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