The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1912-09-07


Next to the church the home, and
especially the Catholic home,
ought to be the most hallowed
spot on earth. With it are asso-
ciated the earliest experiences Of
childhood, the most enduring i'm
pressions Of youth, the ambitions,
the labors and the joys Of mature
years, and the peace and content
ment Of old age. The members of
a family living in rented house
and moving about from place to
place are strangers to all the
cherished memories that cluster
around a home that has been
built up by toll and self-sacrifice.
Every effort should be made to &C
quire such an abode, and those
who are in a position to do so
should take advantage Of the
opportunities afforded by reliable
companies to establish themselves
in home which they may be able
one day to call their own.
The most valuable citizen is the
man who owns his own home. No
other man gives such stability
and strength to a community.
From a social, moral and business
standpoint, a community Of home
owners is the best.
Every child has the right to a
permanent home, which for him
should be the center of religious
influence and moral training:
For this permanent home there
is no substitute. Every effort
that looks toward maintaining the
permanency Of the home is to be
commended. Under ordinary
conditions, unless the home is
fully paid for, the death of the
wage-earner results in it's loss.
The Equitable Life Assurance
Society of New York, one of the
strongest financial institutions in
the world, has recently devised a
plan to aid the thrifty man in
securing a home or in paying off
the mortgage on one already pur-
chased. The plan, briefly out
lined, is this:
The Equitable Society will
make loans on approved home
property, to be repaid by fixed
monthly instalments, over a
period Of ten, fifteen or twenty
years, with the additional provi-
sion that in the event of the death
of the borrower his loan will be
cancelled at once by policy OF
life insurance issued with the
loan. AS the amount Of the loan
decreases each month and the
amount of the insurance policy re-
mains fixed, in case of the borrow
er's death not only is the balance
Of the loan repaid, but there re-
mains a substantial sum to provide
for the future support of the family.
The plan is somewhat similar to
that Of the building loan associa-
lions, with these important excep-
tons: first, building loan associa-
lions have to lend only the funds
contributed by their members,
while the Equitable Society has
practically unlimited assets to
devote to this purpose; second,
the building loan association make
no provision to cover the death
Of the borrower, while this is
fully covered in the Equitable
plan. No burdensome conditions
are attached to these loans and, in
fact, the whole plan seems to have
been devised for the. benefit of
the man Of average income, to
enable him to guarantee a perman-
ent home to his family.
Many men pay rent for twenty
or thirty years, and at the end of
that period have nothing to show
for this outlay but a bundle of
receipts. The monthly payments
under this Home Purchase plan
are not greater than would be the
monthly payments for rent, and
if the man lives, at the end of the
term he owns his own home
should he die before the end of
the term. the wife at once be-
comes the owner Of the home,
clear Of all encumbrances.
This plan is already in opera
ton in the larger cities of the
State and it is the intention to
gradually extend it to the small
Ter cities.