THE FIRST THRIFT CONFEREXCE 43 



thrift, nor their indirect action in favour of credit, but has also other 

 forms and aims at procaring as much well-being as possible for working 

 people in the towns and in the country. 



Therefore side by side with the services of which we have briefly spo- 

 ken, and which are peculiar to savings banks, there are forms of activity 

 which in a measure enter into the same sphere and which complete these 

 services b}- rendering it possible for the humbler classes of society to uti- 

 lize more rapidly and more profitably the fruits of their economv and their 

 thiift. 



The first initiative of this kind dates from 1909 and consisted in the 

 building of hygienic and cheap houses for depositors in the Savings Bank 

 of Santiago. This bank bought lots of land in various workmen's quar- 

 ters in Santiago and began to build houses on a general plan, making- 

 allowance for the especial needs of each quarter. When the building was 

 completed the bank proceeded to sell the houses to its depositors on the 

 following terms : a cash pa^mient of 23 per cent, of the \-alue of the house 

 at the time of entry into possession, and the payment of the balance — 

 namely 75 per cent. — in monthly instalments usually spread over fifteen 

 years and secured by a mortgage on the house. 



In 1911 and 1912 eighty-eight cottages were thus built on four lots 

 of land in the Huemul quarter : the}^ represented a value of 1,106,000 pe- 

 sos and were sold by the savings bank to its depositors. The results ob- 

 tained in the Huemul quaiirer decided the council to continue this work, 

 undertaking new building in the Nuiioa, Providencia, Arenida and Paz 

 quarters. 



For the group of dwellings constructed in the Huemul quarter the 

 formation has recently been begun of an institution of public benefit which 

 — according to the plan we have been able to inspect — will comprise a 

 maternity home, a milk depot, a children's hospital, a children's home, a 

 model conveniillo (i), etc. This will certainly render valuable service to' 

 the many working-class families of tlie neighbourhood. 



Another measure belonging to the same category was applied in 1909 

 In that year the administrative council decided to open a special branch of 

 the Savings Bank of Santiago which should facilitate the purchase of land 

 b}' its depositors. Special rules for the business of this section provide 

 that when a depositor wishes to acquire a property he nuist appear before 

 the administrative body of the bank and specify the terms on which an 

 estate is offered to him. The bank then studies antecedents, examines 

 titles, has the property valued, and buys it — paying the whole price in 

 cash — if it deem the transaction to be to the advantage of the depositor. 

 It then resells the propert}^ to him, he paying only a small sum in cash 

 and the rest in monthly instalments which are graduated to cover a sufti- 



(i) The conventiUos are agglomerations of many small dwellings, usually more or less in- 

 sanitary and uncomfortable, which are inhabited by the employees of farms. 



