LEIPZIG. 311
members and 11 shops, £39,000 worth of goods in the same year. Of the
aggregate sales of all three societies in 1906, about £190,000 represented
goods which they themselves had produced, principally bread, flour, lemonade,
cheese and underwear. Dividends on purchases were paid in 1906 at the rate of
10 per cent, by the largest of the three societies, and at the rate of 9 per cent, by each
of the others. That the working classes of Leipzig obtain a large proportion of
their household supplies from the co-operative stores is evident from the fact
that the value of each member’s purchases averaged about £19 in the three
societies mentioned. Two or more branch stores of co-operative societies are to
be found in every working-class district, and their influence in determining the
retail prices of provisions in their respective districts is hardly questioned by
the private shopkeepers, many of whom endeavour, as in other industrial^
centres in Germany, to meet the competition not only of the co-operative stores,
but also of the large concerns of the " universal provider ” type, by adopting a
system of dividend on purchases similar to that in use at the co-operative stores.
This system, as applied by private traders, is usually known as the Rabattmarkensystem,
inasmuch as it involves the issue of what are called discount
coupons or stamps of a certain nominal value with each article sold, such
coupons being redeemable in cash or in goods at fixed intervals.
Groceries and other Commodities.
The retail prices ruling in Leipzig for groceries and certain other household
supplies of the quality most usually consumed by working-class families are
shown below for two dates, viz., October, 1905, and September, 1906, being
based upon returns obtained from the workmen’s co-operative societies and from
some 20 private retail concerns (one of them owning several shops) in different
parts of Leipzig.
Predominant Prices paid by the Working Classes in October, 1905,
and September, 1906.
Commodity.
• J,
Coffee
Sugar (white granulated)
Bacon :—
Fat
Streaky
Eggs
Cheese (Limburg)..,
Butter
Margarine
Potatoes
Flour :—
Wheat
Bye ... ... ...
Bread (of Rye)
Milk
Coal j
Paraffin
per lb.
per Is.
per lb.
per 7 lbs.
per 4 lbs.
per quart
per cwt.
per gallon
Predominant Price.
October, 1905
11 d. to Is. Id.
2\d.
9^d. to lid.
9fd. „ lid.
14
4\d. to 5d.
Is. 21d. to Is. 31d.
8|d.
2fd. to 2fd.
Is. Ofd. to Is. If d.
lOd.
4fd.
2&d.
Is. 2id.
lid.
September, 1906.
lid. to Is. Id
lid.
lid.
14
Ifd. to 5d.
Is. 2Id. to Is. 31d,
8fd.
2\d. to 2fd.
Is. Ofd. to Is. lfd.
lOd.
5¿d.
21 d.
Is. 2fd.
lid.
In connection with some of the above articles the following points may be
noted. The coffee usually bought by workpeople is the cheapest procurable
Brazilian at 11 d. to Is. Id. per lb., and is eked out by the addition of a
proportion of one or other of a variety of substitutes, of which the most
expensive (“ malt coffee ”) costs Ad. and the cheapest (roasted barley) about
per lb. Some idea of the extent to which substitutes are used may be
gathered from the records of the sales of one of the co-operative societies in
1904-05, which included 16,000 lbs. of " malt coffee” as against 74,000 lbs. of
genuine coffee, while those of a second society showed 9,500 lbs, of the former
to 42,000 lbs. of the latter. . '
As regards sugar, the preponderance of the white granulated variety oyer
all others as an article of working-class consumption is shown by the records of
