XXVlll 
been given ; in addition to the total index number separate index numbers are 
also given for food other than meat, meat and coal :— 
Prices Index Numbers for Geographical Groups. 
Geographical Group. 
Mean Prices Index Number. 
Number 
m of I Food 
Towns - I other than 
Meat. 
Meat. 
Total 
Food. 
Coal. 
All Com 
modities. 
Berlin •• 
Central Germany 
Rhineland Westphalia :— 
{a) Textile Towns... 
(b) Hardware Towns 
South Germany 
Saxony 
Silesia ... ... ... 
Baltic Ports 
North Sea Ports ... 
100 
97 
107 
105 
104 
100 
92 
97 
100 
100 
106 
110 
103 
107 
114 
104 
108 
111 
100 
99 
108 
105 
105 
103 
94 
99 
102 
100 
95 
80 
70 
119 
95 
67 
101 
96 
100 
99 
104 
100 
107 
102 
91 
99 
101 
Prices are thus shown to be highest in South Germany, and lowest in 
Silesia, the price of coal being an important factor in both cases. The textile 
towns of the Rhineland-Westphalia area which form the second highest-priced 
group have low coal prices—they are near to a source of supply—but high index 
numbers for meat and other food. Saxony has the highest index number for 
meat prices of any of the groups, and this, combined with a fairly high index 
number for coal, gives it third place. The Baltic Ports show low numbers for 
food other than meat, but high numbers for meat. 
Co-operative Societies.—In connection with the retail prices of commodities 
it may be remarked that, although the co-operative distribution movement is 
not so extensively developed in Germany as it is in the United Kingdom, it has 
yet a considerable hold in certain places, particularly in Breslau and in Saxony ; 
in the latter area the co-operative societies are reported to be strong in every 
one of the five towns investigated. Similar societies of importance exist in 
other towns, such as Stuttgart, Mannheim,- Barmen, Hamburg, Bremen, 
Remscheid, Dortmund, Magdeburg, Stettin, and Zwickau ; in yet others,‘ such 
as Berlin, Aachen, Mülhausen, Bochum, and Düsseldorf, they are relatively 
very weak. It may be pointed out here that the rules of the co-operative 
societies generally permit the sale to non-members of only articles of the societies’ 
production (e.g., bread). The case of Essen is peculiar, since there the prices 
charged by the working-class shops of the town are ruled by those charged in 
the numerous shops of the co-operative society established in connection with the 
Krupp Works (which, however, is scarcely a co-operative society in the ordinary 
sense of the term), and the shops of the town society. Similar stores insti 
tuted by firms for their workpeople are found in some other cases, e.g., at 
Königshütte and Magdeburg. In order to resist the co-operative move 
ment, combinations of traders have in many towns adopted a system of 
discounts, given in the form of stamps exchangeable ultimately for goods 
or for cash. The “ multiple shop ” system appears to have made so far but 
little progress in Germany. 
(iii) Rents and Prices Combined. 
The next Table gives for each of the 33 German towns index numbers 
showing the relative levels of that part of the cost of living which is due to 
expenditure on food, fuel, and housing accommodation. As the amount which 
has to be expended on food, &c., is very considerably greater than that which 
has to be spent on rent, a weight of four has been given to prices, and a weight 
of one to rent.