Evening star., 1923-09-22
Home Ownership by Families
In ID. C.. Increases 6.I Per Cent
Manual on @HO,U to O,Un Your O,un
Home" Just Issued, Giues Infor-
/ nation on Loans, Etc.

Home ownership among families
living in the National Capitol in
creased 81 per cent in the period
from 1900 to 1920, according to How
to Own Your Home" a manual just
issued for the public by the division
of building and housing of the De-
partment of Commerce. The manual.
with a foreword by Secretary of Com
merce Herbert Hoover, contains au-
thentic information concerning steps
taken in the acquisition of property,
such as the making of loans, selection
OF the house site. choosing of build
ing plans and materials and the cost
of home maintenance.
Jumps to 3O.3 Per Cent.
"How to Own Your Home" which
was prepared by John NJ. Cries and
James S. TAYLOR of the Department
of Commerce, presents figures to show
that the percentage of Washington
home owners rose from 24.2 in 1900
to 25.2 in 1910 and jumped to 30.3 in
1920. The manual can be procured for
cents from the superintendent of
documents, this city. Sending nick ell
by mail with ones address is all that
Is required.
Business groups are looking at the
home-owning proposition in new
and more favorable light, Secretary
Hoover states in the foreword to the
little government manual. He says:
Fhey see that taking a neigh borly
interest in developing sound financing
and other machinery for the use of
homeseekerS and insisting on the OBJ
servance of honest, straightforward
methods by thoses who deal with
homeseekers is not paternaIism. but
EOOn nd off c1,{,
IL IS the square deal"-and it is not
only right. but essential, that the
cards should not be stacked against
the homeseekers
Basis of Social System,
Maintaining a high percentage of
individual home owners is one of the
searching tests that now challenge
the people of the United States" Sec
retary Hoover points out The pres
ent large proportion of families that
own their homes is both the founda-
ton of sound economic and social
system and guarantee that our So
clety Will continue to develop ration
ally as changing conditions demand" F."
'Buying or building home re-
qulres the use of sound judgment in
seeing that the personal needs of the
ramlly are best met with the funds
available" Mr.. Hoover says in the
foreword. ut involves not only the
carrying on of transactions of financ-
ing and buying or building but it
involves the proper determination. of
location with respect to school, to
work and to neighborhood"
Autos Effect Felt.
Secretary Hoover states that the
automobile has given great i'm
pulse ts suburban life and an in
creasing possibility of home owner
ship"
"a family that owns its own home
takes pride in il. maintains it bet
ter, gets more pleasure out of it, and
has more wholesome, healthful and
happy atmosphere in which to bring
up children. The home owner has
a constructive aim in life. He works
harder outside his home, he spends
his leisure hours more profitably and
he and his family live finer life and
enjoy more of the comforts and culti-
waiting influences of our modern civil
fzation. A husband and wife who
own their own home are more apt to
save. They have an interest in the
advancement of a social system that
permits the individual to store up
the fruits of his labor. AS direct
taxpayers they take a more active