The Waterbury Democrat., 1935-03-22

ceive a loan. If approved by the credit committee. When he has paid for one share, he is eligible to his proportional share of the an- nual dividends. The savings of the members may
 be loaned for provident or produc- tive proposed for a period not
 longer than two years. Loans of $50 or less may be made without security. On larger amounts en- dorsements or other security is required. A member is eligible for
 loan regardless of the number of
 shares he may own. Interest must
 not exceed 1 per cent a month on
 unpaid balances. No other charges may be made.
 The funds are invested only In loans to members except for sur
 plus funds which must be invested in securities of the United tSates government. Reasons q The most common reasons why
 people borrow from credit unions are:
 Medical expenses, consolidating
 small debts, refinancing loans made at higher interest rates, payment of amounts due to finance. com
 panies, various bills, taxes, insur- ance, education, vacation and so
 on. The loan must be for a prov
 ident purpose. That is the law. It
 must promise to be of real benefit to the borrower. The idea here Is that if the loan is of real service, the borrower will make sacrifices
 to pay it back. Connecticut has no state credit
 union law. Attempts to get such a law past have been defeated, presumably by certain interests which profited by having our state
 remain a bonanza territory for high-rate lenders. However, last year Uncle Sam took hand in the matter by the passage of the Federal Credit Union Law. It was
 a law inspired by the same spirit
 which was back of the Securities
 Act. The Securities Act was aimed
 shall we say at the "Wolves of
 Wall Street,. The Federal Credit Union Act was aimed at the wolves that prowl around the homes of the
 working man.
 Federal Set Up
 Machinery for the operation of the law was set up during the sum-
 mer and 1t became possible to or
 ganize Credit Unions here last fall
 The first one to be organized in
 Connecticut was the Colt Employees
 Credit Union for employees of the
 Colts Patent Fire Arms Mfg Co.
 at Hartford. This was quickly
 followed by six credit unions forl
 kao n. s,, yo t.kf Rrif a
 New Haven, Bridgeport, Stamford
 and Waterbury by others for em-
 ployes of such concerns as the New
 Haven Rendering Company, the E.
 I. DuPont Company at Fairfield,
 Mitchell Brothers of Bridgeport, by
 parish credit unions for the mem
 bers of German Catholic Parishes
 in Waterbury, Meriden and New
 Haven, by Armour and Company
 employees in several cities and many
 others. There are, I believe over
 twenty of these "baby banks"
 already operating in Connecticut
 of which five are in Waterbury. We
 have in addition to our Teachers Credit Union very successful one in our Fire Department, another :n St Cecilia's Parish. one for Armour and Company, and the oldest ana probably largest credit union in the state operating for employees of the Waterbury Post Office. Typical are the post office credit
 unions for postal employees Ike the one we have here in Waterbury.
 There are some 322 of them serv- ing 10000 postal employees. Most
 of them have been formed during the last three years. Already saw $7.0o0.OoO mark and they do an annual small-loans business or
 over $10.000.0OO.
 The record of the three thou sand credit unions operating dur ing the last few years Is the finest | that has ever been established oy any form of banking anywhere un- der similar conditions of stress. From the testimony before the senate banking communities last May, I understand that during this ! period not one credit union was