FOOD CONTROL IN GERMANY 149 



of meat in this way. The public got the meat 20 

 to 30 per cent, cheaper than fresh domestic meat, 

 yet the undertaking was carried on at a profit in 

 almost all cases. Occasionally a town reported 

 small losses. A few towns like Offenbach-on-Main 

 did not stop with these measures but continued 

 systematically in the meat business. Offenbach 

 opened shops and established a sausage factory. 

 Other cities began pig-fattenmg and rabbit-breeding 

 on an extensive scale or gave financial assistance to 

 co-operative societies and individuals who did so, 

 on condition that they sold a certain amount of 

 produce annually to the people of the city. Other 

 towns entered upon contracts with farmers' organiza- 

 tions and chambers of agriculture for the supply of 

 definite quantities of meat at fixed times. 



An even larger number of town councils did effec- 

 tive work in reducing the cost of living by pur- 

 chasing sea-fish and selling it practically at cost. 

 In the same way vegetables and potatoes were sold 

 at cost at public depots.^ 



Before the war the advisability of continuing such 

 activities as a permanent feature of municipal ad- 

 ministration was a debated question, although it 

 had been proved conclusively that when necessary 

 they could be carried on by cities without loss and 

 to the advantage of large sections of the population. 



* Dawson, Municipal Admirmtration in German Cities, pp. 224- 

 245. 



