Vasabond Editorials

By Jack Dionne

There's a bungalow court at Heliotrope, And a bungalow court at Vine, And one of the homes

In one of the courts

On one of the streets Is mine.

There's a pepper tree at Heliotrope, An acacia tree at Vine, And that is the way I know every day

The bungalow court That's mine.

-Gertrude C. Anderson.

rt may be a wise *"rr, ,lruJ"u,**ho k ro*s his own home just a few short years from now, particularly if the trend of home selection on the part of an already great army of people, continues to broaden and grow. Just abo,ut the time that the auto camp seems well on the way to put the highway hotel on the Fritz, along comes the trailer camp to do the same thing to the auto camp. You see them everywhere already. No permanent buildings except the central offices and needed service houses. Just trailers.

And where one trailer *r; ;r- year, five grow today; and where five grow today there will be ten, or perhaps twenty, tomorrow. Who knows? It isn't only the lure of the road, and the joys of simple living that is doing it. The same old mill-stone that is dragging so hard on all of us is one of the dominant factors: TAXATION. All the taxes you pay on your trailer is the auto and gasoline line of taxes.

flome, the poet said, is l"nl*.rn" heart is. Then if that be true, a trailer has as much right to call itself home as has the structure built on permanent locations. That is, if someone's heart is in it.

Speaking of homes, ,a;* "J"ars that Uncle Sam himself is rapidly becoming the biggest home owner in this here country. Under its Home Owners Loan Corporationa Governmental agency that was considerably abused but which was not without great merit-we have already authorized foreclosures on seventy thousand homes on which Government money was loaned. Co,mpetent authorities estimate that before the end of 1938 ninety thousand more foreclosures will have been affected by this agency, or a total of one hundred and sixty thousand homes that Uncle Sam will own. This, we are told, is a conservative estimate.

*,f*

It seems inevitable that by the end of four more years this Government will have on hand hundreds o,f thousands of homes for which it has no use, and which it never wanted or wants to own. It just cannot help itself. It will not only own this enormous number of homes, but it will have to operate and handle them, and that won't be any child's pIay.

'F**

Uncle Sam will have to pay taxes on all these homes scattered everywhere. He will have to keep them in repair; keep them insured; he will have to rent them and collect the rent; he will have to take on the unbelievable number of troubles that inevitably follow in the footsteps of the world's greatest landlord.

***

To say that it will be a terrible mess, is a very, very mild estimate of the consequences. Think of finding tenants and checking up on the care-takers of several hundred thousand homes ! Talk about your Government in business ! Uncle Sam will be in the home owning and operating business deeper than anyone in all history. There are well informed men who believe that the easiest and even the cheapest way out of the dilemma would be to cancel the whole business.

**,k

That efforts of legislative character will be made to cancel the mortgages held by HOLC in the next couple of years, there can be little doubt. Already there are bills in Congress seeking to reduce the interest and lighten the load of the owners of mortgaged homes under this agency. The trend of opinion in the matter is already evident.

**>F

For instance, it is related that in Florida the HOLC brought suit to foreclose a mortgage on the home of a carpenter, who was far behind in his payments. The judge who heard the case refused to grant the foreclosure. He decided that the Government made the loan primarily to help the man save his home; and so if the Government now took that home away from him it would nullify the original purpose of the loan, so there was no sense to the Government's plea for foreclosure.

**t<

The judge did not decide that the carpenter did NOT

Mr. aruI Mrs. America are out in force again--eager to see what progress has been made in the art of housing. They're the home builders of today-and of tolnorrow.

Well, there's plenty that's new and interesting to see-isn't there? Even in windows! Expensive nuisances like weights and cords are no longer necessary. The new Silentite Windows never swell or bind or rattle, inetead they glide up and down so smoothly that a child can easily lift or lower them. Draftproof-dustproof-they are Insulateil Yindows-reducing heating expense by as much as 25%!

What do Mr. and Mrs. America say to that? Just what you would. They want Silentite in their new homes-and thereos a sale made for the Curtis Dealer-not only for windows-but an entering wedge for his entire line of materials. That's why so many Curtis Dealers are enjoying such a rapidly increasing business.

Perhaps Curtis can show you how to add Mr. and Mrs. America to your sales force. Remember that Mr. and Mrs. America ask no commissions. Write us for all the facts. If your territory is open we shall be glad to discues the Curtis Sales Plan with you. Just use the coupon.