The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-08-14
warn WORKERS
AGAINST FAKERS'
HOUSING 'CO-OpS'
Hold Cooperation Will
SOIUe Vexing Problem
BY CEDRIC LONG.


renter and the landlord controls
his living conditions more COM
pIeteIy than the corporation
controls his job.
Industrial workers can fight
the encroachments of their en-
ployers with their unions; as
tenants they are utterly unor-
ganized and helpless before the
onsIaughts of the organized
landlords.
Cooperative home ownership
is the only possible cure. Not
1 per cent Of the lower paid
workers in large cities Of the
United States can afford to buy
individual homes today, but
they can unite to form co-opera-
tive housing associations and
build or buy houses collectively.
Thru such organization they
not only effectively combat the
landlords, but they take the
business away from them as
well.
Watch Real Estate Sharks.
There are three types of housing
known as cooperative. The first is
an outright fraud-a snare for greedy
fools. 1t is promoted entirely by real
estate sharks who exploit that word
cooperative.
They either sell the apartments
outright to individuals or form a cor
poration in which the individuals buy
stock emitting them to an apartment
in the house.
The real estate company usually
reserves for itself the privilege of
managing the property; sometimes it
holds the title to all adjoining land,
with an eye to reaping large profits
when the value has been inflated.
This type of cooperative" house
is sold almost exclusively to well-to-
do people who can afford to pay fancy
prices.
semi-co-operatlves Have Failed.
The second type of cooperative"
house is the semi-co-operative. Pro
moters of these are well intentioned,
but fail to follow the rules of Roch-
dale cooperation.
They sell apartments outright to
the prospective tenant, thus permit
ting the new owner to sell or sub-let
at spectators profit; or permit one
person to buy several apartments in
the same house and become a petty
landlord; or sell stock in the housing
association but fail to put restrictions
upon resale or sub-letting.
They leave loopholes open, so that
the cooperative" owners can profit
at the expense of some other poor
sucker the first time real estate
booms.
Democratic Cooperation.
The third and genuine type has
four distinguishing features: No
member owns his apartment outright,
but belongs to an association which
holds title to all the apartments and
which gives to each member a SO
years or a lifetime lease. No men,
Der has more than one vote in mem
bership meetings, interest on capital
stock is limited to per cent or less,
and any surplus at the end of the
year is rebated to tenant-members in
proportion to rental charges paid.
Every tenant should be a member
of the association and every member
should be tenant. Selling of mem
ber's shares or sub-letting of his
apartment should be done only by the
association, and never at a profit TO
either the member or the association.
N. Y. and Milwaukee Head List.
Genuine cooperative housing for
workers has made good start in two
cities-Milwaukee and New York.
The Garden Homes, Milwaukee, is a
group of SO houses occupied by 1O5
families, organized by Mayor Hoan
and the Commonwealth Mutual Saw
ings Bank. In Brooklyn, N. Y, about
rs apartment houses are cooperative
ly owned by Finnish and Swedish
workers.
Other groups of workers have emu
lated their example. In New York
City three groups Of young Jewish
workers have conducted cooperative
apartment houses for several years,
and four or five other associations
have followed suit. Alexander Bing
Is erecting small cooperative apart
ment houses in Long Island City.
Probably the most significant effort
in this country so far is the organ
ization of a central association in
New York, the Consumers Co-opera-
tive Housing Association. to buy or
build houses in any part Of Greater
New York. It owns seven houses and
expects TO acquire moro