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