2s. per cwt., but Saar and Ruhr coals are largely used by the working classes, and cost from Is. 4(7. upwards per cwt., being only slightly dearer than coke. The coal is taken round to houses in sacks. Some manufacturers supply their workpeople with coal at cost price. Two kinds of petroleum are used, American at 10(7. and 11(7. per gallon, and Russian at 8(7. per gallon ; the former is mostly bought. The co-operative movement has been introduced into Mülhausen, but has made little progress. There are two societies, which sell exclusively to their members, and in one case the stores are only open on several evenings during the week. The larger society has a membership of about 1,200 with three shops, and a turnover of £6,000 a year. The town still levies octroi, in the old French fashion, upon a large variety of commodities which come from the outside. The boundaries of the octroi rayon are marked by 21 posts ; and distributed along the line are 25 tollhouses ­ past which all dutiable goods intended for consumption and sale within the town may be introduced between the hours of 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. any day of the week ; there are 13 prohibited roads and entrances. A number of the most indispensable articles of consumption are exempted from taxation, e.g., corn, flour, coffee, sugar (only relieved in 1904), petroleum, coke, butter, milk, and other farm produce, and infants’ foods. Coal, coke, oil, colours, pure alcohol, and other raw materials used in manufacturing are also exempted. The articles taxed, however, are very numerous, and are grouped in 99 classes. They include live cattle and pigs (Is. 5(7. per cwt.), live sheep, lambs, calves, and goats (2s. per cwt.), beef (2s. 8^(7. per cwt.), pork and bacon (Is. 8^(7.), mutton and veal (3s.), cured and smoked flesh and sausage (5s.), game and fowl of all kinds (up to 5Jc7. each), fish, preserved meat and fruit, fresh and dried fruit, tea (nearly 3(7. per lb.), cocoa and chocolate, beer, wine, &c. ; with coal for domestic use, iron and steel goods, and building materials. The octroi regulations are severe and are rigidly enforced. Should goods be smuggled into MÜLHAUSEN. 365 the town they may be confiscated, as also—by way of surety—the vehicles in which they are brought, unless the offenders at once deposit the maximum penalty, viz., £8. Goods and animals in transit are free, but persons passing through the octroi area and carrying dutiable articles, or wishing to remain longer than 24 hours within the area, must be provided with certificates setting forth the character and destination of the articles ; they may also be required to deposit the usual duty or give surety for the amount until the articles in transit have been removed from the town. The gross proceeds of the octroi in 1905 were £94,078, equal to £l per head of the population. Beer yielded £21,500 in 1904, wine £12,433, live stock and meat £11,050. The following Table summarises the prices of groceries, &c., in October, 1905, and August, 1906 ; little change had occurred in the interval :— Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and August, 19Ó6. Commodity. Ooffee Sugar :— Loaf White Granulated Bacon :— Fat Streaky ... Eggs Cheese :— Münster ... Swiss Butter Margarine ... Potatoes Flour (Household) Bread, White Milk Coal Coke ... ... Paraffin Oil (American) per lb. per Is. per lb. per 7 lb. per 4 lb. per quart per cwt. per gallon Predominant Price. October, 1905. lid. 2\d. 2|d. 8 d. 8d. 13 to 16 8fd. to 9fd. Is. Ofd. to Is. 3fd. Is. Id. to Is. 2d. Id. 3d. to 3\d. Is. 3\a. 5Id. to 6d. "2§d. Is. 9\d. Is. 8&d. lOd. to lid. August, 1906. lid. 2&d. 2^d. 82d. 8|d. 12 to 14 8%d. to 9|d. Is. Ofd. to Is. 3f d. Is. Id. to Is. 2|d. 7 d. 3d. to 3\d. Is. 3£d. 5\d. to 6d. 2\d. Is. 10\d. Is. 8\d. lOd. to lid. Meat. The meat consumption of the working classes of Mülhausen does not appear to be large. The consumption per head of the whole population was estimated in 1905 at 114T5 lb., showing a decline as compared with recent years. The consumption per head shown by the budgets collected in connection with the present inquiry from 71 families was 25 ounces per week, which would be equivalent to about 81 lb. per annum. The proportions of the chief kinds of meat consumed to this total were :—beef 34 per cent., pork and bacon 31 per cent., and sausage 28 per cent. Nearly half the town’s meat supply is beef (ox and cow flesh) ; pork follows not far behind, while the amount of mutton consumed is very small and tends to decrease. The supplies of beef come for the most part from Switzerland, but also from North Germany through the Frankfort and Mannheim markets ; Alsace supplies but little. Mutton comes chiefly from Wurtemberg, and a small quantity only from the vicinity. Pork comes chiefly from the Baden Oberland (north of Lake Constance), but also from the Berlin and Hamburg markets, and veal from the Baden Oberland and Switzerland. The horses killed in the local abattoir come from the vicinity, and as is the case with the supply of meat generally, great care is taken that only healthy animals pass into the market as human food. The working classes chiefly buy pork and the cheaper cuts of beef. The consumption of mutton is very small in general, and the working-class shops do not sell it at all. While the workman eats as much meat as he can afford he buys in small quantities ; J lb. per head is a common allowance for a week-end 366 MÜLHAUSEN. purchase. He has also a prejudice against fatty cuts. The predominant price of beef in October, 1905, was from Id. to 8d. per lb. except for steak (which workingclass households do not buy), which soldat from 11c/. to Is. 2d. Pork generally cost from 8|d. to 9^d. per lb. The best cuts of mutton cost lOd. to ll^d. and the cheaper run as low as 8d. Veal ranged from 8§d. to lid., with Is. 3§d. for homes. As elsewhere sausage forms an important part of the flesh diet of most households, and it is made in various ' qualities, though every butcher has his own specialities as well as his own prices. The staple kinds are “ liver ” sausage at 9d. per lb. and beef and pork sausage at 11c/. In connexion with the abattoir, provision is made for the public sale of the inferior meat which is not passed for sale in the open market, and this “ Freibank ” meat is always in ready demand at the hands of the working classes and the poor. The average prices paid for this meat during the year 1904-5 were as follows :—Beef 4\d. to 5\d. per lb. (the lower price for cow and the higher for ox meat), mutton 5d. t pork 5d., and veal 5\d., prices from 40 to 50 per cent, lower than those of meat of good quality. There are several shops where horse flesh is regularly sold, and the demand always exceeds the supply. The price ranges from 2\d. to 3\d. per lb. for ordinary cuts, with 4\d. for fillet, while horse sausage costs 4\d. per lb. There is a larger demand in winter than in summer. Dogs are occasionally killed, though not at the public abattoir, and the flesh is used for its supposed efficacy against consumption. The appended Table gives the prices usually paid by the working classes for meat in October, 1905, and at the time of the investigator’s visit in August,. 1906 ; in the interval there had been a general advance of from Jd. to 1 \d. per lb. Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and Prices of food at Mülhausen are slightly higher than at Berlin. Taking the level of prices at Berlin as 100, the corresponding figures for meat and for other food at Mülhausen are 101 and 103 respectively. Owing to the distance of the town from coalfields, however, coal is very dear at Mülhausen, the index number for this being 146. This high figure has the effect of raising the general index-number for prices to 109. The index-number for rent and prices combined is 97. the best parts without bone, but this also is seldom found in working-class August, 1906. Predominant Price per lb. Description of Cut. October, 1905. August, 1906. Beef :— Ribs Silversi flA 7 d. 8d. 7# 7|d. to 8fd. 9\d. to llid. lid. to Is. 2d. 7# Steak Flank 8fd. to 9\d. 11 d. to is. 2d. 7 \d. Mutton :— Leg ... .. « Shoulder Breast Neck Chops (trimmed) lOd. to lHd. 8%d. ^ 8d. to lOd. 8|d. 9|d. to lid. lid. to Is. O^d. 9fd. to lid. 8|d. to 10|d. 9^d. lid. Veal :— Hind-quarter ... ... lO^d. 9^d. to 10|d. Hid. 10|d. to llid. Loin Shin Is. Id. to Is. 3|d. 8fd. to 91d. 8# Is. Id. to Is. 5\d. 10\d. 9&d. Pork :— Leg Fore Loin Belly Spare Rib Chops 8fd. to 9\d. 8fd. to 9^d. 8d. to 8fd. 8# 8fd. to 9\d. 9\d. to 10|d. 9id. to 104d. 8|d. 91d. to 10\d. 9\d. to 10\d. '367 MUNICH. Munich, the capital of Bavaria, is a handsome city with a population at the Census of December, 1905, of 538,983, showing an increase of 39,051 inhabitants (equal to 7*8 per cent.) as compared with 1900, with the same municipal area. The growth of the city during the past thirty years has not been due in any large measure to the incorporation of adjacent townships, an addition of 36,969 only, out of a total increase since 1875 of 345,959, being attributed to this cause. The intercensal increases, both with and without additions to the municipal area, are shown in the following Table :— Census year. 1875 1880 1885 1890 1895 1900 1905 Population. 193,024 230.023 261,981 349.024 407,307 499,932 538,983 Increase, including incorporated districts. No. 36,999 31,958 87,043 58,283 92,625 39,051 Percentage. 192 13 9 33 2 167 22 7 7-8 Increase, excluding incorporated districts. No. 31,194 31,958 63,397 56,713 86.677 39,051 Percentage. 15- 7 ]39 222 16- 2 21-0 7-8 The most striking feature of this comparison is the small increase of population which has fallen to the last intercensal period, and which is mainly due to three causes. One is a diminishing birth-rate, as to which figures are given below ; another is the marked decline in immigration from other parts of Bavaria ; and, finally, an exceptionally large number of workpeople removed from the town owing to industrial disputes. While, however, the population of Munich increased by 7*8 per cent, between 1900 and 1905, the increase for the whole of Bavaria during the same period was only 5 6 per cent., with the result that Munich’s proportion of the entire population of the kingdom increased from 8T to 8'3 per cent. Of the inhabitants enumerated in 1905, 39*5 per cent, were born in the city, against 36*1 per cent, in 1900, and 48*9 per cent, (against 5 *.*2 per cent, in 1900) were born in other parts of Bavaria. The fact is significant that the proportion of female to male inhabitants has for a long time been increasing. The census of 1905 showed Munich to have 1,122 females to every 1,000 males, whereas the ratio for Bavaria as a whole was 1,041 to 1,000. The streets: of Munich are well built, wide, and admirably paved and asphalted, whilst avenues, planted spaces, fountains, and statues beautify every quarter of the city. Of public works the only one which has not yet come entirely into municipal hands is the tramway system. The tramways were originally constructed by a private company in the old days of hòrse traction, and this company still holds its lease of the streets under an arrangement by which the town guarantees to it a certain minimum return upon capital, while claiming any eventual surplus beyond this return, so that the undertaking is virtually worked on the town’s account, though for the present the town does not directly manage it. Before long, however, this arrangement will come to an end, and the tramways will formally be taken over by the municipality. For public buildings and other buildings of an important kifid, sandstone and granite,! which come from a distance, are the material employed ; but for houses generally brick is used, this being as usual faced with stucco work, according td the fancy of the architect. Where stucco is used the surface is painted or Washed in colour, for unrelieved white is prohibited. Of ¡late concrete has been extensively employed. Munich, in fact, rests upon a stratjum of small gravel, which is suitable for concrete, and this will no doubt more à rid more be the building material of the future. The working classes proper are not conspicuous in the leading streets, •but the more one withdraws from the centre the more industrial becomes 368 MUNICH. the aspect of the surroundings and of the resident population. There are comparatively ­ few factories and workshops of any size in the heart of the city ; for these one must go to the suburbs, and it is here, too, that the labouring classes will for the most part be found. A feature of Munich life and Bavarian life generally is the outdoor work, often of an arduous kind, which is done by women. In rural Germany everywhere ­ women take their place in the field and farmyard, in the work of forest and garden, and in any German town they may he seen drawing along the streets little carts laden with wood or other wares. In Bavaria, however, women work alongside of men in callings still more onerous. They act as hod-hearers ; they break huge stones with heavy hammers in the " Bauplatz ” (the site of building operations) ; they chop faggots in the street for householders, and carry heavy loads on the wooden racks suspended from their shoulders ; and in Munich a considerable part of the work of street cleaning is done by women, who are paid 2s. 6d. for a long day’s exertion. The wood choppers and street cleaners are strongly-built women, for the most part apparently of middle age (unless exposure has prematurely aged them), somewhat bent yet tenacious looking, with faces furrowed, weather-beaten, and tanned. They bear their work well, and seem capable of any exertion. Public opinion would not appear to judge the employment of women in this way with disfavour, though it is significant that the Nuremberg masons’ labourers not long ago petitioned their employers to discontinue the employment of women on building works. Munich had a birth rate in 1905 of 30'3 per 1,000 of the population, comparing ­ with 42 3 per 1,000 on the average of the years 1876-1880 ; the marriages were 8*9 per 1,000 in 1905 ; and the death rate was 20T per 1,000, showing a reduction of 5 per 1,000 during the past 10 years, but one of 9 per 1,000 when compared with 20 years ago. The illegitimate births were 27*2 per cent, of all births, compared with 12'6 per cent, for Bavaria as a whole. The rate of infant mortality in 1905 was 226 per 1,000 births. Here there has been slow but steady improvement during the past 20 years ; in the ’eighties it exceeded 300 per 1,000, and in 1871 it was 417. The deaths from tuberculosis in 1905 were 3*3 per 1,000 of the population ; the deaths from tuberculosis of the lungs were 2'9 per thousand, showing a very slight decrease on the past ten years, though a large one on the rate of 30 years ago, which was 4 per 1,000. The following table shows the birth and death-rates and the infantile mortality for a period of five years :— Year. Birth-rate per 1,000 of the population. 1901 1902 J903 1904 1905 36*4 351 331 319 303 Death-rate per 1,000 of the population. 22 2 214 207 20 5 201 Infantile mortality per 1,000 births. 246 240 239 229 226 A comparison of the mortality rates in 1905 in certain working-class districts with those of the town generally gives the following results :— The whole town District 14 „ 15 „ 17 „ 18 ,, 20 Death-rate per 1,000 of population. Infantile mortality per 1,000 births. 201 249 25 1 26 0 29 5 28-7 226 258 238 314 313 312 A large variety of undertakings of public utility are carried on by the municipality. They include, in addition to gas, electricity, and water supplies. MUNICH. 369 a stock market and abattoir, baths, a labour registry, a museum illustrating contrivances ­ for the welfare of the working classes, a savings bank, a series of pawnshops ; and the town also subsidises many philanthropic agencies for the amelioration, both physically and intellectually, of the condition of the people. Occupations, Wages, and Hours of Labour. The industries of Munich are multifarious, and several are of large extent. The leading places are taken by the machine and metal, clothing, wood, beer, and polygraphic (printing and lithography) industries, which between them employed 38,755 persons in 1905. The metal industry includes a number of firms engaged in art work of various kinds similar to that for which Nuremberg is famous. There are important leather, boot and shoe, and glove manufactories ; several paper mills exist in the suburbs ; and some large brickworks near Munich employ many hundreds of hands. Glass painting is one of Munich’s most valued industries, and its products go to all parts of the world. A constructive and repairing workshop in connection with the Bavarian State Railways is located here. The following is the grouping of the “ industrial undertakings ” of Munich (that is, the undertakings which fall under factory inspection and employ motor power, and which virtually embrace the whole of the industrial classes, handicrafts excluded) in 1905, arranged according to the German official classification of occupations :— Group of Trades. Number of Establishments. ­ Number of Workpeople. Males, over 16 years. Females over 16 years. Juveniles, 14 but not over 16 years. Children under 14 years. Total. ßuildm^ ... ... ... ... Metal-working Machine, implement, and apparatus making. Textiles Clothing and cleaning Printing, lithography, bookbinding, ­ &c. Paper ... ... ... ... Woodworking and carving Chemicals ... Resins, varnishes, oil, soap, candles, &c. Stone and earth Breweries and small malting houses. Other trades connected with food, drink, and tobacco. Licensed premises ... Miscellaneous Total 793 858 487 81 2,160 139 136 883 113 36 195 52 1,424 1,929 74 10,025 4,710 8,842 169 3,591 3,214 477 4,685 631 612 1,348 4,118 3,553 1,689 378 266 300 157 477 4,064 1,376 826 501 256 190 145 153 827 5,890 38 350 804 515 28 853 309 107 508 13 36 67 4 420 221 6 9,655 49,582 15,977 4,363 5 11 34 3 2 3 1 72 10,646 5,825 9,514 674 8,542 4,902 1,412 5,697 901 838 1,560 4,275 4,805 7,803 422 69,994 The hours of labour vary in different industries from 57 to 60 per week ; only in a few works are shorter or longer hours observed. Work is commonly carried on from 6 o’clock to 6 o’clock or from 7 o’clock to 7 o’clock, with a dinner pause of an hour and a half and a pause of half an hour both in the forenoon and afternoon, but in some cases there is only a midday pause. As a rule work ceases half an hour or an hour earlier on Saturday.. Wao-es are almost universally paid each week. The custom as to the determination of service varies alike in different industries and in different concerns belonging to the same industry. W hile in a majority of cases a week’s or a fortnight’s notice is required on either side, in others (e.g., the engineering industry and certain works in the leather industry) no notice at all is needed, and an employer may dismiss a workman or a w orkman leave his employer at any moment without cause assigned. Not rarely this arrangement is preferred by the men, while employers do not seem to find it inconvenient in practice ; on the contrary, they contend that it produces a steadying influence and promotes a spirit of accommodation on both sides. I en legal holidays are 3 A 29088 370 MUNICH. observed during the year at Munich, and in addition some works either close altogether or for half the day on eight Roman Catholic Church festivals and saints’ days. A notable feature in the industrial organisation of Munich is the increasing tendency to resort to wages agreements determining for a fixed period both the rates of wages and the general conditions of employment. Already a large number of such agreements have been concluded in various industries, eleven in the building trades alone, and though the movement originated with the workpeople the employers seem more and more disposed to adopt this method of assuring for themselves more stable conditions of enterprise. For while a wages agreement almost invariably implies the concession of new demands in favour of the workmen, from the standpoint ­ of the employer it has the advantage of relieving him of uncertainty and of enabling him to estimate with greater precision the bearing of the wages factor upon the costs of production lor some time to come. In the conclusion of these wages agreements the municipal Industrial Court (Gewerbegericht) has been of great assistance, for not infrequently an agreement is the direct result of proceedings brought before that Court by complaining suitors. The movement in favour of collective wages agreements has made most progress in the building trades and least in the machine and metal trades, though several apply to individual groups of workmen in these trades. Thus in two iron foundries the moulders and core makers are secured minimum wages of 3s. 2\d. per day, machine moulders 3s. 5d., and cleaners 3s., which rates must be guaranteed for piece work, and agreements exist also for assemblers and metal-beaters. In the engineering trade skilled men as a rule earn between 25s. and 32s. per week, and the latter rate is only exceeded in a few cases, while labourers earn from 18s. to 21s. In the boot and shoe making trade the range is from 24s. to 28s., glove makers earn from 25s. to 27s., but more in individual cases, and in the rubber goods trade the rate for the more skilled men varies from 20s. 5d. to 25s. 2d. In all these trades unskilled workmen earn from lGs. 10c7. to 20s. The pianoforte industry is one of the best paid industries in the town, skilled , men earning from 30s. to 40s. per week and labourers 21s. to 24s. In the stained glass industry, which is important at Munich, painters earn about 45s., and more in exceptional cases, while burners earn from 30s. to 45s. But payment in this industry is entirely according to individual capacity. The standard rate for printers is 26s. 5a., that for lithographers is 25s., and that for bookbinders 21s., but in practice these rates are exceeded. In the chromo and art printing trade, of which Munich is a leading centre in Germany, printers and autotypers earn about 35s., and chromographers 40s., while the wages of other skilled men range from 28s. to 30s. The usual rates of wages in the building trades range from 24s. 4d. for painters to 31s. 2d. for bricklayers and masons ; between come carpenters 29s. 5d., joiners and cabinetmakers 27s., plumbers and fitters 29s. 8A, and glaziers 25s. 8d. Bricklayers’ and masons’ labourers and excavators receive 22s. 10d. for a full week’s work, but the general rate of unskilled day labour locally is 16s. 10d., though a higher rate is paid by the municipality. Payment by the hour is almost universal in these trades ; of 16,180 workmen whose rates of wages were collected by Dr. Singer, the Director of the Municipal Statistical Office, in the winter of 1905-6, only 1,780 were otherwise paid. The employees in the important brewing trade of Munich are now, under an agreement of recent origin, paid altogether in money, and the old system of beer allowances (which used to amount to 12 pints a day in the case of brewers) has been abolished. The net weekly wages of men engaged directly in the handling of beer are usually 36s., this amount being reached after four years service. The system of living with the master still continues in the baking trade, which is mostly in the hands of small employers. The value of board and lodging is generally estimated at 10s. a week. The result of this arrangement is that nearly all the journeymen bakers are single men, and that when a baker marries he generally begins business on his own account or seeks another trade. The system of living in is, however, threatened by the latest wages agreement concluded in this trade, for unless masters and men otherwise decide in the meantime it will be discontinued in 1908, after which date board and lodging will be commuted for a money payment. MUNICH. 371 Wages and Hours of Labour in the Principal Occupations, October, 1905. Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours of Labour. Building Trades (regulated by agreements)*: Bricklayers and Masons Stonemasons Carpenters Joiners and Cabinetmakers Plumbers and Fitters ... Roofers Stucco-workers j Scourers and Polishers Painters Glaziers Excavators Paviors Bricklayers’ and Masons’ labourers Engineering Trades : — Moulders Fitters Turners Pattern-makers... Boilersmiths Coppersmiths ... Labourers Waggon-building Works :— Bodymen Joiners ... Wheelwrights Smiths ... Saddlers... Polishers Fitters ... Smiths ... Labourers Textile Trades :— Woollen trade—spinners ,, „ weavers „ „ fullers Printing and Allied Trades :— Compositors Machine compositors—news „ „ jobbing Bookbinders Chromo and Art Printing :— Printers, machinists „ hand-press ... Lithographers (draughtsmen) Chromographers Copper printers Process workers, Electrotypers, &c. Autotype workers Compositors (book) Book printers ... Leather Trades :— Tanners ... ... _ ••• Boot and Shoe makers—clickers " „ lasters ” „ machinists ” n stampers Glove makers ... „ dyers Unskilled labourers Paper Industry :— Cylinder men ... Calender „ ... Wood-pulp feeders ... Labourers 31s. 2d. 30s. 3d. 29s. 5d. 27 s. 29s. 8(7. 31s. 2d. 33s. 8d. 38s. 9(7. 21s. 7(7. 21s. 4(7. 25s. 8(7. 22s. 10(7. 33s. 22s. 10(7. 25s. to 30s. 24s. „ 28s. 26s. „ 30s. 28s. „ 32s. 26s. „ 32s. 28s. 2(7. to 29s. 18s. „ 21s. 27s. 28s. 8(7. 24s. 4(7. 25s. 11(7. to 28s. 1(7. 21s. 1(7. 21s. 1(7. 25s. 2(7. 28s. 8(7. 19s. 2(7. 27 s. 22s. 10(7. 25 s. 10(7. 26s. 5(7. 33s. 1(7. 34s. 4(7. 21s. 34s. 5(7. to 35s. 28s. 30s. 5(7. 40s. 30s. 24s. 35s. 28s. 6(7. 28s. 24s. to 25s. 2d. 26s. 28s. 28s. 24s. 25s. to 27s. 21s. „ 24s. 16s. 10(7. to 20s. 18s. 18s. to 20s. 16s. 10(7. 15s. 60 54 60 54 57 57 51 51 54 54 57 60 60 60 57 57 57 57 57 57 57 57 57 57 57 57 57 57 57 57 62* 62* 62* 54 48 54 54 54 54 54 48 51 51 54 54 54 60 54 54 54 54 54 54 54 to 60 72 72 72 60 * The wages and hours of labour stated for the building trades are for a full week in summer. 29088 3 A 2 372 MUNICH. Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours of Labour. Food, Drink, &c., Industries :■ Bakers, 1st men „ 2nd „ Beer brewing—brewers „ coopers „ draymen „ labourers Piano Manufactories :— Piano makers Cabinetmakers ... Labourers Glass Painting :— Designers Glaziers ... Painters ... Burners ... Miscellaneous Trades :— Rubber goods makers ... „ labourers Brick makers at presses „ labourers Carmen ... 30s. 3d 26s. 3d 36s. 31s. 6d 25s. 22s. to 23s. 36s. to 40s. 30s. „ 40s. 21s. „ 24s. 45s. to 48s. 27s. „ 34s. 45s. „ 48s. 30s. „ 45s. 20s. 5d to 25s. 2d 16s. lOd „ 19s. 2d 25s. 3d 16s. lOd 20s. to 25s. 84* 84* 644 to 65 60 60 60 54 54 54 48 to 54 48 „54 48 „ 54 48 „ 54 60 60 58 58 * Including intervals. Appended are the rates of wages and hours of labour of municipal employees at the same date :— Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours of Labour. Road Construction and Maintenance Foremen... Labourers Street Paving and Cleaning :— Foremen Sweepers and Labourers Depot labourers Gasworks :— Foremen... Stokers ... Labourers Waterworks :— Foremen... Labourers Electric Lighting and Power :— Engine-men Stokers ... Erectors ... Fitters ... Assistants 31s. lOd 19s. 2d to 24s. 31s. lOd 18s. to 24s. 19s. 2d „ 21s. 7d 28s. 6d to 34s. lOd 25s. 2d. „ 31s. 2d 19s. 2d „ 25s. 2d 33s. 7d 19s. lOd to 25s. 2d 23s. 8d to 30s. 21s. to 23s. 8d 22s. lOd to 29s. 8d 18s. 3d „ 29s. 8d 18s. to 22s. lOd 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 57 57 57 57 Tramways (private) :— Drivers Conductors 23s. Id 22s. 6d to 27s. 54 to 60 54 „60 Representing wages at Berlin by 100, the proportionate figures for Munich are—for the building trades, 85 for skilled men and 89 for labourers ; for the engineering trades, 83 for skilled men and 89 for labourers ; and for the printing trades, 94. Housing and Rents. Munich is essentially a town of large houses of the " barrack ” type and of small tenements, and this characteristic tends to become rather more pronounced than otherwise. The word house is here used, of course, in the German sense, as indicating an individual block of tenement dwellings, with its series of flats, and its front and back buildings as the case may be, in short, the entire structure which MUNICH. 373 belongs to an independent property and for which Munich uses the expression “ Anwesen.” This tendency towards an ever greater concentration—implying also a greater congestion—of population is clearly illustrated by two facts, of which the first is the steady increase of the number of tenements and households per house, and the second the growing habit of dividing up the tenements, so that a dwelling of three or four rooms is made to accommodate two families instead of one and a dwelling of two rooms is let in single apartments. As to the first of these facts the census returns for the last 30 years are very decisive. In 1875 there were on an average 6*1 households and 26*1 inhabitants to every house ” ; ten years later the ratios had become 6 7 and 28*7 respectively ; by 1895 the ratios were 7*7 and 33*5, in 1900 they were 8*6 and 33*9, and hi 1905 every “ house ” lodged on an average 9'0 families and 35 5 individuals. These averages are for the whole town, but in individual districts the averages are much higher, and even twice as large. Nevertheless, a larger number of inhabitants per “ house ” need not necessarily indicate overcrowding, and if this greater concentration of population simply meant that the " houses ” were built larger and on more extensive plots of land than formerly there would be little fault to find. The significant fact about the housing conditions of Munich—and it applies to the lower middle as well as to the manual working classes—is the sub-division of tenements already alluded to, for this implies that the dwellings are becoming smaller and hence that there is growing congestion. The cases are numberless of tenements which were originally constructed for single households being cut up into two and even three dwellings, approached still from the corridor which formerly was the appurtenance of a single home. Taking individual districts largely inhabited by working-class families, it is found that as many as 30, 50, and occasionally even 70 per cent, of the dwellings have been so divided. The housing census instituted by the municipal authority in December, 1905, showed that Munich had 18,289 more dwellings than in 1900, though the buildings erected in the interval only provided 15,844 more dwellings than formerly, even disregarding the leakage caused by clearances. The larger increase of 2,445 was, of course, due to the sub-division of existing tenements. Hence it comes about that tenements of one to three rooms predominate in Munich. At the census of 1905 these tenements formed 57*1 per cent, of all the dwellings in the town, against 54 3 per cent, in 1900. No less than 28*7 per cent, of the entire population lived in tenements of one or two rooms, the percentage in those of one room being 4*6 and in those of two rooms 24 1. In purely working-class districts in Munich, however, the small tenements form a much larger proportion of the whole. For example, in district 18, 12 per cent, of all the rented dwellings (6,676 in number) consist of one room only, 50 per cent, consist of two rooms, and 22 per cent, of three rooms. In district 15, 12 per cent, of the rented dwellings (8,051 in the aggregate) consist of one room only, 38 per cent, of two rooms, and 28 per cent, of three rooms. In district 20, 16 per cent, of the total rented dwellings (9,398) consist of one room only, 47 per cent, of two rooms, and 24 per cent, ot three rooms. In December, 1905, the average number of persons per dwelling throughout the town was 3*69, against 3*97 in 1890, but the reduction does not necessarily imply less congestion, for during the interval the number of dwellings of from one to three rooms increased from 62*2 to 63*3 per cent, of the whole. It is uncertain how far this prevalence of small dwellings, often quite inadequate to accommodate the families by which they are used, yet for which many of them were never intended, is a question of rent and individual means, and how far it is due to other factors, such as social habits and traditional modes of life. Munich cannot be said to have any distinctly defined type of working-class house, and even had it been different in the past the practice of sub-dividing tenements has been carried so far that in general all traces of formal design and plan have been effaced. As a rule the blocks have been built one by one, sometimes ­ adjoining and sometimes detached, and each builder has followed his own tastes in the matter of form, size, and internal division, subject, of course, to the regulations of the Building Authorities. One notable characteristic does, indeed, mark the Munich house : the “ Hinter bau ” (back house), where it exists, is seldom, as in some towns, a dreary adjunct to the front building, inhabited by a poorer class of tenants and stamped in every detail of its structure and arrangement by inferiority. 374 MUNICH. Two methods of building are permitted—the “closed” and the "open.” " Closed ” buildings are constructed round a spacious courtyard and the entrance is in the centre of the street front. The “ open ” house isdetached, with space on both sides and again between the front and back buildings should the house be a double one. Where the closed system is adopted a house may be five stories high, where the open system is followed only four stories. For the latter method of building, which is very common, many merits may be claimed : in particular it ensures plenty of open space, air, and light. For the rest the houses may be large or small, accommodating in their four or five stories any number of families from twelve to thirty. Where possible the living and bedrooms are placed to the front and the kitchens behind, but it is a common arrangement for an entire suite of rooms to open one into the other ; should such a dwelling be divided the door between the two tenements is simply locked. A corridor or vestibule goes with every tenement (or combination of divided tenements) ; each household should have, though it has not always, its own water-closet (as a rule within the dwelling, though waterclosets on the landing are often found still), and the water supply is very frequently carried into each dwelling. Every house is cellared and has a large attic, and tenants of two rooms or more have a right to a portion of storage space either above or below according to arrangement. In point of size the rooms are very diverse, though it is seldom that two small rooms go together in the newer houses. From 12 to 14 feet is a common length for a living and bedroom, with a width of 9 or 10 feet, and a height of 9 feet. A second bedroom is generally much smaller, probably 10 feet long by 9 feet vide. Where a family rents a single room it is usually one of the larger kind, though—to take an actual illustration—even a room 15 by 15 feet offers no superfluous space for a household consisting of father, mother, and four children, who have to live in it by day and sleep in its three beds by night. Three beds to a room are not rare in Munich workingclass dwellings, and four beds, placed so close to each other that there is barelv passing space, are more frequent than is desirable. The kitchen is the smallest apartment in the dwelling. Often it is a mere cooking corner, yet where it attains the proportions of a room it is seldom suited for sleeping purposes,, though the double function more frequently than not falls to it. Occasionally one comes across a bedroom devoid of window and dependent for light as for ventilation upon the open door of an adjacent room ; in other cases lighted very inadequately by a grating opening into the outside landing or staircase. Such rooms or “ alcoves ” should not be used for sleeping if municipal regulations were strictly obeyed, yet as a fact they are, and so long as the dwellings of Munich continue as small as at present it will be impossible to place these dark corners under effectual prohibition. The corridor is generally fairly spacious, as it needs to be when serving for two tenements. It is used at times for sleeping, and is even let to lodgers, though without the knowledge of the sanitary authorities. It is impossible to speak of slums in the ordinary sense in connexion with the housing arrangements of Munich. The houses themselves are for the most part in good order, though too congested, and where the aspect of things is depressing it is generally the fault of the tenants. In the newer houses considerable taste is shown by the builders, and ornamentation, both outside and inside, is not uncommon—outside in the form of elaborate façades, and inside by coloured stencil work upon the walls of the staircase and landings, and here and there by decorative cornices in the rooms. Balconies, both front and back, have become a prominent feature of working-class houses^ and they are highly appreciated for utilitarian reasons amongst others, for in the upper stories the balcony is the recognised drying ground. Where the “ closed ” system of building is followed the courtyard is spacious, and not uncommonly it exceeds the requirements of the building regulations, according to which a back building must be separated from a front building by a space equal to the height of the latter as measured from the apex of the roof in the case of five-story buildings, and equal to one-third of the entire surface of the building plot in other cases. The only houses which can be regarded as unequivocally bad from the hygienic standpoint are a large group of what are called " Herbergen.” These houses, some 1,500 in number, are for the most part single-family or at the MUNICH. 375 most double-family dwellings, and are of a very rude type. They are old without possessing historical or sentimental interest, and it is only their somewhat ­ isolated situation in quieter parts of the city that has so far preserved them from extinction. They are constructed either of brick and plaster or of wood with a basis of brick, and in all probability they were erected a couple of centuries or more ago for the housing of labourers and others engaged on temporary works. Most of the “ Herbergen ” are in the rural style of architecture, with high gables, long sweeps of tiled roofs, and balconies running above one or two sides. As a rule these houses are very small, some of them, indeed, quite box-like contrivances ; the rooms are few and low, and the general internal arrangements primitive to a degree. The peculiarity about them is that up to a recent date they were all owned by their tenants, and this holds good even now of the majority, though the municipal authority is gradually buying out those owners whose property is flagrantly defective. In a majority of cases each story has a different owner, an arrangement which does not always facilitate harmonious relationships. Normal sanitary conditions cannot be said to prevail amongst the inhabitants of the “ Herbergen,” though on the other hand these houses are said to have enjoyed immunity from infectious disease when ocher neighbourhoods have suffered. A number of the tenants are small handicraftsmen who carry on their callings at home, in rooms which serve at once for working, living, and sleeping, in one case observed the odd arrangement existed of a bedroom being let by day to a cobbler while the tenants were away working in another part of the city. The following Table summarises the rents of working-class dwellings, as obtained for the purpose of this report :— Predominant Rents of Working-class Dwellings. Number of Rooms per Tenement. Predominant Weekly Rents. One room Two rooms Three rooms Is. Gd. to 2s. 4d. 3s. to 4s. 4s. Gd. to 5s. 9d. There is no great difference in the rents of working-class houses as between one part of the city and another, since Munich is without a clearly defined “ Old Town ” in the sense that Dresden or Aachen has it. Dent in Berlin being represented by 100, the corresponding figure for Munich is 62. The only direct local tax which is paid by the working classes is the income tax, but there are indirect consumption taxes in the form of octroi. The local income tax forms a percentage of the State income tax, which in Bavaria is payable by all incomes without exemption limit, though it falls lightly upon persons of small earnings. Taking the local super-tax at 130 per cent., the total income tax paid by the working classes would fall within the following ranges :— Class. Income. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Up to £25 £25 and under £37 10s £37 10s. £45 £52 10s. £60 £70 £80 £90 £100 £110 £45 £5210s £60 .. £70 .. £80 .. £90 .. £100 .. £110 .. £120 .. State Income Tax. Municipal Super-tax. s. d. 0 6 8 0 10 0 12 0 15 0 s. d. Exempted 3 11 5 2 6 6 7 10 10 5 13 0 15 7 19 6 Total. s. d. 0 6 1 0 2 0 6 11 9 2 11 6 13 10 18 5 23 0 27 7 34 6 For some years rents have been fairly stationary in Munich, and so long as the supply exceeds the demand, which it does at the present time, it is unlikely that any serious change will take place. 376 MUNICH. Few working-class families go beyond three rooms and liardly ever without taking lodgers, and even when three rooms are taken a bed is not infrequently let to a single young man for several shillings a week. The housing census of December 1, 1905, showed that lodgers or sub-tenants were taken in 23'6 per cent, of all dwellings in the town (against 32'2 per cent, in 1900), and that the lodgers and sub-tenants formed 9 6 per cent, of the entire population (against 15 5 per cent, in 1900). The lodger system is, indeed, one of the worst features of the housing arrangements of Munich, and its moral effects are said to be deplorable. It will be remembered, as a fact bearing on the housing question, that the percentage of illegitimate births at Munich was in 1904 25*7 per cent, and in 1905 27"2 per cent. Rents are calculated and as a rule are paid by the month, and in some cases in advance. A formal written contract of tenancy is not general. As in Nuremberg some of the brewery companies own large numbers of houses for the sake of the licensed premises attached to them, and many houses are also owned by speculators, who, however, are heavily mortgaged, and have little personal interest in their properties. Since there is an abundance of dwellings intended for people of small means at Munich, private employers have had no need to provide houses for their workers. Where the latter are employed in the suburbs they are always able to obtain on the spot decent housing at about the same rents they would have to pay in town, though it is common experience that workpeople prefer to live in Munich and travel to and fro morning and night either by the outer lines of tramway or by the suburban railway. The railway authorities issue tickets at half price, and as the fares for local trains are very low, a workman can travel several miles twice a day at a weekly cost of from bd. to Id. Several employers bear this cost of conveyance where their workpeople prefer to live in town instead of in the neighbourhood of the factory. The State Railway Administration is an exception, for it not only lends money at a low rate of interest to Building Societies formed of railway men, but it has provided admirable housing accommodation for a considerable part of the workpeople employed in the Central Workshop at Munich, as it has for other railway workshops in Bavaria. The Munich dwellings are of three types, according as they consist of one bedroom, kitchen, anteroom, and garden, rented at £3 5s. per year ; two bedrooms, kitchen, two anterooms, and garden, rented at £5 4s. per year ; and three bedrooms, kitchen, two anterooms, and garden, rented at £6 10s. Since 1889 the Railway Administration has spent no less a sum than £600,000 in the provision of dwellings for its employees in various parts of the Kingdom, and it is intended to carry on this part of its settled “ policy of social welfare ” with equal if not increased vigour in the future, and for this purpose further sums have been set apart by the Government. An ameliorative work of great value has also been done by the Association for Improving the Housing Conditions in Munich, a benevolent organisation whose members have subscribed a capital of some £30,000, upon which they receive interest of 3^ per cent., and have further borrowed on mortgage about £100,000, wherewith to build or buy eligible tenement property which can be let to working people at moderate rents. The Society at present owns 460 dwellings, of which 303 form a self-contained colony in the Sendling district. The dwellings contain for the most part two rooms, though a number of threeroom tenements are also reserved for those who wish for them, and the rents vary from 15s. to 22s. per month for two rooms, and from 23s. to 32s. per month for three rooms ; a few single rooms are also let at from 10s. to 12s. per month. These rents may not be much less than the rents usually paid for the same number of rooms in private houses, but the dwellings are equal to the best within the reach of Munich working people, and are far superior to the vast majority. Not only are the buildings attractive in appearance, for an exceptional degree of artistic taste has been shown in their design and execution, but the rooms and their approaches are spacious, light, and cheerful, and are indeed quite up to the standard of ordinary middle-class houses. The dwellings which form the Sendling Colony have been built round a large open space, which serves as a place of exercise and rest lor adults and as a playground for the children. Balconies are the rule in these dwellings, and for washing purposes the tenants have the use of special rooms in turn. The Society’s existing houses consist of either four or live stories, but it proposes to erect a further block of dwellings MUNICH. 377 in another part of the town, the height of which shall not exceed two ordinary stories and an attic story, and its ambition is to offer to the working classes on the outskirts single-family houses of the English pattern. RETAIL PRICES. Groceries and other Commodities. Munich is well supplied with food stuffs of every kind. It draws considerable ­ supplies of agricultural produce from the grazing and arable districts of Bavaria, and its contiguity to Austria and Switzerland attracts to it the produce of these countries in large quantities. For the sale of most articles of food, among them meat, fish, fowl and game, vegetables, fruit, and country produce generally, there are open or closed markets, held under municipal management, and upon every article exposed for sale octroi is still levied as in many other South German towns. The amount of the duty on flour, meat, game and beer was, in 1906, 45. 2d. per head of the population. Yet, in spite of its ample supplies, Munich is a comparatively dear town to live in. dSTot many years ago its reputation was the opposite, and residents with experience of Vienna, Dresden, and Berlin praised the Bavarian capital as a town in which reasonable households might count on reasonable food bills. A comparison of food prices shows that during the whole of the past decade there has been a steady upward tendency, to which rye bread alone has not been subject. For the rest, the prices of meat of every kind, of potatoes, butter, and other agricultural produce, even of coffee, have all increased, and the same thing holds good of coal and fuel generally. The following list of market and retail traders’ prices, which have been recorded for a number of years by the Municipal Statistical Office, affords an interesting comparison :— Commodity. Ox flesh No. 1 „ „ No. 2 Cow „ No. 1 ,, 5, N o. 2 .. . Veal Mutton No. 1 ., No. 2 Pork Coffee Butter Wheaten flour No. 1 ,, No. 2 ,, „ No. 3 Rye flour ... Bread No. 1 „ No. 2 Potatoes Coal ... ... ... Lignite Mean Retail Prices in per lb. 99 99 ’9 99 91 99 per 7 lb. 99 99 99 per 4 lb. >5 per cwt. 1896. s. d. 0 7-6 0 72 0 7*0 0 60 0 69 0 52 0 7-2 1 0*2 1 33 1 2-5 1 1-7 1 1 0 7 0 6-1 3 PI 1 22 1 0-8 1900. s. d. 0 7-6 0 7-2 0 7-0 0 65 0 7-6 0 6-4 0 7-4 0 10-4 0 11-7 1 11 1 5-6 1 4 1 2-5 1 1 0 7-4 0 6-5 3 0-8 1 3-6 1 32 1903. s. d. 0 8# 0 7-6 0 72 0 6-7 0 7-0 0 7-7 0 7-1 0 8-2 0 9-8 0 10-9 1 11 1 5-6 1 4 1 2-5 1 1 0 7 0 61 3 0-9 1 4-5 1 3-3 1906, s. d. 0 8-8 0 84 0 7-7 0 7-4 0 8-1 0 7-9 0 7-1 0 9-1 0 10-9 1 11 1 11 1 5-6 1 4 1 2-5 1 1 0 7 0 6-1 3 33 1 4-5 1 28 Although the wages of the working classes have increased in the meantime, Munich’s food prices are not favourable to a high standard of life, and it is probable that the cost of living explains in some measure the inadequate housing accommodation with which the great mass of the people are satisfied. Passing along the streets and visiting the houses of the working classes one is struck by the importance which is attached to vegetables as an article of food. These vegetables are sold in a multitude of small shops scattered throughout the poorer streets, but the great bulk is retailed by market women who bring the produce of the country districts to town and dispose of it in the open markets set apart for the purpose. Another striking feature of the streets in workingclass quarters is the abundance of milk shops. These shops are of the simplest kind, and are generally carried on as an auxiliary occupation by women whose husbands are otherwise employed. 3 B 29088 378 MUNICH. The grocers’ shops of the town partake more of the all-round character common to North Germany, but not to Nuremberg ; cheese and eggs are not necessarily consigned to special dealers, and bread may be bought elsewhere than at the baker’s. It should be added, however, that grocers’ bread is not as a rule bread baked in Munich, but is country bread, of the usual rye sort, which competes at lower rates with the local bread. As to the latter there is no recognised weight or price, and a baker may make loaves as large or as small as he likes, always provided that the weight is duly certified. The first quality brown or black bread is made of nine-tenths rye and one-tenth wheat. The usual price is 1ft/. per single lb., for it is cut up into single pounds as desired, or (it/, or 6|t/. per 4-lb. loaf. The price of the second quality rye bread is 1 \d. per single lb. The largest loaves are sold at 2s., which means a huge log of bread, measuring nearly a yard in length and 20 inches in circumference, and weighing 14 or 15 lb. These loaves are mostly sold to working-class families in which six or eight persons have to be fed at a meal. The local Guild of Bakers exercises an indirect control over the bread trade of the town, but it is very slight : every month it collects specimens of the loaves baked from every part of the town, and the weights and prices are published in its periodical. The bakers complain, however, that while the countiy bread is allowed to come into the town free of octroi, they have to pay this local tax on all the flour they use in the way of trade. Together with butter, which costs from Is. Id. to Is. 2\d. per lb., the working classes buy a good deal of " butter schmalz,” that is, butter which has been melted down so that it keeps a longer time ; the cost is about the same. Pork dripping at !}¿d. and margarine at 7§d. are also largely used. The price of milk in 1905 was 2ft/. per quart. A further notable fact in the dieting of Munich is the remarkable diminution in the consumption of beer. T wenty years ago the consumption amounted to 500 litres, equal to 109*4 gallons per head of the entire population. In 1905 the consumption was only 296 litres or 64*8 gallons, a falling off of 41 per cent. Not only so, but this decrease is no spasmodic or accidental fact ; it has been going on year by year, almost without break, ever since the maximum figure just named occurred, until in 1905 it happened that Munich for the first time exported more beer of its own production than it consumed. How far this declining use of beer is the result of economic conditions, and the extent to which it characterises one class of the people more than another, are questions to which it is impossible to give conclusive answers. It is, however, generally admitted—and both brewers and licensed victuallers are ready to attest the fact —that the anti-alcohol movement has been a strong contributory cause. Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and June, 1906. Commodity. Predominant Price. October, 1905. June, 1906. Coffee ... Sugar :— Loaf White Granulated Bacon :— Fat Streaky Eggs Cheese :— Limburg Swiss Butter ... Margarine Potatoes Flour (Household) Bread ... Milk Coal Coke ... ••• Paraffin Oil per lb. per Is. per lb. )) )) per 7 lb. per 4 lb. per quart, per cwt. per gallon. 11 d. to Is. Id 2\d., 21d. 2# 8|d. to 9§d 8f d. to 9|d. 14 5W. lid to Is. Id Is. Id to Is. 2id. 7 id. 2\d. to 3d Is. 3¡d bid 2#d Is. 2 Is 11 lid to Is. Id 2 \d. 8|d to 9|d 8|d to 9fd 17 5\d. lid to Is. Id Is. Id to Is. 24d 7|d 2jd to 3d Is. 31d 6&d 2#d Is. 2|d Is. 64d lid MUNICH'. 379 Meat. In addition to a public abattoir, designed on modern principles, Munich has a public market for the sale of meat, and this market is largely resorted to by the working classes, though a considerable trade is done by the small butchers in the streets inhabited by these classes, chiefly in inferior and cheaper joints of meat. Many of these butchers buy their stocks from the larger higher-class traders, and do not kill for themselves. There are three departments of the public market—the high-class stalls (known collectively as " Bank ” or bench), which only deal in the best meat, which is ox meat ; the second-class stalls which deal with the cheaper, yet very good, cow meat ; and the " Freibank,” by which is meant the stalls which deal in meat of distinctly inferior quality, which the market officials will not allow to be sold on the open stalls, yet which they do not feel justified in condemning as unfit for human food. For the meat displayed in the stalls of the third class there is always a ready demand on the part of the working classes and the poorer buyers, who are to be found at seven o’clock waiting for the market to open. The rush generally clears the stock in short time, and the “ Freibank ” has done its business much sooner than the ordinary butchers. In 1905 there were sold as “ Freibank ” meat 396 oxen, 2,236 cows, 146 young cattle, 1,636 calves, 4,334 pigs, and 180 sheep. As a rule from l\d. to 8Jd. per lb. is paid for good beef (except steak, which costs 9f\d. to Is. Id.) ; for mutton 6d. to 8f¿/., according to the cut ; for veal 7^d. to 8f/A ; and for pork 8Jd. to 9|d. For the sake of comparison the prices of inferior “ Freibank ” meat are given : Beef 4\d. to 7f\d. (the latter for ox meat) ; mutton 3d. to 4d. ; veal 3bd. to 6£d. ; and pork 4d. to T^d. It is seldom that the butchers in the working-class quarters have large stocks of meat, for they sell in very restricted quantities, yet their shops, whose sign is generally a mass of growing ivy covering the lower half of the window, are clean and orderly. There are horse meat shops in the poorer districts, and they do an increasing trade. The meat is offered in various forms—common cuts, which cost something ­ under 3d. per pound, fillet, which commands about 2d. more, boiled meat, cured and rolled meat, fat and sausage. The public abattoir has a special department for the killing of dogs, but it is maintained that only a small portion of the flesh is used as human food, and even then only because of the belief that dog’s flesh is an antidote against tuberculosis, a belief prevalent in many parts of Germany. In 1905 110 dogs were killed, against 99 in 1904 and 166 in 1903. For some years there has been a gradual decrease in the consumption of meat in Munich. The highest figure reached was during the five years 1881-5 when the consumption annually per head of the population was 20T5 lb, of meat of all kinds, fresh and prepared. There was a fall during the years 1891-5 to 175*3 lb., then a recovery during the years 1896-1900 to 179 0 lb., followed by a further fall to 165*8 lb. during the years 1901-5, the consumption in 1905 being 157*7 lb., and in 1 906 153*1 lb., per head. The incorporation of adjacent communes and unfavourable economic conditions would help to explain a smaller average consumption at the beginning of the present decade, yet the significant fact cannot be overlooked that the decrease has been spread over a number of years, and has synchronised with the increasing cost of this and other articles of food. It is also noticeable that the diminished consumption has been more striking in the better and dearer kinds of meat than in others. The following animals were slaughtered in the years named : Oxen ... Bullocks Young Cattle Cows ... Calves ... Pigs Sheep and Goats Horses ... 1901. 30,566 10,647 15,385 21,471 240,065 213,323 37,829 2,055 1902. 30,322 10,372 14,407 22,835 228,971 193,085 36,718 2,305 1903. 30,802 16,885 3,*798 20,772 204,920 223,595 29,914 2,459 1904. 30,310 16,002 2,978 18,750 193,957 242,631 30,460 2,592 1905. 28,432 16,568 4,122 21,424 201,793 198,800 33,596 2,898 29088 3 B 2 880 Munich. A detailed record of the town’s meat consumption has been kept for many years by the Municipal Statistical Office. The following Table takes the analysis back to 1896 :— Meat Consumption per head from 1896 to 1905. Ox beef Other beef ... Veal Pork Other meat “ Imported meat” * Total 1896. lb. 44 7 3T9 42-7 49 7 5T 6-8 180-9 1897 1898. 1899. lb. 438 352 44 9 42-9 6-2 6-8 179-8 lb. 45-1 34-3 44-0 38-9 6-6 53 174-2 lb. 45-1 323 42 9 44-0 5-7 9-9 1900. lb. 42-7 32 8 42 5 48-0 5-5 8-6 179-9 180-1 1901. lb. 400 34-3 42-0 420 5-7 8-6 172-6 1902. lb. 39 4 34-3 39-6 37-4 5-9 10-3 1903. j 1904 1905. 166-9 lb 40 31-35- lb. 39-4 27 9 32 6 46-0 5-3 141 lb. 36 3 30-6 332 36 7 5-7 15 2 165-3 157-7 * i.e., brought into the town ready for sale and not slaughtered in the public abattoir. This “ imported ” meat includes cured and preserved as well as fresh meat. The decrease in the consumption of ox beef, veal, and pork is the most significant feature of this comparison. If the comparison be carried back a further 10 years, the decrease in respect of ox beef and veal is still greater. While, however, the meat consumption oí the town was still 153*1 lb. per head of the entire population in 1906, there is no doubt that the consumption per head of the working classes is much less. Returns of lhe weekly expenditure of 150 working-class families, representing 623 persons, obtained for this inquiry, showed a weekly consumption per head of 29 ounces, which would be equivalent to an annual amount of 94 lb. The consumption of beef was relatively large, viz., 53 per cent, of the whole, and greatly exceeds that of North German towns. The consumption of veal, 11 per cent, of the whole, was also large, while that of pork and bacon, viz., 14 per cent., was relatively smaller than is shown by North German returns of meat consumption. Predominant Prices paid hy the Working Classes in October, 1905, und June, 1906. Description of Cut. Predominant price per lb. October, 1905. June, 1906. Shin Beef : — Ribs Silverside ( with bone { without bone Steak Flank Mutton :— Leg ... ... Shoulder Breast Neck Chops (trimmed) Veal :— Hind quarter ... Shoulder, with bone Loin ... ... Pork :— Cured ham Leg ... ... Fore Loin Belly Spare Rib Chops 7%d to 8%d 7fd to 8|d. 7£d to 8fd lid 9fd. to la. Id. 71d. to 8fd. 7|d to 8£d 7|d. to 7£d 6d to 7£d 6d to 7£d 7fd. to 8fd. 71d. to 8£d 7# to 8# 7|d. to 8£d Is. 2£d 9\d. to 9|d. 8|d. to 9£d 8# to 9# 8fd to 9fd 9Jd to 9|d. 7§d. to 8£d 7|d. to 8fd 7fd to 8|d lid lid to Is. Id 7fd to 8§d 7d to 8|d 7£d 6d to 71d 6d to 7fd 7|d to 9|d 7|d to 9d 7|d to 9d 7§d to 9d Is. 2fd 9\d. to 9|d 8|d to 9|d 8|d to 9|d 8|d to 9|d 9£d to 9|d MUNICH. 381 The following comparison, published by the Municipal Statistical Office, of the mean retail prices of different kinds of meat during a period of 10 years consists of averages based on the abattoir and market quotations and returns obtained from 100 shops in nine parts of the town :— Mean Prices of Meat in Pence per lb. in the Retail Trade from 1896 to 1905* 1896. 1897. 1898. 1899. 1900. 1901. 1902. 1903. 1904. 1905. Ox beef, best „ second ... Cow beef Veal Mutton (shoulder) best. Mutton (shoulder) second. Pork d. 7f H 7 6 6f H d. P 6 % n d. P Si n d. ÏÎ 7 3 n d. 7| n 7 7* 71 P 3 d. P n 7 Si d. 1 7 7* Si d. I 6| 8* d, I 7| Munich in the main obtains its meat supplies from the agricultural districts of Bavaria and from Austria. About half the beef is of Bavarian origin, and Austria sends a large part of the remainder, while East and West Prussian beef comes through the Berlin market. The mutton is mostly Bavarian, and some of it is of exceptional quality. The veal is either Bavarian or Austrian, whilst Bavaria and North Germany now supply nearly all the pork. Prices at Munich are high. The level of prices at Berlin being taken as 100, the index numbers for Munich are—for meat, 107 ; for other food, 109 ; for coal, 100 ; and for all commodities, 107. The index number for rent and prices combined is 107. 382 NUREMBERG. There are two Nurembergs—the old town of high red-roofed houses, with their picturesque corner windows, wooden balconies, and carved façades, of rambling alleys and secluded courtyards—and the modern town which begins just where the ancient fortress lines end and stretches in every direction in long intersected streets of tenement dwellings of every style of building and every variety of size and accommodation. Regarded from the industrial standpoint Nuremberg is essentially a product of the new era which opened for Germany with the successful conclusion of the French war of 1870-1. In the latter year its population was only 83,214 ; it is to-day 294,432 (Census of December, 1905). Before 1871 it took Nuremberg 40 years to double its population ; after that year its population was doubled in 24 years ; and during the 15 years 1890-1905 the population has increased 107 per cent. The incorporation ­ of outlying villages has helped to swell the population, but natural expansion has done more than the extension of municipal boundaries to make Nuremberg the large town it is to-day. The following Table shows the growth of population during the past 35 years :— Year of Census. Population. Increase. Increase per cent, in intercensal period. 1871 1875 1880 1885 1890 1895 1900 1905 83,214 91,018 99,519 114,891 142,590 162,386 261,081 294,432 5,319 7,804 8,501 15,372 27,699 19,796 98,695 33,351 6-8 9-4 93 15 5 241 13 9 60-8 12-8 The large increase between 1895 and 1900 was partly due to the incorporation ­ in 1898 and 1899 of a number of small communes having an aggregate population of 40,200. Nevertheless, of the entire increase of 203,414 inhabitants between 1875 and 1905 63,369 or 31T per cent, fell to excess of births over deaths, and 98,596 or 48*5 per cent, to excess of immigration over removals, and only 40,200 or 19*8 per cent, to the extension of the municipal area. As to health, Nuremberg has not an exceptional death-rate, the figure for 1905 being 20*7 per 1,000, which, with the exception of two years, was the lowest rate ever recorded, but the rate of infant mortality is high (about 250 per thousand born on the average of 15 years), and it does not tend to decrease. The birth-rate in 1905 was 35 per 1,000 of the population (excluding stillbirths), ­ the lowest rate in recent years (against a maximum in 1900 of 42 per 1,000), the illegitimate births numbering 17*67 per cent, of the whole, against 17*46 per cent, for the period 1901-1905 and 19*40 per cent, for the period 1896-1900. The deaths from tuberculosis of every kind in 1905 were equal to a rate of 3*24 per 1,000 of the population ; the highest recorded rate is 5*50 (1878), and the lowest 2*83 (1902) ; the rate in 1905 was the highest for five years. The following Table gives the birth and death rates and the infantile mortality for a period of five years :— Year. Birth Rate per 1,000 of Population. Death Rate per 1,000 of Population. Infantile Mortality per 1,000 Births. 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 413 38 6 36 6 36 4 35*0 213 205 22*4 218 20*7 230 230 255 266 254 NUREMBERG. 383 The urea of the entire municipality is now about 16,000 acres, of which 400 acres fall to Nuremberg within the walls, and it is noteworthy that while there are ten inhabited houses (that is, independent blocks of tenement dwellings) to every acre of ground in the old town, there is not one house per acre in the rest of the urban area. Nuremberg, both in its old and new parts, is a well-built town, a fact for which it lias to thank the presence of abundant stores of sandstone at no great distance. Brick is also used to a considerable extent, yet substantial stone walls are the rule, and not uncommonly the fronts are elaborately ornamented, even in working-class dwellings of more recent erection. It is a noticeable fact about the housing arrangements of Nuremberg that the old parts of the town are not given up, as is usually the case in ancient places, to the working classes and the poor. Of hardly any quarter in the old town proper can it be said that it is distinctively an industrial quarter. The very worst of the dwellings and many of the tenements high up beneath the gables are certainly so inhabited, but on the other hand most of the oldest property in even the narrower of the streets and “ Gassen ” is still occupied by middle and lowermiddle class families. All that can safely be said is that the working classes are scattered over the meaner streets of the old town ; nowhere do they form distinct colonies. The streets are well paved for the most part, and they are also kept clean. Not much planting has been done, however, even in the new districts, where there is no obstacle in the way of steep and narrow streets, though greater attention appears to be now given to the matter. Some of the overgrown moats and walls make shady promenades ; there is a public park, and open spaces have been reserved in different parts of the town. A sluggish stream, the Pegnitz, intersects the town from east to west. The town owns the gasworks, the waterworks, the electrical power and light station, the tramways, a large cattle market and abattoir, baths, library and reading rooms, a theatre, an art gallery, savings bank, pawnshop, a chemical laboratory for . the special purpose of analysing articles of food, a number of cheap dwellings for municipal employees, and, for the special benefit of the working classes generally, it maintains a labour registry and dining rooms in various parts of the town at which workmen can take their mid-day meals. Few factories are nowadays found within the old town, and those that exist are small ; most of the brush, pencil, and toy factories are in the newer districts, and further out still are the large machinery works. Hence in order to come to close quarters with the working classes it is necessary to visit the environs. Occupations, Wages, and Hours of Labour. From very early times Nuremberg was an important centre of commerce and industry, for its geographical position caused it to be the meeting place of numerous highways and trade routes passing north and south, east and west, and hence it was able to attract to itself enterprise, skill, and wealth from towns less favourably situated. Its reputation for the production of bronze and beaten metal work is ancient and world-wide ; of the former, priceless and imperishable specimens are seen in the form of ecclesiastical monuments and a series of fountains in public places. It is thus no accident that the metal and allied industries should continue to-day, if not in their old forms, to afford to the working classes of Nuremberg one of their principal sources of employment. Of 66,538 persons engaged in factories and workshops (including the handicrafts) in 190o, 38,100 or 57*2 per cent, were occupied in the working of metals in various ways and in the manufacture of machinery and mechanical apparatus. I he metal industries are multifarious and include the manufacture of cycles, scientific instruments and other products of the fine mechanical trades (.Feinmechanik), brass and metal goods, bronze goods and bronze colours, wire and wire goods, gold, silver, and tin beaten ware, gold leaf, aluminium, brocades, and mechanical toys. Other important industries, employing large numbers of persons of both sexes, are the manufacture of lead pencils, brushes of various kinds, wooden and carved goods, the manufacture of margarine and oils, chromo-lithographic work ; and in Fürth, an adjoining town, mirrors. There is little textile industry in the district. 384 NUREMBERG. The following Table, supplied by the Factory Inspector, shoivs the general classification of the industrial classes of Nuremberg in 1905 :— Group of Trades. Factories and Works in which Mechanical Power is used. Number of Establishments. ­ Number of Workpeople. ­ Handicrafts, without Mechanical Power. Number of Establishments. ­ Number of Workpeople. ­ Total Number of Workpeople. ­ Building Rolling and forge works Metal-working Machine, implement, and apparatus makin Textiles Clothing and cleaning Printing, lithography, bookbinding, &c. Paper ... ... ... ... ... Woodworking and carving Chemicals Resins, varnishes, oil, soap, candles, &c. Stone and earth Food, drink and tobacco Leather... ... ... ... ... Miscellaneous Total 1 263 136 18 33 72 34 168 42 19 24 125 18 4 400 12,282 14,891 284 2,232 3,298 937 5.164 2,688 535 1,026 2.164 391 95 703 272 62 1,695 93 150 792 6 12 74 1,310 216 47 2,893 744 196 3,237 374 755 1,930 30 44 88 2,696 431 149 6,584 400 15,175 15,635 480 5,469 3,672 1,692 7,094 2,718 579 1,114 4,860 822 244 957 46,387 5,432 13,567 66,538 It is a common complaint that in good times sufficient workpeople cannot be obtained for the engineering industry, and even less skilled, industries report a similar dearth of labour. Nuremberg’s development during recent years has, in fact, been so rapid that the supply of skilled and trained labour has not kept pace with the constantly increasing demand. Some of the larger works are endeavouring to cope with the difficulty by securing a regular supply of youths after their release from the primary schools, apprenticing them for four years, and during that time instructing them at continuation schools without expense, It happens at times that youths so trained seek their future elsewhere on gaining independence, but it is the employers’ only hope of covering the growing need for efficient labour. It has been estimated that barely 25 per cent, of the workpeople in the mechanical trades are native Nurembergers, and it is a fact that their number includes many Austrians and even Danes. It is noteworthy that agriculture makes the same complaint of lack of labour, though here the reason is different. In particular it is found that after the rural labourer has served his two years in the army he shows little disposition to go back to the country. The life of the town, its attractions, and the greater freedom which industrial employment offers exert upon him an overpowering influence, and he remains where his service has been passed, and helps to swell the urban population. The wages of skilled men in the engineering trades vary greatly and the difference between the wages paid in certain large establishments and in the smaller works is very marked. Taken as a whole, the range is from 24s. 4d. to 34s. 9c?., while labourers earn from 17s. 5d. to 19s. 5d. The number of hours NUREMBERG. 385 is 57 or 58 in a majority of the works, and this number is only exceeded in a few concerns of minor importance. In the mechanical toy industry men earn 30,9. per week on an average for 5G hours work, though 36s. may be earned on good piece work ; but the wages of women run from 12s. to 14s. The average earnings of men in the brush industry are from 24s. to 26s. on piece work for 54 hours work. In the lead pencil industry the wages vary from 20s. to 27s. per week of 58 hours, according to the kind of work done. The best paid workers are the “ lead makers” (Bleimacher), whose earnings vary greatly, however, according to the work they have to do and the skill required ; the chief operations are grinding and mixing the lead and making the lead fills. Their wages range from 18s. to 27s. and even 30s. in exceptional cases ; while sawyers, planers, and gluers are paid from 18s. to 24s., 26s., and 27s. respectively. A large part of the work in the industry is piece work. The wages of the gold leaf beaters, whose industry is a speciality of Nuremberg, average 35s. a week, though as much as 40s. can be earned ; they have for a long time had an eight hour day. The average wages of lithographers and printers in the chromo - lithographic works of Nuremberg, which are engaged largely in the export trade, are 30s. per week ; but in the ordinary printing trade the wages of hand compositors, machine minders, and pressmen are 25s. 11 d., and of machine compositors 32s. 4d. on news and 33s. 8d. on jobbing. Beer brewing is an important industry in Nuremberg, and the wages and conditions of labour therein have for some years been regulated by collective agreements applicable also to the adjoining town of Fürth. The wages of brewers are from 23s. to 26s. 6c/. per week according to length of service, with Is. 6d. additional towards rent and 7s. 3c/. instead of the beer allowance formerly granted, so that the net money earnings range between 31s. 8^d. and 35s. 3d. Enginemen are similarly paid except that they receive no house money. Stokers are paid 20s. wages and 5s. in lieu of beer, draymen receive the same wages and allowances as brewers, and labourers receive 25s. per week. While the custom of “ free drinking ” has been abolished, beer is still sold to the men at a reduced rate for consumption by themselves and their families. A number of wages agreements are also in force in the building trades, the ruling rate being Qd. per hour. In the baking trade the practice of living in is almost general, and here the money wages (beyond board and lodging, valued at 10s. a week) amount to 10s. to 14s. per week of 84 hours for a first hand and 8s. to 10s. for assistants. Where the men live at home the rates are 20s. to 24s. and 18s. to 20s. respectively. The wages of day labour seldom exceed 3s. a day, and often fall as low as 2s. 6d. It is the rule in most industries to determine engagements without notice on either side. There is a considerable amount of home employment in Nuremberg, though it bears no appreciable proportion to the aggregate industrial activity of the town. The home workers are chiefly women and their work is for the most part connected with operations which are carried on in the toy factories, though some of the brush and pencil factories also allow work to be done at home. In the latter case it is not uncommon for women and girls to take unfinished work away with them in the evening in order to increase their earnings by several hours of night employment in their own homes. Wooden toys of the smaller and simpler kinds are also made or finished (put together or painted) by home workers, but a still more important home occupation is the painting of the tin soldiers for which Nuremberg is famous, an occupation which exclusively employs some 500 women there and at Fürth. Though long hours are worked the earnings are small, 8s. a week being a liberal estimate, while 45, and 55. often represent the reward of six days work of 10 or 12 hours a day. In this work children of school age largely participate, and an inquiry made in 67 classes in the elementary schools of Fürth elicited the fact that 151 children (86 boys and 65 girls) regularly helped their parents in this employment. The Work is the more unhealthy, inasmuch as it is carried on almost exclusively in 386 NUREMBERG. the poorest and therefore the most restricted homes, where the work-room is also the bed-room and the lûmes of the paints taint the atmosphere in which the workers pass both day and night. Wages and Rom's of Lab oui' in the Principal Occupations, October, 1905. Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours of Labour. Building Trades* :— Bricklayers and Masons Carpenters Joiners and Cabinet-makers Plumbers Plasterers Painters (Skilled Men) „ (Rough Work) Stucco-workers Labourers Engineering Trades :— Moulders Fitters ... Turners ... Pattern-makers Rivetters Holders-up Angle-iron Smiths Labourers Copper and Brass Works : Moulders Fitters ... Turners ... Smiths ... Pattern-makers Labourers Metal-ivorking Trades :— Mechanical Toy Makers (Skilled Men) Gold-leaf Beaters Printing and Allied Trades (agreements) :— Compositors, Machine Minders, and Pressmen Machine Compositors—News „ „ Jobbing Lithographers Wood-ivorking Trades :— Pencil Makers :— Lead Makers Sawyers ... Planers ... Gluers ... Brush Makers Mirror Makers Coopers in Breweries Food, Tobacco, &c., Trades Bakers—1st hand » 2nd „ Brewers ... Brewers’ Coopers „ Labourers Labourers in Margarine Factories Miscellaneous :— Carters Day Labourers 28s. 6d. 28s. 6d. 23s. 9d. 25s. 2d. 25s. lid. 25s. lid. 24s. 4d. 30s. 9d. to 37s. Id. 18s. lOd. 30s. 9d. 25s. to 32s. 6d. 28s. „ 34s. 9d. 24s. 4d. to 28s. 20s. Id. 18s. 7cl. 23s. 2d. to 29s. 17s. 5d. to 19s. 5d. 28s. to 30s. 22s. 24s. to 30s. 22s. 30s. 18s. 30s. 35s. 25s. lid. 32s. 4d. 33s. 8d. 30s. 18s. to 27s. 18s. „ 24s. 18s. „ 26s. 18s. „ 27s. 24s. „ 26s. 23s. 31s. 2d. to 33s. 8d. 20s. to 24s. 18s. „ 20s. 32s. 9d. „ 35s. 3d. 31s. 3d. „ 33s. 9d. 25s. 21s. to 23s. 19s. to 23s. 15s. „ 18s. 57 57 54 56 54 54 54 57 57 57, 58 57,58 57,58 57, 58 58 58 58 57,58 58 58 58 58 58 58 56 48 54 48 54 48 58 58 58 58 54 57 60 84 84 60 60 60 60 * The wages and hours of labour stated for the building trades are for a full week in summer. NUREMBERG. 387 The wages and hours of municipal employees at the same date were as follows :— Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours of Labour. Roadmaking and Cleaning Foremen Paviors and Flaggers ... Paviors’ Labourers Road Menders „ Sweepers Carmen Gasworks :— Foremen Stokers Labourers Waterworks :— Labourers Tramways {Electric) :— Drivers Conductors Electric Works and Lighting Enginemen Stokers ... Installers Fitters 35s. 9f?. 28s. 20s. 19s. 20s. 10 d. Ils. M. 36s. Id. 32s. 2d. 22s. 6d. 17s. 5d. 20s. 9d. to 30s.* 19s. Id. to 26s. 6d.* 26s. 5d. or 30s. lOd. 25s. 2d. or 29s. 5d. 24s. 24%. 7d. 65 54 59 59 65 54 70 70 60 60 60 60 60 or 70f 60 „ 70t 60 60 * According to length of service. t Every other Sunday is worked ; hence the difference in wages and hours. Representing wages at Berlin by 100, the following are the index numbers for Nuremberg : Building trades, skilled men, 78, labourers, 73 ; engineering trades, skilled men, 88, labourers, 85 ; printing trades, 92. Housing and Rents. Fifteen or twenty years ago Nuremberg ranked as a town of cheap dwellings. That reputation belongs to it no longer. Between the years 1885 and 1890 began the great industrial development which has placed Nuremberg in the front rank of German towns, and in the interval rents have increased all round to the amount of some 50 per cent. The highest level was reached about 1889, up to which year there had been a rapid increase in building operations, with the result of over production directly trade depression set in. Rents then fell temporarily, but they have since recovered, and in 1906 had in general passed the inflated standard of 15 years ago, a fact attributable in some degree to the larger demand for houses caused by the Bavarian National Exhibition, but even more by the favourable condition of local industry and commercial enterprise. As between 1905 and 1906 there has been a fairly general increase to the extent of from 5 to 10 per cent., especially in the case of smaller houses. At the same time the standard of housing has greatly improved during the past 20 years. In indicating the extent and the character of working-class houses in an old town like Nuremberg it is necessary to guard against undue generalisation. The picturesque alleys and courts of dwellings which make Nuremberg within the walls so interesting, do, indeed, form a refuge for a considerable part of the working population, but they are not typical of housing conditions in general. Nevertheless, these ancient tumble-down properties, built in all sorts of ways in all sorts of corners, with no regard for ventilation or light, and with complete indifference to plumb-lines and perpendiculars, are far from being the rookeries which similar dwellings in other mediaeval towns sometimes are, and are rarely to be classed as “ slums.” In the old as in the new parts of the town, the tenement system is universal, but the dwelling houses in the inner district are comparatively small, two or three stories being seldom exceeded, with two or three tenements on each story. From the sanitary standpoint houses of this 29088 3 C 2 388 NUREMBERG. class leave much to be desired. Just outside the walls is a cluster of old dwellings, constituting, with modern additions, the suburb of Wohrd. Here, too, are seen narrow courts and low houses, often of one story, but though the rents are ver} moderate they are only proportionate to the inferior accommodation. ­ Basement dwellings are few in number in Nuremberg, and those that exist are doomed to speedy extinction. To be fair to the housing conditions of Nuremberg, it is necessary to visit the outskirts beyond the walls, Steinbühl, Gostenhof, and to a less degree St. Johannis, for it is there that the working classes chiefly congregate, since there the large industrial undertakings are found ; and the general verdict upon the condition of things there must be a very favourable one. As a rule, the Nuremberg workman lives in a house of tolerable proportions, alike as to the number and the size of his rooms, though on the other hand he pays a comparatively high rent. Rents are calculated by the year—though paid by the week, fortnight, month, or quarter according to agreement— and a house is described as containing so many " rooms,” with a kitchen understood. The “ rooms ” are of two kinds, heatable and unbeatable. The former are generally described in rent contracts as " Zimmer,” the latter as " Kammern,” yet the distinction is one of minor importance where the size is equal, and the municipal authorities are more and more disregarding it. Where the unbeatable room is used for sleeping purposes, as it generally is, it has to conform to the ordinary sanitary regulations as to cubical and superficial space. According to these regulations an adult requires 343 cubic feet space and 31*7 square feet of surface, and children under 10 years half these measurements ; persons over 13 years old and of different sex are also required to sleep in different rooms. More drastic, however, is the regulation, upon which the entire modern housing system of Nuremberg depends, stipulating that every dwelling used by a family shall consist of at least one heatable room, one bedroom (of the size above stated), a kitchen, and an appurtenance (Nebenraum), which may be in the attic or the cellar, for the storing of coal, wood, &c., and a w.c. having independent approach. The far-going character of this regulation explains the fact that, counting the kitchen as a room, 93"8 per cent, of 45,024 rented dwelling houses pure and simple (dwellings connected with shops, workrooms, and inns being disregarded) enumerated and examined in 1901 consisted of three or more rooms—the kitchen being counted as a room ; 27’6 per cent, consisted ­ of three rooms, 43’2 per cent, of four rooms, and 23*0 per cent, of more than four rooms. Of 1,151 dwellings, the rents of which were examined for the purpose of this report, 5'0 per cent, were of two rooms (kitchen included) i 28'5 per cent, of three rooms, 44*3 per cent, of four rooms, and 22'2 per cent, of five rooms. One distinguishing merit of the Nuremberg working class tenement block is its moderate size. There are no barrack houses, such as one meets with in Berlin, for the municipal authorities have rigorously discouraged them, though the “ front ” house and the " back ” house are found here as in other large towns. For years the building regulations of the town flavo consistently aimed at encouraging the erection of small blocks of dwellings.-The latest revision of these regulations is that of 1903, and types of houses builtbefore and since that date will give a fair representation of the housing conditions ­ of modern Nuremberg. As to the height of the houses, the regulations provide that outside the walls buildings adjacent to streets may not exceed' 65 feet ; buildings in streets less than 48 feet 9 inches wide may at the most consist of ground floor, two " upper ” stories, and an attic story, only half the' superficial area of which may be used as a dwelling ; but in streets from 48 feet 9 inches to 65 feet wide a third "upper” story is allowed, besides the attic story. In the inner district a maximum height of 71 feet 6 inches is allowed, but special provisions apply to old narrow streets.. Back houses must be a story lower than the front block in new districts, and of the four stories allowed only two may be used as dwellings ; the others can only be used for industrial, commercial, or other non-residential purposes. One result of this regulation is that the building of back houses is falling off, for subject to such a restriction they are found to* be an unprofitable investment, The earlier houses provided for three dwellings on each floor in the front building and two in the back building where such existed. Each dwelling will NUREMBERG. 389 in such a case be found to consist of at least three rooms (counting the kitchen), and sometimes a fourth apartment or alcove is added. The living room is the largest of the suite, for it generally serves as a bedroom as well, and is furnished for the double purpose. . Its dimensions may vary from 8 feet 9 inches toll feet 4 inches in width, 14 feet 7 inches to 16 feet 3 inches in depth, and 9 feet 9 inches to 11 feet 4J inches in height. The second room is generally somewhat less, and the kitchen is invariably a very small apartment, only just sufficient for cooking purposes. In South Germany the closed stove, of iron or tile according to the quality of the dwelling, is a fixture, and is not, as in the Rhineland, the property of the tenant. As a rule each dwelling has a separate W.C., which in the older houses is placed in a corner of the landing, though the building authorities now require its inclusion within the dwelling. The entrance to these tenements will be found in the middle of the building, and each door opens into a small corridor or vestibule, from which, as a rule, access to all the rooms is gained, though occasionally one of the rooms can only be entered from another, an arrangement which the more recent by-laws prohibit. The back house is a smaller structure, and is not necessarily connected with the front house, as in many other towns, but may be separated from it by an open space, which serves as a drying ground and as a playground for children. Here will be found on each floor two tenements, each of three rooms, though smaller than those in the front building, while the rents are also proportionately lower. The houses erected according to the revised regulations of 1903 are much the same in internal arrangements, except that in front buildings there are two tenements on each story instead of three, the result being that either smaller houses or larger tenements are being built ; as a fact, tenements of four rooms, viz., a living room, two bedrooms, and a kitchen, are becoming fairly common. The back house is likewise restricted to two dwellings to a floor. Both in the front house and the back each tenant has at disposal a portion of the cellar and also of the attic, the several divisions being marked off by stout laths and each being under lock and key. The wash-house will be found either in the courtyard or in the cellar, and the tenants use it in turn according to arrangement. Balconies at the rear of the houses are also becoming very common ; they are small in area, but in the higher stories especially they are found very convenient, and the tenants welcome them. The story most desired by tenants in general is the first, and its rents are frequently, though not invariably, the highest. The parterre is colder in winter, for the cellar is below, the light is not so good, and it is also noisier ; while above the first story dwellings have a tendency to deteriorate, for they are designed for the less remunerative tenants. The furnishing of houses such as those which have just been described— houses, that is, of the better-situated working-class families—is never elaborate, and probably falls below that of English households of the same class, alike in quantity and in value. Sub-letting is very common amongst working-class families. The housing inquiry of 1901 showed that 22*06 per cent, of all the dwellings in the town (and 26*6 per cent, of all the rented dwellings) contained lodgers or other subtenants, ­ and in the more exclusively industrial districts the percentage exceeded 30 per cent. For example :— District. Steinbühl, 1 " 4 Galgenhof Steinbühl, 2 Total dwellings. Receiving lodgers or sub-letting. 2.012 1,656 3,033 1,975 609 532 989 680 Percentage. 303 321 32 6 344 It is almost the rule for families with dwellings of more than three rooms (kitchen, living-room, and bedroom) to take lodgers, either one or two, according to the size of the additional rooms, and tenements of such larger size are frequently rented with the idea of letting off one or more apartments. It does not appear that this plan of sub-letting is followed on business-like 390 NUREMBERG. principles. The usual charge per head is from Is. 6d. to 2s. 6d. per week, and for the latter sum a breakfast of coffee and rolls is at times included. It is evident that such charges as these can leave little or no profit, and it seems questionable whether the tenants-in-chief often regard the matter from a strictly commercial standpoint. Clear evidence exists that the Nuremberg worker of the better class attaches great importance to having a house both ample in size and attractive in appearance, and that the hope of lessening his rent by taking lodgers often tempts him to take more rooms than he really needs. A large number of the working-class houses are in the hands of small owners, either private individuals or business people who live on the spot, and who exercise control over the tenants and the due observance of their contract obligations, for signed agreements are customary even in the case of the poorest tenants. Where a landlord lives away he is frequently represented by a resident agent, who receives his rent and exercises his authority. A very large amount of house property, however, is owned by the great brewery companies of Nuremberg and the adjoining town of Fürth. The system represented is the English tied-house system, though on a larger scale. A beer licence is attached to a portion of the lower flat only, but the brewery company has to purchase the whole block of which the licensed premises form part. Hence there are companies which, for the purpose of controlling the sale of beer in 50 houses, have become owners of 500 dwellings. In such cases the rents are generally moderate. Most frequently the properties have fallen into their hands as reversionary mortgagees, though the direct purchase of licensed premises, with their attached dwelling-houses, is not uncommon. In appending the average rents of houses of different size, it should be stated that the dwellings in the old part of the town, as being abnormal, have been disregarded. In general the rents of these dwellings are lower than those of modern dwellings outside the walls : but, on the other hand, the accommodation ­ is altogether inferior. As a rule there is a difference of Is. per week between the two districts for a dwelling of three or four rooms. The kitchen, which is essential in a Nuremberg dwelling, has been counted as a room, though in very many cases its dimensions are so small that it cannot be used for any other purpose than cooking. Indeed, the term commonly applied to this apartment at Nuremberg is u cooking-room.” Houses of one room virtually do not exist at all, and houses of two rooms (a living and bedroom and the kitchen) are rare ; but the rents of such as exist vary from 2s. to 4s. per week. Number of Rooms per Tenement. Predominant Weekly Rent. Three rooms (two rooms and kitchen) Four rooms (three rooms and kitchen) 3s. 6c?. to 5s. 4s. 3c?. to 5s. 9d. is 53. Rent at Berlin being taken as 100, the corresponding figure for Nuremberg No rates (save the charge for water) are included in the rent. State and communal income tax is paid at Nuremberg on small incomes on the following scale, the communal tax being at present 125 per cent, of the State tax, and levied on the same assessment as the latter :— Class. Income. State Income Tax. £25 or less , Over £25 but not over £37 „ £37 10s. but not over „ £45 but not over £52 „ £52 10s. but not over „ £60 but not over £70 » £70 „ „ £30 » £80 » „ £90 „ £90 „ £100 10s. £45 10s. C60 s. d. 0 6 1 0 2 0 3 0 4 0 5 0 6 0 8 0 10 0 Communal Income Tax. S. d. 0 7& 1 3 2 6 3 9 5 0 6 3 7 6 10 0 12 6 It should be added that the municipality issues cheap tramway tickets to workpeople who live at a distance from their employment. For 6a. a month the NUREMBERG. 391 holder of a workman’s ticket can travel between any two points as often as he likes, Sunday included ; and for 2s. od. a month he may travel to and from his work any distance once a day. A system of house inspection has been exercised by the municipal authority since 1901, but on restricted lines, and special trained inspectors have not yet been appointed. A Committee of seven, nominated by the Magistrat * or Municipal Executive, and containing representatives of the Town Council as well as technical and legal experts, has charge of this work. Although Nuremberg by no means suffers from lack of dwelling houses to-day, there was a time when the working classes were not so well provided for. Several years ago the municipality built, in different parts of the town, five blocks of houses, containing together 57 tenements, in order to meet what was believed to be a pressing need, and from that time to this they have been occupied by municipal workpeople. The tenements consist of three or four rooms (the kitchen being counted), and the rents are something under those of private houses of equal accommodation, with the result that the municipality suffers loss financially by the transaction. The State Railway Administration has also built a considerable number of small houses, with front gardens, for its employees, and it is about to build many more in the neighbourhood of a contemplated new goods station. Of industrial companies the Augsburg-Nürnberg Maschinenfabrik has erected for its foremen a number of commodious houses in villa style near its works on the southern fringe of the town, and building societies have been formed for house building on purely business principles. The most noteworthy experiment in collective building, however, is that which has been carried out by a society formed solely of employees of the Siemens-Schuckert Electrical Machinery Company. The subscribed capital is only £5,000, and plays no important part in the working of the scheme except that, being the investments and savings of the tenants themselves, it gives to the latter a direct personal interest in the houses they inhabit. Nearly the whole of the £165,000 of capital employed consists of loans obtained on mortgage, at rates varying from 3 to \\ per cent., from the Insurance Board of the province, from local banks, and from members of the Siemens-Schuckert firm, and with this capital 722 dwellings have been built in six colonies excellently planned alike as to the accommodation of the individual tenements and the external appearance of the property, for there are avenues of trees, playgrounds, and sweeps of green sward. The houses are four stories high, and the dwellings are of three, four, and five rooms (kitchen included), each having also a share of attic and . cellar, while washhouses furnished with centrifugal washers are provided for common use. The rents for dwellings of two rooms and kitchen range from £8 to £9 per annum, for dwellings of three rooms and kitchen from £9 10s. to £11 10s., and for dwellings of four rooms and kitchen from £12 10s. to £16 10s., figures which are held to be 25 per cent, below the usual rents in the localities concerned. Retail Prices. Groceries and other Commodities. It is a notable fact that in spite of the increase of wages which has fallen in recent years to most branches of industry in Nuremberg, the consumption of meat and bread per head of the population has for some time steadily fallen. The consumption of meat is referred to below. The highest consumption of flour fell to 1893, viz., 253'4 lb. per head, 1895 and 1897 coming near this figure with 246 6 and 247*2 lb. respectively, since which time the consumption has gradually fallen to 227*2 lb. in 1904 and 221*3 lb. in 1905. The higher prices which prevailed throughout Germany in 1905 will in large part explain the less consumption of meat in that year as compared with the years immediately preceding, but they do not throw light upon the fact that the decrease has been continuous for a long period, and has been accompanied by no corresponding ­ increase in the consumption of bread, nor yet of beer, which forms an important element in the diet of the Bavarian working classes. Less bread is consumed to-day than for many years, and the consumption ­ of beer per head was in 1905 the lowest of any year save one since 1892; taking ~ the average for the last five years, the consumption of beer was 56*3 gallons against 75 gallons per head per year during the preceding 392 NUREMBERG. quinquennium. It is probable that the incorporation of several rural districts within the municipal area has reduced the general standard of consumption in these three articles, for these districts brought in a population which had been mainly agricultural and had been accustomed to a lower plane of living. Furthermore, it is a safe assumption that the smaller consumption of beer has in part been caused by the growth of the temperance movement in Bavaria as in other parts of Germany, a movement which has to a remarkable degree influenced the working classes. Against the less consumption of bread may finally be set a largely increased consumption of potatoes, one effect of which has been an advance in the price of this commodity, insomuch that the peasants of the surrounding districts find it more profitable to grow potatoes for the Nuremberg market than to rear pigs on this food to the extent they formerly did. When all possible allowances have been made, however, it would seem that the higher wages which the working classes of Nuremberg have received in recent years have not indicated a proportionately larger purchasing power. The working classes of Nuremberg obtain their groceries for the most part from small shops in the neighbourhood of their dwellings. Large concerns do not exist in this trade, and the co-operative movement has obtained no great hold of the people. There is one public Co-operative Society with a nominal membership of 2,158 and six stores, but one-third of the members do not purchase at the stores at all and the purchases of the active members rarely exceed £10 a year ; the total sales in 1905 slightly exceeded £10,000. The employees of the large electrical machinery company, the Siemens-Schuckert Werke, have their own co-operative store, but though some 2,500 persons are said to trade there the turnover bears no proportion to the aggregate expenditure on food and other household necessities of an equal number of families. It should be stated that these co-operative societies are only allowed by their statutes to sell goods to their members, unless such goods (like bread) are actually produced by them, a restriction for which the private trader is very grateful. Coffee is bought at from 8§d. to Is. Id. per lb., but the qualities at 11 d. to Is. Id. per lb. are in largest demand. There is no consumption of tea, and little of cocoa. The price of sugar has fallen considerably since the bounty system was abandoned. Two kinds meet the bulk of the demand, viz., cube sugar and white granulated, both at 2\d. per lb. Bacon is bought exclusively at butchers’ shops, fat and streaky costing as a rule in October, 1905, the same price, viz., from lie?, to Is. The kinds of cheese for which there is most demand are Limburg, costing 5\d. per lb., and Swiss or Emmenthal at from lie?, to Is. 1 d. per lb. Though so named, however, these cheeses come neither from Limburg nor Switzerland, but are made in Bavaria, and especially in the Aligan district. Cheese can only seldom be bought at grocers’ shops ; as a rule it is sold in special shops devoted to farm produce. It is a peculiarity of the working classes of Nuremberg and of Bavaria generally that they are not great consumers of butter, though Bavaria is to a large extent a grazing country. The working man eats sausage with his bread, but not butter as a rule, as in North Germany. The predominant price of the fresh “table” butter sold was in 1905 from Is. Id. to Is. 2\d. per lb., but country or “peasant ” butter cost Id. less. For margarine there is hardly any demand, and few grocers sell it, for though there are several large margarine manufactories at Nuremberg their produce is sent to North Germany. The severity of the restrictions which surround the sale of butter substitutes render small traders indisposed to deal in such commodities at all. As bread is bought at the baker’s, wheaten flour is only needed for fancy baking, and there is but a small sale (at is. 3\d. per 7 lb. in 1905) ; rye flour is not sold by provision dealers. The bread supply of the town is baked by a host of small bakers ; there are few factory bakers, and no home baking whatever is done. The bread mostly consumed is a rye bread known as “ black,” though in reality answering to the “ grey” bread of North Germany. It is sold in loaves of four pounds German (equal to 4'4 lb. English) and the local Guild of Bakers fixes the price from time to time according to the price of flour. The Guild price in October, 1905, was Q^d. per 4 lb. English for first quality flour and about Id. less for second quality. Wheaten rolls are also largely consumed with morning coffee ; NUREMBERG. som 8 or 12 go to the German pound, and the price varied from 3\d. to 4-W. per lb English. 4 * 1 Coal for stove use is bought by the hundredweight at a price varying in 1905 from 15. 2\d. to Is. 4\d., representing 23a. M. to 27s. Id. per ton respectively. VV ood is, however, very largely used in summer for the sake of economy. The system of credit is not encouraged by the trading community, but by way of compensation a discount system is adopted by many of their number, a certain return in goods being given for every pound spent, whether in small or large purchases. As shown by the following table, there were practically no changes in the prices of groceries between October, 1905, and the date of the investigator’s visit in June, 1906. Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and June, 1906. Commodity. Coffee Sugar :— Loaf White Granulated Bacon :— Fat Streaky Eggs Cheese :— Limburg Swiss Butter Margarine Potatoes Flour (Household) Bread Milk Coal ... ... ... Coke Paraffin Oil per lb. per Is. per lb. per 7 lb. per 4 lb. per quart per cwt. per gallon Predominant price. October, 1905. lid. to Is. Id. 2 \d. 2\d. lid. to Is. lid. to Is. 14, 15 5\d, lid. to Is. Id. Is. Id. to Is. 2Id. 2^. Is. 3id. 5W. to 6kd. 2§d. Is. 2\d. to Is. 4\d. Is. 5d. to Is. 6^d. 10 d. June, 1906. 11 d. to Is. Id. 2^d. 21\d. lid. • lid. 18 5 id. lid. to Is. Id. Is. Id. to Is. 2\d. 8¿d. 2¿d. Is. 3fd. 5\d. to 6id. 2§d. Is. 2fd. to Is. 4{d. Is. 5d. to Is. 6id. lOd. Meat. Nuremberg has not only a large and well equipped Public Abattoir, in which all animals brought alive to the town for food must be slaughtered and prepared for sale, but also two market halls for the sale of meat and fowl respectively. A number of squares and open spaces are allotted to the sale of vegetables, farm produce, and fish, subject to municipal control and to the payment ­ of fees for space. Upon all articles of food of the foregoing kinds which come into the town the municipality levies dues,—amounting virtually to octrois of the ancient pattern—in virtue of a local statute which will become extinct in several years. The tax upon cattle ranges from Is. Ijd. to 3s. 10\d. per head, that upon sheep from 3\d. to 10Jd., that upon corn is 7\d. per cwt., and that upon flour 10^d. The great bulk of the meat trade is done by the small independent “ ox ” and " pork ” butchers, whose shops are a feature of every street, whether in the centre of the town or the outskirts. Most butchers deal in meat of all kinds, though many confine themselves to pork and pork sausages. In the Nuremberg meat trade, as in many other German towns, it is the custom to charge one uniform price for meat of each kind, whether beef, mutton, veal, or pork. This custom would appear to be connected with the further custom of selling meat and bone, lean and fat together, so that picked cuts are not offered. As a rule a butcher displays in his shop or at the window the prices for the day—one for each sort of meat, save in the case of beef steak, mutton chops and cured pork,—and the customer knows exactly how much meat will be obtained for any given coin. This uniformity of price has for a long time been a matter of acute controversy amongst the butchers of the town, yet in spite of all the efforts which have been made by the Trade Guild to follow the practice of other towns, the old tradition has so far proved invulnerable. 394 NUREMBERG. The highest consumption of meat per head of the population recorded by the Statistical Office was in 1896, viz., 175*5 lb., and the years 1897 and 1898 followed closely with 174*6 and 166*1 lb. respectively, since which time the consumption has fallen almost yearly, the figure being for 1904 135*5 lb. and for 1905 117*9 lb. The consumption per head of the working classes must, however, be much below even the last-named quantity. An analysis of 128 returns, obtained for this inquiry, of weekly expenditure on meat, representing ­ 663 persons, showed a weekly consumption per head of 21 oz., equivalent to 68J lb. yearly. The amount of beef was large—45 per cent, of the total ; sausage came to 22 per cent., and pork and bacon to 21 per cent. The ruling price for beef in October, 1905, was 8^d. per lb. (except steak, which was Is. 4|rf.), for mutton 8^c¿. to 9\d. (except chops lld%), for veal the same (except shoulder without bone Is. Id. to Is. 3d.), and for pork 9 (except chops 11 d. to Is.). Sausage forms an important part of the flesh food of the people. The chief kinds are “ Mett ” sausage, which is all pork, and is sold at Is. Id. per lb. ; a hard sausage, two-thirds pork and one-third beef, sold at from Is. 8 d. to Is. 1 Oof. ; Frankfort liver sausage, at Is. Id. ; bacon sausage, made of fat and blood, at 11 d. ; and a commoner sausage, made of the same ingredients, at 8per lb. Most of the meat consumed in Nuremberg comes from Bavaria. Austria sends a considerable quantity of beef, and a smaller amount comes from North Germany ; but the mutton and veal are both of Bavarian origin ; of the pork one-third only is Bavarian and the rest comes from East and West Prussia. No frozen meat enters the town, and no American meat of any kind. Whatever the origin of the meat, however, it is subjected to severe control, every animal being examined by veterinary officials both on its arrival at the abattoir and after it has been slaughtered, while no meat may be exposed for sale which does not bear the municipal attestation of approval in the form of a stamp. Between October, 1905, and June, 1906, the price of mutton had slightly risen and that of pork fallen ; beef and veal showed no change. The actual prices are shown in the following Table :— Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and June, 1906. Description of Cut. Predominant Price per lb. October, 1905. June, 1906. Shin Beef :— Ribs Silverside with bone . without bone Steak Flank Mutton :— 1 .eg ... ... Shoulder ... Breast Neck Chops (trimmed) A eal :— Hind-quarter ... with bone without bone Loin ... ... ... Pork :— Leg Fore Loin Belly Spare Rib... Chops Shoulder 8%d. 8# 8# lid. Is. 4fr7, 8# to 9fc?. 8-p7 to 9|(7. 8|d to 9\d. 8ft/. to 9M lid. 8f& to 9p7. 8|tf. to 9fc?. Is. id. to Is. 3\d. 8f<7. to 9f<7. 9# 9&d. 9# 9&d. 11 d. to Is. 8# 8 %d. 8# lid. Is. 2}d. to Is. 4M 8^. 9\d. to 9|d. 9!d. 9fd. 9 id. ■ 11 d. 8|d. to 9\d. 8f<7. to 9|tf. Is. Id. to Is. 3M 8|<7. to 9\d. 8M 8# 8# 8 id. lid. There are eight regular horseflesh butchers, whose trade is only restricted by the supply of animals, which here as elsewhere tends to decrease. The flesh not sold fresh is cured, for the demand for horse meat in that form is always NUREMBERG. 395 considerable. A uniform tariff exists for the town, according to which ordinary joints without bone cost 3\d. per lb. and with bone 2^/., ; filet 4Ji7., chopped meat 3Jc?., salted meat 4^7., strained fat 6W., common sausage 4and “liver cheese” the same. The price of a horse varies from £2 10s. to £10 according to size and age. Most of the animals slaughtered come from the country districts of Central Bavaria. The general level of prices at Nuremberg is represented by 107, Berlin being 100. The level of the price of meat is indicated by 113, of other food by 106, and of coal by 103. The index number for rent and prices combined is 96, as compared with 100 for Berlin. 29088 3 D 2 OSCHERSLEBEN. The town of Oschersleben, in the province of Prussian Saxony, lies south-west of Magdeburg on the river Bode, which flows from the Harz Mountains, and is within sight of the famous Brocken, the highest point of that range. Though occupying an isolated position, it is in direct communication ­ with the main railway systems of Germany. Its importance consists in the fact that it is a centre of the beet-sugar industry. The soil of the surrounding plain is well adapted to the cultivation of the beetroot, which is conducted on an extensive scale. Since the discovery that the salts of the Stassfurt mines are rich in potash, and form a valuable manure, this branch of agriculture has received a powerful impetus. The sugar manufacturers of Oschersleben enjoy the great advantage that their raw material lies at their doors, and they are also able to obtain cheap labour during the “ sugar campagne ” from September to Christmas, when the beetroot crop is being worked up into sugar. Oschersleben has the air of a quiet country town, and the few factories which it possesses are scattered about the outskirts. Its municipal activities are confined to the supply of gas and the care of the roads, for Oschersleben possesses neither tramways, electric lighting, nor waterworks, and pump water has to serve for all domestic purposes. Few of the streets are sewered, and in consequence dirty and evil-smelling water flows down most of the gutters into the river Bode. Whilst the trade and manufactures of Oschersleben are prosperous the town itself does not grow, and building operations have been for several years at a standstill. This is owing to the drift of workmen to larger centres where higher rates of wages are paid. The scarcity of labour has to be met in the case of the sugar industry and agriculture by importing foreign workers, who are lodged in barracks during the season. At any time during the season groups of women may be observed at work in the fields surrounding the town, under the supervision of a ganger or overseer, and their brightly coloured kerchiefs, as well as their speech, unmistakably proclaim the Slavish race. Every spring agents of the farmers and landed proprietors are at work in Poland, Galicia, and even in Bussia securing field labourers for Oschersleben. These are brought over free of cost and are returned to their homes in the autumn. Somewhat similar conditions obtain in the sugar manufacturing industry, which also suffers from a dearth of local labour in the season. The need is supplied to a large extent from Saxony and Thuringia, whence come workers to whom even the low wages offered in the sugar factories are tempting. The population of Oschersleben, which in 1861 was 6,704, continued to increase steadily until 1900, since when it has declined slightly owing to the drift of workers to other industrial centres. The census returns are given in the following table :— Date. 1861 1871 1880 1890 1895 1900 1905 Population. 6,704 8,091 8,873 10,682 12,258 13,405 13,251 Occupations, Wages, and Hours of Labour. The principal industry at Oschersleben is the manufacture and refining of sugar. This finds employment for 900 men in three factories, two of which produce raw sugar, whilst the third is engaged in refining, and in recovering, by means of the strontium process, still more sugar from the residue of the beetroot used in the other factories. This latter factory finds employment for its 500 workpeople all the year round, whereas in the case of the other two the OSCHERSLEBEN. 397 chief work of manufacturing has to be done between the end of September and Christmas. Thus one of these factories retains only 80 workpeople for the whole year, but employs 250 altogether in the season, whilst the other, which engages 150 during the season, retains only nine for the rest of the year. During the busy time work goes on. continuously in night and day shifts of 12 hours each, two hours being allowed for mealtimes in each shift. In the sugar industry the wages of labourers are lower than those paid in other industries because the " campagne ” occurs when these men, who are during the remainder of the year employed locally in the building trades and in the brick and tile works, would otherwise only have work at irregular intervals, and also because workers can be so easily obtained from Thuringia at low rates. Of two industries closely associated with the foregoing, one, that of the manufacture of sweets and chocolate, is carried on in a single factory employing 60 men and 120 women and girls, whilst the other, the making of sacks and of cloth for filtering purposes, is conducted in an establishment which employs almost exclusively female labour. . In the breweries the custom of “ free beer ” still obtains ; brewers receive from 7 to 8J pints daily and the other workmen from 5¿ to 7 pints. The men are not allowed to take any beer home, neither is compensation in money granted in case they do not drink the beer, but in general they are said to exercise their rights to the full. In the malt houses most of the men are only employed from September to May, and find work elsewhere during the remainder of the year, principally in the brick and tile making industry. Another important branch of industry is the manufacture of agricultural machines, of machines used in sugar factories, and of a patent pump much used in mines. Three small firms employing together several hundred men are engaged in this work. In the building trades comparatively few men are engaged, and no journeymen plumbers or plasterers are employed. The rates given below are for a full week in summer. In the printing trade the wages paid are the minimum rates fixed by the agreement which applies to the whole of Germany. A considerable number of residents are occupied in agricultural pursuits. The usual wages and hours of labour in the principal occupations are shown in the following Table :— Wages and Hours of Labour in the Principal Occupations, October, 1905. Trades. Principal Occupations. Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours of Labour. Building* Engineering < Goal (Lignite) Mining. Brick and Tile Printing Sugar ... Bricklayers and Masons Carpenters Joiners Painters Roofers Labourers ... Fitters Turners Drillers and Milling Machineme Smiths Patternmakers Labourers ... Hewers Trammers ... Furnacemen Burners Pressworkers Labourers ... Compositors Foremen ... Boilers Weighers ... Engine-room Hands Labourers 22s. Id. 21s. Id. 20s. 6d. to 23s. 9d. 26s. 5d. 18 s. 16s. 8d. to 17s. 10d. 27s. „ 30s. 25s. „ 30s. 20s. 27s. to 30s. 24s. „ 30s. 18s. „ 21s. 25s. 8d. 24 s. 30s. to 32s. 17s. „ 18s. 18s. „ 24s. 16s. 10¿ to 18s. 22s. 6(7. 29s. to 38s. 6(7. 26s. „ 27s. 8(7. 26s. 18s. 13s. 5(7. to 16s. 10(7. 60 66 66 60 59& 60 48 48 [ 60 to 72 j 54 60 * The wages and hours of labour stated for the building trades are for a full week in summer. 398 OSCHERSLEBEN. Trades. Principal Occupations. Weekly Hours of Labour. 30s. 36s. Chocolate ^ 60 Brewing Firemen Labourers ... Foremen Maltsters f Brewers Coopers Engine-room Hands 25s. to 27s. 25s. „ 27s. 25s. „ 26s. 18s. „ 23s. 18s. „ 19s. 1 y 60 to 66 Bakery ... I Maltsters ... j First Bakers I Second Bakers 25s. 2d. 20s. 21s. 17s. Muni cipa l Employees Gas Works Roads Department. Í Foremen ... j Road Menders I Road Sweepers* r Foremen ... J Stokers i Fitters L Yard Labourers 20s. 14s. 12s. 23s. 20s. 60 23s. to 24s. 2d. 18s. Taking wages in Berlin as 100, the following are the wages index numbers for Oschersleben : For the building trades, 91 for skilled men and 67 for labourers ; for the engineering trades, 83 for skilled men and 89 for labourers ; and for the printing trades, 80. The great majority of working people at Oschersleben live in tenements consisting of a living room, a bedroom and a kitchen. The houses rarely exceed three storeys in height, and are built in rows with breaks only at long intervals for the passage of vehicles to and from the stables and workshops behind. The building plots are not so deep as is the case in large German towns, and consequently ­ back houses are somewhat rare, whilst side houses do not occur at all. A great number of the older houses are very primitive as to the accommodation provided, but slums, in the usually accepted sense of the term, are non-existent. The older houses are faced with plaster, which is only painted at long intervals, so that they look dingy and unattractive. Houses of the newer type have brick fronts. The same general plan is followed in structure and disposition of the dwellings in all the working-class houses whether old or modern. The double-house type is everywhere predominant and none of the tenements ­ have their own private entrance from the street. The house door opens into a lobby or corridor running through from the street to a small yard or court at the back. On each side of this corridor is a tenement on the ground floor. The stairs ascend from the corridor to the first floor, where there is another corridor corresponding to the one below. The basement corridor varies in width from 4^ to 6 feet, and is usually paved with brick in the older houses. Passing through the door at the end the visitor reaches a courtyard, where are to be found the pigstyes and potato cellars (one for each family) and also the closets, the latter of the cesspool type, and insufficient in number. Not infrequently the pigstye or the dung-heap is in close proximity to the windows of the tenements on the ground floor. As the municipality makes no provision for the emptying of cesspools the tenants have to attend to this duty themselves. Occasionally a pump is found in the court, but this is a luxury, and most of the tenants have to fetch their water from pumps at a distance. Dirty house water of every kind is poured into a channel in the court, which conveys it out the newer houses the courts are more spacious and measure at least 15 feet Housing and Rents. to the street gutters, whence it finds its way to the river Bode. In the case of OSCHERSLEBEN. 399 square. Here and there buildings at the back of the courts have been converted into dwelling-houses, but this is exceptional. Turning from the court to the interior of the house, one is struck by the high degree of cleanliness which characterises the approaches of even the poorest dwellings. This is possibly due in some measure to the fact that the landlord frequently lives on the premises and has a small shop on the ground floor, so that he is able to exercise supervision over the whole house, while another reason is that the housewives each take a week in turn in keeping the common landing and flight of stairs clean. To the right and left of the street door inside the corridor are doors opening into the respective tenements. Opening one of these the visitor finds himself standing in the kitchen or living room, as the case may be, which communicates with each room in the tenement. The arrangement of a three-roomed dwelling varies ; sometimes all three rooms extend in a straight line, when the kitchen and bedroom are both very narrow ; sometimes the living room alone fronts the street and the kitchen and bedroom are at the back ; whilst occasionally living room and bedroom are to the front and a common kitchen, shared by two households, is at the back. The same general arrangement ­ holds good for the dwellings in the upper storeys. Often the kitchen can only by courtesy be called a room, especially in the older and cheaper dwellings. Meals cannot be taken in it as it is much too small, and the floor is usually of brick and not always very even. The dimensions vary from 6 feet 6 inches to 12 feet 3 inches long by 5 feet 7 inches to 8 feet 2 inches broad in the older houses, and 13 feet to 16 feet 6 inches long by .8 feet 2 inches toll feet 6 inches broad in the newer ones. The kitchen of a poor tenement presents a very bare appearance. A few enamelled cooking utensils hang from nails on the wall, but it is otherwise quite devoid of furniture. Neither stove nor kitchen range is found in it, but a primitive brick structure with two wells, one small and one large, covered with iron plates let into the top. The large well serves as an oven, which is heated with coke. An iron grating across the bottom serves to hold the cooking pans. It is evident that such a method of cooking can have but one recommendation, viz., that of cheapness. The coke used is the residue of the soft lignite coal, found in the neighbourhood, after paraffin and other substances have been extracted. It resembles coal dust in appearance and as it smoulders very slowly it makes a cheap fuel. Housewives maintain that they can cook everything they require for a whole week for a family of four persons at the cost of 3^d. which is the price of \ cwt. The living room in the older type of house measures 9 feet 9 inches to 11 feet 6 inches by 9 feet 9 inches toll feet, and is lighted by two windows varying from 3 feet 3 inches to 4 feet 9 inches high and from 2 feet 3 inches to 3 feet 3 inches broad. The height of the rooms in general is about 6 feet 6 inches. The tall stove standing in one corner is invariably made of iron. The dwellings have frequently a somewhat neglected appearance, owing no doubt to the fact that so many women are engaged in the factories and workshops. The bedroom in all these poorer houses is a small room 11 feet 6 inches by 9 feet 9 inches with unpapered walls, lighted by one small window, and having a very cheerless aspect. Often the floor is of cement and the ceiling unplastered. Three small narrow beds crowded together is a common sight. The more modern working-class house has precisely the same general arrangement of dwellings, rooms, court, &c., as the foregoing. The dimensions are however larger, the living room measuring from 13 feet to 14 feet 9 inches by 9 feet 9 inches to 13 feet, the bedroom 13 feet to 14 feet 9 inches by 11 feet 6 inches, and the kitchen 14 feet 9 inches by 6 feet 6 inches to 7 feet 10 inches. In this class of dwelling the kitchen floor is boarded and the room itself better furnished; cooking utensils hang from brackets on the walls, a small cupboard contains the household china, and the presence of table and chairs shows that the room is used for meals. What is elsewhere the living room now attains the dignity of a parlour, with neat polished furniture and many small ornaments. The bedroom, however, even in this better class of dwelling is remarkably bare and seldom contains more than the necessary small beds and one or two chairs. 400 OSCHERSLEBEN. The predominant rents paid by the working classes at Oschersleben are shown in the following table, based on a classification of nearly 1,000 individual rents ; the kitchen is counted as a room in each case :— would be low, and the above figures point to the fact that rent at Oschersleben is lower than in any other of the 33 towns included in the present inquiry. Representing rent at Berlin by 100, the corresponding figure for Oschersleben is 28. The graduated scale of the State income tax has to be taken by all the district and municipal authorities in Prussia as the basis for local taxation, which is a percentage of the State tax and varies according to circumstances. At Oschersleben the local percentage for the year 1905 was 180. The State exempts all annual incomes up to and including £45 from taxation, but the municipality assesses all annual incomes exceeding £21. For incomes between £21 and £33 the taxation unit is fixed at 2s. 5d., and for incomes between £33 and £45 at 4s. The following table shows the amounts paid on incomes ranging from £21 to £120 per annum :— keeping a little shop, which is served by his wife. There are only two “multiple” concerns in the provision trade, one with three branches and the other with four. These, however, are large and well stocked and undoubtedly exercise an influence on prices generally. The co-operative society is unable to exist independently, and is affiliated to the parent society at Halberstadt, the nearest large town. The local membership was only 208 in 1905, for the working classes are addicted to the credit system and fight shy of the cooperative ­ cash principle. In order to protect themselves against the co-operative society, local dealers give a discount of 5 per cent, to customers who pay ready money, though shopkeepers in working-class districts maintain that this system has not greatly encouraged cash trading. The coffee usually bought by the working classes costs lid. per lb., but malt coffee is also very largely purchased at 3JcZ. per lb. Two kinds of sugar are sold, white granulated and lump, the prices being 2\d. and 2\d. for the former and 2J<A per lb. for the latter. Very little lump sugar is used in working-class households. Only the cheaper and inferior kinds of cheese are eaten, Swiss and Dutch cheese being beyond working-class families. The Number of Rooms per Tenement. Predominant Weekly Rent. Two rooms Three rooms Four rooms Is. 2d. Is. 9d. to 2s. 5c?. 2s. 11c/. to 3s. 6c/. From the size and situation of Oschersleben it would be expected that rent Limits of Income. State Income Tax. Local Surtax. Total. )) U. JJ LU oWlOt? „ £105 „ £120 „ £82 10s. up to £90 „ £90 up to £105 „ £45 „ £52l0s. „ £52 10s. up to £60 „ £60 up to £62 10s. £62 10s. up to £75 £75 up to £82 10s. £ s. d. exempted 0 6 0 0 9 0 0 12 0 0 16 0 110 16 0 111 0 1 16 0 £ s. d. 0 4 3 0 7 2 0 10 10 0 16 2 117 1 8 10 1 17 10 2 6 10 2 15 10 3 4 10 £ s. d. 0 4 3 0 7 2 0 16 10 15 2 1 13 7 2 4 10 2 18 10 3 12 10 4 6 10 5 0 10 Retail Prices. Groceries and other Commodities. The working classes of Oschersleben purchase their provisions mainly from small tradespeople. Indeed many a workman seeks to add to his earnings by kind almost universally eaten by the latter is made from creamed milk, and is OSCHERSLEBEN. 401 sold in miniature cheeses, weighing from 2 to 2| ounces each when quite fresh, at the uniform price of 5 pfennige or a fraction over \d. The only other kind sold is Limburg cheese at 6^d. per lb., but this is found in very few shops in working-class streets. Fresh butter is sold at Is. 2\d. per lb., and a kind imported from Friesland by one dealer, who has four branch shops, is sold at Is. Ud. per lb. Margarine is very largely purchased, the prices for the three qualities being 8|d., 7\d. and 6fd. per lb., of which the first is in greatest demand. Only two kinds of bread are baked, “ white,” consisting of wheat, and “ grey ” which is made from finely-ground rye. The dark coloured and coarse kind usually known as “ black bread ” is not sold here at all. Wheaten bread is not made into loaves but into rolls which resemble a small bun in appearance. These are taken only with coffee at the " first breakfast” before going to work. Rye bread is sold in long fiat loaves rounded at the ends and top, and usually weighing 7 to 7§ lbs. Bread is not sold by weight but per loaf or per roll, 4he equivalent prices in October, 1905, being 9d. per 4 lbs. English for wheaten bread, and 4Jd. to 5\d. per 4 lbs. English for rye bread. For his second breakfast, taken from 8.30 to 9 o’clock, the workman eats slices of rye bread covered with butter or margarine and slices of sausage, and drinks either beer or “ Schnaps.” The sale of milk is practically in the hands of one of the sugar manufacturing firms, which farms on a large scale, yet purchases also from farmers and milk-dealers. The price of pure or “full” milk was in 1905 2d. per quart. The coal used at Oschersleben is the kind known as lignite or “ brown coal,” a coal much softer and possessing much less heating power than the English pit coal. This is got from mines in the neighbourhood. Many of the workmen fetch this coal from the mines, a distance of about three miles, in hand wagons, as they are able to buy it there at the low price of 3 id. per cwt. Briquettes are also used for heating purposes, though in small quantities, and in October, 1905, these cost 9fd. per cwt. For cooking purposes coke obtained from brown coal, after extracting paraffin, &c., is used in every working-class household, as already explained. This was sold at Is. 1 \d. per cwt. Petroleum, which is entirely American, costs 9£d. per gallon. The following table summarises the predominant prices paid by the working classes in October, 1905, and May, 1907. During this interval bacon had somewhat fallen in price, while potatoes, flour, bread, milk, and coal had all risen. Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and May, 1907. Commodity. Coffee ... Sugar :— Loaf ... ... ••• White Granulated ... Bacon :— at ... ... ... Streaky Eggs Cheese :— Country Cheese Limburg Butter ... Margarine Potatoes Flour, Wheat Bread, Rye (grey) Milk Lignite briquettes Coke ... .. Paraffin Oil, American Predominant Price. ... per lb. ... „ ... „ ... per Is. October, 1905. 11 d. 2# d-t 2^d. 8fd. to lid. 8§d. „ lid. 13 to 16 May, 1907. lid. 2# 2\d., 2\d. 8|d. 8|d. to 9fd. 13 to 16 per lb. per 7 lbs. per 4 lbs. per qt. per cwt. per gallon 3|d. to 4|d. 6^d. Is. 2fd. 8%d. 21d. to 3d. ll\d. 4|d. to 5\d. 2d. 9# Is. Hd. 9|d: 3fd. to 4fd. 6^d. Is. 2\d. 8|d. 3d. to 3fd. Is. 0\d. 5\d. to 6d. 2fd. lf)id. Is. 2|d. 9# 3 E 29088 402 OSCHERSLEBEN. Meat. The meat supply of Oschersleben is obtained from Berlin, Magdeburg and Hamburg. There is no public abattoir, but every animal intended for sale must be examined, before being killed, by one of the inspectors appointed for that purpose. In the case of animals which are slaughtered for private consumption ­ it is necessary only that they should be examined after being killed. If traces of disease are found, but the disease is limited to a particular part or organ, the part affected may be removed and the inspector decides upon further examination if the rest of the flesh is fit for consumption. If not, it is destroyed and the owner receives compensation from an insurance fund. If, however, it is found that the meat is only fit for consumption after being sterilised, it is only allowed to be sold as boiled meat at the “ Freibank,” or public meat stall. If the meat in question is fit for consumption without first being boiled, but is of very poor quality, it is also condemned to the " Freibank,” but it may be sold in a raw state. Neither butchers nor restaurant keepers are allowed to purchase this class of meat. Whenever an animal is condemned to the “Freibank” a notice is published in the local press giving the date and time of sale. The ruling prices for this class of inferior meat in 1905 were : — oy. per lb. for all kinds of raw meat, and 4\d. per lb. for boiled meat. Horse flesh is also sold, but only in one shop, which evidently does a good trade. The usual prices are :—Steak 4y. and 5jd. per lb., sausage 5y. and liver 4y. per lb., leg 5d., minced meat 4y. per lb. From the following Table it will be seen that between October, 1905, and May, 1907, the retail prices of beef, mutton, and veal had all risen, while the price of pork, showed a marked decline :— Predominant Prices paid by the Workmq Classes in October, 1905, and, 1907. Description of Cut. Predominant Price per lb. October, 1905. May, 1907. Beef :— Ribs Silverside Shin with bone Steak ... Flank ... Mutton :— Leg Shoulder Breast ... Neck Chops ... Veal :— Hindquarter Loin ... ... ... Shin ... ... ... Pork :— Leg ... ... ... Fore Loin Belly Spare Rib Chops ... ... ... 7|d. 71d. to 8fd. 71 d. 8|d. to lid. 7fd. 7§d. 7|d. 7# 7# 7*d. 7§d. to 8-fd. 7# 9\d. to Is. Id. 7%d. 8# 7#d. 8fd. to 9fd. 8# 7|d. 7# 8%d. 9# 9# 9# 9# 7|d. to 8|d. 8# 7fd. to 8|d. 8|d. „ lid. 7# „ 8# 8|d. 8§d. 7|d. to 8|d. 8# 8%d. 8|d. to 94d. 8#d. 8|d. to Is. Id. 8fd. 8# 7# 7# 6|d. to 7|d. 7&d. 7|d. to 8fd. Prices at Berlin being taken as equal to 100, the index numbers for Oschersleben are 103 for meat and 96 for other food, the figure for these two groups combined being 97. The index number for rent and prices combined is 84, which is lower than that for any other of the towns investigated, with the exception of Königshütte. PLAUEN. Plauen, or, to give the town its full official designation, Plauen-im-Vogtlande, is the most southerly as well as the most westerly of the five principal towns of ¡Saxony, and the fourth among them in point of population. Its geographical position in relation to the other four large towns is perhaps best defined by picturing a triangle having at its apex Leipzig on the northern frontier of the kingdom, and for its base, a line crossing the southern portion of ¡Saxony in a direction parallel with the range of the Erzgebirge, i.e., from west by south, to east by north. At the eastern extremity of this line would be found Dresden, and at the opposite extremity Plauen, while midway between these two, and still on the slopes of the Erzgebirge would be found Chemnitz with the colliery town of Zwickau, about 20 miles to the southwest, ­ or about midway between Chemnitz and Plauen. The town resembles Chemnitz and Zwickau in being surrounded by a cluster of industrial villages for whose products it is the collecting and distributing centre. It has the same advantages of proximity to the Saxon coalfields, and the same lack of facilities for water transport, since the small river on which Plauen stands—the White Elster, one of the many tributaries of the Elbe—is unnavigable. As regards railway communication, however, Plauen occupies a peculiarly favourable position ; being the last of the important stations on the main line of the Saxon State Railway, running south into Bavaria and linking up the railway systems of North and South Germany. A service of trains crossing a portion of the Erzgebirge also maintains communication between Plauen and the Bohemian town of Eger, although owing to the steepness of the gradients this communication is somewhat slow. Being the centre of the German lace making and embroidery trade, Plauen occupies a position corresponding to that of Nottingham among the manufacturing towns of the United Kingdom, Calais among those of France, and St. Gall among those of Switzerland. Modernity is the predominant characteristic of the town, for the greater part of Plauen, as one sees it now, has been built within the last dozen years. From the river, on the western bank of which old Plauen has been built, the modern town has extended upwards in a series of long, wide, straight streets cf four and five storeyed buildings branching from the right and left of the main business thoroughfare and promenade (the Bahnhofstrasse) which leads from the old Town up a steep incline to the central railway station—a distance of about two-thirds of a mile. Each of these parallel streets is crossed by other parallel streets of similar appearance with a regularity which would be monotonous in its effect but for the constant change of level due to the steep rise in the ground from the river upwards—a rise of 250 feet in two-thirds of a mile, with occasional gradients of one foot in ten. In consequence of this rise it is possible from almost any street corner to obtain a view over a large part of the town and into the "hilly and wooded country beyond. The difficulties of horse traffic on such sloping ground account for the entire absence of any kind of smooth paving material such as wood, concrete or asphalt, rough setts or cobbles. The somewhat exposed situation of the town at a height above the sea level varying from 1,066 to 1,480 feet would in some measure account for the absence of smoke and grime, a circumstance which is also in part due to the extensive use of electricity, gas and benzine as motive power in the lace making and embroidering establishments. The municipality owns large tracts of land outside the town boundaries. Thus, while the total urban area amounts to 7,700 acres, the land owned by the municipality amounts to 4,900 acres, of which 2,900 are outside, and 2,000 inside the urban boundary. Of the total extent of municipally owned land 3,700 acres consist of forest, of which 86 acres, at the immediate outskirts of the town, have been converted into a public park. Other means of public recreation with which the municipality is identified are the town theatre 3 E 2 2'JOöö 404 PLAUEN. (provided at a cost of £18,000 exclusive of the value of the site), which it leases to an entrepreneur on such terms as to ensure cheap rates of admission ; and the town orchestra to which it contributes 20,000 marks (£ 1,000) per annum. The growth of Plauen may be said to date from the time when the first embroidering machine was set up in the "town in 1857. In that year the population was just under 15,000. By 1871 this figure had grown to 23,355, and by 1905 to over 105,000. At no period of the town’s history, however, has the population increased so rapidly as during the 10 years from 1896 to 1905. This is partly attributable to the incorporation of outlying parishes (in 1899, 1900, and 1903) and the introduction of a regiment of 1,800 men. Year. Population at date of Census. Increase. Increase per cent. 1871 1875 1880 1885 1890 1895 1900 1905 23,355 28,756 35,078 42,848 47,006 55,191 73,888 105,381 5,401 6,322 7,770 4,158 8,185 18,697 31,493 231 220 222 9*7 17 1 33 9 426 The general tendency during recent years has been one of declining mortality, combined with a stationary birth-rate. Thus the deaths, which represented a rate of 19T per 1,000 inhabitants in the period 1896-1900, fell to 17 7 per 1,000 in 1901-5, while the births, representing 38*8 per 1,000 inhabitants in 1896-1900, still stood as high as 38"0 in 1901-5. The decline in mortality among infants during the past 10 years has been similar to that in the general mortality, for while in 1896-1900 there were on an average 232 deaths of infants under a year old to every 1,000 births, the corresponding proportion ­ in 1901-5 was only 213. The following Table shows the birth-rates, and death-rates, and rates of infantile mortality for the five years, 1901-5 :— Year. Birth-rate per 1,000 of Population. 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 39-7 38-0 373 37 6 37 6 Death-rate per 1,000 Infantile mortality rate of Population. j per 1,000 Ilirths. 17-6 17-8 17*9 186 16-9 198 211 224 230 204 The arrival of new settlers has contributed more towards the growth of the population since 1896 than the excess of births over deaths. Taking those years in which no incorporation of outlying parishes took place, viz., 1896, 1897, 1898, 1901, 1902, 1904, and 1905, one finds the average natural rate of yearly increase to have been 21 per cent., as against 3 3 percent, due to the excess of arrivals over departures. Occupations, Wages, and Hours of Labour. On May 1st, 1906, there were 23,907 workpeople of all ages employed in 1,842 industrial establishments subject to inspection as factories or workshops in Plauen. The accompanying table classifies these establishments and work- PLAUEN. 405 people according to certain large groups of trades, and shows the great preponderance of the textile trades among the industries of the town. It should be remembered, however, that the figures do not properly represent the importance of such a trade as building, bricklayers, masons, and others, not being subject to inspection. Group of Trades. Number of Establishments. ­ Number of Workpeople. Males. Females. Total. Building Metal-working and engineering Textiles Printing, lithography, bookbinding Paper Woodworking and carving ... Stone and earth Food, drink, and tobacco Other Total &c. 159 45 983 20 13 35 50 289 268 1,842 579 1,390 5,080 303 353 359 562 751 953 10,330 4 11 12,962 29 19 2 53 80 417 13,577 583 1,401 18,042 332 372 361 615 831 1,370 23,907 Over one-half of all the establishments subject to inspection and just about three-fourths of all the operatives working in them belong to the textile trades. A fact which is not apparent from the table and which could only be ascertained through the courtesy of the Municipal Statistician, Dr. Dietrich, is, that of the 963 establishments and 18,042 workpeople engaged in the textile trades, 848 establishments with 14,385 workpeople are employed in lacemaking and embroidery alone. Compared with this the other textile operations are of minor importance/the most noteworthy being bleaching, finishing and dyeing, in which 1,761 workpeople are employed in 14 establishments, and weaving (more especially curtain weaving) with 1,306 workpeople in 15 establishments. These figures, however, convey no adequate idea of the number of workpeople ­ directly dependent for their livelihood upon Flauen’s staple industry, for they take no account of the large body of homeworkers. Plauen resembles Chemnitz in that the greater part of the goods with which its name is peculiarly identified, viz., lace and embroideries, are produced in small workshops—many of them forming part of the dwelling house—scattered about in the surrounding villages. Up to the year 1857 lace nnd embroidery making in Plauen was a purely domestic industry and was done only by hand. Since then handwork has been gradually superseded by the machine and has now almost entirely disappeared, though one of the three principal kinds of machines now in use (the Plattstich-stickmascMne or fiat-stitch embroidery machine) is sometimes called the hand-embroidering machine (Handstickmaschine). The expression is not wholly inapt, for each needle passes through the fabric at one point and returns at another, in this way forming a stitch exactly similar to that made in hand embroidery. As the distance to be travelled by the needles diminishes, and their rate of movement accelerates with the gradual shortening ot the threads, there results an irregularity of movement which is incompatible with the use of mechanical power. While the work produced on such a machine has the same durability as handwork it is turned out more rapidly than the latter in proportion to the number of needles carried (usually some 600), the movements of which, to and fro, the embroiderer regulates with his foot while guiding the fabric by means of a lever (pantograph) worked with his hand. The operation of threading the needles is attended to by a woman who uses a threading machine, and whose business it also is to replace worn or broken needles and piece broken threads. The classes of goods produced on the hand-embroidering machine are such as have to stand the strain of frequent handling in laundries. The great bulk, however, of the lace and embroidery work on which the reputationof Plauen has been built up is produced on power-driven embroidering machines known as Schiffchen (or shuttle) embroidery machines. Here the needles work on one side of the fabric only, the stitch being completed by the movement of a shuttle on the other side. Such a machine performs about twenty times as many stitches per day as a hand-driven machine. It makes the finer but less durable kinds of embroidery and lace. The work of the male 406 PLAUEN. embroiderer who has charge of it is confined to moving the lever (pantograph) which guides the fabric according to the design in course of being worked, and watching the number of threads. He has a woman piecer to help him. In executing orders for large quantities of a particular pattern of lace a machine on the Jacquard principle, is used, on which the pattern is worked automatically, i.e. without guidance by an embroiderer, one of whom attends to several machines. The third kind of power-driven machine employed in the manufacture of Plauen goods is that used for tambour work, and in appearance resembles the domestic sewing-machine. Speaking generally, its work may be described as consisting in the sewing of ribbon or tape on to a background of net or other material over the lines of a pattern previously traced on the material. The heavier of these machines are worked by men and the others by women and girls, the work of the operatives in each case consisting in the guiding of the needle or needles, the movement of which is effected by steam or other motor power. The establishments in which the lace and embroidery manufactures of Plauen are produced may be divided into three main groups. The first group is that of the factories owned by large firms who are merchants as well as manufacturers, and produce on their own premises and with their own machines the goods they sell; the second group is that of the factories or workshops owned by firms or individuals whose sole business consists in manufacturing goods to the order of other firms (usually those of the first group) by whom those goods are sold. Some of these establishments consist of a large workroom adjoining, but separated from, the owner’s dwelling, and containing 20, 30 or more machines ; others consist of one of the storeys of a large building in which all the other storeys are let for similar purposes, power being supplied either by the landlord or obtained direct from the municipal electrical supply station. The third group of establishments is that of the domestic workshop containing one or two machines, set up in one of the rooms of the dwelling and worked by the owner himself, with or without the assistance of members of his family. The machines used in the domestic workshop are as a rule those employed for tambour work, costing £11 for the smaller to £35 for the larger sort. In the last few years, however, increasing numbers of operatives, after saving the necessary ­ sum (£125 to £150) have been purchasing shuttle embroidery machines and setting up as small master embroiderers, working in their own homes. Thus a movement has set in, the tendency of which is to reverse the course of evolution which the embroidery industry of Plauen has undergone since the introduction of machinery. The movement towards centralisation from the domestic to the factory system of production is being succeeded by a movement in the opposite direction—from the factory back to the domestic workshop— and this new movement is being fostered—at least in Plauen itself—by the facility of obtaining electrical power on a small scale from the municipality. In the outlying villages gas and benzine motors furnish the necessary power. For the domestic workshops the lace and embroidery industry is to a large extent of a seasonal nature, for the work which they obtain is an overflow from the larger establishments in busy times. As regards the wage-earners, properly so called, there are in the first place the operatives, male and female, regularly working in the factories of the first and second groups referred to above. In Plauen, apart from the surrounding villages, there were, as already stated, 14,385 such operatives working in 848 establishments on May 1st, 1906. Of these lU,902 were women and girls and 3,483 men and boys. The proportion of adults (over 21 years of age) was approximately four-fifths of the males and one-half of the females. After the factory operatives come the numerous body composed of women and girls—mostly the wives and daughters of workpeople and subordinate officials, who supplement the family income by working in their own homes at various finishing processes. The most usual forms of homework consist in repairing defects in embroideries and lace after they have left the machine, and in cutting out with scissors certain parts of the fabric the removal of which is necessary in order to bring out the design, eg/., the parts between the scallops or points of lace. The first of these operations requires skill and training, and those who can give the whole of their time to it usually earn from 12a. to 15s. a week. The second operation is as a rule done in such PLAUEN. 407 time as can be spared from household duties, and as the only needful qualifications are patience and care the scale of remuneration is low, so that a mother, assisted by her children and using all her spare time, cannot earn more than Is. 3d. to Is. §d. in a day. It has been estimated that, in and around Plauen, there are altogether from 50,000 to 60,000 workpeople wholly or partly dependent upon the lace and embroidery industry, and that from 2| to 3 million pounds’ worth of lace and embroidery are produced in the district in the course of a year. The present report, however, is concerned more particularly with the adult male workpeople employed in the chief industries of Plauen, and these number only 7,689 among the 23,907 workpeople employed in the factories and workshops ­ subject to inspection on May 1st, 1906. Of these 7,689 men (over 21 years of age) 4,091 are employed in the textile industry, leaving some 3,600 to be distributed among the remaining factories and workshops in Plauen. Many of the men have their homes in one or other of the surrounding villages, their practice being to come to Plauen on Monday morning, work in town all the week and return to their homes in the country late on Saturday night. While in town they rent a bedroom, the usual weekly charge for this accommodation ­ (which includes coffee and roll in the morning) being 2^ marks or, say, half-a-crown. An attempt to secure a uniform scale of wages for the lace and embroidery industry was made in 1905 by the local branch of the German Federation of Textile Operatives, but failed owing to the opposition of the employers, and the same result has attended the few efforts made from time to time by the workpeople ­ in other trades. It would seem indeed that the preponderance of the female element among the occupied working classes of Plauen has created an environment unfavourable to the development of strong labour unions and consequently of collective bargaining in the fixing of labour conditions. The total membership of the Trade Unions affiliated to the Plauen Trades Council (Gewerkschaftskartell) in 1906 was about 4,200, distributed among the various groups of trades as follows :— Group of Trades. Membership of Trade Unions. Building Metal-working and engineering Textiles ... Printing and allied trades Wood-working ... Food, drink, and tobacco Other ... ... ... ••• Total 1,482 673 1,100 208 231 54 449 . 4,197 With the single exception of the printing trade, in which the minimum wages and maximum hours of labour are determined by the agreement in force throughout the greater part of Germany, standard rates of wages are unknown in Plauen. For almost every trade, however, there exists a.rate which is recognised as locally current. The following Table shows the wages current in various occupations at October, 1905, together with the number of hours per week usually worked. In the case of the building trades, the figures are based on data furnished by the senior masters (Obermeister) of the various trade guilds. The weekly rates have been computed by multiplying the current hourly rate by the number of hours usually worked per week. The wages shown for the printing trade are the minimum rates as fixed for Plauen by the general agreement operative throughout the greater part of Germany. In the textile industry where men are paid exclusively on the piece-wage system, it has been necessary to obtain from the leading firms returns based on their pay-sheets and showing the amounts most usually earned in a full week exclusive of overtime at October, 1905. The data set out in the following Table are based upon the returns so obtained. 408 PLAUEN. Wages and Hours of Labour in the Principal Occupations, October, 1905. Predominant Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours of Labour. Building Trades* :—• Masons and Bricklayers Carpenters Joiners ... Plumbers Stucco workers Painters ... Slaters Glaziers ... Smiths (iron structures, &c.) Labourers Printing Trades :— Hand Compositors, Pressmen. Machine Compositors Machine Minders, and News Jobbing 26s. 5d. 26s. 5d. 24s. 4d. 26s. 5d. to 29s. Sd. 27s. „ 30s. 34s. Id. 29s. 8d. 26s. 'Id. 26s. 5d. 19s. 10c/. 24s. 9c?. Embroidery and Lacemaking :— Embroiderers at shuttle machines Enlargers (of designs) Curtain Manufacture.-— Twist hands Tambour workers Threaders Warehouse Porters Bleaching, Dyeing and Finishing :— Bleachers Dyers Stiffeners Packers ... 30s. lid. 32s. 2c?. 25s. to 29s. 26s. „ 28s. 6c?. 23s. 6c?. „ 30s. 18s. „ 20s. 20s. 17s. 6c?. to 21s. 17s. to 19s. 17s, „ 19s. 17s. „ 19s. 20s. „ 21s. 66 66 54 66 60 72 66 59 66 66 54 48 54 60 to 66 54 „ 60 60 55j „ 55& 60 551r to 60 66 66 66 66 * The wages and hours of labour stated for the building trades are for a full week in summer. Taking wages at Berlin as 100, the index numbers for the building trades at Plauen are .81 for skilled men and 77 for labourers, and for the printing trades 88. The public services in respect of which the municipality ranks among the larger employers of labour in Plauen—apart from the construction and cleaning of the public thoroughfares—are the supply of water, gas, and electric power and light. Street paving is given out to contractors, and the electric tramway system is in private hands. The predominant rates of wages and usual hours of labour per week of the principal groups of municipal workers at October, 1905, were as shown below :— Road construction (labourers) Road cleaning (labourers) Gasworks : Stokers Labourers Waterworks : Skilled men Labourers Electric power and light supply : Fitters and installators Enginemen Stokers Other skilled men Predominant Weekly Rates of Wages. 18s 6c?. 17s. to 18s. 25s. 2c?. to 28s. 8c?. 16s. to 18s. 26s. to 27s. 18s. 6c?. 23s. to 30s. 23s. to 30s. 24s. to 27s. 24s. to 30s. Weekly Hours of Labour. 60 63 66 66 60 60 66 66 66 66 PLAUEN, 409 Housing and Rents. Flauen is one of the few of the great industrial towns for which the results of the housing census undertaken in December, 1905, by most of the urban authorities in Germany have so far been published in any degree of detail. This town is therefore one of the comparatively small number for which it is possible to show, for so recent a date as December, 1905, the proportions in which the population is distributed among the dwellings of different sizes. The newness of the town and the suddenness of its growth are shown by the fact that of a total of 22,874 occupied dwellings enumerated on December 1st, 1905, 11,567, or more than half have been constructed since 1895. About five-sixths of all the dwellings consist of flats or tenements. The following Table shows the distribution of the population according to the number of rooms which constitute the dwelling :— Number of Rooms. Number of Dwellings. One room Two rooms Three „ Four „ Five „ Six Seven „ and over 769 4,291 5,308 7,332 4,160 733 281 Total 22,874 Number of Persons boused in suck dwellings. Total. 1.369 14,519 22,432 36,147 21,970 4,545 1,851 Per cent, of Population. 102,833 1-3 142 21-8 35 2 213 44 1*8 100-0 From this it appears that 71 per cent, of the population are housed in dwellings consisting of two, three or four rooms. For the general bulk of the working classes in Flauen the dwelling consists of a flat containing two or three rooms, and there is little to distinguish a flat of this size occupied by a working-class family from similar flats occupied by the middle classes, unless it be that the former seldom has a separate kitchen, the principal room being used as a kitchen and living room combined. Thus the bulk of the Flauen tenements of two to four rooms were found to consist of : No. of dwellings. (a) one general living room and one bedroom ... ... 3,630 (Ò) one general living room and two bedrooms ... 3,058 (c) one general living room, two bedrooms and a kitchen 3,772 10,460 The above three classes of dwellings represent 59 per cent, of all dwellings in Flauen of which the occupiers were tenants (i.e., not owners), excluding dwellings with which business premises were combined. In 5,709 dwellings, or about one of every four, in Flauen the occupier was found to be letting one room or more either furnished or unfurnished. Among these letters of rooms, 1,558 were women not otherwise defined, while 2,061 are described as “ workpeople ” or else as “ subordinate postal or railway officials.” The accommodation most frequently let is a furnished bedroom, i his was found to be the case in 3,668 of the 5,709 dwellings of which portions were sub-let. That sub-letting is attended with a certain degree of overcrowding may be inferred from the fact that in 597 bedrooms belonging to dwellings of which certain rooms were sub-let the occupants at night numbered more than six persons. A working-class family intending to sublet ­ usually rents a four-roomed dwelling, so that for the purpose of determining the rent most usually paid by working-class families in Flauen it will be best to 410 PLAUEN. keep in view only the tenements of two and three rooms (groups (a) and (b).) The rents generally paid for these two types of dwellings fall within the ranges shown in the following Table :— Predominant Bents of Working-class Dwellings. Numbers of Rooms per Tenement. Two rooms Three rooms Predominant Weekly Rent. 2s. M. to 2s. 1W. 3$. 4d. „ 3s. 10d. Taking rent at Berlin as 100, the corresponding figure for Plauen is 52. In Plauen, as in almost every other German town, the accommodation let with a working-class flat includes a railed-off and padlocked compartment in the cellarage, and the right to use the loft space directly beneath the rafters for drying laundry. Of 18,760 dwellings other than those of which the occupier was also the owner, only 2,215 (less than one in eight), have the use of a garden or fore-court, and so far as working-class dwellings are concerned the proportion must be very much smaller, so small indeed as to be negligible. Among the 18,760 dwellings referred to there were 5,486 in which one closet had to serve for the use of two or more families. In houses inhabited largely by the working classes this condition of things is the rule, and the closets are usually to be found on the stair landings. In other respects the dwellings of the working classes in Plauen may be said to compare not unfavourably with those of other large Saxon towns. The Bodenkammern, or garrets, appear to be less frequently used for sleeping purposes than in Chemnitz and Zwickau, for instance. The proportion of all dwellings in which the garret rooms were found to be so used in Plauen was only about one in twelve. Windowless bedrooms, such as are by no means rare in the older houses in Dresden, Leipzig, and other large cities in Saxony, as well as in other parts of Germany, are rarely met with in Plauen (there are only 45 such rooms in the whole town), nor is there a single basement dwelling. The following are a few concrete examples of working-class tenements visited by the writer, and they may be regarded as typical, inasmuch as their rents fall within the range already shown to comprise those most frequently paid, viz., 2s. 5d. to 2s. 1 Id. for two rooms, and 3s. 4d. to 3s. 10d. for three rooms. A. A two-roomed tenement on the first floor of a house in the Brunnenstrasse. ­ Both rooms are fairly lofty (measuring 9 feet 8 inches in height). The one used as living-room and kitchen combined, measures 16 feet 8 inches bv 11 feet 8 inches., and is well lighted by four windows, two looking into the main street and two into a side street. The second room, only accessible through the living-room, is used for sleeping, and measures 11 feet 8 inches by 7 feet 8 inches. It has one window. The tenement is entered direct from the stair landing, and has no vestibule of its own. Water has to be fetched from a tap on the landing. Rent, 132 marks (£6 12s.) per annum, or 2s. 6d. per week. B. A two-roomed tenement on the attic floor of a house in the Oelsnitzerstrasse. Both rooms are low in the ceiling (7 feet 4 inches). The one, which is both living-room and kitchen and has two windows, measures 14 feet by 12 feet 6 inches. The bedroom, irregular in shape, measures 14 feet along one of its sides and has one window. The living-room is entered direct from the stair landing, as in example A, and the water supply is similarly situated. The rent is 130 marks (£6 10s.) per annum, or about 2s. 6d. per week. C. A ground-floor tenement in the Südstrasse (Süd- Vorstadt). This tenement consists of two rooms on the ground floor, together with a garret used by the daughters of the family as a bedroom. Both of the ground floor rooms may be said to be lofty, their height from floor to ceiling being 11 feet 4 inches. The living room (used also as kitchen) measures 15 feet by 13 feet 4 inches, and has two windows looking into the street, while the adjoining bedroom, which measures 15 feet by 8 feet 8 inches has one such window. As regards water supply and absence of a vestibule, the conditions are the same as in the previous examples. The rent is 174 marks (£8 14s.) per annum, or, say, 3s. 4d. per week, PLATTEN. 411 On the same floor is a precisely similar dwelling with the windows looking into the back yard, in consideration of which, and of the fact that the garret is too small to be used as a bedroom, a lower rent is asked (3s. per week). It will be understood that the rents quoted above include the water rate. ' but comprise no other element of local taxation. The bulk of the money required to meet such local expenditure, as is defrayed out of local rates in English towns, is raised by a municipal income tax in German towns. The municipality collects the State income tax and the municipal income tax simultaneously. The proportion which the latter bears to the former varies from town to town. In Plauen it represents an additional 80 per cent, and is levied on all incomes of over £15 per annum. (In the case of the State tax incomes up to £20 are exempt.) The amount of the municipal income tax payable in Plauen in the various income classes within which the workpeople of that town would fall are shown below :— Class. Yearly Income. Amount of Tax. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Over £15 „ £20 „ £2% „ £30 „ £35 „ £10 „ £45 » £50 „ £55 „ £00 » £65 » £70 „ £75 „ £80 „ £85 „ £90 „ £95 to £20 . » £25. „ £30 . » £35. „ £40. „ £45. » £50., » £55.. „ £60 .. „ £65 .. „ £70.. „ £75.. „ £80 .. „ £85.. » £90.. „ £95.. „ £100 d. i? 10 10 11 1 5 8 10 10 4 11 10 13 5 15 1 16 11 18 9 20 7 22 6 24 7 Retail Prices. Practically the whole of the provision-dealing businesses of Plauen are organised in three camps—that of the working-class co-operative distributive society, that of a rival middle-class society of the same kind, and that of the association of private shopkeepers for the protection of their own class-interests against what they regard as the unfair competition of the cooperative societies. The working-class co-operative society has been in existence for 15 years, and had on September 30th, 1905, a membership of 7,065 and 18 branch shops ; the opposition middle-class society, after six years’ existence, had 7,815 members and 16 branch shops on the same date. The sales of the two societies in the year ended September 30th, 1905, were as follows :— Amount of Sales. Total Per Member 87,447 9U,388 £ s. d. 12 7 0 11. 11 0 Working-class Co-operative society Middle-class Co-operative society Of the two societies, that composed of middle-class members paid the larger dividend on purchases in the year under review, viz., 21J per cent., as against 14& per cent, paid by the working-class society. The shopkeepers’ association has an arrangement with the Municipal Savings Bank whereby the latter supplies exclusively to the members of the association stamps of the nominal value of either 20 pfennige (2%d.) or 1 mark (1&.) at a cost corresponding to 3 F 2 29088 412 PLACEN. 5 per cent, of such value. Thus the sum of 10s. will purchase a packet containing either 1,000 stamps of the former or 200 of the latter face value. These stamps are issued by the shopkeeper to his customers according to the value of the goods purchased by the latter, the rule being that all members of the shopkeepers’ association shall allow a l ' discount ” of 5 per cent., neither more nor less, on cash purchases. The purchaser of goods to value of, say, one mark, therefore receives with them a stamp, or stamps, of that face value, which he pastes into a book. The books used for this purpose are issued by the association, and are considered to be “ full ” when they contain either 1,000 stamps of 20 pfennige or 200 stamps of 1 mark face value. They are then accepted by the Municipal Savings Bank as equivalent to a deposit of 10 marks (10,?.). Each book contains a list of the shops (numbering 740 in 1906) which belong to the association, so arranged as to facilitate reference. Thus a person desirous of buying a pair of boots finds that he has a choice of 34 shops, at any of which he will receive discount stamps corresponding to the value of his purchase. For groceries he has a choice of .158 shops, and for bakers’ wares a choice of 142. One of the results of so much organisation among those who supply the daily wants of the people of Flauen is that little scope is left for variation in the price of any given article at different shops. Groceries and other Commodities. The following Table shows the predominant retail prices charged in Flauen for various kinds of household provisions of the quality usually bought by the working classes. The price shown for each article is based on the statements of several retail dealers in that article (including the workmen’s co-operative society) doing business in different parts of the town. Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and September, 1906. Predominant Price. Commodity. Coffee (Java or Campinas) Sugar (White Granulated) Bacon :— 1 at ... ... ... Streaky Eggs (imported Austrian) Cheese (Limburg) Butter ... Margarine Potatoes... Flour, Wheat „ Rye Bread (of Rye) Milk ... Coal Paraffin ... per lb. per Is. per lb per 7 lbs. per 4 lbs. per quart per cwt. per gallon October, 1905. 11 (7. to Is. 1(7. 2^(7., 2f (7. 9 \d. 9# 17 5^(7. Is. 2f(7. 8# 2# Is. 3p7. 9\d. to Is. 0\d. 4f(7. to 5 f(7. 2^(7. Is. 2|(7. to Is. 4(7. Is. 0(7. September, 1906. 11(7. to Is. 1(7. 2^(7., 2^(7. G 9# 9# 14 5^(7. to G|(7. Ms. 3p7. 8# 2# Is. 3^(7. 9j(7. to 114(7. 41(7. to 51(7. 2^7. Is. 2|(7. to Is. 4 Is. 0(7. From the above it would appear that for a number of the principal household provisions the price was the same at September, 1906, as at October, 1905. Slight rises took place in cheese, butter, milk, and eggs, while rye-flour became somewhat cheaper. Meat. Dissatisfaction is expressed among, all classes' of the population in Flauen as to unprecedentedly high prices and declining consumption of meat, a condition of things which is ascribed to the prohibition of imports of foreign cattle, the whole of the meat consumed in the town being German, and more especially Prussian produce. The most recent figures which can be adduced in support of the complaints as to declining consumption are those for the year 1905. PLAUEN. 413 The amount of meat consumed per head of population in Plauen in that year as compared with the three years immediately preceding is shown below :— 1902. Per Capita Consumption. 1903. ' 1901. 1905. Pork ' Boot ... ... ... V eal ... ... ... Mutton and Goatflesh Horseflesh Total lbs. 503 45-9 9*4 6-0 15 119-1 lbs. 634) 47 5 93 56 17 127-1 lbs. 04-9 43-6 9.9 53 1-5 124-5 lbs. 54-0 42 6 8-9 5-7 1-5 112-7 It will be seen that, beside pork and beef, the other kinds of meat are unimportant, and that the decline in meat consumption of all kinds from 124’5 lbs. per head in 1904 to 112*7 lbs. in 1905 was almost entirely due to the decline in the consumption of the staple flesh food—pork. With regard to the above figures it has to be remembered that they relate to the whole population of the town including the well-to-do classes, who, as in Germany generally, are large meat eaters. Among the working-classes the consumption of meat is undoubtedly very much smaller. Returns specially supplied for the purpose of the present inquiry by 44 typical working-class families, with various grades of income, and consisting of 195 persons, showed a weekly consumption of 21J ounces per head, which is at the rate of approximately 70 lbs. a year. Sausage amounted to 30 per cent, of this total, beef to 30 per cent, also, and pork and bacon to 27 per cent. In this connection it may be mentioned that there are three establishments ­ in Plauen where horseflesh alone is sold, the animals being for the most part imported from Russia via Dantzig. Among the most prominent of the articles exhibited in these shops are various kinds of sausage composed 01 horseflesh, and named after such well-known delicacies as “ Salami,” “ Cervelatwurst,” “ Knoblauchwurst,” and “ Leberwurst.” The last-named variety ot sausage, when made with horseflesh, is the cheapest form of flesh food procurable, and costs 24 pfennige per German pound (about 2J<f. per pound avoirdupois). The prices per English pound of the other varieties of horse butchers’ wares are as follows :— Per lb. Rumpsteak ; tongue (raw) ; liver 3fd. Minced meat ; filet steak ... ... ... ... 4\d. “ Knoblauchwurst ” (sausage) ... ... ... od. Tongue (boiled) ; smoked horse (called " Schinken ”) ; " Salami ” (sausage) ... ... ... ... 5\d. Fresh “ Cervelatwurst ” (sausage) ... ... ... 6J0?. Hard ditto ... ... ... ... ... ... For those whose means are insufficient to enable them to pay the prices charged for meat at the ordinary butchers’ shops, and who dislike the idea of eating horseflesh, there exists the Freibank, or municipal meat stall, where the flesh of animals which have failed to satisfy the standard of soundness required by the meat inspectors, is sold at a low price, after being subjected to treatment intended to render it safe for human consumption. The demand for such meat is very brisk, especially when (as during the busy season for the building trades) there are large numbers of Bohemian and Italian labourers in the town. The prices charged for meat at the Freibank at the time of the writer’s visit (September, 1906) were :— Per lb. I or beef, raw ... ... ... ... ... „ „ boiled (with a portion of the soup) pork, raw... ,, boiled ... ... ... ... 3£d. to 0 4 iß-5 Ja 7 , to 6¿é¿, 414 PLAUE3Ï. How these prices compare with those most generally paid by the working classes for sound meat at the ordinary butchers’ shops in Plauen may be seen from the subjoined Table, based upon information obtained at nine such shops, situated in different parts of the town, and all doing a considerable business with working-class families :— Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905. and September, 1906. Predominant Price per lb. Description of Cut. October, 1905. September, 1906. Shin Beef :— Rib ... ... Silverside I with bone I without bone Steak ... ... Flank Mutton :— Leg ... ... Shoulder... Breast Neck Chops Veal :— Hindquarter I with bone Shoulder without bone Loin Shin Pork :— Leg Foreloin .. Belly Spare Rib Chops 8W., to 8§d 9§d 8W., to 8|d. 11 d. 9# 8^d 9# 8# 8# 8# 9# 9W. 9# Is. 3\d. to Is. 5W. 9|d 9# 11 d. 9| d, 9# lid 11 d. 8|d to 9£d 10\d. 8fd to 9£d 11 d. 10|d to 11 \d. 8|d 9|d 93d. 9§d 9^d 9fd to 11 d 9#d „ lid. 9# 9^d Is. \\d, to Is. 5^/. lid “ 9^d 11 d. 9# 9§d lid. lid From the above it would appear that no change has taken place between October, 1905, and September, 1906, in the price of the staple flesh food—pork, while the price of beef has risen but very little. As articles of working-class consumption, mutton and veal are negligible. Taking prices at Berlin as 100, the following are the index-numbers for Plauen :—Meat, 115 ; other food, 98 ; food as a whole, 102 ; coal, 104 ; and “all commodities,” 102. The index-number for rent and prices combined is 92. 415 REMSCHEID. The town of Remscheid, in the Rhineland Province of Prussia, is the centre of the German small-iron industry for coarser goods, as its neighbour of immigrants, Dutch refugees from the persecutions of Alva in 1567, and Huguenots from Picardy at the end of the seventeenth century. But the growth the town has been rapid only in the last 35 years ; the following Table gives the population and number of houses since 1870 :— The topography of Remscheid presents several peculiar features. The total area contained within the municipal boundaries amounts to 8,037 acres, which gives an average of only eight persons per acre, and of one house to every 1^ acres. The town consists in reality of a large central group of buildings, and a number of other groups more or less loosely connected with this centre, and radiating far out from it in various directions ; and there are wide stretches of open land. The formation is determined largely by geographical ­ conditions. The town lies upon the summits and slopes of three hills, and in the valleys between ; the lowest point of the town being 351 feet and the highest 1,230 feet above sea level. The centre of the town, the old market place, at which the roads connecting the various parts of the town converge, has an altitude of 1,195 feet, and the principal thoroughfare of the town, which leads up to the centre from the railway station and is traversed by all the electric cars, has a rise in the neighbourhood of the market place of 1 in 10*6. The hill-sides are cut in all directions by small streams, and the abundance of water power supplied by their rapid fall, and also by the strong current of the Wupper, was the only geographical advantage which the Remscheid iron industry originally possessed, since it is not very conveniently situated in relation to the iron and coal areas of supply. Remscheid consists then, in the main, of a number of more or less separated groups of houses ; and these houses are curiously mixed. The typical house of the “ Berg Country ” is still largely present, both in the centre part of the town and on the outskirts : it is of half-timber work, i.e., a wooden frame filled in with brick or rubble, and often faced with slates. Frequently it is of only one story, with an attic in the deeply-sloping roof, and sometimes it has also a cellar ; usually its windows are provided with green shutters. Except in the main streets of the town the houses are strewn about in small groups, and in places, therefore, the streets are not so much streets as paths between houses, which’ have not been arranged on any particular plan ; and even in the centre the houses are often completely detached. The new type of house, built of stone or of brick with a stucco coating, and intended for several families, is making its appearance ; but is predominant as yet in only one street, which is occupied by the principal shops. The sanitary system is still very incomplete, but the peculiar topographical conditions place considerable obstacles in the way Solingen is for finer articles. The industry in both places was founded at about the same time, in the second half of the thirteenth century, under the influence and with the active assistance of the local rulers, the Dukes of Berg. In later times its development in Remscheid was stimulated by the influx of two sets Year. Population. Inter-censil Increase per cent. No. of Houses. 1870 . 1875 . 1880 . 1885 . 1890 . 1895 . 1900 . 1905 . 20.382 26,120 30.029 33,994 40,371 47,283 58,103 64,341 28-2 15-0 13-2 18-8 17-1 22-9 10-7 3,982 4,760 5,223 416 REMSCHEID. of an efficient sewerage service. The main streets are not all as yet well paved, whilst the side streets are in general badly kept. These shortcomings are due partly to the difficulty of obtaining money, the municipal addition to the State income tax being already 230 per cent. The municipal authorities have, however, recently spent large sums upon a large, elaborate and very ornate town hall. The town owns its water and gas supply, whilst the tramways and the electric light and power supply are owned by a private company in which the town has two-fifths of the shares. Since the new water supply came into operation, typhoid, which used to be a frequent and deadly visitor, has entirely disappeared. At present tuberculosis would appear to be Remscheid’s worst scourge. The town has a pleasant public park with a large public hall, and there is a Bismarck memorial tower. Remscheid is well served by the railways, and is also surrounded by a network of light railways, which connect it with Elberfeld and Barmen. Occupations, Wages, and Hours of Labour. The principal productions of Remscheid are the rougher kinds of tools— files and rasps, drills, gimlets, pincers, saws, picks, axes, hatchets, scythes, anvils, &c. The most important branch is the manufacture of files and rasps, and there are said fio be some two hundred firms engaged in this alone. There are also several firms occupied in the production of skates (another Remscheid speciality) and employing therein about 700 workpeople. There are some iron and steel works, the Bergische Stahl-Industrie, with about 1,500 employees, being by far the largest. Another firm, the Alexanderwerk A. von der Ñahmer, with about the same number of workpeople, manufactures butchers’ implements and meat machines, household machines and utensils of all kinds, copyingpresses, &c. Throughout 1906 there was much activity in almost all branches of Remscheid industry, and unemployment practically did not exist. In 1901, when there was a certain amount of unemployment, the municipal authority started relief works (including road making), but it was found that only inferior men resorted to them. The following Table shows the increase in the number of persons employed in this industry, and the change of organisation between 1891 and 1900 :— Year. Persons Occupied. 1891 1894 1900 Independent. 10,856 12,105 16,620 2,889 3,203 3,231 Dependent. 7,967 9,202 13,386 Domestic industry survives, but not to any large extent. It used to be the chief way in which file-cutting was carried on, when the work was done solely by hand, but it is rapidly giving way before the factory system and machinecutting. It has been estimated that in 1890 there were about 1,200 file-cutters working in their own homes ; by 1902 the number had fallen to 700, and by 1906 to 500. The making of drills and gimlets is still largely a domestic industry, but the number of persons engaged in it is quite small. The filecutters and drill-makers usually possess or hire a small house with workshop on the ground floor. The grinders, who are fairly numerous, are not, as in Solingen, chiefly independent workmen, but have become almost entirely factory employees. There is, however, one peculiarity in their organisation ; in some cases the manufacturer employs them directly, but in others he engages simply a “ master grinder ” and makes terms only with him, and the “ master grinder ” then takes on so many grinders as he thinks necessary, and makes his own terms with tliem. A peculiarity of the Remscheid grinding industry is the “ Halblohner,” or “half-employee,” a grinder who is a sort of industrial metayer, being a workman, yet to some extent independent. Employers provide REMSCHEID. 417 these men with stones, power, and all material, they work at the list rates, and the gross proceeds are divided between the two parties. A “ Halblöhner ” is at the disposal of his immediate employer, but he may also work for others. When it is said that the factory system is dominant in Remscheid, it is not meant that the factories are large. There are a few big works, a number of small ones, and a very large number with only a few employees each. The Employers’ Union of Remscheid had in 1905-6 225 members, but these had together only 9,500 workpeople, or an average of about 42 each. When it is remembered that two large firms employ between them about 3,000 persons, and that several other firms have over 100 employees each, it is evident that the great majority of the works are very small. There are, for example, some 170 manufacturers ot tiles and rasps in the Union ; the largest firms have about 150 employees, and the number goes down to 3 or 2. Even where there are ten or a dozen workmen, the employer usually works along with them. In the large factories a 12 hours’ day, with two hours of intervals, is the general rule, but there are variations. In the Alexander werk work begins at 7 a.m. in winter and 6 a.m. in summer, with intervals from 9 to 9.15 a.m., 12 to 1.30 p.m., and 4 to 4-15 p.m., except in summer, when the morning break is from 8.30 to 8.45. In the Bergische Stahl Industrie the hours are from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., with intervals from 9 to 9.15 a.m., 12 to 1.15 p.m., and 4 to 4.15 p.m. The hours of work are thus 10^ per day, but against this the workmen have the advantage that the factory closes at 5 p.m. on Saturdays. In the larger file manufactories work starts at 7 a.m. all the year round, and there are three intervals making together two hours. In those departments of the factories in which the nature of the work renders pauses at fixed times impossible, the general rule is that pauses up to the fixed amount per day are to be taken as opportunity offers. It may be added here that the factory rules in force in Remscheid all follow a common form, drawn up by the Employers’ Union. Both piece-work and time-work are in force, and in some branches there is also the so-called “ Gangen - akkord,” or “ Colonnen-akkord,’’ i.e., the men work in gangs, and divide the earnings of their combined work. Workmen are engaged subject to a fortnight’s notice on either side, and wages are paid twice a month in the large works, but elsewhere weekly. In the smaller works the hours of labour are often longer, 11 and 12 hours being not uncommon. The workmen, as a rule, go home to dinner, as the great majority live near the factories in which they are employed. The larger works have canteens, in which beer and coffee are sold at a low price, and in almost all factories there is a supply of hot water to enable the workmen to make their own coffee if they choose. In the Bergische Stahl Industrie milk is sold in the canteens, and is largely consumed. In some of the large works cold coffee is supplied gratis to the men in the various furnace-works during the hot weather. All the larger factories give an impression of cleanliness, and a good deal of attention appears to have been given to the provision of washing arrangements. The working classes of Remscheid are not very strongly organised. The local branch of the German Metalworkers’ Union (the Socialist organisation) has only about 950 members, and the employers persist in refusing to recognise it, on the ground that it is in reality a political association. Apart from this the chief unions are those of the file-cutters, the rasp-cutters, and the smiths. But the great majority of the Remscheid workers are not within the ranks of any trade society. The employers on their side have formed a strong association, the Employers’ Union for Remscheid and district ; in the general meeting of the union each firm has votes according to the amount which it pays yearly in wages and salaries. The members of the union are pledged to support any firm engaged in a dispute with its employees, il its cause is approved by the union, by doing work for it or furnishing it with manufactured goods as long as the 3 G 29088 418 REMSCHEID. strike lasts. There are sub-committees for each important branch of local industry, and these committees represent the employers in all negotiations in regard to wages. There is no separate Chamber of Commerce for Remscheid, but the town forms part of the district represented by the Lennep Chamber. Two special efforts on 11 social welfare ” lines call for some mention here. The first is the work of the Association for the Care of Sick Workpeople, which sends working men and women away for longer cures than they could obtain from the Sickness Insurance Offices. The other is the office established by the Bergische Stahl-Industrie for the management of its various sickness, pension and other institutions, and for enquiry into the general conditions of its workpeople, with a view to any action which it may be desirable and possible for the firm to take. One of the agencies to which the firm attaches great importance is the savings bank. Single men and others under 25 years are required to save at least 5 per cent, of their earnings, while those beyond that age are under no compulsion. The prescribed savings are as follows :—Workers of the age of 14 years, l\d. at every fortnightly settlement ; 15 years, 9\d. ; 16 years, Is. ; 17 years, Is. 2W. ; 18 years, Is. 4£d. ; 19 years, Is. 7\d. ; 20 years, Is. 9\d. ; 21 years, 2s. ; but it is open to the depositor to save as much more as he likes. The deposits are lodged in the Municipal Savings Bank, which pays interest of 4 per cent, on deposits up to £30 and 3J¡ per cent, on deposits above that amount, and the firm adds 2 per cent. On reaching the age of 25 years or on marriage a depositor is given control of his savings, and while serving in the army he may make fortnightly withdrawals to the maximum extent of one-sixth of the whole deposit in one year. It is found that nearly 50 per cent, of the workpeople save and 60 per cent, of these savers do it voluntarily, while, as a rule, 6 per cent, of the earnings are put by. The number of depositors in 1905-6 was 731 and their accumulated savings, with interest to date, amounted to £5.374. The net addition during the year, less withdrawals, had been £560. Wages agreements are in force for the rasp and file cutters, the file-grinders, and the smiths and hammerers. In the latter case there was an increase of wages in the beginning of the year 1906, and the claim made by the men, and recognised by the employers, was based on the increased cost of food commodities. ­ These agreements are very detailed and complicated, and in the case of the file-cutters contain some hundreds of separate items. Some of the filecutters’ agreements provide for lower rates being paid for goods intended for export, the reduction varying from 6 to 10 per cent., but it is stated that this differentiation is now in practice of little account. For other employments there are no rates uniform throughout Remscheid ; each firm makes its own arrangements with its workpeople. The Employers’ Union maintains that the average wages in Remscheid occupations are distinctly higher than the average for corresponding occupations in the West German industrial district as a whole ; and this contention seems to be borne out by the figures for 1901 so far as the Bergische Stahl-Industrie firm is concerned. This firm has published the following statement :— Industry. Rhineland-Westphalia Foundries and Rolling Mills Association. Düsseldorf District of above Association, ­ including Remscheid. Bergische Stahl-Industrie Employees to whom figures relate. All, including officials. Workmen only Average Earnings, l'J04. £ s. d. 68 6 5 71 8 7 72 8 7 Average per working day, 1004. S. d. 4 7 9 10 The average wages for the last firm were in 1899 £73 or 4s. UM. per day ; they then dropped (with the general decline) to £68 KB. or 4s. Id. per day in 1902 ; by 1904 they were back almost to the old level, and the rise has since continued. REMSCHEID. 419 Wages returns were obtained from about thirty leading firms engaged in various branches of the Remscheid industry. The variety of conditions and the differences in the work done by the same classes of workmen are naturally very considerable, and consequently there is a wide range of earnings. In the engineering trade the usual range of wages for skilled men is from 305. to 365. per week, though some of the moulders exceed the latter earnings, while unskilled men earn from 225. to 205. In the steel works and rolling mills, in which piece-work predominates, the range is naturally wide, first smelters earning 345. 7d. for 63 hours’ work, rollers 34s. 9d., and hammersmiths ­ 45s. 8cf., both for 60 hours’ work, while labourers earn from 25s. 6(7. to 28s. 6d. for the same hours. In the small iron industry there is equal diversity, though on a lower level of earnings. The usual rates for fitters are from 24s. to 80s., slniths’ wages are offener above than below 30s., grinders earn from 30s. to 36s., and file cutters and rasp cutters, working with machinery, earn in the majority of cases from 24s. to 27s., though special workmen, working by hand, largely exceed the higher figure. In domestic industry the hours worked are much longer, and the wages much lower than in the factories. The secretary of a trade union stated that the file or rasp cutter, working 72 hours a week, and with the assistance of wife and children in minor processes and to carry the work backwards and forwards, can earn from 24s. to 27s., but if working alone the maximum earnings do not exceed 20s. As a fact the taxation authorities assume 24s. per week to be the earnings of men engaged on small or very large files, but in arriving at the taxation assessment from 5 to 7 per cent, is allowed off the gross earnings for rent, lead, tools, &c. Coming to the miscellaneous trades common to all towns, it is to be noted that wages agreements have been concluded in the principal building trades, yet not in all, for this mode of regulating the conditions of employment has not been readily accepted by the employers. It is noteworthy that carpenters have a somewhat higher hourly rate than bricklayers and masons, viz., 50 pfennige (6(7.) against 49 pfennige. Twenty years ago the hourly rate of carpenters’ wages was 3ft7., and it has advanced successively to 4(7. (1890), 4|(7. (1895), 4f(7. (1900), 5|(7. (1904), and 6(7. (1905). The carpenters’ agreement stipulates that elderly men and single men in their first year of journeymanship shall not be paid a rate lower than the standard by more than ¿(7. In the brewing trade 8| pints of beer are given daily as a perquisite, but it may not be renounced in favour of a money payment. Wages and Hours of Labour in the Principal Occupations, October, 1905. Building Trades* :— Bricklayers and Masons Carpenters Joiners and Cabinetmakers Plumbers and Fitters ... Painters... Stucco-workers... Labourers Engineer ing Trades :— Moulders -Temper Steel Hand Machine Fitters ... Turners ... Smiths ... Pattern-makers Labourers Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours of Labour. 28*. 11(7. 29s. 6(7. 24s. 6(7. to 27s. 27s. to 30s. 29s. 8(7. 33s. to 34s. 10(7. 21 s. 10(7. 32s. 11(7. 38s. 4(7. 43s. 6(7. 31s. 10(7. 30s. to 34s. 33s. „ 37s. 32s. 8(7. to 36s. 29s. 5(7. „ 31s. 22s. to 25s. 59 59 57 to 60 60 66 57 59 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 The wa^es and hours of labour stated for the building trades are for a full week in summer. 29088 3 G 2 420 REMSCHEID. Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours of Labour. Steel and Rolling Works :— Smelters, (a) Martin furnaces—1st men „ others „ (J)) Crucible—1st men „ others Rollers Hammer-smiths Fettlers ... Rollers' Assistants Hammer-smiths’ Assistants Labourers ... Small-Iron Industry : Tool-making :— Fitters ... Turners ... Smiths ... Grinders... Labourers Skate-making :— Fitters ... Smiths ... Pressers ... Grinders—wet „ dry Assemblers Labourers Saw-making :— Fitters ... Turners ... Smiths ... Grinders... General sawsmitlis (stamper hammerers, dressers, setters, &c.). Labourers Machine-knife Makers :— Fitters, Filers, and Turners Pressers and Smiths Grinders... Hardeners s, hardener Labourers File-making :— Fitters ... Turners ... Smiths ... Machine-cutters Rasp-cutters "Hardeners Labourers Gimlet-making Filers Grinders... Hardeners Labourers Food and Drink Trades Bakers—1st men „ 2nd men Brewers ... Brewers’ coopers „ draymen „ labourers 34s. Id. 27s. 8d. 31s. 7d. 27s. 8(7. 34s. 9(7. 45s. 8d. 27s. 5(7. 27s. 5(7. 32s. lid. to 34s. 9(7. 25s. 6(7. to 28s. 6(7. 24s. to 31s. 2(7. 24s. „ 26s. 6(7. 27s. „ 31s. 5(7. 30s. 21s. 28s. to 30s. 33s. „ 39s. 24s. „ 27s. 30s. „ 36s. 27s. „ 30s. 36s. „ 39s. 20s. „ 25s. 30s. 30s. 24s. to 30s 36s. 36a. 21s. 26s. 30s. 30s. 27s. 18s. 27s. to 33s. 7(7. 36s. to 42s. 30s. „ 36s. 24s. „ 27s. 24s. 24s. to 27s. 18s. ,, 21s. 28s. 6(7. 30s. 18s. 18s. 25s.* 20s. to 22s.* 27s. 27s. 27s. 22s. Printing Trades Compositors, Machine-minders, and Pressmen Machine compositors—news „ „ jobbing 24s. 9(7. 30s. 11(7. 32s. 2d. 63 63 63 63 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 to 64 60 „ 64 60 „ 64 60 „ 64 60 „ 64 60 „ 63 57 „ 63 57 „ 63 60 „ 63 60 „ 63 60 63 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 70 70 60 60 60 60 54 48 51 * Including 10s, taken as the value of board and lodging. From the above figures it will be seen that wages in Remscheid are fairly high. Representing wages at Berlin by 100, the index numbers for Remscheid are—for the building trades, 83 for skilled men and 85 for labourers ; for the engineering trades, 97 for skilled men and 108 for labourers; and for the printing trades, 88. REMSCHEID. 421 The following were the wages of workpeople engaged on public works and undertakings at the same date : — Weekly Wages. Weekly (Tours of Labour. Roads and Streets :— Road-makers „ cleaners Gasworks f— Gas Stokers Labourers Waterworks :— Labourers Tramways (company) Drivers ... Conductors Electric Works and Lighting (company) Enginemen Stokers ... Erectors and Installers Fitters ... Labourers 22s. 18s. 80s. 21s. 6fi. 21s. 6d. 63 63 72 60 60 26s. 6d. to 31s. 2d * 18s. 6(7. „ 23s. Id.* 30s. 30s. 33s. 27s. 27s. 59^ to 63 59% „63 60 60 60 60 60 * Maximum wages reached in five years. Housing and Rents. Up to 1901 thestn all house of one story and an attic (of the type already described, and intended for one or two families) was predominant in Remscheid. The following tables show the conditions and movement between 1887 and 1900 (the latest year for which the figures are available) :— /.—Houses. Year. 1887 1893 1899-1900 Houses for One Family. Houses for Two Families. Houses for Three or more Families. No. 1,252 1,361 1,614 Per cent, of j all Houses. I 40 361 35 4 No. 797 903 1,117 Per cent, of all Houses. No. 255 1,077 23-9 j 1,505 244 j 1,834 Per cent, of all Houses. 34-5 40 402 Total. 3,126 3,769 4,565 II.—Housing and Lents. Year. Average No. of Persons per Dwelling. 1887 1899-1900 ... 5-1 4-7 Average No. of Rooms per Dwelling. 2-48 250 Average No. of Persons per Room. 2-00 1-88 Average Rent per Dwelling per Annum. £7 16s. £9 It will be noticed that between 1887 and 1900 the houses for one or two families decreased from 65-5 per cent, to 59*8 per cent, of the whole. Since 1900 the proportion of houses for three or more families is believed to have further increased, but actual figures are not available. The growth of the larger houses has followed upon the increase of dependent (i.e. factory) workmen, who take ordinary dwellings. It is noticeable that most of the small masters, and some of the independent workmen, have houses of their own, often subject to mortgage. The styles of building are two—" massive ” and " half-timber work.” The “ massive ” ‘buildings are those of modern erection and are of the tenement type, 422 REMSCHEID. with several floors and two dwellings as a rule on each floor. The half-timber buildings, which represent the traditional architecture of the Berg country, are for the most part one or two family houses, and the working classes usually tenant these older houses. OE 1,179 workmen who made returns on the point for the purpose of this report, 900 or 76 3 per cent, lived in “halftimber ­ ” houses (501 in two-room and 399 in three-room dwellings) and 279 or 23 7 per cent, in “ massive” houses (163 in two-room and 116 in three-room dwellings). The “half-timber” houses may consist either of the ground floor only, or of the ground floor and an attic story, or the ground floor, a first story, and an attic story. In any case the rooms are as a rule smaller than in dwellings of the modern flat type, for here, as in other towns where the smallhouse system survives, number of rooms is attained at the expense of size. There are great inequalities of accommodation, however, and in the outlying parts of the town the sanitary arrangements are often unsatisfactory, though there has been a distinct improvement since the last typhoid outbreak of 1901. The newer houses are much better, and in them the municipal building laws are enforced with some vigour. There is a good deal of subletting, and lodgers are frequently taken in to board. The usual accommodation of a working-class family is two or three rooms, though often er two than three. Of 1,365 dwellings actually tenanted by working people whose rents were classified for the purpose of this report, 664 or 48'6 per cent, consisted of two rooms, 515 or 37*7 per cent, of three rooms, 128 or 9*4 per cent, of four rooms, while 47 (3*4 per cent.) had five or six rooms, and 11 (0*8 per cent.) had one room only. The kitchen is invariably used as the living room and not infrequently it contains a bed, if not more than one. There is considerable variety in rents, according as the dwellings are in the inner town or in the environs, and this is particularly so in the case of dwellings of three rooms. Kent is calculated per room. In the town the general range is from £4 10s. to £5 per annum for an ordinary room and from £2 Ids. upwards for an attic room. Predominant Weekly Bents of Working Class Dwellings. Number of Rooms per Tenement. Two rooms . Three rooms Predominant Weekly Rent. Inner Town. 3s. to 3S. 10d. 3s. 10d. to 5s. 9d. Outer Districts. Remscheid as a whole. 3s. to 3s. 6t/. 3s. 6d. to 4s. Id. 3s. to 3s. 6d. 3s. Gd. to 5s. 2d. As a rule a two-room dwelling in a half-timber house costs 6d. per week less than one in a “ massive ” building, and the difference is proportionately greater in the case of three-room tenements. The general rule is that the tenant must do the papering and whitewashing, and he usually pays for the removal of refuse, the emptying of cesspools, and chimney cleaning. In the newer houses the landlord undertakes the papering, &c., and the rents are somewhat higher in consequence. Though the rent is reckoned by the year (from May to May), it is paid monthly. # The above rents must be regarded as high for a town of the size of Kein scheid, although they are not so high as in the neighbouring town of Solingen. The dearness of house accommodation is due in part to the geographical conditions, which render the land available for building purposes both scanty and dear, and also to the difficulty of procuring building materials (since the neighbourhood offers no sources of supply). Taking rent in Berlin as 100, the corresponding figure for Remscheid is 56. The foregoing rents include the charge for water, but no other taxes. The taxes which fall on the working classes in Remscheid are the State income tax, subject to the exemption of incomes not exceeding £45, a municipal supplement to this tax, which falls upon all incomes above £21, and a church tax. The municipal income tax is 230 per cent, of the State income tax on incomes above £45, on incomes between £33 and £45 it is 150 per cent, of a nominal State assessment of 4s. (viz., 6s.), and on incomes between £21 and £33 it is 125 per cent, of a nominal State assessment of 2s. 4'8d. (viz., 3s.), while the church tax is 30 per cent, of the State income tax in the case of Protestants and REMSCHEID. 423 50 per cent, in the case of Roman Catholics. The taxation of certain groups of small incomes is therefore as follows :— Income Group. £21 to £33 inclusive £33 „ £45 £45 „ £52 10s. inclusive £52 10s. to £60 £60 to £67 10s. £67 10s. to £75 £75 to £82 10s. £82 10s. to £90 £90 to £105 inclusive State Income Tax. S. d. 6 0 9 0 12 0 16 0 1 1 0 1 6 0 1 11 0 Municipal Super Tux. s. d. 3 0 6 0 13 9i 0 8 7 7 16 9& 8 3& 19 9i 3 11 34 Church Tax.* S. d. 11 1 1 9 I 3 7 4 6 3^ 7 4 9 31, Total. i 2 £ s. d. 3 11 7 9& 1 7 12 44 3 2 17 7 3 15 4 13 5 11 * If Protestant households. Useful work in the matter of housing has been accomplished by a “ Public Utility ” Building Society, whose main purpose is to build houses and then sell them to workpeople on easy terms. The houses so erected are usually for two families, the two dwellings being sometimes side by side, with separate entrances, or on two floors, with a common entrance. In the latter case the occupier of the lower floor takes the whole house and lets so much of the upper floor as he does not require. The houses are grouped in colonies ; they are all well built and equipped, and each has a small garden. In some cases there is a small workshop beneath the house. Rent is paid on the 1st of each month, but only 10 times a year ; no payments are made on the 1st of January and the 1st of May, apparently because those dates follow close upon the Christmas and Easter festivals. The rents are calculated at 5 per cent, on the capital outlay ; but the aim is to sell the house, and the following method is adopted. The tenant pays one-tenth of the capital outlay on taking up his tenancy, and also makes an annual payment of 5 per cent, as above, and of 2 per cent, for sinking fund. On the one-tenth and on all subsequent contributions of 2 per cent, the society pays interest to the tenant at the rate of 3 per cent, per annum, and this amount also goes towards the paying off of the price. When one-third has been paid (i.e., in nine years) the house passes into the ownership of the tenant, subject to a mortgage held by the society, on which he continues to pay as before until the whole cost is discharged. Subletting is permitted by the society, subject to certain restrictions, and tenants find that they can sublet at £3 15s. or £4 per annum for each room. The society has also some “ blocks ” with seven families on each staircase ; the rents charged are £4 5s. per room per annum (inclusive of water). For each staircase there is a cellar, in which each tenant has a separate portion, and there are two small laundry rooms in each cellar ; there is also a small playing ground for children. Retail Pjiices. Groceries and other Commodities. A large amount of working-class trade is transacted with the “ Concord ” Co-operative Society, which has over 4,000 members, and 10 shops ; the total sales amounting in 1906-7 to above £52,000. It is noteworthy that the prices charged by this society are somewhat higher than those charged by the ordinary shopkeepers doing the same class of trade. There are also in Remscheid branches of several “ multiple ” firms, one with six shops, and all do a large popular trade. Open markets for the sale of farm produce, vegetables, and fruit are held in the large square opposite the Town Hall. Dr. Franz Ziegler, in his work " Wesen und Wert Kleinindustrieller Arbeit, besonders der Bergischen Kleineisen-industrie, published in 1901, gives the following list of the meals of the ordinary Remscheid workmen at that time :— First breakfast : Coffee, sandwich composed of a slice of white bread and a slice of black bread, and often warmed-up potatoes. Second breakfast : (taken during the morning pause in the works) : Coffee, beer or “ Schnapps,” and sandwich of bread alone, or bread with sausage. Dinner : Meat, bacon or sausage or pulse with potatoes and vegetables. Afternoon meal : Coffee or beer, and bread and butter, sometimes with a slice of meat or sausage. Supper : Milk soup, roast or baked potatoes, or potato salad, or eggs. 424 REMSCHEID. It will be noticed that in this diet potatoes play a very considerable part. Dr. Ziegler states that potatoes are greatly used by all classes of workmen when times are bad, and by the poorer classes at all times. The increase in the prices of meat during the last two years has undoubtedly encouraged this recourse to vegetables, and it is stated that at present potatoes, cooked in various ways, form a more important article of diet than ever before ; roast potatoes are a favourite dish. Prices, of course, vary ; but in October, 1905, the usual price was from 2\d. to 2j<A for 7 lb., and in September, 1907, 2fd. for the same quantity. The chief kinds of bread sold are black bread (rye), " Nullbrot ” (which is bread made of rye twice ground), grey bread (of three parts rye and one part wheat), white bread (wheat), and “ Brödchen ” (rolls of wheat and milk). Wheat and rye currant bread is also very popular. The native Remscheid workman generally eats black and white bread, and is particularly fond of a sandwich composed of a slice of each kind ; while grey bread is eaten more by workmen and others who have come into Remscheid from other parts of Germany. The bread is sold in all shapes and sizes and weights, except black bread, which is retailed at a uniform price by members of the Bakers’ Guild, the price being periodically fixed by the Guild and confirmed by the Police Authority. This black bread is usually sold in 7 lb. loaves. The price of 4 lb. was in October, 1905, 4\d. and in September, 1907, 5d.. but at the latter date the bakers complained that they were selling at too low a figure and an advance was inevitable. The price of both white and grey bread in October, 1905, was 6|d. to 8^6?. for 4 lb. For groceries generally the prices are fairly uniform throughout the town. There is, however, a wide range in the prices of coffee, but the price generally paid by the workmen is 11 d. per lb. There is no difference in the prices of loaf and granulated sugar, both costing in October, 1905, 2\d. and 2|d. per lb. Fresh butter cost Is. Ifd. to Is. 2\d., but there was a large consumption of margarine at 7^d., though cheaper qualities can be had. The Co-operative Society sells three times as much margarine as butter. Dutch, Limburg, and Swiss cheeses are all eaten, their prices being 8\d., 4\d. to 5d., and Is. per lb. respectively. The price of milk was 2\d. per quart. Coal is chiefly burned in the stoves, its price being 11 d. to 11 \d. per cwt. in 1905, while paraffin cost 9\d. per gallon ; the prices of both were higher in September, 1907, as shown below. Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and September, 1907. Predominant Price. Coffee ... Sugar :— Loaf ... White gr: Bacon :— Fat ... Streaky Eggs Cheese :— Dutch Limburg Swiss Butter ... Margarine Potatoes Flour :— Wheaten Rye . . Bread :— White Grey Black Milk Coal Paraffin oil Commodity. ■anulated per lb. per Is. per lb. per 7 lb. per 4 lb. per quart per cwt. per gallon October, 1905. lid 2W., 2# 2^d, 2fd 7fd to 8Id 8fd - 8fd 14 8fd 4f d to 5d Is. Is. lfd, to Is. 24d 7# 2fd to 2§d ll^d to Is. lfd Is. Ojd „ Is. 2\d. 6fd „ 8fd 6fd „ 8fd 4|d 2W. lid to Hid 9fd September, 1907. lid 21s d to 3d 2#, 2fd 8# 8fd to 9fd 12 to 14 7fd to 94d 5&d Is. to Is. Id Is. 24d 7fd 2ld Is. lfd Is. lfd to Is. 4fd 7fd 7fd 8fd 8fd 5d 2id, 2fd Is. Ofd to Is. Hd lOd lO^d REMSCHEID. 425 Since October, 1905, there has been a general rise of prices. Explaining the reason for the higher cost of many articles of food during the financial year 1906—7, the " Concord ” Co-operative Society states that it was not able to buy as favourably as before, and it illustrates this by the following amongst other examples :— Increase in the Wholesale Prices of Foodstuffs. Price per cwt. 1 y 04. 1906. Increase per cent. Hice ,,, » Roasted barley Margarine Palmin (artificial butter) Coffee ... , ••• Cheese—Swiss „ Dutch Lard . » » ••• Butter oil Cooking oil 17s. 10s. M. 59 s. 48s. 75s. 78s. 55s. 42s. 47s. 3c?. 53s. 19s. lis. 9c?. 60s. 52s. 82s. 90s. 64s. 52s. 77s. 6c?. 80s. 11:8 119 1*7 83 93 154 16 3 23 8 640 510 Further, flour had advanced 11 per cent, and bread 14 per cent., while coal had increased from 8s. per ton in 1893 to 10s. Qd. in 1903 and 12s. Id. in 1906. It adds : “ The foregoing figures clearly prove the accuracy of our contention that the cost of living has been increased to the working classes by at least 15 per cent.” . v Meat. Beef and pork are the kinds of meat chiefly eaten by the working classes of Remscheid. There is, however, a considerable consumption of horseflesh, which is sold in several shops exclusively devoted to this trade, and here as in Solingen preference rather than straitened means would seem to explain the repute which this meat enjoys. The beef comes chiefly from Denmark, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg, and East Prussia, but the best from South Germany; the pork comes from Westphalia, Mecklenburg, and Schleswig-Holstein ; the small amount of mutton eaten comes from Mecklenburg and Schleswig-Holstein ; and the veal is of local origin. The consumption of meat in working-class households and the extent to which beef and pork, with sausage, which is made chiefly of the latter, preponderate, ­ is shown by returns obtained from 146 families, representing 713 persons, as to the weekly consumption of meat. These showed a weekly average of slightly over 24 ounces per person, on at the rate of about 78^ lb. per annum. Of this beef constituted ob per cent., poik and bacon 31 per cent., and sausage 30 per cent. All other kinds together (including veal and mutton) amounted to only 3 per cent. The price usually paid for i beef in. October, 1905, was from l\d. to 8Jd. per lb., the dearer beefsteak being little bought, while the cuts of pork mostly eaten cost from 7|d. to 9¿<i., and the prices of bacon, both fat and streaky, fell also within this range. 3 H 29088 426 REMSCHEID. Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and September, 1907. Description of Cut. Beef :— üib ... ... ... Silverside cjiiin f with bone j without bone ... Steak ... ... ... Flank ... Mutton :— Leg ... ... ... Shoulder Breast Neck Chops ... Veal :— Hindquarter I with bone Shoulder without bone Loin Shin Pork :— Leg Foreloin Belly Spare-rib Chops Predominant Price per lb. October, 1905. 8# 8ft?. 7ft/. to 8ft?. 8§ d. „ 11 d. Is. 2ft?. „ Is. 3ft/. 7ft/. 8ft/. 8ft/ 9ft/. 7 M 9 If/. 91<7. to 9|d. 8f d, 9ft/. Is. to Is. If/. 9If/, to 11 d. 7ft/. 9|f/. 8ft/. „ 9ft/. 8ft/. „ 9ft?. 7ft/. „ 9ft/. 8ft/. „ 9ft/. 8# » 9ft/. September, 1907. 8lt/. 8 3 tZ. 8ff/. 9ft?. to lit/. Is. 5ft?. Is. 2ft?. 8ft/. 9ft/. to 9ff/. 8|t/. 7ft/. 9f fZ. 9ft/. 8ff/. 8ft/. lit/. 9ft/. 9ft/. Is. It/. 9fd. to lit/. 9ft/. to lit/. 9ft/. 8fiZ. to 9ft/. 8ft/. to 9ft/. 9fiZ. In 1906 meat prices advanced generally, and this advance affected the price of sausage, which is largely consumed. The following were the prices charged for various kinds of sausage, &c., by the Co-operative Society in September, 1905, and September, 1906 :— Price per lb. September. 1905. September, 1906 9ft/. Is. 9ft/. 9M. 9 if/. 4W lit/. 5ft/. 5d 8M. 9ft/ 8!t/. 9W. 8lt/ 9ft/ lit/. lit/ bit? Bratwurst (sausage for roasting), 1st quality tt *> *> 2nd ,, “ Fleisch ” sausage Blood sausage Liver sausage Ham sausage “ Mett ” (pork) sausage Brawn Smoked beef Black brawn 7ft/. KEMSCHEID. 427 The following Table may be appended showing the prices of various kinds of meat as recorded by a prominent wholesale and retail tradesman at different dates :— Retail prices of meat per lb. Beef :— Bibs... ... ... Silverside „ without bone Fillet or roast beef Mutton :— Hind-quarter Breast and flank Back Cutlets Veal :— Hind-quarter Breast and flank Pork :— Le§* • • • » # * Belly and flank Cutlets Head and feet 1892. 6d. to 6^d. 6%d. 8# 9\d. to 11c?. 41c?. to 5|c?. 8# 8f d. to 11c?. 6c?. „ 6|c?. T ò\d. ,, 6c?. 81c?. Id. to 7|c?. 7c?. ,, i\d. 34c?. ,, 41c?. February, 1906. 7c?. 7#c?. 8# 8|c?. to 11c?. 11c?. Id. 9#c?. Is. 7|c?. 8|c?. to 9fc7. 6^c?. „ Id. 8|c?. 8# 8#c?. 2fc?. to 4-]c?. September, 1907. 8f d. 91c?. 11c?. 9|c?. to Is. 3fc?. 11c?. Id. 9§c?. Is. 7|c?. 9|c?. to lO^c?. S^c?. ,, 91c?. 101c?. 9fc?. . 9^c?. 3fc?. to 61c?. Prices of food are distinctly high in Remscheid. Representing the level of prices at Berlin by 100, the index number for meat prices at Remscheid is 107, and for other food prices 111. Combining these two figures with that for coal, which is 76, a general prices index number of 105 is obtained. The index number for rent and prices combined is 95, as compared with 100 for Berlin. 'Vi 29088 3 S 2 SOLINGEN. The town of Solingen, situated in the Prussian province of Rhineland, 13 miles east of Düsseldorf and near the river Wupper, has been for centuries the chief home of the German cutlery and fine steel-goods industry ; the history of its sword manufacture goes back, to the time of the .Crusades. During the last 20 years it has developed rapidly. The population, which was 17,778 in 1885, had increased to 50,209 in December, 1905, the increase for the 20 years being equal to 182*4 per cent. The growth during the last four inter-censal periods has been as follows :— Census Year. Population. Increase. Inter-censal Increase per cent. 1885 1890 1895 1900 1905 17,778 36,510 40,813 45,260 50,209 18,762 4,303 4,417 4,949 105 5 11-8 10 8 10 9 The large increase between 1885 and 1890 was mainly due to the incorporation of several suburbs in 1888. The area of the township is 5,437 acres. The town had a birth-rate in 1906 of 28'2 per 1,000 of the population and a death-rate of 15*1, giving a natural increase of 13*1 per 1,000. Both birth and death rates have fallen of late years, the former more than the latter, and the natural increase of population was in 1906 3*5 per 1,000 less than in 1901. The following table shows the birth and death rates, and also the rate of infant mortality for a period of six years :— Year. Birth-rate per 1,000 of Population. Death-rate per 1,000 of Population. Infantile Mortality per 1,000 Births. 1901 1902 1903 1901 1905 1906 345 32*3 29*6 30*6 30*0 28 2 17*9 15 1 15*5 14 6 16-3 151 170 146 170 148 136 121 Solingen is, however, only the centre of a group of towns engaged in similar industries, with products grouped under the same general head of “ Solingen goods.” These towns are Grafrath (population 8,706) ; Hohscheid (population 15,382) ; Wald (population 22,909) ; and Ohligs (population 23,200). The first three of these are not separated from Solingen in fact ; the municipal boundary in some places runs down the centre of streets which have buildings on both sides ; and it is contended in Solingen that it would be distinctly advantageous, both on financial and other grounds, if these first three towns could be brought under a single administration with Solingen. Of that, however, there seems no immediate prospect. The towns are linked together partly by the railway (Ohligs is an important junction), and partly by a good system of tramways provided by the municipality of Solingen (but leased) and by the authorities of the rural circle (i.e. area for rural local government, from which Solingen is excluded). Solingen itself is an ancient town, and in the centre retains many of its old characteristic features. The streets there are narrow and somewhat hilly (they occupy the site of the old stronghold, which stood on rising ground), and many of the houses are a couple of centuries old. These houses are of the type long peculiar to the Berg Country (i.e., the old duchy of Berg, more or less independent till 1814, when it was definitely included in Prussia, to which the town and SOLINGEN. 429 surrounding territory belonged) ; they are of one or two stories (including the ground floor), built of “ Fachwerk,” i.e. a wooden frame filled in with brick, and usually (though not always) faced with slates, and have windows with white frames and green shutters. Often, though not invariably, there is a sloping roof with an attic or attics. A few small squares are left, one being used as a public market. The old houses are now interspersed with new buildings of the ordinary German town type, and there is much rebuilding ; but the transformation is very gradual. Until quite recently most of the streets were very narrow, a peculiarity due in part to the fact that the town was formerly a fortress ; indeed, up to the year 1901 the Kölnerstrasse, one of the two main arteries through the town, was only 14 feet wide in the busiest part owing to the obstruction caused by an old building. In some streets the pavements are still only 18 inches wide in parts, and the tramways are laid single line. The widening of the streets has entailed heavy expense, as a result of which municipal action has been crippled in other directions. Outside the centre there is a belt of broad and new streets, which merely reproduce the characteristic features of the ordinary modern German town, and outside that again there is a further belt of territory in which houses of the type already described for the centre of the town are scattered about, either singly or in groups. In this outer belt, however, there is very much unoccupied land, and many of the houses have gardens, or at least a small piece of land near by, attached to them. The sanitation of the town is not satisfactory, especially in the centre, where the narrow and sometimes tortuous streets and the age of the houses oppose considerable obstacles. Nevertheless, Solingen as a whole gives the impression of distinct efforts at cleanliness ; and, though there are some exceptions, the general standard in this respect is high. The undertakings carried on by the town include the gasworks, the waterworks, ­ electric power and light works, well-equipped baths, savings bank, and abattoir, but while the tramways belong to the town they are, as already stated, worked by a company, which pays 5 per cent, on the cost and a share of the profits, if any. For some years the town maintained a Labour Bureau, but it was attended by little success, and it is now attached to the Industrial Court for the town and rural circle of Solingen. It is principally used by the metal industries and the building trades. Mention may also be made of the Municipal Continuation Schools, attendance at which is compulsory. Pupils at the “ Commercial School ” (Handelsschule) must attend twice a week (afternoons) for three years, and at the “Industrial School” (Gewerbeschule) twice a week (afternoons) for two years ; attendance begins at 14 years of age. Employers must arrange for their apprentices to be absent from work for the necessary number of afternoons a week. Until recent years the town did not attach great value to the public ownership ­ of building land. In the middle of the nineties, however, a large amount of speculation took place in land, both within the town and on the outskirts, and in the hope of counteracting this the municipality in 1900 purchased an estate, over 100 acres in extent, for £17,500, laid out streets and offered sites for sale at cost price. A number of houses of a better class have been built in the district, but there is still much land available. Occupations, Wages, and Hours of Labour. The dominant industry of Solingen is the manufacture of cutlery, including under this term swords, table-knives and forks, pen-knives, razors, surgical instruments, scissors, and some other fine steel tools ; there are other metal industries, including the manufacture of machines, but they are of secondary importance. The peculiar organisation of the cutlery industry justifies its description at some length.* * In the following description use has been made of two articles on Solingen industry, one published by Dr. Grunow in 1901, and the other by Dr. Czimatis, Factory Inspector, in 1905, in addition to information obtained from manufacturers and workpeople. SOLINGEN. 430 The statistics of the Imperial Occupation Census of 1895 for the two principal occupations in Solingen and the surrounding district, show at once the general character of the organisation at that date : — Occupation. Tool, Scythe, and Knife Smiths . Scissor, Knife, and Tool Grinders. Number of Separate Undertakings. Number of Persons Engaged. Average Number of Persons per undertaking. 3,866 1,924 10,364 3,216 26 1*6 This obviously means that the factory system had very little hold in 1895, so far as these two branches were concerned. But already the process had set in which was to turn the smiths, working hitherto in their own homes with hand-labour, into factory workers using machinery, a process which is to-day almost complete. The grinders, however, after being threatened apparently with the same fate as the smiths, have yet succeeded in maintaining to a large extent the old conditions of independence. The manufacture of swords has now become almost solely a factory industry, but its importance is steadily diminishing. The sword hardeners are a small and select body of men, who jealously guard the secrets of their craft. It is said that the calling is confined to a few families, and that outsiders are never admitted. The earnings are high. The manufacture of razors is also steadily becoming a factory industry in spite of strong resistance. For the other branches of the cutlery manufacture domestic industry is predominant in all processes except the smithing of table-knives and forks, the cutting out (from sheet steel) of pen-knife blades, the smithing of the better kinds of scissors, and the casting of scissors of inferior qualities. These are all processes in which machinery can be profitably used, whereas in the other processes handwork (often assisted with small machines) is still the best, partly, it is said, because with hand-labour small modifications of the form of the goods can be more readily made. There is a very elaborate division of labour ; from 12 to 16 workmen are employed in different processes for the production of a pocket-knife, and eight or nine for scissors of good quality ; and in all there are between 40 and 50 separate occupations in the Solingen industry. The most important and numerous, as also the best paid, class of workmen are the grinders, who may be divided into the grinders of swords, of knives (about 1,000 in number, including apprentices), of scissors (about 900), and of razors (about 350). A certain number of these have gone into the factory system entirely, but the large majority remain independent. The grinder sometimes works alone, and sometimes has subordinate workmen and apprentices ; in either case he may work in his own dwelling, or in a workshop which he hires entirely or in part (sharing the workshop then with others like himself). These workshops are erected by factory owners or private speculators ; in some cases 50 to 100 grinders may work side by side in the same workshop ; the rent paid for each “stand” (“ Arbeits-stelle,” i.e., place in such a shop) ranges from 2s. to 65. per week, according to the size of the grindstone, the equipment of the workshop, ­ and the nature of the motive power supplied, which is now generally electricity. Cases occur in which independent grinders carry on their work in the workshop of a manufacturer who has room to spare, even when they are not working for him. The grinder may work for several manufacturers, or only for one ; but even when this one is also the person from whom he rents his workshop, ­ the two relations are absolutely distinct. The men buy their own stones, which cost from 6&. to as many pounds according to the size and quality, and in the case of the larger stones two or three have a joint use. The local taxation authorities assume that rent and cost of material absorb from a fifth to a third of a grinder’s gross earnings, and deductions are made accordingly before the amount of taxable income is fixed ; thus 20 per cent, is allowed in the case of. razor and corkscrew grinders, 25 per cent, in the case of scissors, fork, and pocket-knife grinders, and 33 J per cent, in the case of sword and scabbard grinders. SOLINGEN. 431 All attempts to bring the grinders more into the factory system have so far failed. Their occupation is to a large extent hereditary ; it is naturally somewhat unhealthy, and is said to be growing more so, since in the days when water power was used the workshops were more in the open country and the work was subject to long interruptions when the water was too high or too low, whereas now the use of electric %)ower has brought the workshops more in to the town, and, as the motive power is constant, the work can be carried on at full pressure all the time. The other classes of workmen, the hardeners, the cutlers, who put together the different parts of the knives and scissors (a task requiring great skill in the case, for example, of the more elaborate pocket-knives, but also requiring little skill and badly paid for the lowest grades of work), the scissorfilers, the scissor-nailers (who fasten together the two scissor-blades), the finishers, and others—all these mostly carry on the work in their own homes. In all these branches, and still more .among the grinders, it is very easy for an energetic and capable workman to become a small employer, and the process is constantly taking place. The conditions for the home workers in the centre of the town, where the streets are narrow and the houses crowded together, are far from good ; further out, and especially on the outskirts of the town, they are much better. On the outskirts there are many small groups of houses of home workers, or isolated houses ; all who can afford it have small gardens, or detached pieces of land, where they grow vegetables ; many have a goat or two, sometimes fowls, or a pig. There are naturally many grades of these home workers ; the grinders rank highest and are the best paid, whilst the cutlers engaged on the inferior kinds of knives are lowest in the scale. As illustrations of the conditions of industrial life at Solingen the following cases may be named ; the first two represent the highest development. («.) A former factory workman (a grinder), who now owns a house and a pleasant garden, in which he grows flowers and a large quantity of vegetables ; he also has a couple of goats. The ground-floor of the house is occupied entirely by a large workshop, with 8 stones ; it is supplied with electric light and power. The man works with his two sons and one or two apprentices ; the other four workplaces he lets to independent grinders, from whom he receives a rent sufficient to pay the interest on money borrowed to complete the purchase of the house, and the cost of the electric power. (6.) Another grinder, working still with water power. His father was a grinder ; his mother inherited a small peasant holding. The son is unmarried, and the mother lives with him ; they have a small house, with a large vegetable and flower garden, a meadow and barn, three or four cows, and a small orchard. The workshop is a short distance away ; the man works there with two or three employees. (c.) A rivetter, whose work consists in fixing together the two blades of scissors : he owns a house and small garden on the outskirts of the town, valued at £12 10s. a year ; he grows vegetables and some fruit, and has two goats. He takes the work backwards and forwards himself, and a young daughter (who has just left school) helps him by sorting the scissor blades into pairs. (d.) A cutler (for pocket-knives of inferior kinds) who has a workshop within the town for which (with water power) he pays £9 a year. He has one assistant, and works with small machines, with water as motive power. (e.) A razor-setter in the centre of the town ; he has two rooms on the second floor and a minute attic as a workroom, in which he sits alone. He has a wife and one small child, and his wife helps him by rubbing up the razors and delivering them at the factories. He pays £11 5s. a year for his rooms ; the amount of his work is very variable. A few years ago it was generally believed in the district that home industry at Solingen was doomed ; but since then there has been a distinct revival, and it is at least holding its own. The workers cling to their independence, and they are aided by the development of the cheap supply o-f 432 SOLINGEN. electric power, used not only by the grinders, but also by other workmen tor their smaller machines ; and by the extension of the tramways, which enable the work to be conveyed to and from the employers by the women and children. From the point of view of the employer the system has some incidental advantages ; he can increase or decrease (according to the state of trade) the amount of work which he gives out more easily than he can increase or decrease the number of employees in his factory ; and, moreover, the burden of insurance payments is much less, since he does not contribute for home workers, who bear the cost alone. Even the largest factory owners employ much domestic industry : there are practically no factories in which all the processes for the production of any particular article are carried on. The largest cutlery firm of all employs 900 workpeople in the factory and 1,500 in the home industry. The evils which seem inseparable from home labour appear in Solingen also—the absence of adequate inspection, the excessive hours of labour (often a consequence of the low rates of earnings), amounting not infrequently to 13 or 14 hours daily, the unrestricted employment of women and children in subsidiary processes, and the unhealthy housing conditions where, as often happens, the work is carried on in the dwelling-rooms. The men are organised in a number of unions, the chief being the Solingen branch of the Socialist Metal-workers’ Union, which in 1906 had about 3,500 members in the town and the surrounding district, divided about equally between home and factory workers. This union includes workmen of all branches, but there are a large number of other unions of various degrees of importance ; the tendency hitherto has been for the workmen of each branch to organise themselves independently, and to act with little regard for the others ; thus there are separate unions of the sword-hardeners, sword-grinders, table-knife grinders, scissor-grinders, pocket-knife-grinders, razor-grinders, pocket-knife cutlers, &c. There are also “ Christian ” (Roman Catholic) unions, but these at present are weak. The existence of so many home-workers and the great number of small masters render trade union propaganda and combination difficult. It may be noted here that the high degree of specialisation characteristic ­ of the Solingen industry has the result that a workman does not easily turn to new work, and that he is very stationary and slow to seek employment elsewhere. The returns of the trade unions of metal-workers show that in times of good and bad trade equally there is a remarkably small movement of labour to and from towns like Solingen and Remscheid. The employers are organised in the Association for the Protection of the Economic Interests of the Solingen Industry, which is composed solely of factory owners, and the Employers’ Union, which aims at including all employers in its ranks. There are also societies (more or less effective) of the employers in various branches, and a Chamber of Commerce. The normal hours of work in the factories are from 7.0 a.m. to 7.0 p.m. with three intervals of a quarter of an hour in the course of the morning, an hour and a half at mid-day, and a quarter of an hour from 4 to 4.15 p.m. The morning and afternoon pauses are for " coffee,” and the great majority of workmen go home to dinner. The tramways encourage this practice to some extent, for a monthly ticket can be obtained for 7s., which for only four journeys a day on week-days works out at rather less than Id. a journey ; but most workmen live near enough to the factories to be able to walk to and from their homes. Piece-work is the general rule in the Solingen industry, and for most of the branches there are wages-agreements, which are often extremely minute and complicated ; thus in the agreement of the table-knife grinders, there are some 200 different items. This system of wages-agreements, it may be noted, is more than a century old ; the earliest was sanctioned by the Government of the Duchy of Berg in 1789. The range of earnings in the same occupation is often very great, depending on the skill of the workman and the quality of the work which he has to do, and also, in the case of the home-workers, on the number of hours they choose to work, and the amount of assistance which they can get from members of their families. Further, in the case of the home-worker who SOLINGEN. 433 has other workmen in his employ, the wages of the latter depend on the terms which they can make with each individual master. Moreover, some firms have special wages-agreements of their own ; this is the case, for example, with the largest firm in Solingen itself, for its hammer-men. There is great diversity in the earnings of Solingen cutlers. As a general rule the earnings of the factory workmen (except the grinders) are higher than those of the home-workers, or as high for shorter hours of labour, but in both the factory and the home industry there is a wide range, determined by individual capacity, but still more by the kind and quality of goods upon which a man works, and thus diversity applies more or less to all the various processes of manufacture. The rates of earnings given below are based upon returns furnished by representative firms in all the leading branches of industry. The engineering trade does not take a very prominent place in the industry of Solingen. The wages of skilled men in machine shops range from 27 s. to 33s., and of labourers from 18s. to 21s. There is a steel works with several hundred men. Wages in the building trades are for the most part regulated by agreements. The hours of labour vary from 57 to 60, and the predominant rates fall between 6d. and 6^d. per hour. It is noticeable that earth work is for the most part done by Italian labourers. It is due to the character of Solingen’s staple industries and to the relatively high level of wages prevailing therein, that the rates of pay for unskilled day labour, accepted by the authorities as the basis for insurance calculations, reach an unusual scale, being 3s. 6d. for male adults, 3s. for males between 17 and 20 years, and Is. 9\d. for juveniles under 17 years, rates equal to 21s., 18s., and 10s. 9d. weekly. Wages and Hours of Labour in the Principal Occupations, October, 1905. Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours of Labour. . Building Trades* :— Bricklayers and Masons Stonemasons Carpenters Joiners and Cabinet-makers Plumbers Stucco-workers Painters ... Bricklayers’ Labourers 31s. 2d. 36s. 33s. .27s. lid. 30s. 32s. 5d. to 36s. 28s. lOd. 26s. 5d. 60 60 60 57 60 54-60 60 60 Steel and Bolling Works :— Smelters... First Rollers Second „ Third „ Heaters ... « ••• » • •• Moulders and Casters ... Hammer-smiths—profile „ plain bars (a) heavy „ „ (&) Hght Hand smiths Pattern-makers... Labourers 33s. 42s. 7d. 39s. 25s. 2d. 43s. bd. 38s. 5d. 54s. 49s. 2d. 37s. lOd. 30s. 30s. 24s. 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 Engineering Works :— Moulders Fitters ... Turners ... Smiths ... Pattern-makers... Labourers 30s. to 33s. 27s. „ 30s. 27s. „ 33s. 30s. „ 33s. 27s. „ 30s. 18s. „ 21s. 60 60 60 60 60 60 * The wages and hours of labour stated for the building trades are for a full week in summer. 434 SOLINGEN. Weekly Wages. Weekly Honra of Labonr. Sword Making :— Sword Smiths ... „ Hammerers „ Hardeners „ Grinders „ Polishers „ Assemblers „ Handle Makers Scabbard Makers Engravers Damascene Workers . Gilders Cutlery Factories :— Hammerers—Knives „ Scissors Grinders—Knives „ Forks „ Scissors „ Razors Cutlers—Knives and Razors Hardeners—Knives „ Scissors „ Razors Nailers (scissors) Printing Trades :— Compositors, Machine-minders and Pressmen Machine Compositors—news... „ „ jobbing Food and Drink Trades :— Factory Bakeries—1st men ... Kneaders and Other men ovenmen Private Breweries Brewers Brewers 1 Coopers Draymen 32s. 6c?. to 45s. 25s. to 35s. 40s. „ 80s. 54s. „ 60s. 40s. 6c/. to 50s. 30s. to 40s. 30s. „ 35s. 33s. 30s. 48s. 23s. 36s. 36s. 52a 28s. 30s. „ 36s. 30s. „ 36s. 30s. 27s. to 30s. 25s. „ 30s. 35s. „ 36s. 27s. to 33s. 6c/. 24s. to 25s. 21s. 27s. 22s. to 30s. 24s. 9c/. 30s. 11 d. 32s. 2d. 30 s. 28s. 26s. 22s. to 24s.* 27s. 6c/. „ 28s. 6c/. 29s. 29s. 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 54 48 54 60 60 60 60 57 57 57 * 12s. being here counted as the equivalent of board and lodging. The level of wages in Berlin being represented by 100, the corresponding figures for Solingen are—for the building trades, 87 for skilled men and 103 for labourers ; for the engineering trades, 88 for skilled men and 89 for labourers ; and for the printing trades, 88. The wages of municipal employees were as follows at the same date :— Road Department :— Paviors Road makers Gas Works :— Gas stokers Labourers Water Works :— Labourers Electric Works :— Engine drivers ... Stokers Erectors and installers Fitters Tramways (Company) :— Drivers Conductors Weekly Wages. 30s. to 33s. 18s. „ 21s. 24s. to 31s. 21s. „ 24s. 21s. to 24s. 30s. 25s. 10 d. 27s. to 36s. 27s. „ 36s. 22s. Id. to 29s. Id* 19s. 6c/. to 25s. 10c/. * Weekly Hours of Labour. 60 60 63 63 63 63 63 63 63 66 66 Rising by years of Service. SOLINGEN. 435 Housing and Rents. The appearance of the houses in Solingen has already been described. There is no distinct working-class district : in the old houses in the centre of the town the population is very mixed, whilst in the new streets, and houses workmen and their families often occupy the upper floors, and even carry on their work there in many cases, whilst the lower floors may be occupied by professional or business men, or by shops. On the outskirts of the town the houses are occupied more entirely by the working class, and largely by homeworkers, ­ but here in many instances the houses are owned by the occupiers. The old houses, of the characteristic Berg Country type, are rarely large enough for more than one or two tamiles, especially when a room (generally on the ground floor) has to be used as a workshop ; while the maximum number of families in the new houses, of the kind usually found in modern German towns, is six. The normal working-class dwelling consists of three rooms, including the kitchen, which here is seldom reckoned separately, since it serves also as a livingroom. Many families, however, inhabit dwellings of only two rooms, but if more than three are taken, one at least is let to lodgers. It was found that of 578 or 64’2 per cent, out of 900 working-class dwellings, the rents of which were collected for the purpose of this report, consisted of three rooms, and 248 or 27'3 per cent, of two rooms. The tenants have to supply their own stoves, and the number of rooms in which they use them depends upon their inclination and means ; usually stoves can be placed in all rooms except the attics. In the old houses, alike in the centre of the town and on the outskirts, the sanitary conditions are not very satisfactory ; the rooms are often low and small, and the sanitary equipment generally inadequate ; and it is doubtful if in the centre any real improvement is possible without extensive re-building, which, indeed, is gradually taking place. In the new streets the conditions are naturally much better ; the rooms are larger and loftier, and the sanitary arrangements as a rule more satisfactory. Basement dwellings are virtually non-existent. Except in the case of the very poor and in some of the worst of the old houses, there appears to be a general effort at cleanliness, which is helped by the customary absence of carpets. The furniture is commonly very simple ; only in the case of the most prosperous workmen is the attempt made to set apart one of the rooms as a “ parlour.” The main defect seems to be the insufficient sleeping accommodation ; and while this may be due in some instances to high rents, the cause in other cases would appear to be actual indifference on the subject. The ground plan of the old half-timber houses is very simple. Onefamily houses may be entered direct from the street or through a corridor or fore-place, and the two rooms on the ground floor are intercommunicable. Two-family houses are of two types. In one case a wide corridor gives entrance to a combined kitchen and living-room at the front, and another at the back, and a common staircase on the opposite side of the corridor leads to the bedrooms, one for each family. A variant on this arrangement is for the corridor to run through the house from front to back, with an apartment of two rooms on each side, bedrooms being reached as before by a common staircase. The best type of entirely working-class houses within the town are those built by the Savings and Building Society. The society does not aim at lower rents than those customary in the town, but seeks to provide better accommodation. ­ The houses which it builds are of three stories (including the ground floor) with a large cellar in which each tenant has a separate part, and an extensive attic used as a drying room. On the outskirts of the town the scattered positions of the houses and the possession of gardens make the conditions much better than in the centre, though inferior houses are not lacking. Two-family houses are common. With a view to the improvement of housing conditions the town has introduced a system of inspection, and in the year 1906, 2,313 of the 11,199 dwellings in the town were Visited. Rents are as a rule paid monthly, and only in few cases quarterly, the customary calculation being per room and year. 2i>0S8 • 3 12 436 SOLINGEN. From the following Table it will be seen that rent at Solingen is comparatively ­ high. If 100 be taken to represent rent at Berlin, the corresponding figure for Solingen will be 61. Predominant Bents of Working-class Dwellings. Number of Rooms per Tenement. Two rooms Three rooms Four rooms Predominant Weekly Rent. 3s. to 3s. 6d. 3s. 6d. to 5s. 9d. 5s. 9d. to 7s. These rents include the charge for water but otherwise no rates. Towards the cost of municipal government the working classes, like the rest of the community, are taxed on their incomes whether householders or not, but incomes not exceeding £45 are exempted. In 1905 and 1906 the local income tax was 215 per cent, of the State income tax, in 1907 it was 200 per cent. In addition a church tax is paid of 36 per cent, of the State income tax by members of the Evangelical Church, and one of 45 per cent, by members of the Roman Catholic Church. Hence small incomes were in 1907 liable to the following taxes :— Income Group. Over £45 to £52 10s. „ £52 10s. to £60 „ £62 to £65 10s. „ £65 10s. to £75 „ £75 to £82 10s. „ £82 10s. to £90 „ £90 to £105 ... State Income Tax. £ S. d. 0 6 0 0 9 0 0 12 0 0 16 0 110 16 0 111 0 Local Super Tax. £ S. d. 0 12 0 0 18 0 14 0 112 0 2 2 0 2 12 0 3 2 0 Church Tax.* S. d. 2 2 3 2# 4 3§ 5 9 7 6% 9 41 11 2 Total Taxation. £ S. d. 10 2 1 10 2| 2 0 3§ 2 13 9 3 10 6f 4 7 44 5 4 2 If Evangelical. Retail Prices. Groceries and other Commodities. The working classes buy for the most part from the miscellaneous retailers. Ihere is a branch of the Ohligs “ Solidarity” Co-operative Society, which has seven branches in the district wdth 1,740 members in all, but in Solingen it is not yet very strong. There are also branches of a large Cologne grocery store, the nearest approach that exists here to the “ multiple shop ” firms of England. It may be remarked that the competition of the grocers appears to be chiefly in respect of sugar, the prices of which, like the qualities, vary greatly. Black bread and grey bread are eaten equally by the working classes ; and the better kinds of both by other classes also. The black bread is made exclusively ­ of rye, coarsely ground, and is usually sold in loaves weighing 7*7 lb. English, while the grey bread is a mixture of rye and wheat in varying proportions, made in different weights. Small all-wheat loaves known as “ Semmel ” are also baked, sometimes wdth currants, and in addition w heat rolls (“ Brödchen ”) are usually eaten with coffee for breakfast. The Solingen workman has in general a strong preference for a sandwich made of a slice of white bread with one of black bread above it. Black bread SOLINGEN. 437 cost in October, 1905, 4¿d for 4 lb., grey bread 6¿d, and fine wheaten bread for the same weight. The price per loaf of black and grey bread seldom varies ; the weight is, however, increased or reduced according to the price of flour. The quality of coffee usually bought at the same time cost lid per lb. Dutch and Limburg cheeses are chiefly eaten by the working classes, the former costing 8fd and the latter 5d. per lb. in 1905. Fresh butter cost Is. Id per lb., but there was a large consumption of margarine at 7jd Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and September, 1907. Predominant Prices. Commodity. Coffee Sugar :— Loaf... White Granulated Bacon :— Fat ... Streaky Eggs ... Cheese :— Limburg Swiss Dutch Butte r Margarine Potatoes Flour :— Wheaten Buckwheat Bread :— White Grey Black Milk ... Coal ... Coke ... Paraffin per lb. per Is. per lb. per 7 lbs. per 4 lbs. per quart per cwt. per gallon October, 1905. 11 d 2|d,3d 2\d., 2fd 9# 9*d 14 5d. Is. to Is. Id 8fd Is. Id. to Is. 2\d. 7# 3d Is. Id 11 \d. 84d 6id 4\d. 2# 9fd to lid Is. 2#d 9\d. September, 1907. lid to Is. Id 2|d to 3d 2\d. ,, 2£d 9|d 9|d 12&to 17 5 d Is. Id 9|d Is. lfd to Is. 2fd 8fd „ 9fd 3d Is. 2^d to Is. 4d. Is. 4d 8\d. 7# 5|d 2fd Is. Ofd to Is. 1 \d. Is. 5d 10£d to lid Meat. The meat supply of Solingen comes almost entirely through the Cologne and Elberfeld markets. There are no longer imports from Holland save in winter, and the beef and pork then obtained from that source come ready for market. The prices of all kinds of meat have risen considerably here as everywhere else in Germany during the last two years. It is difficult to trace the effect of this on consumption, since no estimate of the town’s annual meat consumption has been attempted by the authorities. The following are, however, the slaughterings in the public abattoir during the years 1904-6 :— 1904. Cattle Pigs Calves Sheep Goats Horses 5,786 14,509 3,302 983 54 951 1905. 5,804 10,467 3,014 946 54 1,132 •1906. 5,302 12,778 3,183 850 55 946 438 SOLINGEN. Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and September, 1907. Predominant Price per lb. Description of Out. October, 1905. September, 1907. Shin Beef :— Fibs Silverside I with bone I without bone Steak Flank Mutton :— Leg ... ... Shoulder Breast Neck Chops Veal :— Hindquarter with bone Shoulder Loin Shin Pork :— Leg Fore-loin Belly Spare-rib Chops ' without bone Id. 7# 73d. 8|d. 7%d. Id. to 7§(7. §\d. f|(7. Id. to 7§(7. 7# Is. Id. 7# 6£(7. to 7f(7. 7# 6|(7. to 71d. 6|(7. to 71d. 11 d. 8# 8# 8# 9f d. 7# 8f(7. 8^(7. 8M. 7# Id. to 7f(7. Id. Id. 7#(7. 71d. to 81cZ. Is. IcZ. 7|(7. to 8|(7. 7# 7f(7. to 84(7. 7^(7. 7^(7. 11(7. 9# 91(7. 91(7. 9# Horse-flesli has long been in favour with the working classes, owing more, it is asserted, to a local preference for this meat than to inability to buy other meat. The municipal abattoir has a special department for horses ; there are at least six horse butchers’ shops, and there are three horse-flesh restaurants, one in the main street being attractive in appearance and largely frequented. The prices of this meat have risen considerably of late, owing to the increased demand and the declining supply of tram horses, consequent on the extension of the electric tramways, insomuch that Solingen butchers have begun to buy animals in London, to be slaughtered at home. In 1907, fillet cost l± 2 d. per lb., ordinary cuts from hd. to 5^d., sausage (made of horse-flesh with pork or ox fat) from 6|(7. to 7^d., and liver sausage 3d. The price of meat at Solingen is comparatively low, as also is that of coal, but, on the other hand, the price of food, other than meat, is high. Taking prices at Berlin as 100, the index-numbers for meat, for other food, and for coal are respectively 98, 108, and 70. For all commodities the figure is 101. The index-number for rent and prices combined is 93. 439 STASSFURT. Stassfurt is a Prussian town, situated about 25 miles to the south-west of Magdeburg, the nearest large town, and stands on the line of railway connecting Cassel, Magdeburg and Berlin, which with its numerous connections serves to link Stassfurt with all parts of Germany. It acquires its industrial importance not only from its salt mines, some of which belong to the State, but also from the fact that it is the headquarters of the Kali Syndicate, which practically holds a monopoly of the world’s market for the potash salts which are comprised under the German term “ Kali.” The history of the salt industry of Stassfurt goes back many centuries. Previous to 1839 salt was produced from brine pumped from wells sunk about 200 feet into the rock. The brine in course of time became so weak, however, that it was impossible to carry on the manufacture of salt from this source without loss. In 1839 the Prussian Government, which owned these saline springs, commenced boring, with the object of locating the bed of rock salt from which the brine had been obtained, and in 1843, the top of the rock salt was reached at a depth of 832 feet. The deposit lying immediately above the bed of rock salt contains a salt which, on being exposed to the air, becomes opaque and is converted into Epsom Salts. The same deposit is also rich in potash salts, which were regarded for a long time as useless and were carted on to the banks of the river Bode, which flows through the town, to be washed away during the spring floods. The first attempt to utilise these deposits as a raw material at Stassfurt was made in 1860, and the establishment of a factory for that purpose laid the foundation of the prosperity of the town. Enormous quantities of these salts are used as agricultural manure, especially in districts devoted to the cultivation of beetroot for the sugar industry. The town of Stassfurt is intersected by the river Bode, the newer portion of the town being on the western bank. It presents a clean and healthy appearance. The streets are mostly wide, and there are no dark courts or narrow alleys. The only notable public building is a Protestant church of massive proportions, but it has suffered from the subsidences which have occurred at intervals, so that for several years it has been disused. Many houses have had to be demolished for the same reason, and others have become uninhabitable, and now stand empty, - with doors and windows strangely distorted ; while the effect upon the contour of the ground is that streets which once were level are now undulating. One consequence of these subsidences is that only a few streets have been provided with sewers, and elsewhere the waste water from the houses passes along open gutters towards the river Bode. Under these circumstances it is fortunate that air and light have everywhere free access to the dwellings of the poor. Trees have been liberally planted even in the side streets, and a fine park skirts one side of the town. Although there are so many chemical works in the vicinity of the town, it is noticeable that their presence does not appear to pollute the atmosphere, and vegetation flourishes in close proximity to them. The municipal enterprises ef Stassfurt are neither numerous nor extensive. The work of the Cleaning Department is handed over to a private contractor. The water works are under municipal management, whereas the tramways and the gas and electric lighting works are in the hands of private companies. From the time of the discovery that the refuse heaps outside the mines contained chemical substances of great value, Stassfurt began to grow rapidly until its population reached 20,070 in 1900, since when it has steadily declined until in 1905 it was 18,308, and in 1907 it was only about 16,000. The cause of its waning fortune was the discovery that the layer of potash salt extended over a large area. Consequently new shafts were sunk in many directions until to-day mines are found almost as far north as Hamburg and as far south as Meiningen. The amalgamation of most of these mines in a syndicate, which regulates the output of potash salts, has nevertheless had a steadying influence upon the local industry, and is believed to have checked Stassfurt’s decline. 440 STASSFURT. In addition to the salt mines Stassfnrt has also large chemical works for the manufacture of potash salts—the chlorides and sulphates of potassium—and also cyanide of potassium, which is used extensively in the Transvaal mines in the process of extracting gold. One chemical manufactory is specially engaged in manufacturing soda by the ammonia-soda process. The preparation of table salt is also an important industry. There are several machine works, which principally manufacture mining plant. Adjoining Stassfnrt is the small town of Leopoldshall, which is within the boundaries of the Duchy of Anhalt, though practically the two form one town. Its industries are the same as those of Stassfurt, viz., salt-mining, chemical manufacture and the making of machinery. Like Stassfurt, too, it specially owes its growth to the rich deposits of potash salts found in the mine belonging to the State, and it likewise declined in population between 1900 and 1905 from 7,221 to 6,961. Occupations, Wages and Hours of Labour. An overwhelming proportion of the workers of Stassfurt and Leopoldshall are engaged either in the salt mines, the salt works, the chemical works, or the engineering trades. The following classification of the industrial workers of the two towns, based on the returns of the factory inspectors and the mining authorities, shows that of a total of 5,928 workpeople, 4,533 or 76*5 per cent, are employed in the mines and allied chemical works :— Stassfurt. Industry. Men. Women. Juveniles (under 16). Totals. Engineering Chemical works Salt mines— Underground Above-ground Metal trades Food, drink and tobacco 420 995 978 540 140 160 Totals 3,233 15 40 55 60 15 29 50 40 194 480 1,025 978 569 190 240 3,482 Leopoldshall. Industry. Men. Women. Juveniles (under 16). Totals. Salt mines — Underground Above-ground Engineering Apparatus for boilers Chemical works Various ... 640 393 17 235 873 160 Totals 2,318 7 16 23 28 8 42 20 7 105 640 421 25 277 900 183 2,446 Since 1900 the building trade has been at a standstill owing to the decrease of population already mentioned. As the foregoing table shows, few boys are employed about the salt mines and none underground who have not attained the age of 16. Between the ages of 14 and 16 they are engaged in light work at the surface, and classes are held for their instruction in subjects connected with their future employment Female labour may be said to be almost non-existent in the industries of Stassfurt. Wages are paid weekly in all the works with the exception of the salt mines and the salt works, where the rule is to pay on the first of each month a STASSFURT. 441 portion of the wages due and the remainder in the middle of the month. Work generally begins at 6 a.m. and ends at 6 p.m., the intervals being from 8 to 8.30, 12 to 1 o’clock, and 4 to 4.30, a break known as " Vesper.” In the mines work is carried on in three shifts of 8 hours each. As the population is largely Protestant, only those Church festivals are observed as general holidays which are prescribed by the Prussian Government. These are New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Ascension Day, Whit Monday, the national" Penance Day,” and two days at Christmas. Excellent arrangements are made by the larger employers for the convenience and comfort of their workpeople. The example set by the administration of the State mines in this respect has doubtless exercised a powerful influence on the private firms. A visitor to the town is at once struck by the clean appearance of the workmen as they return from the mines in the evening, proving that the ample facilities afforded at the works for washing are readily used. Washbowls with hot and cold water, and shower-baths in separate cubicles are provided in large, well-lighted rooms, in which the temperature is regulated according to the requirements of the season. There is also provision for the changing of clothes, and for the special benefit of the workmen who reside in villages at a distance, dining rooms are provided. In order to combat the tendency to drink “ schnaps ” (an inferior spirit distilled from grain and potatoes, &c.) some firms have established canteens. Where the canteen is let to a private tradesman, the employer fixes the prices, which may not be exceeded, and the sale of " schnaps ” is strictly forbidden. In some cases the firm itself manages the canteen and supplies coffee at the rate of \d. per pint, and in one of the works coffee is even supplied gratis. Lemonade at a little under } 2 d. per pint and soda water at \d. per pint are also sold, and are in great demand. Any profits accruing from the management of the canteen by the firm itself are handed over yearly to the sick benefit club belonging to the works. As a result of this institution the employers nowadays make little complaint of immoderate “ schnaps ” drinking. Some firms arrange for large consignments of fish to be delivered in the works and sold to the men at reduced prices. Contracts are also made with coal dealers by means of which workmen secure their winter coal at reduced rates, the cost being deducted from the wages. For the purpose of dealing promptly and efficiently with cases of accident each of the salt mines possesses a large well-lighted room furnished with all necessary appliances. The foremen are trained in rendering first aid to the injured, and a local doctor attends when called up, but serious cases are sent to the hospital at Halle belonging to the Employers’ Insurance Society. It is worthy of note that the administration of the State mines has transformed the immediate surroundings of the shafts and accessory buildings into a small park. These buildings stand on elevated ground, the slopes of which have been laid out in terraces and planted with trees. Shady walks wind round these slopes and are provided at intervals with benches. The following Table shows the predominant rates of weekly wages in October, 1905 :— Wages and Hours of Labour in the Principal Occupations, October, 1905. Weekly Wages. Building Trades :—* Foremen Bricklayers . Stonemasons Carpenters . Joiners Plumbers Painters Slaters Labourers 28s. 10c?. to 30s. 25s. 6c?. 24 s. 25s. 6c?. 24s. 26s. hd. 23s. 5c?. to 25s. 6c?. 25s. 6Æ 18s. to 21s. Weekly Hours of Labour. y 60 J * The wages and hours of labour stated for the building trades are for a full week in summer. 3 K 29088 442 STASSFURT. Weekly Hours of Labour. Weekly Wages. Engineering and Boiler making Fitters Turners Smiths Moulders Pattern-makers Labourers Boiler-makers Rivetters Angle-iron Smiths ... Boiler-smiths’ Labourers Labourers Salt Mining :— Hewers Trammers Labourers Salt Manufacture :— Crushers Furnace-men Labourers Chemical Manufacture :— Foremen Process Workers Yard Labourers Tramways :— Conductors Drivers Cas Works :— Foremen Stokers Yard Labourers Electric Lighting :— Engine-room Men ... Stokers Installers Fitters 27s. 25s. 2d. to 30s. 25s. 6(7. „ 30s. 26s. 9d. „ 30s. 25s. to 26s. 18s. to 21s. 9(7. 27s. „ 30s. 26s. „ 27s. 27s. „ 30s. 20s. 18s. 27s. to 33s. 24s. „ 30s. 21s. „ 24s. 22s. „ 27s. 22s. to 22s. 6(7. 18s. 36s. to 44s. 2d. 23s. to 27s. 15s. to 18s. 6<7. 18s. 6(7. to 25s. 5d. 19s. 7(7. „ 26s. 6(7. 24s. to 27s. 19s. 10(7. „ 21s. 7(7. 18s. to 21s. 7(7. 23s. 23s. 27s. 22s. 10(7. 1 L60 45 to 48 54 to 60 60 60 66 60 72 60 Municipal Undertakings. Road Department:— Paviors Paviors’ Labourers Road Menders Waterworks :— Foremen Engine-room Men Stokers Labourers 33s. 21s. 21 s. 25s. 6(7. 24s. 22s. 6(7. 21s. y 60 The relation of the level of wages at Stassfurt to that at Berlin, the latter being taken as equal to 100, is expressed by the following figures :—Building trades, skilled men 71, labourers 76 ; engineering trades, skilled men 80, labourers 91 ; printing trades, 80. Housing and Rents. The working classes of Stassfurt are on the whole well and cheaply housed. There can be no doubt that the colonies of workmen’s dwellings attached to the State mines have exercised a considerable influence by setting up a standard of comfort which private builders could not afford to ignore, while owing to the decline in population since 1900 rents have been stationary. STASSFURT. 443 Hence Stassfurt has hitherto been spared a housing " problem,” and there has arisen no need for the municipality to provide dwellings, nor for the formation of a provident building society as in many German towns, where workmen’s dwellings are either scarce or inferior in accommodation. The “ back ” and " side ” houses common in many large industrial towns are here quite the exception, and there are no basement-dwellings. Consequently almost every small dwelling has an abundance of light and air, and slums are non-existent. The working-class dwellings are distributed throughout the whole town and are of two clearly defined types, the older and the more modern. Those belonging to the mining authorities form a category by themselves. The older type has a distinctly rural appearance. The front wall of such a house is uniformly low, rising only a few feet above the windows of the ground floor, except above the door in the centre, where it rises and forms the front of a gable containing a window belonging to the tenement on the first floor. The roof is invariably covered with tiles. The houses usually run continuously, without any breaks in the nature of side entrances. The prevailing type is the double house, with tenements on each side of the central entrance. The house front, in the case of these older dwellings, is plastered over and painted. The frontage of such a double house varies from 45 to 48 feet. The door opens directly into a corridor varying in width from 5 to 6 feet, which runs through to a small yard at the back ; to the right and left of the corridor, which is often paved with square tiles, are doors opening into the front rooms of the tenements, and from the corridor .a flight of stairs rises to the first floor. It frequently happens that such a house as this is owned by a small tradesman, who has his shop on the ground floor. The water tap for all four tenements is sometimes placed in the corridor, though more frequently in the small yard or court at the back of the house. Passing through into this court, which in form and size varies considerably, one finds here in juxtaposition the wash-house which serves for all the families in the house, the pigstyes belonging to the several tenants, the store houses for wood and coal, and the conveniences. The last-named are of the most primitive kind and are on the cesspool principle ; there is never more than one for two tenements and sometimes only one for three. In the court is also the manure heap, though one never finds it placed so near a window as at 0 schersleben. The dwelling itself consists in the majority of cases of living room, bedroom, and kitchen, though where the family is large and the income admits of it, there may be two bedrooms, making a tenement of four apartments. In the cheaper tenements, however, there is often only one kitchen for two dwellings, this kitchen being at the end of the corridor nearest the court, and often in a recess. Anything approaching to a kitchen range is only found in the most modern and the dearer class of dwellings. The cooking contrivance almost universally used resembles an old-fashioned English scullery or wash-house boiler, except that the walls of the cavity are lined with brick. At the bottom of this cavity coke is burned, and the pans or other cooking utensils are placed above upon a simple grating. A small flue at the back of this primitive oven is intended to carry away the sulphurous gases given off by the coke, yet a noxious smell is emitted when the cover is removed. The only merit that can be claimed for the Stassfurt stove is its cheapness, for the fuel used is simply the refuse from the soft surface coal or " brown coal ” as it is called in Germany, after paraffin and various oils have been extracted from it, and is really a sort of coke-dust. About ¿ cwt. of this fuel is used per week, where the oven serves a family of four or five persons. The rooms are heated by means of tall iron stoves, mostly of iron, in which briquettes are burned. Kitchens of the kind referred to, even when not shared by two families, show no evidence of house pride ; and a few cheap enamelled cooking utensils, hanging from nails driven into the wall, are the only approach to furniture. The living room, which in the case of a tenement on the ground floor is entered by a door opening directly into the corridor, varies in size in the older houses from 10 to 12 feet in length, from 9 to 11 feet in breadth, and about 6 feet 9 inches to 7 feet in height. It usually contains two windows, the 39088 3 K 2 444 STAS SPURT, height of which varies from 3 feet 6 inches to 4 feet 10 inches, and the breadth from 3 feet to 3 feet 6 inches. In the newer houses this is a more spacious room, the length being from 12 to 13 feet, the breadth from 9 feet 9 inches toll feet 4 inches, and the height about 9 feet. This is the only room with any appearance of comfort. The bedroom presents, even in dwellings of a better class, a most cheerless appearance. The walls are uniformly bare and mostly coloured instead of papered. One rarely sees any furniture in this room beyond the little narrow wooden bedsteads lining the walls, and it is not unusual in the poorer dwellings for three and even four beds to be placed in one room. The dimensions of the bedroom in the older houses are usually 11¿ feet by 6J feet, and in the newer ones 9 feet 9 inches by 13 feet. The more modern houses, built within the last 20 years, have a plain brick front, and many of them are four storeys in height. The bricks are glazed in buildings of the better class. Internally these newer houses present the same simple arrangement of rooms as the older ones. The rooms, however, are more spacious, the windows larger, and the kitchen is really a room which can be used as a living room. It may be noted here that by the present building regulations the height of a building may not exceed one and a quarter times the width of the street, and in no case can it exceed 65 feet. The builder is only permitted to cover three-quarters of the building plot, the remaining quarter being left free for the courtyard. When, however, a house has more than two upper storeys, the court must have a minimum measurement of 36 by 36 feet. Lodgers are not numerous at Stassfurt. As it is a declining town young men are not attracted in large numbers. The price usually paid amongst the working class for board and lodging is 11s. per week, which sum is also accepted by bakers living with their employers as the value of their food and lodging. Rent is paid quarterly and a quarter’s notice must be given on either side. The predominant weekly rents paid by the working classes are as follows Predominant Bents of Working-class Dwellings. Number of Rooms per Tenement. Two rooms Three rooms ... Four rooms It is seen that rents are very low at Stassfurt, as would be expected, having regard to the size and situation of the town. Rent at Berlin being represented by 100, the corresponding figure for Stassfurt is 33, Oschersleben alone, of the towns investigated, having a lower index-number. There are several colonies of workmen’s dwellings at Stassfurt which have been erected by employers. The most noteworthy are those attached to the salt mines belonging to the State. These dwellings can also be purchased by instalments, and many are already in the possession of the workmen occupying them, or of their children. The newer part of the colony presents a striking appearance. On both sides of the street leading to the entrance to the works the dwellings are arranged in small blocks, with spaces between. Each block contains four dwellings—two in front and two behind and each dwelling has a long garden extending to the street, planted with fruit trees supplied by the mining authorities. Adjacent to each dwelling is a yard measuring 15 by 24 feet, and containing a storehouse for wood and coal and a pig stye with a small loft above. The internal arrangements of the dwellings are no less convenient. The rooms equal in size those of the more modern type in Stassfurt. On the ground floor are a living room, a large kitchen, and a pantry, the last rarely met with in working-class homes in Stassfurt, while upstairs are two bedrooms and a Predominant Weekly Rent. Is. 9rf. to 2s. 3d. 2s. 4d. „ 2s. 6d. 2s. KM „ 3s. 6d. STASSFURT. 445 lumber room. The rent paid for such a dwelling together with the garden is only £6 125. per year. The works management owns about 200 such dwellings. Rates and taxes are not included in rents. In Prussia all annual incomes exceeding £21 are assessed for the purposes of local taxation and annual incomes exceeding £15 for State taxation. The law prescribes that local income tax shall bear a definite ratio to the State income tax and the local super-tax at Stassfurt was in 1905 155 per cent, of the State tax, this 155 per cent, including 15 per cent, for the district rate. The following table shows the State and local income tax payable in Stassfurt by persons with incomes between £21 and £120 per annum :— Incomes between State Income Tax. £21 and £33 £33 and £45 £45 and £52 10s. £52 10s. and £60 £60 and £67 10s. £67 10s. and £75 £75 and £82 10s. £82 10s. and £90 £90 and £105 £105 and £120 inclusive Exempted Exempted 6s. 9s. 12s. 16s. 21s. 26s. 31s. 36s. Local Super-tax. Total Income Tax. S. d. 3 9 6 3 9 4 13 11 18 7 24 10 32 7 40 4 48 0 55 10 £ s. 0 3 0 6 0 15 1 2 d 9 3 4 11 7 1 10 2 0 10 2 13 7 3 6 4 3 19 0 4 11 10 Since the sister town of Leopoldshall lies within the borders of Anhalt, its system of taxation is different from that of Stassfurt, but as a large number of Stassfurt workmen live at Leopoldshall reference to the system of. taxation there seems called for. In Anhalt a “taxation unit” is prescribed for each class of income, and a multiple of this unit is levied for the State tax and in addition a different multiple, variable from year to year, for the local tax. Thus in 1905 the multiple for the State tax was 23 and for the municipal 12, so that workingmen ­ living in Leopoldshall paid annual taxes as follows :— Incomes between £30 and £37 10s. inclusive £37 10s. and £45 £45 and £52 10s. „ £52 10s. and £60 £60 and £70 £70 and £80 £80 and £90 £90 and £100 Taxation Unit. d. ? 34 f ? State Income Tax. 8. d. 3 5 4 7 5 9 6 11 9 2 11 6 13 10 17 3 Local Super-tax. s. d. 1 10 2 5 3 0 3 7 4 10 6 0 7 2 9 0 Total Income Tax. S. d. 5 3 7 0 8 9 10 6 14 0 17 6 21 0 26 3 While thus workmen residing at Leopoldshall pay considerably less in taxes than those residing at Stassfurt, it should be added that school fees have to be paid in the former town, whilst in the latter education is free. Hence it often happens that workmen live at Leopoldshall until their children are old enouo’h to attend school and then cross the frontier to Stassfurt. Retail Pkices. Groceries and other Commodities. The working man of Stassfurt buys his food almost exclusively from the small tradesman. The “ multiple ” shop does not exist at all, and even the co-operative stores cannot exist independently but are a branch of the society at Bernburg, a neighbouring town, and the same is true of Leopoldshall. The explanation may be that comparatively few working people pay ready money, yet while the small tradesmen give credit they complain everywhere of the 446 STAS SPURT. system. The number of these small shops is, however, so great that prices are fairly equal in all parts of Stassfurt and Leopoldshall. There can be little doubt that the system of paying wages monthly in the salt mines, with an advance every fortnight, together with the custom of paying rent at the end of the quarter, makes it difficult for families with very limited means to economise and to avoid getting into debt. The workman is in the habit of getting an advance on his wages when the rent falls due, but the grocer, the baker, and the butcher have to give him credit. In order to protect themselves against the co-operative society and to check its growth, the tradesmen have combined in two societies to give a small discount to customers who pay ready money for their purchases. Each tradesman belonging to this society buys from it a quantity of stamps, each of the value of 10 pfennig (1J</.), as occasion requires. These are given to his customers at the rate of two stamps for every shilling spent in the shop, and are affixed to the pages of a book kept for this purpose. In one case a book may be taken to the head office as soon as it is filled with stamps and the equivalent be received at once in cash, while the other society pays these dividends only once a year. Questioned as to the success attending this movement, tradesmen were not enthusiastic. Some of them asserted that though their customers insist on receiving the stamps, there is not much more cash payment than before. The only change in this respect is, that instead of having their goods booked, customers now insist on borrowing money from their tradespeople, in order to get the dividend stamps in return for ready money. It is not surprising that the co-operative society does not flourish, when it not only competes with discount tradesmen, but also suffers from the inability or unwillingness of the working classes to pay ready money for their purchases. The branch shop in Stassfurt has only about 200 members and the one at Leopoldshall 300, and their combined turnover in 1905-06 was £8,079, or £16 per member. The quality of coffee mostly in demand by the working classes is one selling at lie?, per lb., though there is also a large sale for substitutes, 6\(/., malt coffee sold at 3|e/. per lb., and roasted barley sold at 2\d. per lb. The sugar almost universally purchased is white granulated at 2|c/. Only one kind of cheese is sold in any quantity, and it is a soft “ country cheese” made from milk after the cream has been extracted. It is formed into small round pats which are sold at : ~d. each. These pats vary considerably in weight, and the price per lb. of such " country cheese ” thus varies from 4d. to 5\d. Limburg cheese is sold in only a few shops in workingclass neighbourhoods and is not much in demand. Its price is 0>\d. per lb. Fresh or dairy butter is sold at from Is. 2\d. to Is. 2\d. per lb., and margarine, which is much more largely purchased, at 8§¿7. per lb. for the best quality and at 7fd. for the second quality, the former price being most usual. Potatoes are sold by measure, the price per " metze ” (containing 5J English lbs.) being 3d. for the best quality and 2\d. for the second. Wheaten bread is only eaten at the “ first breakfast,” which consist of coffee and rolls, before the workman goes to his employment. These rolls are either in the form of a miniature bun or are cylindrical in shape, and in October, 1905, were sold at the rate of 4 for 1 \d., or about 8|<A per 4 lbs. The staple bread is baked from rye flour in long loaves, the ends and top of which are rounded whilst the under surface is flat. The price in October, 1905, was about 4\d. per 4 lbs. The milk trade of Stassfurt and Leopoldshall is practically in the hands of two large dealers and a large dairy firm. Only “ full ” or pure milk is bought and the price is about 2\d. per quart. For heating purposes briquettes are exclusively used. They are made from the “ brown ” coal lignite found in the neighbourhood, the heating power of which is stated to be about one-third that of English pit coal. The briquettes vary very considerably in quality and price. One firm, possessing its own mine, supplied them in October, 1905, as low as 7^d. per cwt. to customers on its own premises, whilst dealers who deliver briquettes charged from 8d. to 11 \d. per cwt., the usual prices being from 8§d. to 9fc?. The lignite coke referred to in the remarks on rents is supplied at Is. per cwt. The paraffin mostly sold is American and the price is about 9\d. per gallon. Russian petroleum is also sold at about 9d. per gallon. STASSFURT. 447 The prices of bread and flour were markedly higher in May, 1907, at the time of the investigator’s visit, than in October, 1905, but the prices of other groceries, &c., show little change. Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and May, 1907. Commodity. Coffee ... Sugar :— Loaf White Granulated Bacon :— Fat ... Streaky Eggs Cheese :— Country Cheese Limburg Butter :— Fresh Margarine ... Potatoes Flour :— Wheat Bread, Rye (Grey) Milk Lignite Briquettes Coke Paraffin Oil, American Predominant Price. per lb per Is. per lb. per 7 lbs per 4 lbs per qt. per cwt. per gal. October, 1905. lid. 2# 2^d. 8|d. to 9f<7. 9M „ lid 14 4d to 5 \d. 6&d Is. 2id. to Is. 2|d 8# 2§d to 3fd Is. 0| d „ Is. lfd 4# 2 \d. 8fd to 9|d Is. 9# May, 1907. lid 2# 24d 8|d to 9|d 9# „ lid 16 4d to 5 Id 6W. ~ Is. 21d to Is. 2|d 8§d 2^d to 3# Is. lfd to Is. 3\d. 5d to 5\d. 2^d 9^d to 10^d Is. 9|d Meat. Stas shirt possesses a municipal abattoir where all animals intended for public consumption must be slaughtered after undergoing examination by the inspectors. Almost all the cattle killed there comes from the province of Prussian .Saxony. The following is a statement of the animals slaughtered in 1905 : —Oxen 121, bullocks 319, heifers 451, young heifers 128, calves 815, pigs 5,677, sheep 940, horses 195, goats 6. The working classes eat more pork than any other kind of meat, not merely as a matter of taste, but because a large proportion of working men keep pigs for home consumption. Like larger towns Stassfurt has its “ Freibank ” or municipal meat stall at which meat condemned as inferior by the inspectors is sold at a reduced rate. This rate is as a rule two-thirds of the market price of good meat when it is sold raw, and one-half of this pi ice 5\hen it is first boiled. Meat is certified and sold as inferior under two conditions : (a) when the inspector decides that in consequence of disease in any pai t or organ the remainder of the meat has been so affected that it is only fit foi consumption after being sterilised, in which event it must first be boiled before being sold ; (b) if sterilising is not necessary, and yet the meat affected is very poor in quality, it may be sold in its raw state but only at the " Freibank.” Where meat is thus sold the owners are compensated from an insurance fund, to which they are compelled to contribute. When meat is to be sold at the " Freibank ” a notice is put in the local press giving the date and hour of sale, and there is always a large demand. Horseflesh is sold at several shops in the town, and the prices are as follows :—Leg from 4^d. to ò^d. per lb., sirloin 5^d. to 6|d. per lb., hackflesh 4\d. to 5\d. per lb., sausage l%d. to 9,/. per lb. As at Oschersleben the prices of beef, mutton, and veal were distinctly higher in May, 1907, than in October, 1905, while the price of pork had fallen in the interval. 448 STASSFURT. Predominant Prices paid by the Workinq Classes at October, 1905, and 1907 Description of Cut. Shin without bone Beef :— Ribs Silverside I with bone Steak Flank Mutton :— Leg Shoulder Breast Neck Chops Veal :— Hindquarter with bone Shoulder Loin Pork :— Leg Fore Loin Belly Spare Rib Chops without bone Predominant Price per lb. October, 1905. l\d. to 8f ct. 8#d. §\d. to 8\d. 9# 8f<7. to 9ftf. 8§<f. l\d. to 9\d. 7M - 8# 8^. 9# 9fd. to 9 fe?. 7#Æ T{d. Is. to Is. 8§tf. to lid. 9W. 84 d. 7| d. 7# 7# 8W. 8K l\d. to 8ftf. 8|Æ May, 1907. 8W. 8fd. to 8§d. 9# 8|d. to 9§d. 8|Æ 9^. 9#(f. 8fd. to 9\d. - - 91& 8^. 91 d. 8|d. to 9§¿?. Is. Id. to Is. 5id. 8^. 7| d. 71d. to 8^d. Id. „ 7fd. 7^. 71d. to 8|d. Prices at Stassfurt are low. Taking prices at Berlin as 100, the indexnumber for the price of meat at Stassfurt is 106, and for other food it is 96, food, as a whole, being represented by 98. The index-number for rent and prices combined is 85. 449 STETTIN. Stettin, the second in size and the nearest to Berlin of the six great seaports of Germany, lies on the Oder at a point where that river receives from the east two small but navigable tributary streams, the Parnitz and the Dunzig, that is to say, some miles above where the main stream enters one of those shallow lagoons, or “ Haffs” which are characteristic of the German shores of the Baltic Sea. The lagoon in this case is called the Pommersches Ilaff\ and differs from the similar formations further east (the Frisches Haff and the Kurisches Ilaff) in the fact that the barrier of silted sand interposed between it and the Baltic Sea is traversed by three channels so as to form two islands (Usedom and Wollin). The chief and most central of these channels is that of the river Swine, some 12^ miles long, with a great bend in its course. In 1880 the Swine canal was formed, involving the making of a cutting from the Haff to the straight limb of the river, thus avoiding the bend and shortening the distance between Stettin and the Baltic Sea by about six miles. At the mouth of this river stands Swinemünde, the port of Stettin, from which it is 37 miles distant in a north-westerly direction. Like Dantzig and Königsberg, Stettin is the one great town within an extensive agricultural area, and its rise to the rank of one of Germany’s great trading centres is due to the same cause, viz., its position near the mouth of one of the principal national waterways of the empire. As a seaport Stettin is, however, handicapped in its competition with its western rivals, Hamburg, Bremen, and Lübeck by the difficulties of its approach from the sea ; the shipping dues being very high owing to the cost of keeping clear the fairway between Stettin and Swinemünde. Owing to the competition of the railways the traffic between Stettin and the great towns of the upper Oder—Frankfurt, Glogau, and Breslau—has greatly declined, more especially as regards the carriage down-stream of coal, metalliferous ores, and lime, and fears are expressed lest the carriage of goods on the Oder should cease altogether. Apart from the slowness of this means of transport—the journey from Stettin to Breslau by barge takes from 12 to 14 days—the successful competition of the railways may be accounted for by the lowness of the water in the summer months, and the cessation of traffic during hard frosts in the winter. Communication ­ by water with Berlin is provided by a canal connecting the Oder with the Havel ; the inadequacy and circuitousness of this waterway have, however, resulted in agitation for a ship canal between Stettin and Berlin, and great hopes for the revival of the inland navigation business of Stettin are based on this scheme, in anticipation of which the town is constructing a new harbour with the object of affording extra facilities to the manufacturing industries already existing in the town and encouraging the settlement of new undertakings. The importance of the town as a manufacturing centre is already considerable, ­ however. Foremost among its industries are iron shipbuilding and marine engineering. In 1906 one local firm alone delivered five vessels aggregating 41,000 gross registered tons, and had in hand a further six vessels of 31,900 gross registered tons. The other industries of greatest local importance are the manufacture of motor-cars, bicycles, typewriting and sewing machines, fireproof clay wares and chemicals, sugar-refining and spirit-distilling, and ready-made-garment making ; the last-named industry providing opportunities ­ of home-work for the wives and daughters of many workmen employed in the shipyards and along the quays. As the chief town of the Prussian province of Pomerania, and therefore the seat of civil and military government for an area of about 12,000 square miles, the official and military elements are also strongly represented in the population. 3 L 29088 450 STETTIN. In 1X71, when Stettin was still encircled by ramparts and moats such as surround Königsberg and the greater part of Dantzig at the present day, its population numbered only 76,000. Two years later the fortifications were dismantled. Their sites are now occupied by wide streets and promenades, and the population has increased to 227,000 (end of 1906), or to about three times the figure at which it stood in 1871. A large part of this increase has, however, followed from the incorporation within the municipal area, on April 1st, 1900, of the three outlying communes of Grabow, Bredow, and Nemitz, with a combined population of about 48,000. The population at each census since 1871, together with the rate of intercensal ­ increase, is shown in the following Table :— Year. Population. Increase. Increase per cent. 1871 1875 1880 1885 1890 1895 1900 1905 76,280 80,972 91,756 99,543 116,228 140,724 210,702* 224,119 4,692 10,784 7,787 16,685 24,496 69,978 13,417 62 133 8-5 16-8 21-1 49-7 6'4 * Including Grabow, Bredow and Nemitz. During the 25 years 1881-1905 the mean annual birth-rate has been 34*3 per 1,000 inhabitants, as against a death-rate of 25 2, so that the mean annual rate of natural increase during that period has been 9T per 1,000. Both the birth-rate and the death-rate have on the whole been declining since 1891, the latter more rapidly than the former, with the result that the natural growth of the population has been proceeding at an accelerated pace. In the five years 1891-5 it amounted to 9 2 per 1,000 inhabitants per annum ; in the succeeding five years it was 10'o, and in 1901-5 11*8 per 1,000 inhabitants. This acceleration in the rate of natural increase has been in some part due to a decline since 1901 in the mortality of infants under a year old. In that year there were in Stettin 356 deaths of such infants to every 1,000 births, a rate of infant mortality higher than that recorded during the last 15 years in any other large German town except Chemnitz. The following statement shows the birth-rate, death-rate, and infant mortality rate of Stettin for each of the last five years for which the figures are available : — Y ear. Birth rate per 1,000 of population. Death rate per 1,000 of population. Infant mortality rate per 1,000 births. 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 37 9 35-0 32-3 34-0 32-0 25-8 214 21-6 23-3 22-4 356 241 287 265 263 While the area comprised within the municipal boundary of Stettin is large (about 16,500 acres), the space actually built upon is only 1,511 acres, or less than one-tenth of the whole, including private yards and gardens ; and STETTIN, 451 although house-room has to be found on this space for about 220,000 inhabitants, the general appearance of the streets in almost every part of the town would suggest that housing conditions were the reverse of congested. The absence of outward signs of unsatisfactory housing may be accounted for by the fact that the greater part of present-day Stettin has been built since the demolition of the old fortifications in 1873. It would seem as if, in the planning of the new parts, the guiding principle had been to make as few streets as possible, but to make each street as long, as straight, and as wide as. circumstances would permit. One finds, for instance, immediately to the west of the old town, six parallel streets running approximately north and south, at intervals of 100 to 300 yards. These vary from three-quarters of a mile to a mile-and-a-half in length, and from 120 to 150 feet in width. Intersecting them at right angles are a number of other parallel streets running east and west at intervals of about 100 yards. Each of the rectangular blocks of masonry formed by the street intersections presents four unbroken street frontages of formal-looking, stucco-fronted houses of three or four stories, containing tenements for the most part occupied by people of the middle classes. At the back of each such row of houses is a second, and sometimes a third, row of buildings invisible from the street, and accessible from the latter only through the main doorways of the front houses. Back houses are as a rule less lofty than those fronting the street, and are separated from the latter by a space of courtyard sufficient to ensure adequate lighting and ventilation. Their façades contrast with those of the front houses in being absolutely plain, instead of being ornamented with stucco relief-work. The tenements in the back houses are for the most part occupied by the families of workmen or others of similar economic position. In this way the purpose has been achieved of making a very limited area of land suffice for the housing of a very considerable population of a mixed character, while giving the streets an appearance such as in a British town they would only possess in neighbourhoods inhabited exclusively by well-to-do people. In respect of parks and open spaces, Stettin does not rank very high among the great cities of Germany. The total area of such recreation grounds in the town is 171 acres. The municipality owns 12,700 and administers on behalf of charitable endowments a further 2,200 acres of land, but only a small part ot this (730 acres) is within the urban area. The chief places of open air resort in the summer are some distance outside the town, but are brought within easy reach by the electric tramway and steamboat services as well as by the railways. The water, gas and electricity supplies of the town are in the hands of the municipality (the electric, tramways are a private undertaking) which also owns about seven miles of quays, on which it has erected warehouses and hydraulic and steam cranes and winders. In the fiscal year 1904-5—the last for which the figures are available—the Municipal Harbour Department alone employed per day on an average 580 workpeople, of whom 388 were regular and 92 temporary men. Occupations, Wages and Hours of Labour. There is no precise classification of the industrial population of Stettin for any date more recent than that of the occupation census of June, 1895. The figures of that census would, however, give an entirely misleading picture of the present distribution of that population ; not only because of the great expansion which has taken place since 1895 in the industries which were already then established in the town, and the changes in their relative importance as sources of employment, but also because of the extension of the town boundary in 1900, which had the effect of bringing within the municipal area certain districts in which some of the industries which now rank foremost in local importance were being carried on. This is especially true of the shipbuilding trade. At the time of the 1895 census the number of workpeople employed in shipbuilding ­ in what was then the municipal area of Stettin was 102. It is probable that the number would now be found to be at least 6,000. In 1895 the total number of industrial workpeople in Stettin was found to be 16,442. At the present day tue number cannot be far short of 45,000, as may be inferred from the membership of the local funds for effecting the assurance against sickness of workpeople employed in industry. 29088 3 L 2 452 STETTIN. Something less than one half of those 45,000 are employed in establishments ­ subject to inspection as factories or workshops, and a classification of these according to main groups of trades for the year 1905 is given in the following Table :— Workpeople employed in Factories and Workshops in Stettin in 1905. Group of Trades. Number of Establishments. Building Metal-working Machine, implement and apparatus making. Clothing ... ... ... ... •• Printing, lithography, bookbinding, &c Paper ... ... ... ... Wood-working and carving Stone and earth ... Chemicals, soap, oils, resins, &c. Food, drink and tobacco Other trades Total ... 13 28 47 283 34 13 58 17 31 170 15 709 Number of Workpeople. Males. 997 315 9,456 541 529 336 903 1,306 933 3,315 156 18,787 Females. 10 181 1.107 164 273 35 61 239 614 119 2,803 Total. 997 325 9,637 1,648 693 609 938 1,367 1,172 3,929 275 21,590 The method of grouping, together with the fact that the figures relate only to persons employed in factories and workshops, impairs the value of the table as a means of showing the relative importance of the various local industries. Thus the shipbuilding industry, one of the most important in the town, is not even mentioned, the large body of labour which it employs being included under the heading machine, implement and apparatus making. The great local importance of the ready-made clothing trade, too, is obscured by the fact that home-workers dp not come under the factory laws as regards inspection. The same applies to the dock and transport labourers, who are estimated to number about 4,600, and to the building trades, in which the number of workpeople cannot fall far short of 7,000 (in 1895 there were 4,878 workpeople employed in the building trades). It is estimated that only about one-fifth of the industrial workpeople of Stettin are organised, and, as might be expected in such circumstances, collective bargaining is not much resorted to in fixing conditions of labour. General wages agreements are, however, in operation for the masons and bricklayers, stone-cutters, carpenters, compositors, bricklayers’ labourers and stevedores. In all but the last of these trades the time-wage system is the rule, and, as the agreement also fixes the length of the working day, it furnishes material for determining approximately the predominant rate of weekly wages without seeking returns from employers or workpeople. In trades where no wages agreements are in operation, information in the nature of returns based on the records of the pay sheets had to be sought from leading employers of labour or from their representatives, and this was in most cases readily conceded. In the case of the joiners, plasterers, stucco workers, plumbers and painters full particulars of wages and hours were obtained in a single return furnished through the courtesy of the Secretary of the Mutual Association of Employers in the Building Trade for purposes of Accident Insurance, an institution which has at its disposal a complete record of the time worked and wages earned by every man employed by any of its members in the course of the year. For the staple industries of the town, such as shipbuilding, machine construction, the manufacture of cement, fire-clay goods, chemicals and readymade ­ clothing, &c., returns were secured from the leading employers of labour individually. As the majority of the workpeople in these trades are paid on the piece-wage system, it was endeavoured to ascertain from the pay sheets the most usual earnings in a full week without overtime during the month to which the inquiry related—October, 1905—and in most cases the effort was successful. Returns of the wages and hours of labour of the workpeople employed in the various branches of the municipal service were supplied through the courtesy of the Chief Burgomaster. STETTIN. 453 The following 1 Table gives a synopsis of the data obtained from these various sources :— Wages and Hours of Labour in the Principal Occupations, October, 1905. Building Trades* :— Bricklayers and Masons Carpenters Joiners ... Stonemasons Painters ... Stonesetters Slaters ... Plasterers Plumbers Glaziers ... Stucco workers ... Hodmen Other Labourers i Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours of Labour. 29s. 8d. 28s. 6d. 25s. 8d. 30s. 25s. 8d. to 28s. 6#. 41s. 30s. 42s. 9d. to 45s. Id. 57 57 57 60 57 57 60 57 (piece.) 27s. 24s. 25s. 8d. 34s. 2d. (piece). 17s. Id. 60 60 57 57 57 Metal, Engineering and Shipbuilding Trades :— Machine making : Fitters Turners Patternmakers Labourers ... . . ... Coppersmiths ... Shipbuilding : Platers Platers’ helpers Rivetters and holders-up Rivet heaters Caulkers and drillers Carpenters ... Joiners Sawyers (machine) Labourers (sawing) Smiths and strikers Yard labourers 22s. 6d. to 24s. 24s. 24s. 18s. 24s. j Time 22s. lOd. 11 Piece 29s. : j Time 20s. 5d. I Piece 26s. \ Time 20s. 5d. , j Piece 26s. I j Time 14s. 5d. I 1 Piece 18s. 4d. ( Time 20s. 5d. to IJ 21s. Id. ) Piece 26s. to l 27s. 6d. j i Time 24s. ; ( Piece 30s. Id. j j Time 25s. 2d. \ [ Piece 32s. 2d. I Time 18s. Í I Piece 22s. 11 d. : j Time 16s. 10d. * Piece 21s. 5d. j Time 21s. Id. Í Piece 27s. 6d. 18s. 60-63 60-63 60-63 60-63 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 Bridgebuilding :— Angle-iron smiths Rivetters Labourers j Time 21s. ( Piece 26s. 3d. j Time 16s. 6d. \ Piece 20s. Id. j Time 16s. 6d. I Piece 20s. Id. 60 60 60 60 60 60 Printing Trade:— Hand-compositors Machine minders Pressmen Machine compositors, news ... „ „ jobbing 25s. 4d. 54 31s. 8d. 48 32s. lid. 54 * The wages and hours of labour stated for the building trades are for a full week in sommer. 454 STETTIN. Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours of Labour. Chemical Trade:— Skilled men ... ... ... ... ... 25s. to 50s. Unskilled men (the great majority) ... 18s. „ 20s. Pottery, etc., Trades :— Cement makers ... ... ... ... 19s. 2d. Fireclay wares : Brickmakers ... ... ... ... 28s. 6r/. Retort stampers ... ... ... ... 22s. Special or form block stampers ... 26s. 9d. • Mixers and preparers ... ... ... 26s. 11 d. Barrow wheelers (emptying and filling 27s. id. kilns). Labourers ... ... ... ... ... 16s. 6d. Food Trades :— Sugar refining : Sugar boilers ... ... ... ... 24s. 6c/. Labourers ... ... ... ... ... 17s. 5d. Brewing : Maltsters ... . ... ... ••• 23s. Id. Brewers ... ... ... ... ••• 30s. Coopers ... ... ... ••• ••• 26s. Draymen ... ... . ... . • 36s. Labourers ... ... ... ... ..; 18s. to 20s. Bakers ... ... ... ... ... ... 17s. „ 18s. Cigar making ... ... ... ... ... 17s. Id. to 19s. Municipal Employees :— Road construction and maintenance : Paviors ... ... ... ... ... 33s.. Rammermen ... ... ... ... 19s. 2d. Road makers ... ... ... ... 19s. 10í7. Street cleaners ... ... ... ... 18s. 10r/. Gasworks : Gas stokers ... ... ... ... 24s. Id. Yard labourers ... ... ... ... 19s. 2d. Waterworks : Engine and boilermen 30s. M. Labourers *... ... ... ... ... 17s. 10r/. Electricity works and Electric lighting : Enginemen • ... ... ... ... 21s. Id. Stokers ... ... ... ... ... 19s. 2d. 65-70 70 60 60 60 60 57& 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 72 58 60 60 60 63 78* 72* 84 60 60 60 Including intervals. Comparing the wages for the building, engineering and printing trades shown in the above table with the corresponding figures for Berlin, and representing the latter by 100, the following index numbers are obtained :— For the building trades, 79 for skilled men and 67 for labourers ; for the engineering trades, 71 for skilled men and 83 for labourers ; and for the printing trades, 90. The data obtainable with regard to dock and riverside labour and the tailoring and ready-made clothing trades were too fragmentary to warrant their use as a basis for calculating predominant weekly rates of wages for those trades. The agreement in force between the stevedores and the association of shipowners, ­ brokers and agents of Stettin, while providing for a time-rate of wages {Id. per hour for day work and 9d. per hour for night work) contains no stipulation ­ limiting the daily or weekly duration of work, and consists for the most part in a detailed statement of the rates per ton to be paid for loading and discharging ­ various kinds of merchandise. The pay-sheets of one of the leading firms of shipowners showed that 66 men employed by the firm during the month of October, 1905, worked an average of 22 days each, their average earnings per day (piece-work) being 8s. 3d. The average stevedore in Stettin, it was stated, earns, on time-work, from £60 to £75 a year by working four or five days per week all the year round for a regular line of steamships. The best stevedores, working 12 hours (nett) per day for 240 days in the year, earn on piecework £115. O.-á i.. ■ ■ m*£m w, üii STETTIN. . 455 According to an estimate of the local Trades Council there are about 5,600 workpeople employed in the tailoring trade in Stettin. The great bulk of these work for small employers, of whom there are two classes. The one includes Heimarbeiter (home workers), men who, after serving their apprenticeship and becoming journeymen tailors, have set up their own workshop, where they execute orders for the “ bespoke ” trade, with or without the assistance of a journeyman, to whom they pay a time-wage of 15s. to 18s. per week. These men are also spoken of as Selbstständige Arbeiter, or workmen on their own account, an expression which conveys a truer notion of their economic position than does the term Heimarbeiter, which does not mean quite the same thing as “ homeworker ” in the English sense. The second class of small employers are middlemen pure and simple, who may or may not have learnt the tailoring trade themselves, but employ women and girls as well as journeymen in executing orders for large firms of readymade ­ clothiers, of whom there are several in Stettin. The men of this class are known as Massenschneider, and some of them employ from 30 to 50 workpeople in a workshop besides giving out work to be done at home. Journeymen tailors in workshops of this kind are paid the same rate of time wages as those employed by the class previously described, viz., 15s. to 18s. per week. Their hours of labour, according to statistics compiled by the local Trades Council, are from 14 to 16 per day. Housing and Rents. On anyone more or less familiar with urban housing conditions in Germany some days spent in visiting the working-class dwellings of Stettin are calculated to produce the impression that few large cities in Germany have been more successful in housing the bulk of their population on so limited a proportion (less than one-tenth) of the available space, while yet maintaining the appearance ­ of being entirely—or almost entirely—free from congested areas. It seems doubtful whether this could have been so well achieved under any other system than that which makes it possible to erect working-class tenements in any part of a town—however fashionable—without apparent detriment to the local amenities, by the simple expedient of concealing those tenements behind solid rows of better class houses. It will have been gathered from the reports on other towns that this system of utilising back lands for the erection of what are called Hinterhäuser or backhouses, ­ is a more or less familiar feature in urban housing conditions all over Germany. In Stettin it may be said to be the outstanding feature, for in few, if any, other towns does it appear to have been so freely applied. The result is that more than the usual sprinkling of working-class families is to be found living in back-house tenements in almost any part of the town. There are, nevertheless, three districts which are predominantly working-class, in the sense that in most of their streets, not only the back-houses, but also the front houses, are largely occupied by working-class families. These districts are Grabow and Bredow, in the North, where the great shipyards are situated, and the lowlying pile-built district of Lastadie, on the eastern side of the river, largely inhabited by dock and riverside labourers, and practically the only part of Stettin where the appearance of the houses as well as of their occupiers suggests poverty and neglect. The character of the typical working-class tenement in Stettin calls for no particular comment. As in most German cities, it consists of three rooms—a general living room with a stove, a stoveless bedroom, and a kitchen, together with the usual Zubehör or appurtenances, consisting of a cellar compartment, the use of the common loft for drying laundry, a closet (usually shared with one or two other families on the same floor and situated on the stair landing) and, in the more modern houses, a separate vestibule. Returns as to the housing accommodation of 1,276 typical working-class families in Stettin, secured with the co-operation of the local Trades Council, show that 1,126 of these families occupy three-roomed tenements, while only 60 ■occupy two rooms and 90 four rooms. As a rule a three-roomed tenement in a 456 STETTIN. new house fetches a higher rent than a tenement consisting of the same number of rooms in an old house, the former being always better provided with facilities for admitting light and air, besides having the separate vestibule to which great value is attached. In some of the older houses, especially those in the lowlying riverside quarter of Lastadie, the stair landings are entirely devoid of light, and the kitchen is little more than a hole, into which a cooking stove has been fitted, and where candle-light is required in the daytime. Strictly speaking, tenements consisting of only two rooms, together with a " kitchen ” of this description, should not be classed as three-roomed dwellings, but apparently a certain proportion of them have been so classed, since rents of 10s. 6d. and less per month have been returned for a number of the dwellings described as consisting ­ of three rooms. For 642, or more than one-half of the three-roomed dwellings, the rents charged were from 14s. to 17s. per month, while 235 were let at less than 14s., and 249 at more than 17s. per month. The predominant rents of typical working-class tenements of three rooms in Stettin may therefore be taken as being from 14s. to 17s. per month, that is to say from 3s. 3d. to 3s. 11 d. per week. These rents give an index-number of 46, rent at Berlin being considered = 100. Except the water rate, which is paid by the landlord, no local taxation enters into this rent, for in Stettin, as in other Prussian towns, the bulk of the funds required for purposes of local government are derived from a municipal income-tax, and not from any form of taxes assessed on the rental value of the dwelling occupied. The municipal income-tax in Stettin is equivalent to 140 per cent, of the State income-tax, and is levied at the same time as the latter, on all incomes of over £45 per annum. The following Table shows the amount of the yearly income-tax for municipal purposes, payable on the different income classes within which the majority of working-class families would fall. Yearly Income. Over £45 to £52 10s... „ £52 10s. to £60.. „ £60 to £67 10s... „ £67 10s. to £75.. ,, £75 to £32 10s... „ £82 10s. to £90.. „ £90 to £105 .. Amount of Tax, Ils. 3d. 16s. lid. 22s. Id. 30s. Id. 39s. 6d. 48s. lid. 58s. 3d. Bétail Prices. In the purchase of their supplies of such household provisions as groceries, bread, flour and fuel, the working classes of Stettin have a choice between a multitude of private shops doing business on a modest scale and the local co-operative distributive society, which has 23 branch stores scattered throughout ­ the different parts of the town. At the end of 1906 this society had a membership of 15,030, largely composed of workpeople, and its sales in the course of that year amounted to £96,080, or about £6 8s. per member on an average. Working-class custom appears to be divided impartially between the private shopkeepers and the stores. The retail sale of fresh meat is entirely in hands of dealers of the “ family butcher ” type. Groceries and other Commodities. In the following statement of the predominant prices of certain household provisions other than butchers’ meat, as charged by retail dealers in Stettin at October, 1905, and November, 1906, each price is based on the quotations of several dealers, among the latter being included the workmen’s co-operative society. It will be noticed that, with the exception of a slight rise in sugar, retail prices were the same at the two periods. STETTIN. 457 Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and November, 1906. Commodity. Coffee per lb. Sugar, White granulated Bacon :— Fat Streaky Eggs :— Native per l.s. Foreign Cheese, Tilsit ... ... per lb. Butter Margarine ... Potatoes ... ... -.. per 7 lb. Flour: :— Wheat ... „ Rye ... ... ... ,, Bread, Rye ... ... ... per 4 lb. Milk per quart Coal per cwt. Briquettes ... ... ... „ Paraffin Oil per gallon Predominant Price. October, 1905. lid. 2^7. 11 d. lid. 11-12& 12&" 8# Is. 3\d. b\d. to 8|(7. I \d. lllrf. to Is. Ifd. II \d. 4|d. to 5¿e?. 2\d. Is. 1 \d. 11 d. November, 1906. 11 d. 2\d., 2Tjd. lid. lid. 11-12& 12i 8|d. Is. 3\d. §\d. to 8|i7. l%d. 11|(7. to Is. Ifd. 11 \d. 4|d. to 5Id. 2W. Is. 1§<7. lid. • 9#. Meat. Except in the matter of bacon, of which a considerable quantity is imported from the United States of America, Stettin derives the whole of its meat supply from German sources ; a fact which local opinion is unanimous in declaring to be the chief cause of the existing high cost of living. Statistics collected by the local Police Department show that in the ten years 1897-1906, the two staple flesh foods, beef and pork have increased in price, the former by 22 per cent, and the latter by 31 per cent. Whether this rise in price has been accompanied by a corresponding decline in the consumption of meat may be doubted. According to the price records just referred to, beef was 10 per cent., and pork 28 per cent, dearer in 1906 than in 1904. In spite of this it would seem that the consumption of beef in 1906 instead of being less, was greater than in 1904 (39 lbs. per head of population as against 36 lbs.), while the consumption of pork declined by no more than 6 7 per cent., viz., from 59 lbs. to 55 lbs. per head of population. The following Table shows the per capita consumption of all kinds of fresh meat in Stettin, according to the official slaughter-house estimates, in each of the years 1904, 1905 and 1906—the only three years for which the data were procurable. Pork Boof • • • * V cal • • • ••• Mutton and goatsflesh Horseflesh Lungs, liver, hearts, &c Fresh meat of all kinds 1904. lb. 59 «6 5 5 2 5 112 1905. lb. 50 37 5 5 2 5 104 1906. lb. 55 39 5 5 1 5 110 It will be seen that about one half of all the fresh meat eaten in Stettin consists of pork, while from 34 to 35 per cent, consists of beef. It should be noted that the meat to which the Table relates is " fresh ” only from the point of view of the authorities through whose hands it has 3 M 29088 458 STETTIN. passed—the slaughter-house authorities in the case of live cattle and the meat inspectors in the case of fresh carcases or parts of cattle killed at other German slaughter-houses and brought into Stettin for consumption. Before being consumed a certain proportion of this meat has assumed a form under which it can no longer be described as “ fresh,” e.g., when it has been converted into sausage or bacon. The totals, therefore, of 112 lbs. in 1904, 104 lbs. in 1905 and 110 lbs. in 1906, represent something more than the per capita consumption of fresh meat. On the other hand they represent something less than the per capita consumption of meat of all kinds, which should include a quantity of foreign bacon as well as of poultry and game. The consumption of the last two items would seem to be considerable, if one may judge by the quantities offered for sale in the shops. It may be assumed therefore that the weight of meat consumed per head of population in Stettin was something in excess of 110 lbs. in 1906. While this is true of the population as a whole, there is good reason for supposing that much less meat is consumed per head among the working-class population. Thus, from returns obtained through the co-operation of the Stettin Trades Council for the purpose of the present inquiry, from 212 typical working-class families consisting of 998 persons, it would appear that the consumption of meat of every description among this section of the population amounts to no more than 66J lbs. per head per annum. Of this amount some 21 lbs. consisted of pork or bacon, some 18 lbs. of sausage and some 16 lbs. of beef, while veal and mutton together accounted for about 10J lbs. of the total. So far as working-class consumption is concerned, the item “ sausage ” may be regarded as representing mainly pork, and a certain proportion of horseflesh. There are, it may be stated, 9 shops in Stettin at which no other kind of meat but horseflesh is sold, and it is noticeable that sausages occupy a prominent place among the goods offered for sale at all these establishments. The following Table shows the predominant retail prices charged at butchers’ shops in Stettin in October, 1905, and November, 1906, for various cuts of fresh meat. Each price is based on the quotations supplied for the purpose of the present inquiry by several butchers with large working-class custom, each doing business in a different part of the town. Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and November, 1906. Predominant price per lb. Description of Cut. October, 1905. November, 1906. Beef : Rib Silverside n,. j with bone ( without bone Steak Flank Mutton :— 81d. 8|d. GW. 7|d. 8# 7 £d. to 8¿d-8# 8# GW. 7|d. 8# 7fd. to 8W-Leg Shoulder Breast Neck Chops Veal :— Hindquarter Shoulder, with bone Loin ... ... Shin Pork :— Leg Foreloin ... Belly Spare Rib Chops 9%d. 9§d. 8# 8|d. 93d. 9|d. 9# 8# 8#d. 9W. 11 d. 9W. lid. GW. lid. 9|d. lid. 65 d. 9|d. to 9|d. lid. 8|d. lid. lid. 9¿d- to 9|d. lid. 8|d. lid. lid. ‘ V; • v> I STETTIN. 459 It will be seen that the prices charged for the various cuts of meat were identical at the two periods. That this should be so, in spite of the fact that meat was undoubtedly dearer in 1906 than in 1905, is partly due to the policy, stated to be adopted by butchers, of placing the burden of the increased cost on their middle-class customers, their view being that, already, in 1905, prices had reached a point beyond which the working classes would be compelled to cease purchasing meat. . Prices at Berlin being taken as 100, the index-numbers for Stettin are— for meat, 112 ; for other food, 97 ; for food as a whole, 101 ; for coals, 92 ; and for all commodities, 99. The index-number for rent and prices combined is 88. 29088 3 M 2 460 STUTTGART. Stuttgart is not only the capital of Wurtemberg, it is the only large town in that Kingdom. Its population in December, 1905, was 249,286, equal to the combined populations of any nine other Wurtemberg towns. The original town, the nucleus of the modern municipality, has increased slowly, for Stuttgart, like Wurtemberg generally, took but a languid interest in the industrial developments of recent years until a comparatively short time ago, though now the past apathy has been thrown off. The more rapid growth in the last ten years has been specially due to the absorption of one suburb after another, until the municipal area now extends to 14,500 acres, much of it, however, park, vineyard, and forest. The growth of population since 1875 has been as follows :— Year. 1875 1880 1885 1890 1895 1900 1905 Population. 107,278 117,303 125,901 139,817 158,321 176,699 249,286 Increase. 10,030 8,598 13,916 18,504 18,378 72,587 Increase per cent. 9-3 73 11-1 132 11-6 41-0 Of the large increase which fell to the quinquennium 1900-1905 nearly half was due to the incorporation of outlying townships. The town is built around and upon the vine-clad slopes which confine the narrow valley of the Nesenbach, and here form a large amphitheatre. This picturesque position, however, has placed obstacles in the way of the town’s growth. As the mouth of the valley is blocked by a royal park, only the hillsides remained for the builder, and access, other than by winding roads, from the lower to the higher levels is in many places facilitated by long flights of stone steps. Though Stuttgart is essentially a modern town structurally, relics of past ages survive in the narrow little streets which are crowded together in the centre, and which represent the “ Altstadt ” or “Old Town.” Here are found many picturesque houses with high gables and heavy timber work, also remains of ancient monastic buildings—like the Klosterhof—which now are parcelled off into tenement dwellings or, if not so adaptable, are used as warehouses ­ and stables. The modern houses are for the most part built of brick faced with stucco, or have a base of massive stonework with brick and stucco above, and red tiles are the prevailing roofing material. While the old houses are generally low structures of two or three stories, the newer ones have four stories with an attic story in addition. In the central district the ground floor is usually given up to trade or industry, and in the by-streets artisans and small craftsmen often work below and live above. The rise of rents and the needs of commerce have, however, gradually pushed the working classes from the heart of the town outwards towards the suburbs, and only those remain behind whose occupation requires it or who are content to inhabit the dilapidated dwellings of the “ Altstadt.” Stuttgart has a considerable variety of industry, yet it does not yet rank as a factory town. Its largest industrial works are situated in the outskirts, and in the villages farther away still which have been incorporated during the past twenty years. Wurtemberg, however, is not an industrial country to the STUTTGART. 461 extent that Prussia or Saxony is. While Saxony with an area of 5,787 square miles had in 1905 a population of 4,508,601, three of its towns having more than 200,000 inhabitants and ten others between 20,000 and 100,000, Wurtemberg with an area of 7,536 square miles had a population in 1905 of only 2,302,179, and while only one of its towns exceeded 200,000, only seven other towns exceeded 20,000, and all these fell below 60,000. In 1904 only 18 Wurtemberg towns had a factory population {Le., “ industrial workpeople ” liable to factory inspection) exceeding 2,000, and the second in size after Stuttgart, with its 23,339 “ industrial workpeople,” was Göppingen with only 7,976. Wurtemberg, in fact, is still predominantly an agricultural country ; while increasing attention is being given to industry, and remarkable zeal is being shown in the cause of technical instruction, the economic centre of gravity must be sought not in its factories and workshops but in its corn lands, farmsteads, and vineyards. Much has been done by the municipal authority of Stuttgart during late years for the convenience and health of the people, as by the improvement of the system of sewerage and the water supply, the more careful supervision of dwellings, both during and after erection, and the extension of the tramway system to the suburbs, thus relieving congestion within the older districts, and the town had in 1906 the comparatively low death-rate of 16 6 per 1,000, comparing with 17"6 per 1,000 in 1905. The rate for Wurtemberg in 1905 was 20*6 per 1,000. The birth-rate in 1906 was 28'1 per 1,000, comparing with 28'4 in 1905, when the rate for the whole kingdom was 33T. The deaths of children under one year of age numbered 186 per 1,000 births in 1906 and 200 in 1905. There is great disparity between the rates of infant mortality in different parts of the municipal area. Thus, in 1905, the rates ranged from 183 deaths per 1,000 births in Untertürkheim and 207 in Cannstatt, to 304 in Ostheim and 347 in Wangen. Of the births in 1905 13*6 per cent, were illegitimate (against 8*6 in 1905 for the whole of Wurtemberg), though a substantial deduction should here be made on account of the existence in Stuttgart of a large lying-in home which serves a wide area. The deaths from tuberculosis in the same year were equal to a rate of 2'29 per 1,000 of population. The following Table shows the birth and death-rates and the infantile mortality rates for a period of seven years (still-born infants excluded) :— Year. 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 Birth-rate per 1,000 of population. 29- 1 30- 0 29 3 28-6 28-5 28-4 28T Death-rate per 1,000 of population. 19-6 17 8 17 7 17-3 17-2 17-6 16-6 Infantile mortality per 1,000 births. 231 197 208 202 193 200 186 Occupations, Wages and Hours of Labour. Of an estimated population of about 200,000 in 1904—for 34,625 inhabitants were added by a single extension of the municipal area in April of the following year—23,339 persons were engaged in 1,030 industrial undertakings ­ which brought them under factory inspection. This figure is far from commensurate with the entire industrial population, however, for it is chiefly those concerns which employ “elemental powei (steam, water, wind, gas, air, electricity, &c.) that come under inspection, yet it shows that Stuttgart is not a centre of great industries. The industries in the above enumeration 462 STUTTGART. employing most workpeople were the machine and metal industries, the textile industry (and especially the hosiery industry, which employs women for the most part), the group of industries engaged in wood, the several branches of the polygraphic industry (book printing, lithography, art printing, &c.), the clothing trade, and the paper industry. Appended is a return of workpeople employed in 1905 in the factories and workshops under inspection comprised in the Stuttgart factory district. This return includes, besides the town of Stuttgart, the adjacent incorporated towns of Cannstatt, Untertiirkheim and Wangen, which in April were added to the original factory district :— Group of Trades. Number ! of Establishments. Number of Workpeople. Building Mining and smelting Metal working Machine, implement and apparatus making Textiles Clothing and cleaning Printing, lithography, bookbinding, Ac. Paper ... ... ... ... ... Woodworking and carving Chemicals Resins, varnishes, oil, soaps, candles, &c Food, drink and tobacco Leather ... ... ... ... Art industrial products Total 45 24 148 186 43 335 86 46 151 12 11 227 20 1,339 731 747 3,095 10,755 3,090 4,464 3,760 1,646 3,160 334 420 2,553 434 47 35,236 It will be observed how large a proportion of workpeople fall to the metal and machine trades, viz., 13,845, or 39'3 per cent., against 27*3 per cent, before Cannstatt and Untertiirkheim were incorporated. To the textile trade fall 8’7 per cent, of the total against 9’2 per cent, before the factory district was extended, to the clothing and cleaning industry 12*6 per cent, against 13*3 per cent., to the wood industry 8*9 per cent, against 11’8 per cent., and to the printing and allied trades 10*6 per cent, against 14*9 per cent. Comprised in some of the foregoing groups of trades and industries are crafts in which Stuttgart has long excelled. The wood and carved goods group includes at least 1,500 men employed in the manufacture of pianos, some of which bear names of world-wide fame. The same group also comprises a number of firms engaged in the production of art furniture of a high class. Important glove and boot manufactories are included in the leather group, and the textile industry comprises many hosiery factories, in which the weavers and sewers (females) earn from 15s. to 18s. per week, with 21s. in exceptional cases. The engineering trade includes bridge building, boiler works, electrotechnical ­ works, and general machine works ; the State Railway has a large construction and repairs works, while on the outskirts of the town, at Untertiirkheim, is the great Daimler motor-car manufactory, and at Cannstatt is a branch of the Esslingen machine works, almost as large as the parent establishment. The wages of skilled men in the engineering trade range in private works from 24s. to 36/?., while labourers earn 18s. Payment by piece is usual in all the important works. It is a general complaint in this industry that the supply of skilled labour is insufficient, in spite of the exceptional facilities for technical instruction which have been enjoyed in Wurtemberg for many years, and the larger works are more and more resorting to the practice of systematically training their own workpeople from the earliest stage of apprenticeship. There is a strong tendency for skilled men to desert the small for the large works, tempted in part by higher wages and the opportunity of doing work of a superior class, and this tendency, coupled with the check in the supply of labour, places the small works at a serious disadvantage. The great majority of the workpeople in the building trades are excluded from the foregoing return. The wages in these trades are in most cases fixed by agreements, payment being by the hour. It is a peculiarity of Stuttgart STUTTGART. 463 that the master builders only bind themselves to employ their masons and bricklayers from April to October, and this restriction applies even to apprentices, in whose indentures a clause in the above sense is frequently introduced. Possibly this practice has a more or less intimate connexion with another local custom. A large proportion of the masons of Stuttgart do not live in the town at all but many miles distant in the country. Their settled homes are to be found in the villages scattered about the “Filder” (fields), as the agricultural districts around Stuttgart are called, and they merely lodge in town during the week and go home over Sunday. On the “ Filder ” they have their patches of arable, garden, and potato land, which their wives look after in their absence, and which yield a modest addition to their own earnings, especially when, as is sometimes the case, they also possess a cow. When the slack season comes round in October the peasant-mason migrates to his country house for the winter and there spends his time in such outdoor work as may be practicable either upon his own land or in the forest. Masons of this class are able to board and lodge in Stuttgart for Is. 3d. or Is. 0>d. a day, not counting beer, and many lodging houses have no other patrons. Beer brewing is an important Stuttgart industry employing a large number of workpeople. The money wages were in 1905 supplemented by an allowance of beer. A revised wages agreement has, however, recently altered the position of all classes of workpeople in this industry. Their hours have been changed as from April, 1906, from 60 in summer and 57 in winter to 57 all the year round. A week’s holiday, with wages, is to be given once a year to most of the men. The old system of beer allowances will also be abolished and a money addition be made to the wages of each class of workmen proportionate to the value of the forfeited perquisite. The beer was reckoned at 15 pfennige (nearly 2d.) per litre, and, thus, where six litres of beer were allowed daily, as in the case of maltsters, draymen, mechanics, and stokers, 5s. 5d. extra per week will henceforth be paid in money ; where four litres were allowed, as in the case of draymen’s helpers, 3s. Id. extra will be paid ; though the men will still be entitled to buy beer for their own use at the old price. Stuttgart is one of the most important centres of the publishing trade in Germany, ranking with Berlin and Leipzig, and is the home of the well-known Cotta firm of printers, whose first fame came as the publishers of works of Goethe and Schiller at the end of the 18th century. As regulated by national agreement the minimum rate of wages for compositors, machine minders, and pressmen is 26s. 5d. per week, but the majority of the workmen earn from 28s. to 30s. In the art printing trade, lithographers (draughtsmen) have a minimum rate of 25s., and good men earn, as a rule, 30s. to 33s. ; while hand-press printers earn 30s. to 33s., and machine printers 32s. to 34s. Stuttgart is also a leading centre of the ready-made clothing trade, and bespoke tailoring engages a large number of hands. Of the workpeople in the former trade it is estimated that only one-tenth are employed in workshops, and the rest at home. They are but little organised, a considerable proportion of them are women, the work is very irregular, and the earnings, save in the busy seasons, are small, from 15s. to 20s. a week covering the majority of the male workers, and 12s. to 15s. the female. The tailors in the bespoke business, who are well organised, have better earnings ; efficient men in the first tariff class can make from 25s. to 30s. a week on the year’s average, and many exceed the higher fio-ure ; medium men earn from 20s. to 23s. ; but young and weaker hands barely reach 16s. on the average. These earnings entail, however, a long working week, especially in the busy seasons, when the home workers are not uncommonly twelve hours on the bench between daylight and dark, in contrast to which come the slack times of January, February, and August, when more opportunities for exertion would be welcome. The wife often helps the husband at the sewing-machine, and the value of her time is included in the latter’s earnings. It is in the ready-made clothes trade, however, that the real pinch is felt, for the bespoke tailors are a superior class of men, and are able to look after themselves. A large number of female workers find employment at home in connection with the hosiery industry, being engaged in simple operations such as making 464 STUTTGART. collars, sewing buttons, edging, hemming and stitching aprons, embroidering names, &c. The earnings vary from 8&. to 24s. per fortnight, according to the capacity of the workers, and the rime they can give to the work, which as a rule alternates with general household duties, though it needs a skilful and nimble hand to earn more than twopence an hour. The extent to which female labour is employed in industrial occupations in Stuttgart, and the proportion of married women, will be seen from the following classification, which relates to undertakings subject to inspection in the Stuttgart Factory District in 1905 :— Group of Trades. Number of female employees. Of whom were married. Metal-working Machine, implement and apparatus mak Textiles Clothing and chemical cleaning Printing and lithography ... Paper Wood-working and carving Chemicals Resins, varnishes, oil, soap, candles, &c. Stone and earth (including brickworks) Creameries ... Cigar-making Other food, drink and tobacco Leather Other ... ... ... ... Total ... ng 200 273 2,586 3,337 1,059 712 123 41 26 26 7 146 404 94 7 9,041 68 64 657 528 434 246 28 17 5 3 1 56 149 33 2,289 It will be seen that the proportion of female employees who are married is on the average 25 per cent. ; this is also the proportion amongst the textile employees, while in the clothing-cleaning trade only 16 per cent, are married, andin the printing trade over 40 per cent. As compared with 1904 there was an increase of 2,141 female workers, which is chiefly explained by the addition to the municipality and factory district of Cannstatt, where are several factories employing large numbers of women. Fourteen days is the usual term of notice in Stuttgart ; in some works a week is adopted by agreement, and in several no notice is necessary at all on either side. There is no “ normal ” workday. In the machine industry the hours vary from 8 daily, in one case only, to 9 and 9¿, Saturday being a full day ; but 54 hours a week is the rule, and these are the hours worked in the State Railway workshop. The same hours apply to the majority of concerns in the piano, leather, furniture, and printing trades. In the hosiery industry 56 hours a week are usual in Stuttgart, but factories in the suburbs work as long as 63 hours. One of the leading hosiery manufacturers introduced the early Saturday closing system some time ago, and not only have the workpeople greatly appreciated the relief thus secured to them, but a number of other works of various kinds have since adopted the innovation. The Government of Wurtemberg made an inquiry on October 1st, 1905, covering the whole kingdom, into the question of the hours of labour of adult industrial workpeople of every class, and the returns showed that the average daily duration of work in Stuttgart was 9 hours 57 minutes for men, and 9 hours 47 minutes for women. Taking the whole kingdom, 49*9 per cent, of the men worked 10 hours and less, and 50T per cent, more than 10 hours, while 32*9 per cent, of the women worked 10 hours and less, and 67T per cent, more than 10 hours. Only 4*8 per cent, of the men, and 2*1 per cent, of the women, worked 9 hours or less, while at the other extreme 7*2 per cent, of the men, and 2*67 per cent, of the women, worked 12 hours or over. Wages agreements are common in Stuttgart, and their number tends to increase. Agreements have been concluded binding both sides for two or more years by the masons, stone-cutters, cabinet-makers (both in the building and the furniture trade), glaziers, smiths, bespoke tailors, plumbers, shoemakers, ­ brewers, saddlers, paper-hangers, printers, and bookbinders. STUTTGART. 465 TFaygg and 0/ Zaòowr m /Ag Pr/MczjoaZ Occwpof/ows, Oc^ògr, 1905. Weekly Wages. Building Trades* :— Bricklayers and Masons Stonemasons Carpenters Joiners and Cabinetmakers Plumbers Painters Stucco-workers... Glaziers Paperhangers Bricklayers’ labourers... Engineering Trades Moulders Fitters ... Turners ... Smiths ... Pattern-makers. Labourers Bridge-building Works ; — Fitters Rivetters Caulkers Holders-up Labourers Locomotive Works :— Erectors and Tool-makers Fitters ... Smiths Boilersmiths Coppersmiths Turners Borers and Planers Pattern-makers Labourers Textile and Clothing Trades :— Hosiery weavers Tailors (bespoke trade), best men ... „ „ medium men „ „ others Printing and Allied Trades .— Compositors and Machinists ... Machine compositors—news ... „ jobbing Lithographers—draughtsmen „ hand-press printers... „ machine printers ... Bookbinders Wood Industries : — Piano Factories :— Cabinetmakers and Casemakers Polishers Stringers and Regulators Key-makers Art Furniture Works :—-Cabinetmakers Upholstereis Carvers ... Turners ... Polishers Sawyers ... Profile-makers 27&. 2d. 25s. 5d. 27a. 2d. 22a. 5d. 25s. 2d. 25s lid. to 27s. 30s. 25s. 9d. 248. 4d. 20s. Id. to 21s. 3d. 36s. 24s. 6d. to 28s. 27s. to 28s. 32s. 5d. 26s. to 29s. 18s. 27 s. 24s. 20s. 5d. 16s. 2d. 18s. 7d. 33s. Id. 27s. 5d. 31s. 30s. 2d. 31s. 27s. 5d. 23s. 9d. 28s. lOd. 16s. lOd. to 20s. 5d 15s. to 18s. 25s. „ 30s. 20s. „ 23s. 16s. 26s. 5d. 33s. Id. 34s. 4d. 25s.t 30s. to 33s. 32s. to 34s. 22s. 2d.§ 33s. to 36s. 30s. „ 36s. 36s „ 42s. 36s. 27s. to 30s. 28s. 7d. to 30s. 32s. 5d. ,, 36s. 27s. to 30s. 28s. 9d. 27s. to 31s. 4d. 35s. Id. Weekly Hours of Labour. 59 53 59 56 56 54 60 56 54 59 57 57 57 57 57 57 57 57 57 57 57 54 54 54 54 54 54 54 54 54 56 to 66 51 to 54 51 „ 54 51 „ 54 51 „ 54 54 54 54 54 54 54 54 * The wages and hours of labour stated for the building trades are for a full week in summer, t Agreement rate, but from 30s. to 33s. is earned as a rule. § Agreement rate, but from 25s. lid. to 27s is earned as a rule. 3 N 29088 466 STUTTGART. Weekly Wages. Boot and Shoo Trade :— Cutters (sole leather room) „ (uppers) Lasters ... Bottomers and Finishers Unskilled men ... Glove Factories :— Cutters Food and Drink Trades :— Breweries—brewers „ coopers „ draymen „ bottlers Bakeries—1st men „ 2nd men Other Trades :— Soap-makers 22s. 24s. 27s. 27s. 18s. lid. 31s. 32s. 5d. 32s. 5d. 30s. 5cl. 24 s. 10<7. 22s.* 18s. to 19s/ 22s. Weekly Hours of Labour. 54 54 54 54 54 54 60 60 60 60 84 84 58 10s. being taken as the equivalent of board and lodging. Comparing the wages in the building, engineering, and printing trades shown in the above table with those for Berlin, and representing the latter by 100, the following index numbers for Stuttgart are obtained :—Building trades, skilled men 75, labourers 81 ; engineering trades, skilled men 84, labourers 83 ; printing trades 94. The following were the weekly wages and hours of municipal workmen at the same date :— Weekly Wages. 18s. to 21s. Id. 24s. 20s. 5d. 24s. 2d. 30s. 21s. 29s. M. 25s.Id. 23s. 5d. 23s.Id. 20s. 5d. 25s. id. 25s. Id. 25s. lOd. 27s. 2d. Weekly Hours of Labour. 60 60 60 84 48 57 68 67 60 60 60 65 63 67 65 Street Department Road workmen Cartwrights Road sweepers Carmen ... Gas Works:— Stokers ... Yard labourers Water Works ;— Enginemen Stokers ... Erectors, installers, and pipelayers Fitters Labourers Electrical Works :— Enginemen Stokers ... Erectors and installers Fitters Some of the larger employers of Stuttgart, both in private and company undertakings, have special benevolent institutions, apart from the obligatory insurance funds, for the benefit of their workpeople. Several firms relieve their employees of all payments on account of sickness or old age insurance. Others support funds for the relief of exceptional distress and need, and others out of special funds increase the old age pensions obtained under the Imperial law. Vested funds of £5,000 and £6,000 exist for this purpose in two cases, and additions are constantly being made to them by the firms concerned, while STUTTGART. 467 it is the rule for fines to be applied in the same way. Besides the usual arrangements ­ for washing, shower baths are provided for the workpeople in one large machine works, and all men desirous of using them are allowed twenty minutes free time once a week during work hours for the purpose. Housing and Rents, The extension and development of Stuttgart have now for some years followed a systematic building plan, which was adopted by the municipal authorities after careful consideration of the town’s economic interests and topographical limitations. By this plan considerable areas of land were set apart as open spaces, certain districts were reserved for dwellings of different classes—villas, artisans’ tenements, &c.—and industry was allotted its special zone. In the laying out of streets straight lines were avoided and moderate curves favoured for the sake of variety, and it was laid down as a general principle that the height of the houses should diminish with the distance from the centre of the town, the usual maximum being 65 feet. In streets less than 52 feet wide, however, four stories are the maximum, souterrains rising more than 8 feet 1^ inches above ground and attic stories with a roof incline of 60 degrees and above being counted as stories. In the principal streets the height of stories must be 9 feet 9 inches from beam to beam, though one story may be lower, but in other streets a height of 8 feet 5 inches is allowed. All living, bed, and work rooms regularly used by human beings must be at least 8 feet 1J inches high from floor to ceiling, and their windows must have a surface equal to one-tenth of the floor area. Attic dwellings are only allowed in buildings not exceeding 65 feet in height, and with the reservation that the elevation of a living room must be at least 8 feet 1 j- inches over half the floor surface, the skylight having an area of 2'7 square feet, while a bedroom must be at least 5 feet 10 inches wide. The by-laws also provide that a certain proportion of a building site behind the house to be erected shall be left open ; its depth varies from one-fifth to one-half of the height of the back wall of the house, as measured from the ground to the eaves gutter. Back buildings are permitted, but if intended for dwellings they may not exceed 89 feet in height, including the roof. Such are the main features of the code of building regulations ­ as now observed. It will be understood, however, that they have greater significance for the future than the past, and represent counsels of perfection which have only a very partial embodiment in the Stuttgart of to-day. The first feature of the domestic architecture of Stuttgart to strike a visitor is the almost universal plan which has been followed of building the houses detached, in blocks with a frontage varying from 40 to 80 feet, according as the house is a single or a double one. The detached block has been the prevailing type of building for the past half century, and it gives to the streets a distinct individuality. It is probable that utilitarian reasons—and among them the diminished risk to life and property in case of fire—had more weight than considerations of public health in causing the municipal building authorities to favour this style of house, as they have done since 18o3, yet the choice was well made. The usual space between the blocks is 10 feet. The flat system prevails here, as elsewhere, and in the newer buildings the rule is four or five stories, with lofts in addition for storage purposes. There is no single district which can be described as essentially industrial in character, though some quarters are more so than others, i he stratification of society which is characteristic of German housing arrangements here often produces results which to English people, accustomed to the one family-house system, must seem incongruous. A baron may live on the ground floor of a quiet residential street, a councillor of law or a titled Government official may occupy the rooms above, but on the third floor may be found a small tradesman, and possibly under the roof an artisan or a journeyman brewer earning thirty shillings a week. In less pretentious streets it is very common for the parterre and first story dwellings to be occupied by tradespeople (the landlord almost invariably reserving a lodging for himself on the ground floor), and for the flats above to be let off to working people, the elevation of whose dwellings is a rough measure of their resources. Small tenements and high rents are the common lot of the Stuttgart working classes. 3 N 2 29088 468 STUTTGART. An enumeration of the rents of the woodworkers of the town made in 1902 by their trade union showed that the average annual rent was £15 8s., or 6s. per week, a figure only exceeded in three other towns in Germany to which the inquiry extended. The vast majority of working-class households live in tenements of one, two, and three rooms, with appurtenances to which reference will be made later, and of these three types the tenement of two rooms is predominant. Classifying the whole of the 10,430 houses which were recorded by the books of the Municipal House Bureau as having changed hands during the year 1905, it was found that 7,890 or 75*6 per cent, were of one, two, and three rooms, with cooking places attached, 1,273 (12*2 per cent.) being of one room, 3,043 (29T per cent.) of two rooms, and 3,574 (34*3 per cent.) of three rooms. But these houses embraced every section of the population, and confining attention solely to working-class tenements a classification covering 1,095 changes of tenancy shows that 21"0 per cent, were tenements of one room, 51 *8 per cent, of two rooms, and 26'9 per cent, of three rooms. Of these 1,095 working-class dwellings only three consisted of four rooms. The two-room tenement is the typical and normal working-man’s home, so this tenement is in greatest demand, insomuch that the supply is always insufficient, a remark which applies with only slightly less force to the three-room dwellings. In regretting this insufficiency the director of the House Bureau states in his report for 1905 :—“ The more the dwellings of this class are multiplied, in order to cope with the still unsatisfied need, the less will the great mass of the population be compelled to rent dwellings whose cost exceeds their means and also their personal requirements. Then an unhealthy and undesirable feature of our housing arrangements will gradually disappear, and tenants in more regular economic circumstances will be found for the smaller dwellings, to the satisfaction of the house-owners, though a further consequence would be the necessity of providing homes for unmarried people of both sexes belonging to that section of the population which at present lodges with families who, if living alone, would have to pay more rent than they could afford.” Without considering now whether any considerable number of the dwellings of the Stuttgart working classes exceed in accommodation the requirements of health and morality, there is no doubt that in general a relatively large proportion of their income goes in the one item of rent, and that far more often than is desirable lodgers are taken with a view to lightening this inevitable expenditure. Where a dwelling consists of but two rooms the practice of letting-off is as a rule impossible, but where three rooms have to be rented, either because the size or sexual division of the family requires it, or because a smaller house cannot be found, the few shillings a month that can be earned by letting a bed or half a bed to a lodger are a welcome help. In enumerating the rooms of a dwelling it is always understood at Stuttgart that there is in addition an apartment which is used as and called a “ kitchen,” unless the contrary is expressly said. But this “ kitchen ” is not a room in the sense of the “heatable room” known to German housing statisticians, nor yet does it correspond to the convertible kitchen (which may serve as a living room or bedroom or both) of some of the Rhenish towns of the North. The Stuttgart “ kitchen ” is a small corner cut off anyhow from the general scheme of the dwelling, invariably at the back, and generally placed at the end of the corridor or sandwiched between a living room and the offices, which are here found within the tenement and not outside upon the landing. Such a kitchen is as a rule six or seven feet square— in newer and better houses it may be a little larger—and only serves for cooking operations and for the necessary utensils connected therewith ; even a chair is the exception. Sometimes the “ kitchen ” is merely a corner of the living room partitioned off, sometimes it is without a window though a separate apartment, and only seldom is it a cheerful place in which a housewife can take any satisfaction. Nevertheless, the arrangement, though barely adequate, has the advantage that it increases the utility and value of the actual rooms for living purposes. There are in Stuttgart, however, many dwellings of a single room, which has to serve every function of a home, but this room has nothing in common with the kitchen as locally understood. STUTTGART. 469 Another adjunct to many working-class and other tenements in Stuttgart, which somewhat ameliorates the overcrowding which high rents create, is the so-called “ alcove.” This is a windowless ante-room, generally entered from a proper living or bedroom, or lying between two such rooms. Its darkness and absence of independent ventilation make it unsuitable for use as a bedroom, though a bed will as often as not be found in it, together with domestic superfluities, in the form of furniture and lumber, for which space cannot be found elsewhere. The presence of an alcove in a house is a decided practical advantage, though it does not make any serious difference to the rent. To a tenement of three and generally of two rooms belongs also an attic store room, known as a “ Kammer ” or “Bühnenkammer,” or a portion of cellar, though sometimes both these appurtenances go together. Attic rooms are occasionally separated from each other by plastered walls, and lighted by separate skylights in the roof, but as a rule they are merely portions of a large loft, divided by lath partitions, and only useful as storage spaces, or at best for washing and drying clothes. But these features of the Stuttgart tenement must be regarded as peculiarities ­ father than as creating a special type of dwelling. A typical workingclass dwelling cannot be said to exist here, for the devices to which builders and tenants have been compelled to resort in their endeavour to husband all available space have destroyed individuality of structure. For example, corridors are universal, and rooms do not open direct upon the landing, but it is a common arrangement for two tenements to be approached from the same corridor and even for one kitchen to be used by two households, to the disadvantage of domestic privacy. In the case of such double tenements one suite of rooms may be found on each side of the corridor, to the front and back respectively, or the rooms may be apportioned to the tenants without regard to contiguity, and simply with a view to obtaining the best possible rents. Where rooms lie together, however, they generally open into each other. Like so many large German towns which are still passing through the transition caused by the industrial development of recent years, Stuttgart has an “Old Town” (Altstadt), and it is here that the nearest approach to the English idea of slums will be found. The courtyards are small, dirty and present evidence of neglect and decay. The buildings themselves are dilapidated, ­ the approaches dark and forbidding, the stairs narrow, rickety, and treacherous, the rooms generally low, small, and abandoned to tenants of the poorer sort, who pay disproportionately high rents for their inferior and meagre accommodation. The sanitary conditions of much of this property are beyond remedy, in spite of by-laws and building police, and the only hope for the health of the “ Old Town ” area is in a more wholesale clearance than has yet taken place. A single room in this decayed part of the town costs from 3s. 6<A to os. per week, the higher figure including as a rule a small kitchen, and the lower figure the joint use of one with another tenant. A tenement of two rooms with kitchen costs from 5s. to 7s., and one of three rooms with kitchen 7s., 8s., and 9s., according to the quality of the accommodation. The “ Old Town ” is generally regarded by social reformers as the darkest spot in the housing arrangements of Stuttgart, and present efforts are directed far more towards ending than mending it. Already the Association for the Welfare of the Working Classes has, with the co-operation of the municipal authorities, purchased and demolished a number of the worst houses and has replaced them by smaller buildings, containing shops below and dwellings above, in which modern requirements as to space, light, ventilation, and hygienic conditions generally are fully met, and this policy will be continued so far as the society’s opportunities and resources allow. On the other hand, the modern working-class houses of Stuttgart are as a rule substantially built, and though less attention is paid to external decoration than in some other large towns their appearance is far from being inhospitable. The houses of more recent construction especially have spacious approaches — entrance-lobbies, stairs, and landings—and their rooms, besides being lofty, are not infrequently made bright and cheerful by neat cornices of plaster or stencil work. The stairs are generally of wood, though many are of stone as far as the second floor or even higher. In Stuttgart, too, the balcony—here called 470 STUTTGART. “ kitchen verandah ”—is quite naturalised, and few modern houses are without it. The balconies are mostly placed behind, out of regard to the purposes for which they are universally used—chiefly the airing of bedding and drying of washed clothes—and consist of projecting galleries of ironwork, high enough to protect children from danger. They are highly appreciated, and tenements which have this convenience are greatly preferred to others. The practice of building round a courtyard is not characteristic of Stuttgart. The back house ( Hinterhaus) is not uncommon, but it is divided from the front by an ample space which allows of free light and ventilation for both structures, and this advantage is enhanced by that plan of building on the street line in detached blocks which has already been noted. Often the open space at the rear is large enough to serve as a drying ground for so many of the tenants as care to use it. A common washhouse is generally provided in the cellar, though the tenants who inhabit the higher floors often "find it more convenient to make shift as best they can in the attic or even in their little kitchens. The customary mode of heating is by means of tall iron stoves, for the tiled stove is not usual in South Germany. The cooking range is likewise an iron structure, and as it is a landlord’s fixture it is generally of poor quality. Coke is the fuel used in both cases. Gas cooking stoves are, however, on the increase, and the tenants take to them very readily, especially in the summer months. The following notes may be added relative to a typical block of workingclass tenements which was visited. The house in question consists of four stories (including the ground floor), with souterrain and cellar. The height from the road level to the roof is 52 feet, the width is 32 ft. 6 ins., and the depth 48 ft. 9 ins. The cellar is divided into compartments for storage purposes, their dimensions being 9 ft. 9 ins. by 4 ft. 10& ins., and similar compartments are marked off in the souterrain, where are also found a washhouse and a workshop. The cellar is unlighted, while from the souterrain five small windows open to the street, being on a level with the pathway ; the height of the souterrain is about 8 ft. 3 ins., two-thirds being out of the ground. On each floor there are two tenements, each consisting of two rooms, a kitchen, and a corridor, with w.c. entered from the latter. The kitchens are placed behind, according to invariable rule, and each tenement has one front and one back room, the front room being lighted by a double window. The corridors are cut off from the small landings and are serviceable for storage purposes. The living-rooms on the ground floor are 14 ft. 5 ins. by 14 ft. 4 ins., and those on the upper stories 14 ft. 10 ins., by 14 ft. 4 ins., while the kitchens are all 10 ft. 6 ins. by 7 ft. 5 ins. ; the height of the rooms is about 9 ft. 9 ins. The attic space is divided into store rooms. At the present time rents are fairly stationary in Stuttgart, much to the relief of the householders of this highly-rented town, and it is doubtful whether they have increased more than five per cent, during the last five years in the case of working-class tenements. At the same time many houses have become dearer without any direct raising of the rents, for with a change of tenants the landlords have transferred to the new-comers the water rate, the chimney cleaning charge, and other like obligations which beforetime had been included in the rent. The records of the Municipal House Bureau show that the average rent of one-room dwellings in 1905, taking the whole town and suburbs, without ­ distinction of locality or class, was £8 5s., and in 1904 was £8 7s. Taking Stuttgart proper, without the incorporated environs, the average rent of such dwellings was £8 9s. in 1905 and £8 10s. in 1904. The average rent of a tworoom dwelling in Stuttgart and suburbs was £15 7s. in 1905 and £15 9s. in 1904 ; and in Stuttgart alone £15 16s. and £15 17s. respectively. Finally, the average rent of a three-room dwelling in Stuttgart and suburbs in 1905 was £23 11s. and in 1904 £23 14s., and in Stuttgart alone £24 10s. and £24 4s. respectively. Perhaps the circumstance which has most powerfully contributed to bring about this comparative stability of rents is the growth of the suburbs, coupled with the increasing facilities for communication both within the enlarged municipal area and between Stuttgart and the adjacent towns. The rents of working-class dwellings are, as might be expected, slightly lower ; an investigation ­ of 1,550 dwellings made in 1906 for the purpose of this inquiry gave the following as the predominant rents :— STUTTGART. 471 Predominant Rents of Working-class Dwellings. Number of Rooms per Tenement. Two rooms with cooking-place Three rooms with cooking-place .. Predominant Weekly Rent. 2s. 4cl. 3s. to 4s. 4s. Id. to 5s. 9c?. 7s. to 9s. 3(7. This “ cooking-place ” is not a kitchen, see ante. These rents are much higher than those at any other town in Germany, except Berlin and are only slightly lower than rents in the imperial capital, the Stuttgart index-number being 97 (as compared with Berlin = 100). In the adjacent small towns of Cannstatt and Untertiirkheim, where there are many important industrial works, the rents of two and three-room dwellings are lower by Is. M. and 2s. 6(7. per week respectively. Many workpeople in Cannstatt and Untertiirkheim, however, live further out still, in the villages in the open country, where they are able to rent a little land. Specially low railway fares are offered to workmen who travel to or from Stuttgart every day. Weekly tickets valid for six days and entitling the holder to travel to and fro once daily between two stations 5 kilometres (a little over 3 miles) distant, cost 7^c7., and the extra cost for every additional kilometre is 1 \d. per week, while single-journey tickets cost half the above rates. Workmen’s simple return tickets cost \d. per kilometre. These cheap rates are only a third of the usual local fares. The variation of rents in different parts of the municipal district may be illustrated by the following classification of the annual rents of all the dwellings of one, two and three rooms (as a rule with kitchens), which changed hands during 1905 in Stuttgart and the suburbs :— One room. Two rooms. I Three rooms. Stuttgart (with Heslach), origi nal area. Ostheim Westheim Cannstatt... Berg Gablenberg Gaisburg... Untertiirkheim ... Wangen ... s. d. 3 3 2 11 2 11 2 9 2 3 2 2 3 2 s. d. 6 1 s. d 9 5 The lower figures of the Ostheim and Westheim districts are explained by the fact that the rents are largely those of dwellings erected by a “ public utility ” building society. (See post. p. 474.) An attempt to establish the relationship between working-class income and rent was made in 1897 by the Stuttgart Trade Federation, which collected returns from 2,665 persons, representing all trades and industries, with the following result :— ^ Annual Rent. Weekly Wages. Up to 12 s. Over 12.?. to 15«. Over 15«. to 18«. Up to £5 ... Over £5 to £7 10s. Over £7 10s. to £10 Over £10 to £15 ... Over £15 to £20 ... Over £20 to £25 ... Over £25 Total 17 6 15 17 20 5 1 2 66 3 48 72 125 34 12 294 Over 18«. to 21«. 2 28 97 226 92 33 15 Over 21«. to 24«. 3 17 81 357 145 73 19 493 I 695 Over 24«. to 27«. Over 27«. to 30«. I 8 57 250 118 68 27 529 1 22 151 94 60 21 349 Over 30«. 6 63 86 55 12 222 Total. 16 121 354 1,201 574 302 97 2,665 472 STUTTGART. It was found that the ratio of rent to wages was as follows in the wagesgroups named :— Number of workpeople. 162 177 336 176 155 36 18 2 Average yearly wages. £ S. 40 10 52 10 60 0 67 10 75 0 82 10 90 0 97 10 Average yearly rent. £ S. 11 15 14 8 15 7 15 17 16 17 15 18 18 3 19 10 Percentage of wages expended in rent. 29 0 27 4 25 6 23 5 22 5 19- 3 20- 2 20-0 A similar investigation made in 1903 by the local Association of Brewers, and referring to 162 households, showed that the highest percentage of income expended on rent occurred in the case of incomes of 24s. weekly, viz., 27 9 per cent. ; then followed incomes of 25s. to 25s. 6<i., 26*9 per cent. ; incomes of 22s. to 23s. 6<i., 26 5 per cent. ; 26s. to 26s. 6d., 24*7 per cent. ; 27s. to 28s., 24'1 per cent. ; 16s. 6d. to 19s. and 29s. to 30s., both 23*5 per cent. ; 20s. to 21s., 23*1 per cent. ; and the lowest percentage fell to incomes of 32s. to 36s., viz., 21*8 per cent. In individual cases it was found that as much as 35 and 36 per cent, of the income had to be paid for dwellings of three rooms. The majority of brewers paid from 5s. 5d. to 7s. 8d. per week in rent. By way of further comparison may be cited the results of an investigation made into the earnings and rents of gold and silver workers by the German Association of Metalworkers, and published in 1905. Of 73 married men who made returns in Stuttgart, five paid rents up to £7 10s. ; seven between £7 10s. and £10 ; nine between £10 and £12 10s. ; 15 between £12 10s. and £15 ; 12 between £15 and £l 7 10s. ; 12 between £17 10s. and £20 ; and 13 over £20 ; but all those who paid less than £10 lived outside the town. The average expenditure on rent was £16 5s., or 6s. 3d. per week, equivalent to 28*2 per cent, of the income of the workmen concerned. The report adds : “ Thus Stuttgart stands at the head of all the towns investigated in the matter of rent, but only in the thirteenth place in the average of yearly earnings.” These average earnings were £57 11s., or 22s. Id. weekly, though a third of the men earned from £65 to £90. The usual payment by lodgers in working-class households is 12s. to 15s. a month for a room alone, or 6s. to 10s. where two persons share a room ; breakfast coffee is reckoned extra and the lodgers take their other meals outside. It is evident that where the third room is let to a single lodger it is virtually at cost price, the householder being quite satisfied if by this means the high rent of a three-roomed dwelling can be brought within the compass of his earnings. The professional lodging-house keeper only makes her appearance where single men are housed wholesale, and rent not a room but a bed each per week or month, paying for food according to a fixed tariff. Many such lodginghouses exist in Stuttgart, as a rule in mean streets. Their arrangements are of the most primitive kind ; the bedrooms have no furniture save the rude wooden beds themselves, of which four or six will be crowded into a space only large enough for two or three ; one room is reserved for meals, which the lodgers eat at a plain deal table, seated on stools ; and here the furniture of the house is exhausted. The price of such a lodging is Is. 6d. per week ; for morning coffee 1 \d. is paid, for a large roll of bread \d., for dinner 6c/., and for supper of bread and sausage 4d., while the landlady of the house, who needs to be a woman of character as well as resource, supplies beer at any time and in any quantity at 1 ^d. for a large glass. Rents are usually paid monthly, though sometimes quarterly, and the local custom is three months’ tenancy with similar notice on either side. The term days are January 1st, April 1st, July 1st, and October 1st, but most removals are at the end of April and October ; in many cases there is a tacit understanding ­ that there shall be no change of tenancy during winter, and it is not STUTTGART. 473 uncommon for the contract to contain a clause to that effect. Lodgers usually engage their rooms by the month. The rent as a rule includes the water charge. The only municipal taxes which fall upon the working-class householder are the income tax, which is 50 per cent, of the State income tax, and the Church tax, which is levied upon the Protestants and Roman Catholics separately according ­ to the requirements of their special Church organisations, though Protestants who pay less than 18 marks State income tax and Roman Catholics who pay less than 15 marks are relieved of this obligation. By the law of Wurtemberg State income tax is levied on family income ; incomes below £25 are, however, exempted, and all incomes under £150 are taxed on a slightly lower scale if the taxpayer is responsible for the maintenance of one or more children. The exemption limit of £25 applies also at Stuttgart to the municipal supplementary tax. Beyond this amount the State and municipal income taxes run as follows :— Amount of Income. State Income Tax. £25 to £32 10s. £32 10s. to £40 £40 to £47 10s. £47 10s. to £55 £55 to £62 10s. £62 10s. to £70 £70 to £77 10s. £77 10s. to £85 £85 to £92 10s. £92 10s. to £100 s. d. 2 0 3 0 4 0 5 0 7 0 9 0 11 0 13 0 16 0 18 0 s. d. 1 0 1 6 2 0 2 6 3 6 4 6 5 6 6 6 8 0 9 0 Stuttgart has not as yet adopted an official system of house inspection, but has a substitute in the honorary service of some 120 house visitors, who have been at work since 1901. Each of these visitors has charge of a certain number of houses, containing as a rule from 200 to 250 separate dwellings, and these he is expected to visit once every three months whenever he has reason to believe that insanitary or other objectionable conditions prevail. In practice only working-class houses are visited, and armed with his " legitimation ”—a card vesting in him the right of entrance and inspection in the name of the municipal authority—a tactful visitor is seldom obstructed, save by suspicious landlords who would much prefer that their property did not come under scrutiny of the kind. The visitor advises on the spot in all urgent matters, and enters in his memorandum book for more formal report the general observations which his inspection suggests. If the defects to which he calls attention have not been remedied on a second visit it becomes the duty of the municipal authority to take summary action. Hitherto this system of inspection has rested on a voluntary basis, but it can hardly be said to have enlisted much civic enthusiasm, and it may be that the next development will be either obligatory service or the institution of paid officials. Very different in function is the Municipal House Bureau ( Wohnungsamt), which has existed in Stuttgart since 1902. It is the business of this office to act as intermediary between house owners and householders ; it is, in fact, a house agency with the element of self-interest eliminated. Householders are encouraged to notify the Bureau when tenements belonging to them become vacant or change hands, and on forms supplied for the purpose they describe the situation of their property, its size and advantages, and state the rent required ; while house seekers may likewise attend the Bureau to make known their wants 29038 3 O 474 STUTTGART. and learn from the officials in charge if these wants can be supplied. The house owner notifies the Bureau, by post-card, directly he obtains a tenant for a registered house, and by the co-operation of all parties concerned the Bureau is enabled to play a very important part in the housing arrangements of the town. The number of dwellings registered and the number of tenancies concluded by the Bureau increase from year to year as its existence and usefulness become better known. Thus during the year 1905,10,567 dwellings, places of business, workshops, &c., were registered and 10,430 changed hands, against 9,367 and 9,275 respectively in 1904. Several times a week lists of dwellings, &c., to let are published in the official “ Gazette ” of the municipality. But municipal action in respect of housing reform has not been confined to such measures. No less a sum than ¿0150,000 has already been expended in the removal of old insanitary property of all kinds, and a considerable amount has also been spent on the provision of dwellings suitable in size and rent for the officials and workpeople in the municipal service. The town has also helped public societies engaged in similar works of housing amelioration by lending them money at the rate of 3 per cent., or ^ per cent, under cost. Stuttgart does not own any large area of building land. The policy of trading in land which some large German towns have adopted does not appear to have commended itself to the rulers of the town, whose purchases of real estate are confined to the immediate and prospective needs of the public service. A far more important work, in the provision of cheap dwellings for the working classes, has been done by an energetic society of philanthropists, including many of the best known citizens of Stuttgart, called the Association for the Welfare of the Working Classes (Verein für das Wohl der arbeitenden Klassen). Founded more than twenty years ago, this society has pursued a well-considered policy of social reform in many directions, though no branch of its work has been more beneficent than the establishment of the three working-class colonies of Ostheim, Westheim, and Siidheim, which all lie within the municipal area. “ Colony ” is in general an unpopular term with the working classes, who resent the idea of segregation which they associate with it, but the colonies of this association are so unique in plan, in outward accessories, and in internal arrangement and convenience that they stand quite apart from the ordinary residential quarters of industrial Stuttgart. Altogether some 500 houses have been erected, containing 1,600 dwellings of various size, and here, too, the detached block system has been adopted. The largest and most attractive of the colonies is Ostheim, which consists of 367 separate houses and 1,203 dwellings. The general impression made by this pleasant home of labour is that of a small garden suburb, for each house has a flower garden in front and a larger piece of ground behind, devoted to flowers and fruit, while the streets are planted with shady trees ; many of the houses have also picturesque balconies and verandahs. As a rule a house contains three stories, each occupied by a single dwelling. The usual accommodation is either two or three living and bedrooms and a kitchen—larger and more homely than the typical cooking corner of the normal working man’s tenement in Stuttgart—with an attic room and a portion of the cellar for storage, though the Ostheim “ Bühnenkammer ” is often good enough to be used as a bedroom. A limited number of one-room dwellings (with kitchen) are offered where flats are divided, and there are a few four-room dwellings in the larger corner houses. The rents which rule at Ostheim for accommodation of a very superior kind are from £5 8s. to £7 4s. per annum (2s. Id. to 2s. 9d. per week) for one room with kitchen ; £9, £ll, £12, and £13 per annum (2s. 5d., 4s. 3<A, 4s. 7d. and 5s. per week) for two rooms with kitchen and appurtenances ; and from £13 to £20 per annum (5s. to 7s. 8d. per week) for three rooms, with the same adjuncts ; the higher rents in each case being for the lower stories. Dwellings of equal size and quality in private hands cost 40 per cent. more. These houses can also be bought by the occupants on easy terms, subject to conditions suggested by the purpose of their builders. That the Ostheim colony houses are appreciated is proved by the fact that there is never any lack of tenants, though they are situated at a considerable distance from the centre of the town. STUTTGART. 475 But the three colonies are only one branch of the Association’s work. It maintains on business lines a model boarding house for single workmen (“Arbeiterheim”), of whom several hundreds are received during a year and lodged for an average period of eight months, though many of them have made the place their fixed home for years. As a rule two lodgers share a room, and the price of a bed is Is. 4d. and Is. 6d. per week. A People’s Kitchen—an eating-house at which cheap nutritious food is sold to the extent of 120,000 meals a year—a creche, at which from 45 to 60 infants are received daily, a public library, a playground, and a kindergarten for the special benefit of Ostheim householders, a nurse for women in childbirth, and the regular free distribution of milk throughout the year to needy families are among the Association’s other practical philanthropies, in support of which ample funds are always at disposal. A Building Society of the “ public utility ” type has also erected a large number of houses for working people in Cannstatt and Untertiirkheim. The rent of a two-room tenement with kitchen is about £10 16s. per annum (4s. 2d. per week) and of a three-room tenement with kitchen £15 5s. per annum (5s. 1 Od. per week), rents that are 15 and 20 per cent, below the general average of private dwellings. Retail Prices. Groceries and other Commodities. ‘ Stuttgart has not yet established covered markets on a large scale, though the municipality contemplates enterprise in this direction. The only public market building is small and was not erected for its present purpose. It is open for the sale of meat daily, though the butchers’ stalls are few. For other commodities the market days are Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The greater part of the trade in country produce is done in open spaces allotted to the market-women from the surrounding districts. The Wurtemberg grocer does a more general trade than the grocer of Bavaria, For example, it is almost always possible to obtain cheese and butter in grocers’ shops instead of having to buy them from special dealers. Milk is for the most part sold in dairies, small and large, but many milk carts carry on a street and house-to-house trade. The coffee most consumed costs from 11 d. to Is. Id. per lb. Coffee substitutes are sold in considerable quantity, but the glazed or sugared bean coffee which has a great vogue in some parts of North Germany does not appear to have commended itself to the Swabian. Like the South German generally, the Stuttgart working-man is no great consumer of butter, the price of which is almost stationary at about Is. 2d. per lb. He eats his brown or black bread dry, though with the addition of thin slices of sausage or cheese. Limburg, made in squares or blocks (whence the name “ Backstein ” or “brick” cheese), is the cheese mostly eaten; the consumption of Swiss cheese is comparatively small in working-class households. I here is no great market for margarine, and the best quality at 8^d. per lb., was, in October, 1905, the only one in demand. The staple bread is a mixture of rye and’wheat, which bakes both dark and lighter in colour, according to the quality of the flour, and is sold in long rounded loaves 2 and 5 lb. in weight. A 4-lb. loaf of such bread cost 5|d. The so-called “ black ” bread, mostly or altogether of rye, cost 4|d. per 4-lb. loaf. The best wheaten bread cost Q^d, per 4 lb., but it is seldom eaten by working people. The local Guild of Bakers fixes the price of bread in the retail trade according to the fluctuations in the price of corn, but the Co-operative Society bakes its own bread, and sells according to its own tariff. Wurtemberg is an important beer-producing country, but in the Stuttgart district two other drinks are very popular. One is the red and white wine, grown oc the surrounding hills and terraces, and the other is cider, produced from a somewhat deteriorated strain of apple. Cider may be regarded as the distinctive local beverage of the working classes, and in every cellar may be seen several barrels in store. Several hundred litres (100 litres being about 22 gallons) are a family’s average year’s supply—for the cider will keep that time if properly 3 0 2 29088 476 STUTTGART. prepared—and the working classes are not alone in stocking it. It is supposed to be an unfermented fruit juice, but its taste can be very insipid. A sparkling perry, to which the name champagne is given, is also made in large quantities from a small pear. Coke is the universal fuel at Stuttgart. It is delivered in large panniers containing a hundredweight, at about from Is. 7^d. to Is. 8§d. per cwt., with a slight reduction when half a ton is bought. As working-class families often have cellar storage for fuel such large purchases are common. Coal is hardly used at all ; the price is Is. 7j¡d. to Is. 8%d. per cwt. for nuts, and 2s. 2^d. for anthracite. A considerable quantity of wood is burned. The following Table summarises the prices for the chief commodities other than meat in October, 1905, and July, 1906, when the town was visited for the purpose of this inquiry :— Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and July, 1906. Commodity. Predominant Price. October, 1905. July, 1906. Coffee Sugar :— Loaf White Granulated Bacon :— Fat Streaky Eggs Cheese :— Limburg Swiss Butter Margarine ... Potatoes Flour (Household) Bread :— Mixed Rye and Wheat <k Black” Rye Milk Coal Coke Paraffin Oil ... per lb. per Is. per lb. per 7 lb. per 4 lb. per quart per cwt. per gallon 1 Id. to Is. Id. 2\d. 2\d. 8 £(7. to 9£(7. 8£(7. to 9p7. 14 to 15 54(7. to 6^(7. lid. Is. 2p7. 8£(7. 2\d. Is. 1# 5£(7. 4# 2\d. Is. l\d. to Is. 8£(7. Is. 74(7. to Is. 8f(7. 10(7. 11(7. to Is. 1(7. 2W. 24(7. 8K. 81(7. to 8f(7. 14 to 17 51» (7. to 6(7. 11(7. Is. 24(7. 8§(7. 3(7. to 3|(7. Is. 1|(7. to Is. 2^(7. 5# 4# 2&(7. Is. 8f(7. to Is. 9j(7. Is. l\d. to Is. 8|(7. 10(7. to 10^(7. The co-operative movement has obtained a strong hold in Stuttgart and the neighbouring small towns, and between the stores and the private traders very strained relationships exist. The Central Co-operative Society at Stuttgart has 20 shops, and the Cannstatt Society has seven shops ; the former society has a membership of 24,000, one half being industrial workpeople, and the latter a membership of 2,900. The success of the stores has called into existence a counter-movement on the part of the shopkeepers. Several hundreds of these, representing 80 branches of business, have united in a Discount Association, the object of which is to attract the smaller consumer from the stores and large warehouses of the “ universal provider” type by the offer of a discount on all cash purchases above a minimum of 20 Pfennige or 2|(7., the return being roughly 5 per cent. The discount is not given at the time, but takes the form of stamps whose face value is that of the purchase made. These stamps are affixed to a book provided for the purpose, and when 1,000 stamps of 20 Pfennige, 200 stamps of 1 mark (100 Pfennige), 20 stamps of 10 marks, or any combination of these tokens making up the same aggregate, have been affixed, a discount of 10 marks is paid in cash at the Central Office. Purchases may be made at the shop of any member of the association, so that the system of discounts covers the entire range of household needs, and affords consumers a wide choice of tradespeople. The same system has been introduced in other towns of Wurtemberg, and the interests of the tradespeople so united are further STUTTGART. 477 promoted by a “ Wurtemberg League for Trade and Industry,” whose object it is “ to combat in all legal ways the injurious excrescences of economic life, and especially the co-operative stores, hawking and travelling in the retail trade, itinerant cheap-jacks, the warehouses, and the contract system.” Both the co-operators and the private traders publish small newspapers which energetically advocate their respective theories of trade. Meat. The one public market hall of Stuttgart is so small, and the provision made within it for the sale of meat so limited, that as a centre of distribution it is of little consequence as compared with the butchers’ shops which are to be found :'n every important street. It is not the general rule for butchers to do an all-round trade in fresh meat ; the best butchers confine themselves to beef, mutton, and veal ; many butchers do not sell mutton at all, and pork is largely sold in special shops devoted entirely to that meat, both fresh and cured, or prepared in the form of sausage. The slaughter-house, through which all the meat exposed for sale must pass,is in private hands. It is here, however, that the official veterinary inspection of animals intended for food takes place, an inspection which is thorough and affords the public every reasonable guarantee against injury. The grazing districts of \\ urtemberg supply Stuttgart with a very large proportion of its flesh food, except in the case of beef, of which much comes from Bavaria through the markets of Munich and Nuremberg ; during 1905 Austria also sent a considerable number of live cattle to Stuttgart, but since the introduction of the new Customs Tariff this source of supply has been cut off. Mutton comes from various parts of Wurtemburg and also from Bavaria. The pork is largely of home production, but some comes from North Germany. The veal is likewise of Wurtemberg origin. Yet the Stuttgart working classes are not great meat eaters; as in Wurtemberg generally, farinaceous food, in the form of puddings and especially dumplings, takes the place on the dinner and supper table which in North Germany is given to meat and meat preparations. Of mutton, as in most parts of Germany, hardly any is eaten—a certain prejudice appears to be the explanation ­ ; and fish is even more disregarded. It is a notable fact that the mutton consumed in Stuttgart does not form 3 per cent, of the entire flesh food which passes yearly through the abattoir. The meat consumption of Stuttgart, including fowl and game, averaged over the whole population, amounted in 1900, when the maximum was reached, to 147*8 lb. per head; in 1903 it was 143 lb. per head; in 1904 it was 140*8 lb. per head ; and in 1905 the consumption was estimated at 125 5 lb. per head, though the data for calculation are no longer so exact since the abolition of the municipal tax on meat in April of the latter year. Imported sausage is not included in this estimate. An analysis of 156 returns of weekly meat consumption obtained for the purpose of the present report from working-class families, containing 655 persons, showed a weekly consumption per head of 201 ounces, which would mean a little over 67 lb. a year. Of the meat consumed 42 per cent, was beef, 19 per cent, pork and bacon, and 27 per cent, sausage. The Stuttgart working man has other peculiarities in the matter of his meat diet. He will not eat fat and he has a rooted aversion to minced meat, which in North Germany is the principal ingredient in several dishes and especially in fricandedles and a highly-seasoned dish known as “German steak.” The fat rejected in the butcher’s shop is melted down and serves culinary purposes in other ways. Smoked bacon is seldom eaten raw in Wurtemberg, because it is not thoroughly cured, whether fat or streaky. Such streaky bacon as is so eaten is not of local origin, but comes either from the Black Forest or North Germany, though also in a less degree from the Swabian Alp, a mountain district between the Neckar and the Danube, the “ country bacon ” (Bauernspeck) from which has a high reputation. In Stuttgart as in some parts of Bavaria it is customary to charge a uniform price for most cuts of meat, whether beef, mutton, veal, or pork. The only 478 STUTTGART. exceptions in the case of beef are steak and head, which represent the maximum and minimum figures ; in the case of mutton, chops ; and in the case of pork, chops and the portions smoked. Subject to these exceptions beef sold in October, 1905, at from 7fd. to 8fd. per lb. ; mutton at from l\d. to 9^6?. ; and pork 9\d. ; veal ranged from to $\d. ; beef steak cost from 1W. to D. Id. per lb., but it is never found on the working-man’s table. Ham was sold at from Is. to Is. Id. per lb., but the popular demand is very small. Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and July, 1906. Description of Cut. Beef :— Ribs Silverside Shin, with bone ... Steak ... ... Flank Mutton :— Leg ... ... Shoulder ... Breast Neck Chops (trimmed) Veal :— Hind-quarter Shoulder, with bone Loin ... ... Pork :— Cured Ham Fore Loin... Belly Spare Rib Chops Predominant price per lb October, 1905. l\d. to 8|d. 71d. to 8fd. 7 id. to 8fcZ. Il3. to Is. W. 7§d. to 8fd. 7|d. to l\d. to 9|d 71d. to 9\d. 7-fd. to 9\d. lid. to Is. Id. 81 d. to 9\d. 8|d. to 9fd. 81d. to 9\d. Is. to Is. Id. 9^d. 9^d. 9fd. 9^d. July, 1906. 8fd. to 9fd. 8fd. to 9|d. 8fd. to 8fd. Is. Id. 8fd. to 8|d. 7fd. to 9|d. 7fd. to 9|d. 7|d. to 9|d 7|d. to 9|d. lid. to Is. Id. 9¿d. 91d. 91d. lid. to Is. 8#d. 8# 8*d. 8# Fewer horses are killed for food in Stuttgart relatively to its population than in some North German towns. The number of horses which underwent veterinary inspection for this purpose in 1904 was 215, and in 1905, 284, representing a deadweight of 55 and 72 tons respectively, or between half and three-quarters of a pound per head of the population. Recently there has been an increase in the cost of various articles of food, and especially meat, bread and milk, in the kingdom generally. The Wurtemberg State Statistical Bureau in 1907 made a calculation as to the extra cost caused to normal households consisting of five persons (husband, wife, and three children, not adults), owing to the higher prices of these three articles in December, 1905, and in September, 1906, as compared with the average for the years 1901-1904. Assuming that a family of this size consumed yearly 572 lb. of meat, in equal proportions of beef and pork, 1,100 lb. of rye bread, and 642 quarts of milk, the following comparison was worked out :— Estimated yearly Expenditure per family of 5 persons. Meat Bread Milk Total •September, 1906. £ S. d. 21 1 0 6 0 11 5 16 2 32 18 1 £ s. d. 19 17 5 5 19 4 5 13 7 31 10 4 December, 1905. Average for 1901-1904. £ S. d. 17 7 2 5 16 4 5 7 5 28 10 11 STUTTGART. 479 The investigation extended to 39 townships, and the expenditure on these articles of food was estimated to be £4 7 s. 2d: (15*4 per cent.) per family more in 1906 than in 1901-1904. The advance in prices would appear to have affected Stuttgart more particularly in regard to meat. The Statistical Bureau has also published comparative retail prices of meat, obtained from over 50 towns, during the years 1901-1906, and the following fluctuations were shown by those for Stuttgart, which were throughout higher than the average prices for the whole country :— Retail Prices per lb. in Stuttgart. Year. 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 Ox beef. d. 8 8 8 it Cow beef. d. 7 I 8 8* Veal. d. 8 8* 1 Pork. d. 8 1 Mutton. d. ; 7 n It will be noticed that a rise is shown in pork in 1906, whereas the returns obtained by the investigator in July, 1906, showed a fall. The apparent discrepancy ­ is explained by the fact that the figures of the State Statistical Bureau are yearly averages. The market prices collected by the Stuttgart Municipal Statistical Office show that the price of pork fell in May of that year from 9^d. to 8|<i. per lb., but advanced again in September to 9Jd., the average for the year being 9d. Representing prices at Berlin by 100, the corresponding figures for Stuttgart are 107 for meat and 102 for other food, the result of combining these two figures, due regard being paid to their relative importance, being 103. The high price of fuel, however, with its index-number of 137, has the effect of raising the general prices index-number to 108, a figure which is exceeded by only three of the towns included in the present inquiry. Combining this high prices index-number with the exceptionally high index-number for rents, a resultant index-number amounting to 106 is obtained, which would indicate that the cost of living at Stuttgart is decidedly greater than in any other of the towns investigated. No other town has an index-number greater than 100, the figure which represents the cost of living in Berlin and in Mannheim. 480 ZWICKAU. Zwickau, lhe fifth in importance among the industrial towns of the Kingdom of Saxony and the chief centre of the Saxon coal-mining industry, lies in a valley watered by the Zwickauer Mulde, one of the many small unnavigable rivers which rise in the Erzgebirge and find their way into the Elbe. Like Chemnitz, from which it is about 20 miles distant in a south-westerly direction, the town stands at a considerable height (some 900 feet) above the sea level, and its climate, like that of Chemnitz, is considered somewhat harsh. Of the two towns, Zwickau is, however, the more smoky, owing to a number of the pit-shafts of some of the largest coal mines of the district being well inside the municipal area, and within a few minutes’ walk of the centre of the town ; while some 50 to 60 pit-shafts are being worked within a radius of three or four miles. The existence of coal mines within the urban boundary has rendered large tracts of the town area unsafe for building purposes, with the result that open spaces abound. This, combined with the fact that the municipality owns much of the land in and about the town, has in some degree prevented the place from acquiring the depressing exterior which usually characterises a coal-mining town. Of the whole municipal area, less than one-fifth is built upon, and less than one-fourth is occupied by buildings, streets, roads, and railways combined. Over three-fourths, therefore, consists of open land, and the greater part of this is under crops or timber. The space occupied until the end of the 17th century by a ring of fortifications now forms a clearly-defined circle of wide modern streets, whose names (Schulgraben, Moritzgraben, Schlossgraben r Mühlgraben) perpetuate the memory of the moats which they have superseded. This continuous ring expands at intervals into tree-planted promenades, and forms a line of demarcation between the picturesque old town, with its narrow (but never squalid) streets, and the more prosaic modern town which has grown up around it, with the development of the coal-mining and other industries of the district. The facilities for open-air recreation are ample. The city park, with an area of 104 acres (including 42 acres of ornamental water) occupies a central position, accessible from almost any part of Zwickau in 20 or 25 minutes on foot, or in 10 minutes or less on the electric tramway. The municipality, however, deeming it necessary to make even more ample provision in this respect, has lately bought 300 acres of forest about two and a half miles from the centre of the town (but still within the municipal boundary), and is spending considerable sums in rendering this property attractive as a holiday resort for the people by cutting pathways through the wood, supplying rustic benches, and constructing roads connecting the new park with the inner town. Already the Weissenborner Wald (as this new recreation ground is called) has become by far the most popular place of openair resort for the people of Zwickau. To anyone coming from Chemnitz, or even from the much less populous lace-making town of Plauen, Zwickau appears an exceedingly quiet place, with scarcely any vehicular traffic beyond that of the electric tramways, and with a population from which the industrial working-class element seems curiously absent. This, it would seem, is in part due to the fact that about 12,000, out of a total of some 20,000, industrial wage-earners in Zwickau are coal miners, of whom one-half are sleeping while the other half are on the day-shift. A large proportion ­ of the miners and other industrial workpeople, moreover, have but little occasion to come into the business part of the town except for their purchases, as they live in one or other of the surrounding villages, and go to and from their work on bicycles or by train. The presence of a large official population and of a numerous as well as prosperous trading community, too, has prevented the town from acquiring a very pronounced industrial aspect. There are, for instance, in Zwickau the various offices connected with the seat of a provincial and district government, a provincial court of justice, a factory inspectorate, a mines inspectorate, an inland revenue department, a district railway inspectorate,, a district prison for men (with about 1,000 inmates), and the headquarters of a militia division. The numbers and evident prosperity of the trading population are due tothe position of the town amidst a large group of populous industrial villages whose inhabitants come to Zwickau to make their purchases. There are, in fact, within a radius of about six miles of the town, no less than 54 industrial U m ZWICKAU. 481 villages, with an aggregate population of about 122,000. Thus, as regards the number of his customers, the Zwickau shopkeeper reaps all the advantage which he would enjoy if he were settled in a large town, while his burdens in respect of rent and other working expenses are relatively light. Owing to its elevated position, swept by frequent winds, Zwickau, though by no means free from smoke, is certainly free from the griminess which characterises some coal-mining towns in other parts of Germany ; e.g., Königshütte and Beuthen in Upper Silesia, and Bochum in the Rhineland. The house-fronts, like those of Chemnitz, are dull, the brick (which is the local building material) being more frequently exposed to view than covered with the painted stucco-work which contributes so much to the brightness of the streets of most German towns. At night the gas-lit streets are but little frequented, and the chief centres of attraction for all classes of the population are the restaurants of various grades as well as the spirit taverns, the latter being much frequented by workmen. The growth of the population of Zwickau has been steady and continuous during the whole period for which a record of its movement exists. In 1834 the place was little more than a village with about 6,000 inhabitants. The population in 1871 and at each subsequent census, together with the inter-censal increases, was as follows :— Year. 1871 1875 1880 1885 1890 1895 1900 1905 Population. 27,322 31,491 35,005 39,243 44,198 50,391 55,830 68,502 Increase. Increase per cent. 4,169 3,514 4,238 4,955 6,193 5,439 12,672 15 3 112 121 12 6 14-0 108 22 7 Part of the increase between the censuses of 1900 and 1905 was due to the incorporation within the town area of a number of outlying villages aggregating some 9,000 inhabitants. Judging by the figures since 1886 (the earliest year for which it has been possible to procure the requisite data), it would appear that the growth of the population has been due less to immigration than to the regular excess of births over deaths. This is shown by the following table i— Year. 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 Births per 1,000 of Population. 38-7 36- 9 39 0 393 37- 5 40-0 34- 8 35- 1 347 35-3 36 5 370 351 349 35-0 34-4 33- 9 346 34- 4 Deaths per 1,000 of Population. Increase (+) or decrease (—) per 1,000 of Population due to Difference between Birth-rate and Death-rate. 28-7 240 26-0 24-8 26 6 225 26 6 26-0 21-9 23 9 23- 1 24- 7 226 232 23- 3 225 19-8 24- 3 230 + 10-0 + 12-9 + 13-0 + 14-5 + 10-9 + 17-5 + 8-2 + 9-1 + 12-8 + 11-4 + 13-4 + 123 + 12-5 + 11-7 + 11-7 + 11-9 + 14-1 + 10-3 + 11-4 Difference between number of Immigrants and number of Emigrants. + 16-4 + 86 + 8-7 + 7-1 + 10-8 - 1-8 + 20-4 + 19-3 29088 3 P 482 ZWICKAU. Thus, while the increase due to excess of births over deaths has been uninterrupted ­ and fairly regular, and represents an average yearly growth of 12*1 per 1,000 of the population, there have been considerable variations of increase due to migration, the number of emigrants being in two years in excess of the number of immigrants, while the average yearly increase due to this cause has amounted to only 8*8 per 1,000 of the population. Though it has declined in recent years, the rate of infant mortality in this town is still high. During the five years 1902-6, the deaths of infants under one year old corresponded to a rate of 265 among every 1,000 children born, as againsk 297 in the previous five years, 294 in 1892-6, and 286 in 1887-91. Besides the gas, water and electricity supply, the Municipality of Zwickau owns some 1,450 acres of land, of which one half lies outside the urban area. Much of this land (including 316 acres within the urban area) is let for agricultural purposes, and yielded in 1904 some £2,000 in agricultural rents. Occupations, Wages, and Hours oe Labour. Compared with the coal-mining industry, which furnishes employment for some 12,000 workpeople in Zwickau, all the other local industries seem of minor importance, for, taken together, they employ no more than 8,400 workpeople, including 2,700 women and girlsj These 8,400 workpeople are distributed among 586 factories and workshops, of which only 246 employ power-driven machinery. Among the latter the most important are engaged in steel manufacture, iron founding, machine construction (chiefly for coal-mining purposes)!, the manufacture of miners’ safety lamps, automobiles, britanniametal ware, porcelain, earthenware, bricks, tiles and window glass, carriages and vans. The number of workpeople engaged in each of these various industries cannot be stated, as no statistical records are kept by the authorities in an accessible form. As might be expected, having regard to the preponderance of coal-mining among the local industries, a large proportion of the organised workers of Zwickau are coal-miners. This is shown by the subjoined table, classifying, according to groups of trades, the membership of the unions affiliated to the Zwickau Trades Council in 1906. Group of Trades. Building Goal-mining... Metalworking and engineering Textile trades Clothing Printing and allied trades Woodworking Food and tobacco trades ... Pottery, earthenware and glass Other trades Total Membership of Trade Unions. 1,059 2,690 1,331 575 117 173 231 229 152 618 7,175 Among a total of 7,175 organised workpeople therefore, 2,690 or 37 per cent, are coal-miners, and this proportion may be taken as being approximately the same as that which the general body of coal-miners bears to the total number of industrial workpeople in the town. Up to the present the efforts of the trade unions to overcome the opposition of local employers towards wages and hours agreements have met with no ZWICKAU. success, so that except in the printing trade, in which the conditions of labour are governed by an agreement which covers practically the whole of the German Empire, there are no such things as standard rates of wages in Zwickau. Moreover, outside the building trades, practically all the skilled workpeople are employed on the piece-wage system, so that for purposes of comparison with the standard weekly rates obtaining in the United Kingdom it has been necessary ' to ascertain from employers’ pay-sheets the amount earned in a full week exclusive of overtime. The wages returned for the coal-mining industry have been furnished by the Association of Coalowners, which exists for the purposes of insuring the miners against accidents, ahd to which each of the affiliated coalowners is obliged to send in periodical statements of the time worked and wages earned by every insurable person employed in or about the mine. In this case, it should be added, the wages of any given group of workmen represent not, as in the other industries, the amount most frequently earned by the men in that group, but the average earnings, calculated by dividing the total wages bill for that group in 1905 by the total number of shifts worked in the same year. The resulting average earnings per shift is then multiplied by six to obtain the average earnings in a full week. This figure, however, represents the net earnings after deducting the statutory contributions (from 9d. to Is. per week) for sickness and old-age insurance, while in all the other trades the wages represent the gross amount, before making these deductions. The regular duration of the shift is 10 hours for pitmen and 12 for surfacemen as well as for the smiths, fitters, masons, carpenters, and stokers employed in and about the mines. The 10 and 12 hour shifts represent 9 and 10 hours of actual work respectively after deducting intervals for meals. Subject to the foregoing reservations, the figures in the following table may ' be taken as representing the predominant wages earned and usual hours of labour worked by adult workmen in a full week in the principal industries of Zwickau at October, 1905 :— Wages and Hours of Labour in the Principal Occupations, October, 1905. Predominant Weekly Wages. Usual Weekly Hours of Labour (exclusive of Meal Times). Building Trade** — Masons and Bricklayers Carpenters Painters Stucco Workers Labourers ... ' ••• Coal-mining:— Hewers Putters and Trammers Timberers Stokers Buddlers and Washers Steel Works .— First Men at Cupola Furnace ... Second Men at Cupola Furnace First Converter Men Second Converter Men First Founders , Second Founders Labourers... 1lolling Mills : — First Rollers Second Rollers First Furnacemen Second Furnacemen Catchers... Adjusters Labourers 24s. 22s. to 24s. 24s. . 24s. Id. » . 17s. . 20s. 15s. id. 20s. id. 19s. Id. 16s. 10(7. 49s. 31s. 49s. 36s. 42s. 36s. 21s. 45s. 42s. 55s. 39s. 31s. 24s. 17s. 60-65.V 60-654 60 60 60-65& 54 60 60 summer. The wages and hours of labour stated for the building trades are for a full week in 3 P S 29088 484 ZWICKAU. Predominant Weekly Wages. Usual Weekly Hours of Labour (exclusive of Meal Times). Engineering and Metal Working :— ( Machine Making ; Automobile Manufacture 1 Miners’ Safety Lamp Manufacture '.Carriage and Van Works I Machine Making Automobile Manufacture Carriage and Van Works ( Machine Making ( Automobile Manufacture Í Machine Making Automobile Manufacture ( Carriage and Van Works Britannia Metal-ware Manufacture ... { Machine Making Automobile Manufacture Miners’ Safety Lamp Manufacture Carriage and Van Works Printing Trades :— Hand Compositors, Machine Minders and Pressmen. Fitters Turners Patternmakers ­ Smiths ... Machine Compositors j j^^inf 20s. to 21s. 23s. 5d. 21 s. 20s. 22s. 28s. 26s. 21s. to 23s. 24s. 21s., 22s. 20s. 5d. 27s. 20s. to 24s. 16s. „ 18s. 16s. 15s. to 20s. 18s. 24s. 2d. 30s. 3d. 31s. 5d. 62-63 60 62 66 62-63 60 66 62-63 60 62-63 60 66 66-68 62-63 60 62 66 54 48 54 Pottery ware and Brickmaking Hollowware Makers Hollowware Makers (Assistants) Throwers... ... Drain-pipe Pressers Putters-in and Takers-out Clay pit Workers Brick and Tile Makers ... Earthenware Loaders ... Labourers... ... 36s. 28s. 6d. 27s. 22s. 24s. 20s. 21s. 18s. 14s. 5d 60 Porcelain Making :— Turners ... Painters ... Firemen 32s. 31s. 24s. 58-60 Sheet Glass Making :— Blowers ... Glassmakers Labourers ... 44s. 6d. to 62s. 4d. 20s. „ 30s. 17s. „ 20s. 39 39 66 From the above it can be seen that wages are very low ; even for skilled labour, wages of more than 30s. a week are quite exceptional and only to be found among certain select groups of men whose occupations require exceptional skill, combined, as a rule, with ability to bear severe physical strain, as for instance, the leading men at the furnaces and converters in steel 'works and rolling mills, the hollow-ware makers in pottery works, the turners in porcelain making, and the blowers in glass works. In the staple industry of this place —coal-mining—the best paid groups of pit labour—the hewers and timberers— earn no more than £l in a full week of six shifts on the average. Among fitters, turners, patternmakers and smiths in the engineering and cognate trades the majority do not earn more than 235. Most of the skilled men in pottery and porcelain making earn from 2Ls. to 27s., while in the printing trades machine compositors on newspaper work may be regarded as highly paid with 305. 3d. for 48 hours. Among unskilled labourers the best paid are those employed at the steel works at 215. for a full week. Elsewhere the wages of unskilled labourers in private enterprise range between 145. 5d. and 175. Taking wages at Berlin as 100, the corresponding figures for Zwickau are—for the building trades, 68 for skilled men and 66 for labourers ; for the engineering trades, 65 for skilled men and 78 for labourers ; and for the printing trades, 86. ZWICKAU. 485 Except in respect to regularity of employment the conditions of labour among workpeople employed by the municipality do not appear to be more favourable than those offered in private enterprise. Workmen employed by the municipality have, as a rule, a working week of 65 or 66 hours. Unskilled men (including road makers, road sweepers and labourers in the waterworks and gasworks) are paid from 16& 2d. to 17s. 2d. per week. Very few skilled workmen are employed by the municipality. Of the few who are attached to the electrical works, the majority are paid from 21s. to 22s. 9d. per week. Housing and Kents. The majority of the working classes of Zwickau being dependent upon the coal-mining industry, whatever is typical of the housing conditions of those classes is to be found in the southern and south-eastern parts of the town, where the collieries are situated, and where there are many streets (or it would be more correct to say “ roads,” for considerable intervals occur between the various blocks of houses) inhabited almost exclusively by working-class families. Subject to the foregoing qualification, however, Zwickau is like any other German town where the whole population is housed in fiats, inasmuch as working-class tenements are not confined to any particular localities, though there are certain streets (more especially in the neighbourhood of the city park) which may be termed fashionable, and where none but the official, professional and well-to-do trading classes can afford to live. Factory operatives, miners and craftsmen are to be found in considerable numbers even in the centre of the old town, for the most part in houses which cannot well be used as business premises, partly owing to their being situated in very narrow streets, and partly owing to the limited accommodation afforded by the two storeys of which so many of them consist, for these houses date from the time when Zwickau was little more than a village. That some of the occupants of the tenements in these old city houses should be colliers is not surprising in a town where there are several pit shafts at work within a mile of the municipal offices, and within less than half a mile of the “ fashionable ” neighbourhood around the city park. As might be expected, too, those who prefer to live in the middle of the old town have to put up with housing conditions which cannot be regarded as typical of present-day Zwickau, and which contrast very unfavourably with what can be procured for the same or a lower rent in any of the extensive suburban districts which are so open and so easy of access in Zwickau. There are no official statistics showing the proportions in which the total— much less the working-class—population of Zwickau is distributed among tenements of different sizes ; but all the evidence procurable on the spot points to the conclusion that the great majority of working-class families are housed in tenements of three rooms. Thus, inquiries made for the purpose of this report, by the local police at 1,774 working-class tenements in all parts of the town, showed that 633 consisted of two rooms, 974 of three rooms, and 167 of four rooms. Similarly, a schedule distributed for the same purpose by the Secretary of the local Federation of Trade Unions among the various affiliated organisations, showed that of a total of 496 workmen’s families who sent in replies, 126 lived in two rooms, 280 in three rooms, and 90 in four rooms. The fact that the attic floor of practically every house in Zwickau is divided into a number of small wooden-partitioned garrets, corresponding to the number of tenements available in the rest of the house, and that one such garret is usually let with each tenement, gave rise at times to uncertainty as to the number of rooms of which a tenement should be held to consist. There was no alternative but to let the occupier in each case decide, he being asked not to count a garret as a " room ” unless it was used (or capable of being used) as a bedroom. It may be well to add that garrets are not, as in Chemnitz, a compulsory adjunct to a dwelling. Their dimensions seldom exceed 12 feet by 6, or just sufficient for two beds so placed that the head of the one touches the foot of the other. Many of them are much smaller and are used as lumber rooms. 486 ZWICKAU. Fair samples of the housing conditions of the working classes who reside in the inner town, are to be met with in the Endgasse and the Magazinstrasse. These two streets had in October, 1906, a total of 468 inhabitants in 39 two-storeyed houses of the cottage type, dating from more than a century ago. On inspection the rooms were found to be dark, the ceilings low, and the air very oppressive, though the latter defect was apparently due, not so much to the lack of facilities for ventilation, as to the tenant’s anxiety to economise fuel by allowing as little as possible of the stove-generated heat to escape. Most of the tenements consisted of three rooms, let at rents which ranged from 2s. Id. to 3s. per week. One of the three rooms was in each case in the attic, and capable of being used as a bedroom. In one of these tenements in the Endgasse the living room, which also served as kitchen, measured 17 feet by 12 and was badly lighted by two small windows looking into the street. The adjoining bedroom measured 17 feet by 9 and had a single window overlooking a small yard at the back. The height from floor to ceiling in these rooms was slightly over 9 feet. A single closet (without flushing tank) was provided for the use of the three families residing in the house, and was situated in the back yard. Water was drawn from a tap fixed in a corner of the passage outside each tenement. The rent was 135 marks per annum, which corresponds to a weekly rent of 2s. Id. In the Magazinstrasse, an adjoining street, a similar tenement cost 150 marks per annum or 3s. per week, though the rooms were in every way smaller ; thus the main living room (also serving as kitchen) and the adjoining bedroom were each only 13 feet by 6 and the ceilings were not more than 7g feet from the floor. A two-roomed tenement in either of these streets could be had at as low a figure as 96 marks per annum or about Is. 10d. per week, but the nature of the accommodation was very inferior and not likely to meet the requirements of any but the poorest of the working classes. In one of these tenements in the Endgasse, each of the two rooms measured 13J by 6J feet, and a man of middle height, standing on the floor, could touch the ceiling with his extended hand. With regard to two-roomed tenements generally, it is noticeable that they are hardly to be found in any but the oldest houses, either in the inner town or in those parts of the suburbs which were formerly separate hamlets, and have since been incorporated in the municipal area. In the extreme northern suburb of Pölbitz, for instance, there are many old-fashioned cottages of rural appearance in the Thurmerstrasse where two good rooms may be had for 100 marks per annum or Is. 11 d. per week. The dwellings inhabited by colliers in the southern and eastern suburbs, however, represent the predominant types of working-class tenements in Zwickau at the present time They are to be found in blocks of three or four storied houses, built at somewhat wide and irregular intervals along certain of the main roads in the south-eastern and south-western suburbs. The windows of these houses generally command an extensive view of open country in which the winding gear of pit shafts with adjoining mounds of colliery refuse are the most prominent landmarks. The absence of forecourts or gardens to separate the house-blocks from the road produces a somewhat dreary effect, though gardens are cultivated at the back, as a rule by the occupants of the groundfloor tenements. The houses in the P< Mauerstrasse, a road leading eastward past a number of coal mines, are typical of the conditions in which the less prosperous of the working-class population are housed. One of the upper floors of a typical house contains six rooms, occupied by three families, each of whom has two of these rooms .together with a small room in the attic used for sleeping, and each pays a yearly rent of 120 marks or about 2s. 4d. per week. The living room of each tenement is entered direct from the stair landing, there being no intervening vestibule. This is regarded as a drawback, and in all houses of more modern construction each tenement has its own vestibule, however small. One of the tenements has two front rooms ; one has two back rooms, while one has a front room and a back room. All the rooms are well lighted, there being a total of twelve windows for the six rooms. Under ordinary circumstances there would be only ten windows, but in this case, the house being at the end of the block, two of the rooms have an extra side window each. All the rooms are of fair dimensions ; those in front measure approximately 15J by 13 feet while those ZWICKAU. 487 at the back are somewhat smaller. The height from floor to ceiling is in every case 9J feet. Thus every tenement is well supplied not only with daylight but with all needful facilities for ventilation as well. That the latter are fully appreciated ­ seems doubtful, for here, as in the inner town, the air is oppressive, though this may to some extent be due to the absence of flushing tanks in the closets, of which there are three (drained into cesspools) on each landing. No cellar space is provided, and the tenants have to store their fuel and potatoes in sheds situated in the yard at the back of the building, where there is also a wash-house for the use of the tenants in common. As regards the housing conditions available for the more prosperous of the working classes of Zwickau, the Reichenbacherstrasse in the south-east may be taken as typical. This road, like the Pöhlauerstrasse, runs through a district in which a number of coal mines are being worked, and, at the time of the writer’s visit, comprised 138 houses with a total of 2,845 inhabitants, including, besides coal-miners, a considerable number of operatives working in a neighbouringearthenware factory. Most of the houses are of recent construction and built in blocks of two or three, rising direct from the footway without any intervening forecourt, while a considerable space intervenes between block and block. The entrance is usually at the back where there are gardens and a view of open country, the character of which is in a state of transition from the rural to the suburban. Most of the houses are four stories high and contain two families on each floor, each having a three-roorned tenement. The fact that each flat has a vestibule of its own, shut off from the general landing, is considered a mark of superiority, and this arrangement has, amongst others, the practical advantage of preventing ­ the penetration into the rooms of objectionable effluvia from the landings, on each of which are two closets (without flushing tanks). The rooms are of fair dimensions and amply provided with windows to admit light and air. The water supply is in the kitchen. The garret let with each tenement is in these houses too small to be used otherwise than as a lumber room. Each tenant of a flat has a locked compartment in the cellar space and is entitled to use the loft for drying laundry. The yard at the back of each house contains a wash-house for the tenants in common. The three-roomed flats are let for 180 marks per annum or, say, 3s. W. per week, which may be taken as the rent most frequently paid for what is locally regarded as a superior modern three-roomed dwelling suitable for a working-class tenant. Many tenants of this class, it will be understood, occupy three-roomed dwellings superior to these and pay rents up to 4s. 3d. per week for the accommodation. Similarly, at the other end of the scale are many families living in three-roomed tenements inferior to those in the Pöhlauerstrasse described above and paying rents as low as Is. 2d. per week. Thus, of 974 three-roomed dwellings of which the rents were ascertained for purposes of the present inquiry, 194 were being let at rents lower than those of the somewhat inferior houses in the Pöhlauerstrasse (2s. 4d. per week), while 139 were being let at rents higher than those of the somewhat superior houses in the Reichenbacherstrasse (3s. 6d. per week). For 641 or 66 per cent., therefore, of all the working-class dwellings of three rooms covered by this inquiry the rents ranged from 2s. 4d. to 3s. 6d. per week. Within these limits the largest group were let at a rent of 2s. 11 d. per week, which figure may be taken as fairly representing the rent of an average three-roomed tenement in Zwickau. Predominant Rents of Working-Class Dwellings. Number of Rooms per Tenement. Two rooms ... Three rooms Predominant Weekly Rent. 2s. to 2s. id. 2s. id. to 3s. 6(7. These rents, it will be seen, are very low ; rents at Berlin being taken as equal to 100, those at Zwickau would be represented by the figure 38, 4 88 ZWICKAU. It will be understood that no element of local rates other than water rate, is comprised in the rents quoted for Zwickau. Here, as in other parts of Germany, taxation for local purposes takes the form of an income tax levied as an additional percentage of the State income tax. In Zwickau this ratio is 130 per cent. The amount payable in respect of local income tax on certain rates of income in Zwickau is shown below :— * Income Class. Amount of Tax. £ S. Over 20 0 » 25 0 ,, 30 0 „ 35 0 „ 40 0 „ 47 10 „ 55 0 » 62 10 „ 70 0 „ 80 0 „ 95 0 £ s. tip to 25 0 „ 30 0 ,, 35 0 » 40 0 „ 47 10 „ 55 0 » 62 10 „ 70 0 » 80 0 „ 95 0 „ 110 0 £ s. d. 0 14 0 2 7 0 3 11 0 5 2 0 9 1 0 13 0 0 16 11 1 0 10 16 0 1 13 10 2 6 10 In conclusion, it may be stated that, so far, Zwickau does not appear to have been seriously troubled with the problem of housing, the supply of small dwellings having always kept pace with the demand. Ko municipal housing schemes have therefore been undertaken. Retail Prices. The only local circumstance deserving of mention as calculated to affect the retail prices paid by the working classes of Zwickau for their household provisions, is the presence of a flourishing co-operative society with 13 branch stores and a membership—almost entirely working class—of about 6,300, which may be taken to represent a population of some 20,000 persons. The sales of this society during the twelvemonth ended June 30th, 1905, amounted to £130,000, which, it should be added, includes £9,600 representing beer sold at two restaurants owned by the society, £4,900 representing boots and shoes, and £750 in respect of sales (chiefly of bread) effected through a number of small shopkeepers, wdio issue coupons to purchasers similar to those issued at the society’s branch stores, and redeemable by the society on the same terms. It does not appear on the whole that the prices charged at the co-operative stores are lower than those of the private shopkeepers. Bread is a notable exception however. The ordinary household rye bread, which the society sold at the rate of 18^ pfennige per kilogram (or, say, id. per 4 lbs.), cost at the ordinary baker’s shops from 23 to 26 pfennige (or, say, 5^ä. per 4 lbs.). Ko statutory weight is prescribed for the loaf in Zwickau, so that a rise in price takes the form of a reduction in weight of the loaf and vice versa. For sugar (a white granulated variety known as Melis) the co-operative society actually charged more than did the private dealers, by whom they alleged that it was being sold as a “ leading article ” at a loss in order to attract custom. The same is true of paraffin. The co-operative society, it should be added, paid its members a dividend of 11 per cent, on their purchases in the year ended June 30th, 1906. Groceries and other Commodities. The prices most usually paid by the working classes of Zwickau at October, 1905, and October, 1906, for some of their principal household provisions, other than butchers’ meat, are shown in the subjoined table, which is based on the verbal statements of 15 shopkeepers and retail dealers in different parts of the town. It will be seen that there was very little change in the price of groceries between the two dates. ZWICKAU. 489 Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and October, 1906. Predominant Price. Commodity. Coffee ... ... ... Sugar (White granulated) Bacon :— Fat Streaky Eggs Cheese (Limburg) Butter ... Potatoes Flour :— Wheat Bye ... ... Bread, Rye Milk Coal Paraffin Oil per lb. per Is. per lb. per 7 lbs. per 4 lbs. per qt. per cwt. per gallon October. 1905. 11 d. 2d. lid. lid. 17 4|d. Is. 2\d. 2#. 11 \d. to Is. 31d. 11 \d. 5jd. 2#. lOfd. lOd. October, 1906. lid. 2d., 2\d. lid. lid. 17 5 \d. Is. 2#. 2\d. 11#. to Is. 3# 11# 5jd. 2§d. ll|d. lOd. The coffee most generally bought by workpeople is the cheapest sort labelled " Santos,” “ Guatemala,” or “ Campinas,” or else a mixture of “ Campinas ­ ” and " Caracas.” Partly for economy and partly as a matter of taste the coffee, before being brewed, is mixed with malted barley, or some other substitute purchasable at about one-fourth the price of the real article. With regard to bacon, what has been stated of other German towns (e.g., Dresden, Barmen, Königsberg) is also true of Zwickau ; only flank or belly pieces are made into bacon. What is known in England as “ back of bacon ” is not sold, the fat being cut from the back and disposed of separately (either smoked or green) as “ fetter speck.” In this form (of pure fat) it fetches the same price (lid. per lb.) as streaky bacon, and is used for giving body to various dishes of cooked vegetables, such as cabbage, beans, &c., or to soup. The lean portion of the back is sold fresh as pork chops. Butter is a somewhat important item in the family budget of the working classes in Zwickau, as in Saxony generally. Returns furnished for the purposes of the present inquiry by 76 typical workmen’s families in Zwickau showed an average weekly consumption of about 2-£ lbs. of butter and 1 lb. of margarine, the former costing about Is. 2^d., and the latter about Sd. per lb. The price of fresh milk in Zwickau was 20 pfennige the litre, or 2Jd. per quart, as shown in the table. Skimmed milk was sold for 8 pfennige the litre, or about Id. per quart, and the fact that the average cost of the milk consumed by the 76 families referred to above was 13§ pfennige per litre, or about lfd. per quart, would suggest that the cheapness of skimmed milk induces the workingclass wife to use a fair proportion of it. Coal is cheap in Zwickau, yet not so cheap as might be expected having regard to the fact that it is produced on the spot. The cost retail was iOfd. per cwt. in October, 1905, and llfd. in October, 1906. For the families of coal-miners it is much less, for they obtain it at pit-mouth price. Meat. The meat consumed in Zwickau consists entirely of German produce, and its increasing dearness, which is a subject of loud complaint amongst all classes of the population, is reflected in the declining consumption. The total amount of meat eaten in Zwickau in 1905 was 3,679 tons, or 121 lbs. per head of population, a decline of 5 J per cent, as compared with the previous year, when the per capita consumption amounted to 128 lbs. The staple flesh food is pork, which in one form or another represented more than one-half (53 per cent.) of all the meat 3 Q 29088 400 ZWICKAtJ. consumed in 1905. Beef ranks next with 35 per cent, of the total meat consumption. Very little veal, and even less mutton is eaten, the former representing about 8 and the latter 4 per cent, of all butchers’ meat consumed in the town in 1905. In these figures no account is taken of the small consumption of horse, goat, kid and dog flesh, though it is worthy of note that the number of animals of each of these kinds slaughtered for consumption was greater in 1905 than in 1904. Thus 285 horses were slaughtered as against 174 in 1904, 136 kids as against 120, 74 goats as against 51, and 63 dogs as against 26. Returns from 76 working-class families showed an average weekly consumption per head of only a little over 20 ounces, or at the rate of 65 J lbs. a year. Of this, 32 per cent, was pork and bacon, beef amounted to 28 per cent., and sausage to 26 per cent. Veal was 7 per cent, of the total, and mutton 6 per cent. Subjoined is a summary table showing the predominant prices of the various kinds of butchers’ meat in Zwickau at October, 1905, and October, 1906, each quotation being based upon the verbal statement of 15 retail butchers, carrying on business in different parts of the town, whose shops were visited in the course of this inquiry. It will be seen that there was a slight rise during the year in the prices of all kinds of meat. Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and October, 1906. Description of Cut. Predominant Price per lb. October, 1905. October, 1906. Beef :— Ribs Silverside... Sbin i with bone 1 without bone Steak Flank Mutton :— Leg ... ... Shoulder Breast Neck Chops Veal :— Hindquarter Shoulder j Shin ... ... Loin ... ... Pork :— Leg Foreloin ... Belly Spare Rib... Chops 8f¿/. 8\d. to 9\d. not sold. 9fd. to 11 d. 7|d „ 8\d. 9fd. 8|d. to 9|d. 8# 8# 8fe/. to 9|d. 8%d. „ 9Jd. 8|d. „ 9%d. Is. 6fc/. 8Id. to lid. 11 d. 9fd. 8frf. to 9ft/. 9f d. „ 11 d. 9ft/. „ 11 d. 9ft/. to 9ft/. 9ft/. not sold. 11 d. 8ft/. 9ft/. to 11 d. 9ft/. 8ft/. to 9ft/. 8ft/ „ 9ft/. 9ft/. 9ft/. 9ft/. Is. It/. 6# 9ft/. to lit/. 11 d. 9ft/. 9ft/. to 9ft/. 11 d. lit/. With reference to the above table it has to be observed that the prices are those stated by the butchers to be for meat of the quality most generally bought by working-class customers, and it will be understood that the meat sold at those prices is not of the best quality. It has also to be observed that meat can be had at much lower prices at the public meat stall or Freibank, where the carcases of animals which have failed to come up to the standard required by the meat inspector are sent for sale, after being treated in such a way as to render them safe for human consumption. Forty-six tons of meat of this kind was sold at the Freibank in Zwickau in 1905, and it is stated that the demand far exceeds the supply, as shown by the rapidity with which the stocks available on any day are bought up. Of the 46 tons of inferior meat sold at the ZWICKAU. 491 Freibank in 1905, 32 tons consisted of beef, of which about a ton and a half had to be boiled, and half a ton corned or pickled, before being offered for sale. The average price was 5d. a pound. Horse-flesh, which can only be purchased at two shops where no other kind of meat must be sold, is still cheaper. The price for most of the cuts is 5d. per lb., while sausages made from horse-flesh (and sold as such) cost from 3\d. to 6%d., according to quality. The price of meat at Zwickau is high, but the prices of other articles of food are comparatively low, while coal, though cheap, is not so cheap as might be expected. The index numbers are as follows, prices at Berlin being in each case represented by 100 :—Meat, 113 ; other food, 99 ; food as a whole, 102 ; coal, 73 ; and prices generally, 98. The index number for rent and prices combined is 86, which is considerably lower than that for any other town in Saxony. 492 APPENDIX I. WAGES AND HOURS OF LABOUR. Wages and Hours of Labour in the Building Trades. Towns. Aachen ... Aschaffenburg Barmen ... Berlin Bochum ... Bremen ... Breslau ... Brunswick Chemnitz... Gref eld. ... Dantzig ... Dortmund Dresden ... Düsseldorf Elberfeld... Essen Hamburg. Altona Königsberg Königshütte Leipzig ... Magdeburg Mannheim Mülhausen Munich ... Nuremberg Oschersleben Plauen Remscheid Solingen ... Stassfurt... Stettin Stuttgart... Zwickau ... Bricklayers and Masons. Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours of Labour. Carpenters. Weekly Wages. 27 «. 24«. to 25«. 2d. 30 «. 39«. 1 d. 30«. Id. 33«. 9d. 30«. 32«. 5d. 26«. 11 d. 30«. 1 d. 28«. 10 d. 31«. 3d. 29«. Id. 32«. 5d. 30«. 31«. 'àâ. 40«. 2d. 33«. 22«. Id. 32«. bd. 29«. 8d. 30«. 21«. Id. to 25«. 2d. 31«. 2d. 28«. 6d. 22«. Id. 26«. bd. 28«. \U. 31«. 2d. 25«. 6d. 29«. 8d. 27«. 2d 23«. Id. to 24«. 6d. 60 60 60 53* 59 54 60 54 64 59 60 59 58 60 60 59 53& 60 63 54 57 60 60 60 57 59* 66 59 60 60 57 59 65* 22«. 10d. to 27«. 22«. 1 Od. 30«. 8d. 39«. Id. 30«. Id. 33«. 9d. 30«. 31«. 4 d. 26«. 11 d. 30«. Sd. 27«. Id. 31«. 3d. 29«. Id. 34« 2d. 33«. 30«. 1 d. 40«. 2d. 33«. 22«. Id. 32«. bd. 29«. 8d. 27«. 24«. to 24«. Id. 29«. bd. 28«. 6 j. 21«. 7 d. 26«. bd. 29«. 6d. 33«. 25«. bd. 28«. 6d. 27«. 2d. 23«. Id. to 24«. 6d. Weekly Hours of Labour. 60 60 59 53* 59 54 60 57 64 59 60 59 58 60 60 59 53* 60 63 54 57 60 60 60 57 60 66 59 60 60 57 59 65* Joiners and Cabinet Makers. Weekly Wages. ; Weekly Hours of Í Labour. 22«. lOd. to 27«. 19«. 2d. 31«. Ud * 27«. 27«. 6d. 22«. 11 d. 25«. 8d. 26«. 11 d. 25«. 27«. 29«. 7d. 27«. Id. 29« 8¿. 27«. 29« 2d. 22«. 27«. 31«. 10(7. 25«. 6(7. 27«. 24«. to 24«. 7(7. 27«. 23«. 9(7. 20«. 6(7. to 23«. 9(7. 24«. 4(7. 24«. 6(7. & 27«. 2"«. 11(7. 24«. 25«. 8(7. 22«. 5(7. 24«., 25«. 60 60 52 60 54 54 57 64 59* 60 58 60 54 60 53 60 59 53 56 54 60 54 54 66 54 57 & 60 57 60 57 56 57, 65* * Average earnings in 1905. Wages and Hours of Labour in the Building Trades—continued. Towns. Aachen .. Aschaffenburg Barmen .. Berlin Bochum .. Bremen .. Breslau .. Brunswick Chemnitz Crefeld .. Dantzig .. Dortmund Dresden .. Düsseldorf Elberfeld.. Essen Hamburg-Altona Königsberg Königshütte Leipzig .. Magdeburg Mannheim Mülhausen Munich .. Nuremberg Oschersleben Plauen itemscheid Solingen Stassfurt.. Stettin Stuttgart.. 7-wickau .. Plumbers. Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours of Labour. Stucco-workers. Weekly Wages. 27s. 21s. 24s. 32s. Id. 27 s. 29s. 8d. 27 s. 22s. lOd. to 28s. 6 d. 24 s. 22s. lOd. 28s. 8d. 27s. to 28s. 24s. 28s. 6d. 23s. 9d. to 25s. lOd. 32s. Id. 25s. 19s. 2d. 27s. 27s. 22s. 2d. to 23s. 4d. 29s. 8d. 25s. 2d. 26s. 5d. to 29s. 8d. 27s. to 30s. 30s. 26s. 5d. 27 s. 25s. 2d. 60 60 57 53* 60 54 60 57 60 60 57 58 60 57 57 53* 59* 60 54 ' 54 60 to 63 57 56 66 60 60 60 60 56 36s. 36s. 35s lid. 42s. 36s. 35s. Id. 27 s. 35s. to 40s. 6d. 30s. to 36s. 30s. 7 d. 33s. 31s. 2d. 36 s. 35s. 3d. to 42s. 35s. 5d. 42s. to 48s. 35s. 37s Id. 26s. 5d. to 29s. 38s. 9d. 30s. 9d. to 37s. Id. 27s. to 30s. 33 s. to 34s. lOd. 32s. bd. to 36s. 25s. 8d. 30s. Weekly Hours of Labour. 60 60 57 50 60 54 60 54 54 59* 60 52 60 56 to 60 59 54 60 57 66 51 57 60 57 54 to 60 Painters. Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours of Labour. 25?. 2d. 27s. 27s* 29s. bd. 25s. lOd. 24s. 34s. 2d. to 37s. Id. 24s. 6d. 22s. lOd. to 26s. 5d. 27s. 6d. 27s. 27s. to 30s. 27s. 7 d. to 28s. lOd. 32s. bd. 24s. 22s. lOd. 29s. 6d. 27s. 25s. Id. 24s. 24s. 4d. 25s. lid. 26s. bd. 34s. Id. 29s. 8d. 28s. lOd. 23s. bd. to 25s. 6d. 28s. 6d. 25s. lid. to 27s. 24s. to 25s. lOd. 60 6Õ 60 53* 60 60 57 57 59* 55 60 60 60 54 60 60 54 60 57 60 54 5i 63 72 66 60 60 57 54 60 Labourers. Weekly Wages 15s. to 21s. 19s. 2d. to 19s. lOd. 22s. lOd. 25s. 8d.f 24s. 7d. 25s. 8d. 19s. 2d. to 21s. 22s. lOd. 20s. 6d. 21s. lOd.f 17 s. 8d. to 19s. 6d.t 25s. lOd. 23s. 2d.t 26s. 5d. 24s. 25s. 4d. 32s. Id.t 23s. 15s. 23s. to 25s. 22s. lOd. 22s. lOd. 18s. to 21s. 22s. lOd. 18s. lOd. 16s. 8d. to 17s. lOd. 19s. lOd. 21s. lOd. 26s. 5d. 18s. to 21s. 17s. ld.+ 20s. Id. to 21s. 3d. 17s. Weekly Hour» of Labour 60 60 60 53* 60 54 60 to 64 57 64 59 59 60 58 60 60 59 60* 8 57 60 60 60 57 59* 66 59 60 60 57 59 60 to 65* * 27s. is the minimum provided for by agreement, which is frequently not observed, 20s. to 24s. for a week of 54 hours Dresden 29s 7a. for 58 hours, and in Hamburg 40s. 2d. for 53* hours ; in Stettin, hod-carriers earn usually about 34s. a week. 493 Wages and Hours of Labour in the Engineering Trades. Towns. Aachen .. Aschaffenburg ¿armen Berlin .. ¿ochum ¿remen .. Breslau Brunswick Xhemnitz Crefeld .. §«"&d Dresden .. ¿usseldorf Bssen Hamburg-Altona ¿Onigshütte* íf ip zig .. Magdeburg — Mannheim Mülhausen Munich.. Nuremberg Oschersleben Bemscheid gphngen gtasBfurt Stettm .. Stuttgart Zwickau Usual Hours of Labour per week (exclusive of intervals). 60 60 58i to 60 57 to 60 60 60 59&.60 57 to 60 60 60 60 57 to 60 58 „ 60 60 60 60 60 54 to 60 58 „ 60 57 „ 60 60 „ 63 57 57,58 60 60 60 60 60 to 63 54 „ 57 62 „ 63 Predominant Weekly Wages. Moulders. 30s. to 36s. 24s. 27s. 6d. to 29s. 34s. to 33s. lOd. 30s. to 32s. 24s. „ 25s. 31s. 4d. to 33s. 32s. to 33s. 33s. to 34s. Id. 36s. 30s. to 35s. 37s. 36s. .to 41s. 27s. „ 30s. 31s. 2d. 34s to 37s. 32s. to 33s. 6d. 25 s to 30s. 30s. 9d. 30 s. 30s. to 33s. 26s. 9d. to 30s. 36s. Fitters. 30s. to 33s. 21s. „ 24s. 35s. 30s. 29s. 25s. 36s. 33s. 30s. 27s. 31s 3d. 31s. to 33s. 2ls. „ 24s. 27s. 30s. 21s. to 22s. 4d. 27s. to 32s. 25s. „ 27s. 30s. ,. 35s. 30s. „ 39s. 30s. ., 36s. 28s. 6d. 30s. to 33s. 27s. „ 33s. 32s. 19s. to 24s. 24s. „ 28s. 25s. to 32s. 6d. 27s. to 30s. 30s. „ 34s. 27s. , 30s. 27 s. 22s. 6d. to 24s. 24s. 6d. „ 28s. 20s. to 21s. Turners. Smiths. Patternmakers. ­ 33s. to 36s, 21s. 30s. 37s. 3d. to 38s. lOd. 29s. to 30s. 26s. „ 30s. 34s. 28s. lOd. to 29s. 5d. 24s. to 26s. 30s. ,, 33s. 22s. 4d. 27s. to 32s. 27s. „ 30s. 33s. „ 36s. 32s. 6d to 39s. 30s. to 36s. 33s. 5d. 32s. to 33s. 30s. „ 36s. 30s. to 34s. 6d. 20s. 6d. to 23s. 26s. to 30s. 28s to 34s. 9d. 25s. to 30s. 33s. ., 37s. 27s. „ 33s. 25s. 2d. to 30s. 24s. 27s. to 28s. 22s. ,, 26s. 30s. to 36s. 21s. „ 24s. 30s. to 31s. 2d. 29s. to 31s. 25s. „ 33s. 33s. 33s. to 35s. 5d. 25s. to 27s. 27s. ,. 33s. 22s. 4d. to 22s. lOd. 32s. to 36s. 33s. to 36s. 30s. „ 36s. 30s. „ 36s. 31s. lOd. 33s. to 35s. 30s, ,, 33s, 32s. 6d. 23s. 6d. to 25s. 27s. to 30s. 32s. 8d. to 36s. 30s. to 33s. 25s. 6d. to 30s. 32s. 5d. 21s. to 22s. 30s. to 33s. 21s. „ 24s. 27s. 36s. to 37s. 28s. 6d. 22s. lOd. to 24s. 30s. 26s. 6d, to 28 s. lOd. 25s. to 27s. 32s. „ 35s. 23s. 6d. to 25s. 27s. to 29s. 27s. ., 30s. 30s. „ 33s. 27s. 30s. to 36s. 27s. to 34s. 27s. ,, 31s. 32s. „ 35s. 23s. „ 24s. 28s. „ 32s. 24s. 4d. to 28s. 24s, to 30s. 29s. 5d. to 31s. 27s. to 30s. 25s. „ 26s. 24s. 26s. to 29s. 21s. „ 24s. Labourers. 17s. to 21s. 18s. 20s. to 22s. 20s. to 23s. 7d. 21s. 18s to 21s. 18s. to 20s. 6d. 18s. to 21s. 14s. „ 17s. 21s. „ 23s. 18s. „ 19s. 20s. „ 23s. 23s. 21s. to 24s. 20s. „ 23s. 18s. „ 24s. 21s. 18s. to 24s. 17s. to 18s. 6d. 18s. to 21s. 17s. 5d. to 19s. 5d. 18s. to 21s. 22s. „ 25s. 18s. „ 21s. 18s. to 21s. 9d. 18s. 18s. 16s. to 18s. * The wages stated for Königshütte represent the average weekly earnings, inclusive of overtime. Wages and Hours of Labour of Brewery Employees. Towns. Weekly Hours of Labour.* Weekly Wages of Brewers. Coopers. Draymen. Labourers. I. Towns in which beer is supplied free, and in ivhich no money allowance is made for beer not consumed. Barmen ... Berlin Bochum ... Bremen ... Breslau ... Brunswick Chemnitz... Crefeld ... Dortmund Elberfeld... Essen Königsberg Leipzig ... Oschersleben Remscheid Solingen ... Stettin ... 60 57 60 to 63 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 to 66 60 57 60 27 s. 32.. 25s. 5d. to 26,. Gd, 29s. 25s. to 25 s. 25s. to 26s. to 26s. Gd. to 27s, 27s. to 21s. to 28s to 25s. to 27s. 27s. Gd. to 28s. 6d. 30.. 26,. 29,. 28s. 31s. 2d. 30s. 25s. 30s. 27 s. 27 s. 32,. 26s. 6d. to 27s. 8d. 25s. to 26s. 25a 25s. to 29s. 26s. Gd. to 31s. 2d. 27s. 27s. to 30s. 21s. to 25s. 28s. to 30s. 25s. to 27s. 27s. 29a 27 a 27 a 24s. 3d. to 25s. 5d. 25s. 22a 21s. to 23s. 23a to 25s. 21s. 11 d. to 24s. 3d. 27 s. 22s. to 24s. 23s. to 25s. 27 s. 29,. 22s. 23s. to 26s. 20s. 9d. to 23s. 1 d. 18s. to 20s. 20s. 19s. Gd. to 22s. 6d. 19s. 2d. to 20s. 5d. 22a 21s. Id. to 24s. 15s. 9d. to 17s. 20s. to 22s. 18s. to 19s. 22s. 18s. to 20s. II. Towns in ivhich beer is supplied free, and in which a money allowance is made for beer not consumed. Aschaffenburg Dresden ... Stuttgart... Mannheim Munich ... Nuremberg 60 60 60 23s. Id. 28s. 2d. 31a 34a 27s. 32s. 5d. 23a 1 d. 28s. 2d. 34a 37a 27 s. 32a 5 d. 22a 26a 2d. 24a 26s. 5d. 25 s. 30s. 5d. III. Towns in which beer is not supplied free. 58* 60 60 3Is. Id. 36a 32a 9d. to 35s. 3d. 31s. Id. 3Is. Gd. 31s. 3d. to 33a 9d. 28s. 8d. 25s. 32a 9d. to 35s. 3d, 20s. 3d. 25s. id. 24 s. 26s. 5d. 22s. 27s. 5d. 25a 22s. to 23s. 25,. * The hours of labour are stated for men working on the brewery premises ; the hours of draymen vary considerably In Berlin coopers work 54 hours, other men 57 hours per week. t The upper line of figures in each case shows the money wages ; the lower line the amounts to which the wages of men who consumed no beer would be increased by the allowance in lieu of beer. 494 Wages and Hours of Labour in the Printing Trades. The wages shown are the Standard Time Rates of wages per week. The Hours of Labour are 9 per day in the case of Hand Compositors, Machine Compositors on jobbing work, Machine-m nders and Pressmen, and 8 per day in the case of Machine Compositors on news work. Town. Hand Compositors, Machine-minders, and Pressmen. Machine Compositors. News. Jobbing. Aachen ... Aschaffenburg Barmen ... Berlin ... Bochum... Bremen ... Breslau ... Brunswick Chemnitz Crefeld... Dantzig ... Dortmund Dresden Düsseldorf Elberfeld Essen Hamburg-Alton Königsberg Königshütte Leipzig ... Magdeburg Mannheim Mülhausen Munich ... Nuremberg Oschersleben Plauen ... Remscheid Solingen Stassfurt Stettin ... Stuttgart Zwickau s. 24 22 24 28 24 25 11 25 11 25 11 25 4 24 24 25 26 25 24 25 11 28 2 24 23 27 24 25 22 26 25 11 22 6 24 24 24 22 25 26 24 s. d. 30 11 28 2 30 11 35 2 30 11 32 32 32 31 30 11 30 11 31 33 31 30 11 32 35 30 11 29 6 33 9 30 11 31 28 33 32 28 30 11 30 11 30 11 28 2 31 33 30 32 29 32 36 32 33 33 33 d. 2 3 2 7 2 8 8 8 32 11 32 2 32 2 32 11 34 32 32 33 36 32 30 35 32 32 11 29 3 34 33 29 32 32 32 29 32 11 34 31 Wages and Hours of Labour of Employees of Local Authorities. (a) Road Department. Town. Aachen ... Aschaffenburg Barmen Berlin Bochum Bremen .. Breslau .. Brunswick Chemnitz.. Dantzig .. Dortmund Dresden .. Düsseldorf Elberfeld .. Essen Hamburg-Altona Königsberg Königshütte Leipzig ... Magdeburg Mannheim Mülhausen Munich ... Nuremberg Oschersleben Plauen Remscheid Solingen .. Stassfurt .. Stettin Stuttgart.. Zwickau .. Weekly Hours of Labour. 60 57 . 60 60 63 57+ 67+ 57+ 60+ 60 63 60 60 60 66|| 60 60 60 54 57 57 60 59|| 60 6011 63 60 60 60|| 60+ 60|| Weekly Wages of Road Makers. 15s. 6d. to 22s. lOd. 14s. 3d. „ 16s. 6d. 15s. „ 21s. 21s. 6d. 15s. Id. to 28s. lOd. 25 s. 8 d. 15s. 2d. 20 s. 23s. 21s. 21s. 21s. Id. to 23s. 5d. 21s. 19s. 6 d. 20s. 5d. 21 s. 15s. 15s. 23s. 9d. 21 s. Id. 18s. 19s. 2d. to 24s. 19s. 14s. 18s. 6d. 22 s. 18s. to 21s. 21s. 19s. 10 d. 18s. to 21s. 7d. 16s. 2d. Paviors. 27s. to 36s. 30s. 25s. 8d. 32s. 3d. 28s. 6d. 28s. 10 d. 37 s. 10 d. 48s.§ 34s. 6d. 31s. Gd. 31s. 10 d. 28s. 10 d. 30 s. 35s. 28s. 30s. to 33s. 33s. 33s. 30s. Paviors’ Labourers. 21s. to 24s. 22s. 10 d. 17s. lOd. 17s. 21s. 22s. lOd. 27*.§ 21s. 28s. 10 d. 15 s. 21s. Id. 20 s. 20s. 21s. 19s. 2d. • Road Sweepers. 12s/ 21s. to 24 s. 16s. lOd. to 21s. 21s. 16s. Id. 20s. + 23s. 17s. 3d. 18s. to 21s. 19s. lOd. .. 20s. 5d. 20 s. 21s. 18s. Id. 22s. 10 d. 21 s. 19s. 5 d. 16s. Gd. 21s. 7d. to 24s 2d. 18s. „ 25s. 18s. „ 24s. 20s. lOd. 12s. 17s. to 18s. 18s. 18s. 10 d. 20s. 5 d. 17s. 2d. Carmen. 18s. to 21s. 24s. 21s. Id to 23s. Id. 22s. 9d. 20s. 17s. 3d. 22s. 6d. 23s. lOd. 23s. 5d. to 24s. 20s. 9d. 19s. Gd. 21s. to 29s. 24s. 2d. * Men incapable of full work. + Except for Carmen, who worked 63 hours per week in Bremen, 76 hours in Breslau, 66 hours in Brunswick, 54 hours in Chemnitz, and 84 hours in Stuttgart. X Road Sweepers in Brunswick work (at night only) 42 hours per week. § Average piece earnings. II Except for Road Sweepers who worked 60 hours in Essen, 65 hours in Nuremberg, 63 hours in Plauen and Stettin, and 66 hours in Zwickau. 495 Wages and Hours of Labour of Employees of Local Authorities—continued. (5.) Gas and Waterworks. Town. Gasworks. Stokers. Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours.* Labourers. Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours. Waterworks Labourers. Weekly Wages. Weekly Hours. Aacbenf ... Aschaffenburg Barmen ... Berlin Bochum ... Bremen ... Breslau ... Brunswick Chemnitz... Crefeld Dantzig^ ... Dortmundf Dresden ... Düsseldorf Elberfeld... Essen Ham burg-Altona Königsberg Königshütte Leipzig ... Magdeburg Mannheim Mülhausent Munich ... Nuremberg Oschersleben Plauen Remscheid Solingen ... Stassfurtf Stettin Stuttgart... Zwickau ... 24s. 27s. 36«. 4d. 24*. tõ 30«. 30«. 10d. to 34«. 4d. 30*. 29«. 28«. to 30«. 28«. 24*. 28*. e>d. 27«. 7d. 34«. 6d. 30«. 27*. 31«. 2d. to 35*. 24«. 6d. 27«. to 28«. \Qd. 29«. 3d. 26«. 7d. 25*. 2d. to 31«. 2d. 32*. 2d. 20*. 9d. 25*. 2d. to 28*. 8d. 30*. 24*. to 31*. 19*. 1C<Z. to 21*. 7 d. 24*. 30*. 21*. 6i. 72 51 65 72 56 84 72 56 70 72 60 60 84 56 60 72 58) Vary. 60 84 60 70 60 66 72 63 60 78 48 65 18*. 21*. 25*. 2d. 18*. to 22*. 10(2. 22*. to 25*. 18*. 23*. 8d. 18*. to 19*. 20*. 5 d. 17*. 6d. 22*. 6d. 21*. 21*. 22*. 21*. Id. 21*. Id. 21*. 21*. to 25*. 10d. 22*. 3d. 18*. 19*. 2d. to 25*. 2d. 22*. 6d. 18*. 16*. to 18*. 21*. 6d. 21*. to 24«. 18*. to 21*. Id. 19*. 2d. 21*. 16*. 11 d. 60 60 60 72Î 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 72+ 60 60 72+ 54 60 60 60 60 60 60 66 60 63 60 12% 57 65 20*. 5 d. 18*. 21*. Id. to 24*. 18*. to 22*. 10d. 22*. to 25«. 19*. to 25*. Id. 23*. 19*. to 21*. 20*. 17«. 6d. 21*. to 22*. 6d. 21*. Id. 21*. Id. 18* 21*. 21*. to 22«. lOrZ. 18*. to 20*. 5d. 16*. 10 d. 17*. 3d. 21*. Id. 20*. to 23*. 19«. \0d.to 25*. 2d. 17«. 5 d. 18*. 6d. 21*. 6<Z. 21*. to 24*. 21*. 17*. 10<Z. 20*. 5d. 16*. 10 d. 60 60 60 72Î 60 64 60 65 60 60 60 60 72+ 60 60 63 60 60 57 60 57 60 60 60 60 63 60 60 60 58 In those towns in which the weekly hours of labour are 70 or more, intervals are included in the time stated. . t Gasworks, private. X Including intervals. APPENDIX II Weekly Rents. ( The Index Number for each Town is based upon the Mean of the range of Predominant Rents for each class of Tenements.) Town. Aachen ... Aschaffenburg Barmen ... Berlin ... Bochum... Bremen ... Breslau ... Brunswick . Chemnitz Crefeld ... Dantzig ... Dortmund Dresden Düsseldorf Elberfeld Essen Hamburg Königsberg Königshütte Leipzig ... Magdeburg Mannheim Mülhausen Munich ... Nuremberg Oschersleben Plauen ... Remscheid Solingen Stassfurt Stettin ... Stuttgart Zwickau Predominant Weekly Rents for Tenements of— Two Rooms. s. d. s. d. 2 8 to 3 6 2 5 5 0 3 0 3 3 3 10 6 0 3 9 3 8 2 11 „ 3 6 2 4 „ 3 0 3 6 „ 4 0 4 0 „ 5 0 2 6 „ 3 6 2 9.3 7 3 4 2 2 4 0 2 9 3 3 „ 3 8 2 0 „ 2 9 3 0.4 0 Is. 2d. 5 to 2 11 0„ 3 6 0 „ 3 6 9.2 3 4 7 2 0 5 9 2 4 Three Rooms. s. d. 3 6 3 10 5 4 2 11 4 2 to 4 5 5 9 5 4 4 3 3 4 4 6 5 7 5 5 5 5 4 4 3 5 4 8 4 7 5 9 5 0 2 5 3 10 5 2 5 9 2 6 3 11 9 3 3 6 Four Rooms s. d. s. d. 4 7 to 5 5 2 H „ 4 0 4 0.4 7 4 4.5 2 4 0 5 9 5 9 4 5 5 9 4 7 4 3 2 11 5 3 5 9 2 10 5 9 7 8 7 0 5 9 8 0 5 6 5 9 3 6 6 9 7 0 3 6 mm ;v '* ■ 497 APPENDIX III. RETAIL PRICES. Predominant Prices of Coffee, Sugar, and Bacon in October, 1905. Towd. Coffee (per lb.). Sugar (per lb.). Loaf. Aachen ... Aschaffenburg Barmen ... Berlin Bochum ... Bremen ... Breslau ... Brunswick Chemnitz... Crefeld Dantzig ... Dortmund Dresden ... Düsseldorf Elberfeld ... Essen Hamburg- Altona Königsberg Königshütte Leipzig ... Magdeburg Mannheim Mülhausen Munich ... Nuremberg Oschersleben Plauen Remscheid Solingen ... Stassfurt... Stettin Stuttgart... Zwickau ... 11 d. Ud. to la. 1 d. 11 d. Ud. 11 d. 11 d. lid. 11 d. 11 d. 11 d. 8fd. II d. Ud. Ud. 11 d. 9f d. to 11 d. 9f d. Ud. I Id. to la. Id. II d. „ la. Id. 11 d. 11 d. to la. Id. 11 d. lli. to la. Id. Ud.. „ la. 1 d. 11 d. 11 d. to la. 1 d. 11 d. 1.1 d. Ud. Ud. 11 d. to la. Id. Ud. 2%d. to 3d. 2\d. 2fd., 3d. 2fd. 2\d. 2fd. 2\d.. 2fd. 2fd. 2fd. 2\d. 2fd.. 3d. 2\d. 2 U. 2 id. 2^d., 2fd. 2*d. 2\d., 2fd. 2&d. 2fd. 2\d., 2fd. 2fd, 3d. 2fd. 2\d. White Granulated. 2\d. 2\d. 2fd., 2^d. 2\d., 2-1 d. 2d. to 2£d. 2\d. 2d. 2fd., 2\d. 2&d. 2\d. 2d. 2\d.. 2\d. 2 £d. 2| d. 2&d. 2fd., 2\d. 2fd. 2fd. 2d., 2\d. 2\d. 2 id. 2hd. 2\d. 2\d. 2\d. 2\d., 2\d. 2\d., 2fd. 2id., 2\d. 2\d., 2fd. 2&d. 2\d. 2\d. 2d. Bacon (per lb.). Fat. 9fd. 9fd. 9fd. 8fd. to lOfd. 8fd. 8fd. to 9fd. 9|d. „ lid. 8fd. ,, lid. Ud. 9 \d. to 9fd. 9fd. 8fd. to 9fd. 9fd. „ lid. 9fd. 9fd. 8fd. to lOfd. 9*d. 8fd. 9fd. 9\d. to lid. 9*d. 8fd. to 9fd. 8d. 8fd. to 9fd. Ud. „ la. 8|d. ,, lid. 9fd. 7|d. to 8|d. 9fd. 8fd. to 9fd. Ud. 8|d. to 9fd. lid. Streaky. lid. 9fd. 9fd. 9fd. to la. 9fd. 8fd. to 9fd. 9|d. „ lO^d. 8fd. „ lid. Ud. 9fd. to lOld. 9Jd. 9fd.to lid. 9|d. ., lid. Ud. 9fd. 9\d. to lOfd. 9îd. „ 11 d. Ud. 9fd. 9fd. to lid. lid. 9fd. 8d. 8fd. to 9fd. lid. „ la. 8|d. „ 11 d. 9fd. 8\d. to 8fd. 9fd. 9fd. to lid. Ud. 8|d. to 9fd. Ud. Predominant Prices of Eggs, Cheese, Butter, and Margarine in October, 1905. Town. Eggs (per la.). Aachen ... Aschaffenburg . Barmen ... Berlin Bochum ... Bremen ... Breslau ... Brunswick Chemnitz Crefeld Dantzig Dortmund Dresden Düsseldorf Elberfeld Dssen Hamburg-Al tona Königsberg Königshütte Leipzig Magdeburg Mannheim Mülhausen ^*nich Nuremberg Oschersleben Blauen Remscheid Solingen Stassfurt Stettin Stuttgart Zwickau Cheese (per lb.). Dutch. 8fd. to lid. 8*d. 8fd.* 8fd. to 9fd. 8fd. 8fd. to 9Jd. 9Jd. to lOfd. 8fd. 8|d. to 9fd. 9fd. to 11 d. Limburg. 8*d. 8fd. 5 d. 5 id. 5 fd. 5fd. to 6fd. 5fd. to 6fd. 6f d. 7fd. 5 fd. 6f d. 5\d. to 7fd. öd. to öfd. 6 f d. 5 id. öd. to 5 Id. 6d. 4fd. to öd. öfd. to 6fd. öfd. 8|d. to 9|d.f öfd. öfd. 6\d. öfd. 4 Id. to öd. öd. 6fd. öfd. to 6fd. 4fd. Swiss. Butter (per lb.). Margarine, (per lb.). Ud. to la. Id. Ud. Ud. 11 d. to la. 9|d. to la. Id. la. Id. 9fd. 8fd. to 9|d. Ud. 10fd. to Ud. Ud. to la. Ud. to la. Id. la. to la. Id. la. Id. to la. 3fd. lid. to la. Id. lid. to la. Id. la. la. to la. 1 d. Ud. la. Id. to la. 2fd. I Id. to la. la. 3\d. la. Id. to la. 2\d. la. Id. to la 2d. la. Id. la. 2\d. to la. 2fd. la. Id. to la. 2\d. la. 2fd. la. Id. la. 2\d. la. lfd. la. 2fd. to la. 3fd la. 2fd. to la. 3\d. la. 2\d. la. Id. to la. 3fd. la. to la. Id. la. Id. to la. 2\d. la. Id. to la. 2fd. la. 2fd. to la. 3\d. la. 2\d. la. 3fd. la. Id. to la. 2d. la. Id. to la. 2fd. la. Id. to la. 2fd. la. 2\d. la. 2fd. la. lfd. to la. 2fd. la. Id. to la. 2\d. la. 2fd. to la. 2fd, la. 3fd. la. 2\d. la. 2fd. 8fd. Id. Id. to 8fd. 8fd. 6fd to 8fd. 6fd. to 8fd. 6Jd. 8fd. 7fd. 7 d. 7fd. 8fd. 8fd. 7fd. 8fd. 6d. to 8fd. öfd. to 6fd. 7fd. 9fd. 8fd. 7fd. to 8fd. Id. to 8fd. Id. 7fd. 8fd. 8fd. 7fd. 8fd. 6fd. to 8fd. 8fd. * Tilsit Cheese. t Münster Cheer e. 29088 3 R Predominant Prices of Potatoes, Flour, and Bread in October, 1905. Town. Potatoes (per 7 lbs,). Flour (per 7 lbs.). Wheaten. Rye. Bread (per 4 lbs ). Grey. Black Aachen Aschaffenburg Barmen Berlin Bochum Bremen Breslau Brunswick Chemnitz Gref eld Dantzig Dortmund Dresden Düsseldorf Elberfeld Essen Hamburg-Altona Königsberg Königshütte ... Leipzig Magdeburg Mannheim Mülhausen Munich Nuremberg Oschersleben ... Plauen ... Remscheid Solingen Stassfurt Stettin Stuttgart Zwickau 3d. 1fd. 2id. to 3\d. 2d., 2\d. 3d. 2fd. 2d to 2\d. 2\d ,, 3-fd. 2\d. „ 3d. 2\d.. 3d. lfd. 2\d. to 2|d. 2d. „ 2fd. 2jd. ,, 3d. 2^d. ,, 3fd. 2}d. 2fd. 2fd., 3d. 1 id., lfd. 2\d. to 2fd. 2fd., 3d. 3d. 3d. to 3\d. 2\d. .. 3d. 2 id. 2\d. to 3d. 2fd. 2^d. to 2fd. 3d. 2fd. to 3fd. l&d. 2*d. 2\d. Hid. to 1«. 0\d. 1«. 0\d. Is. lfd. Is. 3fd. lOfd. Is. lfd. lOd. llid. to Is. 0\d. Is. Ofd. llid. lOfd.to llid. 9fd. to lOfd. Is. 3|d. llid. Is. lfd. lOfd.to llid. lOfd. Hid. lOfd. to Hid. Is. Ofd. ,, Is. lfd. lOfd. to Is. OJd. Is. lfd. Is. 3\d. Is. 3\d. Is. 3|d. llid. Is. 3fd. llid. to is. lfd. Is. Id. Is. Ufd. to Is. lfd. llid. to Is. lfd. Is. lfd. llid. to Is. 3fd. llid. 9fd. to lOd. Sid. ,, 9fd. lOd. to Is. Ofd. lOfd. ,, Is. 0\d. 9\d. „ lOfd. 8id lOd. Is. Ofd. to Is. lfd. 9id. to lOfd. 9fd. 9fd. 9 \d. 10 d. lOd. 9\d. to Is. OJd. Is. 0fd. „ Is. 2$d. llid. Hid. Rfd. 7fd. to 8d. 5 id. »id. 5\d. 4fd. 4fd. to 5fd. lid. ,, 5\d. 5id. „ 6id. 5 id. 4id.to5id. lfd. ,, 5fd. 5\d. ,, 6d. 5\d. „ 6d. 6id. 5d. to 5id. 4fd. lid. 4fd. lfd. to 4fd. 5 id. 5|d. 6i d. 5id. to 6id. lfd. ,, 5\d. 4\d. ,, 5\d. fifd. „ 8fd. 6Íd. 4 id. lfd. to 5\d. 5fd. 6fd. lfd. lfd. 4\d. to 6fd. lfd. 4d. lfd. 3id. to 4d. Id. to 5d. lfd. to 6d. 3d. ,, 4\d. Id. ,, 4fd. 5d. lfd. 4\d. lfd. Predominant Prices of Milk, Coal, and Paraffin Oil in October, 1905. Town. Milk (per quart). Coal (per cwt.). Paraffin Oil (per gallon). Aachen Aschaffenburg Barmen Berlin... Bochum Bremen Breslau Brunswick Chemnitz Crefeld Dantzig Dortmund Dresden Düsseldorf Elberfeld Essen ... Hamburg-Alt Königsberg Königshütte Leipzig Magdeburg Mannheim Mülhausen Munich Nuremberg Oschersleben Plauen Remscheid Solingen Stassfurt Stettin Stuttgart Zwickau 2fd. 2i d. 2id. 2id., 2fd. 2fd. 2fd. 2\d. 2\d. 2fd. 2fd. 2\d. 2\d. 2fd. 2fd. 2fd. 2 id. 2fd. 2fd. 2\d., 2\d. 2\d. 2\d., 2fd. 2fd., 3d. 2fd. 2fd. 2fd. 2d. 2 id. 2\d. 2\d. 2\d. 2 id. 2i d. 2fd. ls. 1s. 5 d. ls. Ofd. ls. 2fd. 8id. ls. 4fd. ls. Ofd. Is. 2fd. to ls. 5d. ls. 3id. „ ls. 5id. lOid. üü-Is. 2d. to ls. 4d. 9fd. „ lld. Is. Id. llid. Is. Ofd. to ls. Id. 8id. „ lld. 11 id. to ls. Ofd. ls. 4d. 7&d. ls. 2fd. lO^d.to lld. ls. 5d. ls. 9id. ls. 2fd. ls.|2fd. to ls. 4fd. BBbA — \ Is. 2fd. to ls. 4d. lld. „ llid. ms 9fd. „ lld. ls. lid. ls.*7id. to ls. 8fd. lOfd. 10d. 10id. 9\d. to 10d. lld. * 10d. 10id. 10d. lld. 10d. 9fd. 10d. 9fd. to 9fd. 9fd. „ lUd. 9¿d. 9fd. to 10d. 9fd. „ 9fd. 8\d. „ 8fd. lld. llid. lld. 9 id. lud. 10d. to lld. lld. löd. 9*d. ls. 9 fd. 9id. 9fd. 9id. lUd. 10d. 499 Predominant Prices of Beef per lb. in October, 1905. Town. Ribs. Shin. Silverside. With bone. Without bone. Steak. Flank. Aachen Aschaffenburg Barmen Berlin Bochum Bremen Breslau Brunswick ... Chemnitz Crefeld Dantzig Dortmund ... Dresden Düsseldorf ... Elberfeld Essen Hamburg- Altona Königsberg ... Königshütte Leipzig Magdeburg ... Mannheim ... Mülhausen ... Munich Nuremberg ... Oschersleben Plauen Remscheid ... Solingen Stassfurt Stettin Stuttgart Zwickau 7f¿. to 8f d. 8id. Id. to 7id. i id. to 83d. 7 id. 8fd. to 9fd. 8|d. to 93d. 7fd. to 8\d. Rid. Rid. Id. lid. to 8fd. 7#d. Rid. 7\d. to 8\d. Id. to 7fd. 7*d. 8^d. 7*d. Rid. to 8|d. Rfd. Rid. Id. 7fd. to 8|d. 8*d. 7%d. 8 id., 8\d. Rid. Id. 7\d. to 8|d. Rid. 7id. to 8id. Rid. 8fd. to 9id. 8 id. 8id. to 8fd. 8fd. to. lid. 7*d. 9*d. 9*d. 8id. to 9fd. 91d. 83d. 8id. 8id. 8fd, to lid. l\d. to 9id. Rid. to 8Jd. 7d. to 7|d. 8\d. 9 d. 7*d. 9|-d. to lid. 8fd. to 9Jd. 8id. 8d. 7fd. to 8|d. 8|d. 7fd. to 8|d. 9*d. 8id. 7*d. 8*d. Rid. 7fd. to 8 |d. 8-id. to 9id. 7id. to 8id. 8jd. 7*d. 6&d. Id. to 7id. 5\d. 7\d. to 8fd. 5 id. to 6 id - . 8*d. Rid. 4&d. 7id. to 8id. 8*d. Id. to 7$d. Id. to 7id. Id. 5d. to 5id. Id. 6id. to 7id. 7d. to 9id. 8id. 8id. 7 ¿d. 7fd. to 8id. 8id. 7id. 8id., 8fd. 7id. to Rid. 7id. 6¿d.to 8fd. 6\d. lid. to 8id. 8§d. to 9id. 8id. to lid. Tjd. 7|d. to 8fd. Rid. to lid. 9|d. to 10id. 7id. 9id. 9id. 9id. to Is. 9id. lid. 9#d. (i&d. to Id. 8Jd. to lid. 9id. 9id. Rid. to 9id. lid. lid. lid. 8id. to lid. 8id. 9id. 7id. Is. Id. 9id. Is. Id. lid. to Is. Id. 9id.to lid. Is. Id. Is. 4&d. lid. to Is. id. 9id. lid. to Is. Id. 9id. 9id. to lid. Is. Id. to Is. Bid. Is. Id. lid. to Is. Id. lid. . Is. 2id. to Is. 5^d. 9 d. 7id. to Rid. 9id. lid. 9id. to Is. 4 Jd. lid. to Is. 2d. 9id to Is. Id. Is. 4id. 8id. to lid. 9id. Is. 2id. to Is. 3|d. 7id. 8|d. to 9fd. Rid. lid. to Is. Id. 9id.to lid. 7id. 8 id. 6jd. to 7id. 6\d. to ?|d. lid. 8id. Rid. 7id. Rid. 7fd. to Rid. 7id. 7id. 7id. Id. to 7id. Id. 6\d. to 7id. 7id. to 8$d. 8\d. R&d. 8id. l\d. to Bid. 8id, 74d. l%d. to Rid. Rid. 7id. 8&d. 7id. to Rid. Id. to 7id. Rid. 7id. to Rid. lid. to Rid. 7id. to Rid. Predominant Prices of Mutton per lb. in October, 1905. Town. Aachen Aschaffenburg Barmen Berlin Bochum Bremen Breslau Brunswick ... Chemnitz Crefeld Dantzig Dortmund Dresden ... . Dusseldorf ... Elberfeld Essen ... I Hamburg-Altona Königsberg ... Konigshütte ... Leipzig Magdeburg ... Mannheim Mülhausen ... Munich Nuremberg Oschersleben... Flauen Remscheid !" aohngen ktassfurt Stettin ;;; Stuttgart '■Avickau Leg. Shoulder. Breast. Neck. Chops, Trimmed. 9fd.to lid. Rid. 9id. to lid. 9Jd. ,, 9|d. 8id. lid. lid. Rid. to 9|d. 9id. 8id. 8id. Rid. to 8|d. 9id. „ I Id. 9id. 9-id. 9id 7id. to 9|d. 9id. 9d. 8|d. to 9id. 9id. 9id. 8id. LOd. to 11 \d. 1 id. ,, Rid. Rid. „ 9id. lid. 9id. Rid. to 9id. 8\d. lid. to 9id. 9id. 7id. to 9jd. 9id. Rid. to 9|d. Rid. Rid. to 9id. Rid. „ 9id. 8id „ Rid. 9id. 9id. to lid. Rid. 9id. Rid. to Rid. Rid. Rid. to 91d. 9id. 8id. Rid. to 9\d. 7id. „ Rid. Aid. 8\d. lid. 8id. to Rid. Rid. ,, Aid. Rid.,, 9id. 8id. 7id. to 7id. Rid. ,, 9id. lid. Rid. 8id 6&d. 7id. to 9id. 9id. 7id. to Aid. Rid. ,, Aid. lid. 8 id. Id. to 8id. 7id. 7|d. to Rid. 9id. 9id. 8id. Aid. to Aid. Id. ,, Rid. Rid. Rid. to 8id. 7id. „ 8id. 6 id. to Id. lid, Id. to Rid. Aid. 8 id. lid. Rid. to Rid. ?id. to Rid. Rid. 8d. to lOd. 6d. „ 71d. Rid. „ 9id. 7id. Rid. lid. Id. to 73d. 83 d. 8id. 7id. to Aid. 8id. lid. to Aid. Rid. 8id. lid. 7id. 8id. lid. 8fd. 91d. to 93d. lid. 7id. 7id. to Rid. 8id. 6¿d. to Id. 7id. Id. to Rid. lid. „ Aid. 8&d. lid. 83d. to 8id. lid. Rid. to 9id. 8id. 6d. to 7id. Rid. to 93d. 7id. Bid. lid. 7id, 8id. 8id. 7|d. to Aid. Rid. lid. to Is. Id. 9id. lid. to Is. Aid. „ lid. lid. lid. lid. to Is. lid. 9id. Rid. to 93d. 93d. Rid. to 9id. lid. Rid. to 93d. Rid. „Rid. Aid. „ 11¿. 9|d. ,. Is. lid. 8id. to Aid. 8id. „ 9id. 9id. 8fd. to lid. Aid. „ lid. 7id.., Rid. lid. 7id. Aid. Aid. Is. Id. Aid. to Aid. 9id. lid. to Is. Id. 83d. to 9fd. 29088 B B 2 Predominant Pricks of Pork per lb. in October, 1905. Town. Leg. Foreloin. Belly. Spare Rib. Chops. Aachen Aschaffenburg Barmen , ... Berlin Bochum Bremen Breslau Brunswick ... Chemnitz Crefeld Dantzig Dortmund ... Dresden Düsseldorf ... Elberfeld Essen Hamburg-Altona Königsberg ... Königshütte Leipzig Magdeburg .. Mannheim ... Mülhausen ... Munich Nuremberg ... Oschersleben Plauen Remscheid ... Solingen Stassfurt Stettin Stuttgart ... Zwickau 8\d. to 9|d. 8f¿. ,, lOid. 9*d. 9fd. 8|d. to 9|d. 11 to Is. Id. 11 d. 8\d. to 8|d. 8)d. ,,9)d. 9fd. „ lid. 9id. „ lid. Ud. 8fd. to 9fd. 8fd. „ 9|d. 9 d. 7f d. to 8f d. 8fd. „ 9fd. 9)d. 8fd. to 9\d. 9id. „ 9|d. 9f d. 8 Id. to 9|<L lid. 8|d. to 9fd. 11 d. 7id. to 8Jd. 9id. „ 9fd. 11 d. la. to la. 1 d. 9fd. to lid. 8#d. 9)d. lid. 9#d. 91 d. 9Jd. to lid. 9*d. 8\d. 8fd. to 9fd. 9fd. „ lid. 9fd. „ la. 9*d. 8fd. to lid. 9*d. lOd. 8^d. 8fd. to 9fd. 9*d. 9*d. 8fd.to 9\d. 8*d. „ 9*d. 9|d. 8fd. to 9|d. 9*d. 8|d. to 9^d. 8*d. 7fd. to 8fd. lid. 9*d. 9fd. 9fd.to lid. 8Jd. 7d. to 8|d. 8*d. 9fd. 8fd. to 9id. 8*d. 9*d. 9 id. 8*d. 7|d. to 8|d. 8*d. 9 id. 9*d. 7fd. to 9fd. 8*d. 9|d. Id. 8*d. 8*d. 8Jd. to 9fd. 8d. „ 8|d. 8*d. „ 9*d. 9*d. 7|d. to 9|d. 9*d. 7|d. to 9id. 8*d. 7 fd. 8*d. 9\d. 8id. to 9id. 8id. to 9id. 8*d. lid. 9 id. to lO^d. 8id. „ 9fd. 9|d. 9i d. ?id. to lid. lid. 9jd. to 9id. 8*d. 8id. to 9 ¿d. lid. „ la. Id. lid. 9*d. 7Jd. to 9fd. 8id. lid. 8\d. to 8id. 9fd. „ lid. 8*d. 9 id. 8*d. 8id.to 9fd. 9fd. 7fd. to 9id. lid. 8fd. to 9id. 8*d. 7fd. to 8i-d. lid. 9 id. 9id. to lid. lid. to la. Id. 9*d. lid. lid. to la. lid. lid. la. 9id. to lid. lid. lid. 9fd. 8fd. to lid. lid. „ la. Id. lid. 9 fd. 8id. to lid. 9*d. ,, lid lid. 8id. to 8id. lid. 9id. to lid. 9fd. 8fd. to 9\d. 9i d. „ 9id. lid. „ la. 8*d. „ 9id. lid. 8id. to 9id. 9*d. 8i d. lid. 9id. 9fd. to lid. Predominant Prices of Veal per lb. in October, 1905. Town. Hindquarter. Shoulder. With bone. Without bone. Shin. Loin. Aachen Aschaffenburg Barmen Berlin Bochum Bremen Breslau Brunswick ... Chemnitz Crefeld Dantzig Dortmund ... Dresden Düsseldorf ... Elberfeld Essen Hamburg-A ltona Königsberg ... Königshütte Leipzig Magdeburg ... Mannheim ... Mülhausen ... Munich Nuremberg ... Oschersleben Plauen Remscheid ... Solingen Stassfurt Stettin Stuttgart ... Zwickau 9id. to lid. 7i d. 9id. to la. 9*d. la. to la. Id. lid. 9id. to lid. 9*d. 8id. to 10id. 8*d. 8id. to 9|d. 9id. „ lid. 9id. „ 10id. 9id. 8id. to 9§d. 9*d. 9\d. 8*d. 9*d. 8id. to 9id. 8*d. 10\d. 7id. to 8fd. 18id. „ 9id. 7id. „ 8id. 9*d. 9jd. to 9fd. 7 id. 7|d. to 9id. lid. 8jd. to 9¿d. 8fd. „ 9id. 9id. to 9id. 7 id. 8id. bid. lid. to la. lid. 8*d. 9*d. 8id. to 9id. Id. %\d. 8*d. 8*d. 8*d. 8*d. 8id. 9id. 9fd. 9 id. 9*d. 9id. 8*d. 9|d. 7fd. to 8$d. 8*d. 8 § d. 8*d. 9&d. to lO^d. 7*d. „ 8*d. 8id. 9id. 7*d. 9i d. 8)d. to 9fd. 6\d. „ 7id. 7#d. „ 8*d. 9 fd. 8id. to 9id. 8id. 9id. la. Id. la. Id. la. 3id. la. Id. ll&d. to la. Sid. la. to la. Id. la. „ la. 2id. la. „ la. Id. la. Id. la. Id. to la. Bid. lid. to la. Id. la. Id la. to la. Id. 9id. to lid. la. Id. lid. 9*d. la. Id. la. Id. to la. Sid. la. Id. to la. Sid. 9id. „ la. Id. la. Sid. to la. 5\d. la. to la. Id. ?id. la. to la. Sid. la. 7id. 8|d. to 9i#. 5\d. 8fd. to lid. 7jd. „ 8|d. 8*d. 8id. to 9fd. 4\d. „ 5\d. 8id. „ 8id. 6\d. 8id. to 9id. 8*d. 6£d. to 7id. 7*d. 6*d. 8*d. 8id. to 9id. 8*d. 7i d. 9i d. 7fd. to 9fd. 6\d. „ 7id. 6^d. 6|d. lid. 7*d. 9fd. to lid. 9Jd. lid. la. Id. lid. to la. 9*d. 9id. 8id. to lid. 8fd. „ 10id. 9id. „ lid. la. Sid. 9id. to 9|d. lid. lid. lid. 8id. to 8id. 9|d. „ lid. 8*d. „ 9id. 8id. „ 9id. 8fd. ,. 9&d. l\d. „ 8fd. 8id. ,, 9id. 7id. „ H*d. 9i d. 9id. to lid. 6*d. „ 7*d. 8*d. „ lid. lid. 8id. to 9id. 2 8id. „ lid. j I i WW-' 50L APPENDIX IV, Datly Wages of Adult Male Workpeople at Düsseldorf. (Ortskrankenkasse) :— Number of Men whose Daily Earnings were within the undermentioned Limits. Group of Trades. Under 3s. Building :— Skilled Unskilled ... Total ... Metal and Engineering : Skilled Unskilled ... Total ... Textile :— Skilled Unskilled ... Total Clothing and Cleaning :— Skilled ... *** Unskilled Total ... ... Paper :— Skilled Unskilled Total Printing, Lithography, Bookbinding, &c. :— Skilled Unskilled ... Total Woodworking and Carving ­ :— Skilled Unskilled ... Total Chemicals, Fats, and Oils :— Skilled Unskilled ... Total Stone and Earth :— Skilled Unskilled ... Total ... Brewing and Distilling :— Skilled Unskilled ... Total ... Food and Tobacco :— Skilled Unskilled ... Total ... Trade, Commerce, and Transport Skilled Unskilled ... Total ... Total :— Skilled Unskilled Total Percentage! whose Earn- j ings fell I within each j of the above wage groups J Skilled Unskilled Total 3s. and under 3s. 6d. 105 353 458 344 344 3s. W. and under 196 9i 6 1,192 38 270 13 4 649 352 1,001 55 210 265 947 1.443 2¡390 18 2 39 1 26-8 and under 4s. 6¿. 243 204 447 852 326 1,178 448 140 588 4s. &d. and under 5s. 1,893 866 2,759 363 234 310 5s. and under 5s. 6d. 1,377 191 1,568 265 5 2 17 6 207 13 220 5s. 6d. and over. Total Number of Men. 2.598 1,197 3.795 287 109 396 1,168 512 1,680 185 210 395 5,211 3,690 8,901 100-0 100-0 100 0 ,502 APPENDIX V, SPECIMEN FACTORY RULES AND CONDITIONS OF MUNICIPAL EMPLOYMENT. I.—Rules of a Magdeburg Iron Foundry and Machíne Works. The following rules come into force on November 16, 1906. They are framed in accordance with the provisions of the Imperial Industrial Code and take the place of an agreement concluded between the firm and its employees in so far as special agreements have not been concluded with individual workmen. 1.—Entrance upon Employment. 1. Each workman before being engaged must give a true and faithful account of himself, and must produce the necessary papers of identification (such as characters, labour certificates, or labour book), also receipts for his payments to the Invalidity and Old Age Insurance Funds. He will thereupon receive a copy of these working rules in which are inscribed his name, occupation, birthplace, age, dwelling, number, and the wages rate agreed upon. 2. Every workman acknowledges the receipt of a copy of the factory rules by signing his name in a book kept for that special purpose, to which is attached a copy of the said rules. 3. The copy of the rules handed to a workman must be kept and returned in a clean condition to the firm at the termination of his engagement, otherwise the sum of 20 pfennige (2\d.) must be paid as compensation. 4. Every workman is bound to join a Sickness Fund fulfilling the requirement of section 4 of the Sickness Insurance Law. 2.—Hours of Work, Intervals and Holidays. 1. The ordinary daily working hours begin in the morning at 6 and end in the evening at 6 o’clock. During this time the following intervals are observed—from 8 to 8.30 a.m., 12 noon to 1.30 p.m., and (for apprentices only) 3.30 to 4 p.m. The special legal regulations with respect to hours of work apply also to juvenile workers between the ages of 14 and 16. 2. On Saturdays a suitable time is allowed, as may be decided upon by the foreman, before leaving off time, for the purpose of cleaning and putting in order the work-places (*• stands ”), as also for the cleaning of machines. 3. The factory clock shall be the standard for beginning and leaving off work. Every workman shall appear in time to commence work at the sound of-the factory bell, and he may not leave off before the bell gives the signal for so doing. It is forbidden to make preparations for leaving off work before the bell sounds, or to commence work after the proper time. The factory door is closed in the morning at 6.5 and in the afternoon at 1.35 and is not opened again before 7 a.m. and 2.3<) p.m. respectively. Lost time will not be paid for. In order to facilitate the proper control of the working hours the following regulations will be enforced :— “Each workman or being engaged by the firm receives a numbered tally, which remains in his possession until he is discharged. These tallies must be hung on the board provided for that purpose in the porter’s room when workmen are leaving the factory, and taken from it again on entering the factory. Each workshop is provided with a tally board on which workmen are to hang their tallies on entering the shop. Control is exercised by the timekeeper every morning from 6.6 and every afternoon from 1.36. This control is decisive in reckoning the the number of hours actually worked. If a tally should be lost 20 pfennige (2W.) must be paid for a new one.” 4. On the day before Christmas, New Year’s Day, Easter and Whitsuntide work ceases at noon. 5. Temporary changes in the working hours which may be rendered necessary by the condition of trade will be announced on the notice board provided for that purpose. All workmen are bound to submit to these changes, as also to work on Sundays and holidays, when requested, in such cases as are permitted by law. 6. No one is allowed to leave off work during a shift without notification to the nearest foreman. 3.—Payment of Wages. 1. All work which has not been expressly undertaken on piece-rates must be executed at the hourly wage agreed upon. 2. Overtime and Sunday work are paid for at the rate of time and a quarter. 3. Night work is paid at the rate of time and a half should it be carried out by the day staff. If a special night shift is arranged then 50 pfennige (6d.) will be paid per night in addition to the ordinary time or piece rate. Overtime is reckoned from 6 to 10 p.m., and any work done during the dinner hour is paid at overtime rates. Night work begins at 10 p.m. and ends at 6 a.m. Overtime shall not be worked as a rule on Mondays and Saturdays. 3. In calculating wages only work done up to Wednesday shall be included in the week’s reckoning. In the case of piece-work which is either not finished or has not been taken over, an advance shall be given on pay days according to the work done as estimated by the foreman. Should several workmen be engaged on the same job, their individual shares shall be reckoned according to the hours worked and the hourly rate of each man. 4. All claims to piece payment are forfeited should a workman abandon the job he is engaged on before its completion, or be dismissed under the provisions of these factory rules. In such a case the time rate only will be paid. 5. Wages shall be paid in cash every Saturday, unless this happens to be a holiday, when they shall be paid the day before. The following deductions may be made from the wages, viz., contributions to the Sickness Funds and for Insurance against old age and invalidity, fines, “subs,” and any other amounts which, according to section 115 of the Imperial Industrial Code, may be deducted from the wages. 6. On receiving his wages the workman must satisfy himself forthwith that the amount is accurate; and any complaints he may have to make must be stated at once, as they cannot be considered afterwards. 7. Complaints as to the accuracy of the computation of earnings shall be made to the foreman in charge before noon of the following work-day. Later complaints can only be considered if the workman, owing to absence or sickness, has been hindered from raising them at the proper time. 8. If owing to scarcity of work, or interruptions to work, certain shifts have to be stopped, or the ordinary working hours reduced, the workman shall have no claim to wages for loss of time, nor can a workman claim wages for lost time when he has been hindered at his work from some cause for which he is responsible, even when the delay is excusable and is not of long duration. 4.—Notice on determining an Engagement. 1. No notice is necessary on either side ; on the contrary, an engagement can be terminated by either party at any time. 2. A demand or certificate as to the character and duration of his work shall be given to every workman who leaves under regular circumstances, and if he desiresi it, this certificate shall extend to his behaviour and capacity. II.—Regulations for Municipal Employees at Mannheim. 1 —Admission into Municipal Employment. § I-These Working Regulations are to be regarded as an agreement concluded between the municipality of Mannheim and the individual worker. § 2. As a rule only those workpeople shall be taken into the employ of the municipality who are qualified for their special work and are physically strong and healthy. Such workpeople must supply, on demand, proof that they have hitherto had a good reputation and left their last post without infringement of any contract. § 3. Only the heads of departments or officers of control expressly empowered by them are authorised to take workers into the employ of the municipality. § 4-On entering the municipal employ a workman for whom insurance is compulsory shall produce his receipt for insurance against old age and invalidity, and in requisite cases the receipts relating to insurance against sickness ; if he is still a minor he shall also show his labour-book. The chief official can order the medical examination by the competent municipal doctor of a worker to be taken into the employ of the municipality. The cost of the medical examination falls upon the municipality. § 6. Every worker entering the employ of the municipality is, on such entry, to be given a copy of the present working regulations, but the binding force of the regulations does not depend on the presentation of such copy. 2.—General Obligations relating to Municipal Employment. 4 7. The worker shall carry out the instructions of his superiors precisely and willingly. He shall behave peaceably towards his fellow workers, and courteously and respectably towards the public into contact with which his work brings him. § 8. The worker shall arrive at work punctually at the time appointed and remain there until work ceases (in the case of work done in shifts, until the arrival of the relief shift). The work assigned to him, including such work as he was not expressly employed to do, shall be carefully executed. During the hours prescribed for work he shall not leave his post without permission. § 9. Without special permission no work shall be done during the working hours other than that assigned by his superiors. The acceptance by workpeople of presents in return for work done in the employ of the municipality is in general prohibited. § io. Without permission in writing from the competent head of the department, no worker shall manage an inn or public-house or carry on a trade, or allow such to be managed or carried on by his wife or other members of his family belonging to his household. § 11-Municipal workpeople shall not be employed to do private work for municipal officials or employees. Subsidiary occupations which can be prejudicial to the rendering of service to the municipality are likewise prohibited. $12. The worker shall give a receipt for protective clothes, tools, and material supplied to him for the execution of his work and be responsible for their right use and careful preservation. §13. The town can order particular workpeople to wear livery, caps or other distinctive marks. 4 ii-Should the worker sustain injury while in employment, he shall inform his immediate superior forthwith. §15. Petitions and other memorials to the municipal authorities may only be presented through the head of the department. §16. Should a worker violate the present working regulations the chief officials, in cases where the worker is not at once discharged (cf. § 35), can, the offender having been heard, inflict fines to the amount of half his average daily earnings. § 17-The penalty order is to be communicated to the person concerned without delay, reasons and amount being notified. Should the worker complain, the Municipal Executive or a committee of that body shall decide the matter. $18. Fines shall be stopped out of the next wage payment, and, where workpeople’s relief funds exist for particular branches of the administration they shall be paid into these funds ; in other cases they shall be provisionally paid for the benefit of the workpeople into the town fund. 505 3.— Wages and Hours of Labour. §119. The beginning and end of the regular work and pauses are fixed for every branch of employment by means of a special service plan, and made known to the workpeople. In urgent cases, every worker is obliged to work beyond the time fixed, and at exceptional hours, corresponding compensation being made. §20. Occupation beyond the hours fixed in the plan will be specially compensated. The compensation for each hour of overtime amounts to one-tenth of the daily wage, and in addition 25 per cent, of the hourly wage so calculated, making in all 12 5 per cent, of the ordinary daily wage. Periods up to half-an-hour count as half-an-hour ; those from half-an-hour up to an hour, as one hour. N.B.—As regards the compensation for overtime in trades where there are shifts, the provisions of the special working regulations in force are determinative. §21. Sunday work and night work which are not mentioned in the plan are compensated in the following way : For every hour in addition to one-tenth of the daily wage 50 per cent, of the hourly wage so calculated is paid, making 15 per cent, of the ordinary daily wage in all. All occupation between the hours of 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. is reckoned as night work. § 22. Extra pay to persons living at a distance will only be granted temporarily and in exceptional cases, and provided that the place of work is at least 2\ kilometres away from the worker’s dwelling, and the extent of the work makes it impossible for him to go home at mid-day. The wage allowance in such cases amounts to 80 pfennige (9\d.) for married and 40 pfennige (4|d.) for single workpeople. Should there be travelling communication enabling the person to go home to dinner, travelling expenses will be paid instead of the above addition to the wages. §23. Wages are fixed in accordance with the subjoined tariff. This tariff, however, does not apply to workpeople under 18 years of age, nor to those who at the time of being taken into the employ of the municipality are not in full possession of their working powers. §24. In general wages will be paid at weekly periods, the payment as a rule being made on Friday. §25. Save for the provisions of §§ 27-31, the daily wage will only be granted for those days on which the worker has been employed. On payment of wages the following deductions are made :— (a) The share of the contributions on account of insurance against old age and invalidity and against sickness required of the worker by law. (b) The fines inflicted in virtue of the present working regulations (cf. § 16). (c) Sums to be paid by workpeople by way of compensation in accordance with § 34. §26. Objections to the calculation of the wages received are to be laid before the head of the department within three days of payment. 4 —Special Allowances. §27. Legal holidays occurring during the week will be paid for as working days, provided the worker has worked on all the working days of the week. If a worker is compelled to work on a legal holiday occurring during the week, then, in addition to his ordinary wage, he shall receive for every working hour one-tenth °f his daily wage. With regard to the payment of wages, the afternoon of the birthdays of the Grand-Duke and the Emperor, and the afternoon of All Saints’ Day, May Fair Tuesday, and Shrove Tuesday shall be treated as legal holidays. 29088 3 8 §28. In case of sickness, workpeople who are married or have their own household will continue to be allowed their wages in accordance with the following provisions for at most : — 1. Three months, should three years of service have been completed—• (a) in the case of entry into a hospital, by payment of three-quarters of the regular wage to the family, less statutory payments to the local sickness ­ fund ; (b) in the case of nursing outside the hospital, by payment of the difference between the statutory payments to the local sickness fund and the regular wage. 2. Six months, should five years of service have been completed, with the limitation that for the fourth to the sixth month of sickness— («) in the case of entry into a hospital, half of the regular wage, less the statutory payments to the local sickness fund, is paid to the family ; (b) in the case of nursing outside the hospital, three-quarters of the wage, less the statutory payments to the local sickness fund, is paid to the family. In cases of sickness lasting at least a week, full wages are paid for the first three days waiting time. In the case of accidents full wages will be paid without regard to the length of service and also for the first three days of incapacity to earn. The payment of the amounts is made on pay-day, after receipt of the certificate of the local sickness fund, at the direction of the technical officers. §29. Should workpeople who have their own household, and have been employed by the town uninterruptedly for a year, be called out to military practice, their families shall receive an addition to the assistance prescribed by the Imperial Law, the amount of which in the case of practice up to 14 days shall be equal to the difference between the regular wage and the legal assistance, but in the case of longer periods, for the time beyond 14 days, shall be equal to three-quarters of the regular daily wage, less the legal assistance. §30. The head of the department can grant leave of absence for four days to workpeople who have spent an uninterrupted period of three years in the employ of the town. In the case of periods of service of more than five years, six days leave can be granted, and in the case of periods of service of more than ten years, eight days. §31. On the decease of a worker who has spent an uninterrupted period of two years in the employment of the town, his widaw (or if such does not exist, the next of kin entitled to support) receives his regular daily wage for a period of two months. §33. In the sense of §§ 28 and 31, no interruption will be counted which is caused by sickness, calling out to military practice, or stoppage of a town undertaking, and has not lasted more than three months in the case of a period of service of five years or less, or six month 3 in the case of over five years’ service. 5.—Termination of Employment. §33. Fourteen days’ notice of dissolution of the employment relationship is required of either side, without prejudice to earlier dissolution by mutual agreement. In the case of ten years’ service the notice must be one of a month. §34. Workpeople leaving under regular circumstances are paid their wages on the day of leaving ; workpeople leaving without notice are paid on the next pay-day as a rule, but at earliest three days after leaving. In the event of a worker leaving without notice the town can demand as compensation ­ for the day on which the contract was broken and every subsequent working-day, but at most for six days, the amount of a customary local daily wage. 507 §35. On the grounds set out in § 123 of the Industrial Code, or in the case of repeated drunkenness, a worker can be dismissed without notice before the termination of the period prescribed by contract. §36. On the grounds set out in § 124 of the Industrial Code, a worker can leave without ­ notice before the termination of the period prescribed by contract. §37. On the termination of employment, all articles supplied to a worker in connection with such employment (working regulations and directions, protective clothes, tools, materials, &c.) shall be returned in orderly condition. In return, the worker shall be given all documents handed in by him on entering, for which he must give a receipt. On departure the workers can require a certificate as to the nature and duration of their occupation, and on their demand the certificate shall also give an account of their conduct and capacity. §33. Onlv the officials competent to take workpeople into employment (§3) are authorised to dismiss workpeople. 6.— Workmen's Committees. §39. In order to give the workpeople an opportunity of making known their wishes and possible complaints in connection with matters affecting all the workers in a municipal undertaking or branch of the same, Workmen’s Committees shall be established according to need, the members of which must be workpeople over 25 years of age who have been employed by the municipality for an uninterrupted period of at least two years. The members shall be elected by secret ballot from among the workpeople of full age engaged in the undertaking. For the rest the detailed provisions, and in particular those relating to the term of office, powers, and procedure of the Workmen’s Committees, shall be issued by the Town Council. 29088 3 8 2 APPENDIX VI. WAGES AGREEMENTS AND MINER’S WAGES TICKET. I.—Agreement in the Berlin Engineering Trade. 1. The working hours shall be 10 per day. 2. On Saturdays work shall cease half hour earlier than on ordinary days, but wages for a full day shall be paid. On the day before Easter, Whitsuntide, and Christmas respectively, work shall cease at noon and only half a day’s wages shall be paid in each case. 3. When work is slack the management, before resorting to discharges, shall reduce the working hours as far as possible to six per day. 4. Overtime, as far as it is absolutely unavoidable, shall be paid at the rate of 10 pfennige (l^e?.) extra per hour. As overtime shall be considered all hours exceeding those fixed by clauses 1 and 2 of this agreement. 5. In all cases of piece-work and before commencing a job, a piece-work ticket must be handed to the workman and the piece-rates be definitely fixed. If in consequence of technical changes, &c., the piece-rates have to be altered, any such alteration shall only be made after arranging with the workman affected, or with the Workmen’s Committee, as the case may be. If an agreement cannot be arrived at in this way, the workman affected shall be assured the time-rate. 6. In the case of piece-work done by workmen working in gangs, any surplus accruing shall be divided amongst his helpers on the part of the ganger in proportion to their time-rates and paid to each individually by the firm. 7. If piece-workers lose time owing to an interruption to work which lasts more than one hour, they shall be compensated in wages reckoned up to the dinner hour, or up to leaving-off time in the evening, according as the interruption occurs in the forenoon or the afternoon. 8. All workers in receipt of a time wage of less than 35 pfennige (4^e?.) per hour shall receive an additional 3 pfennige (§d.) per hour, and all earning from 35 to 49 pfennige (4\d. to 6d.) shall receive an additional 2 pfennige (£d.) per hour. 9. Any higher rates than the foregoing remain unaffected. 10. All material required by piece-workers shall as far as is practicable be delivered to them at the machine. 11. Members of the Workmen’s Committee can only be discharged with the consent of the management. 12. All tools and machines shall be delivered and kept in good working order ; should they be injured or broken owing to malice or gross carelessness, the damage shall be made good. 13. Machines and work-places (“ stands ”) shall be cleaned during working hours. 14. Sufficient facilities for washing and dressing shall be made for the workmen, and the firm shall provide good drinking water and adequate ventilation and heating. 15. For the execution of large jobs a smithy fire shall be provided when the preliminary trials show the necessity. 16. All work done away shall be paid at the rate of 10 pfennige (1J&) per hour extra, and travelling expenses (third-class fares by rail) and the time occupied in travelling shall be paid for. 17. If the work is so far away that a workman is obliged to spend the night away from home, he shall be paid according to special agreement. 18. In the event of disputes occurring which, in the opinion of the workmen concerned, might give rise to a stoppage of work, there shall be negotiations with the Workmen’s Committee for the purpose of settling the differences. 19. No one shall be penalised for carrying out the terms of this agreement. II.—Agreement in the Berlin Metal Trade. (Agreement concluded between a Berlin Firm and the local branch of the German Metalworkers’ Union.) 1. The working hours shall be nine per day. 2. Overtime shall be worked only in urgent cases and shall be paid at the rate of time and a quarter. 3. During scarcity of work the working hours shall be reduced to at least six per day before any discharges take place. 509 4. The minimum wage for plumbers, braziers, fitters, and installers shall be 50 pfennige (6d.) per hour, and for pressers, 60 pfennige (7|t/.). 5. In all cases of piece-work the minimum wage shall be guaranteed. 6. If, in the case of new or changed work, differences arise as to the rate of payment, a committee chosen from that particular branch of work shall be called in to estimate the rate that should be paid. 7. A piece-work ticket, stating the price to be paid, shall be handed to each pieceworker ­ before he begins to work. 8. For work done away from the shop an additional 10 pfennige (1 \d.) per hour shall be paid. 9. In all disputes as to the price to be paid for piece-work, the average earnings of the workman in question shall be paid, if the “ estimates committee ” approves the price or earnings. 10. All tools, circular-saws, hand vices, pincers, steel, &c., shall be supplied by the firm. A circular-saw shall provided for every second bench. 11. There shall be no stoppage of work before a representative of the Union has negotiated with the firm. 12. No one shall be penalised for carrying out the provisions of this agreement, and the workmen entering into this agreement pledge themselves not to molest those at present employed by the firm. Berlin, January 20, 1906. III.—Wages Ticket of a Westphalian Miner. Colliery Name of Workman Wages due for shifts [if piece] working days [if time] Deductions :— 1. Tools ... ... .... ... ... 2. Oi1 ... ... ... ... ... ... 3. Lamps and utensils Total of these deductions (1-3) Balance of net wages Further Deductions :— 4. Sickness insurance contribution 5. Pension contribution 6. Invalidity and old age contribution 7. Arrears ... • • ... • •• ••• ... 8. Fines ... ... ... ... ... ••• 9. lood ... ... ... ••• ... •*• 10. Coal ... ... ... ... ... ... 11. “ Sub ” 12. House and land (rent) 13. Lien on wages 14. Wages of men’s representative 15. Wages book ... ... ... 16. 37. Total of further deductions (4-17) ... Net sum to be paid Marks. Marks. 510 APPENDIX VIL HOUSING AND LODGING HOUSE REGULATIONS. I.—Housing Regulations of Barmen. § 1.—General. 1. The living rooms, bedrooms and kitchens shall not be in a neglected condition or so damp as to be injurious to health ; they must have a means of access that can be locked and does not lead through any other dwelling. 2. —(a) All such rooms shall have a height of at least 2*50 metres (8| feet), which in the case of unequal elevations in the ceiling and the floor shall be the minimum average height. (b) In buildings which were approved before April 1st, 1893, a height of 2 35 metres (7§ feet) may be considered sufficient. 3. Every living room, bedroom and kitchen shall receive air and light direct from outside ­ by means of windows in a suitable position. Lighting by means of a skylight alone is not permitted. 1. The surface of the windows giving light and adjusted for opening shall measure at least 1 square metre (10f square feet) for every 30 cubic metres (1,060 cubic feet) of the room. 5. —{a) In the two uppermost floors, kitchens and washhouses may adjoin a light shaft. (b) In both the uppermost floors, where the conditions are otherwise favourable, bed rooms may adjoin a light shaft provided they have an area of at least 7 square metres (75 square feet), and a window surface of at least 1 square metre (10| square feet). (c) Such light shafts shall be uncovered, have an area of at least 16 square metres (172 square feet), with a minimum measurement of 1*50 metres (5 feet), be throughout surrounded up to the roof by solid walls, and have at their lower ends a contrivance by means of which fresh air can be continuously supplied to them. 6. —(a) In the case of basement floors and ground floor rooms not having the windows prescribed in paragraph three shall not be used for the permanent abode of persons at all ; in the case of other floors only, provided their height is at least 3'50 metres (11^ feet), and they are so connected with a large well-lighted principal room that their lighting and airing are sufficiently and permanently provided for. The window surface of the principal room shall be enough for both rooms (see paragraph four). (b) In the case of buildings which were approved before April 1st, 1893, a less height can be regarded as sufficient, provided that other conditions are favourable. 7. The floor shall be boarded or provided with a layer of firm and impenetrable material which must have no considerable grooves or unevenness. § 2.—Basement Room,s and Garrets. 1. —(a) Basement rooms may only be used as living rooms or bedrooms or otherwise ­ for the permanent abode of persons, provided the floor never lies more than 0'50 metres (1 foot 8 inches) below the surrounding level of the ground, that the windows are 1 metre (3J feet) high and that the window head is at least 1*25 metres (4 feet) above the surface of the pavement or yard. (b) The floor may be sunk to a distance of 1 metre (3J feet) below the ground provided that an area is placed at the front wall belonging to the rooms concerned, whose width is at least 1 metre (3£ feet), and whose floor, which shall be well drained, is 15 centimetres (6 inches) below the floor of the adjoining rooms. (c) Rooms, intended for permanent dwellings, whose floors are below the level of the ground are permitted in yards only if the length or breadth of the yard is greater than the heights of the fronts of the surrounding buildings. 2. Basement rooms which were approved as living rooms before April 1st, 1893, may only be used as living rooms or bedrooms or otherwise for the permanent abode of persons provided the ceiling is at least 094 metres (3 feet) above the surface of the pavement or the yard, the window is 0*80 metres (21, feet) high, and the window head is at least 094 metres (3 feet) above the surface of the pavement or yard. 3. —(a) The floor of every nethermost room intended for the permanent abode of persons shall be protected against ascending earth-damp or vapours by means of a solid waterproof floor. (b) The surrounding walls of all rooms intended for the permanent abode of persons shall likewise be secured against ascending earth-damp by means of isolating layers. (c) If the floors of such rooms are lower than the surrounding ground the surrounding walls coming into direct contact with the soil—so far as no area abuts against them shall by approved means be likewise secured against the penetration of lateral earth-damp. 4. Garrets shall only be used for the permanent abode of persons provided they are separated as far as the staircase from the adjacent parts of the roof space by incombustible ­ walls and ceilings placed in accordance with the regulations, and provided in addition that their ceiling is separated from the roof by an air space. § 3.—Bedrooms. In rooms used for sleeping there shall be air space of at least 10 cubic metres (353 cubic feet), and floor space of at least 4 square metres (43 square feet) for every grown up person therein and 5 cubic metres (177 cubic feet) air space and 2 square metres (2U square feet) floor space for every child over 10 years. Children under 10 years of age are disregarded in calculating the necessary air and floor space. § 4.—Family Dwellings. 1. Dwellings for a common household of two or more persons (family dwellings) shall have at least one heatable room of at least 30 cubic metres (1,060 cubic feet) air space. 2. Every independent dwelling shall be separated from the adjoining dwellings by walls at least half a brick thick or other fireproof walls without an opening which similarly preclude the penetration of sound. 3. Every family dwelling shall have its own place for cooking. 4. In rented houses which are in connection with the municipal sewage and water works there shall be on every floor at least one sink that can be conveniently reached, and a water tap. 5. In every rented house there shall be wash-houses sufficient in size and number. 6. —(a) For every four family dwellings or 20 persons there shall be at least one w.c. that can be locked and corresponds to the building regulations. (5) The w.c. shall not be more than one story away from the dwellings. II.—Police Regulations relating to Lodgers at Mannheim. (November 10, 1904.) Art. 1. Any person.intending to let bedrooms for hire shall first notify his intention at the Police Station of the ward in which his residence is situated, and furnish a statement of the number and sex of the lodgers he proposes to take, and of the accommodation to be provided for them. Notification shall also be given of any increase in the number of lodgers, of any decrease in the accommodation provided for them, or where other accommodation is allotted to them than that previously determined. Before any lodgers can be received, the proposed sleeping accommodation must be inspected by the police, and the lodging-house keeper be supplied with a certificate (called bedroom certificate). This certificate must be hung up permanently in every lodger’s bedroom. Art. 2. The arrival and departure of each lodger shall be notified to the police authorities within three days in accordance with the Notification Ordinance (Local Police Regulation of Dec. 23rd, 1901). The lodging-house keeper must also maintain a register of lodgers residing in the house in which must be entered the Christian name, surname, and birthplace of each lodger, together with the date of arrival and departure. Art. 3. The lodging-house keeper is responsible for the maintenance of cleanliness, good conduct and order in his house. The bedrooms shall be sufficiently ventilated and shall be cleaned every day. The beds and other furniture shall always be kept clean and shall be renewed when necessary. Art. 4. Where lodgers are taken, the dwelling must be sufficiently large for the requirements of the family and the members of the household, and to allow of the sexes sleeping separately ; separate beds must be provided for all members of the household over 12 years of age, and not more than two persons under 12 years shall sleep in one bed. Kitchens, workrooms, workshops, &c., may not be let as sleeping rooms. Art. 5. The lodging-house keeper or any member of his household may not sleep in the same room with lodgers. Exceptions may be made in the case of adults by special permission of the local police. Art. 6. Rooms which can only be reached by passing through the living rooms, badrooms, workrooms or kitchens of the lodging-house keeper, or any member of his household, may not be let to lodgers. Art. 7. It is not permissible to let sleeping accommodation to persons of different sexes, except in the case of married couples, or parents with children under 10 years of age. Art. 8. Rooms let for sleeping purposes must have a wooden floor and provision for heating, and must have a window made to open and communicating directly with the open air, with a lighting surface equal to one-tenth of the total floor space. Such a room shall allow of at least 43 square feet of floor space and 353 cubic feet of air space to every person spending the night therein. Art. 9. Provision must be made for locking bedrooms from the inside, and in rooms let to females there shall be a bolt as well. Art. 10. Each lodger shall be provided with a separate bed, a seat, separate washing and drinking utensils, and a towel for his or her own use. A spittoon filled with water must be placed in each room ; every morning this must be emptied, cleaned, and filled with fresh water. Art. 11. Lodgers shall be allowed the use of their landlord’s water closets, unless separate closets are provided for them. Art. 12. Lodgers shall be allowed to remain in their bedroom even after working hours have begun. Art. 13. Police and medical officers, inspectors of buildings and dwelling houses, all persons authorised by the police, and those authorised by the municipal poor-law administration shall at all times be allowed access to the bedrooms, and the lodger register must be submitted to them upon demand. Art. 14. Any infringement of these regulations is punishable by a fine not exceeding 150 marks (£7 10s.) or with imprisonment. Art. 15. These local police regulations come into force on January 1, 1905, and supersede the previous regulations of November 28, 1874. The regulations apply to lodging houses in existence at the date of issue, and the prescribed notification must in this case be made by January 15th at the latest. Mannheim, November 10, 1904. III.—Information Required before Lodger Certificates are Granted. 1. Particulars of the street, number of the house, story and part of the building. 2. Name in full and occupation of the lodging-house keeper. 3. Position of the bedroom. 4. Number of lodgers to be taken. 5. Sex of lodgers to be taken. 6. Are there sufficient bedrooms and beds for the lodging-house keeper and the members of the household ? 7. Is it intended that the lodging-house keeper or any member of the household shall sleep in the bedroom which it is proposed to let ? 8. Has the bedroom a separate entrance ? 9. Has the bedroom a wooden floor ? 10. Can the bedroom be heated ? 11. Has the bedroom direct light by means of a window which can be opened ? 12. What are the dimensions of the window ? 13. Dimensions of floor space ? 14. Amount of cubic air space (height x floor space) ? 15. Can the bedroom be locked from the inside ? 16. Are bolts provided inside on the door ? 17. Number of beds available. 18. In what condition are the beds ? 19. Number of seats available. 20. Are washing and drinking utensils and a towel provided for each lodger ? 21. Is there a spittoon in the bedroom ? 22. Is a separate closet available for the lodgers ? 23. Is the same closet used by the lodging-house keeper and the lodgers ? 24. Other observations. 513 IV.—Form of Agreement between Landlord and Tenant at Berlin. 1 hereby lets to and his wife, as jointly-liable, the situated in the house No Street, and consisting of living rooms bedrooms, kitchens, bathrooms, passages, shop, cellars, No attic, No coachhouses, No stables, together with the use of the wash-house and drying loft ; (as a dwelling house) (as a place for carrying on the business of ), from the 1st , 190..., to , 190..., for (years), (months), at a (yearly) (monthly) rental of mk., pf., (in words, ) inclusive of 8 per cent, for accessory charges [as for water, the cleaning and lighting of the stairs, &c.]. The landlord on his part only lets the premises, and places the tenant in possession of the same, subject to the former tenant punctually vacating the said premises. Should any delay arise in this respect the new tenant can have no claim against the landlord for compensation. 2. The tenant undertakes to pay the rent of mk pf. at the residence of the landlord or that of his representative (quarterly), (monthly), in advance, by 8 p.m. on the first day of each (quarter) (month). The landlord need not give up possession of the premises before he has received the first instalment of the rent. Should this payment be refused he is entitled to withdraw from the contract without being obliged to issue any summons, and he may let the dwelling to any other person while still retaining his right to compensation. Nevertheless, the tenant, in the event of the agreement falling through because of his fault, shall be liable for a half year’s rent, and shall forfeit any deposit made. In the event of any breach of contract on the part of the tenant, any deposit paid shall be forfeited to the landlord who, if he does not consent to the suspension of the agreement, retains in addition his rights under the terms thereof. The tenant hereby declares that the furniture, not only of his present residence, but also that required for the above-mentioned premises, is his own absolute property, and that of the furniture proposed to be placed on the premises none is being obtained on the hire purchase system. The premises are let to the tenant by the landlord only on the understanding that this statement is correct ; should it prove otherwise, he shall have the right to cancel the agreement at any time and demand immediate possession. 3. The tenant takes possession of the premises in their present condition, having assured himself that they are fit for tenancy. There is no obligation on the part of the landlord to give any guarantee as to their condition neither is he liable for compensation for any present defects. The only exceptions to this are the improvements to be carried out by the landlord after the tenant has entered upon possession. The tenant shall keep the premises in good repair, and on quitting the same shall give op possession of them in the same condition, allowance being made for reasonable wear and tear. He shall bear all costs of repairs to the interior of the premises, as also for damages to the interior and the fittings, including exposed gas and water pipes, &c., or to the premises in general, caused by himself, his family, servants, workmen, domestic or draught animals, in the course of the transport of goods by his orders, or when the said injuries are due to natural causes or to the action of strangers. The tenant shall, at his own expense, immediately replace any broken house or shop windows ; these latter to be insured by him. The tenant cannot claim any damages in the event of the premises Proving to be damp, smoky, or infested with vermin, nor compensation for the cutting off of gas and water should this be necessary at any time. Should the landlord sell the property, he shall be freed from any liability to his tenant. In the event of a contagious disease breaking out in the house, the tenant shall at once notify the landlord, and carry out at his own expense the requisite disinfection prescribed by the police authorities : otherwise, he shall be liable for damages. 4. Before undertaking any structural alterations or making any additions or improvements, ­ the tenant must obtain the written consent of the landlord ; such improvements, particularly including any safety locks and chains which have been affixed to the doors and all duplicate keys made to the tenant’s order shall become the property of the landlord. Before any bath can be installed, which is connected with the water pipes, the consent of the landlord must be obtained in writing. The tenant undertakes to allow the landlord to carry out any structural alterations, such as cleaning, pointing, and painting the house, the stairs, landings, windows, and doors, without making any deduction from the rent and without claiming compensation, although the work may cause him inconvenience. The landlord,or his representative, has the right to inspect the condition of the interior and the fittings at any time, and also to see that the house regulations are being adhered to, e ven in the absence of the tenant, and to take with him experts or witnesses to determine fhe amount of damage to be made good by the tenant. 5. The tenant may not transfer to any other person the rights he has acquired by this agreement, nor may he utilise the premises for any other purpose or trade, as the case may ne, than that indicated in his contract (Art. 1). No sub-letting shall be allowed. No business assistants or persons other than members of the family shall be lodged gratuitously, Uor shall any domestic animals be kept. 29088 3 T The tenant renounces all right of legal notice to quit in the event of his vacating the premises of his own accord, sub-letting rooms, or taking in any persons forbidden by the landlord. The tenant is entitled to utilise the water supply solely for his own domestic use, and may on no account share it with others. The bath is to be used only for bathing purposes, whilst the washing of clothes may take place only in the wash-house, and the drying only in the drying loft. 6. The tenant must observe the following house regulations :— (1.) The stairs, landings, landing windows and closets (water-closets) must be cleaned and kept clean during one week by the tenants in turn, as arranged by the landlord. The cleaning of the stairs and landings will be undertaken by the landlord for the tenant on the (quarterly) (monthly) payment of mk pf., to be paid at the same time as the rent. (2.) Rubbish, dust, broken pieces, kitchen refuse and such like may be deposited only in the places appointed for that purpose. Paper, straw, &c., must not be emptied into the dust-bin, and vessels with evil smelling contents must be removed only after 10 p.m. and must be well closed. (3.) Children must not be allowed to play, nor to sit nor to stand about the house doors, in the courtyards or on the stairs and landings. It is also forbidden to shake carpets, clothes, and other articles on the balconies, staircases, and landings. (4.) The breaking of fuel, chopping of firewood, and the beating of carpets may be undertaken only in the courtyard, at the place set apart for these purposes, and only on weekdays between the hours of 8 a.m. and 12 a.m. No iron stove may be used, no pipes may be connected with the tiled stove, no open fire may be made on the cooking stove, and not more fuel than is required for the day may be stored in the kitchen, Whole logs of wood must not be brought into the house or into the woodshed, and articles emitting an obnoxious smell must not be stored by the tenant. Walking about in wooden shoes is forbidden. (5.) Due notice must be given to the landlord of any intention to use the wash-house and drying loft ; the term of such use may not exceed three days, and the wash-house must be carefully cleansed after use. The tenant must pay pf. for each day’s use of the copper in the wash-house. (6.) Flower boxes may not be fixed to the windows, nor flower pots placed outside ; washing, and other articles must not be suspended from, laid on, or placed at the windows, and nothing may be thrown or poured out of them. It is likewise forbidden to display signs or advertisements from the windows or on the house without permission from the landlord. (7.) Horse vehicles belonging to the tenant shall not be driven through the house entrance without the permission of the landlord. (8.) When proceeding to the loft, stable, or cellar, the tenant and his family must make use of a protected light (lantern). Ashes must be damped with water only before placing them in the dustbin. (9.) The house door shall always be kept locked from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. The house key must not be entrusted to any one outside the family. In the event of the key being lost the landlord is entitled to have the lock changed and to charge the cost of the same together with all the new house keys to the tenant. Duplicate keys must not be made unless intimation is first given to the landlord. (10.) Nothing may be placed or hung in the yard, landings, stairs, passages and other places set apart for general use. In these places as well as in the premises tenanted, improper disturbances of rest, such as violent banging of doors, noisy use of stairs, running up and down, children’s noises, shouting on the part of children, and quarrelling are forbidden. Also every other kind of noise which disturbs the rest of occupants is forbidden after 10 p.m., and the playing of music after 11 p.m. (11.) In order to obviate disturbance, sewing and knitting machines must before being used be placed on a special layer of felt, rubber, or some woollen material. 7. Notice of the intention to cancel this agreement must be given in writing at the latest months days before its expiry. Should this not be done on either side, it is understood that the agreement shall hold good, the agreement shall be considered to be renewed each time this occurs for a period of years months, and remains valid in all its clauses. In the event of the removal or death of the tenant, the legal notice on the part of the tenant or of his heirs can only be given on the 1st of April or October following his removal or death, so that there shall be at least one quarter between giving notice and the expiry thereof. The tenant binds himself, after giving notice to the landlord, to grant also to persons desirous of taking the premises, and when accompanied by the landlord or his representative, the right of entry into any part of the tenement between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. on working days, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sundays and holidays, for the purpose of inspecting the same ; and in the event of his being hindered from doing so, to provide for the possibility of such inspection. He hereby gives the landlord express permission to open and enter the premises for the purpose of inspection if the absence of the tenant and the members 515 of his household should exceed 24 hours. Even in the event of the premises being vacated before the legal time, the premises, together with keys and everything appertaining to them, must at once be handed over to the landlord, in a clean condition, on the day of leaving. Moreover, the tenant, in the event of his leaving before the legal date, hereby accords the landlord the right, without having any claim to compensation, to commence improvements on the premises, and if the tenant has neglected to return the keys to the landlord at the proper time, the landlord is hereby empowered to use suitable means to procure admission to the premises in the absence of the tenant. Further, in quitting the premises before the legal time, the tenant foregoes any compensation or repayment of rent, should the vacated premises not be occupied by a new tenant earlier than 14 days before the expiry of the agreement and the landlord does not require any rent for that period. The tenant, on the contrary, accords the landlord the right to give the succeeding tenant the gratuitous use of the premises during the last 14 days of the lease. Removal from and giving up possession of the premises shall be deemed to have taken place on removal by the tenant of his principal furniture or business plant, even though a few small and unimportant articles be left in the premises. 8. The landlord has the right, in the event of payment of the rent stipulated in Art. 2 not being punctually made, as also in the event of the breach of the conditions contained in Arts. 4, 5, 6 and 7, on the part of the tenant, his family, lodgers, sub-tenants, or his staff, to demand the immediate vacation of the premises without previous notice. Any unpunctuality ­ in payment of rent gives the landlord the right of immediate possession. The landlord still retains this right, even should the tenant seek to make good his breach of the contract by paying the rent in arrears before the right of withdrawal from the contract on the part of the landlord has been exercised. For breach of the prescribed house regulations (Art. 6) the landlord shall only have the right of possession in the event of the tenant, after having been warned in writing against a breach of the rules, transgressing again, or in the event of his not having, within a time specified by the landlord, removed or made good the cause of complaint. The landlord shall not lose his right of resuming possession in the event of granting days of grace for payment of rent. On the contrary, on the expiration of such periods, the right shall come automatically into force. The tenant foregoes the right to withhold the rent on the ground of any presumptive claim against the landlord, and also foregoes the right to any settlement of claims against the landlord in connection with the payment of rent. Should the tenant have to give up possession owing to breach of contract, he nevertheless ­ remains liable to the landlord for a half-year’s rent, which must be paid to the same as a fine for breach of contract, on vacating the premises, the right being reserved of demanding repayment should the landlord be reimbursed by another disposition of the premises. 9. The tenant bears the cost of the legal stamp tax and the receipt tax. In the event of renewal of the lease he undertakes to pay in advance to the landlord this stamp duty proportionate to the length of his contract. In the event of there being several tenants, declarations binding in law may I e made by or to each tenant individually. Berlin 190 2W068 3 T 2 APPENDIX VIII. REGULATIONS RELATING TO THE INSPECTION AND SALE OF FOOD. 1.—Provisions of the Imperial Meat Inspection Law of June 3, 1900. §1-1. Cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, horses and dogs, whose flesh is to be used for human consumption are subject to official inspection both before and after slaughter. The obligation of inspection can be extended by the Federal Council to include other animals to be slaughtered. 2. When slaughter is a matter of urgent necessity no inspection is required before slaughter. 3. Slaughter is a matter of urgent necessity when it is feared that the animal will die before the arrival of the competent inspector, or that the value of the meat, its diseased condition getting worse, will depreciate substantially ; or if owing to an accident the animal must be killed at once. §2. 1. In the case of animals to be slaughtered whose meat is to be used exclusively in the owner’s household, the inspection before slaughter can be dispensed with so far as no signs of sickness which could preclude its lit consumption are noticeable ; and the inspection ­ after slaughter can be dispensed with also, provided that on slaughter no such signs are to be seen. 2. The use, for the purposes of trade, of meat the inspection of which may be dispensed with in accordance with paragraph 1 is prohibited. 3. The following are not regarded as a person’s own household in the sense of paragraph 1 :—The household of barracks, hospitals, educational institutions, dining institutions, prisons, poor-houses and similar establishments, as also the households of butchers, dealers in meat, and keepers of inns, public houses and restaurants. §5. 1. Inspection districts are tobe formed for the undertaking of inspection ; for each of these at least one inspector and a deputy are to be appointed. 2. The formation of inspection districts and the appointment of the inspector rest with the provincial authorities. In the case of inspection undertaken in the military preserved goods factories special inspectors can be appointed by the military administration. 3. The inspectors shall be appointed from among approved veterinary surgeons who have shown satisfactory qualifications. §6. Should inspection demonstrate the presence or suspicion of a disease for which the obligation of notification exists, the provisions in force concerning this shall be followed. §7. 1. Should the inspection of the living animal show no grounds for objection to slaughter, the inspector shall approve of slaughter, while giving instructions as to the special measures of precaution to be observed. 2. The slaughter of the animal subjected to inspection shall not take place before the issue of sanction, and then only with due observance of the special measures of precaution ordered. 3. Should the slaughtering not take place within two days after issue of sanction it is only permitted after fresh inspection and permission. §8-1. If the inspection after slaughter shows no ground for objection to the meat the inspector shall declare it fit for human consumption. 2. Parts of a slaughtered animal shall not be removed before inspection has taken place. §9. 1. Should inspection show that the meat is unfit for human consumption, the inspector shall first of all order its seizure and then inform the owner of this decision and notify the police authorities. 2. Meat whose unfitness has been shown on inspection shall not be traded with as food for human beings. 3. The use of the meat for other purposes can be permitted by the police authorities so long as it is not opposed to considerations of health. The police authorities decide what measures are to be taken to preclude the use of the meat for consumption by human beings. 4. The meat shall be traded with only after permission has been received from the police authorities, and with due observance of the above measures ordered by the police. 5. If the meat is not permitted to be used for other objects (cf. 3) it shall be taken away by the police in a harmless manner. §10. 1. If inspection shows that the meat is only fit for human consumption under qualification, ­ the inspector shall first of all order its seizure, and then inform the owner of this decision and notify the police authorities. The police authorities decide under what measures of security the meat can be made fit for human consumption. 2. Meat which on inspection has been recognized to be fit only under qualification shall not be traded with as food for human beings before it has been made fit for human consumption by the measures of security ordered by the police authorities. 3. So far as the meat is not made fit in such manner, the provision of § 9, paragraphs 3-5, apply. § 11. 1. The sale of meat made fit for human consumption (§ 10, paragraph 1) shall only take place provided that a mark is made which makes known this peculiarity. 2. Meat dealers, inn, public house and restaurant keepers are allowed to sell and use such meat only with the permission of the police authorities ; this permission is always revocable. Such meat shall be delivered to the aforesaid persons only so far as such permission has been granted. In the business rooms of these persons it shall be made known by means of a clear poster placed in a conspicuous position that meat having the peculiarity mentioned in paragraph 1 is being sold or used. 3. Meat dealers shall not sell the meat in rooms in which fit meat (§ 8) is sold. §13. 1. Meat arriving at the Customs is subject on importation to an official inspection with the co-operation of the customs authorities. An exception is made in the case of meat which can be shown to have been already inspected according to regulations and meat for direct transit. 2. The importation of meat shall only take place through appointed custom-houses. The Federal Council shall appoint these houses as also those customs and taxation offices at which the inspection of meat shall take place. §15. The Federal Council is empowered to introduce prohibitions and restrictions of importation more extensive than those provided for in § § 12 and 13. S 16. The provisions of § 8, paragraph 1, and of §§ 9-11, also apply to meat entering the Customs. However, in place of the harmless removal of the meat, or in place of the measures of security to be ordered by the police, the re-exportation of the meat can be permitted, with corresponding measures of precaution, so far as health considerations are not opposed to this course. §18. 1. In the case of horses the inspection (§1) shall be undertaken by approved veterinary surgeons. 2. The sale of horseflesh, as also the importation of such meat into the Customs, must only take place if a mark is made which makes known in the German language the fact that the meat is horseflesh. 3. Meat dealers, inn, public house and restaurant keepers are permitted to sell and use horseflesh only with the permission of the police authorities ; this permission is always revocable. Horseflesh shall be delivered to the aforesaid persons only in so far as such permission is granted them. In the business rooms of these persons it shall be made known by a clear poster in a conspicuous position that horseflesh is being sold or used. 4. Meat dealers shall not sell horseflesh in rooms in which meat of other animals is sold. 5. The Federal Council is empowered to order that the above provisions shall as far as suitable apply to donkeys, mules, dogs and other animals less often slaughtered. §19. 1. The inspector shall mark on the meat the result of the inspection. Meat imported from abroad is in addition to be marked as such. 2. The Federal Council decides on the nature of the mark. §§ 26-28 deal with penalties. 518 II.—Municipal Regulations respecting the Trade in Meat, &c., in Munich. {Extracts). Art. 22. The provisions of the Law of June 3rd, 1900, respecting the inspection of cattle for slaughter and meat, as well as the following regulations and ordinances of the Federal Council, shall apply to the official inspection of meat destined for human consumption. As regards the slaughtering of animals, the provisions of the Slaughtering and Stockyard Ordinance, and in so far as slaughtering outside the abattoir is concerned, also the provisions of the Inspection and Public Sale Ordinance of 31st March, 1903, shall apply. Attention is also called to these latter provisions so far as concerns the handling of meat, &c., imported into the town in a raw state from districts within the Customs area. Finally, attention is called to the “ Freibank ” * Ordinance of March 31st, 1903. Art. 23. The transportation, storing, exposure for sale, and the sale of meat, entrails, and meat products, as well as the handling and preparation of these articles, are subject to control according to the present regulations. Art. 24. In all dépôts for the sale of meat in the town only such meat may be exhibited for sale or sold as has been inspected, approved and stamped as fit for sale in accordance with the provisions of the Slaughtering and Stockyard Ordinance and the Ordinance respecting the inspection of food. Art. 25. It is forbidden :— (a) To sell or offer for sale outside the “ Freibank ” meat entrails, or other meat products obtained from animals either immature or not completely healthy. (b) To inflate slaughtered animals, or to offer for sale, or sell carcases in an inflated condition. (c) To expose for sale in an unplucked condition dead fowls which do not come within the category of game. (id) To place meat and meat products, fowl or game of any kind directly on ice. This regulation does not apply to fish. Art. 26. Persons engaged in supplying meat and meat products to the public must be provided with a light coloured washable overall, or at least with a white apron with a broad breast piece and sleeves reaching over the elbows, made of light coloured washable material. Art. 27. Rooms used for the sale of meat or for the preparation of meat products must have watertight floors, capable of being easily cleaned. The walls of these rooms must be cohered either with washable light paint or with a covering of tiles or similar material. The iron hooks, nails or bars from which the meat is hung must be rust proof and well galvanised when they are used in such a way that the meat comes into direct contact with them. Art. 28. Meat and meat products must always be conveyed through the streets of the town cleanly covered. It is forbidden to stand, sit or lie on the meat or in that portion of the vehicle reserved for the carriage of the meat. The exposure, hanging, or exhibition outside the place of sale of meat and meat products of any kind, except unplucked birds, unskinned game and fish is forbidden except in the provision market. Art. 29. Meat intended for immediate sale shall be so exhibited in the places of sale that it may be seen and chosen by intending purchasers. The prices of the meat on sale in business premises shall be displayed in a legible manner outside of the shop according to the different sorts (ox beef, cow beef, veal, pork, wether mutton, sheep mutton, lamb, &c.), should extra prices be asked for special qualities of meat, such as fillet, sirloin, cutlets, loins, &c., these qualities and the prices must also be notified outside. When ox beef and other beef (steer, cow and heifer), are offered for sale simultaneously, these kinds of meat must be kept quite separate. It is forbidden to indicate on the board the price of ox beef when such is not available for sale. Butchers who do not kill oxen themselves, but obtain the meat otherwise and sell it, or indicate the price of such meat on the board, must be able to account for the purchase of this meat by means of a statement of the vendor, giving the date and the weight. Art. 30. In the same way as is above prescribed, the delivery notes given to customers showing the quality, description, weight and price of the meat supplied, the aforesaid kinds of meat shall be indicated separately as also the price and weight of each sort. Art. 34. Butchers are bound to display in a conspicuous position in their shops the extracts from the Local Police Ordinance regulating their trade. Art. 35. Butchers who offer for sale the flesh of horses, dogs, &c., or products containing ­ such flesh, must add to the name Butcher,” the respective kind of animal sold (e.g., “ Horse Butcher ” or “ Horse and Dog Butcher ”). * Public stall fox the retail sale of inferior meat at low prices. 519 Art. 36. Horse and dog flesh shall be separately exposed for sale and sold. It is forbidden to keep such meat in the same premises as other meats except in so far as the latter are to be utilised for horseflesh and similar preparations. All premises in which the flesh of such animals, or meat products in which such flesh is used, are exposed for sale or sold, shall have a clear indication of the nature of the business affixed to the premises in such a way as to be visible from the street (e.a Horse, &c., Butcher). v ' y "‘ III.—Police Food Regulations at Barmen. (Police Regulations respecting the Sale and Conveyance of Articles of Food and Consumption at Barmen.) The following police regulations are issued for the district of the Barmen municipality in virtue of Arts. 5 and 6 of the Law of March 11, 1850, as to police administration, and Arts. 143 and 144 of the Law of July 30, 1883, regarding the general State administration. Art. 1. The public are forbidden to touch bread and other bakers’ wares, meat, and other articles of food and consumption which from their nature admit of immediate consumption ; and such action must not be allowed by the vendor. Art. 2. Only clean paper, not previously used in any way, may be employed by vendors in wrapping up the articles of food and consumption designated in Art. 1. The use of printed paper or paper which has been written on is prohibited. Art. 3. All articles of food or consumption intended for sale and exhibited on the shop counters, &c., or in open shop windows, must, if the construction of the window does not afford sufficient protection, be covered with glass bells or gauze or wire tissue in such a way as to protect them from dust and vermin. Vegetables, fruit, and other articles of food and consumption, offered for sale at the weekly markets or in public thoroughfares or in cellars, may not be placed directly on the pavement or the ground, or be separated from the ground only by means of covers sacks cloths or similar articles placed between them and the ground. Vendors are required to keep their wares either in baskets, boxes and the like, or to rest them on supports of wood or other impenetrable material. Art. 4. The principal of the business, as well as his staff, is responsible for carrying out the foregoing regulations. Art. 5. A placard bearing the clearly legible inscription “ It is forbidden by order of the police to touch any wares ” must be prominently displayed in every shop or place where the objects designated in Art. 1 are sold. The carts of fruiterers, greengrocersf&c., are places of sale within the meaning of these regulations if goods are offered for sale thereon. Art. 6. Dogs may not be taken into shops in which articles of food or consumption are publicly displayed. The vendor may not keep any dog in such shops or suffer any dog to remain therein. Art. 7. Any person who in the course of his calling carries or conveys on public thoroughfares slaughtered animals, fish, meat, bread and other bakers’ wares, or other articles of food and consumption, must, unless these articles are conveyed in a closed vehicle, wrap them in clean white cloths, so that no portions of the articles are visible. A rt. 8. Contraventions of these regulations are punishable with a fine of from 1 to 30 marks, or in default with imprisonment for a proportionate period. Barmen, November 6, 1905. IV.—Police Ordinance relating to the Trade in Milk at Mülhausen. Art. 1. Cow’s milk may be-"delivered in two qualities only —cream (full) milk or separated milk. Only milk containing a minimum of 3 2 per cent, of fat and having at 15° Celsius a specific gravity of from 0T29 to 0'134 may be sold as cream milk. Any kind of milk from which the cream has been removed must be designated separated milk. Partially separated milk and mixtures of cream milk and separated milk must be sold as separated milk. Art. 2. The vessels in which milk is offered for sale in markets, streets, and public places, in shops, or in trade from house to house, must be provided with plain and conspicuous notices “ Cream milk,” or “ Separated milk,” according to the nature of the contents. The notice “ Cream milk ” must be applied in red letters, and . the notice “Separated milk ” in blue letters, both on a white background. Art. 3. Milk, whether cream milk or separated milk, may not be retailed if derived:— (1.) From animals suffering from any disease, unless the sale of such milk is permitted ­ under certain conditions in virtue of special legal or other regulations. (2.) From animals otherwise diseased, as, for example, animals with affections of the udder, and also from animals suffering from cough, or emaciated, or which show morbid discharges, particularly owing to retention of the after-birth. (3.) From cows during the first six days after calving. Further, the following may not be dealt in :—acid, or mucous milk, milk with abnormal colouring, and, in general, any kind of sour or nauseous milk, and milk containing extraneous matter, such as cow hair, byre dust and the like, or so-called preservatives of any kind whatever. Art. 4. The premises in which milk is offered for sale or undergoes preparation may only be used for such purposes after being inspected by the police and certified by them as free from objection. They must always be kept as clean as possible and properly ventilated. Dwelling or sleeping rooms, kitchens or other rooms used for domestic purposes may not be employed. The premises used for the sale or preparation of milk must be permanently separated from any rooms of the kind mentioned. No other articles of any kind, except flour, pastry, bread, butter, lard, wood, eggs, fresh vegetables and honey, may be offered for sale in the same premises as milk, without the special permission of the police. Decaying, ill-smelling, or fermenting articles, particularly petroleum, decomposing cheese and herrings, must carefully be kept out of rooms in which milk is sold or prepared. Art. 5. The storing, preparation and conveyance of milk must be effected in such a way as not to influence its food or keeping qualities. The vessels used for holding, conveying, measuring or selling milk may not be used for any other purpose. The use of vessels made of tin, copper or brass, of vessels of earthenware with injurious or defective glaze, and also of cast iron vessels with enamel containing lead, is prohibited. All utensils and vessels must also be of such a nature that they neither impart any constituents to the milk nor alter the quality of the latter in any way. Art. 6. Persons who are suffering from infectious or loathsome diseases, or who come into contact with human beings or animals so affected, may not be entrusted with milking, or with the conveyance, sale, or preparation of milk, or with the cleansing of the vessels or the rooms in which the milk is kept or sold. Art. 7. Rinsings, kitchen refuse, and other dirty substances or substances liable to decomposition may only be conveyed in milk carts laden with milk if they are in a portion of the vehicle completely separated from the milk, and are in closed vessels with tightly fitting lids. Art. 8. Milk intended or exposed for sale, rooms for the sale, storing, and preparation of the same, and also milk carts shall at all times be open to the inspection and examination of the police. Art. 9. Vendors of milk must hang up a copy of the present Ordinance in a prominent position in the shop, where it can be easily read by customers. Art. 10. Milk other than cows’ milk (goats’, sheeps’ or asses’ milk) shall be designated as such. In other respects the foregoing provisions, excepting Arts. 1 and 2, are applicable, mutatis mutandis, to trade in these kinds of milk. Art. 11. Contraventions of the present Ordinance are punishable in accordance with Section 471, No. 15 of the French Penal Code, unless the Imperial Penal Code, or the provisions of the Imperial Law of May 14th, 1879, regarding trade in foodstuffs, &c., are applicable. Mülhausen, August 11th, 1906. 521 APPENDIX IX. COMPARABILITY OF BRITISH AND GERMAN STATISTICS OF UNEMPLOYMENT. How far the official statistics of unemployment issued in this country and in Germany respectively, can be regarded as comparable, that is to say, as similar indices of similar facts, is a question to which much attention has been recently directed, as the German figures shew a percentage of unemployed workpeople little more than one-third of that recorded by the British figures. In the years 1901-7 the British figures have ranged between 7'G and 3 3, while, in the period since the first of the German records, that for June, 1903, was issued, the German figures have ranged between 3 2 and 0'7, the latter figure being recorded for August, 1906. At the end of 1907, the German percentage was 2*7, while the British was GY. In considering these figures, it is necessary to have regard to certain differences which exist between the conditions which find their expression in such percentages, in this country and in Germany respectively, as well as to the question of the comparability of the figures themselves. It is convenient to deal in order with three graups of considerations : — (a) Considerations which reduce the Percentage of Unemployed Members of German Trade Unions as compared with those in the United Kingdom. (b) Considerations which tend to make the Percentage of Unemployed Members of German Trade Unions a less complete Index of the State of Employment in Germany than is the corresponding Percentage in the United Kingdom, (c) Considerations which tend to show that the Official Figuro published in Germany is a less complete Record of the true Percentage of Unemployed Members of German Trade Unions than the Official Figure published in the United Kingdom is of Unemployed Members of British Trade Unions. (a) Considerations which reduce the Percentage of Unemploijed Members of German Trade Unions as compared with those in the United Kingdom. / • One feature of German conditions to which the attention of the Board of Trade has been called, in the course of the inquiries made with reference to the statistics of unemployment, is the existence, in Germany, of a practice of resorting to some other industry for employment when a scarcity of work affects the principal occupation. Rural workers attracted to the towns (partly owing to the compulsory military service having brought them within the range of the attractions of town life), when thrown out of work in the towns, can, and it is asserted, do leave the towns for the country and fall back on agricultural employment. The demand for labour in agriculture being, as a rule, in excess of the available supply, this dovetailing of urban and rural \ employment is an important influence tending to reduce the percentage of industrial workers who are out of employment at any time. Somewhat similar in its general effects to the influence of secondary occupations, is the fact that trade union standard rates of wages do not prevail in Germany to the same extent as in Great Britain. In consequence, workpeople have greater liberty in accepting work at wages lower than those at which they have been previously employed, especially in bad times. A more speedy return to employment of some kind, and a consequent reduction in the percentage of trade-union members unemployed, results from this.* The existence of a widespread and efficient organisation of municipal labour registries, in addition to the employers’ registries and those of the trade unions, is another influence tending to the quick restoration of the unemployed to the ranks of the more or less fully emploved workers. The attention of the Board of Trade has also been directed to the similar influence exerted by the systematic way in which public works are carried out at those seasons when they assist in relieving the labour market. It is probable that the effect of this effort at adjusting inequalities in the supply of work affects not only general unemployment in Germany, but the particular cases of the members of trade unions which contribute to the official statistics of unemployment. (b) CowMdgraZòms wMc/a &W ¿o ma&e ¿fie TerwWaye of UMßmjoZm/ßd Jfem&erg q/ German Trade Gmoms a Zess compZeZe Znd&r q/ ZAe GZaZe q/ Æm^ZoymenZ fn Germany ZAan w the corresponding Percentage in the United Kingdom. Not only does the general organisation of industry in Germany present features which tend to keep down the numbers out of employment, but, in dealing with the official percentages ­ of unemployed, it is necessary to bear in mind certain details which prevent these figures from being treated as comparable with the United Kingdom percentages of unemployed. Some influence is exerted by the comparatively recent foundation of the majority of the German trade unions. A consequence of this comparative youth of the organisations is that their membership includes a smaller proportion of men of advanced years than does that of most British unions. In so far as the liability to unemployment increases with age, the relative absence of old men in the German unions would tend to reduce the extent of unemployment among their members, as compared with that in. British unions otherwise similar. * Herr Calwer, Editor of “ Das Wirtschaftsjahrgoes so far as to say that “ In Germany, up to the present time, it is a fact that, in the vast majority of cases, men are only allowed to claim beneft when they fnd it impossible to obtain employment, even on rather unfavourable, or on altogether unfavourable conditions.' 1 ' 29088 8 U 522 A more important cause of difference between the German and British figures is found in the fact that the occupations represented in them are different, and especially that the former give comparatively slight influence to trades which are characterised by large fluctuations of employment, while the latter give such trades a very considerable representation ­ in the statistics. Thus, in the British figures a large representation is given to the shipbuilding trades, in which fluctuations of employment are especially violent. So important, indeed, is this representation that the mere omission of the shipbuilding figures from the return for December last would reduce the average unemployed percentage from 6T to 5 3. While this is not the only case in which the English figures are influenced in an important degree by the inclusion of industries liable to disturbance beyond the average, the German figures include hardi y any important groups in which the unemployment rate is relatively high. In December lasïTfor example, only one-fourtli of the membership on which the returns were based was included in the unions whose unemployment rate exceeded the average 2'7 per cent., and in these only two large federations, those of the workers in wood, and book-printers, were found. The fact that, for various reasons, the unions from which returns are received in Germany include but few important groups from trades which show marked fluctuations in the numbers employed, renders it impossible to treat the German average figures as in any sense directly comparable with the British. The practice of meeting slack periods by working shgrt time, rather than by a reduction of staff, appears to be very considerably more general in Germany than in the United Kingdom. How far this consideration may modify the return of numbers of unemployed may be illustrated from the case of coal-miners in this country. During 1907, the percentage of coal-miners returned as unemployed varied between 0T and 0 3. The return of the shifts worked per week varied between an average of 5T7 in April, 5.22 in August, and 5 - 69 in February, while in all these months the pet centage returned as unemployed was 0'2. It is clear that the recorded percentage of unemployed among coal-miners fails to present, for comparison with other trades, an adequate representation of the degree of irregularity of employment. This illustrates the tendency of such figures where the practice of short time prevails. Some of the German authorities declare that the practice of short time in certain industries reduces earnings by as much as one-fourth to one-third in the course of a year. It is certain that, though certain British industries, notably coal-mining and the cotton industry, resort to the system of short time, the extent to which tKIs system operates to lower the figure of unemployed workmen in the United Kingdom is much less than in the German Empire. It is, however, impossible to estimate, even roughly, the proportionate effect on the percentage of unemployed returned by the tiade unions. (c) Considerations which tend to show that the Official Figure published in Germany is a less complete Record of the true Percentage of Unemployed Members of German Trade (Tnions than the Official Figure published in the United Kingdom is of Unemployed Members of British Trade Unions. Doubts have also been suggested as to the completeness of the figures under consideration, ­ and examination of the facts has not altogether removed the doubts. The earlier German figures appear to have comprised in the main only those unemployed who were actually in receipt of unemployed or travelling benefit. Since the autumn of 1906 the German Statistical Department has endeavoured to secure a complete return of all those members known to the unions to be out of work, and some of the more important of the German unions appear now to endeavour to secure as complete a return as possible of all members who are out of employment. Whether the same can be said of the unions generally is a question as to which the information at the disposal of the Board of Trade does not admit of a definite answer. It may, perhaps, be regarded as probable that some irregularity on this point yet remains, and affects the returns to some extent. This view receives some support from a consideration of such figures as those secured by the city of Dresden, in which, not only the total numbers of unemployed in the city, but their distribution according to the duration of their unemployment, is recorded. Considering these figures in relation to the period during which German trade unions ordinarily grant unemployed benefit to their members, and the proportion shown by the official returns between the unemployed in and out of benefit, it appears probable that the returns of those out of employment still fail, in not a few cases, to cover all those whom it is sought to include in the record. Some noteworthy difficulties present themselves in procuring the desired information, owing to the incomplete organisation of the German trade unions.* * That it is far from easy to secure a complete return of unemployed from all the branches of some of the German trade unions is illustrated by the following- cases :— The tobacco-workers of Bremen, after the issue of the new circular in the autumn of 1906, withdrew from contributing to the unemployed return on the ground that repeated efforts had failed to secure prompt returns—in some cases had failed to secure any return from branches (c.f. Reichs-Arbeitsblatt, October, 1906, p. 911). The federation of Catholic Labour Unions, at the end of 1906, had a total membership of 100,238. Only 6,171 of these had contributed to the unemployment return, and the recorded total of unemployed benefit paid in the last three months of 1906 was £3 5s. These returns were considered so unsatisfactory that the suggestion to separate them from the general body of the returns is made (c.f. Reichs-Arbeitsblatt, January, 1907, p. 19). They have since been entirely discontinued. The group of trade unions known as “Free Unions” have returned percentages of unemployed regularly in excess of those of similar trades in other organisations. Reasons assigned for this, even as late as April, 1907, are an earlier payment of unemployed benefit and a special trade policy, these features contributing to a more complete record being secured than elsewhere (c.f. Reichs-Arbeitsblatt, April, 1907, p. 318). That these reasons should be assigned implies the incompleteness of the records of other unions. Õ23 In view of the above considerations and of the interest attaching to the earlier figures, attention may be called to the principal sources of past incompleteness in the German returns, other than those to which attention has already been directed. A complete record of unemployed should contain the following five classes of persons :— (a) Those actually receiving unemployed benefit. (b) Those who have n^jt yet been out of work sufficiently long to claim benefit. (c) Those who have exhausted their claim to benefit, having received all that the rules permit, for the time being. (d) Those who have not yet become entitled to benefit as members of the union, haying joined it too recently. (e) Those on travelling benefit. All those who are unemployed, in whichever of these five classes they fill, should be included in a complete return. As regards the German figures, it appears that, up to quite recently, (a), (b) and a part of (e) constituted the bulk of those returned. All of (a) are of course included, but, in view of the fact that in the German unions benefit lasts, as a rule, only for ten weeks or less (90 per cent, of unions), while in British unions the period of benefit is very much greater (only .11 per cent, of unions having so short a period as 10 weeks), a much larger proportion of the total unemployed is included in (a) in the British unions than in the German. For example the great Metal Workers Union in Germany pays unemployed benefit for ten weeks only, compared with 52 weeks or even more for all full members in the case of the Amalgamated Society ÕF Engineers ; the Woodworkers’ Union pays for six weeks only, compared with 24 in the case of the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners. Since (a) represents the only absolutely complete and certain element in both the sets of statistics, it is evident that this difference of practice gravely affects their comparability. A further consideration tending to the same result is that, whereas benefits begin after from two to six days of unemployment in the British unions, they are deferred till from seven to fifteen days of unemployment have been passed in the German unions. Of class (b) there appears to have been some leakage in the German figures, owing to the difference between the British and German methods of securing the daily report of unemployed persons. Some informants of the Board of Trade have stated that a not inconsiderable ­ number do not report at the office of their union daily, and thus the return, which generally, if not always, covers the unemployed reported on the day to which it refers, may fail to be exhaustive in regard to class (b). It is further asserted that the benefit is so small in some of the unions that members do not always consider it worth while reporting their unemployment continuously, especially when the union’s office is distant from, their residence, or a chance to secure work calls them elsewhere. Of class (e), which is very much more important in proportion to the total out of employment in Germany than in England, many escape record on the day of the return, as it is often not required that they report at branch-offices more frequently than at 10-day intervals. Only those reporting on the day of the return can be definitely known by the branch offices to be on travel, and thus a complete return is not secured. Conditions in regard to this group of unemployed differ widely in Germany from those prevailing in this country. In regard to class (c), they were, until quite recently, very imperfectly represented in the German returns, and though, as above stated, improvement in this respect has been effected since the issue of the new instructions in the autumn of 1906, it is doubtful if the present returns include substantially the wffiole of the members of this class. For the reasons mentioned when discussing class (a), this class is relatively very large in Germany, and it is easy to appreciate that its members would, in many cases, possess little interest in keeping up a notification that they were out of work. Though the union registries are doing an increasingly important work in assisting members to find employment, it is still the fact that the municipal and employers’ registries are of the greater importance. Of class (d) it is difficult to judge how far they are likely to contribute to the records of unemployed. It must be borne in mind that the period of membership which qualifies for benefit is much longer in Germany than in this country. Here it averages under ten months, there it is nearly fifteen months on the average. Moreover, German trade unions have grown very rapidly in membership—much more rapidly than the British unions in the last few years. This rapid growth is illustrated by the following table :— Increase of Membership in certain German Trade Unions during the Years 1904-1907. Unions. Metal Workers ... W ood Workers ... Transport Workers Brewery Workers Number of Members at the end of the Year. 1904. 181,328 103,034 40,314 19,371 1905. 1906. 1907. 260,305 131,257 51,061 23,227 331,822 153,981 80,580 28,573 366,189 148,869 88,502 33,028 Increase per cent., 1904-1907. 102 44 120 71 (The information is obtained from the Tables in the Reichs-Arbeitsblutt for January °f the next following year in each case.) 29088 3 U 2 524 It is evident that in such, circumstances the length of this qualifying period is of no small importance. In 1906, the large union of metal workers of Stuttgart showed an increase of over 42 per cent, over the previous year. Thus 30 per cent, certainly, and probably a larger proportion, had been members for less than a year, which is, in this case, the qualifying period ; and other unions show similarly large figures of members whose claim to benefit has not yet matured. During the period of rapid growth through which the German unions have recently been passing, a large proportion of their members will have had but little interest in recording unemployment on their part. The fact, too, that there has, in some cases, been, not only a large accession of members, but large losses, and losses largely of recently joined members, means that a considerable number of the nominal membership have not been at any time qualified to claim unemployed benefit. All these considerations suggest doubt as to the completeness of the data from which the German records of unemployment have been computed at all events in the past. Even were they complete, it has been shown above that they could not be brought into direct comparison with the British figures. The movements of each set of figures over a period of time furnish an index, more or less complete, to the fluctuations of employment within the country concerned, but, however useful the comparison of the figures for each country at different times may be, the comparison of the figures for the two countries at the same time cannot, unfortunately, yield any trustworthy basis for comparing or contrasting the degrees of continuity of employment prevailing in these countries. INDEX TO TOWN REPORTS. A. Aachen 39-52. Agricultural Labourers, Wages of, around— Mannheim 332. Agriculture, Forestry, Gardening, &c., Numbers of Persons Employed in, in— Berlin 6. Aix-la-Chapelle (see Aachen). Allotments, in— Berlin 4 ; Aschaffenburg 57, 59 ; Bochum 88 ; Bremen 96 ; Magdeburg 317. Altona Csee Hamburg). Apparatus-Making Trade (see Machine-Making &c. Trades). Apprenticeship, Regulation of, in— Aschaffenburg 55. Area of— Aachen 39 ; Bochum 78 ; Bremen 94 ; Breslau 114 ; Brunswick 127 ; Crefeld 151 ; Dantzig 166 ; Essen 233 ; Hamburg-Altona 248 ; Magdeburg 316 ; Nuremberg 383 ; Remscheid 415 ; Solingen 428 ; Stettin 450 ; Stuttgart 460. Art Industrial Occupations, Number of Persons Employed in, in— * Berlin 6 ; Stuttgart 462. Aschaffenburg 53-66. B. Bacon : Consumption of, (see Pork and Bacon). Prices of, in— Berlin 34, 35, 37 ; Aachen 50, 51 ; Aschaffenburg 64 ; Barmen 74 ; Bochum 90, 91 ; Bremen 109,110 ; Breslau 122 ; Brunswick 136 ; Chemnitz 146 ; Crefeld 161, 162; Dantzig 173; Dortmund 187; Dresden 202; Düsseldorf 216, 217; Elberfeld 229,230 ; Essen 244, 246 ; Hamburg-Altona 270,271, 272 ; Königsberg 284 ; Königshütte 296, 297 ; Leipzig 311, 312 ; Magdeburg 323, 324 ; Mannheim ­ 346 ; Mülhausen 363, 365 ; Munich 378 ; Nuremberg 392, 393 ; Oschersleben 401 ; Plauen 412 ; Remscheid 424 ; Solingen 437 ; Stassfurt 447 ; Stettin 457 ; Stuttgart 476 ; Zwickau 489. Bakers : Hours of Labour of, in— Berlin 13; Bremen 99,100; Breslau 118; Crefeld 157 ; Dantzig, 169 ; Dresden 192 ; Düsseldorf 210 ; Elberfeld 223 ; Hamburg-Altona 254, 256 ; Leipzig 305 ; Mannheim 334 ; Mülhausen 355 ; Munich 372 ; Nuremberg 385, 386 ; Remscheid 420 ; Solingen 434 ; Stettin 454 ; Stuttgart 466. Wages of, in— Berlin 10, 13 ; Aachen 42, 43 ; Aschaffenburg 56 ; Bochum 85 ; Bremen 99, 100 ; Breslau 118 ; Brunswick 129, 131 ; Crefeld 157 ; Dantzig 169 ; Dresden 192 ; Düsseldorf 210 ; Elberfeld 223 ; Essen 238 ; Hamburg-Altona 254, 256 ; Leipzig 305 ; Mannheim 334 ; Mülhausen 355 ; Munich 370, 372 ; Nuremberg 385, 386 ; Oschersleben 398 ; Remscheid 420 ; Solingen 434 ; Stettin 454 ; Stuttgart 466. Banks : Municipal Mortgage, in— Düsseldorf 207. aV ^Aschaffenburg 53, 54, 60 ; Bochum 79 ; Bremen 96 ; Crefeld 151 ; Essen 234 ; Mannheim 329 ; Remscheid 418. Barmen 67-77. Beef : Consumption of, in— _ . Berlin 36 ; Aachen 51 ; Aschaffenburg 65 ; Barmen 76 ; Bochum 92 ; Bremen 110; Breslau 123, 124 ; Chemnitz 147; Crefeld 162 ; Dantzig 174, 175; Dortmund 187; Dresden 204,205 ; Düsseldorf 218 ; Elberfeld 231 ; Essen 215; Hamburg-Altona 272 ; Königsberg 285 ; Königshütte 298 ; Leipzig 313 ; Magdeburg 325,326 ; Mannheim 347 ; Mülhausen 365 ; Munich 380 ; Nuremberg ­ 394; Plauen 413 ; Remscheid 425; Stettin 457, 458; Stuttgart 477 ; Zwickau 490. Prices (Retail) of, in— Berlin 37 ; Aachen 51 ; Aschaffenburg 65, 66 ; Barmen 76 ; Bochum 92 ; Bremen 111, 112 ; Breslau 124, 125 ; Brunswick 137 ; Chemnitz 148 ; Crefeld 16L, 162, 163 ; Dantzig 174, 175, 176 ; Dortmund 188 ; Dresden 205 ; Düsseldorf 219; Elberfeld 231,232 ; Essen 246 ; Hamburg-Altona 270, 272, 273 ; Königsberg 286 ; Königshütte 298 ; Leipzig 313, 314 ; Magdeburg 324, 325, 326 ; Mannheim 347, 348 ; Mülhausen 366 ; Munich 377, 379, 380, 381 ; Beef—cont. Prices (Retail) of, in—cont. Nuremberg 394 ; Osckersleben 4 , ! 2 ; Planen 414 ; Remscheid 425, 426, 427 ; Solingen 438 ; Stassfurt 447, 448 ; Stettin 457, 458 ; Stuttgart 478, 479 ; Zwickau 490. Prices (Wholesale) of, in— Dresden 203 ; Königsberg 285. Beer, Consumption of, in— Munich 378 : Nuremberg 391. Benevolent Institutions and Funds in— Berlin 3, 5, 11 ; Aschaffenburg 59 ; Bochum 82 ; Bremen 96 ; Brunswick 127 ; Dortmund 179 ; Essen 237 ; Hamburg-Altona 250, 258 ; Mannheim 336 ; Mülhausen 356 ; Remscheid 418 ; Stuttgart 466, 475. Berlin 1-38. Birth-rates in— » Berlin 4,5 ; Aachen 40 ; Aschaffenburg 54 ; Barmen 67 ; Bochum 80 ; Bremen 96 ; Breslau 114, 115 ; Brunswick 127 ; Chemnitz 138 ; Crefeld 150, 151 ; Dantzig 166 ; Dortmund 177 ; Dresden 189, 190 ; Düsseldorf 207 ; Elberfeld 221 ; Essen 233 ; Hamburg-Altona 249, 250 ; Königsberg 275 ; Leipzig 302 ; Magdeburg 315, 316 ; Mannheim 327, 328 ; Mülhausen 349 ; Muuich 367, 368; Nuremberg 382 ; Plauen 404; Solingen 428; Stettin 450; Stuttgart 461 ; Zwickau 481. Blast Furnaces, Earnings at, in— Bochum 85 ; Dortmund 181 ; Düsseldorf 210 ; Königshütte 292. Bleaching, Dyeing and Finishing Trades : Hours of Labour in, in— Barmen 69 ; Crefeld 155, 156, 157 ; Mülhausen 354 ; Plauen 408. Number of Establishments and Workpeople in, in— Crefeld 154, 156 ; Plauen 405. Wages in, in— Barmen 69 ; Crefeld 155, 156, 157 ; Mülhausen 354 ; Plauen 408. Bochum 78-93. Bookbinding Trade (see Printing, &c., Trades). Boot and Shoe Trade : Hours of Labour in, in— Crefeld 157 ; Dresden 192 ; Munich 371 ; Stuttgart 466. Number of Persons employed in, in— Dresden 191. Wages in, in— Crefeld 157 ; Dresden 192 ; Munich 371 ; Stuttgart 466. Brass, Copper and, Works : Hours of Labour at, in— Berlin 12 ; Aachen 43 ; Nuremberg 386. Wages at, in— Berlin 12 ; Aachen 43 ; Nuremberg 386. Bread : Prices of, in— Berlin 33, 35; Aachen 49, 50; Aschaffenburg 64; Barmen 75; Bochum 91; Bremen 108, 109, 110 ; Breslau 122 ; Brunswick 135, 136 ; Chemnitz 146 ; Crefeld 161; Dantzig 173; Dortmund 187; Dresden 202, 203 ; Düsseldorf 216, 217 ; Elberfeld 230; Essen 243, 244; Hamburg-Altona 269, 270, 271; Königsberg 284; Königshütte 296; Leipzig 311, 312; Magdeburg 323; Mannheim 345, 346; Mülhausen 364, 365; Munich 377, 378; Nuremberg 392, 393 ; Oschersleben 401 ; Plauen 412 ; Remscheid 424, 425 ; Solingen 436, 437 ; Stassfurt 446, 447 ; Stettin 457 ; Stuttgart 475, 476, 478 ; Zwickau 488, 489. Bremen 94-112. Breslau 113-125. Brewing Industry : Hours of Labour in, in— Berlin 13 ; Aschaffenburg 56 ; Barmen 69 ; Bochum 84, 85 ; Bremen 100 ; Breslau 118 ; Brunswick 129, 130 ; Chemnitz 141, 142 ; Crefeld 157 ; Dortmund 181; Dresden 192; Elberfeld 223; Essen 238; Hamburg-Altona 256; Königsberg 278 ; Leipzig 305; Mannheim 334; Munich 372; Nuremberg 386; Oschersleben 398 ; Remscheid 420 : Solingen 434; Stettin 454; Stuttgart 463, 466. Number of Establishments and Workpeople in, in— Berlin 7 ; Aschaffenburg 55 ; Bochum 84 ; Dresden 190 ; Munich 369. Wages in, in— Berlin 9, 13 ; Aschaffenburg 55, 56 ; Barmen 69 ; Bochum 81, 85 ; Bremen 98, 99, 100; Breslau 118; Brunswick 128, 129, 130; Chemnitz 141, 112; Crefeld 157; Dortmund 181 ; Dresden 192; Elberfeld 223; Essen 238; Hamburg-Altona 253, 256 ; Königsberg 278 ; Leipzig 305 ; Mannheim 334, 337 ; Munich 370, 372 ; Nuremberg 385, 386 ; Oschersleben 397, 398 ; Remscheid 419, 420 ; Solingen 434 ; Stettin 454 ; Stuttgart 463, 466. "m* "BWWMfw-- V ' Õ27 Brick and Tile Trade (see Earthenware, &c., Industries). Bridge-building Trade : Hours of Labour in, in— Stettin 453 ; Stuttgart 465. Wages in, in— Königshütte 292 ; Stettin 453 ; Stuttgart 465. Briquettes, Prices of, in— Berlin 35 ; Brunswick 136 ; Crefeld 161 ; Düsseldorf 217 ; Hamburg-Altona 270 ; Leipzig 312 ; Oschersleben 401 ; Stassfurt 446, 447 ; Stettin 457. Brunswick 126-137. Brush-making Trades, Number of Establishments and Workpeople in, in—-Brunswick 129. Building Regulations in— Berlin 16, 18, 21, 24 ; Aachen 45 ; Aschaffenburg 61 ; Bochum 87 ; Bremen 103, 104; Brunswick 132; Chemnitz 143, 144 ; Crefeld 158; Dantzig 166, 169; Dortmund 177,182,183 ; Düsseldorf 213 ; Elberfeld 225, 228 ; Essen 239, 240 ; . Hamburg-Altona 249, 259, 260, 268 ; Königsberg 274 ; Leipzig 307 ; Magdeburg ­ 322 ; Mannheim 339 ; Mülhausen 358 ; Munich 374 ; Nuremberg 388, 389 ; Remscheid 422 ; Stassfurt 444 ; Stuttgart 467. Building Societies in— Berlin 27, 31, 32 ; Aachen 48 ; Barmen 71 ; Bochum 88 ; Bremen 107 ; Brunswick ­ 133 ; Crefeld 159, 160 ; Dantzig 172 ; Dortmund 185 ; Düsseldorf 214 ; Essen 241 ; Hamburg-Altona 267, 268 ; Magdeburg 322 ; Mannheim 343 ; Munich 376 ; Nuremberg 391 ; Remscheid 423 ; Solingen 435 ; Stuttgart 469, 471, 474, 475. Building Trades : Hours of Labour in, in— Berlin 8, 10, 12; Aachen 42; Aschaffenburg 56; Barmen 69; Bochum 84; Bremen 98, 99 ; Breslau 116, 117 ; Brunswick 129, 130 ; Chemnitz 140, 142 ; Crefeld 156, 157 ; Dantzig 167, 168 ; Dortmund 181 ; Dresden 191, 192 ; Düsseldorf 209 ; Elberfeld 222, 223 ; Essen 237 ; Hamburg-Alton a 252, 255 ; Königsberg 278; Königshütte 290; Leipzig 304; Magdeburg 318; Mannheim ­ 331,333 ; Mülhausen 354 ; Munich 371 ; Nuremberg 386 ; Oschersleben 397 ; Plauen 408 ; Remscheid 419 ; Solingen 433 ; Stassfurt 441 ; Stettin 453 ; Stuttgart 465 ; Zwickau 483. Numbers of Establishments and Workpeople in, in— Berlin 6, 7 ; Aschaffenburg 54 ; Bochum 83 ; Breslau 115 ; Brunswick 129 ; Chemnitz 140; Crefeld 152 ; Dantzig 167 ; Dortmund 178 ; Dresden 191; Düsseldorf 208 ; Elberfeld 222 ; Essen 234 ; Hamburg-Altona 251 ; Königsberg ­ 276, 277 ; Königshütte 290 ; Leipzig 302 ; Magdeburg 318 ; Mannheim 330 ; Mülhausen 352 ; Munich 369 ; Nuremberg 384 ; Plauen 405 ; Stettin 452 ; Stuttgart 462. Wages in, in— Berlin 10, 12 ; Aachen 42, 44 ; Aschaffenburg 55, 56 ; Barmen 69,70 ; Bochum 84, 86 ; Bremen 97, 98, 99 ; Breslau 116, 117 ; Brunswick 129, 130, 131 ; Chemnitz ­ 140,141,142 ; Crefeld 156,157 ; Dantzig 167,168,169 ; Dortmund 180,181 ; Dresden 191, 192 ; Düsseldorf 209, 211 ; Elberfeld 222, 223 ; Essen 236, 237, 238 ; Hamburg-Altona 252, 255, 257 ; Königsberg 278, 279 ; Königshütte 290, 291 ; Leipzig 303, 304, 305 ; Magdeburg 318, 319 ; Mannheim 333, 334 ; Mülhausen ­ 353, 354, 355 ; Munich 370, 371, 372 ; Nuremberg 385, 386, 387 ; Oschersleben 397, 398 ; Plauen 407, 408 ; Remscheid 419, 420 ; Solingen 433, 434 ; Stassfurt 441, 442 ; Stettin 453, 454 ; Stuttgart 462, 465, 466 ; Zwickau 483, 484. Bullocks (see Cattle). Butter, Prices of, in— Berlin 34, 35 ; Aachen 49, 50 ; Aschaffenburg 64 ; Barmen 71 ; Bochum 91 ; Bremen 1Ó8, 109, 110 ; Breslau 122 ; Brunswick 135, 136 ; Chemnitz 146 ; Crefeld 161 ; Dantzig 173 ; Dortmund 187 ; Dresden 202, 203 ; Düsseldorf 216, 217; Elberfeld 230; Essen 243, 244 ; Hamburg-Altona 270, 271; Königsberg 284 ; Königshütte 296 ; Leipzig 311, 312 ; Magdeburg 323, 324 ; Mannheim 346 ; Mülhausen 365 ; Munich 377, 378 ; Nuremberg 392, 393 ; Oschersleben 401 ; Plauen 412 ; Remscheid 424 ; Solingen 437 ; Stassfurt 446, 447 ; Stettin 457 ; Stuttgart 475, 476 ; Zwickau 489. Button-making Trade : Hours of Labour in, in— Berlin 13 ; Barmen 69 ; Elberfeld 223. Wages in, in— Berlin 10, 13 ; Barmen 69, 70 ; Elberfeld 223. c. Calves (see Cattle). Candle Making Trade (see Resins, &c., Trades). Carriage and Waggon Works : Hours of Labour in, in — Mannheim 333 ; Munich 371 ; Zwickau 484. Wages in, in— Mannheim 333 ; Munich 371 ; Zwickau 481. Carriers, Wood : Hours of Labour of, in— Bremen 100. Wages of, in— Bremen 100. Carters (see also Municipal Employees and Transport Workers, &c.) : Hours of Labour of, in— Berlin 13 ; Bremen 100 ; Brunswick 130 ; Hamburg-Altona 257 ; Magdeburg 319 ; Mannheim, 334 ; Mülhausen 355. Wages of, in— Berlin 13; Aachen 42,43; Bremen 100 ; Brunswick 130; Hamburg- Altona 257 ; Magdeburg 319 ; Mannheim 334 ; Mülhausen 355 ; Munich 372 ; Nuremberg 386. Carving Trades (see Wood-working and Carving Trades). Cattle, Number of, slaughtered, in— Berlin 36 ; Aachen 50 ; Aschaffenburg 65 ; Bochum 92 ; Brunswick 136 ; Crefeld 162; Dortmund 187 ; Essen 244; Hamburg-Altona 271; Königshütte 298; Munich 379 ; Solingen 437 ; Stassfurt 447. Cattle, Prices (Wholesale) of, in— Breslau 123 ; Leipzig 312, 313. Celluloid, Rubber and, Works : Hours of Labour at, in— Mannheim 334. Wages at, in— Mannheim 331, 334. Cement Makers : Hours of Labour of, in— Mannheim 334. Wages of, in— Mannheim, 334. Cementware {see Earthenware, &c., Industries). Cheese : Prices of, in— Berlin 34, 35 ; Aachen 49, 50 ; Aschaffenburg 64 ; Barmen 74 ; Bochum 90, 91 ; Bremen 109, 110 ; Breslau 122 ; Brunswick 135, 136 ; Chemnitz 146 ; Crefeld 161 ; Dantzig 173 ; Dortmund 187 ; Dresden 202 ; Düsseldorf 216, 217 ; Elberfeld 230 ; Essen, 243, 244 ; Hamburg-Altona 270, 271 ; Königsberg 284 ; Königshütte - 296, 297; Leipzig 311; Magdeburg 323, 324; Mannheim 345, 346 ; Mülhausen, 363, 365 ; Munich 378 ; Nuremberg 392, 393 : Oschersleben 400, 401 ; Plauen 412 : Remscheid 424, 425 ; Solingen 437 ; Stassfurt 446, 447 ; Stettin 457 ; Stuttgart 475, 476 ; Zwickau 489. Chemical Trades : Hours of Labour in, in—• Berlin 8, 13 ; Aachen 43 ; Bochum 85 ; Crefeld 156, 158 ; Elberfeld 223 ; Hamburg-Altona 257 ; Mannheim 330, 334 ; Mülhausen 354, 355 ; Stassfurt 442 ; Stettin 454. Number of Establishments and Workpeople in, in— Berlin 6 ; Aachen 41 ; Bochum 83 ; Brunswick 129 ; Chemnitz 139 ; Crefeld 152 ; Dantzig 167 ; Dortmund 178 ; Düsseldorf 208 ; Elberfeld 222 ; Essen 234 ; Hamburg-Altona 251 ; Mannheim 330 ; Mülhausen 352 ; Munich 369 ; Nuremberg 384 ; Stassfurt 440 ; Stuttgart 462, 464. Wages in, in— Berlin 13 ; Aachen 42, 43 ; Bochum 84, 85 ; Crefeld 156, 158 ; Elberfeld 223 ; Hamburg-Altona 253, 257 ; Mannheim 331, 334 ; Mülhausen 355 ; Stassfurt 442 ; Stettin 454. Chemnitz 138-149. Church Taxes, in— Crefeld ] 60 ; Dortmund 185, 186 ; Essen 242 ; Mannheim 340, 341 ; Remscheid 422 ; Solingen 436 ; Stuttgart 473. Cleaning Trade (see Clothing and Cleaning Trades and Dyeing and Chemical Cleaning Works). Clothing and Cleaning Trades, Number of Establishments and Workpeople in, in— Berlin 6, 7 ; Aachen 41 ; Aschaffenburg 54 ; Bochum 83 ; Bremen 97 ; Breslau 115 ; Brunswick 129 ; Chemnitz 139 ; Crefeld 152 ; Dantzig 167 ; Dortmund 178 ; Dresden 191 ; Düsseldorf 208 ; Elberfeld 222 ; Essen 234 ; Hamburg-Altona 251 ; Königsberg 276 ; Königshütte 290 ; Leipzig 302 ; Magdeburg 318 ; Mannheim 330 ; Mülhausen 352 ; Munich 369 ; Nuremberg 384 ; Stettin 452, 455 ; Stuttgart 462, 464. Clothing Trades : Home Work in, in— Berlin 7, 10, 11 ; Aschaffenburg 54, 58 ; Hamburg-Altona 253 ; Stettin 455 ; Stuttgart 463. Hours of Labour in, in— Breslau 118 ; Dresden 192 ; Hamburg-Altona 256 ; Königsberg 278, 279 ; Stettin 455 ; Stuttgart 463, 466. Wages in, in— Berlin 11 ; Breslau 118; Dresden 192 ; Hamburg-Altona 253,256; Königsberg 278, 279 ; Stettin 455 ; Stuttgart 463, 465. Coal Mining Industry : Earnings in, in— Bochum 81, 82, 85 ; Dortmund 180, 181 ; Essen 236, 238 ; Königshütte 291, 297 ; Oschersleben 397 ; Zwickau 483. Hours of Labour in, in— Bochum 81, 85 ; Dortmund 179, 180, 181 ; Essen 235, 236, 238 ; Königshütte 291 ; Oschersleben 397 ; Zwickau 483. Number of Persons employed in, in— Bochum 80, 82 ; Essen 235 ; Zwickau 480, 482. Coal, Retail Price of, in— Berlin 35 ; Aachen 50, 52 ; Aschaffenburg 64 ; Barmen 74, 77 ; Bdbhum 91, 93 r Bremen 109, 110, 112 ; Breslau 122 ; Brunswick 136, 137 ; Chemnitz 146, 149 ; Crefeld 161, 163 ; Dantzig 173 ; Dortmund 187, 188 ; Dresden 202, 203, 205 ; Düsseldorf 217, 219 ; Elberfeld 230, 232 ; Essen 244, 246 ; Hamburg-Altona 270, 271, 273 ; Königsberg 284, 285, 287 ; Königshütte 296, 297, 299 ; Leipzig 311, 312, 314; Magdeburg 323, 324, 326; Mannheim 345, 346, 348 ; Mülhausen 364, 365, 366 ; Munich 377, 378, 381 ; Nuremberg 393, 395 ; Oschersleben 401 ; Plauen 412, 414 ; Remscheid 424, 425, 427 ; Solingen 437, 438 ; Stettin 457, 459 ; Stuttgart 476, 479 ; Zwickau 489, 491. Coffee, Prices of, in— Berlin 34, 35 ; Aachen 49, 50 ; Aschaffenburg 64 ; Barmen 74 ; Bochum 90, 91 ; Bremen 108, 109, 110 ; Breslau 122 ; Brunswick 135, 136 ; Chemnitz 146 ; Crefeld 161 ; Dantzig 173; Dortmund 187; Dresden 202; Düsseldorf 216, 217 ; Elberfeld 229, 230 ; Essen 243, 244 ; Hamburg-Altona 269, 271 ; Königsberg 284 ; Königshütte 296 ; Leipzig 311 ; Magdeburg 323 ; Mannheim ­ 345, 346 ; Mülhausen 363, 365 ; Munich 377, 378 ; Nuremberg 392, 393 ; Oschersleben 400,401 ; Plauen 412 ; Remscheid 424, 425 ; Solingen 437 ; Stassfurt 446, 447 ; Stettin 457 ; Stuttgart 475, 476 ; Zwickau 489. Coffee Substitutes, Prices of, in— Berlin 34 ; Bremen 108 ; Brunswick 135 ; Chemnitz 146 ; Dresden 202 ; Düsseldorf 216; Elberfeld 229; Essen 243; Königsberg 284; Leipzig 311; Magdeburg 323 ; Oschersleben 400 ; Stassfurt 446 ; Zwickau 489. Coke, Price of, in— Berlin 35 ; Aschaffenburg 64 ; Bochum 91 ; Bremen 110 ; Brunswick 132, 136 ; Crefeld 161; Essen 244 ; Hamburg-Altona 270, 271 ; Leipzig 312 ; Mannheim 346 ; Mülhausen 365 ; Munich 378 ; Nuremberg 393 ; Oschersleben 399, 401 ; Solingen 437 ; Stassfurt 443, 446, 447 ; Stuttgart 476, 479. Commerce and Transport, Number of Persons employed in, in-Breslau 115. Commerce, Number of Persons occupied in, in— Düsseldorf 208. Consumption, Pulmonary (see Tuberculosis). Co-operative*Societies in — Berlin 33 ; Aachen 49 ; Barmen 74 ; Bochum 82, 88, 90 ; Bremen 108 ; Breslau 121, 122 ; Brunswick 135; Chemnitz 145 ; Crefeld 160; Dantzig 172; Dortmund 179, 186 ; Dresden 201 ; Düsseldorf 216 ; Elberfeld 229 ; Essen 237, 243 ; Hamburg-Altona 254, 268, 269, 270, 272 ; Königsberg 283 ; Königshütte 296 ; Leipzig 310, 312 ; Magdeburg 322, 323 ; Mannheim 345, 346 ; Mülhausen 364 ; Nuremberg 392 ; Oschersleben 400 ; Plauen 411 ; Remscheid 423 ; Solingen 436 ; Stassfurt 445, 446 ; Stettin 456 ; Stuttgart 475, 476 ; Zwickau 488. Copper and Brass Works : Hours of Labour at, in— Berlin 12 ; Aachen 43 ; Nuremberg 386. Wages at, in— Berlin 12 ; Aachen 43 ; Nuremberg 386. Crefeld 150-163. Curtain Manufacture, Men engaged in : Hours of Labour of, in— Plauen 408. Wages of, in— Plauen 408. Cutlery Industry : Conditions of Labour in, in— Solingen 430, 434. Number of Establishments and Workpeople in, in— Solingen 430. 3 X 29088 D. Dantzig 164-176. Death-rates in— Berlin 4, 5 ; Aachen 40 ; Aschaffenburg 54 ; Barmen 67, 68 ; Bochum 80 ; Bremen 96 ; Breslau 114, 115 ; Brunswick 127 ; Chemnitz 188 ; C ref eld 150, 151 ; Dantzig 166 ; Dortmund 177 ; Dresden 189, 190 ; Düsseldorf 207 ; Elberfeld 221 ; Essen 233 ; Hamburg-Altona 249, 250 -, Königsberg 275 ; Leipzig 302; Magdeburg 315, 316; Mannheim 327, 328; Mülhausen 349; Munich 368 ; Nuremberg 382 ; Plauen 404 ; Solingen 428 ; Stettin 450 ; Stuttgart 461 ; Zwickau 481. Dock, Harbour and, Labour : Hours of Labour of, in— Bremen 100; Düsseldorf 210; Hamburg-Altona 253; Königsberg 278, 279; Mannheim 334. Wages of, in— . Bremen 100 ; Dantzig 169 ; Düsseldorf 210 ; Hamburg-Altona 253 ; Königsberg 278, 279 ; Mannheim 334 ; Stettin 454. Dock Labourers, Number of Transport Workers and, in— Dantzig 167 ; Königsberg 276 ; Stettin 452. Dog Flesh : Consumption of, in— Chemnitz 147 ; Dresden 204 ; Königshütte 298. Prices of, in— Dresden 204. Dogs, Number of, killed for Food, in-Chemnitz 148 ; Munich 379 ; Zwickau 490. Dortmund 177-188. Dresden 189-205. Drink, Food, and Tobacco Trades : Hours of Labour in, in— Berlin 13 ; Aschaffenburg 56 ; Bochum 84, 85 ; Bremen 99, 100 ; Breslau 118 ; Brunswick 129, 130 ; Crefeld 157 ; Dantzig 168, 169 ; Dresden 192, 193 ; Elberfeld 223 ; Essen 238 ; Hamburg-Altona 253, 254, 256 ; Königsberg 278 ; Leipzig 305 ; Magdeburg 319 ; Mannheim 332, 334 ; Munich 372 ; Nuremberg 385, 386 ; Oschersleben 397, 398 ; Remscheid 420 ; Solingen 434 ; Stettin 454 ; Stuttgart 463, 466. Number of Establishments and Workpeople in, in— Berlin 6, 7 ; Aachen 41 ; Aschaffenburg 54, 55 ; Bochum 83 ; Bremen 97 ; Breslau 115 ; Brunswick 127,129 ; Chemnitz 139 ; Crefeld 152 ; Dantzig 167 ; Dortmund 178 ; Dresden 190 ; Düsseldorf 208 ; Elberfeld 222 ; Essen 234 ; Hamburg-Altona 251 ; Königsberg 276 ; Königshütte 290 ; Leipzig 302 ; Magdeburg 318 ; Mannheim 330,332 ; Mülhausen 352 ; Munich 369 ; Nuremberg ­ 384 ; Oschersleben 396 ; Plauen 405 ; Stassfurt 440 ; Stettin 452 ; Stuttgart 462, 464. Wages in, in-Berlin 13 ; Aschaffenburg 56 ; Bochum 84, 85 ; Bremen 98, 99, 100 ; Breslau 118 ; Brunswick 129, 130, 131 ; Crefeld 157 ; Dantzig 168, 169 ; Dresden 192, 193 ; Elberfeld 223 ; Essen 238 ; Hamburg-Altona 253, 254, 256 ; Königsberg 278, 280 ; Leipzig 305 ; Magdeburg 319 ; Mannheim 332, 333, 334 ; Munich 370, 372 ; Nuremberg 385, 386 ; Oschersleben 397, 398 ; Remscheid 420 ; Solingen 434 ; Stettin 454 ; Stuttgart 463, 466. Dutch Cheese, Prices of, in— • Aachen 49, 50 ; Barmen 74 ; Bochum 90, 91 ; Bremen 109, 110 ; Crefeld 161 ; Dortmund 187 ; Düsseldorf 216, 217 ; Elberfeld 230 ; Essen 243, 244 ; Hamburg-Altona 270, 271 ; Remscheid 424, 425 ; Solingen 437. Düsseldorf 206-219. Dwellings (see Housing). Dyeing and Chemical Cleaning Works : Hours of Labour at, in — Berlin 12. Wages at, in— Berlin 12. Dyeing, Bleaching, and Finishing Trades (see Bleaching, &c., Trades). E. Earnings (see Wages, Rates of ; and also principal occupations). Earth Trades (see Stone and Earth Trades). Earthenware, &c., Industries : Hours of Labour in, in— Bremen 100 ; Dresden 192, 194 ; Düsseldorf 210 ; Munich 372 ; Oschersleben 397 ; Stettin 454 ; Zwickau 484. m 531 Earthenware, &c., Industries—cont.. Number of Workpeople in, in— Brunswick 129 ; Dresden 190. Wages in, in— Bremen 100 ; Dresden 192, 194 ; Düsseldorf 210 ; Munich 372 : Oschersleben 397 ; Stettin 454 ; Zwickau 484. Eggs, Prices of, in— Berlin 35 ; Aachen 50; Aschaffenburg 64; Barmen 74 ; Bochum 91 ; Bremen 110 • Breslau 122; Brunswick 136; Chemnitz 146; Crefeld 161 ; Dantzig 173 ’ Dortmund 187 ; Dresden 202 ; Düsseldorf 217 ; Elberfeld 229, 230 ; Essen 244 ; Hamburg-Altona 271 ; Königsberg 284 ; Königshütte 296 ; Leipzig 311 • Magdeburg 323 ; Mannheim 346 ; Mülhausen 365 ; Munich 378 ; Nuremberg 393 ; Oschersleben 401 ; Plauen 412 ; Remscheid 424 ; Solingen 437 ; Stassfurt 447 ; Stettin 457 ; Stuttgart 476 ; Zwickau 489. Eight-hours Day in— Berlin 8, 10 ; Hamburg-Altona, 252. Elberfeld 220-232. Electrical Industry : Earnings in, in— Berlin 8, 12. Hours of Labour in, in— Berlin 8, 12. Electric Lighting and Power Supply Works (Municipal Undertakings) : Hours of Labour at, in— Aachen 43 ; Barmen 69 ; Bochum 85 ; Bremen 100 ; Breslau 118 ; Chemnitz 141 ; Crefeld 158 ; Dantzig 169 ; Dortmund 182 ; Dresden 194 ; Düsseldorf 210 ; Elberfeld 224 ; Hamburg-Altona 257 ; Königsberg 279 ; Leipzig 306 ; Mannheim ­ 334 ; Mülhausen 355 ; Munich 372 ; Nuremberg 387 ; Plauen 408 • Solingen 434 ; Stettin 454 ; Stuttgart 466 ; Zwickau 485. Wages at, in— Aachen 43 ; Barmen 69 ; Bochum 85 ; Bremen 100 ; Breslau 118 ; Chemnitz 141 ; Crefeld 158 ; Dantzig 169 ; Dortmund 182 ; Dresden 194 ; Düsseldorf 210 ; Elberfeld 224 ; Hamburg-Altona 257 ; Königsberg 279 ; Leipzig 306 ; Mannheim ­ 334 ; Mülhausen 355 ; Munich 372 ; Nuremberg 387 ; Plauen 408 ; Solingen 434 ; Stettin 454 ; Stuttgart 466 ; Zwickau 485. Electric Lighting and Power Supply Works (Private Undertakings) r Hours of Labour at, in— Berlin 14 ; Brunswick 131 ; Essen 238 ; Remscheid 421 ; Stassfurt 442. Wages at, in— Berlin 14 ; Brunswick 131 ; Essen 238 ; Remscheid 421 ; Stassfurt 442. Embroidery and Lacemaking Trades : Hours of Labour in, in— Plauen 408. Machines employed in, in— Plauen 405. Number of Establishments and Workpeople in, in— Plauen 405, 406. Wages in, in— Plauen 408. Engineering, Metal and, Trades : Number of Establishments and Workpeople in, in-Breslau 115 ; Königsberg 276, 277 ; Leipzig 302 ; Magdeburg 318 ; Plauen 405 • Stassfurt 440. {See also Machine, Implement and Apparatus Making Trades and Metal Working Trades.) Engineering Trades : Hours of Labour in, in— Berlin 8, 12 ; Aachen 42 ; Aschaffenburg 56 ; Barmen 69 ; Bochum 81, 83, 84 ; Bremen 99 ; Breslau 117 ; Brunswick 129, 130 ; Chemnitz 141 ; Crefeld'156' 157 ; Dantzig 168 ; Dortmund 181 ; Dresden 191 ; Düsseldorf 209 ; Essen 238 ; Hamburg-Altona 255 ; Königsberg 278,279 ; Leipzig 303,304 ; Magdeburg 319; Mannheim 331, 333; Mülhausen 353, 354; Munich 371; Nuremberg 386 ; Oschersleben 397 ; Remscheid 419 ; Solingen 433 ; Stassfurt 442 • Stettin 453 ; Stuttgart 464, 465 ; Zwickau 484. Wages in, in— Berlin 8,12 ; Aachen 42,44 ; Aschaffenburg 55, 56 ; Barmen 69, 70 ; Bochum 81. 83 84, 86 ; Bremen 98, 99,100 ; Breslau 117,118 ; Brunswick 130,131 ; Chemnitz 141 ; Crefeld 156, 157 ; Dantzig 168, 169 ; Dortmund 180,181 ; Dresden 191 192 ; Düsseldorf 209, 211 ; Elberfeld 222 ; Essen 236, 238 ; Hamburg-Altona 252, 255, 257 ; Königsberg 278, 279 ; Königshütte 291, 292 ; Leipzig 3' >3, 304 305 ; Magdeburg 319 ; Mannheim 331, 333, 334 ; Mülhausen 353, 354, 355 ’ Munich 370, 371, 372 ; Nuremberg 386, 387 ; Oschersleben 397, 398 ; Remscheid ­ 419, 420 ; Solingen 433, 434 ; Stassfurt 442 ; Stettin 453, 454 ; Stuttgart 462, 465, 466 ; Zwickau 484. Essen 233-246. 29088 3X2 Female Labour (see Women and Girls). Filemaking Trade, Conditions of Labour in, in— Remscheid 416, 417, 418, 419, 420. Flour, Prices of, in— Berlin 34, 35 ; Aachen 50 ; Aschaffenburg 64 ; Barmen 74 ; Bochum 91 ; Bremen 108, 109, 110 ; Breslau 122 ; Brunswick 135, 136 ; Chemnitz 146 ; Crefeld 161 ; Dantzig 173 ; Dortmund 187 ; Dresden 202 ; Düsseldorf 217 ; Elberfeld 230; Essen 244; Hamburg-Altona 269, 270, 271; Königsberg 284; Königshütte 296 ; Leipzig 311 ; Magdeburg 323 ; Mannheim 346 ; Mülhausen 364, 365 ; Munich 377, 378; Nuremberg 392, 393; Oschersleben 401; Plauen 412; Remscheid 424, 425 ; Solingen 437 ; Stassfurt 447 ; Stettin 457 ; Stuttgart 476 ; Zwickau 489. Food, Drink, and Tobacco Trades : Hours of Labour in, in— Berlin 13 ; Aschaffenburg 56 ; Bochum 84, 85 ; Bremen 99, 100 ; Breslau 118 ; Brunswick 129,130 ; Crefeld 157 ; Dantzig 168,169 ; Dresden 192,193 ; Elberfeld ­ 223 ; Essen 238 ; Hamburg-Altona 253, 254, 256 ; Königsberg 278 ; Leipzig 305 ; Magdeburg 319 ; Mannheim 332, 334 : Munich 372 ; Nuremberg 385, 386 ; Oschersleben 397, 398 ; Remscheid 420 ; Solingen 434 ; Stettin 454 ; Stuttgart 463, 466. Number of Establishments and Workpeople in, in— Berlin 6, 7 ; Aachen 41 ; Aschaffenburg 54, 55 ; Bochum 83 ; Bremen 97 ; Breslau 115 ; Brunswick 127, 129 ; Chemnitz 139 ; Crefeld 152 ; Dantzig 167 ; Dortmund 178; Dresden 190; Düsseldorf 208; Elberfeld 222; Essen 234; Hamburg-Altona 251 ; Königsberg 276 ; Königshütte 290 ; Leipzig 302 ; Magdeburg 318 ; Mannheim 330, 332 ; Mülhausen 352 ; Munich 369 ; Nuremberg 384; Oschersleben 396 ; Plauen 405 ; Stassfurt 440 ; Stettin 452; Stuttgart 462, 464. Wages in, in— Berlin 13 ; Aschaffenburg 56 ; Bochum 84,85 ; Bremen 98, 99,100 ; Breslau 116,118 ; Brunswick 129, 130, 131 ; Crefeld 157 ; Dantzig 168, 169 ; Dresden 192, 193 ; Elberfeld 223 ; Essen 238 ; Hamburg-Altona 253, 254, 256 ; Königsberg 278, 280 ; Leipzig 305 ; Magdeburg 319 ; Mannheim 332, 333, 334 ; Munich 370, 372 ; Nuremberg 385, 386 ; Oschersleben 397, 398 ; Remscheid 420 ; Solingen 434 ; Stettin 454 ; Stuttgart 463, 466. Food Inspection at— Düsseldorf 218 ; Elberfeld 231 ; Hamburg-Altona 272 ; Oschersleben 402 ; Stassfurt 447 ; Stuttgart 477, 478. Food, Octroi Duties on, in— Aschaffenburg 53 ; Dresden 201 ; Mannheim 330 ; Mülhausen 364 ; Munich 377 ; Nuremberg 393. Food, Regulations as to the sale of, in— Berlin 35 ; Barmen 77 ; Elberfeld 231. Food, Retail Prices of, in— Berlin 32, 36 ; Aachen 49, 50 ; Aschaffenburg 63, 65 ; Barmen 74, 75 ; Bochum 90, 91 ; Bremen 108,110 ; Breslau 121,122 ; Brunswick 135,136 ; Chemnitz 146, 147 ; Crefeld 160,162 ; Dantzig 173,174 ; Dortmund 186,187 ; Dresden 202,203 ; Düsseldorf 216, 218 ; Elberfeld 229, 231 ; Essen 243, 244 ; Hamburg-Altona 269, 271; Königsberg 284, 285; Königshütte 296, 297; Leipzig 311, 312 ; Magdeburg 323, 324 ; Mannheim 345, 346 ; Mülhausen 363, 365 ; Munich 377, 379 ; Nuremberg 391, 393 ; Oschersleben 400, 402 ; Plauen 412 ; Remscheid 423, 425 ; Solingen 436, 437 ; Stassfurt 445, 447 ; Stettin 456, 457 ; Stuttgart 475, 477 ; Zwickau 488, 489. Food, Wholesale Prices of, in— Remscheid 425. Forestry, Gardening, Agriculture, &c., Number of Persons employed in, in— Berlin 6. Freibank Meat : Consumption of, in— Berlin 38 ; Bremen 111 ; Breslau 125 ; Chemnitz 147 ; Dantzig 176 ; Hamburg-Altona 272 ; Königsberg 287 ; Leipzig 314 ; Mannheim 347 ; Munich 379 ; Zwickau 490. Prices of, in— Berlin 38 ; Bremen 111 ; Breslau 125 ; Brunswick 137 ; Chemnitz 148 ; Dantzig 176 ; Hamburg-Altona 273 ; Königsberg 287 ; Leipzig 314; Mannheim 347 ; Mülhausen 366 ; Munich 379 ; Oschersleben 402 ; Plauen 413 ; Stassfurt 447 ; Zwickau, 491. a 2£ • jr 533 Fuel, Retail Prices of, in— Berlin 35; Aachen 50, 52; Aschaffenburg 64; Barmen 74, 77; Bochum 91, 93; Bremen 109, 112; Breslau 122; Brunswick 132, 136, 137; Chemnitz 146, 149; Crefeld 161, 163; Dantzig 173; Dortmund 187, 188; Dresden 202, 203, 205; Düsseldorf 217, 219; Elberfeld 230, 232; Essen 244, 246; Hamburg-Altona 270, 271, 273; Königsberg 284, 285, 287; Königshütte 296, 297, 299; Leipzig 311, 312, 314; Magdeburg 323, 324, 326; Mannheim 345, 346, 348; Mülhausen 364, 365, 366; Munich 377, 378, 381; Nuremberg 393, 395; Oschersleben 399, 401; Plauen 412, 414; Remscheid 424, 425, 427; Solingen 437, 438; * Stassfurt 443, 446, 447 ; Stettin 457,459; Stuttgart 476,479; Zwickau 489, 491. Fur Dressing Trade : Hours of Labour in, in— Berlin 13; Leipzig 304. Wages in, in— Berlin 13; Leipzig 304. Furniture, Art, Works: Hours of Labour at, in— Stuttgart 465. Wages at, in— Stuttgart 465. Gr. Gardening, Agriculture, Forestry, &c., Number of Persons Employed in, in— Berlin 6. Gasworks (Municipal Undertakings): Hours of Labour at, in— Berlin 14; Aschaffenburg 55, 56; Barmen 69; Bochum 85; Bremen 100; Breslau 118; Brunswick 131; Chemnitz 141; Crefeld 158; Dantzig 169; Dresden 194; Düsseldorf 210; Elberfeld 224; Essen 238; Hamburg-Altona 257; Königsberg ­ 279; Leipzig 305; Mannheim 334; Munich 372; Nuremberg 387; Oschersleben 398; Plauen 408; Remscheid 421; Solingen 434; Stettin 454; Stuttgart 466; Zwickau 485. Wages at, in— Berlin 14; Aschaffenburg 55, 56; Barmen 69; Bochum 85; Bremen 100; Breslau 118; Brunswick 131; Chemnitz 141; Crefeld 158; Dantzig 169; Dresden 194; Düsseldorf 210; Elberfeld 224; Essen 238; Hamburg-Altona 257; Königsberg ­ 279; Leipzig 305; Mannheim 334; Munich 372; Nuremberg 387 ; Oschersleben 398; Plauen 408; Remscheid 421; Solingen 434; Stettin 454 ; Stuttgart 466; Zwickau 485. Gasworks (Private Undertakings): Hours of Labour at, in— Dortmund 182; Mülhausen 355; Stassf urt 442. Wages at, in— Dortmund 182; Mülhausen 355; Stassf urt 442. Glass Trades : Hours of Labour in, in— Dantzig 168 ; Düsseldorf 210 ; Hamburg-Altona 257 ; Mannheim 334 ; Munich 372 ; Zwickau 484. Wages in, in— Dantzig 168 ; Düsseldorf 209, 210 ; Hamburg-Altona 253, 257 ; Mannheim 332 ; 334 ; Munich 370, 372 ; Zwickau 484. Glove Factories : Hours of Labour at, in— Stuttgart 466. Wages at, in— Stuttgart 466. Goats for Consumption (see Sheep and Goats, and Mutton and Goatsflesh). Groceries and other Commodities, Retail Prices of, in— Berlin 32 ; Aachen 49, 52 ; Aschaffenburg 63 ; Barmen 74, 77 ; Bochum 90, 93 ; Bremen 108, 112 ; Breslau 122 ; Brunswick 135, 137 ; Chemnitz 146, 149 ; Crefeld 160, 163 ; Dantzig 173 ; Dortmund 186, 188 ; Dresden 202, 205 ; Düsseldorf 216, 219 ; Elberfeld 229, 232 ; Essen 243, 246 ; Hamburg-Altona 269, 273; Königsberg 284, 287; Königshütte 296, 299; Leipzig 311, 314; Magdeburg 323, 326 ; Mannheim 315, 348 ; Mülhausen 363, 366 ; Munich 377, 381 ; Nuremberg 391, 395 ; Oschersleben 400, 402 ; Plauen 412, 414 ; Remscheid 423,427 ; Solingen 436, 438 ; Stassfurt 445, 448 ; Stettin 456, 459 ; Stuttgart 475, 479 ; Zwickau 488, 491. 534 H. Hamburg (with Altona) 247-273. Harbour and Dock Labour : Hours of Labour of, in— Bremen 100; Düsseldorf 210; Hamburg-Altona 253; Königsberg 278, 279; Mannheim 334. Wages of, in— » Bremen 100 ; Dantzig 169 ; Düsseldorf 210 ; Hamburg-Altona 253 ; Königsberg 278, 279 ; Mannheim 334 ; Stettin 454. Holidays, in— Berlin 8, 11 ; Aachen 42 ; Aschaffenburg 54 ; Brunswick 129 ; Elberfeld 222, 224 ; Hamburg-Altona 252, 258 ; Mannheim 331 ; Mülhausen 354, 356 ; Munich 369 ; Stassfurt 441 ; Stuttgart 463. Home Work, Conditions of, in — Berlin 7, 10, 11 ; Aachen 44 ; Aschaffenburg 58 ; Brunswick 128 ; Crefeld 154, 155 ; Elberfeld 224 ; Hamburg-Altona 253 ; Mannheim 335, 336 ; Mülhausen 356 ; Nuremberg 385 ; Plauen 405, 406 ; Remscheid 416, 419 ; Solingen 430, 431, 432 ; Stettin 455 ; Stuttgart 463. Horseflesh, Consumption of, in Aschaffenburg 66 ; Barmen 76 ; Bremen 110 ; Breslau 123 ; Chemnitz 147 ; Dantzig 175 ; Dortmund 188 ; Dresden 204 ; Königsberg 285 ; Leipzig 313 ; Magdeburg 325 ; Mannheim 347 ; Plauen 413 ; Remscheid 425 ; Stettin 457 ; Stuttgart 478. Horseflesh and Sausage, Prices of, in— Berlin 38 ; Aachen 52 ; Barmen 76 ; Bochum 93 ; Bremen 111 ; Breslau 125 ; Brunswick 137 ; Chemnitz 147 ; Crefeld 163 ; Dresden 204 ; Düsseldorf 218 ; Elberfeld 231 ; Essen 246 ; Hamburg-Altona 273 ; Königsberg 286 ; Leipzig 314 ; Mannheim 347 ; Mülhausen 366 ; Munich 379 ; Nuremberg 395 ; Oschersleben 402 ; Plauen 413 ; Solingen 438 ; Stassfurt 447 ; Zwickau 491. Horses Slaughtered for Consumption, Number of, in— Berlin 36, 38 ; Aachen 50 ; Barmen 76 ; Bochum 92 ; Bremen 111 ; Brunswick 136 ; Chemnitz 147,148 ; Crefeld 162 ; Dortmund 187 ; Dresden 204 ; Düsseldorf ­ 218 ; Essen 244, 245 ; Hamburg-Altona 271 ; Königshütte 298 ; Munich 379 ; Solingen 437 ; Stassfurt 447 ; Stuttgart 478 ; Zwickau 490. Hosiery Trade : Hours of Labour in, in— Chemnitz 141 ; Stuttgart 464, 465. Wages in, in— Chemnitz 141 ; Stuttgart 462, 465. Hours of Labour in— Berlin 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14 ; Aachen 41, 42, 43 ; Aschaffenburg 54, 55, 56, 57, 58 ; Barmen 69 ; Bochum 81, 83, 84, 85 ; Bremen 98, 99, 100 ; Breslau 117, 118 ; Brunswick 128, 129, 130 ; Chemnitz 140, 142 ; Crefeld 154, 155, 156, 157, 158 ; Dantzig 168, 169 ; Dortmund 179, 180, 181, 182 ; Dresden 191, 193, 194; Düsseldorf 209, 210; Elberfeld 222, 223, 224; Essen 235, 236, 237, 238 ; Hamburg-Altona 252, 253, 254, 255, 257 ; Königsberg 277, 279 ; Königshütte 290, 291, 293 ; Leipzig 303, 304, 305 ; Magdeburg 318 ; Mannheim ­ 330, 331, 332, 333, 334, 335, 336 ; Mülhausen 353, 354, 355 ; Munich 369, 371, 372 ; Nuremberg 384, 385, 386, 387 ; Oschersleben 397 ; Plauen 408 ; Remscheid 417, 419, 420, 421 ; Solingen 432, 433, 434 ; Stassfurt 441 ; Stettin 453, 454 ; Stuttgart 463, 464, 465, 466 ; Zwickau 483, 484, 485. House Bureau (Municipal) in— Aachen 40, 48 ; Barmen 70 ; Elberfeld 221, 228 ; Essen 234 ; Mülhausen 358, 362 ; Stuttgart 468, 473. Houses, Inspection of, in— Berlin 20 ; Aachen 47, 48 ; Aschaffenburg 63 ; Bochum 90 ; Bremen 104 ; Brunswick ­ 132 ; Düsseldorf 213 ; Elberfeld 227 ; Essen 241 ; Hamburg-Altona 260, 267 ; Mannheim 338, 342, 344 ; Mülhausen 362 ; Nuremberg 391 ; Solingen 435 ; Stuttgart 473. Housing and Rents in— Berlin 16-32 ; Aachen 44-49 ; Aschaffenburg 60-63 ; Barmen 70-73 ; Bochum 86-90 ; Bremen 101-108 ; Breslau 118-121 ; Brunswick 131-134 ; Chemnitz 142-145 ; Crefeld 158-160 ; Dantzig 169-172 ; Dortmund 182-186 ; Dresden 194-200 ; Düsseldorf 211-216 ; Elberfeld 225-229 ; Essen 239-242 ; Hamburg-Altona ­ 258-269 ; Königsberg 280-283 ; Königshütte 293-295 ; Leipzig ui ; 306-310 ; Magdeburg 319-322 ; Mannheim 337-345 ; Mülhausen 356-363 ; Munich 372-377 ; Nuremberg 387-391 ; Oschersleben 398-400 ; Plauen 409-411 ; Remscheid 421-423 ; Solingen 435, 436 ; Stassfurt 442-445 ; Stettin 455, 456 ; Stuttgart 467-475 ; Zwickau 485-488. 535 Housing : Accommodation in— Berlin 17, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 31, 32 ; Aachen 45 ; Aschaffenburg 59, 60 61 62 • Barmen 72, 73 ; Bochum 36, 87 ; Bremen 102 ; Breslau 119, 120 121 • Brunswick 131; Chemnitz 144; Crefeld 159, 160; Dantzig 171, 172-' Dortmund ­ 182, 183, 184; Dresden 195, 197, 198; Düsseldorf 211, 212 214-Elberfeld 225, 228 ; Essen 240, 242 ; Hamburg-Altona 259, 260, 261, 262 263* 268 ; Königsberg 281 ; Königshütte 293, 294 ; Leipzig 308 ; Magdeburg’320 ■ Mannheim 338 ; Mülhausen 358, 359, 360, 361, 362 ; Munich 374 376 - Nuremberg 388, 389 ; Oschersleben 398, 399 ; Plauen 409, 410 ; Remscheid' 422 ; Solingen 435 ; Stassfurt 443, 444 ; Stettin 455 ; Stuttgart 468, 470, 474 •’ Zwickau 485. Lodgings in— Berlin 30 ; Bochum 90 ; Bremen 106 ; Dortmund, 183 ; Düsseldorf 215 ; Elberfeld ­ 227 ; Essen 241 ; Hamburg-Altona 266 ; Mannheim 344 ; Mülhausen 363 • Munich 376 ; Nuremberg 389 ; Plauen 407, 409 ; Stassfurt 444. Provision of, by Building and other Societies in— Berlin 27, 31, 32 ; Aachen 48 ; Barmen 71 ; Bochum 88 ; Bremen 107 ; Breslau 133 ; Crefeld 159, 160; Dantzig 172 ; Dortmund 185; Düsseldorf 214, 215; Essen 241 ; Hamburg-Altona 267, 268 ; Leipzig 310 ; Magdeburg 322 ; Mannheim 343 ; Mülhausen 360, 361 ; Munich 376 ; Remscheid 423 ; Solingen 435 ; Stuttgart 469, 471, 474, 475. Provision of, by Employers in— Berlin 32 ; Aachen 48 ; Aschaffenburg 63 ; Bochum 81, 88 ; Dortmund 179, 185 ; Düsseldorf 215 ; Essen 237, 241 ; Hamburg-Altona 258, 268 ; Mannheim 343 344 ; Mülhausen 362 ; Nuremberg 391 ; Stassfurt 444. Provision of, by State and Municipal Authorities in— Aachen 48 ; Düsseldorf 214 ; Elberfeld 228 ; Hamburg-Altona 266 ,- Mannheim 342, 343; Mülhausen 361; Munich 376; Nuremberg 383, 391; Stassfurt 442, 444 ; Stuttgart 474. Regulations in— Aachen 47, 48 ; Brunswick 132 ; Chemnitz 143, 144 ; Düsseldorf 213 ; Elberfeld 226, 229 ; Essen 241 ; Hamburg-Altona 260, 267 ; Mannheim 338, 342, 344 • Nuremberg 388. Statistics of, in— Berlin 3, 16, 17, 18, 22, 23, 24, 26, 29, 30 ; Aachen 44 ; Aschaffenburg 60 ; Barmen 70, 71, 72; Bochum 86, 88; Bremen 96, 101, 102, 104; Breslau 118, 120; Chemnitz 143 ; Crefeld 159 ; Dantzig 170 ; Dortmund 182,183 ; Dresden 199 ; Düsseldorf 211, 212, 213 ; Elberfeld 226, 227 ; Essen 233, 239, 240 ; Hamburg-Altona 261, 262, 263, 265, 266, 268 ; Königsberg 280, 281 ; Königshütte ­ 293 ; Leipzig 306, 308, 309 ; Magdeburg 319, 320 ; Mannheim 328, 337, 338, 340, 341, 342 ; Mülhausen 357, 358, 359 ; Munich 373 ; Nuremberg 388, 389 ; Plauen 409 ; Remscheid 415, 421, 422 ; Solingen 435 ; Stettin 455 ; Stuttgart 468 ; Zwickau 485. Tenancy, Conditions of, in— Berlin 30 ; Bochum 89 ; Bremen 106 ; Brunswick 134 ; Düsseldorf 211, 213, 214 ; Elberfeld 226 ; Hamburg-Altona 266 ; Mannheim 340, 341 ; Mülhausen 359 ’• Remscheid 422 ; Stuttgart 472. I. Implement Making Trade (see Machine, &c., Making Trades). Income Tax, State and Municipal, in— Berlin 28 ; Aachen 46 ; Aschaffenburg 63 ; Barmen 73 ; Bochum 89 ; Bremen 104, 105 ; Breslau 121 ; Brunswick 134 ; Chemnitz 145 ; Elberfeld 160 ; Dantzig 171; Dortmund 185, 186; Dresden 200; Düsseldorf 214; Elberfeld ­ 227 ; Essen 242 ; Hamburg-Altona 264, 265 ; Königsberg 283 ; Könmshütte 293, 295 ; Leipzig 310 ; Magdeburg 322 ; Mannheim 340, 341 ; Mülhausen ­ 350, 363 ; Munich 375 ; Nuremberg 390 ; Oschersleben 400 ; Plauen 411 ; Remscheid 416, 422 ; Solingen 436 ; Stassfurt 445 ; Stettin 456 • Stuttgart 473 ; Zwickau, 488. Incomes : Distribution of, in— Berlin 28 ; Bochum 89 ; Bremen 101 ; Düsseldorf 214 ; Königshütte, 293. Indiarubber Works (see Rubber Works). Industrial Population (see Population, Industrial). Infant Mortality Rates in— Berlin 4, 5; Aachen 40; Aschaffenburg, 54; Barmen 67; Bochum 80; Bremen 96; Breslau 114, 115; Brunswick 127; Chemnitz 138; Crefeld 151; Dantzig 166; Dortmund 177; Dresden, 190; ¡Düsseldorf 207; Elberfeld 221; Essen 233; Hamburg-Altona, 250; Königsberg 275, 276; Leipzig 302; Magdeburg 315 316; Mannheim 327, 328; Mülhausen 349; Munich 368; Nuremberg 382; Plauen 404; Solingen 428; Stettin 450; Stuttgart 461; Zwickau 482. Iron and Steel Trades : Hours of Labour in, in— Aachen 41, 43 ; Bochum 81, 85; Dortmund 179, 181; Düsssldorf 210; Elberfeld 223; Essen 235, 238; Remscheid 417, 419, 420; Solingen, 433; Zwickau 483. Number of Persons employed in, in— Bochum 80; Nuremberg 384; Remscheid 416. Wages in, in— Aachen 43; Bochum 81, 85; Dortmund 179, 180, 181; Düsseldorf 210; Elberfeld 223 ; Essen 236, 238; Königshütte 291, 292 ; Remscheid 418, 419, 420; Solingen 433; Zwickau 483. K. Königsberg 274-287. Königshütte 288-299. L. Labourers, Dock, Quay, Harbour, &c. (see Harbour and Dock Labour, and Transport Workers and Dock Labourers). Labourers in various Trades : Hours of Labour of, in— Berlin 11, 12, 13, 14 ; Aachen 42, 43 ; Aschaffenburg 56 ; Barmen 69 ; Bochum 84, 85 ; Bremen 98, 99,100 ; Breslau 117, 118 ; Brunswick 130,131 ; Chemnitz 140, 141, 142 ; Crefeld 156, 157, 158 ; Dantzig 168, 169 ; Dortmund 181, 182 ; Dresden 191, 192, 193, 194 ; Düsseldorf 209, 210 ; Elberfeld 223, 224 ; Essen 237, 238 ; Hamburg-Altona 253, 254, 255, 256, 257 ; Königsberg 278, 279, 280 ; Königshütte 290 ; Leipzig 304, 305 ; Magdeburg 318, 319 ; Mannheim 333, 334 ; Mülhausen 353, 354, 355 ; Munich 371, 372 ; Nuremberg 384, 385, 386, 387 ; Oschersleben 397, 398 ; Plauen 408 ; Remscheid 419, 420, 421 ; Solingen 433, 434 ; Stassfurt 441, 442 ; Stettin 453, 454 ; Stuttgart 465, 466 ; Zwickau 483, 484, 485. Wages of, in— Berlin 8,9,11,12,13,14 ; Aachen 42, 43,44 ; Aschaffenburg 55,56 ; Barmen 69, 70 ; Bochum 83,84,85,86 ; Bremen 98,99, 100 ; Breslau 117,118 ; Brunswick 130, 131 ; Chemnitz 140,141 ; Crefeld 156,157,158 ; Dantzig 168,169 ; Dortmund 180, 181,182 ; Dresden 191,192,193,194 ; Düsseldorf 209,210, 211 ; Elberfeld 222, 223, 224 ; Essen 236, 237, 238 ; Hamburg-Altona 252, 253, 254, 255, 256, 257,258 ; Königsberg 278, 279,280; Königshütte 290, 291, 292; Leipzig 304, 305; Magdeburg 318, 319 ; Mannheim 331, 332, 333, 334 ; Mülhausen 352, 353,354, 355 ; Munich 370, 371, 372 ; Nuremberg 384, 385, 386, 387 ; Oschersleben 397, 398 ; Plauen 408 ; Remscheid 419, 420, 421 ; Solingen 433, 434 ; Stassfurt 441, 442 ; Stettin 453, 454 ; Stuttgart 462, 465, 466 ; Zwickau 483, 484, 485. Labourers, Migratory, in— Bremen 97 ; Oschersleben 396. Lacemaking, Embroidery and, Trades : Hours of Labour in, in— Plauen 408. Number of Establishments and Workpeople in, in— Plauen 405, 406. Machinery employed in, in— Plauen, 405. Wages in, in— Plauen 408. Leather Trades : Hours of Labour in, in— Berlin 13 ; Hamburg-Altona 257 ; Munich 371. Number of Establishments and Workpeople in, in— Berlin 6 ; Aachen 41 ; Bochum 83 ; Chemnitz 139 ; Crefeld 152 ; Dortmund 178 ; Düsseldorf 208 ; Elberfeld 222 ; Essen 234 ; Hamburg-Altona 251 ; Mannheim 330 ; Mülhausen 352 ; Nuremberg 384 ; Stuttgart 462, 464. Wages in, in— Berlin 13 ; Hamburg-Altona 257 ; Munich 370, 371. Legal Advice Agency {see Workmen’s Secretariates). Leipzig 300-314. Leopoldshall {see Stassfurt). Lighting, Electric {see Electric Lighting and Power Supply Works). Limburg Cheese, Price of, in— Berlin 34, 35 ; Aachen 49, 50 ; Aschaffenburg 64 ; Barmen 74 ; Bochum 90, 91 ; Bremen 109,110 ; Breslau 122 ; Brunswick 135,136 ; Chemnitz 146 ; Crefeld 161 ; Dortmund 187 ; Dresden 202 ; Düsseldorf 216, 217 ; Essen 243, 244 ; Hamburg-Altona 270, 271; Leipzig 311; Magdeburg 323, 324; Mannheim 345,346; Munich 378 ; Nuremberg 392, 393 ; Oschersleben 401 ; Plauen 412; Remscheid 424 ; Solingen 437 ; Stassfurt 446, 447 ; Stuttgart 475, 476 ; Zwickau 489. ■«V; L» JY % • * 5 37 Linoleum Works : Hours of Labour at, in— Berlin 13. Wages at, in— Berlin 13. Lithography (see Printing, &c., Trades). Local Taxation, in— Berlin 27, 28; Aachen 46; Aschaffenburg 63; Barmen 73; Bochum 89; Bremen 104; Breslau 121; Brunswick 134; Chemnitz 145; Crefekl 160; Dantzig 171; Dortmund 185, 186; Dresden 200, 201; Düsseldorf 214; Elberfeld 227; Essen 242; Hamburg-Al tona 264, 265; Königsberg 283; Konigshütte 293, 295 ¡ Leipzig 310; Magdeburg 322; Mannheim 330, 340, 341; Mülhausen 350, 363¡ 364; Munich 375, 377; Nuremberg 390, 393; Oschersleben 400; Plauen 411; Remscheid 416, 422; Solingen 436; Stassfurt 445; Stettin 456; Stuttgart 473; Zwickau 488. Lock-outs (see Strikes and Lock-outs). Locomotive Works: Hours of Labour at, in— Stuttgart 464, 465. Wages at, in— Stuttgart 465. Lodgings (see Housing). M. Machine, Implement and Apparatus Making Trades : Number of Establishments and Workpeople in, in— Berlin 6 ; Aachen 41 ; Aschaffenburg 51 ; Bochum 80, 83 ; Bremen 97 ; Brunswick 127, 129 ; Chemnitz 139 ; Crefeld 152 ; Dantzig 167 ; Dortmund 178 ; Dresden 190 ; Düsseldorf 208 ; Elberfeld 222 ; Essen 234 ; Ham burg-Altona 251; Königshütte 290 ; Mannheim 330; Mülhausen 352 ; Munich 369 ; Nuremberg ­ 384 ; Oschersleben 397 ; Solingen 430 ; Stassfurt 440 ; Stettin 452 ; Stuttgart 462, 464. {See also Engineering Trades, and Metal and Engineering Trades.) Magdeburg 315-326. Mannheim 327-348. Margarine, Price of, in— Berlin 34, 35 ; Aachen 49, 50 ; Aschaffenburg 64 ; Barmen 74 ; Bochum 91 ; Bremen 108, 109, 110 ; Breslau 122 ; Brunswick 135, 136 ; Chemnitz, 146 ; Crefeld 161 ; Dantzig 173 ; Dortmund 187 ; Dresden 202, 203 ; Düsseldorf 216, 217 ; Elberfeld 230 ; Essen 243, 244 ; Hamburg-Altona 270, 271 ; Königsberg 284 ; Königshütte 296 ; Leipzig 311, 312 ; Magdeburg 323, 324 ; Mannheim 345, 346 ; Mülhausen 364, 365 ; Munich 378 ; Nuremberg 392, 393 ; Oschersleben 401 ; Plauen 412 ; Remscheid 424, 425 ; Solingen 437 •’ Stassfurt 446, 447 ; Stettin 457 ; Stuttgart 475, 476 ; Zwickau 489. Marriage Rate in— Berlin 5 ; Crefeld 150 ; Düsseldorf 207 ; Mannheim 327 ; Munich 368. Meat : Consumption of, in— Berlin 36 ; Aachen 50, 51 ; Aschaffenburg 65 ; Barmen 76 ; Bochum 91 ; Bremen 110; Breslau 123; Chemnitz 147 ; Crefeld 162; Dantzig 174, 175; Dortmund 1>7 ; Dresden 204, 205 ; Düsseldorf 218 ; Elberfeld 231 ; Essen 244, 245 ; Hamburg-Altona 272 ; Königsberg 285 ; Königshütte 298, 299 ; Leipzig 313 • Magdeburg 324, 326 ; Mannheim 346, 347 ; Mülhausen 365 ; Munich 379 380 ; Nuremberg 394 ; Plauen 412, 413 ; Remscheid 425 ; Stettin 457, 458 • Stuttgart 477 ; Zwickau 489, 490. {See also Cattle, Sheep, Pigs, &c., Number of, slaughtered.) Inspection of, in— Elberfeld 231 ; Hamburg-Altona 272 ; Oschersleben 402 • Stuttgart 477, 478. Dresden 201 ; Mannheim 330 ; Mülhausen 364, 365. Bremen Dantzig Düsseldorf 218 ; Stassfurt 447 Octroi on, in— Aschaffenburg 54 Prices (Retail) of, in-Berlin 36 ; Aachen 51 ; Aschaffenburg 63, 65 ; Barmen 76 ; Bochum 92 110 ; Breslau 122 ; Brunswick 136 ; Chemnitz 147 ; Crefeld 162 173, 174 ; Dortmund 187 ; Dresden 203 ; Düsseldorf 218 ; Elberfeld 231 ; Essen 244 ; Hamburg-Altona 270, 271 ; Königsberg 285 ; Königshütte 297 \ Leipzig 312 ; Magdeburg 324 ; Mannheim 346 ; Mülhausen 365 ; Munich 377, 379 ; Nuremberg 393 ; Oschersleben 402 ; Plauen 412 ; Remscheid 425 ; Solingen 437 ; Stassfurt 447 ; Stettin 457 ; Stuttgart 477 ; Zwickau 489. Prices (Wholesale) of, in— Breslau 123 ; Dresden 203 ; Königsberg 285 ; Leipzig 312, 313. Regulations as to Sale of, in— Barmen 77 ; Elberfeld 231. A - 2 % 29088 3 Y WH 538 Meat—cont. Supply, Sources of, in— Berlin 36 ; Aachen 51 ; Aschaffenburg 65 ; Barmen 75, 76 ; Bochum 92, 93 ; Breslau 122 ; Brunswick 137 ; Chemnitz 147 ; Dantzig 174 ; Düsseldorf 218 ; Elberfeld 231 ; Hamburg-Altona 271 ; Königsberg 285 ; Königshütte 297 ; Leipzig 312 ; Magdeburg 324 ; Mannheim 346 ; Mülhausen 365 ; Munich 381 ; Nuremberg 394 ; Oschersleben 402 ; Plauen 412, 413 ; Remscheid 425 ; Solingen 437 ; Stassfurt 447 ; Stettin 457 ; Stuttgart 477 ; Zwickau 489. Meat, Prepared: Consumption of, in— Breslau 123; Dresden 204; Leipzig 313. Prices of, in— Essen 246 ; Hamburg-Altona 270. Metal and Engineering Trades, Number of Establishments and Workpeople in, in— Breslau 115; Dresden 190; Königsberg 276, 277; Leipzig 302; Magdeburg 318; Plauen 405. (See also Machine, Implement, and Apparatus Making Trades and Engineering Trades.) Metal Working Trades : Hours of Labour in, in— Berlin 12 ; Breslau 117; Brunswick 130 ; Chemnitz 141; Dresden 191; Hamburg-Altona 255; Königsberg 278,279 : Leipzig 303, 304 ; Magdeburg 319 ; Nuremberg ­ 385, 386 ; Stettin 453 ; Zwickau 484. Number of Establishments and Workpeople in, in— Berlin 6 ; Aachen 41; Aschaffenburg 54; Bochum 80,83; Bremen 97 ; Brunswick 129; Chemnitz 139; Crefeld 152; Dantzig 167; Dortmund 178; Düsseldorf 208 ; Elberfeld 222 ; Essen 234 ; Hamburg-Altona 251 ; Königshütte 290 ; Mannheim 330 ; Mülhausen 352 ; Munich 369 ; Nuremberg 384; Remscheid 416 ; Stassfurt 440 ; Stettin 452 ; Stuttgart 462, 464. Wages in, in— Berlin 12 ; Breslau 117 ; Brunswick 130 ; Chemnitz 141 ; Dresden 191 ; Hamburg-Altona ­ 255 ; Königsberg 278, 279 ; Leipzig 303, 304 ; Magdeburg 319 ; Nuremberg 385, 386 ; Stettin 453, 454 ; Zwickau 484. Mining (see also Coal Mining and Salt Mining). Mining and Smelting Industries, Number of Establishments and Workpeople in, in— Bochum 80, 83 ; Dantzig 167 ; Dortmund 178 ; Düsseldorf 208 ; Essen 234 ; Hamburg-Altona 251 ; Königshütte 290 ; Mannheim 330 ; Stuttgart 462. Milk : Price of, in— Berlin 35 ; Aachen 50 ; Aschaffenburg 64 ; Barmen 74 ^ Bochum 91 ; Bremen 109, 110 ; Breslau 122 ; Brunswick 135, 136 ; Chemnitz 146 ; Crefeld 161 ; Dantzig 173 ; Dortmund 187 ; Dresden 202 ; Düsseldorf 216, 217 ; Elberfeld 230 ; Essen 244 ; Hamburg-Altona 270, 271 ; Königsberg 284, 285 ; Königshütte ­ 296 ; Leipzig 311 ; Magdeburg 323 ; Mannheim 345, 346 ; Mülhausen 364, 365 ; Munich 378 ; Nuremberg 393 ; Oschersleben 401 ; Plauen 412 ; Remscheid 424 ; Solingen 437 ; Stassfurt 446, 447 ; Stettin 457 ; Stuttgart 476, 478 ; Zwickau 489. Supply and Consumption of, in— Berlin 34, 35. Mortgage Bank, Municipal, in— Düsseldorf 207. Motor Cars, Music Boxes, Typewriters and, Men engaged in Manufacture of : Hours of Labour of, in— Leipzig 304. Wages of, in— Leipzig 304. Mülhausen in Alsace 349-366. Munich 367-381. Municipal Employees : Hours of Labour of, in— Berlin 8, 11, 14 ; Aachen 43 ; Aschaffenburg 55, 56; Barmen 69 ; Bochum 84, 85 ; Bremen 100 ; Breslau 118 ; Brunswick 131 ; Chemnitz 141 ; Crefeld 158 ; Dantzig 169 ; Dortmund 182 ; Dresden 194 ; Düsseldorf 209, 210 ; Elberfeld 224 ; Essen 238 ; Hamburg-Altona 257 ; Königsberg 279 ; Leipzig 305, 306 ; Mannheim 334 ; Mülhausen 355; Munich 372; Nuremberg 387; Oschersleben 398 ; Plauen 408 ; Remscheid 421 ; Solingen 434 ; Stassfurt 442 ; Stettin 454 ; Stuttgart 466 ; Zwickau 485. Number of, in— Berlin 11 ; Dresden 190, 194 ; Leipzig 305, 306 ; Magdeburg 317 ; Stettin 451. Wages of, in— Berlin 11,14 ; Aachen 43 ; Aschaffenburg 55, 56 ; Barmen 69, 70 ; Bochum 84, 85; Bremen 99, 100 ; Breslau 118 ; Brunswick 131 ; Chemnitz 141 ; Crefeld 158 ; Dantzig 169 ; Dortmund 182 ; Dresden 194 ; Düsseldorf 209, 210 ; Elberfeld 224 ; Essen 238 ; Hamburg-Altona 257, 258 ; Königsberg 279 ; Leipzig 305 ; Mannheim 332, 334 ; Mülhausen 355 ; Munich 372 ; Nuremberg 387 ; Oschersleben 398 ; Plauen 408 ; Remscheid 421 ; Solingen 434 ; Stassfurt 442 ; Stettin 454 ; Stuttgart 466 ; Zwickau 485. Municipal Taxes (see Local Taxation). Municipal Undertakings and Properties, in— Berlin 3, 5, 27,32,36,38 ; Aachen 39,40, 50 ; Aschaffenburg 53,54,62,64 ; Barmen 68 70, 76 ; Bochum 79; Bremen 95, 111; Breslau 113,114,123; Brunswick 126 127-Chemnitz 138,140 ; Crefeld 151,155,162 ; Dantzig 165,166,167,169,172, 174 • Dortmund 177,178,180,187 ; Dresden 190, 204 ; Düsseldorf: 20b, 207, 213, 218 ; Elberfeld 221, 228 ; Essen 234, 236, 241, 244 ; Hamburg-Altona 249, 258, 266, 268, 273 ; Königsberg 275, 285 ; Königshütte 289, 297 ; Leipzig 300, 301, 306, 314 ; Magdeburg 316, 317 ; Mannheim 329, 345, 346, 347 ; Mülhausen 350; Munich 367, 368, 377, 379 ; Nuremberg 383, 391, 393, 394 ; Oschersleben 396, 402 ; Plauen 403, 408, 413 ; Remscheid 416, 418 ; Solingen 428, 429, 435, 437, 438 ; Stassfurt 439, 447 ; Stettin 451, 457, 458 ; Stuttgart 461, 467, 468, 473, 474, 475, 477 ; Zwickau 480, 482, 490. Music Boxes, Typewriters and Motor Cars, Men engaged in Manufacture of : Hours of Labour of, in— Leipzig 301. Wages of, in— Leipzig 304. Mutton and Goats flesh, Consumption of, in— Breslau 123 ; Chemnitz 147 ; Dantzig 175 ; Dresden 204 ; Essen 244 ; Mannheim 347 ; Munich 379 ; Plauen 413 ; Stettin 457. Mutton : Consumption of, in— Berlin 36 ; Aachen 51; Aschaffenburg 65 ; Barmen 76; Bochum 92; Bremen 110; Brunswick 136 ; Chemnitz 147 ; Crefeld 162 ; Dortmund 187 ; Düsseldorf 218 ; Königsberg 285 ; Leipzig 313 ; Magdeburg 325 ; Mannheim 347 ; Solingen 437 ; Stettin 458 ; Stuttgart 477 ; Zwickau 490. Prices of, in— Berlin 37 ; Aachen 51 ; Aschaffenburg 65, 66 ; Barmen 76 ; Bochum 92 ; Bremen 111, 112; Breslau 124, 125 ; Brunswick 137 ; Chemnitz 148; Crefeld 162, 163 ; Dantzig 175 ; Dortmund 188 ; Dresden 205 ; Düsseldorf 218, 219 ; Elberfeld 231, 232 ; Essen 246 ; Hamburg-Altona 272, 273 ; Königsberg 286 ; Königshütte 298 ; Leipzig 314 ; Magdeburg 325 ; Mannheim 347, 348 ; Mülhausen 366 ; Munich 377, 379, 380, 381 ; Nuremberg 394 ; Oschersleben 402 ; Plauen 414 ; Remscheid 426,427 ; Solingen 438 ; Stassfurt 448 ; Stettin 458 ; Stuttgart 478, 479 ; Zwickau 490. N. Needle Factories : Hours of Labour in, in— Aachen 43. Wages in, in— Aachen 42, 43. Nuremberg 382-395. o. Occupations, Wages and Hours of Labour in— Berlin 5-16 ; Aachen 41-44 ; Aschaffenburg 54-60 ; Barmen 68-70 ; Bochum 80-85 ; Bremen 97-101 ; Breslau 115-118 ; Brunswick 127-131 ; Chemnitz 139-142 ; Crefeld 151-158 ; Dantzig 167-169 ; Dortmund 178-182 ; Dresden 190-194 ; Düsseldorf 207-211 ; Elberfeld 221-225 ; Essen 234-238 ; Hamburg-Altona 250-258 ; Königsberg 276-280 ; Königshütte 289-293 ; Leipzig 302-306 ; Magdeburg 317-319 ; Mannheim 330-337 ; Mülhausen 351-356 ; Munich 369-372 ; Nuremberg 383-387 ; Oschersleben 396-398 ; Plauen 404-408 ; Remscheid 416-421 ; Solingen 429-434 ; Stassfurt 440-442 ; Stettin 451-455 ; Stuttgart 461-467 ; Zwickau 482-485. Octroi Duties, in— Aschaffenburg 53 ; Dresden 201 ; Mannheim 330 ; Mülhausen 364 ; Munich 377 ; Nuremberg 393. Oil, Paraffin (see Paraffin Oil). Oil and Corn Mills, and Starch Making, Men engaged in : Hours of Labour of, in— Dantzig 168. Wages of, in— Dantzig 168. Oil Mills : Hours of Labour at, in— Bremen 100 ; Hamburg-Altona 257. Wages at, in— Bremen 98, 100 ; Hamburg-Altona 253, 257. 29088 3 Y" 2 540 Oil, Soap and, Works : Hours of Labour at, in— Mannheim 334. Wages at, in— Mannheim 332, 334. Oil Trades (see also Resins, Varnishes, &c., Trades). Ordnance Works, Royal : Hours of Labour at, in— Dantzig 168. Wages at, in— Dantzig 168. Oschersleben 396-402. Overcrowding in— Aachen 44, 47; Barmen 71; Bremen 104; Breslau 119, 120; Dantzig 170; Dortmund 183 ; Essen 241 ; Mannheim 337, 338, 342. Oxen (see Cattle). P. Paper, Leather and, Trades : Number of Establishments and Workpeople in, in— Bochum, 83. Paper Trades : Hours of Labour in, in— Aschaffenburg 56 ; Barmen 69 ; Chemnitz 141 ; Dresden 192 ; Munich 371. Number of Establishments and Workpeople in, in— Berlin 6 ; Aachen 41 ; Aschaffenburg 54 ; Breslau 115 ; Brunswick 129 ; Chemnitz 139 ; Crefeld 152 ; Dantzig 167 ; Dortmund 178 ; Dresden 190 ; Düsseldorf 208 ; Elberfeld 222 ; Essen, 234 ; Hamburg-Al tona 251 ; Königsberg 276 ; Königsbütte 290 ; Mannheim 330 ; Mülhausen 352 ; Munich 369 ; Nuremberg ­ 384 ; Plauen 405 ; Stettin 452 ; Stuttgart 462, 464. Wages in, in— Aschaffenburg 56 ; Barmen 69 ; Chemnitz 141 ; Dresden 192, 193 ; Munich 371. Paper, Wood-pulp and, Industry : Hours of Labour in, in— Aschaffenburg 56 ; Mannheim, 333. Wages in, in— Aschaffenburg 55, 56 ; Mannheim 331, 333. Paraffin Oil, Price of, in— Berlin 35; Aachen 50; Aschaffenburg 64; Barmen 74; Bochum 91; Bremen 109, 110 ; Breslau 122 ; Brunswick 136 ; Chemnitz 146 ; Crefeld 161 ; Dantzig 173 ; Dortmund 187 ; Dresden 202 ; Düsseldorf 217 ; Elberfeld 230 ; Essen 244 ; Hamburg-Altona 270, 271 ; Königsberg 284 ; Königshütte 296 ; Leipzig 311 ; Magdeburg 323 ; Mannheim 346 ; Mülhausen 364, 365 ; Munich 378; Nuremberg 393; Oschersleben 401; Plauen 412; Remscheid 424 ; Solingen 437 ; Stassfurt 446, 447 ; Stettin 457 ; Stuttgart 476 ; Zwickau 489. Parks and Open Spaces in— Aachen 39 ; Breslau 114 ; Brunswick 126 ; Chemnitz 138 ; Crefeld 151 ; Dantzig 166, 169 ; Düsseldorf 206 ; Hamburg-Al tona 248, 249 ; Königsberg 275 ; Königshütte 289 ; Leipzig 301, 306 ; Magdeburg 316 ; Nuremberg 383 ; Plauen 403 ; Stettin 451 ; Stuttgart 460, 467 ; Zwickau 480, Parks and Gardens (Public), Men engaged in : Hours of Labour of, in— Dresden 194 ; Leipzig 306. Wages of, in— Dresden 194 ; Leipzig 306. Pianoforte Making Trade : Hours of Labour in, in— Berlin 8, 13 ; Barmen 69 ; Leipzig 304 ; Munich 372 ; Stuttgart 465. Number employed in, in— Stuttgart 462. Wages in, in— Berlin 9, 13 ; Barmen 69 ; Leipzig 304 ; Munich 370, 372 ; Stuttgart 465. Pigs : Number of, slaughtered, in— Berlin 36 ; Aachen 50 ; Aschaffenburg 65 ; Bochum 92 ; Brunswick 136 ; Crefeld 162 ; Dortmund 187 ; Eásen 244 ; Hamburg-Altona 271 ; Munich 379; Solingen 437 ; Stassfurt 447. Prices (Wholesale) of, in— Breslau 123 ; Leipzig 312. Plauen 403-414. 541 Poor Relief in— Berlin 5 ; Barmen 68 ; Bochum 79 ; Brunswick 126 ; Elberfeld 221 • Mannheim ­ 329 ; Mülhausen 350. Population in— Berlin 1, 2 ; Aachen 39 ; Aschaffenburg 53 ; Barmen 67 ; Bochuui 78, 79 ; Bremen 94 : Breslau 114,115 ; Brunswick 126 ; Chemnitz 138 ; Crefeld 150 ; Dantzig 166; Dortmund 177; Dresden 189; Düsseldorf 206; Elberfeld 220; Essen 233 ; Hamburg-Altona 247, 248, 259 ; Königsberg 274, 275 ; Königshütte 289 ; Leipzig 301 ; Magdeburg 315 ; Mannheim 327 ; Mülhausen 319 ; Munich 367 ; Nuremberg 382 ; Oschersleben 396 ; Plauen 401 ; Remscheid 415 ; Solingen 428 ; Stassfurt 439, 440 ; Stettin 450 ; Stuttgart 460 ; Zwickau 481. ’ Population, Industrial, in— Berlin 6 ; Aachen 41 ; Aschaffenburg 54 ; Bochum 80, 83 ; Bremen 94, 97 ; Breslau 115 ; Brunswick 128 ; Chemnitz 139 ; Crefeld 151 ; Dantzig 167 ; Dortmund 178; Dresden 190; Düsseldorf 208; Elberfeld 222; Essen 234 ¡ Hamburg-Altona 250,25’ ; Königsberg 276; Königshütte 289 ; Leipzig 302 • Magdeburg 317; Mannheim 330; Mülhausen 352; Munich 369; Plauen 404 ; Stassfurt 440 ; Stettin 451, 452; Stuttgart 461, 464 ; Zwickau 480, 482. Porcelain Trade (see Earthenware, &c., Industries). Pork and Bacon, Consumption of, in — Berlin 36 ; Aachen 50, 51 ; Aschaffenburg 65 ; Barmen 76 ; Bochum 92 ; Bremen 110 ; Breslau 123, 124 ; Chemnitz 147 ; Crefeld 162 ; Dantzig 174, 175 ; Dortmund 187 ; Dresden 204, 205; Düsseldorf 218; Elberfeld 231; Essen 245 ; Hamburg-Altona 272 ; Königsberg 285 ; Königshütte 298 ; Leipzig 313 ; Magdeburg 325, ö26 ; Mannheim 347; Mülhausen 365; Munich 380; Nuremberg 394; Plauen 413; Remscheid 425; Stettin 457, 458; Stuttgart 477 ; Zwickau 489, 490. Pork, Prices (Retail) of, in— Berlin 37 ; Aachen 51; Aschaffenburg 65, 66 ; Barmen 76 ; Bochum 92 ; Bremen 111,112; Breslau 124, 125; Brunswick 137; Chemnitz 148; Crefeld 161, 162, 163 ; Dantzig 174, 175, 176 ; Dortmund 188 ; Dresden 202, 205 ; Düsseldorf 219 ; Elberfeld 231, 232 ; Essen 245, 246 ; Hamburg-Al tona 272, 273 ; Königsberg 286 ; Königshütte 298 ; Leipzig 313, 314 ; Magdeburg 324, 325, 326 ; Mannheim 347, 348 ; Mülhausen 366 ; Munich 377, 379, 380, 381 ; Nuremberg 394 ; Oschersleben 402 ; Plauen 414 ; Remscheid 425, 426, 427 ; Solingen 438; Stassfurt 448 : Stettin 457, 158 ; Stuttgart 478, 479; Zwickau 490. Pork, Prices (Wholesale) of, in— Dresden 203 ; Königsberg 285. Porters, Warehousemen and, in Bookselling Trade : Hours of Labour of, in— Leipzig 305. Wages of, in— Leipzig 305. Potatoes, Price of, in— Berlin 35 ; Aachen 50 ; Aschaffenburg 64 ; Barmen 74 ; Bochum 91 ; Bremen 110 ; Breslau 122 ; Brunswick 136 ; Chemnitz 146 ; Crefeld 161 ; Dantzig 173 ; Dortmund 187 ; Dresden 202 ; Düsseldorf 217 ; Elberfeld 230 ; Essen 244 ; Hamburg-Altona 270, 271 ; Königsberg 284 : Königshütte 296, 297 ; Leipzig 311 ; Magdeburg 323 ; Mannheim 346 ; Mülhausen 365 ; Munich 377, 378 ; Nuremberg 392, 393 ; Oschersleben 401 : Plauen 412 ; Remscheid 424 ; Solingen 437 ; Stassfurt 446, 447 ; Stettin 457 ; Stuttgart 476 ; Zwickau 489. Pottery Trades (see Earthenware, &c. Industries). Power, Electric, Supply Works (see Electric Lighting and Power Supply Works). Prices (Retail) of : Groceries and other Commodities, in— Berlin 32 ; Aachen 49, 52 ; Aschaffenburg 63 ; Barmen 74 ; Bochum 90 ; Bremen 108 ; Breslau 122 ; Brunswick 135, 137 ; Chemnitz 146, 149 ; Crefeld 160, 163 ; Dantzig 173 ; Dortmund 186, 188 ; Dresden 202, 205 ; Düsseldorf 216, 219 ; Elberfeld 229, 232 ; Essen 243, 246 ; Hamburg-Altona 269, 273 ; Königsberg 284, 287 ; Königshütte 296 ; Leipzig 311, 314 ; Magdeburg 323. 326; Mannheim 345,348; Mülhausen 363, 366; Munich 377,381; Nuremberg ­ 391, 395; Oschersleben 400, 402; Plauen 412,414; Remscheid 423, 427 ; Solingen 436, 438 ; Stassfurt 445, 418 ; Stettin 456, 459 ; Stuttgart 475, 479 ; Zwickau 488, 491. Meat, in— Berlin 36 ; Aachen 50 ; Aschaffenburg 65 ; Barmen 75 ; Bochum 91 ; Bremen 110 ; Breslau 122 ; Brunswick 136 ; Chemnitz 147 ; Crefeld 162 ; Dantzig 173,171 ; Dortmund 187 ; Dresden 203 ; Düsseldorf 218 ; Elberfeld 231 ; Essen 214 ; Hamburg-Altona 270, 271 ; Königsberg 285 ; Königshütte 297 ; Leipzig 312 ; Magdeburg 324 ; Mannheim 346 ; Mülhausen 365 ; Munich 377, 379 ; Nuremberg 393 ; Oschersleben 402 ; Plauen 412 ; Remscheid 425 ; Solingen 437 ; Stassfurt 447 ; Stettin 457 ; Stuttgart 477 ; Zwickau 489. 542 Prices (Wholesale) of Food, in— Berlin 34 ; Breslau 123 ; Dresden 203 ; Königsberg 285 ; Leipzig 312 ; Remscheid 425. Prices, Index Number for Rent and, combined (see Rent and Prices, Index Number for). Printing and Allied Trades : Hours of Labour in, in— Berlin 13 ; Aachen 43 ; Aschaffenburg 56 ; Barmen 69 ; Bochum 85 ; Bremen 99 ; Breslau 117 ; Brunswick 129, 130 ; Chemnitz 141, 142 ; Crefeld 158 ; Dantzig ­ 167, 168 ; Dortmund 181 ; Dresden 192 ; Düsseldorf 210 ; Elberfeld 223 ; Essen 238 ; Hamburg-Altona 256 ; Königsberg 278 ; Königshütte 290 ; Leipzig ­ 303, 304, 305 ; Magdeburg 319 ; Mannheim 333 ; Mülhausen 355 ; Munich 371 ; Nuremberg 386 ; Oschersleben 397 ; Plauen 408 ; Remscheid 420 ; Solingen 434 ; Stettin 453 ; Stuttgart 464, 465 ; Z wickau 484. Wages in, in— Berlin 13 ; Aachen 42, 43 : Aschaffenburg 58 ; Barmen 69, 70 ; Bochum 85, 86 ; Bremen 98, 99, 100 ; Breslau 117, 118 ; Brunswick 129, 130, 131 ; Chemnitz 141, 142 ; Crefeld 157, 158 ; Dantzig 167, 168, 169'; Dortmund 181 ; Dresden 192, 193 ; Düsseldorf 210, 211 ; Elberfeld 223 ; Essen 238 ; Hamburg-Altona 256, 257 ; Königsberg 278, 279 ; Königshütte 290, 291 ; Leipzig 303, 304, 305 ; Magdeburg 319 ; Mannheim 333, 334 ; Mülhausen 355 ; Munich 370,371, 372 ; Nuremberg 385,386,387; Oschersleben 397, 398 ; Plauen 407,408 ; Remscheid 420 ; Solingen 434 ; Stassfurt 442 ; Stettin 453, 454 ; Stuttgart 463, 465, 466 ; Zwickau 484. Printing, Lithography, Bookbinding, &c., Trades, Number of Establishments and Workpeople ­ in, in— Berlin 6 ; Aachen 41 ; Bochum 83 ; Bremen 97 ; Breslau 115 ; Brunswick 129 ; Chemnitz 139 ; Crefeld 15,2 ; Dantzig 167 ; Dortmund 178 ; Düsseldorf 208 ; Elberfeld 222 ; Essen 234 ; Hamburg-Altona 251 ; Königsberg 276 ; Königshütte ­ 290 ; Leipzig 302 ; Mannheim 330 ; Mülhausen 352 ; Munich 369 ; Nuremberg 384 ; Plauen 405 ; Stettin 452 ; Stuttgart 462, 464. R. Remscheid 415-427. Rent and Prices, Index Number for, combined in— Aachen 52 ; Aschaffenburg 64 ; Barmen 77 ; Bochum 93 ; Bremen 112 ; Breslau 122 ; Brunswick 137 ; Chemnitz 149 ; Crefeld 163 ; Dantzig 173 ; Dortmund 188 ; Dresden 205 ; Düsseldorf 219 ; Elberfeld 232 ; Essen 246 ; Hamburg-Altona 273 ; Königsberg 287 ; Königshütte 299 ; Leipzig 314 ; Magdeburg 326; Mannheim 348 ; Mülhausen 366; Munich 381; Nuremberg 395; Oschersleben 402 ; Plauen 414 ; Remscheid 427 ; Solingen 438 ; Stassfurt 448 ; Stettin 459 ; Stuttgart 479 ; Zwickau 491. Rents in— Berlin 21, 25, 27, 29, 31 ; Aachen 46, 48 ; Aschaffenburg 62 ; Barmen 73 ; Bochum 88, 89 ; Bremen 103, 104, 105, 106 ; Breslau 120, 121 ; Brunswick 133, 134 ; Chemnitz 143, 144, 145 ; Crefeld 159 ; Dantzig 171,172 ; Dortmund 184, 185 ; Dresden 195, 196, 197, 198, 200 ; Düsseldorf 213, 214, 215 ; Elberfeld 227, 228 ; Essen 240, 241, 242 ; Hamburg-Altona 253, 259, 262, 263, 265, 267, 268, 269; Königsberg 281, 282, 283; Königshütte 294, 295; Leipzig 309, 310 ; Magdeburg 320, 321, 322 ; Mannheim 338, 340, 343, 344 ; Mülhausen 361, 362, 363 ; Munich 375, 376 ; Nuremberg 387, 390, 391 ; Oschersleben 400; Plauen 410, 411 ; Remscheid 421, 422, 423 ; Solingen 435,436; Stassfurt 444, 415 ; Stettin 456; Stuttgart 4b7, 468,469,470, 471, 472, 474, 475 ; Zwickau 486, 487. Resins, Varnishes, Oil, Soap, Candles, etc., Trades, Number of Establishments and Workpeople ­ in, in— Berlin 6 ; Aachen 41 ; Bochum 83 ; Bremen 97 ; Brunswick 129 ; Chemnitz 139 ; Crefeld 152 ; Dantzig 167 ; Dortmund 178 ; Düsseldorf 208 ; Elberfeld 222 ; Essen 234 ; Hamburg-Altona 251 ; Königsberg 276 ; Königshütte 290 ; Mannheim ­ 330 ; Mülhausen 352 ; Munich ö69 ; Nuremberg 384 ; Stettin 452 ; Stuttgart 462, 464. Rice, Prices of, in— Bremen 109 ; Düsseldorf 217. Roads and Streets, Construction, Maintenance and Cleaning of, Men engaged in : Hours of Labour of, in— Berlin 14; Aachen 43; Aschaffenburg 56 ; Barmen 69 ; Bochum 85; Bremen 100; Breslau 118 ; Brunswick 131 ; Chemnitz 141 ; Dantzig 169 ; Dortmund 182 ; Dresden 194 ; Düsseldorf 210 ; Elberfeld 224 ; Essen 238 ; Hamburg-Altona 257 ; Königsberg 279 ; Leipzig 306 ; Mannheim 334 ; Mülhausen 355 ; Munich 372 ; Nuremberg 387 ; Oschersleben 398 ; Plauen 408 ; Remscheid 421 ; Solingen 434 ; Stassfurt 442 ; Stettin 454 ; Stuttgart 466 ; Zwickau 485. Wages of, in — Berlin 14; Aachen 43; Aschaffenburg 56 ; Barmen 69; Bochum 85 ; Bremen 100; Breslau 118 ; Brunswick 131 ; Chemnitz 141 ; Dantzig 169 ; Dortmund 182 ; Dresden 194 ; Düsseldorf 210 ; Elberfeld 224 ; Essen 238 ; Hamburg-Altona 257 ; Königsberg 279 ; Leipzig 306 ; Mannheim 334 ; Mülhausen 355 ; Munich 372 ; Nuremberg 387 ; Oschersleben 398 ; Plauen 408 ; Remscheid 421 ; Solingen 434 ; Stassfurt 442 ; Stettin 454 ; Stuttgart 466 ; Zwickau 485. 543 Rolling Mills (see Iron and Steel Works). Rope-makers : Hours of Labour of, in— Hamburg-Altona 257. Wages of, in— Hamburg-Altona 257. Rubber and Celluloid Works : Hours of Labour at, in— Mannheim 334. Wages at, in— Mannheim 331, 334. Rubber Works : Hours of Labour at, in— Berlin 13 ; Hamburg-Altona 257 ; Munich 372. Wages at, in— Berlin 13 ; Hamburg-Altona 253, 257 ; Munich 370, 372. Rye Bread, Prices of, in— Berlin 33, 35; Aachen 49, 50; Aschaffenburg 04; Barmen 75; Bochum 91; Bremen 108, J10 ; Breslau 122 ; Brunswick 135, 136 ; Chemnitz 146 ; Crefeld 161 ; Dantzig 173 ; Dortmund 187 ; Dresden 202, 203 ; Düsseldorf 216, 217 ; Elberfeld 230 ; Essen 243, 244 ; Hamburg-Altona 269, 270, 271 ; Königsberg 284 ; Königshütte 296, 297 ; Leipzig 311, 312 ; Magdeburg 323 ; Mannheim 345, 346 ; Mülhausen 364 ; Munich 377, 378 ; Nuremberg 392, 393 ; Oschersleben 401 ; Plauen 412 ; Remscheid 424 ; Solingen 436, 437 ; Stassfurt 446, 447 ; Stettin 457 ; Stuttgart 475, 476 ; Zwickau 488, 489. Rye Flour, Price of, in— Berlin 34, 35 ; Bremen 108, 109, 110 ; Breslau 122 ; Brunswick 136 ; Chemnitz 146 ; Crefeld 161 ; Dantzig 173 ; Dortmund 187 ; Dresden 202 ; Essen 244 ; Ham bürg-A ltona 269, 270, 271 ; Königsberg 284 ; Königshütte 296, 297 ; Leipzig 311, 312 ; Magdeburg 323 ; Munich 377 ; Plauen 412 ; Remscheid 424 ; Stettin 457 ; Zwickau 489. Rye, Price of, in— Berlin 34 ; Brunswick 135. s. Saddlers : Hours of Labour of, in— Hamburg-Altona 257. Wages of, in— Hamburg-Altona 257. Salt Manufacture, Men engaged in : Hours of Labour of, in— Stassfurt 442. Wages of, in— Stassfurt 442. Salt Mining Industry : Hours of Labour in, in— Stassfurt 442. Number of Workpeople in, in— Stassfurt 442. Wages in, in— Stassfurt 442. Sanitary Regulations (see Housing Regulations). Sausage, Consumption of, in— Berlin 36; Aachen 50 ; Aschaffenberg 65 ; Barmen 76 ; Bochum 92 ; Bremen 110; Breslau 124 ; Chemnitz 147 ; Crefeld 162 ; Dantzig 175 ; Dortmund 187 ; Dresden 205 ; Düsseldorf 218 ; Elberfeld 231 ; Essen 245 ; Hamburg-Altona 272 ; Königsberg 285 ; Königshütte 298 ; Leipzig 313 ; Magdeburg 326 ; Mannheim 347 ; Mülhausen 365 ; Nuremberg 394 ; Plauen 413 ; Remscheid 425 ; Stettin 458 ; Stuttgart 477 ; Zwickau 490. Sausage, Horse, Prices of, in— Berlin 38 ; Aachen 52 ; Barmen 76 ; Bochum 93 ; Bremen 111 ; Königsberg 286; Mannheim 347 ; Oschersleben 402 ; Plauen 413 ; Solingen 438 ; Stassfurt 447 ; Zwickau 491. Sausage other than Horse, Prices of, in— Aschaffenburg 65 ; Bochum 92 ; Bremen 111 ; Breslau 124 ; Chemnitz 147 ; Crefeld 162 ; Dortmund 188 ; Dresden 204 ; Düsseldorf 217, 218 ; Elberfeld ­ 231 ; Essen 246 ; Hamburg-Altona 270, 272, 273 ; Magdeburg 326 ; Mülhausen 366 ; Nuremberg 394, 395 ; Remscheid 426. Savings Banks, Municipal, in— Aschaffenburg 53, 54, 60; Bochum 79; Bremen 96; Crefeld 151; Essen 234; Mannheim 329 ; Remscheid 418. Secretariates, Workmen’s, in— Bremen 96 ; Brunswick 130 ; Crefeld 155 ; Dortmund 180 ; Essen 236. Sheep and Goats slaughtered, Number of, in— Berlin 36 ; Aachen 50 ; Aschaffenburg 65 ; Bochum 92 ; Brunswick 136 ; Crefeld 162; Dortmund 187; Essen 244; Hamburg-Altona 271; Königshütte 298; Munich 379 ; Solingen 437 ; Stassfurt 447 ; Zwickau 490. Shipbuilding Trades : Hours of Labour in, in— Bremen 98, 99 ; Breslau 117 ; Dantzig 168 ; Hamburg-Altona 255 ; Stettin 453. Number of Workpeople in, in— Bremen 97 ; Stettin 451. Wages in, in— Bremen 98, 99 ; Breslau 117 ; Dantzig 168 ; Hamburg-Altona 252, 255 ; Stettin 453. Shipping Trades, in-Bremen 95 ; Breslau 113 ; Dantzig 164 ; Hamburg-Altona 248. Silk Industry : Hours of Labour in, in— Crefeld 154, 155, 156, 157. Number of Factories and Workpeople in, in— Crefeld 152, 153, 154. Number of Looms in, in— Crefeld 153. Wages in, in— Crefeld 155, 156, 157. Smelting Industry (see Mining and Smelting Industries). Soap and Oil Works : Hours of Labour at, in— Mannheim 334. Wages at, in— Mannheim 332, 334. Soap Trade : Hours of Labour in, in— Crefeld 158 ; Stuttgart 466. Wages in, in— Crefeld 158 ; Stuttgart 466. Soap Trade (see also Resins, Varnishes, etc,, Trades). Solingen 428-438. Stassfurt 439-448. State Income Tax (see Income Tax, State and Municipal). Steel, Iron and, Works : Hours of Labour in, in— Aachen 41, 43 ; Bochum 81, 85 ; Dortmund 179, 181 ; Düsseldorf 210 ; Elberfeld 223 ; Essen 235, 238 ; Remscheid 417, 419, 420 ; Solingen 433 ; Zwickau 483. Number of Persons Employed in, in— Bochum 80 ; Nuremberg 384 ; Remscheid 416. Wages in, in— Aachen 43 ; Bochum 81, 85 ; Dortmund 179, 180, 181 ; Düsseldorf 210 ; Elberfeld 223 ; Essen 236, 238 ; Königshütte 291, 292 ; Remscheid 418, 419, 420 ; Solingen 433 ; Zwickau 483. Stettin, 449-459. Stevedores : Hours of Labour of, in— Dantzig 169. Wages of, in— Dantzig 169 ; Stettin 454. Stocking Manufacture (see Hosiery). Stone and Earth Trades, Number of Establishments and Workpeople in, in— Berlin 6 ; Aachen 41 ; Aschaffenburg 54 ; Bochum 83 ; Bremen 97 ; Breslau 115 ; Brunswick 129 ; Chemnitz 139 ; Crefeld 152; Dantzig 167; Dortmund 178; Düsseldorf 208 ; Elberfeld 222 ; Essen 234 ; Hamburg-Altona ; Königsberg 276; Königshütte 290; Mannheim 330; Mülhausen 352; Munich 369 ; Nuremberg 384 ; Plauen 405 ; Stettin 452. Streets, Construction, Maintenance and Cleaning of Roads and (see Roads and Streets, &c.). Strikes and Lock-outs in— Berlin 7, 14,15. 545 Stuttgart 460-479. Sugar, Prices of, in— Berlin 34, 35 ; Aachen 49, 50 : Aschaffenburg 64 ; Barmen 74 ; Bochum 90 91 • Bremen 108, 109, 110 ; Breslau 12,2 ; Brunswick 135, 136 ; Chemnitz 146 • Crefeld 161; Dantzig 173; Dortmund 187 ; Dresden 202; Düsseldorf 216 217 ; Elberfeld 229, 230 ; Essen 243, 244 ; Hamburg-Alton a 269, 270 271 • Königsberg 284 ; Königshütte 296, 297 : Leipzig 311 ; Magdeburg’ 323 \ Mannheim 345, 346 ; Mülhausen 363, 365 ; Munich 378 ; Nuremberg 392 393 ; Oschersleben 400, 401 ; Plauen 412 ; Remscheid 424 ; Solingen 437 ’ Stassfurt 446, 447 ; Stettin 457 ; Stuttgart 476 ; Zwickau 488, 489. Sugar Refining Industry ; Hours of Labour in, in— Brunswick 130 ; Dantzig 168 ; Magdeburg 319 ; Oschersleben 397 ; Stettin 454. Number of Establishments and Workpeople in, in— Brunswick 128, 129 ; Oschersleben 396. Wages in, in— Brunswick 130 ; Dantzig 168 ; Magdeburg 319 ; Oschersleben 397 ; Stettin 454. Swine (see Pigs). Swiss Cheese, Price of, in— Berlin 34, 35 ; Aachen 49, 50 ; Aschaffenburg 64 ; Bochum 91 ; Bremen 109, 110 ; Brunswick 135 ; Chemnitz 146 ; Crefeld 161 ; Dantzig 173 ; Dortmund 187 ; Düsseldorf 216, 217 ; Essen 244 ; Hamburg-Altona 270, 271 ; Magdeburg 323 ; Mannheim 345, 346; Mülhausen 363, 365; Munich 378: Nuremberg 392, 393 ; Remscheid 424, 425 ; Solingen 437 ; Stuttgart 475, 476. Sword Making Trade : Hours of Labour in, in— Solingen 434. Wages in, in— Solingen 434. T. Tailoring Trade (see Clothing Trades). Taxation in— Berlin 27, 28 ; Aachen 46 ; Aschaffenburg 53, 63 ; Barmen 73 ; Bochum 89 ; Bremen 104 ; Breslau 121 ; Brunswick 134 ; Chemnitz 145 ; Crefeld 160 ; Dantzig 171 ; Dortmund 185, 186 ; Dresden 200, 2<R ; Düsseldorf 214 ; Elberfeld 227 , Essen 242 ; Hamburg-Altona 264, 265 ; Königsberg 283 ; Königshütte 293, 295 ; Leipzig 310 ; Magdeburg 322 ; Mannheim 330, 340, 341 ; Mülhausen 350, 363, 364 ; Munich 375, 377 ; Nuremberg 390, 393 ; Oschersleben 400 ; Plauen 411 ; Remscheid 416, 422 ; Solingen 436 ; Stassfurt 445 ; Stettin 456 ; Stuttgart 473 ; Zwickau 488. Tenements (see Housing). Textile Trades : Homework in, in— Elberfeld 224. Hours of Labour in, in— Berlin 12 ; Aachen 41, 43 ; Barmen 69 ; Bremen 99 ; Breslau 117 ; Brunswick 130 ; Chemnitz 141 ; Crefeld 154, 155, 156, 157 ; Düsseldorf 209, 210 ; Elberfeld 223 ; Hamburg-Altona 256 ; Leipzig 304 ; Mannheim 333 ; Mülhausen 353, 354 ; Munich 371 ; Plauen 408 ; Stuttgart 463, 465. Number of Establishments and Workpeople in, in— Aachen 41 ; Barmen 68 ; Bremen 97 ; Breslau 115 ; Brunswick 128, 129 ; Chemnitz 139 ; Crefeld 152, 153, 154, 156 ; Dantzig 167 ; Dortmund 178 ; Düsseldorf 208 ; Elberfeld 222 ; Essen 234 ; Hamburg-Altona 251 ; Königsberg ­ 276 ; Königshütte 290 ; Leipzig 302 ; Mannheim 330 ; Mülhausen 352 ; Munich 369 ; Nuremberg 384 ; Plauen 405 ; Stuttgart 462, 464. Number of Spindles and Looms in, in— Crefeld 153 ; Mülhausen 351. Wages in, in— Berlin 12 ; Aachen 42, 43 ; Barmen 69, 70 ; Bremen 99 ; Breslau 117 ; Brunswick ­ 130 ; Chemnitz 141 ; Crefeld 155, 156, 157 ; Düsseldorf 210 ; Elberfeld 222, 223 ; Hamburg-Altona 254, 256 ; Leipzig 304 ; Mannheim 333 ; Mülhausen ­ 352, 354 ; Munich 371 ; Plauen 407, 408 ; Stuttgart 462, 465. Tile, Brick and, Trades (see Earthenware, &c., Industries.) Tilsit Cheese, Price of, in— Berlin 34, 35 ; Brunswick 135 ; Dantzig 173 ; Dortmund 187 ; Essen 244 ; Hamburg-Altona 270 ; Königsberg"284 ; Magdeburg 323 ; Stettin 457. Timber Trade (see Woodworking Trades). 29088 3 Z 546 Tobacco, Food, Drink and, Trades : Honrs of Labour in, in— Berlin 13 ; Aschaffenburg 56 ; Bochum 84, 85 ; Bremen 99, 100 ; Breslau 118 ; Brunswick 129, 130 ; Crefeld 157 ; Dantzig 168, 169 ; Dresden 192, 193 ; Elberfeld 223 ; Essen 238 ; Hamburg-Altona 253, 254, 256 ; Königsberg 278 ; Leipzig 305; Magdeburg 319 ; Mannheim 332, 334 ; Munich 372; Nuremberg ­ 385, 386 ; Oschersleben 397, 398 ; Remscheid 420 ; Solingen 434 ; Stettin 454 ; Stuttgart 463, 466. Number of Establishments and Workpeople in, in— Berlin 6, 7 ; Aachen 41 ; Aschaffenburg 54 ; Bochum 83 ; Bremen 97 ; Breslau 115 ; Brunswick 127, 129 ; Chemnitz 139 ; Crefeld 152 ; Dantzig 167 ; Dortmund ­ 178 ; Dresden 190 ; Düsseldorf 208 ; Elberfeld 222 ; Essen 234 ; Hamburg-Altona 251 ; Königsberg 276 ; Königshütte 290 ; Leipzig 302 ; Magdeburg 318 ; Mannheim 330, 332 ; Mülhausen 352 ; Munich 369 ; Nuremberg 384 ; Oschersleben 396 ; Plauen 405 ; Stassfurt 440 ; Stettin 452 ; Stuttgart 462, 464. Wages in, in— Berlin 13 ; Aschaffenburg 56 ; Bochum 85 ; Bremen 98, 99, 100 ; Breslau 116,118 ; Brunswick 129, 130, 131 ; Crefeld 157 ; Dantzig 168, 169 ; Dresden 192, 193 ; Elberfeld 223 ; Essen 238 ; Hamburg-Altona 253, 254, 256 ; Königsberg 278, 280 ; Leipzig 305 ; Magdeburg 319 ; Mannheim 332, 333, 334 ; Munich 370, 372 ; Nuremberg 385, 386 ; Oschersleben 397, 398 ; Remscheid 420 ; Solingen 434 ; Stettin 454 ; Stuttgart 463, 466. Town Planning in— Berlin 1 ; Aachen 39 ; Brunswick 126 ; Chemnitz 138 ; Dortmund 177 ; Mannheim 329, 339 ; Stettin 451 ; Stuttgart 467. Trade Unions in— Aachen 40 ; Aschaffenburg 55 ; Breslau 116 ; Brunswick 130 ; Dantzig 167 ; Dortmund 180 ; Düsseldorf 211 ; Elberfeld 223 ; Essen 235, 236 ; Hamburg-Altona 252,253; Königsberg 276, 277; Leipzig 302; Magdeburg 318 ; Mannheim 335 ; Plauen 407 ; Remscheid 417 ; Solingen 432 ; Zwickau 482. Tramway Employees (Municipal) ; Hours of Labour of, in— Breslau 118 ; Dortmund 182 ; Dresden 194 ; Düsseldorf 209, 210 ; Königsberg 279 ; Mannheim 334 ; Nuremberg 387. Wages of, in— Breslau 118 ; Dortmund 182 ; Dresden 194 ; Düsseldorf 209, 210 ; Königsberg 279 ; Mannheim 334 ; Nuremberg 387. Tramway Employees (Private) : Hours of Labour of, in— Berlin 14 ; Brunswick 131 ; Crefeld 158 ; Essen 238 ; Hamburg-Altona 257 ; Mülhausen 355 ; Munich 372 ; Remscheid 421 ; Solingen 434 ; Stassfurt 442. Wages of, in— Berlin 11, 14 ; Bochum 85 ; Bremen 100 ; Brunswick 131 ; Crefeld 158 ; Essen 238 ; Hamburg-Altona 257 ; Mülhausen 355 ; Munich 372 ; Remscheid 421 ; Solingen 434 ; .Stassfurt 442. Transport, Number of Persons employed in Commerce and, in— Breslau 115. Transport Trade, Number of Persons employed in, in— Dantzig 167. Transport Workers and Dock Labourers : Hours of Labour of, in— Bremen 100 ; Dantzig 169 ; Hamburg-Altona 257 ; Königsberg 278, 279. Number of, in— Dantzig 167 ; Königsberg 276 ; Stettin 452. Wages of, in— Bremen 100 ; Dantzig 169 ; Hamburg-Altona 257 ; Königsberg 278, 279 ; Stettin 454. {See also Carters.) Travelling Facilities in— Berlin 3, 27, 30 ; Barmen 68 ; Bremen 108 ; Brunswick 126 ; Chemnitz 142 ; Crefeld 151, Dantzig 166, 169 ; Hamburg-Altona, 267 ; Königsberg 275 ; Mannheim 335 ; Mülhausen 362 ; Munich 376 ; Nuremberg 390 ; Solingen 432 ; Stuttgart 471. Tuberculosis, Deaths from, in— Berlin 5 ; Aschaffenburg 54 ; Bochum 80 ; Bremen 96 ; Düsseldorf 207 ; Elberfeld 221 ; Hamburg-Altona 250 ; Mülhausen 349 ; Munich 368 ; Nuremberg 382 ; Stuttgart 461. . . r . ' Typewriters, Music Boxes, and Motor Cars, Men engaged in Manufacture of : Hours of Labour of, in— Leipzig 304. Wages of, in— Leipzig 304. V. Varnish Trade (see Resins, Varnishes, &c., Trades). Veal : Consumption of, in— Aachen 51 ; Bremen 110 ; Breslau 123 ; Chemnitz 147 ; Dantzig 175 ; Dresden 204 ; Königsberg 285 ; Leipzig 313 ; Magdeburg 325 ; Munich 380 ; Nuremberg ­ 394 ; Plauen 413 ; Stettin 457 ; Zwickau 490. Prices of, in— Berlin 37 ; Aachen 51 ; Aschaffenburg 65, 66 ; Bochum 92 ; Bremen 111, 112 • Breslau 124, 125 ; Brunswick 137 ; Chemnitz 148 ; Crefeld 161, 162, 163 ; Dantzig 175 ; Dortmund 188 ; Dresden 205 ; Düsseldorf 219 ; Elberfeld 232 ; Essen 246 ; Hamburg-Altona 272, 273 ; Königsberg 286 ; Königshütte 298 ; Leipzig 314 ; Magdeburg 325 ; Mannheim 347, 348 ; Mülhausen 366 ; Munich 377, 379, 380, 381 ; Nuremberg 394 ; Oschersleben 402 ; Plauen 414 ; Remscheid ­ 426, 427 ; Solingen 438 ; Stassfurt 448 ; Stettin 458 ; Stuttgart 478 479 ; Zwickau 490. Velvet (see Silk Industry). w. Wages Agreements in— Berlin 10, 12, 13, 14, 15 ; Aachen 42 ; Aschaffenburg 55 ; Barmen 68, 69, 70 ; Bochum 84 ; Bremen 97 ; Breslau 116, 118 ; Brunswick 128, 129 ; Chemnitz 140, 142 ; Crefeld 155, 156 ; Dantzig 167 ; Dortmund 181 ; Dresden 191, 192, 193 ; Elberfeld 222 ; Essen 236, 237 ; Hamburg-Altona 252, 253, 254, 255, 256, 257 ; Königsberg 277, 279 ; Königshütte 290 ; Leipzig 303 ; Magdeburg 318 ; Mannheim 331, 335 ; Mülhausen 353, 356 ; Munich 370, 371 ; Nuremberg 385 ; Oschersleben 397 ; Plauen 407 ; Remscheid 418, 419 ; Solingen 432, 433 ; Stettin 452, 454 ; Stuttgart 462, 463, 464, 465 ; Zwickau 482. Wages, Rates of, in— Berlin 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14 ; Aachen 42, 43 ; Aschaffenburg 55, 56, 57, 58 ; Barmen 68, 69, 70 ; Bochum 81, 82, 83, 84, 85 ; Bremen 98, 99, 100 ; Breslau 117, 118 ; Brunswick 128, 129, 130, 131 ; Chemnitz 140, 141 ; Crefeld 155, 156, 157, 158 ; Dantzig 168, 169 ; Dortmund. 180, 181, 182 ; Dresden 191 192 193, 194 ; Düsseldorf 209, 210 ; Elberfeld 222, 223, 224 ; Essen 236, 237, 238 ; Hamburg-Altona 252, 253, 254, 255, 257, 258; Königsberg 277, 279; Königshütte 290, 291, 292, 293 ; Leipzig 303, 304, 305 ; Magdeburg 318 ; Mannheim 331, 332, 333, 334, 335, 336, 337 ; Mülhausen 352, 353, 354, 355 ; Munich 370, 371, 372 ; Nuremberg 384, 385, 386, 387 ; Oschersleben 397, 398; Plauen 407, 408 ; Remscheid 418, 419, 420, 421 ; Solingen 432, 433, 434 ; Stassfurt 440, 441 ; Stettin 452, 453, 454 ; Stuttgart 462, 463, 464, 465, 466 ; Zwickau 483, 484, 485. Waggon Building Works (see Carriage and Waggon Works). Warehousemen and Porters in Bookselling Trade : Hours of Labour of, in— Leipzig 305. Wages of, in— Leipzig 305. Waterworks (Municipal) : Hours of Labour at, in— Berlin 14 ; Aachen 43 ; Aschaffenburg 56 ; Barmen 69 ; Bochum 85 ; Bremen 100 ; Breslau 118 ; Brunswick 131 ; Chemnitz 141 ; Crefeld 158 ; Dantzig 169; Dortmund 182 ; Dresden 191 ; Düsseldorf 210 ; Elberfeld 224; Essen 238 ; Hamburg-Altona 257 ; Königsberg 279 ; Leipzig 306 ; Mannheim 334 ; Mülhausen 355 ; Munich 372 ; Nuremberg 387 ; Plauen 408 ; Remscheid 421 ; Solingen 434; Stassfurt 442 ; Stettin 454 ; Stuttgart 466 ; Zwickau 485. Wages at, in— Berlin 14 ; Aachen 43 ; Aschaffenburg 56 ; Barmen 69 ; Bochum_85 ; Bremen 100 ; Breslau 118 ; Brunswick 131 ; Chemnitz 141 ; Crefeld 158 ; Dantzig 169 ; Dortmund 182 ; Dresden 194 ; Düsseldorf 210 ; Elberfeld 224 ; Essen 238 ; Hamburg-Altona 257 ; Königsberg 279 ; Leipzig 306 ; Mannheim 334 ; Mülhausen 355 ; Munich 372 ; Nuremberg 387 ; Plauen 408 ; Remscheid 421 ; Solingen 434 ; Stassfurt 442 ; Stettin 454 ; Stuttgart 466 ; Zwickau 485. Wheaten Bread, Price of, in— Berlin 34; Barmen 75; Bochum 91 ; Bremen 108 ; Brunswick 135 ; Crefeld 161 ; Dortmund 187 ; Elberfeld 230 ; Essen 243, 244 ; Mülhausen 364, 365 ; Nuremberg 392 ; Oschersleben 401 ; Remscheid 424 ; Solingen 436, 437 ; Stassfurt 446 ; Stuttgart 475. 548 Wheaten Flour : Price of, in— Berlin 34, 35 ; Aachen 50 ; Aschaffenburg 64 ; Barmen 74 ; Bochum 91 ; Bremen 108, 109, 110 ; Breslau 122 ; Brunswick 136 ; Chemnitz 146 ; Crefeld 161 ; Dantzig 173 ; Dortmund 187 ; Dresden 202 ; Düsseldorf 217 ; Elberfeld 230 ; Essen 244 ; Hamburg-Altona 269, 270, 271 ; Königsberg 284 ; Königshütte 296, 297 ; Leipzig 311, 312 ; Magdeburg 323 ; Mannheim 346 ; Mülhausen 364, 365 ; Munich 377, 378 ; Nuremberg 392, 393 ; Oscliersleben 401 ; Plauen 412 ; Remscheid 424 ; Solingen 437 ; Stassfurt 447 ; Stettin 457 ; Stuttgart 476 ; Zwickau 489. Wheat, Prices (Wholesale) of, in— Berlin 34. Wire-drawing Works : Hours of Labour in, in— Mannheim 333. Wages in, in— Mannheim 333. Women and Girls, Employment of, in— Berlin 7,11 ; Aachen 41 ; Aschaffenburg 57, 58 ; Barmen 67, 68 ; Brunswick 128 ; Chemnitz 142 ; Dresden 191,193 ; Düsseldorf 208 ; Elberfeld 222 ; Hamburg-Altona 254 ; Mannheim 330, 335, 336 ; Mülhausen 352, 356 ; Munich 368 ; Nuremberg 385 ; Plauen 406 ; Solingen 431 ; Stassfurt 441 ; Stettin 452 ; Stuttgart 464 ; Zwickau 482. Wood Pulp Industry (see Paper, Wood Pulp and, Industry). Woodworking and Carving Trades, Number of Establishments and Workpeople in, in— Berlin 6 ; Aachen 41 ; Aschaffenburg 54 ; Bochum 83 ; Bremen 97 ; Breslau 115 ; Brunswick 129 ; Chemnitz 139 ; Crefeld 152 ; Dantzig 167 ; Dortmund 178 ; Dresden 190 ; Düsseldorf 208 ; Elberfeld 222 ; Essen 234 ; Hamburg-Altona 251 ; Königsberg 276 ; Königshütte 290 ; Leipzig 302 ; Magdeburg 318 ; Mannheim 330 ; Mülhausen 352 ; Munich 369 ; Nuremberg 384 ; Plauen 405 ; Stettin 452 ; Stuttgart 462, 464. Wood-working Trades : Hours of Labour in— Berlin 8, 9, 13 ; ¡Bremen 100 ; Breslau 117 ; Brunswick 130 ; Dantzig 168 ; Hamburg-Altona 256 ; Königsberg 278, 280 ; Leipzig 304, 305 ; Mannheim ­ 333 ; Nuremberg 385, 386 ; Stuttgart 464, 465. Wages in, in— Berlin 9, 13; Bremen 98, 100; Breslau 117; Brunswick 130 ; Dantzig 168; Hamburg-Altona 256 ; Königsberg 278, 280 ; Leipzig, 304, 305 ; Mannheim ­ 333 : Nuremberg 385, 386 ; Stuttgart 465. Workmen’s Secretariates {see Secretariates, Workmen’s). Workmen’s Tickets in— Berlin 31 ; Brunswick 126; Hamburg-Altona 267; Mannheim 335; Nuremberg 390. z. Zwickau. 480-491. *> U % ■1 % m •VJ . . V. ■ 9 M I I IK ¡Í |l 'Se* fj. H % 8 % ,X. * L,'\Y jk Stil 3 "Äuk y -..'^ : . * X XTA K Y. % mü • •• ? m *** Mmmm p% :v-. •' ; ##### • t '*,% . .. . f : ' -. 'fr/. Mi •V. VL>:\ v;-WËSÊI& < ^T\ . m \y ». ■ 2X '.’.V ]W % # >** s > ■m m •vj: tx, •’V zf js KWH • * u m # . ■>' Ä2T. /fm: ? *V *r * . ST SfSKíí® r ' X / '* ** am ##w, } v; vä X.-X »! rx X 'x; i» T:f~-> > ♦1 % V *«## A • s% ' V X-, * v: mmm Mi a % 206: 05581850 M A A I V*-478 STUTTGART. 50] ï I® îs n ks t?' if exceptions in the case of beef are steak and head, which represent the maximum and minimum figures ; in the case of mutton, chops ; and in the case of pork, chops and the portions smoked. Subject to these exceptions beef sold in October, 1905, at from l\d. to 8|d. per lb. ; mutton at from l\d. to $\d. ; and pork 9\d. ; veal ranged from 8^c7. to $\d. ; beef steak cost from 11 d. to Ls*. Id. per lb., but it is never found on the working-man’s table. Ham was sold at from ls. to ls. Id. per lb., but the popular demand is very small. Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905, and July, 1906. Description of Cut Predominant price per lb. October, 1905. Beef :— Ribs Silverside Shin, with bone Steak Flank Mutton :— beg Shoulder ... Breast Neck Chops (trimmed) Veal:— Hind-quarter Shoulder, with bone Loin Pork :— Cured Ham Fore Loin... Belly-Spare Rib Chops 7|d. to 8|d. 7fd. to 8fd. 7\d. to 81c?. 11a. to ls. Id. 7f<7. to 8fc?. 74c?. to 9\d 7§c?. to 9|c?. 71d. to 9\d. 7-fd. to 9\d. 11 d. to ls. Id. 8|c?. to 91c/. 8W. to 9Id. 8fe?. to 9\d. ls. to Is. lc/. 9# 9¿d. 9fc/. 9 fe?. July, 1906. 8fc?. to 9ft?. 8fcZ. to 9\d. 8f<7. to 8f<7. ls. lc?. 8fc?. to 8fcZ. 7fc?. to 94c?. 7fr/. to 9|d. 7fc7. to 9|c?. 7fc?. to 9|d. Hr/, to Is. lc?. 9fc/. 91^. 91c?. 11c/. to Is. 8f d. 8§c?. 8^. 8#c/. Fewer horses are killed for food in Stuttgart relatively to its population than in some North German towns. The number of horses which underwent veterinary inspection for this purpose in 1904 was 215, and in 1905, 284, representing a deadweight of 55 and 72 tons respectively, or between half and three-quarters of a pound per head of the population. Recently there has been an increase in the cost of various articles of food, and especially meat, bread and milk, in the kingdom generally. The Wurtemberg State Statistical Bureau in 1907 made a calculation as to the extra cost caused to normal households consisting of five persons (husband, wife, and three children, not adults), owing to the higher prices of these three articles in December, 1905, and in September, 1906, as compared with the average for the years 1901-1904. Assuming that a family of this size consumed yearly 572 lb. of meat, in equal proportions of beef and pork, 1,100 lb. of rye bread, and 642 quarts of milk, the following comparison was worked out :— Estimated yearly Expenditure per family of 5 persons. September, 1906. December, 1905. Average for 1901-1904. Meat ... Bread ... Milk ... Total £ s. d. 21 1 0 £ s. d. 19 17 5 6 0 11 5 16 2 5 19 4 5 13 7 32 18 1 31 10 4 £ s. d. 17 7 2 5 16 4 5 7 5 28 10 11