Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1885-01-17
FREE HOMES.

fFrom the st. Louis School and IIome-l
Free schools There has always been
certain magic in the ph'a-r since
first it became The shibbuleil OF Aineri-
can Intelligence. Free schn"ls will
ever be the special pride of our people.
Free Homes! This phrase ought TO
have as stimulating meaning as the
former one, but il has not vel b. come
a watchword. Nevertheless. every
schoo boys heart snou Il cherish thf
determiHatinn TO save money from ia"
earnings of h'S earl, manli",d ant: T.
can buy house and lot.
Rent is the tyrant of our town aud
citv homes. It is a continual cloud
over the contcntment OF many Il family
We are all the while hearing what d
curse the rent system is to Ireland.
Yet in the United States there are
thousands upon thousands of excellent
citizens who really have no more inde-
pendence than the average Irish peas
ant. They are able to pay rent, but
after it is paid they have nothing
left.
A baneful catch phrase is abroad,
viz: 1t is cheaper to rent than to OWL.
Sometimes it is and more often it is
IOt. hC 4uCstiOh VA CSoAohbSS
that saving involves can not be gener-
allied. 1t depends upon the circum-
stances of the individual case and its
affirmative is very unsafe because very
uncertain In many single cases it may
be true one year and false the next.
But it is aIway safe for man to own
his house and be free from the slavery
of rent.
The best liberty possible 10 tho
American citizen can seldom be had
except in a home that is Tree from rent.
The fullest responsibility of citizenship
can scarcely be felt by the man who
does not own the root that shelters
him. The reason OF this is to be found
in that almost indefinable lack OF inde-
and which he sometimes feels with q
keenncss that is severely humiliating.
On the other hand, there is not
sufficient reason why such large
| proportion Of our town and city peo-~
pie should be rent payers. AT least
eighty per cent. OF our industrious,
middleaged men could have been
owners of their homes if they has
chosen to be reasonably saving tor
that purpose. This is easily possible
without any loss of responsibility. 1t
is false and harmful idea that respec-
liability necessarily involves expensive
| living. But even were it so, all the
possible loss of social standing occas-
ioned by decent economy is recOmpen-
sed when the home is actually gained
and the man has shaken off the shack
les Orient. Other things being equal.
the home-owner will be more respected
than the renter, especially if he has ac-
quired his home by his own industry
and economy.
The saving of rent will pay for q
home in remarkably short time. For
q man of small income there is no way
to Tree home except through careful
economy, and good point to begin ut
, is in the saving of rent. Let him
move into cheaper house, put up with
, disadvantages for while, save the
, difference in rent and add to this saw
ing by economy i'll some other dircc'
ton. In very short while he can
\ make first payment on a hom" that
will suffice him. After that the same
e rent money he was paying before he
| moved into the cheap house will NEE
e the interest and pay some oi the princi
pal npOn his purchase. Then the worl
b of home-geiting grows easier at
j. rapid ratio, tor both the principal ant
: interest accounts are reduced will
G each payment. The main burden hal
Il been right at the start. The ending il
It easy and free home is the result
Henceforth, rent-money is not thu
weekly or monthly anxiety in tina
house. The cloud has been lifted ant
comforts or elegancies do not have t.
be dispensed with in order to ever,
y few days appease the demand for rent
l. In this country a free home is posi-
o BILE 10 almost every healthy man.