Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 10.djvu/73

 THE FIRST GERMAN MUNICIPAL EXPOSITION 6 1

of the city limits, it is not immediately adaptable to municipal purposes. Breslau rents its 5,700 hectares. Some of the land is devoted to sewage farms. In the case of forest land the muni- cipality usually retains direct control. Thus Gorlitz, Spandau, Liegnitz, Freiberg, and Wiesbaden are engaged in municipal forestry. Freiberg showed figures which present interesting facts in regard to her forestry in 1870 and in 1900. The gross income had increased from 19,249 marks to 75,258 marks; the net surplus, from 11,711 marks to 45,673 marks. The rise in price of wood was the chief cause of this advance, but there was also progress in the science of forestry and in the care of the forests. Many manufacturing cities which lack beautiful sur- roundings and good park systems neglect the economic advan- tages of their forests in favor of hygienic and cultural advantages, throwing their lands open for the use of their citizens. Duisburg, Wiesbaden, Augsburg, and others might be named as examples. Land within the city limits serves as building lots for municipal buildings : city hall, schools, gas-works, markets, etc., as well as for streets, squares, and small parks. City maps showing the various uses to which this land is put were exhibited by Breslau, Wiesbaden, and Augsburg. The last-named city has laid streets through that portion not otherwise in use, and has planned for dividing it into building lots. New and enlarged harbors demand a good share of land, as was shown by Breslau, Diisseldorf, and Mannheim; but these are recognized as being investments with sure, if indirect, returns. Darmstadt rents her unused land to poor people ; and Ulm uses hers for building homes, as has been said. Essen, after having allowed her holdings to dwindle, has been striving to obtain more land. The best example of this modern policy, however, is Frankfurt a. M., which owns or con- trols 46 per cent, of the city territory. The land is devoted to parks, forests, agriculture, and building lots. In less than ten years the average price per hectare of this land rose from 8,800 marks in 1893 to 16,400 marks in 1902. The municipality thus has land for its schools and parks at any time, without paying exorbitant prices. The gain is, however, for the future as well as for the present. The land owned by Frankfurt is, moreover, not