The results of the last census of December 31, 1910, showed that in Brünn among a total of 27,491 apartments 920 were one-room, and 10,957 two-room apartments (kitchens not being counted as rooms). Of these 11,877 apartments, 2,638 must be considered as overcrowded, as 594 of the one-room apartments were occupied by more than 3 persons, and 2,044 of the two-room apartments by more than 6 persons. The report on the results of the census remarks also, that new dwellings with small apartments had not been built in a sufficient number and that consequently there was in Brünn a great scarcity of small low-rent apartments.

Conditions in Linz, the capital of Upper Austria, are very similar. Only 465 new buildings were erected within the city limits during the period between 1900 and 1911, or about 39 buildings per year. According to the census, Linz had at the end of 1910 a population of 67,817 inhabitants living in 2,826 houses, with about 16,000 apartments. Over 50 per cent of these apartments consisted of only one room with or without kitchen. Only 278 of all apartments, or 1.7 per cent, were vacant at the end of 1911.

If the data given above show the housing conditions of Austria in a very unfavorable light, it must, on the other hand, be stated that at the present date the importance of the housing problem has been fully acknowledged and that Austria no longer faces this problem with apathy. The public bodies, the State and the communes, as well as the parties directly affected by the scarcity of dwellings are making a concerted attempt to cooperate in the improvement of housing conditions.

EXEMPTION FROM OR REDUCTION OF TAXES.

Up to very recent times all the encouragement given by the State to the movement for the erection of sanitary low-rent dwellings for working people consisted in the enactment of laws granting exemption from or reduction of taxes on dwellings erected for such a purpose.

The first of these laws, enacted February 2, 1892 (R. G. Bl. No. 37), granted exemption from taxes for a period of 24 years for all newly erected workmen's dwellings, so as to stimulate the erection of such dwellings by communes, public-welfare associations, workmen's building associations, and employers. In addition to restrictions relating to the owners of such dwellings, the law also contained a number of restrictions as to the persons to whom the dwellings were to be rented, and especially as to the maximum permissible rate of rent per square meter (10.8 square feet), which was set at such a low figure that it excluded an economic investment of capital in sanitary and substantially built workmen's dwellings. The law required, moreover, the issuing of a lease whereby in very numerous instances in which employers granted to their workmen the free use of dwellings,

or deducted a specified amount from the wages for rent, these dwellings were deprived of the exemption from taxes or the exemption applied merely to certain classes of taxes. As a consequence, the law was of small practical benefit, and during the 10 years it was in effect there are recorded only 360 instances of its application.

On July 8, 1902, this law was therefore replaced by a new one (R. G. Bl. No. 144) which is also based on an entire or partial exemption from taxes. This is, however, the only point of similarity between the old and the new law. The purpose of the law is to benefit the renter, not the landlord, and to encourage the renter to become ultimately the owner of the dwelling. To secure this purpose the law contains a large number of detailed provisions, of which only the most important are given below. The benefits of the law apply to all new dwellings erected for the purpose of furnishing workmen with sanitary, low-rent housing accommodations; the dwellings may be rented to the workmen, or the use may be given them free of charge, or for a charge not specified in the labor contract and deducted from their wages. The privileges of the law are also applicable to family houses (Familienwohnhäuser) erected by federated districts (Bezirksverbände), communes, welfare associations, foundations, cooperative societies, and trade-unions, and by employers for their own workmen, which are sold to workmen on the installment plan in such a manner that the entire sale price, or at least half of it, is to be paid in 15 annual payments without reference to whether the workman takes title immediately or subsequently.

Dwellings coming under this law are granted permanent exemption from State taxation in its various forms and from all fees and stamp taxes, provided that the Provinces in which they are located grant by law an analogous total exemption from provincial taxes and the communes at least a reduction of 50 per cent of communal taxes. Associations which in accordance with their constitutions occupy themselves with the erection and renting of workmen's dwellings are in addition granted the same privileges as to industrial taxation as cooperative societies. All the above-mentioned privileges are granted only to buildings erected within 20 years from the date of the promulgation of the law.

CONDITIONS GOVERNING EXEMPTION.

To realize the ruling purpose of the law it was necessary to limit the total rental of the favored buildings to a certain percentage of the capital invested; within the limit of this total the landlord may fix the rent of the separate apartments as he pleases. The law has the difficult task of trying to harmonize the requirements of hygiene and stability in construction with low rents, or, in other words, of making

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the income from rent sufficiently high to attract capital waiting for investment, and at the same time of providing sanitary dwellings at a rent sufficiently low to correspond to the moderate income of workmen. The law, therefore, provides that the total income yielded from the rent of a building favored under the law shall not exceed a maximum rate of interest on the amount invested; this rate is to be fixed at specified time intervals by ministerial decree, and shall not be more than 0.2 to 0.5 per cent in excess of the usual local interest rate for mortgage loans.

The term "workman" in this law includes practically all persons gainfully employed whose yearly income in the meaning of the personal tax law of October 25, 1896, does not exceed the following amounts: (a) In the case of single persons, 1,200 crowns ($243.60); (b) in the case of families with from 2 to 4 members, 1,800 crowns ($365.40); and (c) in the case of families with 5 or more members, 2,400 crowns ($487.20). For the city of Vienna these maximum amounts are to be increased by one-fourth, and in other large cities with a population in excess of 50,000 inhabitants by one-eighth. Apprentices are to be considered as workmen without reference to their compensation. Temporary unemployment does not disqualify workmen in the meaning of the law. In case of permanent disability of the head of a household, as well as in the case of a change in the head of the household, or changes in the amount of his total income or in the number of the members of his family, the authorities may permit his continued occupancy of the dwelling. Employers as owners of dwellings favored under this law are not bound by the above-given maximum income of workmen, in so far as workmen in their own. establishments are concerned.

The privileges of the law are not forfeited: (a) If a part, not to exceed one-fourth, of the habitable rooms of a house or of a group of workmen's houses under the same administration is rented not to active workmen but to disabled workmen or other persons drawing a pension whose yearly income does not exceed the maximum amounts stipulated in this law; (b) if individual rooms are given over to common use as laundries, dining or reading rooms, libraries, etc.; (c) if individual dwellings or rooms are assigned to persons charged with the administration or supervision of the building; and (d) if individual parts of the building are rented to owners, lessees, or representatives for the exercise of trades which by the police authorities are deemed necessary for the supply of the renters with provisions. The law prohibits, however, selling distilled liquors at retail in such favored buildings.

Buildings entitled to the benefits of the law may be constructed either as family houses, homes for unmarried persons (Ledigenheime), or lodging houses.

Family houses may be constructed to house one or more families. As a rule they must not house more than six families, or, if higher than one story, must not have more than three stories above the ground floor and on each floor not more than four flats to a staircase. Family houses which are to be sold to the occupiers on the installment plan may not house more than two families. Workmen's dwellings situated in large cities and planned to house a large number of families must be equipped with a sufficient number of stairs, separate laundries, privies, cellars, attics, etc., so as to comply with the requirements of personal safety and hygiene and at the same time give the individual families sufficient privacy. The general rule is that in such dwellings there may not be more than four flats to each stairway and floor; this rule is sometimes modified, but under no conditions may there be more than six. Renters of flats in family houses are ordinarily prohibited from taking in roomers or lodgers. In large family houses, however, perfectly separated rooms may be rented to single persons. In family houses favored under this law and sold on the installment plan flats may be rented only to workers.

The privileges of this law are applicable only to family houses in which the floor space of the habitable rooms (living rooms, sleeping rooms, and kitchens) in case of one-room flats is not less than 16 square meters (172 square feet) and not more than 25 square meters (269 square feet), of two-room flats not less than 20 square meters (215 square feet) and not more than 35 square meters (377 square feet), and in the case of flats with 3 or more rooms not less than 30 square meters (323 square feet) and not more than 80 square meters (861 square feet), and which correspond to the regulations to be issued by ministerial decree.

Homes for unmarried persons are designed to house individuals of the same sex in separate rooms. If unattached persons of different sex are housed in the same building they must be in rooms which are perfectly separated. In such homes the rooms may be designed for from one to three persons, preferably one, but no room may be occupied by more than three. The floor space in such homes. must be in rooms occupied by one person at least 8 square meters (86 square feet), in rooms for two persons at least 12 square meters (129 square feet), and in rooms for three persons at least 20 square meters (215 square feet), and the homes must in all requirements correspond to the regulations to be issued by ministerial decree.

Lodging houses (Schlaf- und Logierhäuser) designed for the lodging in common of unattached persons of the same sex may be favored under this law only if erected either by employers for their own workmen or by unions of districts, communes, public-welfare asso

ciations, foundations, cooperative societies, trade-unions, institutions, and associations which, according to their constitutions, occupy themselves with the erection of workmen's homes and are subject to public supervision.

ADMINISTRATION DECREE OF JANUARY 7, 1903.

The law authorizes the ministers of the interior and finance, in conjunction with the ministers of commerce, railroads, and agriculture, to issue decrees regulating the construction, equipment, and administration of buildings favored under this law, as well as their provision with light, air, and water, and determining the principles to be observed to avoid overcrowding or the use of such buildings for purposes contrary to moral or hygienic considerations. Such a decree was issued under date of January 7, 1903 (R. G. Bl., No. 6).

STIPULATIONS IN CONTRACT OF SALE.

If buildings favored under this law are sold to workmen on the installment plan, their selling price may not exceed the original cost of the ground, construction, and equipment. The interest charged in computing the annual payments may not exceed that charged by savings banks and other standard credit institutions for mortgage loans, and the annual installments must be so determined that in each of them at least 1 per cent of the selling price is paid off. The owner must in such cases submit to the political authorities for their approval a draft of the contract of sale, which, in addition to the general legal requirements, must state: (a) The date on which the purchaser may take possession of the building; (b) whether transfer of title is to take place immediately or at a later date, which is to be stated precisely and which may not be later than three years after the conclusion of the contract; (c) whether in case of deferment of transfer of title there are any lease relations between seller and purchaser; (d) if transfer of title is deferred, that the purchaser has the right to forbid the sale or mortgaging of the building.

The seller may reserve the right, in case the purchaser is at least two quarters in arrears with the payment of installments or taxes or has failed to insure the building against fire, to foreclose on giving six months' notice if title has been transferred, or to rescind the contract on two weeks' notice if the transfer of title has not taken place. In those instances where the seller is entitled to foreclosure he may also reserve the right of repurchase. When the right to rescind is reserved, the contract must contain provisions safeguarding the claim of the purchaser to refund of payments made on the sale price or of other expenditures. Reservation of the right to rescind the contract, to foreclose, and to repurchase are in all other instances prohibited. The seller must reserve for himself for a period of 50 years the right of