The Washington times., 1925-10-29

how l felt about the matter, anu
when / met the organizer few
days later I told him had de-
cided to stay out. He flared,
and wanted to know why. knew
1t wouldn't do to tell himNmy true
reasons. Nothing good coull
come to me by making the Il. K.
KS my enemies. I said l be-
Ionged to too many organizations
already, and he was obliged TO
accept that answer.
Light of Huge Cross
one Saturday night about
month after the new Police
Commissioner had taken office
every light on the two main
streets of the city went out
promptly at 9 o'clock, and
huge fiery cross appeared. IL
advanced, and was followed by
hundreds of masked white-robed
figures, in single nle, some OF
them bearing flaming signs.
There were between 900 and
1000 men in that long, WHITE
sinuous line, and it was very i'm.
Dressive. Save for the cross ana
the signs the city was in dark
ness. and silence. Yet, next DAY
the newspapers scarcely men
toned the occurrence. There
was an atmosphere of distrust
and apprehension everywhere.
Men dared not voice their
opinions. became more con-
WINGED than ever that the
K. K. KS were not fundamen-
tally sound, and were a menace
to democratic government. l
was glad 1 had not Joined them.
After the close of the politica!
campaign I went to the bank and
paid up the $500 note with IN
terest. New offers from oil men
began coming in, and l made ar.
rangements with a friend, Cid
Howell, for desk space In his Of
flee on Commerce street, just
above the postoffice.
Howell was chairman or the
vigilance committee Of the Adj
vertising League, of which we
were both members. He was al
so editor of the Motion Picture
Journal, a regional publication
devoted to the interests OF eX-
hs5itors, and was southwestern
agent for a large theater seat
manufacturing concern. He oc-
cupied the entire second floor of
the building where he was locat-
ed, and 1 secured very comport-
able and handy quarters with
him, his stenographer taking
telephone messages and otherwise
serving me when. l was absent.
For a long time Mildred had
been urging that we buy a place
of our own instead of paying
rent. In writing to my mother |
mentioned our hopes, and she at
once offered to help finance the
plan.
We found coy bungalow with
brick foundation and modern Tea
tures-a very attractive place-ln
Oak Cliff. The yard was big,
with fruit trees, garden space, ana
garage. In front was a lawn,
flowers, and cement sidewalk. The
price was $1,000, and the property
was free of encumbrance.
In order to put the deal through
was obliged to borrow $1,000
from one of the banks, giving
first lien on the place as security.
l mention this because l was
much puzzled and later incensed
over the fact that in signing the
papers 1 was called upon to sign
one note for $1,000. payable in
five years, at per cent per year,
and a second note for 81 500 bear
ing interest at / per cent. This
was a total Of per cent, or $40
a month. / couldn't understand
why a single note, calling for 8
per cent interest, should not have
been sufficient. Later learned
why. The per cent note was
sold for $1,000 cash to an investor,
and the bank thereby had it's
money back, ready to loan again
on the same basis. But, although
the bank had it's $1,000 back, it
still continued to draw ! per cent
from me for the loan. By lending
that same 81 500 a dozen or more
times during a year, and each
time selling the per cent notes for
cash, the bank would eventually
be drawing from IL to Is per cent
a y OIl SAgOVV bAAcIL "A0 a\bAeAAAJ
in it's vaults.
And, of course, by simplifying
this process to include many thou
sands of dollars in loans, the bank
had steady income of from II to
Is per cent on money that was
not loaned at all, but was in it's
hands.
This puzzled me, as I have said.
I could not see that it was fair
that 1 should pay / per cent on
1900 to bank for five years
for nothing. have since dis
cussed the matter with men much
better versed in finance than 1
am, and have been told the banks
have a legitimate right to con-
slider that per cent as a. fee for
the service rendered, regardless Of
the fact that the cash involved in
the loan is back in their hands.
ITO Be Continued Tomorrow