between the destruction and construction of houses, the unhappy tenants have found themselves housed under no better conditions than before.

5. Those cities which buy real estate increase the price of that which remains; consequently they are helping to achieve such an end. In constructing houses at all they are withdrawing this branch of industry beyond the reach of private enterprise, and, while they are driving individuals out of business by their competition, they are showing themselves incapable of providing for the needs that they are pretending to care for. In reality they are working in the interest of higher rents.

6. Then such cities are practically subsidizing associations more or less financial and philanthropic. These are frequently granted special privileges, as in France under the law of 1894, reinforced by that of 1906. Léon Bourgeois himself described the results of such laws as "sporadic." The departmental Committee on Patronage of Cheap Houses declares that: "The number of philanthropic associations is unimportant, and they are not modifying hygienic conditions in the housing of the workmen of Paris."

7. The law of 1906 has had at least one result: While philanthropic associations were showing their inefficiency individuals and contractors have hesitated to invest capital in the construction of small houses, fearing to see their property decrease in value by reason of the competition of privileged associations or of the city.

8. Statistics prove the conclusions above drawn.

The excess of buildings constructed in Paris over buildings demolished has been:

From 1901 to 1905, 43,475 ÷ 5=8,695 per year

1906 to 1910, 33,845 ÷ 5 =6,769

66

66

Or a difference between the two periods of at least 22 per cent.

The following table applies to tenements of 500 francs per year and under. These buildings are not taxed.

As a matter of fact the housing crisis in Paris has been provoked by legislative and municipal intervention.

9. On the 11th day of July (1912) the Chamber of Deputies passed a resolution modifying the law of 1906 concerning cheap lodgings. In this law there is no mention of construction and direct public management by municipalities. Nevertheless, the Journal Officiel, of July 30, 1912, duly proclaimed the law as authorizing the city of Paris to borrow 200,000,000 francs ($38,000,000), in order to facilitate "the construction of cheap houses, or to acquire and make sanitary buildings already existing." The law as modified was placed on the statute books December 1, 1912.

In part compensation for this enormous outlay the prefect of the Seine proposed to levy taxes to the

amount of 11,000,000 francs ($2,200,000) upon tenants, owners, and billboards. He has been compelled to abandon the scheme, but meanwhile necessary work on the city streets has been at a standstill.1

'Since the foregoing statement was made, the project has again been advanced and has been incorporated in the budget of 1914.

CHAPTER XV

GOVERNMENT CONTROL OF FOOD SUPPLIES

Public Control of the Sale of Fish, Potatoes and Apples in Swiss Towns.-Eighteen Communes.-Losses.-Negative Results.-Competition with Private Business.Municipal Slaughter House at Denain, France.-Experiment at Montpellier.-Three German Slaughter Houses. Four Slaughter Houses at Vienna.-The Municipal Oven at Udine.-The Verona Fish Market.

To a questionnaire sent out to Swiss towns by Edgar Milhaud concerning markets operated by them 174 towns responded; 33 returned purely negative answers; 41 have made some headway against the high cost of living; Glarus has leased a fish market to a merchant who has been authorized to raise his price from 10 to 20 centimes (2 cents to 4 cents) a pound above cost. Oerlikon had given to certain families the right to reductions of from 10 to 20 per cent. from all retail dealers, at the expense of the commune. In 1908 Romanshorn opened a public fish market: "No gains and few losses." Saint-Imier, Herisau, Rorschach, Schaffhausen have renounced similar attempts. Thun has leased a fish market.

At Saint Gall the sale of fish yields several hundreds of francs profit to the city, and has lowered Les Annales de la Régie Dirécte, Feb.-April, 1912.

the price of fish in the private market. The market is patronized, however, only by wealthy families or those in easy circumstances.

Zurich, three years ago, entrusted the sale of sea fish to a coöperative society, the Zurich Lebensmittelverein; the fish were sold at cost, plus a percentage to cover expenses. The administrative council of the society declared that "the attempts made to accustom the Swiss population to the use of fish food must be regarded as having failed." Zurich then organized cooking classes. The results of this latter experiment are not yet known.

Zug has established a municipal slaughter house. Freiburg bought and sold, in the autumn of 1910 and the spring of 1911, 193,000 kilos (474,600 lbs.) of potatoes, at a loss of 2,833 francs ($538). Lucerne, in 1911, sold 13 carloads of potatoes, 4 carloads of apples, and 2 carloads of carrots, for cash. The shipping costs were met by the town. In addition 43,750 kilos (96,250 lbs.) of coke were sold by the city. The undertaking ultimately resulted in a loss of 2,842 francs. In any event, the authorities of Lucerne can hardly be accused of supplying over-substantial nourishment to their fellow-citizens !

The town of Saint Gall caused vegetables to be sold by a coöperative society at cost price f.o.b. Saint Gall at the receiving point (the railroad station). The city paid the difference, which amounted to 400 francs a month. The sale was limited to "that part of the public without income." The total sales amounted to only 1,700 francs, the expenses to 6,131 francs, and