Public abattoirs and cattle markets / from the German of Oscar Schwarz ; edited by G.T. Harrap and Loudon M. Douglas.

  • Schwarz, Oscar.
Date:
[1901]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Public abattoirs and cattle markets / from the German of Oscar Schwarz ; edited by G.T. Harrap and Loudon M. Douglas. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Of those erected in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, it is known that many belonged to the guilds ; for instance, those in Breslau, Königsberg, Strassburg, Zwickau, and other towns, some of which are still in existence. With regard to the law of 18th March, 1868, con- cerning the erection of obligatory public slaughterhouses, according to which it is left to the corporations or parishes to erect a public slaughterhouse themselves, or to cede their right to private parties, companies, etc., it was said “that it might be better to leave the erection and arrangement of public slaughterhouses to the spontaneity of the members of the trade, and only to make the corporation obliged to grant an advance of the whole sum necessary for building, or a part of the sum to be paid back gradually by amortisation, as has been done in other States— Wurtemberg, for example.’’ Against this it was urged as follows : “ As the erection of public slaughterhouses affects the sanitary and police interests, the control should be committed to the magistrates of a community rather than to private parties. Further, on the principle that public slaughterhouses shall be treated as municipal concerns, it can be reckoned with greater certainty that slaughterhouses will be found where they are required, and, finally, by treating this as a municipal matter a greater guarantee will be offered for its stability and stricter attention to all its future requirements. Still, the law in no way excludes the erection of public slaughterhouses by private individuals or by companies of butchers. If, then, the united butchers of a town are ready to erect a public slaughterhouse, and if they can offer the necessary guarantee for its judicious manage- ment, they are at liberty to do so. In fact amongst the 713 public slaughterhouses in Germany, there are only sixty-five belonging to guilds or private parties. Some of them are in the larger cities, such as Dresden, Chemnitz, Stuttgart, Hanover, etc. The guild slaughterhouse of Hanover is to he taken over by the corporation of the town in 1909, in consequence of a lawsuit, and in Stuttgart and Dresden also there are negotiations of a similar nature in progress. Most of these guild] slaughter- houses are to be found in Saxony, where there are only seven belonging to the community. As there is no other institution so much devoted to the furthering of public good and the interests of