House and Garden 
formed for the whole population by the 
gigantic economic change which that coun¬ 
try underwent in the last few years, due to 
the; development of steam power and elec¬ 
tricity, especially since the union of Ger¬ 
many in t 8 71. This rapid progress made 
great and difficult demands on the old 
cities, demands only to be met by mak¬ 
ing the best out of their well-guarded free¬ 
dom in state life, which they had gained 
by self-administration. The existing dwell¬ 
ings were no longer sufficient for a popula¬ 
tion swelled by the migration of country 
people into the cities. The erection of de¬ 
pots opened new roads for the inter-city 
traffic which had to be taken into considera¬ 
tion with the increase of industrial activity 
by changing old building plans, by the open¬ 
ing of new districts and by the widening of 
streets. Means had to be provided for 
communication, lighting, water supply, canal¬ 
ization, health, sanitation and police protec¬ 
tion, public education, charities and hospit¬ 
als. The authorities of the German cities 
were almost obliged to take some industries 
into their own hands, especially gas, water and 
electric works, and pawnshops, undertaking 
establishments, theatres and municipal con¬ 
cert or entertainment halls are under the 
ownership and care of the local government. 
The street railways also came for the most 
part under the management of the towns 
whenever the contracts with private concerns 
ran out. Some German cities, like Dresden, 
for instance, even assume the control of ve¬ 
hicles and the management of funerals, the 
erection of slaughter-houses and of sanitary 
aid stations, in addition to the more familiar 
and time-honored functions of civic govern¬ 
ment. 
The exhibits contributed by the towns 
were divided into eight groups as follows: 
I. Transportation, Illumination, Laying 
out of Streets, Bridges and Harbors and 
Underground Work, Street Car Manage¬ 
ment, etc. 
