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.