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,