A Social Study of the Russian German 25 
them very popular in the more restricted area of the north side. 
It is a tribute to the Russian German population that, without 
the guidance of housing laws, they have built the sort of dwelling 
which now so largely exists in their settlements. Happily, their 
tendency to homeownership has freed them from the landlord 
who, desiring to get the most revenue out of his investments, 
crowds many families under one roof and creates our tene- 
ment problem. With their settlements located on the edge of the 
city, they have been able to expand countrywards ; and instead of 
adapting themselves to discarded buildings such as immigrants in 
the cities must crowd into, each family has built for itself a house 
to suit its own simple needs. Although they have paid for in- 
ferior vacant lots prices far beyond their value, the communities 
have suffered less from this exploitation of real estate agents 
than they would have suffered had they subjected themselves to 
landlordism.’® It is a matter of deep regret that the most un- 
sanitary and overcrowded houses in the settlements are the few 
cwned and rented by Lincoln capitalists. 
The desire of the Russian German for homeownership is a 
practically universal characteristic and accounts largely for the 
generally good housing conditions among them. It gives them a 
definite purpose in economizing; it encourages them in caring 
for property, keeping it repaired, and making permanent improve- 
ments; and it protects the family life by preserving its privacy, 
individuality, and pride. The extent to which the Russian Ger- 
mans own their homes, either free or mortgaged, appears from 
the following table: 
19 The early history of the settlements in Lincoln favored this indi- 
vidual initiative. Many acres of land adjoining the settlements in pioneer 
days belonged to the state or to the railway companies, and the immigrants 
who came during the hard times of the nineties, when there was little sale 
or use for such land, “squatted ” on it and, undisturbed by the owners, put 
up small houses in which they lived until they were able to buy a lot and 
build again. In one corner of the north settlement even an unused street 
was preempted and until quite recently several small houses occupied the 
middle of it. 
Tesp0 
