Perhaps more than any other country in the world Germany places
reliance on municipal markets, because of the peculiar pressure of the
problem of the high cost of living in the cities of the Fatherland. On
several occasions, during the last twelve months, the butchers' stalls
have been raided by women in protest against the ten per cent increase
in one year on the price of meat. And when, to meet the clamor, the
government reduced the hitherto prohibitive import duties on meat by
one-half and the inland railroad charges by one-third, it was on
condition that the meat brought in should be for delivery to municipal
markets or co-operative societies only. The result has been an
immediate fall in retail prices ranging up to fifty per cent.
[Illustration: BERLIN'S TERMINAL MARKET
An Outside View of One Section of the $7,250,000 Central Market that
Caters for the Needs of Consumers in the German Capital.]
BERLIN'S two million people since 1886 have had a splendid terminal
market on the Alexanderplatz, consisting of two great adjoining halls,
with direct access to the city railroad. One of these halls is entirely
wholesale, while the other is partly wholesale and partly retail. Meat,
fish, fruit and vegetables are dealt with under the same roof by
upwards of 2,000 producers and dealers.
The whole market cost $7,250,000, of which $1,920,711 was for the main
market and $4,852,862 was for the slaughterhouses, which are most
elaborately equipped to ensure sanitation and cleanliness. Great as the
market is, the pressure of business has grown so much that a project is
on foot to construct more accommodation at a cost of $15,000,000. The
market is maintained by stand rentals and administrative charges and by
a fund established for the improvement and extension of the system. On
the entire enterprise, when all charges have been met and interest
paid, there is _a profit of over $135,000 a year_.
A committee of eleven, partly city councillors and partly selected
representatives of the public, administer the markets with ninety-three
officials to ensure the carrying out of their orders. The regulations
are most elaborate, especially as regards the inspection of foods,
which is conducted by a department having a staff of six hundred.
A healthy competition is created by the system of sales, which may be
conducted by the producer himself, or through an approved wholesale
dealer, or through one of the six municipal sales commissioners. These
municipal sales commissioners have to give bonds on appointment and are
not allowed to have any interest in the trade of the market beyond a
small percentage on sales. Producers living at a distance can have
their business carried through by them under conditions so well
understood and respected as to ensure confidence. Though the municipal
sales commissioners handle less than a quarter of the sales, they
nevertheless act as a check on the private dealers, especially as they
issue a regular report on the average wholesale prices. Moreover the
purchasers benefit by these market arrangements, for if they buy from a
regularly authorized dealer they can file a claim with the
administration if the supplies delivered are faulty and if their case
is proved the account will be rectified.
About fifty railroad car loads can be handled at once at the market,
but when extended accommodation is provided it is intended to deal with
two hundred carloads simultaneously. On supplies thus delivered a
railroad tax is collected from the receivers for maintaining rail
connections, and this yields an annual profit of $11,000.
[Illustration: INTERIOR OF THE BERLIN CENTRAL MARKET