8
THE NORTHMAN
The '“Own Your Own Home" Movement
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A NEW declaration of independence is be more comfortable under your own roof.
contained in the “Own Your Home” For some things a family can afford to go
movement. It is the one effective means into debt. To possess a home is one of
•of victory over high rents and profiteering them, especially under present and prob
landlords.
able future conditions.
It is not real estate dealers’ propaganda.
The community, the state and the nation
It is foundation building for better citizen could employ their credit to no better pur
ship, as well as greater happiness. The re pose than by financing home owning. It
volt against rent paying was never so will not be long, let us hope, until revolv
great, and now that the ideals which were ing building funds will be provided, as in
strong in the early citizens of this country, some of the European countries.
when every family owned the roof over its
Home owning, besides its obvious moral
head, have been revived; it is likely that and social dividends, is sconomic. It keeps
there will be witnessed in America in the down the repair bill. It gets rid of the
next few years the greatest home building loss from vacancies that a landlord must
movement that has been developed in any count on. It cuts out commissions and
country.
expenses, Every large city wastes many
With the spread of civilization there thousands monthly because nearly 90. per
came a change; buildings became less cent of the population are renters, and the
fortresses and more homes.
cost is cumulative. No better undertak
The homes of to-day represent centuries ing is now afoot than the one to stimulate
of evolution and progress, a steady refine home building—not only the roof-tree, the
ment. It is estimated that 10 per cent of edifice—but the institution within—the
the many who would like to own a home greatest and best influence for advance
have the necessary amount of money to ment, for good and for happiness and con
launeh a building project or acquire a sequently our nations best school of citi
house. To those who have not sufficient zenship;
funds the idea of home ownership brings
to mind a train of great amounts of money MAY ASSUME DIRECTION OF AMERI
and a long period of heart breaking obliga
CANIZATION WORK.
tions. But there are agencies which have
greatly assisted home building in the past, ’T'HE board of directors of the United
1 States Chamber of Commerce in con
and developments will come along this
line with new and greater demand. vention at Atlantic City, N. J., proposed the
Building associations have, in the past, chamber assume supreme control of
helped many thousands to own homes on Americanization work in the United
a basis entailing little or no greater obli States, co-ordinating and directing the
gations than those which the rent-payer efforts of organization now engaged in
must meet every month. There are vast philanthropic and patriotic activities. To
possibilities for development of organiza finance this undertaking it was proposed
tions having the same objects in view, adequate collections of money be made
with even more favorable plans and and disbursed by a “standing committee
features for the wage worker.
on American ideals,” under rules pre
Not many years ago in this country it scribed by the board of directors.
The plan would fix responsibility for all
was considered a reproach for the citizen
not to possess his home dwelling. A home Americanization efforts upon the United
was personal. To rent a house was like States Chamber of Commerce and contri
hiring a daughter or a son. The landlord butors would be requested to support only
such organizations as the chamber ap
was not much in evidence.
Then the disease of tenantry secured a proved.
The national council, composed of more
hold and became epidemic, particularly in
cities. In New York, for example, accord than 1300 trade and commercial organiza
ing to the last survey, are a million apart tions, unanimously approved the proposal.
ments, few owned by their occupants.
AN UNSOLVED PROBLEM.
More than 4,000,000 persons are renters
and live with little sense of residential
The Cleveland Americanization Commit
permanence. It is an evil community
habit. Now throughout the country the tee on the subject of language instruction
landlord system is breaking down. There for foreigners says:
It would be absurd for Americans to de
are not enough dwellings to go around. A
new supply comes but slowly, for while the ceive themselves as to the success of their
tenant finds the rent prohibitive the efforts up to this time in teaching the
builder finds the cost of material and labor* American language to foreigners. It is
so high that he shrinks from building, a most astonishing fact how little the
school has actually helped. The census of
despite the lure of high profits.
1910 indicated that of the foreign born
The “Own Your Home” movement who came here in the years from 1904 to
should have started sooner. If it had 1910, hundreds of thousands learned some
begun ten years ago a large part of the American. The same source of informa
present unrest would not exist. The gains tion tells 'us that of those that did learn
of the wage earners would less easily slip American, less than one-half of one per
away. The cost of his shelter would be cent learned it in school. Cleveland with
stabilized. He would share in the advance 150,000 who speak little or no American
in land and edifice values, and could laugh has reached during the present year less
as the rent collector passed by.
than 3,000. Boston has reached, during
The idea is not that every one shall the past year, a scant 1,200 or 1,500.
march out and buy a lot at once. But be Other great cities, like Detroit, Chicago
gin to think of it, and plan. Whatever and Buffalo, have, up to this time, proved
site you select, you can hardly lose, for it themselves no more able to cope with the
will take years for commercial builders situation.
to satisfy the housing shortage. You will
This failure is not due to the lack of
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May 20, 1920
interest on the part of the immigrant
himself. He has every reason to want to
learn our language. He knows well that
the learning of the language of the land
means a better job and more of the com
forts of life. But after a few lessons he
fails to make the progress which he has
expected and feeling that he is too old to
learn, he falls back into his foreign sur
roundings, speaks and hears nothing but
his native tongue and to him America has
largely ceased to exist.
The problem of teaching the language
on .a scale which will actually meet the
need has not yet been solved in Cleveland
or in any other city of the United States.
The non-American speaking man must be
reached in his work. The factory class
method is best. In teaching him, we must
first put force and energy into the process.
We need technique, energy and under
standing. We must apply to the teaching
some of the energy that has made it pos
sible for America to excel the world in
high-speed production.
Most non-American speaking foreigners
are used to a paternalistic form of govern
ment. Many of the peasant class which
come here were born and brought up un
der a landlord system of rented farms. Be
sides renting the land, the owner or land
lord serves as their banker, lawyer, store
keeper and general advisor. He buys
their crops and sells them their goods.
Consequently they are in the habit of go
ing to one person for most all their deal
ings and advice. Transplanted in this
country they seek the same kind of leader
and there has grown up here in America a
class of individual that seeks to take the
place of the old country landlord. But
this position is sometimes sought not in
the light of helping to Americanize their
countrymen but rather to keep them in
ignorance and fear of our institutions in
order that these leaders may make per
sonal profit and gain.
Information as to what American banks
and other public service institutions stand
for and the service they can render to in
dividuals will help in the general plan of
securing the interest of the newcomers
and help lead them into American ways.
CHILDREN’S GIFT TO A HERO
The home in Washington, D. C., pur
chased with the pennies of the school chil
dren of America and presented to Admiral
George Dewey when he was the nation’s
hero, has been sold by the widow and the
son of the admiral and is being converted
into a store. The house was presented to
Admiral Dewey in the autumn of 1899,
about two weeks before his wedding. Three
weeks later there was a wave of protest
when he transferred the house to Mrs.
Dewey. It was afterward transferred to
the admiral’s son, George Dewey.
The admiral and his wife did not occupy
the property long, moving to the house at
Sixteenth and K streets, previously occu
pied by General Russell A. Alger, secretary
of war under McKinley. Admiral Dewey
died January 16, 1917.
Residents of the formerly exclusive
neighborhood have protested against the
conversion of the mansion, once an orna
ment to the street, into a store, but there
is nothing in the deed, it is said, to prevent
such use. An appreciation,of all that is
involved in the way of sentiment would
have directed a different course with a
more lovely ending of the Dewey incident.