310
LEIPZIG.
unoccupied dwellings in the town was less than the year before, viz., 4,719, or
3’96 per cent, of all dwellings as against 4,884, or 4 20 per cent, in October,
1904, the Statistical Office noted the decline with satisfaction as an indication
of the efficacy of its warning. It is worthy of notice that 1,574, or over onethird
of all the dwellings unoccupied in October, 1905, were four-roomed
tenements, while 526 were three-roomed. The average yearly rent asked was
£17 for the former and £12 for the latter, or, say, 6a. 6(7. and 4a. Id. per week
respectively. These figures cannot be regarded as representing the average rents
of working-class tenements, for, on the one hand they include a proportion of
the newest and best dwellings, not intended for working-class occupation, and
on the other they are based on the rents asked, which may be taken as being on
the whole something higher than those ultimately obtained.
While the municipality of Leipzig has so far seen no reason for taking any
action with a view to increasing the supply of working-class dwellings, an
important scheme has been carried on for some years by one of the many city
endowments {Meyersehe Stiftung für Erbauung billiger Wohnungen), with the
object of providing dwellings suitable to the needs of families with incomes of
£45 to £80 per annum. Some 5,500 persons are now housed in dwellings
erected by this endowment in the suburbs of Leipzig, and these dwellings are
both cheaper and better than those supplied by private enterprise. The rents
are fixed on the principle that, given two families with different incomes, but
consisting of the same number of persons, both require the same amount of
house room, and that the poorer of the two must be helped at the cost of the
other, while the rent must in neither case exceed one-seventh of the family
income. Hence, while the weekly rent of a flat in these tenement houses never
exceeds 4s. 5d. for four rooms, nor 3s. Id. for three rooms, precisely similar
flats are to be had in the same house for 3s. and 2s. 6(7. respectively, the only
difference being that the dearer fiat is in each case on the first floor and the
cheaper on the third. « The annual receipts from rents are sufficient to leave a
surplus of 2£ to 3¿ per cent, for interest and sinking fund.
House rents include no element of local rates, except the water-rate, the
bulk of the municipal revenue being derived from a local income tax additional
to the State income tax, and standing in a fixed ratio to the latter. All
incomes exceeding £25 per annum are subject to the local income tax, which is
paid twice a year and amounts in the first six months to 70 percent., and in
the second six months to 65 per cent, of the State income tax. The annual
amount payable in respect of local income tax in Leipzig on various rates of
income up to £110 per annum is shown below :—
Annual Income.
Over £25
» £30
» £35
IS
» 270
» £80
„ £95
to £30
,, £35
,, 240
„ £47 10s.
10s. to £55
to £62 10s.
10s. to £70
to £80
,, £95
- „ £110
Amount of
Local Income Tax.
2s. 8d.
4s. 0d.
5s. 5d.
8s. Id.
10s. 9d.
13s. 6(7.
17s. 6(7.
21s. 7(7.
28s. 4(7.
39s. 2(7.
Retail Prices.
Leipzig has become one of the principal centres of the working-class
co-operative movement in Germany. There are close upon one hundred
shops in Leipzig owned by co-operative distributive societies composed mainly
of workpeople. One of these, the Konsumverein Leipzig-Plag witz, owns
73 shops, and had in 1906 upwards of 40,000 members, whose purchases in
that year amounted to £765,000. Of the two other similar societies, one—
the Konsumverein Leipzig-Mockau—with 4,600 members and 14 shops, sold
£79,000, and the other—the Konsumverein Leipzig-Stötteritz—with 2,400
