STUTTGART. 
473 
uncommon for the contract to contain a clause to that effect. Lodgers usually 
engage their rooms by the month. The rent as a rule includes the water charge. 
The only municipal taxes which fall upon the working-class householder are 
the income tax, which is 50 per cent, of the State income tax, and the Church 
tax, which is levied upon the Protestants and Roman Catholics separately accord 
ing to the requirements of their special Church organisations, though Protestants 
who pay less than 18 marks State income tax and Roman Catholics who pay 
less than 15 marks are relieved of this obligation. By the law of Wurtemberg 
State income tax is levied on family income ; incomes below £25 are, however, 
exempted, and all incomes under £150 are taxed on a slightly lower scale if the 
taxpayer is responsible for the maintenance of one or more children. The 
exemption limit of £25 applies also at Stuttgart to the municipal supplementary 
tax. Beyond this amount the State and municipal income taxes run as 
follows :— 
Amount of Income. 
State Income Tax. 
£25 to £32 10s. 
£32 10s. to £40 
£40 to £47 10s. 
£47 10s. to £55 
£55 to £62 10s. 
£62 10s. to £70 
£70 to £77 10s. 
£77 10s. to £85 
£85 to £92 10s. 
£92 10s. to £100 
s. d. 
2 0 
3 0 
4 0 
5 0 
7 0 
9 0 
11 0 
13 0 
16 0 
18 0 
s. d. 
1 0 
1 6 
2 0 
2 6 
3 6 
4 6 
5 6 
6 6 
8 0 
9 0 
Stuttgart has not as yet adopted an official system of house inspection, but 
has a substitute in the honorary service of some 120 house visitors, who have 
been at work since 1901. Each of these visitors has charge of a certain number 
of houses, containing as a rule from 200 to 250 separate dwellings, and these he 
is expected to visit once every three months whenever he has reason to believe 
that insanitary or other objectionable conditions prevail. In practice only 
working-class houses are visited, and armed with his " legitimation ”—a card 
vesting in him the right of entrance and inspection in the name of the municipal 
authority—a tactful visitor is seldom obstructed, save by suspicious landlords 
who would much prefer that their property did not come under scrutiny of 
the kind. The visitor advises on the spot in all urgent matters, and enters in 
his memorandum book for more formal report the general observations which 
his inspection suggests. If the defects to which he calls attention have not 
been remedied on a second visit it becomes the duty of the municipal authority 
to take summary action. Hitherto this system of inspection has rested on a 
voluntary basis, but it can hardly be said to have enlisted much civic enthusiasm, 
and it may be that the next development will be either obligatory service or the 
institution of paid officials. 
Very different in function is the Municipal House Bureau ( Wohnungsamt), 
which has existed in Stuttgart since 1902. It is the business of this office 
to act as intermediary between house owners and householders ; it is, in fact, a 
house agency with the element of self-interest eliminated. Householders are 
encouraged to notify the Bureau when tenements belonging to them become 
vacant or change hands, and on forms supplied for the purpose they describe the 
situation of their property, its size and advantages, and state the rent required ; 
while house seekers may likewise attend the Bureau to make known their wants 
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