Executive Order  No. 18: Loans by financial institutions to Armed Forces Personnel

WHEREAS, the Congress of the United States has determined that certain persons who serve in the armed forces shall be entitled to the benefits of the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, as amended by Public Law 550, 82nd Congress, Chapter 875, cited as the "Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1952", effective July 16, 1952; and

WHEREAS, under the provisions of Title III of said act, subject to certain restrictions the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs may issue guarantees to lending institutions, when such institutions grant mortgages to veterans eligible to participate thereunder, for the purchase or construction of homes, the purchase of farms and farm equipment, and the purchase of businesses or business property; and

WHEREAS, the statutes of the Commonwealth governing the investments of trust companies, banking companies, co-operative banks, credit unions, savings banks and insurance companies, contain no authority to make loans under the provisions of said Title III to veterans of the armed forces who entered service on or after June 27, 1950;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Paul A. Dever, Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts acting under the provisions of the Acts of 1950, Chapter 639 and all other authority vested in me do hereby issue this order as a necessary and expedient measure to meet the existing state of emergency.

1. Trust companies, banking companies, co-operative banks, credit unions, savings banks and insurance companies, doing business in this Commonwealth, are hereby empowered to make loans and advances of credit to those persons determined to be eligible therefor in accordance with the provisions of Title III of the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, as amended by Public Law 550 - 82d Congress, Chapter 875, cited as the "Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1952" and any presidential proclamations or concurrent resolutions of the Congress and other amendments thereto, and in accordance with the rules and regulations made thereunder, and in accordance with such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the Commissioner of Banks or by the Commissioner of Insurance as they are hereinafter empowered.

2. The Commissioner of Banks is hereby authorized and empowered to promulgate such rules and regulations with respect to trust companies, banking companies, co-operative banks, credit unions and savings banks, as he may deem necessary or expedient to effectuate the provisions of this order.

3. The Commissioner of Insurance is hereby authorized and empowered to promulgate such rules and regulations with respect to insurance companies as he may deem necessary or expedient to effectuate the provisions of this order.

4. Nothing contained in General Laws (Ter. Ed.) Chapters 167, 168, 170, 171, 172, 172A or 175, as amended, shall be deemed to prohibit or limit in any way the authority granted by this order. Minor veterans and their spouses otherwise eligible shall be entitled to all rights and privileges of this Executive Order in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 598 of the Acts of 1952.

5. Nothing contained in this order shall be deemed to abridge any power or authority conferred upon the Commissioner of Banks or the Commissioner of Insurance by any other provision of law.

GIVEN at the Executive Chamber in Boston, this twenty-third day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and fifty-two, and of the Independence of the United States of America, the one hundred and seventy-seventh.

By His Excellency the Governor, Paul A. Dever

Edward J. Cronin
Secretary of the Commonwealth