Such a co-partnership scheme as this will present to workmen
a unique opportunity for saving, for not only will they get
as high a rate of interest as a safe investment justifies,
but they will be to a large degree custodians of their own
security and will thus be able to protect their investments
in much the same way as actual home owners. On the other hand
they will avoid most of the pitfalls of home owning, such as
loss through deterioration of a neighborhood, forced sales in
case of departure, and inability to realize on assets locked
up in private homes. Moreover, they will tend to develop a
high degree of community spirit, usually so lacking among
apartment dwellers, and thus take more interest in public
affairs and become better citizens generally.
These are advantages which it would be especially desirable for the
foreign-born groups, as many of them have experienced the pitfalls of
home ownership. It is a complicated system and would have to be
explained in detail to the various groups. The medium for such
explanations is at hand in the foreign-language press and in the
immigrant societies, and the effort that it would involve is surely
worth making. It should also be noted that it is not so complicated a
system as the land tenure in many of the countries from which the
immigrants come.