The present condition of Polish building and loan associations is in all respects satisfactory. The present war has had no ill effects; in fact, building and loan associations throughout the United States have reported an increase in membership.

Our Polish building and loan associations deserve special recognition and support, for they have helped hundreds of people to raise their standard of living. There has been much co-operation, much time has been spent, and a great many difficulties have been overcome in persuading our countrymen to withdraw their savings from institutions other than Polish and hostile to them. A great deal of effort has been expended in convincing our people that Polish building and loan associations are able to conduct their affairs honestly and with profit to their members. Today it can be seen that our efforts have not been in vain, for they are already showing ample results.

The war has had no ill effects on this business. In fact, the present critical 2times encourage people to greater savings and our associations are gaining more and more members. But in order that our organization should continue its development, it is necessary that every Polish building and loan association become a member of our League, so that we can all work together. The field before us is still a large one, for there are still many of our countrymen who belong to associations other than Polish. They cannot say that those associations are giving them greater profits; in fact, their profits are smaller than those they would realize in our associations. Co-operation is indispensible to our organization; our gathering of representatives of building and loan associations is a fundamental necessity to our business interests. If we did not have our organization, we would not be able to exist. The state League has now been in existence for more than thirty-eight years. In its first beginnings, Polish building and loan associations were small--they had just begun to organize. There was no basic law concerning building and loan associations then. Permission to conduct a business of this sort was granted by the judges of the Superior Court. After a large number of associations, organized by unscrupulous Jews, had arisen, these Jews began to close out, cheating the people.

3

Honest financial institutions, seeing that this was harming them, presented a bill in the State Legislature in 1887 making building and loan associations illegal. At this time, the State League [of Polish Building and Loan Associations] sent a delegation to Springfield to prevent the passage of this bill. The bill was defeated.

In 1891, the State League presented a bill in the legislature providing for a state examiner for building and loan associations. The bill did not become law until 1893. All of the older residents remember how in 1903 and in the following few years a plague entered Chicago from St. Louis, Missouri. The company was incorporated in the state of Missouri, operating in Chicago, collecting money from house to house. The agents claimed to be members of our association. They promised mountains of gold, changing their company's name again and again. It seems that the last name used was "Teutonic." They had already cheated the people out of a large sum of money and would have continued their operations if it had not been for our State League, which saw to it that the State Auditor closed the corporation.

4

Every citizen of this country knows that he must give an account of all income over a thousand dollars, and if he is single that he must pay an income tax on such earnings. In the same way, financial institutions must pay a tax to the Government. Only building and loan associations are exempt from this tax, for they are recognized as benefit societies. Our State and National League is to be thanked for this exemption, for it is through the efforts of its representatives that the exemption was effected.

Our League of Polish Building and Loan Associations is always on guard over our rights. There should be no Polish building and loan association that is not affiliated with it, and there ought to be no Pole belonging to any but Polish associations. Every Pole should be a member of a Polish building and loan association; then our work would bring real results and would serve not only to promote prosperity among the American Poles but would serve as a foundation for prosperity in our newly risen [post-war] Poland.

Albert Wachowski, 3032 West 22nd Street

5

The following is a list of Associations Affiliated with the League of Polish Building and Loan Associations of [Chicago] Illinois for the Year 1918

Albert Wachowski Loan Association; Albert Wachowski, secretary.

Casimir Pulaski Loan Association of the 10th Ward; John Grzegorzewski, secretary.

The 15th Ward Loan Association; Walter Armknecht, secretary.

King Jagiello Loan Association; John Smorowski, secretary.

All Saints' Loan Association; F. Nowak, secretary.

Polonia Building and Loan Association; John Drzewicki, secretary.

Polish-Slavonic Loan Association; S. Szafranowski, secretary.

6

St. Joseph Loan Association; T. Krolik, secretary.

Eagle Loan Association; J. Ruszkiewicz, secretary.

Sobieski Building and Loan Association; Chester A. Kiepura, secretary.

St. Hyacinth Loan Association; L. Pokornowski, secretary.

White Eagle Loan Association; A. J. Wlodarski, secretary.

Pulaski Loan Association; A. Barwik, secretary.

St. Hedwig Loan Association; V. Slusarczyk, secretary.

August Kordecki Loan Association; C. A. Kiepura, secretary.

Avondale Loan Association; F. Fijalkowski, secretary.

7

The Reverend Gordon Loan Association; J. P. Mallek, secretary.

The 16th Ward Loan Association; M. Majewski, secretary.

Krakow Loan Association; F. Majka, secretary.

Rock of Poland Loan Association; F. Wlodarski, secretary.

King Casimir III Loan Association; A. J. Wlodarski, secretary.

Chopin Loan Association; A. R. Tysiak, secretary.

King Jagiello Loan Association; S. Bystrzanowski, secretary.

Polish-National-American Loan Association; Michael Drankiewicz, secretary,

St. Francis Loan Association; A. Raczynski, secretary.

8

St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr Loan Association; Alexander Raczynski, secretary.

St. John Cantius Loan Association; Martin Pociask, secretary.

Polish Workingmen's Loan Association; A. Tysiak, secretary.

Boleslaus the Great Loan Association; W. Maniszewski, secretary.

Polish Crown Loan Association; Paul Czemski, secretary.

Zgoda Loan Association; A. Kaliczak, secretary.

Poniatowski Loan Association; S. Mikolajczak, secretary.

St. Helen Loan Society; J. F. Ruszkiewicz, secretary.

Henryk Sienkiewicz Loan Association; Albert Bona, secretary.

9

Polish Citizens' Loan Association; A. Kayczek, secretary.

Polish Union Loan Association; F. Kaliszewski, secretary.

King Sigmund Loan Association; N. Brzezinski, secretary.

St. Wenceslaus Loan Association; S. Tucholski, secretary.

Lake View Loan Association; S. Izdebski, secretary.

St. Anne Loan Association; S. Tyrakowski, secretary.

Pioneer Loan Association; F. J. Wlodarski, secretary.

Paderewski Loan Association; S. Bogdanski, secretary.