Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1907-11-01
BUILDING AND LOAN ASSOCIATION
200 People Sgnled Willingness to Take Shares Following Mr.
tdredges Address in the Auditorium tuesday Evening
Another Meeting Soon.

The DulldlnB ana loan association pro-
rect which was presented to a mass
meeting of BrattleborU citizens in the
auditorium tuesday evening under the
.uspces of the board of trade met with
such response that the formation of a
1uilding association in Brattleboro is
iracucally assured. ID. Eldredge of Bos-
.ln. president of three such associations
and connected with the loan association
movement since its inception in Massa-
.lusetts 80 years ago, gave an address
.Npaiuing the methods and results used
I'D that state and at the close vote
vas taken on the ACCESSIBILITY of forming
such an association here. Fully three
t1urths of the audience or $50 rose in
response to this question and about 200
-guhed their willingness to take shares
tu an association, should one be formed
President G. o. Robbins of the board
If trade, who presided and introduced
lie speaker, said in closing the meeting
mat the board of trade was ready to
-tand behind the organization of a loan
ssociation bank and that after the ex-
preston of such a decided opinion in
.lNor OF the project, the board of trade
would Immediately take steps to secure
charter and would call another meeting
# the citizens at an early date Mr.
I.dredge said that the organization of the
bank was assured, speaking from his
wide experience. The reasons for calling
tue meeting and the need of such an in
.t1iutlOn mere were lnulCateu In MT.
Eobbins opening address. He said that
,ue position of the board of trade in re-
ltion TO the community made it proper
tuat such a movement should have its
origin in the board and grow through the
.Turts of the community as a whole
The work of the board of trade is largely
done through its committees and the
.,mmittee on new industries had sew
raj times been up against the obstacle
If securing houses for workmen to live
.u. one of the first questions a mill or
hop operator will ask when approached
about coming here is whether there are
houses to be had for his help. The
.5mmittee has been forced to acknow-
edge that there were practically none
10 was evident that some plan must be
devised to remedy this condition.
The attention of the board of trade
WAS called to the the building and loan
s-ociatons which had worked so sue
.ssfuly in Massachusetts and other
.tttes and the secretary, George +. Fox,
wrote for information In regard to them.
THE replies gave the board of trade
enlargement to believe that this was
solution of their problem. In opening
Alr. Eldredge spoke of the hold that the
loan association plan had on the con-
.d,uce Of the public. This was indicated
POS the steady spread of the influence
" the associations in Boston. In Massa-
.nusetts they have strong nold and are
safe The question is often asked as
T., whether they are tagonistic to other
forms of saving. Mr.. Eldredge said they
were not. Theoretically the savings
.luks and trust companies in Boston
Gould do all the business of the loan
.-Suciations and do it well but pracu-
.iIiy the people would not make use
NJ them to anywhere near the extent
they use the loan association
banks Under the stimulation of
tu. loan association bank system
they save money regularly and methodi-
.ilIy while under the savings bank sys-
tenn their saving is fitful and uncertain
.n most cases.
The loan association movement is most
fully developed in Philadelphia, which is
more a city of homes than any other com
uaouity in the country Mr. EIdredge
spoke feelingly of the different spirit in
. community of homes from That in
immunity of renters only. The home
owner has so much more to lose from
riot and disorder that he becomes at
once a staunch upholder of the law in
.gyry form while the renter is naturally
Harcess as to what may happen to the
property he occupies and consequently
.pholds the law less thoroughly. In
spoIking of the growth OF the loan as
ISOLATION plan Mr.. Eldridge said that in
1876 the battle for their organization was
aging in Massachusetts and strenuous
though the legislature. 1t was finally
..upmplished and Massachusetts took
fUp lead in putting the plan in Its pre-
sent state of perfect organization. The
first loan association bank was started
tg 1877. In 1885, eight years later
there were 80 such banks with capt.
md of $500, 900 in the state. There are
ruw 1873 such banks with a capital OF
1000 900 in Massachusetts alone. IN
the country as a whole there are now
1000 building and loan associations with
"a capital of $500, OO0, 900 with 1000, 900
nareholders. Mr.. Eldredge takes a
I-t pride in the fact that he took out
t.e first share in the first bank organ
ilDl and has seen the system grow TO
H- present enormous proportions.
The method of proceeding to organize
huding and loan association was de-
s.libed in detail by the speaker. Let
lbs assume" saids he that 90 men and
men in this audience decide to form
such an organization. Each one OF
them pledges himself to give certain
amount each month such amounts 10
Ice a payment on his share or shares
ETrerence has shown that S. per share
the popular amount though in Massa-
.lusetts the amount now averages near
I- SO. Assuming the IS share is de-
..ied upon, each member paying in ms
Initial IS. This makes $1,000 available
FIR loan at once. This $1,000 loan is put
'I "l auction ana given " liiS Aibhe
bidder who can offer adequate security
NC course.
The start is never made at a very
.uw rate but is ordinarily started at
per cent. Perhaps the highest bid Is
BIB per cent or even per cent.
$50 soon as the bidder gives his
..urity the $1,000 is urned over to
.m a month later each of the 200
..arohoders pays in another IS making
mother $1,000 available FOR loan. The
who secures the first loan pays In
IS and $3.50 or SC interest beside.
payments on his share keep on ac-