228
ELBERFELD.
per cent, ( instead of 200) of these rates respectively. The etfect of the double
tax is that small incomes were liable to the following taxes : —
Income.
State Tax.
Municipal Tax.
Together.
Exceeding £21
» £33
£45
£5210a.
£60
£67 10s.
£75
£8210s.
£90
to £33 inclusive
„ £45 „
„ £52 10s. „
„ £60 „
„ £67 10s. „
„ £75 „
„ £82 10s. „
„ £90 „
£105
£ S. dm
0 6 0
0 9 0
0 12 0
0 16 0
110
16 0
111 0
£ s. d.
0 3 0
0 6 0
0 12 0
0 18 0
14 0
1 12 0
2 2 0
2 12 0
3 2 0
£ s. d.
0 3 0
0 6 0
0 18 0
17 0
1 16 0
2 8 0
3 3 0
3 18 0
4 13 0
The municipality itself owns some 60 working-class dwellings of different
types, most of which were built over 20 years ago. The oldest of the houses
are of two stories and are constructed of brick, faced with wood. They have
mostly four rooms, two of good size and two smaller, and each house has a patch
of garden and a cellar, but no special washplace. The dimensions of the rooms
are as follows :—
(1)
I
Length.
Width.
14 ft, 7 in.
12 ft.
12 ft. 2 in.
13 ft.
12 ft,
6 ft. 6 in.
9 ft, 9 in.
9 ft. 9 in.
Height.
9 ft. 1 in.
9 ft, 1 in.
9 ft. 1 in.
9 ft. 1 in.
These houses were erected at a time when home-weaving was commoner
than now, and one of the rooms was intended for a loom. The newer houses
are built more substantially and with greater attention to outward appearance
and internal convenience ; the rooms are loftier, the approaches more spacious.
A typical house of three rooms visited had the following dimensions : (1) 12 by
9 by 10 feet ; (2) 12 by 10 by 10 feet ; (3) 12 by 12 by 10 feet. The two
rooms of a smaller house were both 12 by 10 by 10 feet. The rents of
these tenements are somewhat below the normal rents for houses of equal
accommodation, a dwelling of two rooms costing £7 per annum and one of
three rooms £9, except in the attic story, where the rents are £5 and £6 10s.
respectively.
An agency of great public convenience is the municipal House Bureau,
which was established several years ago for the purpose of negotiating
dwellings for working people and small tenants free of charge. The registry
was originally intended for dwellings up to a rent of £25 per annum, but
this restriction has now been cancelled, though a small charge is made in
the case of owners offering property above this rent. During the year April,
1904, to March, 1905, 2,400 applications were received from house-seekers
against 1,767 during the preceding year, and about 1,000 dwellings are regularly
on the books. The fact may be noted, as throwing light on the prevailing
standard of house accommodation, that of the 1,767 persons who used the
House Bureau in 1903, 193, or 10*9 per cent., sought tenements of one room ;
610, or 34 5 per cent., tenements of two rooms ; 517, or 29 - 2 per cent.,
tenements of three rooms ; the demand for tenements of from one to three
rooms thus amounting to 74*6 per cent, of the whole.
The municipal authority recently adopted an amended code of building
regulations for the purpose of securing better housing conditions in the
future extension of the town. The municipal area has been divided into
an inner and an outer zone. In the inner zone it is prescribed that building
sites may be built upon to the extent of three-quarters of their entire area. In
the outer district half of the ground must be left free, and in the case of sites of
