MAGDEBURG.

323

gathered  from  the  fact  that  the  sale  at  the  Society’s  shops  in  1906  amounted
to  £241,000,  or  an  average  of  £17  4a.  per  member,  of  which  about  two-thirds
represented  groceries  (including  coal,  wood  and  other  kinds  of  fuel),  and
one-third  bread,  produced  in  the  Society’s  bakery,  which  is  one  of  the  largest
and  most  up-to-date  establishments  of  its  kind  in  Germany.  The  Society  paid
its  members  a  bonus  of  9  per  cent,  on  their  purchases  in  1906.  Besides  the
co-operative  stores,  the  shops  of  certain  “  multiple  ”  firms,  some  of  which  make
a  speciality  of  coffee  and  others  of  flour,  are  largely  dealt  with  by  working-class
families,  while  the  customers  of  the  "  universal  provider  ”  establishments  are  for
the  most  part  people  of  the  middle  classes.

Groceries  and  other  Commodities.
In  order  to  ascertain  the  prices  usually  paid  by  the  working  classes  for
some  of  the  principal  household  provisions  other  than  butchers’  meat,  returns
have  been  obtained  from  a  number  of  private  dealers  in  such  articles  established
in  different  parts  of  the  town,  and  having  among  their  customers  a  considerable
proportion  of  people  belonging  to  the  working  classes.  Returns  have  also  been
furnished  by  the  Co-operative  Society,  Consumverein  Neustadt  (which  has
uniform  prices  at  its  30  branch  shops),  from  a  similar  society  composed  of  men
employed  at  one  of  the  principal  engineering  firms,  and  from  two  “  multiple  ”
firms,  one  for  coffee  and  the  other  for  flour.  The  price  quoted  by  any  establishment ­
  for  a  given  article  has  reference  to  the  quality  of  that  article  most
generally  bought  by  working-class  customers.  From  the  data  obtained  in  this
way  it  has  been  possible  to  deduce  for  each  of  the  articles  enumerated  in  the
following  table  the  predominant  price  paid  in  October,  1905,  and  December,
1906  :—

Predominant  Prices  paid  by  the  Working  Classes  in  October,  1905,  and
December,  1906.

Commodity.

Predominant  Prices.

October,  1905.

December,  1906.

Coffee  (“  Campinas  ’
“  Santos  ”).
Sugar  :—
Loaf  ...  ...
White  granulated
Bacon  :—
Fat
Streaky
Eggs,  foreign
Cheese  :—
Limburg
Tilsit
Swiss  ...
Butter
Margarine  ...
Potatoes
Flour  :—
Wheaten
Rye
Bread,  of  rye
Milk,  fresh
Coal  ...  ...  ...
Paraffin  oil

or

per  lb.

No.  per  Is.
per  lb.

per  7  lbs.

per  4  lbs.
per  quart.
per  cwt.
per  gallon.

lid.

2\d.
2fd.
9#
11  d.
11  to  14
51  d.  to  6^d.
8#
Is.  to  Is.  Id.
Is.  2%d.
7§d.  to  8fd.
d.  to  3d.

10|d.  to  Is.  0£d.
lOd.
4\d.  to  4§d.
2\d.  to  21d.
10^d.  to  lid.
94d.

lid.

2\d.  to  2|d.
2^d.  to  2|d.

9|d.
9|d.  to  lid.
11  to  14

5|d.  to  6Id.
8§d.
Is.  to  Is.  Id.
Is.  2\d.
7|d.  to  8fd.
2|d.  to  3d.
10|d.  to  Is.  Ofd.
lOd.
4\d.  to  4|d.
21d.  to  2|d.
10|d.  to  lid.
9  id.

It  would  appear  from  the  above  that  prices  were  generally  the  same  at  the
two  dates  compared,  the  only  exceptions  being  bacon  and  sugar,  the  former
exhibiting  a  downward,  and  the  latter  an  upward  tendency.
Certain  of  the  articles  mentioned  in  the  table  call  for  some  comment.
While  the  coffee  most  generally  used  by  workpeople  is  the  cheapest  procurable,
costing  about  lid.  per  lb.  retail,  the  product  from  which  a  great  part  of  the
domestic  “  coffee  ”  is  brewed  costs  much  less  than  this.  In  many  cases  the
early  morning  and  afternoon  drink  is  made  from  "  malt  coffee,”  which  costs
about  3\d.  per  lb.  or  from  coffee  with  an  admixture  of  some  such  substitute  as

2  s  2

29088