Kritische Geschichte der Nationalökonomie und des Socialismus

Cost of living in German towns

Bibliographic data

Monograph

Identifikator:: 83457490X

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-77841

Document type:: Monograph

Author:: Dühring, Eugen http://d-nb.info/gnd/118527797

Title:: Kritische Geschichte der Nationalökonomie und des Socialismus

Edition:: 2., theilw. umgearb. Aufl.

Place of publication:: Berlin

Publisher:: Grieben

Year of publication:: 1875

Scope:: 1 Online-Ressource (XII, [1] Bl., 595 S.)

Collection:: Economics Books

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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 pro portion 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

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