322

MAGDEBURG.

annum  or  about  3s.  Id.  per  week.  Where  a  small  lumber  room  in  the  attics  is
let  with  the  flat  the  rent  charged  is  174  marks  or  3s.  4d.  per  week.
It  has  to  be  noted  that  beyond  the  water  rate  no  element  of  local  rates  is
comprised  in  any  of  the  rents  stated.  In  Magdeburg  as  in  other  Prussian  (and
indeed  practically  all  German)  towns  taxation  for  local  purposes  bears  no
relation  to  the  rental  value  of  the  dwelling  occupied,  and  is  levied  mainly  in
the  form  of  a  tax  on  income,  supplementary  to  the  State  income  tax  and  bearing
a  fixed  proportion  to  the  latter.  All  persons  earning  over  £45  per  annum  are
assessed  for  State  income  tax  and  pay  an  additional  income  tax  to  the  municipality
amounting  to  140  per  cent,  of  the  State  income  tax.  The  amount  of  the  former
payable  in  Magdeburg  on  the  various  income  classes,  within  which  the  bulk  of
the  occupied  working  classes  would  fall,  is  shown  below.

Amount  of  Local  Income  Tax.

8s.  5d.
12s.  7d.
16s.  10  d.
22s.  5d.
29s.  5d.
36s.  5fï.
43s.  5d.

Annual  Income.

Over  £45  to  £52  10s.
„  £52  10s.  „  £60  ...
„  £60  „  £67  10s.
„  £67  10s.  „  £75  ...
„  £75  „  £82  10s.
„  £82  10s.  ,,  £90  ...
„  £90  „  £105...

Even  at  the  time  when  the  pressure  of  the  housing  question  must  have
been  greatest—as,  for  example,  in  the  period  1898-9,  when  the  proportion  of  all
dwellings  vacant  was  less  than  1  per  cent.—no  steps  for  relieving  that  pressure
were  taken  by  the  local  authority.  A  society  was,  however,  formed  about  that
time  by  a  number  of  working  men  {Mieter-Bau-  und  Sparverein)  for  the
purpose  of  “  procuring  cheap  and  healthy  dwellings  for  working-class  families
of  small  means,  and  taking  charge  of  the  savings  of  members,  at  interest.”
Originally  each  share  was  of  the  value  of  30a.  (acquired  by  weekly  payments
of  6<A),  but  the  Society  appears  to  have  made  no  great  progress  until  the  value
of  the  share  was  raised  to  £3,  for  it  was  not  until  this  change  had  been  made  that
the  Society  was  able  to  acquire  a  suitable  building  site.  Four  tenement  houses
have  now  been  erected,  containing  in  all  38  dwellings,  which  are  let  to  members
at  lower  rents  than  those  usually  charged  in  Magdeburg  for  similar  accommodation. ­
  Thus  two-roomed  tenements  are  let  at  120  marks,  and  three-roomed
tenements  at  135  to  165  marks  per  annum—i.e.,  at  rents  corresponding  to
2s.  4A  per  week  for  the  former  and  2s.  Id.  to  3a.  for  the  latter.  In  a  certain
sense  the  Society  may  be  said  to  be  assisted  out  of  public  funds,  for,  like  similar
societies  all  over  Germany,  it  obtains  loans  on  mortgage  at  3  per  cent,  from  the
Old  Age  and  Infirmity  Insurance  Institution.  Requirements  concerning  light
and  air  and  the  provision  of  separate  w.cs.  have  to  be  fulfilled  in  all  dwellings
on  which  loans  are  made,  and  stringent  rules  have  to  be  observed  by  tenants
with  regard  to  the  taking  of  lodgers.

Retail  Prices.
In  Magdeburg,  as  in  many  other  of  the  more  industrial  towns  in  Germany,
the  general  body  of  retail  dealers  in  household  necessaries  complain  that  their
existence  is  threatened  by  competition  with  large  aggregations  of  capital,  as
represented  by  the  co-operative  store,  the  "  universal  provider,”  and  the
u  multiple  ”  concern.  With  a  view  to  meeting  this  competition,  and  especially
that  of  the  local  co-operative  society,  the  tradespeople  have  formed  an  association
called  a  Rabattsparverein,  the  members  of  which  undertake  to  give  a  discount
of  5  per  cent,  on  all  cash  purchases  in  the  manner  described  in  the  reports  on
other  German  towns  (see,  e.g.,  Barmen,  Düsseldorf,  Plauen,  Stuttgart).  Owing
to  the  representations  of  this  Society  the  Provincial  Governor,  acting  on  the
instructions  of  the  Prussian  Minister  of  the  Interior,  has  issued  an  order
prohibiting  persons  who  hold  official  positions  (including,  for  example,  postmen
and  rail  way  men)  from  joining  the  local  co-operative  society.  That  Society,
which  is  registered  under  the  title  of  Consumverein  Neustadt,  has  some
14,000  members,  of  whom  about  11,000  are  workpeople,  and  carries  on  the
sale  of  groceries,  bread,  and  fuel  at  30  branch  establishments  in  different  parts
of  the  town.  That  a  considerable  proportion  of  the  household  provisions  used
by  working-class  families  is  supplied  by  the  co-operative  society  may  be