/I
o ^o
i
INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF AGRICULTURE
Bureau of Economic and Sociai, Intei,i,igence ,
-LIBRARY
^-ICW YORK
carden
MONTHLY BULLETIN
OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL
INTELLIGENCE 4^ » » -^ * ^
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1914
* * * ROJIE : PRINTING OFFICE OF THE INSTITUTE, J915 * * *
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Umherxo Ricci. — Les Bases th6oriques de la Statistique Agricole In-
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INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF AGRICULTURE
Bureau of Economic and Sociai, Intei^wgence
ubrary
^EW YORK
BOTANl'JAJ.
CAR»HN
MONTHLY BULLETIN
OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL
INTELLIGENCE «
« -5
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1914
* * * ROME: printing office of the institute, 1915 # * *
l^iiS^
c"
li^f
THE INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF AGRIGUIyTURE.
The International Institute of Agriculture was established under the
International Treaty of June 7th, 1905, which was ratified by 40 Govern-
ments. Fifteen other Governments have since adhered to the Institute.
It is a Government Institution in which each Country is represented
by delegates. The Institute is composed of a General Assembly and a
Permanent Committee.
The Institute, confining its operations within an international sphere,
shall: '
[a) Collect, study, and publish as promptly as possible, statistical,
technical, or economic information concerning farming, vegetable and ani-
mal products, the commerce in agricultural products, and the prices pre-
vailing in the various markets.
(6) Communicate to parties interested, also as promptly as possible,
the above information.
(c) Indicate the wages paid for farm work.
{d) Make known new diseases of plants which may appear in
any part of the world, showing the territories infected, the progress of the
diseases, and, if possible, the remedies which are effective.
(e) Study questions concerning agricultural co-operation, insur-
ance and credit in all their aspects ; collect and publish information which
might be useful in the various countries for the organisation of work con-
nected with agricultural co-operation, insurance and credit.
(/) Submit to the approval of the Governments, if there is occasion
for it, measures for the protection of the common interests of farmers and
for the improvement of their condition, after having utilized all the
necessary sources of information, such as the wishes expressed by inter-
national or other agricultural congresses, or by congresses of sciences applied
to agriculture or agricultural societies, academies, learned bodies, etc..
Permanent Committee
OF THE International Institute of Agriculture
President : Marquis Raffaele Cappelli, Delegate of Italy.
Vice-President : M. Louis-Dop, Delegate of Prance.
List 0/ the Delegates of the Permanent Committee:
Germany
Argentine Republic.
Austria
Hungary
Belgium
Brazil
Bulgaria
Chile
China
Columbia
Costa-Rica
Cuba
Denmark
Ottoman Empire
Egypt
Ecuador
Spain
United States
Abyssinia
France
Algeria
Morocco
Tunis
Gt. Britain & Ireland
Australia
Canada
British India
New Zealand
Mauritius
Union of South Africa
Greece
Guatemala
Italy
Eritrea & It. Somal.
Tripoli and Cirenaica
Japan
Luxemburg
Mexico
Montenegro
Nicaragua
Norway
Paraguay
Netherlands
Dutch East Indies . . .
Peru
Persia
Portugal
Roumania
Russia
Salvador
San Marino
Servia
Sweden
Switzerland
Uruguay
I
• I
I
I
IV
I
III
I
I
V
V
IV
I
II
V
I
I
V
I
V
V
V
I
IV
II
II
IV
V
IV
IV
V
I
IV
IV
I
V
III
V
V
IV
V
IV
IV
V
IV
IV
I
I
V
V
III
IV
IV
V
Dr. T. Mueller, Privy Councillor.
Dr. OCTAVio Pineiro Sorondo.
Cliev. V. de Pozzi, Government Councillor.
E. DE Mikl6s, Secr. of State, Member of House of Magnates.
O. Bolle.
Antonino Flalho, Ex-Deputy.
D. RIZOFF, Minister Plenipotentiary.
S. Aldunate, Minister Plenipotentiary.
M. OUETZEKING, Secretary to the Legation of China.
M. A. Martin Rivero, Minister Plenipotentiary.
A. DE Oldenburg, Charge d'affaires.
Dr. Mehmed Djemil Bey.
B. CfnMiRRi, Senator, Delegate of Eritrea.
Enrique Rodriguez de Celis, Agricultural Engineer.
David Lubdj.
Prof. G. CuBONi, Director, Station of Plant Pathology, Rome
Louis-Dop, Vice-president of the Institute.
Louis-Dop.
Louis-Dop.
Louis-Dop.
Sii James Wilson, K. C. S. I.
Sir James Wilson, K. C. S. I.
Sir James Wilson, K. C. S. I.
Sir Edward Buck, K. C. S. I.
Sir James Wilson, K. C. S. I.
Sir James Wilson, K. C. S. I.
Sir James Wilson, K. C. S. I.
M. COROMiLAS, Minister Plenipotentiary.
G. MONTEFIORE, Consul General for Guatemala.
Marquis R. Cappelli, Deputy, President of the Institute.
B. Chimirri, Senator.
B. Chimirri.
Baron Otori, Attache to the Embassy.
O. Bolle, Delegate of Belgium.
G. A. ESTEVA, Minister Plenipotentiary.
G. VoLPi, Minister Plenipotentiary.
V. E. BiANcm, Consul General.
Dr. A. FjELSTAD, Counsellor to the Agricultural Department.
Prof. Orazio Comes, Director Portici Agr. College.
Baron W. B. R. de Welderen Rengers, Minister Plenip
Baron W. B. R. de Welderen Rengers.
Louis-Dop, Delegate of France.
A. DEL Gallo, Marquis of Roccagiovine.
EusEBlO Leao, Minister Plenipotentiary.
Demetrius C. Pennesco, Counsellor to the Legation.
His Excell. G. Zabiello, Consul Geneial for Russia.
A. BlANCHi Cagliesi, Vice-Consul.
His Excell. L- Luzzatti, Minister of State.
C. ScoTTi, Consul General for Servia.
Baron C. N. D. de Bildt, Minister Plenipotentiary.
M. DE Planta, Minister Plenipotentiary.
Dr. E. RoviRA, Vice-Consul.
Prof. Giovanni Lobenzoni, General .Secretary.
BXPIvANATORY NOTE
1. The present Table of Contents refers to the twelve numbers of the Bul-
letin cf Social and Economic Intelligence published from January to De-
cember, 1914, and includes, therefore, all the articles and notes dealing with
Co-operation, Insurance, Credit and Agricultural Economy in General con-
tained in these volumes.
2. The articles and notes relating to Co-operation have been grouped
m 25 classes ; those dealing with Insurance are divided into 12 classes ; those
which deal with Credit into 8 classes ; and those which treat of Agricultural
Economy in General into 19. A complete list of these classes precedes the
Table. In our classification we have followed the rule of single entry and
placed under only one heading those articles and notes which, from the nattire
of the subject treated, might appear in more than one group.
As it is not in every case clear why an article or note has been assigned
to one group rather than to another, the reader must be prepared to refer to the
several analogous groups in any one of which a particular article or note might
appear. A dairymen's co-operative society, for example, may have as its
object the protection of the general economic interests of dairy farmers as a
class, or simply the improvement of the methods of production, transport, and
sale, or again, the purchase and collective use of animals of the special dairy
type. An article relating to such a society might appear under various head-
ings, according as it deals more particularly with one or other of these objects.
3. In each group the articles and notes have been sub-divided by countries,
following the aphabetical order as established in the arrangement of articles
in the French edition of the Bulletin of Economic and Social Intelligence :
(Allemagne, Argentine, Autriche, etc.). For each country the articles are
arranged in the chronological order in which they were published. We have
added a table giving the classification by countries.
I. _ CONTENTS BY SUBJECTS
CLASSIFIED IvIST* OF SUBJECTS
I. — Co-operation and Association.
I. Generai, Studies.
II. Generai. Statistics.
III. Legisi<ation.
IV. Intervention of the State and of Pubi^ic Authorities.
V. Federations of Agricui^turai, Co-operative Societies.
VI. Centrai, Institutions of Agricui^turai. Co-operative Societies.
VII. Co-operative Credit Societies.
VIII. Co-operative Societies for Purchase and for Purchase and
SAI.E.
IX. Co-operative Productr^e Societies.
X. Co-operative Societies for Production and Sai,e or for Sai,e.
XI. Co-operative Dairies.
XII. Wine Societies.
XIII. Coi,i.ECTn^E Farms.
XIV. MiscEi/tANEous Co-operative Societies.
XV. SEMI-OFFICIAIv AGRICUI.TURAI, CORPORATIONS.
XVI. Associations for the Protection of the Generai, Interests
OF Farmers.
XVII. Associations to Further the Technicai, Progress of Agricui^ture.
XVIII. Other Agricuwurai, Associations.
XIX. Education in Co-operation.
XX. Miscei,i.aneous Information Rei,ating to Co-operation.
XXI. Congresses concerning Co-operation or Association.
XXII. Non-agricui,turaIv Co-operative Societies or Associations.
XXIII. MiscEi,i,ANEous Information Rei.ating to Co-operation and
Association in general..
XXIV. Bibi^iography.
XXV. Notices of Pubucations.
II. — insurance.
I. Generai, Studies.
II. Intervention of the State.
III. Government Reports.
IV. Haii< Insurance.
V. Livestock Insurance.
VI. iNSUliANCE AGAINST AGRICUI,TURAI, ACCIDENTS.
VII. Sickness Insurance.
\t:ii. Disabi^ement and Old Age Insurance.
IX. Other Branches of Sociai, Insurance.
X. M1SCE1.1.ANEOUS Information.
XI. Bibi<iography.
XII. Notices of Pubi^ications.
III. — Credit.
I. Generai, Studies on Non-Co-operative Credit and the Indebt-
edness OP Landed Property.
II. Intervention of the State.
III. Land Credit.
IV. Agricui,turai, Credit.
V. Savings Banks as Credit Institutes.
VI. MiscEi,i<ANEOus Information.
VII. Bibwography.
VIII. Notices of Pubucations.
IV. — Miscellaneous.
I. General, Studies.
II. Agricui,ture and the Fiscai, System.
III. The State as Landowner.
IV. Distribution of Land.
V. Various Forms of Land Tenure.
VI. Agrarian Reform.
VII. Maintenance op Smai.1, Holdings and Homesteads.
VIII. Home Coi^onisation.
IX. Trade and Transport of Agricui^turai, Produce and Farm Re-
QxnsiTEs : Agricui,turai, Industries.
X. RURAI, KXODUS.
XI. Measures for the Improvement of the Conditions of Country
Life. Cheap Dwei<i,ing Houses. Industries Auxiliary to
Agricultueie.
XII. Agricultltiai, Education (from the Social Point of View).
XIII. Agricultural Labour.
XIV. Land Valuation.
XV. State Intervention in Favolti of Agriculture.
XVI. Supply of Agricultural Produce and High Cost of Living.
XVII. Miscellaneous Information.
XVIII. Bibliography.
XIX. Notices of Publications.
I.
CO-OPBRATION AND ASSOCIATION
I.
GENERAT. STUDIES.
Number Page
Argentina.
Co-operative Movement in the Province of Kntre Rios .... 4 5-5
Austria.
1. The Regional Organization of Agricultural Co-operative
Societies, by Dr. Otto Neudorfer, Senior Secretary
to the General Federation of Austrian Agricultural
Co-operative Societies, Vienna :
VI. Co-operation in the Austrian Part of Friuli .... i 4-10
VII. Agricultural Co-operation in Dalmatia 7 1-9
2. The District of Trent, a model Co-operative District ... 3 15-32
4 6-27
3. Agricultural Co-operation in Austria during the First Five
Months of War 12 1-7
BEI.GIUM.
The Co-operative Societies in 191 3 8 10-12
Egypt.
Beginnings of the Co-operative Movement in Agriculture ... 3 36-47
United States.
The Co-operative Movement in Wisconsin 2 10-20
Russia.
Co-operation in Russia, by S. de Borodaevsky, Assistant Man-
ager at the Department of Commerce and Industry,
Petrograd i 22-26
14 —
Number Page
Union of South Africa.
Agricultural Co-operation in South Africa, by A. E. Marks, De-
partment of Agriculture, Pretoria 9 17-37
II.
GENERAL STATISTICS.
Austria.
Registered Co-operative Societies and Federations on January
ist., 1913 6 6-8
BEI,GIU]M.
New Oflficial Statistics of the Agriculttural Associations in Bel-
gium 5 11-18
ITAI,Y.
1. The Number of Agricviltural Co-operative and Mutual Soci-
eties in Italy 2 33-35
2. Enquiry into the Statistics of the Co-operative Movement in
Italy 5 43-43
3. The List of Co-operative and Mutual Agricultural Societies
in Italy 9 14-15
III.
LEGISLATION.
Canada.
Co-operative I/Cgislation in Canada, by T. K. Doherty, Com-
missioner for Canada of the International Institute of
Agriculture 12 8-13
vSpain.
Two Royal Orders of Importance for the Agricultural Syndic-
ates 10 22-25
Numbef Page
United vStates.
1. A Bill for the Establishment of a Co-operative Land Bank
in the State of New York 2 22-22
2. A Bill to Estabhsh a National System of Rural Banks ... 2 23-24
ITAI.Y.
1. Legislative Provisions in behalf of Consortiums for the De-
fence of Viticulture 2 32-32
2. Legislative Provisions in regard to the Constitution of Con-
sortiums of Proprietors for Defence against Plant Dis-
eases 2 32-33
PORTUGAI,.
1. Bill for the Foundation of People's Banks 8 38-39
2. A Bin on Professional Associations 8 39-40
IV.
INTERVENTION OF THE STATE AND OF THE PUBLIC
AUTHORITIES.
Gerjmany.
State Aid to Agricultural Co-operation in the Grand Duchy of
Hesse 2 1-2
United States.
The Rural Organization Service of the Department of Agricul-
ture 8 24-26
Russia.
1. Material Support afforded by the Russian Government to the
Popular Credit Institutions 8 44-46
2. Federations of Co-operative Credit Societies in Russia in 1913 1 1 40-55
V.
FEDERATIONS OF AGRICULTURAL CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES.
Germany.
I. Reforms of the Rules of the Central Federation of German
Agricultural Co-operative Societies 2 2-5
— i6
Number Page
2. Constitution of a Prussian Federation of Farmwomen's As-
sociations 5 8-9
3. National Federation of German Agricultural Co-operative
Societies 5 10-10
4. The Raiffeisen Organization at the End ofigis 5 10-10
Spain.
Meeting of the Catholic Agricultural Federations of Leon and
Castile 11 1-2
iTAIvY.
1. The New Federation and the Federal Bank of Co-operative
Credit Societies at Milan 2 29-31
2. Some Statistics of the Catholic Co-operative Federations. . 5 38-41
3. The " Federazione delle cooj^erative e mutue agrarie della
Sardegna ". . . 5 41-41
4. Work of the " Federazione itaUana dei consorzi agrari ". . 5 42-42
5. The Development of the ' Federazione delle Cooperative di
credito " of Girgenti 5 42-43
VI.
CENTRAL INSTITUTIONS OF AGRICULTURAL CO-OPERATIVE
SOCIETIES.
ITAI^Y.
1. The Constitution of a Central Bank for the District of
Brescia 2 35-36
2. The Cheque Service of the Federal Bank of the Co-operative
Credit Societies of Milan 9 13-14
Russia.
Union of Siberian Dairy Artells 8 41-43
VII.
CO-OPERATIVE CREDIT SOCIETIES.
British India.
I. Co-operative Credit in India in 1911 -191 2 5 19-36
7 10-24
— 17 —
Number Page
2. Co-operative Credit in India in 1 9 12 -19 1 3 10 1-21
United States.
1. Credit Unions in Massachusetts in 1913 8 19-21
2. Co-operative Mortgage Banks in Wisconsin 8 23-24
France.
Work of the Mutual Agricultural Credit Banks in 1912 .... 2 25-28
ITAI,Y.
1. Rural Banks and Agricultural Co-operative Credit Societies
of Collective Title in Italy at the End of 191 3 . ... 5 37-37
2. The Rural and People's Banks of the Province of Bologna . 9 15-16
Japan.
Rural Banks and Loans on Honour in Japan 10 26-45
II 23-39
Russia.
1. Development of Co-operative Credit Societies in Russia
on January ist., 1914 8 47-48
2. Mutual Credit Societies in Russia on January ist., 1914 . . 12 18-23
Uruguay.
Foundation of the First Rural Bank i 2-2
VIII.
CO-OPERATIVK SOCIBTIBS FOR PURCHASE AND FOR PURCHASE
AND SALE.
Argentina.
The Work of an Important Argentine Agricultmal Co-operative
Society 6 2-3
ITAI,Y.
Prize Competitions among the National Agricultvural Co-oper-
ative Purchase Societies and the Societies of Manu-
facturers of Citrus Produce and the Trade in the same 5 43-44
i8 —
Number Page
IX.
CO-OPERATIVE PRODUCTIVE SOCIETIES.
Germany.
Supply of Electric Power for Country Districts by Co-operative
Organizations, by Dr. Grabein, Berlin 3 1-14
Argentina.
Cow Testing Associations 4 1-4
X.
CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES FOR PRODUCTION AND SALE OP FOR
SALE.
Argentina.
1. A Co-operative Society for the Sale of Fruit 4 4-4
2. Co-operative Nurseries for Fruit Trees 4 4-5
Canada.
The Saskatchewan Co-operative Elevator Company, by j\Ir. T.
K. Doherty 6 9-12
United States.
The Califomia Fruit Growers' Exchange 2 21-22
France.
Rural Co-operative Bakehouses 6 20-32
Japan.
Collective Sale of Cereals , 6 33-46
XI.
CO-OPERATIVE DAIRIES.
France.
Co-operative Dairies and the Milk Supply of Paris 7 37-37
— 19 —
Number Page
XII.
WINK SOCIETIES.
Germajsty.
1. The Advisability of the Co-operative Viticultural Societies
(Winzergenossenschaften) Selling their Wine by Auction 2 5-6
2. Business Experiences of the Wine Growers' Co-operative
Societies 9 i-io
France.
Cooperation in French Viticulture 7 25-37
Hungary.
Hungarian Wine Societies, by Dr. J. Drucker, Manager of the
National Association of Hungarian Viticulturists . . 8 27-37
XIII.
COI^LECTIVE FARMS.
ROUMANIA.
Collective Farms and Co-operative Credit Societies 7 38-46
Servia.
Servian Household Communities (Zadrugas) i 27-31
XIV.
MISCEIvIyANEOUS CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES.
Itai,y.
The Co-operative I^abour Societies and the Public Contracts
Undertaken by them 11 8-21
XV.
SEMI-OFFICIAL AGRICUIyTURAL CORPORATIONS.
Germany.
Discussions and Decisions of Agricultural Corporations and
Associations 5 1-6
20
Number Page
Spain.
Foundation of the Agricultural Chamber of Infantes ii 5-7
Italy.
The Reorganization of the Superior Board of Agriculture . . . 9 11 -11
XVI.
ASSOCIATIONS FOR THE PROTFCTION OF THE GENERAI, INTERESTS
OF FARMERS.
Spain.
The Work of Certain Catholic Agricultural Associations inigia- 11 5-7
United States.
The National Grange and the Question of Credit for Farmers . 8 22-23
France.
The Doubs Agricultural Associations House 6 106-106
ITAI,Y.
Agricultural Associations for Employers and the Economic In-
stitutions Promoted by them 4 28-36
Mexico.
Association of the Chambers of Commerce and Agriculture . . i 1-2
XVII.
ASSOCIATIONS TO FURTHER THE TECHNICAL PROGRESS
OF AGRICULTURE.
Germany.
Constitution of the Society for tlie Encouragement of the Cul-
tivation and Utilisation of Potatoes 5 6-8
Argentina.
A National Association for the Extension of the Dairy Industry 6 1-5
Number Page
Spain.
Villarreal Farmers' Cortimunity, a Typical Example of Farmers'
Communities 8 13-18
Uruguay.
Uruguay Farmers' and Horticulturists' Association i 3-3
XVIII.
OTHER AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATIONS.
Argentina.
Work of the Argentine Forestry Society 4 i-i
Bei<Gium.
The Illrd. Congress of Farmwomen's Clubs at Ghent .... 3 33-36
Canada.
1. Country School Clubs 6 12-17
2. Recent Work of the Women's Institutes 6 17-19
XIX.
EDUCATION IN CO-OPERATION.
Itai^y.
The Second Course of Lessons in Co-operation and Agricul-
tvual Mutuality 9 iO-i6
XX.
ROSCELLANEOUS INFORMATION RELATING TO CO-OPERATION.
Argentina.
Co-operation and Home Colonisation 6 3-5
22 —
Number Page
XXI.
CONGRESSES CONCERNING CO-OPERATION OR ASSOCIATION.
Germany.
Congresses of German Co-operative Societies ini9i4 5 9-10
Argentina.
A Congress of Agricultural Co-operative Societies 6 3-3
XXII.
NON-AGRICULTURAL CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES OR ASSOCIATIONS.
Bei^gium
Professional Unions in Belgium 8 1-9
Denmark.
1. Recent Progress of the Co-operative Distributive Associ-
ations 2 7-9
2. Recent Progress of Co-operative Distributive Societies. . . 12 14-17
XXIII.
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION RELATING TO CO-OPERATION
AND ASSOCIATION IN GENERAL.
BEi<GroM.
The Legal Regime of the Commercial Societies and the Law of
May 25th., 1913 I 11-21
ITAXY. •
1. Results of Prize Competitions among the Co-operative
Societies 9 12-13
2. Luigi Buffoh 11 21-22
23
XXIV
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
Germany
4.
37-42 ;
5.
45-45-
Argentina
4.
43-43 ;
5.
45-45-
Austria
4.
43-43 ;
5.
46-46.
BEI.GIUM
3.
36-36.
Canada
4.
46-46 ;
5.
47-47-
Chii^e
4.
43-43-
Denmark
4.
44-44 '
5.
46-46.
British India
4-
46-47 ;
5.
47-47-
Spain
4.
44-44 ."
5.
46-46.
United States
4,
44-44 ;
5.
46-46.
France
4.
45-45-
Great Britain and
IREI.AND
4.
45-46 ;
5,
47-47-
ITAI,Y
4.
47-48 ;
5.
48-48.
Japan
4.
48-48.
Norway
4.
49-49.
HOI,I.AND
5.
48-48.
ROUMANIA
4.
49-49 ;
5.
48-48.
Russia
4.
49-50-
Sweden
4.
50-50-
SWITZERI^AND
4.
50-50
5.
48-48.
Various Countries
4.
37-37-
Generai,
4.
37-37 ;
5.
45-45'
Internationai.
4.
37-37-
XXV.
NOTICES OF PUBLICATIONS.
Germany 8, 49-50 ;
Bei^gium 8, 50-50 ;
Canada ii, 57-57 ;
British India 8, 52-52.
United States ii, 57-58.
Great Britain and
IreI/ANd 8, 50-52 ;
ITAXY 9, 42-42 ;
Norway 12, 25-25.
Russia ii, 58-60.
Sweden 9, 42-44.
Various Countries 9, 38-39.
Generai, II, 56-57 ;
9.
9.
12,
9,
10,
39-40 ;
40-40.
24-25.
41-42
48-48
10, 46-47.
10,
II,
47-47-
58-58.
12, 24-24.
II.
INSURANCE AND THRIFT
I.
GENERAL STUDIES.
Number Page
SWITZERI<AND.
Development of Agriciiltural Instirance in Recent Years, by
Dr. G. Rocca 12 27-56
II.
INTERVENTION OF THE STATE.
ITAI,Y.
The Constitution of Three Regional Oflfices of Agricultural
MutuaUty 7 5.5-55
III.
GOVERNMENT REPORTS.
Argentina.
An Enquiry into the Mutual System and the New Bill on
Mutual Aid Societies 5 49-51
— 25 - -
Numter Page
IV.
HAIL INSURANCE.
Germany.
The Bavarian Hail Insurance Institute, by Dr. Giuseppe Rocca 8 53-72
9 45-57
Argentina.
Hail Insurance in Argentina i 33*35
ITai,y.
Proposed I^aw on Hail Insurance 7 50-51
V.
LIVESTOCK INSURANCE.
Bei<gium.
Progress of Livestock Insurance in Belgium 6 47-5 ^
Great Britain and Irei^and.
Mutual Pig Insurance in England and Wales 10 49-60
Hungary.
Livestock Insurance in Hungary, by Dr. Ignaz Pajor, Budapest 10 61-70
ITAI^Y.
The First Autonomous Provincial Livestock Reinsurance In-
stitute 7 55-56
VI.
INSURANCE AGAINST AGRICULTURAL ACCIDENTS.
Bei^gium.
1. Agricultural Accident Insurance in Belgiimi, by M. E. Vlie-
bergh, Professor at the University of Louvain. ... 2 37-50
2. Mutual Agricultural Accident Insurance Societies 8 73-76
— 26
Number Page
Denmark.
Latest Results of the L,aw on Agricviltural Accident Insurance. 5 52-60
France.
Some Forms of Mutual Insmrance against Accidents in Agricul-
tural Labour 4 51*55
iTAIyY.
Insurance against Accidents in Agricultural Work, by Prof.
Prospero Ferrari 11 61-79
Hoi;i,AND.
Insurance of Agricultural Labourers by the Landbouw-On-
derUnge 3 48-62
VII.
SICKNESS insurance;.
Bei^gium.
Legally Constituted Mutual Aid Societies on December 31st.,
1913 8 76-78
VIII.
DISABLEMENT AND OLD AGE INSURANCE.
lTAi:,Y.
A Mutual Aid Society for the Orphans of Italian Farmers ... 7 54*55
IX.
OTHER BRANCHES OF SOCIAL INSURANCE. .
lTAi,y.
The Unemployment Fxmd, organized by the " Societa Umani-
taria" 7 5i-53
27 —
Number Page
X.
I^nSCBLLANBOUS INFORMATION.
Bulgaria.
The Insurance Department of the Central Bank of Bulgaria,
by Dr. Athanasius SabbefE, Manager of the Central
Co-operative Bank of Bulgaria i 36-40
France.
Itinerant Social Thrift Lectureship of Alpes Maritimes .... 7 47-49
ITAI,Y.
Official Enquiry into Savings in Italy in the Years 1911 and 1912 6 52-60
XI.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
Germany
4.
56-57 ;
5.
61-62.
Argentina
4.
57-57-
Austria
5,
62-62.
Belgium
5.
62-62.
BULG.IRIA
4.
57-57-
Canada
4.
58-58 ;
5.
63-63
Denmark
4.
57-57-
France
5.
62-62.
Great Britain and
Ireland
4.
58-58 ;
5.
63-63.
Italy
4.
58-59.
Norway
4.
59-59-
Holland
4.
59-59-
Portugal
5.
63-63.
Russia
4.
60-60 ;
5.
63-63.
Sweden
4.
60-60.
Switzerland
4.
60-60 ;
5.
64-64,
Various Countries
5.
61-61.
XII.
NOTICES OF PUBLICATIONS.
Germany
8.
79-80 ;
Canada
12,
56-57-
United States
II,
81-81 ;
Great Britain and
Ireland
9.
58-58.
Italy
8,
80-81 ;
Switzerland
9.
58-59.
II. 80-81.
12, 57-57.
II, 81-82.
Ill
CREDIT
I.
GENERAL STUDIES ON NON-CO-OPERATIVE CREDIT AND
THE INDEBTEDNESS OF I^ANDED PROPERTY.
Denmark.
Rural Mortgage Debt in Denmark 6 67-71
United States.
The Work of the Commission Appointed to Investigate Agri-
cultural Credit and Co-operation in European Count-
ries 5 80-89
Hungary.
Mortgage Statistics in Himgary 6 Si -86
Sweden.
The Mortgage Question in Sweden 4 85-87
II.
INTERVENTION OF THE STATE.
United States.
The Movement for Agricultural Credit in the United States . . 11 83-99
— 30 —
Number Page
III.
LAND CREDIT.
Germany.
1 . Recent Development of the Co-operative Institutes of Land
Credit for Rural Holdings 2 51-64
2. Consolidation of Landed Property {Besitzfestigung) in
Prussia by the Action of the State 8 83-95
Argentina.
The National Mortgage Bank : Working Year 1912, Increase
of Capital i 41-45
Chii,e.
Work done by the Mortgage Bank in 19 1 2 3 63-68
Denmark.
The Situation of the Danish Land Credit Association in 1913 . 2 65-68
France.
1. Credit for Purchase of Small Holdings 8 114-116
2. The " Credit Foncier de France ". Organization and Work 11 100-109
Hungary. •
The Principal Land Credit Institutes in Hungary 4 61-71
iTAIvY.
1. Work of the Land Credit Institutes in 1 91 2 i 62-66
2. The Work of the Land Credit Institutes in 1 91 3 12 59-63
Russia.
The Nobles' Government Land Bank 9 77-100
Union of South Africa.
The Land and Agricultural Bank of South Africa 16 78-87
Uruguay.
The Mortgage Bank of Uruguay and its Work. 12 64-71
— 31 —
Number Page
IV.
ACRICULTUEAL CRBDIT.
Spain.
The Work of the Agrictiltural Credit InstitutLons in Spain :
I. The " Positos " 6 72-80
France.
1. Agricviltural Produce Warrants 2 69-72
2. Agricultural Credit in the French Colonies, by M. Louis
Tardy, Assistant Delegate to the Agricultural Service
of the Musee Social 8 101-113
3. Agricviltural Credit and Deposits 8 113-114
ITAJCY.
1. The Part Played by the Monte dei Paschi in History and in
the Organization of Credit, by Prof. Dr. FiUppo Virgi-
Ui, Professor at the Royal University of Siena .... i 46-61
2. Work of the Special Agricultural Credit Institutes in 191 3 . 10 71-77
PORTUGAJ;.
Warrants in Portugal and the New Regulations with Regard
to them 2 73-78
ROUMANIA.
People's Banks 2 79-81
Russia.
1. Popvilar Credit in Russia, by M. N. Scheremeteff, In-
spector of Popular Credit, Moscow 2 82-86
2. Loans granted by the State Bank on Security of Grain and
the Estabhshment of Grain Klevators in Russia ... 3 85-94
V.
SAVINGS BANKS AS CREDIT INSTITUTES.
Austria.
1. The Austrian Postal Sa\'ings Bank 5 65-79
2. Savings Bank Statistics in 1911 6 61-66
— 32 —
Number Page
France.
Savings Banks and the Investment of their Capital 3
S\\'EDEN.
^nSCELLANBOUS INFORJSIATION.
69-84
The Organization of Savings Banks in Sweden and the Invest-
ment of their Capital 4 72-84
VI.
Ottoman Empire.
Recent Reforms relating to Real Estate of Ottoman Subjects
and Foreigners 8
Various Countries.
Investment of the Funds of the Insurance Societies 7
9
96-100
57-83
61-76
vn.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
Germany 4,
Australia 4,
Austria 4,
Dutch Coi^onies 4,
Spain 5,
United States 4,
France 4,
Great Britain and
Irei,and 4,
Italy 4,
Japan 4,
Holland 4,
Portugal 4,
Roumania 5,
Russia 3,
Sv^^tzerland 4,
Various Countries 4,
90-90
90-91
91-91
92-92.
92-92,
92-92.
95-95
93-93
88-88
5, 90-91-
5> 91-91.
90-90.
89-89 ;
92-92.
91-91.
90-90 ; 5, 91-91-
5.
5.
5.
4.
5.
5.
92-92.
92-92.
92-92.
92^92
93-93-
90-90.
5. 92-93-
— sa-
vin.
NOTICES OP PUBLICATIONS.
Germany
Austria
Denmark
United States
Great Britain and
Ireland
ITAI<Y
8, 117-117 ; 10, 86-86; ir, 111-112.
8, 118-119 ; II, 112-113.
II, 113-114.
8, 119-119 ; 12, 72-72.
8, 119-120 ; 10 87-87.
10, 87-87; II, 114-114 ; 12, 73-73
IV.
MISCBIvI^ANEOUS
I.
GKNKRAL STUDIES.
France.
Rural Monographs 6 105-108
Norway.
Natural Conditions of Norway in Relation to its Agricultural
Organization 8 145-153
Russia.
Economic and Social Conditions of the Rural Communes in
Finland 7 i37-i47
II.
AGRICUIvTURE AND THE FISCAL SYSTEM.
British India.
Land Revenue Administration and Tenures in British India,
by Mr. Frank Noyce, I. C. S., Under Secretary to the
Government of India in the Department of Revenue
and Agricultme n 125-140
12 85-98
— 36 —
Number Page
Japan.
The Recent I,and Tax Reforms 5 105-108
Mexico.
The Federal I^and Tax and the Distribution of Rural Landed
Property 11 141-147
III.
THK STATE AS LANDOWNER.
ITAI,Y
The Organization of a Communal Domain in Sicily ; the Bosco
Santo Pietro of Caltagirone ^ 138-141
IV.
DISTRIBUTION OF LAND.
Argentina.
Some Ofl&cial Statistics of Agricultural Landed Property in
the Argentine Republic 9 101-105
V.
VARIOUS FORMS OF LAND TENURE.
Great Britain and Irei<and.
1. The Pair Rent Provisions of the Irish Land Acts, by A. P.
Magill, of the Estate Commission, Dublin i 112-131
2. Small Holdings in Scotland and the ESects of Recent Legis-
lation regarding them, by John M. Ramsay, Superin-
tendent of Statistics and Intelligence, Board of Agri-
culture for Scotland 2 103-12 1
3. Compensation to Tenant Farmers in England and Wales for
Improvements and for Disturbance 7 89-102
— 37 —
Number Page
VI.
AGRARIAN REFORM.
Austria.
Contemporary Agricultural Policy in Austria lo 89-109
Great Britain and Irei,and.
Proposals for Land Reform in England and Wales 6 109-126
Mexico.
The Land Question in Mexico and the Proposals of the National
Agricultural Commission 5 109-119
6 127-133
ROUMAISflA.
The Land Reform an d its Results up to the Present 5 120-134
VII.
MAINTENANCE OF SMALL HOLDINGS AND HOMESTEADS
France.
The Results of the Law on Undistrainable Homesteads. ... 2 98-102
VIII.
HOIVIE COLONISATION.
Argentina.
1. The Extension of Home Colonisation 2 87-87
2. Bill for Agricultural Colonization presented by the IVIinister
of Agriculture, the Hon. Senor Mujica (July, 1913)- ■ 2 88-90
3. A Colonisation Law for the Province of Cordoba 2 90-91
BEIvGIUM.
Report of the " Commission for the Cultivation of Waste Land "
and the Measures proposed for the Consideration of
the Government 2 92-97
— 38 —
Number Page
Chece.
The Land Question and Colonization in Chile 3 108-124
4 95-1"
Denmark.
Home Colonisation in Denmark from 190 1 to 191 1 i 70-80
Japan.
Home Colonisation:
I. General and Historical Remarks 7 1 19-136
II. Home Colonisation in Hokkaido 8 121 -128
III. Home Colonisation in Corea 9 11 3-1 2 6
Mexico.
Kncouragement of Home Colonisation i 67-68
ROUMANIA.
The Improvement of Land in the Danube Inundation Zone . . 12 99-104
Russia.
1. General Outline of the New Russian Land Reforms (Contin-
ued) I 132-160
2. Home Colonisation in the Caucasus from 1908 to 1912 ... 10 125-139
Union of South Africa.
The Provision of SmaU Holdings for Miners and Industrial
Workers on the Rand 7 103-118
Uruguay.
Encouragement of Agricultural Colonisation and Livestock
Improvement i 69-69
IX.
TRADE AND TRANSPORT OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE AND FARM
REQUISITES : AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRIES.
China.
Cultivation and Sale of Rice in China, by M. Farjenel icr 1 10-120
United States.
The Problem of the Economic Distribution of Agricultural Pro-
ducts : Resolutions of Congress 10 121-124
— 39 —
Number Page
X.
RURAL EXODUS.
BEIvGIUM.
Rural Kxodus in Belgium, by M. Robert Ulens, Waremme . . 5 95-104
XI.
MEASURES FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OP THE CONDITIONS
OF COUNTRY LIFE. CHEAP DWELLING HOUSES,
INDUSTRIES AUXILIARY TO AGRICULTURE.
Bei^gium.
The " Modern Village " at the Ghent Universal Exhibition . 3 100-106
France.
Industries Auxiliary to Agriculture 6 106-106
Servia.
Small Rural Industries in Servia 2 138-143
XII.
AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION
(FROM THE SOCIAL POINT OF VIEW).
France (Ai^geria).
Organization of an Agricultural Study and Experiment Service 3 96-99
France.
Agricultural Social Courses 6 105-105
— 40 -
Number Page
XIII.
AGRICULTURAL LABOUR.
France.
Agriciiltural Labour Congress 6 105-106
Mexico.
Institution of Arbitration Commissions for Agricultural Labour
in the State of Tabasco i 68-68
SWITZERI<AND.
The Agricultiural Labour DifiBculty 9 127-138
XIV.
LAND VALUATION.
Spain.
The Cadastre in Spain 3 125-137
France.
New Valuation of Unbnilt on Land 3 138-150
4 112-137
Great Britain and Irei^and.
Systems of Land Valuation in the United Kingdom, by C. Gerald
Eve, Fellow of the Surveyors' Institution (England) :
A Superintending Valuer, Inland Revenue :
Part II. : The Valuation of the United Kingdom now Pro-
ceeding imder Mr. Lloyd George's Budget of 1910 . . i 81- in
XV.
STATE INTERVENTION IN FAVOUR OF AGRICULTURE.
SAI.VADOR.
Institution of Public Granaries i 68-69
Number Page
XVI.
SUPPLY OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE AND HIGH COST OF LIVING.
Argentina.
The High Food Cost in Argentina and the Work of the Co-op-
erative Societies 8 121 -128
Japan.
Fluctuations in Prices and Wages 2 122-137
XVII.
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.
GERMA2Sry.
The Lower Rhine Village at the " Deutscher Werkbund " Exhib-
ition at Cologne, 1914 7 84-88
United States.
Social and Economic Progress of the Negro Farmers 6 87-104
Great Britain and Irei<and.
Damage Done by Game 11 115-124
ITAI.Y.
Workmen's Organizations in Italy 9 106- 112
XVIII. "
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
Germany 5, 135-138.
Argentina 4, 142-143.
austraxia 5, 142-142.
Austria 4, 143-144.
Bei^gkjm 3, 106-107 ; 4, 144-144.
Brazil 4, 144-144.
42
Canada
China
German Coi,onies
British Coi,onies
ITAI,IAN CoI,ONIES
Japanese Coi,onies
Denmark
British India
Ottoman Hmphie
Spain
United States
France
Great Britain and
iREIfAND
lTAi,y
Japan
Montenegro
Norway
roumania
Russia
Sweden
Various Countries
5. 142-143.
4. 145-1^5-
5, 138-138.
5, 143-143-
5, 145-146.
5, 146-146.
4. 145-145-
5. 143-143-
5. 138-138.
5, 138-139-
5, 139-139.
4, 145-146.
5. 139-142.
5, 143-145-
5, 146-146.
5. 147-147-
5. 147-147-
5. 147-147-
5, 147-148.
5, 148-149.
4, 142-142.
XIX.
NOTICES OF PUBWCATIONS.
Austria
9,
139-140;
II.
149-150
Bei,gium
8,
154-154-
BRAzn,
10,
142-142.
Canada
12,
105-106.
Coi,UMBIA
8.
154-155-
British Cow)nies
12,
106-106.
lTAi,iAN Colonies
12,
107-107.
Denmark
9.
140-141 ;
II.
150-150
Ecuador
8,
155-155-
United States
8,
12,
155-155 ;
107-108.
9.
I4I-I4I
43 —
Great Britain
IrEi,and
AND
8,
156-156 ;
II,
151-152.
ITAI,Y
8,
II,
156-157 ;
152-155-
9,
141-142 ;
Norway
II,
155-156-
New Zeai^and
II,
156-156.
Paraguay
II,
156-157-
HOI,I,AND
9,
142-142.
Portugai<
8,
157-158.
ROUMANIA
8,
158-158.
Russia
8,
158-160 ;
10,
144-144-
Sweden
8,
160-1&1.
Union of South
Africa
II,
157-158.
Various Countries
10,
140-141 ;
II,
148-ij.g
General
II,
148-148.
Internationai.
lO,
140-140.
10, 142-143
II. _ CONTENTS BY COUNTRIES
II.
CONTENTS BY COUNTRIES
(artici,es and misceIvIvAneous news *)
Germany.
I. — Co-operation and Association.
Number
of Bulletin
II. Miscellaneous News pages i-6
III. Supply of Electric Power for Country Districts by Co-
operative Organizations, by Dr. Grabein, BerUn . . » 1-14
V. Miscellaneous News » i-io
IX. Business Experiences of the Wine Growers' Co-oper-
ative Societies » i-io
II. — Insurance and Thrift.
VIII. The Bavarian Hail Insurance Institute, by Dr. G. Rocca » 53-72
IX. The Bavarian Hail Insurance Institute, by Dr. G. Rocca
(Continued) » 45-57
III. — Credit.
II. Recent Development of the Co-operative Institutes of
Ivand Credit for Rural Holdings » 51-64
VIII. Consohdation of Landed Property {Besitzfestigung) in
Prussia by the Action of the State » 83-95
IV. — Miscellaneous.
VII. The Lower Rhine Village at the " Deutscher Werkbund ".
Exhibition at Cologne, 1914 » 84-88
* For Bibliography see pages 23, 27, 32, 41 ; for Notices of Publications pages 23,
27. 33, 42.
— 48 —
Argentina.
I. — Co-operation and Association.
IV. Miscellaneous News P<^g^.s 1-5
VI. Miscellaneous News » 1-5
II. ■ — Insurance and Thrift.
I. Hail Insurance in Argentina » 33-35
V. An Enquiry into the Mutual System and the New Bill on
Mutual Aid Societies » 49-51
III. — Credit.
I, The National Mortgage Bank : Working Year 191 2, In-
crease of Capital » 41-45
IV. — Miscellaneous.
II. Miscellaneous News » 87-91
VIII. The High Food Cost in Argentina and the Work of the
Co-operative Societies » 121 -128
IX. Some Official Statistics of Agricultural Landed Property
in the Argentine Republic » 101-105
Austria.
I. — Co-operation and Association.
I. Co-operation in the Austrian Part of FriuU, by Dr. Otto
Neudorfer, Vierma » 4-10
III. The District of Trent, a Model Co-operative District . . » 15-32
IV. The District of Trent, a Model Co-operative District
(Continued) » 6-27
VI. Registered Co-operative Societies and Federations on
Januar}'- ist., 1913 » 6-8
VII. Agricultural Co-operation in Dalmatia, by Dr. Otto Neu-
dorfer » 1-9
XII. Agricultural Co-operation in Austria during the first Five
Months of War » 1-7
II. — Credit.
V. The Austrian Postal Savings Bank » 65-79
VI. Savings Bank Statistics' n 1911 » 61-66
49 —
III. - — • jMiscellaneoHS.
X. Coiiteni]X)ran' Agricultural Policy in Austria pages 8g-iog
XII. Contemporary Agricultural Policy in Austria (Continued) » 75-84
BEWill-'M.
I. — Co-operation and Associatiofi.
I. The Legal Regime of the Commercial Societies and the
Law of May 25th., 1913 » 11 21
III. The Third Congress of Farm women's Clubs at Ghent . « 33-36
V. New Official Statistics of the Agricultural Associations
in Belgium » 11-18
\TII. Professional Unions in Belgiimi n 1-9
The Co-operative Societies in 191 3 » 10-12
II. — Insurance and Thrift.
II. Agricultural Accident Insurance in Belgium, bj^ M. E.
\Tiebergh, Louvain » 37-50
VI. Progress of Livestock Insurance in Belgium » 47-51
VIII. Mutual Agricultural Accident Insurance vSocieties ... » 73-76
Miscellaneous News » 76-78
III. — Miscellaneous.
II. Report of the "Connnission for the Cultivation of^^'aste
Land ' ' and the Measures proposed for the Consider-
ation of the Government » 92-97
III. The "Modern Village" at the Ghent Universal Exhib-
ition » 100-106
V. Rxiral Exodus in Belgitmi, by M. Robert Ulens, Wa-
remme » 95-104
Bulgaria.
Insurance and Thrift.
I. The In.surance Department of the Central Bank of Bul-
garia, by Dr. Athanasius vSabbeff » 36-40
_ 50 —
Canada.
I. — Co-operation and Association.
VI. The Saskatchewan Co-operative Elevator Company . . pages 9-12
Country School Club.s » 12-17
Miscellaneous News » 17-19
XII. Co-operative I^egislation in Canada, by T. K. Dolierty . » 8-13
Chile.
I. — Credit.
III. Work Done b)^ the Mortgage Bank in 1912 >. 63-68
II. — Miscellaneous.
III. The Land Question and Colonisation in Cliile >. 108-124
IV. The Land Question and Colonisation in Cliile (Continued) » 95-1 11
China.
Miscellaneous.
X. Cultivation arid Sale of Rice in China, by M. Farjenel . . 1 10-120
Denmark.
I. — Co-operation and Association.
II. Recent Progress of the Co-opetative Distributive As-
sociations ■> j-ii
XII. Recent Progress of Co-operative Distribirtive Societies . »■ 1^-17
II. — Insurance and Thrift.
V. I.,atest Results of the Law on Agricultural Accident In-
surance » 52-60
III. — Credit.
II. The Situation of the Danish Land Credit Associations
in 1913 ). 63-68
VI. Rural ^Mortgage Del)t in Denmark ~ >■ f>7-7i
IV. — Miscellaneous.
I. Home Colonisation in Denmark from 1901 to 191 1 . . » 70-80
_ 51 —
British India.
I. — Co-operation and Association.
V. Co-operative Credit in India in 191 1 -1 91 2 pages 19-36
VII. Co-operative Credit in India in 191 1 -191 2 (Continued) . » 10-24
X. Co-operative Credit in India in 191 2-1 3 » 1-21
II. — Miscellaneous.
XI. Land Revenue Administration and Tenures in British
India, by Mr. Frank Noyce, I. C. S » 125-140
XII. Land Revenue Administration and Tenures in British
India, by Mr. Frank Noyce, I. C. S. (Continued) ... » 85-98
Ottoman Empire.
Credit.
VIII. Recent Reforms relating to Real Kstate of Ottoman Sub-
jects and Foreigners » 96-100
Egypt.
Co-operation and Association.
III. Beginnings of the Co-operative Movement in Agriculture » 36-47
Spain.
I. — Co-operation and Association.
VIII. Villarreal Farmers' Commimity, a Typical Example of
Farmers' Communities » 13-18
X. Two Royal Orders of Importance for the Agricultural
Syndicates » 22-25
XI. Miscellaneous News » 1-7
II. — Credit.
VI. The Work of the Agricultural Credit Institutions in
Spain 72-80
III. — Miscellaneous.
III. The Cadastre in Spain .. 125-137
United States.
I. — Co-operation and Association.
II. The Co-operative Movement in ^\'isconsin pages 10-20
Miscellaneous News « 21-24
VIII. Miscellaneons News » 10-26
II. _ Credit.
V. The Work of the Commissions appointed to Investigate
Agricnltnral Credit and Co-operation in European
Countries > 80-80
XI. The Movement for Agricultural Credit in the United
States » S3-99
III. — Miscellaneous.
VI. Social and Economic Progress of the Ntgro Farmers . . » 87- 104
X. The Problem of the Economic Distribution of Agricul-
tural Products : Resolutions of Congress '. » 121-124
France.
I. — Co-operation and Association.
II. Work of the Mutual Agricultural Credit Banks in 1912 . » 25-28
VI. Rural Co-operative Bakehouses « 20-32
VII. Co-operation in French Viticultiire " 25-37
Miscellaneous News « 37-37
II. — Insurance and Thrift.
IV. Some Forms of Mutual Insurance against Accidents in
Agricultural Labour » 51-55
VII. Miscellaneous News » 47-49
III. — Credit.
II. Agricultural Produce ^^'arrants » 69-72
III. Sa\4ngs Banks and the Investment of their Capital . . » 69-84
VIII. Agric\Utural Credit in the French Colonies, by M. Louis
Tardy, Assistant Delegate to the Agricultural Ser\-ice
of the Musee Social » 101 -11 3
Miscellaneous News » 113-116
XI . The • ' Credit Fonder de France ' ' . Organization and Work >. 1 00- 1 00
53
IV. — Miscellaneous.
II. The Results of the Law on Undistrainable Homesteads . pages 98-102
III. New Valuation of Unbuilt on Land » 13S-150
IV. New Valuation of Unbuilt on Land (Continued) .... » 1 12-137
VI. Miscellaneous News » 105-108
France (Algeria).
Miscellaneous.
III. Organization of an Agrictiltural Study and Experiment
Service » 96-99
Great Britain and Irei^and.
I. — Insurance and Thrift.
X. Mutual Pig Insurance in England and Wales
II. — Miscellaneous.
I. Systems of Land Valuation in the United Kingdom, by
C. Gerald Eve
The Fair Rent Provisions of the Irish Land Acts, by
A. P. Magill, Dublin
II. Small Holdings in Scotland and the Effects of Recent
IvCgislation regarding them, by John M. Ramsay . .
VI. Proposals for Land Reform in England and Wales. . .
VII. Compensation to Tenant Farmers in England and Wales
for Improvements and for Disturbance
XL Damage done by Game
49-60
112-131
103-121
109-126
115-124
Hungary.
I. — Co-operation and Association.
VIII. Hungarian Wine Societies, by Dr. J. Drucker. . .
27-37
II. — Insurance and Thrift.
X. Livestock Insurance in Hungary, by Dr. Ignaz Pajor,
Budapest
61-70
— 54 —
III. — Credit.
IV. The Principal Land Credit Institutes in Hungarj' . . . pages 61-71
VI. Mortgage Statistics in Hungary » 81-86
Italy.
I. — Co-operation and Association.
II. The New Federation and the Federal Bank of Co-oper-
ative Credit Societies at Milan « 29-31
Miscellaneous News » 32-36
IV. Agricultural Associations of Employers and the Economic
Institutions Promoted by them » 28-36
V. Miscellaneous News » 37-44
IX. Jtliscellaneous News » 11-16
XI. The Co-operative Labour Societies and the Pubhc Con-
tracts Undertaken by them » 8-21
Miscellaneous News ■» 21-22
II. — Insurance and Thrift.
VI. Official Enquiry into Savings in Italy in the Years 191 1
and 1912 >) 52-60
VII. Miscellaneous News 50-5'^
XI. Insurance against Accidents in Agricultural \A'oik, by
Prof. Prospero Ferrari •> 61-79
III. — Credit.
I. The Part played by the :\Ionti dei Paschi in History and
in the Organization of Credit, by Prof. Dr. FiHppo Vir-
gilii, Siena « 46-61
Work of the Land Credit Institutes in 191 2 » 62-66
X. Work of the Special Agricultural Credit Institutes in
1913 " 71-77
XII. The Work of the Land Cf edit Institutes in 1913 . ... « 59-63
IV. — Miscellaneous.
IV. The. Organization of a Com:nunal Domain in Sicily, the
Bosco Santo Pietro of Caltagirone » 138-141
Japan.
55 —
I. — Co-operation and Association.
VI. Collective Sale of Cereals pages 33-46
X. Rural Banks and Loans on Honour in Japan « 26-45
XI. Rural Banks and Loans on Honour in Japan (Continued) » 23-39
II. — Miscellaneous.
II. Fluctuations in Prices and Wages
V. The Recent Land Tax Reforms
VII. Home Colonisation : General and Historical Remarks.
VIII. Home Colonisation of Hokkaido
IX. Home Colonisation in Corea
122-137
105-108
119-136
129-144
113-126
^lEXICO.
I. — Co-operation and Association.
I. Miscellaneous News
II. — Miscellaneous.
I. Miscellaneous News » 67-68
V. The Land Question in Mexico and the Proposals of the
National Agricultural Commission . 1 09-1 19
VI. The Land Question in Mexico and the Proposals of the
National Agricultural Commission (Continued) ... » 127-133
XI. The Federal Land Tax and the Distribution of Rural
Landed Property » 141 -147
Norway,
Miscellaneous.
VIII. Natural Conditions of Norway- in relation to its Agriciil-
tural Organization
145-153
HoivI,AND.
Insurance and Thrift.
III. Insurance of Agricultural Labourers by the Landbouw-
Onderlinge
48-62
— 56 —
PORTUGAI,.
I. — Co-operation and Association.
VIII. Miscellaneous News pages 38-10
II. — Credit.
II. Warrants in Portugal and the new Regulations with Re-
gard to them » 73-78
ROUMANIA.
I. — Co-operation and Association.
VII. Collective Farms and Co-operative Credit Societies . . » 38-46
II. — Credit.
II. Miscellaneous News » 79-81
III. — - Miscellaneous.
V. The Land Reform and its Results up to the Present . . » 120-134
XII. The Improvement of the Land in the Danube Inundation
Zone » 99-104
Russia.
I. — Co-operation and Association.
I. Co-operation in Russia, by S. de Borodaevsky, Petro-
grad . » 22-26
VIII. Miscellaneous News »^ 41-48
XI. Federations of Co-operative Credit Societies in Russia
in 191 3 « 40-5.5
XII. Mutual Credit Societies in Russia on January ist., 1914. » 18-23
— 57 —
II. — Credit.
II. Popular Credit in Russia, by M. N. Scheremeteff,
Moscow pages 82-86
III. Loans Granted b}^ the State Bank on Securitj' of Grain
and the E)stabHshnient of Grain Klevators in Russia . » 85-94
IX. The Nobles' Government Land Bank » 77-100
III. — Miscellaneous.
I. General Outline of the New Russian Land Reforms
(Continued) » 132-160
VII. Economic and Social Conditions of the Rural Communes
in Finland » 137-147
X. Home Colonisation in the Caucasus from igo8 to 1912 . » 125-139
Sai<vador.
Miscellaneous.
I. Miscellaneous News » 68-69
Servia.
I. — Co-operation and Association.
I. Servian Household Communities (Zadrugas) » 27-31
II. — Miscellaneous.
II. Small Rural Industries in Servia ^ . . » 138-143
Sweden.
Credit.
IV. The Organization of Savings Banks in Sweden and the
Investment of their Capital
The Mortgage Question in Sweden
72-84
85-87
— 58 —
SWTTZERI.AKt>.
I. — Insurance and Thrifi.
XII. Development of AgricnltiiTal Insurance in Recent Years,
by Dr. G. Rocca podges 27-56
II. — Miscellatieous.
IX. The Agricultural Labour DiflBculty x 127-138
Union of South Africa.
I. — Co-operation and Association.
IX. Agricultural Co-operation in South Africa, by A. E.
Marks, Pretoria 17-37
n. — Credit.
X. The Land and Agricnltaral Bank of South Africa ... » 78-87
HI. — Miscellaneous.
Vn. The Provision of Small Holdings for ^liners and In-
dustrial Workers on the Rand » 103-118
Uruguay.
I. — Co-ot>eration and Association.
I. Miscellaneous News » 2-3
n. — Credit.
Xn. The Mortgage Bank of Uruguay and its Work ^ 64-71
III. — Miscellaneous.
I. Miscellaneous News 69-69
Various Countries.
Credit.
VII. Investment of the Fimds of the Insurance Societies. . . -» 57-82
IX. Investment of the Funds of the Insurance Societies
(Continued) » 61-76
1. Le Service de Peotection costke les haladtes des plaxtes et les
INSECTES NTHSiELES DAXS LES Dtvebs Pays (Tlie Picsent Organization of the
Services for the Ccotrol of Plant I>isea?€S and Insect Pests in the Different
Countries). (1914, 350 p-ages, 4to>
2. PRODrCXrOX et CXINSOSQIATION des ENGRAIS CHrvnjf ^>. DA-'VS LH MONDE
(Production and Consumption of Chemirp,] Maiimes in the World;. 'Seccmd
Edition, 1914, 162 pages, 5 diagrams, 3 maps, i6mo) > 3.5c
(a) Publications of the Bureau of Economic and Social Intelligence.
1. L'.4.CnVirE de VISSTZTUT IXTEEXAXIONAI- D'AGaiCXTLXUBE DA^5 LE Do-
MATN-E DE ZA. COOPIRATIOT, DE L'ASSXTELVNCE ET DE CREDIT AGRICOLES
(The Work of the International Institute of Agriculture in the Fidd o€
Agricultural Co-operation. Insurance and Credit). (In Frencii, Getman
and Italian). (1912, 34 pages, i6nio) • s.50
2. MOXOGRAPHS OK AGRICUI-TrRAL CO-OPERAHOX Ef VARIOC5 COTJSTBIES.
Vol. I. (1911, 451 pages I omo). ;in English and French) • 3.5c
Do Vol. n. (1515. 213 pagec. i6mo;. .In T^ngHgh and French) ... 1 3.50
3. Ak Outlive of the Ettropeax Co-opehaute Credit Systems (SeoMid
Edition, 1913, 72 pages, i6nio! » 0.50
t. L'ORG.^XISATIOX de la ST.^TI5TIQt:E: DE LA COOPEBAIIOS AGSKXXf DAN5
QCELQUES P.\Y5 (The Organization of the Statistics <rf Agricnltoral Co-
operation in certain Countries). 1911, 163 pages, (Svd) 1.50
;. L 'assttrax CE-GB ftr.F D.vss QCELOCES PAYS ET 5ES FBOBLEVES (Insurance
against Hail in some Countries and its Probl.3ns). (1911, no pages. ?vo) . . » 1.50
6. Agricttltural Credit and Co-operatios rs Italy: Sh(«t Guide so
Rural Co-oPER.\TroN r?r Italy (in English, 35 pas»s and in Italian,
34 pages, i6n:.-i ... • ; -
e) Other publications.
1. L'IXSTITUT INTERN-AUONAL DAGRICULIUSE, son ORGAXISAHOX, son ACnVTTE,
SES resultais (The Intc^natiocal Institute of Agriculture, is Or^uriz-
ation. Activity, and Results). (1914, 31 Teases, in Fraich, Italian and
English : illustrated} Frs. r —
2. Louis-Dop. — Le Present et l'Avenir de L.TssirruT Internaucnal
d'Agriculture iCONFEREXCEi (Present and Future of the Inti-maiional
Institute of Agriculture) (Addressi. (1912, 6c P'ages, lomo) 1 i —
3. SANTL\G0 ALDUNAIE El INSTITUTO iNTESXAOOSfAL DE A(3ICUI.ICSA Y
SU QIPOSTANCIA PABA LA A\fKRTCA T..ATTNA. EN ESW-Anr. PARA CHTTF. {Cou-
lerenciai ?The International Institute of Agriculture and its Importanae far
Latin America, especially for Chile". 1515, 30 pages, z^nio) '.Address. ... • : —
II. PHblicatioas oot far Sak.
I. CONEEKENCE INTERNATIONALE DE I905 POUR LA CSE&ZION DTJ?? INSTITUT iNTEBXAIIOCrAL
d'Agriculture ' Intematicaial Ccmferencs of 1905 for the FoondatioK of an Inter-
national Institute of Agriculture), (1905, 254 pages, 4to).
z. ACTES DES AssEMBLEES Gen"fb AT RS Ltts ANNEE5 igoS, 1909, 19XZ, X913 (Proceeding ol
the General -\5sembLies of iGCH?, locc, 1911 and 1913). (Fbor vdomes^ 8vo., one i6mo).
3. Proces-versaux DC CoiiiTE Pfrvanent des annees 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912, 191 3
(Prcc^ veroGux of the Permanent Committee. lOoS, 1909, 1910, 1911. 1012. and I9i3'i.
(Five vohnnes, Svo., and cme lomo).
4. Rapports et Etudes du Bureau de la Stahsiiqcte Generale (R^KXts and Studies
of the Bureau of General Statistics). (1911, 260 pages. 8vo).
5. The Science antj Practice of FAasoNG Dt:^LiN3 1910 rs Great Britain. 046 pages, i&no>.
6. Etude sur les recense3IEnts de l.^ poful.\tion agrioole. les saxaires de la mac(-
D'CETTV-RE RX:R.\LE et les COURANTS D E3CGR.VTICBf DANS LES DLFFERENTS ElAIS (Study
on the Census Returns d the AgAcuIturai FoculaticHi, the Wages of Rural Labour, and
the Currents of Emigratioc in the Several Countries). I.IQ12, 150 pa^e, Svoi.
NOTE.
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For Great Britain and Ireland, subscriptions to the Bulletins i. 2. 3 and remittances for
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International institute of agriculture
Bureau op Economic and Sociai< Intei.i.igence
MONTHLY BULLETIN
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INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF AGRICULTURE
Bureau op Economic and Sociai, Inteixigence
MONTHLY BULLETIN
OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL
INTELLIGENCE * *
$ $ « •
37tii. VOLUME e • » •
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• • • JANUARY 1 914
• • • • ROME: PRINTING OFFICE OF THE INSTITUTE, I914 « * • •
THE INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF AGRICULTURE.
The International Institute of Agriculture was established under the
International Treaty of June 7th, 1905, which was ratified by 40 Govern-
ments. Thirteen other Governments have since adhered to the Institute.
It is a Government Institution in which each Country is represented
by delegates. The Institute is composed of a General Assembly and a
Permanent Committee.
The Institute, confining its operations within an international sphere,
shall:
(a) Collect, study, and publish as promptly as possible, statistical,
technical, or economic information concerning farming, vegetable and ani-
mal products, the commerce in agricultural products, and the prices pre-
vailing in the various markets.
{b) Communicate to parties interested, also as promptly as possible,
the above information.
(c) Indicate the wages paid for farm work.
(d) Make known new diseases of plants which may appear in
any part of the world, showing the territories infected, the progress of the
diseases, and, if possible, the remedies which are effective.
(e) Study questions concerning agricultural co-operation, insur-
ance, and credit in all their aspects ; collect and publish information which
might be useful in the various countries for the organisation of works con-
nected with agricultural co-operation, insurance and credit.
(/) Submit to the approval of the Governments, if there is occasion
for it, measures for the protection of the common interests of farmers and
for the improvement of their condition, after having utilized all the ne-
cessary sources of information, such as the wishes expressed by interna-
tional or other agricultural congresses, or by congresses of sciences applied
to agriculture or agricultural societies, academies, learned bodies, etc.
Permanent Committee of the Internat. Institute of Agriculture.
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President: Marqula Kj
Vice-President : M. I^
List oi the DeUgatea 0
Germany
IFFAELB
UlS-DOP,
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of. GlOVA
Cappelu, Delegate of Italy.
Delegate of Prance.
manent Committee: —
Dr. T. MOller, Privy CounciUor.
Dr. OcTAVio PxSteibo Sorondo.
Chev. V. de Pozzi, Government CouudUor.
E. de MIKX6S, Sec. of State, Member of House erf Magnates.
0. Bolle.
Anionino Fiai.ho, Ex -Deputy.
D. Rizoff, Minister Plenipotenuary.
S. Aldunate, Minister Plenipotentiary.
Siu-Kiu.
R. Montealkgrb, Minister Plenipotentiary.
Argkntinb Republic.
1 Austria
Bklgium
Brazil
Bulgaria
Cen-K
China
Costa-Rica
Cuba
Denmark
Ottoman Bmpisb ....
Egypt
Ecuador
Spain
A. DE Oldenburg, Charge d'affaires.
Dr. Mehmbd Dj^aol Bey.
B. Chtmirri, Senator.
S. Aldunate, Delegate oi Chile.
Enrique Rodriguez de Celis, Agricultural Engineer.
David Lubin.
Prof. G. CoBONi, Director, Station of Plant Pathology, Rotne.
Louis-Dop, Vice-President of the Institute.
I/JUIS-DOP.
Louis-Dop.
Sir Sydney Olivier, Secretary of the Board of Agric.
Sir Sydney Olivier.
Sir Sydney Olivier.
Sir Sydney Olivier.
Sir Sydney Oijviek.
Sir Sydney Olivier.
Sir Sydney Olivier.
D. Caciamanos, Charg6 d'affaires.
G. Montefiore, Consul General of Guatemala.
Marquis R. Cappelli, Deputy, President of the Institate.
B. Chimirsi, Senator.
B. Chimirri.
Otojiro Sasano, Charge d'affaires.
G. A. Esteva, Jlinister Plenipotentiary.
G. VOLPI, Minister Plenipotentiary.
V. E. Bianchi, Consul General.
Dr. A. FjELSTAD, Agricultural proprietor.
Prof. Orazio Comes, Director of the High School of Agrlcult.
Baron W. B. R. de Welderen Rengers, Minister Plenipot.
Baron W. B. R. de Welderen Rengers.
I,ouis-Dop, Delegate of France.
A. DEL Gallo, Marquis of Roccagiovlne.
Amando Arthur de Leadra, Agricultural Engineer.
Demetrius C. Pennesco, Counsellor of the Legation.
His Excell. G. Zabiello, Consul General of Russia.
United States
France
Algeria
Tunis
Gr. Britain & Ireland
Australia
Canada
British India
New Zealand
Union of South Aprica
Greece
Guatemala
Italy
EsmtEA & It. Somal.
Tripoli and Orenaica
Japan
Mexico
Montenegro
Nicaragua
Norway
Paraguay
Netherlands
Dutch East Indies.. .
Peru
Persia
Portugal
roumania
Russia
Salvador
San Marino
His Excell. 1^. Luzzatti, Minister of State.
C. ScoTTi, Consul General of Servia.
Baron C. N. D. de Bildt, Minister Plenipotentiary.
J. B. PiODA, Minister Plenipotentiary.
Dr. E. Rovira, Vice-Consul.
jrai I<ORENZONi, General Secretary.
Servia
Sweden
Switzerland
Uruguay
Pr
STAFF OF THE BUREAU OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE
Chief of the Bureau : Prof. GIOVANNI I,ORENZONI, LI,. D. General Secretary.
SidaOeur tn chef : u J. K. MONTGOMERY, M. A., B. Sc. - 2. M. BEAUPRETON, Advocate.
Ridacteurs : i. J. L. Alcazar, LL. D. - 2. E. Cauda, Doctor in Mathematics. - 3. G. Costanzo, LL. D. -
4. L. DE NOBiLi, LL. D. - 5. W. W. Eluott, B. A. - 6. B. Gbiziotti, LL. D. - 7. B. Mbhrbns, D.
Econ. Sc. - 8. t,. Paulucci, LL. D. - 9. G. Pilati, LL. D. - 10. L. Redaelli, LL. D. - ii. A. San-
donA, LL. D. - 12. N. WodkitchAvitch, Doct. Pol. Sc - 13. E. F. Wrede, F. M., J. U. K.
Translators: i. J. Farias, Advocate. - 2. R. Jacquhmin, Licentiate in Literature and Phlloeophy (R*-
dacteur). - 3. W. P. Watbrmeyer, B. A. - 4. T. Baldasano, LL. D. (Not on the Staff).
CONTENTS.
PART I : CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION.
Latin America.
IClsCEiXANEons News Page
Mexico : Association of the Chambers of Commerce and Agriculture, page i. —
Uruguay : i. Foundation of the First Rural Bank, page 2. — 2. Uruguay Farm-
ers' and Horticulturists' Association, page 3.
Austria.
The Hbgional Organisation of Agricultural Co-operative Societies, by Dr Otto
Neud6rfer, Senior Secretary to the General Federation of Austrian Agricultural Co-
operative Societies, Vienna.
VI. — Co-operation in the Austrian Part of Fiiuli Page
BEIyGIUM.
The I4EGAL Regime of the Commercial Societies and the lyAw of May 25TH ,
1913 P'*Se
§ 1. General Provisions Governing Societies, page 12. — § 2. Societies of Collective
Title, page 13. — § 3. Ordinary Societies ^n Cow»tand»<e, page 13. — § 4. lyimited
lability Societies, page 14. — § 5. Societies en Commandite lyimited by Shares,
page 19. — § 6. Co-operative Societies, page 20. — § 7. Credit Unions, page 21.
Russia.
Co-operation in Russia, by S. de Borodaevsky, Assistant Manager at the Department
of Commerce and Industry at St. Petersburg Page
Servia.
Servian Household Communities (Zadrugas) Page 27
§ I. The Economic Idea of the Zadruga, page 28. — § 2. The Specific Characteristics
of the Zadruga, page 28. — § 3. Organization of the Zadruga, page 29. — § 4- The
Present Position of the Zadruga, page 30. — § 5. Advantages and Disadvantages
of the Zadruga, page 30.
VI CONTENTS
PART II : INSURANCE.
Argentina.
Hail Insuiiance in Akgentina P»se 33
Bulgaria.
The Insurance Department of the Central Bank of Btjlgaria, by Dr. Athanasios
Sabbeff, Manager of the Central Co-operative Bank of Bulgaria Page 36
PART III : CREDIT.
Argentina.
The Nationai, Mortgage Bank : Working Year 1 91 2, Increase of Capital . Page 41
I. Working Year, iyi2, page 41. — 2. Increase of Capital, page 45.
ITAI,Y.
I. The Part Played by the Monte dei Paschi in History and in the Organization
OF Credit, by Prof. Dr. Filippo Virgilii, Professor at the Royal University of Sietm,
formerly Member of the Board of Management of the Monte dei Paschi .... Page 46
§ X. The Origin of the " Monte dei Paschi " and the Commencement of its Rural
Credit Business in 1625, page 46. — § 2. Analogy between the Monte dei Paschi
and the Silesian Ivandschaft foimded in 1769, page 50. — § 3. Historical Develop-
ment of the Monte dei Paschi, page 51. — § 4. Administrative Organization
of the Monte dei Paschi, page 53. — § 5. The Various Departments of the
"Monte dei Paschi", Savings Bank, I<and Credit and Agricultural Credit
Departments, page 56. — § 6. Grants made by the Monte dei Paschi for Purposes
of Public Utility and Benevolence, page 60.
2. Work OF the IvAND Credit Institutes IN 1 912 P»ge 62
§ I. The Italian I^and Credit Institute, page 62. — I^and Credit Granted by the
Savings Bank of the I<ombard Provinces, page 64. — § 3- I^and Credit Granted
by the Bologna and Verona Savings Banks and the Sardinian lyand Credit In-
stitute, page 65. — § 4. The I^nd Credit Granted by the Institute of " Opere
Pie of San Paolo " at Turin and the " Monte dei Paschi " of Siena, page 65.
CONTENTS Vn
PART IV : MISCELLANEOUS.
Latin America.
MISCELLAJJEOCS NEWS Page 67
Mexico : i. Eucouragemcnt of Home Colonisation, page 67. — 2. Institution of
Arbitration Commissions for Agrictiltural I,abour in the State of Tabasco,
page 68. — Salvador : Institution of Public Granaries, page 68. — Uruguay:
Encouragement of Agricultural Colonisation and lyivestock Improvement,
page 69.
Denmark.
Home Colonisation IN Denbiark FROM 1901 TO 1 91 1 Page 70
§ I. Introduction, page 71. — § 2. Organization of Home Colonisation, page 72.
— § 3. Results, page 74.
Great Britain and IreIvAnd.
1. Systems of I<.and V.\luation in the United Kingdom, by C. Gerald Eve, Fellow
of the Surveyors' Institution, [England] : A Superintending Valuer, Inland Re-
venue page 81
Part II : The Valuation of the United Kingdom now Proceeding under Mr. I^loyd
George's Budget of 1910, page 81. — § i. The System of the " Original Valuation,,
of the United Kingdom, page 81. — § 2. The Values to be Ascertained, page 84. —
? 3. Copyhold lyands, page 87. — §4. Agricultural I,and, page 88. — §5. Objection
to Valuations, page 89. — § 6. How the Valutation is Progressing, page 90. —
§ 7. The Ivand Value Duties Imposed by the Act, i-age 92. — § 8. The Fmrther Pur-
poses for which the Valuation might be used if Parliament so Desired, page 97.
— § 9. The Valuation and Taxation of Minerals, page 98. — Appendices,
page 100.
2. — The Fair Rent Provisions of the Irish I^and Acts, by A. P. Magill of the
Estates Commission, Dublin Page 112
Introduction, page 112. — §1. The Irish l^and Act of 1870, page 1x4. — § 2. The
lyand Ivaw (Ireland) Act, 1881, page 115. — § 3. The Meaning of " Fair Rent " :
its Relation to Prices, page 116. — § 4. Other Factors which Help to Determine
Fair Rent, page 118. — § 5. How Fair Rents are Fixed under the Act of 1881,
page 119. — § 6. The .\bsence of General Principles of Valuation, pr.ge 120. —
§ 7. Rt^uctions in Rent Effected, page 123. — § 8. Fair Rent as the Basis of I«and
Purchase, page 126. — Conclusion, page 127. — Appendices, page 128.
Russia.
General Outline of the New Russian I^and Reforms {contimied) Page 132
§ 3. Readjustment of Nadiel I,and as Single Holdings, page 132. — § 4. Reforms
with the Object of Increasing the Area of I^and Held by Peasants, page 143. —
§ 5. Other Operations in Connection with the Work of Readjustment Carried
out hf the I<and Commissions, page 154. — § 6. Success of the Farm Readjust-
ment Work Carried out up to the Present and its Critics, page 155.
.«f -T^r.
Part I: Co-operation and Association
LATIN AMERICA.
WlSCEUvANEOUS NEWS.
MEXICO.
Association of the Chambers of Commerce and Agricui^ture. —
On the initiative of the National Chamber of Commerce at TorTe6n, an
Association of the Chambers of Commerce and Agricnltuie of the Republic
has recently been foimded a+ Mexico. The effort to give a uniform di-
rection to the agriculture and commerce of the country by means of an
agreement among the institutions by which the commercial and agricul-
tural interests of the various regions are protected and developed must be
considered as of considerable importance for the economic future of
Mexico.
The association is based especiall)'^ upon the following principles :
1. Study, from the highest and most general point of view, of eco-
nomic questions, such as irrigation, immigration, export of produce, intro-
duction of new kinds of farming, etc.
2. Participation of all the most important elements of the popul-
ation in undertakings of general interest and mutual assistance.
3. Interchange of ideas and methods, and possibiHty of adopting
modern ideas in the whole of the country. It cannot be denied that it is
highly important to introduce regularity and uniformity into current
usages in relation to commercial transactions, and this will be one of the
greatest advantages to be derived from the association. It further contem-
plates the grant of bursaries to young men to enable them to study abroad
the most modern commercial and agricultural methods, as well as the
foundation of first class commercial and agricultural schools, subsidised by
all the Chambers of Commerce and Agrictdture.
4. Study of the best methods of production, circulation and distrib-
ution within the country, as well as the best means of supervising export-
ation. The question of sea and land communication and tran.sport is of the
IvATIN AM^iKICA - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
highest importance for the agricultural and commercial development of the
Republic ; the association proposes to give special attention to these prob-
lems, particularly with regard to the possible effect the approaching open-
ing of the Panama Canal may have on them, as Mexico has a coast Hue
of 3,883 miles on the I'acific and the Mexican States on the shores of that
Ocean have a population of 5,165,569 inhabitants.
5. Encouragement of soUdarity and the destruction of provincial
prejudices. With this object the asssociation will hold its annual meetings
each year in a different region. At these meetings the questions of great-
est interest from the agricultural and commercial point of view will be
studied, account will be taken of the work accomplished by each Chamber
during the year, the programme for collective action during the coming
year will be drawn up and the adhering Chamber selected that is to
represent the association for the period.
By means of these meetings the institution hopes to strengthen the
bonds uniting the various Chambers, and their members, and put in practice
suitable methods in order that good results may be obtained from all the
collective undertakings.
URUGUAY.
I. — Foundation of the First Rural Bank. — We have already
spoken in a previous number of this Bulletin (i) of the difficult situation in
which the small farmers and Hvestock improvers of Uruguay find them-
selves owing to want of capital. The Government, anxious about the
situation, and desiring to introduce agricultural credit on a co-operative
basis, has founded a rural credit department at the Bank of the Republic
with a capital of 500,000 pesos, to provide cheap credit to farmers asso-
ciated for the purpose.
The first practical result of this was the foundation of the first Rural
Bank of Uruguay by a group of farmers of Ciudad de Melo.
By the law of 19 12 for the foundation of rural banks in the country,
they may obtain special loans at 4 V2 % from the rural credit department
of the Bank.
We think it well also to mention that these banks do not limit their oper-
rations to the grant of the credit required by their members, but facil-
itate the work of production, transformation, preservation and sale of pro-
duce derived exclusively from members' farms, as well as the carrying out
of agricultural works of collective character.
The Rural Bank of Ciudad de Melo had at its foundation 30 members.
It is to be hoped that all the small farmers of the RepubUc will imitate
this first group and benefit by all the advantages afforded by association.
(i) Compare Bulletin of Economic and SociaHnteUigence, September, 191 3: " The I,and
Question and Agricultural Credit in Uruguay."
MISCELLANEOUS NEWS
2. — Uruguay Farmers' and Horticulturists' association. — The
spirit of association by which European farmers have so greatly benefited
is also penetrating among the rural classes of I^atin America. One of the
most recent manifestations of the movement has been the foundation
of a general association of the farmers and horticulturists of Uruguay.
This institution, of which the formation now in course, will soon be an
accompHshed fact, considering the excellent reception given to it in aU
the agricultural circles of the country, offers great advantages for the agri-
culture of Uruguay,, as appears from the principal objects it aims at.
Independently of the study and defence of the agricultural and horti-
cultural interests, as well as of the encouragement to be given to this branch
of national activity, the Association has the following special aims :
(a) to examine and present, uphold before the authorities and call
for the realisation of all legislative reforms, as well as all economic measures,
chiefly in respect to the charges by which the small farmer is burdened, the
railway and customs tariffs, concessions and rights to stands in markets
and at fairs ;
(b) to facilitate purchase of manure, utensils, livestock, seeds, im-
proved implements and all requisites for farming and horticulture ;
(c) to promote and encourage experiments in cultivation, with
manure, seeds and improved implements and aU the other means for facil-
itating labour, increasing production, lowering the cost price and as far
as possible reducing the high cost of living in the country districts ;
(d) to encourage agricultural education and extend it by means of
lectures, shows, pubUcations, etc. ;
(e) to encourage the sale of agricultural and horticultural produce ;
(/) to occupy itself, finally, with whatever may advance the interests
of agriculture and horticulture, especially thrift, assistance, credit and co-
operation.
For the reaUsation of this programme, in addition to its Central Com-
mittee of Management, the Association has Sub-Commissions for agriculture,
fruit-cultivation, viticulture, agricultural credit, agricultural defence and
shows.
The members may be active or adherent. The active members will
be the landowners, tenant farmers, farm managers, metayers, day labourers
and generally all who work farms either themselves or by means of
other persons or who contribute directly to the agricultural and horti-
cultural production with their personal labour or their money.
The adherent members will be the sellers or buyers of implements, man •
ure or agricultural produce, not in the above position.
The capital of the association will be formed by means of members'
contributions.
In case of the dissolution of the soc'ety, its remaining funds will be de-
voted to a work of agricultural interest, selected at the general meeting,
and under no pretext may tliey be divided among the members.
AUSTRIA.
THE REGIONAI, ORGANISATION
OF AGRICUlvTlTRAL CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES.
By Dr. Otto NeudOrfer,
Stmor Secretary to the General Federation of Austrian Agricultural Co-operative Societies, Vienna.
VI. —CO-OPERATION IN THE AUSTRIAN PART OF FRIULI.
SOURCES:
Almanacco del popolo per l'anno comune 1909. Stremia della Federazione dei Cousorzi
agricoli del Friuli (People's Almanac for the Year, 1909. Presentation Publication of the
Agricultural Co-operative Societies of Friuli).
Aknuari della Federazione dei Consorzi agricoli del Friuli 1907-1912. (Yearbooks of the
above Federation, 1907-1912).
ScHTTLLERN zu SCHATTENHOFEN (Hofrat Profcssot Dr. Hermann, Ritter von) : Das Kok>nat
in Gorz and Gradisca, in Istrien, in Dalmatien und in Tirol (The Colonat in the County
of Goritz and Gradisca, Istria, Dalmatia and Tyrol). Vienna, 1909. Hof u. Staatsdruckerei.
Meyer (Pius) : Zur I^age der lychnbauem im osterreichischen Friaul. Ein Beitrag zum Stu-
diiun der Koloratsfrage (The Situation of the Tenant Farmers in Austrian Friuli. Contrib-
ution to the Study of the Problem of the Colonat). Goritz, 1909.
OESTERREicmscHE LANDWiRTSCHAFTLiCHE Genossenschaftspresse (Austrian Agricultural
Co-operative Press).
In respect to its co-operative organization the Austrian Friuli occupies
a place apart. This little district presents certain peculiarities from the
point of view of co-operation, and a remarkable difference from the other
regions of the Monarchy both as regards the origin and the application
of the co-operative idea.
Austrian Fritdi, by which name the Italian part of the Country of Goritz
and Gradisca is called, forms a large plain which, except for the northern
hiUs of Collio and the marshy districts of the South, is fertile and well cultiv-
ated. The farmers cultivate various kinds of plants principally vines, mul-
berrj'^ trees and wheat. In spite of the abolition of the charges on land and the
base tenancies, there still exists to day the colonat, a special kind of lease
originating in the Middle Ages which, though it has now the appearance of
a free contract, imposes the heaviest burdens on the peasant and robs him
of all the profit of his hard work. " The Italian portion of the Covmtry of
THE REGIONAL ORGANISATION OF AGRICULTURAL CO-OPERATION
Goritz and Gradisca, " says von Schullern in the work above cited, "shows
us the colonat in its most ancient form and so widely extended that
it is of the greatest importance for the whole economic and social life of
the country and it is very easy to understand that the first appeals for re-
scue have come from these districts. Here the evils of the system are
most apparent ; and the more so, as we find, together with stipulations
unworthy of modern times, forms of contract not only perfectly acceptable,
but very suitable for all parties, to which the prosperous condition of the
farm bears witness. On studying the matter more closely we find that the
essential defects of the ancient system of colonat are the uncertain or excess-
ively brief period of the contract; the absence of any guarantee the tenants
have of eventual compensation for improvements on the farm, but rather
almost the certainty of not receiving any ; and finally and this is a peculi-
arity of the region, — the existence of base service {EohoUverpfUchtungen) ;
the effect of all which, wherever these defects prevail, is most clearly mani-
fested in the inadequate working of the farm, defective methods of cultiv-
ation, a very low level of education and so a situation not only disadvant-
ageous for the farmers, but even for the proprietors themselves. "
Generall}'^ speaking we may distinguish two classes of colonat in Friuli.
First of aU, that in which the land with the buildings is let for a fixed rent,
all taxes being paid by the tenant. The second class includes all forms the
conditions of which, taken generally, correspond with the system of medioeval
colonat. The use of the land and buildings — the latter generally in ex-
tremely bad repair, — is granted to the peasants in return for compensations
in kind (cheese, silk, poultry, eggs, fruit, wine, cartage, personal service
etc.). To this is usually added the payment of a certain sum in money
and of all the taxes. The landowner has, besides, the right to any compens-
ation granted for loss through hail, inundations etc. Besides these heavy
charges, the peasant must undertake other burdensome duties. He must
first of all engage to repair serious damage done to his crops by hares,
pheasants and any other game the landlord reserves, which may devastate
the maize plantations and vineyards. The landlord has exclusive right
to hunt and shoot. The peasant is strictly forbidden, under penalty
of heavy fines, to remove or hunt game. Contraventions are severely
punished and entail cancellation of the contract of lease. By definite
clauses in these contracts the landlord is enabled to evict the tenant
and his family at any moment.
It is not astonishing that under such conditions the farms have suf-
fered. The burdens under which the population lived prevented the intro-
duction of all modern and scientific methods of labour. At the same time,
there was also unrestricted usury. The peasant, consequently, could not
better his situation by borrowing money.
A certain number of energetic priests united in 1895, with the object
of finding a remedy for this insupportable situation. The successftd results
obtained by co-operation in other countries, such as Italy, Germany,
Switzerland and especially Upper and I^ower Austria, induced them to
make a trial of co-operation also in Friuli. Model rules were drafted fot
AUSTRIA - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
Raifleisen banks and livestock insurance associations, which were soon
founded on the initiative of these priests in various localities, first of all at
Capriva, Turriaco, Staranzano, Vermiliano and Grado. In 1899, four Raif-
feisen banks, two insurance associations and a labourers' co-operative
society united to form a federation, under the name of " Federazione delle
casse rurali e del sodalizi cooperativi per la parte italiana delta provincia
di Gorizia e Gradisca," with headquarters at Goritz. It is to be observed that,
in contrast with all the other Austrian co-operative federations, this one
started with a confessional basis, as it is laid down as one of its fundamental
rules that the co-operative societies must maintain Christian principles and
provide for the moral and material improvement of the conditions of exist-
ence of each of their members. The rules impose on the members the duty
of scrupulously maintaining the Cathohc spirit of the institution. From
the date of the formation of the federation the advance of co-operation
was rapid. There were :
LiTCstock Co-operatire
Insutaace Societies Other
In the Year Raifleisen CooperatiTe for Purchase Co-operatiTc »
— Banks Societies and Sale Societies
1898 7 6 — 2
1899 8 9 — 4
1900 8 10 — 6
1901 8 13 — 6
1902 9 15 2 6
1903 12 15 2 IT
1904 13 16 2 II
1905 16 16 3 II
1906 19 18 3 II
1907 28 18 4 18
Thus at the end of 1907 there were altogether 74 co-operative societies
working with a total number of 6,800 members.
On October 13th., 1907, the organization of the federation underwent
a radical change, being transformed into a limited liability association in
the sense of the law on co-operative societies, under the name of "Federa-
zione dei consorzi agricoli del Friuli, " with headquarters at Goritz. This
transformation was due to the rapid development of co-operation in Friuli
to which the former legal form of the federation was no longer suited. The
desire of assimilating the Friuli federation to the other federations of Aust-
rian co-operative societies may also have contributed to the change.
According to the new rules, one of the essential objects of the federation
is the constitution of a clearing house for the various Raiffeisen banks adher-
ing to it ; these banks are bound to pay over to the federation all their
THE REGIONAL ORGANISATION OF AGRICULTURAL CO-OPERATION
available money and to borrow exclusively from the federation when in
need. The new rules also provide for the comprehension of a goods
business in the work of the federation. Since this change, co-operation has
made very rapid progress, and to day the whole of Austrian Friuli is co-
vered with a close network of agricultural co-operative societies. At the
end of 1 91 2, there were 99 societies adhering to the federation and they
had altogether 9,600 members.
(i) Raiffeisen Banks 34
(2) Agricultural Distributive Co-operative Societies . 17
(3) Co-operative Societies for Purchase and Sale . . 10
(4) " Dairies 2
(5) " Societies for the Improvement of Vine-
yards 2
(6) " Fishing Society i
(7) " Sericicultural Society i
(8) " Livestock Insurance Society .... 21
(9) Other Co-operative Societies 11
A very important department of the work of the federation is the
scientific improvement of silkworm breeding, which is carried on very
extensively in Austrian Friuli. The federation, aware that the period
of incubation is the most important in silkworm breeding, as on the
incubation the success of the silk crop depends, in good time decided on
giving its attention to this branch of agricultural industry. The feder-
ation, first of all, caused the formation of an association of silkworm
breeders among the peasants ; this was afterwards transformed into a
co-operative society of silk producers and is w^orking satisfactorily. The
object of the society is to purchase eggs of excellent quaht^^ and to
provide for their scientific incubation and the collective sale of the
cocoons.
The federation does not confine itself to this ; with the help of its gen-
eral secretary, who had had the opportunity of studying silkworm breeding,
both theoretically and practically for many years, it organized the collect-
ive purchase of silkworm eggs, proceeded with the installation of incub-
ation chambers and ovens for drying the cocoons, undertook instruction in
the art of breeding silkworms and finally organized the collective sale of the
cocoons.
The great success obtained in recent years in other regions by the
use of incubation chambers for the scientific rearing of silkworms determined
the federation to proceed with the installation of such chambers in the inter-
est of silkworm growers. In 1907, the first was fitted up at Lucinico, un-
der the management of a pupil of the Trent Landeskulturrat Institute and
the immediate supervision of the federation, which provided all the necess-
ary implements. In the following years, similar chambers were installed
at Ajello, Capriva, Mariano and Romans ; there are now eight incubation
AUSTRIA - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
chambers, no longer dependent on the federation, but worked by the silk
producers' co-operative society. A calculation made by Signor Pius Meyer,
general secretary of the federation, shows the material advantages obtained
by improved silkworm breeding. According to it, j,ooo ounces of silkworm
eggs gave under the old unscientific system, on an average, 40 kg. of cocoons
each, which at the average price during the last ten years might be sold
at 2.2 kr., per kg., that is for a total sum of 264,000 kr. Experience shows
that by the scientific method, an average of 60 kgs. of cocoons may be
obtained per ounce. These cocoons are besides quite uniform and per-
fect in structure, guaranteeing a greater yield of silk. At the average
price of 2.8 kr, per kg., from 3,000 ounces of eggs 420,000 kr. would be
obtained, that is a gain of 156,000 kr., nearly twice as much as under
the old system.
In 1908, the federation determined to arrange ovens for drying cocoons.
The want of these had long been felt by the peasants of Friuh. These ovens,
by means of which the larvae are killed in the cocoons, assure the preserv-
ation of the latter for an indefinite time, that they may be offered for
sale at the proper moment, whilst, for want of ovens, the peasants used
to have to sell their cocoons at any price offered by the manufacturers, be-
fore the moth appeared, and were taken advantage 01 by the middlemen.
First of all, a drvang room with three ovens was installed at Romans,
two of them on the horizontal system of the Brothers Menestrina and one
on the Chiesa system. The two first are equally suited and largely used
for desiccation of maize and wheat, by which means the federation has indi-
rectly contributed to the fight against pellagra, which was verj'- widely spread
in that region. Ttie ovens for drying cocoons have had the effect of consid-
erably raising the prices and ensuring the stability of the market.
With regard to the goods business, the federation undertakes the pur-
chase of articles required by the adherent societies for their account. It
also assists them in commercial business, represents them with purchasers,
customers and the authorities, settles disputes, gets analyses made and
serves as intermediary in cases of claims to be made against the carrying
trade. In 1912, the federa-'-ion served as intermediary in goods business for
the total amount of 84,751 kr.; this business was done in superphosphates,
sulphuric acid, sulphur, basic slag, oilcake, wine, wheat, oil, agrictdtural
machinery and implements.
From the start, the federation considered it as one of its principal
duties, as far as possible, to enable poor but hardworking tenants themselves
to become landowners in the region and assist them with its advice in their
business. The disadvantages mentioned above under which the FriuU
tenants suffer have been increased by unrestricted speculation in land,
which is assuming more considerable proportions and is most of all indulged
in by foreigners. These speculators prevent the peasants from buying the
land immediately from the landowners at fair prices, while they them-
selves realise enormous profits, by which agriculture suffers.
Subdividers of landed estates {Gilterschldchter) artificially raise the
price of land to a considerable degree, ruin an incalculable number of
THE REGIONAL ORGANISATION OF AGRICUI,TURAIv CO-OPERATION
persons and often oblige entire families to emigrate. The federation is doing
its utmost to bring a remedy here. In the last ten years, landed estates
have been cut up and divided among tenant farmers at Mossa, Fiumicello,
Sanpierdisonzo, Cassegliano and Aquileja. lu the two last of these communes
the federation was enabled, thanks to assistance from the I. and R. Depart-
ment of Agriculture, to facilitate the sale of land to more than 90 farmers,
thus assuring them a certain independence. In 1909, the federation pur-
chased a landed estate (entailed) at Scodavacca, which was in danger of
falling into the hands of speculators, in order to subdivide it and
transfer the holdings to peasants, with the assistance of the I. and
R. Department of Agriculttue and a Viennese Bank. The estate was
300 campi in area (i campo is about 3,600 sq. metres), and consisted of
fields and meadows and there were ii tenants' households on it. The
allotment gave the federation much trouble, but, in spite of all difficulties,
was brought to a successful conclusion. Thirteen holdings (land and build-
ings) of from I to 12 hectares each were sold to experienced farmers.
The federation itself has undertaken the administration of the manor
house and outhouses, as well as from two to three ha. of garden for a
period of ten years and during that time it will supervise the farmers and
give them assistance ; the portion of the estate above mentioned of which
the federation has reserved to itself the management will be utilised for
horticulture and poultry and rabbit improvement, so as to show the old
tenants, now become small landowners, the considerable yield to be ob-
tained from these agricultural industries.
Thus, the federation has perfectly reahsed the first part of its programme.
The second part consists, as has been said, in the supervision to be exercised
over the peasant land holders in order to ensure the maintenance of their
holdings and protect them from losses. For this purpose, during the next
ten years it will place at the disposal of the peasants storehouses for grain,
ovens for desiccation of maize, cellars for the fermentation and preserv-
ation of wine, as well as the necessary implements and machinery. The
local Raiffeisen bank will make provision for the loans and savings
business ; a co-operative purchase and sale society will provide those con-
cerned with farm requisites, and will act as intermediary for the sale of
milk, fruit, vegetables etc. and all these undertakings will be supervised by
the federation. In winter, lectures will be arranged so that the peasants
may be given the knowledge they require in order to establish themselves in
their new position, by no means an easy matter for all, and derive the
greatest profit from it.
Thus, not only has the federation contributed to a large extent towards
co-operation and home colonisation, but it has also given efficacious aid
in improving the material conditions of existence of the small farmers.
The agricultural co-operative societies are still the pivot of its action. The
Raiffeisen banks serve as savings banks for the peasants, accustom them
to a reasonable investment of their surplus funds, and ensure them against
the danger of being unable to fulfil their engagements at critical moments.
These banks grant loans on produce, if the peasant, on account of the un-
10 AUSTRIA - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
favourable situation of the market, cannot immediately sell at a fair price
and their general meetings have a generally instructive and salutary efiPect
on the peasants. The federation, by creating two co-operative dairies, has
placed them in a position to sell their milk easily and at good prices. The
dairies stimulate them to improve their livestock, to increase it and to
transform the less productive vineyards into pasture land.
The federation, by means of the institution of a cellar at Scodavacca
and a warehouse for sales at Goritz, has put the peasants in a position to
sell their wine at profitable prices. Silk cocoons, which represent for the
small farmer a source of revenue of the first importance, are sold by the
federation to the silk mills. The co-operative societies for purchase and sale
provide the peasants with artificial manure, sulphur, sulphuric acid, cattle
foods etc ; and arrange the sale of their members' agricultural produce,
thus putting a stop to usury and other evils which tended to reduce the
income from the farms. The nvunerous livestock insurance cooperative so-
cieties are governed by rules approved by the State, save the peasants from
pecuniary loss in case of the death or compulsory slaughter of their livestock
and incite them to give their livestock better treatment.
Finally, the peasants' and labourers' associations have to make provision
for education in order that the instruction of the people may be advanced.
Through the medium of these societies, the federation can more easily
supervise the peasants who have become small landlords, incite them to
work and instruct them.
Thus, the federation, though with Hmited material resources at its com-
mand, has largely contributed, through the disinterestedness and indefatig-
able persistence of its of&cers, especially Monsignor Faidutti, the pre-
sident, and Signor Meyer, the general secretary, to the improvement of
the conditions of the existence of the peasants, who, a few generations ago
lived in great misery.
Certainly, there is still much to be done ; but the results up to the
present obtained justify the hope that in the near future the federation
will attain its noble end, that is to say the personal emancipation and the
economic independence of the peasants.
BELGIUM.
THE LEGAL REGIME OF THE COMlVfERCIAI. SOCIETIES
AND THE LAW OF ltL\Y 25TH., 1913.
SOURCES:
Code de Commerce belge ; lyivre ler. titre IX. Des Soci^tes. lyoi du 18 mai 1873 modifite
par la loi du 22 mai 1886 (BelHan Commercial Code; Book J. Part IX, Of Societies. Law of
May 18th., 1873, Amended by Law of May 22nd., 1886). Moniteur, June 2nd. 1886.
IvOiDtTi6MAi 1901 CONCERNANT LES UNIONS DU QvckDTS (Luw of May i6th., igoi on Credit
Unions). Moniteur, May i7th.-i8th.
PROJETDELOI PORTANT modification AUX LOIS LES SOClfeT^S COMMERCIALES (Bill for the
Amendment of the Laws on Commercial Societies). Parliamentary Papers. Senate: Session
of 1 903- 1 904. Sitting of February asth., 1914. p. 61. No. 19.
Discussions parlementaires a la Chambre des REPRiSENTANTS. (Parliamentary Debates
in the Chamber of Representatives). Session of 1912-1913. Annals of Parlament. Sittings
of November 21st. and 22nd., December 4th. and 5th., 1912, January i6tli. and 17th., 1913.
pp.41 to 42, 53 to 68, 87 to 114, 115 to 137, 338 to 355, 360 to 377.
IvOis PORTANT MODIFICATION AUX LOIS SUR LES soci^Tfes COMMERCIALES (Law amending the
Laws on Commercial Societies). May 25tli., 1913. Moniteur Beige, No. 152, June ist., 1913.
I<oi SUR LES sociirrfes commerciales : Coordination approuvee par arrets royal du 22 juillet,
1913 (Law on Commercial Societies: Co-ordination approved by Royal Decree of July 22nd.,
1913). Moniteur beige, July 25th., 1913.
IvA nouvelle loi belge SUR LES socifeTfes COMMERCIALES. ( The New Belgian Law on Com-
mercial Societies). Moniteur des Int6rets Materiels. Brussels, Nos. 72, 75, 78 ; June isth,;;
22nd. and 29th., 1913.
Before the coming into force of the new Belgian law of May 25th,, 1913,
on commercial societies, these societies were regulated by the laws of
May i8th., 1873, December 26th., 1881, May 22nd., 1886 and May i6th. 1901.
After 1903 it was seen to be necessary to introduce some amendments
into these laws and it was just in that year that M. Picard made a pro-
posal in the Senate for the reform of the legal regime governing the com-
mercial societies. The principal object of this proposal was to prevent the
faults ordinarily committed in the formation and working of the societies
by the founders and managers to the detriment of the public, who are often
victims of their own inexperience. But the Government, considering this
bill incomplete and desiring on the other hand to introduce into the 1873 law
a series of amendments, in conformity with a definite plan, in February, 1904
presented on its own account another bill, partly inspired by the conclusions
12 BEIvGIUM - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
of an extra -parliamentary commission, instituted in 1894 for the study of
the question, and partly by various proposals presented in Parliament and
foreign legislation. This bill, discussed and approved by the Senate in 190,5
afterwards comnmnicated to the Chamber and referred by it to special
commissions for stud3% was discussed by it towards the end of 1912 and
the beginning of 1913 and became law in May, 1913-
The amendments iiitrodttced by this law into the pre\'ious regime also
made it necessary to co-ordinate the former provisions with the new ones
and this was sanctioned by Royal Decree of July 22nd., 1913.
Most of the new provisions refer to the limited liability societies an'i
in less degree to the other classes of societies. We, however, think it well
to take this occasion to state briefly the fundamental principles regulating
the various classes of commercial societies in Belgium and we shall do
so in the following paragraphs.
§ I. GENERAI, PROVISIONS GOVERNING SOCIETIES.
It should first of all be said that the provisions governing societies
contained in the above laws and divided into twelve sections, form
Part IX of the ist. Book of the Commercial Code. This Code, promulgated
in 1807, is now to a large extent abrogated and substituted bj- special laws.
The provisions of a general character are contained in the first sec-
tion and may be summarised under the following heads.
Six classes of commercial societies are recognised, namely : societies
of collective title, ordinary societies en commandite, limited liability societies,
societies en commandite limited by shares, co-operative societies and credit
unions.
Each of these societies has its civil personality, distinct from that of
its members.
There exist also temporary and profit sharing commercial associations
which the law does not recognise as civil persons and the existence of which
is established by registers, correspondence and eventuall}' by witnesses.
As regards the form of the contract of the society, societies of collective
title, ordinary societies en commandite and co-operative societies must, in
order to be legal, be constituted by special deeds, either public or with
private signature, in the latter case conforming with article 1,325 of the
Civil Code. This article lays it down that private deeds containing reci-
procal agreements must, in order to be valid, be drafted in as many ori-
ginal copies as there are parties with separate interests, a single copy
sufiiciug for all persons who have equal interests. In the c^ise of co-oper-
ative societies, duplicates sufiice.
The limited liability societies and the societies en commandite hmited
by shares must always, however, be constituted by public deed.
In the case of societies of collective title and ordinary societies en com-
mandite, an abstract of the deed must oe published. It must contain the
THE LEGAI, REGIME OF THE COMMERCIAL SOCIETIES 1 3
precise designation of the members jointly and severall}^ liable, the title
of the societj' for commercial purposes, indication of the members entrusted
with the management and with right to sign for the society, indication of
the amounts contributed or to be contributed en commandite, precise in-
dication of the members who must contribute these amounts, \Adth indic-
ation of the obligations of each ; the date at which the society' is to
commence working and that at which it is to cease to exist.
On the other hand, the deed of constitution of the limited liability
societi'^s, the societies en commandite limited by shares and the co-operative
societies is published in full.
To be valid, any alteration in the above deeds nuist be made in the maii-
ner required for the deed of constitution.
Publicity must also be given, in order that they may be valid against
third parties, to acts modifying the provisions the publication of which is
ordered by law, as well as to apppointments, resignations and dismissals
of managing directors, commissioners and liquidators of limited liability
societies.
Previously, this formality was only required for the deed of appoint-
ment of directors, but it has had to be recognised that the public has an
interest in being ad\nsed not only of the appointment, but also of the re-
signation and dismissal of directors, that is to sa}^ of the acts terminating
their functions. Their powers are defined in the deed of constitution and
in the later deeds for the carrying out of the deed of constitution.
Other provisions refer to the manner of delivery and publication of
the above documents.
L,et us now examine the fundamental rules regulating the various class-
es of societies in all their business, following the order given them in the
Code and naturally taking into account the provisions of the new law of
May 25th., 191 3.
§ 2. Societies oj' collective tttlf.
Under this head are included societies formed between tsvo or a larger
number of persons for the exercise of commerce in the name o^ a firm.
Only names of members may be included in the title of the firm.
The members of a society of collective title are jointly and severally
liable for all engagements entered into by the society, even if signed by only
one of them, provided he ha? the right to sign for the society.
§ 3. Ordinary societies en commandite.
The ordinarj' society en commandite is formed by one or more active
members jointly and severally liable and one or more members who
simply invest their money in the firm and are sleeping partners.
14 BEIvGIUM - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
In this case, the title of the firm must of necessity include the name
or names of one or more of the active members ; the names of the sleeping
partners cannot appear.
When there are several members unhmitedly liable, the society is
at once, with respect to them, one of collective title, and, with respect to
the sleeping partners, a society en commandite.
The sleeping partner is only liable for the debts and losses of the societ\
to the amount for which he has engaged. Yet he may be obHged to restore
the interest and dividends he has received, if they were not paid out of the
real interest of the society, in which hypothesis, if fraud, dishonesty or neg-
ligence is proved against the managing director, a sleeping partner may
prosecute him for repayment of the amount he should return.
The sleeping partner may not, as such, perform administrative acts,
even by proxy. Any act, in contravention of this prohibition, renders him
liable towards third parties for all the obligations of the society. On the
other hand, the commercial opinions, ad\dce, inspection and supervision,
as well as the authorizations given to the managers for acts exceeding
the limit of their powers, create no obligation for the sleeping partner.
In case the managing directcr dies, becomes legally incapable or is
otherwise prevented from acting, if it is established in the deed of constit-
ution that the society shall, notwithstanding, continue its existence, the
president of the Commercial Court, when the rules do not otherwise pro-
vide, may, at the request A those concerned, appoint an administrator
to deal with urgent business and the work of ordinary administration.
Any interested party may make objection to this order. The objection
must be notified both to the person appointed and the person asking for
the appointment.
§ 4. lylMITED LIAIIILITY SOCIETIES.
As we have said, the reform of the legal regime of the commercial so-
cieties, in accordance with the law of May 25th , 19 13, principally affected
the limited liabihty societies, which, in the country we are dealing with,
are of considerable importance. And, as studies are being made with
regard to the same reform in other countries, it seems to us advisable to
consider the manner in which it uas carried out in Belgium.
1. Nature and Title of the Limited Liability Societies. — The limited
Uability society is characterized in the first place by the limited
liabihty of all the members, up to a given amount, and by the fact of the
names of partners not appearing in its title. It is given a special name or is,
designated in conformity with its object. This name or designation must
be different from that of any other society.
2. Formation of the Society. — To form a limited liability society it is
required : (i) that there be at least seven members ; (2) that the capital be
entirely subscribed ; (3) that at least a fifth of each share {action) be paid
up in cash or by means of a sufficient contribution. The law was formerly
THE I,EGAL REGIME OP THE COMMERCIAL SOCIETIES 15
satisfied with one tenth. It must be proved by an authenticated deed
that these conditions have been observed.
Further: to prevent abuses of frequent occurrence in the formation
of societies, above all through the exaggerated value given to con-
tributions, in meeting the claims of which the future of the undertaking
is sometimes sacrificed, wise precautions have been taken by the f ramers of
the Belgian law, in the provision lapng down that the deed of constitution
of a society must henceforth contain :
(i) the specification of all contributions other than those in money,
the conditions on which they were made, and the nam.e of the contributor ;
{2) The transfers of which the real estate contributed was the
subject in the five preceding years, and the conditions under which it was
transferred ;
(3) The mortgages on the real estate contributed ;
(4) The conditions to which the realisation of the rights contributed
optionally is subject;
(5) The reasons for which special advantages are granted to any of
the founders, and the amount of these.
Article 40 bis of the new law provides for further guarantee of the real-
ity of the contributions at least in those cases in which securities are
given in return.
This'article says : " Shares (actions) representing contributions not made
in money and any security directly or indirectly giving a right over these
shares, shall only be negotiable ten days after the publication of the second
yearly balance sheet. Until the expiration of this term, they can only
be transferred by public deed or private writ, of which notice has been
given to the society within a period of a month, under pain of nullity of
the transfer. Deeds relating to transfer of these shares shall indicate
their nature, date of creation and the conditions laid down for their transfer."
Up to the present, the promoter of a society, seeking unlawful gains,
obtained in exchange for his contributions an extraordinary quantity of se-
curities which he hastened to realise, taking advantage of the favourable
current, easily produced by astute propaganda in favour of the foundation
of the society. Henceforth, the above provision will prevent his negotiating
these securities, until after a minimum period of two years, when the
financial results of the society have established the real value of the shares.
The new law, like the pre\dous one, contemplates two modes of forming
societies. The first, the most frequent, by means of one or more authentic-
ated deeds, to which the members are parties, either personally or by proxy.
The parties to these deeds shall be considered founders of the society.
The other is the constitution of the society by subscription, preceded by
an authenticated public deed, undci the name of prospectus.
The same formalities and conditions as are required for the found-
ation of the societies are also necessary in the case of each increase of cap-
ital. The rules therefore can no longer, as was frequently the case, authorize
the t>oard of management to increase the capital, but must in this respect
follow regulations definitely laid down.
l6 BEI.GIUM - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
Finally, as lirGited liability societies are most usually founded by
authenticated deed to which a small number of founders are parties, sub-
scribing all the shares, with the intention of later on offering them for pub-
lic sale, the law, to prevent the evils consequent on this, has had recourse,
in the interest of the public, to the security offered by wide publicity.
Article 34 bis of the law of May 25th., 1913 (art. 36 of the Commercial Code)
prescribes as follows :
" The ptiblic exhibition, offer and sale of shares {actions or parts), or
securities, of whatever title, must be preceded by the publication, in the
supplement to the Moniteur of a notice dated and signed by the vendors,
together with the names, surnames, profession and residence of those
signing ;
(i) the date of the deed of constitution of the societ^^ and of all
deeds amending the rules and of their publication ;
(2) the object of the society, the share capital and the number
of shares ;
(3) the amount of capital not paid up and that still to be paid on
each share ;
(4) the composition of the boards of management and supervision;
(5) the declarations required as above in relation to contributions;
(6) the last balance sheet, and the last profit and loss account or
statement to the effect that the latter has not yet been published.
The publication in question must be made at least ten full days
before public exhibition, offer or sale.
3. Shares and Transfer of Shares. — The capital of the societies consists
in shares (actions) on which their value may or may not be shown. Inde-
pendent of the shares (actions) representing the capital of the society,
others (titres de participation) , may be issued which shall entitle to rights
laid down in the rules.
The shares (actions) may be divided into parts, of which a certain number
shall confer the same rights as the action. Both actions and parts bear the
number of their issue.
Distinction is made between personal shares, the ownership of which
is established by means of an entry in a special register kept at the head
quarters of the society and transfer of which is effected by means of a
declarat^'on entered in the same register , dated and signed by the transferer
and the transferee ; and shares to bearer, bearing the signature of at least
two managers, and transferable by means of simple delivery of the title.
The shares (actions) are personal until fully paid up; the owners of
shares (actions or titres) to bearer may, at pleasure, demand their conversion,
at their own expense to personal actions or titres.
Lastly transfer of shares is only valid after the definite constitution
of the society and payment of the fifth of their amount.
4. Management and Supervision of Limited Liability Societies. — These
societies are managed by persons appointed for a time, who may be dismissed,
and receive remuneration or not, and, unless the rules make provision
otherwise, have power to perform any act in connection with the manage-
THE LEGAIv REGIME OF THE COMMERCIAI, SOCIETIES I7
ment and any legal action in the name of the society. But in so doing, they
assume no personal liability.
The3' must be at least three in number. They are appointed at the
general meeting of shareholders and in the first instance by the deed of
constitution of the society. The term of their office may not exceed six
years, but they may be re-elected, unless the deed of constitution makes
other provision.
Each manager must deposit as security a certain number of shares,
established in the rules. These shares must be personal.
The daily despatch of business as well as the charge of representing
the society may be delegated to directors, representatives etc... whose ap-
pointment, dismissal and pcwers are regulated by the rules.
The supervision of the societies must be entrusted to one or more
commissioners, members or not, elected at the general meeting of share-
holders for a period not exceeding six years, and also bound to give security''
in shares. They have unlimited right to supervise and inspect all the work
of the society. Every six months the board of management submits to
them a statement of accounts.
Further, by the new law, the commissioners may obtain the assistance
of an expert, approved by the society, for the examination of the books and
accounts. If an agreement cannot be come to in regard to the choice of
the expert, he shall be appointed by the president of the Commercial Court.
This provision is an appreciable advance on previous legislation, under
which it often happened that the commissioners were unable to carry otit
their mandate properly, owing to their inexperience.
(5) . General Meetings. — The general meeting of shareholders has the
most ample powers for accomplishing or ratifying acts affecting the society.
Unless otherwise prescribed, it has the right to amend the rules, without,
however, being able to change the essential object of the society. However,
the meeting itself cannot lawfully decide on proposals for the amendment
of the rules, if the substance of these proposals has not been specified in the
agenda and if the shareholders present do not represent at least half the
capital of the society. No increase or reduction of the capital may be de-
cided on v.ithout the observance of the conditions laid down for the amend-
ment of the rules.
Finally, a new and important provision is that the right to vote con-
ferred by shares not paid up shall remain reserved, until the contributions
regularly demanded and due are paid.
6. Balance Sheets. — In the reform with which we are dealing, the
framers of the law concerned themselves greatly about the balance sheets
which ought faithfully to reflect the situation of the societies. The mat-
ter gave rise to long discussions in both the Chamber and the Senate. Many
would have liked to insist on a uniform model for all the societies, to ensure
clearness. But in the end the idea of so rigid a rule was renounced, as it
could not have been applied in every case. The new law, therefore, limits
itself to requiring that the balance sheet shall show separately the immobil-
l8 BELGIUM - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
ised and realisable credits, the society's debt towards itself, its engagements,
its mortgage debts and debts not secured on real estate.
The amendments for a further development of the balance sheet, by
the introduction of details meant to give a precise idea of the various items
forming the credits, were rejected. And those which aimed at obliging the
societies to publish the list of their bills and acceptances suffered the same
fate. Publicity of this kind might in fact have led to inconveniences.
Nevertheless, the law attempts, by other clauses which the space left to
us does not permit of our reproducing, to provide so that the shareholder
may inform himself as to the most important of these bills and accept-
ances.
7. Issue of Bonds. — The innovations introduced by the new Belgian
law on commercial societies in respect to bonds must be counted among the
most important and the most successful. These bonds are generally issued
by limited liability societies after their definite constitution and have the
character of real liabilities guaranteed by the share capital. The law has
shown on this occasion special sollicitude for the interests of the bond
holders, hitherto somewhat neglected.
In fact, to protect them from disagreeable surprises and provide them
with the means of effectively defending themselves, a series of provisions
has been introduced, inspired by the following four classes of ideas ; (i)
wide publicity given to the; issue and sale of the bonds; (2) special indications
to be given on the bonds ; (3) issue of bonds on mortgage ; (4) organisation
of the general meeting of bondholders.
Art. 68 indeed prescribes a system of publicity for the issue and sale
of bonds similar to that we have mentioned for shares.
The provisions with regard to mortgage bonds are specially interesting.
Ivet us say, in the first place, that, according to Belgian law, mortgages
can onl^"- be passed in favour of a definite individual, a person, physical
or legal. Consequently, the holders of bonds, that is to say of credit secur-
ities not naming the holder, were up to the present without this precious
guarantee. The new law, by a wise provision, based on foreign laws, has
extended the advantages of the mortgage bond to the bonds of the com-
mercial societies.
It, in fact, establishes that a society may mortgage real estate to guar-
antee loans it contracts under form of issue of bonds. Registration is made
in favour of the whole group of bondholders, the name of the creditor being
substituted by that of the securities representing the credit guaranteed . The
mortgage takes the place due to it by date of entry, without the date of the
issue of the bonds being considered. The entry must be renewed bj' the
managers on their responsibility before the expiration of the fourteenth
year. If the renewal is not made by the member, any bondholder has the
right to make it.
But perhaps the best guarantee the new law offers the bondholders
is the power it grants them of assembling for the defence of their common
interests and discussion with the society in general meeting where they are
THE I,EGAI< REGIME OF THE COMMERCIAL SOCIETIES If
able, according to the forms laid down, to take decisions, which are fully
binding and which the meeting may order its oihcers to carry out.
The law lays down in fact that the board of management and the com-
missioners may call a general meeting of bondholders, and that they are
bound to do so at the request of a number of bondholders possessing bonds
representing one fifth of the amount in circulation.
This general meeting has the right : (i) to receive depositions for the
purpose of according the bondholders special guarantee, or modifying or
cancelling guarantees previously established; (2) to postpone the date of
maturity of one or more classes of interest, to consent to the reduction
of the rate of interest or the modification of the conditions for payment ;
{3) to prolong the period for extinction of debt, to suspend the payment
to sinking fund and to modify the conditions of payment ; (4) to allow the
credits due on bonds to be substituted by shares (actions) ; (5) to decide upon
action for the defence of the common interest ; (6) to appoint one or more
officers to execute the decisions taken in accordance with numbers i to 5,
and represent the body of bondholders in all suits relating to the reduc-
tion or cancellation of mortgages registered.
The decisions of the meeting shall be binding if approved by holders
of as many bonds as are required to make up two thirds of the amount in
circulation, in the cases contemplated under nos. i to 5, and by a mere
majority in the case contemplated in no. 6.
At the suit of those concerned, a curator shall be appointed to represent
the whole body of bondholders in proceedings in connection with the paying
off of a mortgage or the expropriation of the real estate mortgaged. The
appointment is made by the president of the Civil Court.
Limited liability societies may not issue bonds to be redeemed by being
drawn for, at a rate above the rate of issue, unless the bonds bear interest
at least of 3 %, are redeemable at the same amount and that the yearly
instalments of sinking fund and interest remain invariable for the whole
period of the loan.
The amount of these bonds may in no case exceed that of the paid up
capital.
Besides, there is always a condition left to be understood in contracts
of loans realised under the form of issue of bonds, in case one of the parties
does not fulfil his engagements : in that case, the contract is not cancelled
of itself, but the party suffering by the breach of contract may force the
other to keep his engagements or may ask for cancellation.
5. Societies en [commandite limited by shares.
These societies differ from ordinary societies en commandite in that
their capital is divided into shares, bearing signature of the managers and
two commissioners. Each society has a title consisting of the names of
one or more responsible members, to which a special designation may be
20 BEI^GIUM - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
added, bat iu that case, it must always be followed by the words « society
en commandite, limited by shares ».
Although it has members whose liability is unlimited, this class of
society in general conforms to the rules governing limited liabihty societies
examined in the preceding section. Thus we shall not delay over it.
§ 6. Co-operative societies.
According to the law, the co-operative society is one " composed of
members whose number and contributions are variable and whose shares
{parts) can never be transferred to others ". Yet it must have at least
seven members. These may be jointly and severally liable, or individually
to an imlimited degree or up to a fixed amount.
The co-operative society has not a title in which members' names ap-
pear, but a special designation.
The deed of constitution must contain, tobevaUd, the following part-
iculars : (7) the name and head quarters of the society ; (h) the object of
the society ; (c) the precise indication of the members ; [d] indication of the
way in which the share capital is made up and its minimum amount.
The deed must further show : (i) the term for which the society is
founded, which may not exceed 30 years ; (2) the conditions for admission,
withdrawal or expulsion of members, as well as those for the return of
contributions ; (3) everything relating to the direction, supervision and
working of the society (there need be only one managing director, who
need not belong to the society) ; (4) the rights of members, the mode of
calling the meetings, the majority required for passing measures ; (5)
the manner of distributing the profits and losses ; (6) the HabiHty of mem-
bers, that is, whether the^^ are liable to the extent of their whole assets
or only up to a certain amount.
If the rules do not contain information on the above points, the follow-
ing regulations shall apply: (i) the term for which the society is formed shall
be 10 years ; (2) the members shall have power to leave it, and can only
be expelled for non-fulfilment of the contract binding them to the society ;
the general meeting shall decide upon the admission and expulsion
of members and shall authorize the return of contributions ; (3) the society-
shall have one manager and be supervised by three commissioners appointed
as in limited liability societies ; {4) all members shall have equal right to
vote at the general meeting, and the decisions shall be taken in conformity
with the rules in force in the case of limited liability societies ; (5) the pro-
fits and losses shall be divided every year among the members, half in
equal proportion, half in proportion to their contributions ; (6) the members
shall be all liable jointly and severally.
Every co-operative society must, further, keep a register, numbered
and initialed, without expense, with, on its first page, the deed of constitu-
tion, and on the following pages : (a) the name, profession and residence
THE I^EGAL, REGIME OF THE GOMMERCIAIv SOCIETIES 21
of the members ; (b) the date of their admission, voluntary resignation
or expiilsion ; (c) the account of the amounts paid by each or withdrawn
by him .
Every six months the director of the society must deposit with the
registrar of the Commercial Court a statement giving the name, profession,
and residence of all the members, in alphabetical order. The pubUc may
consult the document free of charge.
The rights of each member are represented by a certificate made out
in his name, giving the name of the society, the name, condition and resid-
ence of the owner and the date of his admission into the society ; the whole
signed by the member himself and by the officer entrusted with the man-
agement of the society authorized to sign for it. This certificate further gives,
in order of date, the various payments made by and to the holder of it.
These annotations are, according to the circumstances, signed by the
society or the members, and serve as receipts. On the certificate itself,
which is exempt from stamp and registration duty, the rules of the society
are reproduced.
Certain guarantees are required from the co-operative societies, as well
as from the limited liabiUty societies. These are the annual taking of
stock, the formation of a reserve fund, the insertion, in full, on all documents
of the words " co-operative society ", the obligation to deposit every six
months, as above stated, the lists of members as well as the balance sheets
with the registrar of the Commercial Court, within a fortnight from date
of their approval. Further, the directors must, within a week from
their appointment, deposit with the same registrar an abstract of the
deed by virtue of which they discharge their functions.
§ 7. Credit unions.
By law of May 25th., 1913, the provisions relating to Credit Unions,
in the special law of May i6th., 1901, form a new section, the Vllth. of
Book I, Part IX, (Of Societies) of the Commercial Code. We must
understand under this name, " societies, the special object of which is
to obtain capital for their members by means of discount. " They
have their special names, to which are added the words " Credit Union ",
and they conform to most of the rules on co-operative societies dealt
with above.
RUSSIA.
CO-OPERATION IN RUSSIA.
By S. de Borodaevsky, Assistant Manager at the Department of Commeru
and Industry at St. Petersburg.
The co-operative movement in Russia began in 1865, when the first
loan and savings association and the first distributive society were founded.
But only in the last ten years have the various forms of co-operation de-
veloped to a considerable degree. In proof of this, we reproduce the fol-
lowing table in which the number of the co-operative institutions in 1904
is compared with that in 1913.
Number of Co-operative
Institutions Societies, excluding those
— of Finland.
1904
1913
Credit Co-operative Societies (Russian System) . 378
Co-operative Loan and Savings Societies (Schulze
Dehtzsch System)
Distributive Societies
Agricultural Societies 700
Co-operative Agricultural Societies . . .
Societies for Production . .
" Granaries
" Dairies
3,085
9,200
852
3,300
930
7,500
700
4,000
75
900
70
600
—
500
80
2.500
28,500
In order to obtain a clear idea of the present state of co-operation in
the whole of Russia, we must bear in mind the fact that in Finland there
are more than 2,000 co-operative associations with no less than 250,000
members. About a thousand of these are co-operative credit societies ;
almost 400 are co-operative dairies; 200 are co-operative societies for the use
CO-OPERATION IN RUSSIA 23
of agricultural machinery etc. Altogether, therefore, there are now in
Russia 30,500 co-operative societies.
However, Russia comes second among the countries of the world in
regard to the number of its co-operative societies, Germany taking the first
place. So, we observe to-day in the various classes of the popidation, above
all in the agricultural class, an awakening to the sense of common interests
and the idea of self help. There are in the country districts many people of
intelligence, on whose initiative various co-operative institutions have been
founded. Add to this that the governing classes have clearly learned, in
the last ten years, the necessity of contributing to the development of co-
operation. In proof of this it is enough to mention the recent laws and pro-
visions relating to co-operation. These are the following : (a) laws on credit
co-operation, of the years 1895, 1904, and 1910 ; (6) model rtdes of the
year 1897 for distributive societies and agricultural co-operative societies
for purchase and sale ; (c) model rules of 1898 for societies for agricvdtural
improvement; (d) law of 1902 on co-operative societies for production
(artels) ; (e) model rtdes of 1908 for agricultural co-operative societies.
Nor is this all ; it cannot in fact, be denied that in the last ten years
many co-operative societies have been founded through the influence and
with the immediate support of Government officers.
*
* *
I^et us now proceed to show in greater detail the present situation of co-
operation in Russia.
T^et us begin with co-operative credit. There are two kinds of co-oper-
ative credit societies : (i) co-operative loan and savings societies (System
Schulze-Dehtzsch) ; (2) co-operative loan societies (Russian System) These
latter are institutions, neither of the Schulze-DeHtzsch nor of the RaifEeisen
system. They have no share capital, nor dividends, while the Schulze-
Delitzsch credit associations have both. Further, their field of action is
usually very large, including sometimes from 2,000 to 3,000 households
and even often more than 1,000 members. In the co-operative soci-
eties of Russian system the members' liability is almost always limited,
while in those of Raiffeisen system it is unlimited. Besides this, in
the former the board of management is almost always remunerated, while
in the latter only the accountant is paid , finally the co-operative loan
societies do not grant loans for very long terms, that is for terms of over
5 years, and limit themselves for the most part to short term loans, while
the Raiffeisen banks generally lend for long terms.
As we see, the Russian loan societies conform neither to the Schtdze-
Delitzsch nor the RaifEeisen type; they have really their own principles which
may be styled : the Russian system. Such a designation is the more natural
as the number of these associations is somewhat large, even compared with
that of similar associations in other countries and is daily tending to increase.
According to the most recent statistics (July i.st., 1913), there are in
24 RUSSIA - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
Russia about 8,000 loan associations authorized to work (i) . We give below
statistics of Russian credit co-operation.
Co-operative I<oan _ ^
and Savings Societies ^ Co-oi«:abve
r<5T7<;tPin Sfhiil7^. ^^°^° Societies
Credits ^^^D^lLS^r (Russian Systan)
On January ist., 1913 in thou-
sands of Roubles.
Collected 4,690 9,241
Securities 6,849 ^.375
]>)ans 212,026 184,884
Credits Due 1,217 295
Cash 22,592 9,822
Societies' own Capital 7,221 5,i35
Goods 966 (2) 3,139 (3)
Total . . . 255,561 213,891
Debits
Share Capital 44,005 24,569
Reserve Fund 5,^94 3.543
Profits of the Year 8,131 8,677
Special Capital 3,728 4,i75
Deposits 169,482 118,442
Ivoans 19.561 ' 51.359
Other Items 5,460 3,126
Total . . . 255,561 213,891
Number of Societies 3,019 7.974
Number of Members 1,726,301 4,867,734
The balance sheets of the co-operative credit societies on January ist.,
1913 therefore showed an amount of altogether 470,000,000 roubles, while
nine years previously they did not show more than 56,500,000. In order
(i) For particulars with regard to this type of society, consuit the "-Bulletin Inter-
national Cooperatif ", for 1910. No. 12. S. B.
(2) On July ist., 1913, the total shovra by these societies on (heir balance sheets was
over 300,000,000 roubles.
(3) On July ist., 1913, the total shown by these societies on their balance sheets was
over 350,000,000 roubles.
CO-OPERATION IN RUSSIA
25
to have a true idea of these co-operative societies, we must remember
that more than 1,670 of them have organized co-operative granaries for the
collective sale of wheat of a total capacity of over 10,000,000 pouds It).
Finally, we must mention the Federations of Credit Co-operative So-
cieties, at present eleven in number, showing in their balance sheets not
more than 3,000,000 roubles ; their work is as yet hardly started.
As regards distributive societies, there are about 7,500 in Russia. Accord-
ing to the figures published by the Central Co-operation Committee of
St. Petersbourg, those working on January ist., 1912 were divided as follows :
Rural Societies 5,066
Workmen's " 705
Urban " 706
Societies of Officers and Employees 97
The societies have on an average 150 members each, and all the co-oper-
ative distributive societies together have 1,145,000 members. There are
no periodical statistical returns of these societies.
The movement in favour of the federation of the distributive co-oper-
ative societies is as yet little marked. There are only federations at
Kharkow, Perm, Ekaterinburg, and Moscow. The amount of business
done in 191 2 by the Moscow Federation, in which, with its four branches, 800
societies are united, was 6,000,000 roubles, or an average of 7,500 roubles
per society. If all the Russian co-operative distributive societies showed
equal activity, their annual business would amount to 55,000,000 roubles.
The principal object of the rural societies is the development of improved
methods of cultivation, with distribution of seeds etc. Some of these
societies lend their members agricultural machinery, found dairies, various
manufactories etc. Some have objects of general character ; others have
special objects, such as beekeeping, horticulture, livestock improvement,
pisciculture etc.
The principal object of the agricultural associations is the organization
of collective purchase and sale ; however, 461 occupy themselves with
dairy work, 77 with the use of agricultural machinery on a co-operative
system, 9 with wine making, 7 with beekeeping, 7 with horticulture etc.
On an average, each association has 200 members.
Co-operative daities are found principally in Siberia, but also in other
parts of the Empire. Let us specially mention in this connection the Govern-
ments of Tomsk, Tobolsk, Perm, Moscow, Vologda etc. They have contrib-
uted to increase the amount of butter produced in Russia, which, in 1911,
(i) I poud corresponds with 16.380 kg.
3
26 RUSSIA - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
exported 4,672,000 pouds, valued at 71,000,000 roubles, while ten years
previously the export was only 1,190,000 pouds of a value of 1^,500,000
roubles. Most of the co-operative dairies are subventioned by the Im-
perial Government and by the Zemstvo ; a certain number of them owe
their foundation to the action of the professors of the Agricultural Depart-
ment. Among the dairies there is to be noted a successful movement in
favour of federation. The most important federation is that of Kurgan,
in the Government of Tobolsk : it federates 600 dairies with 120,000
members; in 1912 it sold 477,000 pouds of butter.
These are, briefly summarised, the most recent statistics relating to
co-operation in Russia. There is no doubt that the bill on co-operation
now in preparation will still further advance the movement, already so full
of vitality.
S E R V I A.
SERVIAN HOUSEHOI.D COIVIMUNITIES (ZADRUGAS).
SOURCES :
iVRDANT (Gabriel) : I^a Zadrouga, la famille patiarcale et le regime de communaute dans les
Balkans depuis I'independance. (The Zadru^a, the Patriarchal Family and the Community
Rigime in the Balkan States since their Independence). Revue sociale, Paris, Ilnd. Series,
1. 1. 1886. No. 3. pp. 141-162.
BoGisic. Sur la forme dite Inokosma de la famille rurale chez les Serbes et les Croates {The
Form of Rural Household called Inokosma among the Servians and Croats). Paris, 1884.
De lyAVELEYE (Emile) : De la propriete et de ses formes primitives (Property and its Primitive
Forms). IVth. Edition. Paris, 1891.
Do. I,a Pfeinsule des Balkans. (The Balkan Peninsula). 2 vols. Brussels, 1886 (Translated into
Russian by Vassilyeff, 1889. Moscow).
Do. : lyes communautes de famille et de village (Household and Village Communities). Revue
d'Econ. Politique. Paris, July, 1888. p. 346.
DragoliubNovakovich: I^a Zadrouga (Communautes familiales chez les Serbes) (The Zadruga '•
Servian Household Communities). Paris, 1905. 8vo.
KoHN (Georg) : Gemeindeschaft und Hausgenossenschaft. (Village and Household Commun-
ities), Zeitschrift fiir Vergleichende Rechtwissenschaft . XIII. Stuttgart, 1898.-99.
Bestyujkff- Rvumin : O zadrougu6 drevnih Slavian. (The Community among the Ancient
Slavs). Rouski Issok (East Russia). 1872. 1.
GovoRNij : Sella i zadrouga Serbov po staroserbiskim pamiatnikam. (The Land andthe Zadruga
amonT, the Servians, accordin:; to Ancient Servian Docume nts). St. Petersburg. 1900.
ZiGELY : Zaconik Stefana Douchana (The Code of Stefan Duchan). St. Petersburg, 1872.
Smirnoff: Otcherk koultoumoy istoriyi youjnih Slavyan (Sketch of the Social History of the
Southern Slavs). Kazan, 1900.
Dyk (I.) : Za srbskou Zadruhou (The Servian Zadruga). Pilsni, 1899.
IiRECEK : Svod zakonov slovanskyh (Collection of Slav Laws s), Prague, 1880.
Kaldec (Dr. Karel) : Rodinny nedil cili zadruha v pravu slovanskem (Indivisible Households
in connection with the Zadruga in Slav Law). Prague, 1898.
Graeowski : Zadruga. Wisla, 1899.
YovANOVic (A. S.) : Istorijski razvitak srpske zadruge (The Historical Development of the Serv-
ian Zadrw^a). Belgrade, 1896.
Karagic Votjk Stef. Zivot i oglcaji maroda ^srpskoga (Uses and Customs of the Servian
People). Vienna, 1867.
MiLiCEVic (Milan U.) : Zadruzna kuca na selou (The Zadruga House in the Village).
Belgrade, 1898.
MiKLOSic MoDumenta Serbica. Vienna, 1858.
Do. : Selo (The Village) Bullet, de I'Ac. Royal des Soc. 1891. T. XXIV.
MoNUMENTA HiSTORico-jURiDiCA Slavorum meridionalium . 9 volumes 1877-1904. Zagreb-
28 SERVIA - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
Strohal (Dr. Ivan) : O uzrociina pojava zadruga (Causes of the Institution of the Zadruga),
Bullet, mens, de la soc. juridique. Agram. 1903.
RADOSSAVI.JEVIC (Mat): Evolucija srpske zadrugt (Evolution of the Servian Zadru- a). Belgrade-
Peric : Zadruzro pravo spr^kog Gradjtw zakona (The Law en the Zadru a in the Civil Code
of Scrvia). Belgrade, 191 2.
Markovic (M ):Dic S rbische Hauskommunion (Zadruga) und ihre Bedeutunginder Vergan-
genheit u. Gfgrrvart. [The Servian Household Community (Za-Ara^) and its Signification
in th3 Past and the Present). lyeipzg, 1903.
Pmsker (I.) : Forschungen zur Soz al und WirtFchaftfgcschichte der Slaven (Researches in
connection with the Social and Economic History of the Slaves). Die Serbische zadru a. Berlin
1900 (Sond. - Abdruck aus der Zeitschr. fiii Social-und Wirtschaftsgeschichte,
VII, 211-326).
BoPTCHEPF: Bfgarska Tchcliadna Zadruga (The Bulgarian Zadrura). Sofia,rvihUca.twn of the
Bulgarian Royal Acadcniy. 1910.
§ I. The economic idea of the zadruga.
The Zadruga, the origin of which in Servia may be traced back far
beyond the Middle Ages, is a permanent agricultural association among
relations possessing property in common and living and working together.
In this way the association, by avoiding the subdivision of the soil, succeeds in
uniting the advantages of both large and small holdings.
By means of community of property, life and work, each association
succeeds in producing more cheaply and rendering the work of its members
more productive, as a system of division of labour and of time is thus
possible. lyife in common again diminishes the cost of maintenance for
every body. There is only one family^ and only one household. In its turn, this
reduced expenditure for maintenance afiects the cost of production and
reduces it.
§ 2. The specific characteristics^'of the zadruga.
The Zadruga presents four specific characteristics :
ist. Community of life ;
2nd. Relationship of members;
3rd. Community of goods ;
4th. Community of Work.
L/Ct us consider these characteristics in turn :
(a) The Relationship of Members. — AU the members of a Zadruga
are relations and there can never be a member who is not related to the others.
Custom allows the admission of strangers into a Zadruga only in two cases:
in that of adoption and in that of marriage with a woman inheriting rights
in the Zadruga. The person adopted enjoys the same rights as the person
adopting him. The consent of the other members is necessary, because the
SERVL\N HOUSEHOIvD COMMUNITIES 2g
adopted person, by becoming a member of the Zadruga becomes also co-
proprietor with them and their heir. The case of entrance by marriage of-
fers nothing worthy of special remark.
(b) Community of Life. — This formerly was complete, but today each
family has its cottage and only the meals are taken in the common house.
Yet not living together only entails a loss of rights, when it is volunt-
ary and the members of the community have not given their consent to
it. When the others consent, the mutual relations in the Zadruga are
not affected, nor are they if a member engages in trade, is employed
as a domestic servant etc ; only, then, he must, while absent, assist
the Zadruga out of the profits he makes.
Art. 513 of the CivU Code provides as follows with regard to the rights
that may be lost by a member not Hving in community : " Whoever, having
left the Zadruga house of his own will and without the consent of the other
members, does not return before the end of twelve months and has not
sent contribvitions in money to the community, shall lose his share of the
profits for that year."
(c) Community of Goods. — Article 508 of the Servian Civil Code lays
down the principle of the joint ownership of the property of the Zadruga,
considered as really a civil person. Article 510 adds that uoone may sell
any of the common property without the consent of the members who are
of age and married.
(d) Community of Work. — This is, so to say, the cause of the community
of goods. The children become jcint owners of the goods of the Zadruga by
\nrtue of the work they perform. The Civil Code, in Article 517, recognizes
the right of boys, from their fifteenth year, to participate in all the profits
of the community, equally with the other members.
§ 3. Organization and work of the zadruga.
The head of the Zadruga is the domakin. who is invested with the
office of manager, either as father of the family or, in communities of brothers
and more distant relations, by election He regulates the order of the agri-
cultural work, buys and sells. His role is precisely that of manager of a co-
operative society, for the Zadrugas, as Emile de lyaveleye long ago ob-
served, are in everj^ respect agricultural societies, in v\ hich inveterate
custom and family afiection, not financial gain, serve to unite the members.
The domakin represents the Zadruga in the fullest sense. Thus, as
regards the property, he is responsible for the common assets and must keep
rigorous account of the obhgations of the Zadruga towards the com-
mune, the district, the department and the State. With regard to the mem-
bers, he represents the minors and even those of age; he settles by his su-
preme authority any disputes that may arise within the Zadruga among
the members. There are, however, limits to the domakin' s powers ; thus,
in the case of purchase or sale of a part of the common property and also
SERVIA - COOPERATION" AND ASSOCIATION
in cases of mortgaging, wliich is often only a step towards selling, he is
bound to assemble the Zadrugal Council, the decision of which is final.
In the same way, the domakin can not himself either borrow or pledge what
is common property. Finally, in very serious cases involving his honour,
or his moral reputation, he may be deprived of his office.
More and more also, the strictly patriarchal idea of the role of the do-
makin is disappearing in proportion as the powers of the Zadrugal Council
increase. This, which was first a very limited group of individuals freely
consulted by the chief, has gradually extended to include all the members
of the Zadruga, who have a real right to a place in it. In this family Parlia-
ment the most various subjects of agricultural economy are dealt with:
distribution, quantity and quaHty of the crops.sales, purchases, exchanges etc.
In all important matters, the head must consult the Council and has then
only to carrv out its decisions.
§ 4. The present position of the zadruga.
According to the last volume of the "Statistical Yearbook of the King-
dom of Servia " (Third volume, 1909-10. Belgrade, 1913. Government Press),
the number of rural households, for the most part Zadrugas, in 1910, was
as under :
Percentage
Consisting of one person .... 17, 539 401
from 2 to 3 members 76,221 17-44
4 ,, 5 ,, ..... 118,029 27.01
6 ,, 10 ,, 186,364 42.65
,, II ., 15 -, 30,468 6.97
,, 16 „ 20 ,, 6,233 1-43
>, 21 „ 25 ,, 1,565 0.36
,, 26 „ 30 ,, 417 0.09
more than 30 151 0.04
Total . . . 436,987 100.00
Average number of persons per household: 6.02.
5. § Advantages and disadvantages of the zadruga.
It remains for us briefly to set forth the advantages and disadvant-
ages of the Zadruga. As advantage, let us mention:
(a) The abundance of labourers and the division of labour it makes
possible. In practice, the \\ ork is generally divided as follows : the head
of the Zadruga administers and manages the household, he treats with
the aiithorities, the merchants and whoever else may have any dealings
SERVIAN HOUSEHOI.D COMilUNITlES
with the Zadniga. As a result of the experience he thus acquires, he is able
successfully to manage the common business. The old are employed to
look after the gardens, and the flocks, and on other work not requiring
muscular strength. The strong men work in the fields, the forests, the vine-
yards etc. The chidren render httle services and are very often entrusted
with the herding cf the sheep and goats. The women do the house-work
and dair5dng, make the clothes, underclothing, etc.
(b) The community, as such, enjoys greater credit than an independent
individual and can follow more scientific methods in the cultivation of
the soil.
(c) The Zadruga, through the joint ownership of its property, prevents
the subdivision of land, at the same time as it hinders the formation of
too large estates and the monopoUsing of the land by a group of the
inhabitants. A Zadruga in which the number of members increases too
rapidly, in fact soon divides into two or three smaller Zadrugas.
(d) From the moral point of view it is found that hfe in a Zadruga tends
to decrease individual selfishness, and the districts where the Zadrugas
are most abtmdant are those in which there is least crime.
(e) Finally, the zadruga is an excellent school of self government, allow-
ing very young persons of fifteen years of age to take part in the common
deliberations.
Against these advantages there may be placed, it is true, the
drawbacks of any community regime. In a Zadruga all the associates
work, live and possess all the property of the community in common.
The profits of the common labour are divided equally among the members.
But as there may be among the members some indi\iduals more hard-
working and more ingenious than others, these are not rewarded suf-
ficiently for their work or their ingenuity, the profits being equally divided.
The hardworking and ingenious, perceiving the injustice, may be discour-
aged from working.
lyct us, however, observe that the Zadruga is a community of relations ;
while there is a just reward for labour, there is also family affection which
does not look at things with so selfish an eye. Very often these injustices
are not observed and they are pardoned without the community suffering
thereby. Then also, all keep before them the common welfare, the rather
as, generally speaking, no division is made. Finally,, there are many ways
in which the Zadruga can contend against laziness among its members ; the
moral influence it exerts over them from their birth cannot be inefficacious.
lyCS us add that when instead of idlers there are sick, disabled or old mem-
bers, the Zadruga is found to be the most humane institution and the best
adapted for their protection.
Part II: Insurance
ARGENTINA.
HAH. INSURANCE IN ARGENTINA.
SOURCE:
SrruACi6N de las sociedades de seguros contr.\ geanizo existentes en el pais : AfJo agri -
COLA 1912-1913 {Situation of the Hail Insurance Societies of the Country: A ■^ricultural Year
1912-1913) Report forwarded to the International Institute of Agriculture by the Minis-
ter of Agriculture of the Repubhc.
Since its foundation the International Institute of Agriculture has been
giving its attention to the important problem of hail insurance : in accord -
dance with a vote of the General Assembly of 1911, it undertook an
enquiry in 191 2 into the organization and development of this form of
agricultural thrift in the States adhering to it, with a view to the estab-
lishment of a uniform meteorological and statistical service, as a first step
towards an international agreement in regard to hail insurance.
In reply to a special list of questions, the Argentine Agricultural De-
partment has sent the International Institute of Agriculture an interesting
report containing statistics showing the progress of this branch of insurance
in the Republic : we think it well to reproduce the most important points
of it for our readers.
There are 31 hail insurance societies at work in Argentina: of these
19 are societies limited by shares, 3 are co-operative societies Umited by
shares, and 9 Hmited mutual co-operative societies (i).
The Department was not supplied by aU the societies with the data
necessary for the compilation of an accurate return : 5 of them did not
(i) For the mutual hail si^cieties, see our article on the "Cooperative Movement ia
Argentine Agricultxu-e ", published in the number of this Bu lletiu for December, 1913.
ARGENTINA - INSURANCE
comply with the repeated requests of the authorities. However, by means
of private information, it has been possible tc obtain the following
approximate results :
Effective Capital of the 31 societies, $ m/n (i) 11,000,000
Hectares Insured 4,588,653
Value of Produce Insured $ m/n 153,676,470
Premiums Paid by those Insured .... 8,446,409
Claims Paid by the Societies 4,329,605
From these jEigures it may be deduced that the claims paid were 2.82 %
of the value insured; that the average insured value per hectare is 33.50
pesos, that the general average cost of insurance per hectare is 1.84 pesos
and that the general average premium rate is 5 ^ %.
The plants as a rule insured are wheat, oats, flax, barley, rye and canary
grass. We give below the areas of the various crops insured :
Wheat Hectares
Oats »
Flax »
Bark}- »
Rye I
Canary Grass f
3.395,529
74%
642,397
14 %
412,970
9%
45,886
1%
Maize
Vineyards
\
91.771 2 %
Total . . . Hectares 4,588,553 100 %
In the agricultural year 1912-13, the total area under wheat was
6,918,450 hectares, that under oats 1,192,400, that under flax 1,733,330
hectares : if we consider the figures in the above table, we find, therefore,
that during the same period 49 % of the area under wheat, 54 % of
that under oats and 24 % of that under flax were insured.
A consideration of the proportion of the business done by the limited
societies, on the one hand and the co-operative and mutual societies,
on the other, shows that the first group insured 3,218,872 hectares (70 %),
and the other 1,369,681 (30 %)
The proportion insured by co-operative societies is therefore very
high and shows that association has already made great advances in this
field : this is the more noteworthy, as co-operation is still at its commence-
ment in Argentina, and has, as in all new countries with a small and
heterogeneous population, serious difiiculties to contend with (2). Among
the most important mutual societies let us mention the Prevision of Tres
Arroyos and El Progreso Agricola of Pigue, which have insured 23% of
the total area insured.
(i) $ m/n indicates pesos moneta, nazionale. One peso m/n = 2 20 frs.
(2) See in this connection our article referred to above.
HAIL INSURANCE
55
There is reason to believe that owing to the excellent results obtained
and the intense propaganda carried on by the Government and the agricul-
tural associations, mutual hail insurance will make continually greater
progress in Argentine Agriculture.
In the following table we give a summary of the principal statistics
relating to the constitution and work of the insurance societies of Ar-
gentina, dividing the societies into two classes : capitalist and mutual.
SiPUiition Of the Hail Insurance Societies in tfie Agricultural Year igi2-i^.
Number of Societie^
Authorized Capital ($ m/u)
Subscribed ' " . . . .
Pai'i up « .)....
Fixed » ....
Reserve and Thrift Fund
Total Effective Capital.
Hectare? Insured under Wheal . . . . .
„ I Oats
;, <' Flax
Barley
1) ) >i Canary (^rass i
n » » Rye, f
» » Maize t
•" > ' Vineyards '
Total Hectares Insured
Value Insured [$ m/n) . .
Amount of Premiums Pa'd j
Claims Granted «
Socirtles
Limited
bv Shares
Limited
Co-opfa-ative
and Co-operative
Mutual
Societico
19
25,650,000
11,470,240
6,072,266
3.307.052
9.379,318
2,314.041
387.5S6
402 655
30.643
83,947
3,218,872
110,075,979
6,390,995
3,316,156
Total
1,315,000
300,000
669,826
950,836
1,620,682
1,081,488
254.811
10,315
15,243
7.824
1,369,681
43,600,491
2,055,413
1,013,449
31
26,915,000
11,770,240
6,072,266
669,826
4,257,908
1 1 ,000,000
3,395.529
642,397
412,970
45, coo
91.771
4.588,553
153,676,470
8,446,409
4,329,605
BULGARIA.
THE INSURANCE DEPARTMENT OF THE CENTRAL BANK
OE BULGARIA.
by Dr. Athanasius Sabbeff, Manager of the Central Co-operative Bank of Bulgaria.
The Central Co-operative Bank of Bulgaria was founded in 1910. It
began working at the beginning of 1911. It has two departments, one
for credit and one for insurance (hail insurance and horned cattle insurance).
These two departments are independent of each other as far as liability goes,
for the credit department has no liability with regard to the insurance
department, nor has the latter any with regard to it.
Each department has its manager. The two managers and the man-
aging director of the Bank form the board of management of the Bank, which
decides all questions relating to either department. Consequently, this
is the sole Unk between the two departments. Each has its special book-
keeping service. The funds for the Credit Department are supplied di-
rectly by the National Bank of Bulgaria, the State Credit Institute and the
Agricultural Bank of Bulgaria. There is also another fund of 1,000,000 lewa
to guarantee bonds the Central Bank of Bulgaria might eventually intend
to issue. This fund also is contributed half by the National and half by
the Agricultural Bank.
Finally, the capital of the credit department is formed b^'- means of con-
tributions that all the co-operative societies regularly admitted as mem-
bers of the Bank must pay. It amounts to 111,700 lewa. The total capital
of the Bank at the end of 1912 was, therefore, 5,611,700 lewa.
The insurance department, in its ttirn, has two divisions, one for insur-
ance of agricultural produce against hail, the other for insurance of horned
cattle.
The first has a fund, which must be kept intact, amounting to 1,000,000
lewa, fully paid up by the State, and the second one of 500,000 also contrib-
uted by the State.
The State has, further, engaged to grant these divisions subsidies. The
subsidies amount to 300,000 lewa a year in the case of the hail insurance divi-
sion and 100,000 lewa a year in that of the horned cattle insurance divi-
sion.
To these amounts must be added the insurance premiums, of course
in proportion to the amounts assured .
THE INSURANCE DEPARTMENT OF THE CENTRAI, BANK OF BUIvGARIA 37
The livestock insurance premium consists of an entrance fee and an
amount corresponding with half the total claim distributed among the
members.
Credit Department. — In regard to the credit department, we shall only-
say that the total assets at the end of 1912 amounted to 20,417,980 lewa
39 and the total liabilities to 20,036,658 lewa 27. Thus the gross profits were
381,322 lewa 12. Deducting from this 276,837 lewa 09 for general expenses,
we find there was a net profit for the year of 104,485 lewa 03. This net
profit was distributed as follows :
10 % to the reserve fund lewa 10,448.50
10 % to the insurance fund " 10,448.50
3 % in bonuses to employees " 3, 134-55
In dividends " 80,453.48
Total . . . lewa 104,485.03
Insurance Department. — The insurance department presents greater
interest. As we have said, it has, in its turn, two divisions : one for hail
insurance and the other for insurance of horned cattle.
The hail insurance division is by far the most important. Its second
year of work is already finished, and it has all along been successful.
This is shown by the considerable increase of the policy holders in the
second year, as well as in other ways. In fact, whereas the number of
policy holders was 3,444 at the end of 1911, during the next year it
reached the considerable figure of 17,458.
In addition, the total amount assured, which was 6,120,490 lewa at
the end of 1911, amounted to 28,255,390 lei&a at the end of 1912.
In 1912 applications for insurance were refused in the case of one
hundred and thirty persons for various reasons, the chief being that they
had not sown or had leased their farms.
The amount assured varies very much: from a maximum of 204,850
to a minimum of 10 lewa. The average for each policy holder is about
1,600 lewa.
All kinds of crops are insured. However, cereals are insured in greatest
quantity, and after them vineyards. Let us now examine separately vari-
ous points in relation to this branch of insurance, the entrance fees,
premiums, compensations etc.
The entrance fees amounted in 1912 to 59,059 lewa 80. The whole of
this amount was placed to the reserve fund of the division.
The total amount of premiums paid in 1912 was 630,779 lewa 70, which
is 2.33 % of the total amount assured. This may seem high. It is due to
the fact that a large proportion of premiums are paid for vineyards, and in
that case higher rates are paid. If we exclude the premiums for vineyards,
the rate is only 1.47 %.
3t> BULGARIA - INSUKANCK
The damage caused by hail in 1912 was considerable, and in fact, the
year is held to have been one of those in which most damage was done in
this wa}-. There was hail even in spring and autumn, bvit it was most fre-
quent in June and July.
Estimation of Losses. — • In accordance with article 8 of the law. the
damages are estimated by valuators chosen from among the farmers. In
choosing them account is taken of their general education, and their special
experience in the matter. These experts are appointed directly on the
proposal of the provincial councils, after consultation v/ith the local
scientific agriculturists.
The number of policy holders to whom claims were paid in 191 2 was
2,560. The total amount paid was 1,037,726 lewa 10. The claims con-
tested amounted to 30,835 lewa. The largest claim paid was for 27,656
lewa and the smallest for r lei&a 30.
The average amount of the claims paid was 405 lewa 30 per person.
The experience of this insurance division in two years has rendered evid-
ent nmnerous inconveniences in the application of the law. And the Board
of Management of the Bank has proposed some modifications to be intro-
duced into it. Some of these, the realisation of which was within the
powers of the Executive, have been already adopted. Others, for which
the authorization of Parliament is required, have already been put into the
form of a bill to be submitted to the Chambers on their meeting after the new
elections.
The principal amendments proposed are as follows :
I St. Vegetables and market garden produce cultivated for sale and not
for seed may also be insured ;
2nd. Vineyards may also be insured from Ma}- 1st., that is to say, while
in flower ;
3rd. A reduction of 5 % on the amount of the premiums shall be granted
to co-operative societies constituted for the collective insurance of their pro-
duce, provided the amount insured is not less than 30,000 lewa and the
premium is paid before the ist. of September.
Further to simplify insvirance still more and place it more within
the power of the poorest farmers, proposal has been made to the min-
ister to submit a bill for the following amendments to the law on hail
insurance to the Chamber of Deputies :
1st. The contract shall come into force the day after that on which the
proposal for insurance is accepted and not the day after that on which the
policy holder receives his policy completely filled in ;
2nd. The experts appointed to estimate the loss shall be nominated
by the college of scientific agriculturists and the itinerant agricultural lec-
turers ;
3rd. Policy holders suffering losses shall be paid the claims due to them
even before the date fixed for this in advance, subject to a fair discount.
There is little to be said with regard to the horned cattle insurance divi-
sion, for it only commenced work in 1912. Consequently, operations of this
THE INSURANCE DEPARTMENT OF THE CENTRAI^ BANK OF BUI^GARIA 39
character have only been conducted to a very limited degree. In any case,
some information on the subject ma3'^ be interesting.
It is not a matter of individual but of collective insurance. The Bank
only insures societies founded for insturance of livestock in common .
In the course of 1912, eighteen such societies were formed, but three
of them alone were able to fulfil all the conditions required by the law for
their regular working. These three societies insured altogether 93 head
of cattle for an amount of 17,660 leiiLa.
The entrance fees in this division amounted to 44 lewa 75, and this, in
conformity with the provisions of article 14 of the law, has been placed to
the reserve fund.
The premiums amounted to 127 lewa 80 ; the claims paid only to- 126
lewa. The rules lay down that half the loss must be paid by the insurance di-
vision of the Bank, and the other half by the society to which the animal
insured belongs. We must further note that the reserve fund of this divi-
sion amounted at the end of 1912 to 650,405 lewa 51, which, with the 50,000
lewa contributed by the State, which is to remain intact, forms a reserve
fund of 700,405 lewa 51.
Part III: Credit
ARGENTINA.
THE NATIONAL MORTGAGE BANK: WORKING YEAR 1912 ;
INCREASE OF CAPITAL (i).
I. — Working year 1912.
The Board of Directors of the National Mortgage Bank has presented
its report for the working year 191 2 to the Minister of Finance. It shows
the progressive development of the Bank and, the confidence inspired by
its 6 % mortgage bonds even in foreign countries, as well as the great serv-
ices the institution renders the national economy, both in its urban and
its rural operations.
If we, however, consider that the total mortgage debt of the country
is about 1,500,000,000 pesos m/n. (2), and that of this sum only 485,324,126
pesos is due to the Bank, the rest representing operations conducted by
national and foreign societies or private individuals, we see how large a
field there is still open for the action of this Institute.
The interest the Bank asks on loans is generally less than other money
lenders ask; this difference is a real loss for the country. We must therefore
increase its resources, which have already reached the maximum permitted
by the law (3). We shall see in the next section what provision has
{1) See Bulletin of Economic and Social IntelU%ence,Augast,igii ; April, August, Novembsr,
1912 ; September, 1913
(2) A gold peso is equal to 5 frs ; a peso m/n. (national money) to 2 frs. 20.
(3) The Bank has recently been authorized to make the final issue of bonds (25,000,000)
completing the 500,000,000 pesos fixed as the maximum limit for circulation, by the law
of 191 1.
42
ARGENTIXA - CREDIT
been made to meet these requirements. I^et us now briefly examine the work
of this important institute in 1912.
Circulation. The amount of the bonds in circulation on December 31st.,
1911 was 336,663,700 pesos; in the course of IQ12 bonds were issued for
140,647,900 pesos and bonds for the amount of 34.773,425 pesos were
withdrawn from circulation, so that the amount in circulation on December
31st., 1912 was 442,538,175 pesos.
To give a clearer idea of the increasing activity of the Bank, we publish
the following comparative table for the five years 1908-12 (4), which also
shows the quotations for the 6 % bonds.
Years
Amount
in Circulation
December 31st,
Issue
Series
Average
Quotat'oi!
ot 6 %
Bonds
lyOant
Current on
December 3tst.
1908
1909
I9I0
1911
I912
I46,855,4<»
178,546,250
250,755.300
i 36,663,700
442,538,175
I,.
I..
C.H.A.
C. H. A.
C. H A.
27,492,700
52,425,400
98,894,700
1 15,926,600
140,647,900
90.24
97-74
100.64
99.87
97-36
178.553.747
212,980,307
287,617,026
377.071,351
485,324,126
There were 5,060 loans for 140,647,900 pesos, granted in 191 3: 4,295
(89,312,200 pesos) being secured on urban and 765 (51,335,700 pesos) on
rural land.
The following table shows the distribution of these loans in detail
and also from the geographical and agricultural point of view :
(4) The figures here also stand for pesos ni/n.
THE NATIONAL MORTGAGF. BANK
43
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44
ARGENTINA - CREDIT
As we see, the urban loans, especially those made in the capital, come
first in number and value. The greater number of rural loans (46,000,000)
were granted in the provinces, a very few in the National Territories ;
the largest number of applications made to the Bank for rural credit
came from Hvestock improvers, cultivators of lucerne and exploiters of
forests.
The loans are divided as follows, according to their value :
Amount
In
the Capital
National Territories
Agencies
a
S
a
1
Amount
Amount
Amount
z
%
^
From
1,000
pesos
to 5,000
796
2,950,000
27
109,300
364
1,185,500
))
5.100
»
10,000
923
7,044,500
27
221,800
35^
2,738,600
»
10,100
»
20,000
724
10,867,400
28
399,500
31'-
4,793,600
»
20,100
))
50,000
541
17,277,100
18
637,000
292
9.589.200
»
50,100
»
100,000
214
15.533,900
17
1,301,00c
155
11,749,000
■
100,100
»
250,000
104
17,141,000
12
1,836,000
9^
15,712,500
»
250,100
»
400,000
13
4,206,000
2
720,000
2;
8,865,000
»
400,100
» 500,000
Total . . .
5
2,310,000
131
—
-
3,460,000
3.32'
77.329,900
5,224,000
1,00
58,093,400
Here the small loans of between 1,000 and 50,000 pesos are most
numerous, while the loans of medium amount, between 30,000 and 250,000
pesos, were the most important as regards the quantity of money lent.
In any case, there is to be observed a considerable increase of small and med-
ium loans, as well as of loans on mortgage in the National Territories, an
indication of the progressive extension of the action of the Bank in behalf
of small farms and of the colonisation of the more distant regions.
Profits and Losses. — The principal source from whence the Bank de-
rives its profits is the commission it charges on loans, in accordance with the
organic law : this commission is i %, |4 % ^^^ 34 % respectively in
the three periods of 11 3^ears into which the term allowed for repayment is
divided.
In 1912, the Bank made profits to the amount of 4,293,709 pesos,
which were placed half to the reserve fund and half to the special fund for
loans in cash.
Reserve Fund. — On December 31st., 1912, the reserve fund amounted
to 28,612,730 pesos (31,465,876 pesos on December 31st., 1911).
THE NATIONAL, MORTGAGE BANK 45
Increase of capital.
In May, 1913, the Board of Directors of the Bank, seeing that the is-
sue of bonds had reached the maximum limit authorized for circulation
(500,000,000 pesos), presented a note to the Department of Finance peti-
tioning for a reform of the organic law, so that the capital might be raised
to 1,000,000,000 pesos.
This increase was considered advisable on the ground, among others,
of the necessity of not arresting the action of the Bank which is one of the
principal agents in the industrial and agricultural progress of the country.
The sale of the farms and the subdivision of landed property etc., adds the
note, are considerably assisted by this institution. Now, as we have shown,
the 500,000,000 pesos, forming the capital of the Bank, do not represent even
the third part of the total debt on the land, as the rest is due to loans of
private, to a large extent of foreign, capital. If it is borne in mind that
the interest on private loans is higher than that asked by the Bank, it
will be easily understood how heaw a loss the country suffers in this way
and what an obstacle to the development of mortgage credit there is in the
limitation of the resources of the Bank. To those objecting that a new issue
might shake confidence in the Argentine bonds on the market, its advocates
replied that the credit of these securities would not suffer in the least, if
the circulation were gradually increased and due precautions taken.
The Financial Commission, approving the proposal of the Bank
in its essentials, laid before the Chamber of Deputies a bill for the increase
of the capital not by 500,000,000 but by 120,000,000.
After a long and animated debate, the Chamber decided last Septem-
ber to authorize the Bank to increase its capital by 250,000,000, thus
raising the maximum limit of circulation to 750,000,000 pesos. The new
issues will be made in series of not more than 50,000,000 pesos.
(Su nmarised from the " Report on the Work of Ike Naiii-nal Morigaqe Bank'
for the Year 1912 " an"; the Nacion, May-Sept(.mbcr, 1913)
ITALY.
THE PART PLAYED BY THE MONTE DEI PASCHl
IN HISTORY AND IN THE ORGANISATION OF CREDIT.
By Prof. Dr. Filippo ViRGiui,
Professor at the Royal University of Siena, formerly Member
of the Board of Management of the Monte dti PascM.
§ I. The origin of the " monte dei paschi "
AND THE COMMENCEMENT OF ITS RURAL CREDIT BUSINESS IN 1625.
The first mention of a Monte at Siena occurs in 1369 ; at that time the
name was given both to one of the parties by which the city was troubled
and to the pubHc banks, and the first bank was, instituted by a
decision of the Council in 1369 and took the name of Monte Comune.
The republic provided itself with money either by arbitrary tax-
ation or by loans : the amount of the latter, principal and interest, was
entered in the Liber dehiti ; and it was precisely by the decision of 1369
that, the debts of the commune having considerably increased, they were
distributed in three books corresponding with the three chief districts of
the city, each of them representing a group of creditors. It was also
decided that these debts should be gradually paid o3 out of the Govern-
ment revenue derived from the duty on salt and the paschi or pastures
of the Maremma. To this revenue the name of monte was also given. In
consequence the Monte dci Dehiti, that of the salt duty, and that of the
revenue from the pastures were united in a single Monte del Comune Sale
e Paschi.
Needless to say this institution, in spite of having the same name,
has nothing to do with the Monte dei Paschi which came into existence in
the seventeenth century, and forms the subject of our enquiries and
remarks ; we only wished to mention the former as evidence that in a
remote epoch, the name of Monte was given to a public bank in Siena.
We find the word used in the same sense also in other places, and even
at an earlier date. The first bank founded in Venice about the middle of
the twelfth century, which lent money to the Republic for its wars in the
THE MONTE DEI PASCHI
47
East, was called Monte or corporation of State creditors (i). It seems that
the Bank of St. George of Genoa, the glorious rival of Venice, so prominent
in the history of Italian financial institutions, was founded a few years
earlier. In the operations conducted by it, we find the scheda di redenzione,
corresponding with the modem sinking fund, the monete or lire di paghe,
in which our bonds originated, and those biglietti dt cartulano, marking
the transition from the bill of exchange to the bank note.
While other Monti or Banks, on the model of those of Venice and Ge-
noa, were being founded in various cities of Italy with the object of prevent-
ing usury, in the fifteenth century a new charitable institution appeared in
our country, with the same aim, adversusjudaeorumfravas usur as, that of
the Monti di pietd. (Pawn Institutes).
We know that the first of these, indeed, was founded in Perugia in
1462, through the influence of Frate Barnabas of Teriu, and ten years
later, in 1472, the Siena Monte di Pietd, owing its origin to the initiative of
the Commune, began its work ; but it has now been ascertained that the
original idea of these charitable institutions may be traced to a proposal
of the common council of Arcevia in the Marche, of June 29th., 1428 (2).
The Siena Monte della Pietd did not at all reaUse the hopes conceived
at its start ; it lived with difiiculty for about half a century and ceased
to exist in 151 1 ; there was a vain attempt to revive it in 1521 and another,
more successful, in 1560, which led, as a result of continued insisting on
the part of the people, to its re-establishment in 1569. This second ilfoM^g,
besides discharging its original function, of lending to the poor on pawn,
also assumed the character of a credit institute, lending on special security
to the farmers and livestock improvers of the Maremma and the communities
of the State of Siena.
Indeed, this latter business was so welcome that it very soon overshad-
owed the former, so that, in 1582, the Magis/ra^o (Board) of \.h& Monte pro-
posed to the Governor that it should be transformed into a credit institute ;
and the proposal, though resolutely rejected, was presented again and again
by various boards in tiurn.
(i) The great Italian Economist, Francesco Ferrara, after referring to the expedition
against the East organized about the middle of the 12th. century by the Doge, Vitale Micheli,
and the loans made by the Venetian citizens to the State to defray the costs, in the hope of
great mercantile advantages to be obtained by a victory in the East, writes : " That corporation
of ci'ed.tors of the State was called Monte; a name givtn then and later to manj' other
similar institutions founded in various parts of Italy, because everywhere the Government
debt incre.^ed in proportion to the advance of trade. Many of these are known, and amongst
them all the first place is held bj' that of Genoa, also the earliest founded, a few years before
the Venetian, and then called Compera, which later on became the famous Bank of St.
George. " F. Ferrara, /n^foiMciton to vol. VI,, Second Series of the Biblioteca deU'Economista,
Turin, 1857. pp. CXI,II.
(2) A. Anselmi, II Monte di Pietd di Arcevia, in the "Nuova Rivista Misena ", year IV,
no. I. Jesi, 1891. Cf. A. Bertolixi, Noia sulle ori-ini dci Monti di Pietd, in the "Giomale degli
Economisti ", December, 1891.
48 ITALY - CKEDIT
And in 1619 the Magistrato petitioned the Grand Duke of Tuscany to
provide, not only for the poor, but also for the middle classes by the intro-
duction of "another kind oi Monte," endowing it with a new fund, so that
" every one might freely invest his money in it, with the certain hope of
receiving his interest with a good conscience. " It was desired in
this way to form a permanent fund of 50,000 ducats, "with which to assist
those who had to pay more than 12 % (i). "
The proposal was supported by the Balia, the communal government of
the day. and was fully discussed and explained, and led to the foundation
of a new Monte. "These were years of very great poverty," writes Lu-
ciano Banchi, to whom we owe so much for our knowledge of Sienese
institutions, " every class of citizens was distressed, and the very nobility
of Siena were reduced to such a degree, that every day more of them
were in need of assistance and more than one nobleman was compelled,
not merely when sick, but even when weU, to ask for assistance from the
Hospital, just when its expenses were increasing and its revenue falling off.
But fortunately for Siena, when the prosperity of the Hospital began to
decline, there arose an institution, due to the very special poverty of the
time, which, through the admirable wisdom of its organization, soon
became the salvation of the Sienese landed proprietors, and, as it were, an
inexhaustible source of good for many charitable institutes. The Hospital
w^as not slow to contribute to it, as if foreseeing that those manifold
benefits it would no longer be able, in the course of future years, to confer,
would be rendered in great abundance, and in a better manner, to the
entire body of citizens, by the new institution, the Monte dei Paschi. the
great Bank of modern Siena, the deed of foundation of which bears the
memorable date of November 2"<^., 1624 " (2).
Before the Monte de' Paschi was started, those in need of money either
could not obtain it at all, or onl}' at a hea\'y sacrifice and, while amongst
these marriages decreased and many were ruined, the few fortunate persons
possessing money lent it in greater quantity and found this more profitable
than if they had invested it in agriculture or the commerce possible in an
inland town, so that both agriculture and commerce were considerably
neglected.
" It was therefore only right," as an eighteenth century manuscript
m my possession puts it, " that the oppressed should find protection and
assistance in the paternal care of the Most Serene Grand Duke Ferdinand II,
who, clearly perceiving the evil calling for a remedy and the good that
had to be done, lent a generous ear to the petitions of the people."
The Grand Duke, ordered the foundation of a Monte, non vacabile, that is
with funds not to be redeemed, by Rescript of December 30th., 1622, in
which it is said that, to facilitate the work of the Monte, the Grand Duke
(1) For all quotations relating to dates, facts and documents in connection with the history
of the Monte de' Paschi, cf., when not otherwise stated, N. Mengozzi : " // Monte dt' Paschi
« 1$ sue aziende, Siena, 1913.
(2) 1,. Baxchi : Sfatuto dello Spedale di Siena ; Bologna 1877, p. 365.
THE MONTE DEI PASCHI 49
advanced a sum out of the public revenue, " amounting to 200,000 scudi
at 5 % interest, or 10,000 scudi per ann., out of the revenue of the Ufficio
det Paschi of Siena, with the precautions and security necessary for the
protection of His Highness."
Although the justice of this rate of interest could not be called
in question, still, the Archbishop, Monsignor Alessandro di Pandolfo
Petrucci, was asked for his opinion, and, after consulting various theo-
logians and economists, he replied that he w as fully satisfied with regard to
the reasonableness and equity of the proposal. The deed of foundation bears
date, as said above, of November 2"<^., 1624 and the Monte dei Paschi
was opened on January 3rd., 1625.
The 200,000 scudi advanced as security by the Prince out of the annual
income of the public board of pasture lands would correspond to 1,176,000
frs. at the present day ; the income had to be divided in various portions
called Luoghi di Monte (i) corresponding with modern bonds, to be sold at
100 scudi each and yielding interest of 5 scudi a year. In this way, "the
sure and certain fund was established, indispensable in order that the new
Monte might lawfull}^ receive money from collective bodies, or private indi-
viduals and from every quarter and every kind of public and private body ;
and that, on the other hand, the same Monte might lend on good security,
recei\4ng the same moderate and legitimate interest it granted its depositors,
any surplus being used to pay the expenses and commissions of the function-
aries and directors, as many as might be required to keep the Monte open
and ready for work.
In other words the guarantee of the deposits consisted in the revenue
from the tax on the Maremma pasture land, which was considered the most
lucrative and the most certain the Grand Duke levied in the State of Siena
and which he had solemnly pledged in their behalf. The Monte might
lend the amounts it received in deposit to those requesting it at a rate a
little higher than that paid to depositors, that is, at about 5 14 %.
The guarantee offered by the Prince was full and complete; legally
he could be called upon for payment of it in case of necessity, but as a matter
of fact it was never required, so that the guarantee remained purely moral; in
compensation, however, the Prince required, in his turn, a guarantee from the
deputies of the Balia, who had to engage up to the above mentioned amount
of 200,000 scudi not only all the bills oith.& Monte, all the advances of the
Monte di Pieid and all the claims the Commune had against the Monte, but
also, if this security were insuficient, the real and personal estate, rights and
documents of title belonging to all citizens and inhabitants of Siena,
except the priests. In the ultimate analysis, then, we find the security
to the depositors in the Monte dei Paschi offered by the lay citizens of
Siena themselves and consisting in all their possessions.
(i) In the fifteenth century the creditors of the Bank of St George were distributed bj' reg-
ions of the city, and so their credits received the name of Luoghi. F. Ferrara. Introduclion.
op. cit. p. CXLIV.
50 ITALY - CREDIT
The luoghi di Monte given to the depositors undoubtedly constituted
a land security of the first value, so that the Monte dei Paschi appears to
have been really the first land credit institute recorded in history.
§ 2. Analogy between the monte dei paschi
AND THE SILESIAN LANDSCHAFT FOUNDED IN 1 769.
About a century and a half later, to be exact in 1767, the merchant
Biiring presented a proposal to Cramer, Minister of Frederic II of Prussia,
for the formation of an association among the noble landlords of Silesia,
offering a collective mortgage on all the land of its members to the capitahsts
of Breslau and binding itself to provide every landowner, on his request,
with money up to the amount of the value of half his property by means
of the issue of land bonds, called Pfandebriefe.
Historians of banking institutions agree in tracing the origin of the
land credit system to the Silesian Landschaft, founded at Breslau in 1769,
in accordance with Biiring's proposal. But it is easy to find many ana-
logies between the Prussian Landschaft and our Monte dei Paschi.
Frederick of Prussia endowed his institution with 300,000 thalers, equal
to 1,126,000 frs.; Ferdinand II of Tuscany gave security of 200,000 scudi,
equal to 1,176,000 frs. The Breslau Institute was in fact an association
of Silesian landowners, the Monte de' Paschi, became, by virtue of the se-
curity demanded by the Grand Duke, substantially an association of Sie-
nese citizens. Both institutes acted as intermediaries between lenders
and borrowers. The Landschaft issued land bonds of a value not exceeding
1,000 thalers, nor less than 25 thalers; our Institute divided its nominal
capital in luoghi di Monte of a hundred scudi each, of which portions of not
less than 25 scudi each might be sold ; both the Silesian land bonds and
the luoghi di Monte bore half yearly interest; but, unlike the former, which
could be freely negotiated, the luoghi di Monti orAy gave right to interest
and were not transferable. It is further to be noted that while the debt-
ors of the Prussian association might or might not return the capital
lent, as they pleased, provided they paid their interest regularly, the
debtors of the Monte, according to the rules of the year 1624, had to
pay off their debt immediately at the end of the 3^ear, though they
might obtain a delay, which in no case might exceed five j'ears, with
fa .-ilitations for payment in instalments (i).
In the present fever of historical research and exegetical analysis, it
has seemed to us not inopportune to show the points of contact and the
resemblances bet^veen our glorious institute and the Geiman land credit
(i) These analogies and resemblances were pointed out for the first time in the clear re-
port of a Sienese Municipal Commission charged to present concrete proposals for the reform
of the Monte de' Paschi ; cf. the work, " SM/nc^-fimawew/o d«/ monti riuniti diSiena," Siena,
Sordomuti Press, 1862, pp. 5-6.
THE MONTE DEI PASCHI 5 1
associations, testifying to the priority of the Sienese institute in this im-
portant business, as it, preceded the German Landschaft by 144 years
and we have been the more anxious to do so as the scientific pubHcations
of economic and legal character deaUng with this subject all leave a gap
that ought to be filled.
§ 3. Historical devel,opment of the monte de' paschi.
And now, in continuation, we may remark that the fund of 200,000
scudi, within the limits of which the Monte might accept deposits and make
loans, was shown to be insufficient to repair all the evils by which local agri-
culture was afflicted ; so that in the brief course of six years there were
enough purchasers of luoghi di Monte to exhaust the whole fund, while the
avidity of the rich lenders was not altogether arrested. And the Sie-
nese public, desirous of preventing any possibifity of usury, presented
another prayer to the Grand Duke in which, after having shown in lively
colours the benefits the foundation of the Monte had conferred on the whole
State, requested that the fund might be increased by another 100,000 scudi
with the same guarantee as before. Ferdinand II, persuaded of the util-
ity of the new institute, consented, by Rescript of October i8th., 1630, to
the increase of the fund by 50,000 scudi. The larger sphere of the oper-
ations that, consequently, the Monte could conduct, led to a reduction of the
interest the institute paid its creditors and of that, consequently, that it
asked from its debtors. A second increase of the fund, by 25,000 scudi,
was accorded in 1747 ; in that year the city and State of Siena were in
great consternation on account of the poor harvests, and the new issue of
luoghi di Monte, rapidly taken up, succeeded in reheving the distress of
private individuals. A few years later, in 1766, on account of new economic
calamities, the fund of the Mont was increased by another 25,000 scudi,
thus reaching the amount of 300,000 scudi, which was not to be exceeded
until a new age and new requirements demanded a different organization
of the ancient institute.
Pier Antonio Cerretaui, who was Proveditor of the Monte de' Paschi
from 1769 to 1772, indeed addressed an earnest and detailed memorial to
the grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo in 1777 to obtain a new increase of ioo,oou
scudi for the work of the Monte, but without any practical result. Part
of this memorial was first publislied by me on another occasion. In it,
in substance, the idea was advanced that, by increasing the fund of the
Monte de' Paschi, facifitations might be given to local proprietors, who
had not available funds, to purchase the land sold by the Luoghi Pit, and,
at the same time an opportunity given to the same Luoghi Pii, to reinvest
in the Monte, at a sufficient interest, the money obtained by the sales, thus
preventing the land in question being purchased by foreign capitalists and
the Luoghi Pii from seeking elsewhere a profitable investment of the capital
realised, and so arranging for a circulation of money within the State v.hich
52 ITALY - CREDIT
was held to be of the greatest advantage. This commercial idea was treated
by Cerretani simply, without any theoretical exaggerations, but moderated,
as I have elsewhere remarked, by those principles of agricultural protec-
tionism Sallustio Bandini had but recently propounded in his celebrated
Discorso sulla Maremma, that were to prepare the way for the great
lycopoldine reforms (i), marked by a larger understanding of economic
phenomena and social needs.
Meanwhile, at the end of 1783, the Monte Pio and the Monte de' Pa-
schi were united in a single institute under the name of Monti riuniti ;
with one staff of employees under the same management ; rather than a
reform, this was an administrative union, in no way modifying the ordinary
functions of the Monte de Paschi.
An important change was, however, introduced by the great political
events that disturbed the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the
nineteenth century, completely changing the map of Europe. " When the
Napoleonic Code had been promulgated in Tuscany, an edict of the Imperial
Government of April 14th., i8c8 appUed the French mortgage system
also to the Monte de' Paschi, enjoining the conversion of all the credits
of the Monte into mortgages and thus substituting real land security for
personal and fiduciary security, by which the loan operations of the
Institute had been guaranteed from the start " (2).
This provision remained, however, for some years without effect,
both because in the more disturbed period, from 1808 to 1818, the Monte
suspended its loan business and because mortgage security could only be
useful when there was a cadastre, and the Tuscan cadastre, commenced
in 1819, was only completed in 1831.
And it was just the next year, 1832, that the first radical change and
the first impulse towards the improvement of our Institute began after
207 years of almost stationary hfe.
At first, the Monte de' Paschi only lent to the citizens of Siena. And a
few communities included in its territory benefiting under the original con-
tract, but in 1 831, as a result of a concession made in a Rescript of June
30th. of that year, the principle prevailed that loans might be granted to
any land holder in Tuscany : this extension of the field of operations really
marks the beginning of a new life which was again strengthened by the
Institution of a Savings Bank the Monte was allowed to found by
Rescript of August 23rd., 1833, ^^^ the right secured a few years later
(Rescript of January 27th., 1843) to grant loans for any amount.
With the foundation of the Savings Bank our Institute began to adapt
itself to the new age and new requirements, and we shall see later on that
other institutions were founded to suit the modern requirements of the cred-
it system ; but before following the phases and consequence of this trans-
(i) Cf. my n.rticle, II Monte de' Paschi net 1777-79 « I'incremenio delV A'^ricullura, in
vol. II of the Studi Senesi, in honour of t,. Mariani. Siena, 1905.
(2) Mengozzi, op. cii. p. 197.
rHH MONTI-: UEI PASCHI 53
formation it will be well and not without interest to show as a result of
what discussions and decisions the Monte dei PascJii acquired its present
administrative organization.
§ 4 AdMINISTRATWE organization of the MONTE DEI PASCHI.
The Rules of the year 1624 gave the Monte a Board of Management com-
posed of eight citizens, under the name of Magistfato and a proveditor, an
accountant (hilanciere) and a chamberlain, or treasurer elected by the Balia,
the Magistrato, now called the Deputazione, decided in regard to the sale
of the htoghi di monte, the loan business and all other business connected
with the management, while the proveditor had to arrange for the regular
course of business, to supervise the other officers and report ever}'^ thing
to the Boaid and carry out its decisions. There was besides, a registrar chos-
en from among the notaries, who wrote out the decisions and kept the books
and papers of the Momc. The Balia exercised control by means of two in-
spectors who reported annually and reserved to itself the right of making
any refoim experience might suggest.
On the suppression b}' law of August 29th., 1786 of the Balia
and the institution of the commune of Siena, the latter was entrusted with
the super^dsion and management of the Monte, while the Government had
the appointment of the officers, and the new magistrates of the city ad-
vised the Government that, as the office and board of the Paschi of Siena
had been suppressed in September ist., 1778, together with all the duties
levied for its account, all guarantee of the creditors of the Monte by the Sov-
ereign's estates had ceased, and, consequently, " there shovild also cease all
bonds and rights in connection therewith, upon any amounts belonging
to the people of Siena, deposited and still existing in the Monte itself. " Any
such obligations, were, in fact, declared, in the Rescript of April 4th., 1787,
to have ceased.
On the constitution of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861, we find the Monte
dei Paschi, in consequence of the extension of its field of operations and its
authorization to contract loans for any amount, administering an estate
of 23,000,000 frs., secured on mortgage in almost all the Tuscan provinces.
And when the tenth congress of Italian Science met in Siena in 1862, the
Deputazione of the Monte (which in course of time had taken the place of
the old Magistrato) contributed to defray the expenses by a grant of 20,000
frs. and also, for the same object, assigned another 2,500 frs. to the local
Physiocritic Academy. And the Congress voted that the Monte dei Pa-
schi " should be counselled to carry out the reforms recommended by science
with that prudent moderation which alone is suited to reconcile the
traditions of the past with the necessities of the future. "
First of all, the Monte had to give itself rules answering to the changed
political and social conditions and such as to allow it to develop all those
forms of activity the new conditions required. Before every thing else, it was
54 ITALY - CREDIT
necessary to settle the question of the right of the Commune to intervene
in the affairs of the Monte and the legal form such interference might take.
" There were three powers," as the diligent historian of this famous
institution observes, " that then contended the field with the object of
substituting to the greatest extent possible their own influence for that
of the central power which, owing to the altered political forms and the
administrative difficulties of the moment, was in no position to assert its
supremacy in the manner and within the Umits in which the absolute
power of the Grand Duke had been exercised in the past " (i).
These three powers were ; the Prefecture, representing the Govern-
ment ; the Municipality, representing the city of Siena ; and the Board of
Management of the Monte de' Paschi.
The municipality, with the intention of affirming its own rights over the
two hundred years old institute, appointed a commission to study and pro-
pose a definite set of rules. And this commission, while affirming that the
Monte ought to preserve its original character, concluded "that there ought
to be introduced into its internal organization all those salutary amendments
the changed conditions of the time render necessary. And, in the first
place, the Monte, which emanated from the Commune, should be entirely
given back to the Commune ; to the Commune shoiild be restored full
administrative control over it, the appointment of the officers and
employees, the initiative in all measures which the Balia reserved en-
tirely to itself, which, as they were often imposed by the necessity of the
moment and affected by local circumstances could not be more prudently or
profitably dealt with than by the Municipality " (2). And it concluded
with the proposal of these three reforms: ist. abolition of all caste preference
in appointments of officers and employees ; 2nd. introduction of the sink-
ing fund system for repayment of loans for long terms ; 3rd. issue of land
bonds.
It is superfluous to give the reasons for the first proposal ; privileges
of birth, if they could be justified in 1624, were no longer admissible in face
of the principle, embodied in the Italian Statuto of the legal equaUty
of all citizens. The other two proposals were already contained in germ in
the traditions and customs of the Monte ; while they were under discussion
the commission itself abandoned the idea of bonds for that of deposit
certificates, but it did not seem to be clear in the matter.
The rules and regulations and the hst of the officers and employees
of the Monte were discussed and approved in various meetings of the Com-
munal Council of Siena in September, October and November, 1862. The
Government, by Royal Decree of May 14th., 1863. approved that part of
the rules abolishing the privilege of the nobles in cases of appointment
of members of the board and employees of the Monte; by a later decree
it entrusted the Prefect with the appointment of employees ; two years later
the management of the Monte decided to adopt, by way of trial, the system
(i) mbngokzi, op, cU, p. 313
(2) Sul riordinamento dei Monti riwtiii, page 13.
THE MONTE DEI PASCHI 55
of gradual repayment of loans by means of annuities, while maintaining
its right to demand the principal of the loan whenever it pleased; in 1866
the Monte undertook the conduct of Land Credit business in conformity with
the new legislative provisions and thus also the third proposal formulated
in 1862 was completely adopted ; in 1869 the Monte also began to conduct
agricultural credit business through its Savings Bank. Hence, as a result
of the innovations of these busy ten years, a critical revision and final com-
pletion of the rules of 1862 became necessary.
For the purpose, a mixed commission was appointed, consisting of
three members elected by the Communal Committee and three others
appointed by the Board of the Monte ; the new scheme was ready in
June, 1870 and was, first of all, discussed by the board from June to Sept-
ember of that year ; in the early months of 1871 the Communal Council
appointed special commissions to examine it, but they refused the charge
so that the Council had to discuss the new scheme in the Report of the
mixed commission. The general discussion, which was really memorable,
was held on the 22nd., 24th. and 26th., April, 1872, the Mayor, lyuciano
Banchi in the chair ; in other later meetings (April 2gth., May 6th., 8th.,
loth. and 13th.) the articles were approved. The principal points now
discussed were : ist. the ownership of the Monte; 2nd. investment of
funds; 3rd. management ; 4th. grant of advances.
To whom does the Monte de' Paschi belong ? After a long debate,
article i of the Rules, conceived as follows, was approved "The Monte dei
Paschi is an institution of the city of Siena, to which it owes its origin, and
therefore the Commune has the superintendence, management and guardian-
ship of it, and administers it by means of an elective council." The form-
ula, in order to reconcile the various tendencies of the members of the
council and with the object of affirming the principle of the possession of the
Monte by the Commune without using the word " possession ", which
seemed dangerous, ended by grouping together rights and powers which, in
practice, are distinct and separate, such as those of management and
administration, superintendence and guardianship. However, the mun-
icipal character of the Institute remains clear. It was determined to exclude
any Goverment intervention.
The rules, definitely approved in May, 1872, are still in force and estab-
lish the unity of the Institute, organized for the conduct of the various
kinds of credit business it has to do, with separate management for each of
them ; the administration is in the hands of the board and the proveditor ;
the Commune appoints all officers and employees ; at least half of the net
profits must go to increase the capital of the Institute, while the rest may
be used for works of beneficence and public utility for the city of Siena.
By Royal Decree of December 7th., 1872, the rules of the Monte were
fully approved by the Government ; and thus the central authority aban-
doned in behalf of the Commune of Siena all right to the intervention, up
to then exercised by it, in the affairs of the Monte de Paschi, and this was
no small advantage for the city. It is necessary to observe at once that this
renunciation was, in substance, made only for the principal department,
ITALY - CREDIT
since all the others — Pawn Institute, Savings Bank, Land Credit and Agri-
cultural Credit Departments, — being governed by special laws, were still
subject to Government supervision.
The central department is the old stock of the Monte de' Paschi ;
the others are quite modern branches, except the pawn estabUshment,
which might be considered the root. The central department receives sav-
ings deposits and contracts money loans according to the principles of com-
mon law ; the other departments conduct the business entrusted to them b}'
the laws and regulations governing them and it will not be out of place
to give a rapid glance at their work and the development they have attained.
§ 5. THE VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS OF THE MONTE DEI PASCHI,
SAVINGS BANK, LAND CREDIT .\ND AGRICULTURAL CREDIT DEPARTMENTS.
We have already obser^'^ed that in 1833 the Monte de' Paschi, which for
more than two centuries had remained almost unchanged, underwent its
first transformation, assuming also the functions of a Savings Bank, and
we said that from that moment the financial expansion of the Institute
really dates. The proveditor had pointed out to the board " the utiHty,
now demostrated b}' experience, of savings banks, both for private economy
and pubhc morals " and proposed an institution " by means of which the
poor might be given an opportunity for increasing their sax'ings." The new
institution, though under independent management, was so intimately
connected with the Monte, that it proposed to place its own siirplus with
the Monte, and draw from it whatever was indispensable to meet unfore-
seen and excessive demands for the return of deposits.
It might be said that the Monte was to become the savings bank of
the popular Savings Bank. The rules were approved by Sovereign Rescript
of August 23rd., 1833 and the bank began work on January 4th., 1834.
In 1863, the foundation of affiliated batiks in the province began, \\'hich,
afterwards, were to spread over almost the whole of Tuscany : at first
they advanced timidly and it seemed they would never pass the confines
of the ancient State of Siena, consisting of the two provinces of Siena
and Grosseto, but in recent years afiifiated banks and branches of the
sa\4ngs bank have been founded in the provinces of Florence, Pisa, Arezzo
and Leghorn.
The second branch, in order of time and importance, added to our
Monte was the Land Credit Department. In 1853, — it is a precedent that
deserve^ to be recalled to mind, —the Count of Cavour laid before the Subalp-
ine Parliament a biU for the encouragement of land credit institutions in
Italy without direct State intervention; the proposal was not favourably re-
ceived and only in June, 1S62 was a new bill presented to the Italian Cham-
ber, which, uniting land and agricultural credit, each supporting the other,
in a single institution, tended to make both " conspire in a friendly way to
improve the lot of the landholder and farmer." This bill some described as
THE MONTE IJEI PASCHI 57
an importation of the French land credit system, which had just been reor-
ganized by law of July, i860. It is well to remember that at that date the
Chamber had before it the proposal for the sale of the State Land, with the
object of withdraviing from the expensive and unremunerative adminis-
tration of the State the considerable amount of land in its possession, and
the Government at the same time v. as carefully preparing the most suit-
able instruments of credit for the better and more speedy sale of this land.
The Parliamentary Commission, on whose v. ork the Hon. Signer Bro-
glio was charged to report, consented to grant the exclusive privilege of
issuing land bonds (cartellc) to the French institute \\bich was to be
estabhshed in Ital}- and accepted all the provisions for the facihtation of its
working, by the grant of a series of rights and powers, but completely
rejected article 2 of the convention in terms of which the Monte dec Paschi
of Tuscan}', the Savings Bank of Lombardy and the General Insurance
Institution of Venice were to perish. It was a great piece of good fortune
that our glorious and time honoured institute, that had passed uninjured
through so many changes of Government, was not sacrificed by modern
Italy to a monopohst idea in no way justified by the circumstances.
And not even as amended and modified by the Parliamentary Commiss-
ion did the ministerial proposal obtain the consent of the Chamber, but
the economic necessity of reasonable provisions in the matter was felt by
the v/hole country; so that in September, 1S65, the ^Minister of Agriculture
assembled a Congress at Florence of representatives of the Bank of Xaples,
the Central Savings Bank of I\Iilan and the Monte de' Paschi of Siena and
invited them to undertake the land credit business of the whole mainland
of Italy. In fact by the Convention of October 4th., 1865 between the Gov-
ernment and the above institutions, the Bank of ISaples undertook to
conduct land credit business in Southern, the Monte de' Paschi in Central
and the Savings Bank of Milan in Northern Italy. Next year the Opera
Pia of St. Paul of Turin, founded in the seventeenth century and the
Savings Bank of Bologna adhered to the convention. This territorial dis-
tribution of land credit was then finally approved and organized by law
of June 14th., 1866, in accordance \^'ith which the principle was extended to
Sicily, 1870, Sardinia, 1872 and to the Province of Rome in 1873. From
this first system of regions, later on advance was made in the law of Feb-
ruary, 1885 to the national system, pOwer being given to the above institutes
to conduct business in any part of the kingdom a.nd others being authorized
to undertake it under given conditions. Finally, by the laws of July 17th.,
1890 and May 6th., 1891, an Italian Land Credit Institute was fovmded,
with a capital of 100,000 frs. in shares, v%hich really assumed a national
character, while the other institutes again became regional.
The land credit department of the Monte de' Paschi at first made very
slov; progress. The new form of credit had inspired great hopes throughout
Italy, which very soon gave place to sad disappointments : the lack of a
uniform cadastre und the difiiculty of proving mortgages, v.hich made
the procedure intricate, laborious and very expensive, caused the refusal
58 ITALY - CREDIT
of many applications, frustrated hopes and led to the liquidation of
many institutes.
As regards the Monte, land credit in bonds, cartelle, appeared at a
disadvantage in comparison with credit on mortgage as granted by
its central department. It is true that the latter does not enjoy pri\'ileges
for collecting its debts and makes the members pay at date of the contract
all the charges for stamps, registration etc, while in the case of the land cred-
it system these costs are included in the half yearly instalments and paid off
slowly, but the department lends in money and may advance amounts of
more than half the value of the landed estate and content itself with a
later mortgage. The land credit system, on the other hand, requires a
first mortgage, does not grant amounts of more than half the value and pays
in bonds {cartelle) These bonds were not immediately' well received by the
people; the borrower is a landowner who borrows to relieve his land of heavy
burdens, pay his debts, carry out drainage works or other improvements, a
landowner, who is not, as a rule, familiar with commercial business, and, so
much the less, with the business of the exchange and hence he does not
find it easy to negotiate a special number of bonds in order to obtain the
amount he is in immediate need of.
Against these drawbacks and difficulties the Monte de' Paschi came to
their assistance, as it found that the purchase of bonds was a safe and lu-
crative investment of the money deposited with it ; and it arranged so
that the borrower could, in the same Institute, borrow from the land cred-
it department, receive the bonds {cartelle) and, presenting himself at an-
other office, obtain their value in money at the ordinary market price.
Thus, the customers of the Institute became used to receiving their loans
in the form of cartelle.
The land credit department of the Monte de Paschi at first carried on
business in the whole of Tuscany, in Umbria and in the Province of Pesaro;
it extended it then to Rome, but afterwards ceased w orking there, owing to
losses sustained through the building crisis ; it profited sparingly by the
right granted it to extend its operations throughout the whole Kingdom, so
that up to a few years ago they had not been carried beyond the original dis-
trict. It was only in 1909 that it abolished all territorial limitation, thus
considerably increasing its business. It closed its accounts on June 30th.,
1913 with a total of 74,171,202 frs. in loans for land credit, as compared with
29,100,070 frs. in ordinary loans.
Side by side with land credit we find agricultural credit either for im-
provements or for ordinary farm work; side by side, but perfectly distinct,
both in the manner and means of its working and its purposes. It may,
however, also assume the form of real credit, inasmuch as a special pre-
ference claim on the har\^est of the year or the produce stored or else a
short term mortgage may be granted as security for the loans to the
landowners, but in regard to its objects it cannot have the character of
real credit, in so far as the sums borrowed are spent on manure or ma-
chinery, the purchase of livestock, seed or plants, that is they go to
increase the working capital required for the farm work.
THE MONTE DEI PASCHI 59
In Italy, there are no legislative provisions relating to agricultural
improvement credit ; we have, on the other hand, a first law of June 21st.,
1869, for the regulation of credit for farmwork, authorizing the foundation
of institutes and societies for the purpose of granting farmers and land-
owners or facilitating for them as sureties, discount, the negotiation of
promissory" notes, bills of exchange, bills to order, produce warrants etc ;
and allowing them for the purpose to issue special bonds to bearer, called
buoni agrari (land bonds), payable at sight.
Before the promulgation of this law the board of the Monte de Paschi
decided, by vote of F'ebruary 22nd., 1869, to undertake by means of its
Saving Banks the grant of agricultural credit ; but this was only author-
ized a year after the law was passed and more exactl}^ by Royal Decree
of June 15th., 1870, and the work was only begun in the following August
and consisted chiefly in discounting bills bearing two signatures of which it
was enough that one should be a landowner's. Subventions were also guar-
anteed on pledge of land bonds and produce and huoni agrari were issued, the
circulation of which, in amount about 1,200,000 frs. has always been
unexceptionable so that the Government has repeatedly renewed the con-
cession. Up to a few 3'ears ago, we may say, the Monte de Paschi
conducted agricultural credit business in accordance with a high standard
and with noble intention, opening current accounts for agricultural con-
sortiums at very low interest, rediscounting bills accepted by these con-
sortiums at the same very low rate, and directly discounting for landov% ners
bills at six months' date, renewable ever>' three months for another three
months, with a deduction of one tenth, at 4 % interest ; and has always
assigned a part of the profits from this special department for prizes for
the encouragement of new agricultural methods or the building of healthy
and comfortable farm houses.
On December 31st., 1902 the independent agricultural credit business
was suppressed and on January ist., 1903 it was undertaken directly by the
Savings Banks, which also make ample pro\-ision for commercial credit.
The huoni agrari have been withdrawn from circulation, so that on the bal-
ance sheet for June 30th., 1913 there was only an amount of 200,0(^0 francs
shown for them.
Finally, the Monte de' Paschi has not neglected the modern forms of
thrift. In 1883, it contributed 100,000 francs towards the guarantee funds
for the Is ational Insurance Society against Accidents to Workmen in their
Labour, undertaking the business for Tuscany and Umbria. in accordance
with the law of July 8th., 1883 ; similarly in 1901 it undertook the agency
for the Provinces of vSiena and Grosseto, for the National Thrift Bank for
Workmen's Disablement and Old Age, founded in accordance with the law
of June 17th., 1898.
6o ITALY - CRKDIT
§ 6. Grants made by the monte de' paschi for purposes
of pubuc utility and benevolence.
We shall terminate these notes of ours with a few figures showing the
grants made by the Monte de' Paschi to institutions of public assistance and
benevolence and for the advance of art and culture.
The first grant was made in 1 761 in behalf of the University ; it wa?
a small subsidy of 200 scudi (the scudo was worth 5.88 frs), continued in
the following years up to 1790, and reaching the total amount of 37,330 frs.
In 1775 subsidies began to be given to the asylums for pauper lunatics
and this also was continued from year to year ; in 1786 the Monte began its
contribution to the normal girls' schools instituted by Pietro L,eopoldo for
the education and instruction of poor girls ; this contribution, increased
in amount, is still continued.
The grant to the University, suspended in 1791, was recommenced
in 1 83 1 and has been increased lately ; in 1887, when our University was
placed on an equaUty with the others, the Monte joined with the other local
administrative bodies, binding itself to pay into the State Treasury an annual
contribution of 22,527 frs; in 1892 at its own expense it built the biological
institute, which, with the buildings added to it in succession has cost 190,000
frs,; in 1910 it purchased for 25,000 frs. a large building contiguous with
the University for the better accommodation of certain scientific cabinets
and especially for the law seminary and its hbrary. Between 1831 and the
present date, more than 1,000,000 francs has been granted by the Monte
to this great and famous centre of study. An amount of more than 900,000
frs. has been up to to-day granted by it to other institutes of education and
learning, professional and popular schools, infant asylums, hbraries, scient-
ific academies etc
The Monte has largely contributed to general works of benevolence and
hospitals: in the last eighty years it has granted 1,126,000 francs to institutes
for the deaf and dumb and the blind and to workmen's societies, for relief in
time of public calamity , and another 600,000 frs. has been granted by
it to the Pawn EstabHshment in subsidies and in contributions to its ordin-
ary working expenses.
The art of the city has benefited very considerably by gifts from the
Institute, wluch has spent more than 400,000 frs. on the restoration and pre-
servation of our monuments ; and more than 157,000 frs. in prizes for build-
ings constructed. On the encouragement of agriculture, industry and com-
merce and on communications, it has spent up to date 239,000 frs.
But it is the Commune of Siena that has most benefited by the profits
of the Monte de' Paschi; the latter up to the end of last year had paid over
2,237,000 frs. to its parent city ; and the spendid aqueduct would never
have been completed without the munificient contribution of the Monte,
THE MONTE DEI PASCHI 6l
which engaged to set aside for this sole purpose out of its profits no less than
100,000 frs. a year for the term of fifty years.
So, harmonizing credit and benevolence and savings with the most
modern forms of thrift, the Monte de' Paschi has gradually adapted itself to
the changed conditions of political and social life, has responded to the new
currents of local economy, and met the new requirements of the popul-
ation. It has been able in turn to anticipate, associate itself with and bring
to p erf ection institutes and measures for the relief, encouragement and pro-
tection of landed property. It has understood that, in the heat of compet-
ition, it is not enough to have a glorious past and very noble traditions;
memories are not enough to live on and, in the fierceness of the struggle, it
is the strongest and best balanced organisms that resist; and the Monte, in
accordance with a prudent standard of administration, has striven to increase
its own capital, always avoided all speculation, and founded special re-
serve funds to meet eventual losses and the fluctuations in value of its se-
curities ; it has very slowly enlarged its sphere of influence, trying the
ground before advancing and retiring in time from regions recognised as
dangerous.
62 ITALY - CREDIT
2. — WORK OF THE LAND CREDIT INSTITUTES IN 1912.
SOURCES :
Cassa di RisPARMio IN BoLOGNA : Credito foudiario : Resoconto dell'anno 1912 {Boloina
Savin ''s Bank Land Credit Report for the Year 1912). Atti deU'Assemblca generale degli
azionisti lenutasi il giomo 30 marzo 1913 (Proceedings of the General Meeting of Sharehold-
ers on March 30th., 1913). Bologna, Mcrlani, 1913.
Cassa di RISPARMIO DELLE Provincje Lombarde IN Mii>ANo : Credito fondiario : Bilancio
consunlivo dell'anno 1912 {Savings Bank of the Lombard Provinces in Milan: Land Credit:
Balance Sheet for the Year 1912). Milan, Reggiani, 1913.
Cassa di Risparmio di verona II prime decennio di esercizio del credito fondiario (Verona Sav-
in-^s Bank. The first Ten Years' Work of the Land Credit Department). Verona, Fran-
chini 1913.
Credito Fondiario Sardo in Cagliari : Resoconto dell'anno 191 2 (Sardinian Land Credit In-
stitute in Caliari : Report for the Year 1912)
ISTITUTO Italiano DI CREDITO FONDIARIO : Relazione per I'esercizio 1912 (Italian Land Credit
Institute: Report for the Workin" Year 1912). Rome, Bolognesi, 1913.
ISTITUTO DELLE OPERE PIE DI San Paolo IN TORINO : Beneficenza e Credito : Conti Consun-
ti\i esercizio igi2 (Institute of the Opere Pie of San Paolo at Turin: Benevolence and Credit :
Accounts for the Year 1912). Turin : Soc. Tip. Ed. Naz., 1913.
Il Monte dei Paschi di Siena e le sue Aziende (The Monte dei Paschi of Sietut and its
Business) Siena, lyazzeri, 191 3.
In our Bulletin for last October (i) we gave an account of the work
done b}^ the special agricultural credit institutes in 1912 (2). We now
shall deal with the work of the land credit institutes for the same vear.
§ I. The ITALIAN LAND CREDIT INSTITUTE.
In the year 1912 there were 360 applications presented to the above
Institute for loans for 39,099,000 frs. in all, which, added to the 663 for
40,685,000 frs. made in loii and held over for consideration or the con-
(i) Bulletin of Economic and Social Intelligence, October, 1913, pp. 55 et seqq.
(2) As regards the Provincial Land Credit Bank for Basilicata, the figures in the last fom^
columns of the table on page 62 of the Bulletin for October, 1913 should be respectively cor-
rected to 634,495 frs ; 780,488 frs- and 1,414,984 frs. See with regard to this the Report of the
Bank for the Year 191 2. Potenza, Tj'p. Garramone e Marchesiello, 1913.
WOKK OF THE LAND CREDIT INSTITUTES IN I9I2
63
sideration of which has been resumed, make a total 1,023 ^^^r about
80,000,000 frs.
These 360 applications were divided as under in respect of the nature
of the real estate offered as security :
156 secured on rural land frs. 15,203,000
190 » urban » » 21,037,000
14 » both urban and rural land » 2,859,000
Of these, 210 for an amount of 14,206,750 frs. were finally granted,
127 of them for 8,041,750 frs. on urban land, especially in the cities of Rome
and Naples, and 83 for 6,165,000 frs. on rural land, notably in Campania
(16 loans for 1,322,000 frs.), in Apulia (27 loans fori, 816,500 frs.), and Emilia
(9 loans for 1,591,500 frs.).
The average amount of the loans in 1912 was 67,650 frs.
From the foundation of the Institute (1890) up to December 31st., 1912,
3,035 loans were passed for an amount of 244,283,050 frs., 128,129,800 frs.
being granted in 1,768 loans on rural land, and 116,153,250 frs. in 1.267
loans on urban land.
These loans were distributed as follows, according to the rate of interest:
Interest
Number
tit.
Rate of interest 4 V2 % 775
» » 4 % 1,085
» » 3 M % 1.225
3-035
54,801,000
80,303,250
109,178,800
244,283,050
And according to the amounts lent as follows
Number
fn.
20,000 frs, or less 1,270 14,573,500
Between 20,500 and 50,000 frs. 842 28,470,750
" 50,500 » 100,000 « 420 31,748,900
» 100,500 » 500,000 » 437 93,146,400
» 500,500 » and over. . 66 76,343,500
3,035
241,283,050
64 ITALY - CREDIT
Penally, they were divided as follows, according to the term for which
they were granted.
IS umber frs.
Between lo and 20 years . .
» 20 » 30 » . .
» 30 » 40 » . .
» 40 )) 50 "
363
593
808
• 1,271
15.903.500
26,775.500
65,639,950
135,964,100
3,035
244,283,050
And since between 1891 and the end of 1912 the borrowers had repaid
79,391,247 frs., the balance of the loans remaining on December 31st...
1912 was 164,891,802 frs.
2. lyAND CREDIT GRANTED BY THE SAVINGS BANK
OF THE LOMBARD PROVINCES.
In 1912, the above Bank received 857 applications for loans for a
total of 73,999,000 frs. which, with the 1,039 ^or 81,644,500 still under
consideration at the beginning of the year, make a total of 1,896 for
155,643,000 frs. : 344 for an amount of 24,866,500 frs. were definitely
granted.
There were 108 loans for 10,711,500 frs. granted on rural land, 230,
for 13,857,500 frs. on urban land and 6, for 297,500 frs. on both rural and
urban land.
The provinces that received the largest credits on the security of rural
land were those of IMilan, 14 loans for 1,542,000 frs., Cremona, 8 loans
for 1,079,500 frs., Ferrara, 5 loans for 2,137.000 frs. and Ancona, 5 loans for
1.354,500 frs.
More than half the loans were for amounts of between 10,000 and 50,000
frs. and for a term of between 30 and 40 years.
The Milan Savings Bank in the same year also arranged loans on mort-
gage in money for more than 10,000,000 frs., so that, altogether, it granted
in the year 1912 alone about 35,000,000 frs. to landowners.
WORK OF THE I,AND CREDIT INSTITUTES IX I912 65
§ 3. lyAND CREDIT GRANTED BY THE BOLOGNA AND VERONA SAVINGS BANKS
AND THE SARDINIAN LAND CREDIT INSTITUTE.
In 1912, the Bologna Savings Bank granted 222 loans for a total of
8,173,500 frs. Of these 115, for 4,672,500 frs.,were secured on rural land, 93,
for 2,043,000 frs. on urban land, and 14, for 1,468,000 frs. on both rural and
urban land together.
Further, 16 loans were for between 500 frs. and 5,000 frs., 45 for be-
tween 5,000 frs. and 10,000 frs., 71 for between 10,000 frs. and 20,000 frs.,
29 for between 20,000 frs. and 30,000 frs., 13 for between 30,000 frs. and
40,000 frs., 16 for between 40,000 frs. and 50,000 frs., 18 for between
50,000 frs. and 100,000 frs., and 14 for more than 100,000 frs.
The provinces which received the largest amount of credit were
Bologna (159 loans for 5,970,000 frs.) Forli (18 loans for 680,500 frs.) and
Ravenna (13 loans for 439,800 frs.).
From the foundation of the Institute (1868) up to December 31st.,
1912, 3,091 loans were passed for a total amount of 116,810,000 frs. The
average amount was therefore. 37,790 frs.
As regards the Verona Savings Bank, 248 applications were made to
it for loans in the year we are considering, for a total amount o*^ 9,561,000 frs.
but the loans granted were only 176 for an amount of 6,215,000 frs.
From the date at which it commenced working (1902) up to December
31st,, 1912, the Bank granted 836 loans for a total amount of 25,000,000 frs.
Finally, the Sardinian Land Credit Institute, a limited liability society,
with fully paid up capital of 2,400,000 frs., showed in its balance sheet for
1912 an amount of 347,182 frs. for mortgage credit (including capital, in-
terest and other amounts). The loans current on December 31st., last year,
were 137 for a total amount of 1,904,653 frs.
§ 4 The land credit granted by the " institute of opere pie
of san paolo " at turin and the " monte dei paschi " of siexa.
In the course of 191 2, 493 applications were made to the Institute of
Opere Pie of San Paolo for loans for a total amount of 33,522,000 frs.
and 232 for an amount of 11,297,500 frs. were, granted. Of these loans,
203, for 8,253,000 frs. were secured on urban land, 25 for 2,644, 500 frs.,
on rural, and 4, for 400,000 frs. on both urban and rural land.
Most of the loans were granted in the provinces of Genoa (82 for
2,143,000 frs.). Turin (100 for 3,585,500 frs.)., Milan (12 for 1,145,000 frs.)
and Rome (7 for 1,507,500 frs).
As regards their amount, 143 for a total of 1,121,000 frs. were loans each
of them for not more than 20,000 frs., 87, for a total of 8, 706, 500 frs..
66 ITALY - CKEDIT
for amounts varying from 20,000 to 500,000 frs. and 2 for a total of
1,470,000 fis. for amounts of about 500,000 frs. and 1,000,000 frs.
Finally, with regard to the date of repayment, 116 loans of a total amount
of 7,549,000 frs. were for a period of from 46 to 50 years ; 72, for an amount
of 1,110,000 frs. for from 10 to 25 years, and 44, for 2,638,500 frs., for a
term of from 16 to 45 years.
Adding to the loans granted in 1912 those for the preceding years
beginning with 1867, we find that the Institute had granted altogether up
to December 31st., 1912, 5,282 loans for 215,923,500 frs.
I/astly, the Monte dei Paschi of Siena granted388 loans on mortgage
in land bonds in 1912, for the amount of 11,322,500 frs. Adding to these
51 loans in cash for 2,632,700 frs., concluded, that is, according to the rules
of common law and not of the special law on land credit, we arrive at a
total of 439 credit on mortgage operations for a total amount of
I3>955.200 frs.
*
* *
In conclusion, the seven above mentioned land credit institutes, work-
ing in Italy, in 1912, granted, loans on mortgage for an amount of about
76,400,000 frs.
Part IV: Miscellaneous
LATIN AMERICA.
MISCELLANEOUS NEWS.
MEXICO.
I. — Encouragement of home colonisation. — In the last Report
presented to the Union Cngress on the i6th. of September last, the President
of the Republic gave account of the work accomplished by the Government
in the first six months of 1913 for the encouragement of the progress of
agriculture, which is one of the principal sources of the wealth of the
country, by promoting home colonisation.
We shall here summarise the Report. During the period 46,485 hec-
tares of national land divided into small holdings were sold and realised
for the Treasury an amount of 70,335 pesos.
The work of marking out and subdividing the national land has been
commenced in the States of San Luis de Potosi, Michoacdn, Veracruz, Ta-
basco, Chiapas, in the Territory of Lower CaUfornia and in the Federal
District, and the co-operation of the local goveriunents has been obtained
for the carrying out of the necessary work in order that the land may be
utilised by the small farmers.
The Government has now 9,229 hectares subdivided and ready to be
allotted as small holdings.
At San Juan de los Reyes, in the State of Veracruz, 8,000 hectares
have been divided for the establishment of a colony and in the State of
Tabasco, 25,000 hectares, suitable precautions being taken in order that
the Government may recover possession of the land in case of non-fulfil-
ment of contract.
In future contracts of lease of national land the Government proposes
to reduce the area in order that the farm may be more satisfactorily worked
and the greatest profit derived from it.
With regard to reafforestation the report gives the following statistics.
The area suited to forest cultivation is approximately 100,000,000 hectares,
the wooded region covering 30,000,000 ha. and the proportion of the
State Forests being from 10 to 15 %.
68 LATIN AMERICA - MISCELLANEOUS
In the Federal District the number of trees planted was 748,057 and
the number of those planted in the various States of the Republic was
6i,754-
(Summarised, from the Economista Mejicano, of September 20th., 19x3).
2. — Institution of arbitration commissions for agricultural
LABOUR in the STATE OF TABASCO. — One of the greatest impediments up
to the present in the way of Mexican agriculture has been the insufficient lab-
our supply. To this difficulty, very serious in itself, we must add those
caused in certain States of the Union, as, for example, that of Tabasco,
by the non-fulfilment of the engagements undertaken for the benefit of the
labourers.
In view of these evils, the Congress of the State of Tabasco has
approved a decree estabhshing institutions for facilitating the settlement
of these difficulties in all the principal municipahties.
These institutions will be called Arbitration Commissions for Agricul-
tural Labour. Their duty is to intervene to settle, without their being
brought into court, all questions of civil law which may arise between the
rural landowners and their labourers with regard to the carrjdng out of
their contracts, and particularly those in relation to abandonment of work,
receipt of wages and settlement of accounts.
Each commission will be formed of four members, and its president
will be the chief pofitical authority of the municipahty. Of these four mem-
bers, two must be councillors and two farmers.
The decree finally authorizes the Government to amend the law and,
if it deems fit to pass one or more entirely new special laws on the agricul-
tural labour contract and to amend the existing laws, in so far as they relate
to the matter.
(Summarised from the Economista Mtjicano of July 26th., 1913)'
SALVADOR.
Institution of public granaries. — By recent Executive Decree,
the Government of the Republic has decided that public granaries or store-
houses shall be founded in the chief towns of the departments for storage
of agricultural produce the farmers may desire to keep back in order
to get their prices and for more favourable markets.
These granaries will be under the supervision of the Agricultural Depart-
ment Commissions.
Those desirous of storing their grain in these granaries must apply to
the manager of the commission, who will authorize and deliver receipt.
The depositors will pay storage at the rate of 3 centavos (15 centimes)
a month per fancga of grain stored. The proceeds will be used to meet the
cost of maintaining the granaries.
MISCELLANEOUS NEWS 69
The depositors may withdraw all or part of their produce at pleasure.
It is clear what evident advantages these granaries will obtain for
farmers of medium sized farms who now have to hasten to sell, often at a
loss, for want of storehouses in which to keep their produce while waiting
for more favourable conditions of sale.
(Summarised from the Boletin de la Union Pan- Americana, August, 1913).
URUGUAY.
Encouragement of agricultural colonisation and livestock
IMPROVEMENT. — Our readers already know the present tendencies of
the agricultural poHcy of Uruguay in favour of home colonisation and of the
association of agriculture andhvestock improvement (i). The latest mani-
festation by the Government of this pohcy is the law of January 20th.,
1913, authorizing the issue of a loan, which will be used for agricultural
colonisation and livestock improvement.
This loan, called the colonisation loan, v/ill be for 500,000 pesos at 5%
interest, with i % sinking fund. The bonds cannot be sold at less than 95%.
The amounts obtained by this loan will be used for purchase and
subdivision of land, which will afterwards be sold for colonization of the
above kind.
If the Government does not think it profitable to purchase farms offered
for sale by private persons, it is authorized to have recourse to their ex-
propriation, considering them as land of pubHc utility, from date of the
pubhcation of the new law.
The parcels may be sold to colonists for cash and to be paid for at a
fixed date, but the maximum term allowed for payment will be 30 years
and in that case, the land shall be mortgaged until the whole purchase
price is paid.
The price of the parcels shall include, besides the amount spent by the
State in acquiring them, the value of the land lost through construction
of roads and streets, the cost of surve3dng etc., so that the total produce
from the sale of each colony is as nearly as possible equal to what it has
cost the state. No colonist may buy more than one parcel.
The holdings thus formed will be exempt from real estate duty for ten
years from date of contract of sale, on condition, however, that at least
half the area be cultivated.
Similarly, no writ of execution can affect them and they are exempt
from seizure for debts contracted by their owners before and during the first
five years of their possession, except for such as may be due through the
mortgage mentioned above.
(Summarsed from the Diario Official of February 21st., 1913).
(i) With regard to the agricultural policy of I ruguay and the recent laws on agri-
cultural credit, see Bw//e/t« 0/ Eccnomic and Social IntelH ence, September, 1913 pp. 76 ei seqq.
DENMARK.
HOME COIvONIvSATION IN DENMARK FROM 1901 TO 191 1.
OFFiciAiy sources:
I,OV OM TiLVEJEBRINGELSE AF JOItDLODDER FOR I,ANPARBEJDER DEN 24 MARTS 1 899 {Law
of March 24th., 1899 on the Formation of Ayicultural Labourers' Holdings).
I,OV OM TiLVEJEBRINGELSK AF JORDLODDER FOR 1,ANDARBEJDER DEN 22 APRIL I904 (Law
of April 22nd., 1904 on the Formation of A "^ricultural Labourers' Holdin-s).
lyOVOM Oprettelse afHusmandsbrug DEN 30 APRIL 1909 (Law of April 30th., igoo on the
Establishment of Small Farms).
Statistisk aarbog. i7de Aargang, 191 2. Udgivet af Statens Statistiske Bureau (Statistical
Yearbook, 17th. Year, 1912) Published by the State Statistical Office, Copenhagen, 1912.
Statistiske Meddelelser. Fjerde Raekke, en og tyvende Bind, Fjerde Haefte. Hus-
mandsbrug oprettede i flnan saarene i9oo-oi — 190405 i henhold til lov af 24 marts
1899. Udgivet af Statens statistiske Bureau (Statistical Communications, Fourth Series, Vol-
ume 21, 4th Number, Small Farms Established in Conformity with the Law of March 24th.,
1899, between 1901 and 1905. Published by the State Statistical Bureau). Copenhagen, 1906
STATISTISKE MEDDELELSER. FjERDE RAEBOCE, NI OG TREDIVE BIND, SJETTE HAEFTE. StATS-
HUSMANDSBROG OPRETTETE I FiNANSAARENE 1900-01— 1910-11. Udgivet af Statens statl-
stiske Bureau (Statistical Communications. Fourth Series, Volume 39, 6th. Number Small
State Fctrms Established between 1901 and 1911. Published by the Statistical Bureau). Copen-
hagen, 1912.
OTHER SOURCES :
Frost (Dr. J): Die Danischen Husmaml (Small Danish Farmers), in the " Archiv fiir innere
Kolonisation " Berlin, Volume V. 2nd. Number, Augu<;t, 1913.
HOLLMANN (Dr.): Die Wirkungen des Gesetzes iiber die An^iedelung von I^andarbeitem in Da-
nemark vom 24 mars 1899 (The Results of the Law of March 74th., 1899 for the Settlement
of Agricultural Labourers on Small Holdings). " Mitteilungen der deutschen landwirtschaft.
Gesellschaft, " Berlin, 1907, Appendix 8.
Do : Arbeiteransiedelung in Danemark (Colonisation in Denmark) In the " Archiv des deut-
schen I^andwirtscbaftsrats." Berlin, Year 34, 1910.
Do: Sesshaftmachung von Landarbeitem und innere Kolonisation in Danemark (Formation of
Agricultural Labourers' Holdings and Home Colonisation in Denmark). In the " Archiv fiir
innere Kolonisation." Berlin. Volxune V. 6th. Number, December, 1911.
HOME COLONISATION 71
INDISTH-LING FRA DEN TIL REVISION AF JORBINK JOBSFONDETS OG HUSLAANEFONDETS REGLER TIL
BEHANDLING AF SPORSMAAI.ET OM DYRKNINGSPRAEMIER. M. V. NEDSATTE DEPARTEMENTALE
KOMTrt; II. FORSLAG OM LAAN TIL OPRETTELSE AF ARBEIDERBRUG FOR I,ANDARBEJDERE OG
TIL OPFORELSE M. V. OF BOLIGER FOR ANDRE UBEMIDLEDE (Report of the Ministerial
Committee Instituted for the Revision of the Regulations relating to the Funds Assi ned
for Purchase of Land and Loans in favour of Small Farmers and the Examination
of the Question of Prizes, Cultivation etc. IL Proposals in relation to Loans for the
Formation of A iricultural Labourers' Holdin s and the Building etc. of Dwelling Houses for
other Persons without Means). Christiania, 1900.
ScHou: L' Agriculture en Danemark (A",riculture in Denmark), Copenhagen and Paris, 1900,
Stumpfe (E): Kleinsiedelungsbautcn in Danemark {Buildins on Small Holdin :s in Denmark).
In the " Archiv fur Innere Kolonisation." Berlin, Volume II, Number 3. 1909-10.
Tegninger til husmandsboliger MED VEILEDENDE TEKST. Udgvet af det af l^andbrug min-
istcriet nedsatte Udvalg til Tilvejebringelse af Bol ger for Statshusmaem i {Plans and De-
scriptions of Cheap Dwelling Houses. Published by the Commission Instituted at the Department
of Agriculture for the Construction of Cheap Dti;ellin Houses). Odense, 1909.
Waage (H): Dansk Agrarpclitik i Nutiden {Danish Land Policy of Today) In the "Gads danske
Magasin, " 1907-08. Copenhagen. 1908.
Do : Vor Agrarpolitik og Indvandringen til Byeme {Our Land Policy and the Rural Exodus).
In the "National okonomisk Tidskrift ", Copenhagen. Year 1908. Number 3.
Warming (G): Haandbok i Daumarks Statistisk {Handbook of Danish Statistics) Copenhagen,
Wette (D): Das landwirt?chaftlicher Gencsseiisch; flswiftn und die Landarbeiteran=iede'img
in Danemark (A iricultural Co-operation and the Formation of A ricultural Labourers' Hold-
in;sin Denmark), In the " Wcidewirtschaft " Husum, Jvine, 1912.
§ I. Introduction.
Denmark was the first country in Europe in which the Governmentt ook
measures for the constitution of small agricultural holdings. Already to-
wards the end of the i8th. century, the laws by which the great land reform
was effected provided for the formation of such holdings together with the
usual peasants' holdings. Indeed the foresight of the Danish legislators
is to be admired in that more than a hundred years ago they understood
and practically demonstrated the importance of firmly attaching the agri-
cultural labourer to the soil.
Thanks to the measures then adopted, a large number of small rural
holdings were formed. Unhappily, the time was not yet ripe for such
a step ; some generations ago, it was even found there were too many
labourers' holdings and the formation of a peasant proletariate began
to be feared. The influence of these fears is met with even in official
reports, like that of the large agricidtural commission of 1849 ^^^ that of
the commission appointed in 1875 to study the labour question.
However, towards 1880, manufactures on a large scale began to extend
in the country causing a very considerable rttral exodus. At the same time
emigration was increasing. The country was threatened with a dearth
72 DKNMAKK - MIvSCKl.LANKOUS
of labourers, just at the moment when more were needed on account of the
increased cultivation.
Then people began to consider the formation of small holdings as poss-
ibly the solution of the crisis. Various small enterprising farmers also were able
to show very good results of their farm work. I^et us add that co-operation,
which had made progress on many farms throughout the country, and also
the continually increasing advance of education facilitated the task to a
remarkable degree.
In 1894 a commission was appointed to study the question and draft
a bill and five years later, in 1899, the first law on the formation of agricul-
tural labourer's holdings was promulgated, by way of experiment for five
years. The text was revised on April 22nd., 1904 and April 30th., 1909, and
will again be revised in 1914.
This legislation, by which large credits are granted to the rural popul-
ation, has attracted much attention. With each new vote the holdings to
be formed have increased in number and the group of persons receiving
credit has been enlarged and, at the same time, the credit granted by the
State has increased. In the various provisions there can be seen the various
tendencies by w hich their proposers were inspired. The first law was draft-
ed entiiely on the suggestion of the large country land owners, who wanted
to assure themselves of a sufficiently large number of permanent agricul-
tural labourers. In the last two laws and above all in that of 1909, the de-
sires of the rural population are principally considered. That of 1899 was a
law on the formation of agricultural labourers' holdings, that of 1909
is rather one for home colonisation.
The Danish Statistical Bureau has just pubHshed a very interesting
report on the results obtained up to the present.
Before reproducing these results and in order that their importance may
be better understood, we shall first of all give a summary, in as few words
as possible, of the existing organization of home colonisation in Denmark.
§ 2. Organization of home colonisation.
For direction and supervision of the formation of labourers' holdings,
Commissions have been f 01 med in the district of each general council {Atnis-
raadskreds). They are composed of three members, one of whom, the
president, is appointed by the Ministei of Agriculture. The two other
members, as well as a deputy for each, are elected by a body consisting of
two delegates from each of the communes of the district. The members
of the Commission only receive a very small remuneration from the Trea-
sury.
Any man (or unmarried woman) whose principal means of subsistence
is derived from ordinary agricultural or horticultural labour, performed
for other persons in return for wages, may benefit by the law of April 30th.,
1909 and become a "State peasant farmer" {Statshusmand) . Rural lab-
HOME COI.ONISATIOX y^,
ourers who can be assimilated with farmers, such as brickmakers, fishei-
men who have not directly shared in the State loan, and any other persons
living partly by ordinary agricultural labour, may also benefit by the law.
The party concerned must be a Dane, at least twenty five years old
and (save in exceptional cases) under fifty, must not have been condemned
by the courts for an act dishonouring him in pubhc opinion and not
have had recourse to public assistance. He must also have been engaged
in agricultural labour for at least four years since the completion of his
eighteenth year and be incapable of attaining the position of a landowner by
means of his own resources, but possess the tenth part of the value of the
holding apphedfor. Theapphcant must also present: ist., a certificate from
two trustworthy persons well acquainted with him, that he is diligent,
sober and economical and may be considered capable of farming the lot in
question ; 2nd., a certificate from the municipal authority (Sogneyaadei) of
the commune in which he resides, to the effect that he is considered
suitable to become a peasant farmer .
Besides the special commissions we have mentioned, also the muni-
cipal authorities have to assist in the work of colonisation. When a labourer
desires to purchase a holding ,but is not able to specify the holding he
wishes to possess, he may apply to the municipality, which must try to
induce private landowners to offer land on acceptable conditions. If
they are unsuccessful in this and the council finds there is a suitable
holding in the possession of the commune, it shall enter into negotiations
with the competent authorities for the transfer of the laud at a suitable
price and afterwards inform the party concerned of the result of the steps
that have been taken.
When either personally, or with the assistance of the municipality,
an applicant has made choice of a holding he desires to purchase by means
of a loan from the State, he must forward his application to the president
of the Colonisation Commission, together with a declaration by which the
municipality certifies that the holding specified may be considered adapted
to the purpose and that the estimate of its value is reasonable.
The Commission then examines whether all the conditions have been
fulfilled and visits the holding to assure itself of its stdtability for a small
farm and that the price fixed for the land is fair. If the appHcant possesses
buildings he wishes to include in his farm, the Commission must, further,
see if these buildings are suited for the purpose and fix the amount of
their value. The Commission also must see that the holding has a favour-
able aspect and is well placed in regard to the roads and that, in case of
there being no well and no possibility of sinking one, the holding will
still have a sufficieut supply of water.
If the Commission judges that the application cannot be granted, the
applicant is informed of this, as well as of the reasons for the refusal. He
may appeal against the decision to the Minister of Agriculture.
The loans granted by the State may amount to '■'/j,, ths. of the value
of the holding, the possession of one tenth by the applicant being insisted
on. The holdings cannot be less than one hectare in area, but as a rule
74 DENMARK - MISCEUvANEOUS
may not exceed 6,500 crowns (i) in value and, in exceptional cases, 8,000
crowns, including the cost of the buildings, livestock and furniture. Finally,
each individual can only obtain a loan for a singl*^ holding.
Repayment of the loan is secured on mortgage of the real estate and
a preference mortgage on the personal estate of which only the land tax
shall have precedence. The interest is 3 % per ann ; repayment of the
principal only begins in the sixth year.
Repayment of the loan cannot be demanded as long as the payments
due on it are regularly made, the holding cultivated according to the system
in general use, and provided with the Hvestock and plant necessary for
farming. The buildings, Uvestock and plant must be insured against fire
in a company recognised by the State. The Colonisation Commission shall
assure itself, once every three years, that these regulations are conformed to.
The holding must not be subdivided nor united with another, nor ex-
changed for another, without special permission from the Minister of Agric-
ulture, granted after consultation with the municipaUty. It can only be
transferred to a son or son-in-law of the grantee or another person ful-
filling the general conditions of the law. On the death of the owner,
his widow may continue in the relation of the defunct to the Treas-
ury, provided she remains in possession of the holding; if she remarries,
the relations with the Treasury shall only continue if the second husband
fulfils all the conditions imposed on colonists. The same rule holds, mutatis
mutandis, in the case of the simple marriege of an heiress.
The 1909 law also authorizes a landowner to bequeath his farm bj'
will, provided only that this be to a single direct heir, satisf5dng the re-
quirements of the law. On the other hand, the provisions of preceding
laws declaring the holding undistrainable have been abrogated as they
were found to damage the credit of the peasant landowners.
IvCt us add that the credit granted by the State for home colonisation,
fixed at 2,000,000 crowns in 1899, was raised to 3,000,000 crs. in 1904 and
to 4,000,000 crs. in 1909. The amounts not required in one year are brought
forward to the next.
§ 3. Resui^ts.
A. — Amount and Number of Loans. Area and Value of Holdings.
The total number of small farms founded between 1901 and 1911, in conform-
ity with the laws of 1899, 1904 and 1909, was 5,777 and the Treasury loans
amounted to 25,410,148 crowns, as appears from the following table.
(i) A Danish crowns is equal to 1.39 fr.
HOME COI.ON1SATION
75
Tabi^ 1. — Number and Amount of Loans Granted by the State.
Year (I)
Number of tfions
Amotint of IiOans
(in crowns).
1900-1901
1901-1902
1902-1903
1903-1904
1904-I905
1905-1906
1906-1907
1907-1908
1908-I909
1909-19IO
I910-1911
Total
713.770
860,504
1,278,629
1,945.126
1,732,204
2,861,262
2,856,379
2,924,760
3.133.834
3,042,221
4,061,459
25,410,148
(i) The working year closes on March 31st.
As we see, in the early years, the Credit allowed by the State was far from
being taken advantage of, but the loans have gone on continually increasing,
so that in the last year the estimate was exceeded, although the Colonis-
ation Commissions proceeded with the greatest prudence and held over
numerous apphcations to the following year, with precedence of any others.
The average area of the farms has continually increased. Between
1901 and 1905 it was 316 ares ; it increased between 1905 and 1910 to
366 ares and in the last working year to 422 ares. Further, it will not fail
to be observed, in the following table, that only the percentage of farms
of between 221 and 441 ares remains unchanged ; those of less than
221 ares become less and less ntmierous and the number of those of more
than 441 ares increases.
76
DENMARK - MISCEI^LANEOUS
Table 11. — Percentage of Farms Classified according to Size.
Area in Ares
Percentage (%)
1900-1905 igoj-'Qio
19x0-1911
From no to 165 .
» 165 » 221 .
» 221 )) 276
» 276 » 331
» 331 » 386.
» 386 » 441 .
» 441 « 662 .
» 662 » 882 .
882 and over . . .
0.76
1-37
550
1405
23.21
20.76
25.34
6.41
2.60
lyct US add that the small farms founded between 1905 and 1910 are
not only larger than those of earlier foundation, but the soil is richer, so
that we find the value of the small holdings continually rising ; the aver-
age value of the farms earhest founded, between 1900 and 1905 was 4,021
crs., that of those founded between 1905 and 1910, 5,317 crowns ; that of
the latest founded (1910-1911), 6,687 crowns. It is true that the price of
land has also risen, increasing from 659 crowns per hectare in 1900-1905 to
783 crowns in 1905-1910 and 820 crs. in 1910-11.
Between 1900 and 191 1, 651 small farms were sold and no changed
hands more than once. However, if we consider the total number of farms
founded during the period, we find that the sales were only 2.6 % per ann.,
a percentage far lower than that of the ordinary sales of rural holdings
which was about 8 % between 1905 and 1909.
This shows that the small State farms have not been injured by
speculation.
Besides these voluntary sales, 16 took place by order of the courts, caus-
ing a loss to the Treasury of 9,120 crs. in principal and 1,876 crs. in interest.
B. — Condition and Origin of the Purchasers.
The Enquiry of the State Statistical Bureau shows that 5,441 small
farms (out of 5,777 formed) were inhabited by 26,531 persons, or on an
average, 4.91 persons per farm (i).
(i) Of the 336 farms not included in the Enquiry, i66 were aiready freed from their debt
to the State and we have no information in regard to the other 170.
HOME COI^ONISATION
n
With regard to the age, condition and profession of the purchasers,
interesting information may be found in the following tables prepared on
April 1st., 1911.
Tabijs III. — Age of Purchasers.
Number of Persons Percentage
25-30 years 1,548 28.5
30-40 „ 2,347 43.1
40-50 „ 1.247 23.4
over 50 „ 32 44
Unknown 32 0.6
Total . . . 5,441 100 .0
Tabi,e IV. — Condition of Purchasers.
Nnmber of Persons Percentage
Married before Establishment on the
Farm 4,470 82.2
Married in the Year of Establishment
on the Farm 565 10.4
Unmarried 307 5^
Condition Unknown 32 1.8
Total . . . 5,441 loo.o
TabIvE V. — Profession of Purchasers.
Number Percentage
Agricultural Labourers 3.958 72.8
Labourers on Wages 527 9.7
Artisans 405 7.4
Miscellaneous (i) 440 8.1
Profession Unknown iii 2.0
Total . . . 5,441 loo.o
(i) Amongst these, 76 dairymen, 49 wooden shoemaker?, 49 brickmakers, 46 wood cutters,
29 fishermen, 27 carriers, 25 road labourers.
78
DENMARK - MISCEI.LANEOUS
As we see, it is specially labourers who are married or about to marry
who desire to become landowners.
Table VI shows the amount of labour for wages done by a certain num-
ber of farmers on holdings other than their own:
Table VI. — Wage Labour of Fanners.
Area of Panns
in Arcs
Working Year
Number
of Farms
Number
of Farm.er3
working
on other
Holdings
Average
Number
of Days
of labour
for Wages
per Year
IIO to 221 . .
221 to 331
331 to 441 . .
441 and over .
/ 1900-1905
, 1905-1910
f 1910-iyii
I 1900— 1905
^ 1905-1910
' 1910-1911
/ 1900-1905
j 1905-1910
' 1910-19 1 1
I 1900-1905
^ 1905-1910
' 1910-1911
225
192
208
175
14
II
604
477
1,064
856
126
105
366
274
940
689
288
228
475
258
804
489
223
139
158
175
198
135
138
159
116
1X6
120
102
"3
107
It is not surprising that" the ntmiber of farmers working less and less
on other holdings is increasing. But it will be regretted that the State Stat-
istical Office has not indicated to what we may attribute the fact that the
average number of days of labour for wages seems to increase as the years
go on, in every class.
C. — Amount of Livestock and Mode of Utilisation of the Soil;
Co-operative Action of the Farmers.
The Statistics of the number of Head of Livestock including Poultry
owned by the State farmers are important, as they permit of our apprec-
iating the economic situation of the peasant farmers. The statistical return
to which we have already referred gives us the situation of 5,374 farmeis, as
regards their livestock, on April ist,, 1911. At that date, as we shall see in
the following table, there were on their farms 5,187 horses, 22,079 head of
horned cattle, 33,623 pigs, 1,156 sheep and 155,250 fowls.
HOME COLONISATION
79
TabIvE VII. — Number of Head of Livestock inJuding Poultry
on the Various Farms.
Average Area
of the Farms in Ares
Number
of Farms
Total
Area
in
Hectares
Horses
Horned
Cattle
Pigs
Sheep
Fowls
I lO to 221 . . . .
411
712
176
1,195
2,053
51
12,070
221 to 331 ....
1,814
4.742
1,233
6,524
10,898
180
58.247
331 to 441 ....
1,612
5.830
1.633
6,907
10,394
234
45,839
441 to 662 ....
1,184
5.932
1.557
5,511
7.824
387
29,892
662 and over. . . .
353
2,946
586
1,942
2.454
504
9,202
Total . . .
5,374
20,162
5.187
22,079
33.623
1,156
155.250
As this table does not show the average ntimber of head of livestock for
each farm we shall complete it by the following :
Table VIII. — Average Number of Head of Livestock including Poultry,
per farm in 1906 and 191 1.
Average Area of the farms
Number of Head of I^ivestock
on April ist., 1906
Number of Head of Livestock
on April ist., igii
in Ares
i
0
"Si
1-
5
&
m
m
it
i
a
■0
&
£
1
IIO to 221
0.2
2.8
3-8
0.2
27
0.4
2.3
5-0
0.1
29
221 to 331
0.3
3-0
3-7
0.3
26
0.7
3-6
6.0
0.1
32
331 to 441
0.5
3-3
3-2
0.5
23
I.O
4-3
6.4
0.1
28
441 and over
0.8
3-6
3.2
^■3
22
1.4
4.8
6.7
0.4
25
General Average . . .
0.4
3-1
3-5
0.5
25
1.0
4.1
6.3
0.2
29
As we see, except in the case of sheep (i), the number of head of live-
stock per farm has considerably increased in the space of five years. It
seems that the immediate anxiety of the farmers, from the moment of
their installation was to have at once a sufiicient number of horned
cattle. Only afterwards they put themselves out to get horses, but the
increase in the number of the latter has been far more rapid. It wiU not
(i) This is quite usual. Consulting Engelbrechts' Landbauzonen Atlas, (T. H. Engel-
BHECJIT, Die Landbauzonen der Aeussertropischen Laender, Berlin, 1899, 3 vol. 4to.}, we find
both in the Old World and in America a progressive decline in sheep farming, in proportion as
the population increases in density.
8o
DENMARK - MISCELLANEOUS
be without interest to compare the situation of the colonists' farms, from
the point of view of the Uvestock on them, with that of ordinary farms of
about the same area. On April ist., 1911, on 100 hectares farmed there were;
Hotses
Homed
Cattle
Pigs
Sheep
Fowls
On Small Farms of from 55 to 495 ares (i) .
On Colonisation Farms
The General Average being
23
26
17
117
IIO
68
104
166
53
22
6
28
1.430
770
750
(i) According to the General Statistical Return of 1909.
It will not fail to be remarked how small is the number of sheep
and how great, on the other hand, the number of pigs on the colonis-
ation farms.
Let us now see in what manner the colonists utiHse the land they have
obtained the grant of. The enquiry instituted by the Statistical Office
obtained information on this point with regard to 5,163 colonists, and the
following table allows of our making a comparison between their farms
and the total cultivated area of Denmark as shown in the Statistical Return
for 1907.
Table IX. — Distribution of the Cultivated Soil.
Autumn Sowing
Spring Sowing
Root plants and Tubers
Fallow Land
Gardens
Other Farms
Total
Of ;,i63 Colonists' Farms
in 1911
Hectares
2,205
6,294
3.623
960
678
4.749
18,509
11.9
34-0
19.6
5-2
3-7
25.6
lOO.O
Of the Whole
Area Cultivated
in 1907
%
10.9
28.6
10.7
8.0
1.8
40.0
lyct us, finally, add that of 5,149 farmers, 4,689 or 91 % were members
of co-operative dairies; 2,880 or 56 %, of co-operative slaughterhouses;
1,023 or 20 % of co-operative societies for the sale of eggs ; 94 or 1.8 %
of Hvestock improvement syndicates. These percentages, of which the first
two exceed the average for farmers of farms of the same area by 6 and 16
respectively, show the great importance of co-operation for the farmers.
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.
I. SYSTEMS OF I.AND VALUATION IN THE UNITED KINGDOM.
by C. Gerald Eve, Ftllow of the Surveyors' Institution {England):
A Superintending Valuer, Inland Revenue.
PART II.
THE VALUATION OF THE UNITED KINGDOM NOW PROCEEDING
UNDER MR. LLOYD GEORGE'S BUDGET OF igio.
In the preceding part of this article, which appeared in the Bulletin
of December, a description was given of the systems of Land Valuation in
vogue in the United Kingdom prior to the famous Budget introduced by-
Mr. Lloyd George kno\\Ti as the Finance (igog-io) Act 1910. It was
explained that such systems are still in force and are in no way impaired
by this Finance Act.
In this second part of the article an attempt is made to explain :
(t) the provisions of this Finance Act in so far as it institutes a new
system of valuation of the whole of the lands in the United Kingdom known
as the " Original Valuation:"
(2) the purpose of the Valuation to the extent to which it is revealed
in the Finance Act, namely the imposition of certain land value duties :
(3) the further purposes for which the valuation when completed
might be used if the Legislature so directed :
(4) the valuation and taxation of minerals.
It will be convenient to take these four headings seriatim.
§ I. The system of the " original valuation " of the united kingdom.
The System is absolutely uniform throughout England, Scotland, Ire-
land & Wales, forming a favourable contrast with the great variations in
valuation systems in different portions of the Kingdom as described in
Part I of this article.
82 GKEAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND - MISCEIvLAxNTEOUS
The Commissioners of Inland Revenue are charged with the duty of
carrjring out the valuation throughout the entire kingdom. The Commis-
sioners are of course permanent civil servants of the Crown and are four
in number. They instituted a Valuation Office or Department of the In-
and Revenue composed of permanent civil servants and temporary officials.
The Valuation Office consists of a Chief Valuer and Deputy Chief Valuer
for England and Wales, stationed at the head office in I,ondon, 13 Super-
intending Valuers stationed at various provincial centres throughout Eng-
land and Wales in charge of divisions of the country, 115 District Valuers
in charge of districts within such divisions, and the District Valuers are each
in immediate control of a staff of valuers, valuation assistants, draughtsmen,
and clerks. As regards Scotland, there is a Chief Valuer for Scotland stationed
at Edinburgh, with i Superintending Valuer, 10 District Valuers and their
staffs immediately under them. In Ireland the work of valuation is being
carried out on behalf of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue by the Com-
missioner of Valuation, the machinery of the Government Valuation De-
partment in Ireland having been pre\'iously in existence for other I/Ocal
and Imperial taxation purposes as described in Part 1 of this article.
It will thus be seen that a chain of control by steps of decentralisa-
tion was the guiding principle in the formation of the Valuation Office.
Those of the staff who are permanent civil servants are almost without
exception either Fellows (known also as Chartered Surveyors) or Profes-
sional Associates of the Surveyors' Institution. This Institution possesses
a Royal Charter to secure the advancement and facilitate the acquisition
of the knowledge of the profession of a Surveyor and to extend the useful-
ness of such profession for the pubhc advantage, and after thorough and
exhaustive examinations issues Diplomas to Fellows or Professional As-
sociates as a result of such examinations subject to enquiry into and con-
sideration of the practical experience and standing of the examinees. A
large proportion of the temporary valuers are also members of the Sur-
veyors' Institution.
The Finance Act directed the Commissioners as soon as may be after the
passing of the Act (29th. April, 191 0) to cause a valuation to be made of
all land in the United Kingdom. " Land " includes all houses, buildings,
structures, timber, fixed machinery that would at common law pass on the
transfer on sale of a fee simple in the absence of any express stipulation,
and rights of sporting. In other words " land" is used in the comprehen-
sive sense of real property as opposed to personal or chattel property.
Each piece of land which is under separate occupation is to be separately
valued and the value is to be estimated as on the 30th. April, 1909. The
owner can however absolutely require any part of an occupation to be sep-
arately valued, and may desire the Commissioners to aggregate several
contiguous occupations in one separate valuation provided that the area
does not exceed 100 acres, whereupon if the Commissioners consider there
are special circumstances rendering it equitable so to aggregate, they are
to comply ; but the unit of valuation is generally the unit of occupation.
SYSTEMS OF L.\ND VALUATION IN THE UNITED KINGDOM 83
The Commissioners are empowered to call for returns from any owner
or person receiving rent, giving particulars as to the rent, ownership,
tenure and such like. Accordingly a form of return known as " Form 4 "
was prepared and 10,931,236 of these forms were issued to owners mostly
in August, 1910, and 93.23 per cent of these were received by the Commis-
sioners up to the 31st. March, 1913. These figures exclude Ireland. The
form of return is shown in Appendix I.
The Commissioners obtained copies of the Poor Rate Valuation I,ist
for each Parish (shown in Appendix II of Part 1 of this article) in force on
30th. April, 1909, and the information there given as to owner, occupier,
area and poor rate assessment was placed upon Forms 4 before issue to
the owners, to enable them to identify the property concerned by each Form
4. At the same time the opportunity was taken to give an identification
number to each Form 4 to correspond to a serial number inserted against
each hereditament or separately rated occupation appearing in the copy
of the Poor Rate Valuation L/ist. These identification numbers in each
parish are the permanent means by which the new Valuation Book is
related to the record plans of the Commissioners and by which owners can
relate their properties to the respective units of valuation.
It will be observed by a reference to the second part of Form 4 in Appen-
dix I that the owner coiild if the so desired furnish the Commissioners with
his opinion of the value of the property, whereupon the Commissioners are
to give it their consideration before fixing the values ; but +his option has
been very rarely exercised.
A penalty not exceeding £50 can be imposed through the Courts under
the provisions of the Finance Act in case of failure to return Form 4 ; but
the writer is not aware of any instance where it has been found necessary
to exact a penalty.
Persons who pa)"- or receive rents can be required to state the names
and addresses of the persons to whom the rents are paid or on behalf of
whom they are received.
Powers of Inspection of propertj'^ by the Commissioners' valuers are
given in the terms following :
" For the purpose of the exercise of their powers or the performance
of their duties under this Part of this Act in reference to the valuation of
land, the Commissioners may give any general or special authority to any
person to inspect any land and report to them the value thereof, and the per-
son having the custody or possession of that land shall permit the person
so authorised, on production of the authority of the Commissioners in that
behalf, to inspect it at such reasonable times as the Commissioners consider
necessary. If any person wilfully fails to comply with the provisions
of this section he shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding fifty pounds to
be recoverable in the High Court."
The word " land," as previously explained, includes the houses, build-
dings, etc.
This power of inspection has been previously given to various Crown
and local officials under other Taxing and Rating Acts, and is therefore not
at variance with past procedure.
84 GKEAT BKIi AIX AND IRELAND - MISCELLAMEOI'S
§ 2. The values to be ascertained.
The basis of valuation is to be on the assumption that all property-
is " fee simple in possession, not subject to any lease." Thus the values
to be ascertained do not show the value of any person's interest in the pro-
perty, such as leasehold interest or reversionary interest, but the full value
of or the combined interests in the property ; fee simple being the most
absolute interest which a subject can possess.
The values to be ascertained are four in number and, in the case of agri-
cultural land, five in number.
They are known as (i) Gross Value ; (2) Total Value ; (3) Full Site Value ;
(4) Assessable Site Value ; (4) Value for Agricultural Purposes.
Gross Value is defined as " The amount which the fee simple of the
land if sold at the time in the open market by a wiUing seller in its then
condition, free from incumbrances, and from any burden, charge, or restric-
tion (other than rates or taxes) might be expected to realise."
" The expression incumbrance' includes a mortgage in fee or for a less
estate and a trust for securing money, and a lien and a charge of a por-
tion, annuity, or any capital or annual sum, but does not include a fixed
charge as defined by this Act."
Therefore in fixing Gross Value the valuer is to pre-suppose that the
property is subject to the common UabiUties such as repairs, fire insurance
local rates and Imperial taxes, but not to the tithes, adverse rights of way or
of light, adverse rights of common, mortgages, terminable annuities (e. g.
charged on lands in favour of the owner's family by will or to repay
money borrowed for improvements) and such like.
Total Value is defined as " The Gross Value after deducting the amount
by which the Gross Value would be diminished if the land were sold subject
to any fixed charges and to any public rights of way or any pubHc rights
of user, and to any right of common and to any easements affecting the land,
and to any covenant or agreement restricting the use of the land entered
into or made before the thirtieth day of April nineteen hundred and nine,
and to any covenant or agreement restricting the use of the land entered
into or made on or after that date, if, in the opinion of the Commissioners,
the restraint imposed by the covenant or agreement so entered into or made
on or after that date was when imposed desirable in the interests of the
public, or in view of the character and surroundings of the neighbourhood.
"The expression 'fixed charge' means any rent charge as defined by
this Act, and any burden or charge (other than rates or taxes) arising by
operation of law or imposed by any Act of Parliament, or imposed in pur-
suance of the exercise of any powers or the performance of any duties under
any such Act, otherwise than by a person interested in the land or in con-
sideration of any advance to any person interested in the land."
" The expression rentcharge means tithe or tithe rentcharge, or other
I)eriodical payment or rendering in lieu of or in the nature of tithe, or any
SYSTEMS OF LAND VALUATION IN THE UNITED KINGDOM 85
fee farm rent, rent seek, quit rent, chief rent, rent of assize, or any other
perpetual rent or annuity granted out of land."
Total Value is consequently the actual market value of property on
the terms and the conditions under which property is usually offered by
sale at public auction, and from that very reason it may often be expedient
to first arive at Total Value and to add thereto, in order to reach Gross
Value, the amount in excess of normal market value which the property
would realise if sold under the terms of definition of Gross Value.
Full Site Value means " The amount which remains after deducting
from the Gross Value of the land the difi:erence (if any) between that value
and the value which the fee simple of the land, if sold at the time in the open
market by a v.dUing seller, might be expected to reaUse if the land were di-
vested of any buildings and of any other structures (including fixed or
attached machinery) on, in or under the surface, which are appurtenant to or
used in connection with any such buildings, and of all growing timber,
fruit trees, fruit bushes, and other things growing thereon."
It is not easy to grasp this definition without some study. Full Site
Value however is exactly akin to Gross Value except that the buildings and
other recited subject matters ara assumed to be non-existent. It is most
important to remember that Full Site Value is a fresh conception of Value,
arrived at quite independently of Gross Value or of any other value. It
would be incorrect to fix Gross Value and thereupon reach Full Site Value
by deducting the value of the buildings and other subjects deemed to be
divested. For example, assume a residential house erected many years
ago at a cost of £2,000 but owing to the approach of small shops or working
class dwellings or other depreciatory causes it has become obsolescent and
very difl&cult to let or sell. The Gross Value may well be only £500. But to
ascertain Full Site Value the valuer now assumes the site is bare btiilding
land and he would at once know that, for the purposes of site? for shops
or working class dwellings, it would readily sell at £450.
The dijQference between Gross Value £500 and Full Site Value £450 is
thus £50, and can only be termed the " dilference " and not the value
of any subject matters.
So long as the obsolescent house exists the site is damaged ; remove
the house and the site may then well be of a value approaching or even equal
to the value of the existing composite property, house and site.
The Assessable Site Value means the total value after deducting —
" The same amount as is to be deducted for the purpose of arriving at
full site value from gross value " (i. e., buildings, etc); and
" Any part of the total value which is proved to the Commissioners to
be directly attributable to works executed, or expenditure of a capital
nature (including any expenses of advertisement) incurred bona fide by
or on behalf of or solely in the interests of any person interested in the
land for the purpose of improving the value of the land as building land, or
for the purpose of any business, trade, or industry other than agriculture; and
" Any part of the total value which is proved to the Commissioners
to be directly attributable to the appropriation of any land or to the gift
86 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND - MISCELIvANEOUS
of any land by any person interested in the land for the purpose of streets,
roads, paths, squares, gardens, or other open spaces for the use of the
jniblic; and
" Any part of the total value which is proved to the Commissioners
to be directly attributable to the expenditure of money on the redemption
of any land tax, or any fixed charge, or on the enfranchisement of copy-
hold land or customary freeholds, or on effecting the release of any covenant
or agreement restricting the use of land which may be taken into account
in ascertaining the total value of the land, or to goodwill or any other
matter which is personal to the owner, occupier, or other person interested
for the time being in the land ; and
" Any sums which, in the opinion of the Commissioners, it would be
necessary to expend in order to divest the land of buildings, timber, trees,
or other things of which it is to be taken to be divested for the purpose
of arriving at the Full Site Value from the Gross Value of the land and of
which it would be necessary to divest the land for the purpose of realising
the Full Site Value.
" Where anj'- works executed or expenditure incurred for the pur-
pose of improving the value of the land for agriculture have actually im-
proved the value of the land as building land, or for the purpose of any
business, trade, or industry other than agriculture, the works or expenditure
shall, for the purpose of this provision, be treated as having been executed
or incurred also for the latter purposes. "
The Assessable Site Value is akin to Total Value except that the build-
ings and other subjects for divestment are assumed to have disappeared ;
in other words the Assessable Site Value is the actual market value of a
hjrpothetical bared site, but thereafter deductions are made for the value that
the owner or his predecessors in title have contributed to the property to
improve it for any purpose other than agriculture.
Form 7 (see Appendix 11) is sent to owners who desire to claim the
deductions.
The Value for Agricultural Purposes is not defined but may be taken
to be the market value of the property as if sold under the restriction that
it must only be used for agricultural or forestry purposes.
Before proceeding further it might be advisable to summarise these mean-
ings of the values as succincth^ (and therefore not quite accurately) as possible:
Gross Value : Fee simple in possession ; property freed from all char-
ges and adverse rights except rates, taxes and repairs ; an ideal hypothet-
ical condition.
Full Site Value : As above but land is now bare.
Total Value : Actual market value of a fee simple in possession, after
regarding perpetual charges and adverse rights.
Assessable Site Value : As above but land is now bare, and then deduc-
tions are made for value contributed by owners past and present.
Special attention must be drawn to the basis of valuation," the amount
which the fee simple of the land if sold at the time in the open market
by a willing seller in its then condition might be expected to realise ".
SYSTEMS OF LAND VAI.UATION IN THE UNIfED KINGDOM 87
" Expected to realise " introduces the science of valuation.
The hypothetical " willing seller " must be willing to take open market-
competition price. He is not to be made willing to sell by tempting him
with an extravagant price ; nor can he hold out for a " pretium affectionis "
on the ground that he is not desirous of seUing ; nor can he " blackmail *'
a purchaser who, he knows, has a special necessity for the property.
The value is not necessarily the amount an owner can get in fact and in
practice by using all the " levers " at his command or by holding up the
monopoly of land against an individual, but the amount which he would
get on the hypotheses laid down. Everyone who has the money and will
to buy is asumed to be put into rivalry with each other and these intending
buyers are assumed to know that the seller is willing to sell in a market so
formed, and at a price obtained in such a market. The seller may in fact
happen to be placed in a position much more advantageous than the one
just described, but if so he must be assumed to descend from that posi-
tion and submit himself to the open market.
" In its then condition " are words that do not prevent the potentia-
lities of the property from being included in the value, but the cost of con-
verting the property from " its then condition " to the ameliorated condi-
tion must be regarded.
Having concluded the attempt to explam the general provisions of the
Finance Act as regards the Original Valuation it will be convenient to deal
with those provisions affecting " copyhold " lands, and to the' special
consideration shown to agricultural lands and woodlands.
§ 3. Copyhold lands.
Copyhold lands are lands which the copyholder-owner holds by Copy
of Court Roll from the lord of the manor in contradistinction to fee simple
or freehold lands where the owners are absolute owners of the complete
interest in the land.
\\'lien a copyholder wishes to sell his land he must first surrender it to
the lord of the manor and pay fines and fees, whereupon the lord enters the
purchasing copyholder on the rolls of the manor in place of the selling copy-
bolder. In some manors these fines are very heavy and in others nominal
varying according to the custom of the manor. Fines and fees are also
sometimes payable to the lord upon the death of the successive copyholders.
The Act provides that Gross Value and Full Site Value of copyhold lands
shall be on a basis similar to the general basis, namely as fee simple or free-
hold lands, but Total Value and Site Value are to be ascertained as if
the land were freehold land, subject to a deduction of such an amount as
is proved to be equal to the amount which it would cost to enfranchise
the land.
Under the Copyholds Acts any copyholder can insist upon enfranchis-
ing his copyhold land and converting it into freehold by pajdng a sum to
the lord of the manor. The sum is computed by capitalising the lord's
88 GREAT BRITAIN AND IREI^AND - MISCEIvIyANEOUS
monetary rights to fines and fees and adding the value of the lord's
minerals, if any, beneath the surface.
In many manors the copyholders prefer to remain as such because an
enfranchisement would not be economic when compared with the continu-
ance of payment of fines and fees on death or alienation (such as sales).
But the Finance Act compels a deduction from estimated freehold value
of the estimated cost of enfranchisement in order to ascertain Total Value
and Assessable Site Value, thereby arriving in many cases at a Total
Value lowor than the price at which copyhold lands in fact realise on sale.
It would, therefore, appear to have been better if the Legislature had
enacted that Total Value should be the actual copyhold value.
§ 4. AgriculturaIv land.
The special consideration shown to agricultural land and land under
forest will be more apparent when the incidence of land values duties is
later dealt with, but so far as the provisions of the Original Valuation of
the Kingdom are concerned, some remarks are necessary.
If reference is made to the definition of Assessable Site Value it will be
noticed that deductions from Total Value for the purpose of arriving at
Assessable Site Value are only allowed :
(i) for works executed or capital expenditure incurred for the pur-
pose of improving the value of the land as building land or for any trade
or industry other than agriculture, and
(2) For any works or capital expenditure incurred for the pur-
pose of agriculture but which have resulted in improving the value of the
land as building: land or for any trade or industry other than agriculture.
This provision might appear to penalise rather than favour agricultural
land, but so long as land has no higher value than its market value for
agricultural purposes no Increment Value Duty is chargeable, nor is Undeve-
loped Land Duty chargeable except on the excess of Assessable Site Value
over Agriciiltural Value (including site, buildings, trees, etc.), nor is Rever-
sion Duty leviable on land when it is agricultural land. These duties are
hereafter explained.
Hence inasmuch as the Finance Act so exempted agricultural lands and
was framed for the collection of duties, it confined the deductions to non-
agricultural improvements ; any inclusion of improvement deductions
would have been superfluous and by enlarging the scope of the deductions
would have retarded the work and increased the cost of the valuation.
Further any such inclusion would have caused a distinct hardship to
owners of agricultural lauds when such lands became building land. If
the Assessable Site Value of some agricultural land be £1000, and agricul-
tural improvements such as land drainage and a farm road were deducted,
the Assessable Site Value might then be £600. In course of years the land
ceases to be in the category of agricultural land and becomes valuable for
building land and is sold for £5000. If the £5000 be compared with the
SYSTEMS OF LAND VALUATION IN THE UNITED KINGDOM 89
original Assessable Site \'alue of £600 instead of £1000 au extra taxable
increment value of £400 is revealed to the detriment of the owner, and the
£5000 cannot be subjected to deductions of £400 for the land drains and
farm road inasmuch as these havebecome entirely' obsolete, of no service,
and contribute no value to the £.5000 paid for the building land.
Therefore the exclusion of agricultural improvements which for the
greater part tend to become obsolete when agricultural land becomes
valuable for building land, was an equitable provision in an Act framed for
the taxation of increment.
But should the legislature at any time desire to use the OriginalValuation
as a basis upon which to levy annual rates and taxes for local and Imperial
purposes in lieu of the existing basis, it is clear that for ■=iuch purpose deduc-
tions for agricultural improvements must be made to arrive at site values of
agricultural lands in order to place such lands on an equivalent footing
with lands which are not agricultural.
In August 191?,, a Bill was brought into the House of Commons by the
Chancellor of tlie Exchequer with such intent, but was withdrawn owing
to lack of time for proper discussion and is likely to be introduced again
next session though possibly in a different form.
§ 5, Objection to valu-\tions
Notification of the values to the owners of lands, and their rights of
objection and appeal against such values should next be explained.
The valuers, having arrived at the \-alues send a copy of their " Provi-
sional Valuation " to owners and certain other persons interested in the
land. This is known as Form 36 and will be found in Appendix III
as also will Form 35 which accompanies 36 in order to explain to owners
the steps they should take.
Within 60 days of the receipt of the Provisional Valuation the person
receiving, if dissatisfied with it, must state in writing (there is no special form
prescribed) the grounds of his objection and the amendment he desires to
Total Valae or Site Value. This objection is generally sent to the District
Valuer. The Commissioners may in their discretion extend the 60 days in
any special case and frequently do so when good cause is shown such as
ignorance, illiteracy, serious illness or absence abroad.
If the owner does not object, then the Provisional Valuation becomes
the Original Valuation and is entered in the Valuation Book of the Parish.
If the owner does object the District Valuer reconsiders his figures and either
adheres to his previous valuation or serves an Amended Provisional Valua-
tion, adjusting Gross Value, Full Site Value and Value for Agricultural
Purposes so as to bear proper relation to the amendments made to Total
Value or Assessable Site Value pursuant to the objection lodged against
those two values.
The owner eventually either becomes satisfied with the Provisional
Valuation which then becomes the Original Valuatior for recording in the
90 GKEAT BRITAIN AND IREI,AND - MISCEl,I,ANEOUS
Valuation Book, or he appeals to a referee by giving notice of appeal to
the Commissioners of Inland Revenue and to a " Reference Committee. "
The panel of referees numbers about 15 for England and Wales, 9 for
Scotland and 3 for Ireland. They are appointed by a Reference Com-
mittee consisting of the I/Ord Chief Justice, the Master of the Rolls, and
the President of the Surveyors' Institution as regards England and Wales,
and of the persons holding equivalent positions as regards Scotland and
Ireland. The referees are, therefore, practically appointed by the King's
Judges and not by any Government Department.
The referees are skilled surveyors or valuers of high standing in their
profession carrying on general practice as smrveyors, who invariable'
inspect the property concerned and hear evidence locally ; the Reference
Committee selects a referee from the panel to hear each appeal. The
referees are paid out of moneys provided by Parliament, and neither the
appellant nor the Commissioners of Inland Revenue are at any cost as
regards the referees' fees ; the referee can at his discretion award as to
whether either party to an appeal should pay the expenses of the other
party.
The number uf notices of appeals that have been lodged up to
31st. March, 1913 have been 0.1% of the number of units of occupation
the Provisional Valuations for which have been screwed upon the owners,
or one in everj' thousand. The greater portion of the appeals are settled
without recourse to an actual hearing by a referee.
Apportionments of any unit of Original Valuation are made when only
part of a unit becomes Hable to any land values dute^ if it is necessary to
make such an apportionment for the purpose of collecting the duty. The
owners concerned may object and appeal against the apportionment in
the same way as against a Provisional Valuation. The apportionments
must not of course aggregate to a figure differing from the Original
Valuation figure.
The Commissioners record on plans the boundaries of the unit of
each Provisional Valuation and of any subsequent apportionment. The
plans used are those made by the Ordnance Survey Department.
Statutory companies such as railway, canal, dock, water, gas or other
companies who carry on such public undertakings under any Spcial Act of
ParHament, are exempted from making returns to the Commissioners as
to their property except as to the cost of the acquisition of the land by the
company and such cost is adopted in heu of the original Site Value. Conse-
quently such properties are not being valued.
§ 6. How THE VALUATION IS VROGRESSINC.
The progress that has been made in the immense task of making the
Original Valuation of the United Kingdom will doubtless be of interest.
The Act passed on 29th. April, 1910, whereupon the Commissioners
had to organise an administrative scheme and engage a stafE of valuers and
SYSTEMS OF LAND VALUATION IN THE UNITED KINGDOM 9I
clerks. This necessarily occupied some time and then the staff had to be
familiarised with the provisions of the Act as regards valuation.
Further it must be remember that in addition to making the Original
Valuation, the Valuers are engaged upon :
(a) The valuation of all real property for death duties. Up to 31st.
March, 1913, the value certified (exclusive of Ireland) amounted to over
206 milUons, and the Valuation Office increased the values returned to the
Estate Duty Office by the parties accounting for the property of the deceased
persons, by 6.52 % or £12,728,819. In Ireland the corresponding percentage
was 13.03 % and the increase £449,068. The extra Death Duties on these
figures should be remembered as an asset when considering the cost of the
Valuation Department.
(b) The valuation of property for stamp duty upon voluntary dispos-
itions of real property. The values certified up to 31st. March, 1913, in
Great Britain was £9,766,188.
(c) The re-valuation of land upon the occasions of sale, lease for
over 14 years, and death, in connection with Increment Value Duty. Up
to 31st. March, 1913, these re-valuations amounted to £233,449,872 in
Great Britain.
{d) Enquiries into the Habihty or otherwise of land to Undeveloped
Land Duty ; a laborious task.
(e) Special valuation for Reversion Duty.
(/) Valuations for deciding the annual values in connection with
excise or licence duties upon houses licensed for the sale of alcoholic
liquors.
Inasnmch as the work of the Original Valuation is proceeding pari
passu with the levying of the duties, the progress of the Original Valuation
is naturally impeded.
It was contemplated that the Original Valuation wr uld occupy 5 years,
and be completed on 31st. March, 1915. The Table below relates to the
progress of the Original Valuation and it will be seen that by 31st. March
1913, nearly 4 VI, miUions (out of a total of approximately 10 millions)
of hereditaments had been valued, as regards England, Scotland and Wales.
As regards Ireland 48,047 Provisional Valuation had been notified to owners
by such date.
92
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND - MISCELLANEOUS
Table I. — Progress of the Original Valuation.
Total number of
Provisional Valu-
ation- made and
notified to the
owner and other
persons entitled
to notice.
Total number of
hereditaments in-
cluded in Piovi
sionalValuations.
Approximate area
of land included
in Provisional
Valuations.
Aggregate " Total
Value " of land
included in Pro-
visional Valna-
tions.
On or before 31st.
March, 191 2 :
Great Britain . .
1,799,468
2,218,317
Acres
3,637.955
f
614,605,705
In year ended 31st.
March, 1913:
En glandand Wales
ScoUand ....
1,633,292
71,496
1,987,769
276,193
8,550,992
2,232,733
872,850.191
73.830,535
Great Britain . . .
1,704,788
2,263,962
10,783,725
946,680,726
Total to 31st. March,
1913:
Great Britain . .
3,504,256
4,482,279
14,421,680
1,561,286,431
§ 7. The land value duties imposed by the act.
This article being restricted to Systems of Valuation, the Duties im-
posed by the Finance Act can only be shoilly explained.
The duties are : (a) Increment Value Duty; (6) Undeveloped Land Duty;
(c) Reversion duty.
(a) Increment Value Duty.
Increment Value Duty is at the rate of £1 for every complete £5 of
increment value accruing after 30th. April, 1909, and is collected so far
as it has not been previously paid on each occasion of :
{a) The transfer on sale of the fee simple or any interest in land ;
{h) The grant of a lease of land for a term exceeding 14 years ;
(c) The passing on death of the fee simple or any interest in land.
The increment value is the amount by which the Site Value on each
such an occasion exceeds the Assessable Site Value in the Original Valua-
SYSTEMS OF LAND VALUATION IN THE UNITED KINGDOM ()3
tion (which fixes the datum line). But the duty paid on a previous
occasion is credited on each successive occasion. Thus duty is not
collected more than once on the same increment value ; the land itself
becomes franked or credited with the duty paid on each successive
occasion.
An allowance of lo % of the Assessable Site Value in the Original
Valuation is deducted from the increment value, before charging duty, upon
the happening of the first occasion, and thereafter the lo % is successively
based upon the vSite Value fixed upon the last preceding occasion upon
which dut}' was collected.
Until, therefore, sites ha\'e appreciated lo % no increment value duty
will be forthcoming as regards genuine rises in Site Values, aud the further
10 % allowances granted on subsequent occasions will go far to defeat collec-
tion of duty subsequently. There is a proviso, however, Hmitiug the lo %
allowances so as not to exceed 25 % in any period of 5 years.
The next step is to understand how the Site Value is calculated on the
happening of an " occasion. "
It must be emphasised that whereas the Original Valuation is a distinct
valuation, yet the Site Value on a sale or lease occasion is a calculation
based on the price or consideration paid on the sale or the rent reserved in
the lease. The Original Assessable Site Value is deduced from a Total
Value of lands assumed to be fee simple in possession (except as to copyholds
as pre\nously explained); consequently the Site Value on the occasion must
be deducted from a Fee Simple Value or price comparative in its nature with
Original Total Value. Therefore the Act provides that sale prices or rents
reserved for leases, whether paid for the whole fee simple or any lesser
interest in land, are to be converted into terms of fee simple, but in the
process of conversion the prices paid or rents reser\'^ed must be sedulously
preserved as the basis or foundation on which to calculate when converting.
This Fee Sim. pie Value is frequently called " the Fee Simple Value
based on the consideration paid."
From this latter Value the Occasion Site Value is deduced in exactly
the same way in which Original Assessable Site Value is deduced from
Original Total Value, but no deduction ma^^ be made on any " occa-
sion " if the deduction is one which could have been but was not claimed in
ascertaining the Original Assessable Site Value from Total Value.
The Original Assessable Site Value and the Occasion Site Value being
then contrasted the increment valiie, if an}-, is revealed, and this incre-
ment value is in terms of fee simple. If the actual occasion under review is
in fact in respect of an interest less than the fee simple, then only such part
of the increment value duty is collectible as is proportionate to the lesser
interest.
As regards occasions on death, the real market value on which Estate
(Death) Duty is payable becomes the Occasion Total Value, but again, of
course, after conversion into terms of fee simple if a lesser interest passes
on death.
An occasion valuation is might be as follows:
94 GREAT BRITAIN AND IREI,AND - MISCElvl,ANEOUS
A lease for 99 years is granted at a rent ot £90, u very exorbitant
figure;
The Fee Simple Value on such a basis might be £1,800
Deductions :
(a) Difference between Real* Gross Value . . . £1,600
and Real* Full Site Value £400 £1,200
£600
{b) Value attributable to road-making . . . £20
(c) » » redeeming tithe . . . £10 £30
Site Value on Occasion . . . £570
The Original Valuation as on 30th. April, 1909 was :
Total Value £i,5oo
(a) Difference betwsn Gross Value £1,600
And Full Site Value £400 £1,200
£300
(b) Road-making £20
(c) Redemption of Tithe £10 £30
Original Assessable Site Value . . . £270
The Increment Duty payable, assuming the occasion to be the first to
occur would be :
Occasion Site Value ^57 o
Original Site Value. . . . £270
Add the 10 % . . . £27 £297
Increment . . . £273
Duty £1 for every complete £5 — £54.
Now it will be noted that in this case the Occasion Site Value {£570)
exceeds the Original Site Value (£270) by £300, and that increment is re-
vealed although the Site Value has not in fact as a matter of real valuation risen
in value, but inasmuch as the deduction from the Total Value on the Occa-
sion is, on the proper construction of the Act as confirmed by the High Court
and Court of Appeal (the case has not yet reached the House of lyords), limited
to the £1,200 (being the difference between the two genuine Gross and Full
Site Values, as opposed to price paid, freshly ascertained as on the day of the
grant of lease) the " fancy " or excess price of £300 becomes absorbed
{* Actual Values at the time of graut of lease).
SYSTEMS OF LAND VALUATION IN THE UNITED KINGDOM 95
into Occasion Site Value. Where, however, a property other than bare land
sells for a price consistent with its real value at the time of its sale, no matter
how much in excess of the Original Total Value, no increment is revealed
unless the site has genuinely risen in value.
It is contended h\ many that the Legislature did not intend to throw
that part of the price paid in excess of real value {except in the case of occa-
sions connected with bare land) on to the Occasion Site Value, and it is
possible that an amending bill may be introduced ; but the Act has of neces-
sity and of right been administered on its legal construction.
A concession is made to owners in cases of sale occasions whereby
the Site Value on an occasion, instead of being contrasted with the Original
Assessable Site Value for the purpose of Increment Value Duty is compared
with a " Substituted Site Value. " This Substituted Site Value is based on
the consideration paid at any previous sale or on the amount of any advance
on mortgage that may have taken place either within 20 years of 29th. April,
1910, or within the life time of any owner who is such on the date of the claiin
to have such Substituted Site Value recorded. The applicant must prove
the facts b}- producing the deeds connected with such prior transaction.
The Substituted Site Value is derived from the consideration paid (or the
amount advanced on mortgage) in exactly the same manner as Occasion
Site Value upon any sale occasion that gives rise to Increment Value Duty.
The intention of this concession is to prevent Increment Value Duty
being payable when a sale is efiected at a price less than that obtained within
20 years or within the owner's life time; Increment Value Duty is thus largely
defeated.
Inasmuch as properties held by bodies such as municipaUties and
limited Uability companies do not "pass on death" provision is made for a
periodical valuation of the sites of such properties in the year 1914 and every
subsequent fifteenth year ; any increase in site values then revealed is
taxable for Increment Value Duty.
The exemptions from Increment Value Duty, mainly directed to the
rehef of agriculture, are: —
" Agricultural land, while it has no higher value than for agricultural
purposes only : small residences occupied by the owner, or holder of lease
of 50 years, where annual value does not exceed £40 in lyondon, £26
in towns of 50,000 population, and £16 elsewhere; small agricultural hold-
dings, where land and dwelling do not exceed £30 annual value, occupied
and cultivated by the owner, and not exceeding 50 acres (of average value
not exceeding £75 an acre); flats (sale, lease, etc., of separate dwelling);
land held by rating authorities, statutory companies, charitable bodies,
as regard periodical increment value duty (each 15th year). "
(b) Undeveloped Land Duly.
The rate of Undeveloped Land Duty is one halfpenny annually for every
pound of the Assessable Site Value in the Original Valuation ; but the Site
Values are to be revised in 191-j and thereafter quinquennially.
96 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND - MISCEIvLANEOUS
It is payable by the owner at the time of each yearly assessment ;
where land is let on lease for a term of which more than 50 3'^ears are unex-
pired the lessee is liable instead of the owner.
The laud liable to duty is any land which has not been developed by
the erection of dwelling houses, buildings, or " trade " glass houses, or is not
otherwise used for the purpose of any business, trade or industry.
The exemptions from undeveloped land duty, principally in order
to favour agricultural land, are:
" Land the site value of which does not exceed £50 an acre; agricultural
land, except on such part of the site value as exceeds its agricultural val-
ue ; parks and spaces open to the public as of right, or to which the public
are allowed reasonable access ; recreation grounds, used as such under agree-
ments for not less than 5 years ; land not exceeding i acre occupied with a
dwelling house ; garden (with a dwelling-house) up to 5 acres, when site
value of the whole does not exceed 20 times its annual value ; agricultural
land held under an existing agreement, not chargeable until agreement
terminates ; agricultural land occupied and cultivated by the owner, if
all land owned by him does not exceed £500 in value ; allowance is made
where increment value duty has been paid in respect of undeveloped land ;
land held b}^ rating authorities such as corpora Jons and municipalities ;
land held by statutory public companies, such as railwaj^ canal, gas, water
and dock companies ; land in respect of which expenditure had been incur-
red in road-making to the extent of not less than £100 for each acre of land
improved bj' such roads ."
The exemption of agriculture is very complete: suppose a small farm has
a value as building land for development into a building estate, then the
excess of such value over agricultural value is alone liable to the duty.
The value for agricultural purposes includes the farm house, buildings,
timber, trees, and hedges as well as the land itself, and this aggregated
value is set against the Assessable Site Value (which is the building value)
of an assumed bare or divested site.
Woodlands are treated as agricultural lands and the agrictdtural value,
which includes the timber or trees, is similarly contrasted with the Origi-
nal Site Value of the woodlands which have a value for building purposes.
Thus the excess of Site Value over the Agricultural Value is alone taxed
for Undeveloped Land Duty.
Where lands around a town are let in allotments or garden plots, but
possess a higher value as building land, the excess value is taxable, but many
of such allotments are exempted because they are occupied ^vith a house
in the locaUty as a garden.
(c) Reversion Duty
This is payable by the lessor on the determination of a lease granted for
a term exceeding 21 years. The rate of duty is £1 for every £10 of the
value of the benefit accruing to the lessor. The benefit is measured by
deducting the Total Value of the property at the date of the grant of the
lease from the Total Value at the end of the lease, but an allowance is
SYSTEMS OF LAND VALUATION IN THE UNITED KINGDOM 97
thereafter made for the value of any improvements made by the lessor dur-
ing the term of the lease and also for any compensation paid by
lessor to lessee at the determination. The Total Value at the grant is
calculated on the basis of the rent reserved and payments made in consider-
ation for the grant of the lease. The Total Value at the determination is
the actual value at such time.
The principal exemptions are:
Reversions to leases purchased before 30th. April, 1909, where the lease
on which the reversion is expectant, determines within 40 years of the date
of purchase ; total exemption.
Land which is agricultural land at the determination of the lease ;
total exemption.
Allowance is made where Increment Value Duty has been paid for
the same benefit or increment.
Land held by statutory companies and rating authorities ; total
exemption.
Where the lessor's and lessees interests become merged, an allowance
is made.
When such a merger takes place at a time when more than 50 years
of the lease are unexpired, and the value of the property does not exceed
£500 ; total exemption.
§ 8. The further purposes for which the valuation might be used
IF parliament so desired.
It was stated in the first article that no uniform or equal valuation
existed throughout the United Kingdom, that a Royal Commission has re-
ported that such a valuation was desirable, and that a Departmental Com-
mittee is now sitting to consider such question among others. WTien the
Valuation now [jroceeding is completed — and completion is anticipated
on 31st. March, 1915 — it will have been made on a basis which ^plies
uniformly throughout the whole Kingdom, and there will be a record
of the various values and deductions in a form, which, by any necessary
adaptations or adjustments, could be made into a basis on which all local
rates and Imperial taxes could be levied.
The values recorded are capital and not annual values, but should an-
nual values be desired, they can be ascertained from the capital values or
the valuer's records. It, would, however, be necessary, as previously explain-
ed, to arrive at a »Site Value of agricultural land reduced by deduction in
respect of purely agricultural improvements before levying rates and taxes
other than Increment Value Duty.
The form of Records of Values is shown in Appendix IV. It is known
as the " Valuation Book."
It is a burning question of the day whether rates and taxes (other than
the new land value duties) should continue to be levied as at present on an-
nual values, or be imposed on capital values. It is not desired in this ar-
98 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND - MISCELLANEOUS
tide to treat Avith political questions, and for that reason it will be sufl&cient
to point out that the fundamental difference between (i) a rate upon an-
nual value levied upon occupiers and (2) a rate upon capital value levied
upon owners is that the former depends upon the actual use which
happens to be made of land, and the latter upon the use to which it
might be reasonably expected to be put. This is the root of the compar-
ison. Further, if " abihty to pay " should be the basis, then capital value
represents intrinsic worth, whereas aimual value frequentlj^ does not.
Valuable building land worth £1000 may be let as pasture land at
an annual rent of £10; if the land were sold and the £1000 invested at 4 %,
the income would be £40. Under the existing system of local annual
rates and taxes, the £10 is alone subjected to them, and the wealth repre-
sented by the available armual sum of £30 escapes. The imposition of
the Undeveloped I^and Duty under the Finance Act, 1910, does fall upon
what otherwise previously escaped, but it is a question whether the ordi-
nary rates and taxes should not also so fall.
If wealth or intrinsic realisable value should be the basis of contribu-
tion to national a nd local expenditure in respect of land, capital value gives
such a basis.
From the records in the Valuation Book can be ascertained either the
capital value of an entire property in land or of its site.
§ 9. The VALUATION AJSTD TAXATION OF MINERALS.
The Finance Act, 1910, directs that minerals are to be valued as " a
separate parcel of land. " and throughout the scheme of the Act, both as
regards A'^aluation and duties, they are kept distinct from the surface land.
The Act charges an annual dutj' termed Mineral Rights Duty at the rate
of one shilling in the pound {5 %) on the rental value of all rights to work
minerals (and of wayleaves), whether worked by the proprietor or leased.
Prom this duty common minerals such as clay, brick clay, sand, chalk
or gravel are exempted.
The duty is payable b)' the proprietor or lessor.
As regards minerals that were tiot being worked or under lease an 30/A.
April ^ 1909, the mineral owners are given an option of declaring the nature
and value of such minerals, and if the option has been exercised, the Val-
uation Office value such minerals and record their " Original Capital
Value. "
When unworked or unleased minerals are sold or pass on death the
price paid or value at the death, as the case may be, is contrasted with the
Original Capital Value, and one fifth of any increment in Value accruing
(less an allowance of 10 % of the Original Capital Valued is payable as
Capital Increment Value Duty by the vendor or executors.
Whenever a subsequent sale or death occurs when the minerals are
neither in work nor in lease, a comparison of their sale price in case of sale,
or value in case of death, is made with the Original Capital Value and if
SYSTEMS OF LAND VALUATION IN THi: UNITED KINGDOM 99
an increase in value is revealed one fifth of such increment is payable as
duty, but credit is given for all previous payments of duty and an abatement
is made by an allowance or deduction of lo % of the Capital Value on the last
previous occasion upon which Capital Increment Value Duty was collected.
When a proprietor commences to work his minerals, or grants a lease
for the working of them this scheme for the collection of Capital Increment
Value Duty is supersededby Annual Increment Value Duty and the "capital"
scheme is not resumed so long as the minerals are productive. If the working
is carried to exliaustion no further Capital Increment Value Duty can ever
be collected, but if the workings of the lease terminate before the complete
exhaustion of the minerals, the provisions for collection of Capital Incre-
ment Value Duty revive and in place of the Original Capital Value a new Capi-
tal Value is brought into use, namely, the Capital Value of the residue of
the minerals ; their value is to be specially ascertained two years after
the cesser of the workings.
Where unworked minerals come into bearing because the proprietor
grants a lease or commences to work, the "Annual Increment Value Duty"
is charged at the rate of 20% of the calculated annual increment measured
as follows : - —
If the minerals are leased the annual rent or royalty received, or if
they are worked by the proprietor, the fair estimated rent, is contrasted
yearly with the " annual equivalant " of the Original Capital Value or, with
the annual equivalent of the capital Value upon which Capital Increment
Value Duty was collected in respect of any previous sale or death.
The Annual Increment Value Duty therefore rises or falls from year to
year according to the fluctuations of the annual mineral rents or royalties.
Any Annual Increment Value Duty payable in any year defeats and
relieves from Minerals Rights Duty up to the amount paid in respect of the
former.
The common minerals which are exempt from Mineral Rights Duty are
also exempt from Annual Increment Value Duty.
If a mineral owner does not exercise hif option and fails to return a
value for his minerals which were unworked and not on lease on 30th. April,
1909, such minerals are recorded as having no value ; and as a consequence,
upon the first happening of any sale, death, grant of a lease or commence-
ment to work, the sale price, value at death, royalty received or fair
rental is contrasted respectively with " nil," to the detriment of the pro-
prietor, as no Original Capital Value has been established ; the intention
being that am- fresh discoveries of minerals made after 30th. April, 1909,
should be wlwlly subject to Increment Duty.
^^^In conclusion the writer desires to express the hope that, if he has
not been successful in explaining the Finance Act of iqio with sufficient
lucidity and clearness to enable its main feature to be grasped, some consid-
eration and forbearance may be shown in view of the complexity and
technicalit}' of the subject.
lOO
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND - MISCELLANEOUS
Appendix I. — Form of Return for Dtdies on Land Values.
DUTIES ON LAND VALUES
FINANCE (19OQ-IO) ACT, igio
Reference : to be quoted
in all communicatton
RETURN TO BE MADE BY AN OWNER OF LAND OR BY ANY PERSON
RECEIVING RENT EST RESPECT OF I^ND.
(Penalty for hiilure to make a due Return, not exceeding £'=,0).
Parish
Number of Poor Rati-
Name of Occupier . .
Descri ption ot Propertj'
Situation of Propeity.
Estimated extent. . .
Gross Estimated Rent-
al (or Gross Value
in Valuation List*) .
Rateable Value ...
(* Applicable to the Metropolis only).
Particulars
extracted
from the
Rate books
This space is not for the use of the person making the RetHin.
Acres
Roods
IMPORTANT. — As the Land is to be valued as on ^oth April, 1909, the particulars skotiid
be furnished, so far as possible, with reference to the circximstance'i existing on tliat date.
I. Particulars required by the Commissioners, which must be furnished
so far as it is in the power of the person making the Return to
give them.
(a) Parish or Parishes in which the
T^and is situated.
(b) Name of Occupier.
(c) Christian Name and Surname
and full postal address of the person
making the Return.
'
(d) Nature of Interest of the person
making the Return in the Land : —
(i) Whether Freehold, Copyhold, or
lyeasehold,
(2) II Copyhold , name of the Manor.
(3) If Leasehold, (i ) term of lease
and date of commencemeut (includ-
ing, where the lease contains a cov-
enant for renewal, the period for
which the lease may be renewed),
and (ii.) name and address of lessor
or his successor in title.
3 (i)
3 (ii.)
{e) Name, and precise situation of
the I,and.
SYSTEMS OF I,AND VALUATION IN THE UNITED KINGDOM
lOI
{/) Description ol ihe I<and, with
paiticulars of ihe buildings and other
structures (if any) thereon, and the
purposes for which the property is
used.
(Hoase, Stable, Shop, Farm, etc.)
Acres | Roods | Perches | Tards
(g) Extent of the I^and, if known.
{h) If the Land is let by the person j
making the Return, state: — '
(i.) Whether let under Lease or ' (i.)
Agreement, or |
(ii.) If there is no Lease or writ- (ii.)
ten Agreement, whether let by
the Year, Quarter, Month, or I
Week. I
(iii.) If let under Lease or Agree- I
ment —
(a) Term for which granted. (iii.) (a)
{b) Date ot commencement of j (b)
term. I
(c) Whether granted for any (c)
consideration in money, paid i
or to be paid by the Tenant, i
in addition to the Rent re-
served,* or ;
{d) Upon any condition as to ' {d)
the Tenant laving out money |
in Bailding, Rebuilding, or i
Improvements.* j
(iv.) Amount of Yearly Rent re- (iv.) £
ceivable.
(* If so, give full partlcalars.) |
{k) Amount of Land Tax (if any)
an<i by whom borne.
borne by
(i) Amount of Tithe Rentcharge, or | £
of any payment in lieu of Tithes, for I
the year 1909, and by whom torue. borne by
{m) Amormt of Drainage, or Im-
provement Rate, or of any similar
charge, and by whom borne.
borne by
(n) Whether all usual Tenants'
Rates and Taxes are borne by th
Occupier, and, if not, by whom.
(0) By whom is the cost of Repairs,
Insurance, and other expenses neces-
sary to maintain the Properly, Lome?
102
GKEAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND - MISCELLANEOUS
{p) Whether the Land is subject
to any:
(i.) Fixed Charges (exclusive of
Tithe RenLchargc entered in
space [t}), and, if so, the Annual
Amount thereof.
(ii.) Public Rights of Way . . .
(lii.) Public Rights of User . .
(iv.) Right of Common ....
(v.) EasementsaffectingtheLand.
(vi.) Covenant or Agreement re-
stricting the use of the Land,
and, if so, the date wh'^n such
Covenant or Agreement was
enlcrc'l into or made.
(Full partieulais should be given
in each case.)
-A^nnual Amout £
Iq) Particulars of the last sale (if
any) of the Lfmd with n 20 years
before 30 April, 1909, and of Expend-
iture since the date thereof : —
(i.) Date of Sale.
(ii.) Amount of Purchase-money
and other consideration (if any).
('ii.) Capital Expenditure upon
the Land since date of Sale.
Date when made
(i.)
(ii.)
(iii.)
(>) Observat ons, with description,
extent, and precise situation of any
part of the Land which the Owner
requires to be separately valued.
(s) It the person making the Return
desires that communication should
be sent to an Agent or Solicitor on
h's behalf, the name and full postal
addrrjs of .si'.ch Agent or Solicitor.
*(/)(..) Does the person mak ng the (1.)
Return own the minerals com- I
prised in the Land ?
(ii.) If so, state :
(a) Whether the minerals were, ('i) (a)
on 30 April, 1909, comprised
in a mining lease or being
worked by the proprietor.
(b) Whether the minerals are (b)
now comprised in a mining
lease or being worked by the
proprietor.
(i'i.) If not, state the name and (i'i.)
address of the proprietor of
the m'nerals.
(•Minerals not comprisedin a mining lease
or being workei, are to be treated as having
no value as miuprals, unless the proprietor of
the minerals fills up space (i^) below).
SYSTEMS OF LAND VALUATION IN THE UNITED KINGDOM
103
I hereby declare that the foregoing particulars are in every respect fully and truly stated
to the best of my judgment and belief.
Dated this
day of
191
Signature of person
making the Return.
Rank, Title, or
Description.
II. Additional particu'ars which may be given, if desired.
(«) Value of the Land as defined
in Instruction 7, and estimated by
the Owner, with paiticulars how ar-
rived at: —
(i.) Gross Value.
(i.) £
(ii.) Full Site Value.
(li.) £
(iji.) Total Value.
(Pi.) £
(iv.) Assessable Site Value.
(iv.) £
(v.) Particulars how Values ar-
(V.)
rived at.*
.
(* May be given on a separate sheet of
paper, if desired.)
{v) If the Owner does not desire to
furnish his estimate of the Value of
the Land, but intends to claim a
Site-value deduction under Instruc-
tion 7 (iv.), {a), (b), (c), or {d), or under
Instruction 9 (i ), (a), the intention
should be stated. A form will then
be sent i due couise for particulars
of the claim to be given.
{w) Nature, and estimate of the Cap-
Nature
ital Value of any minerals not com-
prised in a mining lea?e and not being
worked, which have a value as min-
Capital Value £
erals.
Signature
FOP.M 4.
Date
104
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRElvAND - MISCE1,I.ANE0US
Appendix II. — Form of Claim for Site Value Deductions.
DUTIES ON LAND VALUES.
FINANCE (1909-10) ACT, 1 9 10
ClyAIM FOR SITE VALUE DEDUCTIONS
Reference
to be quoted in all
communications.
Particulars to be furnished by an Owner of I^and, or person receiving
Rent in respect of I^and, who desires to claim deductions in arriving at the
Assessab e Site Value of the lyand.
IMPORTANT. — As the Land is to be valued as on ^othA pril, 1909, ihe particulars s}iould
be furnished as far as possible wi'h reference to the circumstances existing on that date.
When completed, the clam should be delivered or sent in the accompanying ftanked
envelope to the D strict Valuer at
I. Name, description, and precise situa-
tion of the I«and
Acres
Roods
Perches
Yards
2. Extent of the Land, if known . . .
3. If the particulars given under heads
(i) and (2) are not sufficient to identify the
I<and,
(a) Annex a plan of the Eand, or,
(6) Quote the number or numbers of
th' Land on th' 25 inch Ordnance
Survey Map, or,
(c) If it is desired to identify the
Lanrl on an ofBcia! plan, the desire
should be nlicated here
4. Particulars and amounts of any deductions not
specified below which are claimed for the purpose of
arriving at th.- Assessable Site Value.
Particulars Amounts
SYSTEMS OF LAND VALUATION IN THE UNITED KINGDOM
105
5. Portion of the Total Value directly attributable to —
(a) Works Executed : —
Date
when Executed
By whom executed]
and nature of bis Particulars of Woiks
interest iu the Land
Amount
Expended
on Works
Value directly
attributable thereto
! ^
1
£
(i) Expenditure of a capital nature (including Expenses of Advertisement):
j By whom executed
«« rt^r^^Au.,^ ^^^ nature of his
Of Expenditure Lterest in the I^d
Date
Particulars of Expenditure
Amount
Expended
Value directly
attributable thereto
6. Portion of the Total Value directly attributable to the Appropriation of any I^nd
or to the Gift of any l^nd for Streets, Roads, Paths, Squares, Gardens, or other Open
Spaces for the use of the public: —
Date
Name of person making the
Appropriation or Gift and
nature of his interest
Particulars of Appropriation or Gift
Value directly
attributable thereto
7. Portion of the Totil Value directly attributable to —
(a) Expenditure on Redemption of L,and Tax: —
Date of Redemption
Number of
Redemption of Contract
Am6unt of I.and
Tax redeemed
Amount of
Redemption
Money
Value directly
attributable
thereto
5 £ I
(6) Expend ture on Redemption of any Fixed Charge: —
Date of
Redemption
Particulars of Charge redeemed
Amount of
Redemption
Money
Value directly
attributable thereto
•
£
£
io6
GREAT BRITAIN AND IREI.AND - MISCElvLANEOUS
(c) Expenditure on Enfranchisement of Copyhold I^and or Customary Freeholds:
Date of
Cost of Enfranchisement
Value directly
Enfranchisement
Paiticulars
Amount
attributable thereto
£
£
(d) Expenditure on effecting the Release of any Covaiant or Agreement restricting
the use of the I^and which may be taken into accoimt in ascertaining the Total
Value of the I,and: —
Date when Coven-
ant or Agreement
entered into
Date of Release
of Covenant
or Agreement
Particulars of Covenant
or Agreement
Amotmt
of Expenditure
Value directly
attributable
thereto
(e) Goodwill, or any other matter which is personal to the Owner, Occupier, or other
person interested for the time being in the I,and: —
Particulars
Value directly
attributable thereto
8. Sums which it would be necessary to expend in order to divest the I^and of Building*
Timber, Trees, or other things of wh'chit is to be taken to be divested for the purpose of ar-
riving at the Full Site Value from the Gross Value of the lyand, and of which it would be
necessary to divest the I,and for the purpose of realising the Full Site Value: —
Particulars
9. If the I^and is Copyhold or Customary Freehold I^and:
(a) Name of the Manor
{b) Date of birth of Copyhold Tetumt.
(c) Date of last Admittance. , . .
SYSTEMS OF LAND VALUATION IN THE UNITED KINGDOM
107
{d) Customs
of Manor, viz. : —
Inddeots of Tenure Particulars
When payable
Amottnt
Fines
Heriots . ,
Quit Rents . . .
£
s.
d.
Other Incidents oi Tenure, with particulars and amoimts of any money payments: —
(e) Bstimated cost of Enfranchisement: —
Particulars of items
Estimated Cwt
Total Estimated Cost of Enfranchisement .
10. Undeveloped Land Duty. — Additional particulars of Expenditure (if any) incurred
by the Owner of any Land included in any scheme of land development, or by his pre-
decessors in title, with a view to the development of the Land or to its use for any
business, trade, or industry other than agriculture, on Roads (including paving, curbing,
metalling, and other works in connection with Roads) or Sewers.
Precise Situation of
I,and included in
Scheme
of Development*
Area of Land included in
Scheme of Land Development Date of
Es:penditure
Acres
R.
Nature
and Particulars
of Expenditure
Amount of
Expenditure
I hereby declare that the foregoing particulars are in every respect fully and truly
stated to the best of my judgment and belief.
Signature of person malting
the Return.
Rank, Title, or Description
Address.
Form 7
io8
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND - MISCELLANEOUS
Appendix IH. A. Form of Provisional Valuation.
blNASCE {igog-io) ACT, igio.
DUTIES ON LAND VALUES
PROVISIONAI, VALUATION.
The name of the parish
and number of thehere-
ditament should be
quoted in all commu-
nications.
Description of Property
Situat'.on
County
Parish
No of hereditament
Name of Occupier
Extent
Acres
Roods
Perches
Yards
The Commissioners of Inland Revenue have caused to be made the following
Pro\isional Valuation of the land described above: —
Original Gross Value .
H
DEDUCTIONS FROM GEOSS VALUE
{a) To arrive at Pull
Site Value
(b) To arrive at Total Value
£
1
o
•s
Fee Farm Rent, Rent
Seek, Quit Rent,
Chief Rent, or Rent
of Assize
£
Public Rights of
Way or User
£
between
Gross Value and
Other perpetual Rent
or Annuity
Right of Common
Value of the
Vee Simple of
the
Tithe or Tithe Rent
Charge
Easements 1
land divested of
Buildings,
Trees, ficc.
Burden or charge
arising by operation
of Ifiw, or imposed
by Act of Parliament
1
Restrictions un-j
der Covenant or
Agreement
If Copyhold, Cost of
Enfranchisement i
Total Deductions
Original Full
Site Value, £
Original Toxal Value ... £
DEDUCTIONS FROM TOTAI, VALUE TO ARRIVE AT ASSESSABLE SITE VALUE
Deductions from G oss Value to arrive
at Full Site Value (as above)
£
Enfranchisement of Copyholds
£
Works executed
Release of Restrictive Covenants
Capital Expenditufe
Goodwill Of personal elements
Appropriation of Land for streets,
roads, open spaces, &c.
Cost of clearing Site
Redemption of Land Tax or Fixed
Charge
Total Deductions
OMGINAL ASSESS.-iULE SlTE VALCE
..£|
Value of Agricultural Land for Agricultural purposes where different from
Assessable Site Value ~. £
Given under my hand this
{Signed)
day of .
191
( v.
I Coi
Form 36.
'.iluer appointed by the
Commissioners of Inland Revenue.
District.
Jo-
systems OF LAND VALUATION IN THE UNITED KINGDOM I09
B. Notice of Provisional Valuation.
PIXANCE (1909-10) ACT, 1910
DUTIES ON LAND VALUES
Reference: to be qaoted
io all commtutications.
Of-
— ; — . — ; Date , 191
Sm,
By direction of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue I herewith send
you a copy of their provisional valuation of the land mentioned therein, which
lias been made under the provisions of the Finance (1909-10), Act, 1910.
If the land or any interest in the land has been sold or mortgaged at
any time within twenty years before April 30th, 1909, and the Site Value at
the date of the sale or mortgage estimated by reference to the amoimt of the
consideration or the amount secured by the Mortgage exceeded the Original
Site Value on April 30th, 1909, the Site Value so estimated may be substi-
tuted for the Original Site Value for the purpose of Increment Value Duty.
If 3^ou desire to avail yourself of this provision, full particulars of the sale^or
mortgage should be furnished without delay*.
If you consider that the Total or Site Vaiue, as stated in the provisional
valuation, is not correct, you may, wth a view to an amendment of the
provisional valuation, within sixty days of the date on which the copy of
the provisional valuation is served, give to the undersigned notice of objec-
tion, stating the grounds of your objection and the amendment you desire.
If the provisional valuation is amended so as to be satisfactory to all persons
making objections, the Total and Site Value as stated in the amended valua-
tion will be adopted as the Original Total and the Original Site Value for the
purposes of Part I. of the Act.
The Act provides that if the provisional valuation is not amended by the
Commissioners so as to be satisfactory to any objector, that objector may give
notice of appeal under the Act with respect to the valuation.
Section 33 enacts as follows : —
" An appeal shall not lie against a provisional valuation made by
' the Commissioners of the total or site value of any land except
' on the part of a person who has made an objection to the pro-
' visional valuation in accordance with this Act. "
By Order of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue,
District Valuer.
Address
* Sectlos 3 of the Revenue Act, 191 1, extends this provision to a sale of land or any
Interest in land which took place twenty years or more before April 30th, igog and which
was a sale to the person who is the owner of the land or any interest in the land at the
FoUl 35 time wlien the application for a substituted Site Valve is made.
no
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRElvAND - MISCEI^IvANEOUS
Appendix IV.
PARISH OF
No. of
of
Poor
Rate
Christian Names
and Surnames
of
Occupiers
Christian Names
and Surnames
of
Owners
with their Residences
Description of
Property —
If an Inn, etc.,
the name or sign
by which known
Street, Place,
Name, and
Precise Sltuatk
of Property
Toil
The Valuati
Determination of Commissioners of Irl
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SYSTEMS OF LAND VALUATION IN THE UNITED KINGDOM
III
Valuation Book.
Poor Rate
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Gross
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Rateable
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Determination of Commissioners of Inland Revenue
as amended on Appeal (if any)
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I 12
13
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Original
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112 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND - MISCELIyANEOUS
2. — THE PAIR RENT PROVISIONS OF THE IRISH LAND ACTS.
By A. P. Magill, of the Estates Commission, Dublin.
Introduction.
" As long as a numerous population is cursed with a morbid craving
to possess land, so long will the owner of land be able to drive hard bargains
in spite of Queen, I/5rds and Commons." This sentence of Lord Duff erin
(" Tenure of Land in Ireland, " 1867) states in a few words the Irish Land
Question as it existed in the middle of the last century.
Until the close of the i8th. century Ireland was a pastoral country,
for which its soil and climate made it eminently suitable. Even in Eliza-
bethan times we find Spenser complaining that " all men fell to pasturage
and none to husbandry. " A considerable change took place, however,
towards the end of the 18th. century, due to several causes. In 1783 and
1784 bounties were granted by the Irish Parliament on the exportation of
grain, while in 1806 all restrictions on the trade in corn between England
and Ireland were swept away. The great rise in the price of corn in Great
Britain caused by the Napoleonic Wars, and the growth of the industrial
population of England, which led to an increased demand for food stuffs,
largely increased the profits to be derived from tillage. The result was a
great increase in the amount of land tmder tillage. The change from
pasture to tillage was accompanied by a great extension of the system of
subdividing and subletting farms, and the fact that except in the North
East there were no manufactures in Ireland, and no market for labour
except on the land, strengthened the tendency to subdivision. The pos-
session of a plot of land was an absolute necessity to an Irish peasant ;
without it the only alternative to starvation was emigration, and it is not to
be wondered at that the ordinary farmer, realising this, strove to meet the
situation by dividing his farm amongst his family. The Report of the Devon
Commission (1844) gives abvmdant evidence of this tendency of the Irish
farmer to provide for his family by giving each of his sons, and often his
sons-in-law, a plot of land, with the natural result that in a generation or
two the holdings became so small that it was utterly impossible to support
a family out of the produce. It was this that drove the people to rely
solely on the potato, with the appalling result of the Famine years. Even
THE FAIK RENT PROVISIONS OF THE IRISH LAND ACTS II3
where the tenants held under lease with clauses against subletting, it was
found impossible by the landlords to enforce these clauses as no jury-
would give a verdict in favour of the clauses. A Map attached to the Re-
port of the Devon Commission gives a striking example of this tendency to
subdivision. In one generation a holding of 205 acres in possession of two
tenants was sublet until it was occupied by 29 tenants whose scattered
holdings comprised 422 lots.
It must also be remembered that the introduction oi the 40s. franchise
and its extension to Roman Catholics acted as a strong inducement to a
landlord to allow subletting and the creation of a class of small holders
who added considerably to his political importance.
The result of the change was that the population, which was a little
over 4 millions in 1792, had risen in 1841 to over 8 millions, and the intense
competition for land which naturally resulted from the population being
practically doubled in half a century placed the tenants at the landlord's
mercy. Leases were the exception and, strange to say, there is evidence
that many tenants preferred to hold on a yearly tenancy than to take a lease.
" Many witnesses stated that the occupiers have no wish for leases at the
present rents... and many... assert that frequently, where proprietors are
ready to grant, the occupiers do not manifest any wish to receive them." (i)
On the other hand landlords were reluctant to grant leases for a rather
curious reason, as stated in the same Report (2). "The fear of this subdivision
and its ruinous consequences appear, from the testimony of many, to be
the principal causes preventing the grant of leases, as the power of the
landlord to resist them, though always insufl&cient, is considered to be much
diminished where the tenant holds by lease, no matter how stringent the
covenants against subdivision may be, it being stated that the difficulty
of enforcing the covenants in leases is in general very great."
To complete the dependent position of the Irish tenants, statutes were
passed simplifying the procedure for evicting tenants so as " to get rid of
every formality by which the old Common Law delayed and obstructed
the forfeiture of the tenant's estate." (3) Finally in i860 by Deasy's Act it
was laid down that " the relation of landlord and tenant shall be deemed to
be founded on the express or implied contract of the parties and not upon
tenure or ser\ice." This Act further simplified the procedure for eviction
of a tenant for non-payment of rent, and on notice to quit, and enabled
the landlord to practically confiscate the tenants' improvements. As a
matter of fact, as is generally admitted, nearly all the improvements of
land in Ireland have been made by the tenants.
During the period from the Famine to the passing of the Act of i860
another charge took place in Irish land tenure. The increase in the cost
(i) Digest, Devon Commission Report, p. 235.
(2) Digest, Devon Commission Report, p. 419.
(3) "Short Sketch of the Irish I,and Acts," by The Rt. Honble. W. F. Bailey,
C. B., Bstates Commissioner.
114 GKEAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND - MISCELLANEOUS
of labour owing to the great fall in the population after the Famine, and the
introduction of Free Trade, made small farming less profitable than before,
and landlords started to clear their estates and consolidate the holdings.
This was accentuated by the Incumbered Estates Act of 1849, which gave in-
creased facilities for the sale of such estates, and introduced a new class
of Landlords whose only object was to get the best retiurn possible for their
money without any regard fen- the feelings or customs of the tenants, to
whom they were frequently entire strangers. The number of holdings
from I to 5 acres fell from 310,436 in 1841 to 85,469 in 1861, while those
above 30 acres increased from 48,625 to 157,833 in the same period.
A series of bad harvests which preceded and followed the Act of i860
added to the misery of the Irish tenants, and they took the redress of their
grievances into their own hands. Agrarian outrages with all their demoralis-
ing influence on the people took place every day. Various efforts were
made to reform the Irish Land Code, but they were unsuccessful imtil
Mr. Gladstone introduced the Act of 1870, which began a new era in Irish
land legislation.
§ I. The IRISH LAND ACT OF 187O.
The Act of 1870 legalised the Ulster custom, i. e., the right of the ten-
ant to sell his interest in his holding ■ — ■ in other words to sell his goodwill;
it gave the tenant " compensation for the loss sustained by him by reason
of quitting his holding," when this was caused by the act of the landlord ;
and it also gave him compensation for improvements, and enacted that
"all improvements... shall until the contrary is proved be deemed to have
been made by the tenant or his predecessors," except, inter alia, where such
improvements were made 20 years or upwards before the passing of the
Act. I may add that it also authorised the Board of Works to advance
to a tenant for the purchase of his holding a sum not exceeding two-thirds
of the purchase money to be repaid in 35 years by an Annuity of 5 %.
The Act of 1849 facilitating the sale and transfer of incumbered es-
tates, the Act of i860 altering the relation of landlord and tenant from tenure
to contract, and the Act of 1870 were the three attempts of the Liberal
Party to deal with the Irish land question since the disastrous days of the
Famine. Of these the latter Act is by far the most important. It inaugur-
ated a new era and meant the breakdown of the old tradition of the " laissez
faire" school. For the first time it was recognised that the great Whig
doctrine of the sacredness of contract was wholly inapplicable to Ireland,
where there was no such thing as free contract between landlord and ten-
ant (i). But itself the Act was not a success. The principal reason for this,
according to the Report of the Bessborough Commission, which was appointed
(r) " Freedom of contract iu the case of the majority of Irish tenants large and small
docs not really exist. " (Report of Bessborongh Coimnission, 1881).
THE FAIK REKT PROVISIONS OF THE IRISH LAND ACTS 11 =
in 1880 to inquire into the working of the Act, was that it failed to afford
tenants adequate security, particularly in protecting them against occa-
sional and unreasonable increases of rent, and the Commissioners state
that in some cases in Ulster the process of raising rent had " almost eaten
up the tenant right. "
§ 2. The land law (Ireland) act, i88i.
Irish history is full of strange contradictions, and the next great step
in Irish land legislation is an example of this. In 1870 Mr. Gladstone was
a strong opponent of the three F's — • Fair rent, Fixity of tenure, and
Free sale — which the Irish tenants claimed so persistently. " Perpetuity
of tenure," he said, " is a phrase that I flatter myself is a little going out
of fashion and if I have contributed anything towards disparaging it I
am not sorry... I have not heard, I do not know, and I cannot conceive
what is to be said for the prospective power to reduce excessive rents." (i)
Again in March, 1880, Mr Gladstone said " there was an absence of crime
and outrage in Ireland and a general sense of comfort and satisfaction, such
as had been unknown in the previous history of the country." A few months
afterwards the coimtry was plunged into the horrors of what practically
amoimted to an agrarian war. And the next year saw the passing of the
Act of 1 881, which was to carry out the very ideas denounced by Mr. Glad-
stone a few years previously. The fact is the necessities of the case were
too much for him, and with commendable coiirage he recognised that the
exceptional conditions which prevailed in Ireland reqmred exceptional
remedies, and could not be dealt \\ath as if Ireland were merely an English
county.
The Act of 1881 was largely based on the recommendations of the
Bessborough Commission and gave the tenants the three F's for which
they had fought so bitterly. It appointed a tribunal to fix the Fair Rent
of each holding, the rent to be re\'ised every fifteen years; it gave the ten-
ant lixity of tenure subject to such fair rent ; and it gave him the right
of free sale, subject to the landlord's right of pre-emption.
There was no insuperable difiicuity in gi\'ing the tenant fixity of ten-
ure and the right of free sale. It was principally a question of Parliament-
ary draughtsmanship, once Parliament had determined to grant these
privileges to Irish tenants. But fixity of tenure and free sale without fair
rents would have gone but a short way towards settling the Irish problem.
The failure of the Act of 1870, which failed because it did not check the
landlord's power of raising rents, showed this clearly. The fixing of fair
rents, however, presented many difficulties and it is round it that most of
the contr< .versy , both at the time of the passing of the Act and subsequently,
has raged.
(i) Hansard's Parliamentary Debates, Voi. CXCIX, pp. 1843-5.
Il6 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND - MISCEI^LANEOUS
§ 3. The MEANING OF " FAIR RENT ": ITS RELATION TO PRICES.
In the first place the term " fair rent " has never been satisfactorily
defined. Up to the passing of the Act of 1881 there were practically three
rents in Ireland: (i) the competition rent which the land would fetch in the
open market, which, owing to the land hunger in Ireland, was generally
an impossible rent for the tenant to pay ; {2) the rent which the land could
pay if the tenant possessed both capital and a high degree of agricultural
skill so as to work the land to the best advantage ; and (3) the rent which
the average tenant was really able to pay. Competition rent is out of the
question. To adopt (2) as the standard of fair rent seems at first sight
equitable, but, having regard to the fact that all the improvements on the
land were the work of the tenants, and also to the backward state of agricul-
ture in many parts of Ireland, and the want of capital and facilities for trans-
port, its adoption would have pressed upon the tenants with undue severity.
Some of the witnesses before the Devon Commission suggested that
rents should fluctuate with the price of corn or be periodically revised ac-
cording to the changes in the price of produce, an idea which appears to
have been taken from the Scotch system of corn rents. From the evidence
of Mr. Pierce Mahony and Mr. Robertson it would appear that in many cases
in Scotland the tenant was botmd to pay as rent the money value of a spe-
cified number of bolls or quarters of corn, the rate at which the com
was to be converted into money being in some cases fixed by lease. In
other cases the rate of conversion was fixed by what were called the fiars
prices of the coimty. These were really the average prices at which corn
was sold in the district, and were ascertained yearly by certain compet-
ent persons chosen by the Sheriff of the county. This system may have
worked in Scotland, where there has been a high standard of agriculture for
a considerable time, where the improvements on the land belong to the land-
lord, and where the amount which any farm would produce on the average
could be fairly well calculated, but the difficulties of applying it to Ireland
would be very great. Moreover, although prices, now that statistics on
the subject are regularly collected and published by a Government Depart-
ment, are a most important factor in the valuation of land, any scheme of
making rent fluctuate automatically with prices neglects two important
factors in the question. In the first place a rise in prices may be the result
of a bad harvest and may not mean any increased gain to the farmer, and
secondly a rise in the cost of labour may sweep away all the advantage of
a rise in prices.
One attempt was made before the Act oi 1881 to fix the value of land
according to the price of agricultural produce. The Valuation Acts contain-
ed scales of prices which were to serve as a basis for valuation. Very full
and detailed instructions were issued to the valuers by Sir R. Griffiths,
who carried out the valuation of Ireland, and he directed them to " value
the land on a liberal scale, that is to say, in the same manner as if employed
THE FAIR RENT PROVISIONS OF THE IRISH LAND ACTS II 7
by one of the principal landlords of the country, who was about to let the
land to solvent tenants on leases say of 21 years. " In spite of this the
valuation was anything but uniform in Ireland, and in many counties was
reckoned to be 25% below the fair rent. The Bessborough Report states:
" If anything has been clearly established on evidence during this enquiry,
the fact that the present Government Valuation is not a trustworthy
standard for the settlement of rents has been most thouroughly demon-
strated. " Of course in a valuation for rating pvuposes it would not have
mattered so much whether land was overvalued or undervalued, provided
the one uniform standard was adopted all round, but as a matter of fact
the Commissioner of Valuation in 1869 admitted that from 12^ to 25 %
should be added to the valuation of the Counties in Leinster, Mtmster and
Connaught to bring them up to the level of the valuation in Ulster.
Mr. Gladstone in 1870 delivered a strong attack on the proposal to fix
rents according to prices. " Can any man," he asks, " fix by law any system
on which it will be possible to adjust rents by calculations founded upon
prices of agricultural produce of ail kinds" and he goes on to put his finger
on the weak sjDot in all such proposals : —
" What are we to say with regard to the quantity of produce? Suppose
the quantity of produce is doubled, is the landlord to receive the same price
for the increased quantity or is he not? If he is to receive the same price
for the increased quantity, where is the tenant's inducement to increase
the quantity? But if the quantity is to remain the same, by what right
do you cut off the whole of the landlord's interest in the prospective increase
in the quantity of produce?"
II must be tmderstood, of course, that what is here attacked is not the
proposal to take agricultural prices into account in fixing the value of land,
but the proposal to fix that value by such prices alone, without taking any
of the other factors in the question into accoimt. Every valuer, when he
has ascertained the produce of the land, proceeds to enquire what are the
average prices at which that produce has sold in the distiict, and calculates
the value of the produce accordingly, and it is that value, when allowance
has been made for cost of production, and the ordinary profits of farming
upon the ammnt of capital or labour invested in the cultivation of the farm,
which forms the basis of the valuer's estimate of the fair rent c f the holding.
A digression may be made here to say that a rather remarkable attempt
was made to proportion rents to agricultural prices in 1887, 1888, and 1889.
There was a considerable fail in the agricultural prices in 1886 and an Act
was accordingly passed in 1887 providing for the alterat on <: f the fair
rents fixed before 1886 in accordance with the change in prices, this altera-
tion to be made during each of the three years above-mentioned. The
lyand Commissioners in carrying this out took the Poor I^aw Union as the
unit of their investigations, and appointed scrutineers to ascertain the
prices of the staple products in each district, and took from the statistics
compiled by the Registrar-General the area occupied in each Union by the
several products, and ascertained quantities and values accordingly. The
Commissioners state " the want of trustworthy local statistics of prices of-
Il8 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND - MISCELLANEOUS
j&cially taken and preserved is a matter to be rgretted " but apparently, the
prices must vary greatly in the different districts as the Return ordered by
the House of I^ords in 1901 (194 of 1901) shows that the reductions in 1887
on rents fixed in 1881 varied from 8 ^4 % in Roscrea and Parsonstown
Unions to 22 % in Chfden and Westport Unions, If such variations as this
can take place in different distiicts it will be seen how impossible it would
be to devise any scheme of fixing fair rents generally in Ireland in accordance
with the average prices obtaining over the whole country, even if there were
no other objections to this method of fixing rents.
§ 4. Other factors which help to determine fair rent,
Ifwe abandon any scheme for fixing fair rents automatically by prices
alone, we must endeavour to ascertain what are the factors which de-
termine the rent payable out of any given lands. The Bessborough Com-
mission tried to lay down certain principles on the subject. They state
" the computation (of fair rent) should in general start with an estimate
first of the gross annual produce, and secondly of the full commercial rent
according to the rules observed by the best professional valuators," and then
a reduction should be made for the tenant's improvements. This does not
get us much further, but the Commissioners made two suggestions of consid-
erable practical value : first that the presumption that the improvements
were made by the tenants should not extend to improvements more than
35 years old. Section 4 of the Act of 1870 limited the tenants's right to
compensation for improvements to those made within the 20 years preced-
ing the claim for compensation (except as regards permanent buildings
and reclamation of waste-land) and as the tenant's right under the Act of
1881 to be exempted from rent in respect of improvements was held to be
correlative to his right to compensation under the Act of 1870, we may say
that the Act of 1881 to some extent carried out this suggestion of the Bess-
borough Commissi( n. The second suggestion was that a rent paid at any time
within the pre^aous 20 years, and which continued for not less than 10 years
to be regularly paid, should be taken as a starting point when the rent was
in the opinion of both parties considered fair . This suggestion does not api:)ear
to have ever been explicitly adopted, although the fact that a rent has
been regularly paid for a number of years must carry considerable weight
with the valuer.
If we turn to the Act of 1881 itself to see what it lays down on the subject
of fixing fair rents we find it gets over the difficulty by ignoring it. Section
8 (i) is as follows :- "The tenant of any present tenancy to which this Act
applies... may... apply to the Court to fix the fair rent... and thereupon the
Court, after hearing the parties, and having regard to the interests of the
landlord and tenant respectively, and considering all the circumstances of
the case, holding, and district, may determine what is such fair rent. "
There is nothing here to help the valuer, and neither in this nor in any other
THE FAIR KENT PROVISIONS OF THE IRISH LAND ACTS Ilc)
of the lyand Acts is there even a definition of the term " fair rent. " The
fair rent clauses of the Act of 1881 apply only to " present tenancies, "
i. e., tenancies existing at the passing of the Act, and were extended to lease-
holds in certain cases by the Acts of 1887 and 1891.
§ 5. How FAIR RENTS ARE FIXED UNDER THE ACT OF 1881.
Before we examine what principles, if any, of fixing fair rents have
been laid down in practice, let us consider the machinery established by
the Act for fixing fair rents.
The Land Commission constituted by the Act consisted of a Judicial
Commissioner and two other Commissioners who were authorised to deleg-
ate their powers (except as regards apj)eals) to Sub -Commissions formed
by Assistant Commissioners appointed by the lyord Lieutenant. The Sub-
Commissions consisted of two or more lay Assistant Commissioners, who
were persons with a practical knowledge of land, and a legal Assistant
Commissioner, who acted as Chairman. The system of hearing cases was
described by Commissioner Bailey, who was Chairman of a Sub-Commission
before his appointment as an Estates Commissioner, as follows :
" The system is that the Chairman sits with his lay colleagues in court
to hear the cases. When a case is called the tenant gives evidence respecting
the various improvements which he or his predecessors have made, and
evidence of value generally, examining his witnesses. Then the landlord
examines his witnesses, and if he claims any of the improvements he gives
evidence accordingly. It was my duty then to decide on the legal effect
of that evidence, and how the improvements were to be distributed in the
fixing of the rent, and then my lay colleagues proceeded with the business
of inspection. I moved on to another district, and the lay commission
visited each holding with their note books containing their notes of the evid-
ence and my rulings. They then drew up what is known as the pink sche-
dule setting forth the particulars of the valuation. They met me again
when I came back to that district and submitted these schedules to me,
and I would go over and examine them to see that the evidence was followed,
and that the improvements and other matters were properly dealt with.
After a consultation — sometimes on value — • we would fix what we con-
sidered a fair rent. "
Fair rent cases can also be brought in the Civil Bill Court before the
County Court Judge, who has a valuer who visits the farm and furnishes
the Judge with a report thereon to assist him in coming to a decision on the
case. An appeal lies to the Land Commission itself from both the Sub-Com-
missions and from the County Court Judges.
There were three other courses open to persons seeking to have fair
rents fixed besides proceeding in the Court of the Land Commission or in the
Civil Bill Court.
120 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND - iHSCELLANEOUS
1. The landlord and tenant might come to an agreement for a fair
rer^ outside the Com"t, which rent, when the agreement was filed in Court,
would become the judicial rent.
2. The landlord and tenant might have a rent fixed by the award
of valuers named by the Land Commission, which rent would be sub-
sequently inserted in a formal agreement and filed as the judicial rent, or
3. They might refer the amount of rent to be paid to the decision of
an Arbitration Court consisting of two arbitrators and an umpire in the man-
ner provided for in the Act of 1870 for the purposes of that Act.
There have been only 40 fair rents fixed by arbitration since the Act
of 1 881, and only 2,242 by the award of valuers, so these two methods of
fixing fair rents are really negligible. Over 160,000 first fair rents have
been fixed by agreement, but of course these agreements throw no light on
the question of the principles involved in fixing fair rents where the parties
cannot come to terms. Of those latter cases the vast majority have been
fijced by the Land Commission. The following table shows the number
of fair rents fixed for a first term from the passing of the Act of 1881 to the
31st. March, 1913 by the various methods mentioned above :
Land Commission 198,211 (i)
Civil Bill Court 21,597 (i)
Agreement . . / 160,268
Arbitrators 40
§ 6. The absence of generai, principIvEs of vai,uation.
The procedure of the Land Commission, which is perhaps the greatest
rent fixing body in existence, is therefore of paramount importance in any
discussion on the subject of fixing fair rents compulsorily. But the first
thing we find when we examine their procedure is that they have never
laid down any instructions or any general principles for the guidance of
their Sub-Commissioners. Their action or inaction was deliberate, for in
the Appendix to their Second Annual Report, replying to an attack made
upon them by a Committee of the House of Lords, the Commissioners state
they " gave no instructions on this subject to the Assistant Commissioners
and to this moment they are absolutely at a loss to conceive what instructions
they could legally have given beyond reading to them the terms of the Act
of Parliament. "
It would have been a very difficult task for the Commissioners to have
drawn up instructions for their Assistant Commissioners, especially in
view of the fact that the Act itself gave them no assistance on the subject.
Moreover Sir R. Griffiths had issued elaborate instructions to his valuers
when carrying out the valuation of Ireland, and had utterly failed to secure
(i) These figures include 2,242 fair rents fixed on valuers' reports.
THE FAIR RENT PROVISIONS OF THE IRISH IvAND ACTS 121
even uniformity of valuation ; but the fact that there were no such
instructions to the Assistant Commissioners engaged in fixing fair rents,
and that no general principles were laid down for their guidance, certainly-
exposed the Land Commission to the bitter attack of the Committee to
which I have referred, in whose Report the following passage occurs :
" The combined operation of the functions of the Sub-Commissioners and
Commissioners appears to be such that, whereas it was supposed that a
tribunal was created for the purpose of dealing judicially with exceptional
cases of excessive rent, there has been set in motion a process of valuation
of rent for the whole of Ireland and of compulsory letting at that valuation,
in which the work of valuation is done by two Sub-Commissioners without
any professional or technical qualification ; wihout any principle, standard,
or nile, for their guidance ; with no obligation to explain the grounds of
their decisions, and with an appeal that is little better than illusory."
This indictment is so sweeping that it defeats itself, but the absence
of any principle of valuation has made each valuer a law unto himself,
and landlords and tenants have never been able to ascertain clearly on
what principles fair rents have been fixed, with the result that both parties
have felt aggrieved.
In his evidence before the Congestion Commission (Q. 16383) Commis-
sioner Bailey states :
" I have always thought that if the Act of 1881 had been operated in a
more satisfactory way, one that did not leave such dissatisfaction and com-
plication — every few years you had a new amending Act — • it probably
would have solved the Irish land question."
The Commissioners did, however, require the Assistant Commissioners
to fill up a schedule for each holding, after inspection, showing the acreage
of the different classes of pasture and tillage lands on the holding, the amoimt
allowed to tenant and landlord for improvements, the amount added for
proximity to markets and railways, or deducted for remote position as the
case might be ; and also stating whether the holding was used in the manner
best suited to its productive power, and whether the soil showed traces
of improvement or deterioration. This schedule was amplified on several
occasions until it was incorporated in the Act of 1896. Section i, Sub-
section I, of that Act (i) lays down that the Court in fixing a fair rent
is to ascertain and record certain particulars in the form of a schedule,
a copy of which on application is to be sent to each party. This schedvile
(a copy of which will be found at page 1 28) is generally known as the Pink
Schedule from the colour of the form on which it is printed, and since
its introduction, if the principles of valuation are still undetermined, the
parties have at least full information as to the particulars on which the fair
rent is based. Chief Baron Palles' comment on this Section is as follows :
" The intention of the Legislature was that the Court should, before it
determines and as incidental to determining the amoimt of the fair rent,
ascertain the various particulars mentioned in Clauses (a) to (f) of the Sub-
(i) See page 128 for copy of this subcsction.
9
122 GREAT BKITAIN AND IRELAND - MISCEIvLANEOUS
section ; and that the fair rent of the holding should be ascertained having
regard to such particulars, which are essential ingredients in and the basis
of the ascertainment of the fair rent."
There are several ways in which the absence of any general principles
of valuation has had far-reaching results in Ireland. In the first place the
Fair Rent Acts only apply to agricultural holdings. But there are a great
number of miserably small holdings, particularly in the West of Ireland, which
are not agricultural holdings in the true sense at all. The tenants of these
holdings do not depend upon them solely for their means of support, but
earn a large part of their livelihood by pursuits other than agriculture.
Some are migratory labourers, others are fishermen, and their small hold-
ings are really only sites for dwellings. Yet these patches of wretched
land are valued for fair rents as if they formed part of an economic holding,
and when Commissioner Bailey was asked whether this system of valuation
was prescribed by a rule of the lyand Commission, he explained that there
were no rules for the guidance of valuers, but that this system was a com-
mon practice amongst all valuers. Whether it would have been wise to
interpret the Fair Rent Acts strictly, and to have excluded these miserable
holdings from the benefits of the Acts, is a point which need not be discussed
here, but a question of such vital importance as this is not one to be left to
the unaided discretion of valuers.
Again the percentage on the cost of improvements to be allowed to
either landlord or tenant is not fixed, but varies with the idiosyncracies
of the valuers, so that there is no imiformity in dealing with one of the most
difficult points in the whole process of fixing fair rents in Ireland.
On the general question of the principle of valuation under the L^and
Commission one cannot do better than quote Commissioner Bailey's sum-
mary of the matter in a Memorandmn handed in by him to the Royal Com-
mission on Congestion.
" The Land Commission, which was established in 1881, has never laid
down any principles of valuation. It is probably the most important or-
ganisation for land valuation in existence, and yet it has added little to the
knowledge of the principles of valuation by the judgment of its members,
by its rules, or its instructions. This is mainly due to the fact that the lyand
Commissioners have never regarded themselves as bound to consider valua-
tion as a science. They have always looked on their functions as those of
judges, whose duties it is to decide cases on the evidence of outside valuers
and the reports of their own inspectors. But they give no guidance as to
the principles on which these valuations should be made, and the result
is that each valuer and inspector is left to develop his own principles. For
example, one valuer will allow the maker of improvements five per cent,
on the estimated cost of the improvements all round, while another will al-
low five per cent, on one class of improvements and three per cent, on others
according to their estimated durability. Another, again, will allow four per
cent on the cost of houses, while his neighbouring colleague will give only
2 14 P^r cent., and so on. All these and similar matters should, in my
opinion, have been carefully considered by the Commissioners and princi-
THE FAIR RENT PROVISIONS OF THE IRISH LAND ACTS 123
pies laid down that would have secured uniformity and certainty. The
heads of the Ivand Commission have in the past usually repudiated the im-
putation of knowing anything about valuation or the principles on which it
is based, and have refused in their judgements to give any guidance on
the subject to their officials or the public. They have taken up the position
that it is for the valuers to discover their own principles and that the duty
of the Court is to weigh evidence and decide accordingly. The objections
to this method are plain to anyone who has an intimate knowledge of valua-
tions as presented in the Irish Land Courts.
§ 7. Reductions in rent ^effected.
If we turn now to see what actual reductions in rent have been
effected by the Fair Rent Acts we find the figures are as follows: —
Fir,st Term Rents fixed jor yearly tenancies.
Percentage
Former
Judicial
of
Rent
Rent
Reduction .
How fixed No.
By Land Commission. . . . 169,524 £3,109,742 £2,447,090 21.3
» Civil Bin Courts .... 19,122 £309,707 £236,547 23.6
» Agreement filed in Land
Commission 152,837 £2,467,029 £2,033,089 13. i
» Agreements filed in Civil
Bill Courts 7,431 £126,666 £105,025 17. 1
The difference between the reductions in contested cases (those heard
by the Land Commission and Civil BiU Courts) and those in which the part-
ies came to an agreement is considerable, but of course the very fact that
the parties came to an agreement is prima facie proof that the former
rent was not so excessive as to require a large reduction to bring it to the
level of a fair rent.
It would be a very difficult, if not impossible, task to trace any exact
relation between the prices of agricultural produce, and the amounts at
which fair rents have been fixed. The following table shows the prices of
the principal agricultural products during periods of five years each, and
the reductions which the fair rents fixed during the periods corresponding
as nearly as possible represent when compared with the rents before they
were judicially fixed. The figures as to prices are taken from a Parliamen-
tary Return prepared by the Department of Agriculture for Ireland in the
present year (510 of 1913).
124
GREAT BRITAIN AND IREI,AND - MISCELI^ANEOUS
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THE FAIR RENT PROVISIONS OF THE IRISH LAND ACTS I25
On examining this table we can see that the rate of reduction has in
some cases followed (inversely, of course) the rise and fall of prices. The fall
in the prices of wheat, beef and mutton in the period 1887-91 as compared
with the previous five years is marked by an increase in the rate of
reduction of first term rents from 18.2 % to 24 %. The variations in
prices during the next two quinquennial periods hardly seem by themselves
sufiicient to justify the drop in the rate of reduction from 24 % to 22.7 %.
in the first and to 20.2 % in the second of these periods. The next period
1902-6 is marked by an all-round increase in prices, and the rate of reduc-
tion in rents falls from 20.2 % to 16.8 %, but then the further rise in all
products save mutton during the period 1907-11 did not, as would naturally
be expected, bring about a further drop in the rate of reduction. On the
contrary the rate of reduction in the case of first term rents springs up by
over 5 %. The explanation of this is partly the increase in the cost of
labour during that period, and partly that tenants who waited for 26
years before coming into Court to have a fair rent fixed were evidently
not suffering from rack rents. Moreover the figures as to fair rents since
1903 are misleading, as a number of fair rents were fixed after the passing
of the Purchase Act of 1903, which probably would have never been fixed
but for the zonal clauses of that Act, which only apply to judicial rents.
Landlords who were anxious to sell their estates, and to take advantage of
these clauses, arranged to have fair rents fixed on their tenants' holding,
either by agreement or by the Land Commission, and as the sale of the estate
was the landlord's real object, he often raised no objection to a reduction of
rent which he would have fought against had his intention been to continue
receiving rent from the tenants for any length of time.
This table shows how difiicult it would be to trace the analogy between
prices and rents without knowing all the factors which enter into the pro-
blem. But it must not be imagined therefore that prices can be neglected
in the process of fixing fair rents. As already stated they are a most im-
portant factor in the question. In practice an Assistant Commissioner
who values a holding for fair rent purposes makes several distinct investi-
gations. In the first place he examines the actual constituents and charac-
ter of the soil, and deduces therefrom what the produce might be under
the most favourable circumstances. Secondly he estimates what, having
regard to the state of ctdtivation and the capital sunk in the holding, the
produce actually is. Thirdly he has to calculate the value of that produce.
To do so he must have full information as to the prices which the various
products have obtained in that particular district, and he has further to
consider to the best of his ability whether those prices are likely to remain
constant during the 15 years which must elapse before the next revision of
the rent can take place. To make such a forecast with any reasonable pro-
spect of accuracy requires a careful enquiry into the prices which have
been obtained for a number of past years, and into the causes of their varia-
tions — whether they are merely of a temporary nature, or of such a perman-
ent character as to be likely to affect prices in the future. Fourtlily the
valuer must take the cost of labour into consideration, and this is perhaps
126 GREAT BRIT.UN AND IRELAND - MISCELLANEOUS
the factor which makes it most difficult to base any conclusions as to fair
rents on agricultural prices only. The farmers of Ireland have profited dur-
ing the past few years both by good harvests and by a rise in prices, but por-
tion of their increased profits have been swept away by the increase in the
cost of labour which has taken place during the same years. lyastly the
valuer must consider the question of improvements and of depreciation —
how much of the produce is due to the landlord's or tenant's improvements,
what return he will allow to the tenant for the capital and labour which
he has sunk in the farm, and whether the tenant has wilfully allowed the
land to depreciate before the arrival of the period for fixing a rent on the
holding.
§ 8. "Fair rents " as the basis of land purchase.
The question of the principles involved in fixing fair rents has by this
lost some of its importance. In the first place fair rents for a first term
have now been fixed on the vast majority of holdings in Ireland. Up to
the 31st. March last 455,000 applications to have fair rents fixed had been
disposed of. The total number of agricultural holdings in Ireland accord-
ing to the Census of 1911 was 535,675 and taking into account the fact that
the fair rent clauses of the Act of 1881 do not apply to town parks, home
farms, demesnes, and pasture lands of over £50 valuation (increased to
£100 by the Act of 1896) it may be said that a fair rent has been fixed on
practically every holding in Ireland coming within the Act of 1881.
Moreover, it was only natural that landlords who were reduced by the
Fair Rent Acts to the position of mere pensioners and rent-chargers on their
estates should be anxious to sell their lands outright. They had lost their
interest in the land and from their point of view it would be much better
to divest themselves of the very limited ownership which remained to them,
and to realise the value of their estates in cash or stock which at all events
would be their own to dispose of as they wished. The tenants on the other
hand were equally anxious to buy out the landlords and to put an end to
the disturbance and uncertainty caused by the revision of fair rents every
fifteen years. In fact both parties were dissatisfied with the restrictions
on the full ownership of their property, and each wished to have that pro-
perty in a shape which wotdd enable them to do as they liked with their
own, to quote a phrase in common use in Ireland. The State by pledging
its credit enabled the transaction to be carried out on terms which were to
the advantage of both parties, and the result is that the purchase of their
holdings by the tenants from the landlords has progressed at such a rate as
to diminish by two- thirds the area which can be afEected by the Fair Rent Acts
in the future. Lands to the value of over £120,000,000 have been sold,
or are the subject of proceedings for sale under the Land Purchase Acts,
and it is estimated that the balance, in respect of which proceedings for sale
under these Acts have not been instituted, amounts to about £60,000,000.
THE FAI>{ RENT PKOVISIONS OF THE IRISH T-AND ACTS I27
We may therefore say that two-thirds of the agricultural land in Ireland has
been or is being purchased by the occupying tenants, and thereby removed
from the operation of the Fair Rent Acts. But the tenants of the holdings
comprised in the remaining third will certainly make application to have
their rents revised for a second or third term as the case may be, and the
result of these applications will be of considerable importance in Land
Purchase.
Under the Act of 1903 where a judicial tenant, i. e., a tenant on whose
holding a fair rent has been fixed, enters into an agreement with his landlord
to purchase his holding at a price coming within certain limits, generally
known as the Zones, the holding is deemed to be security for the price
agreed on, and the Estates Commissioners, unless they reject the whole
estate, are practically bound to advance such price. The result is that sales
between landlords and tenants are nearly always arranged on the basis of
so many years purchase of the fair rents. The revised fair rents which may
be fixed on the one-third of Ireland which has not yet been purchased by
the tenants, wiU therefore be of the greatest importance in determining
whether these lands wiU be sold under the voluntary provisions of the Land
Purchase Acts, or whether compulsion will be necessary. It is to be hoped
that compulsion, with the bitterness which it leaves behind, will only
be required in exceptional cases and that the transfer by the landlords of
their property to the tenants will in the future, as in the past, be effected
with but little friction or loss of mutual good- will.
Conclusion.
Many severe criticisms have, as pointed out, been passed on the admini-
stration of the Fair Rent Acts, but in view of the stupendous dif-
ficulty of the Land Commissioners' task, they may be given the greatest
credit for the success with v/hich they administered those Acts. Ireland
was not a new country where one could frame a policy unhampered by
ancient traditions. She was an old country, inhabited by the most conserva-
tive people on the globe, who clung to old customs, and who had still the
feudal instincts of their ancestors ; a people imbued with the memories of
" old, unhappy, far-oS things," and intensely suspicious of any innovations.
There had been no revolution in Ireland, as in France, to sweep away at
one blow the privileges and the property of the landed classes, but there
had been a revolution at the time of the Famine and in the years which
succeeded it, which had impoverished both landlords and tenants, and had
destroyed to some extent the old feudal attachment between them.
It was in this atmosphere of discontent and suspicion that the lyand
Commission commenced their labours, and if neither landlords nor tenants
were satisfied until the Fair Rent Acts were supplemented by the La^d
Purchase Acts we may safely say that it was the former which made the
latter possible. Land Purchase has been based on fair rents, and the pol-
128 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND - MISCELLANEOUS
icy inaugurated by the Act of 1881 has in some 30 years changed the whole
face of Ireland. The " magic of property" has once more asserted itself,
and the marvellous development of the prosperity of the community,
the increased comfort of the tenants generally, and above all the growth
in self-respect and independence of the Irish farmer, form a more than ade-
quate defence of those who framed the Irish Land Code since 1881 and of
those who administered it.
Appendix I. — Land Law {Ireland) Act, 1896, Section 1, Subsection i»
I. (i) Where the Court fix a fair rent (a) for a holding, the Court shall
ascertain and record in the form of a schedule, unless both landlord and
tenant shall otherwise request —
{a) the aimual sum which should be the fair rent of the holding on
the assumption that all improvements thereon were made or acquired by
the landlord ;
{b) the condition as to cultivation, deterioration, or otherwise of the
holding and the buildings thereon ;
(c) the improvements made wholly or partly by the tenant or at his
cost, and with respect to each such improvement —
(i) the nature, character, and present capital value thereof, and
the increased letting value due thereto ;
(«■) the date (so near as can be ascertained) at which the same was
made ; and
{Hi) the deduction from the rent made on account thereof ;
{d) the extent (if any) to which the landlord has paid or compensated
the tenant in respect of each such improvement ;
{e) the improvements made wholly or partly by or at the cost of, or
acquired by, the landlord ;
(/) such other matters in relation to the holding as may have been
taken into account in fixing the fair rent thereof, or as may be prescribed ;
and
(g) the fair rent of the holding.
and the said schedule shall be in the form set out in the First Schedule to
this Act, or in such other form as may be prescribed, and a certified copy
of the record shall on the prescribed application be sent by post to each
party, and the record shall be admissible in evidence on its mere production
from the proper custody.
THE FAIR RENT PROVISIONS OF THE IRISH I.AND ACTS
129
Appendix II.
The "Pink" Schedule.
Form No. 39. SchEDUI^E referred io in the order
of even date herewith fixing a fait rent.
Holding in Rural
District
of
IvAND LAW (IRELAND) ACT, 1896.
Particulars of Holding ascertained and recorded pursuant to Section I,
of the above Act, and Section 55
of the Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1898.
County Record No. . . . Landlord
No. of Ordnar.ce Sheet Tenant
Date upon which holding inspected . . . . day of . . . . 191 . .
Who attended inspection i Who attended on behalf \
on behalf of I<andlord? ( of Tenant? S
1. Give a concise description of the holding and the \
buildings thereon, stating particulars of aspect, j
elevation, water supply, situation as to mark- I
ets, railways, and county roads, etc. Also state v,
how the hoMing is used, i. e., as a tillage farm /
or as a mixed farm or as a grazing or dairy farm ; I
if mainly a grazing or dairy farm state carrying j
power. /
2. Is the holding suitably used ? What is the present '
condition of the holding as to cultivation, and i
of the holding and the buildings thereon, as to I
deterioration or otherwise? If there is deterior- \
ation, state how it is shown and has apparently I
been caused, and give like particulars as to any 1
improved condition. /
3. Particulars of Tenement Valuation, Rates, etc. :
A. (i) Tenement Valuation of Agricultural lyOnd in Holding £
{2) Tenement Valuation of Non-agricultural Hereditaments in Holding. £
Total Tenement Valuation ... £
B. Standard Amount imder I,ocal Government (Ireland) Act, 1898,
Section 54, for:
(i) County Cess upon Agricultural Land in Holding £
(2) Poor Rate upon Agricultural I<and in Holding £
(3) County Cess and Poor Rate upon Non -agricultural Hereditaments
in Holding £
Total Standard Amoimt of Rates on Holding ... £
The Benefit to the tenant from the Agricultural Grant is half the above stated amount
of the County Cess upon Agricultural I<and, and the Benefit to the I^andlord from said
Grant is half the above stated amount of Poor Rate upon Agricultural lyand.
4. If the tenancy has been purchased since the pas- \
sing of the lyandlord and Tenant (Ireland) Act, f
1870, give the date of each sale and amoimt L
of pm- chase money. 7
I30
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND - MISCELLANEOUS
5. State the annual sum which should be the fair rent of the holding on the assumption
that all improvements thereon (including Buildings) were made or acquired by the
Landlord, and give details of valuation.
Description of the several classes of land, with the quantities of each class set out se-
parately, giving the rate per acre. The several classes of grass and tillage land to
be so specified that it may be apparent how much of each description is contained
in the holding; each class separately valued to be marked with a letter to correspond
with a letter on the map, and the boundaries of such class to be indicated on the map.
Utter
on
Map
Dcscriptica of Land
Total Area,
Area
in Statute
Measure
• Rate pet Acre
excluding
Building
Total, £
Total, £
specify any additions for buildings,
and for mountain grazing, tur-
bary outside holding, right of
seaweed, or any other rights or
privileges, or for proximity, or
otherwise.
Specify any deductions for special
outgoings affecting the holding
or for inconvenience of access,
insufficient water supply, or other
disadvantages.
Annual sum which should be the Fair Rent of the Holding on the as-
sumption above stated £
Total
* The rate per acre to be estimated on the t>asis of the Tenant paying a Total rate equivalent to
the standard amoiut of the County Cess and Poor Rate in respect of the Holding as set out in para-
graph 3 leas by the amount of benefit to the Landlord from the Agricultural Grant in respect of the
Poor Rate.
6. State the improvements on holding toade wholly or party ^
by, or at rhe cost of, or acquired by, the Landlord, (
THE FAIR RENT PROVISIONS OF THE IRISH I^AND ACTS
131
State the improvements
at his cost.
on the holding made wholly or partly by the Tenant or
1
Nature and character 5
: a
of each such improvement "
1
Increased letting
value due thereto
Date when made,
as near
as can be ascertained
Extent (if any) to which
the Landlord has paid
or compensated the
tenant in respect of
each such improvement
Deduction from the rent
on account
of each such improvement
Tot
il deductior
I for improi
srements, £
8. State any other matters in relation to the hold- i
ing that have been taken into account in fixing :
the fair rent thereof. )
9. Fair Rent of the Holding £ _______
Dated this day of
19-
To be signed by I<egal /
and lyay Assistant
Commissioners. i
RUSSIA.
GENERAI. OUTLINE OF THE NEW RUSSIAN LAND REFORMS.
{Continued) (i).
§ 3. Readjustment of nadiei, land as singi^e housings.
Our readers know from what we have said in the first part of this
article, that when the land commissions began working in accordance
with the provisions of the law mentioned in it, in Russia properly so called
people were almost ignorant in respect to the measures to be taken on the
large scale required for the scientific redistribution of the land in single
separate holdings for each peasant family. The position was better, in
this respect, in Poland (General Government of Warsaw) and better still
in the Baltic Provinces, where the peasants, for well known historical and
ethical reasons (North German influence), already for the most part pos-
sessed holdings well rounded oft (2).
The newly instituted land commissions then, at the beginning of the
reforms, found they had virgin soil to work on, but the fact that in certain
localities undertakings of this kind were already understood among the
population had, undoubtedly, a certain moral importance, especially as it
was bound to contribute to extinguish the peasants' distrust of the innov-
ation (3) to be carried out. Otherwise, this distrust might easily have assumed
fantastic proportions, as was the case in the Eastern Governments, where
(i) See the liist part of this article in the Bulletin of Economic and Social Intelligence,
Novemljer, 1913. pp. 119-134.
(2) A. A. KoEFOED gives in his often quoted work (1905), " Einzelsiedelun.;en auf dem NadieJ-
lande " (Peasant Holdings on Nndiel I<and), two good maps showing the areas readjusted in
Poland, in the Baltic Provinces and in Russia.
(3) See Ordinsky: Etat des riformes a<iraires in the Sidskoe Khoziaistvo, St. "Petersburg, I9i'.>.
This hostile attitude towards all that is unknown seems inborn in all peasants, as it was in the
nattu-al man. It is enough to remember that the best known Danish economist of the t 8th-
century speaking of similar proposed land reforms in Denmark, wrote " that it would be easier
to induce the peasants to change their religion than to make them adopt a new systeia of
oiltivating potatoes."
GENERAL OUTLINE OF THE NEW RUSSL\N LAND REFORMS I33
the peasants believed that the smveyors and agricultural engineers trav-
elling through the country were Government commissioners charged to
take the peasants' land and give it to France, as France had assisted Russia
in the war with Japan, On the ether hand, it sufficed for two rural communes
of a district of more or less area to adopt the new reform for the interest
of the adjacent communes to be at once awakened, and for thousands on
thousands of appUcations for readjustment to flow in from the districts
and provinces to the land commissions.
To encourage the movement in favour of reform, the land commiss-
ions made very adroit use, especially at first, of the intervention of the
Peasants' Land Bank, the powers of which had been increased for the pur-
pose : the Bank had been granted power to buy landed estates for its own
account and sell them again to the peasants in lots. Previously, sales ol
this kind were generally made before division to communities (peasants'
associations or rural communes), which themselves undertook to divide
the land among their members, according to the system described at
the end of the preceding part of this article. By the new arrange-
ment, the Bank, on the other hand, sold the land, as far as possible in
single lots to individual peasants, whose farrns gradually became models
for their neighbours in the various Governments. The advantages of the
new system of distribution were so evident, even to the most ignorant
peasant, that the example was soon followed and a large number of rural
communes decided to urge the land commissions to readjust their farins
and improve the system of farming the nadiel land.
Thus, this " propaganda in action " of the Peasants' Bank facihtated
the accompHshment of their mission for the land commissions : it started
a new current, which could not but extend by mere force of circumstances,
and which nothing could arrest. And in fact we see that apphcations for
readjustment came in the early years in greatest number precisely from
peasants in the Governments where the population had already a certain
notion of the work to be accompHshed by the projected reform, namely,
the Governments of Vitebsk, Mohilev and Kovno, as weU as various Go-
vernments of Little and South West Russia, such as Volhynia, Kiev,
Voronetz and Kharkov.
In order that the reader may have a general idea of what has been ac-
compHshed up to the present, we reproduce a table showing the progress
of the work of readjustment carried out by the Land Commissions, from the
date of their institution up to 191 2.
134
RUSSIA - MISCELIvANEOUS
Tabus IV. — Summary Results of the Work of Readjustment in Russia,
1907-1912.
Readjustment Being Carried Out
Readjustment Completed
Year
Number of
Area
in Deciatines
Number of
Area
Communes
Households
Commnncs
Households
in Deciatines
1907
1.344
51.984
616,330
845
27.449
827,683
1908
3,266
119,861
1,105,684
2,573
94.087
863,787
1909
9,143
329,392
3,004,650
6,704
274,830
2,567,412
1910
12,188
419,044
3,936,296
9,595
376,162
2,447,247
I9II
11.034
407,041
3,739.965
10,664
379,76'?
3,609,796
Total . . .
36,875
1.327,322
12,402,925
30,431
1,170,299
10,775,975
Thus the work completed in the course of the first five years affected
an area of more than 10,750,000 deciatines, or about 12,000,000 ha., tha"^
is to say an area equal to about two thirds of the total cultivated area of
Prussia or half that of the cultivated area Italy.
The land commissions received in all, in the first five years they were
working, 2,653,202 applications for partial or total readjustment from
90,690 rural communes. Of these 1,338,682 from 20,659 communes were
for the readjustment of entire communes or parts of communes (villages),
in order to get rid of enclaves or the intermingling of peasants' and other
proprietors' land ; 1,314,520 applications received from 70,031 rural com-
munes were for the rounding off of nadiel holdinngs belonging to individual
peasants. In Russia the first system is habitually called " group work " or
" collective farm readjustment ", whilst the rounding off of individual
peasants' farms is termed " individual work " or " individual farm read-
justment ".
We shall now consider more closely the work done in each of these
two chief groups :
(a) Union and division of Nadiel holdings, while maintaining the col-
lective system of farming {collective farm readjustmeni) .
This work, in the above mentioned period (1907-12), was generally
limited to getting rid of enclaves and to the subdivision of more or less con-
siderable communes : a portion of the land built on belonging to the vill-
age of the original commtme was alienated and groups of buildings erected
in the neighbourhood ; in this way the distance between the land fit for
cultivation and the peasant's house was reduced and the working of the
farm facilitated.
GENERAL OUTLINE OF THE NEW RUSSIAN LAND REFORMS
135
The following table shows the increase of the area on which this work
was carried out during the five years 1905-11.
Table V. — Collective Readjustment carried out by the Land Commissions.
In Course of Preparation
Work Carried Out
Approved by the Peasants
Njimber of
Area
in
Di^iatines
Number of
Area
in
Deeiatines
Number of
Area
in
DicUUines
Year
1
0
Peasants'
Houae-
holds.
S
a
3
a
i
Peasants'
House-
holds
a
3
a
a
5
Peasants'
House-
holds
1907. . .
1908. . .
1909. .
1910. . .
1911. , .
1912. . .
349
936
2,184
3,256
2,906
30,985
54,947
158,696
201,278
186,661
343.923
467,780
1,318,763
1,681,535
1,443,892
238
687
1,773
2,394
2,830
13,361
38,169
134,544
178,779
176,830
223,518
132,212
289,407
1,131,005
1,469,330
1.357,52c
1,848,298
138
421
1,396
1,734
2.275
(I)
6,372
20,0 1 6
93,771
121,408
126,055
(1)
59,892
151.985
691,504
912,616
992,872
(1)
Total.
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
(i) Acnording to the new law of May 29th., 1911, it is for the Senate to give 6nal approval; that is
why the above headings are not found in later statistical tables.
The above return shows that the work of farm readjustment of this
class in course of execution already at the end of the sixth year affected
6,000,000 hectares and the work completed 5,000,000 hectares, or 50,000
sq. kms., that is an area equal to that farmed in the whole of Bavaria.
As has been said, this work was for the most part undertaken to get
rid of enclaves or other inconveniences in the distribution of farms between
rural communes, and it had necessaril3'- to precede the readjustment to
be made within the commime (for the various peasants' households form-
ing part of it) . The specification of the work as given in the following table
shows that it was really in this way the farm readjustment was regarded.
136
RUSSIA - MISCELLANEOUS
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ui
GENERAL OUTLINE OF THE NEW RUSSIAN LAND REFORMS I37
We see from this table that while the total work of readjustment car-
ried out affected 541,683 households possessing 4.379,474 deciatines (48,000
sq. km.), the division of the whole nadiel land of communes into \'illages
or fractions of villages (i) affected not less than 458,048 households, possess-
ing 4,021,869 deciatines (in round numbers, 44,000 square km.) and the
other classes of work only affected 358,000 deciatines (about 4,000 sq. km. 1.
Among the latter undertakings the most important referred to the elimin-
ation cf enclaves existing between the peasants' nadiel holdings and the farms
of other land holders, and the suppression of the common enjoyment of certain
holdings by the peasants and other land holders (abrogation of rights of
collective enjoyment etc). On the other hand, the results of the work
included under the 3rd. heading, New Distribution of Nadiel I^and with a
\dew, for example, to facihtating for the peasants the passage to the s^^stem
of triennial rotation of crops, in practice proved unsatisfactory and the
work was stopped by the new law of May 29th., 1911.
The work of collective land organization may be considered as read-
justment outside of the nadiel, as the respective farms of the peasants
must, almost without exception, undergo a new inside readjustment to
get rid of the intermingling of the lots of the various individual propri-
etors (2).
It also appears from the above that in view of the extremely large area
of Russian land under consideration, about 1,000,000 sq. kms., a really
prodigious amount of power, rapidity and thrift will be necessary for the
solution of the various problems under consideration in the course of this
century. K. A. Wieth Knudsen, therefore, in no way exaggerated in saying
in 1907, in his stud^^ of the Increase of Population and Progress, that the
" Russian reforms in relation to the peasants will require at least a century
for their completion. "
(b Readjustment and division of nadiel holdings ajnong the various
individual members of the rural commune (individual farm readjustment).
This class of work of farm readjustment, of which we have already shown
one of the general characteristics, in its turn, falls into three groups. The
first includes the readjustment of all the nadiel land forming the common
property of a village {mir), at the same time providing for the new lots
to become the individual property of the various peasants.
The second group affects those nural communes, the land of which is
already possessed individually, but too much split up, for the excessive sub-
division of land into scattered lots already spoken of in § 3 was met with in
communes in which the land was divided among individual proprietors
as well as in communes in which collective farming was maintained.
(i) This specially concerns the very numerous rural communes, which, at the date of the
abolition of serfdom, in 1861, received as a single imdivided holding all the land belonging
to all the villages of which they were composed. (They were called " single plot villages ").
(2) These terms correspond with those adopted in the official German translation of the
Report of MM. Stolypine and Krivoscheine, " La Colonisation de la SiMrie ", pp. 75 and 77.
I>^
RUSSIA - MISCELLANEOUS
Finally, in the last group, is included readjustment of nadiel holdings
to be carried out in favour of the peasants of this or that rural commune.
As the figures in the following table show, in 1907-08, all these groups
assumed a greater importance than could have been foreseen, when the
tenacious vitality' of the mir and the conservative spirit of the Russian
peasant are considered.
Table VII. — Individual Farm Readjustment carried
out by the Land Commissions.
In Course of Preparation
Number of
House-
holds
Deciatines
Carried Out
Number of
House-
holds
Area
in
Deciatines
Approved by the Peaaanta
House-
holds
Area
Deciatines
1907
1908
1909
1910
191 1
1912
895
2,330
6.959
8,932
8,128
20,990
64,914
170,646
217,766
220,380
272,707
637-904
1,685,887
2,254,761
2,296,073
657
1,886
4.931
7.196
7,834
14,088
55.918
140,286
197.383
220,936
234,816
155.471
562
8,241
574.38^
1,528
42.110
1,436,407
^.150
118,529
1,977.967
5,819
150,268
2,252,276
7,106
204,26f
2,340,244
(I)
(I)
88.942
436,522
1,222,444
1.459,389
2,050,873
(I)
(i) Ste note on pi^e 135.
As appears from this table, the work of individual farm readjustment
carried out in the last six years affected 7,000 000 deciatines, or more than
70,000 sq. kms., an area three times that of all the cultivated land of
Denmark, where similar work required a whole generation for its completion.
But to appreciate at its just value this powerful movement of agri-
cultural reform as well as its consequences, we must consider more nearly
the methods of procedure adopted by the land commissions in their work
of readjustment and allotment.
The applications of the peasants for the execution of the work must
be addressed to the local commission of the district. In the course of the
period under consideration (1907-12), applications of the kind were received
from 100,000 rural communes, including 1,500,000 peasants' households
(representing an agricultural population of about 8,000,000 souls).
The local commission entrusts the matter to one of its members,
or to a surveyor who goes to the village to study the situation in all its
features on the spot. This confidential agent of the commission must
especially study the most scientific method of farm readjustment from
GENERAL OUTLINE OF THE NEW RUSSIAN I,AND REFORMS I39
the point of view of agricultural technique and of the requirements of
the particular farm. The application is then referred to the local commission
together with the report of the sur^^eyor. The local commission decides
whether the business shall be proceeded with or refuses the apphcation
if it is not in conformity with the law or if there is not sufficient justific-
ation for it; the commission may also order a supplementary enquiry ; or,
finally, when every thing has been decided, it may forward all the papers to
the provincial commission for its approval. This commission gives order
in the second instance, and returns the papers approved to the local com-
mission, unless there are technical or legal objections. It is only then that
the readjustment applied for may be entered in the list of the works to be
carried out. The members of the local commissions amongst whom the
work is divided are assisted by a large technical staff of surveyors, scientific
agriculturists, and hydraulic engineers. The peasants themselves are ob-
liged b}^ the law to assist the technical agents of the land commissions in their
survey work etc.
These surveys and the readjustment are carried out as follows : first
of all, the limits of the area of the farms to be readjusted are
defined as well as the area of the lots each of the members of the rural
commune shall receive. The area to be allotted to each family of peasants
is calculated in accordance with the general principles already set forth
(generally according to the number of working men) , without it being necess-
ary to proceed to the surveying of thousands and thousands of parcels in
order to establish an effective redistribution of the land. This summary pro-
cedure being in accordance with tlie customs of the Russian peasants and the
historic development of the distribution of peasants' lands in Russia and con-
sidered by the peasants as the most equitable, naturally simplifies much
of the work of the land commissions. It is well in this connection and for
a special purpose, to observe the comparative ease with which compens-
ation is given in the division of holdings for the difference in quality of the
soil, to which may be attributed the surprising rapidity with wliich the
work of readjustment has been carried out in Russia. The valuation of
the land and the compensation to be given for differences of quality not-
oriously constitute the chief difficulties in aU such undertakings; in Western
Europe the v*'ork has often failed altogether or in part, owing to such causes.
The valuation of the land in Russia is habitually made by a deput-
ation of peasants from the commune concerned, under the supervision of a
surveyor. The value of the soil is net generally established in money; the land
is simply subdi\'ided into various classes and the calculation is made on the
principle that a definite area of such or such a class is equivalent to a defin-
ite area of another class. Sometimes recourse is had to the sale by auc-
tion of such or such a lot among members of the rural commune, but that
very often excites discontent and protests ; it generally happens that the
peasants do not get their land valued, as they say that the value of the
soil is more or less the same for the whole area belonging to the \'illage.
The area of the holdings assigned to each family of peasants being estab-
lished and account also taken of the better or worse qualities of the soil.
140
RUSSIA - MISCELLANJ;OUS
the roads are marked out and the boundaries fixed on the spot : after which
the agent entrusted with the direction of the work of land readjustment
summons those concerned to a general meeting. He submits the plan of
the new readjustment to the peasants and takes note of any objections that
may be made. If he considers them reasonable, he arranges for the rehand-
Hng of the plan. If there are no further objections, or if those made are
considered unreasonable by the agent, a report is prepared : a term of
a month is allowed for those concerned to make further objections ; these
must be addressed to the land commission of the district, to which the papers
(dociunents and reports) relating to the readjustment are forwarded. The
Commission approves the draft plan and those interested have the right
to forward any objections they may have, to the provincial agricultural
commission. ^Notwithstanding the minute details of this procedure, not
at all bureaucratic however, since it leaves the local agricultural popula-
tion considerable influence both in the practical execution of the work and
the solution of legal problems (half the members of the land commissions
are peasants), the whole work of land readjustment has made, as we have
said, extraordinary progress, and this is true especially of individual farm
readjustment, which presented complicated diffictilties and required consid-
erable time. To complete the figures given already we reproduce in the
following table a specification of the work of readjustment in conformity
with what has been above stated.
Table VIII. — Specific Report of the Work
of Individual Farm Readjustment Carried out in the Years 1907-11.
In Preparation
Carried out
by
Approved
the Peasants
Kind of Work
Number of
1
.2
■3
Q
i
<
Number of
iS
a
"3
Q
8
<
Number of
8
of Land Readjustment
Carried out
D
B
J
1
i
a
1
5
0
•2
i
0
3
S
a
0
0
"0
1
3
0
=3
■§
Q
cd
t
<
(1) Complete Readjustment
of Entire Villages wtth Col-
lective Property, Readjust-
ment of the hots of all the
Members of the Commune .
6,804
339,885
3.785,787
5.979
305,070
3.336,392
5,450
265,569
2,843,780
(2) Complete Readjustment
of Entire Villages with In-
dividual Property, and Read-
justment of the Lots of all the
Members of the Commtme. .
4,395
167,475
1.423,924
3,960
153.754
1,272,491
3,455
129,253
1,030,227
(3) Readjustment of Vill-
ages, with Readjustment of
the Lots of Peasants desir-
ing their Land to be Con-
verted into Individual Pro-
perty
16,045
187,695
1,933.661
12,565
169,787
1,787,618
10,260
129,253
r.384,163
Total Work Done . . .
27,244
694,755
7,147,322
22,504
628,611
6,396,501
19,165
523,408
5.258,170
Plan of th: Village of Bubnowka
in the Government of M insk after Survey and Restriping.
Of the 34 families (See the Plan in Bulletin for Novemb'T, page 128), 22 have received
holdings of an area of 30 ha. (27 deciatines) on which they h;ive built their houses. The re-
maining 12 stiU live in the Villages, but have also received holdings of an area of 25 hii. (23 de-
ciatines), for the most part consisting of three portions (arable land, forest and meadow)
At the request of the peasants, the land marked No. 35 was left undivided and some pas-
tures and forests have also been kept for collective use.
EXPLANATION :
J Araiile L,and ;
' I Meadow ;
Forest ;
House? and Gardens.
I,ad of Peasant No 23, formerly
divided into 25 different parcels,
(see preceding Plan), after rtstri]jing.
Scale 1 : 36,000.
GENERAL OUTLINE OF THE NEW RUSSIAN LAND REFORMS I4I
These figures show that a general readjustment of the land of entire
villages has been carried out in the course of the above five years over an
area of 4,608,883 deciatines. or 50.000 square kms.; to this must be added
the partial readjustment of other \dllages, by the rounding off of indi-
vidual peasants' farms over an area of 1,787, 618 deciatines or 20,000 square
kms. As aU this work has necessarily to be preceded by the " inside
survey of the nadiel " (the most compHcated form of survey), this is reaUy a
record case of surveying and readjusting. In fact, the highest figures yet
known (Sweden 1851-1860 : 36,046 households possessing 33,220 sq. kms.
of land) would correspond, in a period of five years, to 18,000 households
and 16,600 sq. kms. ; and yet these Swedish figures, when compared with
those for Denmark (about 30,000 sq. kms. in the coiurse of at least one gener-
ation) and Germany (seven provinces of Old Prussia in 1821-1870, 162,240
sq. kms. for farm readjustment of every kind, or, in proportion, 16,000 sq.
kms. in the course of five years) must in their turn be considered as evidence
of a very considerable work.
The success of the Russian land reform, judging by its external
aspect, is in fact sturprising, so that if we had not more accurate knowledge
of the local conditions we have described, which have largely contributed to
simpHfythewholeprocess, we might doubt whether it had been scientifically
conducted. In order to enable the reader to appreciate still better this
work in its concrete results, we shall devote the whole of the next section to
a study of the practical success obtained and of what the peasants them-
selves think of it.
In order clearly to show the kind of surveys, valuations, readjustments
and divisions effected, as well as the changes made in the situation of the
dwelling houses, we shall give the plan of a village after readjustment, from
Russian official sources. As this is a plan of the same village of which the
original plan, that is to say, before readjustment, was reproduced in the
number of this Bulletin for November, 1913, a comparison of the
two will give an exact idea of the usefulness of this farm readjustment, the
difficulties that had to be overcome in carrying it out and the results
obtained, better than any verbal description could.
In order to ensure the execution of all this work of farm readjustment
which, since the end of the first three years, has been carried out over an
area of 4,851,259 deciatines (50,000 sq.kms.) which, according to the estimate,
required more than 200.000 days for their survejdng, the local
land commissions employed from the beginning of 1909 a staff of 1,911 pro-
fessional surveyors and 1,360 assistant surveyors. In addition, the com-
missions had altogether 395 business managers, and 411 other members
who assisted in the practical work, without counting 122 special officers
of the General Management of Agriculture at St. Petersburg and 178 other
persons (Crown I,ands officers and soldiers); thus in 1909 there were 4,584
miscellaneous employees directly assisting in the work of this most extens-
ive land readjustment the world has seen, and in 1910 the number had
increased to 5,120.
10*
142 RUSSIA - MISCELLANEOUS
The largest number of surveyors in the first years worked in the fol-
lowing five provinces (Governments) :
Table IX.
Work of lyand Readjustment Carried out
Individual Readjustment. Collective Readjustment.
Sutveyota
iQOy-io
D^ciatines
1910 1911
D^ciatines
1910 1911
Samara . .
192
684,759
945.205
56,853
56,853
Vitebsk . .
184
207,657
253.170
19.838
25.383
Saratof . .
. 158
349>447
339.477
20,991
38,840
Kherson . .
127
226,249
280,404
29.815
46,815
Mohilev . .
116
188,204
189,538
38,320
40.505
As we see, about a third (1,500,000 deciatines) of all the work of in-
side farm readjustment and more than one eighteenth of all the outside
surveying of the nadiel was done in these five provinces, forming a very
considerable proportion of the whole work done ; for it is well to observe
that the inside surveying (that is within the limits of the nadiel) is much
more compUcated and takes much more time than the other.
Although considerable, the number of officers is yet insufficient to
meet the continually increasing appUcations of the peasants for farm
readjustment. The numerical insufiiciency of the employees and their
want of experience are among the principal difficulties in the way of farm
readjustment. It seems that these difliculties in certain cases have
their influence on the carrying out of the work (i) : on the other hand, it
appears from ofiicial reports that the General Management of Agriculture,
by the institution of special winter courses during the inevitable suspension of
the survey work, is endeavouring to increase the proportion of surveyors
well trained for their business, as before the beginning of the farm read-
justment work, there was hardly any knowledge of it in Russia. These efforts
have been fully successful and the result has been that since 19 11 the number
of professional surveyors attached to the land commission has increased to
2,730 and that of the assistant surveyors to 2,722. If to these we add the
members of the 47 provincial commissions and the 471 local commissions, all
directly taking part, to the number of 6,000 in the work of farm readjust-
ment, we obtain a total of 11,000 persons assisting as functionaries in
the great work of farm readjustment in Russia (2).
(i) See F. E. Ordinski : " The Present Situation of the Lan'l Reform ", May-June Number
of Sidskoie Khozmisfvo i Liessovodsvo (Bulletin of the General Management of Agriculture).
(2) Zetnleoustroisivo, 1912, p. 21.
GENERAL OUTLINE OF THE NEW RUSSIAN LAND REFORMS 1 43
§ 4. Reforms with the object of increasing the area
of land held by peasants.
In the preceding sections we have dealt exclusively with the work in
connection with the readjustment of farms and the redistribution of those
held by the peasants ; we shall now deal with the provisions relating to
the third great problem of agricultural politics, that is to say : the increase of
the area of land held by the peasants who, in general, are insufficiently sup-
pHed with land.
It is partly to the Peasants' Land Bank and partly to the land commiss-
ions that the solution of the problem has been entrusted in a series of ukase>>
promulgated in 1906, with which we shall deal hereafter. Although, owing
to the very nature of the work of farm readjustment, there has been a contin-
ual and close collaboration of the Peasants' Land Bank with the land com-
missions, we shall here, in order to emphasize them more, show separately
the various measures taken for the purpose and their effects, beginning
with the work of the Peasants' Bank, as this Bank has played the principal
part in relation to the increase of the peasants' land.
(a) Operations of the Peasants' Bank.
The Peasants' Land Bank, founded in 1882, had at the start the sole
duty of advancing money to peasants for the purchase of farms. These
loans were granted for long terms (24 /4 " 3 4^2 years) up to the amount
of 60 % (in some cases even 90 %)ofthe estimated value of the land bought.
The maximum loan obtainable, however, was 500 roubles per household
or 125 roubles per individual (adult male). The loans \^-ere repaid in very
large annual instalments ; 8 ^ % (interest and sinking fund) on loans for
24 Y2 years, 7 ^4 % 011 those for 34 ^ years ; in November, 1894, these
rates were reduced to 7 % and 6 14 % respectively. By an Order of Decem-
ber 6th./T9th., 1898, five periods for extinction were fixed (13, 18, 28, 41
and 55 ^ years) with annual instalments of 10 ^1 i, 8 ^/4, 6 ^'j ^, 5 ^/^ and 5 V4 %
respectively. By this change, the rates were virtually again reduced, on an
average by l^ %.
We have not here to study these operations from the financial point
of view. That important part of the work of the Peasants' Land Bank was
dealt with in our article on Russian Agricultvual Credit, whilst here we have
only to consider the work of the Bank in regard especially to farm read-
justment and above aU the service rendered by the Peasants' Bank for the
encouragement of home colonisation. The Bank, since the publication,
towards the end of 1895, of its new rules, has been authorized to purchase
landed estates for its own account, in order to subdivide them and sell them
again in lots, as far as may be, to peasants. At first, these powers were
conferred on the Bank up to 191 1 ; the term was later indefinitely extended
by the 3rd. Duma.
144 RUSSIA - MISCEI.I.ANEOUS
In accordance with these provisions, the Bank had displayed a cert-
ain activity, in the period 1896-1905, in the field of home colonisation,
having sold directly to peasants 700,000 deciatines of land for a total
value of 52,000,000 roubles.
In order further to encourage the work of the Bank in this field, the
following measures were adopted in 1906 :
1. By Imperial Ukase of November 5th. i8th., 1906 the Bank was
authorized to grant loans on nadiel land, which up to then could not be
mortgaged, as it was already heavily burdened with mortgages to the
State as security for purchase price.
The balance of the mortgage debt to the State having been extin-
guished (by Manifesto of November 3rd./i6th., 1905 see §1. at the end), this
impediment was removed, and when the peasants needed money, not
alone for the purchase of new land, but for the reaHsation of the new
land reforms, they were in a position to contract loans with the Bank
on mortgage of the nadiel land which formed their chief assets. These
loans, however, could only be contracted for agricultural improvements,
or for the extension of the area of peasants' farms ; in the case of land pur-
chase, the amoimt advanced by the Bank is paid by it directly to the seller
(in no case to the peasant purchaser) ; in the case of farm improvements,
the Bank itself supervises the employment of the loan ; in this way the dan-
ger has more or less been eliminated of the peasants running too deeph'
into debt through the loans they are allowed to contract on the security
of nadiel land.
2. By virtue of an amendment of the rules of the Bank (§54), in the
year 1895, the maximum loan, instead of being fixed absolutely was fixed
at a certain proportion (60-90 %, in certain cases up to 100 %) of the estim-
ated value of the land the adult males of the family were capable of cul-
tivating themselves. This was really raising the maximum of the loan,
the more so as regulations of December 3rd./ 6th., 1900, stipulated that
the lots of land the peasants could buy through the medium of the Bank
must be at least 10 deciatines in area and at most 21 deciatines
per household.
In the new conditions these provisions were out of place ; from the begin-
ning of 1912, the area of the ordinary holding the Peasants' Bank had to
supply for each household was calculated in proportion to three times the
maximum estabhshed for the adult males (see section 2) : the areas of
the new lots consequently vary from 8 % to 21 deciatines, according to
local conditions.
3. After a temporary increase in the rate of interest (July I4th./27th.,
1905), the amounts of the instalments to be paid by the peasants on loans
from the Bank were again reduced, by a ukaseof October 14th. 27th., 1906,
to 9 ^, 7 14' 5 ^5' 4 7 10 and 4 14 % respectively, according to the various
dates of maturity. This considerable decrease in the instalments of (from
'•'/4 to I 14 %) really means a reduction of the rate of interest to 4 % per
ann., so that the loans on land made by the Peasants' Bank are now al-
GENERAL OUTLINE OF THE NEW RUSSLA.N LAND REFORMS I45
most as little of a burden as elsewhere, in countries with an advanced or-
ganization of agricultural credit.
At the same time, other provisions regarding the conditions of the loans
have encouraged and provided funds for the carrying out of other agri-
cultural reforms. Thus, the maximum loan on lots divided into small
parcels has been fixed at 50 % of the estimated value, while in the case
of undivided holdings it has been fixed at 90 %. It was further stipulated
that for the purchase of land intended for individual farms, the purchaser
would only have to pay 10 % of the purchase price in cash ; in some cases
he is exempted from any cash payment. On the other hand, the Bank
requires from other purchasers (rural and peasants' associations) a cash
payment of from 15 to 20 % at date of purchase.
4. By ukase of August 12th., 1906, a comparatively large area (about
2,000,000 deciatines) of Crown Land (of the appanage administration, not
to be confounded wdth the domains) (i) was placed at the disposal of the
Bank for sale to the peasants.
To accomplish all its new duties, the Bank had quickly to realise
considerable amounts and as the Russian finances at this period, that of
the Russo-Japanese war and internal troubles, were not in a very
flourishing condition, so that an^^ financial assistance on the part of the
State seemed impossible, the Minister of Finance, M. Witte (2), devised the
following wise solution: by Imperial Ukase of March 21st. /April 3rd., 1906,
the Bank was relieved from the necessity of making payments in cash;
it could, on the other hand, purchase landed estates by means of the issue
of 5 % certificates (bonds) ; these could again be exchanged by the
holders for personal books. These books, ^delding 6 % per ann. are
redeemable in ten years from the 6th. year of issue. It is \drtually a
loan at comparatively high interest the Bank has contracted with the sell-
ers of landed property.
In this way, the Bank bought in the course of five years a considerable
area of land, as appears from the following table :
(i) Ukase of August 27lli., 1906, the provisions of which regulate the action of the
lai\d commissions. See below.
(2) Those who are acquainted with the agricultural history of the North will tindaresem.
blance between the personality of M. Witte and that of Schimmelmann, who was Minister of
Finance in Denmark a century and a half ago, as there are also resemblances between Stolypine
and the Minister Bernstoft, on the one hand, Krivoscheine and Reventlow on the other. The
names of the German Ministers, Stein and Hardenberg, will suggest themselves to evers'body's
memory.
146
RUSSIA - MISCELLANEOUS
Table X — Landed Estates Bought by the Peasants' Bank to Sell again.
{Deciatines).
Bought
in the year
Balance on January ist.
1906 263,272
1906 1,144,461
1907 1,519,848
1908 572,082
1909 172,855
1910 48,444
Crown Lands
Transferred
to the Bank.
353,713
784,122
57,627
570
Remaining with
the Bank, owing
to non-fulfilment
of Contract
51.514
51,551
158,946
140,829
53,069
11,472
314,786
1,196,012
2,032,507
1497,033
283,551
60486
Total
3,720,962 1,196.032
467.381 5,384.375
This table shows that the Peasants' Bank has received a considerable
area of Crown Land (1,196,032 deciatines) ; unhappily the area of land
acquired and remaining with the Bank owing to non - fulfilment of contract
on the part of purchasers is also considerable : 467,831 deciatines, or more
than 8 % of the entire area the Bank had at its disposal.
But it is above all the enormous number of private farms sold to the
Bank which deserves to be considered. In the course of the year 1907
alone, the 3'ear following the agrarian disturbances, the Bank bought
1,519,848 deciatines of such land. In order to show more clearly
the hastiness of the sale of these large landed estates, we reproduce below
a few passages from the preface of the Report of the Peasants' Bank, which
is an excellent commentary upon the figures reproduced above :
" The latent agitation among the peasants which, in the course of
the last six months of 1905, degenerated into acts of violence, caused a
panic among the landed proprietors. Agitators instigated the population
to aggression; the landowners were to be driven from their estates in order
that the peasants might proceed to the occupation of their farms. Plunder,
destruction of live and dead stock, incendiarism, the devastation of forests
to which the peasants openly abandoned themselves, suspension of labour
and other similar acts, all rendered the management of landed property
impossible. The losses suffered and the want of security for the future
obliged many landed proprietors at once to sell their estates. The supply
was excessive, the number of buyers comparatively insignificant ; the
peasants were waiting for the division of the land {tcherny pSrediel) an-
nounced by the revolutionaries ; private persons did not dare to invest
their capital in land. It was to be feared that the large quantity available
would fall into the hands of speculators who, when order was once re-
established, would, as usual, abuse their, position and take advantage of
the people when reselling the land they had themselves bought at low
prices."
GENERAL OUTLINE OF THE NEW RUSSIAN LAND REFORMS 1 47
In these last lines the Report of the Peasants' Bank touches what
has been a weak point in the organization of the sale of land to peasants
up to the present : the deplorable part played by intermediaries, generally
Jews, who have monopolised this kind of trade to the detriment of the
landowners and peasants, while the Bank itself has not always been able
to dispense with the services of these middlemen and speculators.
To prevent these abuses, advantage was taken of the work of the land
commissions, to which was entrusted the special duty of advising in regard to
prices and the value the land offered for sale to the Peasants' Bank might
have for colonisation and of playing the part of impartial intermediaries
between the landowners selling and the Bank on the one hand, and the Bank
and the peasants bu3-ing on the other, so as to more and more prevent the
disastrous action of the professional speculators in land. The following
figures relating to the services rendered by the land commissions as inter-
mediaries show that they have not been slow in attaining this high object.
Table XI. — Intermediary Service of the Land Commissions
in the Purchase of Land by the Peasants' Bank.
Proposals
as to which
Farms offered
Proposed
no Decision
to the
Recommended
Purchase
has vet been
Year
Peasants' Bank
for Purchase
Refused
Taken
1907. . .
. 4,684,005
3,440,618
923,601
319,786
1908. . .
. i,590'275
1,105,996
546,691
207,374
1909. . .
416,281
330,313
165,137
128,205
I9IO . . .
361,012
160,428
226,675
102,104
I9II . . .
209,635
93.691
95,238
122,870
7,261,198
5,131,046
2,007,342
880,339
Almost all offers of land for sale made to the Peasants' Bank are now
examined by the land commissions and this is often the case with the
prices asked by the landowners. In the course of the last five years, the
commissions have considered the value of 2,449 holdings of an area of
2.514,380 deciatines. This has led to the reduction of the price asked by
the sellers from 145 to iii roubles per deciatine, or almost 25 %. These
figures show the necessity and success of this intervention of the land com-
missions in the business of the purchase of land. The land commissions
also intervene in business conducted directly between peasants and
landowners (without the mediation of the Peasants' Bank). In this
business directly conducted, the commissions have had to give their
opinion, in 16,035 cases relating to farms of a total area of 1,961,581
deciatines.
We shall now see how the Peasants' Bank proceeded in disposing
of this enormous quantity of land, for of course it was not provided
with the necessary organization for so large a scheme of home colonisation.
148
RUSSIA - MISCELLANEOUS
First of all, special provincial sections of the board of the Bank v/ere
founded, by decisions taken on July 20th., August 4th. and November 6th./
19th., 1906 by the Council of Ministers. Delegates of this board of the
Bank were charged to supervise, in concert with the members of the Central
Committee of Land Organization at Saint Petersburg, the sales of landed
property made to the Bank through the medium of these provincial
sections of the board. The latter, in their turn, put themselves in relation
with the provincial land commissions, increased the staff of the provincial
branches of the Peasants' Bank and perfected the technical service both by
engaging surveyors and agricultural engineers and temporarily utilising
the services of the staff of the local commissions for farm readjustment.
In 1908, 26 managers with 291 trained surveyors and 105 hydraulic
engineers for the sinking of artesian wells to provide water for individual
farms (khoutor) were attached to the provincial branches of the Bank.
The land commissions also supplied the Peasants' Bank in the same
year with 771 surveyors, but the number is still insufficient.
The return of the sales of land made by the Bank, in the course of the
last five years through the medium of its branches, witnesses to the success
of the work, reall}^ extraordinary both as regards area and thoroughness.
Table XII. — Fluctuations in the Amount of the Land Reserved
by the Peasants' Bank {Deciatines).
Years
Situation
on January ist.
New Purchases
Made in the
Year
Land Sold
Increase ( + ) and
Decrease ( — )
in the Amount
of Land Reserved
1906
1907
1908
1909
1910
Total
314.786
1,471,164
3,312,872
4,478.148
4.198,716
1,196,012
2,032,507
1.497.033
283,551
60,486
39,634
190,799
331,757
562,983
371,786
+ 1,156,328
+ 1,841,708
-\- 1,165,226
— 279,432
— 311.30C
5,069,589
1,496,959
Thus, in the course of the last five years the Bank has sold land of
an area of more than twice the total of that sold to the peasants in
the two preceding periods of five years (1896-1905).
When we dealt (in the previous section) with the work of the land
commissions in connection with land readjustment we showed that the Peas-
ants' Bank also participated in the other land reforms (readjustment of
peasants' farms) precisely in virtue of the sales of land it conducted.
GENERAL OUTLINE OF THE NEW RUSSIAN LAND REFORMS
149
whereas by an ukase of November 3rd./i6th., 1905, the land sold to the
peasants must be divided as far as possible in lots of a single piece of
suitable size, so that the Bank of necessity contributes by these sales
to the formation of small farms of a single piece. In order to show this
more clearly we reproduce the following table.
Table XIII. — Return of Sales of Land by the
Peasants Bank [Deciatines) .
Year
Land Sold with Right (i)
to Mortgage
To iMdividual
Peasants
Total
To Communes
and Associations of
Peasants
Land sold for Cash
or Restored to
the Original
Owners, or given
in Exchange or
Freelv
Total
Total
1906
1907
1 90S
1909
1910
1,241
4.559
126,043
432,487
332,036
3-1
2.4
38.0
76.8
89.3
38,003
175,589
198,913
118,826
31,142
95-9
92.0
60.0
21. 1
8.4
390
10,651
6,801
11,676
8,638
i.o
5-6
2.0
2.1
2.3
30,634
190,299
331,757
562,983
371,786
loo.o
lOO.O
lOO.O
100. o
1 00.0
Total. . . 896,366 59.9 562,437 37.6 38,156 2.5
1,496,959 lOO.O
(i) As gnarantee of the balance of purchase price still due.
Not less than 896,000 deciatines (1,000,000 ha.) or 14 o^ ^^^ total
land sold, was divided into well rounded off lots {otrouba and khoutor) ;
the figures in the table show that the sales to individual peasants are in-
creasing more and more in importance in comparison with those made to
collective bodies (rural communes and peasants' associations). Certainly,
many difficulties had to be overcome, disagreements between members
and with outsiders to be got rid of, before the work of the Bank could be
given this new direction. For a proper system of surveying and the sub-
division and sale of land to peasants in lots of a single piece answering to
the technical requirements of agriculture, a work of many years was
necessary, that is a work incomparably more considerable than the summary
mode of alienation previously in use and it is verv- easy to understand that
a large number of members of the board of the Bank at first were hostile
to this new undertaking. The selling price of all the land amounted to
180,000,000 roubles, so that the average price per deciatine, which up
to the year 1905 had never been 100 roubles, now almost always exceeds
that sum.
1^0 RUSSIA - MISCELLANEOUS
Figures recently published show that the success of these sales of land
is now assured and has surpassed all anticipation : the sales definitely con-
cluded corresponded on January ist., 1912 with a total area of 2,647,487
deciatines as compared with 1,496,956 deciatines in July, 1910. No detailed
return of the subdivision of these farms, the total area of which far exceed?
that of the cultivated area of Denmark or Holland, has yet been published.
We have, however, drawn up the following table, from official sources,
showing the amount of land sold, and of that not sold or not saleable, in-
cluded in the reserve land belonging to the Peasants' Bank.
Tablr XIV. — Sales of Land by the Peasants' Bank since
January 1st., 1906.
Situation
July 1st., igio January ist., 1912
(1) Sales Definitely Concluded
(2) Sales not Finally Concluded
(3) Sales Prepared by Conclu-
sion of Contracts ...
(4) Sales Arranged on Payment
of Advances
1-4
(5) Land Surveyed and Ready
for Sale
(6) Laud Siirveyed, but not
yet Divided in I^ots . .
(7) Land Suitable for Sale, but
not yet Surveyed . . .
5-7 1,760,420 1,104,656
(8) Crown Land Let for Long
Terms and Consequently
not Divisible in Lots . 633.668 415-730
{9) Other Unsaleable Land . 320,000 478,518
1.496.959
2
.674.487
953.582
88,307
683,342
309.746
306,881
2
760,787
3.753,017
694,174
280,749
209,511
220,353
766,835
603,554
953,668 894,248
(1-9) Total 5.384.375 5.751.821
The importance of these figures is evident in itself, from the fact that
the area of the land for sale (2,300,000 deciatines in round numbers)
added to that of the land definitely sold since 1906 by the Peasants' Bank
{2,674,487 deciatines) gives a total of nearly 5,000,000 deciatines, almost
GENERAL OUTLINE OF THE NEW RUSSIAN LAND REFORMS 151
equal to that which would have had to be sold in 1905, in order that all
the nadiel lots of less than 5 deciatines each might be increased to the area
of 5 deciatines.
A large part of the reserve land of the Bank is, however, situated
in regions in which the peasants least require land ; it is very diffic-
ult to form a considerable reserve in regions where the need of increas-
ing the lots is greatest. Thus, of the 5,000,000 available deciatines,
not less than 1,500,000 were situated in the Governments of Saratov and
Samara, where the average area of the nadiel is between 10.4 and 21.6
deciatines, whilst there is scarcely any land available in the Governments
of Little Russia and of the South West, as large estates in those regions
are comparatively few.
The only means of meeting the difficulty here is for a part of the peas-
ants insufficiently suppUed with land in the Governments of the South West
and Centre of Russia to sell their nadiel lots to their commune and use the
produce of the sale and the credit granted to them by the Peasants' Bank
for establishing themselves in the Eastern Provinces. This Eastward
movement has indeed long commenced and in its general features is entirely
similar to the emigration to Siberia, for the same reasons, of entire Russian
villages.
There are also two other difficulties impeding this gigantic undertaking
for the sale of land, namely the impossibility of rendering all the land
bought utilisable for the peasants and the difficult of keeping all under
cultivation up to the moment when it may be profitably sold again to
the peasants. With regard to the first of these difficulties, our last table
provides the following figures: 320,000 deciatines (not utilisable by peas-
ants) on July ist.. 1910, and 478,518 deciatines on January ist., 1912.
Practically, the area of this land inci eases with the purchases, since on
many of the landed estates, there are portions (forests, parks, brickfields etc.)
not utilisable for home colonisation.
In virtue of instructions received in February, 1908, the Bank is provid-
ing for the reduction of losses in jdeld and in capital (value of the land) through
the difficulty of keeping the farms bought for sale to the peasants under
cultivation. The provincial sections of the board of the Bank have been
ordered first of all to lease the land for short terms and keep the buildings
in repair.
In spite of inevitable defects and errors in the work of colonisation on
such a scale, the principal part of the land reserve of the Bank has already
passed into the hands of the peasants, especially of the small farmers most
in need of it. This is seen in the statistics collected by the Peasants' Bank
for the years 1908-09, classifying the purchases according to the area of
their holdings (i).
(i) Report of the Peasants' Bank for the period 1906-10, p. 33.
152
RUSSIA - MISCELLANEOUS
Table XV. — Classification of Ptirchasers from the Penftants' Bank,
according to the Area of their Holdings.
Total Figures
Area of Holdings
Individual
Peasants
Rural
Communes
Peasants'
Associations
Total
Purchasers
Percentags
o Deciatines ....
O-I 1/ J » ....
i\/2-3 » . • •
3-5 » ....
6-9 n ....
9-15 .) ...
Above 15 » ....
14,565
11,230
10,048
9,018
3,321
2,052
734
7,693
4,833
6,012
8,942
4,921
3.452
1,270
1,194
1,664
4,070
5,811
2,465
2,246
7 56
23,457
17,727
20,130
23,771
10,707
7,750
2,760
22.1
16.7
18.9
22,4
lO.l
7-3
2.5
Total . .
50,968
37,123
18,206
106,302
100.0
Thus four fifths of the Banks' customers are peasants possessing less
than 6 deciatines of land, that is to say just those who, as we have shown,
have most need to be provided with land.
(b) Work of the Land Commissions.
In the previous sections we have reviewed the work of the land com-
missions, partly in respect to farm readjustment properly so called, and
partly in respect to their co-operation in the sale of the land reserve of the
Peasants' Bank. We shall here touch on another duty with which they are
entrusted, namely : the sale to the peasants of a portion of the Crown Lands
(Domains), placed at their disposal by ukase dated August 27th. Septem-
ber 9th., 1906.
The commissions have themselves to settle in all their details the condi-
tions for the sale of these Crown Lands : 95 % of the price of sale is to be
paid off in instalments in 55 years, so that only one twentieth is paid in cash.
And although this payment is reduced to a minimum, those peasants may be
exempted from it who, after sale of their holdings, which were too small,
to the commune at the date of readjustment, prefer to estabHsh themselves
as colonists on the Crown Lands, because the yield from the sale of their
former holdings is generally too insignificant compared with the cost of
removal and initial establishment on the new holding. Thus, the cash
payments have in these years only been about 4 % of the purchase price.
Although it is not possible to compare these sales of the Crown Lands
with those of the Peasants' Bank, yet thej^ amounted, during the years 1908-
1911, to 329,005 deciatines distributed among 57,243 peasants' families,
who had to pay altogether 32,532,284 roubles for them. The following table
gives the details :
GENERAL OUTLINE OF THE NEW RUSSIAN LAND REFORMS
153
Table XVI.
Year
Holdings
Ready
for Sale
Conditional Sales of Crown Lands
Total
Number
of
Pur-
chasers
Decia-
tines
In ofrouba or
khoutor
Number
of
Pur-
chasers
Decia-
tines
Total Area
of
I,and Sold
Average
Price
per
Dedatine
1907 ....
1908 ....
1909 ....
1910 ....
1911 ....
Total
21,225
230,118
135,510
78.507
64,287
6,293
12,662
18,014
14,728
5,596
9,664
45.173
139,355
86,541
48,272
563
2,600
7,078
4,812
2,468
5.631
39.624
131,642
82,621
45,486
1,149,230
4.638,663
t5.o83,665
7,825,415
3.845,307
529,647
57,293
329,005
17.521
305.004
32,542,280
119
103
ro8
90
71
99
We now draw special attention to the very considerable proportion
(92 %) of the land divided in holdings of a single piece {otrouha) or in holdings
with buildings [khoutor) formed or in course of formation in virtue of these
sales. The following table shows that these operations have specially-
benefited the peasants insufficiently supphed with land.
Table XVII. — Land already Possessed by Purchasers
of Crown Lands (1907-11).
Possessing no land
Possessing 0-3 Deciatines
3-6
» 6-9 »
» 9-15 >'
» above 15 »
Total
Individual
Peasants
42.4
28.3
18.6
7-3
2.2
1.2
lOO.O %
Rural
Commimes
3-5
16.7
33-2
19.0
19.8
7.8
100.0%
154
20.3
28.7
155
14.4
5-7
100.0%
154 RUSSIA - MISCELLANEOUS
§ 5. Other operations in connection with the work
OF readjustment carried out by the land commissions.
In the course of earning out the new land refoims experience showed
that in order to accelerate the operation, two measures were necessary:
1st., small loans had to be granted for the initial estabHshment of those
peasants who, possessing very little or no land at all at date of purchase,
could not benefit by the credit given by the Peasants' Bank, and 2nd., model
and experimental farms had to be organized to show the peasants the advant-
ages of the new system of farm readjustment in such regions in which the
rural communes themselves had no practical notion of it.
In accordance with the regvilations of Novemberi7th.,/3oth., i9oS,the
land commissions distribute their subsidies in money under the form of
loans, not at interest, up to the amount of 150 roubles, repayable in five
annual instalments, beginning with the 6th year. It is in fact a very effic-
acious system of assistance, since the cost of removal and initial instal-
ment of the peasants generally amounts to between 200 and 500 roubles,
according to the locaHty. We must not consider these figures from the point
of view of Western Europe, where the monetary regime also prevails in
agriculture, so that it would be out of the question to build new houses
at such prices. It should be added that the land commissions are still able
to assist peasants with loans in kind, especially providing them with cheap
timber for building from the State forests ; in this way among the Russian
peasants, who are pooi, but live to a large extent under the system of bar-
ter, new colonies are formed of a size and with a rapidity which would be
inconceivable, in the case of the richest farmers of Western Europe, if only
for financial reasons. It must be allowed that it is fortunate for Russia and
not at all a mere incidental fact that the reforms have been commenced at
this moment. A hundred years hence the monetary regime and the credit
institutions prevalent in Western Europe will also prevail by natural force of
circumstances on the Russian peasant farms and the rise in price of material
and labour, as well as the increased needs, would render this work of re-
form, already in itself difficult, entirely impossible, on purely financial
grounds.
Account must be taken of these special conditions if we are to appreciate
at its real value the amount of 13,452,543 roubles, seemingly a small sum,
distributed by the land commissions under the form of loans in 1907-11 (i).
Out of this sum, 147,640 peasant famiUes received loans of an average
amount of 100 roubles each to meet the cost of their initial establishment,
not including that of building material received at very- low prices.
It is true that 337,741 families apphed for such loans and we shall see in the
following section that the available resources of the commissions are instif-
(i) The Commissions further distributed 864,597 roubles as special subventions among
32,100 peasants.
GENERAL OUTLINE OF THE NEW RUSSIAN LAND REFORMS I55
ficient to meet the requirements of the colonists for houses and other
buildings.
At the same time, the land commissions, together with the zemstvo ad-
ministrations, have provided for the organization of 2,652 farms to serve
as models and 12,079 experimental farms, the zemstvo administrations
having long exerted themselves in various provinces for the promotion of
agricultural knowledge among the peasants. The amount directly spent for
the pirpose by the commissions in 1907-11 was about 7,000,000 roubles;
in addition, out of the credit opened in igii, 4,000,000 roubles were placed
at the disposal of the zemstvos and the various agricultural associations for
the work of land readjustment. We should also observe that the agricultural
co-operative societies and the zemstvo banks, organized on mutual principles,
find here a large field, open to them and their prosperous development in re-
cent years is a new indication of the hf e-giving power of the new land reforms,
the effects of which are felt throughout the whole field of agriculture. We
must, however, refrain from here entering into the details of these special
conditions, the rather as we shah continue to give a careful account of these
indirect effects of the land reform in the Bulletin of Economic and Social In-
telligence and shall be continually publishing them for the benefit of Western
Europe.
§ 6. Success of the farm READJusT^rENT work carried
OUT UP to the present and its critics.
Our account of the salutary work of the land commissions has been
so far principally based on Russian ofiicial publications ; and this has been
intentional, as these pubhcations, which give a quantit}' cf statistical data
and diagrams, showing the complete transformation of the Russian vill-
age by means of the vvork of the Commissions, have been up to this
little utihsed.
Although it is not to be imagined that there has been in our days an
imitation of the famous villages of Potemkin, it still seems to us advisable
to complete the foregoing study by giving the comments of the critics of the
new land organization, and their remarks on the new development of the
conditions of the land held by the Russian peasants. We shall first give
the remarks of such critics as W. Ordinsky, W-^. A. Obolensky and A. Koe-
foed, who have travelled through the provinces, visited the \'illages, spoken
with the peasants and seen the surveyors at work, or again T. Stroganow,
who passes his life among the peasants. No one could form quite certain
conclusions with regard to a radical economic system of laws, whether in the
realm of industry or in that of agriculture, without personally studying, in
the midst of the infernal din of modern machinery, the technique of contem-
porary industry in all its phases or without having personally put his hand
to the plough, furrowed the field v/ith it and conducted the reaping
machine across the meadow.
156 RUSSIA - MISCELI^ANEOUS
It is from this point of view we shall now study the work of the land
commissions and if it is impossible for us to take the reader for a tour through
Russia, we can nevertheless follow in thought the authors who have made
investigations on the spot and have recorded the things they have seen.
The objections made by these investigators on the spot may easily
be divided into two classes, according to their nature, objections on prin-
ciple and practical objections. Let us first consider the former :
{a) The essential question of principle in regard to the whole problem
was stated in the following terms by Prince W. A. Obolensky (i) at the end of
his book above referred to : " Will the Hberation of the individual peasants
from the commune certainly last ? What will become of the individual farms
when at the death of the present owners they have to be divided among the
heirs ? WiU there not be again subdivision and scattered lots ? ".
It cannot be denied that the prevalent system in other European
countries and in North America, that is to say the free disposal of owners'
rights over land has led to e\dls which attempt is being made of late years
to remedy by means of laws that might be considered " antiliberal ". We
refer particularly to the special laws passed in America and France for the
encouragement oi homesteads and "undistrainable family holdings", by which
endeavour is being made to assure the maintenance of farms of a certain
area under aU economic circumstances against the arbitrary arrangements
of the respective owners. A precisely similar " servitude of the soil " exist-
ed in Russia, as the peasants or the communes, up to 1905, could only
sell their land to others in certain very definite cases and their principal hold-
ings, the nadiel lots could not be mortgaged. Does it not seem strange
that at the very moment w^hen the Western nations, with a peasant popul-
ation certainly far more enlightened and educated than the Russian, find
themselves obliged, so to say, to protect agriculture against the farmers
themselves by the institution of a conditional right to property, Russia
should follow the opposite course, affording, even in the opinion of favour-
able critics, the greatest freedom to the caprice of ignorant farmers ?
The partisans of the new movement in Russia object that the experience,
especially of the Scandinavian countries and North Germany, has undoubtetly
shown that the more perfectly and scientifically the peasants' farms are
readjusted, the better they resist the danger of excessive subdivision or
unscientific division among heirs. Even in countries where the permanence
of the small farm is not legally assured, as in Norway by Aasaede, and in
various parts of Germany by Anerbenrecht, that is to to say by a succession
law, by which the land passes to one of the sons under favourable conditions,
the division of the inheritance is, according to the ancient customary law
of the peasants, very seldom made in kind; the farm passes generally undivid-
ed to one of the sons and each of his co-heirs receives his share in money ;
generally the amount of these shares is less than the value oi the land due
to the coheirs, so that the farm may not be burdened by excessive charges
(1) Agriculturist, member of the zemstvo, statistician.
GENERAL OUTLINE OF THE NEW KUSSIAN r,AND REFORMS I57
and its permanence may be assured. Where these arrangements cannot be
made, the farm is sold as a whole, and so passes intact to a new owner.
Making all allowance for the diffierence of legal and economic conditions,
it is true that, as regards cUmate and the social system prevaihng in the
agricultural world, Russia has more affinity with the Scandinavian than with
other European countries; but it is still to be feared that the Russian peas-
ants are generally so attached to the ancient method of dividing land that
\\hen they find themselves entirely free to act as they please and no longer
controlled by the mir, they will often subdivide the land itself among
their children, or sell it in difficult years unscientifically divided. A
\\ hole Hterature has been written in Russia on the subject, which, in spite
if its one-sidedness, seems to justif}^ these fears, for incontestable proofs
have not been wanting that there have already been instances of abuse
of rights to too large areas of land, too suddenly acquired. We canno*:,
of course, go into the details of this discussion, which has assumed very
large proportions ; we must limit ourselves to reproducing the general im-
pression of a practical and impartial observer. The summary conclusions
to be drawn at the present state of this highly important question, may be
expressed as follows : it seems undoubtedly best to limit to a certain degree
b}- re\dsion of the law on peasants' succession, the liberty of the peasants to
sell and di\dde their land. Even in countries where the farming popul-
ation have more liberty and have attained a higher intellectual level, it has
been necessary, as recently in Denmark, to estabUsh at least minimum
limits for areas of parcels and of the principal holdings, when it is
necessary in cases of inheritance, to proceed to the division of the land(i).
Similar provisions, adapted to the conditions of Russian farms, far from
restricting, would undoubtedly contribute to encourage the work of farm
readjustment, so happily commenced in Russia, and to assure its success.
Especially as regards the right to contract loans on mortgage of
nadiel land, the legal provisions now in force in Russia undoubtedly are
sufficient guarantee against any abuse. Mortgages on nadiel land can only
be registered in favour of the Peasants' Bank, which only giants loans for
purchase of land or justifiable farm improvements or other profitable under-
takings. Thus all the loans correspond with an increase in the value of
the farm; in any case, the increase of the comparative indebtedness caused
by divisions due to the law of inheritance or through unscientific methods
of farming, which is possible in Western Europe, where land credit pure
and simple prevails, seems almost impossible in Russia.
On the other hand, we may, with every reservation, consider probable
V. hat has been repeatedly observed by certain Russian authors, that the
exodus of the excess agricultural population to the towns will inevitably con-
tribute, sooner or later, to increase the proletariate. Whilst the new agri-
cultural reforms are opposed from this special point of \dew, it may be asked
vvhether the old system of constant partition and the division of peasant
(i)Thelawof May nth., i897,in cases of subdivision, fixes the miuimum limit of the farm
at from 4 to 8 ha., according to circumstances.
158 RUSSIA - MISCELLANEOUS
farms into scattered parcels were uot still far more to be deplored and if it
were possible, generally speaking, to maintain it. It must be allowed, on
the contrary, that that system was maintained absolutely as long as it was
possible from the economic and political point of view, and that it was quite
time to abandon it. Besides, except for colonization of Siberia, it was im-
possible to introduce any other agricultural system than that prevalent in
Western Europe, with, perhaps, a few modifications to which we have referred
and which we have given the reasons for; for, in viev/ of the Umited area of
land fit for cultivation and the general conditions for the existence of man-
kind on the earth, in consequence of the increase of population, there is no
economic system which v.'ill never present defects and will not finally lead
to serious difficulties.
(b) The most important objections raised with regard to the practical
carrpng out of the new agricultural laws may be summarised as follows :
It is said that, in general, the comparatively excessive rapidity, in
view of the technical means available, with which the labours of the land
commissions have been so far conducted, has often injured the work and some
of the surveying and readjustment is incomplete and will have, sooner or
later, to be done over again.
vSuch haste in the conduct of the work will certainly diminish of itself and
in the future the readjustment wiU be carried out at a normal rate.
Considerable advance, besides, has already been made in the surveying
and readjustment. We see, however, that the specialists required for the
technical completion of the work are still too few, so that it has often been
necessary to employ as assistant surveyors young men who do not possess
the necessary knowledge. It is the rather to be wondered at that the 500
members of the land commissions have been able in so short a time to
acquire even elementary notions of the art.
The technical errors committed b}'^ the land commissions are mainly
due to too great anxiety to satisfy the special desires of the peasants ; tliis
is besides, justifiable in localities where work of this kind is carried out for
the first time, as it is very important, in order to give the first impulse to a new
organisation and rouse the peasants from the indclence in which they have
lived for centuries, first to awake their interest and render them conscious
of the advantage of being freed from the unfavourable conditions under
which they live, all of which is sometimes only possible on condition of ac-
commodating oneself to the peasants' point of view and making some con-
cessions to them. If too formal a course is pursued and only the technical
requirements considered, without regard to the wishes and ideas of the peas-
ants, there is often a risk of provoking general opposition and the complete
arrest of the work of farm readjustment throughout the region.
In addition to what we have just said, the principal defects and diflSc-
ulties met with in the practical carrying out of the reforms may be summar-
ised as follows :
(i) In accordance with the reiterated desires of the peasants, lots have
sometimes been formed of several detached parcels (instead of forming one
piece), on account of the diversified character of the land. Such deviations
GENERAL OUTLINE OF THE NEW RUSSIAN LAND REFORMS I59
from the rule might be avoided by gi anting comparatively larger holdings
of a single piece of inferior soil to correspond with smaller areas of soil
of good quality or by having recourse to sale by auction.
(2) The new holdings are often of too oblong a form ; this form, it is
said, is given them in order that there may be an equitable distribution of
the various kinds of soil, or in order that the parcels may be in immediate
proximity to watercourses. Especially in locahties where water is not abund-
ant or where the water is at too great a depth underground for the sinking
of wells (and this is one of the geological peculiarities of the Russian plain),
the parcels must be arranged in the neighbourhood of brooks or streams.
(3) The peasants generally insist on the maintenance of common mead-
ows and pasture lands.
(4) Roads, streams of water and the configuration of the soil render
scientific distribution and the farming of the land difficult.
(5) Communication and traffic between villages are made difficult
through the want of roads and the bad state of those existing.
(6) The studies for the water supply are made in advance, which again
gives rise to a series of technical errors in the work of the new farm read-
justment.
]S evertheless, it may now be stated, finally, that the new farm readjust-
ment has everywhere promoted the progress of agriculture, whilst the tent-
ative efforts inevitable in all first attempts have been quickly followed
by work scientifically and technically more complete. And this gives ground
for hope that the new reforms will soon lead to a general improvement in
the conditions of existence of the Russian peasants and will contribute
to assure them of certain prosperity in the more or less near future.
All the progress dealt v/ith in this part of our study naturally suffers
from the State having laid it down for all districts that the peasants must
buy the farms necessary for their existence, granted them out of the Crown
Lands. And, since as a general rule the peasants have not enough ready
money, the above principle is equivalent to an obligation for them to
mortgage to the Peasants' Bank the land they possess or purchase, up to
its fuU value. So the indebtedness of the peasants to the Bank has increased
from 500,000,000 roubles at the commencement of the work of farm
readjustment (1907) to 1,000,000,000 roubles. It is true that the
manifesto of November 3rd./i6th, 1905, relieved., as we have seen, the peas-
ants of a total debt of more than 1,500,000,000 roubles; but it is evident
that since then a new mortgage debt of more than 500,000,000 roubles has
been incurred by them. Details relating to this matter will be found in
our article in the number of the Bulletin of Economic and Social Intelli-
gence for September, 1911, dealing with land credit and agricultural
indebtedness in Russia.
Finally, it must be observed, we think, that, even without considering
this drawback, the purchases of landed estates and their division among the
Russian peasants, while considerable, wiU only suffice for a time to meet the
increasing demand for peasant farms, as, in spite of the extraordinarily large
area of land still available, the possibility of new purchase of land in Russia
IbO RUSSIA - MISCELLANEOUS
in Europe is very limited and confined to s^Decial localities, for the peasants
clearly can only round off their holdings with land adjacent to them and
it is just in the regions where the need for increasing the holdings is
greatest that land is least available ; finally, the available land is in part
situated where its utilisation for agriculture is impossible on account of the
climate or the nature of the soil.
These considerations would lose nothing of their value, even were the
proposals of the socialist deputies of the first Duma followed, and the large
estates expropriated purely and simply. Even such a radical measure would
scarcely succeed in improving, however Uttle, the situation of the small farm-
er of South West and lyittle Russia, for it is just in those parts of the Empire,
where the peasants most feel the insufficiency of their lots, that the large
estates have only a comparatively small area. However it be, the large estates
aU considered, including the nobles' estates (in 1910 about 50,000,000
deciatines), would hardly suffice, in view of the rapid increase of the popula-
tion to meet the need of land by the peasants, for the next fifty years.
Independently of the improvement of the method of farming, the peas-
ants' land by means of intensive cultivation, there is only one means of meeting
the difficulty: colonisation, on a large scale, of the vast waste regions of
the Empire, especially in Central Asia and Siberia. The Russian Government
has long understood this ; and to crown its great work of farm readjustment,
dating from 1906, it has organized the free immigration of peasants to Siberia,
instituting a " Special Board " at St. Petersburg; at the end of the nineteenth
century, this movement of immigration into Siberia had assumed consid-
erable dimensions, owing to the distress of the small farmers in certain
parts of European Russia.
Tliis movement of the population, which is not only immediately con-
nected with the Russian Land Reform of 1861, but must be, as far as can be
foreseen, the final solution of the whole movement of the peasants and the
question of peasant farms, deserves to be studied separately and with
greater attention. Such a stud^^ however, would exceed the limits of this
section and we are obhged to refer our readers, for the details of chief im-
portance to the well known Memoir e of Mil. Stolypine and Krivoscheine,
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(Continued on page III)
INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF AGRICULTURE
Bureau of Economic and Sociai, Inteixigence
MONTHLY BULLETIN
r
OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL
INTELLIGENCE
Uf
^ $
38th- VOLUME « ® e •
Vth. YEAR - NUMBER 2
» e « FEBRUARY IQ14
« • a • ROME: PRINTING OFFICE OF THE INSTITUTE, I914 « • •
CONTENTS.
PART I : CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION.
Germany.
Miscellaneous News Page
I. State Aid to Agricultural Co-operation in the Grand Duch3' of Hesse, page i.
— 2. Refornj of the Rules of the Central Federation of German Agricultural
Co-operative Societies, page 2. — 3. The Advisability of the Co-operative
Viticultural Societies (Winzergenossenschaften) selling their Wine by Auction,
page 5.
Denmark.
Recent Progress of the Co-operative Distributive Associations .... Paee 7
United States.
1 . — The Co-operative Movement in Wisconsin Page 10
§ I. Early Co-operative Schemes, page 10. — § 2. Present Day Co-operation,
page 12. — § 3. A Suggested Plan for Co-operative Colonisation, page 19.
2. — Miscellaneous News Page 21
I. The California Fruit Gowers' Exchange, page 21. — 2. A Bill for the Establish-
ment of a Co-operative I^and Bank in the State of New York, page 22. — § 3.
A Bill to Establish a National System of Rural Banks, page 23.
France.
Work OF the Mutual Agricultural Credit Banks in 191 2 Page 25
ITAI.Y.
1. — The New Federation and the Federal Bank of Co-operative Credit Societies
at Milan page 29
2. — Miscellaneous News Page 32
I. I/Cgislative Provisions in behalf of Consortiums for the Defence of Viticulture,
page 32. — 2. I^egislative Provisions in regard to the Constitution of Consor-
tiums of Proprietors for Defence against Plant Diseases, page 32. — 3. The
Number of Agricultural Co-operative and Mutual Societies in Italy, page 33. —
4. The Constitution of a Central Bank for the District of Brescia, page 35.
IV CONTENTS
PART II : INSURANCE AND THRIFT.
Belgium.
AGRICn-TURAL ACCIDENT INSURANCE IN BELGnTM by M. E. VHEBERGH, ProlCSSOr at the
University of Louvain Fa^e 37
§ I. The I,aw, page 37. — § 2. Practical Organization of Insurance, page 38. — ;-
§ 3. The Results of Experience, page 41.
PART III : CREDIT.
Germany
Recent Development of the Co-operative Institutes of lyAio) Credit for Rural
Holdings . Page 51
§ I. The Prussinn I,andschaften, page 53. — § 2. Co-operative I,and Credit Instit-
utes in Other States of fiemiany, page 61 .
Denmark.
The Situation OF THE Danish lyAND Credit Associations in 191 3 Pase 65
France.
Agricui>tural Produce Warrants Pa^e 69
PORTUGAI,.
Warrants in Portugal and the New Regulations with Regard to them . Pa^e 7}
§ I. A Glance at the lyegislation Anterior to the Decree of November, 7th., 1 913, page
73. — § 2. The Organisation of the Agricultural Warehouses in the Regul-
tions of November 7th., 191 3, page 75.
ROUMANIA.
Miscellaneous News Page 79
People's Banks, page 79.
Russia.
Popular Credit in Russia, by M. N. Scher6meteff, Inspector of Popular Credit at
Moscow Page 82
PART IV : MISCELLANEOUS.
Argentina.
Miscellaneous News Page 87
The Extension of Home Colonisation, page 87. — i. Bill for Agricultural Colon-
ization Presented by the Minister of Agriculture, the Hon. Senor Mujica
(July, 1913), page 88. — 2. A Colonisation l^aw for the Province of Cordoba,
page 90.
CONTENTS
Belgium.
Report of the '' Commission for the Cultivation of Waste I^antd ", and the
Measures Proposed for the Consider.4Tion of the Government . . . Pas,e 92
§ I. Origin and Office of the Commission, page 92. — § 2. The Area Uncultivated
in Belgium, page 93. — § 3. Proposals in Regard to the Road System and the
Regulation of Waters, page 94. — § 4. Conclusions and Proposals for the
Cultivation of Waste I^nd, page 95. — § 5. Conclusions and Proposals for the
Cultivation of Waste I^nd Belonging to Private Owners, page 96. — § 6. Society
for the Cultivation of Waste I^and, page 97.
France.
The Results of the Law on Undistrainahle Homesteads Pa?e 98
Great Britain and Ireland.
Small Holdings in Scotlan-d and the Effects of Recent Legislation regarding
them, by John M. Ramsay, Superintendent of Statistics and Intelligence, Board of
A '^riculture for Scotland Page 103
Introduction, page 103. — §1. The " Crofting Counties, " page 104. — § 2. The
Crofters' Holdings Act, 1886, page 105. — § 3. Work of the Crofters' Commiss-
ion, page 106. — § 4. The Congested Districts Boaid and its Work, page 108. —
§ 5. The Small Landholders Act, 1911, page no. — § 6. The Landholder, page
III. — § 7. The Statutory Small Tenants, page 112. — § 8. Preservation of
Existing Small Holdings, page iia. — § 9. Formation of New Holdings, page
113. — § 10. P;nlargement of Existing Holdings, page 114. — § 11. The Scot-
tish Land Court, page 114. — § 12. Work of the Land Court, page 115. — § 13.
The Board of Agriculture for Scotland, page 116. — § 14. Work of the Board
of Agriculture, page .17. — Conclusion, page 121.
Japan.
Fluctuations in Prices and Wages Page 122
Introduction, page 122. — §1. The Rice Market, page 125. — § 2. Fluctuations
in the Price of other Commodities, page 130. — §3. Fluctuations in Wages,
page 132. — § 4. Importance of the Fluctuations in Prices and Wages for the
Domestic Economy of Working Men's families, page 135.
Servia.
Small Rural Industries in Servia Page 138
§ I. Introduction, page 138. — § 2. General View of the Rural Industries of Servia,
page 139. — § 3. Orchard Cultivation, page 139. — § 4. Sericiculture, page 141.
— § 5. Livestock Improvement, page 142. — § 6. Tapestry Making, page 143.
Part I: Co-operation and Association
GERMANY.
MlSCELIvANEOUS NEWS.
I. — State aid to agrictjltural co-operation in the grand duchy
OF HESSE. — To help the agricultural co-operative societies struggling against
difficulties originating in the circumstances already dealt with by Dr. Gra-
bein in the December number of the Bulletin of Economic and Social Intel-
ligence, the Government of the Grand Duchy of Hesse has placed at their
disposal a rather considerable amount of money. A Government BiU, by
which the State grants the Central Bank of the Agricultural Co-operative
Societies of the Grand Duchy of Hesse {Zentralkasse der Jiessischen
landwirtschaftlichen Genossenschaften), recently founded at Darmstadt, a
loan of a million marks at 3 ^ %, redeemable in 20 years, has passed
through both Chambers of the Diet. Besides this, the State is opening
a credit to the above bank, of 2,000,000 marks at a rate of i % below
the rate of discount of the Imperial Bank, the minimum being fixed
at 4 %.
This loan is intended in the first instance for the assistance of co-oper-
ative societies in financial difficulties in consequence of the failure of the former
Agricultural Central Bank [Landwirtschaftliche Genossenschaftsbank) . but
with still enough vitaUty to be able to prosper, if sufficiently supported.
The loan must also serve to facilitate payment by the poorer members of
the additional calls on their shares, necessitated by losses due to the failure
of the Central Bank. The balance of the loan in this and future years will
be used to increase the working capital of the new Central Bank. Thus, all
the societies affiliated to the Central Bank will be benefited in some degree by
a reduction of the rate of interest.
As to the special conditions to which the grant of this State assistance
is subject, and above all with regard to the seciu^ity for the loan, an
GERMANY - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
agreement has been come to between the Government and the Central
Bank and approved by the Diet. The principal article in this agreement
is that the Central Bank must be subject to State supervision until the
loan has been completely repaid.
The powers of the State Commissioner appointed by Government to ex-
ercise this supervision are defined in the articles of the agreement. The Cen-
tral Bank will have complete freedom of action and will be entirely responsible
for the management. The State may intervene directly in the management
of the Bank only when the investment of the loan is concerned. In
all other instances, the State Commissioner ma3^ attend the meetings of
the executive bodies of the Central Bank, and speak without voting and
perform acts of general supervision, in accordance with the law on mortgage
banks, as far as they are affected.
The State assistance is not only and above all intended for the assistance
of the Central Bank, but indirectly for that of all the co-operative societies
afl&Hated to it. Thus the State Commissioner has the right personally to
inform himself with regard to the working of the societies benefiting by
the advantages derived from the State loan. For this purpose, he will
rely principally on the reports of the inspections carried out by the Feder-
ation of Agricultural Co-operative Societies of the Grand Duchy of Hesse.
He will also be authorized, in case of need, to obtain the information he
requires by means of enquiries held on the spot. He will have authority to
require that the faults he discovers be corrected and, if they are not, he
may submit a complaint to the competent authorities; in certain cases, he
may even demand the cancellation of the loan granted.
2. Reform of the rules of the central federation of German
AGRICULTURAL CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES. — The nineteenth Congress of
Agricultural Co-operation, held at Wiesbaden on July 17th. and i8th,,
1913, decided on the introduction of important changes in the organiz-
ation of the National Federation of German Agricultural Co-operative Soci-
eties. These changes, which came into force on September 20th., when the
new rules were entered in the register of the co-operative societies, at Darm-
stadt, were necessary on personal grounds and because the circumstances
required them.
The Federation, which just last year completed the thirtieth year of
its existence, had made extraordinary progress during the period. Although
the 12 Raiffeisen federations, with, in round numbers, 5,350 societies, with-
drew from it, in consequence of the cancellation of the agreement entered
into in 1905 between the National Federation of German Agricultural Co-
operative Societies and the General Federation of German Rural Co-oper-
ative Societies (Raiffeisen), on June 30th., 1913 the National Federation
MISCELLANEOUS NEWS
included 29 regional and provincial federations with 15,930 members. Almost
60 % of the whole number of German Agricultural Societies, 27.192 on June
ist., 1913, according to the Statistics of the Xational Federation, are there-
fore affiliated to the above federation. Except for the RaifEeisen Federations,
there is only a small number of national and provincial federations that do
not belong to this union.
In spite of the extraordinary^ progress made by the Federation, its
organization has remained always almost the same during these thirty years.
Certainly, some changes and important innovations have been introduced
into it, such as the formation of a Board of Management and Special Com-
mittees, in 1900, but the most important provisions of the original rules,
concerning representation, management and working, have, so to say, re-
mained the same. All these matters were in the hands of the business man-
ager, who, since 1913, bears the name of General Director {Generalanvalt)
and it may be said that the whole National Federation was concentrated
in him. This system certainly presented great advantages, above all
as long as the principal task of the National Federation was the formation
of the German agricultural co-operative organization, and as long as it
had at its head a man of extraordinary organizing talent, such as the
late General Director Haas.
But now that the National Federation includes some i6,ooci societies and
their federations are firmly constituted, we may say that the organization
period is passed. It is now necessary to consolidate the existing institutions,
effectively apply the co-operative principles universally recognised, and cause
the rural population to be penetrated by the real spirit of co-operation.
This is a task both important and necessary to accomplish, as is
shown, by the recent events that have occurred in the Grand Duchy
of Hesse, v\ here negligence in the application of fundamental principles
has led to a serious crisis in agricultural co-operation (i). To prevent the
repetition of such errors, as Dr. Havenstein, Manager of the Federation of
the Agricultural Co-operative Societies of Rhenish Prussia, said so well
at the General Congress, the most Uvely sentiment of responsibiUty and duty
must reign ever>'^\'here, as a check to any temptation to lose sight of the real
object of the co-operative society and involve it in dangerous speculation.
The sentiment of responsibility and duty is obscured and declines where
everything is concentrated in the hands of one person whom all follow
blindly. Very serious loss may result from this, for a single individual
is more easily a victim of error than a group. The changes that have now
been introduced into the rules are the result of tendencies that have existed
for years within the National Federation.
The desire was in this way to change the personal system \ip to the pre-
sent existing into a real system of self government. Although it is but a
Httle while, since the death of the former general direc^ or, this is only the
(i) Cfr. the preceding article, and that by Dr. Grabein in the Bulletin of Economic
and Socml Intelligence, December, 191 3.
GERMANY - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
realisation of initiatives already discussed by the Board of Management and
in the General Committee, and even formulated as really definite proposals
in the latter months of the life of Wilhelm Haas and with his approval.
The General Congress unanimously approved the proposals of the
Board of Management and the General Committee, without the intro-
duction of any amendments. The most important of these proposals are
the following :
By the new rules, the executive authorities of the National Federation
are : the General Congress, the General Committee, the Board of Manage-
ment, the Director and the Special Committees.
The Director {Anwalt) shall be an employee paid by the National Feder-
ation and be subject to the supervision of the Board of Management. He
shall no longer be appointed by the General Congress, but by the General
Committee, on the proposal of the Board of Management. In the conduct
of the business of the National Federation, he must conform to the rules, the
business regulations and the contract in accordance with which he is appoint-
ed. Thus, his position is considerably changed. From being an independent
head, as was the former General Director, who, as President of the National
Federation, of the Board of Management and of the General Committee, con-
centrated in his own hands all the powers of the Federation, he has now
become a dependent employee.
The provisions regarding the composition and powers of the Board of
Management {V erwaltumisrat) have imdergone a similar change. According
to the old rules, the board only acted as permanent adviser to the General Di-
rector. Now, on the other hand, it will supervise the whole conduct of the
business of the National Federation, and in this way also the action of the
Director. Besides this, it has been established that the Director may indeed
be a member of the Board of Management, and the General Committee, but
may not be president of either. The central management of the National
Federation is entrusted to the Board of Management, the president of which
must also represent the Federation.
The powers of the General Committee (Gesamtausschuss) have also been
considerabh^ extended. It appoints its own president and two vice-presidents,
chosen from among the managers of the affiliated provincial federations. The
same persons are at the same time presidents of the Board of Management
and of the General Congress. In addition, the General Committee appoints
three other members of the Boards of Management and their three deputies,
who, when necessary, are in\'ited to attend the meetings.
The provisions relating to the Special Committees (Sondetausschusse),
existing for co-operative credit, co-operative purchase and sale of goods,
and co-operative dairies have been changed and the powers of these com-
mittees considerably enlarged. First of all, every committed has a right to
appoint its own president, whilst formerly the president was the General
Director or his deputy. No^v the Director can only speak at the meetings
and not vote. The numbers of the members of the Special Committees
has also been increased, for now, not only may the central co-operative
societies of the particular class of business be represented, but also every
MISCELLANEOUS NEWS
federation. The duty of the Committees is to discuss matters of common
interest in relation to their class of business, and to make proposals to
the General Congress in connection therewith. All the decisions of the
Committees must be approved by the General Committee.
No important changes hav^e been introduced in the provisions relating
to the General Congress of members of the National Federation {DeutscJier
landxvirtschaftlicher Genossenscha/fstu''). which generally meets each year.
In addition, it was decided to transfer the head quarters of the National
Federation from Darmstadt to BerUn, and this was done on October, 1913.
Conformably with the ne\^ rules, the competent authorities have ap-
pointed as President of the General Committee and consequently of the Board
of Management, Herr Johannsen, Landesokonomierat, of Hanover, for-
merly Vice-General Director ; as first vice-president, Herr von Brockhausen,
of Stettin, Landrat ; as second Vice-president, Baron von Freyberg-Eiseu-
berg, of Zetzendorf . Herr Gennes, lyCgal General Secretary in office, has been
appointed Director (Anwalt).
*
* *
3. — The .\dvisabiliTy of the co-operative viticultural societies
(winzergenossenschaften) selling their wdce by auction. — In an
article in the Rheinisches Genossenschaftshlatt, summarised by the Deutsche
Genossenschaftspresse of December 15th., 1913, p. 523, the advantages
of the sale of wine bj^ auction both for the farmers and the trade is
discussed. It is said there that the viticultural co-operative societies
(Winzervereine) , considering their sales, have not obtained as good prices
as the large viticulturists, as will be seen when comparison is made of
the results obtained by the latter by means of sale at auction and the
prices reahsed by the societies.
Jhe average prices der Fuder (1,017 litres) were as follows:
Prices Realised
Sales by Auction by 12 Co-operative Societies
at Treves of the Motelle
— and the Saar
Mks.
Mks.
1900
190 1
1903
1904
1905
1906
1907
1908
1909
I9IO
average for lo years 1.849
2,911
470
946
541
940
501
3,418
690
1,866
625
1^959
745
1,189
621
2,096
599
1,626
594
1,549
946
633
•■.<'■'
GERMANY - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
From these figmes we see that in 1900, 1904 and 1908, which were good
years, the sales by auction gave good prices, whilst the co-operative viti-
culturists' societies did not succeed in reaUsing equal amounts. What
is above all surprising is the enormous difference between the prices real-
ised, neither to be explained by the better position and cultivation of the
vineyards, nor by a better treatment of the wine. In fact, the owners of
small and medium sized vineyards, possess land in the best positions and
the grapes are selected with as much care by members of co-operative so-
cieties as by large proprietors. It is inferred from this, that sale by auction
is a good method to employ to increase prices, so that the viticultural co-
operative societies should be advised to vmite to form societies for the sale
of wine bv auction.
DENMARK.
RECENT PROGRESS
OF THE CO-OPERATIVE DISTRIBUTIVE ASSOCIATIONS (i).
With reference to the detailed account published by us in the number
of this Bulletin for September, 1911, on the development and situation of
the Danish co-operative distributive societies, we shall give below the es-
sential results of the work of the Common Union of these co-operative so-
cieties in the year 1912, (the corresponding information for the year 1911
is pubUshed in our number for September, 1912).
On December 31st., 1911, 1,286 associations (2) or almost all those exist-
ing in Denmark, belonged to the Common Union. The number of their mem-
bers was 181,326.
A year later, on December 31st., 1912, 23 other associations had united
with these. It will be seen from the following few figures, what advance
this movement has made since 1896.
Number Total
1896
1903
1905
I9IO
I9II
I9I2
Their reserve funds, which on December 31st., 1910 amounted to
2,775,000 crowns, on December 31st., 1911 amounted to 3,250,000 crowns
and on December 31st, 1912 to 3,657,000 crs.
The Common Union is not exclusively engaged in commerce ; the atten-
tion it gives to industry is fairly considerable. The following table gives
an idea of the importance of the business operations of its various de-
partments :
(i) These notes have been forwarded to us by our Copenhagen Correspondent.
(2) Figures given by the Common Union. These figures do not quite correspond with
the resuUs of the census of 1910 {Statistixk Aarbog, 1912. p. 136) owing merely to a differ-
ent standard being taken.
of Associations
Business Done
AffiUated
in MiUioDS
to the Uuion
of Crowns
310
4.2
852
19.8
1,029
26.3
1.259
46.1
1,286
^8.8
1.309
55-5
DENMARK - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
Commercial Activity.
Total Opeiations in Millions of Crowns
1912
1911 1910
1909
Colonial Produce Department
Manufacturing »
Implements »
Seed »
Timber »
Wine 0
Heavy Goods »
Cycles »
38.95
3 96
3-21
2.40
0.18
0.23
0.27
0.14
34-"5
3-57
2.92
2.13
0.13
0.21
0.22
0.09
32.84
3.00
2.02
2.17
0.15
0.19
0.22
015
29.90
2.68
2.37
175
0.14
0.20
0.21
0.16
Total . . .
49-34
4332
4134
37-61
Industrial Activity.
Coffee Roasting
Chocolate Making
Sugar Refining
Tobacco and Cigar Factory ....
Rope Making
Soap Making
Technical Chemical P'actory
Knitted Goods Factory
Spice Milling
Tea Department
Total
Total Operations in Millions of Crowns
2.49
0-53
0.27
0.70
0-43
0-93
0.24
0.13
0.28
0.15
6.15
1911
2.14
0.47
0.23
0.64
0.36
0.90
0.22
0.13
0.25
0.14
5.48
1.76
0.44
0.22
0-57
0.34
0.81
0.20
0.09
0.23
0.14
4.80
1-57
0-39
0.19
0.52
0-34
0-73
0.17
0.08
0.19
0.13
4.31
As we see, there was an increase in the amount of business in every de-
partment in 1912, and the profits, which in 1911 were 2,706,000, crs. , amounted
in 1912 to 2,846,000 crs., or 140,000 crs. more. But, in comparison with the
total business done, the profits were less in 1912 than in 1911, owing to the
prices being less favourable. And in 191 2 the associations belonging to
R ECENT PROGRESS OF TH>: CO-OPERATIVE DISTRIBUTIVE ASSOCIATIONS 9
the Union only received 5 14 % on the 38,565,000 crs. (amount of purchases
giving right to dividends), whereas in 1911 they received 6 %.
Finally, we reproduce the balance sheets of the Union for January
ist., 1911, 1912 and 1913.
Balance Sheet of the Common Union.
Credits.
Millions of Crowns
1913
1912
1911
Stock of Goods
Cash
6.23
0.05
0.39
3.51
8.44
5-99
0.05
0.27
315
7.60
505
0.06
Fixtures
I<and
0.38
313
6.62
Various Debtors
Total . . .
18.62
17.06
1524
Debits.
Co-operative Account
Reserve Funds Account
Dividend Account
I,oans Account
Insurance Account (against Fall in Prices) . .
Depreciation of Value of Buildings
Insiuance Account (Seed)
Insurance Account
Renewals
L,oans on Eand
Various Creditors
Balance from Previous Year
Net Credit Balance
Total
Millions of Crowns
0.77
3-66
0.20
2.91
0.20
2.50
0.07
o.io
0.50
1-34
3-49
0,03
285
18.62
0.76
325
0.16
2.77
0.20
2.25
0.07
0.10
1-35
336
o.oS
2.71
17.06
0.68
2.78
0.15
2,63
0.20
2.00
0.07
G.IO
r-37
2.87
0.04
2-35
15-24
UNITED STATES.
I. THE CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENT IN WISCONSIN.
SOURCES :
Report Upon Co-operation' and Marketing. Part I, AGRictn-TcrRAi, Co-operation.
Wipcoasin State Board of Public Affairs. Madisoii, Wis. 1912.
Campbell, (R. A.): Co-operation iv Wisconsin. American Review of Reviews. Vol. XI, VII,
No. 4, 1913.
Powell, (G. H.): Co-operation in Agriculture. New York: The Macinillan Co., 1913,
Williams, (A. W.) : A Plan for a Co-oper.ative Neighbourhood. Winsconsin State Board
of Public Affairs. Madison, Wis. 1912.
§ I. Early co-operative schemes.
Before examining the present-day development of co-operation in
Wisconsin it will be interesting to glance at the history of two earlier
attempts at co-operation, widely different from each other and from any
form of agricultural co-operation which exists to-day in the State.
The Wisconsin Phalanx.
The first of these is a co-operative community known as the Wisconsin
Phalanx, founded in 1844 by enthusiastic disciples of Fourier, which existed
for a period of six years, and was the most successful of the many Fourierist
communities founded in America between 1840 and 1850.
The colony purchased from the Federal government 1,700 acres of good
land near where the village of Ripon now stands, and took possession of it
in May, 1844.
The first year was one of hardship and privation, but from the begin-
ning the Colony was a financial success, and at its voluntary dissolution
in 1850 was paying 8 per cent, to capital, and pro viding every member with a
comfortable living. Each year the property was appraised, and one-fourth
of the ascertained profits given to capital, the remaining three-fourths being
distributed among the members according to their hours of labour as regis-
tered in the books. There was a common dining-room where the majority
THE CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENT IN WISCONSIN II
took their meals, though members who preferred to do so could eat in their
own apartments. Each member was charged board and lodgings at cost
price, which never exceeded 75 cents per week. Though the community
was a small one comprising only about 180 persons belonging for the most
part to the working classes, it was not without its men of ability. Three of
its members were State Senators one of whom was a candidate for the
Governorship.
More than thirty co-operative communities were founded in the United
States within a few years of the founding of the Wisconsin Phalanx. Each
venture in turn came to an untimely end, ascribing its failure to debt, or
poor land, or sickness, or to litigation over property rights, disputes over
leadership, or religious dissention. The Wisconsin Phalanx had none of
these difficulties to contend with ; yet it failed with the rest. Noyes, in
his History of Americaii Socialisms, concludes that the verdict must be that
it " died by deliberate suicide, for reasons not fully disclosed. "
The history of the Phalanx is instructive in view of the fact that we
shall presently be examining a modern scheme for a co-operative neigh-
bourhood, and we shall thus be able to see how far, and in what direction,
the co-operative idea has travelled since 1850.
The Purchasing Agent System.
The first real attempt at co-operation among Wisconsin farmers was
the Grange organization for co-operative purchase through appointed
State agents. From about 1870 to 1877 the National Grange devoted most
of its energy to the formation of these purchasing agencies, and these years
cover both a sudden rise to power and an equall}^ sudden decline of the
Grange as a national organization. In each State the subordinate Granges
combined to support an agent who assembled the orders of the local asso-
ciations and bought wholesale, in carload lots whenever possible, from the
manufacturers who offered the best terms. Staple supplies for the farm and
the home — - wood, oil, nails, wire, tea, coffee and sugar — ■ were bought in
this way at a substantial saving to members. The number of members in
Wisconsin and the value of the orders placed for the six 3'ears from 1875
to 1880 were as follows :
Year Number of Members Value of Orders
1875 18,653 $ 38,194
1876 18,427 115,882
1877 17,640 164,445
1878 7,093 86,391
1879 5>5^'6 61,334
1880 4.651 55.560
12 UNITED STATES - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
In 1878. as we see, the amount of business done, compared with the
previous year, diminished by one-half ; and the number of members fell
from 17,000 to 7,000. In practically every State the scheme was unfort-
unate, and in 1877 the >7ational Grange had, in fact, issued the following
recommendation relative to state purchasing agencies : ' ' There have been
more failures than successes; ... we advise the discontinuance of any
now in existence ". The scheme certainly did not give satisfaction in
Wisconsin, and the complaints seem to have related chiefly to the unsatis-
factory quality of the goods supplied, the delay in executing orders, the
smallness of the saving effected, and the requirement of cash payment with
the order.
The Agent, in a letter to the vState Bureau of Labour, written in 1885,
said : ' ' The saving to patrons naturally varies according to the advantages
in their own local market. We are able to save them 25 per cent, on many
things. ... I-'armers use this agency as a bureau of information more than
anything else. . . . Perhaps out of ten inquiries we get one order. The
information imparted in the other nine out of ten letters is used to enable
the correspondent to buy more intelligently and to better advantage at
home.
The real reason for failure seems to have been, that those who had most
need to save could not pay cash, and enjo3^ed credit only with the local
traders, while the farmers in a position to pay promptly preferred to buy
locally, with the advantage of seeing the goods before buying and the added
convenience of immediate delivery.
The Wisconsin agency was still doing business in Milwankee in 1886,
and was still, apparently, furnishing useful information to farmers with
little profit to itself.
§ 2. Present day co-oper.\tion.
In Wisconsin at the present da}^ agricultural co-operation is relativel}'-
highly developed. Practical^ every form of co-operation, except co-op-
erative credit, is represented, and the exception is one which would have to
be made for every State in the Union. Propagandist institutions, public
and private, work well together, and Wisconsin is one of the few States
which have passed special acts deaUng with co-operative societies. Many
different forms of co-operative enterprise have been initiated independently
and have achieved success, each on its merits, and without the guidance of
any central institution. But is is now recognized that further progress
depends largely on the successful centralization of available forces, on the
federation of independent societies and the creation of joint associations
for propaganda and instruction. This awakening to the present-day needs
of the movement is without doubt due, in no small measure, to the influence
of Sir Horace Plunkett w^ho has twice addressed the State IvCgislature and
THE CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENT IN WISCONSIN 13
has held conferences with the Governor, the President of the University
and the Dean of the College of Agriculture. The Governor in his message
to the Legislature of 191 3. strongly urged the introduction of co-operative
rural credit and the creation of a central organization to assist and in-
struct legitimate co-operative associations.
(A)' Organizations for Propaganda and Instruction.
T^^•o voluntary associations — the American Society of Equity and the
Right Relationship League — are responsible for the initiation of many
of the existing co-operative enterprises. The Right Relationship League
which now has its headquarters in MinneapoHs confines its efforts to organiz-
ing and supervising co-operative distributive stores. In return for its services
in organizing local societies the League receives a commission of one dollar
per shareholder, and in some cases, for ser\nces rendered in connection with
the actual business of the store, it receives a small commission on the sales. It
undertakes the periodical audit of the books at a moderate fee and, in the
interests of the movement publishes a monthly journal entitled Co-oper-
ation. The League, however, accepts no financial responsibility in con-
nection with any local society: it is an independent association, not a fede-
ration or union.
The co-operative store movement has developed almost esclusively in
the coimtrj' districts. There are at present some 40 co-operative distrib-
utive stores in Wisconsin, all established within recent years, and very few
of them are in towns of any size.
Between 1870 and 1880 the Grange established distributive stores at
various points in Wisconsin, notably at Brandon, Brodhead and Milwaukee.
These were nearly all short-lived, and without doubt the chief reason for
their failure was the lack of expert supervision and the absence of a satis-
factory central organization. The Right Relationship League furnishes
just such an organization, and the movement seems to have entered on a
new and more successful phase.
The American Society of Equity confines its activities to instruction
and propaganda, more particularly in connection with co-operative methods
of marketing farm produce. Directly or indirectly it is responsible for
much of the co-operative spirit and activity in Wisconsin, and has been
instrumental in promoting the establishment of co-operative elevators,
creameries, and associations for purchase and sale. Branches of the Society
were founded in Wisconsin in 1903. and the Wisconsin State Union was
formed in January, 1906. In t()09 the Union founded a State paper under
the title of the Wisconsin Enquity News. In 1912 the Society had over
10,000 members in Wisconsin.
The passage of the Wisconsin Co-operative Act (Chap. 368, Laws
of 1911) was secured by the combined efforts of the Society of Equity and
the Right Relationship League, and a working agreement between the two
associations was signed in May, 1912.
14 UNITED STATES - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
The work of the State College of Agriculture is a factor of considerable
importance in the progress of agricultural co-operation and niral organiz-
ation in general. The College, through its Extension Division, is studj-ing
problems of marketing, and, at the suggestion of the State Board of Public
Affairs, has estabhshed a professorship of agricultural co-operation and
marketing.
The State Dairymen's Association, a semi-public organization partly
supported by State funds, takes an active part in promoting co-operation
by organizing and managing cow-testing associations. At the present time
the Association is testing about five thousand cows for quahty and quantity
of milk produced, a w^ork of immense importance to the agricultural pros-
perity of the State, which depends to a very large extent on its production
of butter and cheese.
The State Board of Public Affairs is doing valuable work in carrying out
investigations in connection with co-operative marketing, rural credit and
allied questions. Though only recently established it has already published
the results of more than one important enquiry.
(B). Co-opeyative Societies and Associations.
Until 1911 no special legislation affecting co-operative societies existed
in Wisconsin, and a very large number of the existing societies, therefore,
are either registered as ordinary companies with shares or are unregistered
and have no definite legal status. The absence of special legislation does
not appear to have proved a serious handicap to the success of any well-
directed co-operative enterprise, but the passing of a special Act in 1911
enables the societies to escape from their somewhat doubtful legal pos-
ition, and will lead to the better organization of the co-operative
movement.
The branch of agricultural co-operation most characteristic of Wiscon-
sin and the North Central States generally is the co-operative creamery or
cheese factory, and it will be convenient, therefore to refer to this form of
co-operative enterprise first.
I. — Creameries and Cheese Factories.
In 1909, according to the figures of the State Board of PubUc Affairs,
the year's production of milk, butter and cheese in Wisconsin was valued at
79 million dollars, so that the question of co-operation in the dairy industry
is of outstanding importance. The official returns for 1911 give the number
of co-operative creameries in the State as 947 out of a total for all cream-
eries of 1,000, and the number of co-operative cheese factories as 244 out
of 1,784. According to these figures about one-fifth of the existing machi-
nery for centralized production is co-operatively owned.
THE CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENT IN WISCONSIN 1 5
The existing societies are varioush' and somewhat loosely organized,
and there is no strict definition of what constitutes a co-operative society.
Many of them are vaguely described as managed " on co-operative lines ",
and it is evident that the lines are not very strictly drawn. And their
management, purely as business enterprises, must be considered in relat-
ion to the fact that they are, or purport to be, co-operative undertakings.
From an enqtiiry made by the State Board of Public AfPairs and cover-
ing 169 co-operative creameries it appears that in nearly half of the societies
the voting is by shares. Fev*- of the societies make any attempt to increase
their working capital by adding to it out of the profits earned, and only a
very small proportion of them pro\dde for depreciation.
In the actual working of the creameries, while most of the societies
aim at securing a high standard of freshness and purity in the milk suppUed,
less than half of them use the butter- fat test. Apparently no steps are
taken by creamery^ societies to built up uniform herds of any particular
dairy breed. Only 7 per cent, of the societies reported that they had taken
com.bined action with other societies to secure higher prices and lower
freight rates. Conditions are almost precisely similar in co-operative cheese
factories. There is. among them, the same failure to strengthen their
financial position by saving out of the profits of each year, and in the work-
ing, there is the same neglect of the butter-fat test.
The co-operative creameries have to meet the keen competition of pri-
vate companies owning central creameries which are supplied ^vith cream
from a large number of skimming stations scattered over a wide territory.
The skimming stations may be from five hundred to seven hundred and
fifty miles from the factory, which is able, therefore, to draw supplies from
three or four States. The cream is usuallj^ shipped in refrigerator cars.
The farmers deliver the milk and receive payment at the skimming .stations
and have, as a rule, no further interest in the business. The creamery com-
panies employ highly- skilled butter makers and experienced business
managers, and with an average annual output for the largest creameries of
from fifteen to twenty thousand tons of butter, are able to build up a well
organized marketing system. They are at a disadvantage compared with
the farmers' co-operative creamery as to the quahty of the cream with
which they have to deal, as this reaches the <^entral factory in a very mixed
condition and it is difficult tmder these circumstances to produce a uniform
grade of butter.
With reference to the farmers' co-operative creameries in the Xorth
Central States generally, Mr Harold G. Powell says : " The most serious
weakness in the co-operative creamery movement is the fact that each
creamery usually acts as a unit in the manufacture of butter, in the
purchase of supplies, in the development of markets and in the distri-
bution and sale of its products. The co-operative creameries, like
the North Western apple-grower's associations, need to create a number
of central co-operative agencies, one, for example for each State or other
large geographical di\nsion. to act for them at cost in purchasing supplies
l6 UNITED STATES - CO-OPERATIOX AND ASSOCIATION
and in the distribution and sale of their products. In no other way can
the situation in either case be met effectively".
2. — Coiij-tcsting Associations.
In May, 1912, there were in Wisconsin 11 cow-testing associations with
287 members and 4,465 cows under test. The members contribute one
dollar for each cow tested and the State makes an appropriation of $ 3,000
a year to the Wisconsin Dairymen's Association which employs a Superin-
tendent to organize the societies and supervise their working. The Superin-
tendent trains men as testers, and, unfortunately, the training of new men
to replace those who leave to take up other occupations, occupies much of
his time and impedes the work of organizing associations.
A tester visits each herd once a month and tests and weighs the milk
produced by each animal. From the days' results he calculates the pro-
duction of milk and of butter-fat for the month. The Dairymen's Asso-
ciation keeps full year records of each herd under its supervision, and is
thus able to assist each owner in eliminating unprofitable cows, and to
advise him as to breeding suitable strains from selected animals.
The efforts of the Association have met with results which at first
sight appear somewhat discouraging. During the first six years of the Asso-
ciation's work, from 1905 to 191 1, 1,452 dairymen joined in the work and
17,548 cows completed a year's record. As there were only 287 members
of cow-testing associations in 1912, many dairymen after joining the move-
ment must have deserted it. Many owners, in fact, after the first testing
of their herds, found that so many of their cows were unprofitable that it
was useless to continue testing until practically the whole herd had been
renewed. They discontinued their subscriptions for a time with the in-
tention of beginning testing again with improved herds. Others, finding
the records of their animals low, discountinued testing because they were
afraid the poor records would prejudice their chances of selling animals
out of the herd.
The real reason, however, for the slow development of this form of
co-operation probably lies in the fact that the farmers in the State are not
yet convinced of the utility of the testing system. It takes a number of
years to effect a marked improvement in a herd, but as results will be more
clearly demonstrable year by year, it is more than probable that the num-
ber of testing associations will increase steadily if not rapidly.
3. — Co-operative Elevators and Warehouses.
In 1911 there were 38 farmers' co-operative elevators in Wisconsin.
This is relatively a small number as there were then 327 in Iowa, 315 in
North Dakota and 266 in Minnesota, but the amount of grain grown in
Wisconsin is small compared with the amount grown in those States.
THE CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENT IN WISCONSIN 17
The farmers established co-operative elevators to escape from the un-
fair conditions dictated b}^ the monopolistic combines which secured control
of most of the existing elevators about the year 1900. These combines —
the " line " companies as they are called — are said to have practised every
known form of discrimination with the object of crushing competition.
They were seconded by the railways which gave the combines rebates on
freight and impeded in a variety of ways the business of the indepen-
dent dealers. Farmers began to build co-operative elevators abou.t igoo and
in spite of fierce opposition from the combines and the railwaj's, nearly
1,700 co-operative elevators had been established in the United States
by 1911.
The farmers' associations owning or leasing these elevators are gener-
ally organized as companies under the ordinary company laws of the vState.
but a member's holding of shares is limited, and in some cases each member
has one vote irrespective of the number of shares he may hold. The amount
of capital subscribed varies from $ 2,500 to $ 20,000 in shares of from $ 10
to $ TOO nominal value. The members, who are always grain-growers,
are under contract to sell to the association, though they may sell to a dealer
who offers a higher price on condition that they pay over a portion of the
enhanced price to the association; and as long as this condition is lo3''ally
fulfilled a competitor who outbids the association with the idea of cnishing
it is, in fact, contributing to its support. Any surplus on the season's work-
ing is distributed among the members, either as dividend on shares or on
the basis of their sales to the association. Where competition is keen a
co-operative association does not attempt to make profits, but is content to
cover operating expenses alone, and can thus pay prices for grain which
enable it to hold its own against any outside trader or capitalistic company.
Co-operative warehouses for the storage and sale of potatoes have been
established in Wisconsin ver}- much on the lines of the co-operative
elevators. Their organization is not promoted by any central association;
one community adopts the idea from another which has made a success
of the venture, and the movement grows steadily. In 191 1 there were
potato warehouses at more than 20 points in the State, and there were a
few co-operative warehouses for the storage and sale of tobacco. Most of
these warehouse associations act as general purchasing agencies in the matter
of farm supplies for their members.
4. — Livestock Shippers' Associations.
Though livestock breeders' associations are numerous in Wisconsin,
associations for the co-operative sale of livestock, which might be expected
to work effectively in connection with breeders' associations, are as yet few
in number. Within the last four years, however, livestock shipping asso-
ciations have been formed at some fifteen or twenty points in the State.
The associations aim at eliminating the local buyers who make large pro-
fits on the operation of buxang from the farmers, and re-selling in the great
l8 UNITED STATES - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
central markets. The farmers have now found that by combining to pay
a manager and ship their own stock in carload lots, they can effect large
savings. Such an association needs practically no capital: success depends
chiefly on correct book-keeping and on the regular despatch of well-graded
shipments to market. In the neighbouring state of Minnesota where this
form of co-operation is more widely developed, a central association has
already been formed to promote the formation of new societies and study
the question of better methods for the adoption of the local societies. In
Wisconsin, which like Minnesota is one of the important livestock prod-
ucing states, the movement is capable of immense development.
5. — Fruit Growers' Associations.
The oldest fruit growers' association in Wisconsin is the Sparta Fruit
Growers' Association, formed in May, 1896. Starting with 75 members
it proved very successful and has now a membership of 285 and a capital
of $6,oo'j.
In 1911 it sold fruit, chiefly strawberries, to .the value of $30,000.
So far the method adopted has been to sell through commission men who
charge the association 7 per cent, on gross sales.
Other co-operative selling associations in the State are the Door County
Fruit Exchange, the Bayfield Peninsula Fruit Association, and the Wiscon-
sin Cranberry Sales Company.
The Cranberry Sales Company, though it has only forty members
throughout the State, is ver^^ strongl}^ organized, and is a branch of the
American Cranberry Exchange, which is responsible for marketing practi-
cally the whole of the United States cranberry crop. During the season
of 1911 the Wisconsin Cranberry Sales Company sold 90 percent, of the total
crop, amounting to 33,000 barrels of fruit, through the Exchange, at a price
which yielded the growers just over $ 6 a barrel. The Exchange remits
80 per cent, of the receipts frcm each sale to the Company, retaining 20 per
cent, until the end of the season when the whole amount, less operating
expenses and a small contribution to a sinking fund, is handed over to the
company. Operating expenses, from season to season, amount only to
from one-tenth to one-eighth of the gross receipts — a remarkably good
record in the marketing of perishable fruit.
6. — Mutual Telephone Associations.
In 1912 there were in the State 309 mutual telephone associations
known to the Railroad Rate Commission, but as only those associations
which charge a rate to non-members are compelled to furnish reports, the
figures are probably incomplete.
These 309 associations were serving 21,049 ^i-^ral families, giving an
average of 68 members to each association. Most of the associations are
THE CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENT IN WISCONSIN 1 9
registered companies which have grown out of the combination of several
groups of farmers each of which groups owned a small telephone system
constructed as a rule by the farmers themselves. When the territory of
one group began to overlap the territory of the others, a registered company
was formed to solve the question of fixing rates to cover the cost of main-
tainance and repairs. The reports show, however, that there is need for a
better system of audit and for a more satisfactory organization providing
for the charging of a rent to all subscribers, sufficient to pay working ex-
penses and taxes, and provide for depreciation. At present expenses are
usually met by the unsatisfactory device of assessing the members for each
new expenditure, as the necessity arises.
§ 3. A SUGGESTED PLAN FOR CO-OPERATIVE COI.ONIZATIOK.
Wisconsin has vast tracts of cleared timber land, amounting in area to
over 10 million acres, which the Government is desirous of converting into
farm land. The problem of attracting settlers, however, is a difficult one
in view of the fact that much more attractive land is being ofEered to pros-
pective settlers, both in other parts of the United States and in Canada.
A scheme has been presented to the State Board of Public Affairs
which proposes to solve the problem by the formation of co-operative colon-
ization associations. These associations, it is contemplated, would acquire
land at the minimum uninproved price and sell it in suitable farm lots to
settlers, devoting the whole of the profits to a common fund for the impro-
vement of the land in question and the promotion of schemes for the econ-
omic and social betterment of the communities settled upon it.
An association would be co-operative only with respect to the funds
created out of the profits arising from the sale of the land. Each settler
would own his holding; rent, mortgage or sell it as he saw fit ; and would
be under no compulsion to subscribe to the constitution of the association,
though by so doing he would have the right to participate in all the benefits
of the common fund.
Before any association could be formed, its promoters woiUd be required
to prove that the land was suitable for agriculture, that they had acquired
it at a fair price and that they possess a clear unquestionable title. They
would further be required to convey the title to a trustee, or trustees, nomi-
nated by the State Board of Public Affairs, and to guarantee that all the
facts relating to the purchase and sale of the land will be made public. The
scheme further provides that both the treasurer and the manager of an
approved association would be nominated by the State Board of Public
.\ffairs. An association would be empowered to invest its capital in income
producing property for the use of the community, and to devote the profits
arising out of such investment, to carr\dng out schemes of general social
welfare.
20 UNITED STATES - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
The proposed scheme has certain social features, but no rules are laid
down for the conduct of affairs purely social The two clauses following,
which form part of the proposed model constitution, show the spirit in
which the whole scheme is conceived: "The policy of publicity will
acquaint the members with the personal afiairs of one another to a very
large extent ; it is the purpose of the association to make use of that know-
ledge to the advantage of all in checking waste and promoting eflficiency,
and to that end the executive board and standing committees shall study
the causes of failure on the part of any member and procure for him expert
advice and assistance.
" The fact that this is a co-operative enterprise must never be lost
sight of, and it can only flourish by the united efforts of all its members,
each freely performing according to his ability, the various duties which
devolve upon him. "
The scheme is intended in the first place to solve the question of utiliz-
ing the cleared timber areas by converting them into farm land. The suc-
cess of capitalistic colonization enterprises proves that similar development
schemes are capable of yielding large profits ; and though co-operative ven-
tures have not been as a rule equally successful, the Wisconsin plan, as
here outlined, seems to be usually well safeguarded by the provision made
for the effective control of associations through the State Board of Public
Affairs. There is a guarantee that any project for co-operative coloniz-
ation before being launched will have been critically examined by persons
whose sole interest will be to ensure its permanent success, and that, after
being launched, the conduct of its affairs will be jealously supervised by the
same persons. This responsibility of each association to a central controll-
ing authority is the characteristic and most significant feature of the whole
scheme.
MISCELLANEOUS NEWS 21
2. MISCELIyANEOUS NEWvS.
I. — The CALIFORNIA FRUIT GROWERS' EXCHANGE. — The report
of the Secretary for the year ending Aiigust 31, 191 3, show that this Ex-
change has strenghened its position in the CaUfornia citrus-fruit industry
in spite of the fact that the season under review had threatened to prove
disastrous to the growers.
In the autumn of 1912 the Exchange made detailed arrangements for
marketing the new crop, estimating that it would be called upon to ship
34,000 carloads or over 13 million boxes of fruit. Destructive winds and a
sudden spell of cold weather caused widespread damage to the crop, with
the result that the Fruit Growers' Exchange actually sold, in round num-
bers, only 5 million boxes, or about 38 per cent, of the nmnber estimated.
Nevertheless the Exchange sold 65.5 per cent, of all the citrus fruit shipped
from CaUfornia during the year, this forming the highest proportion of the
total crop which it has ever handled. The proportion has increased
steadily from 47 per cent, in 1905.
As a result of the short crop good prices were obtained, the average
price per box for all fruit sold by the Exchange being $ 2.75, which is 5
per cent, higher than the average for the preceding eight years. In spite
of the fact that for a time the market was totally disorganized by exagger-
ated reports of crop destruction, and by the operations of speculative deal-
ers, the losses suffered by the Exchange were insignificant, amounting,
from bad debts and all other causes, to only $ 390. The presence of a
large proportion of frosted fruit made the work of grading extremely dif-
ficult, and huge losses and complete disorganization were only avoided by
the rigid supennsion exercised by the local associations over all packing
operations, and by the excellent selling arrangements of the Exchange
itself.
The cost of maintaining the Exchange during the j-ear 1912-1913
amounted to 7 % cents per box for all citrus fruits, an amount equal to 2
per cent, of the gross sales. These figures cover all the expenses of the
central Exchange — the cost of conducting an advertising campaign,
legal expenses, and contributions to the Citrus Protective League included.
Adding the cost of maintaining the district exchanges, which in 1912-13 was
1.3 cents per box, the total cost of marketing to the growers was less than
2 "/g per cent, of the gross sales, or 3.13 per cent, of the net receipts at the
sliipping point.
According to the report of the secretary of the Exchange this is the
lowest marketing cost for any agricultural product in the United States.
The average cost of marketing citrus fruits rarely falls below 5 per cent.,
22 UNITED STATES - CO-OPEKATIOX AND ASSOCIATION
and is more often 7 or 8 per cent., while the average cost to the American
farmer of marketing his produce is probabh' not less than 10 and is fre-
qiienth' as high as 25 per cent.
(Summaiise 1 from the CaU/ornia Cultivator. IvOS Angeles. Sejitember 4, 1913)-
2. — A BII.I, FOR THE ESTABUSHMEKT OF A CO-OPERATIVE I^AND
BANK IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK. — Senate Bill 1,693, at present under
consideration in the New York legislature, proposes " to amend the bank-
ing law in relation to savings and loan associations and to empower the
estabhshment of a Land Bank. " In Section t of the Bill the Bank is
defined as "a co-operative institution for sa\dngs, whose membership
is composed of savings and loan associations, estabhshed for the purpose
of issuing and redeeming debenture bonds secured by first mortgages pled-
ged by its members. "
Section 4 provides for the granting of power to any legally constituted
savings and loan association to hold one or more shares in the proposed Land
Bank, and for the incorporation of the Bank on the application of at least
ten associations whose aggregate resources are not less than five million
dollars. Each member-association would be entitled to one vote for every
share which it holds of the capital of the Land Bank. Each share is of
one thousand dollars ; and no association would be permitted to hold
shares the aggregate value of which exceeds ten per cent, of its own resources.
The Bank would be administered by a Board of not less than seven
directors, but all bye-laws, or amendments of bye-laws, would have to be
submitted to the Superintendent of Banks and receive his \vritten approval.
It is proposed that the Land Bank should be authorized to issue and
sell debenture bonds and notes, when secured by the bonds and first mort-
gages of sa\angs and loan associations, and to redeem the same from time
to time. The indebtedness of the Bank upon bonds and notes would be
limited to twentA^ times the amount of its paid-up capital. The Bank
would have power to invest its capital in bonds secured by first mortgages
on real estate, and to own such real estate as might be necessary for its own
permanent place of business, and such as came into its possession through
the foreclosure of mortgages held by it. The Bank would be compelled
to maintain, out of its revenue, a sufficient sinking fund to pa^^ its debenture
bonds as they fell due, and to place, in each year, to a reserve fund a sum
equal to one-half of one per cent, of its capital, imtil such fund is equal to 15
per cent, of the capital.
The debentures issued by the Bank, and the Land Bank itself, together
with its capital, accumulations and funds, would have the same exemption
from taxation as other savings institutions
(State of New York: Suate Bill 1,693).
MISCELLANEOUS NEWS 23
3. — A BILL TO ESTABLISH A NATIONAL SYSTEM OF RURAL BANKS. —
On August g, 1913, the Senator for Florida, the Hon. Duncan U. Fletcher,
introduced in the Senate of the United States, a Bill providing for the estab-
lishment of a complete system of co-operative rural banks. The Bill
was read, and referred to the Committee on Banking and Currency. Ad-
dressing the Senate on the same date, Mr Fletcher expounded the principles
which underlie the Bill, and an outline of his plan is printed separately as
a Senate Document (No. 15S).
In brief, the author of the Bill contends :
(i) that the present banking system, in which the ultimate reserves
are practically controlled by a small nrunber of banking institutions in
New York, is defective, serving the needs of the whole country badly in
times of stress, and serving the needs of agriculture worst of all ;
(2) that no commercial system of banking can adequately meet the
needs of agriculture ;
(3) that a system must be created whereb}" the capital and accumu-
lated savings of agriculture must be made available and reserved for meet-
ing the credit needs of those engaged in agriculture :
(4) that progress in agriculture depends to-day vipon co-operation and
organization among farmers, and that all forms of agricultural co-operation
must be related to a co-operative system of rural credit ;
(5) that, in view of the overwhelming interest of the country as a
whole in the prosperity of agriculture, the savings deposits in the post-
office, as well as other government funds, might profitably be lodged with
the rural banks, and used to meet the demand for agricultiiral credit ;
(6) that, as the element of saving is prominent in any system of rural
credit, rural banks should enjoy the same exemption from taxation as sav-
ings and loan associations.
The Bill proposes to establish three separate classes of institutions :
(i) Local Rural Banks ; (2) State National Rural Banks ; and (3) The Na-
tional Rural Bank of the United vStates. The Local Rural Banks would
be owned and operated by local farmers and might be founded with a min-
nimum capital of $ 2,000 in shares of a nominal value of S 10, sold at S 25 ;
their area of operations would be a small district, and the character of the
business they might transact is specified. The net earnings would be used
to pay 6 percent, on the invested capital and. after that, to create an addi-
tional capital fund. When the earned surplus was equal to twice the
amount originalh' invested, the stock would be bought in by the banks at
the price of issue, and the banks would become mutual banks without
capital stock, operating at net cost. In the case of the dissolution of a bank,
any existing surplus would be used for building or maintaining good roads
in the territory- served by the bank.
The State National Rural Banks would be controlled entirely b}' the
Local Rural Banks in each State. They would act as clearing houses and
24 UNITED STATES - CO-OPEKATION AND ASSOCIATION
reserve banks for the IvOcal Banks. All profits would go ultimately to the
lyocal Banks which are the shareholders in their respective State Banks.
The National Rural Bank of the United States would be estabUshed in
Washington, and be owned entirely by the Local and State Rural Banks.
It would be controlled by nine Directors, five elected by the Banks and four
nominated by the President of the United States.
The distinguishing feature of the whole system is the power which,
it is proposed, shall be given to each and all of the Banks to use their credit,
as well as their cash assets, to meet the needs of the farmer. The Bill
contemplates the creation of long-term bonds secured by first-mortgages on
farms, to a maximum of 60 per cent, of their assessed value. These would
be guaranteed in turn by the Local Banks, the State Banks and the National
Bank, and would, it is hoped, thus be raised into the status of high-grade
investment securities, readily acceptable all over the world.
The Bill proposes to estabUsh, in the Treasury Department, a special
Division of Rural Banking to exercise control over the whole system.
(From A National Rural Bankinq, System. Washington, 1913, and Senate Document
No. 158. 631(1 Congress: ist Session).
FRANCE.
WORK OF THE MUTUAIv AGRICULTURAL
CREDIT BANKS IN 1912.
OFFICIAL SOITRCE:
Report on the Work of the Mutual Agricultural Credit Banks and the Results
Obt.'Uned in 1912, Presented BY the Minister of Agriculture to the President
OF THE French Republic, on December 2^'^^., 1913.
The last Report of the Minister of Agriculture, dated December 29th.,
1913, shows that, at the end of 1912, there were 98 regional banks that
had received advances from the State.
The amount of the State advances, which on December 31st., 1911
was, (repayments deducted) 73,477,524.70 frs. was increased in 1912 by
14,025,424 frs. and would have been altogether 87,502,948.70 frs., but for
repayments, amounting to 1,614,222.73 frs., by which it was reduced to
85,888,725.97 frs.
The fluctuations in the amounts and the total sums granted in accord-
ance with the various laws on the subject will be seen in the following
table :
Advances Granted
Repayments Madt
Balance
at the
Laws
Up to
December in 1915
31st., 1911
Total
Amount
at End
of iqrc
Up to
December
31st., 191 1
in 1912
Total
Amount
at End
of 1912
Disposal of
the Banks
at the End
of 1912
Law of 1899 . .
Law of 1906 . .
Law of 1910 . .
62,709,793
6,700,320
7,066,000
6,315,750
2,587,874
5,121,800
69.023,543
9,297,194
12,187,800
2,938,546.00
67,04230
1,487,175-00
94,008.51
33.039-22
4,425,721.00
161,050.81
33.039-;2
74.597,822-00
9,136,143-Kj
12, 1 14. 760.78
Total . . .
76,483,113
14,025,424
90,508,537
3,005,588.30
1,614,222.73
4,619,811.03
85,888,725.97
26
FRANCE - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
The subscribed capital of the Regional Banks on December 31st., 1912
was 23,330,342 fr., of which 21,551,221 frs. had been paid up. The share of
the local banks in this paid up capital was 13,910,195 frs.
For their short term operations the regional banks had available :
Paid up Capital 21,551,221 fr.
Reserve Fund, amounting at the End of 1911 to 4,879,937 «
State Advances 62,745,412 «
Amounts in Deposit, averaging 2,417,000 ),
Say, altogether
9^,. 593.570
as compared with 85,337,337 fr. in 1911.
It is interesting to observe that the amount of the deposits in the regional
banks, increased in 1912 to 20,036,097 frs., or nearly 1,690,389 frs. more
than was in deposit in 1911. The credit balance fluctuated between
1,616,628 frs. and 3,218,217. fr.
In the following table, the operations of the Regional Banks in the
two years 1911 and 191 2 are shown compared with each other :
Operations
1911
191 2
Difference
in 1912
Bills Discounted and Renewed
frs.
162,578,529
frs.
182,618,801
frs.
-f- 20,040,272
Direct Advances to Local Banks for Work-
ing Capital
Advances under Form of Discount. . . .
lyoans Current on January ist
1.445,431
81,278,670
49,487,477
1,434,760
84,691,321
59,83i.-673
— 10,671
4- 3,412.651
+ 10,344,196
Total . . .
Repayments
132,211,578
72,379.905
145,957.754
82,569,743
+ 13.746,176
4- 10,189,838
I,oans Current on December 31SC
59,831,673
63,388,011
+ 3,556,338
The collective short term loans to agricultural syndicates, co-oper-
ative societies and mutual insurance societies may be estimated at about
14,434,000 fr.
The number of banks discounting at rates below the ordinary rate of
the Bank of France has been reduced to two.
WORK OF THE MUTUAL AGRICULTURAL CREDIT BANKS
27
The total general expenditure of the regional institutions increased
to 512,032 fr., as against 462,579 fr. in 1911, therefore by 49,453 frs. This
total, when considered with the amount of the short term operations (bills
discounted and renewed), advances to local banks for working capital in
1912, and collective and individual long term loans in the same year,
altogether amounting in round numbers to 190,000,000 frs., is seen to
represent an average of 0.26 % of the total outgoings and incomings. This
average is too high, and the Government has had to call the attention of
the managers of certain regional banks to it, in cases in which the general
expenditure was not sufficiently justified.
The reserve funds increased in amount from 4,879,937 fr. in 1911
to 6,212,976 fr., 1912, that is by 1,333,039 fr.
In the following table the operations of the local banks for 191 1 and
1912 are shown compared with each other :
191 1
1912
Difference
in 1912
Number of Local Banks
Number of Members
Subscribed Capital (in francs)
Paid up Capital (in francs).
3.946
185,552
18,158,458
11,784,017
4,204
215.695
20,507,931
13.521,553
+ 258
+ 30,143
+ 2,349,473
+ 1.737.536
New Short Term Loans Granted in the Year
(not including Renewals) frs.
Loans Current on January ist. ...»
82,540,623
51.983.588
85,492,170
61,599,883
-r 2,951.547
-f- 9,616,295
Total ...»
Amounts Repaid »
134,524,211
72,924,328
147,092,053
82,269,394
-l- 12,567.842
+ 9,345.066
Loans Current on December 31st. . . »
61,599,883
64,822,659
-l- 3,222,776
As we see, there was a fairly appreciable increase in the number of the
local banks and their members and in that of the new loans granted in the
year.
The amount of the reserve funds of the local banks increased from
2,006,348 fr. in 1911 to 2,831,966 fr. in 1912, that is by 825,618 fr.
Most of the co-operative societies for transformation and sale of agri-
cultural produce that are formed or introduce changes in their installations
ask to benefit by the provisions of the law of December 28th., 1906. One
hundred and two of these societies received advances in 1912, amounting
in all to 2,587,874 frs.
The situation at the end of 1911 and at the end of 1912 may therefore
be shown as under :
28
FRANCE - CO-OPERATIQN AND ASSOCIATION
Co-operative S<cietiis that have received Advances. . .
Capital Paid up (in fr.ncs)
Advances at their Disposal ( n francs)
Number of Members
These Societies were distributed as follows, according to
their Objects :
Dairies and Butter Factories
Fruitieres and Cheese Factories
Wine Societies
Oil Mills
Wine and Oil Societies
Distilleries
Starch Factories
Societies for the Utilisation of Material
Miscellaneous Societies
Total . . .
At the Bud
of 1911
202
4.114,386.15
6,642,277.70
24,187
At tlie End
of 1913
41
61
32
6
6
2
26
9
290
5.45fi.73i-5o
9 'a^tMaig
36,762
50
lOI
41
II
5
21
2
45
14
290
Most of the co-operative societies continued in 1912 to pay the in-
stalments due on the advances received.
The law of March 19th., 1910 on individual long term credit was ap-
plied in the case of 79 out of 88 banks which had received special advances.
The advances at the disposal of the regional banks increased in amotmt from
7,066,000 frs. to 12,187,800 frs. Out of this sum, in the course of 1912, 969
new loans for the amount of 3,609,443 frs. were made, giving an average
of 3.725 frs. per loan.
Thus, since the passing of the law, 2,049 farmers have obtained long
term loans for the total amount of 7,721,995 francs.
In 1912, the banks received a large number of applications for long
term loans it was not in their power to grant. It shotild be remembered,
with regard to this, that the law of March 19th., 1910 primarily-
intended to place at the disposal of young, hardworking and honest
peasants, desirous of devoting themselves to agriculture, the means for
starting small farms, and enabling them to have famiUes and provide for
their necessities. Consequently, in conformity with the spirit of the law,
the regional banks are only able to assist in procuring long term loans,
when they are certain that their intervention will result in a family being
preserved for agriculture or a small farm being formed.
ITALY.
-THE NEW FEDERATION AND THE FEDERAI. BANK
OF CO-OPERATIVE CREDIT SOCIETIES AT MII.AN.
SOURCES :
Statuto della federaione fra Istituti Cooperativi di credito {Rules of the Federation
of Co-operative Credit Institutes). Milan, 1913.
Statuto della Banca Federals delle Co-operative di credito (Rules of the Federal Bank
of the Co-operative Credit Societies) Milan, 1913.
lyUZZATTi (lyuigi) : I,a Federazione e la Banca Federale delle cooperative di credito (The Feder-
ation and the Federal Bank of Co-operative Credit Societies)), in " Credito e Coope-
razione ", the organ of the People's Banks Association. Rome, no. 22, November
15th,, 1913.
The People's Banks of Bologna and Cremona, and after them those of
lyodi, Bergamo, Modena, Mortara, Novara, Padua, Piacenza etc., on a sug-
gestion from Signor Luigi Luzzatti, united in October, 1913 to form a
Federation of Co-operative Credit Institutes and a Federal Bank of
Co-operative Credit Societies.
The object of the former, according to article i of its rules, is : {a) to
render the action of the associated Institutes more useful and efficacious,
by uniting the notable material and moral forces at their disposal, so as
to harmonise them and guide them to the realisation of their common
aims; (&) to protect the general interests of the federated Institutes, aiding
them both in the exercise of their functions as credit establishments and
in obtaining the approval of all legislative, fiscal or judicial measures of
general interest.
The powers of the Federation will be exercised by the members' meet-
ing and a Permanent Committee.
The Meeting of the Federated Members, which assembles in ordinary
general session once a year, consists of the presidents or managers, the
legitimate representatives of each federated institution. In order that its
decisions may be valid, the first sitting must be attended by a third of
the members.
The federated institutes have as many votes as there were millions
of francs of capital and reserve fund on their last balance sheets as approved.
They have also supplementary votes for every three million francs of fidu-
ciary deposits, shown on the last balance sheets as approved.
30 ITALY - CO-OPEKATION AND ASSOCIATION
Ever>' member has a right to at least one vote and may not have
more than six. Resolutions are carried by a majority of votes of the mem-
bers present.
It is within the competence of the meeting of the federated members :
(a) to approve the reports of the Permanent Committee on the work of the
federation and the financial statements ; (6) to amend the rules of the fed-
eration proposed by the above Committee ; (c) to decide upon questions
submitted to it by the Committee ; {d) to dissolve the Federation.
The Permanent Committee is formed by the Board of INIanagement of the
Federal Bank, of which we shall speak hereafter, and amongst its other
duties it must see that the obligations laid down in the rules are observed b}'
the members ; censure the action of members contravening the rules, and,
if need be, decide on their expulsion; provide for the protection of their gen-
eral interests by the study and solution of all questions relating to their
functions and co-ordinating their independent acti\dties so as to facilitate
their tasks and render them more profitable ; stud}^ and formulate rules and
methods to which the members must conform in the performance of com-
pulsory mutual ser\dces and the execution of their common business ; and,
finally, carn,^ out or get carried out -periodical inspections in the Fed-
erated Institutes, formulate rules for them and enforce the penalties
imposed by these.
Only those co-operative credit institutes the Permanent Committee
approves maj- be members of the Federation. They must subscribe fifty
shares in the Federal Bank and declare their acceptance of the rules.
Before admission, members must also pay an entrance fee of i,ooo frs.
The members are bound to assist each other mutually and to give each
other ad\nce in ever3^ matter in which their interests do not conflict. They
must reserve for one another all business in connection mth the collection
of biUs, moneys etc., in ever^- place in which the federated societies have
a head or branch ofiice ; must inform each other, when requested, of the
credits opened to their customers and correspondents, their direct oper-
ations and rediscountings ; must institute amongst themselves a service
of circular orders on the Federal Bank, with the obligation to honour
them in all head and branch offices etc.
Besides the entrance fee above mentioned, the members must pay
the Federation a yearly contribution of two hundred francs for ever^^ vote
they have, and, at the request of the permanent committee, must keep
at the Federal Bank, in current account, at interest, a deposit of 20,000
francs at least and 50,000 frs. at most, according to the rules the Committee
shall lay down in the matter.
Coming more especially to the Federal Bank of the Credit Co-operative
Societies, we see that it is constituted under the form of a limited liability
co-operative society •udth unlimited capital, and that it is the central or-
ganization for the common action of the above federation, with which,
as we have seen, it is intimately connected.
Its objects are :
(a) to perform the ofl&ce of a Central Bank for the co-operative instit-
utes, its members, for all their credit, clearing and mutual business;
THE FEDERAL BANK OF CO-OPERATIVE CREDIT SOCIETIES IN MILAN 31
(b) to promote and encourage, in the interest of the above institutes
collectively represented, participation in the financial operations of the State
and others similar, not of local character, but compatible with their ivies ;
(c) to encourage the institution of co-operative credit organiz-
ations, when the occasion presents itself ;
(d) eventually to carry on credit busine-ss in all its branches, in
localities where none of its members exist, to the exclusion of all speculation.
Its own funds will consist of the capital proper, which is unlimited and
formed by personal indivisible shares of lOO frs. ; the ordinary reserve fund
and, eventually, of other funds. No member may have more than fifty shares.
Its executive authorities are : a general meeting of the representatives
of the adhering institutes, a board of management, a president, commission-
ers of accounts and arbitrators.
The Board of Management consists of seven members, elected at the
meeting, from amongst the presidents and managers of the adhering instit-
utes. In addition to its technical functions, it must collect, for the bene-
fit of members, everv' kind of statistics, information and news relating to
commerce, industrv' and banking; engage in and conclude business in con-
nection with the above collective financial operations, and it is for this pur-
pose it deals with the contracting parties in the name of the federated instit-
utes, which are free to participate therein or not ; encourage the development
of the above institutes, by facilitating the mutual exchange of information
and services ; study and solve, in the interest of members, every question
relating to credit and savings, by the foundation of permanent organiz-
ations for the purpose of consultation, or when it may be, making use of
those already existing.
The arbitrators, three in number, elected at the general meeting, decide
all disputes that may arise amongst members, or between members and the
society, and there is no appeal against their decision.
The president is the legal representative of the society ; he has also
the chief supervision of it and the direction of the Bureaux. He is chosen
by the Board of Management from among its members. He holds office
for three years and may be re-elected.
The working year closes on March 31st. of each 3'ear, and the balance
sheet " drawn up with the most careful commercial attention ", will be
presented at the meeting to be held in June. The profits will be distributed
as foUows : 50 % to the shareholders, 25 % to the ordinary reserve fund,
15 % to the board, to be used for the realisation of the objects of the
society or to be placed to the reserve fund, and 10 % to the employees.
Such is briefly the organization of the new Federation and of the Cen-
tral Bank of the People's Banks, which, pro\nded with considerable means and
having a large programme, is certainly destined to give a still more \'igorous
impulse to the affiliated People's Banks, rendering possible by their union,
their participation in the most important financial operations, fruitful in
good results for the national economy, which it would be scarcely possible
to realise without union.
32 ITALY - CO-OPERATION .\ND ASSOCIATION
II. — MISCEIvIvANEOUS NEWS.
1. — Legislative provisions in behalf of consortiums for the
DEFENCE OF VITICULTURE. — These Consortiums, founded amongst the
owners of vineyards, in provinces ravaged by phylloxera, in conformity
with articles 2,3 and 4 of the final text of the laws of June 6th., 1901 no.
355, and of July 7th., 1907, no. 490 approved by Royal Decree of May 17th.,
1908, no. 343, were founded, as we know (i), for the following ends : {a)
to watch against the spread of phylloxera and supervise the work of
defence against the scourge ; {b) to examine the vineyards carefully for the
possible existence of infection; (c) to found nurseries of vines capable of
resisting it and reconstitute the vineyards with these plants ; {d) to diffuse
information with regard to phylloxera and the use of vines able to resist it.
In order to realise these objects, the owners or occupiers of vineyards
included in the district of the Consortium must pay a yearly contribution, of
not more than one franc per hectare.
A law of June 26th., 1913, no. 786, authorizes the grant of loans to
these consortiums, to be repaid in instalments in 25 years, the object being
to place them in a position to start a plantation of American vines for the
reconstitution of vineyards attacked or destroyed b}"^ phylloxera.
The funds required for the purpose will be advanced by the Deposit and
Consignment Bank at a rate of not more than 4 %, and cannot be more than
3,000,000 frs. a year nor altogether more than 16,000,000 frs.
In conformity with this law, several consortiums of the same province
or region may unite in a federation, which could then contract several
loans together in the interest of the consortiums requesting them.
Article 7 lays down the principle that no compensation is due to pro-
prietors for vines the destruction of which has been decided on, but admits
that the Department may grant special subsidies when the destruction
is carried out on land belonging to small viticulturists, or cultivated directly
by small metayers or tenant farmers.
(Summarised from the Gazzetta Ufficiale del Regno cC Italia, Rome, no. i68,
July 19th., 1913)-
*
2. — Legislative provisions in regard to the constitution of
consortiums of proprietors for DEFENCE AGAINST PLANT DISEASES. —
The law of June 26th., 1913, no. 888, authorizing measures for preventing
and fighting plant diseases, provides for the foundation of special
(i) Cfr. Bulletin of Economic and Social Intelligence, February, 1913, pp. 13 and 14.
MISCELLANEOUS NEWS 33
communal, intercommunal and provincial consortiums among the owners
of farms on which plants are diseased.
The formation of these consortiums must be initiated by the executive
committee of the commune or the province, according as the consortiums are
commimal, intercommunal or provincial, if request is made by enough pro-
prietors to represent at least one half of the cultivated area to which the
protective action is to extend. Such formation may even be made com-
pulsory by the prefect, with the advice of the executive committee, or
the executive committees of the communes, or again by that of the province
" when the want of a consortium constitutes a danger for the agricultural
interests and for the territory. "
These consortiums will have power to collect an annual contribution, of
at most 5 frs. per ha., from the proprietors concerned within their districts.
In making out the list of contributions and collections of members' contrib-
utions, application shall be made of the provisions of the laws in force
relating to the collection of direct taxes, including those concerned with fiscal
privileges.
(Summarised from the Gazzetta del Regno d'ltalia, Rome, no. 195, August 21st,, 1913).
* *
3. — The number of the agricultural co-operative and mutual
SOCIETIES IN Italy. — The General Confederation of Italian Agricultural
and Mutual Societies recently published a list of these societies. We see
from it that there are in Italy 5,249 Agricultural Co-operative and 1,055
Agricultural Mutual Societies, distributed as follows :
Agricultural Co-operative Societies.
Agricultural Consortiums and Purchase Societies . . 1,162
Rural Co-operative Banks 2,094
Wine Making and Viticultural Co-operative Societies 218
Co-operative Dairies ^^.097
Consortiums for Stallions 27
Collective Farms 187
Co-operative Superphosphate Factories 14
Miscellaneous Co-operative Societies 450
Total . . . 5,249
Agricultural Mutual Societies.
Mutual Fire Insurance Societies 250
Mutual Livestock " " 799
Mutual Accident " " 4
Miscellaneous Mutual Societies 2
1.055
34 ITALY - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
In the report in explanation of this list, we see j&rst of all the difficulty
presented by the classification of co-operative societies according to their
objects. In fact, agricultural co-operative societies often have various
objects and it is not easy to settle which is their predominant business, whe-
ther credit, purchase, production etc. It is thus not possible to establish
a definite and absolute distinction. Thus, to day, few agricultural co-oper-
ative societies do not engage in collective purchase of the articles and ma-
chinery necessary for their members, whilst most of them endeavour to
encourage their members by the grant of loans in money or in kind.
In the classification given above, we have, therefore, considered the prin-
cipal work of the societies and in accordance with this the grouping has been
made.
The largest group of the co-operative societies for purchase is that of
the agricultural consortiums, almost all affiliated to the Italian Federation
of Agricultural Societies with head quarters at Piacenza. Amongst the
societies for purchase are also included the circoli and the nuclei agrari
(clubs and agricultural nuclei), and other associations with the most various
titles occupied almost exclusively with the provision of farm requisites for
their members.
According to the estimate of the above Confederation, the total amount
of goods and machinery bought by the various Itahan agricultural co-oper-
ative societies in 1913 would be nearly 150,000,000 frs.
It was easy to group the credit co-operative societies, for their titles
leave no doubt as to their principal business. They include rural banks,
agricultural banks, small credit and other similar societies, that are intended
to provide their members with loans for agricultural objects.
According to the statistical report with which we are deaUng, the 2,094
rural co-operative banks would have to-day a total capital (share capital
and reserve fund) of about 3,000,000 frs., and the total amount of deposits
received by them would be nearly 100,000,000 frs. The total amount of the
loans passed in 1913 would be about 250,000,000 frs.
The large majority of these societies are societies of collective titles,
while the co-operative purchase societies are almost all constituted as limit-
ed liability societies.
Amongst the co-operative societies for production, without doubt
dairies take the first place, but there are also thriving wine societies
(more than 150 in all), distilleries (more than 30) and many antiphylloxera
consortiums for growing American vines.
Besides the collective farms and the co-operative superphosphate
factories, which are among the most interesting and most original manifest-
ations of Italian agricultural co-operation, we must specially note the co-
operative livestock improvement societies, which have provided an origin-
al form of society in the consortiums for stallions, all in lyombardy, above
all in the province of Cremona, the centre of the movement.
In the group of the miscellaneous co-operative societies.finaUy, are included
the co-operative oil mills met with especially in Piedmont, in Lombardy
and in Friuli, the co-operative oil cake factory of Piacenza, the tobacco farm-
MISCELLANEOUS NEWS 35
ers' co-operative societies, the co-operative nursery gardens, the cocoon
drying co-operative societies, the co-operative granary of Bagnolo Mella;
the co-operative societies for the sale of table grapes, vegetables, fruit,
wool, eggs, honey etc.
On the other hand, it is easy to classify the Agricultural Mutual So-
cieties, for the distinctive characters are clearly defined.
As we have seen, there were 1,055 o^ these societies in all, 250 being
fire insurance societies 799 livestock insurance societies, 4 accident insurance
societies and 2 others societies insuring against malicious damage to vineyards,
but of small importance.
We have little information with regard to the mutual fire insurance
societies. The largest is the " Fossanese " at Fossano (Cuneo), assuring an
amount of 11,000,000 frs., with a thousand members.
According to the estimate of the National Federation of Mutual Fire
Insurance Societies, the above 250 societies assure a capital of about
400,000,000 frs.
The mutual livestock insurance societies are more numerous, but also
smaller : they would all together assure a capital of about 70,000,000 frs.
The most important of the 4 mutual agricidtural accident insurance
societies of Vercelli, Milan, Florence and Bologna, is that of VercelH. It
was founded in 1902, on the initiative of the farmers' association of the re-
gion. It engages to give compensation in case of death and permanent
disablement, total or partial, to all labourers, fixed or temporary, and also
intervenes in certain cases of temporary disablement.
4. — The constitution of a central bank for the district
OF BRESCIA. — Recently a Central Bank has been formed for the Rural
Banks of the district of Brescia, under the form of a limited liability co-oper-
ative society for the " exercise of credit and the moral and economic im-
provement of its associates. "
According to its rules, it may have as members, first of all the legally
constituted Catholic rural banks of the Province of Brescia, and also, with
the approval of the general meeting, other co-operative societies and private
individuals who may be of use to the society in attaining its objects.
Societies afiiliated to it must submit, at any moment and above all
before entering into business relations with the Bank, to a full and detailed
examination of their situation and to the measures the Board of Manage-
ment may judge advisable. Credit societies must forward to it a state-
ment of their accounts every month and their balance sheets every year.
Those societies and persons shall not be admitted or shall be expelled
if already admitted : (a) who do not conform to the above rules ; (b) who be-
come insolvent or are condemned ; (c) who oblige the Bank to sue them be-
fore the Courts ; (d) who carry on business similar to that of the society ;
(e) who are opposed to the Catholic Church and the established Government.
36 ITALY - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
The capital of the society will consist of shares, of loo frs. each, a re-
serve fund and special funds.
The Bank will conduct every kind of banking and agricultural credit
business, in conformity with the laws of the State, and particularly :
(a) it will receive deposits in money at interest, for which it will give
bonds redeemable at fixed date, bank books for current account and sav-
ings bank books; it will also receive in deposit money or documents of title,
on the security of the share capital and reserve fund ;
(b) it will grant its members loans on deposit of shares, and will
advance money on bills and instruments of credit ;
(c) it will open credit and debit current accounts, on the secur-
ity of mortgages or other documents of title ;
{d) it will grant loans on good security, extinguishable by means of
fixed quarterly or half yearly instalments ;
(e) it will discount for members, bills, cheques etc.
Finally the Central Bank will abstain from all hazardous operations,
and all speculation. It will also be able to encourage and assist commer-
cial and agricultural undertakings of a form inspiring serious confidence
in their development and giving the society a really valid guarantee.
The society will be managed by a Council of seven members, chosen
from among the representatives of the rural banks.
(Summarised from Cooperazione Popolare, Parma, nos. 21-22, December 15th., 1913).
Part. II: Insurance and Thrift
BELGIUM.
AGRICULTURAIv ACCIDENT INSURANCE IN BELGIUM.
by M. E. Vliebergh, Professor at the University of Louvain.
Let US first of all say a few words with regard to the law farmers must
conform to in the case of accidents occurring in the course of work ; and
in the second place examine into the manner in which the law has been ap-
plied and, as it is more than eight years since it came into force and it is
proposed to introduce many amendments into it, briefly mention the prin-
cipal modifications experience shows to be desirable in the case of agricul-
ture, in so far as they may be of interest to people in other countries.
§ I. The law.
Up to the passing of the law of December 24th., 1903 on accidents in
work, the farmer, like every one else, was subject to the provisions of the
Civil Code, in the matter of such accidents. When the victim of an
accident succeeded in proving the culpability of the master or an officer
employed by him for the conduct of the work, or that the injury was
caused by an animal made use of by the master and so serving at the
time, the master was to pay him full compensation as fixed by the courts.
The law of December 24th., 1903 completely altered the basis on which
compensation had up to then been paid. Masters, subject to the law, had
thenceforth to contract to give compensation on the basis laid down in
the law whenever an accident occured during work on property belonging
to them, whether due to their fault or not.
The bill was specially drafted to meet the case of industry. It was
first of all thought more advisable, in imitation of the laws of various.
38 BEI,GIUM - INSURANCE AND THRIFT
neighbouring countries, to make the new principle only applicable to the
case of industry, while later on the experience acquired might be utilised
for a law applicable to agriculture.
The discussion of the bill in Parliament resulted in the law being made
applicable to agriculture at least in the case of farms of a certain size.
It is applicable to three kinds of farms : first, those, of whatever size
they are where use is made, not merely temporarily, of machinery moved
by other than human or animal force. In this first class are to be in-
cluded forestry businesses, which are specially contemplated in the law.
Next come farms on which at least three labourers are habitually
employed.
In the third place. Article 3 of the law provides that managers of
businesses not subject to the law may become so voluntarily on making
express declaration before the registrar of the local court. This applies,
for example, in the case of small farmers, market gardeners or floriculturists,
of whatever size their holdings may be, who do not use machines worked
otherwise than by men or animals.
The law contemplated three kinds of accidents : there may be such as
result in temporary disablement ; a man may, for example, break an arm
and consequently be prevented for a couple of months from attending to
his duties ; and there may be permanent disablement, either partial,
when, for example, an eye or a finger is lost, or total, when, for example,
both hands are lost; finally, the law provides for the case of accidents
resulting in death.
In each of these cases a medical certificate must be given or medical
attendance and medicines provided for six months. It is, in fact,
calculated that the generahty of accidents cannot require medical at-
tention for a longer period.
When the accident has caused temporary total disablement for more
than a week, the sufferer has a claim to the half of his average wages, beginn-
ing from the day after the accident.
In case of partial disablement, consequent on total disablement, the
sufferer has a claim to half the difference between the wages he could earn
previously to the accident and what he is able to earn before his complete
restoration to health. If the total or partial disablement is permanent, the
above compensation must be paid to him for his whole lifetime.
In case of an accident causing death, an amount of 75 frs. must be
paid for funeral expenses, but in a certain number of cases, on which we
need not dwell, a pension of 30 % of the annual wages of the victim, estim-
ated in relation to his age at the moment of his decease, must also be paid.
§ 2. Practical organizaton of insurance.
For the farmers, therefore, there are two kinds of legal Hability: some
are subject, while others are not, to the law of December 24th., 1903; but
there is another point : the law only contemplates accidents to labourers
AGRICULTURA], ACCIDENT INSURANCE 39
in the discharge of their duties: now agriculture is less than any other
business confined within the limits of the undertaking. How many
accidents giving claim to compensation are there not that happen to others
than farm labourers ? In addition, many persons, not farm labourers
still want compensation in case of disablement through accidents in
their work. Consider only the children or the members of the farmers'
family working on the farm. There are, also, the farmer and his wife,
above all on the smaller farms, who generally desire compensation in
case of disablement through accidents in their work.
For purposes of agricultural insurance, account had to be taken of these
various cases. The law allo\\ s insurance in two kinds of fixed premium com-
panies, Belgian and foreign, which for payment of certain fixed premiums
assure labourers who meet with accidents of the legal compensation. They
also insure farmers not subject to the law, undertake liability insurance
for them and insure the members of their families.
The law provides for the organization of mutual insurance societies
called ordinary accident insurance societies. And, in fact, a certain num-
ber of such societies have been founded for insurance in conformity with the
law. But, as we have seen, they only consider a part of the farmers, and, in
their case, only accidents to labourers employed by them. It was, therefore,
necessary, as these ordinary societies can only transact insurance business
in conformity with the law, to organize, in connection with them, other in-
surance societies, for the various cases mentioned above.
The law has not made accident insurance comptdsory, but has guar-
anteed the sufferers by accidents definite compensation, When a farmer not
subject to the law of December 24th., 1903 is not insured by a company ap-
proved by the Government and submitting to Government inspection, he
must pay, imless especially dispensed, a certain amoimt into a guarantee
fund, which is really an insurance against the insolvency of the master.
Even though he pays this premium, the master on whose property an accid-
ent occurs is bound to give the legal compensation. But in case of the
masters' insolvency, the sufferer may apply to the guarantee fund.
In fact, the very great majority of the farmers subject to the law of De-
cember 24th., 1903, are insured in a company authorized by Government.
There are two mutual insurance societies undertaking these agricul-
tural risks, but by far the most important is the Caisse Commune d' assurance
des cultivateurs Beiges (Belgian Farmers' Ordinary Insurance Society), or-
ganized by the various voluntary farmers' leagues in the country, with its
head quarters at the office of the Belgian Boerenbond.
As we have said, it was quite insufficient, in the case of agriculture,
only to insure against accidents contemplated in the law, and, for this
reason, side by side with the Caisse Commune, the same leagues at the same
time founded a second mutual insurance society, coW&d L' Assurance Agri-
cole (Agricultural Insurance Society). This Society, then, insures farmers
subject to the 1903 law against accidents to themselves or to members of
their families or against accidents to third parties for which they may be
liable ; at the same time it fully insures those to whom the provisions of the
40 BEJU>IUM - INSUiCANCK AND TKKIFT
1903 law do not apply. On September 30th., 1913 the policies issued by the
Caisse Commune d'A<isurancedesCultivtiteurs Beiges wereq, ^8^ axidre-pTesented
158,548 hectares and also total earnings amounting to 8,016,043 frs ; and
the Assurance /Ign'co/* had issued 20,288 policies, representing 259,963 ha.,
and earnings to the amount of 6,538,530 frs., as those engaged in agricul-
ture and small rural industries can insure in these mutual societies for a
certain percentage of their earnings.
We think that in the interest of mutual insurance this dual system at
present existing ought to disappear and the ordinary societies should be
authorized to undertake all accident insurance risks, with the right to act
as commercial societies, authorized to undertake insurance risks in conform-
ity with the 1903 law, that is to say, to keep separate books for the purpose.
The present dual system complicates the work, increases the expend-
iture, and is an obstacle to the development and permanence of the organiz-
ation; up to the present the ordinary agricultural societies have done a good
business in Belgium, but if one day they experience losses and are obliged
to call for additional premiums, it might very well happen that the
insurance societies working side by side with them, with the same members
and the same management would realise large profits.
A commercial society undertaking every kind of accident insurance
may compensate for losses in one branch by gains in another.
Further, from the point of view of the supervision exercised over the
societies approved by the Department of Industry and lyabour, this solution
would be very advantageous. It would, in fact, preclude the possibility
of fraud; supervision evidently cannot be exercised over the insurance
societies in connection with, but outside of, the ordinary society. Kow
since the two kinds of society have the same board of management and
often the same office, it is sufficiently easy to conceal the irregularities
committed by the ordinary society ; if there were only one society, super-
vision would be far easier.
As regards the organization of the mutual agricultural accident insur-
ance societies, we must here explain in a few words the system of shares
in the reserve fund held by policy holders which might be introduced into
a large number of societies. By the rules of the Caisse Commune d' As-
surance des Cultivateurs Beiges and the Assurance Agricole, the surplus
profits of the year are placed to the reserve fund. This is generally done
in the mutual societies, but the amoimt placed to the reserve fund must
always be distributed among the policy holders in proportion to the prem-
miums paid by each of them and entered to the credit of their personal
accounts.
If it is necessary to draw on the reserve fund to make up for the insuf-
ficient amount derived from premiums, the amounts must be paid by the
policy holders in proportion to their premiums and entered to their debit.
Every policy holder has therefore an account for his share in the re-
serve fund. When a member leaves the society on giving up farming, at
the end of the next working year his account is closed. If it is closed
with a debit balance, this must be paid, but members, when the society
AGKICULTUKAX ACCIDENT INSURANCE 4I
ceases working, and heirs of deceased members, receive ^/g of the credit
balance of their share in the reserve fund.
Policy holders leaving the societies for other reasons than those we
have mentioned have no claim to the credit balance of their reserve fund
account : it belongs to the society.
Let us make this clearer by an example. Let us suppose that one of
these societies annually receives 500,000 frs. in premiums. A policyholder,
A., has paid a premium of 50 fr. His reserve fund account is kept by the
society and credits and debits to it are entered in the books. Let us suppose
that the accounts for the first year are closed with a balance of 100,000 fr.
This is 20% of the total premiums collected; therefore A's reserve fund
account will be credited with 10 francs. If another year the profits are
200,000 fr., 20 fr. will be placed to A's credit. If one year there is a loss
of 100,000 frs., it is taken from the reserve fund and 10 fr is entered to
the debit of A. and so on.
If A. leaves the society under the conditions contemplated, for
example, because he has given up his farm, he must be paid *l^ of the credit
balance of his reserve fimd account. A's heirs will receive the same amount
at his death.
In connection with reserve fund shares, there is another provision in
the rules of one of these societies to which we must draw attention. It
is provided that when the reserve fund reaches the limit fixad
by the board of management, the whole of the profits for the year shall be
repaid. According to the reports of this society, the Board of Management
has decided that these refunds shall commence to be made when the credit
balance amounts to twice the premium. In the case of our policy holder
A., who has annually to pay a premium of 50 fr., when the credit balance
of his reserve fund account is 100 fr. nothing more will be entered to his cred-
it, but the amount which should be assigned to him each year out of the pro-
fits will be deducted from the annual premium he has to pay. If, therefore,
there was a gain of 100,000 francs on the total premiums of 500,000 fr., in-
stead of 10 fr. being added to A's credit it would be deducted from tha
50 fr. premium he has to pay.
§ 3. The results of experience.
Since the law has been in force for eight years (it came into operation
on July 1st., 1905), we are able to arrive at some valid conclusions. We
shall above all consider the results obtained by the Caisse Commune d' Assu-
rances des CuUivaieurs Beiges and the Assurance Agricole, since these two
mutual insurance societies undertake most of the agricultural risks in Bel-
gium, and regularly furnish detailed statistics in their reports.
During the debate in ParUament, it was repeately said that the applic-
ation of the law to agriculture was less necessary as agriculture did not
present very serious dangers. The experience of Belgium is quite contrary
42 BEI,GIUM - IMSURANCE AND THRIFT
to this assertion : there are many accidents in agriculture and not only
such as have no serious consequences. In this respect Belgian statistics
are in complete agreement with those of other countries.
It is to be observed that in connection with mortal accidents in agri-
culture, very often there is nothing to be paid beyond the 75 fr. for funeral
expenses; as we have said, the law makes provision for a pension equal
to 30% of the yearly wages of the victim to be paid to certain persons
within certain limits of relationship, but it often happens that the ser-
vants are old and unmarried and have not the family contemplated in
the law, or young people still unmarried who cannot be considered as
supporting their parents. Now the law requires that they shoued be
supporting them.
In all European countries where there are laws similar to this Belgian
one, it has been observed that, during the first years of their operation,
the number of accidents reported constantly increases, within certain
limits.
It has even been inferred that the number of accidents increases just
on account of the compensation granted to the victims. The labourers,
it was alleged, were less prudent, and there were even those who courted
accidents or simulated them.
One fact is certain with regard to the agricultural accidents in Belgium ;
there is an increase in the number of those known. But what is the
reason? At present, the accidents are known, while previously many were
not and we cannot even yet say that all are ; we know only those
reported. Now, how often does it not happen that the victim thinks that
he has had a slight accident which wiU not absolutely prevent his continu-
ing his regular business ? It is only some days or weeks later that the dis-
ablement becomes evident, and then, very often, the master or the insurance
company wiU no longer accept the report of the victim, as he is unable to show
that the disablement he sufEers from is really due to the accident. But it
is only once that the victim will sufEer from this severity, afterwards he
will naturally be careful to report every insignificant accident, as well
as more serious ones and his companions in labour will also be induced by
the example they have before them to report ever}'- accident immediately.
So more accidents are known than formerly, but the figures scarcely allow us
to say as yet that the number of accidents has really increased in con-
sequence of the compensation assured to the victims. Yet, in Belgium, as
elsewhere, complaint is made of simulation of accidents.
It was imagined that accidents did not occur on small farms; experience
contradicts this idea. And this is easy to understand, when we consider
the causes of accidents. It was said that the principal accidents were due
to agricultural machinery; these are evidently a cause of very serious accid-
ents, but they are not the chief cause of accidents, as is seen in the httle
table we reproduce from the Reports of the Caisse Commune d' Assurance des
Cultivateurs Beiges:
AGRICULTURAL ACCIDENT INSURANCE
43
Palls
Horses
Edged Tools
Carting
Honied CatUe
Fall of Objects, Implements, etc. .
Agricultural Machinery Used on the
Farm
Crushings
Strains
Dogs
Agrictiltural Machinery Used in the
Fields
Miscellaneous
1905-06
22.5
103
8.5
8.5
5.9
4.8
4.2
4.0
3-7
0.7
0.7
26.2
1907
26.2
n.6
6.7
9.2
6.7
7-3
3-8
5-0
5-7
0.6
0.6
16.6
1908
254
10.5
8.4
5-3
4-9
6.8
43
3.1
5-4
0.5
0.8
24.6
1909
27.0
12.0
7-9
4.6
51
5-6
3-4
3-6
5-7
0.4
0.3
24.4
26.4
II-3
6.3
5-7
51
7-5
4-4
3-5
4-7
0-5
0.2
24.4
1912
24.48
10.09
9.40
5.06
4.20
8.21
2.28
5-97
9-55
0.65
0.47
1964
21.60
9.17
10.13
6.05
4.18
8.03
2.17
5-91
11.70
0.33
0-73
20.00
It is certain that very many accidents might be avoided if the farmers
were obHged when using machinery for the upkeep of the farm buildings
to conform to certain government regulations.
There is another explanation of the fact that the accidents are
certainly no less numerous on small than on large farms: if we compare
the regions of large farming with those, much more numerous in Bel-
gium, of small farms, we find a staff of workmen on the latter in
proportion far more numerous. On smaU farms there is generally one
labourer per hectare, whilst on large farms, especially in those of the Con-
droz region, there is scarcely one labourer per ten hectares.
Other conclusions may be drawn from what follows in regard to the
modifications experience has shown to be necessary.
Although the law was drafted for purposes of industry, it must be re-
cognised that it is very well adapted to agricultural situations.
This does not, however, mean that from the agricultural point of view
the law is quite perfect ; far from that. For the information of foreigners
we may classify under four heads the principal amendments desirable
from the point of view of agriculture:
1st., The farmers subject to the contract provisions of the law;
2nd., The persons to whose case the law ought to apply;
3rd., The settlement of the wages on which compensation is based ;
4th,, The compensation to be granted.
As we have said, only farms of a certain size are now subject to the
law. We think it would be better to apply it on all farms without
distinction. The following are our principal reasons :
44 BELGIUM - INSURANCF: and THRIF'l^
Experience proves that most accidents in agriculture are not due as
was belived to machinery, but to falls and edged tools. Now these falls
which are the causes of most of the accidents, occur at least as frequently
on smaU farms as on large ; we may even say that the large farms by their
better arrangements, especially the vaulting of the cattle stalls and stables,
reduce this cause of accident.
Complaint is made nowadays in all the regions of our country of the
constantly increasing difficulty of j&nding farm labourers. We have not to
examine here into the proper means for putting a stop to the rural exodus,
but will not the most important of these be to arrange that the agricultural
labourer is as Uttle as possible, economically speaking, in a position of in-
feriority to the manufacturing hand ?
On the other hand, account must be taken of the impression made on an
agricultural labourer by the passing from a farm subject to the law to another
not subject to it. In the first case, when an accident befalls him, he is sure
of receiving the compensation fixed by law of December 24th., 1903. It
is true that this compensation is calculated at % the amount of the loss
he suffers, but in every case he obtains it and the new law has instituted a
procedure far more easy than that of common law; on the other farm, in
case of an accident, he must first prove it due to culpabiUty of
the master or a representative of the master, in the discharge of his duties,
or to an animal employed in the work. If he can not succeed in doing
this, he is refused all compensation.
But the reason we consider of greatest importance is the very consider-
able number of cases in which it cannot be said with certainty whether the
farm is or is not subject to the law of December 24th., 1903. Farms which
employ a machine moved by force other than human or animal are greatl}'
in the minority. Again it is only exceptionally that a declaration of vol-
untary subjection to the law is made to the registrar of a local court. The
very large majority of the farmers to whom the law applies habitually em-
ploy at least three labourers. It is true that the meanings of these words,
"habitually" and "labourer," have been defined by ministerial decision, but
none the less the words are a source of many difficulties. It often happens
that two labourers are regularly employed on a farm and several others also
for special work. Are these to be considered habitual labourers ? This is
a question of fact that can only be settled by the magistrate after hearing
the witnesses produced by both parties, by the labourer victim of the accid-
ent who claims that the 1903 law applies and by the master or the insurance
society maintaining that it does not. It will be agreed, that it would be
better to avoid the conflict.
The premium to be paid to the msurance companies in case of insurance
in common law is less than that required by the law of December 24th. ,
1903, and it is observ'^ed as a rule that the farmers, for whom the application
of this law is more or less expensive, profit by every occasion,especially of the
termination of their contract of insurance under the law of 1903, to claim
that they are not subject to it and insure themselves in accordance with
common law. Of course farms are cut up and on this account land which
AGRICULTURAL ACCIDENT IXbURANCE 45
was previously subject to the contract provisions of the law is no longer so;
on the other hand, it may happen that the farmers' children grow up and
take the place of labourers, so that there is no longer the requisite number
of labourers. But, most frequently, farmers prefer to consider themselves
not subject to the law of 1903, so as to pay a smaller premium.
We think on these different grounds it would be better to make the
1903 law applicable to all agricultural and hortictdtural undertakings and,
to avoid the difl&ctilties so numerous in a country of small farms like Belgium,
make it also applicable to auxiliar}- undertakings.
And let it not be said that the small farmers are opposed to the idea of
insurance, for it is just among the small farmers that the insurance com-
panies make the largest profits. We have already given the number of
the policies of the Assurance Agricole on September 30th., 1913. Evidentlj^
a large number of these policies are held by farmers with farms of a certain
size and cover the farmer's liabihty towards third parties as weU as accidents
to himself or to members of his family. But it is no exaggeration to say
that about 7,500 of these policies are issued to small farmers not subject
to the law of 1903.
*
* *
The law is applicable to agricultural labourers and though a ministerial
decision of February 3rd., 1905 fixes the meaning of these words and although
we have already had legal decisions enough on the matter, the expression
gives rise to practical difficulties. It would be better to make the law applic-
able to all agricultural wage earners indifferently and especially to servants.
Evidentl^^ real farm servants engaged in farm work must be considered as
labourers within the meaning of the law, but it is not the same, for example,
in the case of farm servants engaged in household work, even if they milk
the cows.
The German Imperial Social Insurance Code makes insurance optional
for the small farmer and his wife. Would it not be also well if the Belgian
law^ allowed the farmer and the members of his family to insure themselves
on the basis of their earnings calculated in advance ?
It is true that even after such an extension of the law there will be
disputes in regard to some workmen, who must be considered not as labour-
ers, but as artisans, as the}' are their own masters and pro\nsion is not made
for their case in this law. Onty to mention two examples, clippers of hedges
and pruners of trees are in this position ; but there is no way of preventing
disputes arising as to whether they are properly speaking artisans or labour-
ers. The matter has to be decided in each special case.
One of the greatest difficulties in the application of the law is to fix
the wages on which the compensation is based ; it is easy to oblige a manuf ac-
46 BELGIUM - INSURANCE AND THRIFT
turer and above all a large manufacturer to keep a register of wages, and
enter in it those paid to his workmen, week by week, or fortnight by fortnight;
the manufacturer insured sends an extract of his register of wages every
three months to the insurance society and the premium is fixed in propor-
tion to the wages actually paid.
Again, it is the wages earned by the victim of an accident in his work on
which the compensation due to him under the law is based ; but, in the case
of farmers and especially of small farmers, who predominate in the larger
part of Belgium, it is not possible to enforce the regular keeping of registers
and the farmer is not himself accustomed to keep them. So the agricul-
tural insurance premium is generally fixed per hectare, after valuation
made by the insurance company.
In fixing the compensation due to the victim of an accident, account
must be taken of the real wages earned b}' him on the farm on which he is
employed but on small and medium sized farms many other things have to
be considered besides the wages in money : when the insured farmer keeps
registers of wages, the latter are regularly entered, but it must be taken
into account that in certain seasons the wages are higher than in others,
and again that the labourers at certain seasons, above all at harvest time,
work by contract, and that very often the work is done not only by the labour-
er, but by his wife and children who are not occupied the whole day. The
possible earnings of the labourer in this way must, therefore, be calculated ;
besides this, the farm servants generally have board and lodging at the farm-
er's; the farm labourer is very often given his board; very often he has
perquisites, regularly allowed, of which account must be taken in estimating
his wages. It is then necessary to calculate all he gets, which is generally
no easy matter; on the other hand, even in the case of wages in money actu-
ally paid by the day, it is very difficult for the insurer to ascertain the true
amount. For experience shows that often the farmer insured supports his
labourers who have suffered by accidents when they exaggerate the amount
of their wages ; it is not he who must pay the claim, but a large insurance so-
ciety, sometimes at a distance, and the farmer knows he wiU be popular
with his labourers if he succeeds in getting the largest possible compensation
paid to the man. Above all, in a country where the farmers have difficulty
in finding the labourers they require for their farm, is this a point that
cannot be overlooked.
It would be necessary then to fix for a certain period, for classes of
labourers and for limited districts, the wages on which compensation for
accidents is to be based, after hearing the representatives of both the
masters and the labourers.
Of course these wages taken as a basis must correspond with those actu-
ally gained, whether in money or in kind, but who knows whether for one
or other farmer who is now paying less than is usually paid in the district,
it might not serve as a salutory lesson, and induce him to pay his labourers
wages nearer to the usual standard?
AGRICUI/rURAL ACCIDENT INSURANCE 47
According to article 4 of the Belgian law of December 24tli., 1903,
compensation is only given when the accident has caused total disablement
for more than a week ; in this case, compensation is paid from the day
succeeding the accident. In this way it was hoped that accidents of very
small importance would not be reported ; but experience has shown that it
would be well not to have this delay : it is a cause of dissatisfaction among
the victims of slight accidents and leads more than one of them to prolong
the consequence of the accident. A labourer who could resume work five
or six days after the accident wiU be tempted only to resume it on the ninth
or tenth day, just on account of the delay prescribed by the law.
The compensation is due to the victim by contract ; it is paid in any
case, for the law only excludes accidents caused intentionall}-. The claim paid,
as we have said, is 50% of the loss incurred and this principle applies whal-
er er be the importance of the accident.
In case of small permanent lesions, it is difficult to justify payment of
compensation to agricultural labourers. The intention of the law was
to make up for the diminution of the working capacity of the labourer to the
extent his wages were affected by it. Now many small permanent lesions
entail no diminution of working capacity, or if there is an}" real diminu-
tion, it has no effect on the wages, above all, in a country like Belgium where
it is becoming difficult to find agricultural labourers ; the farmer does not
take account of a lesion or infirmity of small importance. On the other hand,
compensations in the form of a few francs a year scarcely improve the situ-
ation of the victims. It would be much better to cancel the right to com-
pensation, in case of disablement not felt in the actual economic conditions,
and not causing a diminution of professional capacity.
It is understood that the masters or their insurers, who have to pay
less on account of permanent disablement of smaU importance not being
compensated, might be obliged b}^ law to give larger compensation in cases
of more serious disablement.
Also, in the adjacent countries, experience has shown the uselessness of
compensation for accidents of small importance. Thus, to mention an
example, the German professional agricultural insurance societies, supported
by the chambers of agriculture and the agricultural leagues of their district,
have on various occasions requested that it should be laid down in the law,
that only in cases of diminution of working capacity b}- more than 20 ° „
should permanent compensation be given.
Compensations in cases of permanent disablement must be paid as
annuities, provided the amount exceeds sixty francs annually; otherwise
the judge can, at the request of the part}^ concerned, order the pension to
be commuted.
Art. 7 of the law provides that at the request of the victim or his repre-
sentatives, the judge may decree that a third part at most of the amount
of the pension shall be paid in cash.
48 BELGIUiM - INSURANCE AND THRIFT
This general provision it is easy to understand; the intention was to
prevent the victims of accidents or their representatives, finding themselves,
through an vinintelligent use of the compensation paid, in need after
they have received it. It is to be understood, therefore, that the authors
of the law would have preferred to establish an annual pension. But, in
case of agricultural labourers, we think the judge should be free, while
taking the necessary precautions, to grant a money compensation, because
experience shows that the victims of accidents might then become small
farmers. There are now already many such victims permanentl}^ disabled
who are now farming and the number would increase if means for
their installation were granted them. We have carried out an enquiry into
this matter for the account of the Caisse Commune d' Assurance des Cidliva-
feurs Beiges. Of course the figures we have collected refer to too limited
a number of cases, but we may conclude from them that already man)^ in-
valided agricultural labourers, no longer able to continue their work,
have become small farmers. The desire we have expressed above is of
especial importance for an agricultural country very much subdivided,
as most of Belgium is.
It is not possible here to enter into details with regard to the compens-
ation in case of mortal accidents. By art. 6 of the law such compens-
ation is subject in certain cases to the condition that the victim has been
the "support" of the persons to be compensated, especially of his parents.
Now, above all in agriculture, this gives rise to many difficulties.
Investigation is most usually difficult. How were the parents in need of
the earnings of their child and how far did he assist them ? Again, often
working people who are economical are refused compensation because they
are in possession of comparative comfort acquired by their toil and their
domestic virtues, whilst others less industrious and less economical and
poor, it may be, largely through their own fault, have no difficulty in
obtaining the legal compensation.
Also some remarks must be made in regard to the calculation and
distribution of the compensation in case of death, according to the pro-
visions of the law. The central division of the Belgian Chamber of Re-
presentives was in favour of another system. I believe that it would
have made a better distribution of the compensation, more in proportion
to the real loss sitffered by each of the heirs.
Again, according to art. 39 of the law, the compensations may be sub-
jected to revision at the end of three years from date of the agreement en-
tered into between parties or the final judgment settling the amount of com-
pensation. The German Reichsversicherungsamt admits use as justifying
action for revision of compensation. In Belgium, most of the jvrdges re
quire, before allowing the claim for revision, that there be some physical
alteration in the lesions existing at the date of the previous regular settle-
ment of the compensation. It is, however, certain that use has, in practice
a marvellous compensating eflEect. Very often, in a short time, labourers who
have lost a part of a limb for example, a finger or a portion of one, learn to
supply the loss suffered, by similar or neighbourning organ? which become
AGRICUT,TURAI. ACCIDENT INSURAI^CE 49
more supple, stronger and suited to the new needs created by the loss.
If our courts followed the example of the German courts, revision would
be made easier and this would be desirable for the equitable application
of the law.
There are still some questions of minor importance relating to compens-
ation for agricultural accidents which might be regulated otherwise than
at present by the law of December 24th., 1903. Wlien this came into force
on July 1st., 1905, there was at first some slight dissatisfaction among the
farmers, but now there is no further question of that. And as we said
above, while we recognise that the law might be amended (and now there
is serious talk of its revision) it must be recognised that it is fairly well
suited to the requirements of agriculture.
Part 111: Credit
GERMANY.
RECENT DEVELOPMENT OF THE CO-OPERATI\Ti INSTITUTES
OF LAND CREDIT FOR RURAL HOLDINGS.
Among the many institutes of every kind in Germany that engage in
land credit business, the co- operative organizations known under the name
of Landschaften are the most important. Above all in Prussia, where the five
oldest Landschaften have been working for more than 125 3'ears, do these
institutes provide a very considerable and continuall}- increasing portion
of the real credit required in agriculture.
In the first number of this Bulletin (September 30th., 1910), a short
article was published (i) dealing with the origin and development of the Land-
schaften. In the present article it is our intention to complete the inform-
ation alread3'' furnished on the subject, in accordance with the most recent
statistics. In addition we shall endeavour to show, Avithin the limits the
information at our disposal permit, the importance of the Landschaften
and similar credit institutes for small and medium sized farms.
Let us first of all say a few words as to the other sources of credit to
be considered in the case of rural holdings. Large advances are made on
the security of rural holdings, not only by the Landschaften and the
mortgage banks, but also by savings banks and private capitalists, for
first mortgages on rural and urban holdings constitute an excellent in-
vestment of capital, thanks to the important guarantee provided by the
cadastral and mortgage registration systems in force in Germany.
Of the total amount of capital invested by the Savings Banks the foll-
owing amounts were invested in rural mortgages: 1,246,000,000 mks. or
25.4 % in 1896 ; 1,792,000,000 mks. or 22 % in 1904 and 2,464,000,000 mks.
or 19 % in 1912. The largest proportion of these credits is granted
(i) This article was republished in the first volume of the Monoi;raphs on Agricultural Co-
operation in Various Countries. Also in the number of this Bulletin for November, 1913, there
appeared an account of the work of the East Prussian I<andschaft.
52 GERMANY - CREDIT
under form of loans repayable on demand; but, in recent years, the savings
banks have also contributed to extend the use of loans redeemable in in-
stalments, better answering the conditions and requirements of agri-
culture. The amount increased from 358,000,000 mks. in 1904 to
689,000,000 mks. in 191 2, so that the proportion, in comparison with
the total amount of the mortgage loans on rural holdings granted by the
savings banks increased from 19.96 % to 27.33 % in the period. But the
possibilitj' of realising still further progress in this way is to some extent
limited by the fact that the savdngs banks must at every moment be in a
position to pay, for the very nature of the deposits they accept prevents
their investing large sums in such a way as would hinder their being again
available at a comparatively short notice.
In Germany the niajority of the mortgage banks have ouly granted a
small proportion of loans on rural holdings. As the insurance societies do
even in a larger degree, they above all limit their mortgage credit operations
to urban holdings. According to a report published in the number of the
Deutscher Okonomist for September 27*'*., 1913 (page 630), the total amount
of the mortgages granted by the 38 German mortgage banks at the end
of 1912 was 11,286,702,000 marks. Out of this, only 751,720.000 marks
represented rural mortgages. More than two thirds of this was lent by
two of these h2inks>,th.ePreussische Zentrai-Bodenkredit-AMienfiesellschaft of
Berlin, (Central Prussian I^and Credit Society, Limited by Shares) which
thus lent 273,802,000 marks and the Bayerische Hypotheken- und Wechsel-
hank of Munich (Bavarian Mortgage and Exchange Bank), which had lent
246,209,000 mks. These are the two largest mortgage credit establish-
ments of Germany. In addition, three smaller institutes of South Germany
had granted mortgage loans on rural land for a total amount of 125,508,000
mks. Five institutes absolutely do no rural mortgage business and
the remaining 28, all together lent the comparatively small amount of
86,201,000 mks. on the securit}^ of rural mortgages. Amongst all these
banks, there are only three in which the credits on rural estate represent
more than one fifth of the total credits granted on mortgage : that is 33.3%
in the Preussische Zentral-Bodenkredit-Aktien^eselhchaft, 21.8% in the Baye-
rische Hypotheken-imd Wechselhank and 26.7% (31.888,000) in the Hessische
Landes-Hypothekenhank of Darmstadt (i) (Mortgage Bank of the Grand
Duchy of Hesse). These Banks render great services to agricultural credit,
as they contribute to extend the only system that is adapted to agriculture,
that of loans not repa^'able on demand, but by means of regular fixed
instalments.
In some provinces and some states where there are no Landschafts,
their place is filled b}^ State or provincial institutes. We shall speak of
them in another article at an earlv date.
(i) The Hessiche Landes-Hypothckenbank, founded in 1902, has indeed the form of a society
limited by shares, but the capital was entirely paid upby the State, the communes and the pub-
lic savings banks, so that, in spite of its form, it has the character of a Government instit-
ution.
INSTITUTES FOR KUKAL LAXD CREDIT 53
§ I The PRUSSIAN landscha?ten.
There are i8 I,aiidschafteii in Prussia. As they were founded at
various dates and in different localities, they present differences with
each other, but have all one essential point in common. They are co-
operative societies of landed proprietors, the object of which is to provide
their members with cheap mortgage credit, not to be repaid on simple
demand of the lender. They are all corporations in public law, managed
by their members and supervised by the State. Their duty is to bring land-
holders who have need of credit into relation with capitalists desirous of
investing their money. They issue the mortgage loans granted to their mem-
bers in accordance with a strict estimate of the 3deld of the holding, under the
form of land bonds {Pfandhriefe) which those receiving them can sell on the
public exchange. Some lyandschaften do not issue land bonds for their
own account but are affiliated to the Central Landschaft founded in 1873,
which places at their disposal the land bonds they have need of for their
loans. This union for the collective issue of land bonds serves principal!}'
to obtain a large market for the bonds by reducing the rate of interest t(
be paid. The issue of the land bonds is based on the mortgages registered
in favour of the lyandschaft on the farms serving as security for the loan.
However, in the most ancient Landschaften, all the land holders who, accord-
ing to the law, belong to the Ivandschaft, are liable to the extent of their
entire propert^^ for the engagements of the I^andschaft (general guar-
antee), independently of the fact whether they have received a loan or not.
Nowadays, the Ivandschaften have also, most of them, a sufficiently large
amount of capital of their own, accumulated in the course of years and have
also a considerable sinking fund formed by the annual regular instalments of
their debts repaid b}' the debtors. The security of the land bonds is further
increased by the character the Landschaften possess of institutions in pub-
lic law and above all by the rights granted them in the case of a debtor
not meeting his engagements. In fact, in such a case, they are authorized
to distrain upon the estate of the debtor, without judicial authorization
being necessary. Under existing conditions, the land bonds of the Land-
schaften are to be accounted among the safest of investments, so that their
value is quite the same as that of the best state securities.
We do not want to enter too deeply into the characteristics of the or-
ganization of the Landschaften, but shall only now glance at the situation
of their business.
The following table, in which we give figures showing the amount of
land bonds issued by the various institutes gives a view of the development
of their work in the last ten years :
54
GERMANY - CREDIT
Table I. — I^ettres de Gage Issued by the Prussian Landschafien .
(Thousands of Marks).
Date
Years
Name of the Institute
1901
1906
1911
1912
1913
I . East Prussian I^ndschaf I .
24.12.
367,537
412,631
467,436
481,372
2. We?t Prussian lyandschaft . .
20.5.
135.469
130-563
125,616
128,038
128,609
3. New West Prussian I^and-
schaft
20.5.
117,777
167,958
204,707
215.572
220,019
,1. Credit Institute for the Nobles'
I^anded Estates in Kur-and
Neumark
31.12.
192,809
191,463
180,172
180,808
—
5. New Credit Institute of Bran-
denburg
31.12.
133,765
141,849
142,176
146,202
—
6. Pomeranian I^ndschaft . . .
24.6.
242,251
251.738
261.417
263,246
365,944
7. New Pomeranian I,andschaft
Tor Small Holdings ....
24.6.
14,004
24,488
28,252
27.995
28.317
6. I^andschaft of Posen ....
31.12.
295,231
331,100
348,191
398,015
—
0. Silesian I^andschaf t :
(a) Department for I^arge
Holdings
3I-3-
371,657
398,168
407,692
411.262
411. 113
(b) Department for Small
Holdings
3I-3-
160,734
199,969
216,440
220,119
223,720
10. T,aiidschaft of the Province of
Saxony
31-12,
107.773
150,57s
201,860
227,997
244,347
II. I<andschaft of .Schlcswig-Hol-
stein
30.9-
5,103
20,716
61.656
81,419
12. I^andschaftiicher Kreditver-
band (Credit Association) of
Schleswig-Holstein ....
31-12.
16,162
41,547
54,450
63,360
—
13. Credit Association for the
Nobles' Landed Estates in
the Districts of Calenberg,
©ottingen, Grubenhagen and
Hildesheim, at Hanover . .
3I-3-
20,410
22,292
26,745
28,492
—
14. Credit Institute for the Nobles'
Landed Estates of the Dis-
trict of Luneburg, at Celle.
24.6.
14,157
15,484
16,267
16,712
—
15. Credit Association for the
Nobles' Landed Estates of the
District of Bremen, at Stade.
1.4.
10.055
10,085
10,439
10,438
10,556
16. Landschaft of the Province of
Westphalia
31.12.
56,669
74,424
95,192
102,904
—
17. Credit Institute of Upper and
Lower Lusatia, at Gorlitz . .
31.12.
343
330
258
258
—
18. Central Landschaft of Prussia .
1. 12.
—
426,848
459,569
487,057
—
INSTITUTES FOR RURAL hA^D CREDIT 55
From this table we see that the amount of the land bonds issued by
the Prussian Landschaften in 1912 was about 3,000,000,000 mks. (i) It must
be observed that of this amount about 2,500,000,000 mks. were issued by
the Ivandschaften of the six eastern provinces (nos. 1-9). There are various
reasons to explain this. However, the most important is that the Ivand-
schaften of these provinces have already a long history and also that the
large landed estates, very frequent in the Bast, avail themselves largely of the
credit the Landschaften provide. On the other hand, some of the Western
Provinces, either Uke Hesse Nassau and the Rhine Province, have no land-
schaft, or, like Hanover, only institutes of very Umited importance (nos 13-
15). It must be also remembered that the land holders of the Western Pro-
vinces, for the most part peasant farmers, are but little in debt in compar-
ison with what we find in the East. In the Western Provinces, owing to the
great abundance of capital, the rate of interest on private mortgages is
far lower than in the East, so that there is no potent and imperative mot-
ive there to transform private mortgages into mortgages to the credit
institutes, in order to realise by this operation a saving in the amount
of interest to be paid. Finally, the Savings Banks, which here have at their
disposal considerable funds, have in these districts carried on a large credit
business for the benefit of rural land holders. From the figures published
in the Prussian Statistical Yearbook for 1912, on page 366, we see that the
Savings Banks of the six eastern provinces had all together only lent
581,800,000 marks in 1911 on rural mortgages, and of this 157,400,000 marks
under the form of credits redeemable in instalments, whilst in the western
provinces the loans on mortgage granted by savings banks amounted to
1,857,600,000 marks, with 484,800,000 marks under the form of credits
redeemable in instalments.
When we consider the progress of the lyandschaften, we see it has been
very different in different cases. Some seem to have reached a period of
arrest or of slow decline, whilst others are quite flourishing. This is princip-
ally because some of the lyandschaften limit their field of action to granting
credit to large landowners, who have now almost completely satisfied
their needs for it, whilst other Landschaften lend in preference to small
farmers. In their case, the conversion of private mortgages, less
(i) The amount of the laud bonds issued by the Zentrallandschaft is also included in the fig-
ures given for the institutes for account of which they were issued. On December ist., 1912, it
was 1,141,000 marks for the Westpreussische Landschaft (West Prussian lyandschaft);
165,266,000 marks for the Kur-und Neumdrkische Ritterscftaftl. KredUinstitut (Credit Institute
for the lyanded Estates of the Nobles in Kurmark and Neumark); 146,202,000 marks for the
Neues Brandenbur?,isches KredUinstitut (New Brandenburg Credit Institute); 4,351,000 mrks.
for the Pommersche Landschaft (Pomeranian Landschaft); 7,240,000 marks for the Neue
Pommersche Landschaft (New Pomeranian Landschaft); 78.963.000 marks for the Land-
schaft der Provinz Sachsen (Landschaft of the Province of Saxony); 83,455,000 marks for the
Schleswi'^ Holsteinische Landschaft (Schleswig Holstein Landschaft) and 258,000 marks for the
Kreditinstitut fitr die Oder und Nieder Lausitz (Credit Institute for Upi)er and I^wer Lusatia).
56 GERMANY - CREDIi'
profitable for the farmers, into Landschaften mortgages opens for tlie
institutes an immense field of action (i).
The conversion of all the mortgage debts of the §mall farmers, from debts
to private individuals, as they are at present for the most part, into debts
secured on land bonds, is now the most important task the Prussian I^and-
schaften have to accomplish. It is on the result of their efforts iu this
direction that the degree of their future development essentially depends.
In spite of the great progress they have made, the lyandschaften have
not yet reached in this field the preeminent position they occupy in respect
to the large landed proprietors.
A consideration of the measures adopted by the lyandschaften in re-
cent decades shows clearly that they recognise it as an important duty to
give the advantages of cheap agricultural loans, not to be repaid on de-
mand, but b}- a SA'^stem of compulsory instalments, to the owners of small
and medium sized farms.
Of the five oldest Landschaften, originalh^ intended to provide for the
needs of the large land holders, there are three, the West Prussian Land-
schaft, the Credit Institute for the Nobles' Landed Estates in Kurmark
and Neumark and the Pomeranian Landschaft, that, in 1861, in i86c)
and 1871, founded special establishments for credit to peasant farmers.
Whilst the Silesian and East Prussian Landschaften, since about the
same date, have been themselves providing small farmers with credit.
The Landschaften founded in the provinces of Posen(i857), Saxony (1864),
and Wesphalia (1877) have from the start allowed small landowners the
benefit of their credit. The Landschaftlicher Kreditverhand fiir Schleswig-
Holstein (Schleswig Holstein Credit Association) , founded in 1882, is entirely
for the peasants. The Schleswig- Holsteinische Landschaft (Schleswig-Holstein
Landschaft), founded in 1895, quite at first was only concerned with the
large landed proprietors, but in 1907 it extended its business to include
credit to proprietors of small and medium sized holdings. What are the re-
sults these institutions have up to the present attained bj^ the grant of
loans to peasant farmers ?
The loans granted on the securit}^ of peasant holdings by the Schle-
sische Landschaft (Silesian Landschaft) amounted in 1885 to 41,700,000
marks ; in 1895 to 106,300,000 marks and in 1905 to 188,700,000 marks.
On March 31st., 1913, the total amount of these loans was 233,700,000 marks.
The 15,829 holdings (2) on the security of which it had granted credits on
(i) Thedecreaseclbu?iiies= of theWestpresusischeLaitdschatt, Ihe ainouuiof the land bonds c4
which in circulation was, in 1886, 155,000,000 mks., and even, in 1896, 145,000,000 niks., must
be largely attributed to the action of the Colonisation Commission (Ansiedelun^skommission)
founded in 1886. Cfr. Bulletin of Economic and Social Intelligence, December, 1912, p. 140.
This Commission and the Prussian State , during the period 1895-1913, by means of purchase
of landed estate, caused the redemption of land bonds to the amount of 33,868,165 mks.
(2) The 11,000,000 marks advanced by this I^andschaft as loans on large landed estate-
on March 31st., 1913 had been granted on the security of 1,879 such estates.
LNSTITUTES FOR RURAL LAXD CREDIT 57
December 24th., 1912, could be classified as follows according to their
area :
1,425 of an area of less than 5 hectares
7,817 " " " " between 5 and 20 hectares
6,068 " " " ■' » 20 » 75
589 " " " " more than 75 "
As regards the amount of credit granted:
4,549 holdings had received loans of less than 5,000 mks.
9,878 " " " •' " between 5,000 and 30,000 mks.
1,269 ' " 30,000 and loo.ooomks.
133 " " " " " more than 100,000.
The loans granted by the Ostpreussische Landschajt (East Prussian
Landschaft) on holdings of less than 100 ha. were at the end of 1912 in round
numbers 13,700 ; 2,600 of the holdings were of less than 20 ha. and 10,300
less than 50 ha. The number of holdings of more than 100 ha. on which
loans had been granted was 2,900, a figure somewhat higher than in 1895,
whilst the number of holdings of less than 100 ha. receiving loans was 3,178
in 1885 and 8,095 in 1895. Thus, in the last thirty years, peasant holdings
have taken the first place by far in regard to number, if not certainly in
regard to the total amount of loans conceded to their owners. With re-
gard to the amount of the loans, there were 8,336 for amounts of less than
10,000 marks, 6,056 for amounts of between 10,000 and 50,000 mks, and
2,192 for amounts of more than 50,000.
In the NeueWestpreussische Landschaft (New West Prussian Landschaft) ,
intended exclusively for the grant of credit to peasant landholders, between
1903 and 1913 (]\Iay 20th.), the number of holdings for which loans were
granted increased from 7,389 to 11,308 and the amount lent increased from
140,861,270 mks. to 229,019,410 mks.
In the case of the Province of Posen, it is not possible to gather from
the annual reports the number of the peasants' holdings for which credit
was granted, nor the proportion of these loans to the total amount lent.
The Neues Brandenhurgisches Kreditinstitut (New Brandenburg Credit
Institute), founded by the Kur- und Neumdrkisches Ritterschajtliches Kredit-
institut for the peasant landowners has progressed as follows :
Amount of Loans Area ot Holdings ^"'o/LoanT'"*
1880 93 3,694,600 marks
1890 4,195 74,274,300
1900 9'007 130,972,350
1905 9.931 141,729,150
1910 10,345 142,972,800
1912 10,444 146,202,400
58 GERMANY - CREDIT
Number of Holdings
Total Amount of I/>an
828
2,143,400 mks.
7.936
73,189,750 »
1,607
57,413,050 »
73
13,455,200 »
The farms for which loans had been granted up to the end of 191 2
were as follows in respect to their area and the amount of the loans granted
to them :
Ana of Holdings Number
I^ess than 5 ha 300
Between 5 and 20 3,660
» 20 » 50 V 4.283
» 50 » 75 ■' 1,335
» 75 » 100 ■ 451
More than 100 ■ 415
Amount of Loans
Less than 2,000 marks . . .
Between 3,000 and 20,000 mks.
» 20,000 » 100,000 »
More than 100,000 mks ....
From the above figures, we see. that in the four provinces of Silesia,
East Prussia, West Prussia and Brandenburg, the peasants' holdings
for which loans were obtained form the I^andschaften were more than 50,000
in number and the amount lent was about 750,000,000 marks. However,
this is only a small number of the farms that are able to obtain credit
from the lyandschaften under the regulations in force, for there are
about 60,000 farms alone in the Province of Brandenburg and about
55,000 in that of East Prussia.
The Neue Pommersche Landschaft (New Pomeranian I^andschaft) has
not flourished to the same degree, for in Pomerania the area farmed by the
peasants is not large. The number of farms for which it had granted
credit on June 24th., 1912 was only 1,320.
In 1909, the I^andschaft of the Province of Saxony granted loans to
1,455 landowners for the amount of 102,800,000 mks., and in 1912 loans for
3,202 holdings, 405 of which were nobles' landed estates {Ritterguter) ,
for the amount of 228,000,000 mks.
At the end of 1 912, the Westfdlische Landschaft (WestphaUan Landschaft)
had granted loans for the amount of 102,900,000 marks for 4,986 holdings.
The comparatively low average amount of the loans shows^that they were
chiefly for peasant farms.
The Landwirtschaftlicher Kreditverein fur Schleswig-Holstem (Schleswig-
Holstein Agricultural Credit Association) had, at the end of 1912, 3,200
members. Of the 501 new credits granted in 1912, 140 were for holdings
of less than 20 ha., 228 for holdings of between 20 and 50 ha., 103 for hold-
ings of from 50 to 100 ha. and 30 for those of more than 100 ha.
INSTITUTFS FOR RURAL LAND CREDIT 59
The Schleswig- Holsteinische Landschaf t{Schleswig Holsteinlyandschaft),
at the end of 1912, had granted credits for 105 landed estates of the nobiUty,
6 large farms {Meierhofe) and 2,385 miscellaneous holdings.
In the following Table II, the land bonds issued by the Prussian I^and-
schaften are classified according to their rate of interest. The rate of interest
is a sure standard by which to judge the cost of the loans to the farmers, as
the lyandschaften receive very little beyond their working expenses. Most
of the bonds in circulation bear interest at 3 ^ %. However, in recent
years, on account of the generally high price of money, the I^andschaften
have been compelled again to charge 4 % on their new issues.
6o
GERMANY - CREDIT
Table II. — Classification of I/ettres de Gage Issued,
according to their Rate of Interest.
(Thousatids of Marks).
Institute
Date
3 %
:, y» %
3 Vi %
4 %
I. East Prussian Lanuschaft
24.12.12
16,846
338,755
125,770
2. West Prussian l,anf'schaft
20.5 13
11,986
—
105,108
",514
3. N. w W' St Prussan Landschaft . .
20.5 13
9,446
—
175,390
44,174
4. Credit Insiituii for the Nobles' l,an c
E-tates in Kur-and Neumark ....
31,12.12
68,172
—
108,619
4,017
5. New Brandenburg Credit Institute . . .
31. 12. 12
26,090
—
116,009
4,103
6. Pomeranian Landschaft
24,6.12
60,493
799
201,424
598
7. New Pomtran an I<andschaf t
24,6 12
1,865
—
226,050
79
8. Posi.n Landsihalt
31 12.12
6,386
—
250,400
135,140
9. Silesiaii l,andschaft :
(a) Large Landed Estates Department .
31-313
138,058
—
224,786
48,269
(6) Small Hold ngs Department ....
31.313
38.767
—
140,214
44,739
10. Landschaft of the Prov nee of Saxony .
31 12.12
59,620
—
83,057
85,320
II. Schleswig-Holstein Landschaft
30.9 12
8,256
—
38,537
34,623
12. Landschaftlicher Kredilverbandof Schhs-
wig-Hoistem
31. 12. 12
1,519
—
29,799
32,042
13. Credit Association for the Nobles' T.anded
Estt-tes of the District of Cal- nburg, Got-
tingen, Grubenhagen and H.ldesheim . .
3I-3I2
—
—
20,623
7,869
14. Credit Instit. for the Nobles' Landed
Estates of the D strict of Luneburg, at
Celle
24.6.12
13,875
2.837
15. Credit Association for the Nobles' Landed
Estates of the Duchy of Bremen, at Stade.
I-4-I3
—
—
10,436
120
16. Landschaft of the Province of Westphalia.
31. 12. 12
5,842
—
46,004
31,058
17. Credit Institute of Upper and Lower Lu-
salia, at Gorlitz
31. 12. 12
—
—
258
—
18. Prussian Central Landschaft
1. 12. 12
115,993
—
320,908
55,155
INSTITUTES FOR RUKAL LAND CREDIT
6l
In the following table, we show the amount of sinking fund formed by
the regular payments of the members, as well as the funds belonging to the
Institutes themselves formed by the savings realised on working expenses,
and the reserve and guarantee funds. We must, however, observe in this
connection, that in the case of some of these institutes the amount
possessed by the Institute is larger than that registered, for some
assets, such as the buildings serving for ofl&ces and the capital invested in
special undertakings, are not shown on the balance sheets of these establish-
ments.
Table III. — Sinking Fund, Own Capital and Special Funds
oj the Chief Landschaften.
(Thi)U-.ands of Mirks).
Institute
Sinking
Fund
Own
Capital
Special
Reserve
Fund
1. East Prussian Landschaft
2. West Prussian Landschaft
3. New West Prussian Landschaft
4. Credit Institute for the Nobles' Landed Estates
in Kur- and Neumark
5. New Br '.ndenburg Credit Institute
6. Pomeianian Landschaft
7. New Pomeranian I^ndschait
8. Posen Landschaft
9. Silesian Landschaft :
(a) Large Landed Estates Department . . .
(6) Small Holdings Department
10. Landschaft of the Province of Saxony ....
11. Schleswig-H(j)siein Landschaft
12. Landschaftlicher Kreditverband of Schleswig -
Holstein
13. Landschaft of the Province of Westphalia . . .
13,438
7.455
10,600
19,519
12,088
19,947
1,285
26,898
37.685
15,342
23,134
1,979
2,440
7,188
13,090
10,832
8,8go
1,018
12,814
1,618
22,021
16,762
2,366
450
770
653
2,917
2,971
5,924
5,063
3,745
1,071
2,303
§ 2. Co-operative land credit institutes in other states of Germany.
There are also in the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg Schwerin, in the
Duchy of Brunswick, and in the Kingdoms of Saxony, Wiirttemberg and
Bavaria, co-operative land credit institutes of the type of the Prussian
Landschaften.
02 GERMAKY - CKEDIT
Mecklenburg. — The Ritterschuftlicher Kreditverein fiir Mecklenburg
(Credit Association for the Lands of the Nobility in Mecklenburg), with
head quarters at Rostock, was founded in 1818. At the end of 1912, the
amount of its land bonds in circulation was 41,067,750 marks ; it was
receiving 3 y^ % interest on 40,617,750 marks and 4 % on 450,000 marks.
Brunswick. — The Ritterschajtlicher Kreditverein filr das Herzogthum
Braunschweig (Credit Association for the Lands of the Nobility of the Grand
Duchy of Brunswick), with head quarters at Wolfenbiittel, was founded in
1862. The land bonds issued by this institute amounted at the end of 1912
to 13,195,900 mks. The rate of interest was 4 %.
Saxony. — In the kingdom of Saxony, there are two institutes of Land-
schaften type, differing, however, very greatly from each other, both as
regards their organization and their activity.
The older is the Erbldndischcr Ritterschajtlicher Kreditverein im Konig-
reich Sachsen (Credit Association for the Land of the NobiHty of the
Kingdom of Saxony) founded in 1844. At the end of 1912, the amount
invested by it in mortgages was 78,936,125 mks. It had granted loans
to the amoimt of 46,774,700 mks. for 384 landed estates of nobles
with 83 peasant farms connected with them and 32,161,425 marks,
for 1,275 peasant farms. The sinking fund paid amounted to 11,711,150
marks, so that the net balance of the debt was 67,244,975 marks. The land
bonds in circulation, representing altogether an amount of 68,026,100 marks,
had been issued at 3 % for 2,484,100 mks.; at 3 14% for 56,185,725 mks.;
at 2 14 % for 905,775 mks. and at 4 % for 8,450,500 rnks.
Besides this, since 1866, there has been a Landwirtschaftlicher Kredit-
verein im Konigreich Sachsen (Agricultural Credit Association of the Kingdom
of Saxony) granting credit to communes, but also and above all for
peasant farms It is on the formed model of the co-operative credit soci-
eties with the form of private societies, but it has, however, been recognised
as an institute in public law like the Landschaften. In contrast to the system
of the Prussian Landschaften in which the capital is only formed gradu-
ally by means of savings realised on the working expenses, the members
must, in this institute, contribute to the formation of a working capital
by means of the purchase of shares. At the end of 1912, the share cap-
ital amounted to 5,661,391 marks and the number of the members stood
at 16,270. Since 1900, the shares have paid a yearly dividend of 4 %.
The loans made to landowners and redeemable in instalments, amounted
to 182,526,125 marks and those to communes to 219,791,250 marks. The
total number of credits to farmers was 16,004. I^ most cases, these
were comparatively small loans. The number of those for not more
than 20,000 marks was 14,142, whilst there were only 1,569 loans passed
for from 20,000 to 50,000 marks and onlj'^ 269 loans for more than 50,000 mks.
Wurttemberg. — In Wiirttemberg the Wilrttembergischer Kreditverein
(Wiirttemberg Credit Association) at Stuttgart, was founded in 1827,
and gives credit both on the security of urban and rural land. At the end
of 1910, it had granted 9,413 loans to 7,689 members 5,519 for the
INSTITUTES FOR RURAL LAND CRICDIT 63
amount of 85,120,099 mks on urban estate and 3,884 for 18,729,837 mks.
on rural land.
Bavaria. — The Bavarian farmers have in the Bayerische Landwirt-
schaftshank (Bavarian Agricultural Bank), a co-operative bank exclusively for
real agricultural credit. This bank, on the model of the Prussian Land-
schaften and the Saxon Landwirtschajtlicher Kreditverein, was founded at
Munich on December 2°'^ ., 1896. On the 27*^ . November, the rules drafted
by the Bavarian Board of Agricultiire {Bayerischer Landwirtschaftsrat),
had received the approval of Government. In this way the need was
met that had been often expressed by the Congresses of Agriculture
since 1880, for the formation of a land credit institute in Bavaria,
adapted to the special conditions of agriculture there.
The Bavarian Agricultural Bank is organized somewhat differently
from the Prussian Landschaften. It is the only establishment of the kind
which is not only constituted after the model of the co-operative societies
in public law, but also subject to the law of 1889 regulating such so-
cieties.
Every member on entering the co-operative society must purchase
a hundred marks share. If he applies for a loan of more than 5,000 mks.,
he must buy a share for each additional 5,000 mks. No member may have
more than 200 shares. On December 31**., 1912, the number of members
was 21,083 and they possessed altogether 42,791 shares. The number of
members who had not had recourse to credit was 818 and they possessed
1,573 shares.
Before the foundation of this co-operative society, a Government estab-
lishment had been contemplated. But the idea was abandoned later, on
consideration of the risk inherent in a costly administration and the fact
that State institutes are often characterised by too insufficient commercial
activity. The Bank has received considerable assistance from the State.
On its foundation, it was granted, in accordance with § 17 of the financial
law of June 17*"^ ., 189G, a working capital of 1,000,000 mrks., free of interest.
It was further granted an advance at 3 % interest amounting at first
to 1,000,000 marks and afterwards raised to 4,000,000 mks by law of Jan-
uary'-24''* ., 1898. Up to 1905, it received also an annual amount of 40,000
marks as a contribution to its working expenses. It enjoys, besides,
certain privileges, amongst which we may mention that the capital of
minors may be invested in land bonds and other securities issued by it.
A Government commissioner supervises the work of the bank.
It grants mortgage loans on agricultural or forest land, and loans to
communes without special security. The loans on rural land are granted up
to the amount of half the value of the land. Farmers, appointed by the l^ank
as confidential agents for the commune in which they reside, act as intermed-
iaries. Owing to the very small working expenses, and to the fact that the
profits are always exclusively invested for the benefit of members, the bank
is in a position to grant loans on the most advantageous terms possible in
view of the situation of the financial market. At the end of 1912, the
mortgage loans amounted to 140,788,864 marks and those granted to
64
GERMANY - CREDIT
communes to 14,936,500 marks. Of the amounts lent on mortgage, 85,270,264
marks were lent at 3 ^/^ % and 55,518,600 mks. at 4 14 %•
These figures give the Bayerische Landwirtschaftshank the second rank
among the Bavarian mortgage banks.
It answers the conditions of lauded property in the kingdom per-
fectly, for small and medium sized farms of from 2 to 10 ha. and from 10 to
50 ha. are most numerous there and cover most of the cultivated area. It
is above all a credit institute for small and medium sized farms. Of the
27,165 agricultural loans granted by it since its foundation up to the end of
1912 for an amount of 175,058,800 marks, 26,111 or 96. 16 % for 131,868,400
mks. or 75.35 % of the amount lent, were for less than 20,000 mks ; 864
for 25,717,800 mks. for from 20,000 to 50,000 mks.; and only 170, for
17,472,600 mks., were for more than 50,000 mks.
If we consider the area of the farms, the loans on mortgage made
between 1897 and the end of 1912, exclusive of supplementary loans, may
be classified as follows :
Oasses of Vaxvas
1897-1906
1907-1912
Farms of I,ess than i hectare
» » Between i and 10 hect.
)i » » 10 » 100 <■
» » More than. . . . 100 »
264 for 3l4,ii8mks
7,874 » 28,234,197 »
5,161 » 61,823,635 »
33 » 3,921,000 »
148 for 209.600 mks
6,524 » 26,756,300 »
3,233 » 42,358,000 ')
23 » 2,945,600 »
Total . . .
13,332 » 94,292,950 »
9,928 » 72,269,500 »
The following figures, relating to the changes in the economic position
of the debtors, since the date of their loans, show that the credits granted
by the Bank have served to reduce the indebtedness of agricultural property
rather than to increase it. Out of 140,064,500 marks, the total amount lent
between 1900 and 1912, 23,520,250 marks have served to pay off mortgages
redeemable in instalments and 68,245,194 to pay off mortgages not so redeem-
able. It is besides evident that, when the new loans contracted are not
due to excessive prices having been paid for purchase, but serve for the
introduction of useful improvements answering modern requirements, they
only encourage agricultural progress.
DENMARK.
THE SITUATION OF THE DANISH
LAND CREDIT ASSOCIATIONS IN 1913 (i)
In oiir number for April, 191 1, we published a detailed study on the
organization of rural land credit in Denmark, and in that for January, 1913,
a note on the work done by the Land Credit Associations in 1912. We have
now material enabling us to furnish similar statistics for the year 1913.
In order to facilitate the study of these, we shall, as before, arrange the data
in two tables, the first of which will give all statistical information for the
land credit associations only granting loans on first mortgage, while the
second will give it for the mortgage associations, founded, on the contrary, for
the purpose of granting cheap loans on second mortgage (see the article
above referred to, in our number for April, 1911). We shall only here remind
our readers that all the associations are founded on the co-operative prin-
ciple of mutual solidarity.
The following table shows that the total amount of the loans granted on
first mortgage by these 14 associations amounted at the beginning of 1913
to 1.724,000,000 crowns or 226,000,000 crowns more than in 1910. As many
of the associations do not distinguish in their reports between urban and
rural loans, precise information cannot be given with regard to the amount
of the rural land debt, but it is estimated at half the total debt. We shall
have accurate information on this subject when the Statistical Depart-
ment has issued the detailed statistics of mortgages it is now preparing.
The mortgage associations, for their part, are divided into two distinct
groups as shown in our second table.
Finally, as regards the Kingdom of Denmark Mortgage Bank, on August
31st., 1912, it contracted a new loan of 15,000,000 francs (10,800,000 crowns),
enabling it to purchase from the Treasury bonds for State Loans to
Small Farmers (Jordlodder til Landarbejdere). On March 31st., 1913, the
Bank possessed bonds of the land credit associations for the amount of
33,481,000 crowns and " Jordlodder til Landarbejdere " bonds for that of
14,414,000 crowns.
(i) This article has been sent to us by our Copenhagen correspondent.
66
DENMARK - CREDIT
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THE SITUATION OF THE DANISH LAND CREDIT ASSOCIATIONS
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FRANCE.
AGRICUIyTURAI, PRODUCE WARRANTS.
OFFICIAI, SOURCE:
Report on agricultural Produce Warrants, presented to the President of the Re-
public by the Minister of Agriculture, on December 29th., 1913.
The law of July i8th., 1898 on agricultural warrants belongs to the
group of those by means of which Parliament and Government have at-
tempted to place at the disposal of the peasant landowners all suitable means
for the cosolidation of their farms, in harmony with the development of
the national agriculture.
The object of this law was by creating a system of credit on pledge for
the advantage of the farmers, to adapt to their requirements an institution
which has long been of the greatest service in commerce.
In spite of all the hopes this innovation legitimately gave rise to, it
remained, however, for many years quite without effect. At the end of
August, 1905 agricultural warrants had only been issued in 64 departments
for an amount of 35,378,590 frs.
Impressed by the small results of the law, ParUament endeavoured, by
law of April 30th., 1906 to reduce the number of its formalities, its delays
and cost and to give the lender additional security.
The Government last year considered that sufficient time had passed
since the promulgation of this latter law for the institution of a general en-
quiry in order to learn how far the new legislation had contributed to
facilitate the use of agricultural warrants among the peasants.
The results of this enquiry will be found summarised in the following
table.
70
FRANCE - CREDIT
o
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t-t
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Total
Amount
Borrowed
9
00 0 »
1 1 ri 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 M 1 I.I 1 1 1 1 1 II
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0
M
1 sl^l
Mil-'.
»-_^vo ■* 00 ^^ '^. **? '^ 0, "^^^^ '-'^ <^ "1 "t: 't: *^^.^- ®^''°« <^
00
m
10
0 ^
.q o5 oq: ^> a
to ■♦*C « w 10 ro ir> fo r^ »o -^00 »o mo m M-)oo •* ^ t^ m O
i I ^
Amounts
Borrowed
4
^w-)N 0 0 »riO ts.00 ts-O -^oo 0 -^^OO cooe rois-oo «-'oocr\o
■^■^^tnoooo cf^-^cnw-iaj rot^O^ 00^ ^ cO ^. ^ 'O ^"^ * ^Q ^ *^ *^
0 ^OcnNOvOmOMfocxi'-" in-^-^rOcoO'oofN.miN.O'O
M CO N <n rC M w* w* m"
»0
i
1
M
in
I
73
tnot^'U^ ^inw^oON«-'OQoo«Nir)OxnO*OMOO'0»n
0 00 -* <- r^ vo M 0^ w -«■ c. tN. tn 00 ^^ ^„ o> •-<, *^ f^ '^. '^^ 0^ -M ■*
i-" f*^ 0 rC . irioo" rC rT 0" C?i d ^^00*00 oloo" o" O ^ O ^ <^Qo'^ w
OOi>-oo 1 ^-^c^fxpnco^POO »o"-jw-»j-\owQOoo»ri'-tnr^
0 fn IN.ao 'tnu-j vO OOOm NO«fOaiN<>* ^00 G\ "*
00
Number
of
Warrants
2
!
3
0
1
j
<
1
^ a • •
..«►< .c..u„.3.. . ...0
AGRICUl.'lUKAL PK'ODUCE WARRANTS
71
m T3
I I I
I I
o "2 & t '^
^ 0&
o o
S " I I
^. 6^ w^
I -» I I I M I I I
I i If 1 M H M I
=5 y ■= c a
a ft" I- 5 j;
o '^ >2 ^ I"
S I I I ::. i I I '^ g, I 2
O^ O; «2 ^ "0 *9
I ^1 i I I I i I I i I I I I I
I I
41 "O
"(5 o •- o 5
I " l~ 1 I I 2 1 M I I "^l i i - i I 1^1 I I I
CO u •- c S
m fx o o o vo
./^ O O ^0 *0 _
O »^ ^^ " '^ ^
00 «*^ vo" (n ^ H-' tx ao' Cr rx fO rn QO
^ , - •£> m ■«■ a^-l■■^ ■-- -
CO ' -^ C<1 <0 ►- *C ^
q o f^ N -
o ♦ o o , _ - _
■*^"co \ X ^ m ■*
»r.»nOOOfn-^o
• c^ c\ fo »■< 00
S S « 5 o c t:
.- o a *" "> —
•^ a S a T. -1
M.2 aac0(U-OOBj3--Ow,.5>.5a,3~e8O«'--Oe8O
72 KKAKCK - CREDIT
It will be seen from this that the use of agricultural warrants has
become satisfactorily general in the districts of certain appeal courts and
it is no less certain that the French farmer is not yet quite famihar with
the use of this system of credit on pledge.
In many regions the farmers still hesitate to have recourse to this mode
of credit, either because they have an imperfect knowledge of it, or are indis-
posed to go through all the formalities it entails. Others, chiefly tenant
farmers and metayers, make little use of this method of borrowing, as it
obliges them to inform their landlords of their position, when temporarily in
difficulties. Finally and most of all, the creditors in most cases are indisposed
to accept the security of a perishable pledge, the value of which may
sometimes be uncertain, on account of the principles the Civil Code
establishes in the case of personal estate, and notwithstanding the re-
strictions of the law of 1906.
All these reasons explain the often considerable disproportion observed
between the amount of the loan granted on the warrant and the value of
the security offered by the borrower. In fact the average proportion of the
amount borrowed to the value of the pledge, in the whole of France, is not
more than 45 34 %•
Nevertheless, the law of April 30th., 1906, if it has not yet had the wide
appUcation that might fairly have been expected, has, however, so far been
fruitful in good results, especially as it has allowed many peasants, desirous
of assuring the progress of their farms, to escape from the exaggerated claims
of certain money lenders. The Agricultural Department leaves nothing
undone in inciting its agents to make the most active propaganda in behalf
of a mode of credit which may give the humblest field labourers an opport-
unity of obtaining all the money they require and offering their creditors
the best possible security.
PORTUGAL.
WARRANTS IN PORTUGAL
AND THE NEW REGULATIONS WITH REGARD TO THEM.
OFFICIAL sources:
CoDiGO Commercial (Portuguese Commercial Code), I^'sbon, 1888.
I<Ei DE 10 DE Maio de 1907 (Law of May loth., 1907).
Decreto de 27 DE JuxHO DE 1907 (Decree of June 27th., 1907).
l,Ei DE 18 DE SETEMitRO DE 1908 (Laiv of September i8th., 1908).
Decreto de i de Outuj'.ro de 1908 (Decree of October 1st., 1908).
" DiARio DO GovfeRNo ", no. 158, July 9th., 1913.
" DiARio DO GovfeRNO ", no 261, Noverrber 7th., 1913.
OTHER SOURCES :
" Agricultura Tr.'VNsmontana " (/I ^n'cM^/M^^ 0/ 'jTmz os Montes), no?. 22, 23 and 24 of 1909.
" BOLLETIN DA ASSOCIA^AO CENTRAL DE AGRICUI.TUR-\ TORTUGUEZA ", fuzionado COm O " Por-
tugal Agricola " (Bulletin of the Central Association of Portuguese Ayiculture, supplement
to Agricultural Portugal), I<isbon, 1907 to 19 13.
§ I. — A GI.ANCE AT THE LEGISLATION ANTERIOR
TO THE DECREE OF NOVEMBER 7TH., I913.
We shall not give a full history of the role warrants have played in
Portugal. Although introduced in 1848, they were hardly utiHsed at all as
a means of credit. We shall, therefore, only briefly summarise the laws
in force previous to the Decree of November 7th., 1913 on general agricul-
tural warehouses, of which we shall speak in another section.
Before the existing laws on warrants came into force, documents
of title transferable by means of endorsement were regulated by the Portu-
guese Commercial Code, Part. XIV. Book II (i), by the Decree of May
(1) Portuguese Commercial Code, Art. 408 :
" On the receipt (contecimento de deposito) for produce and goods deposited in the General
Agricultural Warehouses there shall be shown : (i) the name, profession and residence of the
depositor ; (2) the place of deposit; (3) the nature and quantity of the goods deposited, with all
indications necessary to establish their identity and value; (4) statement whether they have
or have not paid all the taxes to which they may be liable and whether they are or are
not insured.
§ ist. To the receipt there shall be attached a warrant on which the same particulars shall
be entered.
§ 2nd. The above document shall be extracted from a register, and the counterfoil kept
in the archives of the establishment. "
74 I'OUTUGAIv - CREDIT
loth., 1907, completed by the Executive Regulations of June 27th., 1907;
and by the amendments made therein by law of September i8th., 1908
and Decree of October ist. of the same year. By the Decree of May loth.,
1907 and the Executive Regulations of June 27th., 1907, an amount of 180
contos de reis (900,000 francs) is placed on the Estimates of the Department
of Public Works, Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, to meet deficits
due to the discounting of warrants. These were issued for brandy and
spirits of wine and were discounted by the General Deposit and Thrift Bank
(a State Instiution), or any establishment which would undertake the charge,
but the rate might not be more than 5 %. The term for discotmting was
one year, and, in exceptional cases, fixed by the Government, two
years.
All suits in relation to warrants were dealt with by a special commission
consisting of the President of the Central ]\Iarket of Agricultural Produce,
and two other members, appointed, one by the Central Association of Portu-
guese Agriculture, and the other by the Commercial Association.
The warious credit institutions having evinced the greatest reluctance
to discount warrants, the Government authorized the General Deposit
Bank to do it, up to the amount of 1,200 contos de reis (6,000,000 frs.) and,
in exceptional cases, up to 1,800 contos (9,000,000 frs.), after consultation
with the Superior Board of Agriculture.
The warrants were discounted in the case of deposits in the General Ware-
houses of the Central Market for Agricultural Produce, up to the amount
of 60 % of the value of the brandy and spirits of wine, at the rate of 2.62
reis (or 0.0131 frs.) per degree of alcohol, and in the case of deposits with priv-
ate persons up to the amount of 50 % of the same value. But the second
case was, however, quite exceptional.
In the first case i %, and in the second 2 %, per annum was deducted
for insurance against commercial losses. Whoever presented warrants to
be discounted undertook to sell the goods deposited at the rate of 2.62
reis (0.0131 frs.) per degree of alcohol, b^^ the litre, as soon as the management
of the Central Market of Agricultural Produce could sell at that price. When
the depositor did not find buyers after discounting the warrant, and con-
sequently was not in a position to pay at date of maturity, the Commission
granted him a week's grace, on the expiration of which, it proceeded to sell
the goods. The sale was not necessarily^ by auction, but might be conduct-
ed privately, provided the price ofiered was not less than 10 % of that
shown in the special register. In case of loss, the Commission paid the
difference, taking the money for the purpose from the special fund of 180
contos (900,000 frs.), but only in case the insurance was insufficient to
cover the loss.
The law of 1908 and the executive regulations for its appUcation in-
troduced some sHght modifications of the above system : authorization
was given to discount warrants issued in the case of wine deposited in the
warehouses of the wine societies and regional wine societies of co-operative
form, as well as of the Winemaking Companies founded in accordance with
WARRANTS EST PORTUGAL 75
special laws (i), which are bound by their rules to receive their members'
wine. Discount could be given up to the amoimt of 60 % of the value of
the alcohol in the wine, at the rate of 2.62 reis (0.0131 frs.) per degree of al-
cohol and by the litre. To meet any deficit due to the discounting of the
warrants, an amount of 200 contos de reis (1,000,000 frs.) was entered on the
estimates. It was thought that after the foundation of a " Winemaking
Co-operative Society ", issuing bonds at 5 % guaranteed by the State,
and undertaking to have 150,000 hectolitres of wine always in stock, there
would be no further need of warrants. In the same way, as it was thought
that co-operative agricultural credit when once organized, would fully meet
the requirements of the viticulturists, it was stipulated that the law on
agricultural warrants should only remain in force up to the date of the
promulgation of the proposed law on agricultural credit. Expe.ience has,
however, shown that the system of warrants must be continued, with
slight alterations, notwithstanding that the State promoted the found-
ation of aWinemakers' Co operative Society (2) with a capital of 10,000,000
frs. (2.000 contos de reis) on December 2°^., 1908 and promulgated the
law on Agricultural Credit on March 2nd., tqio (3).
We have just referred to small amendments introduced into the law on
warrants. It had in fact been found that only the General Deposit Bank
(a State institution) would undertake to discount the warrants, as private
establishments found the rate of 5 % fixed by law too low (4) ; on the other
hand, the large farmers almost alone benefited by the system of warrants,
as is seen by the average amount of the loans being 5,500 frs. A reform
was urgently needed. It has just been introduced in the Regulations
of November 7th., 1913.
§ 2 The ORGANIZATION OF THE GENERAL AGRICULTURAL WAREHOUSES
IN THE T:EGULATIONS OF NOVEMBER 7TH., I9I3.
A law (no. 26) of July 28th., 1913 divided Portugal into three large
iVgricultural Divisions, for each of which there is an Agricultural Services
Department, a F'orestry Services Department and a Livestock Department.
In each division, again, there are sections, managed by three sectional chiefs.
In accordance with the Regulations of November 7th. , 1913, a General
Agricultural Warehouse has been established for each of the three Agricul-
tural Services Departments, for the reception of agricultural produce,
manure, agricultural macliinery and implements, whether as a commercial
deposit, that is for some commercial object reaUsed by the warehouse it-
(i) See Bulletin of Economic and Social Intelli'^ence, no. 2. October-November, 1910, p. 192.
(2) See Bulletin of Economic and Social Intelligence, no. 2. October-November, 1910, p. 195.
(3) See Bulletin of Economic and Social In>elli';ence no. 5. May, 19x1, p. 201.
(4) Sec Bulletin of Economic and Social Intelligence, no. 2. October-November, 1910,
183 and No. 10. October, 1913, p. 70.
76 PORTUGAI, - CREDIT
self, or for general warehouse purposes, when the goods are deposited as secur-
ity for documents of title transferable by means of endorsement, called
receipts or warrants, under the conditions stipulated in Part XIV, Book II,
of the Commercial Code. The warehouses may, in addition, undertake trans-
port and dehvery of the goods deposited, as v\ ell as theu' insurance and sale.
The goods that may be received as commercial deposits are grain, wine,
olive oil, cork, wool, manure and agricultural machinery. For general ware-
house purposes, grain, spirits, brandy, cork and wool may be accepted. The
Government may also authorize deposit of other articles. In the case of
perishables, it is for the depositors to take the measures considered
necessary for their preservation. If need be, these measures are taken
by the warehouse itself at the expense of the depositor, unless he withdraws
his goods.
The depositors are bound to insure their goods for the amount of their
real value and transfer the advantages of the contract to the board of man-
agement of the General Agricultural Warehouse. On its side, the board
of the Warehouse is hable for damage caused by its employees, whether
through carelessness or mistake. For the purpose^ an amount of 3 contos
de reis (or 15,000 frs.) for each General Agricultural Warehovtse is entered
on the Estimates of the Fomento Department.
The goods in deposit are undistrainable, unless the receipt or warrant
is lost, except in cases of bankruptcy or disputed succession.
The Depositors may ask the General Warehouse for receipt and war-
rant. The receipts are signed by the Manager and the employee in charge
of the General Warehouse and bear consecutive numbers, together with
indication of the name, condition and profession of the depositor, the date
and registered number of the deposit, its nature and amount and any other
particulars necessary for its identification and valuation (number, nature,
weight, volume etc.) as well as the amount for which it is insured.
The receipt and warrant, as above stated, are transferable by means
of endorsement. This endorsement transfers the ownership of the goods
deposited, when both the receipt and warrant are covered by it ; but only
the transfer of the rights of the bearer of the warrant, when the endorse-
ment only refers to the receipt; and if it only refers to the warrant, it trans-
fers to the person to whom it is endorsed the right conferred by pledge.
The receipt and warrant may be both endorsed informalh^ ; by such endorse-
ment the rights of the endorser are transferred to the bearer.
The first endorsement of the warrant must mention the amount of the
credit guaranteed, the rate of interest and the date of maturity. The
endorsement must besides, be registered, in a special book, kept in the
General Warehouse, with indication of the amounts due for warehouse
charges etc.
The bearer of the receipt may withdraw all or part of the goods, even
before the expiration of the term of the credit guaranteed by the warrant.
He may even sell them for his own advantage, provided he pays the
warehouse the amount mentioned in the warrant, together with interest.
WARRANTS IN PORTUGAL
//
The bearer of the warrant who is not paid on date of maturity may have
it protested, as in the case of a bill of exchange. Ten days after the protest
the goods deposited may be sold at auction.
Before date of maturity of the warrant, the bearer may discount it.
not orJy at the General Deposit and Thrift Bank, but also at the Mutual
Agricultural Credit Banks (i) founded in conformity with the law of March
1st., 1912. The discount may not, however, exceed 50 % of the value of the
goods deposited. In contrast with previous legislation, the new law attempts,
as we see, to render the warrants negotiable.
Let us add that the minimum term for discount is three months and
the maximum one year. In case the goods suffer depreciatior which might
reduce the reaHsable value anticipated by more than 20 %, the depositor
must make an additional deposit. The goods are sold by auction or by priv-
ate arrangement, but in any case, by an official broker employed only at
the warehouse and appointed by the Government, or, if need be, by a
sales agent.
Sales by private contract are made by means of samples altogether
corresponding v.dth the goods deposited and, if need be, subjected to analysis
and carefully classified.
Sales by auction must be advertised five days in advance in the most
widely circulating paper of the district of the General Warehouse and, in
addition, posted at the door of the establishment. These advertisements
and placards must state the nature and quantity of the goods, the weight
and volume of each lot and the conditions for payment and delivery. In
the case of sales on account of failure to pay, the advertisements must
also be inserted in the Diario do Governo. Finally, two days before the auc-
tion, the goods must be exhibited. As the auction proceeds, the official
broker or the sales agent enters in a special register the number of the lots
dealt with, their volume and weight, the names and addresses of the seller
and buyer and the price. The latter is paid over to the seller within for-
ty-eight hours, after deduction of all costs and charges.
The revenue of the General Agricultural Warehouses is made up of
1st., a commission of %^ real (0.OC125 frs.) per kilogram warehoused;
2nd., a warehouse charge, varying according as the goods remain
exposed or have to be brought inder cover. The minimum charge is fixed
by the Goverrunent at the suggestion of the Technical Agricultural
Councils of which we shall presently speak;
3rd., a charge for custody, fixed the same way ;
4th., 5 % brokerage on the amount of the insurance premium ;
5th., various charges ; 50 reis (25 cent.) for registration on deposit
and withdrawal ; 150 reis (75 cent.) for each receipt and warrant ; 350
reis (i fr. 75) for sampling etc.
In each of the three Agricultural Divisions of Portugal there is a Tech-
nical Council composed of the three managers and the various sectional
chiefs. Its duty is to supervise the General Agriciiltural Warehouse of
(i) See Bulletin of Economic and Social Intelliqence, N. 10, October 1913, P- 7<J.
PORTUGAL - CREDIT
the Division, give advice as to its organization and act as a court of first
instance in the case of law suits between the depositors and the Warehouse.
It may also collect samples of the produce of the region in order to send them
to the national and foreign markets, make experiments in agriculture and
in the industrial arts, propose to Government, tlirough the medium of the
General Department of Agriculture, the measures it judges advisable for
the improvement and the increase of production and the development
of the trade in the agricultural produce of the region.
As far as the General Warehouse is concerned, the powers of the Coun-
cil are delegated to the Head of the Agricultural Commercial Development
Service, the real manager of the warehouse.
The three General Warehouses now existing may found branches in the
various agricultural sections when they judge it necessary or advisable.
These branches will be managed by a Council of Delegates, consisting of
an Agricultural Delegate, a farmer and a merchant, elected by the Regional
Chambers of Agriculture of the region.
ROUMANIA.
MISCELIvAXEOUS XEWS.
People's banks. — The two greatest defects with which the Roum-
anian peasant is continually charged (and with which most of the farmers
in many other coimtries might also be taxed) are ignorance and thrift-
lessness. Only the Transylvanian Roumanian, living in contact with other
races, is at all economical. The Roumanian of Wallachia and Moldavia
does not save ; his expenditure is equal to his revenue, if indeed he does
not raise money on the sectirity of his future labour.
Under these conditions it is a pleasure to see how the spirit of economy
and association is gradually developing, above all through the work of the
co-operative societies and people's banks. In the Anuar al Bancilor Popular
si cooper ativelor satesti pe 1911 (Yearbook of the People's Banks and Rural
Co-operative Societies for 191 1), we find a real balance sheet of the Roum-
anian agricultural credit co-operative societies. From this we see clearly
that economy, a potent element of civilization is making progress year by
3'ear, as the statesmen foresaw it would who encouraged the foundation
of the People's Banks and the various co-operative societies.
The following table shows the progressive advance of these institutions
between September ist., 1902 and December 31st., 191 1:
Dates
Number
of
Banks
Number
of
Members
Nominal
Capital
Lei
Paid
up Capital
Lei
Deposits
at
Interest
Lei
September
ist., 1902 . . .
700
59,618
»
4,250,600
»
July
1st., 1904
1.625
121,786
10,086,021
6,850,977
2,431.213
December
}ist., 1905
1,849
198,411
16,781,096
12,665,825
2,512,520
.'
1906
2,021
240,253
20,350,895
18,509,520
3,579,216
1907
2,223
295,325
27,431,196
27,546,241
5,052,301
1908
2,410
346,707
35,072,260
37,851,898
6,158.745
»
1909
2,543
402,938
42,775,313
49,034,211
7,910,579
»
1910
2,656
454,187
52,724,875
61,016,395
9,388,681
"
1911
2,750
510,118
64,512,17c
79,592,265
13.257,020
80 ROUMANIA - CRJEDIT
The advance "made in lO years is therefore really considerable. Of
the 510,118 members at the end of 1911, 463,795, that is more than 90 %,
were farmers, 9,253 were dealers, 3,823 priests and 4,801 schoolmasters.
Of the whole number of members, 48.86 % were illiterate.
Ivct us give a few figures showing the distribution of the paid up capital:
Lei 7,312,486.15 or q.io % 2-50 Lei
Belonging
10 members who iiad
paid up
7,312,486.15
6,050,063,53
8,388,796.55
or
«
»
9-^9 %
7.60 »
10.54 »
2-50
50-100
100-200
12,904,354.93
»
16.21 »
200-500
12,211,109.10
»
15-34 >'
500-1,000
13,259,174.34
19,466,280.83
16.66 »
24.46 )>
1,000-2,000
2,000-5,000
Lei 79,592,265.52 100.00%
The members were divided as follows in regard to their paid up shares:
289,089 members, or 56.67 % with a capital of 2-50 Lei
85,240 16.71 >• )) 50-100 »
59,960 11-75 » " 100-200 ))
41,816 " 8.20 » )) 200-500 »
18,031 » 3.53 )) » 500-1,000 »
10,001 ) 1.96 » y> 1,000-2,000 »
5,981 » 1. 18 » '» 2,000-5,000 »
Total 510,118 100.00%
When the law on "the People's Banks had to be amended, divergences
arose, based on the assertion that the capital, instead of belonging to the
more needy peasants, really belonged to the rich farmers of the villages.
Now, if this assertion appears partly true as regards the paid up
capital, 21.12% of which belongs to members who have contributed more
than 1,000 lei, it is seen to be no longer so when we consider that 85 %
of the members have contributed less than 200 lei. The numerical pre-
ponderance of less well to do members is therefore such that these banks
may be considered as institutions really popular in character.
The total number of loans granted was 688,545 for a total of about
101,000,000 lei. Of these loans, 237,196, for an amount of 52,600,000
lei, were granted for purchase of Hvestock or agricultural implements; while
95,319, for a total amount of about 21,000,000 lei, were granted for pur-
chase of farms.
MISCELLANEOUS NEWS 8l
The above mentioned Yearbook provides some interesting information
with regard to the special form of collective farms known in Roumania
under the name of ohste. It is well known that these associations have made
considerable progress as a result of the law of 1903 introduced by Take
Protopopescu. Their progress is a great benefit for the national agrictdtural
economy, since, besides being able to a large extent to meet the need the
Roumanian peasant feels so deeply of having a farm to cultivate himself,
it has also the immense advantage, that it gradually eliminates the class
of tenant farmers, who have always been a real obstacle to good relations
between the landowners and the peasants.
On September 30th., 1912 there were in Roumania 487 associations of
this character, with 66,170 members occupjdng 309,922 ha. In the year 191 1
alone, 168 new ohstii were formed with more than 23,000 members, having
at their disposal about 2,500,000 lei as guarantee for the lease of 158,000
hectares of a rental value of more than 6,500,000 lei.
But, if we consider the ohstii from the point of view of the ownership
of the farms leased, we shall see that the proportion leased from private
landowners is continually increasing. For example, we find that 169 obstii
have on hire 123,000 ha. from private owners and pay a rent of 4,300,000 lei.
Besides this, 80 ohstii hold 52,000 ha. belonging to the State and pay a
rent of 1,000,000 lei; other 67 obstii have 83,500 ha. on hire from the
trustees of the Civil Hospitals, and pay a rent of about 3,000,000 lei.
Finally, according to the last statistics, we may say, that, contrary to
the assertions of certain detractors of the obstii, the produce of the farms of
these associations is quite as good as those of the large private landowners.
(Summarised form the Revista Economic d ^i Financiavd of Bukarest, Sept-
fmber 5th./i8th.. 1913, No. 453).
RUSSIA.
POPULAR CREDIT IX RUSSIA.
by M. N. ScHEREMETEFF, InspcUof of Popular Credit at Moscow.
OFFlCIAI< SOURCES :
Imperial Order of 20/7 June, 1904 ox Popular Credit Institutions.
Publications of the People's Banks Department, for the Years 1904-1910.
I,E ]VIes3AGER du Credit populaire (Popular Credit Messenger). Weekly Review of the
People's Banks Department, published at St. Petersburg: Year 1912, No. 29 and
Year 19 13. Nos. 36 and 37.
In the last few years popular credit has made considerable progress in
Russia. There are several forms of institutions in the country for it :
{a) institutions of old type, founded especially for particular classes
of the population (peasants, "cosacks etc.).
(&) institutions of new type, of purely co-operative character. Among
these latter there may be distinguished co-operative credit societies and
loan and savings co-operative societies. According to the regulations of 1905,
there is only this difference between the tvv^o forms: in the loan and savings co-
operative societies each member must take a share, which is not necessary
in the credit co-operative societies. But the amount of these" shares is, as a
rule, very small, seldom exceeding ten roubles and again they may be liber-
ated gradually in instalments in the course of a number of years. On
January ist., 1911, the number of the institutions of old type was 4.809 ;
they have no importance for the economic life of the country. Although
their balance sheets show a total of 74,846,937 roubles, the societies are
in liquidation and often they no longer exist except on paper.
On the other hand, the co-operative institutions are very prosperous,
their number increases from year to year and their business is progressing.
POPULAR CREDIT
83
From the statistics published by the People's Banks Department, we may-
reproduce the following figures :
Number
of Credit Co-operative
Societies
Number
of Members
Total shown
on Balance Sheets
in Thousands
of Roubles
1903 1,136 447.058 49.684
1904 1.367 550.940 57.299
1905 1,630 729,107 68,079
1906 2,085 927.315 80,745
1907 3,081 1,383.669 106,361
1908 4,165 1,943,253 132,610
1909 5,391 2,610,564 172.449
I9IO 6,679 3,446,158 238,922
I9II 8,420 4,682,096 342,590
I9I2 11,004 6,594,035 469.450
I9I3 12,237 7,632,777 609,837
It is seen from these figures that co-operative credit is making great
progress in Russia and perhaps it is advancing there faster than in any other
country. What must above all strike the reader is the number of members,
which w^iU soon be 8,000,000.
Co-operative credit in Russia presents several characteristic features
of a certain interest.
The Government has contributed to a very large extent to the progress
of the co-operative societies of the Empire. By the order of June 7th., 1904,
the management and inspection of all the popular credit institutions was
entrusted to the People's Banks Department, dependent on the State Bank.
The State Bank has placed unHmited amounts at the disposal of this
Department, which, up to September 15th. last, had lent 12,469 co-operat-
ive credit institutions the amount of 192,606,300 roubles and 5,550 other
non-co-operative popular credit institutions the amount of 21,535,900
roubles.
The People's Banks Department disposes of the services of more than
500 inspectors in the various regions of the Empire. These not only
inspect the popular credit institutions, but also occupy themselves with co-
operative instruction and the stimvilation of private initiative.
They are also bound to attend the general meetings of the associations
and advise them in difficult matters.
The popular credit inspectors have considerably assisted in the
development of this form of credit in Russia. There are amongst them
many graduates of the universities of the Empire, who are excellent
guides and teachers for the riural population, amongst whom the want
of educated men is painfiilly apparent.
84 RUSSIA - CREDIT
Twice a year (on January ist. and July ist.), all the inspectors must
report on the situation of the co-operative societies in the districts entrust-
ed to them.
We reproduce below a table showing the total debits and credits of 12,237
popular credit co-operative institutions on July ist., 1913.
Thousands
of Roublo %
Debits :
Share Capital 79>498 13.0
lyoans from the State Bank 111,678 18.3
Loans from Other Institutions 386,390 63.4
Miscellaneous 32,271 5,3
Total . . . 609,837 100,0
Credits .
Cash, Amounts invested in Credit Instit-
utions and Documents of Title 54o26 8.9
lyOans 519,101 85.1
Miscellaneous 36,410 6
Total 609.837 100,0
As we see, the Government has lent the credit co-operative societies
more than 100,000,000 roubles.
What is still more characteristic of the credit co-operative societies of
Russia is the large number of members in the societies; on January ist., 1912,
the average number per society was 556 ; on January ist., 1913, 599 ; and
on July 1st, 1913 it had increased to 607. This is because the Russian co-oper-
ative society does not limit its business to one village alone (as the
German societies do) ; the Russian societies are obUged to extend their
action to immense districts often inhabited by more than a thousand
famihes.
lyct us add that the average indebtedness of each member is very
low; the average loan per member was on January ist., 1913 only 60.2
roubles.
The rate of interest the societies charge is very high ; in those nev\ly
founded it is usually as much as 12 %; the lowest rate charged is 10 %, af-
ter three or four years of work. This is due to the scarcity of money
in Russia.
The rate of discount the State Bank charges the popular credit in-
stitutions is 6 %.
POPUr^AR CREDIT 85
The interest paid by the co-operative societies on deposits is as a rule
between 5 and 8 %.
The rate of interest on loans is certainly very high ; yet it must not
be forgotten that the peasants, long oppressed by usurers, all the same find it
to their advantage, as is witnessed by their resorting to the co-operative
credit societies in ever greater number.
Besides the popular credit co-operative institutions and the popular
credit organizations of old type, there are also in Russia the Zemstvo
popular credit banks , a detailed accoimt of which was given in the number
of this Bulletin for September, 1912.
The Zemstvo Banks are central organizations for granting credit to the
co-operative societies. Among these banks some also lend to private in-
dividuals, but this extension of their sphere of action has not failed to arouse
serious objections. On January ist., 1912 there were 107 of these banks
and the}'- showed on their balance sheets a total of 26,956,000 roubles.
Part IV: Miscellaneous
ARGENTINA.
MISCEIvIvANEOUS NEWS.
The extension of home colonisation. — As we have had occasion
to observe in former articles in this Bulletin (i), the chief problem of
Argentine agricultural economics has always been that of colonisation:
the subdivision of farms, the establishment of the colonist on the land
he cultivates, in one word, the increase of the numbers in the phalanx
of peasant farmers.
The governing classes understand that the extraordinary develop-
ment of agricviltural production in the last twenty years is rather due to
the progressive exploitation of new territories than to a continuous work
of colonisation and a land regime such as might ensure the prosperity of agri-
culture together with the welfare of the farmers. One of the chief causes
of the agrarian agitations to be deplored in the principal agricultural
districts of the Republic is to be found, writes the Minister of Agriculture in
an official document, in the fact that the very great majority of the Argentine
farmers are tenant farmers or metayers on land owned by private indi-
viduals or colonisation undertakings. In recent times we have seen the
Government and Parliament, therefore, devoting themselves with renewed
vigour to the study of the best means for encouraging the development
of agricultural holdings and seconding it by the encouragement of co-
operative association (2). Several bills on the subject are awaiting discuss-
ion; we shall here give a short account of an important one introduced
by the Government and a law recently passed in the Province of Cordoba.
(i) See especially, in the number for October, 1913, the article " Some Indications of
the Economic and Agricultural Progress of Argentina. "
(2) With regard to co-operation, see the article " The Co-operative Movement in Ar-
gentine Agriculture", in the number of this Bulletin for December, 191 3.
8S ARGENTINA - MISCELIANEOUS
I. — Bill for agriclt^tural colonization presented by the minis-
ter OF AGRICULTUliE, THE HON. SENOR MUJICA (jULY, IQI3). — In order
to attain the ends it aims at, that is to say the subdivision and sale of land
suited for agricultural colonies, the Government Bill makes appeal in three
quarters for contributions, to the State, the large landowners and the rail
\\ ay companies. It is greatly to the interest of both the landowners and
the railway companies to imite in the solution of the problem. It is ne-
cessary also for the Government to intervene to facilitate for the propri-
etor the work of subdivision of the land and its sale in lots and to guarantee
the seller the pturchase price and the purchaser a convenient sj'stem of
payment. With this object, the Bill proposes that the National ISIortgage
Bank should inter\'ene (i). As far as the railwa}^ companies are concerned,
their colonising action finds an incentive in the power that has been ac-
corded to the Government of expropriating in their behalf the land along
the lines of railways, to be afterwards allotted to colonists without any
immediate gain to the companies. Finally, direct colonisation b}^ the
State meets an immediate need in the more intensely cultivated and
more populous districts, and in those where the existing system of land
contract foments trouble between the proprietors and colonists. Let us
now examine more closeh' the bearing of the bill.
State Colonisation. — It is first of all proposed that the Executive
Authorities should acqviire 5,000 hectares of good land b}* means of pur-
chase, when land held b}* co-heirs is sold at auction or by means of expro-
priation, in each of the following provinces, Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, Entre
Rios, and Cordoba, belonging to the most fertile and wealthiest part called
the grain region (2). The land acuired in this way must not be more
then 10 kms. from a railwaj' station and must be divided into lots of not
more than 40 hectares in the first two of these provinces nor 80 in the other
two, and must be granted to the colonists at cost price increased by the
amount of expenses incurred. Payment of 10 % must be made at once:
the remainder iir fifteen annual instalments with interest at 7 %. In
allotting the holdings, preference must be given to farmers and among
these to those resident in the nearest district, and, among these again, to
native or naturalized citizens with the largest number of children, who
are Argentine subjects. In no case, ma}'' more than one holding be allotted
to a single person. Each purchaser shall be obliged to occupy and cult-
ivate his holding himself for the first five 3-ears, under penalty of annul-
ment of contract and loss of the instalments paid. During the above
period the holding acquired in this way is only transferable by inheritance.
(i) With regard to the nature and work of this Institute, see the number of this Bul-
letin for January, 19 14.
(2) See the article mentioned above in the number of this Bulletin for October, 191 3.
MISCELLANEOUS NEWS 89
For the carrying out of this programme by the Executive Authorities
a maximum expenditure of 8,000,000 pesos (17,600,000 frs.) is authorized,
which will be made good by means of the instalments paid by the pur-
chasers. This expenditure shall be met out of the ordinary ftmds for
which provision is made in the Budget. In case of their being insufficient,
recourse may be had to credit.
Private Colonisation with Intervention of the National Mortgage Bank. — -
Individual landowners or colonisation societies that, in terms of the pre-
sent law. subdivide farms in order to sell them, in small holdings, may
request the Kational ]Mortgage Bank for a special loan for each lot, when
the3^ have presented their plan of subdivision. In case of good land,
supplied with water and not more than 20 km. from a railway station,
the Bank will grant loans up to 80 % of the estimated value of the
holdings which do not exceed 30 hectares in area, and up to 70 % when
the area is from 30 to 80 hectares, always provided the estimated value
of the lots is less than io,oco pesos. In case of lots of larger area, the
ordinary percentage will be given. The proprietor of the land cannot
receive the amount immediately the loan is granted, but the Bank is
boimd for one year to grant loans to possible purchasers, gradually as
the sales are arranged, always provided the purchasers have fulfilled the
following conditions, ist., they must not have purchased more than one
holding, nor owe the Bank for more thar one; 2nd., they must have
entered into possession of the holding for which the loan is made; 3rd.,
they must have paid the seller the difference between the price of the
holding and the amount of the loan granted. At the moment of the
passing of the loan, the seUei shall receive the amount as part of the
price in the presence of the purchaser.
Also in this case the obHgation is imposed on the latter 'of living
on the farm and cultivating it: severe penalties are imposed on anyone
simulating the sale of lots with the object of obtaining for himself
the loans to purchasers authorized by this law\
Colonisation Carried out by Railway Companies. — The Executive
Authorities are authorized to deal with the railw^ay companies formed or to
be formed in reference to the colonisation of land suited for agriculture along
the railway lines and within 10 kms from them.
The Government may expropriate this land, provided always that
the area is not less than 5,000 hectares and at least ^i^ are under
cultivation.
The rmdertaking, in accordance with Government Order, must de-
]X)sit the amount for the expropriation to be made : after the expropri-
ation, the land shall be registered in the name of the contracting under-
taking on payment of the corresponding amount. The company shall be
bound immediately to divide the land into lots of not more than 100
hectares, which shall be offered for sale on the same conditions as estab-
lished by this law for State Colonisation. The undertaking, however,
when once the lard is subdivided, may ask the National IMort gage Bank
for a loan in bonds of not more than 60 % of the estimated value of each
go ARGENTINA - MISCELLANEOUS
holding. The loan will become eSective gradually with the sale of the
lots. The purchaser must make himself responsible for the mortgage
loan and the balance of the price shall be paid in ten instalments with
interest at 7 %. As regards this balance, the undertaking shall be guar-
anteed by a second mortgage on the land sold.
General Provisions. — The draft lav/, in order to consolidate the small
farms thus formed, provides that for the first ten years no writ of execution
shall have force in regard to holdings of less than 80 ha. and thej' shall
be undistrainable. The same provision shall apply in the case of the farm
implements, machinery, livestock for farm use, seeds etc, as well as to fturn-
iture of common use. Special fiscal exemptions shall, finally, be granted in
the case of the various legal deeds.
(Sunituarised from the Bulletin of the Agricultural Dcpartmeut, August, September, 191 3).
2 .— A COLONISATION LAW FOR THE PROVINCE OF CORDOBA. — The
Parliament of the Province of Cordoba has recently passed a bill for the
encouragement of agricultural colonisation, by means of State intervention.
The Executive Authorities are authorized to acquire, by means of purchase
at auction or expropriation, 2,500 hectares of first quality land and
200 hectares of irrigated land on condition of its not being more than 10
kms. from a railway station.
As a result of expropriation, this land is declared to be of public util-
ity. The land of the first class must be cultivated wdth grain and will
be subdivided into holdings of 25 hectares each ; that of the second class
win be divided into 5 hectare lots and planted with fruit trees.
In no case, may anyone acquire more than 100 hectares of grain land,
nor more than 15 ha. of irrigated land.
Professional farmers shall have, the, preference, and among these
such as reside in the neighbourhood, are citizens of Argentina, and
have the largest number of childien.
The land will be sold at cost price, increased by the amount of the
expenditure incurred ; the purchaser shaU pay 10 % at once, the balance
in 15 monthly instalments, together with 7 % a year on the balance
due: payment of the instalments may also be made in advance. The
purchase contract, is final, but the land remains mortgaged until the
price is paid in full.
Within five years from the passing of the contract, the purchaser
must have brought the land under cultivation : he must live on the land
and cultivate it himself. If he does not fulfil the above conditions, the
sale is void and the land reverts to the State : the colonist loses the in
stalments and interest paid and has no right to any compensation.
The land in question is exempt from Government taxes for 15 years;
during all that time no writ of execution can be enforced against it, nor
MISCELLANEOUS NEWS 9 1
shall it be distrainable etc. and the same appUes to the seeds, machinery,
livestock etc.
The proprietor or the capitaHstic undertaking may enjoy the benefits of
the law, on condition of conforming to the provisions contained in it. The
undertaking shall have the right to reserve to itself the third part of the land
intended for colonisation, in order to sell it when and how it pleases.
The Executive Authorities may take over 20% of the land purchased by the
undertaking, granting it a corresponding number of provincial bonds, re-
deemable in 15 years at 6 %. The produce of the land acquired by the
Treasury in the above proportion shall be exclusively reserved for payment
of interest and redemption of bonds.
The Executive Authorities are authorized to utilise for the purpose
of carrying out the law the revenue from taxes on threshing machines,
hulling machines etc. as well as the purchase price of the holdings.
(Summarised from the Gaceta Rural, Buenos-Aires, October, 1913).
BELGIUM.
REPORT OF THE " COMMISSION FOR THE CUI.TIVATIOX OF
WASTE LAND, " AND THE MEASI'RES PROPOSED FOR THE
CONSIDERATION OF THE CrOVERNMENT.
sources:
Commission de la Mise en Valeur des Terres Incultes: Rapport general {Com-
mission for tlie Cultivation of Waste Land: General Retort). Department of Agriculture
and Public Works: Rural Office: Reports and Communications; no. 6. Brussels. Printed
by M. Weissenbruch. 6913.
§ I. Origin anp office of the commission.
In the number of this Bulletin for February, 191 3, the subject of the
rise in price of food stuffs, and especially of meat, in Belgium, was fully
examined. This is one of the problems most urgently demanding solution
to-day and there is not a single country in which it has not presented itself
in recent years.
Much has been written about its causes, which are certainly complex,
but the principal seems to be that production does not keep pace with
consumption , which has considerably increased, not merely in industrial but
also in agricultural centres.
In Belgium the crisis became acute in 1911, owing to drought and thrush
fever which seriously affected agricultural production and especialh^ animal
produce.
In the summer the markets were disturbed by the so-called " butter
riots " and the lively protests of the consumers.
In view of these events, political bodies, associations and private
students have turned their attention to the problem, in search of adequate
remedies.
The important subject was also dealt with in the Chamber of Re-
presentatives, in consequence of certain questions presented in various
sessions in January, 1911. The debate was almost exclusively on the subject
of the high price of meat, and closed with the approval of a resolution, pre-
sented by M. Hellequette, expressing confidence in the measures the Govern-
CULTIVATION OF WASTE LAND 93
merit undertook to adopt in regard to the food supply of the working class-
es, for ensuring public health and increasing agricultural production.
However, towards the end of the year, the Government instituted a
Commission, called " The Butchers' Meat Commission ". for the reorganiz-
ation of the trade in horned cattle and butchers' meat, in the interest both of
consumers and producers. The "Central Belgian Agricultural vSociety, "
for its part, began studying the subject of the rise in price of food stuffs gen-
erally and instituted a diligent enquiry.
Now the reader will remember that one of the principal conclusions
arrived at by this society, in view of the general increase of consumption,
was the necessity of intensifying production to the greatest extent and by
every means possible. And the Butchers' Meat Commission also arrived
at a similar conclusion, proposing to increase the area of the country iinder
cultivation by means of the transformation of the moors and heaths into
arable land and meadows, and also proposing the grant of subsidies to stimul-
ate undertakings for the purpose on the part of public or private instit-
utions, as. for example, the foundation of a society like the Heideontginnings-
maatschappij of Holland, "capable of undertaking on a large scale the clear-
ing and cultivation of moors and heaths for the account of the communes
and of individuals, under the supervision of the State and guaranteed by it ".
Precisely to accelerate the cultivation of this land and to harmonize
public and private action for the purpose, b3^ Decree of September 5th.,
T912, the Government instituted a special commission to study measures
that ma}'' contribute to the solution of the above problem and to propose
their realization to the competent authorities.
Twenty five persons were appointed to form part of this Commission,
chosen from among various classes, public officials, professors of economics,
landed proprietors etc. Amongst others, let us mention M. De Vuyst,
General Manager of the Rural Bureau ; M. Schreiber, General Manager of
Agriculture; M. De Marnelfe, General Inspector of Waters and Forests;
M. Maertens, General Manager of Conmiunal Roads; and M. Tibbaut, pre-
sident of the Superior Council of Agriculture, who was appointed President
of the Commission.
Numerous and interesting preparatory reports were drafted by the
various members and submitted for discussion; finally, a recently published
general report summarises the work of the Commission and its conclusions.
From these documents we have derived the facts and figures for the present
article.
§ 2. The area uncultivated in belgium.
The general agricultural census of 1895 (the work in connection with
that of 1910 is not yet terminated) showed that at that date there
were in the whole kingdom 169,329 hectares of uncultivated land, 104,365
ha.of it belonging to private owners and 64,964 ha. to the State, the Com-
munes and other pirblic institutions.
94 BELGIUM - MISCELLANEOUS
On the other hand, the report of a Commission, instituted in 1900 for
the study of the Campine from the point of view of forestry, informs us
that the two provinces of Antwerp and lyimburg at that date had altogether
77,000 hectares of heath land, 40,000 of which were owned by private
individuals. To this must be added, in the opinion of the same Commission,
the area of all forests t h at are badly regulated and impoverished, infested with
insects and fated to become moorland, unless steps are at once taken to re-
store the fertility of the soil. The Commission therefore held there was no exag-
geration in estimating at 140,000 ha. the total area of the land to be improved
and cultivated scientifically in the Campine district. Considering, however,
that all this area could not for economic reasons be converted into fields and
meadows, the commission came to the conclusion that, of the above 140,000
ha., at least 50,000 could be with advantage utilised for agriculture.
Statistics are wanting in the case of the other provinces, but it is calcul-
ated that there are today in Belgium more than ico.ooo hectares that might
be transformed into arable and meadow land, without counting all the land
that might be rendered more productive by means of works of agricultural
improvement and especially by drainage.
§ 3. Proposals est regard to the road system
and the regulation of waters.
The cultivation of farms first of all calls for the construction of many
roads and a system of drainage. Extensive mors and heaths are in fact
only abandoned on account of the want of roads. Almost always the mere
opening of a suitable road is enough to promote the clearing of the land and
the erection of the first rural buildings. It is therefore urgent, observes
the report above mentioned, to request the public authorities to make the
roads indispensable for the work of drainage and chiefly the large roads giving
means of access, when considerable areas have to be cleared.
When this duty is entrusted to the communes, the State and the pro-
vinces should grant them subsidies and special facilities.
But if it is desirable to stimulate public action for the purpose, private
action must not be abandoned, and therefore, the Commission, considering
that, under the existing Belgian laws, no form of society would lend itself
to the constitution of road making consortiums amongst private individuals,
proposes the passing of a special law to authorize the landowners to asso-
ciate for the construction and maintenance of rural roads, granting such con-
sortiums rights and privileges analogous to those of theWaferingues. These lat-
ter are associations formed for the drainage of marshy land and enjoy im-
portant privileges; indeed, not only have they civil personality, but they have
the character of public administrations, that is, they are real public author-
ities which, within the limits of their powers and of their districts, may ex-
propriate, impose direct taxes, publish special police regulations etc.
As regards the regulation of the water supply, wliich is of capital im-
portance for the subject under consideration, the Commission holding
CULTIVATION OF WASTE LAND 95
that not only the owners of land on the banks of rivers but all the inhabit-
ants of a commune or a region are interested in the good regulation of the
watercourses, both for economic reasons and for reasons of health,
expresses its desire for a stricter and more extended system of drainage.
§ 4. Conclusions and proposals for the cultivation
OF communal waste land.
As a result of the provisions of the law of March 25th., 1847 o^ ^^^ clear-
ing of waste land belonging to communes, the greater part of such land was
granted to private individuals, under the condition of their cultivating it as
farm land or forest land, and a very small portion was cultivated by the
communes themselves directly.
The law was intended in this way to promote the rapid disappearance
of waste land and the most practical means to this end seemed to be the con-
version of public land into private property. But the end was not at-
tained. The sale of land on a large scale favoured the wholesale purchase of
communal land by private indi\nduals who kept it uncultivated, without im-
proving it in any way.
Certainly the conditions under which drainage may be carried out vary
somewhat according as the land is situated in the Ardennes or in the
Campine. And indeed, whilst in the Ardennes it is comparatively easy and
remunerative from the beginning, it is rather difficult in the Campine and
requires much capital and it is long before it gives a return.
In regard to the Ardennes district, where the land is usually cultivated
by residents of the district who take the farms on lease and work them, while
they remain the property of the communes, the Commission proposes that the
whole area still available may be cultivated in this wa5^ special privileges
being granted to the poorer members of the commune and subletting
of the holdings being forbidden. It is proposed that commimes averse to
this should be obliged to let out parcels of not more than one hectare at an
estimated price, to the poorer members of the commune at their request. It
is proposed further that copsewood yielding little be cleared.
In the case of the Campine, the Commission ad\'ises that facilities
be given to the Communes to arrange long leases, allowing the tenants to
undertake work requiring time for its accomplishment and to erect the ne-
cessary buildings.
In the contract there should be a clause allowing of the purchase of
the land when drained or at least a clause recognising the right to compens-
ation for improvements. It is also advisable to sell small holders parcels to
be immediately cleared. Coercion might be had recourse to when com-
munes show no intention of proceeding to clear their land on the above
system.
I^inall^^, in regard to the whole kingdom, the Commission asks that the
funds needed for draining the land may be advanced to the communes at
96 BELGIUM - MISCELLANEOUS
low interest and that the work be carried out under the supervision of the
competent officers. For the purpose, it suggests the appointment of a Com-
mission, consisting of an employee of the Department of Waters and Forests,
a Government agricultural engineer and a representative of the conunune,
who shall divide the communal land into three classes: ist., land that can be
profitabh- cultivated; 2nd., land unsuited for agriculture by its nature or its
distance from inhabited centres, but capable of being cultivated as for-
est or in some other wa^^; 3rd., land unsuited for any kind of cultivation.
The principal object of the Commission would of course be to collect
information so as to hasten the carrying out of the works.
§ 5. Conclusions .vnd proposals for the cultivation
of waste land belonging to private owners.
There is no doubt that the question of the cultivation of private landed
property is of still greater importance.
As w^e have seen, out of a total of 169,329 hectares of uncultivated land,
according to the Census Returns of 1895, 104,365 ha. belonged to private
owners and 64,964 ha. to the State, the communes and other public instit-
utions.
In the case of private land, the difficulties are certainl}^ more serious.
And in fact, in the first place, land tends to rise in value with the increase
of manufactures in the Campine, for farms require a larger investment of
capital. In the second place, labour, the most essential item in farming, is
being more and more attracted to the centres of industrial production and
is begirming to cost more and more.
It is held, on the other hand, that as a rule, the cultivation of waste
land can only be entrusted to private enterprise, as, in this way alone, we
read in the report, can immediate and permanent results be obtained and
above all — it is said — the small land owner must be allowed the benefit
of it : for the large landowner, the work of clearing is often a mere financial
operation; for the small proprietor, it is on the other hand an occasion for
saving and an urgent incentive to work. But for the purchase of a piece
of land, the adequate preparation of the soil, its cultivation and the erec-
tion of the necessary buildings, considerable funds are required. How are
they to be obtained ? The Commission, adducing the example of what has
already been done in Belgium in behalf of the Societies for the building of
workmen's houses, proposes that the Government should intervene, — as
in this case also the undertaking is one of public utility — and lend the agri-
cultural credit institutes at low interest the funds they require for the pur-
chase and cultivation of the land, in addition to this, granting subsidies either
by way of encouragement to small landowners who make definite tender
for the work, or by way of reward for the results already obtained. With the
above loans on conditions of favour and the subsidies, there should be
also granted special fiscal facilities and finally by means of lectures, practical
lessons and prize competitions, a knowledge of the best systems of farming
should be diffused.
CULTIVATION OF WASTE LAND 97
Lastly, in respect to the encouragements to be given to the large landed
proprietors, it was the opinion of the Commission that they must be limited to
roadmaking and the improvement of roads and the supply of water and the
improvement of the existing supply, and to the grant of the right to
consult free of charge the various technical offices of the State (Agricultural
Hydraulic, Government Agricultural Engineering and Forestry Offices) .
§ 6. Society for the cultivation of waste land.
The utility of a special organization to promote and assist the various
undertakings initiated for the clearance of moor and heath land does not need
to be proved. Up to the present, these undertakings have been left exclus-
ively to the indi\'idual owners of small and medium sized farms.
Now it is evident that mere individual effort asks for too much time. Con-
vinced of this, the Commission passed the following vote :
I. That a co-operative society may speedily be formed, with regional
divisions, for the purposes of {a) studying and carrying out all works of
clearing, farm improvement, the bringing of land iinder cultivation whether
for agricultural or forestry purposes, rural buildings etc ; {b) maintenance of
the v.orks carried out ; (c) extension of pisciculture ; (i) search for and em-
ployment of all means that may lead to the rapid and productive cultiv-
ation of waste land, such as drainage, irrigation, road construction etc. ;
2 . That the public authorities ma^^ encourage such a society, by grant
of subventions for all its undertakings of public or collective interest;
3. Finally, that the officers of the proper departments of State (Agri-
cultural Waters and Forests, Agricultural Hydrauhcs and Road Construc-
tion) ma}^ perform for this society and its members an office similar to that
performed by the State agricultural engineers and forestry agents in the case
of private individuals.
The reader will remember that shortly after the passing of this
vote a society of the kind was founded at Louvain on the initiative of some
members of the Commission with which we are dealing: its organization was
dealt with in the number of this Bulletin for August, 1913, pp. 24 et seqq.
Finally, as far as the Campine in particular is concerned, the Commission
calls the attention of those concerned to the advantage that might be derived
from contracts and the collective undertaking of work. An intermediary, a
private contractor or society, might, that is to say, substitute the land-
owner and the whole work of clearing and bringing the land under cultiv-
ation might be carried out for private account and with private capital, the
advantage consisting either in the use of the land for a length of time or in
a share in the produce or in the ownership.
If these undertakings are organized in such a way as really to guarantee
the sjDeedy bringing of the land under cultivation, the Commission considers
that the Government will have every interest in encouraging their found-
ation, either with special subsidies or by the subscription of shares or again
b\' advances of monev.
FRANCE.
THE RESULTS OF THE LAW ON UNDISTRAINABLE
HOMESTEADS.
OFFICIAL SOURCE :
Report made on December 29th., 1913 by the Minister of Agriculture to the President of the
French Republic on the Results obtained up to the present by means of the I,aw of July
12th., 1909 for the Constitution of Undistrainable Homesteads.
The law of July 12th., 1909 introduced into France an institution of ex-
treme social importance, authorizing the formation of what have long
been known in the United States as Homesteads, the results of which have
been found very satisfactory in all the countries in which trial has been made
of the system in recent years.
This law, in fact, allows every small farmer to place beyond the poss-
ibiHty of expropriation and seizure a holding of a value not exceeding 8,000
francs, occupied and w^orked by his family and possibly consisting of a house
or separate portion of a house, or of a house and land adjacent to it or near it.
So important a reform, conflicting in many ways with the ancient
French law on obligations, and appreciably modifying the mode in which
credit on land is granted and the security for it, and necessarily entaiHng
the completion of a certain number of formaUties on the part of those
desirous of benefiting by it, was naturally bound in its application to
encounter the difficulties usual in the case of laws involving important
changes in the economic social order.
Thus the law on the formation of undistrainable homesteads is far
from having led, amongst the people for whose benefit it was passed, who are
still insufficiently enlightened in the matter, to the results that may justly be
expected from an institution which, however, so exactly corresponds with
the essentially individualistic tendencies of the small farmer and his affec-
tion for his land.
The Minister of Agriculture, however, considered that a few years would
suffice to show the value and extent of the services rendered by this new law
and the causes, if any, that might impede its suitable application on a
large scale. He then proceeded to hold an enquiry, the results of which
were communicated to the President of the Republic on December 29th.
last.
THE RESUIvTS OF THE I.A\V ON UNDISTRAINABtE HOMESTEADS
99
This enquiry has shown that, since the promulgation of the law, 243
homesteads have been formed, 85 in towns and 158 in the country. They
have been formed in 47 of the departments; the value of the holding seldom
reaches the maximum laid down in the law and the average seems to be
4,000 or 5,000 frs.
The departments in which most homesteads have been formed are
Seine-et-Oise, 12; Seine, 11 ; Seine-et-Marne, 9; Eure-et-Ivoir, 9; Aisne, 8;
Oise, 8.
It will be easy to form an idea of the distribution of the homesteads,
up to the present formed, their number and average value in the various
departments from the following table :
Departments
Number
of
Homesteads
Formed
Character of Holdings
Average
Value
Ain
Aisne
AUier ......
Alpes (Basses-) . .
Alpes (Hautes-). .
AJpes-Maritimes .
Ard^che ....
Ardennes ....
Ari^ge
Aube
Aude
Aveyron ....
Bouches-du-Rh one
Calvados ....
Cantal
Charente ....
Charente-Inferieure
Cher
Corrdze ....
Corsica ....
Cote-d'Or ....
C6tes-du-Nord . .
Creuse
Dordogne . . .
Doubs
3
4»i65
6
3.780
2
5,000
2
6,000
»
I
5,000
3
5,375
I
8,000
I
5,860
2
5.700
I
4,000
4
5.925
I
2,800
4
6,500
5
2,865
4,000
t
7,000
5.880
»
4,800
2,000
5,000
TOO
FRANCE - MISCEI,I,ANEOUS
Departments
Number
of
Homesteads
Formed
Character of Holdings
Urban
Dr6me
Eure
Eure-et-I,oir . . .
Finist^e . . . ,
Gard
Garoime (Haute-)
Gers
Gironde . . . .
Herault . . . .
Ille-et-Vilaiiie . .
Indre
Indre-et-Iyoire . ,
Isere
Jura
I<andes
I/>ir-et-Cher . . .
I^oire
lyoirc (Haute-) . .
lyoire-Inferieure .
I^iret
I,ot
I/)t-et- Garonne
IfiZ^TC
Maine-et-I<oire . .
Manche ....
Mame
Mame (Haute-)
Mayenne ....
Meurthe-et-Moselle
Meuse
Morbihau ....
Nidvre
Nord
Oisc
Ome
3
6
9
2
I
8
2
12
2
II
THE RESULTS OF THE lAW ON UNDISTRAINABLE HOMESTEADS lOI
Departments
Number
of
Homesteads
Formed
Character of Holdings
Average
Value
Pas-de-Calais . . .
Puy-de-D6me . . .
Pjfrenees (Basses-) .
Pyrenees (Hautes-) .
Pyr&i^es-Orien tales .
Rhin (Haut-) (Belfon)
Rhone
Saone (Haute-) . . .
Saone-et-I/oire . . .
Sarthe
Savoie
Savoie (Haute-) . .
Seine
Seine-Inferieure . .
Seine-et-Mame . . .
Seine-et-Oise . . .
Sevres (Deux-) . . .
Somme
Tam
Tam-et-Garonne . .
Var
Vauduse
Vendee
Vienne
Vienne (Haute-) . .
Vosges
Yonne
Total
I
2
3
II
4
9
12
6
5
I
3
243
2.675
6,000
3.500
5.500
8,000
7,500
5,000
4,500
5,745
7.375
4,790
5,164
5,815
5,500
5.510
6,000
5.000
5,140
8,000
4,360
85
Independently of this statistical information, the Minister also wished
to know the causes, if any, contributing to arrest the progress of the in-
stitution of homesteads, as well as the amendments that must be made in
the law in order to promote its extension.
102 FRANCE - MISCELIvANEOUS
On this subject, the chambers of notaries, consulted through the at-
torneys general of the various appeal courts, came to decisions embodied
in the most interesting of the documents.
These bodies consider, generally, that still too often the persons who
might benefit by it are unaware of the law; that it requires too many and too
compUcated formalities to be gone through and that above all the formation
of a homestead leads, in most cases, to the refusal of all credit to the land
holder, who is thus placed in a worse position and even exposed to danger, ,
rather than in enjoyment of increased security.
They indicate further a certain number of amendments of a legal cha-
racter that might be made in the law to facilitate its apphcation.
The Government has spared no pains to make the law known as widely
as possible, especially by, in two successive years, assigning rewards and
special prizes for posters or designs, essays or books relating to the subject
of homesteads. It has also prepared a very detailed commentary on the
law to serve as a guide and forwarded it to all the chambers of notaries,
the magistrates and the registrars of their courts, and many copies are
despatched daily to parties applying for them and to the agricultural
mutual associations in all the departments. Finally, the agents of the
departments dependent on the Ministerial Department have been instructed
to insist more and more in their courses of lectures on the benefits
the peasant farmers may derive from the institution of the Homestead.
With regard to the law itself, the Government proposes to examine
with the briefest possible delay whether it will not be possible at once to
reduce and simplify the formaUties for the formation of homesteads. In
addition, it has profited by the occasion offered by the codification of the
laws on mutual and agricultural credit, to insert in a bill, which will,
within a few days, be laid before the Chamber of Deputies, a special pro-
vision enabling the person forming a homestead, in accordance with article
2,103 of the Civil Code, to obtain from the mutual agricultural credit banks
the amount he requires for the purchase of the small farm he desires to
convert into a homestead. This amendment to the law wUl have the
effect of temporarily suspending, until repayment of the loan, and in favour
only of the mutual agricultural credit bank advancing the money, the
undistrainable character of the holding which shall remain pleadable
against other parties. It is hoped that this provision will largely
contribute to the spread of the institution and happily complete the
series of measures by which the Parliament and the Government have
attempted as far as possible to defend and protect peasant holdings.
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.
SMALL HOLDINGS IN SCOTLAND AND THE EFFECTS
OF RECENT LEGISLATION REGARDING THEM
By John M. Ramsay,
S'.ipenntendent of Statistics and Intelligence, Board oj Agriculture for Scotland.
SOrRCES (OFFICIAL) :
Reports of the Crofters Coimnssiox, and especially the fiual Report, for the period from
31st. December, 1910 to 31st. March, 1912.
Reports of the Congested Districts Board, and especially the final Report for the year
ended 31st. March, 191:;.
Report of the Scottish I,and Court for the period from ist. April to 31st. December, 1912.
First Report of the Board of Agriculture for Scotland, for the same period.
Introduction.
The Small Landholders (Scotland) Act, which came into force on
i^t. April, 1912, introduced great changes into the system of tenure of small
agricultural holdings in Scotland. The main features of the Act are
(i) the extension to the whole of Scotland, with certain modifications, of the
regulations regarding land tenure which had been applied to the "crofting
counties" by the Crofters Holdings Act, 18S6, and subsequent amending
Acts ; (2) the provision of machinery for the constitution by State action
of new small holdings to be occupied on a similar tenure.
For the purpose of carrying out the provisions of the Act two new
bodies were estabUshed, the Scottish Land Court, a court of law having
powers similar to those of the Crofters Commission, but wider ; and the
Board of Agriculture for Scotland, an administrative body which is concerned
not only with small holdings but with Scottish agriculture in general. Among
its other duties the Board carries on those imposed on the Congested Districts
Board, which, like the Crofters Commission, ceased to exist at ist. April, 1912.
It is propc sed in this paper to give an account of the work of the Crofters
Commission and the Congested Districts Board, of the provisions of the
Act of 191 1, and of the work done by the Land Court and the Board of
Agriculture in carrying out these provisions up to 31st. December, 1912.
104 GREAT BRITAIN AND IREI,AND - MISCEI.I,ANEOUS
§ I. The " CROFTING COUNTIES. "
The Crofter's Holdings Act of 1886 of applied to the seven counties (i)
of Argyll, Inverness, Ross and Cromarty, Sutherland, Caithness, Orkney and
vShetland, which among them embrace almost the whole of the western and
northern Highlands, and the whole of the islands Ijdngtothe west and north
of Scotland. These counties extend altogether to an area of 14,000 square
miles, or nearly half the whole area of Scotland. They include, however, only
15 per cent, of the " cultivated land," i. e. the land under crops and grass ;
the proportion of their area used for this purpose being 8 per cent, as com-
pared with 41 per cent, in the rest of Scotland. The rent returned as paid
for agricultural holdings in these counties amounted in 1906 (when a special
return (2) on this subject was made) to £589,000, which is 11 per cent, of
the whole amount returned for Scotland, and is only a trifle more than
the amount retiirned for the single county of Aberdeen. The population
in 1911 was 335,000 or 7 per cent, of the population of Scotland. It reach-
ed its maximum in 1851, when it was 395,000, or nearly 14 per cent, of
the population of the whole country ; since then every decade has shown
a decrease.
The actual extent of land under crops and grass in these seven count-
ies (excluding holdings of one acre or less) in 1912 was 722,000 acres. This
was divided among 29,650 holdings, the average size of holding being thus
24 acres, as compared with 85 acres for the rest of Scotland and 62 acres
for the country as a whole. The proportion of holdings not exceeding
50 acres, which in the rest of Scotland is about one-half, is in these counties
nine- tenths.
In these statements no account is taken of the mountain and heath
land used for grazing, which occupies a very large proportion of the area
not only of these counties but of the whole country. The total area of
land used in this way is about 8,900,000 acres, or 46 per cent, of the whole
area of Scotland. In this matter the difference between the crofting count-
ies and several of the other counties of Scotland is not ver3>- marked. There is,
however, a striking difference in the nature of the occupancy of these rough
grazings in the two districts into which Scotland is considered as divided.
In the remaining counties of Scotland such land is held mainly b_v large
sheep farmers who occupy thousands of acres. Large sheep farms are com-
mon also in the crofting counties, but a considerable proportion of the rough
grazings are — except in Orkney and Caithness — 'Used in common by the
tenants of groups of small arable holdings, these groups forming "townships."
(i) It actually applied to such parishes within these counties as should be declared to be
"crofting parishes", but only ii out of the whole number of 162 parishes were exclude 1 from
its operation.
2) The return is entitled "Occupiers of Farms (.Scotland)" and was presented to the House
of Commons on 25th. April, 1907.
SMALL HOLDINGS IN SCOTLAND I05
The existence of these common grazings — either at the date of the Act or
in previous time — was in fact one of the determining points in the defini-
tion of a crofting parish, to be referred to later. They form one of the
modif^nng factors to be taken into account in considering the economic status
of the small holder in the crofting counties. The other main factor is the
fishing industry, which has, however, of recent years been taken more and
more out of the hands of the small local men bj^ the better equipped
fishermen of the east coast.
Agricultural conditions in these counties are not, of course, entirelj'
uniform. \'er3" great differences in the extent of land available for agricul-
ture, in its fertility, and in the use that is made of it by the occupiers, are
naturally found in so wide a terrtory, The general statements made above
are, however, sufficient to show that this large area has from an agricultural
point of view a character of its own. The typical holding consists of a
small amount of arable land with the right to a share in a common grazing,
or of a small piece of land occupied by a man who is also engaged in fishing.
Of the special characteristic of the inhabitant of these districts, whether
Celtic or Norse, it is unnecessary to speak.
§ 2. The crofters' holdings act, 1886.
This Act was the outcome of an agrarian crisis in certain parts of the
Highlands comparable in intensity, though not in extensiveness, with the
agrarian troubles of Ireland. The " clearances " of the early 19th. centurj',
when small holdings were destroyed to make room for large sheep farms,
were bitterly remembered. Later the movement has been from sheep
farms to deer forests. The cultivators were either forced to leave the coun-
try altogether or crowded together on the poorest parts of the land on hold-
ings too small to afiord a living. The principal grievances felt b}' them
were insecurity of tenure, excessive rents and the difficulty of obtaining
enlargements of their holdings. As regards the first, the natural feeling
of men whose families had for generations occupied the same holdings was
that they had a claim to retain them. I/Cgally, however, their tenure was
only from year to year, and there was no protection against removal.
Again, they were, hke the Irish tenants, liable to be rented on their own
improvements, and had no power to obtain compensation for these on re-
moval. Their attachment to their homes made them willing to pay excessive
rents ; arrears of rent were, however, very common. There was little
encouragement to make the most of the land, such as it was, and the
standard both of agriculture and of living was and still is, especially in
some parts of the Outer Hebrides, very low. A period of agitation finally
resulted in open violence. Rents were refused and organised raids were made
on large farms. Gunboats were sent by the Government to restore order,
but it ^^as recognised that mere repression was of no use. The efforts of
those who has long been working for constitutional remedies resulted in the
I06 GREAT BRITAIN AND IREI.AND - MISCEI^LANEOUS
passing of the Act of 1886, which was designed to remove the grievances
spoken of above.
The principal provisions of the Act were that a crofter should not be
removed from his holding except for the breach of certain statutory condi-
tions, that he should have the right to have a fair rent fixed by pubHc
authority, and that on renouncing or being removed from his holding he
should receive compensation for improvements effected by himself or his
predecessors in the same family. The crofter was defined as " any person
who at the passing of the Act is tenant of a holding from year to year, who
resides on his holding, the annual rent of which does not exceed £30 in
money, and which is situated within a crofting parish, and the successors of
such person, being his heirs or legatees. " A crofting parish was defined as
" a parish in which there are at the commencement of this Act, or have been
within 80 years prior thereto, holdings consisting of arable land held with
a right of pasturage in common with others, and in which there still are ten-
ants from year to year, who reside on their holdings, the annual rent of which
respectively does not exceed £ 30 in money, at the commencement of this
Act." The return relating to the year 1906, already mentioned, shows
that in the crofting counties seven-eighths of the agricultural holdings were
of an annual value not exceeding £30. Of the 162 parishes in these counties,
151 were declared to be crofting parishes.
§ 3. Work of the crofters' commission.
For the purpose of carrjdng out the provisions of the Act, there was
established the Crofters' Commission, a body of three Commissioners hav-
ing power to fix fair rents and to deal with arrears of rent in the case of
holdings to which the Act applied. Fair rents fixed by them might be revised
after an interval of seven years. They were also empowered to sanction
in certain circumstances the resumption of a crofter's holding by the land-
lord, and to fix the amount of compensation due to a crofter who renounced
or was removed from his holding ; and further, to compel land to be pro-
vided, on certain conditions, for the enlargement of crofters' holdings,
and to make regulations for the management of common grazings by local
committees, and for the exercise of other common rights such as the taking
of seaweed and peat.
The Commission was in existence for 25 years, and dealt with over 21,000
applications for the fixing of a fair rent, including applications for revalua-
tion. The total area inspected by them in connection with these applica-
tions included 213,000 acres in individual occupancy, and 1,750,000 acres
occupied as common grazings. The " old" rents of the holdings dealt with
amounted to £89,500, and the fair rents fixed by the Commission to
£67,500, a reduction of nearly 25 per cent. The total amount of arrears
de?lt with was £ 186,000, of which two-thirds were cancelled. The amount
of arrears cancelled appears large, but as the Commissioners state in their
SMALL HOLDINGS IN SCOTLAND I07
last Report, from which these particulars are taken, in many cases the
arrears consisted of the accumulations of generations, and although they
might be regarded on paper as assets, they were really irrecoverable ; while
in other cases they arose on rents which the Commission held were not fair
rents, and were cancelled in terms of the Act. The Commission also dealt
with 4,300 applications for the enlargement of holdings, and assigned for
this purpose over 72,000 acres of land, mainly pastoral.
A marked improvement in the social condition of the crofters has re-
sulted from the provisions of the Act and the labours c f the Commission,
especiall}- in the matter of housing. The improved dwellinghouses now to
be seen in the townships of the west coast and the western islands have not
indeed been paid for out of the produce of the land, but rather out of the
earnings of the sons and daughters of the crofters who have migrated to the
lowlands, or have emigrated to Canada and the other British dominions.
But the increased security given to the crofter in the possession of the im-
provements provided by himself, and the certainty of continued occupation
of the holding, have made it more reasonable for him to invest in this
way any surplus he may have, from whatever source derived. The dimin-
ution of rents has given sensible relief to the population of these district'-,
where the circulation of mone^' is not large. Some improvement is noted
m the methods of cultivation employed, and in the management of the
common grazings, but in these matters much may yet be done.
The Commission, however, carried on their work under certain limit-
ations. It may be doubted whether it was a sound policy to confer, as
the Act did, the same perpetuity of tenure on the extremely small holdings
in the island of Lewis as on the larger, though still small holdings found
in other of the crofting districts. Another complication found, especially
in Lewis, is the existence of "squatters" — ^ persons occupying part of a
croft which is already too small to afford a living to the tenant, and paying
part of the rent to him. The conditions of Lewis form a problem apart.
But any drastic action w^ould have encountered great difficulties, and it
was simpler to treat alike all holdings under the statutory limit. The
Commission were thus precluded from any possibility of rearranging the
tenure of land in such cases. But, further, they had no power to foim new
holdings where they were required, or to assist migration from congested
districts. Their powers in connection with the enlargement of holdings
w ere limited by various restrictions on the choice (jf land for this pur-
pose and on the amount that might be allotted to applicants. Finally,
they had no funds at their disposal for any purpose beyond their administrat-
ive expenses.
A Royal Commission appointed in 1892 to consider the question of land
available for crofters' holdings reported that 1,783,000 acres not at that
time used for this purpose might be so used. There was then a strong move-
ment for further legislation in the crofting districts as well as in the re-
maining parts of Scotland, which will be spoken of later.
I08 GREAT BRITAIN AND IREI,AND - MISCELLANEOUS
§ 4. The congested districts hoard and its work.
It was partly in order to remedy the limitations thus placed upon the
work of the Crofters Commission, and partly in order to pro\dde more ex-
tended assistance out of public funds, that the Congested Districts Board
was established in 1897, following a precedent already set in the admini-
stration of Ireland. This Board consisted of the Secretary for Scotland,
the Under-Secretary for Scotland, the Chairmen of three of the administrat-
ive bodies concerned with the districts in which it was to operate — the IvOcal
Government Board for Scotland, the Fisher}^ for Board Scotland and the
Crofters Commission — and certain other members. They were empowered to
aid the development of agriculture, fishing and home industries, in the con-
gested districts, migration from these districts to other parts of Scotlad, the
formation of nevv holdings and the provision of public works, such as piers,
roads and bridges. For these purposes an annual sum of £35,000 was
made available. The sphere of their operations, as defined by them,
having regard to population and valuation, extended until the year 191 1
to 65 out of the 151 crofting parishes, including practically all the western
islands from Islay to I^ewis, almost the whole of the county of Sutherland,
most of Orkney and Shetland, and smaller parts of Caithness and the
mainland parts of Ross and Inverness. In 1911 the whole of the crofting
parishes were brought within their sphere.
The operations of the Board extended over a period of more than four-
teen years. During that time they expended over £500,000, including
both grants and loans, in carrying out the various duties imposed on them.
The policy of land settlement was carried out bj- the purchase of estates
and by co-operation with landlords in the pro\'ision of new holdings and
enlargements. Six estates, extending altogether to 84,000 acres, were
purchased at a total cost of £ 129,000, and these, where they were not
already occupied b>' small holders, were di\'ided into holdings of suitable
sizes. On three of the estates these holdings ^^ ere sold to settlers at pur-
chase price annuities. Loans were also made to the settlers for the purpose
of providing buildings. Subsequently, however, the settlers on two of the
estates asked that they might be placed instead in the status of crofters,
paying rent for the land instead of purchase annuities. This was done, and
these crofters are now, as " landholders " under the Act of 1911, the tenants
of the Board of Agricultur of Scotland, in succession to te Congested Dis-
tricts Board. In the third case a similar request \^as made, but it was
pointed out to the settlers that the land had been disposed of to them on
such favourable terms that they would receive no advantage from the pro-
posed change, and no furher steps have been taken in the matter. In all
three cases the chief reason for the dissatisfaction of the settlers was the
burden of the " owner's rates" — that proportion of the local taxation which
is levied on the proprietor of land or buildings. This is a jDoint of consider-
SMALL HOLDIKGS IN SCOTLAND 109
able importance with regard to the system of land tenure established by
the Acts of t886 to 191 1.
Ip other cases the Board co-operated with landlords in carrjdng out
schemes of land settlement — usually involving the sub-di\nsion of large farms
by making grants for the necessary fencing, etc., and by making loans to
new holders for the purpose of erecting buildings.
Altogether they assisted in providing G40 new holdings and over 1,100
enlargements of existing holdings. The whole amount expended in grants
and loans in connection with these schemes was about £220.000.
Large sums were also expended by the Board on public works of vari-
ous kinds in the congested districts — piers, roads, bridges, etc. The assist-
ance thus given usually took the form of a grant of three-fomths of the
total cost of such works, made to the local authority which undertook the exe-
cution of the work and the subsequent upkeep. In several cases the grant
amounted to £5,000 and in one case to £10,000. The whole amoimt
actually paid in this way up to 21st. March, 1912 was about £ 130,000 be-
sides considerable sums granted but not yet paid over.
In their schemes for the promotion of agriculture the Board had re-
gard mainly to the improvement of live stock, as the Western Highlands
and Islands are more suited to pastoral farming than to the grovvdng of
crops, lender these schemes the Board purchased nearly 700 bulls and
lent them out to the committees in charge of the common grazings.
Over 2,000 rams, the property of the Board, were lent out in the same way,
and a certain number of Highland pony stallions were also pro\dded. As
a result of these arrangements, a marked improvement has taken place in
the quahty of the live stock in many of the congested districts. Further
encouragement was given by grants in aid of local agricultural shows.
For the improvenient of poultry, it was arranged that eggs of pure breeds
should be supplied from certain approved stations at a small charge, the
Board subsidizing the station-holders. Schemes were also undertaken for the
supph' of seed oats and potatoes of better ^'arieties than those commonlv
grown, and for instruction in the spraying of potatoes to prevent disease :
these ho\^ ever met with onl}- a moderate degree of success. iVbout £ 60,000
was spent on schemes under this head.
Aid was also given for the improvement of the home industries of the
congested districts, especially the spinning and weaving of ' Harris " tweed,
and schemes were introduced for the apprenticing of boys to trades and for
the training of girls for domestic service.
The public works, the provision of which was aided b}' the Board,
were in many cases of special service to fishermen. The Board also took
steps to secure the improvement of communications between the, islands
and the mainland and maintained a number of minor sea-Hghts at various
points.
In addition to the work done by the Congested Districts Board, the
Fishery Board lent considerable sums to fishermen for the purchase or
repair of beats, on the security of the boats themselves. This scheme was
no GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND - MISCELI,ANEOUS
not, however, carried out to the full extent originally contemplated, the ex-
periment not being regarded as entirely successful.
§ 5. The smali, i,andhoi,ders act, 191 1.
While the peculiar conditions of the Highland counties were thu3 pro-
vided for, there was no legislation dealing specially with the tenure of exist-
ing small holdings throughout the rest of Scotland. The Agricultiural
Holdings Acts of 1883 and 1908 were designed to protect the rights of agri-
cultural tenants, but without special reference to small holdings. The main
clauses of the latter provide for (i) compensation for improvements of
various kinds carried out by the tenant with special provisions for the
benefit of market gardeners ; (2) compensation (a) for damage done by
game (b) for 'unreasonable disturbance" by refusal on the part of the
landlord to renew the tenant's occupancy; (3) the right of bequeathing the
remainder of a lease; (4) greater freedom in the system of cropping.
Certain Acts had been passed with the object of facilitating the forma-
tion of allotments and small holdings, the administration of which was en-
trusted to local authorities, but owing to the absence of financial resources
other than the local rates these Acts had had little effect.
In certain districts, such as the island of Arran and the upland parts
of Perthshire, the conditions of land tenure were very like those in the dis-
tricts already dealt with by the Crofters Act, while in Aberdeenshire and
the neighbouring counties there were many small holders who had reclaimed
land for cultivation and had carried out other improvements, with or
without adequate consideration from their landlords. In the country as
a whole the number of small holdings was diminishing and the rural pop-
ulation was decreasing. There was, therefore, both from the point of view
of the individual small holder, and as a matter of public policy, a demand for
a general measure on the lines of the Crofters Act.
A Bill was introduced in 1895 for the purpose of extending that Act
in an amended form to the counties north of the Tay not already included,
and to Bute, but it did not become law. The Small Landolders Act, as
finally passed, was the last of a series of Bills introduced in 1906, 1907 and
1908, which, however, failed to become law during the Parliament of 1906
to 1909. It w'as reintroduced in 1911 in the same form as in 1908. and, sub-
ject to certain amendments inserted at the instance of the Opposition,
was passed by both Houses of Parliament in that session, coming into force
on 1st. April, 1912.
The leading features of the Act (i) are, as already stated, the extension
of the Crofters Acts, with considerable modifications, to the whole of Scot-
land, and the provision of means for the constitution of new small holdings.
The new Act has to be read along with the earlier Act and the amending
Acts passed afterwards (which are of relatively small importance), and it
constitutes with them the code described as "The I^andolders Acts, 1886,
to 1911. "
I
SMALL HOLDINGS IX SCOTLAND III
The principal modifications are (i) the raising of the limit of rent for
a small holding from £30 to £50, with the further inclusion of holdings
of a higher rent, the area of which does not exceed 50 acres (2); the distinc-
tion made between two classes of small holders under the Act — (a) the
'• landholders", and (b) the " statutory small tenant. " (3)
It is impossible at present to state precisely the number of existing
holdings brought under the operation of the Act, but it may roughly stated
as between 50,000 and 60,000 (including the holdings of existing crofters)
or about two-thirds of the agricultural holdings in Scotland. The number
of persons returned in iqo6 as occup\nng agricultural land of a gross annual
value not exceeding £ 50 was 62,300 ; but this total includes a considerable
number of persons whose land is excluded from the o]oeration of the Act (4)
while on the other hand it does not include those who occupy holdings
exceeding £50 in rent but not exceeding 50 acres in extent.
The name "crofter" was abolished bj' the Act, and that of " landholder"
substituted. All existing crofters became landholders at ist. April 1912.
The existing small holder who was not a crofter becomes a landholder if
he or his predecessors in the same famil}' have provided the whole or the
greater part of the buildings and other permanent improvements without
receiving payment or fair consideration from the landlords. Otherwise
he becomes a statutory small tenant. In the case of tenants from year
to year, the pro\dsions of the Act applied at 1st. April, 1912; in the case of
leaseholders they apply on the expiration of the lease, or the occurrence of
a " break" in it. All occupiers of new holdings constituted under the Act
become landholders.
There is no compulsion on landlord or tenant to take any steps to bring
an existing holding under the operation of the Act, but thej' may come to
an agreement that the tenant is a landholder or a statutory- small tenant,
or either of them may apply to the Land Court to decide whether the hold-
ing is one to which the Act applies, and if so whether the tenant is a land-
holder or a statutory small tenant, and to fix a fair or an equitable rent ac-
cordingly.
1^' § 6. The landholder.
* The landholder's tenure is essentially that of the crofter. He has
the right — subject to the fulfilment of certain statutor}' conditions, and
subject also to a right of resumption by the landlord for certain purposes,
with the sanction of the Land Court — to occupy the holding perpetually at
(i) A French translation of the full text is given 'n the Annuairc Inlentutional de Lei^iilaiion
Atificole, 1911, pp. 60.5-727.
(2) Except in the district of Lewis, where the limits arc £30 and 30 acres.
(3) This tUstinction was not originally included in (he Bill, but was introiluctd in the course
of 'liscussion.
(4) The kinds of land excluded are given in sec. 26 of the Ai:t.
112 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND - MISCELI^AXEOUS
a rent fixed by the Land Court, with power of renunciation and of bequest
to a member of his family (i); faihng bequest his right in the holding de-
scends to his heir-at-law, but the holding cannot be sub-divided. Residence
on the holding is no longer necessary, but the existing small holder must
reside within two miles of his holding if he is to be qualified under the Act.
The pro\'isions as to compensation on renunciation or removal remain un-
changed.
The change of name from crofter to landholder is a consequence of the
extension of this tenure to the whole of Scotland. The effect of the earher
Act was to give legal validity to an old customary form of tenure in the High-
lands, but the new Act created in the rest of Scotland a new species of tenure
which required a new term.
§ 7. The STATUTORY SMAIJ. TEXANT.
The statutory small tenant is an occupier, otherwise qualified under
the Act, of a holding where the landlord has provided or paid fcr the whole
or the greater part of the buildings, etc. By far the greater proportion of
the existing smallholders in the area of Scotland not included in the croft-
ing counties come into this class. The tenant has in this case a ptimd
facie right to a renewal of his tenancy on its expiration, on the same terms
as before. But if he and his landlord cannot agree on the amount of the
rent and the period of the lease, either of them ma}- applj' to the Land Court
to fix an equitable (2) rent and to fix the period for which the tenancy is to
be renewed — generally, in practice, seven years. Thus, with the right to
have his rent fixed by the lyand Court, and with the right to a periodical
renewal of his occupancy, the statutorj^ small tenant shares the essentials
of the landholder's tenure. As in the case of the landholder, his rights
extend to his statutory successors. It should be noted that this class
of tenant is limited to those existing at ist. April. igi2 and their statutory
successors. No new tenant can be placed in it. On the other hand, if
the landlord fails to maintain the buildings, etc., in a reasonable manner,
the Land Court may declare the statutory small tenant to be a landholder.
It is also possible to turn any such holdings, when they become vacant,
into landholders' holdings, as " new holdings."
§ 8. Preservation of existing small HOLDrNG?,
Besides these provisions for the benefit of existing small holders, the
Act contains provisions for securing the continued exstence of small hold-
ings as .such. When a landholder's holding falls, or is about to fall, vacant,
(i) The laixdhoklcr may also, with the consent of the Land Court, assign his holding to a
member of his family if he is no longer able by reason of illness, old age or infirmity, to cultivate
it himself.
(2) Directions as to the method of fixing the rent are given in Sec. 26 (8) of the Act.
SMALL .-iOLDIXGS IN SCOTLAND li-
the landlord must intimate the fact to the Board, and he may not, without
the Board's consent and the intervention, on their application, of the L,aad
Court, let it except to a new holder under the Act or to a neighbouring
landholder for the enlargement of his holding. A holding w^hich has been
occupied by a statutory small tenant may be let to a tenant outside the
scope of the Act, or it may be let as a " new holding" to a landholder, but
it may not be merged in another holding withoirl the consent of the Board.
The Board are further required to compile a Register of Small Holdings,
Avhether occirpied by landholders or statutory small tenants or not. The
Register is to include all agricultural holdings within one or other of the
limits of rent and acreage laid down in the Act.
§ 9. Formation of new holdings.
The Act in no way affects the right of a landlord to form a small hold-
ing and let it to a tenant on any terms wliich may be arranged between
them. Extensive powers are, however, conferred on the Board and on the
Laud Court for the constitution of new holdings. The procedure is laid
down in Section 7 of the Act. Two alternative courses are contemplated —
agreement with the landlord of the land which it is proposed to form into new
holdings, and procedure by means of a Compul.sory Order issued by the
Land Court on the application of the Board. The first steps are taken
by the Commissioner for Small Holdings, one of the members of the Board,
who is charged with the duty of reporting to the Board on the demand for
holdings in any district and the supply of land available (i) to meet it,
and of entering upon negotiations with the landlords of such land for the
adjustment of a scheme of land settlement. If the landlord refuses to
negotiate, or if no agreement can be reached on the scheme submitted
by the Commissioner, the Board may apply to the lyand Court for a Compul-
sory Order to make the scheme effective. The Court is to determine what
land, if an} , specified in the scheme is to be formed into holdings, what
is the fair rent for each holding, and whatever else may be necessary to make
the scheme effective and to adjust the rights of parties concerned. In
the normal course the Court will indicate in their Order what amount
of compensation they think is due to the landlord and to the present tenant
(if any) of the land, as a consequence of the formation of the new holdings.
If either of these persons claims compensation to an amount exceeding
£300, he may have his claim settled by arbitration instead of by the T^and
Court. Should the Board think the amount of compensation awarded
makes the scheme undul}' expensive, they need not proceed with it. Should
they determine to proceed, they will make the Order of the Court effective
by entering on the land, carrying out an}- works that may be necessary,
(i) For the limitations on the choice of land for this puipose see Section 7 (-). (5) and (i6)
and Section 26 of the .\ct.
114 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND - MISCICLLANEOUS
and estalilisliiug dul}' qualified applicants as landholders on the new hold-
ings thus formed. TheN' are enjoined to give reasonable consideration
to objections stated by the landlord to any applicant, and, other things
being equal, thej^ are to give a preference to applicants preferred by him.
The assistance provided by the Board towards the estabUshment of
new holdings is given in two ways. Access roads and water supply, where
necessary, are provided without charge to the landholder. The work thus
undertaken does not become the property of either the landlord or the
tenant, in the sense that neither will the landlord be able to demand rent
for them nor the tenant compensation. Loans are made to new holders
for buildings and for fencing. Building loans are repayable by instalments
over a period of 50 years, at the rate of £ 4 per annum for each £ 100 bor-
rowed. This includes repayment of principal, payment of interest on out-
standing principal, and payment of premium for fire insurance; the nominal
rate of interest charged is 3% per cent. Fencing loans are repayable in a
period not exceeding seven years. The Act does not provide for the making
of loans for the purpose of stocking holdings.
§ 10. Enlargement of existing holdings.
The facilities provided by the Act of 1886 for the enlargement of holdings
b}' Compulsory Order have been greatly extended by the Act of 1911. A sin-
gle landholder may now obtain an enlargement of his holding, whereas under
the earlier Act it was necessary for a least five crofters to make joint applic-
ation, and most of the restrictions on the kind of land which might be tak-
en for this purpose have been removed. The procedure in siich cases is,
on the whole, much the same as that described above. The Board are,
however, precluded from entertaining applications for enlargement except
in cases where the landholder has previously made application to the land-
lord without effect. The Act does not provide for the enlargement of the
holding of a statutory small tenant by Compulsory Order. Additional land
may, however, be obtained by a tenant of this class as a new- holding, to be
occupied by him on the landholder's tenure, while retaining his existing
holding as a statutory small tenant.
§ II. The scottlsh l.a.nd court.
The Land Court consists of five members appointed b> the Crown on
the reccmmendation of the Secretary for »Scotland. The present Chairman
of the Court had been since 1908 Chairman of the Crofters Commission. As
in the case of the Commission, one of the members must be able to speak
the Gaelic language.
The Court have full power to hear and determine all matters of law
and of fact for the pur^xises of the Small Landholders Acts. On questions
SMALIv HOLDINGS IN SCOTLAND II5
of law appeal may be made to the Court of vSession, who are finally to de-
termine them without further appeal to the House of Lords.
Ihree members form a quorum, and one or more members may exer-
cise delegated powers subject to review by the full Court of three or more
members. The officials employed by the Court include clerks, surveyors,
assessors, et< ., but unlike other courts of law they have no executive of-
ficers tc put their decrees in force. These decrees are executed by the sher-
riff of the county in which the holding concerned is situated.
The work of the Court falls under three main heads — ■
(1) Applications for the determination of the status of existing hold-
ings and for the fixing of a fair or an equitable rent.
(2) Applications relating to other powers exercisable by them in re-
lation to existing holdings.
(3) Applications by the Board for Compulsory Orders in relation to
schemes for the constitution of ne\s- holdings or the enlargement of existing
holdings.
The headquarters of the Court are in Edinburgh, but most of their
work under heads (i) and {2) is done locally, and under the provision for the
exercice of delegated powers two or even three sections of the Court may
deal at one time with cases in different districts. Applications are heard
in some convenient place, and in most cases the holding is inspected by the
Court before they give their decision.
§ 12. Work of the land cot'rt.
When the Land Court came into existence there were 634 cases left
over by the Crofters Commis.sion, and up to 31st. December, 1912, the date
at which their first report is made, they had received i, 808 further applica-
tions of all kinds. Of these 1,569 were from the crofting counties, 146 were
from the county of Bute, and 93 from the remaining counties of Scotland.
The overwhelming preponderance of cases from the crofting coiinties is
due to the fact that the operation of the Crofters Act had for 25 years
been familiar in these localities, and the more extended rights conferred by
the new Act were at once taken advantage of, while in the rest of Scotland
the procedure was unfamiliar, and small holders did not at once avail
themselves of their rights. The one exception is the county of Bute, or
rather the island of Arran. Small holders there had long felt it a griev-
ance that they were excluded from the operation of the earlier Act, and
they at once took steps to secure the benefits conferred by the new Acts.
During the year 19 13 the number of applications received from the other
counties of vScotland has rapidly increased.
Up to the end of the year 1912 the Court had dealt with 646 applica-
tions. Of these cases, 256 were first applications by landholders for the
fixing of a fair rent. The original rents amounted altogether to £2,227
and the fair rents fixed to £ 1,568, a diminution of 30 per cent. The arrears
amounted to £1,722, of which 84 pei cent, was cancelled. There were
Il6 GREAT BRITAIN AND lUEIvAND - MISCELLANEOUS
99 applications by landholders for revaluation. In these cases the rents
had already been reduced by the Crofters Commission from £914 to £700,
and a further reduction of 20 per cent, was made, the new rents amounting to
£562 . In Sq cases equitable rents were fixed for statutory small tenants ;
the original rents amounted to £ 1,582, and the new to £ i.iS'), a diminution
of 25 per cent. It will be observed that the average rent of the holdings
of the statutory small tenants concerned is considerably higher than that
of the holdings of the landholders. This is accounted for partly by the fact
that the former were of larger average acreage than the latter, and partly
by the fact that the rent in the case of statutory small tenants necessarily
consists in a greater degree of payment on account of improvements ef-
fected by the landlords The remaining applications dealt with were of a
miscellaneous character.
A large number of important legal questions emerged in the considera-
tion of these cases ; the Orders of the Court in cases of special interest are
given in the Report, with the explanatory notes accompanying the Orders.
§ 13. The BOARD OF AGRICULTURE FOR SCOTLAND.
The Board of Agriculture consists of three members, the Chairman and
two Commissioners, appointed by the Crown on the recommendation of
the vSecretary for Scotland. One of the Commissioners is designated Com-
missioner for Small Holdings, and is specially charged with certain duties
relating to the constitution of new holdings, etc. The \\'ork of^the Board is
carried out in accordance with the instructions of the Secretarj' for vScot-
land, who is the Minister reponsible to Parliament for the administration
of the Small Landholders Act. The Board is charged with the general
duty of promoting the interest of agriculture, forestry and other rural
industries in Scotland, ^collecting statistics, making inquiries, experiments
and research,?^and aiding and developing instruction in these subjects. All
the powers and duties ^formerly exercisable in Scotland by the Board of
Agriculture and Fisheries were transferred to the Board by the Act of 1911,
except those relating to diseases of animals and ordnance survey, which were
reserved. There were also transferred to it the powers and duties of the
Congested Districts Board (which ceased to exist at ist. April, 1912), and the
supervision exercised by the Scotch Education Department over agricultural
education in Scotland, while new powers were created and new duties
were laid upon it with regard to small holdings, as already indicated.
In the internal organization of the Board, the Commissioner for Small
Holdings is head of the Ivand Division and the other Commissioner is head
of the Agriculture Division. The other principal officiers are : - Secretary ;
Accountant : Superintendent of Statistics and Intelligence ; in the Land Di-
vision four Sub-Commissoners for Sm ,11 Holdings, Chief Surveyor and
Staff of Assistant Sub-Commissioners and Surveyors ; in the Agriculture
Division, Chief Inspector, Superintendent of Live Stock. Superintendent of
Seed-testing Station, and staff of Inspectors. The duties of the Board in
SMAIvL HOI^DIXGS IN SCOTI^AND II/
relation to Forestry are immediateh committed to the Commissioner for
Small Holdings. An Advisory Committee has been appointed bj^ the
Secretary for Scotland to advise the Board in this matter, and an^Vdvisory
Officer has also been appointed.
The sum available for the Board's work, known as the Agriculture
(Scotland) Fund, is £200,01)0 per annum, of which £35,000 represents
the sum previously paid to the Congested Districts Board, and £165,000
is a new Parliamentary grant. The Fund is to be expended on the consti-
tution and equipment of new holdings, loans to existing landholders for
buildings, and in connection with the other duties of the Board, including
those transferred from the Congested Districts Board. The administrative
expenses of the Board are met, not out of the Fund, but out of a separate
Parliamentary Vote. In addition to the Fund, certain sums are made avail-
able by the Development Commissioners for the schemes of the Board in
connection with agricultural education and research, the improvement of
live-stock, etc .
§ 14. Work of the board of agriculture.
Small Holdings. — When the Board began their work on ist. April, 1912,
about 1,700 applications for new holdings and for the enlargement of exist-
ing holdings awaited them. By the e nd of the year 1912 the total number
was 5,353. of which 3,370 were for new holdings and 1,982 for enlargements.
Of the applications for new holdings fully five-sixths came from the crofting
counties, the rest of Scotland contributing only 550 (i). The reason for
this preponderance is, as already" stated in connection with the work of
the Land Court, that the full privileges of fixity of tenure and of judicial
rent have been familiar in the crofting counties since 1886. There is reason
to believe that when the benefits conferred by the Act are full3' understood
in the southern counties, there will be an increasing and steady demand for
them.
About 50 per cent, of the apphcants desired holdings of over 25 acres ;
over 500 asked for holdings between 10 and 25 acres, and about the same
number for holdings uiider 10 acres, while many stated no definite area.
The larger holdings are sii.ch as will occupy the whole time of the holder
and his family. In the northern districts the smaller holdings are of the
crofting type, where the holder either practises some other industry, such
as fishing, or desires to have along with his small arable holding a share in
common grazings. In the lowland districts the smaller holdings are applied
for by men who either have .some other xegiilar employment or intend to
use the land for market gardening or the like.
(i) In the case of applications for enlargements the proportion from the crofting counties
was even greater. This is explained by the fact that such applications can be made only
bv landholders.
Il8 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND - MISCELLANEOUS
,\^ the J^oard are unable to give issistance towards the stocking of
holdings, the possession of a certain amount of capital either in money or
in stock is one of the necessary qualifications for suitable applicants. Of
the whole number of 3,370 applicants, more than 40(j stated their capital
as over £200, more than 500 as between £100 and £200, and about 750
as between £50 and £100.
As soon as the pre.iminar} examination of the applications was com-
pleted, the vSub-Commissioneis for Small Holdings began to make local
inquiries, and by the end of the year they had interviewed over 2,500
applicants. Their investigations showed that a large proportion of these
were rnen of good character and adequate experience in the working of
land and the management of stock. At the same time inquiries were carried
out with a view to discovering land available for new holdings. The Board
are directed preferably to select land falling out of lease, where the present
tenant does not wish to renew Ids occupancy, and this course would naturallj''
be followed in any case, in order to avoid disturbance of present tenants,
and to relieve the Board of the necessity of paying compensation on this
ground. The Board will also, so far as practicable, preferably arrange for the
formation of small holdings from the large area of land in Scotland which
was formerl}'^ cultivated, but which for various reasons has been allowed
during the past century to fall back into the condition of permanent pasture.
Apart from the limitations set by the Act to the choice of land, there was
at first a certain unwillingness on the part of landowners to respond to the
Board's overtures regarding land on their estates which might be available
for holdings. This has now in large measure disappeared as the result
of growing familiarity with the procedure provided by the Act. Most of
the schemes initiated by the Boaid will, it is anticiijated, go before the Land
Court for the issue of a Compulsory Order. This procedure will, however,
be adopted in man}^ cases not because the landowner is hostile to the whole
proposal, but because agreement has not been reached in details or because
it is desired that the sanction of the Court should be given to the scheme as
arranged .
By 31st. December, i()i2, the Commissioner for Small Holdings had
opened negotiations with landowners in regard to schemes of land settle-
ment affecting the applications of about 1,000 persons. Some of these
schemes were abandoned as impracticable for one reason or another ; in
other cases the scheme was carried through b}' voluntary agreement ; in
others again it was arranged with the landowners that the scheme should
be submitted to the Land Court, and in a considerable number of cases the
Board decided on the same course because of the opposition of the landowner
to the scheme as a whole. Altogether at the end of the year the Beard
had decided to make application to the Court for Compulsory Orders for
the constitution of new holdings for 298 persons and for the enlargement
of the holdings of I7() persons, chiefly in the crofting counties. There were
also a large number of schemes spread all over Scotland in regard to which
negotiations were in progress. The number of practicable proposals before
b>IAIJ, HOLDINGS IX SCOTLAND II 9
the Board has shown that thu limit to the uumber of small holdings which
can be created will be determined bj' their financial resources.
Under the provisions for the preservation of existing small holdings
the Board have dealt with a considerable number of cases of holdings fall-
ing vacant. Generally speaking, the landlords of the holdings have shown
a reailiness to co-operate with the Board with regard to the disposal of
them, and in some instances have asked the Board to endeavour to find nev\-
tenants for them.
Many inquiries have been made by existing tenants as to their status
under the Act, which the Board have thought it incumbent on them as far
as possible to deal with. Large numbers of explanatory leaflets have been
distributed, and in particular copies of leaflets describing the eftect of the
Act on present occupiers have been sent, along with schedules for the Re-
gister of Small Holdings, to all existing small holders. Another matter
falling under this division of the Board's work is the management of the es-
tates purchased b^^ the Congested Districts Board ; the circumstances con-
nected with them have already been described.
AgriciiUwc. — Much of the administrative work of the Board under
this head, as well as their statistical w ork, touches the interests of agricul-
ture in general. This applies to the powers exercised by them under the
various Acts affecting agriculture, the administration of which was trans-
ferred to them on their establishment ; to the dut}^ laid upon them of aiding
research ; and to the supervision now exercised b>' them over the work
of the Agricultural Colleges.
Many of their activities are, however, specially directed to the assistance
of small holders, in pursuance of the general policy embodied in the Act
of iQii ; and in accordance with the plan of this paper a more detailed
account of these will now be given.
During the first nine months of the Board's existence little could be
done for the promotion of agriculture beyond carrying on and extending
the work of the Congested Districts Board, and la>'ing the foundations
of larger and more comprehensive schemes. Most of the schemes for the
improvement of live stock have been Extended to the whole of Scotland.
These embrace:
(i) Cattle breeding. The Board have carried on in the congested districts
the plan of lending bulls, which remain the property of the Board, to prop-
erly org?nized local committees. Both in these districts and in the rest
of Scotland they are also prepared to make grants to recognized societies
for the purpose of enabling them either to purchase or to hire approved bulls.
An essential part of this scheme is that the bulls must be available for the
service of cows belonging to small holders, cottars, shepherds and farm
servants at reduced rates ; and the full grant will be payable only if a cer-
tain number of such cows have been served by the bull in resjject of which
the grant is made.
{2) Horse breeding. Besides carr5dng on the schemes of the Congested
Districts Board for the improvement of the breed of Highland ponies in the
congested districts and that of Clydesdale horses in certain of these districts,
120 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND - MISCELLANEOUS
the Board liave made arrangements for enabling small holders in other parts
of Scotland to obtain the service of stallions hired bA^ horse-breeding soci-
eties. The subscriptions of small holders to such societies are paid
by the Board, who also pay half the fees for the service of their mares, up
to a certain maximum, and make a grant to the society in respect of the
work involved in carrying out the scheme. The grants can be obtained
only b}- approved societies which loire approved and registered stallions.
While designed to assist small holders in particular, this scheme will
benefit all classes of draught horse breeders.
The Board have farther taken over the schemes of the Board of Agri-
culture and Fisheries for the encouragement of light horse breeding, so far
as these apply to Scottland ; and a Register of stallions of all breeds, under
the same regulations as are imposed by that Board in England and Wales
is kept by them.
{3) The Poultry Impyovement Scheme has been extended to the whole
of Scotland, for the benefit of small holders.
(4) Sheep-breeding. — in this case the Board have continued the work
done by the Congested Districts Board on the same plan.
(5) Pig-breeding. — This branch of agriculture has been much neglected
in Scotland. The Board have, therefore, prepared anew scheme for the
payment of grants to recognized societies on similar conditions to those
made to cattle-breeding societies.
The Board have carried on the other schemes of the Congested Districts
Board for the development of agriculture in these districts, including the
assistance given to agricultural shows. A scheme of prizes for the best
managed small holdings, originally connected with the last-named scheme,
has now been extended to the whole countr3\
The schemes of the Board for the improvement of agriculture are carried
out in close co-operation with the Agricultural Colleges at Aberdeen, Edin-
burgh and Glasgow. Each of these colleges has allotted to it a large area
in which extra-mural teaching is provided by instructors stationed in each
county or group of coiinties, who conduct systematic classes in agriculture,
horticulture, poultry-keeping, dairying and bee-keeping, give lectures on
these and other subjects, conduct field experiments and demonstrations,
and give general advice to those who may consult them. They are thus
brought closely into touch with those whom the schemes of the Board are
intended to benefit. The management of the .schemes is in certain cases
committed to them, and in general their co-operation is of great value.
The Board recognize, however, the necessity for a system of education
intermediate between that given in the Colleges themselves and that given
by the county instructors, and they hope that it will be possible for them
to estabhsh institutions where short practical courses of instruction will
be pro\dded for those who find it impossible to take the full courses at the
Colleges. It is clear that the ultimate success of the system of landholding
established under the Act will de]3end upon the cajjacity of the small holder
to produce from his holding the utmost that the land is capable of yield-
ing, and this can best be secured by the efficient training of the individual
SMALL HOLDINGS IN SCOTLAND 121
occupier and bj- the development of co-operation to a fuller extent than it
has at present reached in Scotland.
Conclusion.
The form of tenure thus established for small holdings in Scotland differs
fundamental!}' from the small ownership set up in Ireland by the Juand
Purchase Acts, and from the tenure of those small holders in England who
under recent legislation are the tenants of County or Parish Coimcils. The
landholder or statutory small tenant remains the tenant of the owner of
the land which he occupies, and the rights of the landlord as owner of the
soil are reserved bj^ the Act The relations between landlord and tenant
are, however, on the application of either party, removed from the sphere
of private contract and made subject to statutory provisions. The tenant
and his statutory successors have a right to the continued occupation of the
holding, but this right cannot be assigned to any person who is not a mem-
ber of the family. The landholder who has received a loan from the Board
of Agriculture for the purpose of erecting buildings is, in respect of them, a
purchasing proprietor, but for the land he pays only a fair land rent, and
he is rated for local purposes on this land rent alone, as occupier, and not
on the buildings and other improvements.
Small ownership is comparatively rare in Scotland, and the system
is unfamiliar. The experiment of the Congested Districts Board, already
mentioned, illustrates the difficulties connected with the establishment
of small proprietors. On the other hand, the system embodied in the Land-
holders Acts prevents a small holding from being sold, mortgaged or divided,
and leaves the occupier free from the burdens attached to the ownership
of land, while it ensures to him and his heirs the chief advantage of ownership
by giving liim security of tenure, which, together with the fixing of a judi-
cial rent, will justify him in improving liis holding to the utmost extent
of which he is capable.
JAPAN.
FLUCTUATIONS IN PRICEvS AND WAGES
OFFICIAX SOURCES:
Annuaire financier ex ECONOMiQUE Du JAPON {Japanese Financial andEconomic Yearbook) .
13th. Year 191 3. Tokio Imperial Press.
Nippon Teikoku dai sanjuichi tokei nenkan (3is< Statistical Yearbook of the Japanese Em-
pire) Tokio, 191 2
Nippon no kome {Japanese Rice). Department of Agriculture and Commerce. Tokio. 1909.
OTHER SOURCES:
Yokohama shogyokwaigisho kikan geppo {Monthly Bulletin of the Yokohama Chamber
of Commerce). Years 1911, 1912, 1913. Yokohama.
Abe (I.): Roclosha seikeihi mondai {The Problem of the Cost of Living for Workmen's Families).
Summarised from the Review Taiyo, December, 1912. Vol. XVIII. No. 16.
HoNi>A (Dr. S.): Beika kwan {A Glance at the Problem of the Price of Rice). Summarised from the
Review Taiyo, August, 1912. vol XVIII. No. 11.
Teikimai no -RORPiKV {Reduction of the Price of Rice at Fixed Terms) . Summarised from the Tokyo
keizai Zasshi. July 19th., 1913, vol. 68. no. 1,707.
Beika toki to nojhn {Increased Price of Rice and the Farmers). Summarised from the ChuKwai
Shogyo Shimpo of January 15th,, 1913.
Introduction.
The general fact of the rise in price of provisions and in house rent,
which is becoming daily more observable in every countr\^ and is giving
rise to discontent among the poorer classes and causing men of science
and those in authority to seek means for its arrest, has also afEected Japan.
The rapid political and economic transformation of the country has made
it more sensible to the effects of this prodigious progress than another
country would be.
It must not, however, be imagined that before the Restoration Japan
had not sometimes suffered from severe economic crises, both local and gen-
eral, but the causes were of a far more simple order than those at work
to-day. Consequently, it was easier to devise remedies and the crises
FI.UCTUATIONS IN PRICES AND WAGES 1 23
lasted less time. Bad harvests, civil or foreign wars, disasters and floods
were the chief causes of want or poverty, and when the transitory conditions
causing the natural variations in prices had ceased to exist, all was again
as before and the balance was re-established of itself.
The conditions to day are very different. The J apanese Empire has now
worthily to fill the place that it has made for itself among the great powers,
and all are aware that so serious a task must cost a nation many sacrifices.
And this is truer in the case of Japan than in any other, above all in view of
the enormous rapidity with which it has progressed, so that there has been
no intermediate period in which the country might adapt itself to its new
conditions.
It is enough to cast a glance at a few figures relating to the fluctuations
in the financial situation of Japan, to see how enormous they are. In 1899,
the public debt, still entirel}" to creditors within the country, was not
390,000,000 yen, or on an average 8 yen 8 or 22 fr. 70 per inhabitant.
In 1913 the public debt amounted to 2,500,000,000, more than 1,400,000,000
being due on foreign loans. The average per inhabitant was thus 47 yen 2 or
121 frs. 77. The necessary consequence of this increase was a correspond-
ing increase of fiscal charges. Confining ourselves to a consideration
of the total increase of these charges, we obtain the following data, too
significant for a comment.
Taxes
state
Sei vices
and Monopolies
stamp
and other
Duties
Average
per
Inhabitant
Millions of Yen
129
36
16
2.5
139
46
18
3-2
146
57
23
3.4
252
98
48
5.4
316
140.5
34
6.6
321
114
45
6.8
328
132
48
6.6
336
141
53
6.9
1899
I90I
1903
1905
1907
1909
I9II
I9I3
Taxes carmot be considered as a sufficient indication of the greater
or less wealth of a population of so varied a character as that of Japan. We
have not here to study the Japanese fiscal system which, by the way, is
one of the wisest that has been adopted up to the present, both in respect
of the progressive system of taxation and of the prudent and enlightened
choice of the articles to be taxed. But we would further desire, before speak-
ing of the fluctuations in prices and wages, to give a few figures in relation
to the other general causes that have had a considerable influence on these
fluctuations.
124 JAPAN - MISCELLANEOUS
Thus, we see the average rate of discount in the principal credit estab-
lishments is to-day very high (lo %) and the official rate remains about
6 '/4 %. With respect to these, Japan is returning to its maximum rates
of 1908, after the official and the bank rates had fallen in 1910 to 4 ^ % and
7 ■'/., % respectively.
The serious crisis of 1908, the result of the general crisis of the preced-
ing 3'"ear, had in fact caused really enormous rises; in July the official rate
and the bank rate were respectively 7. 14 % and 11 %. The general conditions
of the Japanese money market improved later on. As we have said, the
official rate fell as low as 4 14 % and the bank rate to 7 3/^ 0^. But in October,
T911 , a new rise began, which as yet shows no sign of an arrest. This is due
above all to the constant increase of industry, as a result of which the demand
for capital becomes daily more pressing. The loan of £ 9,175,000, raised in
London, in February, 1911, certainly improved the position of the money
market a little, but its effect was only temporary. Immediately afterwards, the
rates again began to rise and, in the course of 1912, the Bank of Japan
had, on three several occasions, to raise the official rate.
Among the many causes of the high prices of articles of first necessity,
w^e must certainly not forget to consider the excess of the imports over the
exports, amounting to 237,000,000 frs. in 1912. Above all when we remember
that about 78,000,000 frs. worth of rice was imported and that, in spite
of a considerable reduction, the import duty on this article is still, i yen per
100 kin, or 4.28 fr. per quintal. We shall return to this subject hereafter.
To the causes of a purely financial character of which we have just spoken
we must also add others which are rather of an economic and social nature.
The mode of living is no longer and can no longer be that of thirty years
ago, and this is the common experience of all progressive nations. There is
no corresponding increase in production to compensate for the increased con-
sumption due to the altered mode of life and the increased population. Hen ce
a rise in prices. To these causes which may be called local, we must also add
those of a more general character, affecting at once all the markets of the world;
the increase of the population throughout the world, and that of the consump-
tion per head of agricultural produce, compensated to a very slight degree,
by increased production. We must add that the output of gold is more abund-
ant, while the cost of extracting it from the ore has decreased; then, also,
the rural exodus has increased among the civilised nations ; the number of
intermediaries is now excssive, as is also that of the trusts. And there are as
many other causes which, acting on the international market, have also strong-
ly influenced the conditions, certainly somewhat disturbed, of the Japanese
market.
These summary remarks on the general economic situation of Japan,
or rather on the causes that have the most influence on that situation, per-
mit of our now studying the fluctuations in prices, wages, etc., during re-
cent years, with a better knowledge of their causes. They will serve above
all to enable us justly to appreciate the effects.
FI,UCTUATIONS IN PRICES AND WAGES I25
§ I. The rice market.
In Japan, the price of rice may be considered as the real indication of
the cost of living, not only because almost 80 % of the work of the whole
Japanese agricultural market is in connection with this grain, but also be-
cause the ordinary mode of life of the Japanese tends to make rice the article
of greatest consumption in the country. With the exception, perhaps,
of the lowest classes of society, who eat grains of inferior kind, we may
say that the Japanese live almost exclusively on rice, or, at any rate, it
may be said that rice forms the most substantial part of their diet. Thus,
rice being of enormous importance both for the national and domestic
economy, we think it well to devote a special section to the study of the
market and of the prices of what is quite the most important agricultural
product of Japan. We shall consider separately the most important problems
directly relative to the market for this product.
{a) Production. — ■ We have already had occasion in other articles, to
speak at large of the money the Government and private individuals
have spent in the attempt to increase as far as possible the production
of rice in the country. We beg to refer the reader to those articles (i).
What is most to our purpose now is to consider what results have been thus
attained. We therefore give the following table showing the total pro-
duction of rice, the area of rice fields and the average yield per hectare
in hectolitres, for the years 1878 to 1912 :
Area Total Average Yield per hec
Years Cultivated (;;) Production tare in hectolitres
— Cho Koku —
1878 2,489,765 25,282,540 18.36
1883 2,579,543 30,671,492 21.42
1888 2,684,986 38.645,583 25.92
1893 2,775,233 37,267,418 24.12
1898 2,817,624 47,387,666 30.24
1903 2,864,139 46,473,298 29.16
1905 2,881,549 38,172,560 23.76
1907 2,906,092 49,052,065 30.42
1908 2,922,388 51.933-893 32.04
1909 2,938,074 52,437,662 32.22
1910 2,949,440 46,633,376 28.44
1911 2,973,009 51,712,433 31.22
1912 3,003,082 20.227,132 30.06
(i) Cfr. Bulletin of Economic and Social Intilliiencc, February, 1913. p- 128 and June, T913,
pp. 147 et seqq.
(2) I cho ■= oha. 99.
9*
126 JAPAN - MISCELI.ANEOUS
As we see from these figures, the increase in production was consider-
able, especially in the period between 1893 and 1898. It was more than
10,000,000 koku, or more than 18,000,000 hectoHtres, giving an annual aver-
age of 2,000,000 koku or 3,600,000 hi. This increase is only partly due to
the increase in the area of the rice fields, which was 42,391 cho in those five
years. But it is due largely to the improved methods of cultivation, which
have allowed of the average production per hectare being raised from 24
hi. 12 to 30 hi. 24. Yet as we are considering the progress of agricultural
production, that is to say of a production subject to many influences, in-
dependent of the area cultivated and the systems of cultivation, it will be
well to give here the averages for the five years' periods, in which accid-
ental differences in the harvests will at least partly be made up.
Five Years Periods Area Cultivated Average Production Average Annual
— Cho Koku Production in
— — hectolitres per ha.
1882-1886 2,599,104 31,812,659 27.96
I889-189I 2,712,118 38,574,312 25.56
1892-1896 2,769,914 39.351.458 25.56
I897-I9OI 2,824,038 41,701,215 26.64
I902-I906 2,874,477 43,862,175 27.54
I9O7-I9II 2,937,821 50353.886 30.85
I9I2 3,003,082 50,227,132 30.11
These averages clearly show an appreciable and constant increase of
production, due largely to the united efforts of the Government and the pro-
ducers. We shall now examine the point of second importance in relation
to the rice market :
(b) Consumption. — It is natural that the consumption of rice should
have increased and should tend continually to increase, as a consequence
of the rapid growth of the population. This is partly also a consequence
of the improved manner of living of the population generally and in partic-
ular of that of the large inhabited centres. The figures we reproduce below
for the years 1887-1906, are the averages per year for each period of five
years. For the later years the figures represent the actual amounts.
Years Population
or five years' of the
periods Empire
I887-189I 39,984,217
I892-I896 .... 41,811,306
1897-I9OI 44,207,720
I902-I906 47,162,964
1907 ... . . 48.819,630
1908 49,588,804
1909 50,254,471
1910 50,984,844
Average Consumption
Consumption
per Inhabitant
Koku
Koku
38,085,706
0.953
39,825,270
0.952
41,164,480
0.931
48,232,075
1.023
49,462,839
1.008
51,899,888
1.045
53,131,321
1-057
53.697.364
1-053
FI,UCTUATIONS IN PRICES AND WAGES
137
As we see, it is especially the total consumption of rice that has rapidly-
increased, whilst, the average consumption per inhabitant has indeed in-
creased, but in less degree, without any really considerable fluctuations. It
may therefore be deduced that of the two causes indicated above as having
had the greatest influence in increasing consumption, the increase of the
population is the most important.
If we compare the statistics of consumption with those of native pro-
duction, we shall see how little proportion they bear to one another. Let
us consider, for example, the years, 1908, 1909 and i9io,in which the price
of rice was highest. In those three years the difference between the amount
produced in the previous year and that consumed in the year in course,
was, respectively, 2,850,000 koku, 1,200,000 koku and 1,600,000 koku.
Importation from Formosa partly made up for the difference in the years
1908 and 1909, as in those years it amounted to 1,100,000 and 1,050,000
koku, respectively. But in 1910, Formosa could only supply 722,000 koku
to meet the deficiency of 1,160,000 koku. Hence the necessity of facilitating
the import from abroad, and the Government has given careful consideration
to this. It understood that an abundant importation alone could reduce
to their normal rate the prices tending to rise vertiginoiisly. But the im-
portation from abroad could not always be sufiicient to exert a favourable
influence on prices. Many causes, which it is not here the place to deal with,
necessarily conspired to hmit such importation. On the other hand, the
Japanese Government could not but be alarmed at the injurious effects
this economic policy might have upon the national economy, above all as
large payments had to be made abroad, which is not to be considered one of
the least reasons for the increased rate of exchange and the succession of
serious economic consequences due to it. In any case, in recent years, Ja-
pan has become a large importer of rice. It must be considered as one of
the principal customers of British India, as far as this commodity is con-
cerned. Before proceeding with the study of the prices of rice, we think it
well to give here a few figures showing the amount imported into Japan
from different countries in the period 1906-12.
Country
1906
yen
1907
yen
1908
yen
1909
yen
19 10
yen
191 1
>7n
1912
yen
India
15,131,388
13,204,284
7,341,191
1,790,982
1,707,998
6,765.456
18,486,930
CUna
270,749
421,278
291,496
86,866
5.^768
178,0^6
433,526
Corea
1,579,001
7,994,784
6,035,869
4,441,715
1,385,858
—
—
Indo-China
9,482,297
7,493.47s
6,885,281
5,245,379
3,532.634
8,812,477
8,345,791
Siam
2,7oS,544
1,816,031
2,134,464
2,018,892
1,950,653
1.950,749
2,874,083
other Countries
100
1,203
238
1,983
11,528
14.30;
53.151
Total . . .
26,172,079
30,931,058
22,688,539
13,585,817
8,644,439
17,721,085
30,193,481
128 JAPAN - MISCEIvI^ANEOUS
(c) Price. — In the preceding pages we have indicated a few of the many-
causes of the rapid rise in price of this article of which the consumption is
so great. But it would be too much to attribute the regrettable result ex-
clusively to the above causes, for there are others not apparent on a super-
jficial examination and that no purely scientific investigation reveals. Ja-
panese economists have been and are still searching for the causes and the
best remedies to be applied. x\mong the many writers on the subject, we
shall mention Dr. Honda, one of the most prominent economists of Japan,
who, in an interesting article in the number of the review, Taiyo, for
August, 1912, wrote as follows :
" There is generally a constant tendency for the prices of all commod-
ities to rise, and the prices of cereals, which have also to follow the viciss-
itudes of the market, cannot form an exception to the general rule. Con-
sequently, the question of the price of rice is an extremely large one. Its
Hmits, though originally determined by the conditions of supply and demand,
are also ajBfected by many other circumstances.
Naturally, the increase in price is largely due to the import duties and
corresponds with their increase. But it depends also on the conditions under
which purchase and sale are now conducted on the rice exchanges. Account
must, therefore, be taken of these various circumstances.
With regard to the customs tariffs, public opinion has already declared
unanimously in favour of their complete abolition. But the fluctuation of
supply and demand is not in itself sufficient to explain completely the
vertiginous rise in price of this grain. In judging of tliis constant ten-
dency to rise, we must remember that not only are there the producer
but also the middlemen to be considered, and also that the large agricul-
tural producers are at the same time speculators. We must also remember
that, above all, in recent years, the insufficiency of the means of transport
has become more and more evident and that little progress has been made
in the matter of the circulation of capital for purposes of agricultural pro-
duction. In the past, the farmer was content to produce and his crops
were offered on the market and sold at the prices of the day. Now the situ-
ation is very different. The farmer no longer limits himself to producing, but,
out of a desire of greater gain, he himself speculates in the price of his produce.
It is not to be denied that, recently, the spirit of speculation has made
rapid progress among our farmers. It is scarcely to be regarded as astonish-
ing, since it is only a natural consequence of the present amount of specul-
ation on the stock exchange.
The middlemen who trade in securities and grain are constantly send-
ing a large number of agents into all the provinces inviting and inciting
the farmers to speculation. The farmers easily allow themselves to be
persuaded by the often deceitful prospect of large gains to be made in the
future. And the same results would be produced even without this ac-
tion of the middlemen. The daily notices of sales at fixed terms of
themselves excite the spirit of speculation and among the centralisers of
produce, the hope of selling at higher prices. The latter then limit the
supply of rice on the market and this limitation suffices in itself to awake
FLUCTUATIONS IN PRICES AND WAGE?
129
the spirit of speculation among the producers. The action of the specul-
ators urging purchasers to buy of course makes the price rise.
The two facts we have just mentioned, on the one hand, the instigation
to purchase and the limitation of the supply of rice, and, on the other, the
increased price, are logically connected as cause and effect. When they
have, in fact, kindled the farmers' desire of gain and awakened the spirit of
speculation by unprotected purchase, the large dealers need only hmit
the supply on the market. The incitement to purchase will be greater
and greater and the price wiU naturally rise at a vertiginous rate."
These few words of the eminent economist are worthy of consideration,
for they suffice to show the fundamental cause of the rise in price of rice
in Japan. Let us add to these causes those already indicated, generally
purely economic or purely social, and we shall have at least an approximate,
if not a complete explanation, of this disquieting phenomenon.
Let us now see what fluctuations there have been in the price of rice.
Fluctuations in the Price of Rice between 18 83 and 1912.
(Avcra'^e Annual Price on the Exchanges of Tokio and Osaka .
[in yen per koku).
Year
iMaximum
Minimum
Average
1
Year
i
Maximum
Minimum
Averasje
1888 ....
532
4-56
4-93
I901 ....
1385
11.20
12.30
1889
8.07
4-73
6.00
1902 .
14-32
10.62
12.70
1890 .
10.85
7-47
8.94
1903 •
15-52
12.57
14.42
1891 .
7-44
6.68
7.04
i 1904
14.00
12.57
13.20
1892
7-57
7-03
7.24
! 1905
14.14
11.94
12.82
1893
8.14
6.8 r
7-38
1906 .
1558
14.02
14.68
1894
10.12
7-56
8.83
1 1907 ■
17.72
1545
16.42
1895
9.34
8.30
8.88
\ 1908 .
16.61
13-99
15-74
1896 .
10.60
9.03
9-65
1909
15-65
11.70
13-67
1897 .
13-91
10.17
11.98
1910
15-05
11.50
13-25
1898 .
16.87
9.S1
1479
1 191 I •
18.60
15-70
17-15
1899 .
12.06
9.10
10.03
1912 .
22.10
17-30
19.70
1900 ,
12.80
11.20
ri.96
Taking 100 as the average price, we get the following corresponding
index numbers for the years
1902 107 1908 135
1903 121 1909 Ill
1904 114 1910 115
1905 112 1911 149
1906 128 1912 176
1907 142
130
JAPAN - MISCELLANEOUS
We shall also give the following figures showing the fluctuations in
prices in the months of June, July, August, and September, 1913, on
the Yokohama Exchange (in yen per koku).
IVtaximum
Minimum
23-33
22.62
23,66
22.60
22.85
21.94
2343
22.07
Average
Average
for the
Corresponding
Month in 1912
June . .
July . . .
August . .
September
22.97
23 10
?2 39
22.75
2405
24.01
2337
22.36
These figures show an evident tendency to decrease when compared
with those for the second half year of 1912, for those were the highest
prices ever reached in Japan. In any case, in spite of this slight decrease, the
average price of rice in 1913 was about 22 yen 80 per koku, which gives, in
respect to the average for 1900, an index number of 191. We may, therefore,
say that, in only thirteen years, the price of the mo.st important commodity
on the Japanese market, of the first necessity for the population, has in-
creased by more than 90 % or on an average by 7 % a year.
§ 2. Fluctuations in price op other commodities.
We desired to make a specially detailed study of the fluctuations in price
of rice, because it is a commodity far exceeding in importance aU others both
for the Japanese market and Japanese consumption. To complete our study
it is, however, necessary also to consider the fluctuations in price of the other
principal commodities. Generally, also, they correspond with those observed
in the case of rice. Indicating by 100 the average prices for 1900, as
we have already done in the case of rice, we obtain for the following years
and the various commodities considered, the following index numbers:
FIvUCTUATIONS IN PRICES AND WAGES
131
Produce
1902
1903
1904
1905
1906
1907
1908
1909
1910
94
130
151
139
97
115
130
119
III
107
148
14b
141
123
133
138
130
126
91
120
121
13c
112
127
124
131
136
87
99
124
121
iiS
126
114
98
119
113
134
132
127
127
122
lOI
122
128
90
96
88
184
215
217
217
216
21S
97
IOC
125
141
135
128
138
135
136
102
98
130
149
129
129
143
135
134
106
"3
115
123
126
134
141
142
129
118
123
126
133
130
122
131
i3t'
131
106
115
120
154
156
161
168
147
135
83
93
106
105
109
118
125
123
123
100
91
95
126
133
121
125
124
112
93
88
93
89
91
108
124
"3
116
Barle.v
Rye
Wheat
Daizu (Beans) . . .
Adzuki (lentils) . .
Salt
( White. .
Sugar . . <
( Brown .
Sake
Tea
Beef
Petroleum
Coal
Charcoal
130
156
130
121
124
216
137
134
145
136
132
106
119
118
If we add to this list other goods, not dealt with here for want of space,
such as calico, cotton goods etc., also of the highest importance for
consumption and take the average for them also for the years after 1900,
we get the following index numbers :
1902 99
1903 109
1904 119
1905 131
1906 129
1907 133
1908 136
1909 131
1910 131
1911 137
From which we may conclude that the cost of living in Japan is
now very appreciably increasing, and that it has increased by 3'S %
in only ten years, It must of course be understood that our calculations
can only be approximate, above all because we should at least have
taken account, in the case of each article considered, of its relative
importance and assigned to it a corresponding co-efficient, which would
affect the general average according to the importance of the commodity
fcr Japanese consumption. But the calculation of a coefficient of this
nature is too complicated and would require a number of data, some of
which are altogether wanting, while others we possess in too incomplete
a form. We may, however, consider that the above index numbers give
a sufficiently approximate idea of the fluctuations in the cost of living in
Japan.
132
JAPAN - MISCELLANEOUS
§ 3. I^LUCTUATIONS ESf WAGES.
Tliis is not the place to examine whether the fluctuations in wages were
a consequence or a cause of the rise in prices or whether they have been
partly cause and partly efEect. We shall confine ourselves to an examin-
ation of these fluctuations and to considering the relation they bear to the
fluctuations in price. In the following paragraphs we shall study a little
more in detail the distribution of the wages of workmen's famiUes, especially
of agricultural labourers' famihes, and derive from them conclusions some-
what different from those that have hitherto been drawn from them as
a rule.
Continuing the application of the method we have before made use of,
we shall again take 100 as the index number for the average wages
in 1900.
The total amount of these wages for the principal classes of labourers
in 1900 was as follows :
(a) Agricultural Labourers.
Domestic Servants ,
Day lyabourers
Silkworm breeders.
Men
Women
^ Men
( Women
^ Men
I Women
yen
Silk Spinners.
Gardeners . .
Fishermen . .
yen
(b) Various Factory Hands:
Weavers \ ^^j
( Women
Joiners
Thatchers
Manufacturers of Articles of
Esparto
Carpet Makers
Locksmiths
Pottery Makers
Paper Makers
Printers
Compositors
Ives us now see what increase there was in these wages for the period
1902-11. We shall use the index numbers for the purpose.
32,120
(yearly wages)
17,060
" "
0,295
(daily wages)
0,190
0,308
t > ) 1
0,193
0,200
>t It
0,513
y> it
0,389
0,325
„
1,195
0,500
"
0,585
0,465
,» ,,
0,495
0,475
,, ,,
0,383
„
0,318
" "
0.340
"
0,353
FLUCTUATIONS EST PRICES AND WAGES
133
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134
JAPAN - MISCELI.ANEOUS
An examination of this table clearly shows a considerable increase in
wages since 1906, that is to say since the great economic crisis through
which Japan passed and which was marked by labour agitations.
Taking, as we did in the case of the prices, the average of the index
numbers for each year, we obtain the following results :
Agricultural l,abourers .
Various Factory Hands
General Average . . .
igo2
1903
1904
1905
1906
1507
1908
1909
19 10
100.7
105.0
104.2
1 10.2
II3-9
124.9
136.1
132.6
140.4
107.4
107. 1
"5-9
no. 9
119.8
1353
142.9
145-3
148.3
104.0
106.0
IIO.O
110.5
1 16.8
130.1
139-5
138.9
144-3
149.6
1 49- 1
149.3
From these results, two other important facts may be learnt.
1st., that the increase in the case of the agricultural labourers which,
up to 1910, was inferior to the increase in that of the factory hands, now
not only tends to equal but to exceed it.
2nd,, The fluctations in wages have been all along considerably greater than
those in prices.
In respect to the above statement, we summarise the figures in the
following table:
Years
Fluctuations
in Prices
in Wages
Agricultural Manufacturing
Average
1902
1903
1904
1905
lgo6
1907
1908
1909
1910
19II
99
log
119
131
129
133
136
131
131
137
100.7
105.0
104.2
110.2
1 1 3-9
124.9
136.1
132.6
140.4
149.6
107.4
107. 1
1159
no. 9
119.8
135-3
142.9
145-3
1483
149.1
104.0
106.0
I lO.O
110.5
116.8
130. 1
139-5
138-9
144-3
149-3
A careful examination of these figures permits of our drawing some other
conclusions. First of all, that the economic crisis of 1907 marked a quite
FLUCTUATIONS IN PRICES AND WAGES I35
special point at which the increase in wages began to exceed that of prices.
Whether from that date the economic and social situation of Japan has real-
ly improved can certainly not be settled in a mere brief article like
the present; what may be affirmed with certitude is that this event of
such capital importance coincided with the period of greatest agitation and
economic crisis in agrijculture and manufactures.
§ 4. Importance of the fi,uctuations in prices and wages for the
DOMESTIC economy OF WORKING MEN'S FAMILIES.
The study we have here made, based on the economic facts included
in the official statistical tables, would be profitless, unless we endeavoured
to take account, at least briefly, of the effect of the fluctuation in prices and
wages upon the domestic economy of working men's famiUes. If we had
to express an a 'priori opinion on the matter, the fact that the wages have
increased somewhat faster than the prices would lead us to conclude that
the present conditions of the Japanese labourers must be, if not excellent, at
any rate very satisfactory. Does the reaUty correspond with this appar-
ently logical forecast ? That is just what we are going to investigate. First
of all, we must show the immense difference that there is between the aver-
age wages in Europe and America and the average in Japan. According to
Statistics published by the lyabour Office of the Tokio Society of PoHtical
and Social Science {Shakwai seisakugaku komu kyoku), the average earnings
and expenditure per head for the town workmen of the various countries
would be as follows (i)
Excess of Earning
Total % of Earning
fr. fr.
642 2.3
849 24
183 10.8
618 26.5
20 3.2
We see from these figures, first of all, that the budget of a Japanese
artisan's family is not even ^/^ of that of an American artisan's, hardly ^
of a French artisan's, 14 o^ that of an artisan in Germany and a Httle
more than S. of that of one in Great Britain.
(i) The figures for Great Brita'u, the United States, Gcrniauy and France are taken from
the Annual Reports of the British Board of Trade.
Earnings
Expenditure
fr.
fr.
Great Britain .
2,804
2,162
United States .
3.524
2,675
Germany . . .
1,674
1,491
France . . .
2,333
I.715
Japan ....
630
610
136 JAPAN - MISCELIvANEOUS
But we must remember that the price of commodities in Japan is
from two to five times less than their ordinary price on the European
and American markets. That would suffice, at least to some degree, to
make up for the small earmings of the artisans. There is, however,
another point to be considered, that the excess of the earnings over
the expenditure, which is highest in France (26.5 %), is only 3.6 % in
Japan. And we must give attention to this point, since, if a margin of more
than 20 % gives a possibility for saving, a surplus of 3 %, on the contrary,
is equivalent to almost certain loss.
In order to estabhsh a scientifically accurate comparison between the
situation of the Japanese artisans and that of those of other countries, the
only standard we can adopt is that provided by the excess of the receipts
over the expenditure, for if we even desire to compare the prices of commod-
ities in Japan and other countries, we must consider not only the absol-
ute prices, but also the proportion of importance the commodities have
for domestic economy, which differs substantially in Japan and in the
Western countries. A study of such a character would evidently be too com-
plex and exceed the limits of a simple article. In any case, what we can
affirm is that the kind of life led by the Japanese artisan is undoubtedly
inferior to that of the artisans of other countries.
The Tokio Department of Agriculture and Commerce has recently
made a careful enquiry into the existing economic conditions of the Japanese
artisans. We shall utilise the results of this enquiry to give our readers
some information on the matter.
We stunmarise here the results of the enquiry in relation to the condi-
tions of 1,627 artisans of the environs of Tokio. (The percentages are for
the month of May, 1912).
Amount of Wages Honse Rent Food (Rice)
Yen % %
General
ExtJenditure
13-900 157 456 28.7
20.057 I8.I 38.9 43.0
21.591 20.5 37.6 41.9
24.161 18,8 39.5 41.7
24.461 18.6 35.3 46.1
26.730 19.4 331 47-5
29.469 19-4 341 45 5
34657 171 28.5 - 54.4
38.771 20.6 28.2 51.2
41308 18.0 33.r 48.9
46.500 25.2 27.3 47.5
50.000 20.4 20.4 59.2
FI,UCTUATION« IN PRICES AND WAGES I37
From this it appears that in proportion as the wages increase
the house rent increases sHghtly and the cost of food considerably
diminishes. The general expenditure tends to increase. We may con-
clude that, within certain limits, the system of alimentation does not vary,
but the increase in wages is almost entirely used for general expenditure.
We must also observe that the expenditure on food in the above table
is only for rice, and is consequently from 25 to 50 % of the total amoimt
spent on food. Yet, independently of this, and taking account of all we
have said in this article, we may reach the following important conclusion;
although the increase in wages has been greater than the increase in prices,
we cannot therefore infer that the mode of Ufe of the Japanese artisan has, con-
sequently, improved in the same degree, for there is still in Japan an economic
situation which keeps the artisan in a position of inferiority as compared
with that his fellows in other countries have attained to. This is seen above
all to be true, when we examine the question from the point of view of im-
proved food and lodging, and the possibility of making reasonable savings out
of wages alone.
SERVIA.
SMALIv RURAL INDUSTRIES IN SERVIA.
OPFICIAI, SOURCES:
Reports presented to the Department of Agriculture on the Work Done to Favour the
Progress of Agricultural Economy and the Measures to be Taken for the purpose.
Publication of the Agricultural Department. Belgrade, 191 1. (In Servian).
Servia at the Universal Exhibition of 1911 at Turin. Published by the Department
of Commerce. Belgrade, 19 10. State Printing Office.
OTHER SOURCES:
Domestic indgstries in Servia. Article in the Review : " Tzarinski Glasnik " {Customs
Messenger) 1910. (In Servian).
Domestic Manufacture of Pirot Tapestry. Article in the Monthly Review: " Delos "
(Work). January, 1911.
§ I. Introduction.
The industries auxiliary to agriculture are specially important in a
country like Servia. It is economically speaking a young country, in which
manufactures have only just been started.
There are no large landed estates and direct sale is the general rule.
Of 100 landowners,
54.65 % possess less than 5 hectares.
27.55 % " between 5 and 10 hectares
13-87 % " " 10 " 20
2.60 % " " 20 " 30
1-33 % " more than 30
The prevalence of small holdings and rather extensive cultivation and
the climatic conditions force the Servian peasants to undertake various
industries auxiliary to agriculture. . The produce of these industries is very
considerable, forming one fourth of the total produce of the country, which
shows how important they are for the national economy.
SMALL RURAL INDUSTRIES 139
§ 2. General view of the rural industries of servia.
The small rural industries of Servia may be divided into two large
classes : those the sole purpose of which is to supply the family engaged in
them with the necessities of Hfe, and those carried on for purposes of trade.
The first class is disappearing, as improved means of communication are
bringing more and more within the reach of the people the manufactured
goods and agricultural produce of which they have need, and such industries
are now almost confined to mountain districts and some isolated 'villages .
On the contrary, the industries carried on with a view to selling the produce,
are making progress every day, on account of the profits they give. Amongst
those directly connected with agriculture, let us especially mention, orchard
cultivation, sericiculture, livestock improvement and tapestry making. We
shall give some particulars in regard to each of these.
§ 3. Orchard cultivation.
The cultivation of fruit trees generally is a very important source
of the national wealth of Servia. According to the estimates of the Depart-
ment of Agriculture, the revenue derived from the export of the various pro-
duce of fruit trees in 1910 was 14,000,000 francs and the value of the total
annual yield is about 30,000,000 frs.
The law of 1898, for the improvement of fruit tree cultivation, has
largely contributed to the development of this industry. This law orders
that each district must have a nursery garden for fruit trees of an area
of at least 5 hectares. These nurseries must be organized and managed in
accordance with the latest requirements of agricultural technique. Young
trees as well as vines, must be sold at very low prices to the inhabitants of
the district. Also every year practical courses of instruction must be given
in fruit tree cultivation and basket making. Every commune must send at
least two pupils to attend these courses, and maintain them at its cost,
unless pupils present themselves who are wiUing to pay their own expenses.
In addition, the superintendents of the nurseries must give practical lec-
tures in the various parts of their district, in which they must above all
deal with fruit cultivation.
The fruits most cultivated in Servia are plums, apples, pears and walnuts.
A larger area is covered by plum trees than by any other fruit tree. Accord-
ing to ofiicial statistics, the area planted with plum trees increased between
19CO and 1909 from 100,540 hectares to 141,180 hectares and yielded about
25,000,000 frs. a year.
Of the total crop of plums, a comparatively small amount is exported
fresh to foreign markets, especially to Germany. These are the finest
fruit, gathered by hand, before they are quite ripe. A second portion,
the largest, is made into prunes or a sort of jam called pekmes. Ivastly,
140 SERVIA - MISCELLANEOUS
a third portion, consisting of the worst kind of plums, is distilled to
make brandy.
The industry of plum drying is very thriving, Servian plums having
a good name abroad. To encourage it, the State provides improved
stoves at half their real value and instructs agricultural engineers to
teach the peasants how to work them. It also organizes special courses
of instruction in plum drying, to qualify the peasants for making prunes
which are sufficiently dry and will keep long.
With a view to preventing the sale of prunes, either damaged, not suffi-
ciently dry or made from plums not sufficiently ripe, and of combating fraud, in
the plum season the Government appoints a committee of three judges, who
have generally been through the agricultural schools, to examine the prunes
ofEered for sale and give certificates of good quality when deserved. The pur-
chaser may demand the production of this certificate. If the prunes are
found to be bad, if they have been made from plums not sufficiently ripe,
or mixed with prunes of previous years, they are ordered to be confiscated
officially. The prunes are immersed in water for 24 hours and re-
turned to the owner, after payment of the cost of the operations. Incase of
fraud, the dealer is prosecuted. If the plums are found to be insufficiently
dried, the owner must take them back to complete the drying process.
In case good prunes have been mixed with those of inferior quality,
the owner has to sort them on the spot. The insufficiently dried plums are
sold by auction for the benefit of the town, after their transformation.
Servian prunes are principally exported to Austria, Germany, Belgium,
Holland, Denmark, Great Britain, vSwitzerland and Russia. They are an
important article of trade as the following table shows :
Year Quintals I?xported Value in Francs
1900 271,546 8,001,482
I9OI 229,526 6,990,844
1902 354,615 8,951,294
1903 156,641 5,013,360
1904 405,023 6,274,544
1905 376,139 8,556,347
1906 482,701 12,067,520
1907 426,480 15,743,616
1908 490,417 10,350,721
Ivike the prunes, the plum jam is also subjected to the inspection of
the committee. It is an important article of commerce, as the following
figures show:
SMAI,!, RURAI, INDUSTRIES 14I
Year Quintals Exported Value in Francs
1900 86,160 2,716,491
I9OI 71,993 2,440,912
1902 145.079 3.626,454
1903 69,141 1,980,714
1904 151,802 3,070,078
1905 164,599 2,526,361
1906 124,391 3,175,087
1907 133,059 4,257,932
1908 148.983 3,251,093
The export of plum brandy, although less important, must, however,
mot be passed over in silence. In 1908 the value of the brandy exported
was 95,763 frs.
The apple tree is grown in nearly the same regions as the plum tree.
Apples are exported as fruit in large quantities, but the gathering and
packing are not done in the best way, so the value of the fruit exported
does not correspond with the weight. On the other hand, the industry
of dr3dng apples is beginning to make progress and the Government is
making great efforts to extend the knowledge required for the dr5dng of
fruits, by means of practical lectures, so as to induce the fruit growers
rather to dry their fruit than to sell it fresh at low prices or use it to
feed their livestock.
§4. SERICICUI.TURE.
The cHmate of Servia is very well adapted to sericiculture. In 1845,
nursery gardens of mulberry trees were estabUshed at the prefects' offices
and, two years later, the plants were freely distributed to the peasants. A
sericiculturists' society obtained a special concession and important pri\dleges
from the last Parliament (1909 and 1910). This Society dates from as far
back as 1903 and, since its foundation, the number of families engaged
in silkworm rearing has more than doubled, as may be seen from the
following table.
In 1900 10,102 famiUes
1901 12,650
1902 15,426
1903 14,482
1904 19,453
1905 25,720
1906 27,022
1907 27,711
1908 31,953
1909 34,150
142 SKRVIA - MISCELLANEOUS
lyct US add that the silk is commonly used for household industries and the
producers often keep about 20 % of the cocoons to unwind and mix
the thread with cotton for articles of wear or ornament. Consequently,
hardly any of the families that have mulberry trees neglect an3i;hing in
order to rear a certain quantity of silkworms.
§ 5. Livestock improvement.
Servia is a country of livestock improvement and this department of
the national economy provides the principal occupation for the Servian
peasant. It may therefore surprise our readers that we speak of it in an
article exclusively devoted to industries auxiUary to agriculture. But cert-
ain forms of livestock improvement have this character of auxiharies :
the improvement namely of sheep and goats, which every Servian peasant
keeps on his farm, because their maintenance does not cost much and he
makes use of their milk, meat, wool or hair, very necessary in the household
manufacture of cloths and clothes etc. We may say as much with regard
to poultry improvement ; every farmer has space enough for this and a
sufficient quantity of grain screenings, and every peasant family has
almost every kind of poultry. To encourage poultry improvement, the
State has founded model poultry yards, where any one may learn the busi-
ness and obtain poultry and eggs either for money, or in exchange for
agricultural produce. On the other hand, in 1909, a co-operative
society limited by shares was founded for the improvement of poultr>'.
This society organizes the collective export of all its members' eggs and
sees to it that they are all fresh and of excellent quality.
We give below figures for the exportation of poultry and eggs from
1894 to 1909 :
Live Poultry Slaaghtered Poultry Eggs
Year — —
— Head Kg. F "^^'-
1894 74,607 160,886 98,985
1895 166,591 367,951 18,596
1896 437.517 776,953 136,453
1897 412,995 388,891 156,897
1898 438,952 484.951 84,388
1899 690,798 658,530 275,883
1900 1,002,190 610,919 645,329
I9OI 1.423,407 956,013 1,030,040
1902 1,736,925 1,052,016 1,244,467
1903 1.882,438 1,884,885 ^ 853,524
1904 2,091,890 621,122 949,405
1905 1,804,809 206,955 437,869
1906 1,622,557 86,283 1,357,463
1907 166,700 79,200 2,274,791
1908 657,222 429,298 1,265,493
1909 436,235 90,700 1,188,368
SMALL RURAL INDUSTRIES I43
Let US finally mention, among the industries connected with livestock
improvement, the utilisation of milk products. All the peasants use the
milk they have over for making soft cheese or cream, but their income from
this source is never very high.
§ 6. Tapestry making.
Far more important is the manufacture of carpets, tapestry etc. These
manufactures, in virtue of their quahty and value for decorative purposes,
are becoming more and more widely known and sought after for carpets, table
covers, coverlets, cushions, hangings, curtains, etc. The Mohammedans
use them to decorate their mosques. On national or reUgious festivals,
balconies of houses, triumphal arches and even carriages are hung with them.
The principal centre of the manufacture is the very poor and very mountain-
ous district of Pirot, a town in the South East of Servia, near the Bulgarian
frontier. Since 1894, a commercial society has been buying the tapestry
at the peasants' houses in the most remote villages, and arranging the sale
of it. Its business amounts altogether to about 100,000 francs. Eight
^j-ears later, the Pirot Tapestry Co-operative Society was founded with the
object of extending and regulating the production and improving the
quality. This society is organized on the basis of collective production
and profit sharing in proportion to production. Its share capital is
30,000 francs, but the State has granted it a loan of 50,000 frs., not to bear
interest for ten years and to be repaid at the convenience of the society.
The women who make the carpets become members by taking a 50 fr.
share, which is liberated by means of instalments of 25 centimes a week.
They must be accepted by the managing committee. The amount of work
■^^ey have to furnish is not limited. The society, which has its own dyeworks,
n^ 'id.es the w^ool and advances the women what they require for the
pUi chase of the material for their work.
The Pirot Society only sells wholesale. On the other hand, the Tapestry
Workshop School, founded in the same locaUty by the Belgrade Women's
Association, accepts private orders, which it has executed by its pupils,
about thirty in number. The two organizations mutually complete each
other. Our readers will not fail to observe the profound resemblances
with the attempt recently made in France by M. Maurice Eenaille
{see Bulletin of Economic and Social Intelligence,May,igi2. page i^g), in an
equally mountainous and poor region. In two countries, of very different
social conditions however, the same causes have produced the same effects.
ALFREDO RUGGERI, gerente responsabile.
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CONTENTS
PART I : CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION.
Germany.
Supply of Electric Power for Coxin'try Districts by Co-operative Orgaioz-
ATioNS, by Dr. Grabedc, Berlin p(ige
§ I. Extension and Organization of the Co-operative Electric Supph' Societies,
page I. — § 2. Experiences and Financial Results of the Co-operative Light and
Power Societies, page lo.
Austria.
The District of Trent, a Model Co-operative District page 15
General Remarks, page 16. — §1. History, page 18. — § 2. Credit Co-operation
not Strictly Agricultural, page 23.
Bei^gium.
1. — The Third Congress of Farmwomen's Clubs at Ghent page 33
§ I. Programme of the Congress, page 33. — § 2. The Most Important Resolutions
and Communications, page 34.
2. — Publications of Recent Date relating to Co-operation and Association in
Belgium page 36
Egypt.
Beginnings of the Co-operative Movement in Agriculture page 36
§ I. Introduction, page 37. — § 2. The Beginnings of the Co-operative Movement,
page 39. — § 3. Agricultural Associations at present Existing, page 40. — § 4.
New Tendencies of Agricultural Co-operation, page 43. — Conclusion, page 46.
IV CONTENTS
PART II : INSURANCE AND THRIFT.
Holland.
INSUR.\KCE OF AGRICULTURAL LABOURERS BY THE lyANDBOUW-ONDERLINGE . . . page
§ I. Laws in Force, page 48. — § 2. Foundatioii of Landbouw-Onderlinge, page 51.
§ 3. Insurance Work of the I^andbouw-Onderlinge in the Years 1910, 1911 and
1912, page 57. — § 4. General Importance of this Branch of Insurance, page 59.
PART III : CREDIT.
Chile.
Work Done BY THE Mortgage Bank IN 1 91 2 page 63
§ I. Some Particulars respecting the Mortgage Credit Bank, page 63. —
$ 2. Special Transactions in 1912, page 64. — § 3. Loans, page 66. — § 4. Issues,
page 67. — § 5. Reserve Fund, page 68.
France.
Savings Banks and the Investment of their Capital page 69
§ r. The Savings of the People and the Problems of I^and Credit, page 70. — § 2.
The Two Types of Savings Banks, page 70. — § 3. Ordinary Savings Banks,
page 71. — § 4. National Savings Bank (Post Office Savings Bank), page 73. —
§ 5. Working of Savings Banks, page 75. — § 6. The Investment of the Capital
of the Savings Banks, page 80.
Russia.
- lyOANS GR^NjriiD ^Y THE STATE BANK ON SECURITY OF GRAIN AND THE ESTABLISH-
MENT OF Grain Elevators est Russia page 85
§ I. Introduction, page 85. — § 2. Loans Granted by the State Bank on the Se-
curity of Grain, page 87. — § 3. State Bank "Elevators ", page 92.
- Publications of Recent D.\te rel.ating to Credit in Russia page 95
CONTENTS
PART IV : MISCELLANEOUS.
Al,GERlA.
Orga^'izatiox of ax Agricultural Study and Experiment Service .... pa^e 96
Bei^gium.
1. — The " Modern Village " AT THE Ghent UxnvERSAL Exhibition .... pii[;e 100
§ I. The " Modern Village "and its Object, page 100. — § 2. The National Commiss-
ion for the Improvement of Agricultural I^ife, page 105.
2. — Publications of Recent Date relating to Agricultur-'il Economy in
Belgium P^Jse 106
Chile.
'rtiE lyAND Question and Colonisation in Chile pas;c 108
§ I. Some Geographical and Demographic Data, page 109. — § 2. The Bases of the
National Economy, page 112. — § 3. Agricultural Produce, page 114. — § 4. For-
ests and their Produce, page 119. — § 5. I^ivestock Improvement, page 120.
Spain.
The Cadastre in Spain page 125
§ I. Historical Facts, page 125. — § 2. Institutions preparing the Way for the
Detailed Cadastre, page 126. — § 3. Present State of the Spanish Cadastre,
page 129.
France.
New Valuation of Unbuilt on I^and page 138
Part I : Valuation Procedure. — §1. Introduction, page 138. — § 2. Administra-
tive Procedure, page 140.
N£Vv YOtIK
Part I: Co-operation and Association
GERMANY.
SUPPI^Y OF EIvECTRIC POWER FOR COUNTRY DISTRICTS
BY CO-OPERATI\^ ORG.^\NIZATIONS,
by Dr. Grabein, Berlin.
sources:
Reinhahdt (Dr.): Die wirtschaftlichen Voraussetzungen, Erfolge und Organisation der Elek-
trizitatsversorgting in landlichen Gebieten (Economic Conditions, Results and Organ-
isation of the Supply of Electric Power to Country Districts), Darmstadt, 1910.
ViETZE : Ratgeberfurdie.Griindung elektrischer Uberlandzentralen [Manual for the Instit-
ution of Regional Central Electric Supply Societies). Berlin, 191 1. Published by Jiilius
Springer.
Wolff (Dr.): Der lyandwirt und die Uberlandzentrale [The Farmer and the Regional Central
Electric Supply Society) Berlin, Ceres Edition.
To these may added numerous articles published in the " Deutsche lyandwirtschaftliche
Genossenschaftspresse " and in the " Elektrotechnische Zcitschrift " as well as the Reports
of the Congress of German Agricultural Co-operative Societies of 1909 and the Inter-
national Congress of Agricultural Co-operative Societies held at Baden-Baden in 191 2.
An extensive bibliography may be found in the above work of Vietze.
§ I. Extension and organisation
OF THE CO-OPERATnrE ELECTRIC SUPPLY SOCIETIES.
The utilisation of electric power in the (.^ountry districts of Germany has
made unexpected progress in recent years. The causes of this are various.
It is partly to be explained on technical grotmds by the progress, that is
to say, of electrical engineering, which has rendered possible, in an economic
and practical sense, the estabUshment of high tension currents for very
GERMANY - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
great distances ; but, on the other hand, this development has been consid-
erably assisted by the extensive propaganda carried on by the electric
power works. In fact, when the supply of electricity in the urban and in-
dustrial centres was well developed, or rather when the industrial crisis
ofi907-i909 checked further progress, the electric power works sought
to compensate themselves by extending their attention to the country dis-
tricts. Now it is certain that this propaganda was not always kept within
proper limits, so that undertakings were started that could not have a
health}' life. In especial, small firms showed great activity in building electric
works to suppl}'- one or more villages with current, and these undertakings,
founded exclusively for the benefit of the promoters, were necessarily a
cause of serious loss to the farmers. The movement, ably making pro-
fit out of individual interests and local patriotism, threatened to become
a greater danger, as it was able to use the legal form of the co-operative so-
ciety, so dear to the agricultural population, for its own selfish ends. In
consequence of this astute and untiring agitation, which shrank from no
excess, a real electric fever (" bacillus electricus ") broke out and spread in
the rural districts. The organizations for the protection of the economic
interests of the agriciiltural population, the chambers of agriculture, the
federations of co-operative societies etc., were therefore obliged to with-
stand these exaggerations and, thus, they were induced to turn their atten-
tion to the problem of the supply of electric power to the country in order
to give a proper direction again to the movement.
Very important reasons of economic character militate in favour of
a larger supply of electric power for the country, on condition of all excess
being avoided. The most solid argument is based on the growing lack
of field labourers. In fact, the great industrial development of Germany
has led to the annual immigration of 400,000 men for agricultural work
of the first necessity. And it is not only the large farms that suffer from
this dearth of labourers, but also, and to a far more considerable degree,
the middle sized farms. JSTow, it is evidently more difiicult for these
latter to supply the lack of local labovirers by means of foreigners. Be-
sides, they are at a disadvantage, compared with the large farms, in
respect to the employment of machine motors, and especially of steam
engines, as they have not suflicient use for large motors and the
work of the smaller ones costs comparatively very much more. Under
these conditions, the owners of medium sized farms find the electric
motor, the work of wliich is economical, as less power is needed for it,
an exceptional!}'- useful and important machine. The electric motor
is more simple to use and easier to keep than any other machine,
It is always ready for use ; it is easy to clean and -keep in good
order. The farmer working on his own farm has therefore recourse
to it even more readily than the large landed proprietor, since he has di-
rect experience of the saving of labour due to it. The small size of the elec-
tric machines, which may be placed in any comer, against the wall or in
the garret, and their absolute safety are additional reasons in favour of
their use. Add to this the ease with which electric motors can be moved
ELECTRIC POWER FOR COUNTRY DISTRICTS
from place to place and the variet3^ of ptirposes which they serve. ,Xor
must we forget the importance of electricity for purposes of illumination:
if even the economic advantage as a means of saving were uncertain, the
Hghting of the farmer's house, yard, cattle stall, barn and cellar b}^ elec-
tricity certainly presents many advantages and many evident conveniences.
The reasons we have briefly given have led in recent years to the
rapid spread of the employment of electric power in the country districts.
According to a statistical return published by the Federation of German
Electrical Engineers, on April ist., 1911, there were altogether 2,700
electric workshops supplying electric power for not less than 11,000
localities. There were at the same date 698 in course of construction or the
construction of which had been decided on. The above figures include,
besides workshops supplying electric current, also many installations of
plant for distribution of electric power, especially co-operative societies,
which have been formed in large number for the supply of villages ^\dth
current {Leitungsgenossenschaften) .
Two years ago, the Xational Federation prepared a report on the supplj
of electricity to the country districts and the results were reproduced
in iSIo. 6 (March 30th., 1912) of the Deutsche landwirtschaftlichc Genossen-
schafispresse. From this report it was seen that there was a tendency
gradually prevailing in favour either of the construction of large central
works for the supply of electric power to very large districts or of the
conversion of the already existing minor installations into such central
works. Xor are there wanting workshops supplying a single commune
or a few conterminous communes, but, as a general rule, these, on
account of the comparatively high cost of their installation or working,
cannot stand out against the competition of the central societies, which
supply immense districts, generating electric power at a very low price,
in immense stations. There is no doubt that future progress will
especially tend, either by the transformation of installations already
existing or by the foundation of new ones, to the establishment of such
central works serving large areas. Naturally, they are most widely foimd
in regions where the population is densest and industrially most advanced,
in Lentral, Western and Southern Germany. The provinces of Saxony.
Westphalia and the Rhine especially, as also the Rhenish Palatinate, the
Kingdom of Saxony and Baden, have a large number of such central
electric works, and there also the largest number of proposals for new
installations or for the transformation of electric workshops already exist-
ing are put forward. It is, however, worthy of consideration that even
in purely agricultural districts, like Pomerania, very considerable progress
has been made in regard to the supply of electric power to the rural
districts. There are not only central societies of co-operative form at
Besswitz, Lottin and Schoschow, but a systematic transformation is in
course of being carried out by means of large central societies limited bu
shares for areas including several districts.
The funds are obtained by the province, the district {Kreise) con-
cerned and the consumers, each undertaking a third of the cost of the
GERMANY - CO-OPEKATION AND ASSOCIATION
installation. The local organizations are 500 co-operative societies {Elek-
irizitdts und Maschinengenosscnschaften) , working as local societies for the
distribution of electric power (Strombezugsgenossenschaften). In other
districts, the supply of electric power is principally in the hands of large
societies hmited by shares, limited liability societies and private under-
takings formed among the best known and most important firms of this
class, with the support of the large banks, large industrial undertakings
and tramways.
This report is confirmed by the statistics of the Federation of German
electrical engineers above mentioned. According to it, in 2,526 electric
workshops and installations for the distribution of electric power, for which
statistics were supplied there were :
1,745 which were private property,
725 propeity of the city or the State,
56 the ownership of which was not known.
-\'ow attempts are being made to prevent this prevalence of private
capital which nearh^ resembles a monopoly. Urban and rural communes,
administrative district and provincial organizations are endeavouring,
by participation in the great undertakings limited by shares, to assure
for themselves a certain influence over their business, in the interest
of the public and of the consumers. And also very often the district or
provincial administrations or the State appear as the only or at least
the principal supporters of the undertaking.
We are especially interested in the following problem : In what xvay
is the agricultural co-operative movemert to assist in the supply of electric
power to the country districts ? Three ways are possible : first, the found-
ation of large central societies [VberMndzentralen) under the legal form
of co-operative societies ; second, the foundation of smaller local electric
workshops on a co-operative basis ; third, the formation of co-operative
societies for the supply of electric power [Leitungsgenossenschajten) for
the local distribution of the current produced by the central society.
And all three methods are indeed followed. According to the Mitteil-
ungen zur deutschcn Genossenschaftsstatistik, published by the Preussiche
Central-Genossenschajts-Kasse ^Prussian Central Co-operative Bank), on
Jan\iary ist., 191T, there were altogether 343 co-operative electric light
and power societies, namely :
Workshops, directly producing power 82
of these. Central Societies {Vberlandzentralen) ..... 16
smaller offices 66
Co-operative Societies for Distribution of Power {Leitungs-
genossenschaften) 261
of these, for distribution at a distance or both at a di-
stance and locally 32
only for local distribution 229
ELECTRIC POWER FOR COUNTRY DISTRICTS
Since the date of the above return, the number ot electric under-
takings of co-operative character has increased considerably; and there has
especially been a large increase among the societies for the local distrib-
ution of electric power. In fact, in recent years, there have been founded
700 new co-operative electric societies, principally for distribution : very
many have been founded for this latter object, above all in the Provinces
of Pomerania, Silesia and Brandenburg. So also there nave been started
in recent years, under the legal form of co-operative societies, various
imdertakings for small local districts, producing electric power directly
for their own account.
It would, therefore, appear that the foimdation of large central so-
cieties of co-operative form has now come to a stop. Certainly, agricultural
circles are disposed to choose the popular legal form of co-operative
societies, for the organization of these central societies, but it cannot be
overlooked that the idea meets with difficulties of various kinds in its
application. The expense of inst allation for the large electric work-shops
for the central societies is very high : these undertakings usually require
millions. The co-operative societ3^ which is a community of individuals,
is Httle suited for enterprises requiring immense amounts of capital. The
legal equahty of the votes of aU members, independently of the degree
to which they have contributed to the formation of the capital, leads to
the result that even those members, who might on their own account
provide large funds, are not to be induced to contribute largely to the
constitution of the capital. These shareholders would wish to have
more considerable rights, in proportion to their larger contributions and
the greater risks they run; but the society may not grant them such rights.
Thus, those who are most concerned, if they are v/ealthy, for example,
large manufacturers, communes and districts, for the above reasons,
usually abstain from participation in central societies to be founded un-
der the legal from of co-operative societies.
There is a further disadvantage in the ease with which members
may leave a co-operative society and, even if it be objected that for prac-
tical reasons a member will never leave an electric power society, the
mere possibiht}'' of withdrawal is a disturbing element, while in reahty
differences of a personal character or in relation to matters of fact, or the
appearance of rival undertakings may always lead to resignations of the
members en masse.
Owing to these considerations, the idea ma^^ be shov.-n to be prevalent
in rural co-operative circles that the legal form of the co-operative society
is not to be recommended for large central electric power societies. In
view of the capitalistic character of such undertakings the form of Hniited
liability societies or societies limited by shares is, in general, rather to
be advised, and, in connection with these, the communal organizations
and the consumers of electric power should form co-operative societies
for the distribution of power. In accordance with the above observations,
the legal form of the co-operative society has only been adopted in a few
isolated instances for the foundation of central electric societies, above
GERMANY - CO-OPERATIOK AND ASSOCIATION
all in vSaxony. There on April ist., 1913, there were 13 central co-oper-
ative societies at work.
As Dr. Rabe, the Managing Director of the Provincial Federation of the
Co-operative Societies of Saxony, was able to show at the International
Co-operative Congress held at Baden-Baden in May, 1912, neither in that
province were the objections against the legal form of the co-operative
society for such undertakings unheeded. But, since the communes and
districts held aloof, it did not seem fitting to call for the intervention of
private capitalists and so it was decided to have recourse to the co-operati\'e
form. It was thought also that, as this legal form, which is so widely
popular, had been adopted, the idea of the necessity and economic desir-
ability of using electric power would be more easily extended even to
the remotest agricultural centres. Besides, the federation was careful to
reduce the danger inherent in the democratic principle by wliich all the
members have equal right to vote in the general meeting, by entrusting the
board of management \\ ith a principal share in the work of the society.
And it endeavoured to correct the defects of the co-operative organ-
ization by inducing also the communes, districts and cities, to take part in
it. We shall have occasion later to speak of the results attained by these
large central co-operative societies.
The number of small central societies of local character constituted
tinder the legal form of co-operative societies is greater. The statist-
ical return of the Prussian Central Co-operative Bank showed 66 of these
on January ist., 191T, and since then they must have considerably' in-
creased in number.
But where the legal form of the co-operative society has found its
largest application is in the formation of societies for the distribution of
electric power from works already existing which limit themselves to
transmitting it to their own members by means of local and connecting
installations. However, in many cases, even the local and connecting in-
stallations are not established for their ov/n account by the large central
societies, and the local co-operative society for the distribution of elec-
tric power is only a society for the purchase of power and receives the cur-
rent in large quantity from the transformer, v/ hence it distributes it in
smaller quantity to its own members.
Instead of forming special co-operative societies for the distribution
of power, it would be possible for the rural communes simpl3^ to associate as
such at the electric workshops. To arrange for so important and useful
a matter as the supply of electric power is without doubt amongst the duties
of the communal administrations and, in fact, rural and urban communes
have in various ways made provision in the matter. Their interven-
tion appears advisable also as guaranteeing a uniform and systematic
local installation, faciUtating the formation of the capital required, and
further assuring in advance a large number of consumers. It must,
therefore, in general, be affirmed, for the above economic and technical
reasons, that the direct adherence of the communes to the central societies
ELECTRIC POWER FOR COUNTRY DISTRICTS
is preferable to the formation of special local co-operative societies for
the supply of electric power.
Unfortunately, this principle, in itself excellent, cannot always be
applied, since the adherence of the communes is very often impeded.
This is partly owing to the difficult}'' of forming the capital, partly to
the want of a sufficient sentiment of solidarity. There are always some
members of the commtinity and of the administration who are anxious
about the financial burden the commune may be undertaking in adhering
to a central electric power society. Often also party divisions in the
commune hinder the undertaking being agreed to.
When the commune as a political body is not willing to make pro-
vision, a free union of those concerned is substituted for it under the form
of a co-operative society for the supply of electric current: a course similar
to that which gives rise to co-operative water supply societies. They also
are formed when the commune cannot decide on undertaking the necessary
installation for the water supply at its own expense. Similar reasons
have in recent years led to the founding of many hundreds ol local
co-operative societies for the supply of electric power. They are often
small societies with but a limited number of members. As happens
often in the co-operative world, it is frequently a few energetic and willing
persons v/ho open a large field to co-operative action. And it is indeed
to be hoped that larger groups will follow on the road, traced out by
them when the happy result of their efforts is seen.
The co-operative societies for the supply of water or electric pov/er
resemble in their organization co-operative purchase societies. We must
draw attention to the obligation of the members to have recourse exclus-
ively to the societies for the electric light and power they have need of.
While such a provision is in itself easy to understand, it might have con-
siderable importance in case of a rival society being started.
Another provision which has been much discussed is that of the
monopoly of electric plant. This means that members must entrust
the installation of plant in their houses and the provision of motors
and fittings only to the co-operative society or to firms authorized by it.
This monopoly has been keenly discussed both in the co-operative world
and in the daity press and even in Parliament. Some have wished to see in it
a violation of professional liberty, and an injury to the industrial middle
classes. In consequence of this monopoly, small and medium sized firms
for the supph^ of electric plant find themselves at a disadvantage as
compared with the large firms. Some have even seen in the above
provision an unlawful attempt against professional liberty and an offence
against the general principles of law, so that legal action has actually
been taken by suppliers of electric plant not authorized by the co-oper-
ative societies. In a suit of this kind, the supreme court of appeal for Ger-
many, the Imperial Court of Leipzig, laid it down, however, that the
provision in question is not contrary to the principles of law in force.
It Vv^as stated in the judgment that it is a.bsolutely essential for the
electric businesses or central societies that the connections be good and
(GERMANY - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
properly carried out, as faulty work would be prejudicial to their own
interests. Nor is it to the purpose to say that they might supervise the
work and correct any defects ; this would be, in any case, a more incon-
venient system, and cause greater loss of time and heavier expenses
than direct execution or the entrusting of it only to certain persons or
firms known to be competent and careful in the work of installation.
Opinions as to the advisability of this monopoly vary even in co-oper-
ative circles. It is easy to understand that co-operative federations and,
even more, local co-operative societies would be disposed to entrust the
work to firms of the locality or of the neighbourhood. And it seems very
natural that they should have recourse to them when they can guarantee
that their work is good. And the adoption of energetic systems has
not failed of good results, as may be gleaned from the declarations made by
Herr Saenger, who is a president of a Federation, at the above mentioned
Congress at Baden Baden. The co-operative federation of Baden, over
which he presides, set itself specially energetically, to destroy the
monopoly enjoyed by the large electric firms and to make free competition
in the VN-ork of installation in houses possible. To ensure that the work
is good, the federation has laid down certain rules with regard to it, to
which those carrying it out must conform.
However much sympathy ma}^ be won by leaving the field open to
competition, uniformity in the supply of materials and the work of in-
stallation, which is obtained by only deaUng with certain definite firms,
has also its advantages, as proved b^'' the experience of the Province of
Saxony, reported by Dr. Rabe.
This course not only guarantees the uniformity and regularity of the
whole work of installation, but also offers a possibility of less expenditure.
Evidently firms receiving such large orders are in a position to work
more cheaply ; so they have been able to grant considerable reductions
to the central co-operative societies in question. And these reductions
are without doubt a very acceptable source of gain for the central so-
cieties, the more acceptable as the gains are apparent from the first when
their income sare still very small.
What we have been saying has given us occasion often to refer to
the work of the co-operative federations for the supply of electric power.
The enthusiasm and agitation, not seldom unhealthy, in favour of the dis-
tribution of electric power in the cotmtry districts, rendered it urgently
necessary to institute organizations for the objective and tranquil stud}-
of the proposals that have been put forward and to enlighten and advise
those concerned. Nor did there seem less necessity for advice and su-
pervision on thf part of competent and impartial organizations during
the conduct and execution of these undertakings. Wherefore, to supply
the need, the co-operative organizations have often founded offices for
consultation. The duties of these electrical engineering or advisory'
bodies especially include : the giving of opinions, explanatory lectures
to those interested, opinions on the proposals of central and co-operative
societies for the purchase of current, assistance in the conclusion of cori^
EI.ECTRIC POWER FOR COUNTRY DISTRICTS
tracts for the purchase of current and the concession of electric plant, as
well as the management, examination and approval of installations of
electric plant and inspection of the accounts relating to them.
The first to promote such advisory and practical action in connection
with the supply of electric power, was the National Federation of German
Co-operative Societies. The technical office founded in connection with it,
the central society for the construction of machinery [Maschinenhauzentrale],
immediately after its foundation in 1906, offered its services to the move-
ment, and the co-operative societies have profited by this largely. Later
on, in those districts where the tendency to make use of electric power
has made great advance, a number of co-operative federations provided
for the constitution of their own electrical engineering divisions. In
other federations, the departments for the sale of machinery or their
central societies for purchase and sale undertook the work of advising in
matters connected with electricity, engaging competent engineers for the
purpose. In other places again, the Chambers of Agriculture or the pro-
\dncial or Government authorities have founded electrical engineering
offices for the purpose of giving information or advice. Thus almost the
whole German Empire has been in a brief period covered by an almost
uninterrupted network of competent advisory electrical engineering offices.
At the International Congress of Baden-Baden, Herr Saenger, who is
president of a federation, described very clearly the advantages of these
advisory offices. He showed how there has been a considerable amount saved
through a carefiil examination of prices and the encouragement of compet-
ition for contracts of work. Nor is the preference always given to those
firms that offer the most advantageous conditions, but account is taken of
the general circumstances, the economic strength and the guarantee offered.
As we have said above, there is free competition for the installation of
electric plant in houses. And by means of free competition prices have
been reduced, while the supervision on the part of the federation is a
serious guarantee of the quality of the work. The establishments of the
local system and the installations were from time to time visited by
engineers and their defects immediately reported. Of course such a system
of super\dsion was not too readily accepted by the electric plant firms.
Where, as in the Province of Saxony, large central societies have
been formed under the legal form of co-operative societies, the work
of the electrical engineering officers has proceeded on a larger and more
complete scale. The electrical engineering office has from the first aimed
at avoiding every unreasonable subdivision due to the foundation of
small societies of too little strength, and only encourages those under-
takings that, on a careful examination of all the economic and technical
circumstances, give promise of ? prosperous development. Nor does it
limit itself to acting when electric enterprises are proposed or the buildings
for them erected, but it attaches the greatest importance to constant
vigilance in regard to those already started and gives them advice. The
object of this continual vigilance and advisory action is to collect all the
practical experience obtained and to effect that every undertaking concerned
10 GERMANY - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
may benefit by it. When it is considered that at present the large rural
central societies have still no really practical experience they can make use
of, we see that a collection of the experience obtained in this field must
certainh- be of considerable advantage.
§ 2. liXPERIENCES AND FINANCIAL RESUI^TS OF THE CO-OPERATIVE
ELECTRIC LIGHT AND POWER SOCIETIES.
What we have said in the preceding section makes it already clear
that up to the present we can speak of definite and well established
experience in regard to the supply of electric power. The movement is
still too recent for it to be easy to pass a judgment on it in any sense, above
all in regard to the large central societies constituted under the legal form
of co-operative societies.
The electrical engineering ofiice of the Federation of the Co-operative
Societies of the Province of Saxony has, indeed, given special importance
to the collection of all the experience obtained and has therefore also
considered it its duty to prepare detailed economic statistical returns.
But it has not been wrong in abstaining from publishing the results
obtained up to the present, considering very justly that there is need
of much longer and exhaustive experience.
The facts that can be published, are vei}* few and based essentially
on the communications presented to the International Congress of Baden-
Baden, already several times referred to in this article.
It is of special importance in this connection to ascertain within what
limits the legal form of co-operative societies has been assumed for the
work of large central societies. In spite of the arguments brought against
it, as we have already said, in the Province of Saxony several large soci-
eties have been constituted of this form ; and hence the opinion of
Dr. Rabe the managing director of the organization of co-operative
societies in that province, in regard to the experience there obtained,
deserves quite special attention.
Pie declared that, in cases of large new electrical undertakings, he
would never advise the co-operative form. In future, electrical businesses
must only take the form of large central societies for large districts :
" But the larger the area for which provision is to be made, the greater
will be the number and variety of the businesses and the less appropriate
for the work the legal form of a co-operative society. The internal manage-
ment, the keeping of the registers and the relations with members already
involve much useless work, causing much time to be lost. But there is
quite a special danger for the society in the fact that in its general meet-
ings, the decisions of which are final, any individual member has the
same rights as a large organization or another member whose interest in
the undertaking, in consideration of money invested and of consumption,
is thousands of tim.es greater. Now in case of organizations like those of
ELECTRIC POWER i'OR COUNTRY DISTRICTS II
the large central societies, in which often amounts of 3,000,000, 4,000,000
or 5,000,000 marks are invested, the importance of the business is too
great, and its economic interest too considerable to be left to the hasard
of party contest in an unruly general meeting or to be decided in accord-
ance vnth personal or local interests, "
It is very interesting to find here practical experience giving weight to
the objections we have already advanced, from a theoretical stand point,
against the use of the legal form of co-operative societies, almost in our
own words and with our own arguments. On the other hand, it must
be noted that up to the present, notwithstanding the difficulties in the
way, it has been possible to maintain the central co-operative societies
of the Province of Saxony in vigour. As Dr. Rabe was able to show,
all those undertakings formed without previous delimitation of the field
of their action, without a competent technical advisory office and without
sufficient capital of their own, have had, it is true, serious crises to pass
through in their growth ; but after these were successfully passed and they
were able to consolidate their position especially by means of increased con-
tributions from their members, the results have been satisfactory. For
the greater part of these also the period when their accounts used to
close with a loss is now passed, while all the other central societies more
recently formed with due precautions can show good results. Already
in their first working years, after payment of interest and the regular
repayment of the amounts they had borrowed, they have covered their
expenditure, if, indeed, naturally, they have not been able to obtain in-
terest on their share capital. The hope, therefore, seems justified that
the consumption of current may increase in the future and that then a
sufiiciently lucrative period for their business must ensue.
It is especially interesting to note that although electric power has
only been comparatively recently introduced, the consumption of it has
made considerable congress. It was often feared that the use made of
electric power in country districts would be insignificant. The idea was
that agriculture would make large use of electric power only in the
threshing season. But, in the Provinces of Saxony, it happens that the
central society has been able to show an excellent utilisation of power as
compared with that of the urban electric workshops.
According to statistics published by the Union of German Electric
Workshops {Vereinigung Deutscher Elektrizitdtsiverke) , the maximum
utilisation of power for city workshops lasts from 2,000 to 3,000 hours.
They never know of a utilisation of more than 4,000 hours. The power
supplied by the central co-operative societies recently founded in the Pro-
vince of Saxony is little less. There the maximum utilisation lasted be-
tween 1,500 and 2,000 hours and even reached 2,500. Such an indubit-
ably good result is explained especially by the fact that the consumption
of electric power for agricultural purposes, when extended over large
areas, balances itself. Especially at threshing time, the machine threshers
are not utilised everywhere at the same moment.
12 GERMANY - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
The threshing work is distributed over a longer time in proportion as
the area served by the Central Society is larger and the variety of the
agricultural character of the area itself is greater.
Besides in addition to agriculture, manufactures provide a consider-
able number of customers in a region industrially so advanced as the Pro-
vince of Saxony. Interesting figures in this connection are to be found in the
recently published annual report of the above federation for 1912-1913.
According to these, in igii-12 :
Agriculture and Small Industries used
for light 1,350,00 Kilowatt hours
for motor power 2,100,000 " "
Manufactures used
for light 260,000 " "
for motor power 2,800,000 " "
The need of electric power for agriculture and small industries is,
according to these figures, greater than for manufactures. The large con-
sumption for light in the case of agriculture and small industries, in com-
parison with that in the case of m^anifactures is particularly striking. This
is explained, when we remember that in the manufacturing field the use
of electric power for illumination of houses is very much more restricted.
The large increase of consumption in 1911-1912, 160% of that of the
previous year, authorizes the conclusion that in future there will be an
even larger increase. Manufactures especially are assuming continually
greater importance as consumers of electric power. So the hope appears
to be well founded, that the central societies may in the future become
completely remunerative and, in fact, the Yearbook of the National Fed-
eration for 1912 shows that a certain nutnber of the central societies,
although they have only existed a very short time, already show a net
profit.
Thus we have for :
Gardelegen 67,950 marks
Gohrde 31,120
Saalkreis Butterfeld 20,071
Weferlingen 63,930 "
On the co-operative electric undertakings of other districts it is not
possible here to pass a definite judgment.
From the various scattered notices appearing from time to time
in the co-operative and technical press, we may, however, infer that
the small local co-operative electric workshops have generally charged
high rates with rather moderate financial results. Thus they charge 50
and even 60 pf. per kilowatt hour for lighting purposes, and from 30
to 40 pf. for motor power, while the corresponding prices asked by
ELECTRIC POWER FOR COU.VTRY DISTRICTS I3
the large central societies were, according to the quantity consumed,
respectively between 25 and 30 pf . and between 10 and 20 pf . per
kilowatt hour. The rates charged by the small electric workshops must be
considered, from the economic point of view, as excessively high. It seems
doubtful, however, whether rates of 30, 35 or even 40 pf. per kilowatt
hour may signify a saving. The question, at any rate, demands attentive
consideration. The above statements would confirm previous experience
that small local workshops generally supply at higher rates than large ones.
Let us add also that the small local workshops are exposed to feel more keenly
the periodical fluctuations in the consumption of current. While in areas
of large extent, especially where manufactures and agriculture are carried
on side by side, time brings about a beneficent equilibrium; this is not pos-
ible when the districts to be supplied are of limited area and purely
agricultural in character. The need for electric motor power is limited to a
few months. Thus, for example, in a small local central society the con-
sumption of current in June was 377 kilowatt hours, in July 405, in
November, 1,656 and in December 2,148.
What sad experiences many small electric co-operative societies go
through on account of lack of competent technical advice is clearly shown
in the report of a small local central society of the Rhine district. It says
" Our experience has been that it is no such easy matter to found a co-oper-
ative society and to supply light and power. When it is known that there
is an intention to instal electric plant, all the workshops hasten to offer
the most favourable conditions and the estimate of the future return is
very high. But experience has shown us that afterwards things are very
different. Even in the first year it became evident that the batter^'' and
engine were not adapted to our business. We bought a new battery. This
had hardly lasted two years when the negative poles were damaged and
everything had to be renewed. The new battery after three years had
again to be replaced by another and so on in the same way without
any reduction of the expenditure. Yet last year the consumption had
increased and we hope for an improvement. "
The financial results of the many co-operative societies for supply are
ver5'' uncertain. The statistical data in the Yearbooks of the Xational
Federation show that not seldom even societies that have been working
for a series of years suffer losses. Probably the consumption of current
and the revenue from it are too little to cover the working expenses, and
pay interest and sinking fund. Here again the question of rates is not of
decisive importance. According to the information available, the rate for
motor power is 20, 25 and 30 pf. per kilowatt hour, and for light at least
45 pf., though it rises even to 50, 55 and 60 pf.
It is evident that in view of such high rates the consumption of
electric light must necessarily remain limited. Thus the class of con-
sumers called " Dunkelbrenner ", little appreciated at the electric works
and by the co-operative societies, is formed and the busir esses extend
their custom with difficulty.
14 GERMANY - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
Experience counsels the adoption in future of the following principles
in regard to the supply of electric power to the rural districts by means of
co-operative organizations :
Before starting an electric business in the country, careful examination
is to be recommended with regard to its economic advisability and the possi-
bility of returns. This examination should be entrusted to competent and
impartial advisory offices, such as possibly the electrical engineering offices
of a group of co-operative societies and other incorporated bodies. As to
the .^ mall electric workshops limiting their field of action to a single com-
mune or a few conterminous communes, as the cost of their installation and
working is comparatively high, they are to be recommended only by way of
exception, when there is cheap and abundant motor power and an adequate
local consumption. In general, the installation oi large electric workshops
for very large areas, " Uberlandzentralen ", or a connection with some of
these large workshops seems more suitable. When it is intended to start
new electric workshops, attempt must be made to induce the urban or
rural communes and the district or provincial administrations to adhere,
so as to prevent the possibility of a monopoly of private capital.
For the organization of these central societies the legal form of co-operative
societies does not seem advisable, but rather that of societies limited
by shares, or that of limited liability societies, always provided it is
not a case for the adoption of the form of organizations in public law.
For the secondary local organizations, when the commune does not in-
tervene directly as such, the formation of local co-operative societies for
supply is advisable. These, when the central society does not make pro-
vision it,self, must establish the local installation, erect the transforming
stations and establish the connection for the individual local consumers
and then settle their accounts with the central society. For the establish-
ment of the local system, the installation in houses and the purchase of
motors, it is highly desirable the advice and supervision of the electrical
engineering division of the federation should never be dispensed with.
AUSTRIA.
THE DISTRICT OF TRENT,
A MODEL CO-OPERATIVE DISTRICT.
SOURCES :
MISCHLER Ulbrich : 5sterreicliiches Staatsworttrbuch (Austrian Politital Dictionary),
Vienna, Holder, 1907. Vols. II and III.
Gesetze und Verordnungen uber Erwerbs- uxd \\'irtscils.ftsgenossensciiaften (Laws
and Ordinances on Co-operative Societies), Vienna, Government Press, 1904.
I<'EmiGrazione Trentina nel 1911. (Emigration from the Trent District in 1911). (Statistical
Tables). Published by the Rovereto I^abour Bureau.
I^A SEZIONE DI TRENTO del CoNSIGLIO PROVTNCIALE D'AGRICOLTURA XEI PRIMI 25 ANNI DI
VITA 1882-1907 (Trent Division of the Provincial Council of Agriculture in the first Twenty
Five Years of its Life). Trent Art Press, 1907.
Almanacco AGRARIO, 1883-1914 (Agricultural Almanac). Published annually by the Trent
Division of the Provincial Council of Agriculture.
Cenni sitlla Co-operazione nel Trentino alla fine del 1906 (Remarks on Co-operation
in the Trent District at the End of 1906). Trent, Press of the Diocesan Committee, 1907.
lyA CooPEitAZioNE Trentina (Co-opcration in the Trent District). Organ of the Federation
of Co-operative Consortiums of the Italian Part of the Province. Monthly Publication.
Years 1911-1912-1913.
Sindacato Agricolo Industriale, Trento (Trent Industrial Agricultural Syndicate). Balance
Sheets for the Years 1905-1912.
Banca Cattolica Trentina (Catholic Bank of the District of Trent). Trent. Balance Sheets for
the Years 1902-1912.
Statuto della Banca Cooperativa di Trento (Rules of the Trent Co-operative Bank). Trent
Mariotti, 1907.
Banca Co-operativa di Trento (Trent Co-operative Bank). Reports and Balance Sheets for
the Years 1907-1912.
Statuto della Cassa di Risparmio di Trento (Rules of the Trent Savings Bank). Trent
Scotoni and Vitti, 1913.
Cassa di Risparmio di Trento (Trent Savings Bank). Balance Sheets for the Years 1908-
1912 and Reports from 1855 to 1912.
Cassa di Risparmio di Rovereto (Rovereto Savings Bank). Balance Sheets for the Years 1908-
1912, and Reports from 1841 to 1912.
Statuto DELLA B.'iNCA Popolare di Trento (Rules of the Trent People's Bank). Trent,
Zippel, 1912.
Banca Popolare di Trento (Trent People's Bank). Balance Sheets for the Years 1908-1912.
Statuti della Banca Commerciale Trikstina (Rules of the Trieste Commercial Bank). Trieste
Commercial Bank, Trieste, 1912.
1 6 AUSTRIA - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
Statuto della Banca Industriale di Trento {Rules of the Trent Industrial Bank). Trent'
Artigianelli, 1911.
Banca Industriale in Trento [Trent Industrial Bank). Balance Sheets for the Years 1909-
1912.
I,A SiSTEMAZIONE DELL'ADIGE E LA BONIFICA DELLA VALLE DA S. MlCHELE A SACCO (The
Regulation of the Adige and the Draining of the Valley, from S. Michael to Sacco). Report
of the " Consorzio Atesino S. Michele Sacco". Trent, 1913.
Statuto dfx Consorzio di Manutenzione del Regolamento hkll'Adige S. jMichele
Sacco (Rules of the S. Michcle-Sacco Consortium for the Maintenance of the Course of the
Adige and its Regulation). Trent, 1897.
Statuto della B.axca Mutua Popolare di Rovereto (Rules of the Rovercto People's Bank).
Mori, 1913.
Banca Mutua Popolare di Rovereto (Rovereto People's Mutual Bank). Balance Sheets for
the Years 1910-1912.
Battisti (Dr.C): "II Trenlino ". Trent. Published by Zippel. "AlcuniCenni sul Trentino "
(Some Notes on the District of Trent). Rome, Chromo-I^itho-l ypographical Estab-
lisliment, 1912.
Generai, remarks.
The district of Trent is a mountainotis region, lying along the banks
of the Adige to the south of the great Alpine chain, which forms the watershed
between the Adriatic and the river basins to the North. Pohtically it is sub-
ject to Austria and forms the southern portion of the Province of the Tj'rol;
on three sides, south, east and west, of a total length of 316 kilometres, it
borders on the Kingdom of Italy (i) ; its population is Itahan.
The area of the district is about 6,330 kms. and the population about
380,000. It is an eminently agricultural region, vines are cultivated extens-
ively in the lower and moderately high regions (pi ain and hill) of the whole
country and bear excellently, both as regards quality and quantity' (2) . The
wine of the country is exported to the whole of the Austrian Empire, and,
in spite of high protective tariffs, finds its way even into Sw itzerlaud and
German}'. Next in importance come cereals: wheat, rye, barley oats and
maize; fruit, cattle foods, tobacco, and in the warmer parts, ohves (3).
In spite of the crisis in the silk industry half a century ago wliicli lasted
for a long series of years, the district of Trent, formerly an important and
(i) The district lies between 45° 40' 20" and 46* 32' 20" N. lat., and lo® 27' 30" and
11° 55' o" E. long.
(2) The average annual yield of wine is about 750,000 hi., which, at the average price oi
16—25 crs. per hi. of crushed grapes, gives a total revenue of from 12, 000,000 to 1 9, c 00,000 crs.
a year.
(3) The total area of arable land in the district is about 35,000 ha. (out of 100,000 ha. of
productive land, arable land, meadows, gardens, orchards, vinej'ards and pastures), of which
from 7,000 to 7,500 ha. are sown with wheat and spring crops ; so that the area cultivated with
wheat is little more than a sixth of the entire arable land. Of the 20,000 ha. of arable land in the
plain, 7,000 are cultivated with rye, barley and oats; 2,400 with leguminous cattle foods
(clover and lucern), 9,000 with hoed crops, and of these 70 % with maize. From the above
figures, it appears that maize is the favourite crop. In fact, the yield of wheat is hardly
90,000 (luinlals a year, barely sufiicicnl for the nceds^ of the population for 3 months.
THE DISTRICT OF TRENT, A MODElv CO-OPERATIVE DISTRICT
17
famous silk producing region, still rears silkworms v/ith satisfactory results ;
silk worm breeding is a lucrative source of revenue for the rural population of
the whole country and especially of the Alpine districts, where the industry,
for climatic reasons, cannot be substituted bj^ any other ; the mulberry tree
flourishes luxuriantly in the whole country, even up to the mountani region,
thanks to the climate being well suited to its cultivation. The ordinary
production of cocoons is about 1,800,000 kgs. a year and yields on an
average about 6,000,000 crowns a 3'-ear. Livestock improvement is
carried on with success in the highest valleys and on the mountains where
there is abundant grazing and forage (i).
The timber trade also is a source of revenue not to be ignored ; the annual
production of timber, according to an agricultural forestry statistical return
of 1892, should amount to about 665,700 cubic metres of a total value of
3,640,000 crowns.
Public education is well advanced, the district is one of the few count-
ries that can boast a very low percentage, almost nil, of illiterates.
The emigration movement from the district is considerable : about 6 %
of the population annually leave the country to seek a livelihood abroad.
Table I. — Emigratioti from the Disirici of Trent in iqii (i).
District (3)
Inhabitants
on
December 51st.,
1910 (3)
Borgo ....
Cavalere . . .
Cles
Mezolombardo
Primiero . . .
Riva ....
Rovereto. . .
Tione ....
Trent ....
44,242
23,598
47,472
21,249
10,865
29,528
56,992
36,459
69,113
Emigration
to European
Countries
3,709
4,377
3,592
660
1,050
522
2,2-55
4,389
2,271
Transoceanic
Emigration
354
382
2,144
491
59
696
182
1,782
521
Total Emigration in 19 11
Total
4,063
4,759
5,736
1,151
1,109
1,218
2,437
6,171
2,792
29,336 (4)
(i) From Statistical Tablespublished for each District by the Rovereto I^abour Bureau.
(2) The cities of Trent and Rovereto were not taken into account.
(3) The figures show the number of the inhabitants of those communes in each district
for which statistics were collected.
{4) This figure is, perhaps, too high. From other publications of the Labour Bureau, it
appears that the emigration from the district in icccnt years has not exceeded from 20,000 to
22,000 persons.
(i) Dairies alone bring in about 5,000,000 crs. a year.
l8 AUSTRIA - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
Ivanded property in the Trent district is subdivided ; there are no
latifundi. The very great majority of the population consists of peasant
farmers.
Small holdings, elementary education and emigration have been the de-
termining factors in the intellectual and material development of the popul-
ation and have constituted the group of physical, economical and psyco-
logical forces to which the rapid spread of co-operation in the district is due.
As the district of Trent is above all agricultural, it is agricultural co-oper-
ation that is the most widely spread there; but there are also other forms
especiaU}?' those of distribution and production. Of these other forms we
shall also speak shortly, beginning our account with a brief historical
introduction.
§ I. History.
The history of co-operation in the district of Trent is intimately con-
nected with the work of the Provincial Council of Agriculture, instituted by
virtue of the Provincial Law of November 8th., 1881. The Provincial Coun-
cil has two divisions, one of which has its head quarters at Innsbruck, the
other at Trent ; this latter has for its district the area formerly belonging
to the division caUed the Luogotenenza, which no longer exists, that is to
sa> , the whole of the district of Trent. The district agricultural consor-
tiums founded in the different legal districts are under the control of the
Trent division.
The division is composed of a President appointed by the Emperor, a
Vice-President, member of the Provincial Executive Council; an employee
of the political administration nominated by the lyieutenant Governor
of the Province; two members appointed bj'- the Agricultural Department;
two appointed by the Provincial Executive Council and the Presidents
of the District Agricultural Consortiums.
There is a Committee or Permanent Executive body composed of
members of the division, that is, of the President, the Vice President, the
Lieutenant Governor's nominee, and the four members appointed by the
Agricultural Department and the Provincial Executive Council and the
delegates of the Presidents of the District Agricultural Consortiums.
The Provincial Council of Agriculture acts as follows :
It gives its opinion on agricultural questions when requested by the
Government or the Province ; makes independent proposals in regard to
agricultural matters to the Government and the Provincial Executive Coun-
cil, according to the subject and the competent authority, and assists the
work of the District Agricultural Consortiums and those provincial societies
that, according to their rules, have it for their object to concern themselves
with and extend agriculture generally, or particular branches of it, and
particular agricultural industries.
By means of its permanent Executive Councils, the Provincial Coun-
cil must further co-operate in the carrying out of measures for the pro-
THE DISTRICT OF TRENT, A MODEL CO-OPERATIVE DISTRICT I9
motion of agriculture at the request of the Government or the Provincial
Executive Councils in their several spheres, occupy itself with agricul-
tural statistics and keep in correspondence on agricultural matters with
the District Agricultural Consortiums and eventually with other societies.
The District Agricnltttral Consortiums have the following powers :
Of intervention in establishing the subventions to be granted in the
district by the State and the Province ; of initiating and promoting instit-
utions and measures for the reinforcement and better consolidation of
agricultural property in the district and especially promoting more and
more the progress of agricultural consortiums in so far as they tend to
attain certain objects, such as, for example, personal credit for the farmers,
insurance etc., and of co-operating with such institutions in their work; of
initiating or co-operating in the promotion of agricultural improvements
of public importance and agricultural education.
In 1897 there were in the district of Trent 27 District Agricultural Con-
sortiums with 6,433 members ; in 1908 the Consortiums had increased to
30 with 10,611 members ; in 1910 we find 30 consortiums with 12,190 mem-
bers ; in 1913 there were 31 with 13,667 members (i).
*
* *
The merit of having first popularized the idea of co-operation and effect-
ively initiated the co-operative movement in the district is rightly to be
attributed to the Trent Division of the Provincial Council of Agriculture.
Already in the first year of its foundation, in 1882, the Division
published in its first Agricultural Almanac for 1883 an article on " Land
Credit," in which, after describing the situation of the agrictdtural class
of the country, it showed the need for Land Credit and proposed its
provision on the Raiffeisen system.
In the Agricultural Almanac for 1884 there appeared a second article
explaining, in the popular form of a dialogue, the principles underlying
the rules for' the "Social Loan Banks on the Raiffeisen System"; in
the Almanac for 1885, finally, the objects and the provisions of the rules of
the Central Bank of Agricultural Credit were explained on the same system.
The same Almanac contained the translation of the " Model Rules for
the Social Loan Banks of Raiffeisen System. "
These articles aroused keen interest ; ample discussion ensued, in which,
however, the idea prevailed that the Raiffeisen system could indeed be
fittingly applied among a people like the Germans, but that it was not likely
to succeed with other nations or the I^atin race.
The Trent Division of the Provincial Council of Agriculture, therefore,
left public opinion to express itself freely on the important question and foll-
owed attentively the proix)sals put forward, not, however, neglecting to
keep itself informed of what was happening elsewhere in connection with
(i) See the Agricultural Almanacs of 1898 (page 456), 1908 (page 569), 1911 (page 599),
1914 (page 408).
20 AUSTRIA - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
this subject. Thus the Council was able to show that Raiffeisen's ideas,
which had become deeply rooted in the Rhine lands and in South Germany,
had already crossed the frontier, and, overcoming preconceived antipathies,
were rapidly advancing even in France.
The Trent Division was thus able to show that the Raiffeisen prin-
ciples were not only apphcable to populations of German race, the rather
as the co-operative idea had already found numerous disciples even in
Italy, where the sj-stem was introduced in 1889 into Ivombardy, Piedmont,
Tuscany, the Neapolitan Provinces and above all, into Venetia, through
the action of the Hon. Signor Wollemborg, who was the apostle of the co-
operative idea in Italy and who just that year had founded an ItaHan P'eder-
ationof Rural Loan Banks, of which there were 50, with already' 3,000 members,
that had distributed no less than 1,000,000 francs in small loans. Nor was
it otherwise in the Austrian Provinces, where the movement, in favour of
agricultural co-operation on the Raiffeisen system was extending, in spite of
the geographical, ethnographical, political and economic differences between
the various regions, above all in the Provinces of Salzburg and Upper
and Lower Austria, where the system was early applied, as has been shown
in various articles published in this Bulletin.
As soon as the ist. Division of the Provincial Council of Agriculture
adopted for the German Tyrol the model rules compiled by the Provincial
Executive Council of Lower Austria, the Trent Division published an Italian
translation of them in the Agricultural Almanac for 1889 (i), together with
an exhaustive article on " Personal Agricultural Credit » (2) and recom-
mended them to the Social Banks to be eventually started in the District.
Then, the Trent division published the rules for a " Co-operative Society
for the Purchase of Farm Requisites " (3), compiled by the Trent Co-oper-
ative Bank to which the Trent Savings Bank made special donations : and
it was just these societies that aimed at giving an idea of the practical
application of the fundamental principles of the Raifieisen system, that is
to say, unhmited liabiUty and co-operation, that by reason of their simple
organization first made progress in the district of Trent.
Nor did the work of the Trent division in behalf of co-operation in
the district stop here.
The Province contributed efficaciously to the progress of the Co-oper-
ative Societies and Rural Banks, granting the Trent Division financial
assistance enabling it to assign to each co-operative society or rural bank an
amount of not more than 200 florins, besides the printed matter and registers
required. The State had already made provision for the wine societies by
a credit granted in order to reduce the damage caused by the clause favouring
ItaHan wines.
But, as soon as the first difficulties had been overcome, the need was
felt of federating the various banks together for common purposes; in fact
(i) pages 286-315
(2) pages 281-286
(3) PP- 315-3^0
THE DISTRICT OF TRENT, A MODEL CO-OPERATIVE DISTRICT 21
they were of delicate structure and had need of a correct and irreproach-
able administration to gain and keep the confidence of the public, on which
their very existence essentially depended. On the one hand, a common
organization was needed to control the movement, aid it to extend and give it
singleness of aim, that is to say, a t'ederation; on the other, a central institute
was required to equalise the need of the several banks for credit and
provide them with the funds the> wanted or invest their surplus funds,
that is, a Central Bank.
The Trent Division of the Provincial Council of Agriculture, on these
principles, therefore, promoted the institution of a Federation of Sj^ndicates
among the rural banks and co-operative societies, in accordance with the
rules prepared by it and approved at the General Meeting of February 19th.,
i8g5. The Federation was at once constituted and the Trent Division of
the Provincial Council of Agriculture was largely represented in it.
The Federation of Rural Banks and Co-operative »Societies of the Ital-
ian Portion of the Province soon subdivided itself into two branches, one
for the rural banks, the other for the co-operative societies; it appointed its
own secretary and inspector, organized and gave two courses of instruction,
one for the bookkeepers of the banks, the other for the warehousemen of the
co-operative societies, published its own newspaper, first as an appendix
to the Agricultural Bulletin, and then separately under the title of "Co-oper-
azione Trcntina." Soon after t\ie" Banco diS. Vigilio" was founded as a Central
Bank of the Co-operative societies, shortly after transformed into the "Banca
Cattolica. " Assisted and controlled by these and other measures, co-
operation spread rapidh^ in the district of Trent, so that already in 1897 the
Austrian Minister of Commerce, Count Ledebur, on visiting the Federal
Office at Trent, on the occasion of the sixth Austrian Wine Makers' Congress,
foimd that the district was one of the most advanced in regard to co-op-
eration.
When the first impulse had been given to the foundation of agricul-
tural associations for credit and distribution, the co-operative principle
made gradual progress and co-operation as.sumed all the other forms al-
ready successfully adopted in other countries. Hence we find also in the
district of Trent: Blectrical Consortiums, Brocade Consortiums, Wine So-
cieties, Bakers' Societies, Mixed Societies for Distribution and Credit, various
other Consortiums, Dairies etc.
In order to assist all these institutions in their development, the Trent
Division organized among its own members a Council for the Development of
Agricultural Co-operation, to which were referred all the applications for sub-
sidies and all questions generally affecting the co-operative consortiums.
It is under the control of the Provincial Council of Agriculture and is composed
of delegates of the Tyrolese Provincial Mortgage Institute, the Federation
of Rural Banks and Co-operative Societies of the District of Trent and the
Agricultural Institute of S.Michele on the Adige, wliile the Provincial Execut-
ive Council and the Imperial and Royal Government are free to send repre-
sentatives to the meetings. We shall terminate this brief account of the
work of the Provincial Agricultural Council in behalf of co-op eration, witha
22 AUSIRIA - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
reference to the Co-operative Society for the Exportation of ViticuUural Pro-
duce of the District of Trent, with head quarters at Trent, founded in connect
ion with the Wine Makers' and Viticulturists' Association of the District
of Trent, which latter had, in terms of its own rules, to protect the interests
of agricultiire and the wine trade. As, however, the association could not,
owing to the pro\dsions of its own rules, take a direct initiative in many
questions, recourse was had to a co-operative society for exportation, \\hich,
uniting all those interested in viticulture and winemaking, is making
active propaganda and studying evexy means to make the produce of the
region known and appreciated, and is promoting and protecting the trade
both abroad and at home.
The association was dissolved in 1906, after obtaining the abolition of
the clause in favour of Itahan wines in the Italo-Austrian Commercial
treaty, which had seriouslj^ damaged the winemaking industry of the dis-
trict; the co-operative society, to which more than 1,500 producers at
once adhered, is even now working out its programme on a large scale and
regulating the situation of the market in its position as an intermediary be-
tween producers and the trade.
The work of tlie Trent Division of the Provincial Council of Agriculture
has also been fruitful in promoting Hvestock insurance societies and the
dairy industry.
Before closing this portion of our study, we shall also say a few words
in reference to the Consorzio Atesino S. Michele-Sacco, founded in accordance
with the Provincial Law No. 26 of April 23rd., 1879 for regulating the
course of the Adige and reclaiming the land of the valley traversed b}' that
river ; the work called for an expenditure of almost 11,000,000 crowns, part
of which was met by the State and part by the Province, and the rest by
the Consortium. By the Provincial Law No. 51 of December 30th., 1896,
to the above Consortium was entrusted the maintenance of the work carried
out up to date; if, however, in accordance with new laws, further works were
to be carried out, in agreement with the Consortium, in its district, these
also must be maintained by the Consortium.
The name of the Consortium is Consorzio di Manutenzione del Regola-
mento dell' Adige S. Michele-Sacco. Its action, the rights and diities of its
members, its relations with the contributing organizations, the provincial and
Government atithorities, are fixed and particularised in its Rules.
The business of the Consortium is conducted by the plenary meeting
of Delegates, the Executive Committee of the Consortium and the
Presidential Bureau.
In terms of § 53 of the Austrian law on Waters No 64 of August 28th.,
1870, the plenary meeting of delegates has to deal with all the business of
the Consortium except what is reserved for the Executive Committee and
the Presidential Bureau. Its duties are specified in § 15 of the Rules. The
Conmiittee of the Consortium is the executive authority for the Delegates'
meeting; its sphere of action is fixed in § 16 of the Rules. The Presidential
Bureau represents the Consortiums with third parties in law and elsewhere
and has charge of current business, and, in addition, the whole duty of man-
THE DISTRICT OF TRENT, A MODEL CO-OPERATIVE DISTRICT 23
agement and administration, as is usual in such societies (see § 17 of the
Rules, specifying the duties of the Presidential Bureau).
In terms of the law, every landlorder in the territory' of the co-operative
society, shown on the special cadastre, which is kept by the Con-
sortium itself, is a member of the Consortium. Membership of the
Consortium is a real imprescriptible obligation attached to the soil, according
to § 61 of the law No. 64 of August 28th., 1870 on Waters. To new supple-
mentary works the State contributes 50 %, the Province 20 % and the Con-
sortium 30 %.
The cost of maintenance of all the works, for extinction of debt and
for the office expenses is covered by the contributions of members and those
from the River Basins, the Southern Railways, the Trent -Male Electric Tram-
way, the State Roads and the Valsugana Railway. The contributions of
the members and the additional amounts to be subtra.cted from each year's
revenue from direct taxes in the territory on the banks of the river (§ 5
of law No. 51 of December 30th., 1896) are collected by the Imperial and
Royal Taxation Offices (see also § 6 cf the Rules) (i).
The Consorzio Atesino, supported by the State and the Provdnce,
has given excellent results and has largely contributed to the development
of agriculture in the district of Trent and to the economic progress of the
country. It was our duty, therefore, to refer also to this powerful instit-
ution before passing on to study and examine co-operation in the district
of Trent in all its varied manifestations.
§ 2. Credit co-operation not strictly agricultural.
A. — People's Banks.
[a) Co-operative Banks.
(Registered Limited Liability Economic Consortiums).
The Trent Co-operative Bank is a limited liability co-operative asso-
ciation, founded in accordance with the law of April 9th., 1873 (Bulletin of
Imperial Laws, No. 70) the object of which is to obtain credit for its own
members by means of mutuality and savings. The capital of the soci-
ety is unlimited and is made up of shares (shares in the business, according
to § 76 of the law) subscribed by members, of the value of 20 crowns each,
the general reserve fund composed of the reserve fund of the consortium,
the local reserve funds of the head office and the branches and special funds
instituted for partictilar operations. As every member, in accordance with
§ 76 of the law of April 9th. , 1873, is personally liable not only for the amount
(i) For further information, see the Report of the Technical Bureau of the Adige
Consortiiun in 1913., bearing title of "La sistemazione deW Adige e la bonifica della Valle de
S. Michele a Sacco " Trent. Trent Art. Press, 1913.
24 AUSTRIA - CO-OPRRATION AND ASSOCIATION
of his shares but also for a further amount equal to the shares, the capit-
al eventually consists in the credit of the Bank to the members, in accord-
ance with chapter II of the same law of 9th., April, 1873. The society may,
in order to increase its business, receive money on loan and deposits, at
interest or not, on the security of its assets. The members obtain credit
within the limits and in the manner laid down in the Rules, the}' have a
right to vote at the meetings and participate in the property and profits
in proportion to the shares they possess. The contributions to the funds
of the society, its liquidation etc. are regulated by the provisions in
Chapter III § 76-86 of the law No. 70 of April qth., 1873.
The operations conducted by the consortium are the following : the
society lends and discounts bills of exchange, invoices, certificates of work,
lends wdthout guarantee, grants subventions on pledge of personal estate,
opens current accounts when two or more acceptable persons stand secur-
ity or on pledge of goods, receives deposits in money by way of loan, un-
dertakes the cash business of members and undertakes collection of money :
in case of need it enters into relation with Savings Banks or Institutes ob-
liged to publish their accounts, either to satisfy its own cash requirements
or to deposit its own surplus cash; it takes charge of securities and adminis-
ters them ; it administers the estate of other co-operative and mutual
aid societies without seeking a profit. All these operations it only con-
ducts with its members. It does not make itself responsible for debts
on loans nor invest cash in undertakings or institutes obhged to publish
their accounts. If there is abundant capital, the Board of Management is
empowered to invest it in purchase of public securities and land bonds,
railway preference bonds and in shares in credit institutes of the country,
always, however, with tlie precautions provided l.)y § 24 of the Rules,
The profits are distributed as follows : a portion to members as divid-
end, corresponding at least with 5 % of the nominal value of the shares,
on c ndition of the total amount to be distributed to members not being
more than 50 % of the profits shown on the general balance sheet ; the
rest to the general reserve fund.
The executive authorities of the society are : the General Meetings
of Members, the Board of Management, the Manager v\'ith the necessary
number of employees, the Committee of Control, the Discount Committee
and the Arbitration Committee. Founded in 1886, the Trent Co-oper-
tive Bank had in 1913, 3 branch offices, 8 subordinate branch offices
and 19 agencies.
Tliis institute has made great progress in the 28 years of its life ;
the members, who, in 1907, were 4,995 and held 37,638 shares, at the
end of 1913 were 5.142 and held 64,556 shares. The share capital (paid
up capital and reserve fund) increased from 1,247,906 crowns in 1907
to 2,804,195 crs. in 1913. The sa\'ings deposits in 1907 amounted to
23,589,853 crowns and in 1913 reached the amount of 40,248,107 crs. The
profits in 1907 were 45,865 crs. and in 1912 111,150 crs. distributed as
follows :
THE DISTRICT OF TRENT, A MODEI. CO- OPERATIVE DISTRICT 25
Profits, 1912.
Proportion of the Board of Management . . crs. 5,366.40
Proportion of the Managers » 1,980.77
4 % Dividend to Members » 51.271,40
Reserve Fund to meet Losses on Securities . » 52,532.05
Total » 111.150,85
The General B dance Sheet for 1907 showed a credit of 47,949,223.39
crowns and a debit of 47.903,357.95 crs ; that of 1912, as seen in Table II,
a credit, of 62,576,992.73 crs. and a debit of 52,465,842.11 crs.
Tabi,e II. — • General Balance Sheet of the Trent Co-operative Bank
on December 31s/., 1912
Credit.
crs.
Cash in Hand 508,330.18
Bills and Acceptances (of the Bank and Outsiders) . . . 8,585,319.97
Current Accounts Guaranteed by Securities 4,088,365.07
» » Bills of Exchange . . 8,228,295.40
» » Incorporated Bodies . . 8,055,560.37
» » Mortgage 3,922,900.93
with other Banks 723,468,45
Various Debtors 340,295.72
Securities Deposited in Guarantee or for Custody . . . . 10,012,130.70
Real Estate . 651,000. —
Securities belonging to the Bank 5,389,169.60
Furniture 70,000. — •
Various Receipts 2,002,150.34
Crowns . . . 52,576,992.73
Share Capital.
3,153 members with 64,187 shares 1,233,740. —
General Reserve Fund crs, 116,741.18
Special Reserve' Fund » 622,634.02 739.375-20
Total of Paid up Capital and Reserve Fund. . . crowns 2,023,115.20
26
AUSTRIA - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
Debits.
Savings Deposits crs. 35,927,915.33
Deposits in Current Account .... )> 2,731,869.41 38,679,184.74
Current Accounts with other Banks 1,145,456.64
Various Creditors 179,238.49
Deposits as Guarantee and for Custody 10,012,130.70
Dividends to Pay 6,907.15
Various Receipts 419,809.19
52,465,842.11
111,150.62
. 52.57^.79^.73
Net Profits for Distribution . .
Crowns
On the same basis, for the same purposes and ahnost on the same prin-
ciples, there were founded the Banca Mutua Popolare di Rovereto " in 1884,
the " Banca Co-operativa di Riva " and the " Banca Co-operativa Popolare
di Arco ". The Rovereto People's Bank has, to-day, 4 agencies working
in various parts of the district of Trent.
In the following table (Table III) we summarise the work of these three
institutes as shown on their balance sheets for 1912.
T.\Bi.E HI.
Institute
Savings
Deposits
and
Deposits
in Current
Account
Current
Accounts
Credits
I/)ans
on Bills
of
exchange
Govern-
ment
Securities
Fund
and
Share
Capital
Total
Rovereto People's Mutual
Bank
Riva Co-operative Bank .
Arco People's Co-operative
Bank
Cis.
3,684,056.04
3,062,055.54
2,231,802.41
Crs.
1.827,958.78
1,682,678.63
7,703.679-53
Crs.
1,248,836.36
676,702.44
370.587.93
Crs.
63^,070.34
310,356.30
135,66640
as.
163,126.70
201,055.26
134.839.61
Cfs.
5.334-68
10,431.66
9,338.—
(/;) Othrr Institutes.
There are in the district of Trent various other Institutes not of co-
operative form, like the Trent Co-operative Bank, and having nothing in
common with the savings banks. Such are the Banca popolare di Trento
the Banca commerciale di Trieste, (Trent and Rovereto branches), and the
Banca Industriale di 2 rente founded on the initiative and with the support
of the Trent Catholic Bank, as VvC shall see below.
These Banks are not economic consortiums, because they are not based
on the law No. 70 of April 9th., 1873, nor savings banks, as their object is
not the collection of savings. They are, on the other hand, private societies
THE DISTRICT OF TKKNT, A MODEL CO-OPEKATI v'E DISTRICT IJ
limited by shares and endeavour by means of the conduct of the business
contemplated in their rules to facilitate and simplify the circulation of money
and to promote and encourage the industry and commerce of the district.
That they ma^'* attain this end, these banks are authorized to receive deposits
in money in current account with or without use of the system of cheques or
by the system of bank books. The first deposit entered in a bank book (or on
a cash certificate) must be at least loo crowns and the total amount deposited
on the bank book system may not exceed tlirice the paid up capital, in the
Industrial and People's Bank, nor twice that paid up, in the Commercial
Bank of Trieste.
If the total amoimt of the deposits entered in the bank books exceeds
two thirds of the above maximum, the surplus must be entirely invested
in Government securities belonging to the Bank and engaged in its name.
The Banks are authorized also to issue cheques of not less than
100 crowns to bearer and at interest ; the total amount of the cheques in
course may not exceed the amount of capital actually paid up on the Bank
shares. They discount bills of exchange, cheques, invoices and other credit?;
they grant loans in current account ; they grant loans and advances on
pledge of real and personal estate, they take part in the foundation and
working of industrial, commercial and other enterprises of public utihty,
granting credits for the purpose, and taking or giving advances of shares
and bonds ; they receive in deposit Government securities and other art-
icles, sell Government securities redeemable in instalments ; purchase, sell,
take or give real estate on lease, undertake or arrange public and private
loans, undertake constructions ; receive concessions for railways and other
transport business etc.
The Trent Industrial Bank is further authorized to issue bonds up to
the amount of the mortgage loans granted on buildings intended for industrial
or commercial purposes, in return for mortgages on the buildings and on
the mortgaged capital, as well as the amount of the loans granted for the
same, objects, to societies, transport, commercial or industrial undertakings,
secured on mortgage. The total amount of the bonds must never exceed five
times the share capital actually paid up. As a special guarantee of the pay-
ment of the capital and interest on the bonds of the bank, issued in con-
formity with the above provisions, a special reserve fund for Bank bonds has
been formed ; by means of an initial paj^nent of 100,000 crowns and a con-
tribution out of the annual profits (5 % of the profits of the Bank after
deducting the dividend to shareholders), until the fund amounts to 5 %
of the total amount of the bonds in circulation.
Every shareholder participates in the property of the society in the
proportion laid down in the rules and in the profits and losses in proportion
to the number of his shares ; the shareholder is liable for the engagements
of the society only up to the amount of the shares he possesses. The ad-
ministrative authorities of the society are the Board of Management and
the General Meeting of Members. Besides these, there is a Council of Super-
vision or Committee of Inspection, which has a right to examine the books
of the society at any moment and the annual balance sheet.
28 AUSTRIA - CO-OPEKATION ■:'aND ASSOCIATION
The profits of the Bank, represented by the net yield, after deduction of
expenditure and losses are, partly assigned to the reserve fund (5 % in the
case of the People's Bank and the Industrial Bank and y2% in that of
the Commercial Bank) ; an amount, corresponding with 5 % (People's
Bank), 4 ^ % (Industrial Bank) and 4 % (Commercial Bank) of the share
capital, represents the dividend to be assigned to the share holders, while a
certain percentage is deducted for payment of the Board of Management ;
the ultimate balance is divided among the shareholders as an extra
dividend.
The vState controls the work of the Bank by means of a Government
Commissioner.
At the end of 1912, the share capital of the People's Bank was repre-
sented by 1,000 shares of 200 crowns each, altogether 200,000 crowns, liable
to be increased to 500,000 crs. The share capital of the Commercial Bank
in 1912 amotmted to 8,000,000 crowns, hable to be increased to 20,000,000
crs. That of the Industrial Bank, at the same date, amoimted to 1,000,000
crowns in 5,000 shares of 200 crowns each.
With regard to the balance sheets of these institutes it is to be observed
that the Banca Commerciale Triestina does not prepare special balance sheets
for its branches in the Trent district ; the results of the work of these are
embodied in the balance sheet of the Trieste Bank, in which, however, they
are not shown separately. The balance sheet of the Banca Commerciale
Triestina, therefore, shows the work of the head bank of Trieste, including
the branches in the Trent district, in Friuli, Istria and Dalmatia.
The Trent People's Bank closed its account on December 31st., 1912
with a credit of 1,403,737.38 crowns and a debit of 1,392,843.45 crs.
and thus with a net profit of 10.892.93 crs. The funds of the Bank con-
sisted in : _
crowns
Capital in 1,000 shares of 200 crs. each . . . 200,000.00
General Reserve Fund 24,908.45
Special Reserve Fund 55,239.49
Total . . . 280,147*94
The Balance Sheet of the Industrial Bank in its second working year
(1909) showed credits of 9,381,474 crs. and debits of 9,307,550 crs. and there-
fore a total net profit of 73,924 crs. Three years later, at the end of 1912, it
showed 19,304,336.95 crowns as credits and 19,237,596.24 crs. as debits.
The funds of the Bank on December 31st., 1912 were made up as follows.
crowns
Share Capital (5,000 shares of 200 crs. each) 1,000,000
I Ordinary 14,392
Reserve Fund j Against Depreciation of Securities . ^7,507
{ for Bonds 110,623
Total . . . 1,142,522
THE DISTRICT OF TRENT, A MODEL COOPERATIVIC DlisTRlCT 29
The progress made b}^ the Industrial Bank is seen by the amount of
its total business.
in 1908 the total business of the Bank amounted to 53,000,000
" 1909 " " " " " " 57.500,000
" 1910 " " " " " " 76,680,000
'"1911 " " " " " " 105,500,000
" 1912 " " " " " " 111,132,000
The Banca Commerciale Triesiina wa.s founded in 1857; the Trent Peo-
ple's Bank in 1867 ; the Trent Industrial Bank in 1908.
B. — Savings Banks.
The object of the Savings Banks of Trent and Rovereto is to give every
one, but above all the poorer classes of the people, an opportunity of
depositing their savings safely at interest in successive instalments. The
Bank is under the patronage of the Commune in which it has its head quart-
ers, the funds of the Bank consist of the deposits, the profits on the business
and the reserve fund already formed. The profits on the business consist
of the interest on the funds of the bank remaining after subtraction of the
amounts due to the depositors as interest and after payment of all working
expenses and the other debts of the Bank.
These profits are computed separately and placed to the reserve fund,
which is formed precisely by the profits made by the Bank in previous j^ears
and the amounts placed to the fund.
The reserve fund is intended to guarantee the deposits, to meet loss-
es and all the other engagements of the Bank. The fund must remain
intact until it amounts to 5 % of the credit of the depositors, and as soon
as this amount is reached or exceeded, half the surplus annual revenue must
be employed for the further increase of the reserve fund until this amounts
to TO % of the credit of the depositors, while the other half may be used for
purposes of public utility or benevolence in the comnmne.
When a part of the fund is used for this latter purpose, the proposal
of the' Managing Committee of the Bank to this effect must be approved
by the Communal Council by a majority of two thirds of the votes of
those present, and is always subject to the approval of the Government
political authorities.
WTien the Savings Bank is dissolved, all the reserve fund must be used
for the above mentioned purposes.
Besides this reserve fund, the savings Bank is obliged to have another
special reserve fund to meet depreciation in securities. This fund is formed of
the profits derived from the increase in value of the securities held bj' the
Bank, that is to say from profits not realised and therefore merely regis-
tered, after deduction of the losses on other Government securities held bj^ it.
io
AUSTRIA - Co-Ui'i:KATlON AM) Ab'SUClATION
The Commune, as patron of the Bank, provides an additional guarantee
for the engagements of the Bank, so that if the reserve fund is not sufficient,
the Commune is obHged to make good any deficiency.
The money received by the Bank is invested in the following ways;
m loans on mortgage preferably to be repaid in successive instalments, sub-
ventions or loans on Government securities clearly sisecified, loans to'com-
mimes, districts and water consortiums legallv constituted under the pro-
vincial law of August 28th., 1870 (Bulletin of Provincial Laws, No. 64), duly
aiithorized to contract them and extinguish them by means of additional
levies made within their jurisdiction with the permission of the authorities,
and, finally, with the approval of the competent authorities, to pubUc
institutes of general utility founded upon mutual principles ; discount of
bills, of maturity up to six months, pro\'ided with at least three signat-
ures of persons recognised as solvent and qualified; discount of the bank's
own pass books; purchase of Government revenue bonds and discount
of coupons; loans or advances to credit institutions based on mutual
principles or on the joint and several guarantee of all their members,
provided this guarantee is also accepted by the creditors of such institutes ;
in special cases, purchase of real estate ; deposit in current account in
specified banks, with the approval of the ]3rovincial political authorities ;
participation in the cheque and clearing business of the Imperial and Royal
Postal vSavings Bank and the clearing business of the Austro-Hungarian
Bank ; deposit of its own Government securities in specified credit instit-
utions authorized for the purpose by the provincial political authorities,
with the object of obtaining money for its temporary needs.
The savings bank conducts its own business and provides for its own
management by means of a Committee of Management and its clerks. The
Committee is composed of ten members elected by the representatives of
Table IV. — Work and Balance Sheets of t.
Years
»855.
1870.
1880
1890
1900
1910.
Number of Books at
the End of the Year
Trent
193
1.353
4, in
13.825
22,582
27i603
Rovereto
582
1,060
3,475
7,719
8.285
Z,I2I
13.471
36
Deposited
Trent Rovereto
6,178.20
117,871 —
I.489.3I9-39
2.894.59M4
8,032,487.67
13,024,001.03
Withdrawn
Trent Rovereto
38,502.10
30,545.—
3*4.334.87
1.567,523.97
8,293-654.57
86,184.70
-5,788,895.94
10.50
115,546.86
347.390.85
2.606,486.65
6,501,700.72
»3,644.44I.—
34.545
36,36*.
350,986
1,I93,6J9
8,936,55a
163.349
6,370,247
65,118.
,8< ^ r^»na'*lf "^ "" ""T^^^ *** ^"^ ^"" '" ''*'"'* "' Austrian Govemtnent Bonds. In 1905 the Fund to meet Depi
385,000 crowns. The progressive depreciation of Austrian Government Bonds caused not raly the entrieloss of tt
THE DISTRICT OF TRENT, A MODEL CO-OPERATIVE DISTRICT
-',1
tke citizens by an absolute majority of votes ; their services are not
remunerated. The members of the Committee appoint their President
and Vice-President from among their own body by an absolute majoritv
of votes and by ballot. P'or the period during wMch these officers hold
office they cannot belong to the Municipal Executive Committee. The
savings bank is under the immediate supervision of the Commune and
under the control of a Government officer, who appoints a Commission to
super\dse and watch over the course of business and the administration
and see that the rules are exacly observered.
The Trent Savings Bank was founded in 1885; it began with 193 books
and deposits of 6,178 florins and a reserve fund of 2,084 florins ; in 1912 there
were 27,603 books, the amounts deposited were about 12,000,000 crowns and
13,660,000 crs. had been withdrawn; the credits of the depositors amounted
to about 50,600,000 crs., the reserve fund was about 3,000,000 crs., the
total amount administered was about 55, 640,000 crs. (See Table IV, Work
and Balance Sheets of the Trent and Rovereto Savings Banks). The pro-
fits for the year 1912 were 292,417.77 crs., of which 282,417.77 crs. were
placed to the reserve fund to mieet depreciation of securities, to cover the
loss of 823,727.15 crs., due to the decrease in the real value of Government
securities as quoted on December 31st., 1912 ; this decrease represented 4.33
% of the nominal value of the securities held by the Bank.
As said in the note at the bottom of Table IV, the funds to cover depre-
ciation of securities in the two banks had, between 1903 and 1905, become
ver\- considerable, but were at last altogether lost, together with the pro-
fits of the 3^ear, through the progressive fall in value of Austrian Govern-
ment bonds. It is well also to mention that the loans on mortgage to
incorporated bodies and private individuals made by the Trent Bank in
the Year 1912 amounted to 33,270,000 crs.
uings Banks of Trent and Rovereto.
epositors' Credit at
Fund to Meet
Reserve Fund
Total Funds
he End of the Year
Depreciation of Securities
of the Bank
Administered
rrent Rovereto
1 1
Trent
Kovereto
Trent
Rovereto
Trent
Rovereto
I 1
6,199.41 113,503.60
20.S4
5,543.30
6,220.25
119,046.90
Florins
98,791.16 227,591.65
—
31,744.25
25,226.15
330,535.41 252,817.80
.
64,114.23 1,108,769.90
27,562.82
185,197.27
94,346.83
2,353.190.59 1.230,479.55
>
75.857.55 5.400,841.23
—
90,380.21
811,638.80
268,283.82
13.340,363.98 5,759,506.26
>
81,860.05 15,281,554.67
43.678.97
84,367.42
2,250,830.12
298,958.35
40,919,452.85
15,664,880.44
Crovns
— 1,070,361.71
1,982.38
—
200,725.17
—
1,353.069.26
Gold Fl.
37,907.84, 31,897,717.56
-(I)
-(I)
2.944.850.91
r.367.746.33
55.640,528.10
33,472,464.19
Crowns
— 63,328.021
—
—
—
—
—
63,328.02
Gold PI.
, ^
on of Securities in the Trent Bank exceeded a million crowns, that in the Rovereto Bank in 1903 amoonted to
, but also of the profits for the year.
32 AUSTRIA - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
The funds devoted by the Trent Savings Bank to purposes of pubUc
utility and benevolence in accordance with its rules, from the date of its
foundation up to 1912, amounted to 1,346,457 crowns.
The Rovereto Savings Bank began working in 1841 with 39 books
and deposits amounting to 1,994 florins. In 1912, there were 13,405
books, about 5,790,000 crs. were deposited and 6,370,000 crs. withdrawn,
besides 65,118 francs in gold; the credit to depositors amounted to
31,893,000 crowns, besides 63,328 francs in gold; the reserve fund amounted
to 1,567,746 crs; the total amount administered was 33, 472, 464 crs., besides
63,328 francs in gold (See Table IV, Work and Balance Sheets of the Trent
and Rovereto Savings Banks). The loans on mortgage amounted on Decem-
ber 31st., 1912 to 22,648,873 crowns ; the funds devoted to purposes of
benevolence and pubUc utility up to the end of the year 1911 amounted
to 689,134 crs.
The crer it balance of the Rovereto Bank in 1912 was 137,712.07 crs.,
which was placed to the special fund to meet depreciation in securities ;
the loss in Government securities ini9i2 was 500,001, crowns.
{To be continued).
BELGIUM.
I. THE THIRD CONGRESS OF FARJ^IWOMEN'S ClyUBS AT GHENT.
SOXJRCES :
I,ES ASSOCIATIONS DE FeRM^IRES - lyE R6lE PROFESSIONNEL DE LA FERJUfeRE - I^A FERMfeiRE
m6re DE FAMiLLE ET MfeNAGERE. {Farmwomeu's Clubs. — The Professional Role of the
Farmwoman. — The Farmwoman as Mother and House-wife). Reports preserted at the 3rd.
Congress of Farmwomen's Clubs at Ghent, 1913. Brussels, "National Committee of the
Federations of Farmwomen's Clubs"; 1913.
IvES PRES'CIPAUX VCEUX AD0PT6S PAR LE III6ME CONGRi;S DE3 CERCLES DE FERMIERES ; 12-13
JuiN 1913 {Principal Resolutions approved at the ^rd. Compress of Farmivomen's Clubs: June
i2th.-i$th., 1913) "Village Moderne ", Brussels, Goemaere, 1913.
§ I. Programme of the congress.
We have already had occasion to deal with the organization and
objects of the Farmwomen's Clubs in other numbers of this Bulletin (i) .
First started about ten years ago in Canada and the United States, they
were soon widely established also in Europe, especially in Belgium, where
they were recognised as among the most effectual means for educating the
rural classes and arresting the depopulation of the country districts.
Belgium, with its large experience of the benefits of associations, under-
stood that in order to facilitate their delicate mission for the peasant women,
it was necessary to unite their efforts, to show the young women and the
mothers the advantages of country life, to train them and give them
professional instruction, to fit them to carry on the small industries in
connection with the farm.
On this basis, the first farm women's clubs have arisen, in which the or-
ganization is simple and the contributions are small, provided with rich
libraries of hooks on health, rural economy, etc. Lectures and lessons are
given in them periodically, and shows and prize competitions etc. held.
(i) See uumbers for May 31st., 191 1, pages 43 et stqq., and October, 19x3, page
et seqq.
34 BKLGIUM - CO-OPERATIOr> AND ASSOCIATION
These characteristic associations, which have already given excellent
results in Belgium, have, as we know, gradually spread over Austria, France,
Germany, England, Ireland etc. (i).
The Congress presenting more than usual interest, on account of the
intervention of the representative? of numerous foreign States, was divided
into three sections, with the following programmes :
ist. The Fammomen's Associations. Report of the work of the farm-
women's associations in the various countries. Organization, programmes, re-
sults. The various forms of association among farmwomen. Associa-
tions for the diffusion of instruction, associations for the defence of profess-
ional 'interests, co-operative societies for purchase and sale, mutual aid and
insurance, savings banks and pension funds, associations for recreation. The
various means of action of the farmwomen's associations : home schools,
lectures, libraries, shows etc. 2nd. The farmwomen's professional mission.
The care of young cattle . The milk industry, farmyard animals. The kitchen
garden, book-keeping. The embelhshment of the farm with shrubs and
flowers. 3rd. The farmwoman as mother and housewife. Training of the
familj'-. Health of infants. Advice with regard to sanitation and furnishing.
Utihzation and storage of kitchen garden produce. Means the farmwomen
may try for the professional education of children and for attaching them to
the countr3^
Ever>' field in which women may exert an appreciable influence was
therefore considered.
§ 2. The most important resolutions and communications.
As it is not possible to report all the decisions arrived at in the meeting
in regard to the various matters mentioned above, we shall limit ourselves to
those of the greatest importance. And above all, in relation to the subjects
dealt with in the first division, the Congress passed resolutions to the effect
that : [a] the farmwomen's associations must not Hmit themselves to turn-
ing out good housewives, but must also be centres of social union; {h) in
the training schools for young women, belonging to land owners' families,
who pass a portion of the year in the country, instruction in agriculture must
be so organized as to permit of their devoting themselves with intelligence
to social work connected with it ; (c) courses of domestic and rural economy
must be instituted for the use of the founders of farm-women's clubs
and the programme of the institutions in rural centres must be utilised for
the preparation of competent managers of these clubs.
in regard to the problems of the second division, relating to the farm-
women's professional mission, all the resolutions passed substantially aim
at including in the school courses in,struction in agricultural bookkeeping,
(i) With reference to their origin and organization, see also the very recent publication of
O. BusSARD : Les Cercles dc fermieres. Jfi Mus6c Social. November, 1913, Paris.
THE THIRD CONGRESS OF F.VRMWOMEN S CLUBS AT GHENT 35
gardening, kitchen gardening etc. It is especially desired that the pubHc
educational department should make the needful provisions for ensuring that
practical ideas on the best method of preserving milk, the use of which is
continually extending and acquiring greater importance, should be impart-
ed in country schools, and that contracts for sale of milk should be based
on its state of preservation and the quantity of fatt}' substance in it.
It would be desirable also that bookkeeping should be carefully taught
in all institutes of agricultural domestic economy, that its first elements should
be imparted in the elementary schools and that many lessons in it should be
given for housewives, if possible on the initiative of the clubs, which should
distribute large numbers of model registers and should organize compet-
itions among members, with prizes for those who have kept the books of
their farm best.
Finally, important resolutions were passed in relation to family train-
ing, rural exodus etc., which were dealt with in the tliird division of the
Congress. In connection with the first point, the farmwomen's clubs were
urged frequentl}'' to study in their meetings questions of household training,
morality or health ; as well as to encourage the reading of instructive
magazines and the foundation of boarding schools exclusively for farmer's
daughters.
With regard to the depopulation of the country districts, the necessity
was recognised that the mothers should understand the dignity of the agricul-
tural calHng and inculcate on their children from their infancy a respect
for the name and occupation of a farmer, and that they themselves should
be above all convinced that country life is preferable, especially from the
point of view of health and morals, to that of the city, notwithstanding the
more attractive appearance of the latter, and, in addition, that, even before
they are old enough for school, the mothers should initiate their children in
field labour, in the care of young cattle and of garden produce, instilling
into them in their early years the spirit of order and economy ; and, later
on, during their school years, in their spare time, interest them in the farm
work, the furnishing of the house and the farm, in literature dealing with
agriculture etc.
Finally, the Congress judged it desirable, always with the object of
suggesting means for directly or indirectly combating the rural exodus ;
1st. that the attention of the farmwomen be often drawn to subjects
connected with education ;
2nd. that the farmwomen's clubs organize family festivals, evening enter-
tainments, and meetings for purposes of recreation ;
3rd. that a list of publications be drawn up suited to promote devotion
to the land, the family and religion, and that they be recommended and
placed at the disposal of the inhabitants of the country districts ;
4th. that the manner of organising mutual and co-operative societies
among members of the farmwomen's clubs be studied.
These are the resolutions pas.sed at the important assembly wliich has
shown the beneficial effects of such institutions. pro\dng once more that
solidarity and union are the only forces that can transform this class of
56 BELGIUM - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
workers, until lately overlooked, into one of the most efiectual and fruitful
elements of social life.
Some interesting communications were also made to the Congress. Let
us mention that of M. Tibbaut on rural exodus, in which the eminent author,
after observing that the country exercises an influence of the first importance
for the existence of nations, being a vast reserve of human energy, physical
and moral, shows the urgent need of promoting the constitution of numerous
agricultural families, encouraging the erection of rural dwellings and organ-
izing credit, so needful for the proper working of a farm. We must also,
adds M. Tibbaut, hasten agricultural progress, by a more careful study of
the qualities and needs of the soil, by a greater specialization of crops and
the formation of a larger number of small holdings.
M. Pien, Chief of Division at the Department of Agriculture and Public
Works, presented a communication on the legal and economic nature of the
Belgian professional unions and co-operative and mutual societies.
2. PUBIvICATIONS OF RECENT DATE
RELATING TO CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION IN BELGIUM.
(a) OFFICIAI, PUBIvICATlONS :
Expose statistique de la situation des associations o'lNTERfeT agricole pendant
l'annee 1911 (Statistics showing the Situation of the Associations of Agricultural Interest
in 1911). Department of Agriculture and Public Works. Management of Agriculture.
Brussels, Odry. Mommens, 1913.
De Moffarts (Paul): Note sur les syndi cats voyers ou associations de propri^taires en vue
de I'etablissement de I'entretien des chemins agricoles (Note on the Road Syndicates or
Associations of Landlords for the Establishment and Maintenance of Agricultural Roads).
In " Rapports et Communications, " No. 6, published by the Department of Agriculture
and Public Works, Rural Office. Brussels. M. Weissenbruch, 191 3.
Frateur (J. ly.): Note sur les societes de defrichement al'etranger et la creation d'un orga-
nisme semblable en Belgique (Note on Foreign Clearing Societies and the Foundation of a
Similar Organization in Belgium). In " Rapports et Communications," No 6, published by
the Department of Agriculture and Public Works. Rural Office. Brussels. M. Weissen-
bruch, 1913.
Tibbaut (Em.); Societe faisant I'entreprise de defrichements (Society engaged in the Work of
Clearing). In " Rapports et Communications ", No. 6, published by the Department of
Agriculture and Public Works, Rural Office. Brusselo, M. Weissenbruch, 1913.
(b) OTHER PUBLICATIONS:
Bertot (Arthur) : lyCS assemblees geuerales et la nouvcUc loi sur les Societes (General Meetings
and the New Law on Societies). January ist., igi-i. No. 87. Brussels.
Maenhaut (M) : Rapport sur les travaux de la Societe Royale Centrale d'Agriculture de Bel-
gique pendant l'annee 1912-1913 (Report on the Work of the Belgian Central Royal
Society of Agriculture for the Year 19x2-1913). " Journal de la Soci6t6 centrale d'Agri-
culture de Belgique," November, 1913. No. 11. Brussels.
EGYPT.
BEGINlvTINGS OF THE CO-OPERATIVE MO\^MENT
IN AGRICULTURE.
OPFICLAI, SOURCE:
Annuaire STATisiiQUE DE l'Egypte (Egy/'^jaw statistical Yearbook.) Finance Department;
Statistical Division, Cairo, 1912.
OTHER SOURCES:
RiBET (J.): I/'Egypte ct 1' Association Agricole (Egypt and Agricultural AssQciation) . Published
in " Ls Musee Social ", no. 12. October. 1913. Paris.
Michel (B.): I^es syndicats cooperatives agricoles enEgypte [Agricultural Co-operative Syndic-
ates in Egypt) from "I'Egypte contemporaine " no. 15. May. 1913, Cairo.
§ I. Introduction.
Egypt, as we know, is an eminently agricultural country. Indeed, it
may be said that most of its riches consists in agricultural produce especially
in cotton. The Egyptian cotton plantations alone now cover an area of
1,640,415 feddans (i). Besides this, Egypt is also ver^^ rich in grain,
\dnes, palms etc
Agricultural labourers are abundant and cheap. The farms are divided
on a sufficiently sound system, very equally, without too great dispropor-
tion. In this connection, we reproduce a few figures furnished by Ribet
in his valuable work on Egypt.
Distribution of Farms in Egypt.
Average Area ci Holding
Number of I.and Holders Area
I,ess than 5 Feddans
Between 5 and 10 >
» 10 » 20 »
» 20 » 30 »
» 30 » 50 >)
More than 50 »
Total
1,247,080
76,139
37,707
11,233
8,390
12,414
%
89.5
5.5
2.7
0.8
0.6
0.9
Total
1,369,612
530,231
507,050
274,439
323,883
2,458,574
%
25.0
9.7
9.2
5.0
5-7
45-4
Total . - .
1,392,963
1 00.0
5,463,789
loo.o
(i) I feddan = 0.42 ba.
38 EGYPT - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
Egypt is therefore a country of small holdings, eminently developed.
Indeed, small holdings are markedly characteristic of the Egyptian agricultur-
al system. Under these conditions not onlj^ should the position of the Egypt-
ian peasant, the jellah be highly satisfactor^^ but Egypt should have foll-
owed with especial readiness the advance movement that has been seen
in every country, and that, while, on the one hand, it tends to improve agri-
cultural produce, also tends to provide for the security and real material
welfare of the peasant. If something has been done in Egypt, it is only
the first step towards an action that must hereafter be continued with
great intensit}-. The Egyptian Government has already begun the work
of agricultural legislation and is likely to continue it activeh' : this is wit-
nessed to by the formation of the Khedivial Society of Agriculture, founded in
1898, on the initiative of Prince Hussein ; the promulgation of the very im-
portant law of March ist., 1913, declaring undistrainable those farms the
area of which is less than 5 feddans, with which we have already dealt in
this Bulletin more than once (i); not to mention the co-operative movement
initiated by Omar Lufty Bey and continued in Ribet's new scheme
for the constitution of agricultural co-operative societies in Egj'pt. of
which we intend now to speak. But, before entering on the subject,
we think it well to say a little more with regard to the present position of
the Egyptian /eWa^ in order that the reader may understand the difficulties
that the Government and the authorities have met with in their efforts
for the economic and social improvement of the rural classes.
M. Ribet writes " The fellah is soher, tough and hard working, but
thriftless and fatalistic, and, thus not easily accessible to the idea of
sacrifices to be made today for a benefit to be reaped tomorrow. Be-
sides, he is uninstructed and the victim of the most odious usury. Of
1,000 fellaheen (men) hardly 85 can read and write. I do not speak of
the women, of whom only 3 % can read and write. In every village there is
a Greek druggist, a person as extraordinary as he is harmful, called " bakal",
who sets himself, by means of a clever system of usurious loans, to obtain
possession of the fellaheen's farms and their profits. The famous law rend-
ering farms of less than 5 feddans undistrainable, which excited so much at-
tention in Egypt, was principally intended to liberate the peasants from the
yoke of the " bakal ". But, besides the ignorance of the peasants and the
intolerable advantages taken of them, other causes united to make the
necessity of agricultural association felt profoundly, just as in other count-
ries, only perhaps more here. And amongst these we should mention ;
the cotton crisis of 1911, the serious injurj'^ done to the cotton crop by
parasites and the continuous increase in recent years in the number of farms
expropriated, to which the 5 feddans law will now put a certain limit. For
all these evils there could only be one efficacious remedy : that remedy which
has not failed of beneficial results in all countries which have suffered from
(i) Cfr. Bulletin of Economic and Social Intelligence. Year III, No. 9. September, 1912, page
157 and Year IV, No. 7, July, igis.page 93.
UKGlNNlNGS UF THE COOl'JvKATlVK MOVEMKNT IN AGK1CU1,TUKK Jy
agricultural crises : namely the association of the farmers and their co-
operation in the struggle against their common enemies.
Let us now see how the co-operative movement in agriculture in Egypt
has developed and what is its present position.
§ 2. The beginnings of the co-operative movement.
Let us say at once : the co-operative movement in Egyptian Agricul-
ture is still in the embryonic stage; its development, by no means easy,
when the mental conditions and the general situation of the peasant farmers
is considered, has not yet received the highly important sanction of Govern-
ment, without which it must remain permanently paralysed, but which
we believe will be given before long.
The Egyptian co-operative movement is closely connected with the
work of Omar Lufty Bey. He may be reasonably considered the father
of co-operation in Egypt. In 1908, Prince Hussein had instituted a Commiss-
ion to act on behalf of the Khedivial Societ}' of Agriculture and study
a bill and regulations for agricultural co-operation in Egypt. Of this
Commission, LuftA^ Bey was a member and he was to found at Cairo, two
years later, the first Egyptian co-operative credit society for small traders.
Although this was not a co-operative society exclusively agricultural in
character (i), we think it well to give a brief account of it and the results
it has attained, so that the reader may have some idea of the general condi-
tions under which co-operation as a rule will have to live and" thrive in Egypt.
We glean our facts from M. Ribet's interesting work above referred to.
The credit co-operative society, founded at Cairo by Lufty Bey, was
founded under the form it was compelled to take of an Egyptian limited
liability society authorized by the Khedive. In order to preserve the
co-operative principle unchanged, it was authorized to introduce the
following provisions into its rules: ist. The shares are personal and only
transferable with the consent of the Board of Management; 2nd. Loans
are only granted to members, except when there are available funds in
excess of the requirements of the members themselves.
The society has a capital of 175,000 frs., fully paid up. The shares are
100 frs. each. The expenses in connection with the foundation of the so-
ciety came to 1,500 frs. During 191 1, it granted loans for a total amount
of 525,000 frs., at 7 U, %. The loans were granted for six months and the
amount varied generally from 250 to 1,000 frs. The society discounts its
bills at 5 % at the Deutsche Bank. It is only exceptionally that the loans
are renewed and always on condition of repayment in instalments of i<{ of
(i) This co-operative society, in its first working year, granted special loans to certain
agricultural associations. Such loans, as we shall see hereafter, are now granted by the
National Bank..
40 K(;YPT - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
the entire loan. There are 250 members in the society. There is a
discount committee working both independently and through the discount
committee of the Deutsche Bank. I/)ans are only granted on signature
of a surety.
This then was the form of the first co-operative credit society founded
by lyufty Bey. The form of a limited liability' society is certainly not the
most suitable for co-operative societies generally, and especially not for
agricultural co-operative societies : but it is obligatory until the Egyptian
Civil Code is suitably amended.
The proposals made by Omar lyufty in this sense were not adopted.
Still he did not abandon the idea and founded a certain number of agri-
ciiltural associations under the form of civil societies. During the last three
years the co-operative movement initiated by him has been gradually
making progress, slowly, it is true, but sufficiently surely. All the associ-
ations have prospered, some more some less, and some have acquired a
local importance which augurs excellently for the future.
§ 3. AGRICULTURAI. ASSOCIATIONS AT PRESENT EXISTING.
Let us now give a short account of the agricultural associations at pre-
sent existing in Egypt, their constitution and their working. Of these asso-
ciations the most important are those of Shubrah-el-Namlah, Kom-el-Nur
and Nahiah, of which we shall speak more in detail.
Association of Shubrah-el-Namlah.
This is the oldest of the associations now working in Egypt and was
founded on January 21st., 1910. It had at first 97 members, the number of
which had increased by December 31st., 1912 to 241. The share capital, at
first 8,634 f^s., amounted at the end of the 3^ear to 13,502 frs. It is made up
of contributions on shares of 200 milliemes each (5.124 frs.) ; the reserve
fund increased in the three years 1910-1912 from 922 frs. to 2,972 frs. But
the share capital alone would not suffice to enable the association to meet
the fairly considerable demands for the satisfaction of which it was
founded : it therefore has had to have recourse to loans. These loans,
which it now obtains from the National Bank and during its first working
year it obtained from the Credit Co-operative Society mentioned above,
amount as a rule to 1,000 Egyptian Poimds (25.620 frs.) a year and are
repaid in full with 6 % interest after the harvest.
The principal business of the association may be briefly summar-
ised as follows : purchase of seeds, manure and coal ; sale of these articles
again to members at 3 % above purchase price with 7 % interest in case
of credit payments ; loans to members.
liKGlNNlNGS Ol'" TllK CO-OlVURATlV'K MOVKMlvNT IN AGRlCUWUKE 4I
We shall here give a short summary of this business for the year 1912:
Purchase of Beans for Sowing Frs. 34,408
" Cotton Seeds " 8,557
" " Chemical Manure " 12,708
" Coal " 4,586
Miscellaneous Purchases " 8,352
Total Purchases . . Frs. 68,611
IvOans to Members " 43,913 " 43,913
Total of Business Operations . . . Frs. 112,524
These figures call for some remarks.
First of all it is to be observed that the association is able to purchase
at far lower prices than the fellaheen can individually, so that purchase
from it is always a gain to the members, in spite of the profit of 3 %
and the 7 % interest in case of credit pa^mients. It is also to be observed
that this interest, which might appear to some a little too high, especially
in the case of an association of benevolent character not seeking profits but
with eminently social aims, is indeed very low when the general sit-
uation of the money market in P'gypt is considered, and appears lower
still, when contrasted with the intolerable amounts exacted from the
peasants in places where there are not as yet any of these co-operative
associations and where the fellah is obliged to pay the usurious demands
of the " bakal ".
We must, however observe that the net profits for the three
years, 1910, 191 1 and 1912 were respectively 2,844 frs., 3,382 frs.
and 3,407 frs. These profits were divided into three equal portions : one
third was placed to the reserve fund, one third distributed among the
purchasers, under the form of coupons exchangeable for purchases, in
proportion to the amount of the purchases ; one third, finally, is
distributed among members under the form of dividends. Small con-
tributions are also paid into the Fund for Assistance to the Poor, and
to the Fund for Co-operation Propaganda and Agricultural Education.
Association of Kom-el-Nur.
This association is perhaps the most important of those now existing
in Egypt. At the end of 1905, it had 307 members with a share capital of
47,576 frs., or more than three times that of the Shubrah-el-Namlah
association. As regards the amount of business done, the Kom-el-Nur
association also surpasses the other ; while in 1912, as we have seen, the
total business done by the Shubrah association amounted to 112,524 frs,
in the case of the Kom association, the figure was 173,473 frs. The
net profits were 17,345 frs., 10 % of the total business done and the reserve
fund on January ist., 1913 amounted to 9,182 frs. It is, however, to be
noted that the amount of the loans obtained from the National Bank in-
stead of amounting to 1,000 Egyptian pounds, was precisely double that
amount (51,240 frs.). As regards its business operations, there is no
substantial difference between them and those of the Shubrah association.
42
KGYPT - CO-OPKKATION AN1> ASSOCIATION
Association of Nahiah.
This was founded in June, 1910. It is among the most important, in point
of number of members (307 at the end of 191 2, the same amount as in the
Kom-el-Nur association) ; but the business it does is rather small (71,736
frs. in the 3'^ear 1912, against 173,473 frs. in the case of the Kom-el-Nur
association). It, however, deserves special notice on account of some
details of its management by which it is distinguished from the other
associations.
The Nahiah association, like the others, buys goods and sells them again
to members for cash or on credit. When it gives credit it also charges inter-
est, which slightly increases the prices. This increase is so arranged that
the members buying on credit from the association pay the same amount
as they would have to if they purchased directly on the market for cash.
This is, of course, no slight gain for the purchaser.
Th-e loans are granted at 9 % (not at 7 °o as in the Shubrah associa-
tion) : this rate is still very low in comparison with the 30 % the fellah
was, hitherto, accustomed to pay. It is well also to note that the associa-
tion does not ask for a mortgage, nor actual security, but is satisfied wth
the signature of a guarantor.
The profits, which in the year 1912, amounted to 4,740 frs., were di-
vided as follows : 50 % placed to the reserve fund ; 20 % distributed as cou-
pons exchangeable for purchase ; 20 % as dividends to members ; 10 %
to the Poor Fund, and the Fund for Co-operation Propaganda.
We shall close these brief notes on the agricultural association now
existing in Egypt with a few figures reproduced from the interesting work
of j\r. Michel.
Figures showing the work of the Agricultural Associations now Existing
in Egypt (in Egyptian Pounds) (i).
Kame of the Association
II
?5*
Share
Capital
January ist.,
IC13
Working Year 1912
Total
Business
Done
Loans
Contracted
Reserve
Fond
1,000
76
2,000
383
2,000
98
759
47
500
58
1,750
67
1,005
17
800
20
9.814
714
Net
Profit
Shubrah-el-Namlah . . .
Kom-el-Nur
Nahiah
Aulciia
Santimay '.
Nechil
Mehelet Diay
Naamul
Total
241
307
307
202
106
117
142
124
1.546
527
1,857
784
286
202
920
322
186
5.084
4.397
6,771
2,800
1,535
5.981
2,875
?
933
25,352
133
677
185
115
lOI
198
59
60
1,528
(i) An Egyptian Pourd = 25-62 frs.
BEGINNINGS OF THE COOPERATIVE MOVEMENT IN AGRICULTURE 43
M. Michel rightly remarks that what is most observable in this table
is the high percentage of the reserve fund. "Although, " he writes, " several
of these syndicates are not more than a year old and all began work with
a sufl&ciently large amount of capital, the total amount of the reserve
funds is 17 % of the total amount of the capital. This is a result that
many European co-operative societies might envy. It is due partly to the
comparative^ large profits made ; in 1912 the profits amounted to 6 % of
the total business done and 30 % of the capital. The rudimentary con-
dition of trade in the villages and the high cost of money allow of the syndic-
ates making large profits, while still rendering considerable services to
their members. The competition of the co-operative societies against each
other and private traders would make it impossible, in most European
countries to sell seed at a profit of from 10 to 20 %, as at Nahiah, or to
lend at 9 %. "
This then is the general situation of the Egyptian agricultural asso-
ciations and the environment in which they must develop and work. If
the agricultural co-operative movement in Egypt stopped with the above
mentioned associations, which are rather syndicates than real and true co-
operative societies, it would present very little interest. But the movement
is now giving signs of greater vigour and with this new phase of activity
it is our intention briefly to deal in the following paragraph.
§ 4. New tendencies of agriculturai. co-operation.
The -first attempt made by Prince Hussein in 1908, if indeed it did
not quite attain the end the Commission and the Klhedivial Society had in
view, that is to say the passing of special laws for the co-operative
societies, still succeeded in giving birth to these first associations of which
we have just spoken, which form a nucleus round which the movement will
develop. In view of the excellent financial and social results attained by the
associations already existing, Prince Hussein thought in 1912 of pressing
forward to the complete realisation of his ideals. For this purpose, M.
Ribet, an officer of the French Agricultural Department, and quite a spe-
cialist in the matter of agricultural co-operation, was invited by the Khedivial
Society of Agriculture to come^to Egypt to give courses of lectures there and
prepare a complete scheme for the organization of agricultural association.
The scheme consisted of four parts : organization for purposes of the
law, finance, and administration and organization for extension and propa-
ganda. Although his proposals have not yet been accepted b)' the Egyptian
Government, we think it well to summarize them briefly, since, whatever the
special form the agricultural co-operation the Government sanctions may
assume in Egypt, it cannot differ widely from the general lines laid down by
Ribet in his proposals.
Let us give the principal heads of the bill drafted and the proposed rules.
44 EGYPT - CO-OPERA.TION AND ASSOCIATION
(A) Bill for Agricultural Co-operative Societies in Egypt.
1. General Provisions. ■ — -The agricultural co-operative societies shall be
associations of an unlimited number of farmers of a single district or a single
region (or part thereof) for the defence of the interests and the increase
of the profits of members only, by means of business carried on in
common.
2. Legislation and Civil Personality. — The societies shall be regulated
in accordance with their rules, the present law and the Civil Code.
In every case the Commercial Code shall be applicable to them and its
procedure shall be followed. They shall have civil personality and may
therefore receive without impediment free grants from living persons or
testamentary bequests under the form of waqf (i) property or any
other form.
Members' Liability. They may be formed as unlimited liability societies
or as societies in which the liability is limited by shares or to a fixed amount.
Members, Rules, Management. The provisions made in relation
to these three subjects do not substantially differ from those in force in
similar societies in other countries.
Members' Shares. If the capital is divided into shares no share must
be less than 20 P. T. (5.12 frs) or more than 500 P. T. (128 frs) No one may
have an interest of more than 400 Egyptian pounds (10,248 frs.) in a single
co-operative society, nor possess shares the nominal value of which exceeds
this amount. The shares shall always be personal. They may only be trans-
ferred with the consent of the Board of -Management or of the General
Meeting.
The capital may vary with the number of members. It may, how-
ever, never be less than the amount subscribed at the foundation of the
society.
Reserve Fund. The reserve fund shall be unlimited and be derived
from the following sources :
1st. Entrance fees ;
2nd. Difference between the nominal value and the rate of issue of new
shares, in case of their being new shares issued after the formation of the
society ;
3rd. Three fourths at least of the net annual profits until the reserve
fund amounts to two thirds of the share capital ;
4th. Profits not claimed by members' or that they have lost by pre-
scription.
In unhmited liability credit co-operative societies without capital,,
all the profits shall be paid into the reserve fund to form a guarantee fund ;
the rules, however, may provide that 10 % of the profits be set aside for
works of public utility.
(i) The waqf, as we know, are the real estate belonging to Mohammedan religious
communities.
BEGmNINGS OF THE CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENT IN AGRICULTURE 45
In societies in which the liability is limited by shares or fixed at a
certain amount, when the reserve fund amounts to ^/g of the share capital,
the surplus profits shall be divided among the members ; in no case,
however, shall this dividend exceed 5 % of the nominal value of the share.
(B) Proposed General Regulations for Agricultural Co-operative Societies.
We pass over those portions of the rules that offer no special interest
as corresponding almost exactly with those in force in the majority of exist-
ing co-operative institutions. Some of the regulations, however, deserve
mention : those, for example, relating to the members and the business of
the societies. As regards the members, the following rules are proposed. In
order to be a member of a co-operative society, it is necessary
ist., to be of age ;
2nd., to have one's habitual residence in the district mentioned in the
deed of foundation of the institute ;
3rd., to be a land holder or farmer or occupied in work connected with
agriculture ;
4th., not to be already registered as member of a similar association
in which the liability of members is unlimited ;
5th., not to have been declared bankrupt or interdicted ;
6th., to have the approval of the Board of Management.
The member must submit to the decisions of the board of manage-
ment ; he may, however, in case of opposition, have recourse t© the Com-
mittee of Supervision, with which the ultimate decision rests.
In regard to business operations it must first of all be observed that the
co-operative societies contemplated are defined in the bill as agricultural
credit societies the object of which is to obtain for the farmers of small
and medium sized farms the money they require for their work, as cheaply
as possible.
The co-operative societies may conduct the following operations :
1st., Grant short loans exclusively to members for periods that must
not generally exceed one year. They may, however, in exceptional cases,
grant loans for up to five years.
The loans must always be justified by utility and the exclusively agri-
cultural character of the work for which they are obtained. No loan may
be granted on the mere signature of the borrower.
2nd., Discount bills passed exclusively by members for purposes of
farm work and farm necessities ;
3rd., Get bills rediscounted, after signature of them, at a central co-
operative society or a credit institute ;
4th., Undertake collections or payments in behalf of members :
5th., Receive deposits from members and open current accounts for
them, at interest or not ;
46 EGYPT - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
6th., Borrow for own account for terms of not more than five years
and at a rate never to exceed the legal rate ;
7th., Invest funds temporarily uninvested.
As we see, these societies act as real credit institutes for their
members, and conduct the principal operations of such institutes. But the
co-operative societies in M. Ribet's scheme are not exclusively credit so-
cieties ; they may at the same time act as co-operative societies for purchase
and sale. They therefore may :
ist.. Organize the collective purchase of manures, agricultural imple-
ments, livestock, seeds and all raw and manufactured material required
in agriculture and all articles for food or domestic use, whether acting as
intermediaries for a group of members who desire to make purchases or
purchasing for the account of the association itself.
2nd., Obtain all agricultural implements and livestock required for
farm work etc., with the object of leasing them to the members of the
association for their exclusive use ;
3rd., Encourage and organize the sale of their members' crops;
4th., Build and lease storehouses [chuana), hulling rooms, store
rooms etc., for the exclusive use of members.
The co-operative societies may also afterwards plan, organize and
support institutes of economic character, such as mutual societies for
insurance against agricultural risks, societies for mutual aid in sickness
etc., as well as found agricultural workshops in connection with the fight
against plant diseases and especially against the cotton worm, promote
and encourage the use of manure, agricultural implements etc; give lec-
tures on agricultural subjects etc. etc.
CONCIyUSION.
In the short space of this article we have therefore rapidly indicated
the present situation of the Egyptian fellah, the various attempts made to
promote a co-operative movement in Egyptian agriculture, the results so
far attained and the proposals for the future
If a positive judgment may be pronounced in so delicate a matter,
we should saj' that Egypt presents an excellent field for the development of
agricultural co-operation, especially when the matter is considered from the
point of view of the enormous advantages the Egyptian peasant might at-
tain from a widespread movement of association. There are, however, some
who object, and perhaps they are not wrong, that the fellah has not yet
reached that degree of social evolution necessary for the co-operative princ-
iple to be applied well and safely. This is also, for the moment, the opinion
of the Egyptian Government, which, while it is granting the fellah a good
BEGINNINGS OF THE CO-OPERA.TIVE MOVEMENT IN AGRICUI,TUUE 47
system of savings banks, undistrainable " homesteads", and a considerable
amount of land for improvement, does not yet think fit to urge the peasant,
ex abrupto, on the road to syndicalism and mutuality. Certainly, everj'
innovation, above all if radical, requires long preparation, at the risk of failin,
miserably and obtaining results contrary to those looked for. We cannotg
however, deny that Egypt, through the action especially of Prince Hussein
and the Khedivial Society of Agriculture, is being more and more prepared
for the proposed end, so that the day cannot be far off when the ideals
of lyufty Bey, now embodied in M. Ribet's proposals, will definitely come to
be realised.
Part. II: Insurance and Thrift
HOLLAND.
INSURANCE OF AGRICUIvTURAL IvABOURERS
BY THE " I.ANT)BOl'\V-ONDERI.INGE ".
SOURCES :
De Cextrale lyANDBouw-ONDERLiNGE. Ncderlaiidsche I^andbouw - Vereenigung tot het
onderling dragen van het Bedrijfs-Risico. Verslag, Balans, Rekening en Verantswoording
{Agricultural Central Mutual Society, Dutch Farmers' Association for the Distribution of
Professional Risks. Report and Balance Sheet). Years 1910, 1911 and 1912.
KoENEN (S.) : lyandbouw - Ongefallen - Verzekering in Nederland {A i;rieulttiral Accident
Insurance in Holland). In the Review " Cultura ", July, 1911, pages 327-347.
§ I. Laws in force.
Insurance of agricultural labourers against accidents is not yet
compulsory in Holland. The law of 1901 on accident insurance compelled
only the industrial employers to insure their workmen against accidents in
their work either with the National Insurance Bank or under certain con-
ditions, with mutual or private institutions. It was thought it would be
best to provide separately for agriculture, in consideration of the special con-
ditions it presents. For this purpose, the Government prepared a special
bill, which it presented in 1905, but which has not yet been approved for
various reasons, the chief being that in the meantime the necessity was re-
cognised of amending the law on accident insurance of industrial workmen.
The position of agricultural labourers, has, however been consider-
ably improved by the provisions inserted in the labour contract by which,
in 1907, the Civil Code of Holland was amended and completed.
At first, they might claim compensation for material losses suf-
fered by them through accidents in their work only in accordance with art-
50 HOLLAND - INSURANCE AND THRIFT
icles 1,401-1,407 of the Civil Code, in which the general principle is laid down
that every person is liable for loss suffered by others through his fault, neg-
ligence or imprudence, or through persons and things for which he is respons-
ible. But, as effective proof of such responsibility is very difficult to obtain,
the labourers, on whom, according to these provisions, the burden of the
proof fell, but seldom succeeded in making good their claim to compensation.
In very many cases, which rightly or wrongly were considered purely accid-
ental, the labourers alone suffered, unless the masters thought of giving
them assistance for a longer or shorter time. And thus many labourers,
victims of accidents, could only be saved from economic ruin by private
or public charity.
The provisions with regard to the labour contract issued in 1907 give
special sanction to three principles of great importance for agricultural
labourers.
By article 1,638-c of the Civil Code the master is obliged to continue
payment of wages, for a comparatively short period, to the labourer in-
capacitated for work through sickness or accident, always provided that
the sickness or accident cannot be proved to be due to a voluntary action
of the labourer, to his imprudence or to infirmity he has kept concealed.
Article 1.6.38-x obliges the master to provide that the workrooms,
the furniture and the implements used in the business are and are kept in
such a condition that the labourer may be " protected from any danger to
his Ufe, morals or property, as far as is compatible with justice and with the
nature of the work." Whoever fails in this duty is bound to compensate
the labourer in full for any loss, unless serious culpability can be proved
against him, or in case of unavoidable accidents. In case of mortal accid-
ents, the consort, children and parents of the victim have a claim to
compensation if dependent on his labour.
In terms of article 1,638-y, the master is bound, in case of sickness
of or accident to his servants hving with him, to make provision for the
necessary medical attendance and treatment for six weeks, unless this
has already been provided for in some other way. The labourer may be
called on to repay the amount expended in the fifth and sixth weeks, but
that for the first four weeks must be paid by the master, unless the sickness
or accident is to be ascribed to intentional act on the part of the labourer,
his imprudence or an infirmity he has kept concealed.
Thus, since 1907, the duty of the farmers to provide for their workmen
in cases of sickness or accident is considerably greater. Yet the need of
insuring agricultural labourers against accidents still exists : the above
provisions give them a right to compensation from their employers only
when the accident is due to the defective equipment of the farm. In no
case of purely fortuitous accident, can they claim compensation any more
than before. If the farmers were to be made liable in the case of all accid-
ents, without a distribution of risks among a number of them, most of
them would have to meet liabilities far beyond their resources. So, in any
case, the passing of a law on agricultural accident insurance is only a
question of time.
INSURANCE OF AGRICULTURAL LABOURERS 5 1
§ 2. Foundation of " landbouw- onderlingk."
Preparatory Action. — Without waiting, however, for legislation,
the Dutch farmers, have already on their own account, founded an accident
insurance society for the benefit of their labourers, and in a few years it has
made very brilliant progress and is constantly extending its field.
The law of 1901 on accidents had for the first time drawn the atten-
tion of the farmers to the question whether an agricultural accident in-
surance society would be desirable and what form would be best adapted to
the special needs and conditions of agriculture. Later on, since 1904,
almost aU the large agricultural and viticultural associations have expressed
their opinion on the matter, in their discussions and resolutions. A year
before the publication of the 1905 bill, the Dutch Agricultural Committee
{N ederlandsch Landhouw-Comitc) pronounced itself in favour of the introduc-
tion of compulsory agricultural accident insurance, and inigoS the same
Committee decided to invite the Government to present a new bill ; at the
same time it expressed its desire that the law should limit itself to
making insurance compulsory, leaving the farmers free except as regards
the necessary precautions to be taken, in respect to the manner in which
the insurance should be arranged. After this great organization of agri-
cultural societies, in 1906, also the Dutch Peasants' League {Nederlandsche
Boerenhond) pronounced in favour of accident insurance and in 1907 a
collective address was presented to the Chamber by various rural asso-
ciations.
Yet, convinced that they wotild have no success in influencing the
Government, while they limited themselves to a statement of principle,
but that it was necessary to approach it with definite and well thought
out proposals, so as to solve the problem in a manner answering to the
conditions of agricultural industry, a group of important agricultural
societies, and amongst them peasants' unions founded, on June 8th., 1907,
a permanent committee to study the question of agricultural accident
insurance on mutual principles. This committee came to the conclusion
that it would be best for the farmers direct^ to undertake the charge of
the business in question, while they had still the time, with all possible energy.
On November 3rd., 1908, the permanent committee decided to start a vol-
untary^ accident insurance society on mutual principles.
For a moment, a union with the horticulturists was contemplated, as
amongst them a similar movement had manifested itself and has made
progress. But, on more mature consideration, it was decided to work se-
parately. Because, as is natural, it was desired to found the new agri-
cultural organizations on the basis of those already existing: and agri-
culture in Holland as a rule is organized by provinces, while horticul-
ture, in view of its special conditions, has an organization rather of local cha-
racter. Besides, a joint organization did not seem advisable in \new of
the difference of risks in horticulture and agriculture. So they have each
founded their separate organizations, although on the same principles.
52 HOLLAND - INSURANCE AND THRIFT
The horticultural organization was first founded. On March 25th. , 1909
the meeting of the Dutch Horticultural Council [Tuinhouw-Raad) instit-
uted the Horticultural Co-operative Society {Tuinbouw-Onderlinge) , which
began work on July ist., 1909.
The agricultural organization, in view of the larger area to which it
was to extend, required a somewhat longer period of preparation.
Onl}^ on July ist., 1909, at a large meeting held at Utrecht, attended
by delegates from the societies and unions belonging to the Permanent
Committee and numbers of interested persons, was it decided to found a
Central Mutual Agricultural Society {Centrale Landbouw-Onderlinge) for
agricultural accident insurance. The following months were employed in
forming the provincial and local organization and explaining the purpose
of the society in the different regions of the country ; after that the society
could begin work on January ist., 1910.
Organization — The insurance society was organized on the principle
of decentralisation. The provincial associations {Provinciate Landbouw-On-
derlinge^ of which the farmers are members, act as real and true insurance
agencies. Only one undertaking of very large size {Nederlandsche Heide-
maatschappij) is directly afhliated to the Central Society. In case of small
accidents, such as have not caused disablement for a period of more than two
months, the risk is exclusively borne by these organizations. The^^ are au-
tonomous, have their own rules that of course must all be uniform in essen-
tial points, and separate Boards of Management, composed of a president,
a secretary and a varying number of members. In most societies one of the
members of the board is appointed by the provincial agricultural societies
taking part in the foundation of the particular society.
The provincial associations are then divided into Afdeelingen (Di-
visions), managed by a local commission elected by the members {Ptaatse-
lijke-Ondertinge-Commissie) (i). These Commissions are the intermediaries
between the provincial insurance organizations and the individual members.
They have not only to manage the local business of the association but
also represent it with its members. This office, which they had not at
the beginning, was gradually imposed on them by force of circumstances
and was sanctioned at the meeting of the members of the central co-
operative societ^^ held on December 19th., 1912, and inserted in the
rules. The same meeting also decided that at the plenary meetings of
the provincial associations, which any member may attend, the votes
must be taken no longer per head, but per afdeeling. Before every plenary
meeting the members of each afdeeling must agree in regard to the sub-
jects placed on the agenda and appoint a delegate to vote at the meeting
(i) This division of all the provincial institutions into Afdeelin'^en was onl}- reccntty made,
as a result of the decision of the plenary' meeting of members of the Central Mutual Society,
held on December 19th., 1912. F'reviously, there were only two provinces thus divided. Fries-
land and Guelders. In the other provinces the local conduct of affars was entrusted to the
Plaatselijke Commissies, the members of which were appointed by the Central Society [CoUegit-
van Commissarissen), according to the desires of the persons locally interested.
INSURANCE OF AGRICITI,TtrRAI. I^ABOURERS 53
in conformity with the mandate given him. The number of votes of each
afdeeling is calculated upon the amount of wages its members pay in a year.
The afdeeling has one vote for every 25,000 florins so paid, but no afdeeling
has more than three (not more than five in Zealand) .
The local commissions form the basis on which the whole insurance
organization rests. Their principal duty is to investigate every case of
accident, its importance and its causes, and to see that the victim receives
medical attendance and treatment and the compensation due to him for
the loss of his wages according to the conditions of insurance. As in most
cases the consequences of accidents do not last beyond two months, the local
commissions must perform the greater part of the work unaided. Together
with this their principal business, they also have other work of a prepar-
atory nature, such as, that of ascertaining the amount of annual wages paid
by members, on the basis of which their contributions are fixed.
The Central jNlutual Society {Centrale Landhouw-Onderlinge) is under
the management cf the College of Commissioners (Commissarissen), con-
sisting of representatives of the provincial insurance organizations. The
business management is in the hands of a board, composed of two persons
appointed at the general meeting. There is, besides, a Comniissie van Toe-
zicht for supervision of the business and a commission for the examination
of the balance sheet and the book keeping : both these commissions are
composed of Commissarissen.
The Central Society provides for compensation in the more serious
cases, those requiring medical attendance for more than two months or
resulting in death. It thus serves in some degree as a reinsurance
institute. Besides this, it is the ordinary administrative body, dealing
with every question of technical administration or of general legal cha-
racter. For this part of its work, together with other organizations uniting
with it for the same object, the Centrale Werkgevers-Risico-Bank and the
Wet-Risico (L,egal Risk) association, it has founded an excellent and very
special administrative body, the Centraal Beheer, to which the greater
part of the administrative work is entrusted. In this way it has been
arranged that the organization, still in its youth, might from the start have
a staff trained to settle the difficult problems it has to deal with, without
incurring excessive expense.
In addition to the organization proper above described, there are also
ten arbitration Committees [Commissies von Scheidslieden) in the various
provinces, deciding appeals against the decisions of the management.
At the end of 1912 there was further founded a Higher Commission {Hoofd
Cemmissie) as a second court of appeal. These Commissions are composed
of a president, a secretary and four members, with their deputies, half of
them labourers.
Benefits. — According to the accident regulations established by the
Central Society, and considerably extended by the plenary meeting of De-
cember 19th., 1912, compensation is given for every accident to any one hired
for agricultural work. Only those labourers and employees engaged exclus-
ively for work not of an agricultural kind, as, for example, bakers, are
54 HOLIyAND - INSURANCE AND THRIFT
excluded from the insurance. But a servant, who has to attend to work
of various kinds, and amongst it also agricultural work, is insured for the
whole time he is working. Children of the farmers, over ten years of age,
if they also take part in the farmwork, are considered as labourers. They
can, however, at their own request, be excluded from the insurance.
The idea of what constitutes an accident was also considerably ex-
tended at the general meeting of December 19th., 191 2. First of all a
labourer had only a right to compensation when injured by an accident
while engaged in agricultural work. Now it is no longer considered whe-
ther the accident is directly due to certain occupations, but it is enough
that there is a connection between it and them. In addition, it is no longer
necessary that the accident should be connected with an agricultural
occupation, it is onlj^ necessary that it should be connected with some work
with which the labourer was entrusted by the farmer.
Since January ist., 1913 it has become possible for the landholders
to insure themselves personally against accidents. As the small farmers
need to be insured equally with the labourers, a separate insurance branch
was first founded for them in 1910. But this led to no result and so
now the proprietors, on making application, are insured in the same
way as the labourers. They are chiefly insured against accidents in
agricultural work. But insured landholders, if victims of accidents, re-
ceive compensation also in all those cases in which a labourer would be
entitled to it.
The mem.bers' meeting on December 19th., 1912 made provision for a
very useful extension of insurance, deciding that many professional mal-
adies must be placed on a par with accidents. The administration (Colle-
gie van Commissarissen) has to compile a list of maladies that may give
claim to compensation. This list cannot at first be very large, because
science has not yet established many elements by which we may judge with
certainty of the origin of diseases in relation to difterent occupations.
For the masters it is a particularly important thing that the risk
of what is called civil liability is now covered by insurance. Since the
financial consequences of article 1,638-x of the civil code were already
included in the insurance, the members' meeting of December 19th.,
1912 decided also to include claims for compensation based on art-
icles, 1,401-1,407 of the Code, already mentioned. Thus, if a master is
obHged, in accordance with the above articles, to compensate a third person,
the amount of compensation is paid by the association, provided the injury
is caused by one of his workmen or connected with the execution of work of
an agricultural character. The object of this limitation is that the association
shall only undertake the risk of accidents due to the master personally or
to his labourers in the exercise of their proper professional work. For this
purpose, it has also been established that the administration of the Central
Society {Collegie van Commissarissen) may refuse to undertake these li-
ability risks in the case of certain occupations and work in which the possibil-
ity of third persons being injured is particularly great. Thus, by virtue of a
decision of the administration of April 8th., 1913, no compensation is given
INSURANCE OF AGRICUI^TURAL I,ABOURERS 55
for injuries done by motor cars or motor cycles or firearms or vehicles not
used for farm work. There is a further limitation of insurance of liabil-
ity, in that the maximum eventual compensation is fixed at 10,000 florins
in case of one person being injured and at 25,000 florins in case of more
victims, and at 2,500 florins in case of damage to property.
A special separate branch of the institute has been started for the
insurance of domestic servants against sickness, the master having to
provide them, in terms of article 1,638-y above mentioned, with medical
attendance and treatment for six weeks. Many ofiices have been opened
for this purpose, the work of which is independent of that of the otber
insurance branches.
We shall now briefly consider the benefits provided for the insured
labourers by this voluntary institution. In establishing the regulations
for accidents in work, the benefits the law of 190 1 granted to the in-
dustrial workmen have been taken as a standard. There has, however
been some departure from that standard in various points of detail.
The labourer, first of all, receives medical treatment, unless this has
been provided for in some other way. Besides this, compensation is given to
him for the disablement caused by the accident. And as this compensation
is given for loss of wages, it must be calculated upon the wages. In case,
however, the disablement lasts only a few days, no compensation is given,
since it is not held advisable to relieve the master of the obligation, imposed
by article 1,638-c of the Civil Code, of continuing the payment of wages in
the first days of sickness and also because compensations for accidents of
small moment cause disproportionate labour and expenditure. The term
for which no compensation is paid was at first 10 days, but, in con-
sequence of requests from various quarters, it was reduced to 5 days, from
January ist., 1913.
In case of disablement lasting more than 5 (at first 10) days from the
date of the accident, a distinction must be made between temporary and
permanent disablement. In case of temporary disablement the labourer
receives 70 % of the wages he would presumably have received; if,
however, the disablement is only partial, the compensation is reduced in
proportion. The expenditure is borne, up to the end of the first two
months, by the provincial associations and after that by the Central
Society.
In case of permanent disablement or permanent reduction of working
capacity, a pension is granted that may amount at most to 70% of the wages,
and is fixed in proportion to the degree of diminution of working capacity.
Instead of a pension, the management and administration may grant the
labourer, if he desires it and it is considered to his interest, a lump sum of 80%
of the capitalised value of the pension. If the working capacity is dimin-
ished by less than one tenth, in any case a lump sum is paid. In fact, a di-
minution of so little importance is easily compensated by the man himself
after a little time adapting himself to the circumstances ; and besides
pensions of absolutely insignificant amounts are of Httle value for the
pensioners, while they are a source of heavy expense to the insurance office.
56 HOLIvAND - INSURANCE AND THRIFT
The compensation was at first 312 times the daily pay (equal, that is, to a
year's pension) ; but, in consequence of the changes introduced at the end
of 1912 in the regulations for accidents in work, it has been increased to
three times that amount.
In case of mortal accidents, the widow receives for her natural life or
until she remarries, 30 % of the deceased's wages, and every child receives
15 % up to his or her seventeenth year ; however, the total pensions of
the widow and children may not exceed 60 % of the deceased's wages.
Further, in 1913, the insurance was made to include the funeral expenses, to
the amount of 30 times the daily wages.
It must also be observed that in case of accidents caused intentionally
or through serious negligence on the part of the labourer, there is no claim
to any compensation, and proceedings may even be taken against a
master accused of having caused the accident, voluntarily or by serious
negligence. On the other hand, the admission of members is subject to
the approval of the local commission after consideration of their character.
Masters' Contributions. — The costs of insurance are paid by the masters.
The members must pay an entrance fee in proportion to the amount of
wages they pay in the year.
It is calculated as follows :
for masters paying annually 1,500 florins in wages . . . 3.00 fls.
" " " " from 500 to 1,500 fls. in wages 1.50 fl.
" " " " less than 500 fls. in wages . i.oo fl.
" farmers not emplojdng labourers 0.60 fl.
In addition to the entrance fees, which are used to pay for the costs
of installation, the funds for purposes of actual insurance are obtained
by means of the contributions in proportion to the wages paid by members
to their labourers.
In determining the amount of wages, first of all the information sup-
plied by the masters is considered ; lists {loonstaten) are made out at each
payment of wages, showing the total amount paid ; and the number of
persons employed, the number of the employers' children who are insured
and their wages, as well as the cost of maintenance of such children, the
labourers and servants living in the house and the amount of wages paid
in kind. In this way, the amount of wages paid by the master and re-
ceived by the labourers, in any form, is accurately established. These lists
of wages are far simpler than those instituted by the law of 190 1 on
industrial insurance ; in accordance with that, a separate list had to be
made for each labourer and the wages received had to be entered week by
week, whilst in the case of the mutual agricultural insurance societies only
one entry is made each time of the total amount for all the labourers. In
the case of such masters as do not fill in these lists, and when the accuracy of
the information furnished is doubtful, the amount of wages is calculated
by the I^ocal Commission on the basis of the number of labourers, the
nature of the work and the average wages paid in the district for such work.
INSURANCE OF AGRICUI^TURAI, LABOURERS
57
It will be enough here to mention in passing that, besides the organ-
ization with which we have dealt, there are some other agricultural mutual
disablement and accident insurance societies in Holland, for which the
reinsurance institute founded by the Dutch Peasants' League serves as
a centre. We shall deal with these specially in a future article.
§ 3. Insurance work of the i^andbouw onderi<inge
in the years i9io, i9ii and i912.
The external development of the Institute may be seen from the foll-
owing figures ;
Date
Number
of Provincial
Associations
Number
of Afdeelingen
or of Ivocal
Commissions
Number
of Registered
Members
Amount
of Wages
Florins
January i^*^'
I9IO
7
3,699
5348481
I9II
ID
202
6.198
9,582,132
I9I2
10
206
8,024
11,423,957
I9I3
10
213
9.378
13,946,459
July 15"^-
I9I3
—
—
11,017
15,640,000
The special branch for domestic servants' disablement insurance had,
on January ist., 1914, 44 dependent sections, with i, 418 members, and on
January ist., 1913, 61 sections with 2,339 members.
The number and gravity of the accidents is seen in the following table
Accidents
Not necessitating any expenditure , 76
Requiring only medical attendance 132
Giving claim to temporary com-
pensation for less than two
months 515
Giving claim to temporary compens-
ation for more than two months. 46
Giving claim to pension for life . . 3
Fatal 9
Total
781
123
300
850
1,365
133
333
1.030
75
79
5
9
12
14
1,598
It is very important to know the causes to which the accidents are to
be attributed, as every insurance business must seek not only to make
good losses that have occurred, but also to make proper provision to pre-
58
HOLLAND - INSIR.\NCE AXD THRIFT
vent the occurrence of accidents. The " Liindboiiu'-Ond<rlingc " have
sought to do so from the first. The experience of the first three yeiirs is not
\-st sufficient for general precautionary- measures of a technical character
to be based on them. However, the Central Society in its amuial reports
publishes detailed information in regard to the causes of accidents so as
to induce the farmers themselves to adopt precautionary measures on their
own farms with a view to the prevention of certain accidents of greater
frequency and to see thj.t the labourers exercise prudence in the perfor-
mance of certain kinds of work.
The following table shows liow the accidents that occurred on the years
lOio. 101 1 and loiJ iuav be classified according to their main causes :
Causes
Number
of
Acddeats
Total Period
of
Disatdement
(days)
Fatal
Accidents
Total
Expenditure
(norins)
Due to the Employiucnt of Vehicles.
, Auimals
499
636
171
671
102
3S4
i^.io:
15.234
4.574
17.974
3,330
<» OQ2
9
5
I
5
2
I
I
I
10
22,874.97
28,082.675
9,552.49
31,251.305
8,624.66
8,178-275
10,863.77
18,371-235
35.453-285
,, the Fnipkniucut of Agricul-
ta:at >L\diiucry ....
Falls
„ Fall? of Objects. Imple-
ments, etc
,, Bruises
,, Dislocation?,
,, the Use of Edgevi Tools .
„ Variou? Causes
295 j 7.345
4S0 S,SiS
512 1 9,673
Total . . .
1
3.750 ' 89. 162
35
169,225,755
In the financial statement at the end of this article we show the total
amount of the working expenses, the cost of medical assistance and compens-
ations paid, as well as the total amount of the members' contributions.
\"\'e maj- learn from this information that the total cost of the
administration, ver>- much decentralised (Central Society, Proxnucial Asso-
ciations, Afdeelitigt')'.), with very various duties, is comparatively very low.
Notwithstanding the heavy expenditure in the first years on installation
and propaganda carried on by means of the press and meetings, the working
ex].>enses were in 1910 and 191 1 only 40 %, and in 1912 33 % of the
total expenditure. This is principally due to the great assistance given
by the members personally, who act as secretaries and members of the
INSURANCE OF AGRICULTURAL LAIiOURERS
59
local ajdeelin^en. Naturally, as the number of members increases the
insurance becomes gradually cheaper ; it must also be Vjorne in mind that,
as is easily understood, the working expenses and the expenditure in
connection with accidents decrease in proportion as the wages insured
increase, as may be seen from the following table for the year 191 2.
Piovinoes
Amount
of Wages
(Florins)
Friesland ' 2,760,976
Groningen 1,798,801
Drenthe 782,510
Ovcrys&t-l . . 244,257
Guelder:-; 341,533
Utrecht 296,253
North Holland. ... 1 2,266,348
South Holland 2,201,032
Zealand ! 1,999,954
North Brabant .... 579,744
Members registered directly with the Central j
Society 675,051
Expenditure
in connection
witli Acci'ienta
fper Hundred
I-lorin3>
15.2 cents
15.7 ■■•
29.8
32.7 »
30.2 „
33.7 »
26.6 .
24.1 -.
24.5 r.
26.4 »
26.1 »
other Ezpenaea
(per Hundred
Florins)
15.2 cents
lO.O 1
16.5 .'
26.4
22.4 ■!
iS.i .-
14.2 ..
17.9 '•
II. 5 "
12.2 /)
§ 4. General iMi=ORTANCE of this pranch of insurance.
The insurance of agricultural labourers against accidents in their work,
independently of any compulsion on the part of the State, is an excellent
proof of the lofty social sentiment animating the Dutch farmers, as only
a small portion of the assistance and compensation received by the labourers
by means of this insurance is provided for in the Civil Code in its clauses
respecting labour contracts. All the other benefits are voluntarily on the
part of the farmers associated for the work of iiLSurance, and they, notwith-
standing the constant rise in wages and the many other burdens under
which agriculture labours, have not hesitated to take on themselves this
expenditure also. Many of them have given their time and labour person-
ally to the work, co-operating freely or for a very small compensation
in the business as secretaries or members of Ajdeelingen.
But agricultural accident insurance in Holland is not only based on
the recognition of the social duty of assisting the labourers, victims of
accidents in agricultural work, but also on enlightened considerations of a
60 HOLLAND - INSURANCE AND THRIFT
practical nature. As we have seen, the movement in favour of this kind
of insurance was the result of the law of 1901. That law, which consi 1-
erably improved the position of the industrial workmen, threatened to
increase the rural exodus to the cities and industrial centres, so that it was
to the interest of the farmers themselves to grant their labourers a similar
improvement of their conditions.
But, the danger of the introduction of compulsory centralised Gov-
ernment insurance was a specially strong motive urging the farmers to
found an institute of their own. All the agricultural associations called
upon to express their opinion on the matter declared that a system on the
plan of the industrial insurance, such as was provided in the 1905 bill,
would be unsuitable and undesirable. In the case of industrial insurance
the master retains the right to insure his labourers with the State
National Insurance Bank in Amsterdam, or with any other business recog-
nised by the State : yet every thing in the nature of inquiry into the
accidents and the estimation of the loss and of the amount of compens-
ation due is entrusted exclusively to the National Bank Such central-
isation in the case of agriculture, in view of the large number and the
scattered position of the farms, would be the cause of great inconven-
ience and considerable expense. It was feared that in this way the
insurance business would pass completely into the hands of mere em-
ployees and that the direct participation of the farmers, which con-
tributes so largely to keep down the cost and to extend the principles
of the society in the agricultural world, wovild cease altogether. Hence
the general desire of the agricultural associations is that the State should
indeed make it comptdsory for the farmers to ensure their labourers
against accidents, but that for the rest it should Hmit itself to supervising
the development of those forms of insurance institutes selected by the
farmers themselves.
The Government Commission for Agriculture {Staats-Commissie voor den
Landhouw) founded in 1906 to study the question of agricultural labourers
was fully in accord with this idea, in its conclusions in reference to agri-
cultural laboturers' accident insurance. In its Rapporten en Voorstellen,
published in 1909, this Commission presented 18 proposals, in the first
place advocating the most complete decentralisation possible of the in-
surance system and the participation of the farmers in the management
of this important business.
And, since the farmers with their insurance business have in the mean-
time begun their own action and given proof of their competence it
is very probable that when the problem comes to receive a legal solution
their desires will be given full consideration.
INSURANCE OF AGRICULTURAL LABOURERS
6l
Financial Summary of the Entire Insurance Business from 1910 to 1912.
(In Florins) (i).
I. Working Expenses.
(a) Central Administration . . . .
(6) Provincial Mutual Societies . .
Total
2. Medical Attekdance
AND Compensation.
(a) Central Society ;
Temporary (2) .
Permanent (2) .
Total
(6) Provincial Mutual Societies
Total of Expenditure due to Accidents. .
3. Total Amount of Wages Insured.
4. Contributions Collected
PER 100 Florins of Wages
(a) Central Society :
for Working Expenses
for Assistance
for Reserve Fund
(6) Provincial Mutual Societies :
for Assistance
for Other Expenses
Total Contributions Collected
1912
21,905655
12,870.32
17,020.52
16,360.61
26.490.97
19.446.37
34,775-975 36,211.235 ' 47,982.86
4,890.61
6,858.475
29,347 — 38,970.04
34.237.61
16,720.465
8,613.05
56,825.64
45.828.515
28,669.70
50,958.075 j 74,498.215
8,959.075 11,896,846.15
65,438.69(3)
33,644,625
99,083.315
13,946,459 —
0.245
0.144
0.19
0.385
0.383
0.47
0.05
0.05
—
0.187
0.241
0.241
0.143
0.138
0.139
I^OI
0.956
1.04
(i) A Dutch florin = 2.0832 francs.
(2) The amounts shown include all expenditure (medical assistance and compensation for
loss of wages) due to accidents within the year, borne by the Central Society. Further amoimts
to be paid in successive years are calculated at their value at the moment of making out the
accounts.
(3) The figures for 1912 are very high on account of the comparatively large number of
serious accidents, causing the expenditure of quite 28,000 florins that year.
Part 111: Credit
CHILE.
WORK DONE BY THE MORTGAGE CREDIT BAXK IX 191:
SOTTRCE :
Caja de CREDiTo HiPOTECARio : Lifonue correspoii'liente a las operacioiies del ano 1912.
{Mort^a?e Credit Bank. Report of Transactions for 1912). Valparaiso, .Sociedad Uni-
verso, 1913.
§ I. Some particulars respecting the mortgage credit bank.
In a previous number of our Bulletin (i) we spoke at some length
of this important land credit institution, describing its constitution and
working, and pointing out the great services rendered by it to agricultural
economics in Chile. Before giving an account of its working in 1912, it
may be desirable to enumerate its essential characteristics.
The Mortgage Credit Bank was legally constituted in 1885 for purposes
of pubhc utiUt^'. As it had no share capital, it was not intended to make
any profit, except so much as might be necessary to cover the cost of
working and to form a reserve fund. Its object is to facihtate all long
term mortgage credit transactions and the repayment of loans by means
of annual instalments including interest and sinking fund. Eor this pur-
pose, the Bank issues mortgage bonds, personal or to bearer, for a value
of 1,000, 500, 200, and 100 pesos, redeemable b}^ drawings.
The loans are made in bonds, and must be guaranteed on first mortgages:
they must not exceed 50 % of the value of the land mortgaged. In prac-
tice this hmit is reduced to 40 %, and even to 25 %, according to the charac-
ter and qualit}- of the land. Great administrative prudence has been shown
(i) Bulletin of Economic and Social Intelligence, 1913, No. 3.
64 CHILE - CREDIT
in the drawing up of the rules for the concession of loans secured on mort-
gage of urban real estate. The minimum limit, fixed by the organic law
at 500 pesos, is in practice 5,000 pesos. The borrower must pay every year
interest up to an amount not exceeding 8 %, a contribution to the sinking
fund to be agreed upon freely and, lastly, a contribution to the reserve fund
and working expenses, of not more than one-half per cent.
To guarantee the holders of bonds, besides the mortgages, there
is the reserve fund, which forms the true capital of the Bank. This fund
is constituted by means of the above mentioned contributions, the interest
on delayed payments, the mortgage bonds drawn by lot, and interest not
drawn within the allotted term.
That the bonds may be more readily accepted on the market the law-
permits of their being deposited as a guarantee for the exercise of any pub-
lic office and for judicial deposits, also in general of their being purchased
for investments for minors and for charitable institutions. The State
itself has invested in mortgage bonds of this Bank the capital forming the
fund for the redemption of its paper.
The direction and management of the bank are entrusted to a man-
aging director, a cashier, an auditor, a secretary and a Board of Management,
aU appointed by the President of the Republic. The*Board of Management
is formed of the managing director, the auditor and four members, two ap-
pointed b3' the Senate, and two by the Chamber of Deputies. Of the two
last, one must be chosen from among the largest borrowers from the Bank.
The Mortgage Bank has made great and rapid progress : in 1868 its
loans in bonds amounted to 4,000,000 pesos, and rose to more than
300,000,000 in 1912.
We shall now give some particulars of the work of the Bank during 1912.
§ 2. Speciai, transactions in 1912.
The managing director's report first gives an account of three special
transactions carried out by the Bank. The first of these was the issue
of bonds on foreign markets to the value of 11,500,000 francs at 5 %
i n gold, to be repaid in instalments of i %. This was effected through
the French bankers, lyouis Dreyfus and Co., and Otto Benberg and Co, in
accordance with the contract made with them on May 19th., 1912 (i).
The object of this transaction was to facilitate the granting of loans in
gold. The results were satisfactory ; the bonds continued to be quoted on
the Paris Exchange at an average rate of 97 %.
The second special transaction was the conversion of bonds payable
in current money (2) into bonds payable in gold. By the law of February
(i) In 191 1, in accordance with the above meut'Dned contract, the Bank liad issuea
mortgage bonds in gold at 5 % and i % for 40,000,000 francs and for £ 176,260.
(2) By current money ($) is meant the paper peso ; in January, 1913, its average value was
frs. 1.057; in December it fell to 0,985 fr. The gold peso is equivalent to fr. 1.89.
WORK DONE BY THE MORTGAGE CREDIT BANK 65
12th., 1912, the President of the Republic was authorised to sell, either at
home or abroad, the bonds of the Mortgage Bank payable in current
money, belonging to the State and appropriated by law to the payment
of the national debt and to the formation of the guarantee fund of the
Nitrate Credit Bank.
B>' the same law, the Government was empowered to substitute, through
the Mortgage Credit Bank, a part of these bonds to the value of 55,000,000
pesos, for an equivalent amount in bonds payable in national or foreign gold
at 5 % interest with i % sinking fund. The law prescribed the manner in
which the Bank should proceed for the destruction of the bonds for which
the new issue was substituted, and guaranteed the Bank against eventual loss
which it might suffer in issuing the new bonds, ovv^ing to the alteration of the
standard of international exchange. The Germanic Bank of South America
ofEered, in the name of a German banking syndicate, to vmdertake the finan-
cial business. By a definite contract of October nth., 1912, it was stipulated
that the syndicate should purchase the 5 °/o bonds issued by the Bank for the
sum of 30,999,984 gold pesos of i8 pence or 47.999,976 marks, corresponding
with the simi of 50,917,474 current money, the nominal value of the
bonds held by the State and deposited in the Bank of Santiago. The
issue had to be made in 117,647 certificates of 500 francs each (408 marks).
The purchase price agreed upon was 164 pesos 25 centavos current
money, for every 100 pesos in gold of 18 pence. The term for repayment
of the bonds was fixed at 37 years, the Bank reserving the right of efiecting
extraordinary payments. The bonds are payable to the bearer, and are
printed in Spanish, German, French and BngUsh; they are exempt from
any tax whatever in Chile. By the terms of the contract the banking syn-
dicate was at liberty to invest the bonds for its own exclusive account,
whenever it deemed it desirable.
The bonds in current money belonging to the State were consigned to
the Bank, which, by means of an ofiice specially formded for the purpose,
proceeded gradually to bum them. The issue of the new bonds cannot,
owing to the necessary formalities, be completed within the year: The results
of the subscription of May 14th. at 9614. with half yearly interest beginning
from February 15th., were very satisfactory. The bonds were officially
quoted on the BerUn Exchange and thus another important financial
market was opened to Chile.
In addition its own special work, the Bank has undertaken the man-
agement of the afEairs of the Nitrate Credit Bank. This institution, by
law of September nth., 1912, had to cease business, and the Mortgage
Credit Bank has had to undertake the issue of documents of title and
the work in connection therewith till all liabihties are paid off. The
Treasury is to compensate the Bank for any losses which this might
inyolve. Under the above mentioned law, the Bank also took over the
debt of the Valparaiso Company for £31,202 and that of the Cit\ Railway
Company of San Bernardo for 106,937 pesos.
66 CHILE - CREDIT
§ 3. Loans.
The amount of lyoans made in current money in 1912 exceeded that
of those made in former years. In 1912 there were 1,038 loans made, of the
total amount of $71,503,200, against 896 loans in 1911 of 1^57,761,400.
There were 51 loans in gold (francs and pounds sterhng), and of these 44 in
francs for a total amount of 11,500,000 francs and 7 in pounds for £462,240
In 1911 the loans in gold numbered 254, of the value of 40,024,000 francs
and £176,260..
Of the 1,038 loans in current money, 301 were granted on rural pro-
perty and 747 on urban property, in the three cities of Santiago, Valparaiso
and Concepcion, the rural loans being fewer in number than the urban,
yet exceeding them in value by more than 5,000,000;
Rural loans . » 301 for S 38,308,200
Urban " 737 " " 33,i95.ooo
1,038 .S 71,503,200
Of the 51 loans in gold, 31 were secured on urban and 20 on rural land :
In Pounds In Francs
Rural loans ... 2 for £ 7,040 18 for fr. 6,263,000
Urban " ... 5 for £ 455,200 26 for fr. 5,237,000
7 for £ 462,240 44 for fr. 11,500,000
The greater number of the urban loans were contracted on real estate
in the city of Santiago (27,518,000 pesos out of 33,195,000 pesos ; 4,093,000
francs out of 5,237,000 francs). Of the rural loans, those in the province
of Santiago come first; then those in the provinces of O'Higgins, Colchagua,
Aconcagua, etc.
The ordinary sinking fund payments amounted to $5,222,100 for loans
in current money, 1,455,000 francs for loans in francs and £4,390 for
those in pounds sterling. The special sinking fund payments amounted
to $ 22,882,900 for the former and 24,000 francs for the two latter classes.
The mortgage transactions up to December 31st., 1912 were thus:
5,128 loans in pesos per . . S 280,052,500
286 loans in gold Fr. 51,498,000
20 loans in pounds sterling £ 647,500
WORK DONE BY THE MORTGAGE CREDIT BANK
67
These 5.434 loans were divided as under, according to the nature of the
property mortgaged:
Lo&ns
on
Land
In pesos
In
gold (francs)
In gold (pounds sterling)
N»
Amount
N»
Amount
1
N»
Amount
Urban . .
Rural . .
• 3,025
2,103
i
110,572,400
169,480,100
173
"3
20,188,500
31,310,000
8
12
476,680
170,820
Urban loans were granted very largely (i) on real estate in the city of
Santiago ; while the rural loans (2) principally benefited the provinces
of Santiago, Colchagua, O'Higgins, Talca and Aconcagua.
§ 4. .Issues.
The bonds issued in 1912 correspond with the loans contracted. The
issue was of 71,503,200 pesos thus divided: 38,961,000 pesos in bonds at
8 % '> 26,514,200 pesos in bonds at 7 %; 5,493,000 pesos in bonds at 6 %
and 535,000 pesos in bonds at 5 %.
The issue in gold amounted to 11,500,000 fr. and £463,240 in bonds
8-t 5 %• We must also mention a special issue in gold at 5 % made by the
Bank in accordance with the law of February 12th., 1912, of which
we have already spoken in section 2; these new bonds substitute the destroyed
certificates of various series owned by the State. The value of the issue neg-
otiated with the German banking syndicate is 47,999,976 marks, equal to
58,823,500 fr. This transaction, on the one hand, caused an extraordinary
extinction of bonds in current money, equal to the amount of the destroyed
certificates, and, on the other hand, an extraordinary issue in gold equal to
the amount in marks of the bonds substituting them.
Taking into account the ordinary as well as the extraordinary issue, the
total amount in gold of the bonds is 70,323,500 fr., and £462,240.
We give here the balance of the issues in current money and gold
on December 31st., 1912.
Pesos
S
218,347,700
71,503,200
Balance on January ist.
Issued in the Year .
Total
Paid off in the Year
Balance on December
1912
289,850,900
70,023,500
Francs
Fr.
39,824,000
70,323,500
110,147,500
1,479,000
Pounds sterling
£
184.485
462,240
646,725
4,390
31st., 210,828,400 108,668,500 642,335
(i) 2,774 loans in current money for $93,59(^,000; 149 loans (in gold) for 13,221 fr., and 6
loans in gold for £ 451,680.
(2) 495 loans of $45,658,300; 36 loans in gold of 9,768,000 fr.; ^ loans in gold of £77.000.
68 CHILE - CREDIT
The Bonds in circulation were distributed on December 31st., 1912,
as follows :
8" 7" 6", o ^'
In current money ... S 54,378,600 104.068,000 50,881,400 1,500.400
^ franc? Fr. — — — 168,668,500
/ pounds sterling . £ — — 8,310 634,025
§ 5 Reserve fund.
On December 31st., 1912, the reserve fund of the Bank amounted to
$ 8,408,977.54, including the balance of the previous year and a working
capital of 698,422 pesos. The special reserve fund formed by the conversion
of the paper bonds of the State into gold was increased during the year
b}^ $21,200 and now stands at 720,000 pesos.
We have thus shown in this rapid sketch how the Chihan mortgage sys-
tem pursues its onward course, rendering great service to the agricultural
prosperity of the country.
FRANCE.
SAVINGS BANKS AND THE INVESTIMENT OF THEIR CAPITAL.
OFFICIAI, SOURCES :
Rapport A m. le president de la republique sur les operations de la caisse nationale
d'epargne (Caisse d'Epargne Postale), 1912. IVIinistere du Commerce, de I'lndustrie, des
Postes et des Telegraphcs {Report to the President of the Republic of the National Savings
Bank (Post Office Savin'^s Bank), 1912, Commercial, Industrial, Post and Telegraphs De-
partment). Paris, ISTational Press; 1913.
Rapport A m. le president de la republique sur les operations des c.\isses d'epargne
ORDINAIRES iQii, Minist^re du Travail et de la Prevoyance Sociale (Report toihe President
of the Republic on the Work of the Ordinary Savings Banks 1911, Department of Labour and
Social Thrift), Paris, National Press, 1913.
An?toairestati3TIQUe. Minist^re duTravailet de la Prevoyance Sociale. (Statistical Yearbook.
Department of Labour and Social Thrift). 191 1. Paris, 1912.
OTHER SOURCES :
Huart (Albin); 1,'organisation du credit en France (Organization of Credit in France). Paris,
Giard et Briere, 1911.
lyESCURE (Prof. Jean): Das Sparweseu in Frankreich (Savings in France), in the collection of
Essays " Untersudiimgen iiber das Volkssparwesen ", published by the " Verein fur
Sozial-politik ", Vol IV, pp. 222-288, I^eipzig, Duncker und Ilumblot, 1913.
Milhaud (liQon) : Traite theorique et pratique de I'organization et du fonctionnement des
Caisses d'Epargne en France (Treatise on the Theory, the Practical Organization and Work-
im^ of Savings Banks in France). Pithiviers, Savings Bank Press, 1908.
Rostand (Eugene) : I<a question d'emploi des fonds des Caisses d'Epargne Ordinaires {The
Question of the Investment of the Funds of Ordinary Savings Banks). Marseilles, 1890,
RoSTAivD (Eugene) : I,a reforme des Caisses d'Epargne f ran Raises (Reform of French Savings
Banks). 2 Vols, Paris, Guillaumin et Cie, 1891.
Rostand (Eugdne) : I^e Concours des Caisses d'Epargne au Credit Agricole. Applications a
I'etranger et modes pratiques de realisation en France (Contributions of Savings Banks to
Agricultural Credit. Examples from other Countries and Practical Methods in France).
Awarded a prize by the Academic des Sciences Morales et Politiques. Paris, Guillatuuia
et Cie, 1897.
Weber (Anatole); Introduction k I'Etude de Prevoyance (Introduction to the Study of Thrift),
Paris, Rivicie, 1911.
Recueil de renseignements sur l'organisation des ADMI^^STIiATIONS DE l'union postale
UNiVERSELLE (Collection of Notes on the Organization of the Univer'tal Postal Union) . Pub-
lication of the Universal Postal Union, I^ausanne, United Press, 1911.
NOTBS ON THE POSTAL SAVINGS BANE SYSTEM OF THE LEADING COUNTRIES. United States Se«.
ate Enquiry, No. 658, Washington, 1910.
70 FRANCK - CREDIT
§ I. The SAVINGvS of the people and the problems of land CREDI'J'.
The problems of credit cannot be solved without a knowledge of two
fundamental points: the requirements of capital of a definite class of persons,
and the quantity of capital available to suppty this need. Added to this,
there must be knowledge of all the institutions which have to collect the
capital and invest it safely and serve in any way as intermediaries between
the great body of depositors and all those who are in want of credit.
A sj^stematic consideration of the financial questions in which farmers
are interested must not be limited merely to problems regarding rural credit.
It is necessary to consider the sources from which capital is obtained and
may be obtained for agriculture by the savings institutes. In conformity
Avith these views, we have already published in this Bulletin various
monographs, articles and notes on the statistics, organization and in-
vestment in many countries of the people's savings, almost exclusively
the result of thrift and not of lucrative investment. It is these
savings, which by their nature may be better than anything else
employed for the advancement of rural credit institutions not aiming
at capitalistic speculation but solely seeking the interests of agriculture.
People seeking safe investments rather than high interest, which has its
risks, ]nay find in agriculture, under due guarantee, an investment on the
safety of which the^^ can fully rely. On the other hand, farmers are
generally only in a position to borrow at a low rate of interest ard they can
find the mone3^ they require at such rate on application to the institutes
collecting popular savings, such as, the savings banks (ordinary and postal)
and the thrift institutes. Hence the desirability of explaining hovv popular
saving is organised in various countries, and showing the amounts saved
by the agricultural classes, and the amount of capital invested by them
in agriculture, and also of that not so invested.
In continuance of the series of articles we have alread}' published on
the organization and working of Savings Banks in various countries, the
present one refers to those of France and will deal wath the problems
which for some time have agitated the public mind there as to the
investment of the capital accumulating in both the ordinary and the
Postal Savings Banks (National Savings Bank) (i).
§ 2. The two typf.s of savings ranks.
The first Savings and Thrift Bank in France was established in
Paris in 1818 b^' the managers of the French iMaritime Insuran.ce Company,
as a limited liability society for the benefit of farmers, labourers, artisans,
(i) In this article we do not take into consideration all the institutions in France which ab-
sorb the savings of the people such as the "mutual societies", capitalisation societies and
insurance societies. We leave for a future time the consideration of the quantity and man-
agement of French capital every year invested in mortgage bonds, for the promotion of both
home and foreign enterprise and the foundation and assistance of credit institutions, among
which are many for land and agricultural credit in foreign countries.
SAVINGS BANKS AXI) THE INVESTMENT OF THEIR CAPITAL 7I
servants, and other persons in modest circumstances, but provident and
thrifty. Similar institutions soon followed in other cities of P'rance. As up
to 1835 there was no law for the regulation of these banks, there was great
variety in their constitutions. Some were limited liability societies, others
benevolent institutions, others were founded by municipal councils, others
grew out of branches of already existing institutes, notably pawn offices.
The law of June 5th., 1835 provided that the establishment of Thrift
and Savings Banks must be authorised by Royal Order and that the deposits
must be placed in current account at the Treasur^^ These decrees are still
the pivots en which the more recent legislature turns.
In 1829 there were only eleven batiks; in 1835 there were 159 with
55 branches ; in 1855 the number had risen to 386 with 171 branches,
and in 1881 there were 542 banks with 908 branches, and the number of
banks has, with but slight fluctuations, since then been stationary.
Yet, notwithstanding this wide diffusion. Savings Banks have not fully
made their way among the more humble classes of society, those classes for
which in view of their unhappy and precarious economic condition, saving
and thrift are especially necessary. In 1861 England led the way in the
successful establishment of Postal Savings Banks and was successively
followed by Italy, Belgium, Canada and other states and France, by law
of April 9th., 1881, founded a National Savings Bank (Postal Banks),
administered b}^ the State and worked through the Post Offices. I^ater
on, the sphere of this Bank was extended to Algiers and Tunis and branches
were founded abroad, where the French already had post offices at
Alexandria, Port-Said, Tangiers etc. Thus, we see two very similar types
of Savings Banks, the older, the ordinary savings banks, working as
private institutions of public utility, A^et under State direction ; the
other, the Postal Savings Banks, real State institutions.
It was however needful that by the law of July 20th., 1895, the rules
which had been successively established for the ordinary and postal banks
should be brought into accord with each other so that the sphere of
action of these institutions might be clearly defined.
§ 3. Ordinary savings banks.
The number of these banks, which in 1881 was 542 with 908 branches,
had risen in 1910 to 550 with 1,770 branches. It is seldom necessary now to
create new ones, because these banks have generally been instituted by the
Commune to supply a manifest need, and the existence of one in a commune
prevents the foundation of another in the same commune. Their sphere of
action is not, however, limited to their own district, for they may receive de-
posits from all who desire to transact business with them. Some of them
are under the real and unlimited control of the communal adminis-
trations, while others enjoy a semi-autonomy, but there are 107 completely
independent of municipal authority. They are all at liberty to establish
branches.
72 FKAXCE - CREDIT
The management is entrusted to a board of directors, generally fifteen
in number, who give their services gratuitously, receiving, if desired, count-
ers as tokens of their having been present at the meetings of the council.
All persons, women and minors included, may make deposits on their own
account or on that of others.
A legislative provision, quite pecuhar to French savings banks,
enjoins that no person shall hold more than one savings bank book;
any one obtaining two books, whether from the same bank or from
two ordinan,'^ banks, or from one ordinary- and one postal bank, risks losing
the interest on the sums deposited for a period, which may extend to
three years.
Deposits must not be less than one franc, and in no book may more
than 1,500 fr?ncs be entered. Should the deposits exceed that amount,
government 2ofr. stock is purchased in the name of the depositors.
Mutual Aid Societies, charitable institutions, co-operative societies and
similar organisations alone are authorised by the Department of Labour
to make deposits to the amount of 15,000 fr.
I^he rate of interest is the same as that of the Deposit and Consign-
ment Bank, except for a deduction of not less than 25 centimes and not
more than 50 centimes, each bank is at Uberty to fix itself. Since the
rate lixed by the Deposit and Consignment Bank is at present 3 V^ % that
of the Savings Banks varies from 3 to 2 ^/\ %, according to the Bank.
At the request of the holder, an account opened at one savings bank
may be transferred to another. Payments are generally made by the
bank at sight, but they are only obligatory at fifteen days' notice. But,
in case of absolute necessity, or to avoid a crisis in times of panic, a
Decree of the Council of State may limxit the paj-ments to 50 fr. per
fortnight. This is the so-called saving clause which was made law in
1881, in order to avoid a repetition of the inconvenience experienced
during the crises of 1848 and 1870.
The crisis of 1848 overtook the savings banks v/ith a debt to the depos-
itors of 355,000,000; of this amount 65,000,000 frs. were in current account
at the Treasury. Owing to the political situation, many of the depositors
crowded to the banks to claim their money. As it was impossible to satisfy
them at once, the Government made solemn promises to reassure them, and,
by a decree of March 7th., raised the rate of interest to 5 %, But the crowd
of creditors at the banks remained undiminished, and a decree of ^larcli
9th. limited payments to 100 fr. for each book and offered to convert the
remainder, half into bills on the Treasury at from 4 to 6 months, and the
rest into 5 % Government stock at par. But at that time the Treasury
bonds were 30 or 40 below par and Government stock was quoted at 70. As a
remedy for this state of affairs, the books were converted by a decree of
July 7th. into certificates of 5 % stock at 80 fr., a figure too high in view of
the quotations, and later, on November 21st., the deposits thus con-
verted received a bonus of 8.40fr. for every 5fr. of stock, that is a sum
equal to the difference between 80 fr. and 71.06 fr., the average rate for the
three months preceding the day or which the conversion was ordered.
SAVINGS BANKS AND THE INVESTMENT OF THEIR CAPITAT. 73
The crisis of 1870 was met in another way. A series of decrees
(September 17th., October i6th., November 17th. and December 17th., 1870)
authorised payments of 50 fr. at a time. The necessary capital was supplied
by the Bank of France, from which the Deposit and Consignment Bank ob-
tained 40,000,000 millions frs. at a rate varying from 5 14 to 6 Yi %• ^^^
transaction cost the Bank about 844,000 fr.
As regards the investment of savings, the banks are forbidden by law
of 1895 to administer the deposits they receive and are obliged to pay them
into the Deposit and Consignment Bank, a State institution.
With the exception of the sum which must remain available for pay-
ments, the deposits may be invested :
(i) in State or State guaranteed bonds ;
(2) in negotiable bonds representing capital entirely paid up, issued
by Departments, Communes, or Chambers of Commerce ;
(3) in land bonds or communal land credit securities.
The sums rot invested as above, which must not amount to more than
10 % of the deposits, are placed in current account bearing interest at the
Treasury or deposited at the Bank of France.
The Deposit Bank administers the reserve fund. Every bank must
form its own capital out of donations, the difference between the interest
taken by the Deposit Bank and that paid to the creditors, and interest on
its own capital. This capital may be invested in the purchase of fully
guaranteed bonds. Up to the fifth of this capital, and all profits therefrom,
the banks may use to purchase local seciu:ities issued by pawn offices or
other institutions of public utility and may grant loans to co-operative
credit societies or societies for the building of workmen's dwelling houses.
The savings banks are under the control of the State and a Superior
Commission of Savings Banks at the Department of Labour must be con-
sulted on all important questions respecting ordinar^'^ or post ofiice Savings
banks.
§ 4. Nationai. savings bank (post office SAVINGS bank).
The object of this institution is to assist saving by means of the Post
Office which is the most widely difiused administrative organisation in the
whole country and is most in contact with the people. In the first working
year (1882) 6,024 offices had already been authorized to receive savings and
the number so authorized at the end of 1911 had risen to 8,124 and by
December 31st., 1912 to 12,317. This rapid increase between 1911 and
1912 is due to the increase in the number of Savings Banks, even in places
where there is no post office, the postmen being authorised to receive
and to make pajnnents on behalf of the holders of post office books. In
sparsely populated districts in this way communication between the post
offices and the depositors has been rendered possible and convenient through
the medium of the postmen.
74 FRANCE - CREDIT
The work is under the management and supervision of the Central Office
of the National Savings Bank dependent on the Department of Public
Works. The accounts of the National Bank (Post Office Savings bank) are
audited by an accountant at the head office. All the rules respecting
deposits and payments fixed for the ordinary savings banks are also
in force for post office savings banks. There are special facilitations to
assist depositors in the post office to form their savings. To encourage
the poorest to econom}^ cards are distributed to which stamps may be
attached to the value of one franc, the minimum amount accepted as a
deposit. On ships and in every body of colonial troops branch post office
banks are estabhshed with the object of habituating the sailors and
soldiers to save instead of wasting their pay.
Depositors in post office savings banks enjoy advantages over those in
ordinary savings banks. The holder of a post office book may make
deposits and receive payments in any post office, while the holder of an
ordinarj^ bank book must address himself exclusively to the office where he
opened his account, unless he transfers it to another bank. A person
who has opened an account in a French post office may, by virtue of
international agreements with Belgium (18S2) and Italy (1904) transfer
his account to a Belgian or Italian postal bank, or keep his account in
France, while depositing or withdrawing in any office of the above
mentioned States.
The books of an ordinar3^ bank may be transferred to the post office,
and viceversa.
Payments may be made at sight to those who keep their accounts in
the Central Office in Paris. Those who reside in Paris and those who are
only passing through the city may receive payments about half an hour
after the request has been made. The owner of a current account in the
Central Office may apply for his money in any post office in Paris or the
suburbs by pneumatic post, or by telegraph at his own expense. The rate
of interest paid to depositors is fixed in proportion to the profits on the
amount deposited after deducting the working expenses, but it must not
be less than 14 % o* ^^^ amount deposited. The deduction for expenses
must be . so calculated that the interest actually paid on postal deposits
shall be at least 25 centimes less than that paid by the ordinary banks.
The object of this is to protect the ordinarj^ banks against the compet-
ition of the post office banks. At present the rate of interest is 2 V, %.
According to the law of April 9th., 1881, the National Savings Bank
(post office bank) must every day pay its surplus into the Deposit and
Consignment Bank. This bank keeps a part of the deposits in a current
account with the National Savings Bank at a rate of interest which must
not exceed that paid on Treasury bonds (law of December 26th., 1890).
The amount must not exceed 100,000,000 (law of February 27th., 19 12).
The rest of the deposits are converted into Government stock or stock
guaranteed by the Government.
Independently of its bills and acceptances and of its current account
with the Deposit and Consignment Bank, the National Savings Bank pos-
SAVINGS BANKS AND THE INVESTMENT OF THEIR CAPITAL 75
sesses a capital which on December 31st., 1912 amounted to 74,658,662 fr.
According to the law, this may consist of :
(a) donations and legacies made by outsiders ;
{b) unclaimed deposits belonging b}^ right of prescription to the
bank;
(c) profits on investments ;
(d) the capitalization of the interest on these sums.
5. Working of savings banks.
Now that we have shown in detail how the Savings Banks are organised,
let us examine the statistics of the working of both t\'pes. The figures
will show us the characteristic difference in the deposits made in each group
and also the difference between the French system and that of other
countries.
The ordinary banks are of greater financial importance that the
postal. This is due to various causes.
The ordinary banks in 1882, the year of the establishment of the postal
banks, had a capital in deposits of about 1,500,000,000 fr. and an endow-
ment of 32,600,000 fr. ; now, as every one knows, one of the forces which
tend to augment deposits in every country is the accumulation of interest,
and of constantly increasing compound interest. The interest on the
amount of 1,500,000,000 fr,, already held by the ordinary banks when the
Postal Banks had scarcely arisen, has in itself contributed to keep up their
financial superiority. There are also other circumstances which help to
explain the greater success of the ordinary banks : their higher rate of
interest, their position in urban centres, or richer and more populous centres,
the restric tion of every depositor to one bank book either in an ordinary
savings bank or in a postal bank. This last rule induces many depositors to
invest in the ordinary banks, as they prefer to obtain the higher rate of
interest. On the other hand, as the ordinary banks are generally guaranteed
by the communes, and their capital invested in Government stock, there
is no appreciable difference in either type of bank as to the security
offered to depositors.
76
FRANCE - CREDIT
Table i. — Situation of French Savings Banks from igoi to 1912,
Years
Number of Offices
Number
of Books on
December 31st.
Credit
to Depositors
Capital
of the Banks
Ordinary Banks
Postal
Banks
Ordinary
Banks
Postal
Banks
Ordinar>'
Banks
Postal
Banks
Ordinary
Banks
Postal
Banks
Branches
Banks
In thousands
(in millions
of francs)
(in millions
of francs)
I901 . . . .
547
1,333
7.772
7,246
3,806
3,349-0
1,080.4
144.4
4.1
I902 .
546
1.366
7,820
7-307
3,991
3,283.0
1,106.8
144-3
51
1903 . .
549
1,436
7,870
7,326
4,144
3,187.8
1,118.0
150.4
4.0
1904 .
550
1,461
7.883
7,422
4,345
3.246.1
1,187.3
160.9
4-1
1905 •
549
1,493
7,884
7,557
4,577
3,376,5
1,278.3
166.5
4-3
1906 •
550
1,526
7,912
7,668
4,795
3,434-1
1,338.7
171. 1
3.6
1907
549
1,573
7,938
7,794
5,035
3,543.0
1,433-5
174.0
3.8
1908 .
549
1,654
7,966
7,948
5.292
3,680.1
1.538.7
179.5
3.9
1909 .
550
1,712
7,919
8,116
5,542
3,833.4
1,639.7
186.0
4-4
I910 .
550
1,770
8,097
8,283
5,786
3,933.4
1.709.7
192.4
4-4
I911 . .
550
1,803
8,124
8,392
5,971
3,908.9
1,704.1
199.2
5.1
1912(1)
•
—
—
12,317
—
6,187
—
1,745.6
—
4.8
(i) For 1912, we have only data relat ng to the postal banks. The last report of the
ordinary savings banks, presented on July loth , 1913, by the Department of Labour to the
President of the Republic, shows their working up to December isst., 1911.
Notwithstanding that the ordinary' banks have fewer offices open to
the public, they have a larger number of books in circulation than the Postal
Banks. Of course the first receive larger deposits than the second, for their
depositors are more numerous, as well as of a richer class than the
depositors in the Postal Banks.
SAVINGS BANKS AND THE INVESTMENT OF THEIR CAPITAL
//
Table II. — Average of Deposits and of Saving Banks Books in France from
1901 to 1912.
Average Deposit per Book
in francs
1
Number of books
per 1 ,000 Inhabitants
Average Deposit
per Inhabitant in francs
Year
Ordinary
Banks
Postal
Banks
Ordinary
Banks
Postal
Bante
Ordinary
Banks
Postal
Banks
I90I
462.18
286.15
186
98
85.95
27.79
1902
449
29
277.28
187
103
84. 26
28.38
1903
435
12
269.78
188
106
8t.8i
28.59
1904
437
34
27323
190
III
83-31
30.28
1905
446
80
279.25
193
118
86.66
32.60
1906
447
84
279.20
195
122
87.48
34-07
1907
454
60
284.69
198
128
90.26
36.55
1908
462
99
290.77
202
135
93-75
39.10
1909
472
31
29581
206
I4I
97.66
4I.60
1910
474
87
295-49
211
146
100.20
43.26
191 1
465
80
28558
212
151
98.70
43-03
1912
—
282.12
154
—
43-50
By these figures we may the more easily perceive the greater importance
of the ordinary savings banks. This superior financial position of the ord-
inary over the postal banks may be observed in many other European
countries where the two organizations exist. We give some savings banks
statistics published in the Statistische Korrispondenz and already referred
to in our Bulletin (i).
Table III — Average Deposits and Savings Bank Books in some
European States.
Countries
Number
of Books
per 100 Inhabitants
Ordinary
Postal
Amount of Savings
per Inhabitant
(In marks)
Ordinary
Postal
Amount of Savings
per Book
(In marks)
Ordinary
Postal
Belgium
England (United
Kingdom) . . .
Italy
Holland
Austria
Sweden
1909 . . .
0.23
I9I0 . . .
4.07
I9I0 . . .
6.47
1909 . . .
7-39
1909 - •
M-56
I9I0 . . .
28.26
36.37
26.35
15.58
24.97
7-58
I0.09
23-75
54.87
30.12
171-89
164.78
98.78
76.73
40.60
46.55
6.75
9.42
48554
583.47
848.07
407.24
1,180.29
583.14
271.62
291.19
260.64
186.46
89.02
93.36
(i) January, 1913. Part III. International Statistics of Savings Banks.
yS FRANCE - CREDIT
There are two facts we learn from these figures, (jenerally, the number
of books issued by the postal banks is larger than that issued by the ordinary
banks, except in the case of Austria and Sweden, but the average amount
of savings per book and per inhabitant is higher in the case of the ordinary
savings banks (i). If we consider the total savings in the postal banks and
in the ordinary banks, we may see by the figures in Table II, that about
one third of the population have savings bank books. This is not an
average but the absolute amount. In fact, as we have said, the law of
July 20th., 1895 does not permit anyone to have more than one savings
bank book in his own name. This is therefore quite a considerable
that amount, above all when account is taken of another very well known
fact, that even the poorest classes of the French people invest a large part
of their savings in the purchase of personal estate securities.
It is seen from the statistics of the French savings banks that the
largest number of books contain entries of not more than 200 frs. But most
of the capital deposited by savings banks is derived from books in which
more than 200 frs. are entered. The concentration of wealth as shown in
the entries of large deposits in the bank books is above all observable
in the case of the private savings banks. On December 31st., 191 1,
55.65 % of the total number of books showed deposits for sums inferior
to 200 fr., wliilst in the books showing higher sums, the total amount
was 3,690,719,222 frs. or 94.45 % of the deposits in the ordinary banks
at the said date. In the books showing deposits of above 1,500 frs.
but reduced to that amount by the purchase of stock on account of their
having exceeded that sum, we find on December 31st., 191 1 a total of
1,828,821,306 fr. or 46.79 % of the total deposits.
Let us now consider the various classes of depositors, according to sex
and profession.
In the the ordinary banks, since 1894, the increase in the number
of books belonging to women has been much greater than in those beloging
to men. In 191 1, the ordinary banks issued 255,690 books to men, and
272,446 to women. But this excess of women depositors over men is not
observable in the total number of the books of December 31st., 1911 (see
Table I\'), because in the previous years fewer books had been issued to
women than to men.
(i) Exception must be made with regard to the United Kingdom, Belgiima and Holland, in
which countries the average amount of savings per inhabitant is higher in the postal than in
the ordinary banks. The explanation of this is that, either for historical reasons or because
of the special organization of institutions for savings, savings bank books are few in propor-
tion, and the deposits entered are small.
SAVINGS BANKS AND THE INVESTMENT OF THEIR CAPITAI,
79
Table IV. — Books of the Ordinary Banks on December z^st., 1911, ac-
cording to the Sex of the Depositors and the Nature of the Societies or
Associations.
Sex of Depositors.
Societies and Associations.
Number
%
Amount
in francs.
%
Average
per Book
in francs
Men
Women
4.237.547
4,117,011
55-77
49-33
1,916,817,163.85
1,944,568,431.72
49.64
50.36
452.34
572.32
Total . . .
Depositors of both Sexes . .
Societies and Associations . .
8,354.558
8,354,558
37,136
loo —
9952
0.48
3,861,385,595-57
3,861,385.595.57
47,473.778.62
100 —
98.79
1.21
462.18
462.18
1.278.37
Total and General Averages
8,391,694
100 —
3,908,859,374.19
100
465.S0
This shows that though women hold fewer books, they have hitherto
deposited a larger sum than that credited to men.
The postal banks have not classified the deposits according to the
sex of the depositors, but have classified the books according to the
sex of the holders. The figures correspond with those of the ordinary
banks; during 191 2, 10,848 books were issued to women against 8,604 to
men, and on December 31st. of the same year there were 325,038 (or 55,29%)
male depositors and 262,800 female (or 44,71 %).
The number of depositors in both the ordinary and postal banks are
classified in the following table in respect to their trade or profession.
Table V. — Depositors in French Savings Banks, according to Profession or
Trade.
Ordinary Banks Postal Banks
(19") (1912)
I. Heads of Agricultural and Industrial Enter-
prises 46,888 30,943
II. Bay Labourers and Agricultural Workmen 51,639 53,080
III. Industrial Workmen 63,435 107,421
IV. Servants 39,737 65,856
V. Soldiers and Sailors 5,868 24,903
VI. Civil Servants 25,482 64,570
VIT. Professional Persons 7,229 26,090
VIII. Landowners, Persons of Independent Means
and Persons without Profession . . . 84,381 94,673
IX. Minors without Profession 203,507 119,520
X. Persons without Fixed Residence — 792
8o
FRANCE - CREDIT
There are no statistics to show the amount of deposits made by each
class. And it is impossible for us, as we should wi^h, to give the number
of depositors belonging to the agricultural classes. Categories III, IV, V
and IX include depositors certainly of these classes, even if temporarily
resident in cities. In other categories (I, II and VIII,) depositors be-
longing to the agricultural classes (heads of agricultural enterprises, and
landowners) are counted together with others who work in towns. In
aU these cases it is impossible to give the exact number of depositors
belonging to the agricultural classes.
Besides the deposits of individuals, the statistics account for those made
by societies, many of which are authorised to make deposits up to 15,000 fr.
All the deposits, however, of societies and syndicates received in both the
ordinary and postal banks form but a small proportion, being only about
I % of the total amount of the deposits.
§ 6. The investment of the capital of the savings banks.
We have already indicated the various modes in which the law of 1895
permits of the funds of savings banks, whether ordinary or postal, being
invested. What are the investments actually made by the Deposit and
Consignment Bank within the limits laid down by the law ?
On December 31st., 1912, the sums to the credit of depositors in the
post office savings banks amounted to 1,745,563,726 fr. Of this amount,
40,571,671.41 fr. were in current account bearing interest at the Deposit
Bank, the remainder being invested in Government stock and in railway
bonds.
The property of the post office banks at the same date amounted to
74,658,662.72 fr. and was represented by a capital of 70,839,412.42 f r in
Government stock, real estate to the amount of 1,804,214.88 fr. and
capital invested in the building of post offices, amountng to 2,015,035.42 fr.
The following table shows the amount of the personal estate securities
in which the deposits and the capital of the Post Office Savings Bank were
invested on December 31st., 1912.
Table VI. — Securities belonging to the National Savings Banks.
Nature of stock
Situation
on December 31 st., 191 2
(in francs)
%
1,130,308,678.15
269,094,412.89
1,468,033,24
104,216,000.00
247,451078.40
18,000,000.00
5,293,265.07
63.66
1515
0.08
5.87
13.93
I.OI
0.30
Annam and Tonquin Loan
Treasury Bouds Redeemable in 19:13
» » » in 1936
» » n at Short T^rm
Government Railway Bonds
Total . . .
1,775,831,467-75
100.00
SAVINGS BANKS AND THE INVESTMENT OF THEIR CAPITAL
8l
Somewhat differents result are given by the table showing the distrib-
ution of the capital belonging to Private Savings Banks which is largely-
invested in real estate (28 %), and, to a much less degree than in the
case of the postal banks, in Government securities.
TabIvE VII. — Employment of the Capital of Private Savings Banks
on December 2^st., 1911.
Nature of Investment
Amount in hancs
%
27,302,735.12
13-71
56,053,487.06
28.14
4,093,001.67
2.06
8,492,696.04
4.26
993,643-02
0.50
6,187,950.82
3-II
4,429,682.01
2.22
3,655,596-57
1-83
87,989,496.88
44-17
199,198,289.19
100.00
Stock (purchase price)
Real Estate
Government Stock, or Stock Guaranteed by Govern-
ment
Commxmal and Departmental Bonds etc
I^and Bonds
Cheap Dwelling Houses
I,oans for Building Ch ap Dwelling Houses ....
Other lyocal Investments
Current Account in the Deposit and Consignment Bank.
Total . . .
From all this it appears that the Deposit and Consignment Bank has
availed itself of the power granted by the law to invest deposits in other
securities besides Government stock.
This system of investments has been criticised by many French econ-
omists who advocate the granting of liberty to every savings bank in re-
gard to the choice of its investments ; a liberty which, within wider or nar-
rower Umits, exists in some foreign countries, as in Italy, Germany etc.
To the French system many inconveniences are attributed, political,
economical and financial.
From a political point of view, it is clear that the savings banks constitute
enormous accumulations of capital, whence the State may easily draw funds
for public expenses, which, great as they are, may thus be readily increased.
From an economical point of view, it is complained that the Govern-
ment in a sense drains away capital from all parts of the country, where
savings are formed, in order to centralise it in the Deposit and Consign-
ment Banks, and thus to keep it at its own disposal. This does great
injury to small commerce, manufactures and agriculture. Eugene Rostand,
ex-president of the Savings Bank of Marseilles, has for a long time carried
on a vigorous propaganda and combated on various occasions in favour
of the Savings Banks being granted liberty in regard to the investment
82 FRANCE - CREDIT
of their capital. In an eminently agricultural country like France, such
liberty would doubtless give a new impulse to agricultural credit. The
writings of Paul Leroy-Beaulieu on the subject of savings-banks are well
known.
" Throughout the whole country they ask the lower middle and
labouring classes for their savings ; the high rate of interest they offer, too
high especially in France, prevents any local investment of the savings.
The savings banks thus suck up these infinitely small savings from the
whole country to convert them into Government stock, that is into idle
capital. They thus, to a certain extent, render all the hamlets, villages,
and small towns unproductive, taking all the germs of capital that may
be produced and carrying them off to be swallowed up in the capital,
to diminish the floating debt and the general liabilities of the Treasury.
Imagine the atmosphere absorbing all the moisture produced everywhere
and never returning it in fertilizing rain, and you will have a represent-
ation of the regime of the savings banks in France. "
From a financial point of view, it is stated that the system of the invest-
ment of savings in Government stock affects the price of the public fimds.
In ordinary times the price of stock is raised above its real value, and when
a crisis occurs its depreciation is the more serious because the banks are
compelled to sell in order to satisfy their creditors.
But these ideas are not shared by all.
The State, certainly, obtains capital through the savings banks more
easil}' and at a cheaper rate than by resorting to the market, and this facil-
itates the issue of Government bonds.
Is this a good or an evil ? To this question there is no general and
positive answer. The answer depends on the judgment passed on the
public expenditure. And this depends on the persons judging it, the
particular country and the special moment of its history. It must,
however, be observed that the facility with which the State proctures
capital from the savings banks is no more to be deplored than is, in
the field of private economy, the existence of credit banks supplying the
producers with capital, although they also thus facilitate the dissipation
of their patrimony by prodigals. In some comitries, for instance Eng-
land, the savings are used to pay off the public debt. In Russia the
savings banks are Government institutions, and they have, contributed
to promote rural credit through the Peasants' Jvand Bank and led to
the solution of the problem of the means of commimication, a matter of the
utmost importance for the elevation of the standard of living in Russia.
According to some, there is much exaggeration in laying upon the French
system of investing savings the blame of giving a false value to Govern-
ment stock, both in periods of prosperity and of depression. Are not
the depositors in the savings banks a special class of capitalists who en-
trust their money to those institutions which give the surest guarantees ?
And is not Govenrment stock one of the safest investments ? Nor can it be
maintained, many are of opinion, that such an investment is not in accord-
ance with the opinions and wishes of depositors seeking an investment.
SAVINGS BANKS AND THE INVESTMENT OF THEIR CAPITAL 83
It is stated also that though in 1848 and 1870 the State was in serious dif-
ficulty and compelled to resort to exceptional measures to satisfy its cred-
itors, yet for the future the so-called saving clausa, contained in the law of
1881 will obviate any danger to the financial position of the State that might
arise from the demands of creditors in times of poHtical and economic
crisis. And if the State be secure financially, so also are the depositors, who
are sure of receivimg the whole of their capital, although in exceptional times
payment may be delayed. And in times like those of 1S48 and 1870 in
France, depositors would be exposed to the risk of loss or suspension of
pajmient even if their savings were invested as in other countries, in mort-
gages, bonds or other investments.
Prof. Jean Lescure has recently repUed to the severe criticisms of I,eroy-
Beauheu and other partisans of economic liberty in regard to the economic
damage resulting from the investments made by savings banks in France
and in general from the concentration of capital in the hands of the State.
He observes that the State does not impoverish the money market by
investing savings in Government stock. One of two things must occur '.
either the funds of the savings banks will be invested in a Government loan
or, as more frequently happens, the savings banks will purchase Government
Bonds on the Exchange. In the former case, if the savings banks do not
subscribe to the loan, private individuals will. These persons will then
hold a sum equivalent to the amount of the subscription, and may invest
it in commerce and manufactures. But in the case of the purchase of
French stock on the Exchange by the savings banks, it may be said,
according to Lescure, "that the available capital of the savings banks
wiU pass into the hands of the bankers or capitalists from whom they
have purchased the stock." Th^s available capital must necessarily be in-
vested in manufactures or in bank securities, otherwise it will remain unpro-
ductive. It will then not be withdrawn from commerce and manufactures,
but will simply be conveited into Government stock before being invested
in commerce or manufactures.
It must not, however, be asserted, Lescure adds, that this obUgation
on the banks is without consequences. These are seen in the direction
given to the savings. The amount of savings remains the same, hut its di-
rection is changed. In the proportion in which these savings would have
been absorbed by local requirements it may be admitted that the oblig-
ation to invest savings in Government stock changes the direction of
the savings. The seller of Government stock to the Deposit and Con-
signment Bank may in such a case invest the capital obtained, for
example, in the purchase of foreign .securities.
Now it must be observed that this possibility of the deviation of cap-
ital is the fundamental point in the question of the investments of the
savings banks. Even without altering the system of Fremch savings banks,
it is clear that the State may in another way reconcile the interests of
the Treasury with those of the national production.
The State, even more than any private organisation, may perform a
work of great social and economic titihty, by acting as intermediary between
84 FRANCE - CREDIT
the depositors who entrust their money to it at a moderate interest, because
they place full confidence only in its banks (such as the post office banks) ,
and the producers, the small agriculturists, uho need money at a low rate
and, sometimes, owing to the concentration of the banking business in a
small number of the larger institutions, do not find credit banks adapted
to their requirements.
It is just with a view to balancing the growing necessities of the
public finances and those of production, that legislative and economic prac-
tice is following different methods in different countries, nothwithstanding
the different ways in which the savings banks are organised in them.
In Germany there are no Government savings banks (post office banks)
and the ordinary banks have above all adhered to the principle of localis-
ation of investments. As shown by statistics published in this Bulletin (i)
4,600,000,000 marks (that is 39.58%) were in 1910 invested in urban mort-
gages ; 2,300,000,000 (19.87 %) in rural mortgages, 2,700,000,000 (23.63%)
in certificates to bearer ; 399,000,000 marks (3.45 %) in loans on bills of
exchange, pledges, certificates of debts ; 1,500,000,000 (13.47 %) iii loans
to public intitutions and in other investments. About 60 % of the capital
is thus invested in mortgage loans. Now, the Prussian law of December
23rd., 1912 obliges public savings banks to invest 15 % or 20 % or 25 %
of their deposits, according to the greater or less importance of the banks
themselves, in bonds to bearer, which offer guarantee sufficient for the
investment of minors' capital. Three fifths of the obligations must be
represented by German Imperial or Prussian bonds.
This tendency to reconcile, by means of the distribution of investments,
the interests of the State with local interests, and of public economy with
private, has been pointed out by us in various articles concerning
savings banks in different countries, as Prussia, Japan, the United States
of America, Switzerland and Bulgaria. There is no need to dwell further
on this subject.
{1) Bulletin of Economic and Social Intelliience. February, 1913. Mortgage lyoans of the
Prussian Savings Banks and their Influence on the Dismortgaging ot Rural I^anded Property.
RUSSIA.
I. LOANS GRANTED BY THE STATE BANK ON SECURITY OF
GRAIN AND THE ESTABIvISH]\IENT OF GRAIN EI.EVATORS
IN RUSSIA.
Official sources :
RECUEIL DE DOXN^ES STATISTIQUES ET ECONOMIQtJES SUR L'INDUSTRIE AGRICOLE EN RUSSIE
ET DAXs LES PAYS ETRAN'GERS {Collection of Statistical and Economic Data relating to Agri-
cultural Industry in Russia and Forei;n Coj<n/M'e;s). Sixth Year, St. Petersburg, 1913.
Agricultural credit in Russia {In Russian). St. Petersburg, 1910.
Other sources:
BoRODAEVSKY (S. de) : Grain Elevators and the Co-operative Sale ef Grain (In Russian),
St. Petersburg, 1913.
DoROGENKO (A): State Bank Grain Elevators (In Russian). " Viestnik Melkavo Kredita ",
April 25th., 1913.
Hauschild (Dr.). Err'chtung eines Getreideelevatorennetzes in Russland (Establishment of
a Network of Elevators in Russia). In the " Berichte liber Handel und Industrie ", Pub-
lished by the Imperial Home Affairs Office. Vol. XIX, no. 7. Berlin, Maj"- 3rd., 1913.
JURASCHEK (v.) Statistik des Getreidehandels in der neuesten Zeit (Recent Statistics of the
Grain Trade). " Handworterbuch der Staatswlssenschaften ", 3rd. Edition. Vol. IV;
Jena, 1909.
State bank loan oper.\tioxs ox security of grain (In Russian). " Torgovo Promychlen-
naia Gaseta ", August loth., 1913.
The state grain elevator establishment on august ist., 191 3 (In Russian). Torgovo
Promychlennaia Gaseta", August 17th, 1913.
St-k. Spec'al Credit on Security of Grain (In Russian). In "Viestnik Melkavo Kredita".
September 6th., 191 3.
Ulbrich (V): The Organisation of Agricultural Credit is^ Indispensable in Russia (In Russian):
St. Petersburg, 191 3.
VoLKOFF (A. F.): International Grain Trade Treaty (in Russian). St. Petersburg, 1910.
WiEDENFELD (K.): Die Organisation des Getreidehandels (Or anization of the Grain Trade).
In the Handworterbuch der Staatswissenschaften ". 3rd. Edition, vol. IV: Jena, 1909.
Wygodginski (W.): Komspeicher (Grain Elevators). In. the "Handworterbuch der Staats-
wissenschaften ", 3rd. Edition. Vol. VI. Jena, 1910.
§ I. Introduction.
Russia produces a very considerable part of the grain in the world
and takes the first place among European grain producing countries. In
the period 1901-1910, the average jneld of the principal cereals, expressed
86
RUSSL\ - CREDIT
in thousands of quintals, was as follows, compared with the corresponding
figures for Europe and for the whole world : (i)
Wheat
Rye
Barley
Oats
Russia in Europe
» in Asia
149,500
16,381
205,554
6,593
77.114
1,695
122,672
10,385
Total . . .
European Production ....
World Production
165,881
459,480
838,217
212,147
383,477
397,978
78,709
194.257
268,487
133,057
345.944
535.198
The great agricultural reform now taking place in Russia (2), as well
as the active colonisation of immense areas in Siberia and the intensific-
ation of the methods of cultivation will lead to a further great increase of
this production.
A very considerable part of the Russian crop has long been exported.
In recent years the weight and value exported have been as follows :
Quantity of Russian Grain Exported in the Years 1906-1911.
Year
In Thousands of Fouds (i)
Wheat
Rye
Barley
Total (2)
1906
1907
1908
1909
1910
1911
219,995
141.674
89,803
314,469
374,590
240,486
65.336
45.164
24,910
35,499
40,538
53.873
148,810
132,665
161,389
219,202
244,701
262,200
69,544
21,137
29,374
74.663
83.947
85,059
590,758
470,382
404,930
761,939
848.553
821,057
(i) The Russian Poud = 16 kg. 38,
(2) Including other grains and various kinds of Meal.
(i) These figures are reproduced from the Annuaire international de statistique aqricole
(International Yearbook qf Agricultural Statistics), published by the International Institute
of Agriculture (Year 1910), Rome, 1912.
(2) See " General Outlines of the New Russian I^and Reforms ", in the Bulletin of Econ-
omic and Social Intelligence, November, 1913 and January, 1914.
I,OANS GRANTED BY THE STATE BANK ON SECURITY OprGRAIN 87
Value of Russian Grain Exported in the Years 1906-1911.
In Thousands of Roubles (i)
Wheat
Rye
Barley
Oats
Total (2)
1906
1907
1908
1909
1910
1911
205,686
155.756
113,064
384336
405,198
258,730
48.903
44.827
25,999
34.130
29,867
42,556
100,548
111,363
132,668
165,906
158,521
211,443
51,471
112,678
24,526
61,763
63,698
73,197
472,873
431,192
380,302
750,094
747.952
735.171
(i) The rouble = 2.67 frs.
(2) Including other grains and various kinds of Meal.
In view of these figures, it is easy to understand that a good organiz-
ation of the grain trade is of very great importance for the whole country.
Unhappily, the state of things is very far from being really satisfactory'-. Up
to recently it has been above all the dealers and brokers, far more than the
farmers, who have profited by the good harvests. By artifice and even by
unlawful means, they have forced the farmers, above all the small farmers,
to sell their grain at a loss. The unhappy economic situation of the peas-
ants made this possible, for they were obHged to sell immediately after
the harvest, when the conditions of the market were unfavourable. Con-
sider also the obstriictions on the railways and the delays in export by sea,
due to the speculators accumulating consignments of grain at certain seasons,
and finally the too frequent adulteration on the part of unscrupulous dealers.
When the competition of Canadian and Argentine cereals made itself
felt every day to a greater degree on the world's markets, the situation was
more and more disadvantageous for the peasant.
Economists and statesmen had long given the matter consideration and
the Government had long endeavoured to remedy so lamentable a con-
dition of things by instructing the State Bank to grant loans on the
security of grain. In 1910, it was further decided to establish an entire
system of elevators, a measure of which we shall shortly speak.
§ 2. Loans granted by the state bank on security of grain.
The State Bank was already authorized by the regulations of i860,
to lend on the security of grain, but the formalities to be gone through by
the borrowers, were so complicated that, practically, this form of credit
could have no development.
It was only twenty years later, in 1885, that credit on the security of
grain really came into use. The branches of the Bank were then authorized
88 RUSSIA - CREDIT
to grant it on the following conditions : The borrowers were to deposit their
security in the buildings specified by the Bank, which v\K)uld keep the keys; the
loans were granted by the ordinary Discount Commissions, which fixed
their amount in accordance not only with the value of the security and the
facility of realising it, but also with the confidence that the borrower
inspired.
The rate of interest was not to exceed the ordinary rate of discount.
The latter was still too much for the peasants to pay; so the development of
the institution proceeded very slowly.
In 1893 the abundant harvest brought into prominence the question
of the reorganization of credit on security of grain and the Minister of Fin-
ance took measures, which, at first provisional, became definite in the
following year, after they had undergone certain modifications suggested
by experience.
The formalities in connection with the loans were at first considerably
simplified; the borrower was able himself to keep the grain given as security
or deposit it with the various State functionaries or in the buildings of the
" arteUes ", co-operative or other societies etc. The maximum amount of
the loan was fixed, according to circumstances, at from 60 to 75 % of the
value of the security. The loans had to be repaid in instalments within
a maximum period of nine months, the interest varjdng from 4 14 to 6 %.
Not only threshed grain but even grain not threshed and other agrictd-
tural produce was accepted as security. The amount of the loans was paid
by the local treasury ofiices, or even sent through the post.
The result of so liberal a reform was a considerable increase in the num-
ber of loans on the security of grain. From 1885 to 1892 the amount of
these loans was only 19,600,000 roubles; for the year 1893 alone it was
29,600,000 roubles, increasing to 50,900,000 roubles in 1894 and to
62,300,000 roubles in 1895.
However, since 1896, the State Bank has thought fit to order its branches
to exercise the greatest prudence in the grant of loans to farmers re-
taining possession of their security. On the other hand, the term for re-
payment was reduced to six months, with a possible extension of two
months in certain special cases.
On account of these restrictions, the amount of the loans decreased :
in 1896 to 37,500,000 roubles ; and in 1898 to 36,100,000 roubles.
The conditions for the loans on security of grain have scarcely varied
since then, but, in recent years, the Government has made great efforts to
develop the loan business through the medium of the zemstvos, co-oper-
ative credit societies, private credit institutions and railwa3^s, considerably
reducing the rates for loans for them. Thus, in August, 1893, the
rate was fixed at 6 % for direct borrowers and at 5 ^ % for inter-
mediaries.
The State Bank being in the first place a central Bank of Issue, the
decrease of its direct loans was exceedingly desirable.
Various other steps have been taken to diminish the cost of the custody
of the security ; the borrowers have especially received considerable facil-
LOANS GRANTED BY THE STATE BANK ON SECURITY OF GRAIN 89
ities for depositing their securities with various functionaries or with the
zemstvos ; new agencies of the Bank have been opened ; above all, elevators
have been established, a subject to which we shall return to deal with it
in detail.
Besides the loans granted on security of agricultural produce properly
so called, the State Bank, after various attempts, in 1899 installed a
service for agricultural credit on duplicates of railway way bills. These
loans are exclusively reserved for persons regularly occupied in the grain
trade. They are given in the form of a bill at six weeks' date at most
and their amount may not exceed 80 % of the value of the security.
The following table shows the development of credit on security of
grain in Russia. We shall see that after the depression of 1896-1899, already
noted, these loans again began to increase, owing to the measures taken by
the Government.
Loans on Security of Agricultural Produce Granted by the State Bank
between 1885 and 19 11, in Millions of Roubles.
Year
lyoans on Sfcurity of Agricultural
Produce Strictly so called
By
the Bank
and its
Branches
Through
Credit
Institutions,
Zemstvos,
etc.
Through
the
Railways
lyoans Granted
on Duplicates
of Railway
Waybills
Total
1885-1892
1893. • •
1894. . .
1895. •
1896. . .
1997. . .
1898. . .
1899. . .
1900 . . .
I901 . . .
1902. . .
1903. ■ •
1904. . .
1905 . • •
1906 . . .
1907. . .
1908 . . .
1909. . .
1910 . . .
1911 . . .
19.4
13.0
34-6
50.0
28.1
26.1
22.6
23.8
28.4
36.5
35.8
42.4
45.7
45.7
47-3
41.0
49.2
71.1
104.3
122.7
13-9
8.2
2,9
3-7
0.5
0.5
0.3
0.9
1.9
2.4
71
4.2
6.2
8.8
21. 1
1 1.8
152
39.7
725
2.7
8.1
9-4
6.8
10.9
13.0
15-5
20.0
34-8
273
253
22.9
21.9
16.1
14.9
13.0
10.2
7-3
9.8
30
20.5
24.6
21.3
23.9
32.7
35-6
340
43-9
44.2
40.0
591
634
19.6
29.6
50.9
62.3
38.6
37-5
36.1
42.6
69.8
97.8
86.8
98.7
105.5
109.4
io6.2
120.9
II8.2
136.5
210.4
268.4
90 RUSSIA - CREDIT
The amount of the loans on security of corn granted by the State Bank
does not only show an absolute increase, but a more rapid increase than the
other forms of credit allowed by the Bank. In 1908, it only formed 5.7 %
of the amount of loan and discount business done by the Bank ; the pro-
portion increased to 6.9 % in 1909 ; 12.4 % iv 1910 and 13 % in 1911.
The good results attained by the efforts of the Government to develop
credit by means of intermediary institutions is seen clearly in the above
figures. No commentary is necessary in regard to them.
We cannot give the details of all the business done by the intermediate
institutions; at the most we can say a few words in regard to the oper-
tions of the most important, the railways and the popular credit
institutions.
The credit operations conducted by the railways on the security of
grain date from as far back as 1888, when the Government, in order to
regulate the carriage of grain and save the farmers from a fatal depend-
ence on local dealers, authorized the railways to grant loans on security
of the grain carried, on their own responsibility and out of their own funds.
The loans increased in number considerably in the following years ;
in 1893 the State Bank came forward to assist with its credit ; in 1894 an
Imperial Order was issued for the special regulation of this form of credit.
Between 1895 and 1908 the railways were the principal intermedi-
aries in the matter of these loans. They also established several elevators
and storehouses for the agricultural produce pledged. In recent years, other
intermediaries have somewhat modified the special position occupied
by the railway as credit institutions. Unfortunately, we have no figures
later than 1905, when the credit granted by the railways amounted to
56,988,000 roubles.
Since 1903, credit on the security of grain has been given by
the credit co-operative societies, and, since 1906, by the loan and
savings co-operative societies. These various institutions give credit in
current account, but the lack of storehouses has considerably hampered
their action. Nevertheless, on January ist., 1913, 1,478 credit co-operative
societies opened a credit on the security of grain of 18,850,000 roubles,
of which 6,180,000 roubles were actually advanced. The corresponding
amounts in the case of 166 loan and savings co-operative societies, in the
same year, were 2,590,000 roubles and 1,009,700 roubles.
*
* *
The decree of 1894 was issued with the idea that the loans would
be chiefly granted to producers; experience has not confirmed this ex-
pectation.
I^et us first of aU consider the credit directly granted by the State
Bank. Since 1896, the loans to dealers have been the most important and
it is only since 1909 that the percentage of loans to producers has increased
somewhat, without doubt owing to the scheme for the foimdation of a State
Bank then prepared.
LOANS GRANTED BY THE STATE BANK ON SECURITY OF GRAIN
91
With regard to the loans granted b}- intermediaries, let us first
mention that, from 1897 to 1899, the benefit of these loans was reserved
for producers, but since 1900, the year in which the provision to that
effect was suppressed, the loans to dealers have increased continually.
We shall give more detailed statistics on the matter in the following table.
Let us add that much is expected from the establishment of the co-
operative or State Bank elevators in the direction of reducing the propor-
tions in favour of the producers.
Finally, the credit granted through the medium of the railways has ex-
clusively benefited the dealers. The producers only received 0.8 % in 1903;
0.5 % in 1904 and 0.3 % in 1905. The development of new forms of credit
has not therefore liberated the peasants from their strict dependence on
traders and speculators.
Percentage of Loans Granted to the Various Grottps of Borrowers.
Years
By the State Bank
and its Branches
To
Rural
I<andbolders
To
Feasants
To
Dealers
Through the Medium of the Credit
Institutions, Zemstvos etc.
To
Rural
IvEudholders
To
Peasants
To
Dealers
1893 36.1 i 20.9 43.0
1894 15-3 ' 310 I 53.7
1895 41.9 ; I0.2 ! 47.9
1896 27,9 j 3.1 ' 69.2
1897 25.8 j 2.4 71.8
1S98 22.9 1,9 75.2
1899 18.0 2.1 79.9
1900 13.4 1.4 85.2
1901 II. o 1.4 86.8
1902 14.1 . 1.3 84.6
1903 15-5 i-o 83.5
1904 16.5 I.I I 82.4
1905 14.6 j 0.9 I 84.5
1906 9.8 0.9 1 89.3
1907 7.2 j 0.3 I 92.5
1908 9.4 0.4 " 90.2
1909 19.1 1.9 79.0
1910 18.3 I.g , 79.8
19II 17.3 1.9 I 80.8
35.9
17.I
27.6
5-4
40.0
60.0
33-3
33-3
42.1
5-6
9-5
8.0
3-4
0.9
1-7
2.6
3-5
28.0
41.4
10.8
60.0
40.0
66.7
22.2
21.0
12.5
9.8
143
8.0
I.I
0.4
0.9
2.6
60.6
54-9
31.0
83.8
44-5
36.9
75.0
84.6
76.2
84.0
95.5
98.7
97-4
94.8
We give below a few figures showing what kinds of produce were
accepted in security for loans by the State Bank and in what proportion:
92
RUSSIA - CREDIT
Agricultural Produce Accepted as Security by the State Bank
{in tJwusands of Pouds) in 1907-1911.
Kind of Produce
1907
1911
Wheat
Rye
Oats
Barley
Maize
Oleaginous Grains
Flour
Potatos
Buckwheat
Pease
Millet
Cotton
Flax
Tobacco
Wines (Thousands of Vedros) ( i)
Spirits of Wine (Thousands of
Vedros)
Timber for Building Purposes (in
thousands of Beams or Planks).
(i) I Vedto = 12. 29894 litres.
22,590
8.561
5.143
4.254
1,535
6,147
1.974
8,826
219
25.331
50,577
95,318
8,895
10,849
35,819
1 5.202
14,151
21.475
1 6,410
12,630
24,842
1 943
933
1,777
5.078
4,869
7,207
4,580
5,146
9,596
9,992
20,429
41,142
263
181
148
202
166
234
—
—
131.664
30,986
43.043
42,225
6,950
15.573
28,055
31.364
2,970
3,741
2,885
2,562
1,726
392
384
5.345
111 the three years 1909, 1910, 1911, about 6 % of the total production
of the four chief kinds of cereals was given to the State Bank in security for
loans. In his Budget speech for 1913, the ]Minister of Finance did not
fail to observe that the moral importance of this fact far exceeds its material
importance, for the possibility of the producers obtaining such loans, in
itself suffices to assure them of more remunerative conditions of sale.
§ 3. State bank " elevators. "
The estabHshment of elevators was first spoken of in the middle of the
last century but the proposal was not followed up. Later on, in 1883, the
Government charged a Commission to determine the measures to be taken
in connection with the fall in price of corn, and this Commission pronounced
itself in favour of storehouses of this kind. It saw in them a means of
bringing the producers into more direct relation with the market and re-
LOANS GRANTED BY THE STATE BANK ON SECURITY OF GRAIN 93
ducing the cost of transport. Elevators were to be established in the prin-
cipal centres of production not for purposes of gain, but in the first place
to serve the interests of the grain farmers.
These proposals were approved by the Pan-Russian Assembly of Com-
merce and Industry at Nijni -Novgorod in 1896, and by a Government Com-
mission in 1899; unfortunately, the war with Japan and the serious internal
disorders following it delayed their being acted on.
In 1909 and igio the abundant harvests again brought the problem
of credit on security of grain into special prominence. The lack of
storehouses was in fact one of the most serious obstacles to the extension
of this mode of credit, which the elevators estabUshed by the railway de-
partment or by private initiative only met in a very insufficient degree.
Thus, in November, 1910, the Government resolved on the estabfishment
of a system of State elevators, including 178 of them.
The State Bank entrusted with the carrying out of the programme
began by deciding on the construction before 19 16 of 84 elevators of a total
capacity of 58,800,000 pouds. An amount of roubles was deducted from
the profits of the Bank and set apart for this construction.
The General IManagement of the business of the elevators is under the
chief supervision of the Department of Finance and entrusted to an
Elevators' Committee and the Board of the Bank. The Committee,
consisting of the President and some high officials of the Bank, with whom
are associated experts and, in some special cases, various other persons, pre-
pares the estimates, establishes the rate of loans, examines the local pro-
\dsions for the classification of grain and decides several other matters ;
however, the final decision on most points is reserved to the Board of the
Bank.
The regions of production have been divided into districts in which
the technical management is entrusted to a Local Committee composed
of the President and the Inspector of the Branch Bank, Grain Inspectors
(officials for the examination and classification of grain) and, when certain
special matters are dealt Vv^ith, some other persons.
The Local Committee, with which are associated the representatives
of the zemstvos, the municipahties, the commercial exchanges and agri-
cultural organizations, forms the Advisory Commission of the district.
This Commission, which is intended for an office of public supervision
of elevators, gives its opinion year by year on the rate for the loans, the
methods to be followed in classifying the grain and the degree of hum-
idity or impurity that may be tolerated. It fixes the normal type of the
grain in accordance with samples obtained from the local markets and
examines complaints in regard to the classification made by the grain
inspectors.
In charge of each elevator there is a superintendent assisted by grain
inspectors.
Not less than 25 pouds may be stored, nor less than i,ooo pouds, or
about a railway truck load, if the grain is to be kept separate. The
depositor may demand that his grain be cleaned.
94 RUSSIA - CREDIT
On the warrant delivered by the elevator there is indicated the quantity
stored, its quality, colour, the degree of humidity and impurity and the
place of production. These warrants facilitate credit in a remarkable de-
gree, by means of the precise indications contained in them, and the Bank
does not hesitate to lend up to 80 % of the value of the grain deposited
in an elevator. I^et us add that the warrant helps to increase the num-
ber of sales by correspondence or even by telegram, which greatly contrib-
utes to the uniformity of rates throughout the country.
A commencement has been made with the provision of elevators for
the Governments of the South East, which are the most important grain
producing districts in Russia. In the beginning of 1913, the four follow-
ing elevators began work.
Elevator of Grasij Government of Tambov 1,700,000 pouds
» )) Abdoulino » » Samara 700,000 »
)) )) Valuiki « « » 500,000 »
» )) Tolkai )) » Voronezh 300,000 ))
The cost of costruction of these elevators was respectively 926,600,
463,000, 293,400 and 229,400 roubles.
According to the Torgovo Promychlennaia Gaseta (No. 178, of August
4th. /17th., 1913), the 8 following elevators were to have been opened at the
beginning of this year.
Capaaty
Elevator of lyiski Government of Voronezh 500,000 pouds
)i " Talovaja » » » 500,000 »
» " Miherovo Territory of the Don Covacks 600,000 »
» » Neprik Government of Samara 300,000 »
» )« Sorotchinskaja )> > .. 700,000 »
» » Bogatoe » » » 300,000 »
« » Ekaterinovka » » Saratov 500,000 »
)) )) Torbjeevo » » Tambov 500,000 »
The Grasij elevator may be mentioned as a model of its kind.
It is of quite special importance, as 30,000,000 pouds of cereals pass
through the station of Grasij annually. It is built on the American
system in reinforced concrete and wood, and contains 190 silos. The grain
is emptied automatically from the trucks into receptacles whence, auto-
matic lifts raise it to the higher storeys, where it is cleaned and classified.
It then falls back, of its own weight, to the lower storeys, where it is
weighed and stored. As the working day has ten hours, the Grasij
elevator can unload 160 trucks of i.ooo pouds each per day.
PUBLICATIONS OF RECENT DATE RELATING TO CREDIT IN RUSSL\ 95
2. PUBLICATIONS OF RECENT DATE
RELATING TO CREDIT IN RUSSIA.
Chasles (Pierre) Une Banque d'Etat pour le credit local en Russie (A State Bank for Local
Credit in Russia). Extract from the Revue de Science et de Legislation Financi^res. No. i.
Jan.-Feb. -March. Paris, 1913.
Work of the Land Bank of the Nobles in 1912 (In Russian). In the "Viestnik Finansov,
Promychlennosti i Torgovli ". December 2nd., 1913. St. Petersburg.
Work of the Long Term Credit Institutions in the Early Part of the Year 191 3 (In
Russian). In the "Viestnik Finansov, Promychlennosti i Torgovli". December 14th.,
191 3. St. Petersburg.
Work of the Russian Government Pawn Establishments, Special Bureau of the Credit
Department. (In Russian). St. Petersburg, 1913.
NiKOLSKY (A. B.): Improvement Credit and its Requirements (In Russian). In the "Viest-
nik Finansov, Promychlennosti i Torgovli ". December 7th., and 14th., 1913, St. Peters-
burg.
Part iV: Miscellaneous
ALGERIA.
ORGANIZATION OF AN AGRICULTURAL STUDY
AND EXPERIMENT SERVICE.
OFFICIAI, SOURCE.
GO\ERNMENT GENERAL OF ^VLGERL'i.. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, COMMERCE AND COLON-
ISATION : Organisation d'un Service d'Etudes, de Reclierches, d'Exiierimentation et
de Vulgarisation agricoles en Algerie {Organization of a Service of Agricultural Study
Research, Experiment and Publication in Algeria) .
In regions where even the tradition of agriculture has been lost, it is
not enough to facilitate the acquisition of land for the colonists and to ensure
them the tranquillity necessary for their labours ; it is necessary also to
guide them in their efforts, or at least to obtain for them the precise and
certain information only the State can obtain, with the least delaj^ by
means of research, studies and experiments methodically conducted in the
whole country b^' qualified technical persons.
It must be the care of the Government to provide the colonist with in-
formation as exact as can be attained, humanly speaking, with regard to the
conditions under which agriculture can be carried on, so as to permit of
its adaptation to them as far as possible. The more perfect this adapt-
ation, the more nature wiU assist their individual efforts, and the more
abundant will be the harshest and the greater the profits.
It is necessary to know what animals, what plants, what agricultural
methods are to be recommended. This is a work of research and experi-
ment that cannot be left to the scattered efforts of the colonists ; that would
be to expose them to serious risks and endless possibiHties of demoralising
defeat.
98 AI^GERIA - MiSCELIvANEOUS
Sometimes, success under these conditions may have its drawbacks ;
the success obtained in certain crops by a man of experience or one specially
favoured by chance in his empirical investigations, may lead, in an en\'iron-
ment where the struggle is hard and doubtful, to an irresistible enthusiasm
and an extravagant infatuation for this crop. It extends at once rapidly,
often even at the expense of other crops it would be possible to grow at a
profit. The countr}^ is then exposed to all the risks due to the cultivation
of a single crop which may disturb its financial and economic balance.
These considerations have led the Government of Algeria to be-
stow on the colony an information service and to organize a centre of agri-
cultural study, research and experiment. For this purpose, it proposes the
creation of separate technical departments as so many instruments suited
for special work, in order to apply them respectively to each branch of
the problem which may thus be solved in all its parts.
There will be four groups of these departments :
1st. The meteorological group will consist of a meteorological depart-
ment to study the relation of the meteorological phenomena to agricul-
ture, a matter of great importance in a country where the crop depends
chiefly on the rainfall ;
2nd. The soils group, which wiU consist of a geological department,
occupied with the ph3'sical formation of the soil and the search for under-
ground water and an agronomical department concerning itself with
everything relating to the preparation of the soil and the implements
required for the purpose.
3rd. The plants group, which will include a botanical department for
discovery, collection and study of all the varieties of plants that may be of
importance for Algeria, a phytopathological department to deal with the
subject of cryptogamic diseases of cultivated plants and an entomolog-
ical department for the search for means for the destruction of noxious
insects and the utilisation of useful insects.
4th. The animals group, which will include a livestock improvement
department to study the manifold matters connected with the improve-
ment and development of animal production, a Pasteur Institute for the
study of infectious cattle diseases and the means of combating them, and
a technical sea fisheries and agricultural department to seek out means
for the proper exploitation of the Algerian coast.
Experimental farms will be founded in various parts of the colony to
study the means for utiHzing for practical Algerian farming and thus placing
at the disposal of the colonists, either the discoveries made in the labor-
atories of these technical departments oi the results already obtaine4,
in other countries. The Department of Agriculture is already providing for
the establishment of such experimental farms at Sidi-bel- Abbes, Setif , Ser-
su and Batna for extensive cultivation and for cattle foods, at Orleansville
for the cultivation of olives and in Kabylia for that of the fig and olive tree.
Side by vside with the technical departments, there will be one for eco-
nomic and social institutions, which will have an important part to play. It
will study everything relating to the organization of short term mutual credit.
ORGANIZATION OF AN AGRICULTURAI, STUDY AND EXPERIMENT SERVICE 99
which has already made progress in the Colony, and that of long term
mutual credit, shortly to be introduced. It mil occupy itself with technical
questions relating to the work of syndicates, agricultural cornices and co-op-
erative nurser}' gardens. It may even serve to advise the Government
in all matters in connection with the organization of cheap dwelling
house societies which have already made good progress in the Colony. On
the other hand, as mutual institutions have no chance of developing except
on soil specially selected or at least prepared for them, it will be the part
of this department to make known to the populations, both native and Eu-
ropean, the possibilities of co-operation and to open their minds to the ad-
vantages of mutuahty. Finally, it must collect, in conjunction with the
Algerian Office at Paris, with which it must be in constant contact, aU in-
formation that may be of interest to the farmer with regard to national
and foreign production, the needs of the markets, the organization of sales
and the search for the most profitable markets.
The Department of Agriculture will start all these departments and
arrange for the co-ordination of their work. To keep in regular contact
with the farmers v/hom it is intended to help, it asks for the assistance of
a Superior Board of Agriculture on which both the heads of Government
departments, for which agricultural questions have an interest and the repre-
sentatives of the farmers of all the regions of Algeria shoidd have seats.
This Board should meet regularly, the technical departments should send it
a report of their years' work and it should give its opinion as to the work to
be undertaken in the following year.
Such is the programme of the Agricultural Department in regard to
agricultural experiments in Algeria. When this organization is realised,
it will be a remarkable implement by the use of which the colony may
hope to make rapid progress.
BELGIUM.
I. THE "MODERN VIIvLAGE "
AT THE GHENT UNIVERSAL EXHIBITION.
SOURCE.
L,E VILLAGE MODERNE A L'EXPOSITION UNIVERSELLE ET INTERNATIONALE DE GaND I913.
Evolution agricole- Esthetique rurale - Fermes - Edifices - Pavilions - Jardins -I^afamille
rurale-Bibliographie- Notes, comptes rendus, vues et plans {The Modern Villa'^e at the
Ghent Universal Exhibition, 191 3 -^ ^ricuUural Progress - Rural Esthetics - Farms - Build-
ings ' Pavilions - Gardens - The Farmer's - Family . Bibliography - Notes, Reports, Views
and Plans), Eiited by the Committee of Studies for the "Modern Village", under the
direction of M. Paul de Vuvst, General Manager at the Department of Agriculture
and 'Public Works, with Preface by M. Emile Tibbaut, Member of the Chamber of
Representatives and President of the Superior Board of Agriculture, Brussels. Goemaere,
Printer to the King, 19 13.
In connection with the Tenth International Congress of Agriculture,
which was held at Ghent from the 8th. to the 13th. of last June, in which
the most important problems now under consideration in the world of
science and agricultural economy were dealt with (i), as we know, there was
also a " Universal Exhibition ", which, as very many States took part in it,
contributing rich exhibits of their industrial and agricultural produce, was
equally interesting and instructive. But perhaps the most original and suggest-
ive part of it, which will leave an indelible impression on the minds of the
visitors, as it was especially capable of arousing ideas, and favouring studies
tnd entreprise among those who have the destinies of agriculture at
heart, was the "Modern Village". What is to be understood by this?
What was its origin and the intention in the mind of its organizers ? We
shall briefly explain. A special pubhcation, issued in illustration and to
record the happy innovation, by. M. de Vuyst, with whom the idea origin-
ated, gives u? an opportunity.
j I. The " MODERN VILI.AGE " AND ITS OBJECT.
The depopulation of the country districts is recognised to-da}'' as one
of the most serious problems of agricultural economics. The phenomenon
is more or less apparent in almost every country of Europe as well as in
(i) See Bulletin of Economic and Social Intelligence, December. 191 3. pp. 93 et seqq.
THE "MODERN VILI.AGE AT THE GHENT UNIVERSAL EXHIBITIOX TO I
Belgium, and everyw^here it is arousing serious anxiety and is the subject
of Government studies, enquiries and provisions.
Much has been written about its causes, which are certainly complex,
but one of the chief seems to be the want, as a rule, in the country, of the
conditions necessary for life, whether material or moral. And, indeed,
the want of houses, the bad state of the roads, the scarcity of water,
the deficient state of the public services, especially as regards sanitation, the
difiiculties in the way of communication with inhabited centres etc., are all
facts that certainly do not render co\mtry life agreeable and that, together
with strictl}' economic causes, often occasion the exodus of agricultural
labourers. These, who form the most numerous agricultural class, find in
the cities not mereh^ higher wages, but better organized assistance and
altogether a more comfortable and happier life.
" It is not enough ", writes M. Tibbaut, whose knowledge of the subject
of rural exodus is well known, in the preface to the volume mentioned above.
" to improve the systems of cultivation and Uvestock improvement, but we
must also give the farmer a possibihty of a life better adapted to the re-
quirements of human dignity- and such as may raise his profession in the
eyes of the public and in his own. "
The rural exodus, continues our author, which is assuming such dis-
quieting proportions, is not exclusively due to the attraction of the high
wages paid by industry, but also to the fascination of the cities with their
frequent deceptions. To improve rural life by means of more diligent
attention to the house, sanitation, modern comforts and even good taste,
will be to elevate the farmer and confer a greater power of resistence on
the country which forms the great storehouse of human energy.
The rural house is, without doubt, of capital importance for agriculture
and it is for the housewives to see to its furnishing, to give it a pleasant ap-
pearance and make it an agreeable dwelUng place.
But the task of the housewives — ■ observes M. Tibbaut — • has been often
ignored and it is M. de Vm^st's merit to have brought it into relief.
When, he writes, the housewife is suitably equipped for her economic
mission, in the family and in society; when, with her instinct for cleanliness
and good taste, she knows how to make the dwelling attractive; when she puts
in practice elementary ideas of domestic economy and good nourishment, so
as to ensure the men the restoration of their strength and the necessary
repose ; when she is fitted to supervise the cultivation of the kitchen garden,
to manage the dairy, and to superintend the field labour ; when she radiates
round her wifely and motherly affection, drawing hearts to her and glad-
dening them, and protecting others against outside dangers and disappoint-
ments ; when, finall}', she is equal to her task, the housewife brightens the
farmers' hfe, enhances its dignity, increases his power of production, and
makes herself a lifegiving centre for many farming households, endowed
with strength and courage, without which a country, can make no progress.
In accordance with the above idea, M. De Vuyst, with the support of
the Government and the assistance of a select group of persons, to whom
Belgian agriculture owes much, amongst whom we shall mention, in addition
I02 BELGIUM - MISCELLANEOUS
to M. Tibbaut, LEVI. Maenhaut and Melotte, profited by the opportunity
given by the Exhibition to realise an idea of his : namely that of the con-
struction of a model village, with many farms of every size, and good roads
lined with trees, and all the necessary buildings for public and private life,
suitably arranged and furnished both externally and internally, affording
a typical example of the way in which modern villages should be laid out.
The undertaking was not easy; indeed, in order to arrange the thousand
articles required b}'' the farmer in his work, and in his family and social life,
in a practical and interesting manner, a group of suitable buildings v/as
necessary, providing in themselves a precious lesson both in the best
arrangement of the village, and in rural esthetics and comfort.
The organization of the village was, however, presided over by a special
committee of studies which carried cut the plan in its must minute de-
tails. The village was thus constructed on an area of 35,000 square metres
and included the following groups of buildings :
I. The Model Farms. — These formed the principal and most charact-
eristic part of the village ; there were three of them that de serve mention :
first of all, the large Committee Farm, of great size, comfortable, well ventilated
and lighted, built according to the instructions of M. de Vu^'st, and meant to
give the public an idea of how to arrange the various farm buildings so as
to allow of the greatest economy in regard to labour and the greatest facility
in super\'ising the work. The buildings, united in one immense construction,
consisted of a great central corridor, with, on the right, the stable s, cowhouses,
pigstye and poultry yard, and, on the left, the dwelling house, storehouses,
hayloft and bams. In the dwelhng house there w^as an office, necessary for
the large correspondence and the bookkeeping, a dining room, bed rooms,
a large kitchen, a laundry, cellars, dairy etc. The pro\nncial committees of
the Farmwomen's Clubs of East Flanders, Hainaut and Xamur had provided
part of the furniture of the house, which was also well supplied with electric
machinery for the various kinds of farm work.
For comparison with this large farm, there was another of medium size,
on the Flemish model, called the Ferme Moreels, covering about 15 ha.
and fitted up by the domestic economy school, in accordance with the rules
of their art. It was built in such a way as to aUow the farmer to sublet
part of the house in summer, in case his own family were not too large. It
had an entrance hall, a kitchen whence the mistress could supervise the hands
at work in the cow houses, the dairy, etc., an office, a dining room, bed
rooms etc. The dairy was supplied with all the necessary equipment for
treating the milk, on the most improved system.
Opposite this edifice was a moveable structure intended for an itinerant
school of domestic economy.
And of course there was also a model of a small farm, of simpler style
and fewer rooms, but all furnished with elegance and taste.
A detailed examination of the buildings and their contents was a
source of agreeable surprises and provided valuable information and instruc-
tion. Thus, on the model farm there could not only be seen perfect buildings,
but also the farm family itself, in the bright and clean dwelling, where none
THK '^MODERX VILLAGE ' AT 'rHE GHENT UNIVERSAL EXHITUTIOX IO3
of the most modern appliances was wanting, as well as the cattle in their
stalls and machinery of every kind moved by electricity, every thing in
its proper place.
2. The Buildings and Public Services of the Village. — There was a second
important group of bnildings of which it suffices to mention : the Church,
the town hall, the rooms of which were utiUsed for the exhibitions of the
General ]\Ianagement of Agriculture, the Rural Office and the Management
of Horticulture ; the schools, the farmers' library, the post, telegraph and
telephone office, offices for the regulation of buildings, for the railways,
sanitation, electric light, fire brigade etc.
Thus all the public services necessary for a modern village were taken
into account.
3. Various Buildings. — Amongst these, in addition to the mayor's
house, the ^dllage inn etc., especially noticeable were the houses of the horti-
culturist, the gardener, the beekeeper and above all the Melottc Dairy. This
latter was equipped in quite modern style.
The interest excited by it is easily understood when we reflect that
daitAdng is quite the most important and most ancient of the Belgian rural
domestic industries. Today, as we learn from the publication under
consideration, more than half the total cultivated area is planted with
cattle foods. The number of cows also is increasing.
The trade in milk and dairy produce is considerable : these articles are
generally sold for cash, thus causing a rapid and lucrative circulation of
money.
Farmers in the neighbourhood of inhabited centres make a consider-
able profit from the sale of milk as such. In some districts it is also used
for feeding and fattening calves.
The manufacture of cheese is not very widespread in Belgium.
Most of the milk is utilised instead for making butter.
According to recent statistics, there are about 1,000,000 dairy cows in
the country ; and if we take 3,000 htres as the annual yield of a cow, the
3,000,000,000 litres thus obtained are utilised in the following proportions :
for Cheese Making litres 50,000,000
Rearing Calves ' 124,000,000
Fattening Calves " 120,000,000
; Human Consumption " 540,000,000
Butter Making " 2,166,000,000
Total .... litres 3,000,000 ,0(H)
As the quantity of butter is not sufficient for the consumption, an an-
nual amount, of 51,000,000 kg. is imported. About 2,000,000 kg. are exported-
104 BELGIUM - MISCELLANEOUS
In Belgium the butter is generally made on the farm, which is supplied
for the purpose with a cream separator and the necessary implements.
Some is, however, made in the co-operative and industrial dairies, of
which there are about 600, and which may be classified under the two foll-
owing heads :
(a) the central dairy, collecting the previous evening's and the mornijig's
milk from the different farms, and separating the cream in a special chamber
for the manufacture of the butter, after which the separated milk is
returned to the respective owners.
(b) the regional dairy, a form exclusively adopted in the province of
Ivuxembourg, with local divisions for the work of separation, and a
central dairy.
Each division has a chamber for the separation of the cream, provided
with the necessary apparatus for weighing the milk, sampling etc.
Three times a day the fa.rmers of the division bring their milk, immedi-
ately after the milking. The cream is separated, and the milk taken back by
the owners themselves.
The central dairy not only undertakes the making but also the sale of
the butter.
The Melotte dairy exhibited represented an intermediate type betv.een
the above regional dairy and the private farm. Substantially, it gets rid
of the local separating divisions, and keeps the necessary apparatus for
each operation on the different farms. Its motor car fetches the cream from
these and brings it to the central dairy.
The group of agricultural labourers' houses at the Exhibition was also
interesting and suggestive.
One of these was exhibited by the limited Hability society, " Eigen
Heerd is good Weerd " of Ghent for the pro\'ision of cheap credit to labourers
for house purchase. It was surrounded by 500 square metres of garden land
arranged and exhibited by the Ligue du Coin de terre et du Foyer insaisissable,
of which the Minister of State, M. Auguste Beernaert, the great Belgian
philanthropist and sociologist, is President. The work of the society is
modest and certainly it does not claim to remedy all the evils in the world;
but it is good and salutary and is associated with those principles of Christian
soHdarity and moral regeneration which will, to a continually greater extent,
govern the future. It is well, therefore, that the labourer should love the
land, to which his life belongs and where human laboiir is associated uith
the eternal creative force.
The object of the Belgian Homestead League is precisely to pro\nde the
labourer with a house and garden, an important matter in Belgium, which,
while small in area, is extremely populous and well supplied with the
means of production, and to make it easy for the thrifty workman to
become proprietor of the house he inhabits.
Belgium, as we know, is the country in which the consumption of chem-
ical manure is greatest in proportion to the area. There small farms are
extremely common and the comfort derived from the advanced state of
agriculture very widespread, which makes one think of the truth of another
THE "MODERN VII^LAGE AT THE GHENT UNIVERSAL EXHIBITION IO5
of the maxims affixed to one of the many buildings of the interesting agri-
cultural exhibition : " It is not only corn the ploughed land produces, but
an entire civilization. "
§ 2. The national, commission for the improvement
OF agricultural life.
The Organizing Committee of the Modern Village described above, wish-
ing to leave a durable record of its work, decided, on the proposal of M. de
Vuyst, on August 3rd. , 1913, to appoint a Commission to carry on a continuous
propaganda for the improvement of rural life.
It was to have a central office and provincial committees. The central
office would be charged to study the proposals, to centralise the labour, to
furnish the necessary inform.ation and to assist the various committees in
their work. These latter would be entrusted with the improvement of the
^dUages of their respective provinces, while, how^ever, always preser\'ing
their original aspect and characteristics.
This Commission was, in fact, formed in accordance with the following
programme : " of providing for the improvement of field life and the em-
bellishment of the villages, in every way suggested b3' the circumstances
and especially by means of studies, search for documents in relation to the
matter, opinions and councils for those concerned, publications, shows.
exhibitions and congresses. "
In accordance wdth its rules, it was composed of effective and honorary
members and may be divided into provincial sections. Its business is
administered by a president, three vice presidents, a secretary and a trea-
surer. It derives the funds for its w-orking from subsidies, gratuities and
the volimtary contributions of its members.
Its Central Office, meeting on October 7th., 1913., decided to organize
a large congress for the discussion of the more important problems in
connection with the welfare of the country districts.
The subjects on the agenda, mentioned in the publication we are consid-
ering, constitute a large and interesting programme of work for the Com-
mission itself. They are grouped in four divisions, that is : i . General Mat-
ters : 2. Matters relating to the Public Services in the Country: 3. Em-
bellishment of Villages : 4. General Improvement of Country Life.
Among the items included under the first head are : Importance and
office of agriculture in the general economy of the country, Encouragements
granted by the public authorities to agriculture, industry and commerce ;
Comparison between the advantages so granted in large and small centres ;
Utility of the societies for the building of agricutural labourers' houses, etc.
Among the subjects included imder the second head are those relating
to the railways, roads, posts, telegraphs and telephones, lighting, public
health, benevolence etc.
I06 BELGIUM - MISCELLANEOUS
The subjects coming under the third head relate to the problem of
rural esthetics with regard to peasants' houses, public buildings, road mak-
ing, gardens and villas, mode of dress etc.
Finally, the subjects coming under the fourth head relate to various
matters, such as the food of the peasants, the way to reduce the number
of labourers, small rural industries, elementary and professional education
as a means of inspiring affection for the land, agricultural libraries, family
life, the manner of promoting the progress of associations as well as the com-
plex problem of the relations between labourers and masters.
In these subjects indeed we have a summary of the movement of ideas
now evolving in the field of Belgian agricultural economy, which has found
its most effectual and happiest expression in the " Modern Village. "
2. PUBLIC ATTOXS OF RECENT DATE REI.ATING
TO AGRICUIvTURAIv ECONOMY IN BELGIUM.
(a) OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS :
Commission de la Mise ex Valeur des Terres Incultes (Commission for the Cultivation
of Waste Land) : Rapport General (General Report). Department of Agriculture and Pub-
lic Works. Rural Office. Reports and Communications. No. 6. Brussels, M. Weissen-
bruch, 1913.
Bareel (M.): Proprietes particulidres maintenues incultes. Taxe. Expropriation. (Uncultivated
Private Landed Property. Taxation. Expropriation) . In " Rapports et Communications",
No. 6. Published by the Department of Agriculture and Public Works. Rural Office.
Brussels. M. Weissenbruch, 1913.
Caron (L-): Encouragements a donner aux petits cultivateurs pour les engager a mettres des
terres incultes en valeur. (Encouragements to be Given to Small Farmers to Cultivate Waste
Land). In " Rapports et Communications ", No. 6, published by the Department of
Agriculture and Public Works. Rural Office. Brussels. M. Weissenbruch, 1913.
Lonchay (G) : Defrichement des terres communales incultes (Clearin;^ of Communal Waste
Land). In the "Rapports et Communications", No. 6, published by the Department
of Agriculture and Public Works. Rural Office. Brussels. M. Weissenbruch, 1913.
Veehaegex (P.): Encouragements a donner a I'initiative pour la mise en valeur des terres in-
cultes (Encourai^ements to be Given to Private Initiative for Cultivation 9f Waste Land).
In " Rapports et Communications ", No. 6, published by the Department of Agriculture
and Public Works. Rural Office. Brussels. M. Weissenbruch, 1913.
(6) OTHER PUBLICATIONS :
BouCHE (B.): Les ouvriers agricoles en Belgique (A .^ricultural Labourers in Beli^ium). Pub-
lished by Misch and Thron. Brussels and Leipzig, 1913
PUBLICATIONS REIvATlKG TO AGRICUI.TURAI, ECONOMY IN BELGIUM I07
De Visscher (Ch.) : l^e contrat collectif de travail {Collective Labour Contract). La Revue Gc-
nerale, January, 1914. No. i. Brussels.
Le Village Moderne a l'Expositiox universelle et Internationale de G.and, 1913.
Notes, Comptes rendus, Vucs et Plans. {Tke Modern Village at the Universal and Inter-
national Exhibition of Ghent, 1913. Notes, Reports, Views and Plans). Published by the
Studies Committee of the " Modern Village ", under the direction of M. Paul de Vuyst,
Inspector in chief in the Department of Agi'iculture and Public Works. Preface by M.
Emile Tibbaut, Member of the Chamber of Representatives and President of the Superior
Council of Agriculture. Goemaere, Printer to the King. Brussels, 1913.
Ettjdes sur la Belgique {Studies on Belgium). Lectures delivered in the sixth International
Commercial Expansion Course, organized at the Antwerp Superior Commercial Instit-
ute, from July 22nd. to August loth., igie, under the Auspices of the International So-
ciety for the Development of Commercial Education. Published by Misch and Thron.
Brussels and Leipzig, 1913.
CHILE.
THE IvAND QUESTION AND COLONISATION IN CHII.E.
OFFICIAL SOURCES :
CENSO DE la REPtJBLICA DE CHILE LEVAMTADO EL 28 NOVIEMBRE DE I907. [CenSUS Retum Of
the Republic of Chile for November 28th., 1907). Santiago de Chile, " Sociedad Imprenta y
litografia Universe ".
ESTAUfsTiCA AGRfcoLA iQio-igii. Oficina Central de Estadistica. Secci6n de Agricultura {Agri-
cultural Statistics. Central Office of Statistics. A'^ricultural Section) Santiago de Chile, 1912,
Tipografia, lyitografia y Encuadrrnaci6n. Barcelona.
Anuario ESTADfsTico DE LA RepiJblica DE CiULE. Ai*o iQii. Oficina Central de Estadistica
Mineria y Metalurgia {Annual of Statistics of the Republic of Chile, 191 1. Central Office
of Statistics. Mining and Metallurgy). Santiago de Chile, 1912, " Universo " Press.
ESTADfSTICA COMERCIAL DE LA REPtTBLICA DE CHILE CORRESPONDIENTE AL AJNTO I9II, Supcrin-
tendenza general de Aduanas {Commercial Statistics of the Republic of Chile for the Year
1911. General Superintendence of the Custom Houses). Valparaiso, 1912, Soc. Universo.
MEMORIA DE LA INSPECCi6n GENERAL DE COLONIZACI6N E IMMIGRAC16N CORRESPONDIENTE
A 1911. {Report of the General Inspection of Colonisation and Immigration for 1911). San-
tiago, " Universo " Press.
NoTiziE Statistiche SULLA Repubblica DEL CiLE {Statistical Information ou the Republic
of Chile). General Consulate of Chile in Italy. Rome, 1914.
OTHER SOURCES :
Bertrand (Alejandro) : Conferencias sobre cuestiones salitreras {Lectures on Questions con-
nected with Nitre). Santiago, 1912, Barcelona Press.
Encina (Francisco A.): Nuestra inferioridad econ6nuca. Sus causas, sus conseciiencias. {Our
Economical Inferiority. Its Causes and Consequences). Santiago, 1912, Imprenta Univers-
itaria.
Galdames (I<uis): Jeografia econ6mica de Chile. {Economic Geography of Chile) . Santiago de
Chile. 191 1, Imprenta Universitaria.
GaldAmes (I<uis): El comercio interior de Chile {Chili Home Trade). Santiago, 1909,
Soc. « Universo ».
IRARRAZAVAL (I,. Jose) : El ganado lanar en Magallancs {Sheep in the Territory of Magellan).
Santiago, 1910, Imp. Barcelona.
Perez (Canto Julio) : Chile, Porter's Progress of Nations. I^ondon, 1912. George Routledge
and Sons I,td.
Maira (Carlo) : lycgislacibn forestal. Discurso pronunciado en las sc-sioncs del 30 y 31
agosto 1912 en la CdmaradeDiputados {Forestal Le;islation. Discourse pronounced August
Soth., igi2 in the Chamber of Deputies). Santiago, 1912. Published in the newspaper
" El Mercuric ".
THE IvAND QUESTION AND COI,ONISATION JO9
SCHMEiDER (Teo'iloro) : lya Agricultura en Chile en los liltimos cincuenta anos {A'^riculture in
Chile in the last FiftyYears). Santiago dc Chile, 1904 . Imprenta. lyitografia y encuadcmaci6n
Barcelona.
Vald±S (Tagle Elias) : I,a cuesti6n obrcra y el credito agiicola en Chile (7 he Labour Question and
A",ncultural Credit in Chile). Santiago de Chile, 1911, Barcelona Press.
Breve RESEfJA AGRf COLA DE CHILE (Short Notes on Agriculture in Chile). Santiago, 1909, Soc.
Universo.
Chile: A General Sketch compiled by the International Bureau of American Republics. Wash-
ington, 1909.
Republic of Chile: A short Description according to Official Data.Iyeipzig, 1903, P'. A.Brock-
haus.
" El Mercuric, " Daily Newspaper of Santiago. "Vears 1912 and 1913.
Chile is known almost exclusively as a mining country and above all as
the great storehouse whence the world obtains its supply of nitrates. lyittle
in known bj'' the general world of its agriculture or of the forests whicii form
a great part of its wealth. Its agricultural production has attained consider-
able importance, but is still capable of immense development, because there
is a large area of soil as yet untilled as well as whole regions of virgin forest
and unutilised pasture laud. In this article, we propose to give an outline
of the agricultural economy of Chile, and show the resources, the pro-
gress and the future of its agriculture, as we have already done in the case
of other cotmtries of Latin America ; and, finally, to consider the Chilian
land question, which is, in great part, only a problem of colonisation.
§ I. Some geographical and demographic data.
The form of its territor}^ is quite pecuUar to Chile, a long stretch
of land (757,366 square kilometres) extending north and south along the
shore of the Pacific Ocean, between the 17th. and the 56th. degree of
South latitude, and bounded in its total length on the East b}' the the
CordiUeras of the Andes. Its width varies from 140 to 420 kilometres, its
total length being 4,300 kilometres.
Southern Chile has several islands along its coast between the 41st.
parallel of latitude and Cape Horn.
Owing to its special conformation, its length stretching through 39
degrees of latitude, Chile presents much variety of climate. Its northern
part is tropical with tropical productions ; its middle part is temperate
and more adapted for agriculture, while the southern part has a cold
cHmate and is particularly rich in forests. The greater part of the
cultivated land lies between the Andes and the sea, more particularly in
the middle region, which also has the largest population.
I. Geographical Zones of Agriculture. — We have spoken of three geo-
graphical zones into which Chile may be divided, and these correspond
with three distinct zones of production.
no CHUE - MISCELI^ANEOUS
(i) The northern zone, extending from the confines of Peru to Coqviimbo
(lat. 30°), is almost exclusively a mineral region. It yields in abundance many
valuable products, such as guano, nitrates, borax, iodine, silver, copper,
iron etc.
It is from here that Chih supplies the farmers of the whole world with
nitrates, the production of which increases year by year, and the export
duty on whi> h furnishes a considerable part of the country's financial
resources.
Here the climate is warm and dry all the year and rain seldom falls.
In the interior the temperature is very high, but on the coast, owing to the
cold Hvimboldt's current, it is moderate, ranging from a maximum of 30
to a minimum of Z'. The difference of temperature betv/een day and
night is very great.
As there is almost no rainfall, agiiculture can only prosper in the
vicinity of the few streams. Yet the fertility of the land is great, and where
it is cultivated and irrigated its produce is of the best quahty. Future suc-
cess in this zone must depend on irrigation.
{2) The middle zone extends to the province of Concepcion (lat. 37°).
It has a temperate and veiy healthy chmate. The maximum temperature
si 35°, the minimum ■ — 2°. The seasons are clearly marked. Rain falls
only in winter, increasing in quantity towards the south, with a yearly
average fall of 170 milHmetres at Coquimbo, 500 mn;. at Santiago, and
1,000 mm. at Concepci6n. We must observe, however, that some years
are exceptionally dry, others equally rainy, and these average figures are
therefore inappHcable to either.
This zone, although the soil contains copper, coal and iron, and it has
many industries, is above all agricultural. The ground is very fertile,
especially in the northern part, for the phosphorc acid and calcareous
deposits of the soil gradually diminish towards the south. The largest returns
are obtained fiom vines, fruit-trees, cereals, vegetables and cattle foods.
Particularly prosperous is the valle^'' lying bat ween the Andes of the interior
and the coast chain ; a branch of the Andes following the coast line and
gradually rising to the height of 1,000 and 2,500 metres.
(3) The southern zone comprises the remainder of the Chilian territory,
that is from Concepcion to Cape Horn ; the climate is damp and cold.
The maximum temperature is 20" and the minimum — bP. Rains are
abundant, and fall during eight or nine months of the year, so that at
Valdivia (lat. 30^ 49S.) the average rainfall is 2.55 m ; and it is 3 m. and more
towards the Straits of Magellan.
This zone, with the exception of a part entirely unproductive, is nearly
covered with woods and meadows, so that it lends itself chiefly to forest
exploitation and sheep improvement.
But the subdivision of the country in this way must not be considered
as absolute, for in the northern zone we may find cultivated tracts, in
the middle zone, where these most abotmd, iron and copper are foimd,
while in the southern zone there are beds of coal.
THE LAND QUESTION AND COLONISATION , III
The tracts best suited for agriculture are found in the plains and slopes
of the middle zone, and the more northern part of the southern.
The middle and southern zones are watered by numerous torrents from
the Andes, which are utilised for purposes of irrigation. On account of
their short course and the great changes in the level of their beds, they
often overflow after abmidant rains and cause inundations. The middle
zone is the best irrigated, for here we find the rivers Maipo, Mapocho,
Maule and Bio-Bio. The two last bring down respectively 10,000 and
16,000 feet of water per second ; the Bio-Bio is navigable for
smaU craft.
On the coast are numerous ports ; the more important, from south
to north, are Punta Arenas, Valparaiso, Talcahnano, Antofagasta and
Iquique.
2. Population. — This is chiefly of European origin. The original race
of Indians or Araucans, who are still in a backward state of civiUsation,
have become few, and will probably soon disappar altogether. According
to the census of 1907, there were 101,000 of them all told, concentrated in
a little tract in the south called Araucania.
The population of Chile has not increased very rapidly ; in 1835 it
amounted to 1,010,000 ; in 1910 it was calculated at 3,500,000 (i). The
census of 1907 showed an increase of. 1.52% as compared with the figures
given by the last held in 1895. This increase was due almost entirely to
births, for there is little immigration and it is even decreasing : (in 1908
there were 5,584 immigrants ; in 1910, 2,543 ; in 1913, 622 ; in 1912, 1,599).
The distribution of the population is much influenced by the geograph-
ical and physical conditions ; in the northern zone, warm and above all
rich in mines, and in the southern zone, cold and pastoral, the density is
very low (from i to 1.2 per square km.) ; in the middle zone, temperate
and agricultural, the density is highest (from 35 to 55 per sq. km.) Here are
found the most populous cities, Santiago (350,000 inhabitants), Valparaiso
(175,000 inhabitants), Concepcion (60,000 inhabitants).
There is a marked tendency towards concentration in cities ; according
to the census of 1885, the rtiral population was double the urban, v/hile,
according to the census of 1895 and that of 1907, the urban population was
respectively 39 % and 43 % of the total.
The number of strangers, computed at 135,000, form only 4 % of the
population, and are chiefly Bolivians and Peruvians (in all about 50,000):
Other nationalities most largely represented are Spanish, Italian, English
and Erench. According to the census of 1895, the total number of foreigners
was only 79,000.
The working population is calculated at 1,250,000 individuals thus
divided :
(i) It is thought the figures given by the census fall short of tlie truth. In fact the popul-
ation of Chili is calculated at 4,000,000 at least.
112 CHILE - MISCELLANEOUS
(i) Persons occupied in agriculture, peasants and
agricultural labourers 220,000
(2) Persons occupied in manufacturing and dom-
estic industries :
(a) On wages or engaged on piece work . . . 300,000 j
{b) Milliners and dressmakers 1.50,000 > 450,000
(c) Tradesmen, contractors, employees .... 20,000 )
(3) Persons occupied in mining industries . . . 40,000
(4) Persons occupied in commerce (proprietors,
employees) 140,000
(5) Members of liberal professions 30,000
(6) Public officials:
(a) Civil servants 10,000 |
{b) Army, navy, police 30,000 ) ^ '
(7) Domestic servants 90,000
(8) Labourers without fixed occupation 240,000
Total . . . 1,250,000
The movement of the population of late years has been as follows :
Fxcess
Year Births Marriages DeaUis of Births
1906 .
1907 .
1908 .
1909 .
1910 .
I9I2 .
117,032 18,507 104,890 12,142
126,104 21,286 96,534 29,570
120,733 21,483 104,226 25,507
129,333 19-637 104,707 24,626
129,999 19.352 109,399 20,600
135,255 21,298 107,887 27,368
Thus we see the birth-rate has risen. The death rate is kept up through
infant mortality, which is highest among the working classes, owing to
unsanitary conditions and the want of proper treatment.
§ 2. The bases of tile nation.al economy.
The bases of the national economy are the extractive industries, agricul-
ture and manufactures. The predominance of the first and the monopoly
which the country enjo3''s in the production of nitrates give Chilian economy
its special characteristics, which will be examined in the present article.
I. Extractive industries. — - The profits of the extractive industries were
valued in 1911 at 330.000.000 gold pesos (i). Nitrates figure for 269,000,000
(i) It must be observed that the monetary system in Chile is on a paper basis, with
compulsory circulation ; the value of the paper peso is subject to great fluctuations.
The standard goll coin is the gold peso worth 18 pence (= 1.89 fr.) with an agio of
about 80 % in paper. During the last few years the paper peso, of the same nominal
value as the gold peso, has been quoted on an average at 1,05 fr.
In this article, peso, means the paper peso, except when the gold peso is specified.
THE LAND QUESTION AND COLONISATION
113
gold pesos, and the other minerals, which in order of importance are
copper, coal, iron, gold, etc., only at 61,000,000 pesos.
It is evident that the production of nitrates preponderates above all
other extractive industries ; but its importance in the Chilian economy will
be better appreciated in relation to other facts.
The nitrous region, almost desert and distant from the centres of
agricultural production, gives rise to an active internal traflftc to supply
its demand for food and other produce. This fact is of great importance
as regards the price of agricultural produce and consequently of the revenue
from land. In 1910 articles of food brought into the ports by the coasting trade
were valued at 206,400,000 gold pesos; of this sum about 99,700,000 gold
pesos, i. e. 49% was value of goods for the nitrous zone, which covers an
area of scarcely 73,958 square miles and has only 223,000 inhabitants, or
7.3% of the population.
It must be observed that the nitrate industry is one of the chief
sources of the wealth of the State to which it contributes in the form of
export duties about 40 % of the whole revenue. In 19 12 the State
received from this source 185,037,724 gold pesos.
The produce of the extractive industry is almost all exported, constit-
uting about ^/g of the whole value of the exports.
2. Agriculture. — Second in importance comes agriculture, though
in reality less lucrative than manufacturing industry. But under the latter
head come all trades connected with agriculture, livestock improvement,
utilisation of timber, etc. Agriculture, with the industries connected with
it, furnishes the greatest part of the food supply and occupies the largest
number of people ; the home trade is chiefly in its produce and it ab-
sorbs the largest proportion of the capital invested in the country (57 %).
3. Mamijacturing Industry. — This is chiefly directed towards the
production of food, by the treatment of the produce of agriculture, as
shown in the following table for the year 1909.
Industrial Treatment of
Capital
Invested
Raw
Material
Yield
Nomber
of Workmen
Employed
In millions of gold pesos
Vegetable Produce
Animal »
115
40
34
33
98
32
12
25
160
56
51
29,350
14.750
11,800
Mineral »
Other »
19,900
Total . . .
222
167
300
75,800
114 CHILE - MISCELLANEOUS
Among industries connected with the preparation of vegetable produce
must be noted the making of flour and bread, sugar refining (i), the very
flourishing breweries, the making of macaroni and of jams, and the
utiHsation of timber especially for furniture making.
Among industries connected with animal produce, the first place is
taken by tanning and the making of soles and of shoes; then come the pre-
serving of meat, refining of fats, and soap-making. Other industries which
must not be forgotten are weaving, the manufacture of paper, glass, etc.
According to a recent report of the Consul General of Chile in Italy,
the factories now working are 5,722 in number, with a motor force of
H. P. 61,046, distributed among 2,945 motors ; the capital employed is
472,000.000 fr. ; the raw material imported was calculated in 1912 at
106,000,000 fr., the raw material of the country itself was 195,000,000 fr.
and the annual production of the factories was 536,000,000 fr.
§ 3. Agricultural produce.
In Chile agriculture has followed a different course to that it has taken
in other new countries with temperate climates. Fifty years ago, Chile
supplied the Argentine RepubHc, Australia, California and Peru wnth grain
and flour, but now it takes a subordinate place, as an exporter of these
articles.
The exportation of wheat, which in 1845 was 4,000 tons, rose in 1887 to
124,000 tons, but fell in 1890 to 28,927 tons, and in 1911 to 13,841 tons.
The export of flour also diminished from 129,000 tons in 1887 to 32,000
in 1890 and even to 5,150 in 1911.
This is due to the radical change in the system of colonisation and of
the agricultural development of large and fertile countries like Argentina,
the United States, Canada and Australia, which offer more favourable con-
ditions for production.
Chilian agriculture has therefore been obliged to concentrate itself
on the home market, but the wide field which this offers has enabled agri-
culture to develop in spite of reduced exportation.
And in fact production has continued to increase, owing to the increased
capacity of the home market since the annexation of the nitrous zone in the
provinces of Tacna and Arica conquered from Peru in 1884.
As there are no statistics for earlier years, we can only give the estimates
of private authorities, according to which the wheat growing area was in
1870, 1880 and 1885, respectively, 270,980 ha., 297,127 ha. and 292,979 ha.
According to official statistics, the area devoted to wheat is now about
418,000 hectares (2).
(i) The sugar is imported raw from Peru.
(2) From unofficial returns it appears that the grain growing area is about one million hec-
tares.
THE LAND QTJESTION AND COI/DNISATION
115
There are no precise data regarding the laud devoted to agriculture;
according to some authorities, it is from 13,000,000 to 15,000,000 hec-
tares (i); according to others the agricultural area is 38,000,000 hectares (2).
The forests occupy, some think, about 9,000,000 hectares; according to
others, they extend over fully 18,000,000 hectares.
The cultivated area, according to data recently supplied to us, does not
on an average, exceed 1,100,000 ha. The following table shows the dis-
tribution of the land according to the various crops, and the corresponding
yield, in the two years 1907-8 and 1911-12, together with the average for
the five years (3) :
1 907- 1 908
1911-1912
Crop
Area
Cultivated
Yield
5 years
1909-1912 (averages)
Area
Cultivated
Yield
Area
I Cultivated
Yield
Wheat
Barley
Oats.
Maize
Beans and peas
Vetches, lentils, tobac-
co, etc
Potatoes
Alfalfa
Clover
Fruit trees
Vini.s
462,470
55.576
36,285
25.526
52,077
7.899
31,200
140,500
210,211
22,389
59,066
5,162,035
816,604
341,310
531.463
* 34.804
2,194,414
44,925
hectolitres
1,905,209
448,870
41,878
27,972
22,766
45,742
3,632
26,672
10,471
56,781
6,150,231
707,862
387,774
581,218
* 16,649
2,627,954
65.823
hectolitres
1,982,013
417,766
43.559
27,071
22,570
43,877
5,895
27,454
168,302
268,459
16,310
58,639
5,294,917
782,712
337.696
586,777
* 22,705
2,145,947
52,060
hectolitres
1,877,292
* The figures with asterisks refer only to vetches and lentils; those for the cultivated area in-
clude also the area under tobacco, hemp and flax .
In calculating the total area of agricultural land, accoimt must be taken
of fallow land and natural grass land, which, on account of the extensive
character of Chilian agriculture, occupy a vast area. On this point also ac-
curate statistics are wanting ; some authors calculate the total area of agri-
cultural land at 6,000,000 ha. (4). Of the cultivated area, about one
niilHon hectares are irrigated.
(i) Sec Anmiaire International Statistique As,ricole pour 1910. International Institute of
Agriculture. Rome, 1912 and Schneider above mentioned.
(2) Report of the Consul General of Chile in Italy, " Statistics of the Republic of Chili. "
(3) According to private authorities, the figures relating to cultivated land, and jneld
ought to be higher; wheat alone, for instance, is said to be grown on 1,000,000 hectares and yield
annually about 10,000,000 hectolitres. The difference is due to the incompleteness of the
official returns.
(4) Schneider, above mentioned.
Il6 CHILE - MISCELLANEOUS
1. Cereals — The chief crop, as shown by the preceding table is that of
cereals, especially of wheat, grown upon 38% of the cultivated area ; it
yields on an average from 10 to 11 quintals per hectare. On irrigated land,
where wheat alternates with leguminous plants and maize, the yield is 15
quintals per hectare : on other farms, that is on the greater part of the
wheat growing area, the land lies fallow for a year after the Vvheat crop
and here naturally the yield is less, not more than 6 or 7 quintals per hec-
tare.
The current prices on the local market during the first months of 191 3
were, for every 73.60 kilograms, 16 pesos in February, 20 pesos in April,
18 pesos in May. The average price of wheat in 1909 was 14 pesos. The great-
er part of the produce is consumed in the country ; ir 1900 it was even necess-
ary to import. But of late wheat has been more extensively cultivated,
so that in 1911 it was possible to export 13,841 tons, chiefly to Great
Britain (5,300 tons) and to Germany (3,400 tons).
On the London market Chilian wheat {Standard Chilian White Wheat)
is sold at 37 shillings for 500 lbs. On June 13th., 1913, the price was
£ 1.17s. 3d. This price is for wheat on quay and includes freight and in-
surance.
Wheat farms tend to occupy the arid rather than the irrigated
land, which is used, more for intensive cultivation or the production
of cattle or the raising of dairy cows and cattle for fattening, because the
profits are thus found to be much greater.
Second in importance comes the cultivation of barley, of which about
800,000 quintals are produced (i); about 15 or 16 quintals per hectare. About
half is consumed in the country for making beer or as cattle food; a part
is reserved for seed and the rest is exported. Great Britain purchases
nearly ^/m. On the lyondon market, Chilian barley is highly prized, and
the finer qualities are used for making the best beer. A quarter of 448 lbs.
was sold (June, 1913) for £ 1.12s. 6d., freight and insurance included. On
the local market the price at the same date was 13 14 pesos for 71 kilograms.
Of oats about 400,000 quintals are produced, at the rate of about 12
quintals per hectare ; this is nearly all exported.
2. Cattle Foods. — As regards extent of area cultivated, cattle foods,
grown on about 500,000 hectares, come next after the cereals. The
greater part of this area is covered with artificial grass utilized as pasture
for cattle. Only 40,000 hectares are utilised for the production of ensilage
and for seed.
In the provinces lying to the north and centre of the middle zone
lucern predominates, and clover in that to the south. The amount of en-
silage produced is calculated at 2,000,000 quintals and is exclusively ob-
tained from lucern; the amount of seed, chiefly of clover, is about 25,000
quintals.
(i) The private authorities above mentioned state that the production of barley is about
1,500,000 quintals annually.
THE IvAND QUESTION AND COLONISATION II 7
Lucern is cut four or five times during ten months of the year ; rain in
summer is almost unknown, and therefore the preparation of ensilage is
eas3^ and lucrative. In the provinces of Aconcagua and Santiago, connected
with the farms there are numerous establishments for the preparation of
ensilage, equipped after the latest style wirh machinery worked by hydraul-
ic or electric force. The price of ensilage is 2.50 pesos for 46 kilograms
of the first crop and 3 pesos for the second.
3. Hoed plants. — Hoed plants (beans, potatoes etc.) or chacareria
crops (i) are very abundant in \dew of the large consumption of them in
the country and their extensive exportation; but in their case progress is
slow, because of the backward system of cultivation, the labour being
performed by hand. The employment of machinery would increase the
production, reduce t'^.e cost and increase the exportation.
Among the hoed crops, the most important is the bean which, with
patatoes and wheat, forms the staple food ; according to official data, beans
are cultivated annually on from 30,000 to 35,000 hectares (2) and the yield
is 450,000 quintals. The price varies from 33 to 38 pesos per quintal.
Next in importance to the bean comes the potato ; to this crop about
30,000 hectares are annually devoted, producing about 2,5c 0,000 quint-
als (3), almost all consumed in the country as food for men and animals
and in the manufacture of alcohol.
The potato is generally cultivated near the coast, especially towards
the centre, where it flourishes in land that is not irrigated. If the means
of communication were better, the yield might be increased tenfold.
Maize is grown generally as an alternate crop with beans ; the area
covered by it is not large, from 23,000 to 25,000 hectares, and its yield
is from 300,000 to 350,000 quintals, consumed entirely in Chile.
Among other chacareria crops may be mentioned peas, lentils, and
vetches.
4. Viticulture and fruit cultivation. — The intensive cultivation of
ligneous plants, especially of the vine and of fruit trees, is largely developed,
and supports flourishing industries, viz., the making of wine and jams.
About 60,000 hectares (4) are devoted to vines, distributed through
nearly all the middle zone, but most frequent in the north and centre ; the
vine grows also in the nitrous zone, where the land is irrigated. In the
north as far as the province of Coquimbo, the vine is principally cultivated
to make the finest wine, such as port and sherry, as well as cognac. Grapes
are also dried and the raisins prepared for sale. In the central provinces
must, and wine are produced (chiefly Bordeaux and table wines) as well as
(i) A chacra is a small farm of intensive cultivattion, worked on the metayer system.
{2) According to the orivate information above referred to, the land under beans is
from 120,000 to 150,000 hectares, producing about 1,500,000 hectolitres.
(3) The above quoted consular report gives 3,500,000 quintals as the average 3aeld ; the
area cultivated is, according to private information, about 50,000 hectares, with a yield
of 4,000,000 hectolitres.
(4) The above quoted private sources state the area of the vineyards at 100,000 hectares.
Il8 CHILE - MISCETXANEOUS
brand3^ The must, called chicha, is largely cons:uraed by the lower classes.
In the south of the province of lyinares, the vine is usually cultivated in
dry soil producing must for immediate use and an inferior kind of wine.
The annual yield of the vines ma3^ be thus distributed : 2,000,000 hec-
tolitres of wine, 600,000 hectolitres of chica, 400,000 hectolitres of cha-
colies (wine made from green grapes): 100,000 hectolitres of brandj^ con-
taining 50 % of alcohol, 10,000 hectolitres of raisins. This, it will be
seen, is a considerable yield, the value of which is about 100,000,000 fr.
not taking into account the grapes consumed.
Fruit cultivation is also very profitable. The climate and the soil of
Chile are adapted to the production of exquisite fruits, and the jam
making industry is of great importance. The fruits of temperate climates
are produced in great variety and abundance, especially peaches, pears,
apples, plums, figs and nuts. These last are exported in large quantities
to Argentina and to the United States (in 191 1 : 3,871 tons to the value
of 1,858,000 gold pesos).
The area planted with fruit trees is, according to official reports,
about 16,000 hectares (i) : the average profit per hectare is calculated
at 400 gold pesos.
But some plantations yield still more. Nut trees planted 15 metres
from each other produce 80 kg. of nuts each, equal to a yield of 1,800
paper pesos per " cuadra" (2). It must, however, be remembered that
from the time the nut tree is planted twelve or fifteen years must
elapse before it attains its full growth; during that time, however,
the intervening space is utilized for the cultivation of herbaceous plants.
fiS The plum tree produces about 50 kg. of fruit, which is reduced by
drying to 10 kg. and is sold at 40 centimes per kg.: and a cuadra with 625
trees will yield 2,540 pesos. The apple, orange and almond yield large pro-
fits, about 5,000 pesos per cuadra.
The diseases of plants naturalty influence the profits, and much re-
mains to be done to protect the fruit, but these diseases are not frequent or
very serious.
The growth of f mit trees is so rapid that it is not rare to see them pro-
duce after the third year ; after the fifth they reach almost their full rate
of production.
The planting of olives has now been begun and if judiciously managed
it may become very remunerative. In Chile olive oil is consumed in large
quantities, but it is all imported. In igii oil imported for food reached
the amount of 4,041,698 kg.; of this at least 1,100,000 kg. came from Italy
and Spain, and a considerable part of the 2,300,000 kg. imported from the
United States was olive oil.
!^ 5. Kitchen gardens. — Kitchen vegetables are cultivated very
intensively and for the purpose 100,000 ha. are utilised. Onions, garlic,
tomatoes, celery, lettuce, beans, asparagus, artichokes, radishes etc., are
(i) According to private authorities it is about 40,000 hectares
(2) Cuadra = about i % ha (15,615 sq. m.)-
THE IvAND|QUESTION AND COI,ONISATION II9
grown in large quantities, and form a considerable part of the food of
the people. The average yield, calculated at 700 pesos per hectare,
might be considerably increased, if the method of cultivation were less
rudimentary, carried on as it is by people without technical knowledge
who do not understand the use of manures.
6. Other crops. — It is believed that sugar beet might be grown
successfully, especially in the south; the chief hindrances are a want of
technical knowledge, and the indolence of the farmers ; in fact some years
ago a sugar beet factory proved unsuccessful, because the farmers who
were to supply the raw material could not fulfil their engagements owing
to a want of competent labourers.
Thus Chile has to import refined sugar from Germany(ii9,85o quintals
in 191 1) and raw sugar from Peru (658,949 quintals), which is refined in a
large factory near Valparaiso.
Other crops of less importance are tobacco, hemp, and flax.
The cultivation of flowers must not be forgotten, for the soil of the
central provinces is most favourable to their growth. This industry is
chiefly for home consumption in the cities, and the few persons occupied
in it are generally foreigners. It gives considerable profits.
§ 4. Forests and their produce.
The area covered by forests is calculated to extend over 9,000,000
hectares (i). This is only an approximate figure, for a great part of the
area is still unexplored. It Hes chiefly in the southern zone and the
southern part of the middle zone.
Here we find oak, laurel, cypress, pine, larch etc. The most valuable
timber-tree is the oak, which makes excellent railway sleepers.
Large areas are covered by the thickest virgin forests, almost tropical
in the great luxuriance of their vegetation. Here may be found the
copaiba, a tree which grows to a height of 30 or 40 metres with vivid red
flowers making it conspicuous against the background of green of the sur-
rounding woods.
Private owners possess about 3,750,000 ha. of the forest land. The
rest belongs to the State.
The forests nearer the lines of communication are slowly but surely
disappearing, for the woods are not carefully exploited according to the best
forestry rules. Besides a large part has been cleared by burning to give
space for the cultivation of cereals, and occasionally conflagrations are
caused by lightning. Such fires continue for days their work of
devastation, leaving here and there burned trunks as the last remains
of the forest.
(i) The consular report gives 18,000,000 hectares.
120 CHILE - MISCELLANEOUS
So that which in other countries constitutes a fund of wealth is in Chile
being partially destroyed, against all the rules of, prudence.
Besides the great stretches of forest, many forest trees grow on the
slopes and in the plains ; among these are the pine, cj^press, carob, "boldo",
" lengue" and " quillai ", the bark of the two last of which is used in
tanning.
Much timber is consumed as fuel, either simply as wood or as charcoal
and much is employed in building.
Want of capital and means of transport are serious impediments to
the utilisation of the vast riches of the forests, and Chile actually imports
wood, both unwrought and manufactured, in large quantities.
In 1911, Chili imported wood to the value of 3,747,000 gold pesos, of
which about 2,000,000 gold pesos were spent on pine timber, and 551,000
gold pesos on manufactured wood (furniture). The greater part comes
from the United States.
There are notwithstanding many establishments in Chile for wood
manufactures, and furniture making. About 25,000,000 pesos are invested
in such enterprises and it is calculated that the raw material employed
costs 13,000,000 gold pesos, the value of which increases to 29,000,000
gold pesos when manufactured.
§ 5. Iyi\^STOCK impro\t;ment.
Livestock Improvement and the indtistries connected with it constit-
ute one of the most remunerative branches of the economic work of the
Republic.
The livestock in Chile, according to the census of 1906, was distributed
as follows :
Head
Horses, Asses, etc 746,000
Horned Cattle 2,675,000
Sheep 4,528,000
Goats 476,000
Pigs 340,000
8,765,000
I. Horned cattle. — Most of the horned cattle are found in the middle
zone. The prevailing type is the Durham, crossed by the native race,
descended from the ancient Spanish breed. The Durham has given excell-
ent results ; there are several very successful breeding stations.
The cattle are kept in large pasture grounds, all the year in the open air.
Sometimes in winter, however, they are kept in half open stalls or they
are sent to the slopes of the Cordilleras to spots sheltered from the cold.
THE LAND QUESTION AND COLONISATION
121
The farms are not very large ; those containing several thousand head
are rare. In general the improvement of horned cattle is reckoned as a
part of agriculture.
To develop this industry, a high tax, 26 and 22 gold pesos per head, for
bulls and cows respectively, is levied on all cattle imported from the
Argentine Republic. Still this importation constantly increases, for the
national production falls far short of the demand, which grows greater
and greater. As we have seen was the case wdth cereals, Chile at one
time exported livestock to a considerable extent, for in 1867, the amoimt
of head exported was 123,145. Then, exportation gradually decreased,
and a progressive importation took its place ; thus in 1872 the value of
horned cattle imported was 713,872 gold pesos, in 1875 1,540,255 gold pesos;
in 1885, 3,149,192 gold pesos; in 1911, 19,402,750 gold pesos for 102,817
head of cattle imported from Argentina alone. From other countries,
the importation is small and limited to breeding stock.
Naturally, there has been a corresponding rise in prices but in
spite of this the cultivation of cereals has been detrimental to that of
horned cattle improvement. So it has happened that, whilst fifty years
ago the breeding of horned cattle was the most important branch of in-
dustry', it is now not sufficient for the demands of consumption. It is
therefore natural that the improvement of horned cattle, like the pro-
duction of milk and butter, should he highlj'- remunerative.
The following table gives some figures in regard to the prices of
livestock in June, 1913 on the market of Santiago, the difference in price
between fattened and lean livestock should be observed.
Prices of Livestock.
Value per head in pesos (paper)
Cows
Heifers (of about 2 years)
Bull calves (6-12 months)
BuUs
Oxen (Full grown) . . .
Young oxen
Sheep
Goats
Pigs (6-8 months). . . .
Horses, Asses etc. ...
Lean
Fattened
178 ; 200
435
no
390
78
90
104
272
380
226 ; 322
460
478
136 ; 138
232
—
22
—
20
—
75
38 ; 75
38
75
The price of beef of the best quality was at the same period about
1.20 fr. per kg.; of lamb of the best quality, about 1.40 fr. per kg.; of
tallow, 60 centimes per kg.
122 CHIIvE - MISCELIvANEOUS
The improvement of livestock in the middle zone might be much more
developed, and the industries connected with it (milk, butter and cheese)
would benefit greatly if conducted on better systems,
2. Sheep. — While the horned cattle is far from satisfying the demand
of the home market, the improvement of sheep on a large scale leaves a
large margin for exportation; in 191 1, the export of frozen mutton from
Punta Arenas alone amounted to 6,695 tons valued at 2,678,044 gold pesos.
The region best adapted to sheep-rearing is the Territory of Ma-
gellan, that is the cold zone between 470 lat. and the extreme south of the
continent, between the Pacific Ocean and the Argentine frontier.
The eastern slopes of the Cordilleras are covered with immense pastures,
which, owing to the severity of the climate are only fit for sheep improvement,
and this has only developed under great difficulties. Half a century ago there
were no sheep in tjie Territory of Magellan ; in 1877 ^^'^ ^^st flock of 300
animals was imported from the Falkland Islands, where some Englishmen
had flourishing sheep-farms. The farmers had at first to contend against
the depredations of the natives, as well as of pumas and other wild beasts,
but, in spite of all, there were in 1884 about 40,000 sheep. Up to that
time, the Government had made free grants of land to all who would settle
in the Territory of iMagellan as sheep farmers. But when this industry had
developed, it was decided to let the land for periods of a maximiim of 20
years, offering the leases for open competition; the minimum rent was to be
0.05 paper pesos the hectare for the first ten years and o.ii pesos for the
next ten. In the same 3^ear the first public competition took place by which
90 lots of land, some of them of 30,000 hectares each, were assigned to
various buyers, besides a lot of 90,000 hectares. The entire area of these
concessions amounted to 529,000 hectares ; the price was somewhat above
the minimum fixed.
Some years later, further contracts for letting land were made, as
well as gratuitous concessions in Tierra del Fuego, where flourishing
companies for sheep rearing were established. Of these the most im-
portant was the Sociedad Exploradora de Tierra del Fuego (Tierra del
Fuego Exploitation Society), which obtained a grant of 1,000,000 hectares
(the largest yet made) on the following conditions. The grantee engaged (i)
to form within three years a society with a minimum capital of one
million pesos ; (2) within two years after the formation of the society
to introduce 10,000 sheep, 200 head of horned cattle and 150 horses,
asses etc.; (3) to pay to the State as the price of the concession 100,000
pesos at the expiration of the term, leaving all the improvements, the
livestock and the other moveables to the Cover mnent.
In 1893 a new law was passed to prohibit gratuitous grants of land in
the iMagellan Territory and aU grants by private contract, and only per-
mitting the letting of land on the basis of public competition. From that time,
no other large companies were formed, but those already in existence con-
solidated themselves and prospered.
An important lawconnectedwiththissubject was that of January 13th.,
1902, authorising the Government to sell one million hectares in the Terri-
THE I,AND QUESTION AND COIvONISATION 123
tory of Magellan. In the same year the land was sold by public auction,
800,000 hectares divided into 73 lots being sold at the average price of 5.40
pesos per hectare. The rest was disposed of at a second auction, and
as the quality of the soil was inferior, the average price was 3 pesos per
hectare.
In 1905, as the result of a new law, 397,000 hectares of land situated
along latitude 51 {Ultima Esperanza) were sold. But, as the auction took
place at a time of feverish excitement on the Exchange, the price per
hectare for one lot rose to 26.20 pesos, for another to 36 pesos, and for
a third to 56.60 pesos. It must be observed that this third lot had
been valued by the Treasury experts at 5 pesos per hectare. The greater
number of purchasers did not fulfil the conditions of the contract, and
preferred even to sacrifice the security they had given: the land was there-
fore sold by auction some months later for an average price of 12.25 pesos
per hectare.
All the land suitable for sheep rearing in the Territory of Magellan
hitherto alienated amounts to an area of 1,750,000 hectares ; its sale has
realised for the State the sum of 12,750,000 pesos, i. e. an average of 7.25
pesos per hectare.
About 4,000,000 hectares adapted for sheep rearing stiU remain to
the State. Much of this land is let or granted for a term, so that by degrees
it will again return to the State.
The formation of private property in the Territory of Magellan has led
to excellent results; permanent improvements have been made on the land;
factories for the utilization of animal produce have been built; several estab-
lishments for the preparation of frozen meat have been installed ; and the
quality of the breeds of the animals has been considerably improved. Thus,
in the Territory of Magellan, where sheep were unknown before 1877, twenty
years later (1897) there were 813,000 head, and in 1906 the number had in-
creased to 1,836,000 ; the average annual increase being 35 %, taking the
losses through death into account.
Several establishments for the preparation of frozen mutton, equipped
in the most modern style, are working successfully. In this region sheep
improvement is carried on principally with a view to the production of
wool and to this object many estancias arc giving their attention.
The jdeld of wool is generally £ 7 per head. Its price, leaving
out of the calculation the fluctuations caused by the conditions of the
market, varies with the system of sale. Some breeders sell the wool
to houses at Punta Arenas, where it is prepared and exported ; others, the
greater number, sell it directly in Europe through the great I^ondon firms,
already washed and prepared. The average net price in Europe for
Magellan wool was 5.53 pence per lb. in 1895, 7.63 pence in 1902, 11.44
pence in 1906 and 9 pence in 1910.
The wool exported from the port of Punta Arenas and sent almost
exclusively to England amounted in 1911 to 7,631 tons valued at
6,000,000 gold pesos.
126 SPAIN - MISCELLANEOUS
mony with each other, though quite distinct. For the mapping of the land,
the execution of special works for the preparation of a map was seriously
commenced: for the written statement of the legal relation between the
real estate and the owners, the Register of Landed Property was instituted,
a consequence of the Mortgage law ; then, in order to have a practical
means for fixing the land tax, the amillaramiento , that is to say a written
inventory of the real estate in relation to its value, was prepared.
At the end of the nineteenth century, laws were introduced to rectify
the hsts of valuations, or to revise individual valuations, on July 17th.,
1895 and August 24th., 1896, instituting as a solution the cadastre for
cultivated areas, on the basis of the plans made for the map in preparation.
We must add the law of ]\Iarch 27th., 1910, with many others, for reorg-
anization of the finances affected by the colonial disasters, in which, while
the cadastre for cultivated areas was maintained, it was made to serve
as the basis for a written description of the various landed properties, which
was called the Fiscal Register. The only practical advantage of all these
laws was the preparation of the cadastre with detailed plans now in
force.
§ 2. Institutions preparing the way for the detailed cadastre.
As we have seen, the Government imderstood the need of the services
that could be rendered by the cadastre, before public opinion or the Govern-
ment itself were quite sure of the practical manner in which to realise the in-
stitution and even as to its quite special functions and bearing. The need
becoming urgent, the Government had recourse to a system consisting
in the division of the difficulties, occupying itself with each case specially
under its various aspects, without waiting to find a clear and definite principle
on which to base a general rule applicable in all cases.
The Government could only wait for the completion of the cadastre,
to estabhsh the land tax regularly and in as equitable a manner as
possible. It was also necessary to establish it by means of verbal re-
ports in the case of landed estates, the value of which was estimated for large
areas and these reports, as we have said, were called Amillaramientos. The
Government is not sure of the accuracy of these particular reports consid-
ered separately, but it has less doubt with regard to them as a whole, since
from them and the valuation scale, called cartillas evaluatorias , it obtained an
idea of the wealth of a municipal district taken as a whole ; it declared this
wealth a fixed amount and based on it its calculation of the total amount
[cupo) of land tax to be borne by the landholders in proportion to their
wealth. In each case, the arrears due from previous years, that for any
reason it has not been possible to collect, must be added.
This system is still in force in most of the Spanish provinces, since
the land tax, as we shall soon see, is only based on the cadastre in a fifth
part of the kingdom.
THE CADASTRE IN SPAIN 1 27
Even before completing the cadastre it was necessary to establish the
legal relation between the real estate and the owners on solid bases of
public character, and even, in the absence of the objective basis furnished
by a cadastre, consisting in the description of the property from the physical
and economic point of view, it was possible in the second half of the last
century to found the Register of Land, a fruitful and glorious institution in
the legal history of Spanish landed property, which is nothing else than
a verbal report of all rights on real estate. It is the register of land rights,
the Prussian Grundhuch, although it can scarcely bear comparison with
the Flurhuch, the Prussian register of land.
Nor has it been possible to combine the formation of the cadastre
with the preparation of the map. It was more urgent to deal with the lat-
ter j&rst, which was in fact a matter a little better defined, and better under-
stood ; the only thing, therefore, was to undertake the great work demanded
for it, before thinking of the cadastre, or thinking of it as a consequence
necessarily following it.
The place of the cadastre in Spain is therefore supplied as follows :
for the fiscal work there is the amillaramiento; for the legal work, the Land
Register.
The Amillaramiento is an imperfect substitute for the cadastre, for,
without the description and the indication of the position of the land, it
is impossible to identify it, and, therefore, the Treasury cannot in most
cases register the constant changes in the taxable value.
As it is the landowners themselves who estabHsh the amillaramien-
tos and cartillas evaluatorias without effectual intervention on the part
of the management, the reports relating to their wealth and the total amounts
of it are inaccurate. Thus it is no surprise that they can bear a tax of
20 % not including additions of various kinds, for we may easily presume,
and even be sure that, it is only by securing a large part of their wealth
against taxation that the}^ can bear such enormous burdens.
A consequence of the amillaramiento system is the application of the
system of part payment, for, if those bodies interested had the liberty indis-
pensable in order to amend the taxation papers of everyone according
to the variations of the landed property, we may be sure that the interest
of the contributors, in conflict with that of the Treasury, would end by
rendering the basis of the tax of no effect.
in the same way, the Land Register supplies the place of the cadastre
somewhat imperfectly. In spite of all the scrupulous care with which
the legal relation between the land and its owners and even their condition
are registered, the objective description lacks accuracy and is unreliable.
It is thus very difficult and even impossible to identify the holdings by
means of the indications provided by the Land Register alone.
126 SPAIN - MISCELLANEOUS
mony with each other, though quite distinct. For the mapping of the land,
the execution of special works for the preparation of a map was seriously
commenced: for the written statement of the legal relation between the
real estate and the owners, the Register of Landed Property was instituted,
a consequence of the Mortgage law ; then, in order to have a practical
means for fixing the land tax, the amillaramiento , that is to say a written
inventory of the real estate in relation to its value, was prepared.
At the end of the nineteenth century, laws were introduced to rectify
the lists of valuations, or to revise individual valuations, on July 17th.,
1895 and August 24th., 1896, instituting as a solution the cadastre for
cultivated areas, on the basis of the plans made for the map in preparation.
We must add the law of March 27th., 1910, with many others, for reorg-
anization of the finances affected by the colonial disasters, in which, while
the cadastre for cultivated areas was maintained, it was made to serve
as the basis for a written description of the various landed properties, which
was called the Fiscal Register. The only practical advantage of all these
laws was the preparation of the cadastre with detailed plans now in
force.
§ 2. Institutions preparing the way for the detailed cadastre.
As we have seen, the Government understood the need of the services
that could be rendered by the cadastre, before public opinion or the Govern-
ment itself were quite sure of the practical manner in which to realise the in-
stitution and even as to its quite special functions and bearing. The need
becoming urgent, the Government had recourse to a system consisting
in the division of the difficulties, occupying itself with each case specially
rmder its various aspects, without waiting to find a clear and definite principle
on which to base a general rule applicable in all cases.
The Government could only wait for the completion of the cadastre,
to estabHsh the land tax regularly and in as equitable a manner as
possible. It was also necessary to establish it by means of verbal re-
ports in the case of landed estates, the value of which was estimated for large
areas and these reports, as we have said, were called Amillaramientos. The
Government is not sure of the accuracy of these particular reports consid-
ered separately, but it has less doubt with regard to them as a whole, since
from them and the valuation scale, called cartillas evaluatorias, it obtained an
idea of the wealth of a municipal district taken as a whole ; it declared this
wealth a fixed amount and based on it its calculation of the total amount
(cupo) of land tax to be borne by the landholders in proportion to their
wealth. In each case, the arrears due from previous years, that for any
reason it has not been possible to collect, must be added.
This system is still in force in most of the Spanish provinces, since
the land tax, as we shall soon see, is only based on the cadastre in a fifth
part of the kingdom.
THE CADASTRE EST SPAIN 1 27
Even before completing the cadastre it was necessary to establish the
legal relation between the real estate and the owners on solid bases of
public character, and even, in the absence of the objective basis furnished
by a cadastre, consisting in the description of the property from the physical
and economic point of view, it was possible in the second half of the last
century to found the Register of Land, a fruitful and ^-:lorious institution in
the legal history of Spanish landed property, which is nothing else than
a veybal report of all rights on real estate. It is the register of land rights,
the Prussian Gnmdhuch, although it can scarcely bear comparison with
the Flurbuch, the Prussian register of land.
Nor has it been possible to combine the formation of the cadastre
with the preparation of the map. It was more urgent to deal with the lat-
ter first, which was in fact a matter a little better defined, and better under-
stood ; the only thing, therefore, was to undertake the great work demanded
for it, before thinking of the cadastre, or thinking of it as a consequence
necessarily following it.
The place of the cadastre in Spain is therefore supplied as follows :
for the fiscal work there is the amillaramiento; for the legal work, the Land
Register.
The Amillaramiento is an imperfect substitute for the cadastre, for,
without the description and the indication of the position of the land, it
is impossible to identify it, and, therefore, the Treasury cannot in most
cases register the constant changes in the taxable value.
As it is the landowners themselves who estabhsh the amillaramien-
tos and cartillas evahiatorias without effectual intervention on the part
of the management, the reports relating to their wealth and the total amounts
of it are inaccurate. Thus it is no surprise that they can bear a tax of
20 % not including additions of various kinds, for we may easily presume,
and even be sure that, it is only by securing a large part of their wealth
against taxation that they can bear such enormous burdens.
A consequence of the amillaramiento system is the application of the
system of part payment, for, if those bodies interested had the liberty indis-
pensable in order to amend the taxation papers of everyone according
to the variations of the landed property, we may be sure that the interest
of the contributors, in conflict with that of the Treasury, would end by
rendering the basis of the tax of no effect.
in the same way, the Land Register supplies the place of the cadastre
somewhat imperfectly. In spite of all the scrupulous care with which
the legal relation between the land and its owners and even their condition
are registered, the objective description lacks accuracy and is unreUable.
It is thus very difficult and even impossible to identify the holdings by
means of the indications provided by the Land Register alone.
128
SPAIN - MISCELtANEOUS
*
♦ *
We may form an idea at a glance of the progress made by the Spanish
Government in respect to the detailed Cadastre, by an examination of
the following table :
Institutions of Ca-
dastral Character,
ai.d Cadi-stres.
Statistical.
Fiscal.
I. lyand Statistics.
2. Amiliaramientos. 5.
Cadastre for Cul-
tivated Areas.
Prelim nary
daslre.
Ca-
I,egal and Fiscal. 3. I<and Register. 6. Detailed Cadastre.
This progress is in accordance with the figures by which we have
marked its several manifestations. It has already advanced along through
the whole series of cadastres in which only verbal indications are regis-
tered and has utihsed all the results. A great part of the agricultural wealth
and of the livestock, but not all, was first the object of statistical returns,
then of Amiliaramientos and thus, although imperfectly, the need of a
fiscal organization has been supplied. After so many years, comparatively
a small portion of Spanish land has been registered in the Register of Land
and it can scarcely be expected that the rest will be entered until the
information is given in the detailed cadastre.
In the class of cadastres including both plans and verbal indications, a
commencement has been made with that for cultivated areas in the degree
permitted by the condition of the work undertaken for the preparation of
the map, but the insufficiency of this cadastre for the complex ends in view
was soon recognised. Then the preparation of plans of the individual
holdings was resolutely undertaken, even without consideration of the pre-
vious legal delimitation, and often, even, of the direct measurement of the
holdings, in order to arrive at a knowledge of the area from the above plans
by the indirect methods we shaU now indicate. To this detailed cadastre,
the name of preHminary cadastre has been given to show that by means of
it it is only intended to meet requirements of fiscal and statistical nature.
At this point of advance towards a detailed legal and fiscal cadastre, the
Spanish Government is perplexed and irresolute, in view of serious pro-
blems of another character by which it has been recently confronted,
against its wiU, and perhaps even contrary to its expectation^ and in view
of the cost to be borne in connection with this Cadastre, which is as it
were the limit of the evolution we have just been tracing.
THE CADASTRE IN SPAIN
129
§ 3. Present state of the Spanish cadastre.
The cadastral operations which are now being proceeded with fairly
actively are in conformity with the provisions of the law of March 23rd.,
1906 and follow the Hues indicated in the following table.
Table
of
Operations
for
the Spanish
Cadastre.
Work in connection with Plans
Period
of
Measurement.
1. lyocal Trigonometrical Surveys.
2. Polygonal Tracing of Municipal Limits,
Roads of Every Kind and Circuits of
Towns.
3. Measurement, on the Plans, of the Area
of the Topograph' cal Polygons.
4. Tracing of Parcels.
4 bis. Polygonal Tracings, from the Point
of view of Quality.
4. ter. Polygonal Tracings, from the Point
of view of Classification,
Agronomic
Work.
Period
of
Declarations.
Period
of
Valuations.
Fiscal Period.
\-
lyandowners' Sworn Declarations.
Comparisons.
Individual Valuations.
Total Valuations.
Preservation and Rectification of the
Preliminary Cadastre.
Transformation of the above into a De-
tailed Cadastre.
Tracing of Plans.
This work is part of that executed in preparation of the general Map.
However, as it is desired that the work required for the cadastre may be
commenced and have made sufficient progress before the work for the map
is finished, that part shown in the above table has been pushed forward,
though it will be brought into harmony with the geodetic tracing and
complete it with the details of the land and the taking of levels indis-
pensable for the cadastre.
This work for the map which is being carried out in advance for the
cadastre consists also of local trigonometrical surveys independent of those
of the municipal district. It includes also the tracing of the figures de-
duced from their apices, that of the line formed by them in the polygon the
sides of which mark the geometrical limits of the municipal district, the roads
and waterways and the boundary lines of towns of more or less importance.
By the tracing of these Hues, the municipal district is divided into
a large number of local polygons, the area of which may be measured on
the plans by means of the designs or mechanically and always with an
accuracy more than sufficient for the needs of this preliminary cadastre.
130 SPAIN - MISCELIANEOUS
The work of making these general plans and also that for the map
are carried out under the direction of the Geographical and Statistical Instit-
ute dependent on the Department of Public Education, the technical staff
of which is recruited from among the civil engineers of every kind (Bridges
and Embankments, Mining, Mountain, Agricultural), Doctors of Science,
Engineers of the Military Engineering Department and of the Artillery,
officers of the Staff and of the Xavy. They form a single volimteer corps
in the above Institute, called the Geographical Engineering Corps.
Agronomic Work.
This work is carried out under the direction of the officers of the Finan-
cial Department, by the national corps of agricultural engineers, with
the assistance of agricultural experts. Their object is to note the cad-
astral characteristics of all holdings taken separately, these characteristics
being classified as under :
Physical
Caraeteristics in Detail for the
Preliminary Cadastre
P^conomic
Situation
Boundaries
Cultivation or other Use
Area
I^egal Kind of Tenure
Classification
Valuation
These characteristics are noted and registered under the three headings
and in the three periods which in the corresponding table are called periods
of geometrical operations (surveying), declarations and valuations, generally
corresponding with each of the three groups of characteristics we have
given immediately above.
Period of Survey. — ■ The work of this period begins with the measure-
ment, according to plans allowing of the establishment of the pre\dous work,
of the area of each of the local polygons into which the municipal district
is divided, and which in the cadastre form units of intermediate area be-
tween the municipal district and the parcel. Each of these polygons is
reproduced as a drawing on a separate sheet, in the scale of i in 25,000
or I in 12,500, according to circumstances. Within this perimeter, the
official of the cadastre traces polygons showing the hmits of the parcels,
after they have been recognised one by one with the assistance of those
interested belonging to the locality, represented by a Municipal Committee,
to which the law gives the name of Committee of Experts {Junta periciat).
In these tracings of parcels and on the leaves corresponding, entry is
made, definite^, of the situation, boundaries and mode of cultivation, and
provisionally of the area, thus completing the indications of the characteris-
tics of a physical nature. Indication is also made provisionally of the
classification included among the economic characteristics, and the kind of
tenure, a legal characteristic.
THE CADASTRE IN SPAIX I31
The register of areas is provisional, for the official has not measured
the parcels : he has first of all accepted the indications given by the sur-
veyors or those suppHed by a simple estimation of his own, which is called
in Spanish afo}o. However, he intends to assure himself, by way of
verification of his various personal estimates, that the total areas thus
estimated in the case of each parcel of a topographical polygon, is equal
indeed to their total area, which he knows already with sufficient accuracy,
from the operation indicated as no. 3 of the table of cadastral operations.
In any case, he has to wait for the proprietor's declaration before making
the provisional registration of this characteristic final.
The indications of classification and mode of tenure are provisional,
because the final entries correspond with the periods of valuation and
declaration.
A may happen that the parcels are not homogeneous either in quality
(mode of cultivation or other use), or in their classification (intensity of pro-
duction) and then they are divided into smaller parcels representing
these differences, the areas of which are also measured. However, if these
subdivisions are still very large, as one can never hope that the declaration
of the landlord will give anything but a very vague indication of the area
of each, the tracing of the lines of the polygon separating the various crops
and the various degrees of intensity of production is proceeded with. Yet
this kind of operation is exceptional, and it is marked with the same number
in the corresponding table.
Period of Declarations. — In this period, the co-operation of landlords
in the work of the cadastre, ceases to be representative and becomes direct
and individual ; they declare in a report, on oath, the characteristics of
their holdings.
In general, the characteristics noted in these declarations agree with
those arrived at by the office during the period of the survey work If, by
way of exception, there are some that do not quite agree, as necessarily
this will be a case of material error, these characteristics are known,
careful correction will be made until the disagreement disappears.
When the disagreement is in reference to the kind of tenure, it is also
made to disappear. Therefore, there is again need of the intervention
of the municipal executive council and the landowner, whose declarations
will be considered and compared in open court. Whether there be disagree-
ment or not, it is only after a favourable sentence has been given that the
provisional entry can be made final.
In order that the area may be established definitely, a different course
is pursued, whether or not there is disagreement between the indications
furnished by the officer and the landholder's statement.
We have said that this officer makes a total of the areas that according
to his personal estimation he assigns to each of the parcels of a polygon and
that he corrects them, until, within certain limits permitted, this total is
equal to that obtained for the polygon by means of the measurement of the
plans. The same check is made use of in the case of the areas declared
by the landholders. If, always within the same limits, the amount of the
132 SPAIN - MISCELLANEOUS
areas is equal to that of the polygon, the entry in which the area declared
by the landho der agrees with that arrived at by the personal estimation
of the officer becomes final. When there is no agreement between the indic-
ations, it is obtained by means of a new declaration or a new examination
or by direct measurement in case the disagreement continues.
When the total of the areas declared does not agree with that of the
polygon, new declarations are asked for until an agreement is arrived at, and
then the same course is followed as in the previous instance.
If, in spite of these second declarations, the amount of the areas does
not correspond with that of the polygon, as a last resort, all the parcels it
contains are measured.
In order that there may be agreement between the recognised area
of the parcels and that which has been declared by their owners, there must
be added to all these operations that of the comparison of the declarations.
The classification of the claracteristics provisionally given in the
period of survey operations, is made final if it agrees with the classification
declared. If it is not final from the administrative point of view, it is for
the superior officer of the official employed for the cadastre to decide, after
hearing both sides and the mimicipal executive committee. Against his
decision, there is the usual appeal allowed in Spanish administrative law.
As this characteristic is closely connected with the valuation, and
since it is included in the economic group, it is made definite at the same
time as the valuation and in the same manner : it is only exceptionally that
an independent course is followed.
Period of Valuation. The land tax in Spain is levied on all revenue
derived from the cultivation of the land directly, or indirectly, by means
of livestock improvement.
In this revenue is included '
(a) revenue from the land and its permanent improvement;
(b) The annual interest on capital intended for the cultivation of
the soil or for the livestock it may support, or needed for agricultural
work;
(c) The profits of the agriculturist or livestock improver.
To determine the amount of this revenue, balance sheets are prepared
showing the gross annual produce corresponding with each degree of in-
tensity of production for each class of cultivation, in relation to the unit of
area and the expenditure necessary to obtain the produce. The expend-
iture is classified as follows :
on Human Labour
,, Animal Labour ^
Actual Annual Expenditure { ,, Manure and Seeds
,, Irrigation
,, Insurance
„ Furniture and Agricultural
Extinction of Debt I Implements
/ ,, Buildings and Improvements
THE CADASTRE IN SPAIN 1 33
The difference between the two gives the net yield. This analy-
tical and direct method for estabUshing the net yield has been abandoned,
for in practice it presents many inconveniences, amongst others the difficulty
of attaining uniformity in the principles on which the various officers en-
trusted with the valuation proceed.
To arrive at this uniformity, technical accuracy has been somewhat
sacrificed ; a synthetic system has been followed for the direct calculation of
each of the three elements of the net revenue. The revenue is calculated from
verbal information or from documents, the interest from the capital of the
farm by means of direct calculation (easier than in the case of the gross pro-
duction), and the adoption of a tmiform rate or one the fluctuations of
which are regulated in advance, and the profits of the farmer, on the sup-
position that they form such or such a percentage of the capital for working
expenses, which may also be established in advance ; there is thus also
a typical quantity for each class of cultivation varying generally in-
versely with the degree of intensity of cultivation (i).
These individual valuations are in relation to each of the terms of the
table of classes of cultivation and degrees of intensity prepared by the cad-
astre officials for each municipal district with the intervention of the respect-
ive local executive committees. In order to obtain as nearly as possible a
uniform standard for an entire province, this work of valuation is not directed
by the officials of the cadastre individually, but by all those of the pro-
vince together, with the addition of the officials of the adjacent provinces.
They are all jointly responsible for all the valuations.
The agreement once come to between the officials and the municipal
executive councils in regard to the table of classes of culltivation and
degrees of intensity of production, and with regard to the types of valu-
ation per hectare, publication is made of the results obtained, so that any
complaints may be sent in. When examination has been made of these
and a settlement come to, the last operation of the preUminary cadastre
is undertaken, that of the total valuations, namely the appUcation of typical
estimates corresponding with each of the parcels or their subdivisions, by
multiplying their areas by the respective units of value.
*
* *
The principal documents making up the preliminary cadastre of agri-
cultural wealth and livestock in each municipal district are as follows :
[a) A plan of the district on the scale of i in 25,000, on which are marked
in numerical oider all the polygons into which it is divided by roads and
waterways.
(i) This mode of valuation is not that enioined by the law of March 23id., 1906. The
law of December 29th., 1910 authorized the Minister of Finance to vary the methods o
valuation establis'aed by the prev'ous law, rendering them more simple, and this variation
was entered in the regulations of October 23rd., 1913.
134 SPAIN - MISCELLANEOUS
{b) A tracing of the parcels for each polygon, on which, on the same
scale of I in 12,500 are shown the details of the parcels and their subdi-
visions, their numerical order on the polygon and the indications of the
crops and the various classes of land.
(c) The table of valuation types referring to the various kinds of cul-
tivation and the various degrees of intensity of production in each case.
{d) The cadastral folios, one for each parcel, on which all their charac-
teristics are shown and the administrative action preceding their final regis-
tration. These folios are preserved in the archives in their numerical
order.
(e) The cadastral register, in which are noted, in the order of the poly-
gons, their description for cadastral purposes, the physical and economic
characteristics of their parcels and a summary of the areas to which each
type of valuation has been applied.
This book has at the end a sufficient number of blank pages on which
to note the variations that may occur in the characteristics of the parcels
registered in it.
(/) The land book in which note is made of the legal characteristics
in the same order as in the previously mentioned book. This book also
contains blank pages in view of future changes.
The reason for noting the kind of tenure in a separate book, is the
excessive variation of this characteristic in comparison with the others.
(g) The schedules of real estate, one for each holding, on which are
shown all the parcels within the municipal jurisdiction, with only those
details indispensable for the collection of the tax.
These schedules are preserved in the archives in alphabetical order
of the names of the landowners.
The variations to which the characteristics are continually subject
necessitate the addition to the corresponding detailed tracings of pages
of plans showing these alterations, the cancellation of the corresponding
entries in the cadastre register and the land register, with addition of new
entries on the blank leaves, as the alterations take place, and the sub-
stitution of the leaves of the cadastre and schedules of holdings, by other
equivalents, on which the new characteristics are entered.
Fiscal Period. ■ — When once the prefiminary cadastre is completed, the
period of its application, which is almost exclusively fiscal, begins. It is
easy to understand, in fact, that its applications are very rare for legal pur-
poses, for the parcels have not been bounded in a legal sense ; nor have
their limits been fixed on the spot, and account has not been taken of them
when registering the state of possession (not that of ownership), and,
finally, only the declaration of the presumptive owner has been given and
only on condition of its not being impugned by the municipal executive com-
mittee or any other proprietor.
However, the law of 1906 requires that the evolution of the cadastre shall
not be arrested at this point. It requires that, once the preliminary cadastre
is terminated, it be gradually transformed into a detailed cadastre. But,
as it leaves the procedure to be followed for this transformation rather ob-
THE CADASTRE IN SPAIN 1 35
scure, no advance has been made beyond ensuring that until a new and effect-
ual law is applied, of all the usefulness to society that may be anticipated
from its high cost, there will be no other remedy than to make provision
in the law for the course to be followed for fixing the limits of the parcels
permanently and in such a way that verification may be easy, for accuracy
in regard to the extent of the area is not so necessary as legally strict limits
and their practical permanence.
Unfortimately, pubHc opinion in Spain even among the technical staff
of the cadastre, is somewhat confused, owing to this aspect which has been
given to the cadastre. When the public speak of the detailed cadastre
by itself, they give by that expression a great and decisive importance to
topographic accuracy for fixing the area; on the contrary, they scarcely think
of the legal boundaries, without which, however, this accuracy, always
at the mercy of eventual or disadvantageous variations of the limits, is
absolutely useless.
Present State of the Work and the Expenditure Entailed.
Since 1895, the work of the preparation of plans, temporarily separated
from that for the map, has been in course, with a view to the operations we
have dealt with above, which were the subject of various bills before
becoming law. Since 1902, after a short application of the cadastre for
cultivated areas, but only in certain provinces, the agronomic work of the
Preliminary Cadastre, as defined by law of March 23rd., 1906 and the
Regulations of October 23rd., 1913, have been in course.
At the Department of Finance, the work for a preHminary cadastre
of urban property has also been entered upon, but, although included
in the same law, it is of too different a character to be dealt with in this
study.
Under the regulations for this law, the work required for this prelimin-
ary cadastre had no effect on the total taxation of a province until the
whole work was terminated. The work in the provinces of Albacete, Ciu-
dad Real and Cordova was thus terminated. However, the law of De-
cember 29th., 1 9 10 provides that when a municipal district approves the
preliminary cadastre, the full tax of 14 % on the taxable wealth, will be
applied in it instead of 19% as formerly. In this way it has been
possible for the preliminary cadastre to come into force in many districts
of provinces in which the work was in course of execution, even before it
was terminated in all the districts of the province.
The following table will help to give an idea of the State of the work on
January ist., 1913 :
136
SPAIN - MISCEI^LANEOUS
Hectares
Portion accomplished, as far as concerns the
Surveying work alone 902,380
Portion accomplished, as far as concerns the
Surveying and the Declarations 2,335,493
Portion accomplished, as far as concerns the
Surveying, Declarations, and Valuation . . 440,437
Portion, completely terminated, in which the
fiscal application is in full force 7,932,217
Total . . . 11,610,437
Parcels
Subdivisions
of Parcels
290,911
383,012
35^,021
1,014,580
196,244
221,043
1,786,563
2,485,442
3,126,139
4,104,077
The area on which the taxes were paid in conformity with the cadastre
consisted at that date of 664 municipal districts, with 375,935 landowners.
The fluid revenue serving as a basis of taxation was 138,354,598 pesetas.
These mtmicipal districts belonged to the following provinces :
Albacete in the ancient Kingdom of Murcia
AUcante . .
Cadiz . . .
Cordova . .
Jaen. . . .
Seville. . .
Ciudad-Real
Madrid. . .
Toledo . . .
Valencia
Andalusia
New-Castille
The rest of the cadastral operations commenced had been begun in
some of these provinces, as follows :
Malaga of the ancient Kingdom of Andalusia
Almeria
Huelva
Granada. ....
Murcia >> >• >> >> >> jy^yj-^ia
Caceres " >< >> >> >> £)xtremadura
Badajoz
In order to find the cost of these operations, it has been calculated in
the statistical offices that the area in the corresponding table, where it is
divided according to the various degrees in which the cadastre has been com-
pleted, might correspond in point of view of expenditure, with 10,743,319
ha. in a position to pay the land tax. As, according to the statistics, an
THE CADASTRE IN SPAIN I37
amount of 14,053,743 pesetas has been spent on the agronomic work, the
rate of expenditure is i peseta 31 per ha.
The result from the fiscal point of view is an increase of 17.8 % in
the basis of taxation.
The objections presented against the results, account being taken
of the area affected by the complaints, lelate to 8.8 % of such area. If
instead of the area, we consider the number of parcels, the proportion is only
4.8 %, and, if we consider the number of landholders, it is 6.5 %.
Pinally, as regards the legislation, the work carried out for the pre-
hminary cadastre is based on the above mentioned law of March 23rd,,
1906, partially modified by that of December 29th., 1910, and the Regul-
ations for the technical service of October 23rd,, 19 13.
FRANCE.
NEW VALUATION OF UNBUII.T ON LAND.
PART. I.
VALUATION PROCEDURE.
OFFICIAI< SOURCE.
Report of M. Charles Dumont, Minister of Finance, on the Entire Work of Valuation
of Unbuilt on I^anded Properties, ordered by article 3 of thel^awof December 31st., 1907,
§ I. Introduction.
The yield of the soil has always been one of the chief sources of govern-
ment revenue. When, in 1894, M.Poincare, at that time Minister of Finance,
resolved to convert the land tax on unbuilt on land into a tax on net yield
of the land, he first caused the principle of a new valuation of unbuilt on land
to be approved by Parliament in article 4 of the law of July 21st., 1894.
From the date of the promulgation of that law, the Department of Di-
rect Taxation undertook to study the most suitable means for ensuring
the execution of the work under the most favourable conditions possible.
It tried first to calculate the whole income of each landholder from his
land according to the nature of his farm. This system gave very unsatis-
factory results, as it was based upon the statements of the parties con-
cerned or on the calculations of local commissions. The Government was
thus led to recognise that in order to ascertain the taxable revenue of the
various tax payers with sufficient accuracy, it was necessary to have
detailed estimates.
A new experiment made in this sense in fact gave practical results,
and it was applied by way of trial in one commune in each department.
According to this system, for the new valuation four essential oper-
ations were necessary :
{a) Division of the kinds of farm in classes varying with the fertility
of the soil, and the establishment of the net average yield per ha. in each class;
{b) Distribution of aU the parcels of the area among these different
classes ;
NEW VAI^UATION OF UNBUILT ON LAND 1 39
(c) Comparison in the case of a certain number of farms of the net
revenue as resulting from the valuation scale and the net revenue as shown
in the contract of lease;
(d) Communication of the results of the classification to the landowners.
A proposal for the adoption of this method was embodied in a bill
and laid before Parliament by M. Ribot, Minister of Finance, on October
22nd., 1895, but it was not discussed and was again submitted in turn, but
with no better success, by M. Doumer in 1896 and M. Cochery in 1896
and 1897.
And a bill on the same subject, proposed by M. Paul Constans in the
Chamber on ]March 12th., 1903, had no better success.
Then M. Poincare, again Minister of Finance, made a new effort with
a view to the reform of the land tax, the principle of which he had himself
laid down in 1894. For this pturpose, he inserted an article in the Finance
Bill for 1907, laid before Parliament on June 24th., 1906, conceived as
follows : " The Department of Direct Taxation shall proceeed to a new
estimation of the 3deld from unbuilt on land in all the communes, beginning
with those in which the municipal councils make request for the carrying
out of the work. The new estimation shall be made and the conclusions
applied in each commune as the operations are completed, under the con-
ditions provided for in the laws and regulations relating to the cadastre...
This article separated two operations that had been up to then considered
as necessarily connected, the equalisation of taxation in the case of the
total contributions of the commune and in that of individuals ; it thus per-
mitted of the immediate removal of inequalities in the taxes paid by differ-
ent taxpaj'ers in the same commune without it being necessary to wait for
a general equalisation or a transformation of the land tax.
But it met with serious opposition from the Committee on the Estim-
ates and was not approved.
M.Cailloux, jVl. Poincare's successor, returned to the subject in the bill
for the suppression of direct taxation and the introduction of a general
income tax and a supplementary tax on the total yield of the land, pro-
posed by him on February 7th., 1907.
Without waiting for the vote on this bill, it was decided, in view of the
urgent need of the reform, to include the provisions relating to the new
valuation of unbuilt on land in a special bill, which was proposed on
November 21st., 1907 ; it came up for discussion in the Chamber on De-
cember 6th. and in the Senate on December 28th.
After lively discussion, it was recognised that it would be dangerous
to hamper the Government by too many formalities and that it was wisest
to leave it to settle, as experience should dictate, the best methods to adopt,
for which it must give account to Parliament.
Consequently, article 3 of the law of December 31st., 1907 was conceived
as follows: " The operations prescribed by article 4 of the law of July 21st.,
1894 shall be immediately put in hand, the cost being paid out of the
3,000,000 frs. credit opened to the Department of Finance. They shall have
140 FRANCE - MISCELLANEOUS
it for their object to fix the present net yield of unbuilt on landed
properties.
In each commune, valuation shall be made of the separate farms, in.
accordance with a scale based on the nature of the crops and the hold-
ings or based on authentic deeds of lease or verbal contracts of lease duly
registered.
The results of these operations shall be communicated to those con-
cerned, who shall be allowed a period of two months in which to make ob-
jections (i).
Notice shall be given every year, in a report distributed to the
Chambers and published in the Journal officiel, of the work carried out
and the methods followed. "
This text was further completed by article 2 of the law of December
26th., igo8 providing that " in the course of the operations prescribed by
article 3 of the law of December 31st., 1907, no valuation shall be made
of ground built on, nor of that forming an immediate and indispensable
adjunct to buildings. "
It is in terms of these provisions that the operations of which we are
now about to speak were carried out.
§ 2. Administrative procedure.
In accordance with article 3 of the law of December 31st., 1907, the
object of the new valuation is "to determine the present net revenue of
unbuilt on landed properties. "
The law does not define the " net revenue " that has to be discovered,
but the debates preceding the vote on the law clearl}'^ show that by this
expression is to be understood the rental value of the land, that is to say the
rent the landholder derives from his real estate when he lets it, or, in case
he works the land himself, what he might derive were he to let it. This
value differs much from the net yield of the soil, which includes not only
the rent of the land, but also the agricultural profits constituting the gain
of the farmer working the land.
Under these conditions, the task first of all incumbent on the financial
department was to discover the most appropriate methods for ascertain-
ing as rapidly as possible, the precise rental value of unbuilt on land.
I. — Temporary Instructions. — The general Department of Direct
Taxation immediately set to work and prepared a scheme for the organ-
(i) This paragraph was modified bj' article 2 of the law of April 8th., 1910, thus conceived :
The results of the valuations shall be communicated to those concerned, who may, within
the term of one month, ask for documents to be communicated to them showing the details
of the work of valuation per farm and demand copies of the said documents. The parties
concerned shall be allowed a term of two months from date of the communication of the
documents, in which to make their objections in writing.
NEW VALUATION OF UNBUILT ON LAND 14I
ization of the work, providing for the utiHsation of the assistance not
only of the agents of the department of direct taxation, too few alone to
arrange for the completion of the valuation within the very short term
pro^vided for, but also of collectors and of municipal clerks.
The work had to be carried out as follows :
The municipal clerks were entrusted with the initial duty of investig-
ating with the assistance of the parties concerned the changes made in
the way of cultivating the land since the establishment of the cadastre.
Furnished with this information, the head officers of the direct tax-
ation offices prepared a statement of the real estate of each landholder,
classifying the holdings according to position and the nature of their
cultivation.
The valuation properly so called was then undertaken. At first a
valuation scale was prepared. For this purpose, the superintendent, with
the help of assessors, first of all enquired what kinds of farm were
represented in the commune and settled the number of classes that should
be made in each case mth a view to the varying yield of the land ; he
then chose for each class a t^^pical holding as representing the average
value of the class, selecting it as far as might be from among the rented
holdings. The rental value per hectare given by the typical holding was
then entered on the list to serve as the basis for the valuation of all holdings
to be later included in the same group and class.
Then the collector, also assisted by assessors, proceeded to group the
holdings in various classes according to the scale. All parcels of the same
kind possessed by one land holder in one place were classed together.
When the classification was complete, the superintendent went again
to the com.mune, where he calculated, with the help of assessors, the rental
value of the holdings leased, on the one hand in accordance with the rent
stipulated in the contracts, on the other hand in accordance with the scale
and the results of the classification; he enquired into the causes of the
differences revealed by this operation, and made any corrections consid-
ered necessary in the scale.
The valuation properly so called being thus finished, it was still necess-
arj^ before determining the final results, to proceed to the calculation of the
rental value of all real estate according to the classification, the division
of the holdings according to the manner of working, the communication
of the valuations to the owners and the consideration of the objections
presented by them.
This procedure was first applied in the commune of Laroche-Saint-
Cydroine (Yonne), where it seemed to give satisfactory results and
afterwards in two communes in each department. Experience revealed
some defects which were remedied by the following changes.
(a) Substitution of collectors of taxes for the municipal clerks. — In spite
of the zeal and activity shown by them in the work in connection with the
experiments, the municipal clerks did not seem alwaj^s able, in view of
their manifold duties, to give the department sufficient assistance in complet-
142 FRANCE - MISCEIvI^ANEOUS
ing the work as rapidly as was desirable and it was decided to substitute them
by collectors of taxes.
(b) Transfer of the work of classification to the charge of the superintend-
ents. — As it had been recognised necessary, in order to ensure the greatest
accuracy in the valuations, to have all the work of valuation properly so
called done by one and the same ojficer, the duty of classifying the holdings
was taken from the collectors and assigned to the superintendents who
were already charged to prepare the valuation scales.
{c) Substitution of classifiers for assessors. — It appeared in the course
of the experiments, that many of the members of the commissions of assess-
ors were not sufficiently skilled in the matter of land valuation and it was
considered advisable, under these circumstances, to give the superintendents
the assistance of committees of classifiers, composed entirely of landowners,
metayers or farm managers.
(d) Grouping and classification of holdings. — • Finally, the system of
grouping adopted not seeming suitable in every case for the rapid and sure
performance of the work of classification, a new method was substituted,
namely the grouping of the parcels according to owners and the leaves of the
cadastral plan. According to this system, all the real estate belonging to each
landowner had, before any other operation, to be entered together, by the
head officers, with the assistance of the cadastral register, on separate forms
for each leaf of the plan. On these forms, then, note was made by the
collectors of any change in the mode of farming, and they were then util-
ised by the superintendents for the purposes of the classification, after
having been arranged according to the leaves of the plan and according
to the position of the holdings.
On November 20th., 1898, the special commission instituted at the
Finance Department gave its entire approval to the procedure established,
on condition that the course to be followed in the estimation of woodlands
should only be finally settled after consultation with delegates of the
department of waters and forests. The latter adhered to the pro-
posals ; but, in case Parliament should wish to grant special concessions
to long term forestry undertakings, they asked that in the course of the work
it shotdd be ascertained, independently of the real revenue from the full
grown trees, what the yield would be were the land planted for copse wood.
This idea being approved by the Commission, the instructions were
completed by a clause to this effect : they were also brought into accord
with the new decision embodied in the Financial Ivaw of December 26th.,
1908, to the effect that no value was to be assigned to the ground built on
or forming an immediate adjunct to buildings : they were approved by
the Minister of Finance on December 31st., 1908.
II. — Final Instructions. — The Ministerial Instructions of Decem-
ber 31st., 1908, containing the rules ultimately applied in establishing the
real revenue or rental value of unbuilt on land, divided the work of valu-
ation into preparatory work, examination of the kind of farming, valu-
ation properly so called, and ulterior operations, according to the order of
their performance.
NEW VALUATION OF UNBUILT ON LAND 143
Preparatory work. — This work, performed in the direct taxation offices,
was the preparation of the documents required for the operations in the
communes. With the help of the cadastral registers, all the holdings be-
longing to each tax payer were grouped together, according to the leaves
of the plan ; or, in other words, all the parcels entered in the cadastre were
shown grouped together on different valuation sheets for each leaf of the
plan. These sheets were then sorted according to owners and finally sum-
marised for the whole commune.
Examination of the kind of farming. — - After the preparation of
the documents in the above manner, the officers in charge communicated
them to the collectors, together with extracts from the contracts of lease
relating to the last ten years supplied by the registrars. The collectors
had to find out the alterations made in the manner of cultivating the
holdings since their registration in the cadastre, and to show on the sheets
the real manner of their cultivation ; they had also to note on the extracts
from the deeds of lease the designations given in the cadastre to the parcels
therein dealt with, so as to allow of the identification of the holdings leased
and of the farms being distinguished from each other. They were assisted in
their twofold work by the landlords, assembled in advance by means of
publicly posted advertisements or private letters, or, in default of the land-
lords, by the persons best informed with regard to the communal land.
The work of valuation properly so-called. — This work was entirely
carried out by the superintendents of direct taxation immediately after the
accomplishment of the preliminary operations with which the collectors
were charged. The superintendents first of all collected from the public
departments all information that might be useful with regard to the value
of unbuilt on land and then visited the communes, where they proceeded,
in union with the classification committees, as follows :
After preparation of a complete list of the kinds of cultivation carried
on in the commune, they settled the number of classes to be assigned for
each of these kinds of cultivation, taking into account the various degrees
of fertility of the soil, the value of the produce and the situation of the hold-
ings. Then they established a provisional valuation scale, showing the
average rental value and market price per hectare for each class and they
proceeded to classify the landed estates in the various categories corre-
sponding with the scale.
The superintendents and classifiers then, with the help of the contracts
of lease, estimated the value of the holdings leased and compared the re-
sults with those obtained by means of the classification. Theoretically, the
two methods should evidently lead to estimates consistent with each
other, but, when this was not the case, the superintendents had carefully
to investigate the causes of the dift'erence revealed by the comparison, and
make the necessary corrections in the valuation scale or in the classi-
fication, according to circumstances.
Ulterior work. — After the completion of the work of valuation pro-
perly so called, the scale of valuation was examined by the inspectors of
direct taxation and definitely fixed by the officers in charge. These officers
144 FRANCE - MISCELLANEOUS
then proceeded with the calculation of the rental value of all the parcels ;
then they forwarded the documents to the superintendents who had to
apportion these rental values per farm in the case of holdings for which
there were contracts of lease in course. Finally, the same officers wrote
and despatched letters communicating the results of the valuation to the
parties concerned.
After the expiration of the period allowed to the latter to m.ake their
objections, these were carefully examined by the superintendents and
classifiers, after which the head officers made the necessary corrections in
their papers and prepared a table giving the general results of the work for
each commune per landholder.
Such are, in outline, the methods adopted for the carrying out of the
work in connection vnth the valuation. This analysis gives us a sufficient
idea of the general lines of the system followed. It will, however, be very
useful to add a few details in explanation in regard to the m.ost important
and most delicate part of the work, that is to say the establishment of the
scale.
The following explanations are consequently intended to show the
difficulties that had to be surmounted in this connection and the steps
taken to overcome them.
Establishment of the scale. — It was first of all necessary for the superin-
tendents charged '^\dth the establishment of the scale to proceed to study
attentively the special conditions of agricultural holdings in each of the
communes in which they had to work. To this end, it was enjoined on them
not to visit the communes to ensure the actual execution of the work,
till they had collected all the data necessary to enable them to guide the
classifiers in their deliberations with profit and with authority.
The average rental values per hectare shown on the scale were at first
inferred from the information supplied by the contracts of lease entered into
under ordinary conditions, as far as possible in the case of holdings of
average size situated in the commune.
When sufficient information could not be obtained from these, it be-
came necessary to make use of documents of the same character relating to
land in the neighbouring communes.
Finally, in default of documents, the average rental value per hectare
was fixed either by means of a comparison, or by calculating interest on the
market price ascertained from deeds of transfer, or by a direct estimation,
calculating the net yield of the holdings and deducting the amount of the
farm profits.
The average values per hectare to be shown on the scale were calculated
according to similar methods.
These general rules sufficed to enable the agents to fix the net re-
venue of such real estate as is usually leased by contract, as this revenue
is nothing else but its rental value. But it was necessary to give the tech-
nical staff accurate information in regard to the methods to be followed in
order to ascertain this net revenue in the case of certain classes of holdings
not habitually leased. We shall take as an example forest holdings.
NEW VALUATION OF UNBUILT ON LAND 1 45
These have not a rental value, strictly speaking, as their revenue is
derived from the value of the wood cut. It is this revenue, less the cost
of maintenance, management, protection and plantation, that in the ^>Iin-
isterial Order is considered as the net yield.
In fact the exploitation of a forest requires neither annual cultivation,
nor investment of capital ; the intervention of the landlord is limited to acts
of supervision and administration that may be paralleled with those per-
formed either by the householder who himself administers his real estate or
the capitaHst concerned with personal estate securities. This kind of ex-
ploitation, is not, therefore, like the working of other landed estate, a real
profession and, thus, there could be no question of deducting from the
revenue from the cuttings an>i,hing under the head of agriculttural profits.
Indeed, the net revenue of forest holdings, as above defined, is only
collected periodically. Now, it was indispensable, in view of the annual
incidence of the land tax and the necessity of ensuring a regular annual
revenue to the departments and communes, to subject the forests to an
annual charge. It was consequently necessary to find the annual revenue
by means of the periodical yield from the cuttings. The Ministerial
Instructions therefore ordered that the value of the cuttings should be
divided by the age of the trees, the yield of copsewood and forest trees
being for the purpose considered separately.
This method, indeed, is adapted to meet the case, for forests indisput-
ably yield an annual revenue consisting in the value of all their plants. This
revenvte, it is true, cannot be collected in kind from the 3^ear of production,
as the market value only begins after a certain time ; it is no less certain,
however, that this annual revenue exists and adds to the value of the land,
and thus is a definite gain to the land holder. This is so true that in case
of sale of wooded land, the price of sale is fixed with due regard to the
annual increase of the wood on the land and the seller thus receives the
yield of his wood mthout having to wait for the usual date of its cutting.
It has been objected against this system of valuation that it obliges
the forest proprietors to pay a tax on revenue they have not j^et received.
There would be foundation for the objection if the wooded land were taxed
from date of plantation, but this is not the case. In fact, under the pre-
sent legislative system, forests newly sown or planted are exempt, entirely
or almost so, from the land tax for thirty j^ears (i), a period more than suf-
ficient to ensure the proprietor the receipt of the yield of the first cutting and
it is not to be doubted that this law will continue in force. Under these con-
ditions, the taxation of the forest wiU continue to be based, as it has always
been, not on revenue to be collected, but on that actually collected.
(i) The exemptions granted on bahalf of reafforested land are now regulated ; i5t., by
article 226 of the forestry code, which exempts from the land tax, for a period of thirty years,
seed plots and forest plantations on the summits and slopes of mountains, on sand hills and
in moor land ; 2nd., by article 3 of the law of March 29th., 1897, which reduces the land tax
on land planted or sown for forests by '/,, for the first thirty years.
146 • FRANCE - MISCELLANEOUS
If, on the other hand, account be taken of the fact that the tax corre-
sponding with a cutting is paid in accordance with a graduated scale for
the whole period of the growth of the wood for the next cutting, we see
that really the Treasury rather allows the landowner time to pay his debt.
In addition, the forest proprietors are to receive a further advantage
from the mode of taxation contemplated in the bill for fiscal reform al-
ready voted by the Chamber. In accordance with this biU, forest land would
only be taxed, like any other land, to the extent of *, 3 of its revenue.
As the forest owners have not to bear any of the charges (costs of main-
tenance of rural buildings and repayment of the debt on them, risks of not
leasing or not receiving rent), on account of which this reduction was justi-
fied in the case of other land holders, and as, on the other hand, the
special burdens they have to bear have been deducted from the gross yield
of their land, they will be in a privileged condition compared with the other
tax payers.
Examination of the scales of valuation. — Although all the precaution-
ary measures above mentioned might have been applied for the establish-
ment of the scales of valuation, it was still necessary to ascertain the accur-
acy of the valuations therein registered.
As the scales had to serve to calculate the rental value of all the real
estate in each commune without exception, whether leased or not, a first
mode of verification was contemplated, consisting in the comparison, in
the case of rented holdings, of the values thus obtained and the real rent
as shown in the contracts of lease.
That such verification might be possible, the contracts of lease had first
to be examined to find the net yield, that is to say from the rate shown in the
deeds the net rental value of the unbuilt on land dealt vidth therein had to
be discovered. Now, this operation, although simple in appearance, none
the less gave rise to serious difficulties.
The contracts which could be utilised for the purpose may be grouped
in two principal classes : contracts of leases, in which the payment is gener-
ally made in money and sometin es in a fixed quantity of the produce, and
metairie contracts, in which the profits are shared between the lessor and the
farmer, in varying proportion fixed in the contracts themselves.
But these definitions only apply to either class of contracts in a
general sense ; in reality, the deeds show very different forms according
to the districts in which they are passed.
Among leases presenting interesting peculiarities, let us mention :
Contracts of tenancy at will, still in use in the C6te-du-Nord, Fini-
stere and Morbihan, in principle contracts of ease, though the landowner
also sells the farmer the buildings and areas existing on the farm for a
period contemplated in the deeds. The annual rent is generally low, but the
lessor keeps the right to give the farmer notice to quit or to evict him at the
expiration of the period agreed on, refunding him the value fixed by
experts of the buildings and areas, in other words of all constructions etc.
raised on the ground.
NEW VALUATION OF UNBUILT ON LAND 1 47
Special contracts a complant in the case of vineyard leases are met with
in various departments, especially in Loire-Inferieure and la Vendee. By
these contracts, which come under the head of metairie contracts, land is
granted to the farmer for a period limited only by the life of the vines, on
the twofold condition of planting or keeping up the vineyard and giving
the landlord a definite portion of the crop. These leases are hereditary and
give the farmer the right of disposing of his original usufruct by sale, be-
quest or grant.
Contracts a bordage, peculiar to the Perche district, give a stock farmer
{bordier) the right to lodge and pasture his livestock on a holding, cultivated
either by the owner or a tenant former, who only retains posession of the
corn, as the owner of the livestock has a right to the forage and straw on
which he feeds his stock.
According to the contracts of terres a marche in the Somme, the tenant
on taking possession gives the proprietor a certain sum and he is then de-
barred from selling or letting to any one else except the tenant, any of the
real estate leased, unless it be with the tenant's consent.
Again all these contracts, whatever their form, are very frequently com-
plicated by special clauses which influence the rent itself, by the reserv-
ation of certain advantages to the parties or by the imposition of certain
charges.
Among the clauses most frequently met with are those referring to
the stock (supply of livestock and farm requisites by the proprietor) :
payment of taxes of every kind on the land and insurance premiums ; the
performance by the lessee of services (ploughing, carting etc.) or the pay-
ment by him of dues (eggs, poultry, vegetables etc.) to the lessor.
Independently of these general clauses there are others special to cert-
ain districts. Such are, for example, in the department of Cotes- du-Nord,
supply by the lessor to the lessee of certain quantities of straw, hay and
dung, on conditions of equivalent quantities of the same being returned
on expiration of the lease ; in the department of Manche, the obHgation
on the part of the tenant to plant apple trees in the meadows, on condition
of the landlord paying the price ; in the arrondissement of Millau, the
clause binding the tenant to continue the supply of milk for making
Roquefort cheese, whilst the landlord undertakes to guarantee to keep the
price of the milk the same for the whole term of the lease.
Naturally, the Ministerial Instructions of December 31st., 1908 could
not consider all the clauses and conditions that might be inserted in con-
tracts of lease ; they were limited to indications as to the course to be pur-
sued by the agents in order to ascertain the net revenue in the cases most
usually met with.
As regards metairie contracts, which, in certain regions, represent almost
the only system of lease, order was given to find out the average amount
of grain and other produce annually delivered to the landlord by the metayer,
regard being had to the proportion laid down in the contract and then to
calculate, in accordance with the official list of prices adopted bj* the regis-
148 FRANCE - MISCELLANEOUS
tration service for the last ten years, the amount of these dues that might
be considered as rent.
On the other hand, it was specified that to the rent there should be added
the charges legally due to the landlord, when, by virtue of the agreements,
such charges were imposed on the lessee, as well as, if need be, the value of
the services rendered and dues paid by the tenant farmer, but that, on the
other hand, deduction should be made from the rent, as shown in the deed,
of the interest on stock and the value of buildings (houses, workshops and
farm buildings) and that of the moveables mentioned in the deeds.
Finally, the agents had first of all to interpret the clauses of the deeds
so as to know what influence they had in fixing the rent and then to estim-
ate the increases or deductions to be made in order to arrive at as accur-
ate an idea as possible of the rental value.
Besides, as the contracts of lease often refer to holdings extending over
many communes and as the valuation is made per commune, the superintend-
ents were, in such cases, obHged to calculate the portion of the rent for
the real estate situated in the commune where the operations were being
carried out, a matter not always easy, even in case of contracts of lease not
containing special clauses.
The work of ascertaining the rental value thus presented serious dif-
ficiilties and demanded minute attention as well as a profound study of the
contracts. If we add to this that the rents are often shown in the contracts
at less than their real value and, also, as many departmental directors have
found, they vary with the kind of farm (large, medium sized or small
farms), we see how difficvdt in many cases it may be to ascertain
from a contract of lease the real rental value of the land in question.
It is none the less true that, taken altogether, the contracts of lease
allow of our learning with sufiicient accuracy the average rental value of the
holdings and that thus they are a very eftectual means of checking the
figures of the scale.
It is to be observed, however, that this system of check was wanting
in the case of those communes for which the deeds were not forthcoming
at all or only in very small number. On the other hand, even as regards
those communes where the investigations for ascertaining the net revenue
could be carried out in the case of an appreciable number of contracts, there
might be certain errors due either to want of experience of agents new to the
work or to the district or to the lack of competence of certain local commiss-
ions or to an imperfect appreciation on their part of the object and import
of the work of valuation. Finally, if these investigations guaranteed, at
first, the uniformit}' of the valuation in each commune, they did not necess-
arily ensure that the scales would be in due proportion to each other in the
different communes and departments.
Thus, the Ministerial Instructions of December 31st., 1908 provided for
a second verification of the scales and entrusted it to the inspectors of direct
taxation. These officers were charged in each department to examine
with the greatest care the scales of all the communes and to assure them-
selves that the figures were accurate and reliable. They had, further, to
NEW VAI,UATION OF UNBUILT ON LAND T49
proceed to compare the scales in order to see if the valuations were in pro-
portion to each other in the various communes and lists. They had, finally,
in the same way, to compare the scales of their own department and those
of the adjacent departments.
It was further the duty of the inspectors to propose any amendments
they considered it advisable to make in the scales and to interchange with
their colleagues the communications necessary to ensure an agreement be-
tween the valuations in the case of communes situated on each side of the
departmental Hmits.
Thanks to this group of measures'and the care taken by the various
agents in carrying them out, the valuation scales, which are in some sort
the very framework of the large undertaking ordered by the law of Decem-
ber 31st., 1907, offer, there is no doubt, the best guarantee of accuracy
and proportion.
These are, in brief, the methods which were followed by the officers
engaged in the work for the new valuation.
Let us add that the holdings to be valued in this way correspond with
13,440,226 land tax papers for 154,789,052 parcels. The operations were
begun in the course of the year 1908, but, as that year was devoted to the
preparation of the instructions and to their trial application in each
department (to be precise in 169 communes), it is only since 1909 that
the operations in question could take their normal course. The}' were
finally completed in the first few months of 1913.
Availing themselves of the right granted them, 142,186 landlords made
application for copies of the documents relating to their land. These
applications led to the consignment of 172,120 abstracts relating to
7,094,929 parcels.
The number of landowners who made objections, whether the}' had
previously made the above application or not, was 120,085.
The objections made affected 23,186 communes ; their object was :
{a) Revision of the rental value, in the case of 104,500 holdings
{b) Modification of the dvision of the rental
value per farm, in that of 3.958 „
(c) Rectification of errors of apportionment, in
that of 24,072 ,,
(d) Exemption from taxation, on the ground of
new plantations or reafforestation, in that of ... . 3,827
The results of the examination of the objections in regard to the rental
value may be summarised as follows :
The objections applied to 0.84 % of the total number of holdings,
to 4 % of their area and 4 % of their rental value.
150 FRANCE - MISCELLANEOUS
In the case of the objections recognised as vaUd, these proportions were
reduced to 0.22 %, 0.74 % and 0.69 % respectively. Finally, a comparison
of the number, area and rental value of the holdings in regard to which the
objections were entertained either altogether or in part, with the number,
area and rental value of the whole number of holdings the valuation of
which was disputed, gives the proportions respectively of 26%, 19 %
and 22 %.
All these statements are witnesses at once of the care and moderation
with which the valuations were made ; they are of a nature to inspire con-
fidence in the general results of the work.
{To be continued).
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CONTENTS
PART I : CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION.
Argentina.
Miscellaneous News Page
I. Work of the Argentine Forestry Society, page i. — 2. Cow Testing Associ-
ations, page I. — 3. A Co-operative Society lor the Sale of Fruit, page 4. — 4. Co-
operative Nurseries for Fruit Trees, page 4. — 5. Co-operative Movement in
the Province of Entre-Rios, page 5.
Austria.
The District of Trent, a Model Co-operative District {Continued) .... Page
§ 3. Co-operative Ivand Credit, Distribution, Production and Sale, page 6. —
§ 4. Mutual Insurance, page 25.
iTAlyY.
Agricultural Associations of Employers and the Economic Institutions Pro-
rioted BY them Page 28
§ I. Origin and Progress of the Agricultural Employers' Associations, page 28. —
§ 2. The Working of the Agricultural Employers' Associations and the Defensive
Measures Adopted, page 30. — § 3. The National Confederation and the Inter-
provincial Agrictiltural Federation, page 32. — § 4. Economic Institutions
Promoted by the N^^ional Agricultural Association and by the Federated Asso-
ciations, page 33;
Publications of Recent Date Relating to Agricultural Co-operation and Asso-
ciation Page 37
IV CONTENTS
PART II : INSURANCE AND THRIFT.
France.
Some Forms of Mutual Insurance against Accidents in Agricultural IvAbour . Page 5 1
PtTBLICATIONS OF RECENT DATE RELATING TO AGRICULTURAL INSURANCE AND
Thrift. Page 56
PART III : CREDIT.
Hungary.
The Principal I^AND Credit Institutes IN Hungary Page 61
§ I. Co-operative l,and Credit Associations, page 62. — § 2. Mortgage Banks and
Banks for Mixed Purposes, I,imited by Shares, page 67. — § 3. Mixed Savings
Banks, page 70. — § 4. Conclusion, page 71.
Sweden.
1. The Organization of Savings Banks in Sweden and the Investment of their
Capital . . ' Page 72
§ I . Swedish Institutions for the Collection of Popular Savings, page 72. — § 2. Ordin-
ary Savings Banks, page 74. — § 3. Postal Savings Banks, page 79. —
§ 4. People's Banks, page 83.
2. — The Mortgage Question in Sweden Page 85
Publications of Recent Date Relating to Agricultural Credit Page 88
PART IV : MISCELLANEOUS.
CHir,E.
The lyAND Question and Colonisation in Chile {Continued) Page 95
§6. Trade in A^culttural Products, page 95. — § 7. Rural lyand, page 99. —
§ 8. I^abour and Agricultural Contracts, page 103. — § 9- Colonisation,
page 105. — § 10. New Tendencies of the Agricultural Policy of Chile, page no.
CONTENTS
France.
New Valuation of Unbuilt on I^and (Continued) Page
Part II. The Results of the Valuation : § i. General Results, page 112. — § 2. Re-
sults according to Types of Holdings, page 113. — § 3 Comparison of the
Areas valued in 1908 with those valued in 1851 and 1879, page 123. — § 4. Com-
parison of Rental Value and Market Price, page 129.
iTAlvY.
The Organization of a Communal Domain in Sicily, the Bosco Santo Pietro
OF Caltagirone Page 138
Publications of Recent Date Relating to Agricultural Economy .... Page 142
^art I: Co-operation and Association
ARGENTINA.
MISCELLANEOUS NEWS.
I. — Work of the argentine forestry society. — From the
last report presented at the general meeting, it appears that this important
association again last year exerted very efficient action for the defence and
increase of the national flora. Without counting the usual propaganda in
behalf of reafforestation, various prizes have been offered for the best plant-
ations of forest trees, fruit trees, olive trees etc; arbor day was celebrated with
the greatest solemnity in the whole repubUc and 300,000 trees and 4,000
kg. of seeds of various forest trees were planted. In addition to this, the
society intends to institute associations, in various centres of the interior
which will be affihated to it and support it in its work. It is founding
a special nursery for forest trees, to facilitate the selection of the species
best suited to the various latitudes. The society, finally, is preparing a
bill for a forestry code.
(Summarised from the Nacion, December, 1913).
*
2. — Cow TESTING ASSOCIATIONS. — As we have had occasion
more than once to point out (i), livestock improvement has made great
progress in Argentina in the last twenty years, especially owing to the
action of the Rural Society. The greatest care has been bestowed on the
(i) See especially in. tlic nimiber of this Bulletin for October, 1913, the arride: " Some
Indications of the Economic and Agricultural Progress of Argentina. "
ARGENTINA - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
improvement of butchers' beasts, to which the cold storage system is
giving continually increasing inportance, but this has in no way tended to
discourage the scientific improvement of dairy cows, as the increase of this
industry is considered one of the most effectual means for the exten-
sion of agriculture.
In recent years, there has been a movement in favour of cow testing
societies, led by Dr. Pedro Berges.
These associations, very widely spread, as we know, in the countries
where the dairy industry has made the greatest progress, Denmark, Switzer-
land, Germany etc., are formed amongst the owners of cows, and their
object is to increase the production of milk and the percentage of butter
fat in it, and to diminish the cost price, by means of the selection and
scientific feeding of the cattle. For the purpose, the milk of each cow is
periodically weighed and analysed and the food consumed by it is weighed.
Hence the improvement or the loss in the case of each cow can be measured.
In Europe, it is generally the Hvestock improvers who found these
societies on their own initiative : but in Argentina, where livestock
improvement presents special conditions and where the spirit of association
is still weak (i), it was not easy for these associations to be formed
by the producers themselves. Therefore appeal was made first of all to
the large butter factories of the country, which have the greatest
interest in the development of the cow testing societies. The butter
manufacturers, who have various steam creameries in different districts,
are always endeavouring to increase the amount of cream they treat, so
as to reduce the cost.
It is therefore entirely to their interest that the producers should sup-
ply the largest possible quantity of milk for the longest period of the year,
and that the milk should contain the largest possible percentage of butter
fat : this can only be effected with the help of cow testing associations.
The manufacturers welcomed the proposal of contributing to the found-
ation of such institutions. In September, 1911, the " Germania " Cow
Testing Association was constituted among the suppHers of milk to the
Germania and Gunther creameries (district of Gral-Pinto, Province of
Buenos Aires), belonging to the River Plate Dairy Company I^imited. This
company places at the disposal of the society the creamery buildings and
plant, as well as the staff for the inspection of the livestock etc.
In 1912, also with the help of the River Plate Company, another simil-
ar society was founded at Bell Ville (Province of Cordoba).
Encouraged by the success of these first experiments, the promoters of
the movement endeavoured to interest the public authorities in it. The
Government of the Province of Buenos-Aires instructed Dr. Pedro Ber-
ges to found three societies of the kind.
The first was founded in December, igi2 at Estacion Banchos (district
of Graal-Paz), with the assistance of the local butter factory : the other two
(i) See in the number of this Bulletin for December, 1913, the article " The Co-op-
erative,Movement in Argentine Agriculture."
MISCEI.I,ANEOUS NEWS
in March 191 3, one at Estacion Gardey (district of Tandil), the other
at Esiacion Monasterio (District of Chascomus), with the assistance of a
large steam creamery.
These societies are supported by Government : an expert belonging to
the Department of Livestock Improvement and Agriculture must arrange
with the Managing Committee of the Society to inspect the members'
cattle stalls, analyse their milk etc. Every month he must make a re-
port showing the results obtained. At the end of the year the members
win receive certificates showing the milk yield and proportion of butter fat per
cow, as well as the description of each cow and the calves it is nourishing.
The expenses form a charge against the Government.
Not all the five societies are working regularly : the idea, however,
has taken root and circumstances are becoming more favourable for the
foundation of these institutions. They will not only be able to improve and
develop the dairy industry in the country, but will be able to awake the
spirit of association among the producers, urge them towards new forms of
co-operation, such as the dairy societies and Hvestock improvement syn-
dicates which have given such good results in Europe.
As we have seen, the cow testing societies up to the present formed in
Argentina owe their origin not to the initiative and the capital of producers,
but rather to the initiative and capital of outside institutions, industrial
societies, namely, and the Government. But this is not, adds Berges, a
matter for serious reproach: even in countries in which private initiative and
the spirit of association are very highly developed, and where there are
hundreds of dairy societies, hvestock improvement syndicates etc., the
Govemmeats grant the cow-testing societies important subsidies.
In Argentina, in view of the conditions in which dairying is carried on,
the intervention of the State is for the present indispensable, if it is desired
to ensure the foundation and permanence of these institutions. In Europe
the feeding of cattle is very costly; it is therefore clearly desirable to get rid
of the cows that consume more than they produce and not to give others
nourishment in excess of that scientifically shown to be necessary for their
requirements : hence the desirabihty of instituting a system of supervision
over the production and of seeking out cows that give the largest quantity
of milk and butter fat and the nourishment of which costs least. In Argen-
tina the conditions are very different : generally a cow produces more than
it consumes. In contrast with the European custom, the cow is generally
not valued according to its certified yield of milk and butter, but accord-
ing to the purity of its breed. In Argentina, observes Berges, the only way
of obtaining real authority for the certificates is, at least in the first few
years, by an official system of testing.
This method, in addition to introducing scientific principles of improving
dairy cows, will raise the price of milk and thus many farmers will abandon
the improvement of butchers' beasts to devote themselves to that of dairy
cows : in this way, the excessive slaughtering of cows and heifers, which
constitute? a very serious danger for the national wealth in livestock, wiU
be put a stop to.
ARGENTINA - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
The writer we quote appeals to the Argentine Rural .Society to combine
with the Government Authorities for the extension, by means of assiduous
and single minded action, of the movement in behalf of the cow testing
associations.
(SummarisLtl from the Anales dc la Sociedad Rural Argentina. Buenos-
Aires, November-December, 1913).
*
* *
3. — A CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY FOR THE SALE OF FRUIT. — On the
initiative of the Agricultural Department, a co-operative society for the
sale of fruit has been founded at Cordoba. In view of the importance the
production of fruit has for the province, the society will be able to develop
considerably and be of great benefit alike to the farmers and the consumers.
The association has a large building, which will be utihsed for exhibitions
and shows for which the Government has offered numerous prizes.
(Summarised from the Gaceta Rural, Buenos-Aires, October, 1913).
4. — Co-operative nurseries for fruit trees. — The Engineer
Francisco Fernandez has dealt Avith this interesting type of association in
an official report on the agriculture of the department of Monte Caseros. This
region is situated in the extreme south east of the Province of Corrientes,
and is 270,000 ha. in area. Besides that the Uruguay bounds it on the
East, many other streams traverse it, making irrigation easy through the
whole area.
Although hvestock improvement still prevails here, the conditions of
climate and soil make the department a favourable region for the cultiv-
ation of ligneous plants, such as vines, olives, Umes, mandarin oranges and
all other kinds of fruit trees. Up to the present, however, Uttle or nothing
has been done to profit by these resources and to cultivate Ugneous plants
on scientific principles, that is carefully to select the varieties, graft and prune,
fight diseases etc.
One of the most effectual means for cultivating fruit on a technically and
economically sound system would be, according to the report, to institute
a large number of nurseries : they, besides serving for the extensive diffusion
of the selected varieties, would also serve as centres of experimenet and
instruction.
The nurseries might belong to the Government or be formed on a
mixed system, by the co-operation of private persons with tlie State. In
fact in the report it is proposed to found a kind of co-operative society, the
members of which would be the General Department of Agricultural Educ-
ation and the rural landowners, on the following basis :
i^*.,The landowner to contribute an area, for 6 or 10 years, according
to the locaUty, with the labourers, implements and livestock necessary for
the work.
MISCKLI/ANEOUS NEWS
2°^., The Agricultural Education Department to contribute the technical
management, the seeds, plants, material for grafting and, when it judges fit,
also the agricultural implements and other farm necessaries.
3'^'^., The plants produced to be shared equally between the landowner
and the Agricultural Education Department. The share due to the latter
to be distributed among the farmers of the district gratuitously or at a
price fixed in each case.
It seems the idea has been weU received among the farmers and already
some of them have offered areas for the installation of co-operative nurs-
eries : the author of the report trusts that, with the extension of fruit farm-
ing, these institutions will have beneficial effects in the way of extending agri-
cultural education and the co-operative idea.
(Summarised foiu the Bulletin or the A'^iricultural Dct>artment, Buenos-
Aires, October, 191 3).
*
4: *
5. — Co-operative movement in the province of entre rios. As we
have had occasion to observe already (i), Entre-Rios is one of the Argentine
provinces in which the co-operative idea is taking firmest root. Recently se-
veral farme s of the Colony of Santa Anita, near Urquiza, have united to
found a co-operative society for the collective sale of their produce.
A representative of the society will be charged to receive the goods at
the various stations of the province and sell them. For the deposit of cereals,
warehouses will be leased in the railway stations themselves.
Settlements will be made ten days after the definite sale, and 10 %
will be deducted for expenses. No member may sell his produce to outsiders
without special authorisation. The society may also give credit to mem-
bers. The interest on loans may not exceed 8 %.
(Summarised from the Gaceta Rural, Buenos-Aires, Jaunary, 1914).
(i) See in the number of this Biilletin for December, 1913, the article " The Co-op-
erative Movement in Argentine Agriculture. "
AUSTRIA
THE DISTRICT OF TRENT, A MODEL CO-OPERATIVE DISTRICT.
{Continued).
§ 3. Co-operative land credit, distribution, production and sai^ (i).
A. — Co-operative Land Credit.
The first rural bank was founded in 1873 at Quadra (Guidicarie) on the
initiative of the founder of the first co-operative distributive society, the
highly respected Don L. Guetti. Since then co-operative credit has made
very rapid progress.
The work of the rural banks consists in
(a) granting loans ;
(&) receiving savings deposits, even of very small amounts ;
(c) encouraging the foundation of other co-operative consortiums
(for distribution, sale and production), granting loans for the purpose and
opening credits.
Tabi,e V. — Situation of the Raiffeisen Banks.
Credits.
Year
0
0
Cash
I,oans
Current
Accounts
' Counter
Items
Total
i896(»)
II
1.354
27,965.08
233,604.22
336,947
10
4,843.40
603,359.80
1906
155
16,503
222,011.17
7.367,836.40
7,824,211
26
1,407,668.70
16,821,727.53
1910
160
21,707
219,472.14
9,916,183.51
14,214,857
88
3,686,644.15
28,037,157.68
1911
168
23,378
310,413.73
11,256,842.05
15,181,718
96
4,275.390.39
31,024,365.13
(i) First year for which there are figures.
(i) We have to deal in one and the same section with Co-operative l^iid Credit, and
Co-operative Distribution, Production and Sale, because the Central Federal ion and the
Central Bank conduct all these various kinds of co-operative business.
THE DISTRICT OF TRENT, A MODEIy CO-OPERATIVE DISTRICT
Debits.
Savings
Current
Account!
Counter
Items
Contributions
and Reserve Fund
Total
Year
Contributions Reserve Fund
1896
582,984.88
9,099.44
11,295.48
603,37980
1906
16,143,083.22
80,405.14
328,239.17
16,821,727.53
1910
25,261,311.20
2,019,570.85
130,410.80
72,520.46
553.344-37
28,037,157.68
1911
27,605,562.76
2,416,212.57
279,743.37
78,176 —
644,670.43
31,024,365.13
On December 31^*., I9i2,the situation of the Federated Rural BaiUss
was as follows:
1912
Revenue. Cash 25,357,611
Expenditure. Cash 25,044,656
Savings Deposits 37.783,257
Repayments Made 8,908,787
I<oans Granted 15.165,347
I^oans Repaid 3.301,809
Current Accounts: Debits 28,986,967
Current Accounts: Credits 14,870,566
Various Accounts: Debits 5.857,859
Various Accounts: Credits 2,445,242
Expenditure Account 234,961
Revenue » 352,185
Members' Contributions 79,ii3
Reserve Fund 634,703
Ntunber of Rural Banks ~. . 169
Number ol Members : 22,244
Number of Books in 191 1 and 1912.
igit igi2
(a) Savings 41,120 42,336
(b) Ivoans , 15.847 I5,944
(c) Credit Current Account 1,853 3,013
{d) Debit » » 216 324
The progress made by the Raiffeisen banks in the Trent District is
clearly seen from Table No. V; in 1896 there were 11 rural banks with
1,354 members ; in 1912 there were 169 with 22,244 members. From the
balance sheets we also see the progress made by these useful institutions
in the department of loans and in that of savings.
The value of the loans, which in 1896 was 233,600 crs., in 1906 had
increased to 7,367,000 crs., and in 1912 to 11,863,538 crs.
AUS'l'RlA - CO OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
The farmers at once availed themselves of the advantages offered by
the banks and had recourse to them for loans to extinguish others the
conditions of which were more burdensome. But much of this capital
-^Aas used immediately for the improvement of agriculture and the scientific
improvement of livestock, and in this way considerabty improved the eco-
nomic conditions of the country.
The savings deposits in 1896 made a total of 582,900 crs. ; in 1906
they had increased to 16,143,000 crs. and in 1912 to 28,874,470 crs.
The credit current accounts also deserve special consideration ; from
336,900 crs. in 1896 they rose to 7,824,000 crs. in 1906 and to 14,116,401 crs.
in 1912. For the most part, this amount represents the subventions in
current account the rural banks give to other popular economic institutes
and especially to the co-operative distributive societies, the development of
v.'hich is especially to be attributed to the support they receive from the
Rural Banks in this way.
The rate of interest in the Rural Banks is very low: on deposits it is be-
tween 3 Y2 and 4 % ; on loans between 4 ^ and 5 %. Although the law
aUows of a margin of i ^ %, practically it is reduced to i %, and with
this the banks cover their working expenses and form a reserve f tmd to meet
possible losses. The chief item of expenditure is the salary of the cashier
and bookkeeper; no other officers are paid.
In the rural banks the share capital is not important ; the members
are liable to the amount of their whole estate (unlimited HabiHty), all equally
and jointly and severally in respect to third persons, for the engagements
entered into and on this ground share capital is not necessary ; the applic
ations of members for loans are met out of the sa\dngs deposits or loans
obtained from a credit institute on the security of^the joint and several
liability of members.
B. — Distrihiitive Co-operation.
The first distributive Consortium was founded at S. Croce in Giudicarie
in 1890, imder the name oiSocieta co-operativa per acquisto e smercio di ge-
iieri (Co-operative Society for Purchase and Sale of Goods), through the
influence of Don L. Guetti. The object of this Consortium was collectively
to provide the goods needed by the members to meet the requirements of
their domestic and rural economy, at the most favourable prices,
distributing the goods among them in accordance with their needs, at
cost price increased by a percentage charged for the cost of management
and working.
In 1892 two other consortiums were founded, in 1893 five more ; since
then the progress has been very rapid, so that ini9o6 there were already 245
co-operative societies, which had increased to 250 in 1912 with more than
32,000 members.
From Table VI, which gives the situation of the distributive consor-
tiums, we may learn the ultimate credit and debit balances at the end of each
of the last financial years, from which it is evident that the economic
THE DISTRICT OF TRENT, A MODEL CO-OPEKAn\'E DISTRICT
development of co-operative business has kept pace with the increase of the
societies and members. The amomit of cash in hand at the end of 1896
was 48,600 crs., at the end of 1906 it was 193,600 crs ; in 1911 and 1912 it
was about 183 ,000 crs. The credits rose from269,ooocrs.in 1896 to 3,087,000 crs.
in 1906, and to 3,416,440 crs. in 1912; the goods account increased from
691,000 crs.in 1896 to 2,755,800 crs. in 1906 and to 3,579,328 crs. ini9i2 ;
the personal estate and securities increased in amount from 61,000 crs.
in 1896 to 1,326,300 crs. in 1906 and 1,530,493 crs. in 1912.
Tabi^ VI. — Situation of the Dislrihutive Consortiums.
Crediis.
% .5
Year S o 'S
Number
of
Members
Cash
Credits
Goods
Account
Personal
Estate
.and
Securities
Real Estate
Total
1
1910 . ' 236
1911 245
1912 . . 250
31,265
30,369
32,347
157,909
183,290
183.381
2,745,491
3,131,106
2,416,440
2,981,507
3,318,768
3,579,328
293.318
332,941
396,693
976,287
1,059,791
1,133,800
7,154,513
8,025,897
8,709,644
Debits.
iber
tiums
n 2
Outsiders'
Contributions
and Reserve Fund
"
Year H » o 8 o g
1 o
Accounts
Contrit>- Reserve
utions ! Fund
Total
igio
1911
1912
236
245
250
31,265
30,369
32,347
5,572,049
6,313,374
6,900,527
298,639 1,283,824
308,459 1 1,404,063
315,799 1,493,318
7,154,513
8,025,897
8,709,644
The total credits increased from 1,070,000 crs. in 1896 to 7,362,400 crs.
in 1906 and 8,709,644 crs. ini9i2; while the total debits of the consortiums
increased from9i9,ooo crs. in 1896 to 6,10 6,000 crs. in 1906 and to 6,900,500 crs.
in 1912, leaving net amounts of share capital, of 151,000 crs. in 1896,
1,255,700 crs. in 1906 and 1,809,117 in 1912.
These last figures sho^^' the financial strength of the co-operative
institutes; it must also be remembered that, besides these 1,800,000 crs.,
there is a guarantee fund of about ten million crowns, as security for the en-
gagements of the Consortiums to outsiders in case of failure (i). In the
district of Trent the legal form chosen for the distributive consortiums was
(i) Konkurs, according to the Austrian legal term.
lO
AUSTRL\ - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
that of limited liability consortiums, contemplated La the law on consor-
tiums of April 9th., 1873. {Bull. Imperial Laws, No.yo).
Among the results of distributive co-operatiou in the Trent district
we shall mention the following: the co-operative distributive societies regul-
ate the prices and the quality of goods on the market ; even the merchants
have to take account of the prices fixed by the consortiums and the quality
of the goods placed on the market by the distributive co-operative societies.
As regards the financial advantages, an important calculation was made
in the newspaper "Cooperazione Trentina", of June 30th., 1889, on the basis
of the information supplied with regard to the purchase and consumption
of goods by the co-operative societies in the years 1897 ^^^ 1898. According
to this calculation, on about 7,600,000 crs. worth of goods bought in those
two years from the co-operative societies then existing, a saving of 3 % was
made by wholesale purchase and payment in time to profit by the discount,
that is 228,000 crs. On the goods distributed (6,200,000 crs.), on which even
fair deaHng merchants would have charged about 20 %, the co-operative
societies, on an average, realised a profit of 7 % so that their members also in
this way gained 13 %; the members would therefore have gained 8 '6, 00 crs.
on the goods supplied by the societies, and this, added to the 228,' 00 crs.
above mentioned, gives 1,034,000 crs. as the amount of the immediate
savings for the two years.
It is further to be noted that at that date there were only 119 co-oper-
ative societies with 17,100 members, while in 1912 there Vv^ere more than twice
as many societies with 32,000 members; if the calculation made for 1897
and 1898 is correct, the annual saving to the members in recent years wordd
be about 1,000,000 cr^.
* *
There are also in the Trent district Mixed Di'^tribiUive and Credit Con-
sortiums, for example, the Trent Co-operative Union. We give below the
situation of these in the last three years.
Table VII. — Situation of Mixed Distributive and Credit Consortiums.
Credits
55 s
» s
Cash
Credits
Goods
Account
Personal
Estate
and
Securities
Real
Estate
Total
1910.
1911.
1912.
4«i
513
531
2,891
5.192
4.645
222,490
135.705
244,476
67,627
118,059
126,710
39.872
32.506
25,736
14.767
28,152
332,883
307,229
429,721
THE DISTRICT OP TRENT, A MODEI, CO-OPERATIVE DISTRICT
II
Debits
Year
Number
of
Consortiums
Number
of
Members
Outsiders'
Accounts
Contributions
and Reserve Pimd
Total
Con-
tributions
Reserve
Fund
I9IO
igii
1912
2
2
2
481 I
513
531
317.156
289,998
412,238
1
12,320 ;
13.777 1
13,848
3,406
3,454
3,635
332,883
307,229
429,721
*
* *
Co-operation for Prodiiction and Sale.
(a) Agricultural.
In the table accompanyiag this section of our study, there are figures for
most of the consortiums for production and sale to be found in the district of
Trent.
We shall also here briefly speak of these forms of co-operation and
especially of that class of consortiums, of which no statistics are given in
our Table VIII.
Cocoon Drying Societies. — The District of Trent, throughout a large part
of which silk worms are extensively reared, was not able, previous to the in-
stitution of these societies, in any way to overcome the speculation in pur-
chase and sale of cocoons and was therefore obliged to sell at the price the
buyers offered.
12
AUSTRIA - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
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THE DISTRICT OF TRENT, A MODEL CO-OPERATIVE DISTRlCr
Thus it often happened that silkworm breeders parted with their valu-
able produce at absurdly low prices, which did not pay them at aU, so that
many preferred to abandon their business and substitute their mulberry
trees by vines and other more remunerative plants.
In this case also recourse was had to co-operation and establishments
were founded providing purchasers with the necessary conveniences,
especially for weighing and drying the cocoons, and in these establishments
the produce could be stored, if need were, until the conditions of the market
improved. When the necessary arrangements had been made for the in-
stallation of the drying estabhshments, and for the selection of the form to
be given to the new institution, in 1901 the first cocoon drying consor-
tium was founded at Cles (Valle di Non) by 22 economic societies of the
valley.
The founders v. ere encouraged by this first experiment; in fact the estab-
lishment at once gave excellent results, rendering the producers independent
and attracting to the Trent market serious firms, which purchased the
produce of the organized silkworm breeders at suitable and remunerative
prices, which contributed appreciably to raise the price of cocoons even on
other markets of the country.
The example of the producers of the Valle di Xon was followed by silk-
worm breeders of the most productive regions of the country, so that in
a short time there had arisen drying establishments at Rovereto, Cavedine,
Caldonazzo, Mori, Arco Trento, Levico and elsewhere.
These establishments take various forms : we find some are consortiums,
some are societies in civil law, some are private establishments. Sub-
stantially, however, they do not differ greatly from each other, because gener-
ally the same contract regulations are adopted as those drawn up and adopted
by the economic societies ^^hich founded the Cles drying establishment.
These establishments ofier another by no means inconsiderable
advantage, that is to say they can be used also for the drying of maize. This
is an advantage of indubitable importance when we consider the fact that
in some parts of the Trent district, the pellagra has not yet been extirp-
ated : and in order that this terrible malady may be more effectually com-
bated the Imperial and Royal Government has granted some of these
establishments subsidies varying from 5,000 to 6,000 crs. out of the pella-
gra fund, or subsidies of 2,500 crs. out of the provincial funds voted
for the purpose.
Wine Societies. — The institution of these consortiums for production
and sale arose in the most difficult period for viticulture and wine making
in the district of Trent, that is to say, at the date of the renewal of the Com-
mercial Treaty of 1892 between Austria and Italy, in which there was in-
serted the famous clause in favour of Italian wines. The consequences ot
this clause were fatal for the wine trade of the district ; the prices fell in
fact almost to half what they had been and the production would perhaps
have been even more severely affected, had it not been that the spread of
phylloxera in Hungary created a new market for the consumption of the
ordinary produce of the district and especially of musts.
AUSTRIA - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
The Government, iu, order to alleviate the situation, assigned subven-
tions of some thousands of florins for several years in succession and the
money was largely used to promote the institution of wine societies. Thus
aided, there first of all arose the Riva wine societ}^ v.'hich liad an endow-
ment of 11,000 florins (22,000 crs.) : then followed that of Borgo, endowed
with 6,000 fls. , then that of Revo with 4,000 fls. and, later on, those of Xanno,
Campo TassuUo, Rallo, Tuenno, Pederzano, Mezocorona and Cloz, with small-
er grants. Some of these were able, through their fortunate position, to over-
come their initial difficulties successfully enough; others, however, with no
working capital, had a severe struggle, owing to the low prices due to the
competition of Italian wines, and some at last had to succumb.
The situation of the wine trade in the Trent district is now much
improved ; this is largely due to the abolition of the clause favouring Ital-
ian wines, in the last commercial treaty entered into between Austria and
Italy in 1906.
This naturally had its effect also on the wine societies; many of them
were transformed into co-operative wine societies, which means that anyone
may become a member and enjoy the advantages offered, whilst, generally,
in the other wine societies, membership is limited to the founders; the latter
societies have more than anything else the character of profit seeking in-
dustrial undertakings, the former that of co-operative undertakings for the
best possible utilisation of the viticultural produce of a larger circle of
persons.
The Vienna Agricultural Department has recently proposed the instit-
ution of a I^ederation of the Wine Societies of the Italian part of the pro-
vince; indeed, the Council for the Development of Co-operation in the Trent
District, of which we have already had occasion to speak, has studied this
important question with the object of discovering whether it would not be
advisable to found a Federation to exercise supervision over the producers
in their technical and financial business. The Trent Provincial Council of
Agriculture has indeed drawn up the rules for the federation, and completed
the arrangements for its foundation.
Dairies and Livestock Improvement Societies. — According to the census
returns for 1910, the Trent District has 98,558 head of horned cattle which
are kept for about 9 months on 44,315 ha. of meadovv^ land and 39,116 ha. of
pastures. Without considering the milk treated on the mountain, about
28,000,000 kgs. of milk are annually transformed into 750,000 kg. of butter,
1,500,000 kg. of cheese and 200 hi. of buttermilk, of a total value of more
than 3,500,000 crs. To aU tliis we must add the large area of the Alpine graz-
ing grounds, of which there are more tham 700, with about ^0,000 head of
homed cattle on them ; the average 3deld of these animals, in dairy produce
alone, is about 1,000,000 crs.
The Trent Division of the Provincial Council of Agriculture has always
had at heart the promotion of the dairy industry ; its action in behalf of
horned cattle improvement has kept pace with that in behalf of the improve-
ment of Alpine farms and pastures ; for this purpose, the Di\'ision has
constituted among its members a " Council of Alpine Grazing Grounds, "
THE DISTRICT OF TRENT. A MODEL CO-OPERATIVE DISTRICT
i.~)
to advise in regard to all applications for the execution of works of im-
provement.
In the best centres of livestock improvement in the Trent District there
are now livestock improvement societies organized on a co-operative basis. In
1912 all these societies were united in a Federation, to provide for the more
effectual co-ordination and uniformity of the Avork of the livestock improvers,
both as regards the collective sale and purchase of butchers' beasts and
breeding stock, the grazing of the same, the collective grazing of yoimg
cattle etc.
With the object of promoting the dairy industry, the Trent Di\'ision
of the Provincial Council of Agriculture published model rules for the
dairy societies in its Yearbook for 1884 (i).
These have increased to an extraordinary degree ; in 1887 there
were in the District of Trent 247 dairies; in 1901, 313; in i9('2,32i; in 1903,
324; in 1913, 403.
In 1891 there were 321 dairy societies in the whole of Austria, and of
these 164 in the Trent District ; in 1899 ^^^ dairies in the whole of
Austria were 708, 256 of them belonging to the Trent District. At present
the Trent Division of the Provincial Council of Agriculture is intent on resolv-
ing on modern principles the com.plex problem of the Trent dair^^ industry
and, therefore, on reorganizing also this department of the co-operation of
the district, being strongly supported in the matter by the Central and Pro-
vincial Governments. The State and Provincial subventions granted for
the improvement of dairying can only be accorded to dairj^ or cheese dairy
societies satisfying certain definite conditions laid down by the Depart-
ment in agreement with the Provincial Executive Committee. Xew dairy
societies or unions composed of one or more undertakings in one locality
must be constituted under the form of limited liability co-operative
consortiums, submit to inspection of their accounts by the Federation
of the Co-operative Consortiums of the Italian part of the Province and in
their technical business to the supervision of the Provinial Council; they,
may, then, expect subsidies of between 20 and 30. % by way of con-
tribution to the expense of the construction of the new dairy or the adapt-
ation of the old buildings to the purposes of a central dairx' or the
daily treatment of such a quantity of milk as may cover the expense of
the working.
The Department of Agriculture, the Pro\nnce and the Trent Division
of the Provincial Council of Agriculture, then, grant special subventions
to provide the dairj^ societies with new implements and improved
machinery.
(b) Non-A gricultural.
Various consortiums have been formed in the Trent District for the pro-
duction of electric light and pow er. vSome of them have given good results ;
(1) Page 239.
l6 AUSTRIA - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
others have failed, above all through insufficient technical knowledge. There
are now only three consortiums of the kind with i ,223 members.
Some other consortiums have also been founded on co-operative prin-
ciples, for example, joiners', blacksmiths' consortiums etc., but for many
reasons they have not had the success expected of them.
There are, finally, in the district, brocade consortiums, bakers' consor-
tiums, various consortiums, for example, for weaving and spinning flax etc.
D. — The Central Federation.
The Federation of the Rural Banks and Co-operative Societies of
the Itahan Part of the Province of the Tyrol with head quarters at Trent,
was founded in 1895 ^^^ received legal recognition on December 4th. of
that year.
The object of the Federation is :
(i) To promote co-operation generally and especially that form of
it concerned with the development of personal credit and saving among
the agricidtural classes ;
(2) To encourage its development and progress by means of improved
rules and the adoption of correct and uniform technical and administrat-
ive principles,
(3) To supervise the working of the societies by means of ordinary and
extraordinary inspections ;
(4) To defend and watch over their moral, material, legal and admin-
istrative interests ;
(5) To develop and direct the work of credit, purchase and sale and
promote mutual business relations;
(6) To promote mutual assistance of every possible kind among its
members.
The Federation has two Divisions: one for Rural Banks, the other
for all other co-operative societies. Each Division has its own general
meetings, its own Council, Executive and Presidential Committees; the two
Divisions together form the General Congress; the two Divisional Councils
form the Federal Council; the two Divisional Executive Committees form
the Permanent Executive Committee ; the two Vice Presidents, together
with the General President, form the Presidential Committee.
The means the Federation employs to attain the above ends are
various; amongst them we shall mention: propaganda by means of the press
and lectures ; ordinary and special inspections of technical, administrative
and legal business, legal consultation and protection, instruction in technical,
administrative and book keeping matters.
The funds needed are supphed by the Government and the Province by
way of subventions and when these do not suffice, by the federated societies
by means of annual contributions of amounts fixed each year by the Gen-
eral Congress in accordance with the estimates. The Federation is a civil
society regulated by law of November 15th,. 1867, {Bull. Imperial Laws,
No. 134), and extend ing its action only to industrial and economic con-
THE DISTRICT OF TRENT, A MODEI. CO-OPERATIVE DISTRICT I7
sortiums, founded in accordance with the law of April 9th., 1873 {Bull.
Imperial Laws, No. 70), and existing in the Trent District.
At the moment of its formal constitution (November 20th., 1895) the
Federation included 38 consortiums, that is, 8 rural banks and 30 co-
operative societies. Ten years later, in 1906, the Federated Societies were
413, and of these 155 were rural banks and 258 co-operative consortiums;
in 1912 there were 453 federated societies, 284 being co-operative consor-
tiums and 169 rural banks. The work of the Federation is most active and
beneficial in the matter of inspection. By the provisions of the rules the
federated consortiums are subject since 1895 to a general inspection to be
made, as a rule every two years. This inspection was made compulsory
by law of June loth., 1903 {Bull. Imperial Laws, No. 133), as a result of which
every economic consortium founded in accordance with the law No. 70,
of April 9th. , 1873 is obUged to submit to a general inspection every two years.
In consequence of this, the Federation has been legally recognised as an
institution for supervision, with its authority to inspect legally recognised
and authorized {Lieutenant Governor's Order of August 4th., 1903, No. 33,632.
Bull. Department cf Justice. No. 25). The Federation itself was later on
entrusted by the Commercial Courts of Trent, Rovereto, and Botzen with
the ofiScial inspection of the consortiums not federated in it.
From 1896 to 1906 the Federation made 902 inspections, occupying
3.935 working days : to the report of his inspection the inspector generally
adds a comment, either to explain the report to the General Meetings or
the Boards of Management, or for some other purpose. The action of the
Federation in this department is of great importance for the regulai
work of the societies.
The Federation also occupies itself with the technical education of the
staff in order to obtain a uniform s\ stem of bookkeeping f r the rural
banks and the co-operative cons, rtiums. In order to attain this end, the
Federation has initiated a series of courses of education, of ten days'
duration, repeated each year, and at the end of the courses there are examin-
ations ; the Federation gives certificates of attendance, showing the results
of the examinations and attesting the abiHty of the candidate to
keep books according to the system approved by the Federation itself
and these certificates facilitate his employment in the federated societies
either as warehouseman, accountant for the distributive co-operative so-
cieties or as accountant and cashier in the Rural Banks.
In these educational courses the rules, internal regulations and laws
relating to the economic consortiums are explained ; the maimer of corre-
sponding with the Government authorities is also taught; the organization
of co-operation in the Trent District is explained, including everj'thing
relating to the propaganda and development of the associations.
AUSTRIA - CO-OPERATION AND ASlrOCIATION
E. — Central Bank. — The Catholic Bank of the Trent District.
In the Federal Congress of January 29th., 1896 the erection of a Central
Bank was proposed to give the Rural Banks and Co-operative Societies the
possibility of suitably investing their surplus cash first in the dis rict
itself, and, in case of that not being possible, also outside of it, always with
security for the capital, and of obtaining the money necessary for their work
on easy and good conditions. On this basis, the Banco di S. Vigilio (Bank
of S. Vigilio) was founded, but the new institute was not able to work.
There just then manifested itself among the federated societies a disagree-
ment with regard to the denominational or undenominational character of
the co-operative institutions and the di ection to be given to them. This
disagreement was intensified when the Bank of S. VigiHo was founded, in
order to act as a Central Bank for the co-operative societies, and pro-
duced a rupture between the denominational and undenominational parties,
so that there was a severe contest in the Federal Congress on April 26th.,
1899, in which the denominational party prevailed ; in the elections to
ofiices in the society the undenominational part3'^ were completely defeated,
and from that date the tendency of the co-operative societies has become
markedly denominational.
The CathoUc Bank of the District of Trent was founded just in con-
sequence of the change of tendency, which led to the substitution of the Bank
of vS. Vigilio before it had begun working. Founded on December 28ih. , 1898.,
the Catholic Bank was registered on February 7t]i., 1899 and began working
on April loth. of the same year. It is an economic hmited liabiUty consor-
tium, in accordance with the law No. 70 of April 9tli., 1873. Its object is
the " grant of credit in its various forms and it purposes specially to en-
courage by means of credit and collection of deposits, Rural Banks,
co-operative societies for distribution and production and other institutions
of tendencies in conformity with the CathoUc spirit and therefore ready to
co-operate in the solution of the social question. " The share capital is
unlimited and formed by contributions of 20 crs. each, the reserve and
guarantee funds. The progress made by the Catholic Bank of theTrent District
is clearly seen from Tables IX and X which show the situation of this bank,
year by year, from its foundation (1899) to 1912 ; the number of members in-
creased from 625 in 1899 to 1,678 in 1912 with 58,450 shares, as against 3.350
in 1899. The share capital increased from 67,000 crs. 1899 in to 1,316,900
crs. in 1912 ; about half of this is derived from contributions of the rural
banks and economic consortiums of the Trent district. To the share
capital is added the reserve fund, which in 1914 amounted to 173,089 crs.
The savings deposits have increased to an extraordinary degree ; from
1,460,000 crs. in 1899 they had risen to 39,397,613 crs. in 1912. Besides
its head office at Trent, the Bank has some twenty agencies in various of
the principal centres of the country ; it has extended its action also to the
field of thrift, undertaking life, accident, burglary, transport etc., insur-
ance. The Catholic Bank of the Trent District was the initiator of two
THE DISTRICT OF TRENT, A MODEL CO-OPERATIVE DISTRICT I9
important uudertakings; the Railway of the Upper Valley of the Xon, and
the Industrial Bank, to finance which it largely contributed. The
railway has not been a great success ; the Industrial Bank was founded in
order to give moral and financial support to industrial undertakings that
might give the youth of the country permanent and remunerative em-
ployment at home and so serve to check emigration. From what has been
said above, however, on the matter of emigration, it does not seem that
the Industrial Bank has succeeded in this aim.
We shall speak in the next section of the support given by the Cath-
olic Bank of the Trent District to the Industrial Agricultural Syndicate.
20
AUSTRIA - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
Tabi,e IX. — ■ Situation of the Catholic Bani
Crt
A/</>r>«nte
1
1899
1900
1901
1902
1903
1904
Cash
46,488.38
373,785.30
184,124.99
8,903.31
768,189.79
144,732.50
2,697.95
961,323.49
5,924.43
272,183
3,507,035
2,099,92^
27,203
6,014,797
1,560,24a
80,138
8,646,58^
33,4X3
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
lO
Invested in Securities . . .
Bills aud Acceptances (Home
and Foreign)
Real Estate
Furniture, Safes etc
Current Accounts Guaranteed
by Bills, Securities, Mort-
gages aud Consortiums . .
; Cor res ponding
Credits 1 Banks
' Sundry Debtors . .
Deposits (as Guarantee, for
Administration and Cust-
ody)
Other Credits
Total Credits . . .
Nnmber of Members ....
Number of Shares
172,433.18
673.407.OJ
10,000 —
1,748,614.67
34,991.13
20,457.46
2,332,370.19
1,397.66
236,516.30
2,o58,<74 —
10,000 —
1,886,536.02
281,583.30
3.930,46
3,524,197.01
9,057.60
1,178,540.46
1,845,483.17
15,000 —
4,121,393.21
955,653.87
30,214.84
5.771.575.71
19,025.54
ioj,ou2.04
2,794,924.55
1-902,257.24
27,884.50
5,471,17740
925,977.47
33,868.10
7.814,834,79
31,742.40
2,495.530.00
5,057,990.76
7,114,802.09
14,098,023.47
19,176,529.30
33,330,51
625
8,350
714
4,491
1.037
5.541
1,165
6,720
1,323
8,251
1.4
20,:
Table X. — Situation of the Catholic Bank
Da
Accounts
Capital
Shares
\ Reserve Funds
Deposits and Current Ac-
counts
Banks and Correspond-
ents
4
Dividends Due and Ar-
"S", rears
I Thrift Fund
Sundry Creditors ....
Deposits (as Guarantee, for
Administration and Cust-
ody)
Rediscounts
Net Profits
Total Debits . . .
Number of Members ....
Nnmber of Shares
1899
1900
ij,03
1904
67,000 —
1,259 —
1,860,197.03
557.38
961,323.49
2,839.79
2.353.4X
2,495.530.10
615 —
3,350 —
89,820 — 110,840 —
2,062.78 i 5,781.48
2,603,321.54
4.353.698.33
10,909.79 80,877.65
839.83
1,16143
9.739-92
2,332,370.19 2,524,197.01
7868.99 13.709.95
9,897.04 I 14,816.33
5.057,090.16 7,114,822.09
714-
4,491
x,037-
5,543-
134,400-
10,509.88
7,360,57418
738,343.99
1,220.85
1,509.18
46,031.07
5,771,575.71
15,024.60
18,834.01
165,020 — 403,730
j 16,716.92 1 35,908,
110,388,921.88 112,780,004
709,613.67 293,276.
1,686.73 I 3,709.
I 2,988.37 4.796.
[ 40,704.57 47,456.
7,814,834.79 8,646,83a,
14,098,023.47
1,165 —
6,720 —
15,022.06
21,020.30
19.176,529.39
1.323 —
8,531 —
8.753-
l8,230.
33,330,518.
M7«-
30,i86 ■
i
THE DISTRICT OP TRENT,
A MODEI, CO-OPERATIVE DISTRICT 21
Trent
District, for the Working Years 1899-iq
C2.
Years
1905
1906
1907
1908
1909
1910
1911
19x2
5.799.94
308,656.15
256,139.56
309,354.80
412,367.61
390,751.25
396,005.39
407.477.17
6,517.72
3.666,759.63
4,280,362.62
5,187,319.80
7.885,568.71
7,446,349.36
6,041,318.31
7,409,30M4
«,-46.33
-.347,507.36
4,064,971.06
3,155,842.04 3,072,488.64
4,915454.75
8,160,837.68
7,887,317.62
5.53340
406,061.69
332,812.53
402,812.53
533.110-77
543,444.63
530,978.78
770,639.94
6,254.57
48,853-97
50,274.77
53,086.30
68,357.83
68,34546
71,282.28
72,205.63
!9.548 —
6,078,207.25
7,307,692.59
11,404,341.54
12,895,239.26
15,380,653.07
17,966,443.50
20,437,350.8a
i8.679,6i
4,684,437.27
5.603,307.11
5,053,360.07 3.922,911.45
4,168,832.03
3,591,182^5
4,069,604.22
,8,038.39
240,614.80
352,682.45
440,548.34 184,168.02
91,887.91
74,264.14
i03,263/)i
16,237.89
10,526,139.74
13.703.834.14
19,^54,294-99
21,664,283.25
22,195,430.52
25*»75,857,9i
23,053,120.63
!7,855.30
39,609.27
45,996.27
52,190.21
111,927.82
78,915.81
71.571.55
56,505.92
t8,698.67
28,346,847.82
35,998,073.10
45,513,150.52
50.750,423.36
55,280,064.79
62,379.742.39
64,266,786.40
1.530
1.569
1,603
1,619
1,665
1,685
1,654
1,678
. 23,960
30.583
32,662
32,944
34,174
52,049
55,924
58,450
Trent District, for the Working Years 1899-1912.
Years
1905
1906
1907 1
1908
1909
1910
1911
1912
79,200 —
611,660 —
1
653.2.iO— 1
658,880 —
683,480 —
1,040,980 —
1,118,480 —
1,316,900 —
31,686.78
40,357.61
58,578.42
76,279.67
97,255.89
146,373.07
164,329.50
173,089.49
1)6,933.81
17,001,278.11
21,263.511.16
25.077,123.62
27,987,649.64
31,654,196.25
35,291,209.21
39,397,613.89
01,761.20
-
-
-
-
-
—
a,733.52
3,733.20
3.536.08
4.576.50
3,555.72
3.765.11
9,033.52
5,874 —
5,794.28
7.863.71
86,427.96
12,374.60
16,622.31
16,853.27
16,438.74
15,730.36
67,863.27
38,754.82
121,680.44
118,714.74
162,769.77
87,991.84
146,045.77
144,966.31
186,237.89
10,526,139.74
13.703,834.14
19.454.294.99
21,664,283.25
22,195,430.52
25,475,857.91
23,053,120.63
25,078.19
29.821,54
44.342.93
43,019.10
40,327 —
6.},858.i9
86,357.32
72,797.59
35,409.73
87.239.09
62,921.97
67,887.30
94.479-78
70,616.54
71,990.42
86,694.13
142,698.67
28,346,847.82
35.998,073.10
4.S5i3,i50.5a
50,750,423.36
55,280,064.79
62,379,742.39
64,266,78640
" 1.530 —
1,569 —
1,603 —
1,619 —
1,665 —
1,685 —
1.654 —
1,678 —
13,960 —
30,583 —
32,662 —
32.994 —
34.174 —
52,049 —
55.924 —
5.845 —
22 AUSTRIA - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
F. — The Industrial Agricultural Syndicate.
When the Federation had organized a central credit institute for the
co-operative societies, provision was made for their organization for purposes
of purchase. The Federation itself originally worked as an agency and occup-
ied a middle position between buyers and sellers, renouncing all pecuniary
profit in favour of the former, but the business reached a point when the
need was felt for an institution to relieve the federal office of the dif-
ficult v.ork of supplying goods for the account of the co-operative
societies ; in this way the Federation would be able to occupy itself prin-
cipally with inspections in accordance with its rules. The new institute
would be better able to deal with the business of supplying goods, obtain
immediate advantages for the associated societies and serve as a central
institution for the commercial business of the co-operative societies for dis-
tribution and production.
It was with this intention, the Industrial Agricultural Syndicate was
founded.
It is a limited liability economic consortium, coming under the provisions
of law No. 70 of April 9th., 1873 ; it accepts as members only economic
consortiums and kindred associations, with individual members Hmited to
the number of officers required. Its object is to facilitate for the co-oper-
ative societies and generally for the associated consortiums the collective pur-
chase of goods, machinery and other material necessary, as well as the collect-
ive sale of the produce of the associated consortiums and their members ; it
attains its object by means of a purchase and sale agency, the erection of col-
lective warehouses and the installation of industrial workshops. The capital
of the society consists of the shares {actions) subscribed by the members,
of the value of 50 crowns each, the reserve fund and the guarantee fund
equal to five times the amount of the shares. By its rules the Institution
must not seek profits, so that the credit balance — after deduction of a por-
tion for the reserve fund against losses — is divided among the members
in proportion to the purchases made and the contributions paid up ; in this
way the consortiums profit directly and indirectly. Founded on Novem-
ber 23rd., 1899, the Industrial Agricultural Syndicate was registered on
December 13th. of the same year and began working at the beginning
of 1900. The tables XI, XII, XIII, here given, showing the situation for the
various working years and the total business done, make evident by
figures the progress of the institute from the first years following its
foundation up to 1912.
The members (consortiums) from 134 in 1900 increased to 320 in 1912; the
share capital (paid up and not paid up) increased from 19,100 crs. to
85,550 crs.; the guarantee fund from 95,500 crs. to 427,750 crs.; the amount
of the sales from 886,838 crs. to 7,684,905 crs.
On the commercial market of the Trent District, the Industrial Agricul-
tural Syndicate has to regulate both the prices and the quafity of the
goods.
THE DISTRICT OF TRENT, A MODEL CO-OPERATI\^ DISTRICT
23
The Syndicate also exerts its action in the sale of the produce of the
societies afl&Hated to it or their members, for example, their wine, dairy
produce, vegetables etc.
Table XI. — Situation of the Industrial Agricultural Syndicate, Trent.
Credits.
1905
1907
1909
10
1. Cash
2. Credits to Members
3. Credits to Outsiders
4. Goods in Warehouse
5. Contributions Due .
6. Securities . .
7. Installation .
8. Furniture . .
9. Real Estate. .
Guarantee Fund
Total Crs. . .
545-60!
794,678.201
ii4,455.oi|
496,906.511
9,900- —
39,922.58
3,018.821
26,922.28!
287,603.37'
355.250 —
2,129,201.57
91.2c
827,126.66
164,584.72
588,566.50
6,850 —
62,213.58
2,444.60
47.632-58
382,091.26
389,000 —
2,470,601.11
8,483
1,088,671
226,670
620,613
3.300
77.570
1,901
39.245
593.001
391.500
68 11,837.13
.16 1,284,165.93
.72 446,107.62
699.536.68
2,000 —
105,584.90
1.357-82
45,606.55
598,975-72
418,750 —
.08
.90
26
72,
3.050,957-52
3,613,922.35
16,181.93
1,490,402.04
584,084.94
862,589.26
2,000 - —
161,032.30
1,086.10
53,572-63
638,605.24
427.750 —
4.237.304-44
Table XII. — Situation of the Industrial Agricultural Syndicate, Trent.
Debits.
.1905
1
1907
1909
tgii
1912
I . Debts to Outsiders ,
1,666,740.89
1,979,280.54
2.551.510.61
3,075,781.11
3,696,144.77
2. Contributions Paid
and Unpaid . . .
71,050 —
77,800 —
78,300 —
83,750 —
85.550 —
3. Guarantee Fund . .
355.250 —
389,000 —
391,500 —
418,750 —
427.750 —
4. Reserve Fund :
(a) Assessed . , .
4.370 —
2,620 —
2,820 —
3.070 —
3,210 —
(6) Brought Forward
from Previous Years.
9,111.07
11,947.62
14,607.54
18,015.07
20,445.85
(c) Special Fund a-
gainst Eventual Loss-
es on Credits to Mem-
bers
16,466.84
2,266.06
2,366.06
2,366.06
2,366.06
5. Net Profit ....
8,212.77
7.336.89
2,853.31
12,190.11
11,837.76
Total Crs. .
2,129,201.57
2,470,601.11
3.050,957-52
3,613,922.35
4.237.304.44
24
AUSTRIA - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
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THE DISTRICT OF TRENT, A MODEI, CO-OPERATIVE DISTRICT 25
The Industrial Agricultural Syndicate now has its own extensive buildings
with large and convenient storehouses, splendid offices, modern cattle
stalls, large courtyards connected with the railway and a numerous staff.
The syndicate owes its progress not only to the support of the associated
co-operative societies which contribute to form its share capital as well
as to its sales and hence to its gains, but also to the Catholic Bank of the
Trent District and the Rural Banks which provide the necessary funds for
its working on favourable terms.
§ 4. Mutual insurance.
We shall finally say a few words with regard to the livestock insurance
societies. In the district of Trent, private insurance societies were first formed,
with imperfect rules, without fixed annual premiums, but calls were made to
meet each claim, and there v. as an obHgation to take a proportion of the flesh
of the dead or slaughtered animal corresponding with the amount assured.
Other societies, on the same fines, only estimated the value of the animal
at themomentof slaughtering, and, generally, all the societies had a rule re-
lieving the member of any expenditure with regard to the treatment of sick
Hvestock. As we know, in order that an insurance society may work well,
it must be governed by rules which oblige the members to pay a fixed an-
nual premium in advance (unless the cases of death are too immerous, when
corresponding increases of the amounts are not to be excluded), estabUsh
a valuation on which the claim may be based, compel the member to take
an active part in the work, and do not exempt him from any trouble or
Uabifity: the rules should also subject every member to strict supervision
in regard to his treatment of his hvestock, especially when sick.
In 1897 the three first insurance societies, with approved rules, were
founded at Ala, Rovereto and Aldeno. In the mean time, the Provincial Coun-
cil of Agriculture prepared other rules for the constitution of an association
in every legal district to be placed under the management of a veterin-
ary surgeon, who should not only treat the animals, but extend the know-
ledge of good principles of hvestock improvement. The association should
pay 90 % of the value in case of losses, provide medicines freely and have
the animals valued once or twice a year, leaving the members free to replace
their livestock, provided certain precautions are taken. Two insurance
societies were founded on these principles at Trent and Vezzano in 1899,
but they did not give the results expected, in fact, whether it were due to
the small amount of supervision that could be exercised, as their spheres of
action were too large, or the excessive expenditure incurred in the pur-
chase of medicines, or, finally, because the members, sure of realising 90 %,
found it more to their interest that their livestock should die, instead of
remaining under treatment for a long while, even if certain of cure, it is
certain that the expenditure increased gradually more and more and the
premium, instead of remaining stationary about 1%, rose from year to
year, tiUin six years it had become 1.8 and 2 %.
26 AUSTRIA - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
And yet in 1900 the District Agricultural Consortium of Riva founded a
society for that district and immediately afterwards others arose, under the
name of Catholic livestock insurance societies, in 9 other localities.
The difl&culties these first societies had to bear revealed a whole series
of defects and errors to be ehminated and overcome ; it was seen
that in associations for very large areas it was not possible to exercise ef-
fectual supervision ; that by facilitating matters too much for the members
the societies increased their expenditure disproportionately and the annual
premium, as it could no longer be kept within the desired limits, became
too heavy a charge.
lyivestock insurance societies must have as hmited as possible a
field, so that every member may exercise the necessary supervision over
the others ; the societies must also call on the member to bear part of the
loss so as to prevent owners abandoning a sick animal to its fate.
Finally, these small societies must be guaranteed by a provincia
reinsurance institute ; so that in case of numerous losses they will not be
obliged to ask too high premiums or to contract debts by which their
prestige and their existence are compromised.
On these principles, the Provincial Executive Committee in 1903 in
fact drew up very simple model rtdes, with which a society was founded in
every commune where there were at least 25 members with 100 animals
to be insured.
The premium is i % per ann., to be paid in advance in two half yearly
instalments, from date of the valuation ; the society contributes 80 % in
case of loss, leaving the cost of the treatment of the sick animals to be borne by
the member himself.
The Provincial Council provides the societies with printed forms and
the Provincial Executive Committee grants every society a subsidy of
200 crs. towards the cost of its installation ; the societies may reinsure
with the Provincial Reinsurance Institute, which advances the amount
without interest and, if required, keeps the books of the societies adhering
to it paying half the amounts of the claims in return for half the annual prem-
iums as fixed in the rules, less the proceeds from the sale of the animals
injured or compulsorily slaughtered.
Already in 1904, 15 societies were estabHshed governed by the
provincial rules. The Society for Mutual Insurance and Improvement of
Horned Cattle for the Communes of the Legal District of Trent, founded in
1899, as it was unable to exercise the necessary supervision, was subdi-
vided into many small communal associations governed by the provincial
rules. The same was done in the case of the Vezzano district society.
In 1 905- 1 906, 12 other societies of similar character were founded ; every
year new ones arise and all are working very well, so that many have suc-
ceeded in realising savings by no means inconsiderable.
The Provincial Reinsurance Institute, founded in 1907, by the Pro-
vincial Executive Committee on the model of that existing in Bavaria, also
undertook the work of propaganda and the answering of all enquiries with
regard to reinsurance : the Trent Division of the Provincial Council exerts
THE DISTRICT OF TRENT, A MODEl, CO-OPERATIVE DISTRICT 27
its influence in order that the individual societies may profit by the poss-
ibility of balancing their risks and securing themselves against disastrous
years when the insurance premium far exceeds the ordinary rate of i %.
The Provincial Institute has also a reserve fund placed at its disposal by the
Province, out of which it meets the half of the claims it has to settle, when
the half of the premiums received from the societies are found to be
insufficient. The Provincial Institute occupies the position of a Federation,
it is not a fiscal office, but rather a simple union of many societies.
The affiliated societies do not contribute to the expenses of the
institute: these are met out of funds provided by the province.
The societies supervise the working of the Institute by means of an ex-
ecutive committee of 8 members, representing them.
ITALY.
AGRICUIvTURAIv ASSOCIATIONS OF EMPLOYERS
AND THE ECONOMIC INSTITUTIONS PROMOTED BY THEM.
oFFiciAi, sources:
lyE oRGAiazzAZioNi PADRONALi. PARTE I : I,E AGRARiB, (Employers' Or'j,anisations. Part I %
Agricultural Associations). Department of Agriculture, Industry and Conunerce. General
Division of Statistics and of I<abour. I<abour Office. Rome, Officina Poligrafica Ila-
liana, 191 2.
BoLLETTiNo dell'ufficio DEL LAVORO [Bulletin of the Labour Office). Department of Agricul-
ture, Industry and Commerce. Division of Statistics and I^abour.
OTHER SOURCES:
CoNFEDERAZioNE N.AZioNALE Agraria : ly'organizzazioue agrarla in Italia. Sviluppo, ordi-
namento, azione. (National A;,ricultural Confederation. Agricultural Ori^anisation in Italy.
Development, Organisation, Work). Bologna, Stab. Poligrafico Emiliano. 1911.
CONFEDERAZIONE NaZIONALE AGRARIA : ANNUARIO DELLE ASSOCIAZIONI AGRARIB ITA-
LiANE,i9i3-i4. (National Agricultural Confederation. Yearbook of Italian Agricultural
Associations, 1913-14). Bologna, Stab. Poligrafico Emiliano. 1913.
Dragoni C. : II movimento <li organizzazione di classe tra i proprietari ed i conduttori di fondi
in Italia (The Movement in favour of Class Organisation among Proprietors and Farm
Managers in Italy) In " Iniziativa del Re d'ltalia e I'Istituto internazionale di Agricol-
tura ", Rome, G. Bertero, 1905, pages 278 et seqq.
§ I. Origin AND progress op the agricui,turai, employers' associations.
In view of the extension of the association movement among labourers
for the defence of their interests (i) and of the frequent recurrence of agricul-
tural strikes with serious injury to agriculture, proprietors and employers
of labour in Italy have found it necessary to unite in special associations,
commonly called Agrarie, to oppose organisation by organisation, and to
resist the often excessive demands of the Labourers' Leagues for better
(i) Thenumlxr of labourers' leagues had risen, from 1,293 with 273,698 members (40 per
cent of the whole number of organised working men) in 1907, to 2,626 with 408,148 members
(47 per cent of the organised workingmen) on January ist., 1912. See Annuario statistico
Italiano, 2nd. series, vol II, 1912, p. 220.
ASSOCIATIONS OF EMPI^OYERS 29
terms and higher wages. Thus have arisen the land-owners' unions, the
history of which may be divided into two periods, from 1901 to 1902 and
from 1907 to 1908, at which dates economic conflicts were most frequent
and most extended. In fact, in the first period the strikes numbered 850
and the strikers 369,577 ; in the second, the strikes were 580 and the
strikers 374,619, that is a percentage of 36.06 strikes and of 33.73 strikers
in the first period, and of 24.58 strikes and 34.21 strikers in the second,
in the total number in each case in the decade. It may be said that the two
periods above mentioned were specially remarkable for two strikes, " which
seemed to include all the partial contests of the two years and were so long
and violent that they appeared to the proprietors almost like an attempt
at expropriation" (i). These were two labourers' strikes ; that of Polesine
in 1902 and that of Parma in 1908.
But while the first period was a time of formation, the second was al-
most exclusively one of transformation. The employers' organisations,
rapidly constituted in view of the threatening attitude of the first great
movements of the labour leagues, were almost rudimentary in form, and
rather simple agreements among the larger proprietors than any firm and
solid association. But in the second period, through experience gained in
the contest, they became more complete, and better prepared for resist-
ance : and they also extended their action from the field of mere resistance
to that of prevention.
It was also in this second period that at the first National Agricultural
Convention held at Parma (October, 1907) one of the largest associations
of employers was formed ; viz the Federazione Interprovinciale (Interpro-
vincial Federation), and it was proposed to constitute a society of mutual
insurance against strikes, while affirming the necessity of regulating labour
contracts by law.
From 1908 to 1909, the strikes having diminished in number from 257
to 140, and the strikers from 136,346 to 46.576, the weaker organisations
and those which had arisen in districts where the conflicts seemed defin-
itely concluded, were dissolved or ceased working. The others formed
numerous supplementary institutions for economic and technical ends in
order to obtain for themselves a more secure and continuous existence.
In fact in 1909, at the second National Congress at Bologna, the found-
ations were laid for a Confederazione Nazionale (National Confederation), as
well as for mutual insurance soci ties against hail and against accidents
in agricultural work. These associations began work in 1911.
The importance of the employers' associations attracted the attention
of the Ivabour Office, which made them the subject of a special inquiry, the
results of which were pubhshed in 1912.
(i) Soc the Report of the lynbour Office, raciitiotied in our sourcfs, page 26.
30 ITAIvY - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
§ 2. — The working of the AGRICQI^TURAI, EMPI^OYERS' ASSOCIATIONS
AND THE DEFENSIVE MEASURES ADOPTED.
The Agricultural Associations are usually composed of larger and smaller
proprietors and tenant farmers and for the most part, like the working
men's syndicates, they exert their action in plains rather than among
hills or mountains, where small holdings prevail.
This is the case in the provinces of Piacenza, Parma and Bologna.
The most active, that is, those in districts where the most frequent
and the bitterest contests take place, have united and formed provincial
organisations, in connection with the Interprovincial Federation or the
National Confederation above-mentioned ; but those which are least
powerful and not very efficient for deciding on the methods and means
of action to be adopted are isolated.
The chief function of the Agricultural Associaiions is defence, in which
may be more or less directly included all the supplementary functions
which keep the associations aUve in periods of calm. Defence, therefore,
is clearly the fundamental raison d'etre of the agricultural associations,
which invariably state in their regulations that their objects are the
defence of individual property, freedom of labour, concord and co-operation
between the classes etc.
The contributions of members are usually divided into two categories,
ordinary and special; the first correspond with the systems of farm-
ing, with the area of the land, the crops cultivated, or the taxable re-
venue, and are utiHsed only for the current working expenses; the second
serve the purposes of defence in the contests, often amounting to con-
siderable sums and are lieved in proportion to the requirements and the
special circumstances for which they are assessed.
The numer of the votes of the members depends on the amount of
tne contributions paid by them, so that the large proprietors and tenant
farmeis dominate the meetings in which the line of action to be pursued is
decided and constitute the committees for management and administra-
tion. To these committees is entrusted the duty of treating with labour
associations.
The means of defence possessed by the agricultural associations cannot
be calculated with precision, because the numbers of members, and the
figures of the ordinary balance sheets do not indicate their full strength,
which in times of need is increased by specially constituted organisations.
It is also necessary to point out that the employers' associations are
not so much intended to resist demands for improvement of the labourers
situation, which, are as a rule, examined by commissions appointed for
the purpose, but rather to maintain discipHne, as is needful in order that
farms may be continuously and safely worked, and to oppose the interfer-
ence of labourers in the technical organisation of production, as when they
claim to limit the use of machinery, to fix the number of labourers, and to
arrange the division and the methods of working etc.
ASSOCIATIONS OF EMPLOYERS 31
The measures 1 aken for resistance may be thus divided :
ist., those f r prevention, so as to eliminate or reduce the causes
of economic conflicts ;
2nd., those f r defence, to be prepared at the moment of conflict.
In the work of prevention, which is extensive and various, may be
mentioned first of all the work of some agricultural societies which seek
to prevent aggravation of taxation on landed property.
More powerful, as a means of prevention, is the action of special banks
promoted by the employers' associations themselves, of which we shall
speak later, as they co-operate by means of credit in extending the number
of small holdings and certain forms of agricultural contracts, for instance,
of small leases and metairies and thus tend to diminish economic conflicts.
Collective labour contracts, especially for long periods, also assist pre-
vention, and proprietors have repeatedly requested for these a guarantee
fixed by law and binding the contracting parties. In order the more
effectually to compel workmen to observe the contracts, some societies
have had recourse to the formation of special guarantee funds, by means
of stoppages from wages. Certain associations, especially those of the
rice cultivators of Pola, Piacenza and Apulia, have increased the use of
machinery. Though conflicts cannot by this means be either prevented
or terminated, yet the need of labourers wiU be diminished, the losses
caused by strikes will be limited and machinery may be substituted for
the strikers.
The more strictly defensive action is based on solidarity amongst
land-owners, expressed in the words in the regulations " one for all and all
for one " and in the principle of considering an offence " committed against
one as committed against all. "
A ver}' potent method of maintaining solidarity among employers' as-
sociations is that of requiring blank cheques from their members and the
payment of fines for breaches of the rules or for acting in opposition to
the decisions of the meetings or of the authorities of the society. The
penalty must be fixed in proportion to the consequences of the breach of
rule or to the number of hectares possessed by the offender.
The special contributions, to which reference has already been made,
also serve to maintain solidarity. These are used for compensation for
losses in times of contest or to defray the cost of defence. Such contributions
are imposed by the associations of rice cultivators ; that of Novara fixes the
maximum at 15 francs per hectare for proprietors, and 3 francs for tenant
farmers.
The rule that offences committed against one must be considered as
committed against all is enforced by the prohibition to employ workmen
who have been dismissed for breach of contract or who have refused to
work for others, as in cases of boycotting.
Among the mo.st ordinary and direct means of defence in case of strikes
is that to which rice cultivators' associations repeatedly resort, viz, the
recruiting of free labourers, not yet numerous or important in Italy. In
November, 191 1, the Association of Novara resolved to form a considerable
32 ITALY - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
group of these to be ready for any emergency. In the provinces of Man-
tua and Pola they have several times substituted strikers during various
conflicts. The Agrnria Paniien-sc (Agricultural Society of Parma), has
formed the largest group (664) into a Provincial Federation.
The few registry offices especially instituted to recruit labourers in
times of need, and to find free labourers, are almost entirely inactive, owing
to the distrust the working men, and also the employers themselves, have of
them. On the other hand, in many places, the labourers' syndicates
make vigorous efforts to secure the monopoly of the labour market.
But the systems and means indicated could not be efficacious in
the more serious strikes, and they have often embittered the conflicts.
It was also necessary to dispose of sure and abundant funds in order to
continue work even during strikes, to ensure the soHdarity of small propri-
etors, and to be able to give up production or harvesting when absolute re-
sistance was indispensable. The employers' associations have therefore con-
stituted a mutual society against strikes, which intervened in the greater con-
flicts from 1908 to 1911, to compensate the injured proprietors. To this, as
to other economic institutions formed by the agricultural societies, we shall
devote a special section.
§ 3. The NATIONAL, CONFEDERATION
AND THE INTERPROVINCIAL AGRICUETURAI, FEDERATION.
These are the two chief associations of employers for mutual protection
that need to be taken note of here.
The foundation of the older of these. La Federazio7ie Interprovinciale
Agraria, was proclaimed at the first Agricultural Convention held at Parma
in October, 1907. It is a union of the most important associations of
Emilia, Romagna, lyombardy and Venetia. Its aim is to decide on the
best means of preventing conflicts, facilitating pacific solutions, regulating
contracts between agricultural employers and employed, co-operating
with administrative and political bodies for the defence of agricultural
interests in general, and promoting insurance against losses caused by
strikes.
From this confederation have sprung three mutual societies insuring
against strikes, accidents and hail respectively ; these we shall consider
later on.
The Confederazione Nazionale Agraria, with its head quarters at Bologna,
was founded in 191 1, not in any way to substitute the Interprovinciale ;
its scope is much wider, as it groups together distant associations differing
both in their forms and interests. It indicates to them the fines on which to
maintain uniform action in regard to the more general questions concerning
the defence of the rights of property and industrial freedom ; for this purpose
it unites the various associations in a common action and makes their
ASSOCIATIONS OF EMPLOYERS 33
resistance more secure. It also aims at promoting economic action in the
field of thrift, insurance and credit.
Agriculturists resident in communes where there is no confederated
society may also enter the Confederation as associates, and they appoint
a communal agricultural committee for each commune. The contributions
of the adherent associations are in proportion to their funds.
This is the not place for us to give a full description of the work of
this Confederation from its rise. It is enough to observe that in the disturb-
ances which convulsed the provinces of Romagna, Ferrara and Vercelli, it
in every instance represented the land-holders with the central Government,
promoted meetings and agricultural congresses, especially that of the
associations of employers of all Europe, convoked by it and the Italian
Industrial Confederation combined.
§ 4. Economic institutions promoted by the national
agricultural association and by the federated associations.
As already said, the agricultural societies of employers do not limit their
task to resistance ; they rather wait their opportunity to estabUsh various
institutions, both economical and technical, among their own members,
in the interest of the latter. Of these bodies we shall now briefly speak :
(a) Mutual Society for Insurance against Strikes. Founded in 1907,
on the initiative of the Interprovincial Agricultural Federation (i), it aims
to make good damage from :
(a) the forced desertion of land before the sowing of seed : (6) loss
or diminution of the products ; (c) death or disease 01 cattle through
neglect or want of proper care ; (d) the greater expense in working the
farm caused by economic disputes.
These losses are only compensated when caused " by unjust strikes,
by boycotting or locking out ". Compensation is also refused to the member
who has culpably (by violation of a contract, arbitrary dismissal or mal-
treatment of one or more employees) caused or aggravated the conflict.
This society, like most others for insurance against losses, does not
guarantee full compensation for the thing lost or damaged, but only 80% in
a case of strike or boycott, and go % in a case of lock-out, as it is desired
that the employer should bear some of the loss himself.
The society derives its funds chiefly from the premiums of its members,
in proportion to the value insured, according to a tariff varying with the
place and kind of farming. It has a special fund formed, in part of the
contributions of land-holding members, at the rate of 12 frs. per hectare
and in part of those of tenant farmers, at the rate of 6 frs. per hectare.
(i) On this subject, sec "La Mutiia-Scioperi, sue basi economiche e suo ordinnmcuto" by
G. E. Sturani, Bologna, A. Garagnani, 1909.
34 ILALY - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
To become a member, a candidate must belong to an association
federated with the Interprovincial Federation; the adherent societies which
are best able to meet risks and losses act as intermediaries between the
Mutual Society and the individual associates. Its reserve funds at present
amount to 1,500,000 frs.
{b) Mutual Hail Insurance Society. — This society, founded by the In-
terprovincial Federation, commenced its operations in 191 1. The premium
consists of two parts, the one fixed, the other variable, though always lim-
ited, and only demanded when the fixed premium is insufficient. The
Society is in the habit of reinsuring the greater part of its risks in the '' Ex-
cess Insurance Company, Limited " of I^ondon.
(r) Accident Insurance Societies. — From the time of their formation, the
Employers' Societies have provided for the insurance of their labourers
against accidents in their work.
With a few exceptions for certain classes (those working with
threshing-machines, wood cutters and ploughmen), no one is obUged to be
insured, as is the case with industrial workmen. But the employers have
themselves felt the need of insuring their own workmen against accidents,
and have formed special mutual societies for this purpose. The first of
these was the " Associazione fra gli agricoltori del Vercellese " , founded
in igoi. In the following year, a co-operative bank was established
there, transformed in 1904 (in consequence of the new law on accidents
in work) into a consortium bank.
This provides compensation in cases of death, and permanent dis-
ablement, total or partial, for all labourers, whether fixed or working by
the day, and also in certain cases of temporary disablement. The
premium is fixed at five frs. for every thousand paid in wages. On Novem-
ber 10*^., 1911, this bank of Vercelli had 654 members, insuring a total
area of about 90,000 hectares, with 78,000 workmen.
In 1909, there was founded in Tuscany, on the model of the Mutual
Society of Vercelli, the Rural Landowners' Mutual Bank with head
quarters at Florence. This, on February 28*''., 1913, had 531 members
with 698 farms (with 100,372 persons insured) on a tract of 264,186 hectares.
The next society founded was the Cassa Mutua Lombarda, formed
in 1 9 10 by the Milan association of proprietors and farm managers, with
its head quarters at Milan. -
A fourth society arose at Bologna in 1911, modelled more or less on
those of Vercelli, Florence and Milan. It shows a noteworthy simpHfic-
ation in the calculation of premiums, payment being made according to
the area insured. In the three last working years, the premiums varied
from lire o.io to 0.50 per hectare. This includes both compulsory insur-
ance of labourers and voluntary insurance.
In case of work of special character and workshops for the manipulation
or manufacture of agricultural produce, an extra premium is paid in pro-
portion to the increased risks incurred.
ASSOCIATIONS OF EMPLOYERS 35
Compensations granted for accidents differ according to whether the
sufferer be subject by law to compulsory insurance or otherwise.
In the first case, the amount of compensation is equal to that
estabUshed by the law ; in the second, it is fixed as follows :
(a) in case of death ; 2,500 frs.
(b) in case of permanent total disablement, 3,000 frs.
(c) in case of permanent partial disabilement' a percentage of
3,000 frs. in proportion to the loss of capacity for work.
Compensation for temporary disablement is not fixed by the tariff,
but members may insure against such disablement by means of an extra
premium.
{(i) Agricultural banks. — Some of the employers' associations have
also established agricultural banks. We may mention La Banca Coope-
rativa dell'Associazione Agraria Parmense, which grants loans only to its
members but accepts savings deposits from outsiders.
The Bank limits its operations to agricultural credit, thus favouring
the return to the land of a great part of the savings made on it. It was legally
constituted on November 7th., 1908, as ahmited liability society with un-
hmited capital, issuing shares at the nominal value of 50 frs. At its start,
it had 196 members mth a capital of 40,750 frs. On December 31st.,
1913, there were 1,664 rnembers with a capital in shares of 231,950 frs. and
a reserve fund of 47,520 frs. The deposits held amounted to 3,072,395 frs,
and the bills and acceptances to 1.979,861 frs.
We must also mention the Banca delle Associazioni Agrarie di Rovigo,
established Novembei ist., 1911, with a fixed capital of a million frs. and a
paid up capital of 97,755 frs. It is open for all business ; it gives discount,
loans and advances, accepts bills and coupons and receives deposits, pying
3 % interest.
On November 30th., 1913, its paid up capital amounted to 150,000 frs.
and the total business of the bank to 1,807,760 frs.
{e) Various co-operative and mutual societies in the neighbourhood of
Parma. — Also in this district the propaganda of the employers' societies
in favour of co-operation and mutuality has had encouraging results. We
shall mention two characteristic institutes :
The Fondo di Previdenza, a society of mutual aid for workmen, for the
grant of daily subsidies in cases of illness, maternity, involuntary unem-
ployment etc. Its members are of two classes, actual w; rkmen who
pay 10 centimes per month, and free contributors, such as, proprietors
and agriculturists, who each pay 5 frs. per annum. The bank has at its
disposal a capital of about 27,000 frs. increased, as well as by the above
mentioned contributions, by 10 % of the annual profits of the Co-operative
Agricultural Bank of Parma. During 1912, it granted about 270 subsidies,
amounting to a total of 6,000 frs.
La Cooperativa Agricola per la Trebbiatura : at Fontanellato, the
" Agrari " have formed a co-operative society for threshing grain, with
shares of 50 frs. and they have been able to acquire two threshing outfits.
36 ITAIvY - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
Mutual Livestock Insurance Societies. — In the province of Parma
numerous societies of this nature have arisen on the initiave of the Parma
Agricultural Association. They have gi\en very satisfactory results.
(/) II Censor zio Macchine Agrarie di Ravenna. — Promoted by the
Agricultural Association of Ravenna, it proposes to acquire on its own
account threshing machines for wheat, oats and rice etc. and any others
that l^may be required, to employ such machines on its own account,
and to take such initiative as may directly or indirectly tend to the
development of agricultural machinery and of agriculture generally.
PUBLICATIONS OF RECENT DATE
RELATING TO AGRICULTURAL CO-OPERATION
AND ASSOCIATION.
GENERAI,.
Unofficial Publications :
DoMACK (H.): Der Geuossenoschaftssocialismus (Co-operative Socialism). lycipzig, 1913. Mah-
rings Unterrichtsanstalt.
Jacob (Dr. E.) : Volkswirtschaflliche Theorie dcr Genossenschafleu (Economic Theory of the
Co-operative Societies). Stuttgart, 1913. W. Kolhammer.
INTERNATIONAI,.
Unofficial Publication :
The World's Parliament : The Ninth International Co-operative Congress at Glas-
gow. In " International Co-operative Bulletin ". December, 1913. No. 8. Ivondon. (Pub-
lished in French, English and German).
VARIOUS COUNTRIES.
Unofficial Publications :
Weden (Dr. Moritz) : Die gcgenwartige Phase in dcr Entwicldung des hindwirtschaftlichen
Genossensschaftsvvcscns (The Present Phase of the Development of Aariculturel Co-oper-
ation). Prague. 1913. Zentralverband dcr deutschen landwirtschaftlichen Gcnossenschaltt n
Bohmens.
Hynninen (Emil) : Valtio ja maatalondellincn osmistoiniinta ulkomailla (The Slate and
Ai'jicuUural Co-operation Abroad). In " Suomen Osuustoimintakhti ". December,
1913. No. 12. Helsingfors. Containing a summary of the measures taken by the State to
encourage the development of Agricultural Co-operation in France, Germany, Austria,
Hungary, Italy, Russia, Japan, Rouniania, Bulgaria and Servia.
GERMANY.
Unofficial Publications :
Ackermann (Dr. F.) : Kurzer Fiihrcr durch das deutschc Genossenschaftswesen (Short Guide
to Gertnan Co-operation). Berlin, 1913. Verlag des Gcncralverbandes landlicher Gcnossen-
schaftcn fiir Deutschland. 8vo. 50 pp.
38 PUBUCATIONS RELATING TO CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
Anleitung zur Geschafts- und Buchfuhrung der Raiffeisenschen Spar- und Darle-
HENSKASSENVEREiNE [Guidc to the M anai!,ement and Bookkeepini', of the Raiffeisen Rural
Banks). Berlin, 1913. Vcrlag dcs Generalverbandes landlicher Genossenschafkn fiir
Deutschland, 4to. VII -|- 431 pp.
BoCHALLi (Rcgierungsrat Dr.) : Die Wassergenosseiischaften nacli dem ncuen prcussischcn
Wassergeselze {Co-operative Water Societies according to the New Prussian Water Law)-
Berlin, KJ13. Paul Parey. IX + 210 pp.
Cahill (J. R.) : Report to the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries of an Inquiry into Agricul-
tural Credit and .Agricultural Co-operation ir Germany, with some Notes on German I^ive-
stock Insurance. I,ondon. Darling & Sons, Folio.
Dreissig Jahre Rheinischer Bauernverein. Bericht iiber die Entwickelung und Tatigkeit
des Vereins in den ersten dreissig Jahren seines Bestehens erstattet vom Hauptvorstand
(Thirty Years' Work of the Rhenish Rural Association. Report on the Development and
Work of the Association in the First 30 Years of its Existence). Cologne, 1913. Drixckerei
des Rlieinischen Baucrn vereins. 8vo. 173 pp.
FiJNFUNDZWANZiG jAHRE Thuringer Raiffeisen-Verband, 1887-1912. Gcschichtc des Raif-
feisen-Verbandes liii' Thuringen und die angrenzenden Staaten von 1887 bis 1912. (Twenty
five Years' Work of the Thuringian Raiffeisen Federation. History of the Raiffeisen Feder-
ation of Thuringia and Adjacent States from 1887 to 1912). Neuwied, 1913. 8vo. 175 'pp.
Kerp (Generalsekrctar) : Organisation und Tatigkeit des Verbandes rheinischer Genossenschaf-
ten sowie der ihm angeschlossenen Zentralinstitutc {Organisation and Work of the Feder-
ation of Rhenish Co-operative Societies and its Central Institute). Cologne, 1914.
I<a C00PERAC16N Rural de Credito en Alemania. I,os bancos populares y las cajas rurales.
Congreso Agricola Regional de Concepci6n. No. 11. {Rural Credit Co-operation in Germany.
People's Banks and Rural Banks. Regional Agricultural Congress of Concepcion. No. 11).
Santiago de Chile, 1913. Svo. iii pp.
I^EMCKE (Ernst) : Die Entwickelung der Railfeisen-Organization in der Neuzeit {Recent Develop-
ment of the Raiffeisen Ori^anisation). Karlsruhe, 1913. 8vo. VIII + 139 pp.
QuATiECK : Handbuch der Spar- und Darlehenskassenvereine, im Verbande landlicher Genos-
senschaften der Provinz Westfalen {Manual for the Rural Banks in the Federation of Rural
Co-operative Societies of the Province of Westphalia). Miinstcr in W. 1914.
RusTicus : Zur Reform der landlichen Kreditvereine in Baden. Eine kritische Studic. {Re-
form of the Baden Rural Credit Associations. A Critical Study). Emmendigen, 1913.
8vo. 37 pp.
Straus (Dr. Walter) : Die deutschen tJberlandzentralen und ihre Wirtschaftliche Bedeutung
als Kraftquelle fiir den Kleinbetrieb in lyandwirtschaft und Gewerbe {The Large German
Central Electric Societies and their Economic Importance as Sources of Energy for Small
Agricultural and Industrial Businesses). Berlin, 1913. Franz Siemenroth. Svo. 208 pp.
Weil (Dr. Herbert) : Die gewerblichen Produktivgenossenschaften in Deutschland {German
Industrial Co-operative Societies for Production). Munich, 1913.
WuTTiG (Dr., Mitglied, des Vorstands des Generalverbandes landlicher Genossentchaftcn fiir
Deutschland) : Versicherung und Genossenschaftswesen als wechselseitige Hilfsorgani-
salionen. Eine geschichtliche-Studie. — (Band 5 der deutschen landlicher Genossenschafts-
biichcrei). {Insurance and Co-operation as Mutually Complementary Organisations : Histor-
ical Study. Vol. 5. of the Collection of Publications on German Rural Co-operation). Berlin.
Verlag des Generalverbandes landlicher Genossenschaftcn fiir Deutschland. 8vo, 168 pp.
WyGodzinski (Prof. Dr. W.) : Die neuere Entwickelung dcs landwirtschaftlichen Genosscn-
schaftswesens {Recent Development of Agricultural Co-operation). Hanover, 1913. Svo.
86 pp.
B.\yerische Zentral-Darlehx.skasse : Hilfe fiir die bethangten Winzer. {Assistance to the
Needy Viticulturists) . In " Verbandskundgabe ", February 15th., 1914. No. 3, Munich.
Beckmann (F.) : Zur Thcorie des landwirtschaftlichen Kartells {Theory of the Unions of Agri-
PUBLICATIONS REI^ATING TO CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION 39
cultural Producers). " Jahrbiicher fiiv Nationalokonomie uud Stalistisk ". Deccmlier,
1913. Jena.
Besitzfestiguxg in der Provinz Schlesien uxter Mitwirkuxg der LAN'DLICHER Spar-
UND Darlehnskassen (Consolidation of Ownership of Land in Silesia, with the help of the
Rural Banks), in "Deutsche landwirtschaflliche Genossenschaftspresse ". November,
30th., 1913. No. 21. Bcriiu.
Bren'nin'G : Die Bedeutung der Genossenscliaftsverbandc (The Si'^nification of Co-operative
Federations). In " Deulsclie laudwirtschaftliche Genossenschaftspresse ". September 30th.
1913. No. 18. Berlin.
BucHRUCKER : Der Raiffeiseuverein (The Raiffeisen Society). In " I,andvvirtschaftliches,
Genossenschaftrtblall ". March nth., 1913. No. 5. Neuwied.
Bus.SEN (Generalsekxetar) : Eingetragene Stierhaltungsgenossenschaften (Registered Co-oper-
ative Societies for Collective Use of Bulls). In " Deutsche landwirtschafllichcGenossenschafts
presse ", Mtuch 15th. 1914. No. 5. Berlin.
Do. — Eandliche Gasanstalten auf Genossen.schaftlicher Grundlage (Rural Gasometers on a
Co-operative Basis). In " Deutsche landwirtschaftliche Geiiossenschaftspresse ", August
30th., 1913. No. 16. Berlin.
Do. — Hannoversche Weidegenossenschaften (Co-operative Grazing Grounds in Hanorer).
In " Deutsche landwirtschaftliche Genossenschaftspresse ", Octobre 30th., 1913. No 20,
Berlin.
Do. — Genossenschaftliche Maschlncnbenutzung als Nebenbetricb der landwirtscliaftlichen
Bezugfigenossenschaften (Co-operative Use of Machinery, as a Business auxiliary to Co-
operative Purchase). In " Deutsche landwirtschaftliche Genossenschaftspresse ". Decem-
ber 30th., 1913. No. 24. Berlin.
CoNRADi (I^andgerichtsrat): Der Bankprozess von Nieder - Modau, die Krisis im Verbande der
landwirtscliaftlichen Genossenschaften und einige Vorschlage zur Anderung des Gcnos-
senscliaftsgesetzes (The Nieder-Modau Bank Case, the Crisis in the Federation of Agricul-
tural Co-operative Societies and some Proposals for the Amendment of the Law on Co-oper-
ative Societies). In " Bank-Arcliiv ", November 15th., 1913. No. 4. Berlin.
ACKERaiA:^- (Dr. F.) : Die Gruppierung der zur Raiffeisenorganisation gehorigen Betriebs-
genossenschaften (The Union of the Co-operative Societies for Production belonging to the
Raiffeisen Organisation). In " lyandvvirtschaftliches Genossenschaftsblatt ", April 15th.,
1913. No 7. Neuwied.
Do. — Statistische Erhebungen iiber die Betriebsgenossenschaften der Raii'feisen-Organi-
sation (Statistics of the Co-operative Societies for Production belonging to the Raiffeisen
Organisation). In " Eandwirtschaftliches Genossenschaftsblatt". January 15th., 1914.
No. I. Neuwied.
ARMitRUSTJVL^CHER : Die Entwickelung der landwirtscliaftlichen Genossenschriftcn und ihre
weiteren Zielc, besonders mit Riicksicht auf den Absatz landwirtschafllicher Produkte.
(The Development of the Agricultural Co-operative Societies and their Aims, especially in
respect to the Sale of Agricultural Produce). In " Deutsche landwirtschaftilche Genossen-
schjiftspresse ", August 15th., 1913. No. 15. Berlin.
B.\i-L.\UF (O) : Schweinezuchtgenossenscliaften (Co-operative Pig Improvement Societies). In
" Deutsche landwirtschaftliche Presse ", November 26th., 1913. No. 95. Berlin.
Crossmann (L,.) : Zur staatlichen Forderung des Genossenschaftswesens in Baycm (State
Encoura'^ement of Bavarian Co-operation). In "Blatter fiir Geuossenschaftswesen ". Feb-
ruary 14th., 1914. No. 6. Berlin.
CRiiGER (Dr.) : Die Zentralkasse des hessischen landwirtscliaftlichen Genossenschaften (The
Central Bank of the Hessian Agricultural Co-operative Societies). In " Blatter fiir Gcnos-
senschaftswesen ", January 31st., 1914. No. 5. Berlin.
40 PUBIylCATlONS RElvATlNG TO CO- OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
Dade (Prof. Dr.) : Die iibei-wundeue Krise iru Raiffeiscnverband {The Crisis Passed through
by the Raiffeisen Federation). In " Zeitschrift fiir Agrarpolitik ". December, 1913. No. 12.
Berlin.
Der neueste Stand des deutschen Genossenschaftswesens. (The Present Situation
of German Co-operation). In " Reiclis-Arbeitsblatt ", January, March, April, June, 1913.
Nos. I, 3, 4, 6, Berlin.
Die GRUNDSATZLICHE VERWANDTSCHAPT der OFFENTLICHEN lyEBENSVERSICHERUNG UND DES
landwirtschaftlichen Genossenschaftswesens. (T/ie Fundamental Relations between
Public Life Insurance and Agricultural Co-operation). In " Deutsche I,andwirtsdiaftliche
Genossenscliaftspresse ". August 15th., 1913. No. 15. Berlin.
Die lyANDLiCHE Kreditvereine in Baden. [Rural Credit Associations in Baden). In " Blat-
ter fiir Genossenschaftswesen ", February 21st., 1914. No. 8. Berlin.
Die landwirtschaftlichen IyAGerhauser im Betriebsjahre 1911-12. (The Co-operative
Agricultural Warehouses in the Working Year 1911-12). In " I^aiidwirtschaftliche
Jahrbuch fiir Bayern ", 1913. No 7. Munich.
Die Mitgliederbewegung in der Raiffeisen Organisation im Jahre 191 3 (Fluctuations
among the Members of the Raiffeisen Organisation in the Year 1913). In " I^andwirt-
schaftliches Genossenschaftsblatt ", January 30th., 1914. No. 2. Neuwied.
Die neue Mustersatzung fur Molkereigenossenschaften (The New Model Rules for Co-
operative Dairies). In " lyandwirtschaf tliches Genossenschaftsblatt", January 30th.,
1914. No. 2.
Die neue Geschaftsanweisung und die neuen Dienstanweisungen fur den Vorstand
UND den Aufsichtsrat der Molkereigenossenschaften) (The New Rules for the
Administration and the New Service Regulations for the Boards of Management and Com-
mittees of Supervision of Co-operative Dairies). In " lyandwirtschaftliches Genossenschafts-
blatt ", February 15th., 1914. No. 3. Neuwied.
Die Rheinische I^andwirtschaftliche Genossenschaftsbank (The Rhenish Agricultural
Co-operative Bank). In " lyaudwirtschaftliches Genossenscliaftsblatt ", July 15th. and
30th., 1913. Nos. 13 and 14. Neuwied.
Fischer (Prof. Dr. Gustav) : Die Bedeutung der Elektrizitat fiir die Energieversorgung Deut-
schlands (The Inportance of Electricity in Germany for the Supply of Power). In " Deutsche
I,andwirtschaftliche Presse ", February 4th., and 7th., 1914. Nos. 10 and 11. Berlin.
Do. — tjber die Tatigkeit des Generalverbandes landlicher Genossenschaften fiir Deutschlaiid
auf dem Gebiete des Rechtschutzes in den Jahren 1900 bis 1912 (The Work of the General
Federation of German Rural Co-operative Societies, in the Field of Legal Protection in the
Years 1900-1912). In " lyandwirtschaftliches Genossenschaftsblatt", May 27th., 1913.
No. 10. Neuwied.
Do. — Die Zinspolitik unserer Spar- und Darlehenskassenvereine im I^ichte der Statistik
(Policy of our Rural Banks in regard to their Rate of Interest, in the Light of Statistics). In
" Verbandskundgabe ". February 15th., 1914. No 3. Munich.
Gauert : I^andliche Buchhaltungsgenossenschaften (Co-opeiative Societies for Keeping Farm
Accounts). In " Deutsche landwirtschaftliche Presse", December 24th., 1913. No. 103.
Berlin.
Do. — lyandliche Buchhaltimgsgenossenschaften (Co-operative Societies for Keeping Farm
Accounts). In "Deutsche landwirtschaftliche Genossenschaftsprcsse ", January 30th.
1914. No. 2. Berlin.
Grabein (Dr.): Sind die orthcheBeschrankung der landlichen Spar- und Darlehnskasscn ein
Systemsfehler ? (Is it an Error to Limit the Field of Action of the Rural Bank ?) In " Deutsche
landwirtschaftliche Genossenschaftsprcsse ", December 30th., 1913. No. 24. Berlin.
Do. — Die Unzulanglichkeit der Reserven bei den landlichen Spar- imd Darlehnskasscn (The
Insufficiency of the Reserve Funds in the Rural Loan and Savings Banks). In " Deutsche
lyandwirtschaftHches Genossenschaftsprcsse", January 15th., 1914 - No. i. Berlin.
PUBLICATIONS REI,ATING TO CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION 4I
Grisar : Winzergeiiossenschaftliche Fragen {Problems of Co-operative Wine Societies). Iii
" lyandwirtschaftliches Geiiosscnschaftsblatt ", February 15th., 1914. No. 3. Neuwied.
GiiNGERiCH (Geschaftsfiihrer) : lyandliche Buchfiihrxingsgenossenschaften {Co-operative So-
cieties for Keeping Farm Accounts). In " Deutsche I^andwirtschaftliche Genossenschafts-
presse ", March 15th., 1914. No. 5. Berlin.
Hansen (Sind Baugenossenschaften fiir das platte I^nd moglich ?) {Are Co-operaiive Building
Societies a Possibility in the Country?). Im "Deutsche landwirtschaftlicheGenossenschafts-
presse ". October 30th., 1913. No. 20. Beriin.
HoFHEiNZ (Kreiswiesenbaumeister): zehn Jahre Genossenschaftsweidebetrieb {Ten Years'
Exploitation of Co-operative Grazing Groxmds)in " Deutsche landwirtschaftliche Presse ",
January 31st., 1914, No. 9. Berlin).
Tost (Hugo) : Probleme der genossenschaftlichen Kredit-Organisation Genossenschaftliche
Zentralkassen(Pro6/ems of Co-operarative Credit Organisation. Central Co-operative Batiks).
In " Schmollers Jahrbuch fiir Gesetzgebung, Verwaltung und Volkswirtschaft im Deut-
schen Reiche ", 1913. Vol. 4. pp. 324-419. Munich and I^ipzig.
Katholy (Okonomierat, Verbandsdirektor) : Einige wichtige aktuelle Fragen fiir den Win-
zerstand und die Winzegenossenschaften {Some Immediately Important Questions re-
lating to the Situation of the Winefarmers and their Co-operative Societies). In " Deutsche
landwirtschafthche Genossenschaftspresse ", February 28th. and March 15th., 1914,
Nos. 4 and 5. Berlin,
Kempkens (Joh.) : Die genossenschaftliche Viehverwertimg {Co-operative Sale of Livestock).
In " Annalen des Deutschen Reichs ", 1914. Vol. 4. pp. 42-61. Municli.
Kerp (Generalsekretar) : Stand iind Entwickelung der genossenschaftlichen Viehverwertung
in der Rheinprovinz {Situation and Development vf the Co-operative Sale of Livestock in
the Rhenish Province). In " Deutsche I^andwirtschaftliche Genossenschaftspresse ",
November 30th., 1913. No. 22. Berlin.
Krebs (Dr. Willy) : Zur Statistik der Spar- imd Darlehiiskassen Raifl'eisenscher Organisation
{Statistics of Rural Banks of Raiffeisen Type). In " Eandwirtschaftliches Genossenschafts-
blatt ", November 30th., 1914. No. 22. Neuwied.
Do. — Das eigene Kapital der Spar- und Darlehnskassenvereine im Verhaltnis zu ihrem Be-
triebskapital {The Rural Banks' Own Capital in relation to their Working Capital). In
" Eandwirtschaftliches Genossenschaftsblatt ", January 15th., 1914. No. i. Neuwied.
Kretzchmar (Dr.) : Die Entwickelungstendenz der sachsischen landwirtschaftlichtn Bezugs-
und Absatzgenossenschaften {The Tendency of the Development of the Saxon A ■j,ri cultural
Co-operative Societies for Purchase and Sale). In " Deutsche landwirtschaftliche Genossen-
schaftspresse ". January 30th. and February 15th., 1914. Nos. 2 and 3. Berlin.
Do. — Die Zinssatze der landwirtschaftlichen Kreditgcnossenschafttn im KonigreichSachstn
seit dem Jahre 1897. {Rates of Interest in the Agricultural Credit Co-operative Societies of
the Kingdom of Saxofiy since 1897). In " Deutsche landwirtschaftliche Genossenschafts-
presse ", June 15th., 1913. No. 11. Berlin.
Eemcke (Dr.) : Wandlimgen der Raiffeisen-Organisation seit dtm Tode ihres Schopfers
{Transformations of the Raiffeisen Organisation, since the Death of its Founder). In " Blat.
ter fiir Genossenschaftswesen ". February 7th. and 21st., 1914. Nos. 6 and 8. Berlin.
Mager (Direktor der Zentralkasse der hessischen landw. Genossenschaften) : Das landwirt-
schaftliche Genossenschaftswesen und der Staat in Hessen. {Agricultural Co-operation
and the State in Hesse). In " Deutsche landwirtschaftliche Genossenschaftspresse ". Jan.
uary 15th., 1914. No. i. Berlin.
Meyenschein : Der Raiffeisensche Unterverband {Subordinate Raiffeisen Groups). In
" Eandwirtschaftliches Genossenschaftsblatt". July 15th., 1913. No. 13. Neuwied.
Petersen : Zur Frage der Rentabilitat von Automobilgesellschaften mid Genossenschaften
{The Question of the Possibilities of Returns from Motor Transport Societies and Co-oper-
42 PUBUCATIONS RELATING TO COOPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
ative Societies). In " Deutsche landwirtschaftlichc Gcnosscnschaflspresse ", July 30th.
1913. No. 14. Berlin.
Do. — Honigverwertung auf genossenschaftlichen Wege {Co-operative Sale of Honey). In
" Deutsche landwirtschaftlichc GenossenschaftsprcsHC ", October 3ath., 1913. No. 20.
Berlin.
SCHNEnjivR : Ubcr Wassergenosscnschaften (Co-operative Wafer Societies). In " Badischcs
landwirtschaftliches Gcnosscnschattsblatt ". November 8th., 1913. No. 45. Karlsiuhc.
Stein : Zur Krisis der hessischcn landwirtschaf tlichen Gcnossenschaf ten (Crisis in A v^ricwltural
Co-operation in Hesse). In " Blatter fiir Genossenschaftswe.scn ", November 8th., 1913.
No. 45. Berlin.
SiissKiND : Genossenschafllichc Viehverwerting in Bayern (Co-operative Sale of Livestock in
Bavaria). In " Deutsche landwirtsehal'tliche Genossenschaftspresse ", July i5lh., 1913.
No. 13. Berlin.
Do. — Die Zentralstelle fiir Genossenschafllichc Viehvei^wertung im Jahre 1912 (The Central
Society for the Co-operative Sale of Livestock in 1912). In " Verbandskundgabe ", July
15th., 1913. No. 13. Miinich.
Theis (Dr. G.) : Kontrole der Darlehnsabtragung (Supervision of Repayment of Loans). In
" Deutsche landwirtschaftlichc Genossenschaftspresse ", January 15th., 1914. No. i.
Berlin.
WiLLAX : Zweifelhafte Sicherstellungen (Doubtful Security). In " Verbandskundgabe ", Januarj-
15th., 1914. No. 1. Munich.
WuTTiG (Dr.) : Zur genossenschaftlichen Zentralkassenbewcgung (Movement in favour of Co-
operative Central Banks). In " Die Bank ", June and July, 1913. Nos. 6 and 7. Berlin.
Do. — Der wirtschaftliche Zusamraenschluss der Raiffeisenschen Kreditgenossenschaften
(Raiffeisenvereine) in der I<andwirtschaftlichen Zentral — Darlehnskasse fiir Deutschland.
(Economic Union of the Credit Co-operative Societies of Raiffeisen Type in the German
Central Rural Bank). In " I^andwirtschaftliches Genossenchaftsblatl ", March nth.,
1913. No. 5. Neuwied.
Do. — Versicherung und Gcnossenschaf tsarbeit (Insurance and Co-operative Work). In
" lyandwirtschaftiches Genossenschaftsblatt ", June 30th., July 15th., September 30th.,
October 15th., and 30th., November 15th and 30th., December 15th., Nos. 12, 13, 15, 17-
23. Neuw'ed.
ZoLLER : Aufwendungen der pfalzischen Spar- und Darlehiiskasscn fiir gemeinnutzige Zwecke.
(Employment of the Rural Banks of the Palatinate for Purposes of Public Utility). In
" Deutsche landwirtschaftlichc Genossenschaftspresse ". November 3cth., 1913. No. 22.
Berlin.
ZUM ZWANZIGJAHRIGEN BESTEHEN DES BAYERISCHEN I<ANDESVERH.\NDES UND DER BAYE-
RiscHEN Zentral-Darlehnskasse (The Twentieth Year of the Bavarian Rural Federation
and of the Central Rural Bank of Bavaria). In " Verbandskundgabe ", December 31st.,
1913. No. 24. Munich.
Zur Errichtung einer Staatlichen Zentralgenossenschaftskasse fiir He.ssen (The
Institution of a Central Co-operative Bank for Hesse). In " lyandwirtschaftliches Genos-
senschaftsblatt ", January 15th. and February 15th., 1914. Nos. i and 3. Neuwied.
Zur Frage der Verlust- und Nachschussverteilung bei landwirtschaftlichen Pro-
duktivgenossenschaften. (The Question of the Distribution of Losses and of Supple-
mentary Contributions in the Agricultural Co-operative Societies for Production). In "Deut-
sche landwirtschaftlichc Genossenschaftspresse ", February 15th., 1914. No. 3. Berlin.
Zur Organisation der Elektrizitatsgenossenschaften (The Organisation of Co-operative
Electric Societies). In " Eandwirtschaftliches Genossenschaftsblatt ", August 15th.
and 30th., 1913. Nos. 15. and 16. Neuwied.
PUBLICATIONS RFiATING TO CO- OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION 43
ARGENTINA.
Official Publications
ESTATUTOS DE COOPERATIVAS AGRICOLAS ADAPTABLES A LA REGI6n DE LOS CeREALES. BoclegaS
y lecherias cooperativas, cooperativas frulicolas, Reglas para su fondaci6n {Rules of Agri-
cultural Co-operative Societies Suitable to the Grain District. Co-operative Wine Societies
and Dairies. Co-operative Societies for the Cultivation of Fruit. Rules for their Found-
ation). .De-partmsnt of Agriculture. Division of Rural Economics and Statistics. Buenos
Aires, 1914.
ESTADISTICA DE LAS SOCIEDADES COOrER.\TIVAS Y MUTtJAS AGRICOLAS. {Statistics of Avji-
cuUural Co-operative and Mutual Societies). In " Boletin del Mhiisterio de Agricultura,
August-September, 191 3. Buenos Aires.
Unofficial Publication :
MusEO Social Argentino : Estatutos, Memoria y balance, 1912-1913. {Rules, Reports and
Balance Sheets for 1912-1913). Buenos Aires, 1913. 8vo. 29 pp.
AUSTRIA,
Unofficial Publications :
Bauer (J) : Zur Frage der Griindung von genosscnschaftlichcu lamlvvirtschaftlichen Brennc-
rcicii {The Question of the Foundation of Co-operative Agricultural Distilleries). In " Oesler-
rcicliische Agrar-Zcilung ", January 6II1., 1914. Vienna.
Die Genossenschaftliche Organisation der deutschen Arbeiterklasse {Co-operative
Or'^anization of the German Working Class). Ir. " Konsumvcixin ", Januarj- 21st, 191.1.
Vienna.
RiCHTER (Dr. Robert) : Welche VVirtscliaftliche Vorteile kann eine Organisation auf genos-
senscliaftlicher Basis den Brauereien bringcns.). {What Economic Advantaiies may the Brew-
erics derive from Organization on Co-operative Lines?). In " Allgemeine Zeitsclurift fiir
Bierbrauerei uud Malzfabrikation ". December 27th., 1913. Vienna.
ZiTZEN (Dr. P. G.) : Die Bezalilungsweise bei den Viehverwertungsgenossenschaften {Modes
of Payment of the Co-operative Societies for the Sale of Horned Cattle). In " Oesterreich-
ische Agrar-Zeitimg ". December 6(h., 1913. Vienna.
CHII,E.
Unofficial Publications :
Sociedad Agronomica de Chile : Segunda memoria anual leida en sesi6n jeneral de socios
de 15 de Septiembre de 1912 {Chilian Scientific Farmers^ Society : Second Annual Report,
Read at the General Meeting of Members on September 15th., 1912). Santiago de Chile, 1913,
" I<a lUustracion " Press. 4to 29 pp.
Valdes Tagle (E.) : Credito agricola coopcrativo : Tema V del Congreso agricola regional de
Conccpci6n, octubre dc 1913 {Co-operative Agricultural Credit : Fifth Theme of the Conrep-
cion Regional Agricultural Congress. October, 1913), Santiago ile Chile, 1913. Barcelona
Press. 4to, 34 pp.
.|4 PUBI^ICATIONS RELATING TO CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
DENMARK.
Unofficial Publications :
Be6etning om de samvvirkende Danske i^andbofoeeninger Forretningsudvalgs Virk-
soMHED 1912-13. {Report on the Work of the Board of Management of the Agricultural Co-
operative Associations in Denmark dxiringihe Workin'i Year 1912-1913). Copenhagen, I9i3»
Nielsen and I^ydiche. 8vo. 49 pp.
Det Kgl. Danske I^andhusholdningsselskabs Gener.ilforsamling den 18 December
1913. [General Meeting of the Royal Danish Agricultural Societies, on December iSth., 191 3)-
In " Tidsskrift for lyandokonomi ". February, March, 1914. Nos. 2, 3 Copenhagen.
Oversigt over Slagtingene paa de danske Andelsslagterier I Aaret 1913 (Report on
the Slaughtering in the Danish Co-operative Slaughter Houses in the Year 1913). In " Andels-
bladet ", Januarj- 30th., 1914. — Aarhus, 1913 — In "Andelsblatt ", January 3rd., 1914.
No I. Aarhus. {A Brief Summary of the Danish Co-operative Movement in 191 3).
SPAIN.
Unofficial Publications :
Caja Rural de San Juan : Memoria reglamentaria por el Consejo de Admiuistracion en
jvmta general celebrada el 24 de agosto de 1913 {Rural Bank of San Juan. Regular
Report to the Board of Management Assembled in General Council of Au.iust ■z.\th., 1913).
Palma, 1913. Amengual y Muntaner. 8vo. 8 pp.
CoRREAS (Juan F.) : Para fundar y dirigir los Sindicalos Agricolas [How to Found and Manage
Agricultural Syndicates). Madrid, 1913.
Fernandez Santana (Ezequiel) : lya cajas rurales extremenas : Conferencia pronunciada
el dia 19 de Abril de 1913 : Associaci6n de Agricultores de Espana [Rutal Banks of Extre-
madura. Lecture Delivered April igth., 1913 : Spanish Farmers' Association). Madrid,
1913. Impr. de la Sue. de M. Minnesa de lo.? Rios. 8vo. 20 pp.
UNITED STATES.
Unofficlal Publications :
Co-operative Banking in Massachussetts In " Pacific Co-operalor ", July, 1913. San
Francisco.
Article on the I<oans Granted to their Members b3- the Savings Banks.
Jewish Agricultural Credit Unions. In "Annalist". December i3tli., 1913. No. 48.
New York.
Matenaers (F. F.) : Genossenschaftliche betriebeuen Waschereien auf dem I^andc (Rural
Laundries Conducted on Co-operative Principles). In "Deutsche landwirtschaftliche
Genossenscliaftliche Genossenschaftspresse ". Januaiy 15th., 1914. No. i. Berlin.
Organized Thrift: The Building and I^oan Associations of America. In " Aimalist ".
August i8th., 1913. New York.
.Southern States Convention, July loth.-iilh., 1913. In "Texas Farm Co-operator".
July 15th. ,1913. Fort Worth.
Short Report of a Meeting Organized by the " vSoutheru States Cotton Corporation ".
The Origin of Farmers' Institutes. In " Pacilic Grange Bulletin ". August, 1913. I,enls
(Oregon).
PUBWCATIONS RELATING TO CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION 45
FRANCE.
Unofficial Publications :
Annuaire de l' AGRICULTURE ET DES ASSOCIATIONS AGRicoLES : ii6me aimee, 1913 (Yeat'
book of Agriculture and A^^ricultural Associations; nth Year, 1913)- Eyons and Paris, 1913.
Silvestre. 8vo, 3,204 pp.
Blic (R. de) : I,a Crise viticole et les cooperatives de production en Cote d'Or. (The Viticultural
Crisis and the Co-operative Societies for Production in C6te-d'0r). " Action populaire ",
Social Series. No. 288. Rheims. " Action populaire ". i6mo. 20 pp.
I,.\UBiER (Count de) and Plessis (Count J. du) : Manuel pratique des Institutions sociales agri-
coles (Practical Manual of AqricuUural Social Institutions). Paris, 1913. Maisou de la Bonne
Presse, Svo. 356 pp.
Vercoustre (Jean, advocate, doctor of laws) : ly'Organisation professionnelle agricole dans le
Departemeut du Nord (These) (Professional Agricultural Organisation in the Department of
Nord Thesis) EiUe, 1913. Printed by H. Morel. Svo. 237 pp.
Bellet (M.) : Ees fruiticres co-operatives de la Haute-Savoie (Co-operative Fruitieres of Haute-
Savoie). In " Vie agricole et rurale ", December 6th., 1913. Paris.
Berthault (Pierre) : I<es distilleries cooperatives du Pays de Caux (Co-operative Distilleries
in the Pays de Caux). In " Journal d'Agriculture pratique ". January 15th., 1914. Paris.
GREAT BRITAIN AND IREI^AND.
Official Publications :
Bedfordshire Shire Horse Society. In " Journal of the Board of Agriculture ". October,
1913. No. 7. pp. 625, 626. lyondon.
Article on the Collective Use of Stallions by Members of the Society.
Bedfordshire Shorthorn Bull Scheme. In " Journal of the Board of Agriculture ",
October, 1913. No. 7. pp. 622-625. lyondon.
Article on the Collective Use of Bulls by Members of the Bedfordshire Agricultural
Society.
Scheme for the Improvement of L,ivestock. In " Journal of the Board of Agiiculturc ",
October, 1913. No. 7. Pp. 629-633. Eondon.
This article announces that the " Development Commissioners " have granted a
subvention of £37,000 to the " Board of Agriculture " for the Improvement of Eivestock.
The Board of Agriculture proposes to distribute this amount in subventions to the societies
for the collective use of male breeding stock and cow testing societies.
WiNSLOw Shire Horse Society. In " Journal of the Board of Agriculture ". Fcbruarv, 1914.
No. II. pp. 1,014-1,017. Eondon.
Historical Notice of a societv for the collective use of stallions.
Other Publications :
The Story of the C. W. S., Manchester, 1913. Co-operative Wholesale Society.
The Report of the Agricultural Org.\nis.\tion Society, for Nine Months ending :March
31st., 1913. Eondon, 1913. The Stepney Press, 8 - 174 pp.
Williams (Aneurin) : Co-partnership and Profit Sharing. Eondon, 1913. Williams and Norgat
(Home University E'brary). i2mo. 236 pp.
46 PUBLICATIONS RKLATINO TO CO-OPKRATION AND ASSOCIATION
Die Genossenschapten Grossbritajstniens im Jahre 1912. (British Co-operative Societies
in 1912). In " Konsumverciu ". Januaiy 7th., 1914. No. i. Vienna.
Die KoNSUM-rrxD Produktiv- Gexossexschaftex Grossbritanxiens im Jahre 191 2 (Brit-
ish Co-operative Societies for Distribution and Production in 191 2). Im " Schweiz Konsum-
Vercin ", November 29th., 1913. Basel.
FiiKFZiG Jahre Genossexschafiliciier Gro.sseixkaufs (Fifty Years of Wholesale Co-oper-
ative Purchase). In " Genossenscliaftliches Volks-Blatt. " December 5lh., 1913. Basel.
Article on the Work of the Co-operative Wholesale Society.
Finances of the Royal Society : Increased Show Expenditi:re. In " Times ", December
22nd., 1913. No. 40, 401. p. 12. lyondon. Article on the Work of the " Royal Agricnlturnl
Society of England ".
Irish Agricultural Organisation Society's Annual Gener;\l Meeting. In " Irish
Homestead ", December 20th., 1913. No. 51. Dublin.
aiAKiNG OF Our Herd Books: In North British Agriculturist. February 12th., 1914. No. 7.
Edinburgh.
The Organization of the Dairy Ixdustry. In "Journal of the Board of Agriculture ".
December, 19 13. No. 9. pp. 815-817. I,ondon.
Article published by the " Agricultural Organisation Societj' ".
CANADA.
Uxofficial Publications :
Quebec society for the Protection of Plants from Insects ant) Fungous Diseases.
Fifth Annual Report 1912-1913. Quebec, 1913. Kings' Printer. 8vo. 94 PP-
Agricultur.\l Co-operation in Saskjvtchevvan. In " Public Service Monthly ". November,
1914. No. 4. Regina.
JON-ES (E. W.) : Boys' and Girls' Clubs in Manitoba. In " Farmer's Advocate ". December
17th., 1913. No. 181. lyondon. (Ontario).
I,A SociETE COOPERATIVE DES Planteurs de Tabac de St. Ci'cs.ure (St. Cesuirc Tobacco
Plajiters' Co-operative Society). In " Journal d'Agriculture et d' Horticulture ". Novem-
ber 15th., 1913. No. 5. Montreal.
Containing the Annual Balance Sheet of the Society.
Ontario Fruit Growers in Axtcual Convention. In " Farmer's Advocate ". November
27th., 1913. No. 1,078. I^ondon (Ontario). Report of the Amiual Meeting of the Ontario
Fruit Growers' As.sociation.
Saskatchewan Co-operative Annu.vl. In " Grain Grower's Guide ". November 26lh., 1913.
Winnipeg.
Report of the Annual meeting of the " Saskatchewan Co-operative Elevator Com-
pany " and of the Work of the Society.
The Grain Growter's An-xual. In " Grain Grower's Guide ", November, 19th., 1913. pp. 5-
12/ Winnipeg.
Report of the Annual Meeting of the " Grain Growers' Grain Company " and leading
article on the work and aims of the socictj'.
BRITISH INDIA.
Official Publications :
Annual Report on the Working of Co-oper.\tive Societies in the Bombay Presidexcy
IXCLUDING SiND, FOR THE TWELVE MONTHS ENDING MARCH 3ist., 19x3. Bombay, I9I3.
Govt. Cent. Press. Folio.
PUBLICATIONS RELATING TO CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION 47
Annual Report on the Working of Co-operative Societies in the United Provinces
OF Agr.\ an-d Oudh for the Year 1912-1913. .lllahabad, 1913. Supdt. Gov. Press.
Folio.
Proceedings of the Seventh Conterence of Registrars of Co-oper.\tive Societies.
Simla, 1913. The Government Monotype Press. Folio.
Report on the Working of Co-operative SociETrES in Assam for the Year entsing
31ST. March, 1913. Shillong, 1913. Secretariat Printing Office. Folio.
Report on the Working of Co-operative Societies in the Central Provinces .\nd
Ber^vr for the Year 1912-1913. Nagpur, 1913. The Government Press. Folio.
Report on the Working of the Co-operative Societies in the Punjab for the year
ENDING July 31st., 1913. Lahore, 1913. The Punjab Government Press. Folio.
Statements shout:s-g Progress of the Co-operative Movement in Intjia during the
YE.\R, 1912-1913. Folio.
ITALY.
OrFiCL\L Publications :
ISTiTUTO Nazion.ale di Credito per la Coopkrazione. {National Inslilule of Credit for Co-
operation). Abstract from the " Bollettino di Notizic sul Credito e sulla Previdenza ",
published by the " Department of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce ", year 1913.
No 3. Rome, 191 3. L. Cecchini. 4to. 16 pp.
ISTITUTO NiVZioNALE DI Credito PER LA CooPER.iZioNE : Rcgolamcnto Provvisorio {Provisional
Rules). Rome, 1913. " Tipografia della Banca d'ltalia ". 4to. 35 pp.
Other Publications :
Agenda Agricola Italiana : Memorandum delle Associazioni agrarie del 1914. {Memorandum
of the AiiricuUural Associations in 1914). Piacenza, 1914. V. Porta. Svo. 244. pp.
Bartolucci (Dr. Benedetto) : Note sulle casse rurali e agrarie (a responsabilifa solidale ed
illimitata) sorte in provincia di Cagliari dall'agosto 1909 al novembre 1913. Relazione
al Congresso delle cooperative e mutue agrarie della Sardegna {Notes on the Rural and
A'^ricultural Banks {with Unlimited Joint and Several Liability of Members), Founded in the
Province of Cagliari between Auqust, 1909 and November, 1913. Report to the Congress
of Sardinian Acjicultural Co-operaHve aiid Mutual Societies): Oristano, December 21st.
22nd., and 23rd., 1913. Oristano, 1913. Corsi and Pagani.
Callegaro (G. a.) : Le Societii cooperative e I'organizzazione dcU'UmanitA. {Co-operative
Societies and th^ Organisation of Charity). Udine, 1913. Tosolini.
Cattedra ambulante di Agricoltura della Provincia di Reggio Ejulia : Lo stato della
co-operazione casearia nella provincia di Reggio Emilia {The Situation of the Co-operative
Dairies in the Province of Reggio Emilia). Coop, fra lavoranti tipografi c affini. Reggio
Emilia, 1913.
CoNFEDERAZioNE Nazionale Agraria IN BoLOGNA : Aunuario dcllc associazioni agiaric ita-
lianc {Yearbook of the Italian Agricultural Associations). Bologna, 1913. Slab. Poligrafico
Emiliano.
Di Franco (Prof. Luigi) : Sulle cause e gli effetti giuridici deirassociazionismo {The Causes
and Leznl Consequences of Association). Trani, 1913. Vecchi.
L'Opera DELLA SocietA U^L\N^TARLV nell'-A-NNO 1913. {The Work of the " Sociela Umanilaria"
in 1913). Milan, 1914. Societii Umanitaria. Svo. 63 pp.
M.ARESC.\LCHi (A.) : Dieci anni di vita drlla Society dei Viticultori del Monfcrralo (1902-1911).
{Ten Years of the Life of the Monferrato Viticulturisfs' Society 1902-1911). Casale Monferato
1913. Toselli. «
48 PUBWCATIONS RELATING TO CO-OPKKATlON AND ASSOCIATION
I'lERAZZuoLi (Adv. Ant.) : Istruzioni cd escmpi per la costiluzione, le opcrazioni, la conlalji-
litadellc casse vurali di prcstili. (Cas.'^aadcmprivile dclla provincia di Cagliari) (Instruc-
tions and Examples for the Formation, Operations, and Book-kecpin:^ of the Rural Loan
Banks, Cassa ademprivilc of the Province of Cagliari). Cagliari, 1913. Tip. Sarda.
Rocco DI ToRREPADULA (Adv. Giov.) : Personc giuridiche ed associazioiii (Civil Persons and
Associations). Naples, l^. Pierro, 191 3.
SciiERMA (Prof. Giuse])pe): Studio sul caratlcre cconomico della Coopcraziuiic (Study of the Eco-
nomic Character of Co-operation). Palermo. O. Fiorenza, 1913.
SocietA Nazionale degli Olivicultori Italiani : Atti e documeiiti del V. Congresso dcRli
Olivicultori italiani tenuto a I,ucca dal 15 al 17 dicembrc 1912. (Deeds and Documents
of the Fifth Confess of Italian Olive Growers held at Lucca from December islh. to lyth.,
1912). Rome, 1913. Tip. dell'Unione Editrice.
Zago (Prof. Fcrruccio) : Cinquant'anni di vita del Comizio Agrario di Piaccnza (Fifty Years
of the Life of the Piaccnza Agricultural Comizio). 1913. Tip. Piacentina.
AziMONTi (Kugenio). Scarso spirito di associazionc o mancanza di iniziatori iclonei} (Deficiency
of the Spirit of Association or of Competent Promoters}). In " Agricoltore del Mezzogiorno ".
December ist., 1913. No. 21. Naples.
Casieri (V.) : lya Cooperazione nell'oleificio {Co-operation in Oil Makin'^). In " Corricre
Agricolo Commerciale ". November gth., 1913. Milan.
Cettomni (Sante): II latifondo nell'agricoltura siciliana: i contratti coUeltivi di fitto e I'enfitcnsi
(Large Estates and Sicilian Agriculture : Collective Leases and Long Leases ". In " BoUet-
tiuo della Societa degli Agricoltori italiani ". December 31st., 1913. No. 34. Rome.
Cooperativa Pisana Tabacchicultori : Relazione del Consiglio d'AmministrazionesuU'cser-
cizio 1912-1913 (Report of the Board of Management for the Working Year 1912-1913).
In " Progresso Agricolo". October 31st., 1913. No. 20. Pisa.
Garelt.i (Prof. A.) : II consorzio a.grario di Mondovi e la sua attivita (The Mondovi Agricultural
Comizio and its Work). In " Rivista di Agricoltura ". February 6th., 1914. No. 6. Parma.
IL Credito e l'azione Economico-sociale DEI Cattolici itai.tani. (Credit and the Social
Economic Action of the Italian Catholics) : In " Azione Socialc ", January, 1914. Bergamo.
lyissoNE (Sebastiano) : I,e rappresentanze agrarie (Agricultural Representation). In " Agri-
coltore Subalpino". January ist., 1914. Cuneo.
Piccio (G.) : l,a cantina sociaU- di Mombaruzzo (The Mombaruzzo Wine Society). Iii " Gior-
nale vinicolo ". November i6th., 1913.
Torriceixi (Cesare) : I^e organizzazioni dei cattolici in Italia (Italian Catholic Organisations).
In " Nuova Antologia ". January ist., 1914. No. 1,009. Rome.
Tuccari (lyuigi) : I^'ideale c il vero nelle funzioni delle banchc pojiolari (The Ideal and the Real-
ity in the Working of the People's Banks).
Valvassori Peroni (a.) : Per la ufiiciale rappresentanza degli agricoltori (Official Represent-
ation of the Farmers). In " Stampa Agricola ". November 9th., 1913. Turin.
JAPAN.
Unofficial Publications ;
The Means for Encouraging the Progress of the Co-operative Societies, (in Japan-
ese). In " Nogyo Sekai ". February ist., 1914. Tokio.
What is the Situation of Our Horned Cattle Improvement Societies ? (in Japanese).
In " Nogyo Sekai . January ist., 1914. Tokio.
Wolff (Henry W.) : Genossenschaftlicher Fortschritl in Japan. (Progress of Co-operation in
Japan). In " I,and\virtschaftliclies Genosscnschaftsblatt ". December 30th., 1913.
No. 24. Neuwied. ,
PUBLICATIONS RELATING TO CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION 49
NORWAY.
Unofficial Publication :
Bleikli (J.) : Laudhusholdningssselskaper (Rural Economic Soiiclics) In " Tidsskrif t for det
Norske Landbruk ". December, 1^13. No. 12. Christiaiiia.
Contribution to the History of the Norwegian Rural Economic Societies.
ROUMANIA.
Unofficial Publication :
Collective Farjis in Roum.\nia (In Servian). In " Zemlioradnitchka Zadruga ". August
30th., 1913. Belgrade.
RUSSIA
Official Publications :
Summary of the Balance Sheets of the Russian Mutual Credit Societies, July ist. 1913.
(In Thousands of Roubles). (In Russian). Published by the Special Office of the Credit
Department. S. Petersburg, 1913. P. P. Soikine. Folio. 35 pp.
Summary of the Profits and Losses of the Mutual Credit Societies em Russia in 1912.
(In Thousands of Roubles). (In Russian). Published by the Special Office of the Credit
Department. St. Petersburg, 1913. pp. Soikine. Folio. 16 pp.
Profits and Losses of the Mutual Credit Societies for 1912 (In Russian). In " Viest-
nik Finansov, Promychlennosti i Torgovli ". December 28th., 1913. No. 50. St.
Petersburg.
Other Publications :
Andelsvarksamheten i Finland 1912 : II. Statistik (Co-operation in Finland in 1912 :
//. Statistics). Helsingfors, 1913. Sallskapet Pellervo. 8vo. 196 pp.
RiVAS Moreno: La cooperaci6n agricola en Rusia (A i,ri cultural Co-operation in Russia). Bi-
blioteca dela " Cooperaci6n ". Vol. VIII. Seville, 1913. 8vo. 63 pp.
Andelsrorelsens utbredning I Russland (Development of Co-operation in Russia). In
" Hufvudstadsbladet ". January i6th., 1914. Helsingfors.
GoLOVKo (A. M.) : Organisation of the Co-operative Sale of Eggs. (In Russian).' In " Viestnik
Kooperatzii ". December, 1913. S. Petersburg.
HijNiAKOFF (B.) : Extension of the Sphere of Action of the Credit Associations and Savings
Banks (In Russian). In "Viestnik Kooperatzii". December, 1913. St. Petersburg.
K.\rhunen (Onni) : Kertomos Suomen Osuustoimintaopiston toiminnasla v. 191 3 (Report
on the Work of the Finland Co-operative Academy for the Year 191 3). In " Suomen Osuustoi-
mintalehti ". December, 1913. No. 12. Helsingfors.
Minervin (B.) : The Influence of Credit to the Co-operative Societies on the Development ol
their Deposit Business. (In Russian). In "Viestnik Finansov, Promychlennosti i Tor-
govli ", January nth., 1914. No. 52. St. Petersburg.
Pavloff (B.) : Toinen yleisvenalainen osuustoiminta Kqngressi Xiovassa (Second Pan-Russian
Co-operative Assembly at Kiev). In "Suomen Osuustoimintalehti. December, 1913.
No. 12. Helsingfors.
50 PUBLICATIONS RELATING TO CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
Saxtti (Joiini) : Suomen osuusmejerilut ja uiiden toiminta {Uniotts of Co-operative Dairies
in Finland ami their Work). December, 191 3. No. 12. Helsingfors.
SoHLMAX (S. A.) : Osuiistoimintaliike Venajalla {Co-operation in Russia). In " Suomen Osuu-
toimcntalehti ". JanuarN-, 191 4. No i. Helsingfors. (to be continued).
TCH.'UKox'SKY : Organisation of the Aitels for Production and &»lc of Butter in Siberia and
their Co-operative Institutions (In Russian) In " Viestnik Koopcratzii ". 1913. No. 4
S. Petersburg.
SWEDEN.
Official Publications :
FORSL.\G TILL GRDX^VXDE .W DET MIXDRE JORDBRtJKETS KREDITFORhAlLAXTJEX (PrOpOSOls
for the Organisation of Small Agricultural Credit). Stockhohn, 1913. pp. 130.
KL\LEXDER OVER svEXSKA LAXDTBRUKET 1913. Feiute argangeu. {Calendar of Swedish A ':ri
culture for 1913. Fifth Year, Edited by G. Elgenstiema, under the Direction of tli
Roy;il Department of Agricultiire. Stockholm, 1913. 346 pp.
Containing statistics of agricultural co-operation and association.
UXOFFICL\L PCBBICATION :
Ordn AXTJivT AV DET iiTXDiiE joRDBRUKETS Driftkredit {Or:amsation of Short Term Credit
>nr Small Farms). In " Sociala Meddelanden ". November. 1913. No. 11. Stockholm.
SWITZERLAND.
Uxofficlal Public.^tioxs :
DuMiXD (H.) : Assemblee dcs laiterie-s genevoises reunics {Mcctin- of the Associated Co-oper-
ative Dairies of Geneva), in "Journal d'Agriculture Suisse". February 17th., 1914.
Geneva.
Federatiox- des SyxT5ic.\TS d'Elevage Bo\tx {Federation of Horned Cattle Improvement.
Syndicates). In " Journal d'Agriculture Suisse ". February 17th., 1914. Geneva.
Gexossexschaftliche Fleischversorguxg {Co-operative Supply of Meat). In " Konsum-
verein ". January 21st., 1914. Vienna.
Article on Co-operative Societies for the Supply of Cities \vith Meat.
Laxdwirtsch.aftliches GEXossEXScnAFT.swESENS {Airicultmal Co-operation^ . In " Bauern
uud Arbejterbiind BaseUand ". November 29th., 1913. Base!.
Article on the work of the Federations of the Bernese Co-operative Societies.
PR0CE.S-VERB.\L DE L'ASSEMBLtE DES DELEGTJES DE LA FEDER.\TI0X DES SoCIETKS D'AGRI-
CULTURE DE L.A SuLSSE RoMAXTDE (Minutes of the Meetin'; of the Delegates of the Federation
of the A sricidtural Societies of Latin Switzerland). In "Journal d'Agriculture Suisse".
December 9th., 1910. Geneva.
Walkmeister (-M.) : Das landwirtschaftliche Veretns- uud Genosscnschaftswcsen im Kanton
Graubiinden (AcricuUural .issociation and Co-operation in the Canton of Grisons). In
" Bim(hier Bauernblatt ". October 31st. and November 30th., 1913. Chur.
ZuR Kritik des Moderxex Gexossexsch.\ft3Wesex3 {Criticism of Modern Co-operation).
In " Anzeiger dcs Konsum. Vereines Winterthur und Umgebung ". December 5th., 1913.
Wintrrhur.
Part. II: Insurance and Thrift
FRANCE.
SOME FOICMS OF ^lUTUAL INSURANCE
AGAINST ACCIDENTS IN AGRICULTURAL LABOUR.
France has not yet solved the problem of insurance against accidents
in agricultural labour by any law. but at the present moment many of the
farmers are seriously considering their Uabihty in case of accidents befalling
those they employ. They are liable whenever an injured employee can caU
for the application of the general provisions of the Civil Code on account
of the fault or negUgence of the employer, as well as in the case of accidents
occurring in the use of machinen.' in farm work (Law of 1899).
In the Revue des Sciences Politiques of February' 15th., 1914, M. Da-
niel ZoUa gives two interesting instances of the estabUshment of insurance
societies to meet this Uabihty.
The first is pro^dded by the department of Vienne, where, in 1909, a
certain number of farmers formed a mutual insurance society having it
for its object :
1st. To insure agricultural employers against accidents during
labour for which they might be considered hable and also to insure the
farmers themselves and their families.
2nd. To offer paid employees security similar to that granted to
factory emploj^ees by the law of 1898.
3rd. To estabUsh a tariff varying with the method of farming, the
class of farms and rate of wages in different districts.
This last paragraph requires some explanation, in order that a clear
idea of the difficulty of the problem may be formed.
The contribution paid by each farmer insured must be in proportion
to the risk he runs or causes other members of the society to run.
These risks e\4dently van.' w4th the number of employees, with the
more or less dangerous nature of the work, and with the rate of wages,
for these must sorve as a basis for the amount of the claims allowed, that is
to say for the calculation of the risks for which the society accepts liabiHty
in place of the individual employers.
52 FRANCE - INSURANCE AND THRIFT
The amount of work (number of days' labour per hectare) varies with
the kind of crop> that is to say, with the ordinary method of cultivation, as
arable land, meadows, vineyards, gardens, woods, etc. etc.
In the Vienne Society, agricultural risks were classified under three heads:
A. Ordinary risks. — Work done with simple implements such as
spades, pickaxes, pitchforks, wheel-barrows, and work done without tools.
B. Serious risks. — Labour performed with animals and simple ma-
chinery such as harrowing, ploughing, carting and risks in the care of
animals etc :
C. Extraordinary Risks. — Labour performed with machines (worked
by petroleum, steam or electricity), or by compHcated machinery or
apparatus, such as mowing, reaping, threshing etc.
The risks to be assigned to each class of farms were fixed after careful
analysis of the labour connected with the different classes.
The principal classes of holdings dealt with were as under: arable lands ;
vineyards ; market-gardens and nurseries ; natural grass-lands ; meadows
and orchards; woodland and copses; moors, heaths, ponds... For each
of these classes the rate of insurance per hectare was fixed as follows :
I** division: Arable lands fr. i.oo
2nd " Vineyards " 1.30
^rd " Market gardens, & horticulture .... " 7.50
4"" " Grass land " 0.30
^^ " Meadows and orchards " 0.50
5th " Woods and copses " 0.15
y^ " Moors, heaths etc " o.io
This tariff is not applicable to risks incurred through use of machinery;
for such risks there are private contracts and special tariffs.
Provision was made for the modification of the tariff under certain
conditions or for certain kinds of farming. Special rates are charged,
for instance, in the case of domestic servants, the rearing of male
breeding stock or the exploitation of ponds. There is special insurance
for proprietors of land cultivated by metayers, for cases involving the
liability of both landowner and tenant.
The Vienne Society has also arranged for the division of profits or, to
speak more exactly, for the di\'ision of the excess of the receipts over the
expenditure; 25 % is assigned to the foremen, to encourage them in
a stricter supervision to prevent accidents or abuses ; 75 % is reserved for
the benefit of those members in whose accounts the contributions show a
net excess over any claims allowed to them. It therefore follows that
each member has a direct personal interest in the reduction of the expenses
of the Society.
The Board of Management has even decided to grant (after a
period of trial) a reduction of his contribution to any member who will
engage to grant his employees a share in the profits he receives. The em-
ployees will thus have an interest in the reduction of the expenditure of
the Society.
MUTUAI, INSURANCE AGAINST ACCIDENTS IN AGRICULTURAIv I,ABOUR 53
The Society guarantees the following compensations :
js* ., In case of death, 1,500 fr.
2°**., " " " permanent disablement, 3,000 fr:
3"^^., " " " temporary disablement, an amonnt equal to the half
of the employee's daily wages.
The society also guarantees the expenses for medical attendance,
medicines and funerals. Provision is made for the employer's liabihty insur-
ance (in case of fault or negligence of the employer), by means of a sur-
plus payment, in proportion to the maximum HabiUty and fixed by the
pohcy of each member.
IFor the security required by law and for the expenses of the initial
establishment of the society, a sum of 50,000 fr. was subscribed under the
form of bonds at 4 %, issued at 100 frs.
The following interesting details we reproduce from the report read
at the general meeting of 191 3:
The number of members and their contributions were as foUows :
Number of Members Contribution Paid
On December 31^^- 1909 372 10,504 fr.
1910 1,166 32,582 "
1911 1,891 54,014 "
1912 3.191 92,595 "
So we see that the Poitou INIutual Society has been very successful.
The amounts paid for claims and medicines etc. were.
in 1909 1,408 fr.
" 1910 6,804 "
" 1911 18,464 "
" 1912 31,076 "
Altogether the Poitou Society has very happily solved the problem
before it by appeaUng to the spirit of mutual aid and joint interest, which
in this field only waits for the initiative of private individuals.
The Mutual vSociety in vSarthe was founded seven years ago, on a basis
somewhat different, but not less worthy of attention
It provides: i**- , a specal minimum amount only for the employees of an
insured employer (he and his family being excluded) and only for medical
expenses and medicines, and compensation solely for temporary infirmity or
death ; 2°^-, for increasingly numerous risks incurred by the employer or his
family, temporary disablement of his labourers or domestic servants
through accidents in their w rk, similar disablement of the employer
or members of his family, the employer's legal Hability, and risks incurred
through the use of machinery etc. The contribution increases with the
extension of the insurance and the increase of the risks, and if the insurance
is extended to include the employer himself and not limited to his em-
54 FRANCE - INSURANCE AND THRIFT
ployees. But the insured person may contribute according to his conven-
ience, his personal resources and his special situation if it protects him
from certain risks. The elasticity of these rules is very remarkable and well
worthy of attention.
The following are the minimum premiums payable:
Per hectare of arable land fr. 0.80
" " " vinevard " 0.90
" meadow " 0.45
" " " wood or moor " 0.60
But the claims granted
up to 6 hectares amount to " 10. —
from 16 to 12 hectares » » " 13. —
12 hectares and upwards » » " 16. —
Every special risk in addition, i. e. i^'- , accidents to the emplo5'-er or
one of his family ; 2°*^-, claims paid to the employees in consequence of
temporary disablement; s*"*^-, claims paid to the employer or to any of
his family for similar disablement ; requires a supplementary pa3'^ment :
Per hectare of arable land fr. 0.30
" " " vineyard " 0.35
" meadow " 0.15
" " " wood and mo' r " 0.20
Altogether the cost of the minimum insurance, together with the three
supplementary payments above mentioned, is not very great. It does not
exceed :
Per hectare of arable land ff. 1.70
" " " vineyard " 1.95
" " " meadow " 0.90
" " " moor " 1.20
For 6 hectares of cultivated land the total minimum contribution
amounts to 19 francs, and for a farm of from 6 to 12 hectares it would not
be less than 25 francs. This is an inconsiderable expense, if it is borne in
mind that it includes the insurance of the emplo5^er and his famil}', as well
as of his servants or his temporarj^ employees.
Of course it is necessary to take into account the amount of the
compensation granted in case of accidents. This amounts to 2,000 francs in
case of death or of permanent and absolute disablement; to 1,000 francs
in case of very serious accident, such as the loss of the use of a limb ; to
500 francs for less serious injuries.
MUTUiM. INSURANCE AGAINST ACCIDENTS IN AGRICUVTURAI, I^ABOUR 55
The daily rate of compensation immediately succeeding an accident
which has caused disablement for more than three days, is as follows ;
2 francs per day for employers ; 1.25 fr. for their wives ; 1.50 fr. for male
employees above the age of sixteen, and one franc for women.
In every case after the ninetieth day the allowance is reduced by one
half, and ceases after 180 days.
The Society of Sarthe will not pay compensation in case of accidents
resulting from " an intention to cause an accident " or from neglect of laws
and regulations intended to ensure the safety of persons, and rules for the
management of horses and vehicles. Nor will the Society undertake
risks of accidents due to intoxication, madness, paralysis, quarrels, games
or betting.
The services rendered by the Society of Sarthe are apparent from the
extent of its transactions. Its characteristic feature is clearly the insurance
of the employer, and it is therefore very desirable to ascertain to what ex-
tent employers have benefited by its provisions. The report presented to
the general meeting of 1912 gives information on this point. During that
year, out of 605 accidents, 287 were accidents to employers or their
families. Claims were paid for disablement to the amount of 14,209 frs.
and for medical expenses or medicines 9,580 francs were paid, making a
total of 23,790 francs against 16,000 francs granted only to paid em-
ployees. On the whole, those who have chiefly benefited by this intitution
are the employers, generally small farmers. The department of Sarthe
is in no way different from other agricultural districts as regards the di-
stribution of the kinds of farms or holdings. It is therefore most probable,
if not certain, that everywhere in France the small farmer would not only
insure his labourers but himself, if there were a mutual society offering
him the same advantages as those within reach of the farmers of Sarthe.
This is an important suggestion which should be borne in mind.
PUBIvICATIONS OF RECENT DATE RELATING TO AGRICUI^TURAIy
INSURANCE AND THRIFT .
GERMANY.
Official Publications :
BERICHT iiBER DIE VERWALTUNG DER PROVmZLAL.I^EBENSVERSICHERUNGSANSTALT BRANDEN-
BURG FUR DAS JAHR 1912 (Report on the Administration of the Brandenburg Provincial
Life Insurance Institute for the Year 1912). Strausberg, 1913. 4to. 14 pages.
Die ENTWICKLUNG DES PRIVATEN VERSICHERUNGSWrESENS UNTER REICHSAUSFICHT IN DEM
TAHRFiiNFT 1907 BIS 1911 {.Development of Private Insurance Institutes under Government
Supervision in the Five Years 1907-1911). Publication of the " Kaiserliches Aufsichtsamt
fiir Privatsversicherung ". Berlin, 1913. J. Guttentag. 4to. 69 pp.
Fratzscher (Dr. Alfred) : Das ortliche Viehversicherungswesen im Konigreich Preussen (Local
Livestock Insurance Institutions in Prussia). Publication of the " Konigl. preussisches
I,andes.-Okonomie-Kollegiuin ", Number 14. Berlin, 1914. P. Parey. 48 pp.
Other Publications :
DoMiZLAFF (Justizrat Dr. Karl, Managing Director of the " Concordia Hannoversche Feuer-
Versicherungs Gesellschaft a. G. in Hannover "): Die Feuerversicheriuig (Fire Insurance),
2nd volume of the " Versicherungs-Bibliothek ", edited by Prof. Dr. Alfred Manes. Berlin,
1914. Ernst Siegfried Mittler und Sohn.
JAHNEL (Gustav) : Die Altersversorgung des I^andwirts durch Invaliden und I^ebensversichcr-
img (Provisions for the Old Age of Farmers by means of Sickness and Life Insurance). Berlin,
1913. Deutsche I^andbuchhandlimg. 8vo. 78 pp.
JAHRBUCH DER Arbeiterversicherung 1914. (Workmen's Insurance Yearbook). Parts
I, II and III. lyiebel. 3 vols. 8vo.
Arbeiterlosen"versorgung und DAS I<AND (Provision against Unemployment and the Country).
In " lyand." January ist., 1914, No. 7. Berlin.
Arztliche Versorgung DER lyAND LICHEN Krankenkassen (Provision of Medical Assistance
by the Rural Sickness Insurance Societies). In " Zentralblatt der Preussischen I^and-
wirtschaftskammern." December 29th., 1912. No. 52. Berlin.
Agreement of December 23rd., concluded between the Doctor's Union and the Sick-
ness Insurance Societies.
Die Befreiung von der Krankenversicherung auf Grund des § 418. R. V. O. nach der
Erktarungen des Handelsministers (Exemption from Sickness Insurance in accord-
ance with § 418 of the Insurance Regulations, as explained by the Minister of Commerce).
In "Zentralblatt der preussischen I,andwirtschaftskammem ". February 2nd,, 1914.
No. 5. Berlin.
Geisser (Albert): Conseguenze dannose dclle assicurazioni sociali in Gcrmania (/// Effects of
Social Insurance in Germany). In " Ri forma Sociale ". December, 1913. No. 12. Turin.
PUBLICATIONS RELATING TO INSURANCE AND THRIFT 57
Schulze-Besse : Die Neuordnung der Krankenversicherung (New Organisation of Sickness
Insurance). In " Mitteilungen der Deutschen Eandwirtschaftsgesellschaft ". December
2oth., 191 3. No. 51. pp. 684-687. Berlin.
WuTTiG (Dr.) : Versicherung und Genossenschaftsarbeit (Insurance and Co-operative Labour)
June 30th., July 15th., August i81h., September 30th., October 15th. and 30th., Novem-
ber 15th. and 30th., December 15th., 1913. Nos. 12, 13, 15, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23. Neuwied.
ZiRKELj: Die Krankenversicherung der Eandarbeiter (Sickness Insurance of Ai>.ricultural
Labourers). No. 21. of the " Arbeiten der L,andwirtschaftskammer fiir die Provinz
Posen ". Posen, 1913. Verl. des Landw. Centralblattes. Posen. 4to. 32 pp.
ARGENTINA.
Official Publications :
EsTADfsTiCA DE LAS SociEDADES cooPERATiVAS Y MUTUAS AGRf COLAS (Statistics of Agricultural
Co-operative and Mutual Societies). In " Boletin del Ministerio de Agricultura ". August-
September, 191 3. Buenos Aires.
EsTADfsTiCA DEL SECURO CONTRA Granizo. (Statistics of Hail Insurance). In " Boletin del
Ministerio de Agricultiira ". August-September, 1913.
Eas Asociaciones DE MuTUALiD.'iD EN BxTENOs AIRES (Mutual Associations in Buenos Aires).
MENSAJE Y PROYECTO de EEY ORGAnICA de las SOCIEDADES DE SOCORROS MUTUOS, 1 7 SEP-
TiEMBRE 1913. (Report and Bill for an Otganic Law on Mutual Aid Societies, of September
17th., 1913). In " Boletin del Departamento Nacional del Trabajo ". No. 25. Decem-
ber, 1913. Buenos Aires.
BULGARIA.
Unofficial Publications :
Horned Cattle Insurance Results in 1912 and 1913. (In Buharian). In " Zemlcdialie ".
December ist., 1913. Sofia.
DENMARK.
Official Publications :
BERET^^NG FRA Arbeiderforsikrings-Raadets Landbrugsafdlning for Aaret 1912
(Report of the Agricultuial Division of the Workmen's Insurance Board for the Year 191 3).
Copenhagen, 191 3.
Other Publications :
DanskForsikrings-Aarbog 1913, samt statistikeMeddelelser omFor-sikringsvaesenet I
Danemark FOR Aaret 1912 (Danish Insurance Yearbook for 1913 and Statistical Notes on
Danish Insurance Societies in 1912). Copenhagen, 1913. Harald Jensen. 8vo. 216 pp.
Mejeriernks og Landbrugets Ulykkesforsikring (Dairy and Agricultural Accident Insur-
ance Societies). In " Andelsbladel ". Februarj- ijlh., 1914. No. 7. Aarhus.
58 PUBIvICATlONS RELATING TO INSURANCE AND THRIFT
GREAT BRITAIN AND IREI^AND.
OFFICXAI. rUBLICATION :
Report for 1912-13 on the Administration of the Nation.al iNSURiVNCE Act. Part I.
(Health Insurance). lyondon, 1913. Darling and Son, I^td. 8vo. XVI. - 660 pp.
Other I'ublications :
Gephart (W. J.) : Insurance and the State. lyondon, 1914. Macmillan, 8vo.
Newcastle, Gateshead and District Butchers' Cattle Insurance Society. In " Journal
of the Board of Agriculture," February, IQ14. No. 11. pp. 1,011-1,014. I^ondon.
Historical sketch of a mutual society for insurance against epidemic diseases among
butchers' cattle.
Pig Insurance Clubs in 1912. In " Journal of the Board of Agriculture. " Novem-
ber, 1913. No. 8. pp. 721-729. I<ondou.
A Ye.ar of National Insurance : Plight of the Friendly Societies : A Retrospect. In
"Times. " January i^th., 1914. No. 40,^20. I^ondon.
CANADA.
Unofficial Publications :
Co-operative Hail Insurance. In " t^ublic Service Monthly ". November, 1913. Ni
Regina.
Notes on the Klfects of the " Hail Insurance Act 1912. "
ITALY.
Official Publications :
Annali del Credito e della Previdk.vza {Aimah of Credit and Thrift). Series II. Volume
2 : Statistical Notes on Savings in Italy in the Years 1911-12. Part. I. Savings Banks
and Pawn Establishments. Department of Agiicullurc, Industry and Commerce. Rome,
1913. G. Bertero.
IL MoNOPOLio delle Assicurazioni SULLA VITA. {Monopoly of Life Insurance). Part II :
Laws, Regulations and Provisions for their Execution. Published by the " Department
of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce ; General Division of Credit and Thrift. " Rome,
1913. National Press. G. Bertero and Co. Svo. pp. 314.
ISTiTUTi Di Assicurazione esistenti IN ITALIA AL 1° GENN.Aio 1013. {Insurance Institutes
in Italy on January is/., 191 3). Published by the " Department of Agriculture, Industry
and Commerce: General Division of Credit and Tlu-ift ". Rome, 1913- National Press.
G. Bertero and Co. Svo. 2 vols. pp. 51 and 139.
SocietA di mutijO soccorso giuridicamente riconosciute {Le'^ally Recognised Mutual Aid
.Soa"£/u's). Laws, Decrees, Circulars, Legal Decisions, Lists of Societies existing on Decem-
ber 31st., 1912. Department of Agriculture, Industry aud Commerce : General Division
of Credit aud Thrift. Rome, 1913. G. Bertero.
PUBLICATIONS RELATING TO INSURANCE AND THRIFT 59
Other Publications:
Maestri (Dr. Arturo) : Guida della stima dei danni della grandine alle colture del suolo (Guide
for the Estimation of Damage caused to Crops by Hail). Casale Mouferrato, 1913. Mare-
scalchi.
PicciNATO (Adv. Mario) : Infortiini sul lavoro : a chi compete I'assicurazione pel manleni-
mento delpersonale addetto alle trebbiatrici [Accidents in Work : Who have to insure the
Staff Working Threshing Machines). Milan, 1913. Vallardi.
Statuto organico dell'Istituto n.azioxale deixe ASSicuRAZioNi [Fundamental Rules ot the
National Insurance Institute), approved by Royal Decree of April 27th., 1913. No. 943,
with all the legal provisions and regulations demanded by it. Naples, 1913. Published
by G. Pietrocola, late P. A. Molina. i6mo. pp. 36.
Vassallo (Cesare) : Per una alleanza fra le societa di Mutuo Soccorso della provincia di INIilano
[In favour of an Alliance among the Mutual Aid Societies of the Province of Milan). Societa
Umanitaria. Cattedra della Previdenza. Varese, 1913. Tip. Coop. Varesina.
ViRGiLn (Prof. Filippo) : L'assicurazione sul lavoro agricolo [Insurance of Agricultural
Laboureys). Turin, 1913. Bocca.
VuoLi (Dr. Romeo) : ly'assicurazione obbligatoria nei lavori agricoli [Compulsory Insurance of
Agricultural Labourers). Rome, 1913. Tip. Unione Editrice.
Beneduce (Alberto) : II principio mutualistico nelle assicurazioni. [The Mutual Principle
in Insurance). In " Giornale degli Economisti, Januarj% 1914. No. i. Rome..
Dessi : ly'assicurazione mutua del bestiame in Sardegna [Mutual Livestock Insurance in Sar-
dinia). In " Stampa Agricola ". December 28th., 1913. No. 52. Turin.
Graziani (Augusto) : Sull'assicurazione di Stato contro gli incendi nel Ducalo di Modena
[Government Fire Insurance in the Duchy of Modena). In " Riforma Sociale ", February-
March, 1913. Nos. 2.3. Turin.
Marani (Dr. Claudio) : I problemi delle assicurazioni-grandine [The Problems of Hail Insurance).
In " Assicurazione ", February ist.,-i5th., 1914. No. 711. Rome.
Ricci (Camillo) : II costo dell'assicurazione contro gli infortimi agricoli secondo I'ultimo di-
segnodi legge [The Cost of Agricultural Labourers' Accident Insurance, according to the last
Bill proposed). In " Rivista Agricola ". March ist., 1914. No. 202. Rome.
NORWAY.
Unofficial Publications :
Hellesnes : Trondhjems Brandforsikrings- Selskab i 50 Aar 6 juini 1863 - 6 juni 1913.
[The Droniheim Fire Insurance Society in the Fifty Years, June 6th., 1863- June 6th., 1913).
Trondlijem, 1913.
Skogbr.'VND og forsikring av skog [Forest Fires and Forest Insurance). In " LTceskrift for
Handbmk ". November 28th., December 5th., 12th., 19th. and 26th., 1913 and January
16th., 1914. Nos. 48, 49, 50, 51, 52 and 53. Christiania.
HOI<I<AND.
Unofficial Publication :
De Centrale Landbouw-Onderlinge : Verslag, Bilans en Rekening en Verantwoording
over het Boekjaar 1912 [Report and Balance Sheet for the Year 191 2). 800. Place and Date
of Publication not given.
6o PUBI^ICATIONS REI.ATING TO INSURANCE AND THRIFT
RUSSIA.
Unofficial Publicatioxs :
FoRSAKRiNGsvASENDET I Ryssland ar 1912 (Insurance in Russia in the Year 1912). In " For-I
sakrings Tidskrift ". December, 1913. No. 12. Helshigfors. '
Fragan OM Skogsbr.\xdf6rsakring [Pioblem of Forest Fire Insurance). In " Forsalcrings^
Tidskrift ", December. Nos 10 and 11. Helsingforp.
Katsaus Vuoteen 1913 [Review of the Year 1913). In " Wakuntussanomia ". January,
1914. No. I. Helsingfors.
A View of the Progres.<; made by the Various Branches of Insurance in Finland.
KoHN (Stanislaw) : Organizacya fmansowa ubezpieczenia robolnikow od nieszctsliwych wy-
padkow [Financial Oraanization of Labourers' Accident Insurance). In "Ekonomista ".
December, 1913. Warsaw.
Do. — Financial Organization of the Insurance Associations [In Russian). In " Viestnik
Finansov, Promychlennosti i Torgovli ". December 28th., 1913 and January 4th., 1914.
Nos. 50 and 51. St. Peter-burg.
Kreatursfossakringsbolagets NYA st.-vdgar [New Rules of the Livestock Insurance Society).
In " Hufvudstadsbladet ". January i6th., 1914. Helsingfors
INSURANCE Work of the Savings Banks [In Russian). In " Rossiia ". January i8th.-
31st., 1914. No. 2, 508. St. Petersburg.
Vakuntustarkastuksesta Suomessa [Supervision of Insurance in Finland). In "Wakun-
tussanomia ". December, 1913. No. 12. Helsingfors.
SWEDEN.
Official Publication :
Forsakringsinspektions underdaniga Berattelse til Kungl. M^. bctraffende
Forsakringsvasendet i Riketarigii. 11. [Report made by the Insurance Inspection Office
to H. M. the King on the Insurance Businesses in the Kin:dom in the Year 1911. //.). Stock-
holm, 1913.
SWITZERI^AND.
«
Unofficial Publication :
Die Revision bes Versicherungsgesetzes [The Rcvisicn of the Law on Insurance). In
" Bauern- und Arbeiterbund Baselland ". February 7th., 1914. Basel.
Part III: Credit
HUNGARY.
THE PRINCIPAI. RURAL lyAND CREDIT INSTITUTES
IN HUNGARY.
OFFICIAI, SOURCES:
Rapfort du BusiiAU National de Statistique de Budapest, adresse a I'lnstitut In-
ternational d'AgricuHure. (Report forwarded by the Budapest National Statistical Office
to the International Institute of Ai^riciilture).
A Magyar Korona Orszagainak Hitelixtezetei 1894-BEN {Credil Institutes of the Count-
ries Subfect to the Hungarian Crown). Budapest, 1897.
I^ADiK (Dr. Gustave de): Apergu de la legislation concernant I'administration de ragriculture
hongroise [Summary of the Hungarian Laws on Agriculture). Published by the Hmiga-
rian Department of Agriculture. No. 8. Budapest. Pallas Press. 1910.
Anxuaire St.\tistioue Hongrois. {Hungarian Statistical Yearbook). Vol. XIX, 191 1. Bu-
dapest, Athenaeum Press, 1913.
OTHER SOURCES:
SCHULTE (Dr. Fritz): Die Bo ienkreditinstitule des Oesterreichisch-Ungarischeu Monarchie
1841 b^s iQlo {Land Credit Institutes of the Attstro-Hun'^arian Monarchy from 1841 to
1910). Munich, Dun cker-Hum blot, 1912.
In a former article (i) vve observed that the Hungarian legislation on
land credit attempted, by a system of liberty, to attract capital to invest-
ments benefiting landed property and to facilitate the foundation of financial
societies to grant loans on mortgage at fair rates, not so much because ob-
liged by legislative provisions, but because of the competition being open.
The object of the restrictions imposed by the law was to guarantee the proper
working of the institutes so that the land bonds issued by them might be
well received by capitalists on the market. But this S3'.stem of liberty,
if it encouraged the foundation of land credit institutes, did not confer on
the farmers all the benefits anticipated.
Under the circumstances, the legislature judged it expedient to inter-
vene in behalf of rural land credit with the law XV of August 8*'\, 191 1,
(i) Sec Bulletin of Economic and Social Intelll'^encc, No. i. January, 1913 : " Outlines
of I^and Credit I^egislation and Organisation in Hungary ", pp. loi-iii.
62 HUNGARY - CREDIT
contributing to the foundation of the National Confederation of Land Cred-
it Institutes, with which we have already dealt (i), together with the Hun-
garian Ivand Credit Institute, the "National Credit Institute for Small
I^andowners" and the " Central National Mutual Credit Society." This
Confederation is an institution of public utility, which, in addition to provid-
ing credit, is bound bj^law to encourage the subdivision of land, home colon-
isation, the building of houses for agricultural labourers, the purchase of
pubhc grazing grounds and landed estate etc.
The Confederation must further promote dismortgaging by means of
the life insurance of the debtor, in the manner already indicated by us (2) .
We shall now complete our previous articles b}^ some considerations
in regard to the principal Hungarian institutes for the grant of land cred-
it, which, may be classified under the three following heads : co-operative
land credit associations ; mortgage hanks and hanks for mixed purposes,
limited hy shares; mixed savings hanks.
§ I. Co-operative land credit associations.
There are in Hungary three land credit institutions on co-operative
lines : (i) The Hungarian I^and Credit Institute, of Budapest ; (2) The
National I^and Credit Institute for Small lyandowners of Budapest; (3) The
I/and Credit Institute of Nagy Szeben.
I. The Hungarain Land Credit Institut of Budapest began work on
July i^t., 1863.
It is an association of landed proprietors. The members are jointly
and severally liable for the engagements of the societ5^ in proportion,
however, to the amount of the loans contracted b}^ each. They manage
the institute and are divided into two classes, foundation and ordinary
members.
The fou-ndation members are the 209 landowners who obtained the con-
cession to constitute the Institute and, in conformity with the provisions
in the rules, contributed to a guarantee fund of at least 1,000,000 florins
in cash or in bonds and formed the original organisation of the Institute
itself.
All the landed proprietors of Hungary to whom loans have been grant-
ed are ordinary members. In 1883, the Hungarian Government became an
ordinary member on contracting a loan for 7,000,000 crs. on mortgage of
real estate.
The guarantee fund formed by the foundation members amounted
to 1,177,000 fls., but as the State has contributed 500,000 fls., it is now
(i) See Bulletin of Economic and Social Intellii^efice, No. 2, 1912. National Confeder-
ation of Land Credit Institutes in Hungary.
(2) Life Insurance as a Means of Promoting Dismortgaging and Acquisition of Lanri,
in the Bullclin of Economic and Social Intelligence, August, 1912. pp. 129 et seqq.
THE PRTNCIPAIv RURAL LAND CREDIT INSTITUTES 63
3,354,000 crs. The foundation members were all nobles. The contrib-
ution was at least 5,000 fls.; 10 % paid up in cash and 90 % in bonds.
These bonds were gradually redeemed as the reserve fund was formed, so
that, in 1876, Vn^ of the guarantee fund had been returned to the found-
ation members. The last tenth is still retained and bears interest at 5 %.
The foundation shares can only be transferred with the consent of
the meeting of foundation members, and the regulations with regard to
this are very strict.
From the start, the founders liad special rights in connection with the
supervision and management of the institute. In 1880, the rules sanctioned
a special meeting, of foundation members, in addition to the other adminis-
trative authorities of the institute. This meeting has the right to submit
three names to the Committee of Supervision (Board of Directors) for the
choice of the managing director, to nominate 18 of the 36 members of this
Committee and send a representative to vote at the general meeting. Of
the ordinary members (mortgagers), only those who have contracted a
loan of at least 100,000 crs. with the institute may vote at the meetings.
From the first, the State has favoured this institute, granting it
facihtations in the matter of legal procedure (orders of August 2"*^. and
September i8t^\, 1863) and exemptions from stamp duties (order of
June 15*^., 1863) and recognising its bonds as securities in which minors'
capital may be invested.
Besides this, the institute enjoys all the privileges granted to the Au-
stro-Hungarian Bank by the I.awXIV of November 29'^., 1879, and the law
XXI of 1876 rendered valid certain provisions in its rules not in ac-
cordance with the regulations for Co-operative Societies in the Hungarian
Commercial Code.
The loans are granted to the land holders in the form of bonds up to
an amount of not more than half the value of the land mortgaged. The
debtor may choose the type of bonds he prefers and may claim that the in-
stitute must sell him its bonds, without charging commission. Each borrower
must deposit i % of the loan received to form a special mutual soHdarity
fund. On the extinction of the loan, the amount thus deposited is with-
drawn by the member, together with the simple interest accruing.
The borrower does not now contribute to the working expenses, but
only a small amount (0.06 %) to the reserve fund. But at the start his
contribution to the working expenses was ^/.j %.
In 1888, the institute conducted credit operations to facilitate the recti-
fication of the course of streams and other works of farm improvement.
In order to facilitate these operations, by law XXV of June 26"\, i88g, the
State exempted the bonds issued in this connection from stamp duty and
other taxation, but fixed the rate of interest at not more than 4 ^j^ %,
including ^j^ %, contribution to working exj^enses. The annuities due to
the Institute were considered as preference credits, taking precedence of
any other mortgage claim, and only yielding precedence to the State and
communal taxes.
64 HUNGARY - CREDIT
The Hungarian Land Credit Institute began its career with the issue
of land and other bonds. The latter were given to land owners who con-
tracted short term loans, for 15 % of the value of the mortgage if the loan
was for 5 years and for 25 % if it was for 10 years. Up to 1870, bonds
at 6 % had been issued up to the amount of 1,070,000 florins. The land
bonds bore interest at 5 V2 % ^^^ were redeemable in paper. But since
the paper circulation with its fluctuations in value affected the price of
securities and they also had only a limited sale, in 1872 bonds were
issued redeemable in silver in order that they might find purchasers abroad.
In more recent years an attempt has been made to place land bonds re-
deemable in gold in Germany but it was not crowned with success.
The price of the bonds redeemable in paper varied in the ten years
1871-1880 from 81 to 8y, so that the borrower had really to pay a rate of
about 6 14 % "^ot including sinking fund.
On Februarj^ i**., 1877, the Institute issued land bonds redeemable
in paper at 5 % and so reduced the contribution the borrowers had
to pay to working expenses from ^ to ^/g % ; in 1880 it issued bonds at
4 ¥2 %' which were placed in Vienna and at P^rankfort. In 1887 it began
to issue bonds at 4 %. In 1895 the older bonds at high interest were
converted, on payment of a premium, into bonds at 4 %. With this
conversion, which was fully successful, was associated an issue of land
bonds at 3 ^ % , which had already been decided on three 3^ears before
and which was made abroad at the average price of 91.
The amount of the mortgage loans rose at the end of 1910 to
381,929,357 crowns as against 284,748,759 crs. lent in 1900. In addition
to this on December 31'*., 1910, the institute had conducted improvement
credit business to the amount of about 75,000,000 crs.
At that date the institute had a special guarantee for its bonds in a
reserve fund of 18,884,390 crs., for mortgage loans, another of 8,431,520 crs.
for improvement loans and a mutual solidarity fimd of 5,577,526 crs. The
net profits accumulated since the foundation of the institute amounted to
14,426,795, crs. since the whole of the credit balance had to go to increase
the capital of the institute even after the special reserve funds contemplated
in the rules have been formed. Thus the total capital (including the con-
tributions of the foundation m.embers and of the State) amounted in 1910
to 48,655,641 crs., or 10 % of the Institute bonds.
We must finalh' observe that the Hungarian Land Credit Institute,
in addition to land credit operations, also engages in other business, de-
posit business, discounting etc.
2. — The National Land Credit Institute for Small Landowners was
founded at Budapest in 1879 ^^^ the State favoured its foundation with
a grant of 500,000 florins.
The privileges, conferred b^^ Law XXXIV of June 8^-'. ,1871 on the Hun-
garian Land Credit Institute, were extended to this Institute. Here also
we find two classes of members, foundation and ordinary members. The
foundation members are those contributing to a guarantee fund with shares
of 100, 500 or 5,000 florins. They are only liable up to the amount of
THE PRINCIPAI, RURAL I,AND CREDIT INSTITUTES 65
their subscribed shares. Of course the debtors are members with joint
and several habihty.
The foundation members have right to vote (1,2 or 5 votes according
to the number of their shares) in the general meeting of the institute, while
the ordinary members have only one vote for every 250,000 florins lent
them.
The management is entrusted to a president and a vice-president,
elcted at the general meeting, assisted by 3 councillors. Besides this board
of management, there is a committee of 9 members for the examination of
accounts.
The loans at first, might not exceed 12,000 florins. The limit was
extended in 1883 to 20,000 and in 1887 to 40,000 florins : later on, in 1893
every restriction of the kind was abohshed. Yet the work of the instit-
ute in behalf of the small landowners has been continually extended. I^et
us mention, in proof of this, that, in 1910, 54,977 loans on mortgage had been
granted of a value of less than 12,000 crs. and only 3,025 for a larger amount.
The loans are granted up to half the value of the mortgaged land.
But, with the object of offering the small landowners a larger credit, in
1905 the institute entered into a special agreement with the Central
National Mutual Credit Society. The two associations have undertaken to
grant loans up to 75 % of the value of the mortgaged property, the national
institute granting loans for 50 % and the Central Society for the ba-
lance, 25 %. The Provincial Societies, which are divisions of the Central
Society, act as intermediaries and sureties for the loans granted by the two
societies mentioned above.
In addition, the National Institute, by lyaw XXXII of 1897, began
granting loans for improvements and for home colonisation and, in 1911, in
order further to extend this class of business, it took part in the foundation
of the new " National Confederation of Hungarian Land Credit Institutes. "
At the beginning, the I^and Credit Institute for Small Landowners issued land
bonds at 5 14 %• Since the payments into sinking fund and the contrib-
utions to working expenses were both i %, the annuities the debtors
had to pay amounted to 7 % %. In 1886 bonds were issued at 5 % and
in 1889 at 4 ^ % and at the same time the payments into sinking fund
and the contributions to working expenses were reduced to the half. The
debtor's contribution to working expenses was then reduced in 1893 to ^. %
and in 1903 an issue of bonds at 4 % was made.
It is just since this date that the business of this institute has been
making rapid progress. The loans in land bonds rose from 69,995,670 crs.
in 1904, to 157,798, 706 crs. in 1910, while those in cash rose from 132,010 crs.
to 409,781 crs. At the end of 1910, taking into accoimt 11,000,000 crs.
for improvement loans, one might calculate the total amount of the loans
made by the institute at about 170,000,000 crs. The reserve fund increased
from 6,415,618 crs. in 1904 to 12,391,149 crs. in 1910.
3. — Tlie Land Credit Institute at Nagy-Szeben, founded in 1870 on the in-
itiative of the Saxon Agricultural Association of Erdely (Transylvania),
met at first with some difficulties, due partly to the poverty of the region in
66 HUNGARY - CREDIT
which it had to work and partly to the formal exactions of the Hungarian
Government for the better guarantee of its good working. But after the
formation of a working capital of 100,000 florins, of which 30 % is paid up,
the land bonds of the institute were admitted on the Pest Exchange (July
25th., 1872),, and on that of Vienna (November 24th.) and the rules were ap-
proved in their first form by the Agricultural Department (September 6th.,
1873). The Rules as amended on April i8th., 1876, in consequence of the Com-
mercial Code coming into operation, define the co-operative character of
this institute and its scope, which is that of facilitating the use of mortgage
credit for its members.
In this institute, as in the two previously dealt with, we find two class-
es of members ; the foundation and the ordinary members. The general
meeting is attended, in addition to these two classes of persons, also by cred-
itors, who are bondholders, and have a right to one vote for ever^^ 10,000
fls. worth of bonds issued, while the Saxon Agricultural Association of Erdely
has a right to five votes.
The foundation members, who have subscribed shares to form the
working capital, receive not merely the interest on these shares, calculated
at 6 %, but also a dividend equal to the tenth part of the net balance for
each working year. This dividend was, however, aboHshed in 1883 and
the division of the profits was definitely regulated by the Rules of 1903,
as follows :
Ten per cent of the net profits is placed at the disposal of the Erdely
Saxon Agricultural Association. Another 10% must be distributed among
the members of the board of management and the commissioners of ac-
counts in the proportion established at the general meeting. Half the
profits must be placed to the reserve fund. The balance, 30 %, may be
used for purposes of public utility or to increase the reserve fund.
We have shown above that the initial capital did not amount to more
than 100,000 florins, of which 30 % was paid up. But as the Law XXXVI
of 1876 ordered that the issue of land bonds must be guaranteed by the
formation of a special fund of 200,000 crs. to cover the obUgations towards
bondholders, and the Institute of which we are speaking had not the capital
necessary for the purpose, it had to suspend the issue of land bonds for some
years and provide for the demand of mortgage loans out of the money de-
posited with it by the local population. But in 1879 the guarantee
fund required was already formed and then the issue of bonds was resumed.
The mortgage loans have always been granted and paid up to the
full nominal value of the land bonds without taking into account the cur-
rent price on the exchange, except for the deduction of i % for the re-
serve fund.
The period for repayment was at first very short and the conditions
of the loans consequently rather burdensome. Thus, the loans granted in
1879 could not be for periods longer than 17 years and the annual instal-
ments amounted to 9.5 %; in t88o the term for repayment was prolonged
to 27 years, and the instalments were 8.2 %. The business, therefore, only
made slow progress up to 1885, when loans were made redeemable in 30
THE PRINCIPAL RURAI. LAND CRKDIT INSTITUTES 67
years and the instalments were reduced to 7.5 %. The conditions were
modified successively in 1887 and 1893. In the latter year the instalments
were fixed at 6 % for loans repayable in 40 14 years. In IQ03, the Institute
also introduced a type of loan redeemable in 50 years.
The first issue of land bonds was made in 1876. Notwithstanding
that these bonds gave right to interest at 5 ^-2% and a premium of 20% at date
of repayment, they were only quoted at from 66 to 69. It was therefore con-
sidered necessary to make a second isstie at 6% and reduce the premium to
10 %. This succeeded perfectly ; the bonds in fact were quoted at loi. Then a
third series was issued in 1881 redeemable in 27 years, at the same rate of
interest, without premium and the bonds where quoted at 102.
The fourth series was issued in 1884 at 5 ^4 %' redeemable in 30 y^
years. Since at that date the land bonds of this institute were accepted
as security by the Government and the Austro-Hungarian Bank at Vienna,
the prices continually rose, so that in 1887 ther-j could be issued at par a
fifth series at 5 % and in 1893 a sixth at 4 14> both redeemable in 40 ^
years. In 1902 the seventh issue was made, at 4 %, but in 1909 it was ne-
cessary, when the eighth issue was made, to raise the rate to 4I2 %■ These
two last series were reedemable in 50 years.
At the end of 1910, there were bonds in circulation to the amount of
70,636,800 crowns. The bonds at 4 14 % ^^^ a nominal value of 56,667,900
crs. ; those at 4 % a value of 12,120,100 crs. and those at 5 % of 1,848,800
crs. At the same date the reserve fund amounted to 2,056,619 crs. (in-
cluding the initial capital of 200,000, crs.), while the special guarantee
fund for the circulation of the land bonds amounted to 3,700,007 crs. and
the guarantee fund against depreciation of the bonds to 70,000 crs.
§ 2. Mortgage banks and banks for mixed purposes, limited
by shares
Of the pure type of mortgage bank, so wide spread in other countries,
there is only one example in Hungary. Therefore we think it well to in-
clude in this section all financial institutes Hmited by shares, engaging,
even if it does not appear so from their title, at once in mortgage credit and
ordinary banking business.
I. — The Hungarian Mortgage Bank at Budapest founded in 1869, is the
only mortgage bank that can be properly so called. It had not to limit it-
self to making direct loans to individual landowners, but to act as a
central bank for other mortgage institutes and, in addition to that, to or-
ganise a system of insurance against losses in mortgage business.
The share capital was fixed at 2,000,000 florins, 600,000 fls. paid up.
Every debtor had by the rules to pay 5 % of the amounts borrowed into a
reserve fund or deposit securities or bonds for an equivalent amount. The
fimd thus formed was intended to cover losses in the banking business.
68 HUNGARY - CREDIT
The first board of directors was not successful in carrying out the above
programme and the special general meeting of February, 1881 decided on the
complete reorganisation of the institute.
It was also decided that it must do communal credit business.
Consequently, the share capital was increased to 10,300,000 fls. and a great
impetus was given to the business of the society.
After 10 years' work, in fact, in 1881 the total lent amounted to crs.
7,188,851 ; in 1891 it had increased to crs. 36,854,605. At the beginning
of its career, the bank granted rural mortgage loans almost exclusively; later
it has continually extended its urban business, so that at the end of 1910
about 60 % of the business was represented by rural loans and 40 % by
urban loans. In fact, at that date, of 278,805,946 fls. lent on the guarantee
of mortgages 180,000,000 fls. represented value of rural mortgages and
122,000.000 that of urban mortgages.
The communal loans amounted to 306,045,033 fls.
In 1 90 1 the Hungarian Mortgage Bank appreciably extended its in-
fluence on the Hungarian mortgage market by the purchase of the greater
number of the shares of the New Hungarian Agricultural Credit and Im-
provement Bank, of which we shall now give some account.
2. — The Hungarian Agricultural Credit and Improvement Bank was
founded at Budapest in 1895 with a capital of 24,000,000 crowns, under the
form of a society limited by shares, with the object of favouring the interests
of agriculture, increasing the means of communication, and promoting the
formation of co-operative societies, extending credit and facihtating
improvement works.
The progress of this bank has been rapid enough, especially since 1901.
At that date the mortgage loans amounted to 28,633,189 crs.; in 1910 they
had increased to 70,837,738 crs., of which 62,530,796 crs. represented
rural loans.
This institute has also made communal loans (to the amount of
6,515,568 crs. in 1910), loans for the reconstitution of vineyards (for
11,860,336 crs.), loans for viticulture (11,863,200 crs.) and railway loans
27,517,600 crs.). The reserve fund amounted in 1910 to 2,705,683 crs.
3. — Central Mortgage Bank of the Hungarian Savings Banks. — The
idea of founding this institute, reahsed in 1892, was due to the consid-
eration of two points characteristic of the needs of mortgage credit in Hunga-
ry, on the one hand, the necessity of decentralising the land credit institutes
in a country in which there are large rural regions not well provided with easy
means of communication, and, on the other hand, that of centralising the
issue of land bonds to facilitate their being placed on the large national
and foreign central financial markets. It was precisely a large number of
small credit institutes, savings banks, people's banks etc., that made pro-
vision for the foundation of this Central Bank with a capital of 4,000,000
crowns.
This Bank has rendered considerable services to the small local institutes,
undertaking for them such mortgage loans as the nature of these institutes
did not fit them for. The best proof of the success of this institution is
THE PRLNCIPAI, RURAI, I,AND CREDIT INSTITUTES 69
seen in the great development of its business, the amount of which is al-
most equal to that done by the National Credit Institute for Small Ivandown-
ers. In fact, on Decemljer 31st., 1910, the mortgage loans amounted to
about 164,600,080 crs., and the communal loans to 30,085,796 crs. The
capital at the same date amounted to 20,000,000 crs ; the reserve fund to
1,984,624 crs. and the special guarantee fund for land bonds to 8,620,454 crs.
The progress made bj^ this institute has been favoured by various
Government measures, the object of which is to faciHtate the transfer of
mortgages, the transmission of land bonds, and the grant of some fiscal
facihtations.
4. — The Hungarian Commercial Bank of Pest was founded in 1845. At
first it did not specially propose to conduct mortgage credit business. The
foundation of the Hungarian Land Credit Institute suggested the idea of
instituting an urban mortgage credit department in connection with the
commercial bank.
Since the business of this department made little progress, as the con-
ditions of the loans were too burdensome, in 1882 it was decided to include
rural mortgage credit within the scope of the Bank. In that year an issue of
land bonds was made at 5 %, which largely contributed to the progress of
mortgage business. Before that date the institute had issued bonds at
6 and at 5 |4 %. In 1886 it began to issue bonds at 4 ^ % and in 1893 at
4 %. The progress of the business is seen from the following figures. At
the end of 1910 the amount of the mortgage loans was 245,457,745 crs. and
of this 82,303,810 crs. were secured on rural estate. At the same date, there
were bonds at 4 14 % ^^ circulation, of the nominal value of 100,341,800
crs. and bonds at 4%, of the nominal value of 146,857,600 crs. In addition to
lending on mortgage, tliis bank had lent 236,594,941 crs. to communes.
A very large part of the business of this bank is commercial, so that it
takes the third place among the large Hungarian banks limited by shares.
5. — The Hungarian Discount Bank at Budapest is of less importance for
rural mortgage credit than the banks above mentioned. Founded in 1869
and reorganised in 188 1, it only began its mortgage credit business in 1902,
when it issued bonds at 4 %. In 1907 there was an issue of a new
series at 4 14 %• '^he mortgage loans in 1910 amounted to 74,33i>53i
crs., 28,862,933 crs. being granted in favour of rural estate. The amount
of the bonds in circulation was 74,598,400 crs.
Some savings banks also call for mention among the land credit
institutes.
6. — The General Bank of Nagy Szeben, founded in 184 1, originally
did not intend to conduct mortgage credit business. It began to do so in
1887. Through wise management, the mortgage loans made by this bank
have now reached the comparatively large sum of 80,700,190 crs. The
land bonds are for the most part of the 4 ^ % type (59,931,300 crs.).
7. — The General Savings Bank of Brasso founded in 1835, was
transformed into a society limited by shares at the end of 1896, but its issue
of land bonds only dates from 1901, so that in 1910 its mortgage loans only
amounted to 31,139,326 crs.
70 HUNGARY - CREDIT
Finally, of less importance are the " Alhina " Loan and Savings Instit-
ute, founded at NagySzeben in 1872 by the Roumanian population of
Hungary, with total mortgage loans amountmg to 11,093,355 crs., the Erdely
Mortgage Bank, founded at Kolosvar in 1891 , with mortgage loans amounting
to 7, 096,914 crs. and the Land Lnstiiute of the Erdely Savings Banks, founded
at Mediasch in 1862, with, on December 31st., 1910, mortgage loans amount-
ing to 7,435,916 crs.
§ 3. Mixed savings banks.
Under this name we find ten societies Hmited by shares conducting fin-
ancial operations of various character, but working chiefly as savings banks.
They began gradually to issue land bonds as the increase of their loan
business threatened to make it difficult to realise their capital promptly.
Some of these institutes have considerably developed their mortgage
business, both by means of their own capital, and the issue of land bonds.
But since these savings banks present no special interest in respect
to their work as land credit institutes, we limit ourselves to mentioning
their names, the year of their foundation, and their head quarters.
The savings banks we refer to are: ist. First National Savings
Association, founded at Budapest in 1840. which began issuing land
bonds in 18S2 ; 2nd. Hungarian National Central Savings Bank, founded
in Budapest in 1872, which issued its first land bonds at 4 % % in
1888; 3rd. United Savings Bank of Budapest [Egyesult Budapest fovdrosi
takarekpenztdr) founded in 1846, which in 1874 began issuing land
bonds at 6 % ; 4th. Budapest Savings Bank (Society hmited by Shares)
{Belvdrosi takarekpenztdr R. T.), founded in 1882, which began its mortgage
business in 1895 with the issue of bonds at 4^4% » 5th. General Hungarian
Savings Bank (Society limited by Shares) founded in 1881 at Budapest,
which began in 1904 to lend by means of issue of bonds at 4% ; 6th. First
Temesvar Savings Bank, founded in 1846, which made its first issue of bonds
at 5% and 4 ^% on January ist., 1889; 7th. Savings Bank of the City
of Arad, founded in 1888, which commenced mortgage business in 1890 with
the issue of bonds at 5 % and a premium of 10%; 8th. Savings Bank of the
County of Arad, founded in 1870, which began mortgage business in 1898,
with the issue of bonds at 4 ^ % ; 9th. First Debreczen Savings Bank,
founded in 1846, which began only fifty years later to issue bonds at
4 V2 %'' TOth. First Croatian Savings Bank, founded in 1846, which issued
land bonds in 1903 at 4 and 4 ^2 %•
THE PRINCIPAI, RURAL lyAND CREDIT INSTITUTES 7 1
§ 4. CONCI^USION.
Summarising the principal impressions gained from the study of the
organisation of land credit in Hungary we observe two characteristic facts,
that strike the attention of the impartial observer.
First of aU we must remark the large quantity of land bonds issued,
representing about 70 % of the mortgage debt of Hungary, a proportion not
attained in any other European country. This may be considered to be
principally due to the regime of liberty established by the Hungarian laws on
land credit institutes.
The other fact characteristic of the organisation of land credit in
Hungary^ is the proponderance of the mixed financial institutes in propor-
tion to the institutes limiting their action to mortgage business alone. In
fact most of the institutes that issue land bonds are ordinary banks
limited by shares and savings banks only partly engaged in mortgage
credit business.
SWEDEN.
THE ORGANISATION OF SAVINGS BANKS IN SWEDEN
AND THE INVESTMENT OF THEIR CAPITAI..
oFFiciAi, sources:
Flodstrom (i. Registrar at the Office of Commerce): Savings-Banks in Sweden, published
by direction of the Government of Sweden, Stockholm, 1904.
SvERiGES OFFiciELLA Statistik Sammantdrag, 1913 [Official Statistics of Sweden in 1913).
Stockholm, 191 3.
SvERiGES OFFICIELLA Statistik Spareanker. Postsparbanken ar 1911 [Official Statistics of
Swedish Savings Banks. Post-Office Savings Banks in 1911). Stockholm, 1912.
OTHER SOURCES:
I^AMM (A): Das Sparwesen in Schweden [Savings in Sweden) in "Untersuchimgen iiberdas Volks-
sparwesen ", published by the " Verein fiirSozialpolitik." Munich, Dunckeru. Humblot>
1913-
Seidel (Dr.jur.)andPFiTZNER (Dr.jur.): Die Sparkassengetzgebung in den wichtigsten Staaten
[Legislation on the subject of Savings Banks in the Principal States) in: "Untersuchungen ''
already mentioned.
WiNSLOW (E. W., Consul General of the United States in Stockholm^: Report on the Nature and
Operation of Postal Savings Banks in Sweden, published in the following Work :
Notes on the Postal Savings Bank Systems of theI^eading Countries. Publication No.
658 of the Senate of the United States of America. Washington, 1910.
Recueil de Renseignements sur l'org.anisation des administrations de l'union et sur
LEURS services INTERNES [Collected Notes on the Organisation of the Administrations 0/ the
Postal Union and of their Internal Workinz), published by the Office of the Universal Postal
Union. I<ausanne. Imprimeries Reunies, September, 1911.
§ I. Swedish institutions for the coi<i.ection of popular savings.
Not later than the end of the eighteenth century did savings banks make
their appearance in many countries. Their object was the safe keeping and
profitable investment of money which its possessors could not and dared not
invest directly in productive business. Up to that period, the employment of
capital in industry, commerce and agriculture was relatively rare and uncert-
ain. In modern times the necessity for capital has increased, and at the
ORGANISATION OF SAVINGS BANKS AND TIIE INVESTMENT OF THEIR CAPITAL 73
same time the institutions for encouraging, collecting, and investing savings
have multiplied. vSaving is no longer the expression of individual forethought;
it has become the result of collective effort. The working and lower mid-
dle classes put their collected savings into leagues for defence of their inter-
ests, mutual aid societies, co-operative societies for credit, distribution,
building, etc., the moneyed classes into insurance companies and banks.
It becomes, however, more and more difficult to follow these various
forms of accumulation, and to draw up statistics of the annual saving
made by a nation. Nor is it always possible in the absence of adequate
statistics to calculate the amount of the capital saved every year by the
different classes of society, and to study the annual distribution of savings
among the various investments. In many countries, Sweden among the
rest, means are wanting for investigating questions concerning the interests
of agriculture ia. relation to the savings banks.
In studying the question of saving in vSweden, as we have done in
the case of other countries, it will be understood then that we must Umit our-
selves to the investigation of those institutions of which the working is
directed or may be directed to the benefit of agriculture and the agricultural
classes.
Except the savings banks, the institutions which are most important
as collectors of the savings of the people are the people's banks and the de-
posit banks instituted by the ordinary banking estabUshments.
The ordinary and pcstal savings banks and the people's banks are the
most important for our purpose, and of these we shall speak more in detail
in the following paragraphs.
For the present we shall confine ourselves to giving a few notes on the
savings collected by the ordinary Banksing EstabUshmcnts. These institu-
tions, estabHshed as societies limited by shares to carry on real banking
business, began in 1877 to compete with the Savings Banks. For the first
wenty years the amounts they collected were inconsiderable, but they
increased perceptibly during the following years. In 191 1 the savings
deposited in the banks limited by shares amounted to 303,107,000 crowns,
and the average amount in each bank book was 369 crowTis (i).
We can not, however, ascertain what classes have contributed to
the formation of this capital and to what amount each class has done so,
nor what proportion of the sums invested by each brings in a profit.
It may, however, be affirmed, in view of the fact that these banks work
in industrial and commercial centres, that the savings are made more
especially by the urban population, and also that the greater part of
the sums deposited by the rural population is absorbed in the business of
the urban centres.
At the close of 1910, the total amount of the loans made by ordinary Bank-
ing Establishments with capital collected by them was 1,490,500,000 crowns,
947,000,000 crs. of which represented mortgage loans, and about 195,500,000
crs. loans on personal guarantee.
(i) The Swedish cro\\-n of 100 ore is cqurJ at par (o 1.3S9 frano-.
74
SWEDEN - CREDIT
§ 2, Ordinary savings banks.
The first savings bank in Sweden was founded at Gothenburg in 1820.
In the following year the Savings Bank of vStockholm (Stockholms Stads
sparbank) was estabhshed, and during the following years of the same dec-
ade similar institutions arose in most of the provinces (Lan), except in the
north where there was nothing of the kind till towards the middle of the
last century. These banks reached their fullest development in the province
of Molmohus at the southern extremity of the peninsula, where the popul-
ation is most numerous (above 460,000 inhabitants) and most dense (about
91 per square kilometre in 1900) and where more than 80% of the area is
arable. In this Lan in 1850 there were 14 large savings-banks.
The successive increase in these institutions is shown by the following
figures giving the number of savings banks in both town and country at
the end of each decade from 1830 to 1910.
Tabi,e I. — Number of Ordinary Savings Banks in Sweden (1830-1910).
Year
1830
1840
1850
i860
1870
1880
1890
1900
1910
Town
22
3
46
14
56
30
71
80
89
146
93
258
99
279
103
285
no
Country
326
Total . . .
25
60
86
151
235
351
378
388
436
From 1820 to 1910, savings banks to the number of 521 were estab-
lished, of which number 436 (83.68 %) still existed on December 31*^., 1910,
which is a high percentage.
The greater number of savings banks in country districts is explained
by the tendency of the rural population to remain independent of the cities.
They are not so nimierous in the cities where the density of the population
might seem to require them, because of the competition of ordinary bank-
ing establishments, wliich find it especially convenient in the cities to collect
savings. Nevertheless in 1910, twenty-six urban savings banks had
388 branches in the country.
In the northern provinces, owing to the sparse population, the pro-
gress of these institutions has been much checked.
But with increased facilities for communication and the growing wealth
of the lower and middle classes, the proportion of savings banks to the
population has increased. In 1830 there was a savings bank for every
115,523 inhabitants, in 1850 one for every 40,495, in 1880 one for ever}'-
13,007 and in 1910, one for every 12.666. If we include the 416 bran-
ches, there is now one bank for every 6,481 inhabitants.
We must now describe the origin of these banks, their economic and
legal nature and the rules by which they are governed.
ORGANISATION OF SAVINGS BANKS AND THE INVESTMENT OF THEIR CAPITAL 75
They were at first established on the initiativ^e and in the interest
of private persons, without any aid or intervention from public authorities.
In 1828-30, ParUament granted some of them a credit in the National Bank.
About 1840, some Chambers of Agriculture [Hushdlluingssdllskap) pro-
moted in their own provinces and under their own supervision the foundation
of the first so-called provincial savings banks, of which the chief object
was to be to collect the savings of agriculturists, especially in branches
in the country.
Up to 1875 the idea prevailed in Sweden that the State should not at-
tempt to legislate for such institutions lest their development should be
hindered and the cost of their administration be increased. But since, in
the decade including the year 1870, numerous banks had arisen, some of
which had lost heavily for want of good administration, the idea of Uberty up
to then prevaihng had to yield to the evident necessity of protecting the inter-
ests of depositors. Then came the law of 1875 which made it compulsory
to give greater publicity to the acts of the administration. This law, how-
ever, in spite of successive modifications in 18S8 and 1890 proved insuf-
ficient to guarantee the healthy development of the banks, and it was
therefore superseded on July 19th., 1892 by a new law still in force except
for an amendment introduced by law of May 25th., 1905 § 15.
By the law of 1875 it was enacted that the savings banks, as they
were given the character of institutions of public utility, must not pay
dividends.
The above character was preserved by the law of 1892, by which it
was declared essential that these banks should not divide profits among
the founders or their heirs.
The whole of the profits must go to the reserve fund, but, should this
rise above 10% of the savings, the Board of iManagement may appropriate
the surplus to increase the interest to depositors or to any other
purpose considered such as might stimulate economy, especially among the
poorer classes. Where the rules permit, the Board may, with the don-
currence of the directors, assign one half of the net profits to some
benevolent object or to a work of pubUc utility.
These banks may not undertake any other debit business than that
of receiving money at interest and paying it out on demand.
A bank may not be established by fewer than twenty Swedish citizens,
with the permission of the competent authorities in the district where
it desires to work. Except in special cases, the initial capital must not be
less than 2,000 crowns.
The administrators (Hufvudman), numbering from 20 to 50, may be
chosen from among the founders, and may become directors.
If the rules permit, the directors may receive an allowance to be
paid out of the interest on the capital of the bank.
But the administrators, even though also directors, may in no case
receive remuneration of any kind.
The rules regarding investments are of special interest. The banks
nust not acquire real estate, except in case of necessity as payment of a
debt, and they must sell it again as soon as an opportunity offers.
76 SWEDEN - CREDIT
lyoans must not be granted for longer than ten years, except those made
by royal authority to communes or pubUc bodies.
It is not necessary that there should be a written receipt for the loan
when it is guaranteed by the directors or by employees of the bank or fully
secured on government stock, general mortgage bank bonds or other per-
fectly safe security, or a mortgage on rural or urban real estate for an
amount of not less than half its value fixed according to the latest estimate.
Such real estate must be insured against fire.
To ensure the regularity of payments even at times when the demands
of the depositors rise, it is laid down in the law that at least one tenth of
the savings must be invested in easily reahsable personal estate or depos-
ited in the Bank of Sweden or in some other bank, the rules of which have
been approved by the King.
There are special rules for the control of the administration by the
authorities, and for the deposit and withdrawal of savings.
In order that these institutions may be accessible to the greatest possible
number of persons, married women and young persons above the age of
15 may do business with them without the authorisation of husbands or
parents.
Each bank is permitted by law to fix the minimum and maximum
amoimts of deposits it accepts.
The minimum deposit authorised by the rules varies according to
the bank, from 10 ore to 5 crowns. For the most part the minimum is
fixed at 25 ore. There are, however, 40 banks which have fixed the min-
imum at 50 ore, 148 at one crown and one bank at five crowns,
The maximum has been fixed by 58 banks at from 2,000 to 3,000 crowns;
by 14 banks at 5,000 crowns and by 86 banks at 100,000 crowns.. In three
banks the maximum is 50,000 crowns
The banks must not give up the right to notice of demand for with-
drawal, lest crises should occur injurious to the creditors themselves, when
these crowd for payment in moments of panic.
The banks are never permitted by Royal Decree to suspend payment
even temporarily.
Notwithstanding the competition of similar institutions, such as Postal
and Ordinary Banking EstabHshments, the ordinary savings banks have
extended their operations, especially in the southern provinces where the
population is densest and agriculture is most important in comparison
with other industries. In 1910 there were in Sweden 1,560,317 savings
bank books, and as at that date the population was calculated at 5,522,474,
there were 10 books for every 35 inhabitants (i). At the same date the
deposits amounted to 808,789,000 crowns, a considerable sum considering
the wealth of the country, the number of the inhabitants and the existence
of other institutes collecting savings. It means an average of 518 crowns
per book. The rate of interest paid to depositors, generally above 4.50%,
(i) These figures are not absolutely correct, for in Sweden a person may liave more than
one book in the ordinary savings banks.
ORGANISATION OF SAVINGS BANKS AND THE INVESTMENT 01<" THEIR CAPITAL ^^
is high when compared with that paid by private savings banks in most
of the European States. Nowithstanding this, the withdrawals in some
years exceed the deposits. The following table shows the progress of the
ordinary banks from iS6o to 1910 :
Table II. — Progress of Ordinary Savings Banks from i860 to 1910.
Year
Number
of
Books
Deposits
in I per
millions I Inhabitant
of 1 (in
crowns | crowns)
per Book
(in
crowns)
Number
of
Books
per 1,000
Inhabi-
tants
Excess of
Deposits (+)
or of
Withdraw-
als (-)
(in 1,000
crowns)
Yearly
Rate
of
Interest
i860
1870
1880
1890
1900
1910
1^7.675
353,867
27.29
57-3'5
762,638
146.07
i>07^735
275-03
1,228,930
437-39
1.560,317
80S.79
7
14
32
57
85
146
145
162
192
256
356
518
49
85
167
224
239
282
518
7.390
4,469
3,690
2,893
+ 15,586
4.76
4-95
4-85
3-85
458
4-49
As these figures show, the absolute and relative importance of the de-
posits, as well as of the number of books, have increased considerably during
the last thirty years, while the rate of interest, in spite of various important
fluctuations, has on the whole tended to diminish.
As we know from the preceding section, the Swedish statistics do not
show the distribution of depositors according to trade or profession,
Though it is impossible to give exact figures, yet from a knowledge of the
organisation and topographical distribution of savings banks in Sweden.
it may be affrmed that a considerable part of the savings belong to the rural
population. In fact of 436 banks existing in 1910 about 326 were in the
country, and of those in cities many had founded branches for the agricul-
tural population. These savings banks have serious competitors in cities
in the ordinary banking establishments but, owing to the great difference
in the rate of interest paid by private savings banks and that paid by
the postal banks, there is no competition between them.
The statistics show the amount of the sums entered in the books ; it
is seen from them that 75.4 % of the books contained, in 1910, savings not
exceeding 500 crowns and 73.2 % of the total deposits was shown in books
in which the amounts exceeded 2,000 crowns.
If we inquire how the ordinary savings banks employ the funds at their
disposal, including initial capital, reserves and all other sums in their
hands, we shall find that, having full liberty ensured to them by law, they
have made very profitable investments. They generally prefer mortgages,
chiefly on rural property.
The following table shows that in 1910 the savings banks invested
56 % of their funds in mortgages :
7S
SWEDEN - CREDIT
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•0
0
0
w
0)
'O
ORGANISATION OF SAVINGS BANKS AND THE INVESTMENT OF THEIR CAPITAI, 79
We are sorry we cannot give figures to show how much money is in-
vested in mortgages on rural and urban estate respectively. But, consid-
ering how numerous are the private savings banks in country districts, it
is probable that a large percentage of mortgages to private individuals is
guaranteed on rural estate.
The preceding table shows that, the greater the capital of the savings
banks, the larger is the proportion of funds invested in mortgages. This
is easy to understand, since it is only when there are considerable funds to
be administered that it becomes easy to organise a system of mortgage
loans, especially of those redeemable in instalments, which at the same time
best satisfy the requirements of the bank by supplying funds for except-
ional withj.rawols, and also serve the interests of agriculture. We are sorry
not to possess, as in the case of other countries, facts to show the pro-
portion of mortgages redeemable in instalments to the total number for
every group of savings banks.
Loans on mortgages to private persons have become more important
during the last thirty years; they represented 42.70 % of the total amount
of funds administered in 1886, increasing to 51.54 % in 1890, to 51.37 % in
1900 and finally to 56.11 % in 1910.
But loans granted on personal guarantee have decreased in importance ;
they represented 30.76 % of the total in 1880, 24.64 % in 1890,
17.98 % in 1900, and 16.43 % ^^ 1910. In thirty years this form of loan
has diminished by one half. As regards loans to private individuals on
personal guarantee it will be observed that the savings banks destine
a greater or smaller proportion of their funds to transactions of this kind,
according to the amount of the capital they have to invest. The smaller
savings banks, situated in small centres where the solvency of borrowers can
be more easily ascertained, grant a larger proportion of loans on bills of
exchange than the larger banks. In fact, the banks with funds not exceeding
50,000 crowns invested in such loans 42.77 % of their funds in 1910, while
those the capital of which was from 1,000,000 to 5,000,000 crs. invested in
this way only 21.31 % ; and banks with still larger capital only 8.02 %.
From what has been already said, it will appear that private savings
banks invest the greater part of the funds at their disposal in loans to priv-
ate individuals either on the security of mortgages or of bills of exchange.
The highest percentage of such investments (85.48 %) is made by those
savings banks which have deposits exceeding 250,000 crowns, but not above
half a million. The smaller banks usually engage in personal credit business,
and those with deposits exceeding 5,000,000 crs. almost exclusively in
mortgage credit business to the very considerable sum for Sweden of
271,325,623, crowns.
§ 3 POSTAI. SAVINGS BANKS.
In •1884 postal savings banks were founded to receive the savings
of the poorer classes, more especially in those thinly populated parts of
8o
SWEDEN - CREDIT
Sweden where ordinary savings banks either were non-existent or very
few in number (i).
They have entirely fulfilled their purpose. The ordinary savings
banks in Sweden work successfully and have become institutions of pubHc
utility working without any idea of profit, so, in order to protect them from
the competition of the postal banks, the deposits bearing interest in these
latter were Hmited to 2,000 crowns and the rate of interest restricted to
3.60 %, that is about one cnmn per cent less than the rate of the ord-
inary banks.
The postal banks receive, in proportion to the number of inhabitants,
a larger amount of savings in the less populous provinces where the ordinary
savings banks are less active, and a less amount in the densely populated
provinces where there are thriving private savings banks. In the last report
of the postal banks we fmd that in 1911, exclusive of the city of vStockholm,
the provinces of Norbotten (which according to the census of December 31^* .,
1911 had 1.5 inhabitants per square kilometre), Skaraborg (30 per sq. km.)
and Kopparberg (6 per sq. km.) showed the highest figures for deposits
(respectively 2,758, 2,774, ^^^d 2,739 crowns per 1,000 inhabitants), while
in the provinces of Malmohus (91 inhabitants per sq. km.) where the
ordinary savings banks are more numerous and active, and Kristianstad
(35 inhabitants per sq. km.) the average amounts of savings per 1,000 in-
habitants were only 752 and 632 crowns respectively
To throw further light on the character of the postal banks, it may
be observed that in Sweden more than in many other countries, their
work is subsidiary to that of the ordinary savings banks. They reached
their highest development twenty years after their institution, receiving in
1904 deposits to the amount of 54,899,275 crowns in 571824 bank books
(against 600,000 crowns in 1,300,000 books of the ordinary savings banks)
and declined in importance up to 1910, while the ordinary savings banks
continued to increase in number, as shown by the following table.
TabIvE IV. — Number of Books and Amount of Deposits
in tJie Postal Banks from 1884 to 191 1.
Year
Number
of Books
Number
of Books
per 1,000
Inhabitants
Amount
of Deposits
(in crowns)
Amount of Deposits
per Book
per 1,000
Inhabitants
1885-89
1890-94
1895-99
1900-04
1905-09
1910 .
1911 . .
79.513
155.355
300.346
489,478
571.824
563,782
557,337
565,759
17
32
61
97
109
104
lOI
102
827,641
3,918,681
20,417,231
54,057.308
54,899.275
50,252,543
46,253,411
47,186,406
10.41
23.22
66.49
109.78
96.02
89.08
82.99
83.40
178.20
S25.li
4,222.07
10,769.62
10,561.64
9,346.7s
8,376.29
8,484.22
(i) From 1903, when the SUi(e under look the insurance of life annuities, the postal banks
have l)een required to collect th;; ])eraiums and pay the annuities.
ORGANISATION OF SAVINGS BANKS AND THE I:\VESTMENT OP THEIR CAPITA!, 8l
The decline apparent from these figures is also shown in the excess
of withdrawals over deposits since the year igoo.
Excess of Withdrawals
over Deposits
years crowns %
1900 5.442,345 140.00
1905 2,621,033 122.50
1910 681,042 105.29
1911 631,060 104.90
This diminution of deposits in the postal banks is the more remark-
able, because the number of post-qffices authorised to act as savings
banks has been increasing during the last few years ; from 1,575 in 1884
to 2,652 in 1900, 3,245 in 1910 and 3,286 in 1911. These figures show
that the postal banks which corresponded to 88 % of the post-offices existing
in 1884, corresponded in 1911 to 99.27 %. And, as the deposits have
diminished not only in absolute value, but also in proportion to the
average amount entered in each book, we may conclude that the postal
savings banks in Sweden, while their funds have decreased, have still a
great economic and social mission. They leave to private savings banks the
custom of those who can accumulate larger savings, and who seek for
adequate interest, and devote themselves to the service of the poor who
prefer for their small savings the greater convenience and security offered
by the postal banks to the higher rates offered by the private savings banks.
Where the latter exist, the postal banks, all organised on principles of
pubUc utiHty, confine their labours to poor and thinly populated districts,
where they alone can aid the humblest classes of society in their efforts to
save money.
It must also be pointed out that, in consequence of this, the cost of admin-
istration has increased and rose in 1911 to 296,845 crowns, and the average
cost of every transaction is 35 ore, a figure which, however, cannot be consid-
ered high when compared with the expenses of postal banks in other
countries (i).
The rules governing the Swedish postal banks must now be considered.
Of these one of the most important as confirming the social charac-
ter of the savings banks and depriving them of any possibiHty of making
profits, is that, as in similar institutions in nearly all other countries,
the profits on their investments, after deduction of the interest to deposit-
ors and the cost of administration, must be exclusively appropriated to
the use of the bank itself, and especially to its efforts to encourage sav-
ing among the poorer classes.
The deposits may be made in coin, in coupons of government bonds or
in special stamps.
(i) Sec Bulletin of Economic and Social Instiiulions, no. 8. Aug. 1913. p. 105.
82 SWEDEN - CREDIT
The minimum is one crown, the maximum on which interest will be
paid is, as has been said, 2,000 crowns. Deposits in excess of this sum bear
no interest.
Withdrawals may be made in every postal bank, after a special request
has been addressed to the central ofhce. There is no " saving clause", as in
French savings banks, but the central office may fix a period for withdraw-
als which may extend to one month for amounts exceeding 500 francs.
Withdrawals at sight may be made only in the offices in Stockholm.
Minors of 15 years of age and married women may make deposits
and withdraw without authorization from their parents or husbands.
The deposits and interest are guaranteed by the State. No person may
possess more than one book.
In communes where there are no post-offices, the rural postmen may
collect deposits and make payments. In igio the postmen so acting numbered
348. There were 1,393 schoolmasters and mistresses receiving the savings
of their pupils in 191 o.
In order to interest the officials in the extension of savings banks, they
receive a commission of 5 ore for each book, and 5 ore more if the account is
not closed within the year ; 2 ore for each deposit, and o.i per cent on the
total amounts, and o.i % on the amounts sent to the savings banks, if an
account is sent in every ten days to the head office.
The rules as to the investment of savings bank funds are of special
interest. The capital not required for current expenses is deposited in the
State Bank. The funds not needed for withdrawals are invested in Swed-
ish Government stock or in bonds of the General Mortgage Bank of Sweden,
in both cases under State guarantee; or in bonds issued by communes with
authority from the Government or by associations or institutes fully
guaranteed by a commune duly authorised for the purpose by the Govern-
ment, both as regards the reimbursement of the capital or payment of
interest.
Should any capital remain uninvested, it may be granted as a loan to
communes or private individuals on special security, or deposited in banks
of which the rules have been authorised by Royal Decree, and which have
capital and reserves amounting to at least 5,000,000 crowns.
We shall now see how the capital of the Swedish postal banks was in-
vested on December 31st., 1911.
It amounted to 50,550,908.51 crowns and was thus distributed:
crowns % of the Total
Cash Balance, Credit, Advances etc 306,104.89 0.61
Bonds and Interest 36,078,097.02 71.37
Communal lyoans and Interest 10,304,435.08 20.38
Mortgage I.oans and Credit in Banks . . . 3,862,271.52 7.64
Total . . . 50,550,908.51 100.00
ORGANISATION OF SAVINGS BANKS AND THE INVESTMENT OF THEIR CAPITAL 83
Of 36,000,000 crs. invested in bonds, 20,386,290.63 crowns (43.02 %
of the assets of the postal banks) were represented by mortgage bonds
of the General Mortgage Bank of Sweden, the rest by coninmnal and railway
bonds. Five mortgage loans were made for the sum of 1,245,000 crowns,
so that nearly half the capital invested by the banks was directly or indirectly
set apart to satisfy, through the Mortgage Bank, the requirements of
real estate, in great part, it may be said, of rural real estate (i).
§ 4. People's banks.
Less important as receivers of the people's savings than the ordinary
and postal savings banks are the People's Banks {Solidaroska Folkbanker).
In consequence of the new law of 1903, which gives the name of bank
solely to those institutions the regulations of which have been approved by
Royal Decree, the people^s banks, have been obliged to change their
denomination for those of Credit Associations, People's Institutes, Savings
Institutes etc.
Unhke the ordinary savings banks, these people's banks are not in-
stitutions of public utiHty, nor do they limit themselves to receiving sav-
ings; they receive deposits at long maturity and open current accounts with
issue of cheques. There are 17 institutions which discount bills of exchange.
Their regulations, like those of the savings banks, must be approved by
the provincial administrations.
At the end of 1910, there were 23 people's banks, of which two were urban
and 21 rural ; there were 18,394 depositors, whose savings amounted to
7,528,000 crowns. The minimum for deposits is fixed by the bank at from
25 ore to one crown, and in general there is no fixed maximum for the amount
entered in each book.
The average rate of interest for 1910 was 4.428 %, lower therefore than
that paid by the ordinary savings banks, and higher than that paid by
postal banks.
The average credit in 1910 for each book, 409.28 crowns, is lower than
the average amount deposited in the ordinary savings bank books, and
higher than that in the postal bank books.
The savings deposited in the people's banks form 63.4 of their capital.
The nature of the transactions of these banks has an influence on the
different investments, as shown in the following table.
(i) See in the Bulletin of Economic and Social Institutions, no. 11. November, 1913, an art-
icle by H. J. Dannfelt, on Agricultural Credit in Sweden. § 2: The General Mortgage Bank,
its Organisation and Work.
84
SWEDEN - CREDIT
Tabi,e V. — Nature of Investments of People's Banks in 1910.
Nature of Investments
Crowns
Cash
Credit in other Banks
Real Estate and Stock
Bonds
Shares and Personal Estate
Bills discounted (in 17 Institutions)
Loans on Mortgage of Real Estate
» on other Mortgages
» on Personal Security
Credits
Interest Due
Total
275.551-44
755,271-67
63,349-82
32,350.00
2,891.86
3,283,154-94
3,509,555-12
903,846.61
3,890,569.48
202,433.73
94,017.26
13,012,991.93
2.12
5-80
0.49
0.25
0.02
25.23
26.97
6.95
29.90
1-55
0.72
100.00
In the case of the people's banks also, we have been unable to ascert-
ain how much capital has been lent in mortgages on rural property. We
only know that nearly 27 per cent of the available funds were invested in
mortgages on real estate.
UnUke the savings banks, the people's banks have invested 25.23 % of
their capital in discounting bills, and only 0.27 % in communal loans and in
purchasing bonds, shares and other securities.
THE MORTGAGE QUESTION 85
2. TUE MORTGAGE QUESTION IN SWEDEN.
SOURCES :
Rapport envoye a l'Tn-stitut International d' Agriculture (Report sent to the Interna-
tional Institute of A'^riculture) by H. J uhlin Dannfelt, Secretary to the Royal Academy
of Agriculture in Stockholm ; Official Correspondent of the International Institute of
Agriculture.
ST.4.TISTISK TiDSKRiFT Utgifven AF KuNGL. Statistisk.\ Centralbyr&n [Revicw of Statistics,
published by the Royal Office 0/ Stafistics) 1913. no. i. Stockholm.
In an article publishedin our Bulletin (i), Mr. H. Juhlin Dannfelt has
shown how land registers and books are classified in Sweden, where there is
no true cadastre for real estate.
It seems to us that it would be interesting to complete the information
given in the abovementioned article, in connection with the question
of land credit, by the addition of some notes on mortgage statistics in
Sweden, and on the subject of mortgage debts in that country during the
last few years.
Mortgages on real estate to be legally vahd must be entered in the land
register (fastighetsbocher) kept by the legal authorities. In these books
are entered the changes in landed property through alienation, free or condi-
tional transfer, registration or cancellation of real charges. Every year the
judges must present to the Department of Justice a report of the mort-
gages which have been entered, renewed or terminated in the past twelve
months.
No true census of the mortgage debt has ever been made and therefore
it is impossible to ascertain precisely the amount of the mortgages on landed
property.
Nevertheless, by means of the data contained in the annual reports pre-
sented to the Department of Justice, the whole amount of the mortgage
debt may be calculated.
But, as has been observed in the case of other coimtries, the figures
thus obtained cannot be regarded as abosolutely correct, representing as
they do, for various reasons, an amount greater than the true debt. Many
mortgages are registered not as security for a loan, but for other real charges.
It often happens that mortgages already terminated remain purposely
uncancelled. In the case of mortgages redeemable by instalments no ac-
count is taken of repayments till all the debt is paid. Finally, as regards
the whole debt on property, the statistics are incomplete, because the loans
made on the security of funds belonging to the State are not included in
the amounts entered in the land books of the courts.
(i) Bulletin of Economic and Social Institutions. November 1913. .Agricultural Credit in
Sweden. § 5- Real Estate Rights, I^and Books and I^an. 1 Registers, pp. 85-87.
86
SWEDEN - CREDIT
A summary of the reports presented by each court to the Department
of Justice is pubHshed by the Government in the Review of vStatistics {Sta-
tistisk Tidskrift).
The following table, giving the latest data pubUshed, shows the debts
on rural and urban land. But it must be remembeied that the figures are
only approximately correct, because among rural mortgages are counted
those upon buildings used for other than agricultural purposes, such as fac-
tories etc. in the country. The amount of these mortgages can only be
conjectured and there are no statistics of the value of the individual mort-
gages.
Table I. — Mortgage Debts on Rural and Urban Real Estate.
Debts
an Rural Real Estate
Debts on Urban Real Estate
Entered
Renewed
Expired
Entered
Renewed
Expired
crowns
crowns
crowns
crowns
C'owns
crowus
I90I . .
84,264,006
91.937.481
18,207,518
70,205,914
68,957,696
10,418,481
iyo2 . .
96,313.767
88,572,590
25,348,024
87,859,407
76,210.768
12,284,179
1903 . .
123.354.800
9S,993>543
33,669,414
112,139,995
75,031,282
15,643,121
1904 . .
106,064,229
99,077,231
37,541,843
129,273,081
79,710,191
13.415.171
1905 . .
117,947,242
114,100,613
26,638,329
130,352,322
88,681,073
14,545.988
1906 . .
135.732,554
116 078,075
31,586,637
177.992,649
96,375,533
19,335.280
1907 . .
162,497,646
131,627,523
39,584,603
183,225,178
118,719,884
23,028,616
1908 . .
206,444,586
113,610,534
40,832,196
140,893.452
130,161,209
23537.130
1909 . .
169,469,948
138.936,867
35.322,182
105,971,682
116,055,839
21,254,644
1910 . .
179,687,405
126,712,515
52,438,048
128,061,749
123,224,333
31,919.428
Table II. — Mortga2e Debts at the End of each Year.
On Rural
Real Estate
Oil Urban
Real Estate
In the Whole
Kingdom
1901
1902
1903
1904
1905
1906
1907
1908
1909
1910
1,235.488,249
1,288,654,659
1,364,661,194
1,410,504,010
1,477,722,032
1,566,751,138
1,657.515,470
1,789,677,074
1,906,292,489
2,002,260,391
1,014,001,526
1,082,250,256
1,166,184,761
1,271,824,717
1,379,709,694
1,525,893,312
1,666,945,724
1,764,038,358
1,834,554,576
1,925,176,101
2,249,489,775
2,370,904,915
2,530,845,955
2,682,328,727
2,857,431,726
3,082,644,450
3,324,461,194
3,553,715,432
3,740,847,065
3,927,436,492
THE MORTGAGE QUESTION Sy
These figures show that the mortgage debt in the ten years considered
has continued to increase so quickly, that from 2,449,000,000 crs. in 1901
it rose to 3,927,000,000 crs. in 1910. To this increase rural property has
contributed less than urban, as may be easily perceived by observing that
between 1901 and 1910 the difference between rural and urban indebted-
ness almost disappeared. This is owing to the vigorous development of
manufactures in Sweden during the last few years, causing a growing
need of credit.
Of all the institutions engaging in land credit business, only the
provincial mortgage associations give data which leave no doubt as to
their interpretation. In fact as these associations act as intermedi-
aries for credit to agriculture the sums they lend represent only debts on
rural land.
Other institutions, such as private banks and savings banks, pubHcand
private, pubhsh only the total amount of their credit, without distinguish-
ing the nature of the real estate which is the security.
Insurance companies do not engage in rural credit business.
If we consider the loans granted by various mortgage associations
between 1900 and 191 1, we shall find that their increase has not followed
the same ascending Une as the mortgages on rural land. From 270,172,467
crowns in 1900 these loans rose to 291,204,605 crowns in 191 1.
Hence it may be deduced that to the increase of rural mortgage credit
during the last few years, private capitaUtsts, savings banks, banks properly
so called and other institutions collecting savings, have contributed in ever
increasing proportion.
PUBIvICATIONS OF RECENT DATE RElyATTNG
TO AGRICUIvTURAI. CREDIT.
VARIOUvS COUNTRIES.
Unofficial Publications :
Cahen (I,eon) : I,a repartition des valeurs mobiliers daus le moiide (Distribution of Personal
Securities in the World). In "Finance Univers ". December 15th., 1913. Paris.
Smith (G.) : I<es obligations foncidres dans les diverses parties du monde [Land Bonds in the
Various Parts of the World). In " Finance Univers ". January 15th., 1914. Pp. 23-27.
Paris.
GERMANY.
Unoffioal Publications :
Deutscher Borsen-K.\lender und Effekten-Handbuch. [German Calendar of Exchanges
and Manual of Securities). 51st. Year. Frankfort on Main, 1914. Frankfiirter Societats-
Driickerei. 4to. 216 pp.
Dittmar (Dr. Hans) : Depositenbanken eines Agrarlandes. Eine Vergleichende Untersu-
chung der Banken Mecklemburgs auf Gruud von Monograpliien und 8 Kurventafeln im
Text 10. Erganzungsheft des Archivs fiir exakte Wirtschaftsforschimg. Thiinen Archiv.
(Deposit Banks of an Agricultural Country. Comparative Study of the Mecklenburg
Banks, Based on Monographs, with 8 Diagrams in the Text. Tenth Supplement of the
" Archiv fur exacte Wirtschaftsforschimg ". Thiinen Archives). Jena; 1913. G. Fischer.
I^6oPOLD (Joseph) : The Evolution of German Banking. lyondon, 1913. C. and E. lyayton.
Bel (H.) : Die Technik der zweiten Hypotheke (The Technique of Second Mortgage). In " Spar-
kasse ". December 13th., 1913. pp. 451-454. Hanover.
Daur (Prof. Dr.) : tjber Vortrage zur Sicherung gegen Kursschwankungen (Proposals for In-
Rurance against Depreciation of Securities). In " Bank- Archiv ". February 15th., 1914.
Berlin.
Der H.\nnoversciie Sparkassenverband (Federation of Hanoverian Savin",s Banks). In
" Sparkasse ". January 1st., 1914. Pp. 10-13. Hanover.
General Report on the Work of the Hanoverian Savings Batiks. Development
of Mortgage I^oans Reddemable in Iiistalnicnts.
Der Kampf um die Spareinlagen : Einlagenzinsfuss, 1913. (Competition for Savings In-
vestments : Rate of Interest on Deposits). In " Sparkasse ". January 15th., 1914. Hanover.
Die Sparkasse im Jahre 1912 (Savings Banks in 1912). In " Bank ". January, 1912. Berlin.
Statistics of the Work and Investment of the Funds of the Prussian Savings Banks.
DiR Wirksamkeit der Deutschen Stattgemeinden auf Gebiete des Re.\lkredits (Work
of the German Urban Communes in the Field of Real Credit). In " Zeitschrift fiir Kom-
munalwirtschaft und Kommunalpolilik ". December lolh., 1913. No. 23. Pp. 705-709.
Berlin.
PUBUCATIONS REI^ATING TO AGRlCUIvTURAL, CREDIT 89
Fischer: Zinsfussfrage (The Question of the Rate of Interest). In " Verbandskundgabe ".
December 15th. and 31st., 1913. Nos. 23 and 24. Munich
GoTTiNG {!,.) : Die Mitgliederversammlung des deutschen Sparkassenvcrbandes. {The Meet-
ing of the Members of the German Federation of Savings Banks). In " Sparkasse ". De-
cember 15th., 1913. Hanover.
Discussion of the Question of the Participation of the Savings Banks in the Solution
of the Problem of Popular Lisurance.
Hypothekenbewegtjng in Preussen. 1912. [Mortgage Movement in Prussia in 1912).
January 24th., 1914. Berhn.
lyA LEGGE suGLi " CHEQUES " PosTALi AL REICHSTAG {Thc Law on Postal Cheques in the Reichs-
tag). In "Rivista delle Comunicazioni ". November, 1913. Rome.
Nehking (Regierimgsrat) : Die Tatigkeit der Deutschen-Mittelstandskasse in Posen und der
Deutschen Bauernbank in Danzig im Jahre 1912 [The Work of the German Bank for thr
Middle Classes in Posen and the German Peasants' Bank in Dantzig in the Year 191 2).
" Archiv fiir innere Kolonisation ". December, 1913. No. 3. pp. 93-96- Berlin..
Offentliche Volksversicherung tJND Offentuche Sparkl\sse [People's Public Insurance
and Public Savings Banks). In " Sparkasse ". Januarj^ ist., 1914. Pp. 3-6. Hanover.
Speech Delivered at the Meeting of the " Deutscher Sparkassenverband ", on De-
cember 6th., 1913.
Raffalovich (A.) : I,e marche des capitaux et les assurances en AUemagne [The Money Market
and Insurance Societies in Germany). In " Economiste frangais ". December 2ytli., 1913.
Paris.
Dealing with the investment on the funds of the German insurance societies.
Schutze (Dr.) : Die Kursverluste bei der Bcratung des Gesetzes betr. die Anlegung von Spar-
kassenbestanden im Inhaberpapieren im lyandtage und der Ministerialerlass vom 24 Ja-
nuar 1891 [Losses through Depreciation of Securities consequent upon the Discussion in the
Landtag of the Law on the Investment of Savings Bank Funds in Bills to Bearer and
the Ministerial Decree of January 24th., i8c)i). In " Sparkasse ". February ist., 1914.
Pp. 47-49-
AUSTRIA.
Unofficial Publication
Weiss (Prof. Max): Die Oesterreichische Credit-Anstalt. Eine Studie zur Geschichte des oster-
reichischer Bankvvesens. [Austrian Credit Institute. A Study for the History of Austrian
Bankinz Institution-^) . Extract from the " Jahresberichtc der Prager Handels-Akademie ".
Prague, 1913. Heller and Strausky.
UNITED STATES.
Unofficl\l Publications :
Banking Reform in the United States. In " Banker's Magazine "- February and
March, 1914. I^ondon.
Farm I^oans. In " Annalist ". December ist., 1913. New York.
Notes on thc Work of Certain Associations in the State of Ohio.
go PUHiaCATlONS Rl'XATING TO AliRIOUL/TURAL CREDIT
FRANCE.
Official Publications :
I,E credit Agricole. Encouragements a la petite propriete agricole. lyC Credit individuel k
long terme en faveur des petites exploitations. I^e Bien de famille insaisissablc. But. Or-
ganisation. Fouctionnement. (Agricultural Credit. Encouragements to Small Farmers.
Individual Lon% Term Credit for Small Farms. Undistrainable Homesteads. Object.
Organisation. Workin^^). Publication of the Agricultural Department. Agricultural
Credit, Co-operation and Mutuality Division. Paris, 1913. National Press. 8vo. 114 pp.
Rapport a M. le President de la Republique sur les Operations des Caisses d'Epargne
Ordinaires. Aiinee, 1911 (Report to the President of the Republic on the Work of the Ordinary
Savings Banks. Year 1911). Paris, 1913. National Press. Folio.
DuRAND (E.) : lyE Banque de France et le mecanisme des souscriptions publiques (The Bank
of France and the Device of Public Subscriptions). In "Revue d'Economie Politique. "
November-December, 1913. Pp. 790-790- Paris.
GREAT BRITAIN AND IREI/AND.
Unofficial Publications :
The Banking Almanack, 1914. Edited by Sir R. H. Inglis Palgrave, F. R. S. - lyondon, 1913.
Waterlow. 1,364 pp.
Gibson (A. H.) : Growth of the I^eading Savings Banks. lyiverpool Savings Bank, In Banker's
Magazine. February, 1914. Pp. 333-336. I^ondon.
Palgrave (Sir. R. H. Inglis) :Iya Banque d'Angleterre (The Bank of England). In " Finance
Univers ". February 13th., 1914, Pp. 3-18. Paris..
P. W. M. : lyondon Bankers' Clearings in 1913. In Banker's Magazine. February, 1914. Pp. 248-
255. lyondon.
AUSTRAI^IA.
Unofficial Publications :
Savings in the State of Victoria. In " Banker's Magazine ". January, 1914. pp. 38. I<ondoii.
ITAI,Y.
Unofficial Publications :
Cassa Provinciale di Credito Agrario per la B.-vsilicata : Relazione sull'esercizio 1012.
(Provincial Land Credit Bank for Basilicata. Report on the Working Year, 1912). Po-
tenza, 1913. Garramone and Marchesiello.
Federazione per il Credito Agrario nell'Umbria : Relazione del Consiglio Federale al
31 dicembre 1912 (Federation for Agricultural Credit in Umbria : Report of the Federal
Council on December 31st., 1912). Perugia, 1913. G. Beuucci.
PUBLICATIONS RELATING TO AGRICULTLTRAL CREDIT 9 1
IL Credito Agrario nel Mezzogiokno continentale d'Italia e nell'Isola di Sardegna
ESERCITATO DALLA CASSA DI RiSPARMIO DEL BANCO DI NAPOLI. ORDINAMENTO E SVILXJPPO :
1902- 1912 (A'^ricuUuml Credit in the Southern Mainland of Italy and in the Island oj Sar-
dinia, Granted by the Savings Bank of the Bank of Naples : 1902-1912. Organisation and
Development). Naples, 1913. Ferdinando Rairaondi.
lyA C'VSSA DI RiSPARMIO IN BOLOGNA NEL SETTANTACINQUESIMO ANNO DALLA SUA FONDAZIONE
1837-1912. (The Balogna Savings Bank in the seventy fifth Year since its Fondation, 1837-
191 2). Bologna, 1914. Fratelli Merlani.
ly'ISTITUTO DELLE OPERE PlE DI S. PAOLO IN TORINO NEL 35O" ANNO DI SUA ESISTENZA, GeN-
NAio 1563-GENNA10 1913. {The Institute of the Opere Pie di S. Paolo in Turin in the
ZSoth. year of its Existence, January, i^SyJanuary, 1913). Turin, 1913. Soc. Tip. Ed. Na-
zionalc.
Monte dei Paschi di Siena : Rendiconto della gestione 1912 approvato con deliberazioni
della Deputazione Anuninistraliva dei di 11 e 22 luglio 1913 (Report on the Work for the
Year 1912, Approved, in the Sessions of the Administrative Deputation on July nth. and
22nd., 1913). Siena, 1913. Lazzeri.
ViALi (Prof. lyeopoldo).: l,e Casse di risparmio (Savings Banks). Milan, 1913. F. Vallardi.
BoRGATTA (Gino) : Gli enti intermediari sul credito agrario italiano {Intermediate Institutes
for A-^ricultural Credit in Italy)- In " Rivista delle Societa commerciali ". October
31st., 1913. Rome.
CuoRE (E. S.) : La legislazione speciale sul credito agrario in Italia (Special Legislation on Agri-
cultural Credit in Italy). In " Rassegna Nazionale ". January ist., 1914. Vol. CXCV.
Florence.
De Carolis (Carlo) : Le Casse di risparmio italiane e i loro rapporti con gl'Istituti cooperativi
di credito (Italian Savins,s Banks and their Relations with the Co-operative Credit
Institutes). In " Bollettino del Comitate Agrario Nazionale ". November 25th., 1913.
No. II. Rome.
EiNAUDi (lyuigi) : I/'assorbimento e I'impiego dei risparmi da parte deUo Stato (Absorption
and Investment of Savings by the State). In " Rivista delle SocietA Commerciali ". Novem-
ber 30th., 1913. Rome.
Flora (Federico) ; II " Credito Foudiario Sardo " e il privilegio degli istituti regionali (The
Sardinian Land Credit Institute and the Privilege of the Regional Institutes). In " Riforma
Sociale ". April, 1913. Turin.
MozzATi (Carlo) : I grandi miglioramenti fondiari. Scrbatoi e laghi artificiali (Extensive Land
Improvements. Reservoirs and Artificial Lakes). In " Agricoltura Modenia ". November
i6th.-3oth., 1913. No. 32. Milan.
ScoRCiARiNi Coppola (Angelo), Dcputato : Sulla necessity della compilazione di una legge spe-
ciale per mutui di miglioramenti dei terreni a mite interesse (The Necessity of a Special
Law for Land Improvement Loans at Low Interest). Speech delivered on April i9tli., 1913
at the Southern Agricultural Assembly. In " Rivista Agraria ". May 4th., 1913. No. 18.
Naples.
JAPAN.
Unofficial Public.\tions :
Raising of THii Rate or Interest on Postal Savings Deposits. (In Japanese). In " Chug-
wai vShogyo Shimpo ". December 29th., 1013. Tokio.
Amendment of the Law on the Japanese Mortgage Bank. (In Japanese). In " Chugwai
Shogyo Shimpo ". January 7th., 1914. Tokio.
02 PUBLICATIONS RELATING TO AGRICULTURAL CREDIT
HOLLAND.
Official Publication :
Verslag aan de Koningix betrekkelijk den Dienst der Rijkspostspaarbank in Neder-
LAND over 1912. {Report to H. M. the Queen on the Work of the Dutch Postal Savinqs
Banks in 1912). The Hague, 1912. Algemeene Landsdrukkerij 4to. 65 -}- in pp.
DUTCH COLONIES.
Unofficial Publication :
Fabius (G. J.) : De Curagaosche Bank {The Curagao Bank). In "Economist ", June, July 3
August, September, October, November, December, 191 3. Nos. 6-12. The Hague.
PORTUGAL.
Unofficial Publication :
De Castro (D. Luiz) : Circulagao fiduciaria e credito agricola {Fiduciary Circulation and Agri-
cultural Credit). In " Diario de Noticias ". January 29th., 1914. No. 17,320. Lisbon.
RUSSIA.
Official Publications :
Work of the Pawn Institutes in Russia in 1912) {In Russian). Publication of the Special
Office of the Credit Division. St. Petersburg, 1913. V. Kirschbaum. 4to. 17 pp.
Other Pu^blications :
Chasles (Pierre) : Une Banque d'Etat pour le credit local en Russie {A State Bank for Local
Credit in Russia). Extract from the "Revue de Science et de Legislation financidre ".
January, February, March, 1913. Paris, 1913. M. Giard and E. Bi^re. 8vo. 9 pp.
Ulbrich (W.) : The Organization of Agricultural Credit is Indispensable for Russia {In Russian)
St. Petersburg, 1912. M. Kwara. 8vo. 226 pp.
FR.A.GAN OM Nirattandet .'VF ON Kredit anstatt FOR sikiABRUKARE {The QuestioH of the
Foundation of a Credit Institute for Small Farmers). In "Hufvudstadsbladet". Feb-
ruary 8th., 1914. No. 38. Helsingfors.
Proposals of the Board of Management of the Mortgage Societ3'' of Finland.
Insurance Business of the S.-vvings Banks {In Russian). In " Rossiia ". January 31st., 1914.
No. 2,508. St. Petersburg.
Pfitzn^er (Dr.) : Das russische sparkassenwesen (Sai;mE,'s Banks in Russia). In " Osterrei-
chische-Ungarische Sparkassen Zeitung ". December 20th., 27th., 1913. January 3rd.,
loth., 24th., 31st. and February 7th., 1914. Vienna.
PUBI^ICAXIOXS RELATING TO AGRICULTURAL CREDIT 93
SAVITZERLAND.
Unofficial Pitblicatioxs
FuRLAN (Dr. V.) : Die Finanzkrise im Tessin {The Financial Crisis in Canton Ticino). In
" Schweizerische Blatter fiir Handel und Industrie ". February i3tli., 1914. Geneva.
Fusion der Thurgauischen Hypothekexbank mit der Schweizerischex Bodex'kredit-
ANSTALT [Fusion of the Mortgage Bank of Tkurgau with the Swiss Land Credit Institute).
In "Schweizerische Blatter fiir Handel und Industrie ". January 15th , 1914. Geneva.
Sparkassengesetz des kantoxs Neuenburg [Law on Savings Banks for the Canton of Neii-
chdtel). In " Schweizerische Blatter fiir Handel und Industrie ". January 15th., 1914,
Geneva.
WiE WIRD DER ZUKUNFTIGE SCHWEIZERISCHE PoSTSPARKASSE AUF DAS GESCHAFT DER BAN-
ken tnsTD Bankiers Einwirken ? (What Influence will the Future Swiss Savings Bank
have on the Business of the Banks and the Bankers?). In " Intemationaler Volkswirt ".
January 4th., 1914. Berlin.
Part IV: Miscellaneous
CHILE
THE LAND QUESTION AND C0I,0N1SATI0N IN CHILE.
{Continued) .
OFFiciAi, sources: (i)
ESTADISTICA coaiERCiAL DE LA Repurlica de CHILE.. AQo 1 912. (Commercial Statistics oj
)he Republic of Chile, 1912), Oficina Central de Estadlstica, Santiago de Chile, 1913.
Soc. Universe.
OTHER SOURCES :
ALDCJN'ATE (Santiago) : El Institute Internadonal de Agricultura y su importancia para la
America latina, en especial para Chile. Conferencia dada en el Sal6n de honor de la
Universidad de Chile el 2 de diciembre de 1912 por Don Santiago Aldunate, Ministro
Plenipotenciario de Chile en Italia y delegado de Chile en el Instituto Internadonal
de Agricultura. (The International Institute of Agriculture and its Importance for Latin
America, particularly for Chile. Lecture delivered in the great Hall of the University of
Chile, December and., 1912, by Don Santiago Aldunate, Minister Plenipotentiary of
Chile in Italy, and Delegate of Chili to the International Institute of Agriculture).
Rome, 1913, Press of the International Institute of Agriculture.
GaldAmes (I^uis:) Estudio de la historia de Chile, (A Study of the History of Chile) 2^^ . ed.
Santiago de Chile, 191 1, Imprenta Universitaria.
Valdes Tagle (Elias) : Cr^dito Agricola Cooperative, (Co-operative Agricultural Credit).
Santiago de Cile, 191 3. Imprenta y lyitografia Barcelona.
BoLLETTixo dell'Emigrazione. (Bulletin of Emigration). Commissariato dell'Emigrazione,
Rome, 1902, N'' 12 ; 1905, N° i
§ 6. Trade in Agricui^turai, Products.
I. Some General Remarks on Chilian Commerce. — The geographical
and economic conditions of the country, the distribution of its productive
regions and the nature of its products (see § 1-5) are such that the commerce
of Chile, both home and foreign, is of an active character. On the one hand,
we have mining industry, and sheep improvement, furnishing products
exclusively for exportation ; on the other, agricultural products destined
chiefly for national consumption and giving occasion for fairly extensive
(i) See the sources given in the first part of this article published in the | preceding
number of this Bulletin.
96
CHILE - MISCELLANEOUS
internal commerce. In the following table we show the state of the foreign
trade in 1911 and 1912 :
Foreign Commetce -"_-.-«^ — »._^^"
— in millions of gold pesos
Exports 331 377
Imports 349 334
In 1912 the mineral products exported contributed about 336,000,000
pesos to the amount, and agricultural products only 40,600,000 gold pesos.
In 1912, the import amounted, as we see, to 334,000,000 gold
pesos, and consisted chiefly of manufactured articles , cotton and woollen
fabrics, machinery, industrial oils and paper being the most important.
Chile imports, as we have already shown, (§ 5) a considerable quantity
of Hve (horned) cattle from the Argentine Republic {in 1912, 10,700,000
gold pesos), besides raw sugar from Peru (in 1912, 6,100,000 gold pesos).
Foreign trade is carried on entirely by sea, except that with the Ar-
gentine Repubhc and T3olivia (i) amounting in igi2 to 18,200,000 gold pe-
sos (7,400,000 in the case of exports, 11,200,000 in that of imports), and
500,000 gold pesos, respectively.
The following table shows the development of the maritime trade with
foreign countries :
Shipping
1910
1911
Number
of Vessels
Tons
Number
of Vessels
Tons
k Steamers . .
Eutering Chilian ports<
/Sailing Vessels
3,284
478
9,205,218
905,217
3,626
489
10,449,368
859,928
Total . . .
(steamers . .
lycaving ports . . . ./
f Sailing Vessels
3.762
2,653
438
10,110,435
7,442,069
782,309
4,115
3,021
397
11,309,296
8,593,069
710,857
Total . . .
3,091
8,224,378
3,418
9,303,926
From these figures we may easily understand the vast importance of
the shipping interest in the entire economic hfe of the country. The whole
national production is directly concerned in it ; fluctuations in prices of
freight appreciably influence the returns for production, trade and transport.
Agriculture is the most sensitive to the rise or fall in freight rates caused
sometimes by fluctuations in exchange and the amount of cargo oft'ered,
(i) An excellent line of communication bj' land with the Argentine Republic is offered
by the Trans-Andean railway. In this way, the distance between Buenos Aires and Val-
paraiso may be accomplished in less than two days, but the tariff for goods is very high.
THE I,AND QUESTION AXD COIvOXISATIOX
97
or artificially, through shipping rings. The Chihan mercantile marine is
composed of only 162 vessels with a total of 95,000 tons and only engaged
in the coasting trade ; oversea commerce is all in the hands of foreigners.
Now w^hilst many of the extractive industries are worked by foreign capital
and their interests are bound up with navigation, agriculture is, on the
contrary, simply national and independent of navigation. The shipping
rings are often injurious to agriculture, one reason being that agricultural
products must be exported at the right time, (i)
This state of things explains how Chihan public opinion ardently
desires the formation of a strong national mercantile marine.
2. — Foreign trade in agricrdtural products. — As we have seen, the
export trade in this branch in 1912, amounted only to 10.8 % of the
total exportation thus distributed in 191 1 and 1912 :
Exportation of Agricultural Products.
Products
1
1911 1912
Ariipifil
in thousands of gold pesos
21,010 20,769
14,470 19,835
Vegetable . . .
Total . . .
35,480 40,604
The most important articles are:
Animal Products :
wooi;
I^eather
Frozen Meat
Shoe Soles - .
Preserved Meat
Honey
Vegetable Products :
Corn
Oats
Beanj
Nuts
Barley
(x) In Chile there are no large grain elevators.
1912
in thousands
of gold pesos.
6,901
8,367
1,921
2,949
2,678
2,032
2,035
1,762
454
1,217
476
337
1,384
7.124
1,589
2,367
1,833
1,604
1,858
1,248
1,802
1,053
98 CHILE - MISCELLANEOUS
The countries to which the greater part of the exports, both agricult-
ural and mineral, are sent, are, in order of importance, Great Britain,
Germany, and the United States. These three, in the same order of
importance, are the chief countries exporting to Chile.
3. Home Trade in Agricultural Produce. — Whilst the exportation of
agricultural produce is somewhat Hmited, the internal trade in this Une is
very considerable, because many of the localities which consume most are
at a long distance from the centres of production. For we know that
agricidtural produce for general consumption is only cultivated in the
middle zone, the northern zone chiefly producing nitre and the southern
being pastoral, and thus depending on the r, iddle zone for their su; plies.
A large quantity therefore of agricultural produce must be carried
far, and must pass through many hands. Agriculture is then the prin-
cipal factor in the home trade and in the coasting trade etc.
Traffic between the various zones of production must evidently be
carried on by sea. The physical conformation of Chili admits of only a
hmited development of railway Unes (6,117 km.), except in the middle
zone, which is agricrdtural and populous, where railways are indispensable
for the transport of goods from the interior to the cities and ports.
Chief among these ports is Valparaiso, where the greater part of the
cargoes for foreign countries are collected for transport by steam-boats.
Other ports of importance for the coasting trade, are Punta Arenas, Iqui-
que, Antofagasta and Tocopilla in the uorth ; (i) Coquimbo, Talcahuano,
Valdivia, in the middle zone ; Puerto Montt and Ancud in the southern.
In 1912, the coasting trade amormted to a total of 517,400,000 gold
pesos (253,700,000 pesos for imports, and 253,700,000 pesos for exports). In
these amounts animal products figure for 56,900,000 pesos, vegetable
for 229,800,000 pesos, wine and other drinks for 68,500,000 pesos. These cal-
culations show that two thirds of the coasting trade consists in transport
of agricultural products, either raw or manufactured.
As to the railway transport of produce, which in 1912 amounted
to 7,520,000 tons, it is impossible to say how much of this could be
considered as agricultural.
Trade in agricultural produce is carried on by means of many inter-
mediaries. It is very seldom that the producer sells directly to the
consumer even when selling wholesale, for agriculturists, who are large
proprietors, generally hand over their produce exclusively to one dealer
who undertakes to dispose of it, unless he purchases it on his own
account as a speculation.
This explains how agricultural products and articles of food in par-
ticular are bought by the consumer at prices entirely out of proportion to
those paid by the dealer to the producer. The following table gives an
idea of the enormous difference.
(i) These are ports for sailimg vessels carrj'ing cargoes of nitre.
THE LAND QUESTION AND COLONISATION
99
Wholesale and Retail Prices of Various Vegetables on the Market of Val-
paraiso in the Winter of 191 3.
Number
per Load
Price of Load
Wholesale
Cauliflowers .
BroccoJii . .
Turnipt. . .
Lettuce . . .
Celery . . .
Gourds . . .
Carrot? . . .
900
700 to 1,900
1,000
3,000
1,200
150
10,000
Wholesale [ Retail
Price per Piece | P»ice per Piece
100.00
70.00
30.00
120.00
30.00
90.00
80.00
O.II
O.IO
0.03
0,04
0.07
0.60
0.008
0.75
0.60
0.30
0.20
0.25
1.30
0.07
§ 7. Rural Land
I. Land System. — The present land system of Chili originated at the
time of the Spanish conquest. The general, Pedro Valdivia, distributed
among his companions in arms the territory conquered in the first half of
the XVIth century. The portion of land assigned to each was called
a repartimient') and the native (indios) population inhabiting it was called
encomienda. He who had a share in the distributed lands had the right
to make the people of the repartimiento work for his profit, but on his part
he was obUged to keep them in subjection, and have them instructed
in the Christian rehgion.
The bestowal of the land was made in a very rough and ready manner.
As an instance, the conqueror, said to a favourite, " All the valley through
which this river runs is yours". As land had no value whatever, for it
was not cultivated and the yield from it was very Uttle, there was no
opposition made by the inhabitants. In this way, vast agricultural
estates were formed, some of them extending from the Cordilleras down to
the sea.
This system of concessions of land continued under the viceroys.
Grants were made to men not only for their own Uves but also to their
immediate descendants, who, in their turn, obtained new concessions and
so the concentration of large estates in the hands of single families
continued.
About the end of the XVIIth century, some of these enriched
colonists l)egan to acquire titles of iiobiHty and entail their estates
undivided on their eldest sons to whom they transmitted their titles.
On the other hand, certain religious bodies, more especially the
Jesuits, little by Uttle, became very extensive proprietors through donations
and purchase. Later, when the Jesuits were expelled (1767), their lands
100
CHILE - MISCEI.LANEOUS
were confiscated but though they passed from the pubhc treasury into
other hands, the area of the estates remained unchanged.
When the RepubUc succeeded the Viceroys the State continued to
make grants of land, and this has also occurred in recent times, (see § 5 ).
All this explains how in Chili large estates prevail, to which the vState
domains form a counterpart.
The State still possesses very extensive tracts in the nitre zone and the
Magellan territory, half of which is still its property. Ti^xcept for some
areas situated in the southern part of the central zone (Araucania), the
State lands are, however, not adapted for agriculture, but are generally
nitrous, and a considerable portion has been ceded to large businesses founded
for the extraction of nitrates, and in certain parts the State lands are
suitable for sheep-rearing.
Of the State lands we are unable to give particulars, for not only
is there no cadastre, but much of the land is still unexplored.
2. Distribution of Rural Land. — ■ Notwithstanding the abolition of the
encomiendas and of entailed estates, large landed properties still pre-
ponderate. It is not rare to find an estate of from five to ten thousand
hectares. We are not here speaking of the grazing farms of the Ma-
gellan Territory, which are still more extensive. (§ 5).
We have not statistics sufficient to give an exact idea of the distrib-
ution of rural property.
According to a valuation made some years ago by the Department
of Finance, the landed property would be distributed as follows :
Value in pesos
No. of Rural
Estates
Value
in pesos
No. of Rural
Estates
Up to 2,000 pe-^os
13,089
from5oo,ooo to 600,000 pesos
98
from 2,000 to 3,000 >.
14,049
) 600,000
) 700,000 »
49
3,000 ) 4,000 »
8,305
1. 700,000
1 800,000 »
50
4,000 5,000 »
5,745
i 800,000
• 900,000 »
15
5,000 1. 10,000 »
12,426
i 900,000
' I uiillion »
30
10,000 1) 50,000 "
11,458
'- I million
i 2 ), ))
74
50,000 » 100.000 »
1,912
H 2 "
. 3 »
23
)i 100,000 " 200,000 »
1,145
•> 3 "
' 4 " »
3
» 200,000 " 300,000 »
487
'' 4 '
' 5 "
2
300,000 1) 400,000 )>
267
,: 5 "
. 6 '.
10
•' 400,000 )) 500,000 »
151
Total . . .
69,988
Too much reliance should not be placed on the above valuation, which
is certainly only approximate, considering that it was drawn up for fiscal
purposes some years ago, when the value of landed property was much
THE T,AND QUESTION AND COI^ONISATlOX 1 01
lower than it is at present ; yet the figures confirm what we have said as to
the prevalence of large estates.
Let us observe that in the estates considered in this Table, State,
municipal and ecclesiastical lands, which do not pay taxes were not
included. If the calculation could be made, not of the value, but of
the area (for which, however, we have not sufficient data) , the proportion
of small holdings would be still less, since the value of these per unit of area
is notably higher than that of the medium sized or great estates.
3. Increase in Value of Rural Land. — Rural land has gone on increas-
ing in value according to the demands of the home markets and the
economic progress of the country.
Half a century ago, a cuadra (i) of good arable land, well watered., in
the vicinity of the capital, was worth at most 400 pesos, and in local-
ities more distant from centres of population it might be bought for even
ten pesos. Twenty-five years ago, the highest price for such a holding
would have been 1,000 pesos and the lowest 50. At present 5,000 pesos
is not a rare price and there is not a cuadra of arable and irrigated ground
that is not worth at the least 150 pesos, even if situated in the most remote
districts. So, in the course of 50 years, we see that the value of land has
risen in the proportion of i to 12. Admitting that the value of money is
four times less now than it was then, the value of arable land has trebled
in 50 years.
Naturalh^ there are great differences dependent on ph^^sical, social
and economic conditions (proximity to centres of population, means of
communication, systems of cultivation); but that which chiefly affects the
price is whether the land be suitable for irrigation or not. Arid soil will only
grow cereals and give small returns (see § 3). Yet if the arid soil is irrigat-
ed it doubles and trebles in value in a few years, as is also the case
where extensive cultivation is exchanged for intensive.
Land in the northern and middle parts of the central zone is the
most valuable; then going southward we find the value gradually di-
minishes where certain arid tracts not yet cleared may be bought for
10 pesos per hectare.
We give some instances which occurred in 19 12. In the district of
Penaflor about an hour by railway from the capital, a holding of 9 cua-
dras suitable for irrigation and adapted for fruit growing, with more
than 2 cuadras and a half of vineyards and a dwelling house, was
on sale for 70,000 pesos. In the province of Curico, near a railway
station, an area of 1,500 cuadras adapted for the cultivation of
cereals, for hay making, and for the rearing and fattening of cattle, was
for sale at 800,000 pesos. In the province of Osorno,far to the south, a
property of 100 cuadras, suitable for irrigation and near a railway, might
be had for 25,000 pesos.
(i) A cH:'..{ira of land is about a hectare and a half (or 15,651 sq. metres).
102 CHILE - MISCELLANEOUS
These prices, however, are for farms more or less cultivated; land not
yet cleared, such as is found in the southern region, can onty command
much lower prices.
The sale of landed property is effected generally by the payment of
a portion (I/3 or ^) in cash ; for the remainder, the seller takes a mortgage
on the laud with interest at 8 % .
Purchase and sale of rural land is frequent, particularly in periods of
national prosperity. But in all this, there is Uttle part taken by the great
mass of the labouring population, who generally feel no desire to rise or
to attain to the position of landowners.
4. Native Landed Property. — We cannot pass over unmentioned a form
of rural property- which presents special characteristics ; we refer to the land
held by the aboriginal Araucanians in a territor}^ south of the river
Bio-Bio.
According to the census of 1907, there were about 100,000 descendants
of the ancient Araucanians, a warlike people whom the Spaniards found
difficulty in subjugating and the Chilian government ouly subdued after
som.e severe fighting. Its dominion once firmly estabUshed, the State has
provided for their gradual civilisation through pacific relations with the
other inhabitants, cultivation of the soil and the possession of their own
land.
To this end, the Government has made laws in their favour, one of
which empowers a special Commission {Commission radicadora de indi-
i^enos) to grant to every father of an aboriginal family a piece of land
(about 10-12 hectares), on condition that he five there at least for one
year. He receives a title deed, but is forbidden to part with the land.
As these aborigines formerly possessed a great part of these lands in
common (we do not speak of proprietorship, because there was no legal
system) the law has estabHshed that they may be subdivided, consideration
being taken, however, of the existing conditions.
This work is carried out very slowly. In fact, although the funda-
mental law was passed many years ago (December 4th., 1866) a great part
of the aboriginal property does not legally belong to the occupiers. Much
inconvenience in consequence arises, chiefly that, the ownership of the
holder of a property not being recognised definitely and legally, it is
not inalienable and not a few of the aborigenes have fallen victims to
astute speculators.
The eft'orts to increase the number of small holdings by giving them
to aborigines did not produce encouraging results, no doubt through the
aversion of the indios from labour, their half wild state, their isolated
life, and their resistance, often invincible, to civilisation. As already
said (§ i), the aborigines, now reduced to a small number, are destined
to disappear altogether.
THE LAND QUESTION AND COLONISATION IO3
§ 8. Labour and agricultural contracts.
The natural consequence of such a division of landed property is that
agriculture must be based on paid labour or remunerated under some
other form.
In § I we have seen that the working agricultural population amounts
to 220,000. To these we must add the labourers without fixed occup-
ation (gananes), about 240,000 in all. These live as day-labourers generally
on the farms where they find work ; so that those employed in manual
agricultural labour may be computed at about 400,000
Leaving out of consideration the small proprietors, as but a very small
number of them may be considered independent — for most are com-
pelled to hire themselves out to work for others to eke out the small returns
of their own ill cultivated holdings — it may be said that the rural
population is composed almost exclusively of labourers on '^\ ages and of
contract la.houreTS {inquilinos). In the northern part of the middle zone,
more particularly in the province of Coquimbo, where cultivation is more
intensive, there are, as well as' the small independent proprietors, also
metayers but the number of these also is Hmited.
Let us look more closely into the characters of these two groups of
agricultural labourers, those in receept of wages and those working on
contract [inquilinos) .
I. Day labourers. — These must be classified as ChiHans and foreigners.
The latter are skilled agriculturists, kitchen-gardeners, cultivators of fruit,
and gardeners obtained by the great proprietors, especially from Europe,
(vSpain, France, Switzerland). Their wages are necessarily high, excep-
tionally so.
The native agricultural labourer is occupied, in intensive cultivation
under the guidance of an experienced agriculturist, generally a foreigner,
or in the ordinary work of the fields, especially at harvest time. His
wages are low and are paid partly in money, partly in kind. Taken
altogether, their amount does not exceed a maximum of 2 pesos when
board is not included, but it varies from district to district, and often from
farm to farm.
The highest wages are paid in the provinces of Santiago and Talca.
The wages of agricultural labourers, though they have b.een gradually
rising during the last ten years are, as we see, lower than in other countries.
This is owing to historical reasons and also to the generally low rate at
which labour is paid. When the Spaniards conquered the country, they
compelled the native population to work for them without any paj'ment
whatever, but their food.
In consequence, even after the abolition of the encomiendas, wages
remained low, for the manners and customs of the inhabitants had
undergone but Uttle change. The ChiHan labourer of today is satisfied
with a low standard of hving, and feels no stimulus to attain socila
104 CHILE - MISCELLANEOUS
elevation ; his progress is therefore very slow. Though the quality of
his work leax'es much to be desired, he is vigorous, strong to resist
fatigue and is attached to his employer.
2. TPte inquiUnos. — The greater part of the rural population is com-
posed of inqmlinos, a class of contract lal./Ourers living permanently on
the land. An inqitilino unites the character of metayer and day
labourer, and the class is found on almost ever^^ farm.
The common type of a Chilian farm {medium or large) is as follows ;
in the centre of the holding is the dwelling-house of the proprietor with
\-arious offices, sheds for machines, stores etc. On the larger farms the
owner's house is often furnished with great luxury and every possible
convenience, and here the owner generally spends the summer months, and
returns to the capital or other large cit}"- for the winter.
Scattered over the farm are dwellings in which the inquilinos who
have to do the farm, work live with their famihes, generally miserable
wooden or mud cabins of one or two rooms. However, of their own accord,
proprietors are beginning to improve these habitations.
The inqtiilino is obliged to live permanently on the land and per-
form all needful work in accordance with the orders of the master or of
his representative. In exchange he receives lodging, food, payment in
money and plots of land which he may cultivate for his own benefit in
his spare time, or which may be cultivated by his children or by out-
siders.
The contract between him and his master is called an inqiiilinaje.
It is a verbal agreement, and varies according to custom, in different
localities and even on different farms. The sj^stem is patriachal, con-
tinuing from generation to generation.
This contract is in use where extensive cultivation prevails. Vineyards,
fruit farms etc. are thus cultivated. Wc shall now give an idea of this
sort of contract. On a farm of 7,000 hectares, there are 200 famihes of
inquilinos, with about 1,000 members, (i) The inquilino, head of a family,
is obUged to make the following engagements :
(fl) that he and his family will live and work on the farm.
{b) that he wdll provide that there shall always be an adult labourer
(contract labourer) to work for the proprietor at a wage of 60 centavos
per day.
(c) he himself or one of his family will always be with, his own horse
at the disposal of the master or his representative for whatever service may
be required.
The proprietor on his part provides :
{a) a dwelling house ;
{b) wages of 60 centavos per day for the contract labour and wages
of 1.20 pesos per day to other labourers {voluntarios) who live with the
(i)With regard to the expression contract labourer, it is used in opposition to that of
" free labourer ", applied to one who is not obliged to live on the land.
THE I,AND QUESTION AND COLONISATION I05
inquilino and work for the proprietor. These voluntarios may be members
of the inquilino' s family or strangers.
(c) the food of those who work for the owner of the farm, consisting
of ordinary bread made of flour of i lb. weight and lib. of beans cooked
with fat.
(ii) a hectare and half of land suitable for irrigation near the dwell-
ing, which the inquilino may utilise for his own Ijenefit.
{e) a hectare of land also su table for irrigation, in a more distant
part of the farm, for the exclusive use of the inquilino ;
(/) two or three hectares of land not suitable for irrigation, for the
cultivation of cereals, also for the exclusive benefit of the inquilino ;
(g) grazing ground sufficient for 10 or 12 head of cattle, also on
the farm.
The terms of this contract, verbal and var^nng more or less with
local custom, which is the common form throughout the agricultural
region, call for some comment.
Especially is there a contradiction between the inquilino pledging
himself or one of his family to work on his master's farm, and the large
concession of ground he is able to work for his ov\ n advantage. On this
point, let us remember that this is no strict contract, for the master, on
his part, cannot be ver^' exacting in view of the scarcity of agricultural
hands, and so permits the inquilino and his family to work on their own
account. In practice, also, it frequently happens that the inquilino cul-
tivates but a small part of the land granted to him ; he has no desire to
rise and is satisfied with what he gains by his daily labour.
As to the free labourers, they ma^' be, as already said, members or re-
lations of the family of the inquilino or strangers, who agree to live with
him and work for him or for his master. When the free labourers work for
the inquilino the}^ do not, of course, receive payment or food from the master,
but from the inquilino himself.
The contract does not hinder the inauilino from reaping considerable
advantages on his own account, if he is capable, and has a numerous
famity. But, generally, as he has few wants, he is content with a miserable
life and is without enterprise ; so he prefers to inhabit a wretched abode
rather thau repair it or build a better.
In the farm population there is a kind of hierarchy. At the head is
the landlord's agent, who selects from among the better inquilinos mciyor-
domos or foremen, whose duty it is to transmit orders to those below them.
§ 9. Colonisation.
From what has been already said, it is clear that the Chihan agricul-
tural question is closely connected with colonisation. ■ Let us see what has
been done in this important matter.
I. General View. — Agricultural colonisation was one of the. first tasks
which the Chilian government proposed .to undertake as soon as it was
I06 CHILE - MISCEI,I,ANEOUS
emancipated from the Spanish domination. As early as 1817, the Supreme
Director of the first free government, Don Bernardo O' Higgins, encour-
aged immigration from Ireland and Switzerland. In 1845, the first colon-
isation law was promulgated ; in 1848 an immigration agent was sent to
Germany, and towards the middle of 1850 the first German colonists
began to arrive. In the province of Valdivia where these colonists settled,
there was,, so to speak, nothing but the soil ; ten 3'ears later considerable
progress was perceptible; agriculture and livestock improvement were
prospering ; there were farms and a beginning had been made in the
exchange of produce with other countries and the estabUshment of certain
factories. Valdivia is at the present time one of the most industrious and
prosperous (i) of the provinces, and the descendants of the old colonists
live in comfort. Valdivia, I^a Union, Osorno, Puerto Montt are the most
important centres.
Other immigrants arrived later, French, Swiss, Germans and
Basques; by means of whom the government has estabhshed various
colonies, the chief of which are Vittoria, Temuco and Imperial.
A new impulse was given to colonisation when the more fertile terri-
tories inhabited by natives (provinces of Malleco and Cantin) whose mode
of life is truly primitive, were conceded for private enterprise. At present
these two provinces are among the most progressive as regards agricul-
ture, cattle-rearing and wood manufactures.
More recently, contemporaneo sly with the foundation of colonies
on official initiative, others have been established by private enterprise, of
which the chief and the most prosperous is that of " Nueva Italia "
founded by Italians.
In order to attract again to their own country those Chilian subjects
who at various times had emigrated across the Argentine frontier, the
Government decided (1896) to found national colonies, offering grants
of land to Chilians. Thus, in a short time, arose those centres in which,
according to Perez-Canto, there are now 1,000 persons, each possessing
100,000 acres of land.
According to recent pubHcations, the colonising work the State has
undertaken has been as follows: in the provinces of Malleco, Valdivia,
Llanquihue and Chiloc and in the territory of Magellan 437,045 hectares
have been set apart for colonisation ; besides this, in the last three
provinces 2,740,493 hectares were sold for the same purpose and 20,234,000
hectares were granted to private enterprise for pasture lands. In the
colonised districts there are 37 colonial centres, national and foreign.
2. Systems of Colonisation. — (^f these there are two kinds: {a) national,
that is of Chilian subjects ; (b) foreign.
(a) National Colonisation. — This is regulated by the laws of vSeptember
14^., 1896 and January'- 18^., 1898. By these the Government is
permitted to grant to families of Chilian citizens land to the extent
(i) Thi5 province is specially noted for agriculture, tanning and preparing skins, the
manufacture of shoe soles, honey, beer etc.
THE I.AND QUESTION" AND COI.ONISATION I07
o from 50 to 80 hectares, according to the province, to every father of a
family, with 20 hectares in addition for every^ son above the age of twelve.
The grantee must {a) be a Chilian citizen, {b) be the father of a family, (c)
never have been convicted of crime, or misdemeanour and (d) be able to
read and write.
He is bound to observe the following conditions ;
(i) to respect the laws of the colony ;
(2) within two years to enclose the land assigned to him ;
(3) to cultivate personally at least half the land granted;
(4) to keep in good condition at his own expense the roads crossing
his land, and the half of those bounding it ;
(5) to give up at any time, without compensation, ground re-
quired for railways, public roads or bye ways to be constructed by decree of
the authorities ;
(6) not to part with his land nor . to make any contract con-
cerning it till he has a title to it as absolute possessor.
This title may be obtained by the colonist who is proved to have
lived six years on the land, and to have fulfilled all the conditions, otherwise
he loses the grant, nor can he claim compensation for improvements.
(6) Foreign Colonisation. — This is the more energetic and success-
ful method.
The first legislation on the subject was a Senatus-Consultum of April
loth., 1824, offering faciUties and land to every foreigner who should
come to Chile to found establishments for the manufacture of hemp,
flax, or copper or other raw material of the country.
Then came the laws of November i8th., 1845 of Januar>^ 9th., 1851,
of x'\ugust 4th., 1874, January 13th.. 1898 and September ist., 1899.
We must distinguish between the relations existing between the public
administration and voluntary immigrants and those between immigrants
and colonisation agencies, that is direct colonisation and colonisation by
means of agencies.
I. Direct Colonisation. — Between the go\^ernment and the immigrant
agriculturist who desires a grant of land a contract is made on the follow-
ing conditions :
The colonist obtains : (a) that he himself, his family and his luggage
shall be conveyed free of charge from the port where he lands to the colony,
(b) 30 contavos per day for every adult, and 15 centavos for every son or
daughter of his above the age of ten, from the day of his disembarking
till he enters into possession of his land, (c) a grant of 70 hectares, with 30
in addition for every" son above the age of twelve ; an allowance of 20 pe-
sos per month for the first year, and a machine for uprooting tree trunks.
He pledges his word of honour and obHges himself on security of
the goods he brings with him and will be granted :
{a) to estabHsh himself with his family on the land assigned
and to cultivate it for at least six years, during which time he will not
leave the colony without permission from the competent authorities ;
T08 CHILE - MISCELLA>fEOUS
(6) to restore everything advanced to him in money or imple-
ments within five years, paying one fifth of the whole sum each year be-
ginning from the fourth year of residence ;
(c) not to part with implements or utensils which he has received
without replacing them, with the consent of the manager of the colony ;
(d) not to sell or pledge under any form of contract the land en-
trusted to him, before having obtained full possession from the government;
{e) to respect the rules of the colony and the regulations laid
down by the government.
The government gives a title of absolute ownership to a colonist of
whose conduct the manager of the colony gives a favourable report.
As security for the annual pa3-ments to be made by the colonist who has
received full ownership, his land is mortgaged till the debt has been fully
paid. Should he not observe the conditions, the contract is broken and
the government is freed from all responsibility. Should this occur before
the annual payments are made, the colonist must pay all that is due in one
sum, and should he fail to do so the law is invoked.
If before sailing for Chile the colonist or his wife should have been
suffering from any serious or contagious malady, they will be rejected and
the contract becomes void.
For the present no grants will be made either to Chilians or to
foreigners until the situation of certain colonists who have had concessions
and have not yet received their portion of land has been regulated.
2. Colonisation by means of agencies. — This is the system generally
adopted of late. The contract between the Government and the agencies
is not cleatly defined by law. It is merely stated (art. ii of the law of
August 4*^*., 1874) that " to private individuals desiring to found colonies
on their own account on native territory there will be granted 150 hectares
of land in a level or undulating localit>, or twice as much of mountain
land, for every immigrant family from Europe or the United »States, ac-
cording to conditions to be fixed from time to time in the respective
contracts by the President of the Republic. "
Concessions of this kind are founded on special contracts made accord-
ing to circumstances between the agency and the Government.
The Government must grant the land, the agency must bring to Chili
a certain number of families within a given period.
We give here an outline of one of these contracts in order to sho\v the
relation between the Government, the agenc}* and the colonist. All these
contracts are expressed in somewhat similar terms.
For instance, in 1903 Mr. X. Y. obtained a concession of Govern-
ment land, and agreed to settle on it about 30 agricultural famihes within
two years from the date of the contract. Mr X. Y. had to form an agency
to carry out the contract under the supervision of the Inspector General
of Land and Colonisation in Chile.
To Mr. X. Y., for every father of a family introduced by him, the
Government granted 150 hectares and for every boy above two years
of age 75 hectares, as well as the ground necessary to construct a village
THE IvAND QUESTION AND COI,ONISATION lOQ
(pueblo). The colonists had to satisfy the same conditions as to morality,
age and trade as those required from colonists engaged directly in FAirope .
Mr. X. Y. had to pay the expense of the iourney of the colonists
from the port of embarkation to the land granted, and make the ne-
cessary advances for the installation of the colonists on the same scale as
those made by the Government in direct colonisation. He had to gua-
rantee that the colonists introduced by him would remain at least a year
on the land assigned to them. As soon as the new centre of colonisation
should permit, Mr. X. Y. with the concurrence of the Chilian government
had to establish a school and the needful sanitary service.
If ]\Ir. X. Y. did not fulfil his obligations, he was to forfeit the sum of
25,000 pesos given by him as security and the State woiild resume possess-
ion of the land, respecting, however, the rights of the colonists already
introduced.
These are the essential features of the contract between the Govern-
ment and the colonisation agencies.
The agency in its turn makes a contract with each colonist accord-
ing to a given form, assigning to him a piece of land of inferior area
naturally to that he obtains by the concession, because, the land rising in
value by cultivation, that portion not distributed to the colonists consti-
tutes the profit of the agency.
The contract defines precisely the rights and obligations of both
parties, which may be thus indicated ; the Society provides for the colonist,
besides his journey from Europe, everything needful for cultivating his
land and also means of subsistence till the first crops come in ; the colonist
agrees to repay the agency in four annual instalments, the agency accept-
ing a mortgage on the land as security.
In 191T there were 26 concessions to agencies ; for most of these the
time had almost expired without the families having been introduced.
Other agencies had failed, and given up the attempt. Only a few could
say they had succeeded.
In the same year (1911) nine concessions were withdrawn from agen-
cies that had not fulfilled their contracts.
There are various causes for these failures ; many agencies declare
that they were not able to fulfil their contracts as the land was not assigned
to them, that they could not expel the former occupiers etc. Some have
brought actions against the Government and not always unsuccessfully.
In accordance with the above laws, more th an one flourishing colonial
nucleus has been founded; at present (191 1) on land appropriated for the
purpose there are 2,236 famiUes consisting of 12,122 persons occupying
an area of 135,169 hectares. The value of the improvements made is
calculated at 8,797,000 pesos, but this is probably a very low estimate.
The Government now proposes to colonise the territory of Magellan
also dividing it into small holdings. But the work has hardly been
no CHILE - MISCELLANEOUS
commenced and in any case the colony would be rather pastoral than
agricultural. We know that the best land has already been granted to
large agencies (see § 5) ; perhaps when the present contracts have expired,
and the land again becomes the property of the Government, efficacious
measures may be taken.
§ 10. New tendencies of the ac^ricultural policy of Chile.
The various elements of Chilian agriculture have now been discussed
and it remains to be seen what progress has been made, and what are the
present tendencies of agricultural economics.
Considering the composition and character of the great mass of which
the working population is composed, it is clear that agriculture can make no
progress except \vith the aid of the large proprietors, supported by a wise
polic}^ on the part of the State.
Much has already been done by the large proprietors ; it is owing to
their efforts that a large portion of the middle zone has been placed under
intensive cultivation, that new crops, agricultural machinery and to some
extent artificial manures have been introduced (i).
To these changes the State efficiently contributed by the foimd-
ation ini855 of the Mortgage Credit Bank (2), the effect of which was to
secure a considerable capital for agriculture. By the aid of this, many
great farms originally cultivated extensive^ and on primitive methods,
have become model farms yielding large returns.
The Sociedad Nacional de AgricuUiira, of which a certain number of
large landowners are members and which was founded in 1856, has also
contributed largely to agricultural progress. Its object is to diffuse useful
information and especially to purchase agricultural machinery etc. It
has induced the Government to undertake the protection of agriculture,
to arrange the conversion of the ecclesiastical titles into a land tax, and
to abolish the export duties on agricultural produce, substituting for them
import duties.
Thus extensive cultivation now gives better returns, and at the pre-
sent time agriculture and agricultural industries are very prosperous.
The proof of this is the rapidly increasing value of landed property.
But there are signs that the collective action of agriculturists is in-
sufficient, and new necessities urge them to resort for the defence of their
interests to other measures, which have been successful in Europe.
In his essay above mentioned, Seiior Aldunate, Minister of Chili in
Italy, sa^^s.
" Production and trade are subject to monopoly and to the tyranny
of foreign export firms, which purchase the standing crops, taking the
Hon's share in advance, and by means of shipping rings monopohse the
traiisport of the produce to foreign markets. "
It may be added that the agriculturist who receives an advance from
an exporting firm is obliged to sell it all liis crop, the price of which is
(i) Only of late years have artificial manures, especiall}' saltpetre, been used in Chile.
(2) Se^ Bulletin of Economic and Social Intelligence, March, 1913 and March, 1914.
THE LAND QUESTION AND COLONISATION III
fixed at an absurdly low figure, before the current market prices can be
known.
"Now", continues Senor Aldunate, "the remedy to be adopted is
association among our producers and especially co-operation, so efficacious
in other countries.
In Chile, at the present day, association and co-operative organisation
are absolutely necessary for tlie agriculturists who lead isolated lives, in a
dangerous state of ignorance.
An equall}' imperious and inevitable necessity which must on no
account be overlooked is that of introducing land credit and agricultural
insurance, which as 3^et do not exist in Chile.
These ideas have been favourably received in Chile and there is al-
ready in the country a movement in favour of co-operation and agri-
cultural credit on a co-operative basis.
The press has unanimously supported this movement; the National
Society of Agriculture has encouraged meetings and lectures on the
subject ; the " Agricultural Social Week of Santiago " and the District
Agricultural Congress of Concepcion ; both held in 1913, approved the
following resolution by acclamation : " The District Congress of Concep-
cion recommends to the agriculturists of the country the study of agri-
cultural co-operative credit on the Raiffeisen sj^stem, vvdth the object
of introducing it among ourselves, and thus contributing to the progress
of our agriculture, and to the economic and moral elevation of our
peasantry. "
The State on its side seeks to encourage agricultural progress more
especially through technical education and exhibitions of produce and
cattle shows. The Office of Statistics has lately been re-organised, with
a special department for agricultural statistics, which will probably be
of great service.
But the efforts of the State in favour of agriculture cannot be effic-
acious, without the concentration of the various departments under one
uniform management. They are all now independent, an arrangement
not always successful.
As a remedy for these defects, a bill has been drafted for the creation
of a Department of Agriculture, to carry out systematically and continu-
ously the programme of agricultural policy demanded by the new require-
ments of the national agriculture.
FRANCE.
NEW VALUATION OF UNBUIIvT ON LAND.
{Continued.)
PART II.
THE RESULTS OF THE VALUATION.
§ I. GENERAI, RESULTS.
lia. a. c.
According to the estimate, the area of unbuilt ~ "~ "~
on land now subject to the land tax is .... 50,982,393.65.80
From which must be subtracted 338,599.61.18
or areas dependent on buildings to which, in
accordance with the provisions of the law of
December 26th., 1908, no value was assigned,
leaving an area of 50,643,794.04.62
frs.
with a total rental value of 2,084,631,537
and a market price of 62,793,054,323
frs.
The average rental value per ha., for the whole ~
of France was thus 41
and the average market price per ha 1,240
The averages for the departments, of course, vary appreciably. The
highest are found in the Department of Seine, where the conditions are
quite special. Thus, in the following pages, we shall leave the Depart-
ment of Seine out of consideration.
As regards the other departments, the lowest rental value is reported
for Basses- Alpes and Hautes-Alpes (7 fr.) and Corsica (8 fr.).
NEW VAI,UATION OF UNBUII,T ON LAND
113
The rental value is
between
II
21
31
41
51
61
71
81
91
fr. and 20 fr in 5 departments
30 " "20
" " 40" "23
" " 50 " "II
" " 60 " "13
'I '' 70" '/ 4
80 " " I department
90 " "2 departments
" " 100 " "3
Finally, the rental value is 138 fr. in Nord.
The lowest market prices are observed in Hautes-Alpes (198 fr.), Bas-
ses-Alpes (204 fr.), (Corsica 262 fr.) and I^ozere (458 fr.) ; they vary,
750 fr in 12 departments.
reen 501 and
750
751 "
1,000
1,001 "
1,250
1,251 "
1,500
1,501 "
2,000
2,001 "
2,500
2,501 "
3,000
20
17
II
15
4
2
The market price is exceptionally high in Nord, where it is 4,423 fr.
These differences in value are due to the varvdng degree of fertility of the
soil in the various regions and the greater or less faciHties for the sale of
the produce ; they are also largely due to the very different proportions in
which the various types of farm and kinds of holding are found in the dif-
ferent departments. It is especially to this latter cause we must assign
the low averages of Hautes-Alpes, Basses- Alpes, Lozere and, Corsica, where
62 %; 55 %, 51 % and 39 % of the area valued is moorland.
Under these circmnstances, the general averages arrived at, whether
in the case of rental value or market price, can only serve as mere indic-
ations and, in no case, could they give a sure basis for the comparison of the
estimates arrived at in the case of the different departments. A comparison
can only be based on the results obtained for each type of farm.
§ 2. ResuIvTs according to types of holdings.
Before considering the results of the work of valuation from the three-
fold point of view of area, rental value and market price of the various
holdings, we must, in order to understand the following explanations, re-
member that the instructions of December 31st., 1908, with the aim of facil-
114 PRANCE - MISCELI,ANEOUS
itating the operations, grouped the various types of farm under thirteen heads
that is to say :
1st., Arable land,
2nd., Meadows and natural grass, permanent grass and grazing grounds ;
3rd., Orchards and farms for the cultivation of fruit trees and shrubs;
4th. , \'^ineyards ;
5th., Woods, alder plots, mllow plots, osier holts etc. ;
6th. , Moors, commons, heaths, marshes, waste land etc.
7th., Quarries, slate quarries, sandpits, peatmoss bogs, etc. ;
8th., Lakes, pools, ponds, horse-ponds, springs etc., canals not for
navigation and areas in connection with them, brine pits and salt marshes;
9th., Gardens other than pleasure gardens and land used for market gard-
ening, floriculture and ornamental gardening ; nursery gardens etc.
loth.. Yards, depositing sites, building sites, private roads etc.
nth., Pleasure grounds, parks, gardens, sheets of water etc ;
12th., Railways, navigable canals and dependent areas ;
13th., Ground built on and rural buildings, courtyards and dependent
areas etc.
Only the holdings included under the first twelve heads were valued,
as article 2 of the law of December 26th., 1908 provided that no value should
be assigned for the sites of buildings etc., of which the 13th group is en-
tirely composed.
1st., Area. — Among the various types of holdings there are 23,725,083
ha. of arable land alone, nearly half the entire area of the holdings or more
precisely 46.54% ; next in area come the woodlands, 9,716,915 ha. (19.06%);
then, in descending order, moorlands, with 7,205,648 ha. (14.13 %); mead-
ows, 6,912,508 ha. (13.56 %) and vineyards, 1,499,048 ha. (2.94 %).
The respective areas of these five groups of types of farm, comprising
altogether 96.23 % of the total area of the holdings, are necessarily distributed
very differently in the various departments, according to their geological
formation, geographical situation, climate and economic regime. In this
connection we may make the follo\ving observ^ations.
The area of arable land exceeds 400,000 ha. in each of 17 depart-
ments, all to the north of a line from Rochefort to Annecy ; it is for the whole
seventeen 7,815,980 ha. or nearly one third (32,93 %) of the whole area of
arable land.
Woods extend over more than 200,000 ha. in 8 departments, in very dif-
ferent regions; 4 of them in the east, 3 in the south west and i in the south-
east. The wooded area in these eight departments alone is 2,361,893 ha.
or 24.31 % of the total wooded area.
Let us observe that of the total area (9,716,915 ha.) of wooded land,
1,013,051 ha. are Government property. There are Government forests
in aU the departments, except C6tes-du-Nord, Dordogne, Lot, Lot-et-Ga-
ronne, Rhone and Haute- Vienne, and the territory of Belfort, but they are
distributed in very unequal proportions, since Vosges has 56,077 ha. of
Government forest and Loire only 3 ha.
NEW VAI,UATION OF UNBUU^T ON LAND
115
The moors are particularly extensive in the south. To this region in-
deed belong the 9 departments, each of which has more than 200,000 ha.
of moorland, making in all 2,525,904 ha. or 35.05 % of the total moorland
area.
We find the largest areas of meadows, permanent grass and grazing-
grounds in two groups of departments, the first consisting of Manche, Ome
and Calvados, the second of Cantal, Saone-et-Loire and Puy-de-D6me. The
area of the meadows in these departments is 1,384,528 ha., which is 20.03%
©f the total area of the groups.
The departments in which the area cultivated as \dneyard is most consid-
erable also form two groups, one consisting of Herault, Aude, Gard, Pyre-
nees-Orientales and Var, the other of Gironde and Charente-Inferieure. In
these departments there are altogether 691,388 ha. of vineyar.:, 46.13%
of the total area of the land under vines, of w^hich there is none in 8 de-
partments, that is to say ; Calvados, C6tes-du-Nord, Finistere, Manche,
Nord, Ome, Pas-de-Calais and Somme.
2nd., Rental Value. — The 2,084,631,537 fr., which the new valuation
gives as the total rental value, is distributed as follows, among the various
types of holdings :
Types of Eoldings
Rental Value
of
Each Group
Proportion
of the Rental Value
of Each Group
to the Total
Rental Value
of the Holdings
Arable I,and
Meadows, Natural Grass, Permanent Grass and
Grazing Grounds
Woodlands, Alder Plots, Willow-Plots, Osier-
Holts etc
Vineyards
Gardens other than Pleasure Gardens and I^and
used for Market Gardening, Floriculture and
Ornamental Gardening, Nursery Gardens etc. .
Orchards and Farms for the Cultivation of Fruit
Trees and Fruit Bearing Shrubs
Yards, Depositing Sites, Building Sites, Private
Roads etc
Pleasure Grounds, Parks, Gardens, Sheets of
Water etc
Moors, Commons, Heaths, Marshes, Waste lyand etc.
Railways, Navigable Canals and Dependent Areas .
I^kes, Pools, Ponds, Horse-Ponds, Fountains etc.,
Canals not for Navigation and Dependent Areas,
Brine Pits and Salt Mashes
Quarries, Slate Quarries, Sand Pits, Peat Moss
Bogs etc
Total
frs.
%
,089,628,966
52.27
447.648,701
21.47
172,523,221
8.2S
114,610,386
5,50
77,296,868
3-71
45.718,095
2.19
44,661,005
2.14
43.749,408
1. 10
31,212,961
1.50
10,850,520
0.52
6,050,586
680,819
2,084,631,537
0.29
0.03
ii6
FRANCE - MiSCElvIyANEOUS
Yet in order to appreciate the relative value of the unbuilt on land in
the various parts of the coimtry we must consider the average per ha.
assigned to it. We shall consider the results of the work of valuation
from this point of view.
It has seemed advisable, in order that the explanations following may-
be better understood, to divide France into regions, based as far as possible
on the geographical position of the departments, the character and fertility
of the soil, the kind of produce and its value, the principal crops etc.
These regions, eleven in number, consist of the following depart-
ments. (The Department of Seine is not here considered) :
ist region. — Nord, Pas-de-Calais, Somme, Oise, Aisne, Seine-et-Oise ;
2nd region. — Seine-Inferieure, Calvados, Manche, Eure, Eure-et-
I^oire, Ome, Sarthe, Mayenne ;
3rd region — Ille-et-Vilaine, C6tes-du-Nord, Finistere, Morbihan, I^i-
re-Inferieure, Maine- et-Loire ;
4th region. — Vendee, Deux-Sevres, Vienne, Haute- Vierme, Dordogne,
Charente, Charente-Inferieure ;
5th region. — Gironde, lyOt-et-Garonne, I^andes, Basses-Pyrenees, Hau-
tes- Pyrenees, Gers, Tarn-et-Garonne, Tarn, Haute-Garonne, Ariege ;
6th region. — Pyrenees-Orientales, Aude, Herault, Gard, Bouches-du-
Rhone, Var, Alpes-Maritimes, Corsica ;
7th region. — Hautes-Alpes, Basses- Alpes, Vaucluse, Drome, Isere, Sa-
voie, Haute-Savoie Ain, Jura, Doubs ;
8th region. — Haute-Saone, Territory of Belfort, Vosges, Meurthe-
et-Moselle, Meuse, Ardennes, Mame, Aube, Haute-Marne ;
9th region. — Yonne, Cote-d'Or, Saone-et -Loire, Rhone, I^oire, Puy-
de-D6me, Allier, Nievre ;
loth region Cher, Loiret, lyoir-et-Cher, Indre-et-I^oire, Indre ;
nth region. — Creuse, Correze, lyOt, Aveyron, Lozere, Ardeche,
Haute-Loire, Cantal.
The average rental value per ha. for the five principal types of holding
in each region is as follows :
Regions
Rental Value per Hectare
(frs.)
Arable
I,and
Meadows
cte.
Woodland
etc.
Vineyards
Moorland
etc.
ist region
2nd region
3rd region
4th region
5th region
6th region
7th region
8th region
9th region
loth region
iiih region
All the 1 1 regions
78
103
60
90
57
69
38
60
37
55
34
55
49
41
24
55
40
68
36
57
29
47
46
65
28
21
21
14
18
8
14
24
19
18
12
95
56
77
49
66
86
66
118
103
69
59
7
10
13
6
5
2
2
3
6
6
4
18
76
NEW VALUATION OF UNBUILT ON LAND II7
When these averages are compared, we do not find extraordinary differ-
ences. The first region, indeed, shows the highest averages for arable land
and meadows, a consequence of the quite exceptional prosperity it
enjoys, owing to the nature of its soil, its temperate climate, its dense
population and easy means of communication. The averages, while still
high, fall progressively in the second and third regions, both very famous Uve-
stock improvement districts, the soil of which is also very fertile, but which
are at a greater distance from Paris and are less well provided with railways.
The averages for arable land and meadows are lower in the fourth, fifth and
sixth regions ; but the differences in the averages for these regions are not
very appreciable. It will be remarked that the average for arable land is
again higher in the seventh region, which includes the Rhone valley, but
that for the meadows still falls, as in this region they are chiefly mountain
pastures, the revenue from which is smaU. The eighth region has a larger
area of arable land of inferior quality : this is why we find there the minim-
tun average rental value for this type of. farms ; on the other hand, it
has a very large number of good meadows, especially in the valley of the
Meuse, and so the average for meadows rises. The ninth region, con-
sisting partly of mountain land and partly of plains, occupies an intermed-
iate position and in it the averages both for arable land and meadows
are nearly the same as the general averages for the whole of France. Finally,
the average rental values again fall in the 1 enth region, of which a consider-
able part, the plains of Berry and Sologne, is Uttle productive, and they
fall even more in the nth region, composed of departments of compar-
atively small population, where the soil is often sterile, and communication
is difficult.
Ivike that of arable land and meadows and for similar reasons, the aver-
age value of woodlands is very high in the first three regions, whilst it
falls appreciably in the fourth. In the fifth there are many thriving plant-
tations of maritime pines, along the shores of the Bay of Biscay, but, as it
also includes the greater part of the Pyrenees, covered with forests, the
exploitation of which is very difficult and httle remunerative, the average
only rises shghtly. It reaches its minimum in the sixth region, owing
to the fall in value of the principal kinds of trees of the district : ever-
green oak, the bark of which, formerly, used in the tanneries, is now much
less in demand, and chestnut trees, formerly cultivated, because barrel
hoops were made from the wood and now more and more neglected since
iron has been employed for the purpose. But in proportion as we go north
we find the average rising rapidly ; the rise, already very marked in the
seventh region is especially noticeable in the eighth where there are many
fine forests of fohous and resinous trees. Finally, while less important from
the point of view of forestry, the regions of the centre have also fine forests,
with an average value equivalent to the general average for France, in the
ninth and tenth regions, and falling a little below this a\'erage in the
eleventh region, the economic conditions of which, as alread}' shown, are
unfavourable.
Il8 FRANCE - MISCELLANEOUS
There are not many vineyards in the first three regions; in some depart-
ments even there are none at all. The fairly high average value shown
for them in the first region is due in some degree to the additional value given
to holdings by their proximity to Paris. In fact, the value of the vineyards
of the first region is highest in the department of Seine-et-Oise. Another
cause also contributes to this, namely, that, as a rule, where vineyards are
few their products are fairly often consumed in the district itself, where
they are, consequently, in demand, and sold at remunerative prices. In the
second region, where the first of the above causes comes less into play, the
average falls rather considerably. It rises again in the third region, on account
of the \dneyards of Anjou, the wines of which are highly appreciated, and those
of Lower Bretagne producing wines which are esteemed. Vineyards become
more numerous in the fourth region, especially in the Charentes, where Co-
gnac is made: however, the average value is low, wine farms having lost
a great deal of their value since the ravages caused by the phylloxera.
The average rises again in the fitth region, which includes the Bor-
deaux district, renowned for its vineyards, and again in the sixth,
where vines are by far the most important crop. In the seventh region
we find the same conditions as in the first three regions : wine being httle
plentiful there, it is sold at high prices ; in addition, some of the wines of the
region, those of Jura, Rhone and Drome are much appreciated. In the eighth
region, which includes Champagne, and the nuith in which Burgundy is in-
cluded, we find the highest averages, due to the excellence of their wines
and their world wide reputation. While considerably lower, the average
in the tenth region is still fairly high, there being here also some good
vineyards, those of Touraine. for exam.ple. Then it falls again in the eleventh
region, which is of only secondary importance from the point of view of viti-
culture. Moorland, by its nature, as a rule, only gives an inconsiderable re-
turn and consequent] }'■ the valuation of it presents little interest. We
find the highest average rental value of this class of holdings in the second
and third regions, where there are districts of Hvestock improvement, and
the natural produce of the region can be easily utilised for feeding the
animals and as Utter.
3rd. , Market Price. — As we know, the department of Direct Taxation not
only established the rental value or net revenue of xmbuilt on land, it also
ascertained its market price at the same time.
Let us, however, remark that enquiry into the market price was not
ordered by the law of December 31st., 1907, but only enjoined, for statistical
ptirposes, in the Ministerial Instructions of December 31st., 1908. The in-
formation under this head, which has not yet been submitted to the double
check of comparison with the estimate of the relative value and com-
munication to the landowners, is not consequently as reliable as that for
the rental value ; but the information in the papers none the less is of great
interest as evidence.
According to the results of the work of valuation, the market price of
the holdings, amounting to 62, 793, 054, 323 frs., is distributed as follows
among the various types of farm or holdings :
NEW VALUATION OF UNBUILT ON LAND
119
Types of Farm-; or Holdings
Market P ice
of
Each Group
Pioportion
of the Rental Value
of Each Group
to the
Total Rental Value
of the Holdings
frs.
%
32,937.368,427
52.45
12,983,659,261
20.68
6,025,284,203
9.60
3.047.398,802
4.80
2,210,325,159
352
1,386,151,671
2.21
1,224,118,044
1.95
1,213,108,264
1.9
1,143,110,254
1.82
432,687,280
0.69
167,677,117
0.27
22,165,841
0.03
62,793,054,323
100.00
1. Arable Land
2. Meadows, Natural Grass, Permanent Grass and
Grazing Grounds .
3. WootUands, Alder-Plots, Willow Plots, Osier
Holts etc
4. Vineyards
5. Gardens other than Pleasure Gardens and Land
used for Market Gardening, Floricultture and
Ornamental Gardening, Nursery Gardens etc.
6. Pleasure Grounds, Parks, Gardens, Sheets of
Water etc
7. Orchards and Farms for the Cultivation of Fruit
Trees and Fruit Bearing Shrubs
8. Yards, Depositing Sites, BuUding Sites, Private
Roads etc
9. Moors, Commons, Heaths, Marshes, Waste
Land etc
10. Railways, Navigable Canalsand Dependent Areas
11. Lakes, Pools, Ponds, Horse Ponds, Fountains
etc., Canals not for Navigation and Dependent
Areas, Brine Pits and Salt Marshes
12. Quarries, Slate Quarries, Sand Pits, Peat Moss
Bogs etc
Total
It is seen from the above table that the order of the types of farm
is almost the same when they are classified in respect to their total rental
value and when they are classified in respect to their market price.
When the market prices thus established are considered in connection
with the areas, we obtain the following averages per hectare for the five
types of holding occupying the largest areas ;
Arable Land 1,388 fr.
Meadows and Natural Grass, Permanent Grass
and Grazing Ground 1,878 "
Woodland, Alder Plots, Willow Plots, Osier
Holts, etc 620 "
Vineyards 2,033 "
Moorland, Commons, Heaths, Marshes, Waste
lyand etc 159 "
120 FRANCE - MISCEIvLANEOUS
These averages are reached or exceeded :
In the case of Arable Ivand in 36 Departments
In that of Meadows and Natural Grass,
Permanent Grass and Grazing
Ground "30 "
In that of Woodland, Alder Plots, Wil-
low Plots, Osier Holts etc. ..." 41 "
In that of Vineyards "29
In that of Moorland, Commons, Heaths,
Marshes, Waste lyand etc '46
It is in the Department of Nord, in which agriculture, as we have al-
ready had occasion to point out, is especially prosperous, that we find
the highest average market prices per ha., in the case of arable land
(4,332 fr.), of meadows (4,453 fr.), of woodland (2,283 ^r.) and moorland
(890 fr.).
The highest market price per ha. (6,058 fr.) for vineyards is reached in
Marne, where the large Champagne vineyards are.
The following table shows the average rate of interest per ha. for the
whole country as the result of a comparison of the market price and the
rental value :
NEW VAI^UATION OF UNBUII.T ON LAND
121
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122 FRANCE - MISCEU^NEOUS
4th., Statistics of Landowners. — The work of valuation has provided
the occasion and the means for an approximate estimation of the number
of.^landowners. In order to arrive at it, the following course was adopted,
lowed, each commune being taken in turn:
From the number of tax papers 13,440,226
Deduction has been made of the following, either
as they do not correspond with landowners or
correspond \vith those elsewhere considered:
1st. Papers referring to collective holdings .... 583,841
2nd. Multiple papers (that is those for a single land-
owner), (only one being retained) 322,612
3rd. Papers referring to landowners not resident
in the commune under consideration 5,727,454
6,333,907 6,333,907
lycaving a balance of tax papers corresponding with
landowners 6,800,319
Then in order to arrive at the real number of land-
owners, there were added to the above :
1st. the number of joint landowners on the papers for
collective holdings, not taxed separately . . . 396,877
2nd. The landowner? not paying land tax in the com-
mune where they are domiciled 317,726
714,603 714,603
This addition, which was necessary as the corre-
sponding papers had not been counted in the com-
munes where the holdings were situated, raised
the total number of landowners to .... 7,520,922
It seemed desirable to compare the number of landholders arrived at
in this way with the ntunber of tax papers, the number of inhabitants and
households, according to the census of 191 1.
These comparisons give the following averages for the whole of France :
560 landowners per 1,000 tax papers
195 " " 1,000 inhabitants
756 " " 1,000 households.
These averages naturally vary with the region. Thus, the nmnber
of landowners per 1,000 land tax papers is only 364 in Aube, and 399
in Yonne ; it is
between 404 and 500 in 19 departments
501 " 600 "34
601 " 700 "20
701 " 800 "II
and is 857 in Morbihan,
NEW VALUATION OF UNBUILT ON I,AND
123
The number of landowners per 1,000 inhabitants is only 22 in Seine
and 90 in Seine I ferieure.
It is between 103 and 150 in 7 departments
151 " 200 "15
201 " 250 "25
251 " 300 " 23
301 " 350 "9
It rises to 357 in Savoie, 352 in Gers and Haute-Savoie, 357 in Basses-
Alpes, 364 in Ariege and 377 in lyOt.
The number of landowners per 1,000 households is lowest in Seine
(58);
It is between 323 and 500 in 7 departments
501
' 600
601
' 700
" 701
' 800
801
' 900
901
' 1,000
1,001
' 1,250
7
14
10
14
17
12
It rises to 1,282 in I^ot, 1,291 in Lozere, 1,236 in Savoie, 1,364 in Haute-
Savoie and 1,377 i^ Ariege.
§ 3 Comparison of the areas vai^ued in 1908
with those vaivued in 185i and 1879.
I. Classification of Holdings. — As the valuation of 1908, the results
of which have just been given, was preceded by two general valuations in
1851 and 1879, it ^^^ seemed desirable to compare the information obtained
on these three occasions, so as to be able to judge of the changes that have
taken place since 1850 in the character of the farms and the fluctuations
in the value of the ho dings during the peri d.
The various types of farms were divided in to thirteen groups for the
purposes of the valuation in 1908, while they were only divided into seven
groups when the earlier valuations were made. It was therefore indispens-
able to adopt a uniform mode of classifying the holdings before a com-
parison could b * made. With thi , object, the results of the three valu-
tions were classified in six groups as follows :
124 PRANCE - MK
)CELLANEOUS
Groups Formed foi Purposes of Comparison
Group formed for the Valuation of 1908
1. I^and of Superior Quality and I,and
Various by Cultivated
2. Arable lyand and Land Valued in the
Same Way
3. Meadows and Grass I^and
4. Vineyards
5. Woodlands
6. Moorland, Commons, Pastures and other
Uncultivated I,and
(a) Orchards etc.
(6) Gardens, other than Pleasure Gardens etc.
(a) Arable lyand.
(b) Quarries etc.
(c) I,akes etc.
(d) Yards etc.
{e) Pleasure Grounds etc.
(/) Railways etc.
(?) I,and Built on etc.
(«) Meadows etc.
(a) Vineyards.
(a) Woodland belonging to Private Owners
and Incorporated Bodies and not to the
State.
(a) Moors, Commons etc.
2. Comparison of the Total Areas. — The area of the holdings valued in
185 1 was 47, 955, 329 ha., taking into account the loss of territory after the
war of 1870-71. In 1879 the area was 50, 035,159 ha., including the depart-
ment of Corsica not included in the valuation of 185 1, and the departments of
Alpes-Maritimes, Savoie and Haute-Savoie, incorporated with France in
i860 ; in 1908 it was 49,986,743 ha., not including the State forests.
It is observed that the total area valued in 1879, exclusive of the areas
in the four departments mentioned, was 17,245 ha. more than that valued
in 1851. The area valued in 1851 again exceeds that valued in 1908 by
more than 62, 738 ha. Finally, if we compare the areas for the whole of
France in 1879 and 1908, not excluding Corsica, Alpes.-Maritimes and Savoy,
we find a difference of more than 66,416 ha. in favour of the former year.
These differences, not very considerable in themselves, are due to in-
creases and diminutions of the area of holdings, portions becoming sub-
ject to taxation or ceasing to be so; they are also to some extent due to the
incorporation of real estate with the State forest domains, which, while
stni subject to taxation, are not included in the figures compared.
3. Areas of Land of Superior Quality and Land Cultivated in Various
Ways. The results given by the three valuations, as regards these areas,
may be smnmarised as follows (i).
1851 1,337,947 ^•
1879 S ''^^^'^ss "
I 1,310,737 »
o I 1,140,218 »
'^"^ I 1,058,718 >.
(1) As, in the valuation of 1851, Alpes-Maritimes, Corsica, Savoie and Haute-Savoie
were not included, it is only possible to compare the results given by it with those given
NEW VAI^UATION OF UNBUIVr ON LAND 125
As we see, tne areas of this group have decreased as follows, since 1857 *
From 185 1 to 1879 2y,2io ha.
> 1879 .) 1908 258,540 ).
» 1851 » 1908 2yg,22g »
It would be difficult to assign a definite signification to these variations
for they are due, to a considerable degree, to differences of classification for
the three valuations. The ature of the real estate to be included in
the group of land cultivated in various ways not being sufiiciently de-
fined in 185 1 and 1879, holdings were frequently included in this group
which in 1908 were classed in other groups than those of orchards and gard-
ens. However, it may be affirmed that the area of the holdings of this
group has really diminished to an appreciable degree in certain depart-
ments, as, for example in Ardeche and Herault, on account of the reduced
cultivation of olive trees and the abandonment of that of chestnuts ; and in
Aube, Aveyron, Cher, Ivot-et- Garonne, Nievre and Vienne, through the disap-
pearance of hempfields. The most considerable increases are due to the
formation of orchards in Basses-Alpes and Calvados, to the extension of
market gardening in Seine-et-Marne and Seine-et-Oise and the increased
cultivation of early fruit and vegetables, in Vaucluse.
4. Area of Arable Land and Holdings Valued in the Same Way. — The
area of the arable land and holdings valued in the same way, was as foll-
ows at the three dates :
in 1 85 1 25,009,762 hectares
„ 1879 1 ^^''73.657 »
( 25-383,105 »
>. 1908 f 24.508.057 '.
I 23,g8y,i86 »
The area therefore increased between 1851 and 1879, ^^^ being the
result of the prosperous state of agriculture at the time ; it then decreased
between 1879 and 1908. A comparison of the results for 1851 and 1908 also
shows a decrease.
The area of this group decreased successively in 1879 and 1908, in 28
departments and increased both in 1879 ^^^ ^90^ ^^ ^7 others ; in six depart-
ments it decreased in the period 1851-1879, to increase again in the
by the valuations of 1879 and i9o8 on condition that the figures for the above depart-
ments are first subtracted from the results given for the two latter years. Consequently,
we shall show the results for each valuation (limiting our comparison, however, to the
valuations of I879 and 1908) in figures of ordinary type, while we shall show in italics
the figures given by eacli valuation for the whole country, exclusive of Alpes-Mari times,
Corsica, Savoie and Haute-Savoie, and the Increases or diminutions shown by a comparison
of these results, on the one hand, for the period 1851-1879 and, on the other, for the
period 1851-1908.
126 FRANCE - MISCELLANEOUS
period 1879-1908; finally in 32 there was an increase in the period 1851-1879
followed by a decrease between 1879 ^^^ 1908.
Comparing only the figures for the years 185 1 and 1908, we find a
total decrease of 2,061,383 ha. in -,6 departments. This is due in a general
sense to the depopulation of the country districts, the consequent scarcity
of laborurers and the rise in wages which has led to the abandonment of
much poor land, now lying fallow, or to the transformation of cultivated
fields into meadows and forests, according to the region. It may however,
be due to quite other causes; this is especially the case in Gironde, Herault,
and Pyrenees-Orientales, where a portion of the area has been devoted to
viticulture, which is more remunerative.
On the other hand, we find that the area of arable land has increased
since 1851 in 27 departments by 1,038,807 ha. in all. This is, as a rule, the
result of the clearing of moors and woodlands in regions where the railways
constructed facihtate the sale of the produce. It is especially the case in
Bretagne and the departments of the centre, as Indre, Creuse and Vienne. In
some departments, especially in Gers and the Charentes, it is due to the
destruction of vineyards by phylloxera.
The area of arable land has decreased since 1879 ^^ Alpes-Maritimes,
Corsica and Savoy, but only to an appreciable degree in Corsica, where the
continually increasing scarcity of labourers is causing a corresponding neglect
of cultivation.
Finally, leaving out of consideration the above mentioned departments
not included in the valuation of 1851, the diminished area of arable land
is partly balanced by increases, so that altogether today the total area
is only 1,022,576 ha. or 4.09 % less than that shown as the result of the
earlier valuation.
5. Area of Meadows and Grass Land. — The fluctuations in the area of
Meadows and Grass land may be summarised as under :
in 1851 4,603,418 ha.
I 4,998,280 »
" '^79 U.817.603 «
i 6,912,^08 »
1908 >z ^
' 6,679,099 »
As we see, the increase in the area of meadowland, which began be-
fore 1879, has continued since then, and assumed far greater importance.
This increase is due to the cause already mentioned, the depopulation of
the country districts which has led to the conversion into meadow land of
much land formerly cultivated in a manner demanding a large number of
labourers. It is also a consequence of the extension of Uvestock improve-
ment and dairy farming. We must, however, observe that the above caus-
es only partially account for the increase in some departments, especial-
ly Cantal, Loire and Doubs, where the grazing grounds, now rightly
classified with the meadows, were previously grouped with the moors, or
with variously cultivated land.
NEW VALUATION OF UNBUILT ON LAND 127
6. Area of Vineyards. — The area of the vineyards was as follows
at the dates of the three valuations :
in 1851 2,142,811 ha.
\ 2.320,533 »
2.142,811 »
( 1,499,048 »
1,479,038 »
1879 ,
1908 J
Considerable changes in the area of the French vineyards have been
produced by the ravages of the phylloxera, which began a little before 1870
in the South, and then spread to the Bordelais and gradually to all the
vinegrowing regions. Yet viticulture had extended to such a degree before
the appearance of the phylloxera that in 1879 ^^^ SLxea. of the French
vineyards was still 139,486 ha. more than in 1851. The ravages of the phyl-
loxera were greatest after 1879, so that nearly 1,500,000 ha. of former
vineyards had been abandoned in 1892. In spite of numerous new plant-
ations, the present area under vines is still 821,485 ha. less than in 1879 ^^^
663,772 ha. less than in 1851. I/Ct us add that in a certain number of depart-
ments (Aube, Eure, Eure-et-I/oire, Loiret, Haute-Marne, Meurthe-et-Mo-
selle, Meuse, Haute- Vienne etc.), the vine is gradually disappearing, ei-
ther because the nature of the soil and the chmate are unfavourable or
because the small yield from it is not sufficiently remimerative in view
of the considerable rise in wages.
7. Area of Woodland. — Woodland belonging to private individuals
and incorporated bodies, and not to the State, occupied in succession the
following areas :
in 1 851 7,672,757 ha.
« 1879. I ^'3^^'^3i »
i 7,946,263 »
I 8,703,264 »
» 1908 '^ ^' ^
' 8,237,258 »
The total area occupied by forests^ therefore has regularly increased
since 1851.
The increase was continuous in 26 departments and the diminution
was so in 18 ; the increase was limited to the period 1879-1908 in 27 other
departments. Finally, in 12 departments, the increase observed in 1879
was followed by a diminution. The situation has been nearly stationary
since 1879 i^ ^^^ Alpes-Maritimes, Corsica and Savoy, with a slight de-
crease in the first mentioned of these departments, and comparatively unim-
portant increases in the others.
If we take theentire period 1851-1908, we find that the woodland area —
exclusive of the four departments not estimated in 185 1 — has increased by
994,621 ha. in 40 departments and diminished by 430,120 ha. in 43 others.
The increase of woodland holdings is generally due to numerous plant-
ations on land of inferior quality, the cultivation of which has been aban-
128 FRANCE - MISCEIylvANEOUS
doned on account of its increasing cost, or in vineyards destroyed by phyl-
loxera. To these causes is due the increase of woodland in Aube, Cote-
d'Or, Dordogne, Doubs, lyoir-et-Cher, Marne, Haute-Marne, Var, Vaucluse,
Vosges etc. The increase of woodland in Gironde and Ivandes is due to
large plantations of pines along the shore ; it is, however, to be observed that
there has been a slight diminution of the wooded area in Ivandes.
The departments where a diminution has been observed are Allier,
Haute-Garonne, Gers, Isere, Loire-Inferieure, Lot, Nievre, Saone-et-Loire,
where the forests have been cleared to an appreciable degree, and Basses-
Pyrenees, where 30,000 hectares of wood have been destroyed by a crypt-
ogamic disease.
Finally in a few departments, the difference shown is due to certain
wooded holdings not being classified in the same way at the date of the three
valuations. Thus the decreases shown in Hautes-Alpes, Cantal and Correze
are due, in large part, to the fact that, for the earUer valuations, land merely
covered with bushwood or bush in the first of these departments was class-
ified wrongly as woodland, and chestnut woods exploited principally for
the chestnuts, in the two other departments, were similarly wrongly class-
ified. In the same way, the increase in Haute- Vienne is due to the inclusion
in 1908 in the group of woodland of chestnut woods specially grown for
their wood and formerly included in the group of variously cultivated hold-
ings.
gth. ^ygd of Moorland, Commons, Grazing Grounds and other Uncul-
tivated Land.
The area of this group is shown in the following figures :
in 1851 7,188,634 lia,
6,746,800 ')
» 1879 , , .
/ 6,232,569
\ 7,205,648 •.
•' 1908 j'
I 6,451,291
The area of these holdings decreased by 956,065 ha. between 1851 and
1879 ' it then increased by 458,848 ha. between 1879 ^^^ ^9°^ '< finally,
the changes in the period 1851-1908 resulted in a diminution of 737,343 ha.
The moorland area has only shown a constant increase in 10 depart-
ments, in 43 others there were decreases observed in 1879, and then in-
creases in 1908 ; the contrary was observed in 2 departments. Finally,
28 departments show a constantly decreasing area from 1851 to 1908.
The moorland area has decreased since 1879 i^ Alpes-Maritimes, Corsica
and Savoie ; and it has also become less in Haute-Savoie.
The increases and diminutions observed in the moorland areas corre-
spond generally with the diminutions and increases shown for other
kinds of holdings.
In fact it is seen that in the departments where the moorland area has
decreased since 185 1 most considerably, the Breton departments, AUier,
Bouches-du-Rhone, Cher, Gironde, Indre, Landes and Vienne, there has
been a large increase in the area of arable land, meadows and woodland.
NEW VALUATION OF UNBUILT ON LAND
129
On the other hand, in those departments in which there has been the
largest increase in the area of uncultivated land in the last sixty years, in
Hautes-Alpes, Ardeche, Ariege, Dordogne, Drome, lyot and Pyrenees-Orien-
tales, it is due to the depopulation of the country districts, where the in-
creasing cost of labour has led to the desertion of holdings of inferior
quahty, or to the phylloxera, after the devastations of which a large
number of vineyards have been left uncultivated.
In some departments, however, as in Doubs, Mayenne, Marne and
Puy-de Dome, the difference between the results of 185 1 and 1908 is part-
ly due to the classification of some moorland in different classes at each
successive valuation. The same is true in the case of Savoie and Haute-
Savoie. We shall make special mention of Corsica, where since 1879 the
area of uncultivated land has increased almost threefold owing to the
increasing abandonment of agriculture in this department.
§ 4. Comparison of rental value and market price.
ist. Total Rental Value and Market Price of all the Holdings and of Each
Type of Farms. — For the whole of France the successive valuations in 185 1,
1879 and 1908 were as follows :
Date of Valuation
Rental Value
Market Price
frs.
1851
1879
1908
1,824,186,249
2,645,505,565
2,056,949,814
61,189,030,452
91,583,966,075
61,757,233,533
As we said when dealing with the areas, the results of the valuation
of 185 1 do not include information concerning the departments of Alpes-
Maritimes, Corsica, Savoie and Haute-Savoie. • It is, therefore, necessary
when comparing these results with those of the later valuations, to leave
these four departments out of consideration. The following table, in which
the rental values and market prices are given for the three dates in question,
has been drawn up with due regard to this point.
130
FRANCE - MISCELLANEOUS
Results of the Valuation
of 1851
of 1879
Land of Superior Quality and Land Cul- |
tivated in Various Ways 1
Arable Land and Land Valued in the *
■Same Way !
Meadows and Grass Land J
Vineyards I
Wood Land |
Moorland, Commons, Pastures and Other |
Uncultivated Land (
Total . .
frs.
108,586,414
108,586,414
1,049,577,511
1,049,577.511
334,237,816
334.237'8i6
145,401,087
145,401,087
153.073,660
153.073,^60
33.309.761
33.309.761
1,824,186,249
1,824, 186, 24g
frs.
145,517.431
135,031,344
1,485,097.569
i,46o,g74,662
483,159,306
474,966,026
301,545,815
295,^92,5^6
188,910,406
184,279,269
41,275,038
39,231,788
2,645,505,565
2,588.375,635
Land of Superior Quality and Land Cul-
tivated in Various Ways
3,767,231,984
3,767,231,984
Arable Land and Land Valued in the 1 36,704,707,970
Same Way 36,704.707,970
Meadows and Grass Land
Vineyards .
Woodland .
10,427,581,043
10,427,581,043
4-357.171.278
4,357.171.278
4,824,283,068
4,824,283,068
M<Jorland, Commons, Pastures and Other j 1,108,055,109
Uncultivated Land ' 1,108,055,109
Total
61,189,030,452
61,189,030,452
4,730,271,762
4A37.399.293
57,514,810,648
56,708,554,641
14.799,518,127
14,540,124,618
6,887,902,398
6,720,252,751
6,256,930,960
6,110,814,0:36
1,394.532,180
1,330,956,366
91.583.966,075
89,848,101,805
frs.
1. Rente
123,014,963
116,696,593
1,195,621,304
1,173,823.1^7
447,648,702
440,880,902
114,610,386
112,818,617
144,841,498
140,763,639
31,212,961
29,799,880
2,056,949,814
2,014,782,75s
2. Mark
3.434.443.203
3,279,264,642
36,159,158,60c
35,478,048,521
12,983,659,261
12,738,769,995
3,047,398,802
2,997,369,98<,
4,989,463,413
4,823,152,22^
1,143,110,25^
1,081,554,1x1
61,757.233.53:
60,398,159,48'
NEW VALUATION OF UNBUILT ON LAND
131
Differences in the Results
Between 1851 and 1879
Between 1879 and 1908
Between 1851 and 1908
Increase
Decrease
Increase
Decrease
Inciease
Decrease
frs.
its.
frs.
frs.
frs.
frs.
Values.
26,444,930
))
-'
22,502,468
8,110,179
))
411,397,151
»
/I
»
»
289,476,265
n
124,245,616
»
140,728,210
»
»
»
11
35,510,604
106,643,086
"
i4S,4yi,459
»
186,935,429
»
»
32,582,470
31,205,609
"
44,068,908
))
12,340,021
5,922,027
»
»
10,062,077
u
»
3,509,881
1)
7d4,j.u9,386
')
»
5^8,555,751
»
n
238,998,881
48,402,372
Increase : 190,596,509
Prices.
1 „
670,167,309
»
»
»
1,295,828,559
>
))
487,967,342
20,003,846,671
11
1)
21,355.652,048
»
1,226,659,449
»
4,112,543,575
»
»
>1
1,815,858,866
»
2,311,188,952
' 2,363,081,473
1)
»
3,840,503,596
»
11
1,359,801,289
»
1,286,531,068
»
11
" 1,267,467,547
»
1,130,844
222,901,257
))
! 251,421,926
1
1)
26,500,998
»
25,659,077,555
»
»
29,826,732,542
»
>>
2,311,188,952
»
3,102,039,922
Decrease: 790,870,970
132 FRANCE - MISCELLANEOUS
This table shows that in 1879 the rental values and market prices had
considerably increased in the whole country and in igo8 they had fallen
almost to the figures for 1851. These variations were due to the general
causes already considered : a period of prosperity before 1879, and then
an agricultural crisis due to rural exodus and still continuing,
The fall in value of land since 1879 has been proportionally greater in respect
to market price than to rental value. The same is seen on a direct
comparison of the results of the valuations in 1851 and 1908, which reveals
a rise in rental value and a fall in market price. This is due to important
changes which have taken place in agriculture, the introduction of the cul-
tivation of cattle foods and industrial crops, the increase in the number
of markets, the multiplication of the means of communication and the em-
ployment of chemical manures etc, which have had the effect of raising
the rates of lease. The market prices have not benefited to the same de-
gree by these favourable conditions, for unbuilt on land is far less in demand
to day than fifty or sixty years ago. In the middle of the last century,
interest was sacrificed in the desire to purchase or increase a holding and
the possession of the smallest parcel was ardently contendedf or by many aspir-
ants. Nowadays, on the contrary, people are indisposed to immobilise
capital in investments in land, and so hinder its easy reaHsation. At the invit-
ation of the various credit estabUshments, they invest it in personal secur-
ities, which offer many advantages : extreme fluidity under the simplest
and least burdensome conditions, easy collection of interest etc. Hence
landed property has a markedly inferior position and its market price has
of course fallen.
If the total results of 1908 to an appreciable extent agree with those for
1851, they are not equally distributed as regards the various groups. The
chief reason for this is that changes have taken place in the area of each group.
Thus, in respect to meadow land, the area of which has increased, there has
been a parallel increase in the rental value and market price on those shown in
1851. In the same way, in the case of vineyards and moorlands, a de-
crease in value corresponds with a loss of area. On the other hand, woo'dlands,
the area of which has, however, considerably increased since 185 1, show an
appreciable decrease in market price and even more in rental value.
The groups of areas of superior quahty and various cultivation and
of arable land show an increase in rental value and a decrease in market
price. However, it is to be remarked that these groups could not be con-
stituted exactly as in 185 1 and that also the figures in the second group
do not admit of fair comparison as the sites of buildings and areas depend-
ent on buildings were valued in 185 1 and not in 1908.
2nd. Rental Value and Market Price per hectare. — The total rental val-
ues and market prices per type of farms, as shown in 1851, 1879 ^^^ 1908
present differences not only due to economic causes, but much more to
changes in the constitution of the various groups. An examination of
them, therefore will not enable us to form an idea of the fluctuations in
value of land in the period contemplated, and to arrive at this we must com-
NEW VAIvUATION OF UXBUIIvT ON LAND 1 33
pare the average rental value and market price per ha., according to each
valuation. These averages were as follows:
^_^^ Valuation of
1851 1879 ifo8
frs. frs. frs.
Average Rental Value per h.; 38 53 41
Average Market Price per ha 1,276 1,830 1,244
Let us now consider the particular situation of the six types of farms
compared :
(a) Land of Superior Quality and Land Variously Cultivated. — -The aver-
age rental value and market price per ha. for this type of farms varied as
follows, between 1851 and 1908:
Average Rental Value per ha
Average Market Price per ha
Valuation
of
1851 1879
1908
frs. frs.
frs.
81 104
108
2,815 3,382
3.013
The averages for rental value show a constant increase. In 1908,
indeed, there were only included in this group gardens cultivated for profit
and orchards, while in previous years, under the head of areas variously
cultivated there were included pastures, pools, marshes, peat moss bogs,
lagoons etc, of much less value. Under these circumstances, the comparison
can only have a limited value. We shall therefore confine ourselves to point-
ing out that, in a general way, the portion of the area of this group consist-
ing of gardens has really gained in value in the environs of the towns.
By way of exception, in some departments there has been a decrease in
value due to special causes : the want of opportunities for easy and immed-
iate sale and depopulation (Corsica and Basses- Alpes) , the disease of the
olive trees (Bouches du-Rhone), the sericicultural crisis (Gard) etc.
The market price does not always vary in the same way as the rental
value. The chief reason of this is that there is a much greater demand
for the lease of gardens in the neighbourhood of towns than for the purchase
of them and consequently an increased rental value does not necessarily
entail a correspondingly increased market price.
(b) Arable Land and Areas Valued in the Same Way. — The average val-
ue per hectare of arable land was in turn as follows :
1851
frs.
Rental Value per hectare 42
Market Price per hectare 1,479
We have already explained with regard to the total rental values and
market prices that the considerable rise observ^ed in 1879 "^^^ followed
by a fall. This is again seen in the results shown for arable land, the value
utation of
1879
1 90S
frs.
frs.
57
49
2,197
1,496
134 FRANCE - MISCELLANEOUS
of whicli best indicates the price of farms. In fact, there were increases in
rental value in all the departments except 3, and in market price in all
except 9 ; and the diminutions in these cases were trifling. Between 1879
and 1908, there was an almost general decrease, since there were only 20
departments in which the rental value showed a rise and only 14 in which
the market price had risen.
The averages are in many cases higher than in 185 1, above all the aver-
ages for the rental value. It is incontestable, in fact, that, in spite of
the increasing cost of labour, arable land has become, in many regions, more
remunerative within the last sixty years, owing to improved methods of
cultivation, the use of agricultural machinery and chemical manure, the
formation of artifical meadows, increased means of transport etc.
The effects of the above causes in the way of increasing values have been
especially evident in the West and Centre of France and in the Basses-
Pyrenees. The extended cultivation of industrial crops in Nord and the digg-
ing of important irrigating canals in Bouches-du- Rhone have also led to a
similar increase in rental value and market price in these departments since
185 1. I<et us also mention the important increase in average value in Al-
pes-Maritimes, since 1879, due to the extensive cultivation of flowers.
But these increases are not due only to the causes just enumerated ; they
have been influenced by the fact that this group of areas includes yards,
building lots and pleasure grounds, which were previously valued in the
same way as arable land, but, in 1908, their real value, which is far higher,
was assigned to them. This has more especial reference to departments in
which there are large towns or large industrial centres, like Nord and Rhone or
important health resorts or watering places, like Alpes-Maritimes and Var.
Together with the increases on the figures for 185 1 of which we have
just spoken, we find decreases in a certain number of departments, either
because in them the rural exodus was more marked than elsewere, or the
methods of farming were still antiquated, or the natural poverty of the soil
made it very difficult for the farmer to meet the increasing cost of cultiv-
ation or face the rise in wages. Sometimes the diminution is due to purely
local causes, for example the sugar crisis in Aisne and the utilisation of
the best arable land for the more remunerative cultivation of vineyards in
Herault.
Altogether the decreases in rental value are comparativelj'^ unimport-
ant; if the decreases in market price are more appreciable it is due to the
reasons of general character already given.
(c) Meadows and Grass Land. — As is seen in the following table, the
average value of meadows and grass land, that showed a considerable rise
in 1879, ^^'^ fallen again in 1908 below the value reported in 1851.
Average Rental Value per ha.
Average Market Price » »
Valuation of
1851 1879
1508
frs. frs.
frs.
73 97
65
2,256 2,961
1,878
NEW VALUATION OF UNBUILT ON LAND I35
The above variations may at the first glance, cause surprise in view of
the considerable extension of livestock improvement in recent years,
which has led, as we have seen, to a considerable increase in the area of this
group. It is, however explicable.
In fact the increasing scarcity and cost of labour and the increas-
ing consumption of butchers' meat induced the farmers to give their
attention to Hvestock improvement, and, consequently, to increase the area
of meadows and grass land. Of course for this purpose they chose in pre-
ference either areas of small value, particularly difficult to plough, or moor-
land, which has led to a lowering of the average values, as the meadows
thus formed were most usually of inferior quality. Another reason is
that in 1908 in the group of meadows large areas of grazing ground were
included, which at the date of the previous valuations, had been wrongly
classed as moorland, or in the group of areas variously cultivated. Else-
where the value of the natural meadows has diminished very appreciably
owing to the competition of the continually increasing number of artificial
meadows which have the advantage of giving a greater yield per ha. and
being formed in the most suitable places. It is easy to understand that,
under these conditions, the averages are even lower than in 185 1 when the
group was formed almost exclusively of excellent natural meadows.
(d) Vineyards. — The average value of the vineyards for the whole
of France was, as follows:
Valuation af
1851 1679 1908
frs. frs. frs.
.\verage Rental Value per ha 69 130 76
.\verage Market Price » •>.... 2,067 2,968 2,033
The high values in 1879 were due to that year having been preceded
by a series of good seasons, both as regards the quality and quantity of
the produce and to the extension of the railway system which in itself
assured a ready sale. There were only 5 departments that showed
a decrease in the average rental value, and 12 showing a decrease in the aver-
age market price, and the decrease was only considerable in Charente, where
the phylloxera made its appearance in 1873, and where at the date of the
valuation only 13,226 ha. out of 100,000 ha, had been spared, and the vine-
yards were in consequence only estimated at the value of the bare soil,
A comparison of the figures for 1908 with those for 1879 leads to just
the contrary results ; the decrease has been general, except in Charente,
where the reconstitution of the vineyards has led to a rise in the averages,
and in a few other departments, where there have been insignificant increases
in value (of the rental value in 6, and of the market price in 8 departments) . It
is, in fact, more especially since 1879 ^bat the phylloxera has made its rav-
ages. It is true that, in many parts of the country, the vineyards have been
formed again, but the new vines planted have generally not given a wine to
compare with that of the old French vines. Other diseases have also made
136 FRANCE - MISCEIXA>re;OUS
their appearance in the vineyards (Blackrot, mildew, oidium etc), and when
they do not kill the plants, they reduce the quantity or deteriorate the
quality of the wine and in every case call for treatment constituting^ very
heavy charge. On the other hand, the increasing cost of labour is quite
especially felt by the wine farmers as their farms have constant need of
labourers and the employment of agricultural machinery is nearly imposs-
ible. Finally, in the years immediately preceding the last valuation, the
value of the vineyards had been very considerably reduced, first on account
of the low prices for wine, and then of bad harvests. These various cir-
cumstances, of which account had to be taken for the valuation of 1908,
explain the fall in the average value of the vineyards; they have afiected the
market price more than the rental value, owing to the uncertain life of this
kind of farm and its irregular yield.
In spite of this, the average rental value of the group was still in 1908
higher than in 185 1 and the market price was almost the same as before.
(e) Woodland belonging to Private Owners and to Incorporated Bodies and
not to the State. — The average value of wooded holdings, which had risen
slightly in 1879, fell in 1908 to a Uttle below what it was in 185 1, as the
following table shows :
Valuation of
I85I
1879
1908
frs.
frs.
frs.
20
23
17
Average Rental Value per ha
" Market Price " " 624 745 573
Like the other kinds of holdings, the woodlands showed in 1879 an in-
crease of value due to the vogue enjoyed by landed property at that date
and to the new facilities of transport provided by the building of numerous
railways. This increase of value was observed in all departments, except
for unimportant decreases of rental value in 12 and of market price in ii.
Since 1879, the crisis affecting landed property in general has not
spared the wooded land. To tell the truth, it has affected the forests,
above all the resinous forests, only slightly.
But the copsewoods have suffered considerably. Their produce, which
finds competitors in coal , and gas both for industrial purposes and home
use, has depreciated considerably, above all in the coal mining districts ;
again, the use of the bark in tanneries has been gradually substit-
uted by that of chemical preparations. The revenue from the copse-
woods has therefore fallen off and the reduction of the profits co-inciding with
the rise in wages, the revenue in some cases has been reduced to almost no-
thing. This explains why, in spite of the still considerable value of the
forests, the average values for woodland had declined considerably in 1908.
We must, further, add that the new plantations, very numerous within the
last few years, for which poor soil was largely utilised, (moor land, abandoned
vineyards and arable land etc.), have generally only given copsewood of
inferior quaHty, the low value of which contributes still further to reduce
the averages.
NEW VALUATION OF UNBUILT ON LAND I37
These considerations also explain the decreases in values for the period
1879-1908, in the departments generally; only 7 of them showing an
increased rental value and 15 an increased market price. The only in-
creases of any importance are observed in Gironde and Landes where the
plantations along the sea coast are very thriving, in Jura and above all
in Vosges, where there are numerous very fine resinous forests.
(f) Moorland, Commons or Grazing Grounds and Other Uncultivated Land.
The average rental values and market prices of this group were as foll-
ows at each valuation :
Valuation of
1851 1879 19C8
frs. frs. frs.
Average Rcnial Value p^r lia .; 6 ^
Market Price " " 155 207 150
The average values of this group are but of secondary importance,
as they only concern holdings the yield of which is in any case very small.
For the rest, the variations necessarily of small importance, are less the re-
sult of economic conditions capable of affecting the rate of lease of unbuilt
on holdings, than of the character of the land included in the group at each
valuation. This remark is confirmed by an examination of the situation of the
departments in which the averages have altered most: thus, in 1908, there
are high averages shown for Deux-Sevres and Manche, because commons
of a certain size, previously grouped with the meadows, have now been in-
cluded in the moorland group, and for Meurthe-et-MoseUe, because there
have now been included in the group land on which there are deposits of
slag of comparatively high value. On the other hand, the exclusion in
1908 of grazing grounds, formerly counted as moorland, from this group,
has caused the averages in Calvados, Doubs, Kure, Nievre, Oise, Saone-et-
Loire and Seine-Inferieure to be lowered. However, in some departments in
which there are valuable moors especially in Bretagne, the variations in
the rates of lease explain the variations in the averages for this kind of
holding.
The new valuation of unbuilt on land of which we have just given
an account has been a work of quite exceptional importance. This great
Government undertaking will not have been carried out in vain and, in the
various data collected in the course of the enquiry, ParUament will find all
the elements on which to base the land reform which, reducing the burdens
on rural land, will realise the legitimate aspirations of the agricultural
population.
ITALY.
THE ORGANIZATION OF A COMMUNAL DOMAIN IN SICILY.
THE BOSCO SANTO PIETRO OF CAETAGIRONE.
The importance of the communal domains of the South of Italy are well
known, and on the organization and economic value of one of them, the Bosco
Santo Pietro of Caltagirone, we are in a position to furnish the following
information, reproduced from the report of the technical manager of this
domain, Dr. Gaspare B arietta.
There is no aim constantly pursued in the management of communal
forests; abuses are committed by the managers and the population, the neigh-
bouring landowners make encroachments, the forests are subdivided, public
customary rights are enforced ; and the state of these forests is generally
bad and, in most cases, the yield from them is rather small. The condition
of the public forest of Santo Pietro is somewhat of an exception. It is worth
pointing out, especially as important works for the regulation and im-
provement of the forest are now in course and researches are being made
in regard to the proper utiUsation of the produce.
This forest, which belongs to the Commune of Caltagirone, was a part of
the ancient Barony of Fetanasimo, that the Norman King, Roger II, be-
stowed on the inhabitants of Caltagirone in 1143, as a reward for their
valour and loyalty. By decree of July 20th., 191 1, the prefect of Catania
declared the former fief a domain of the Commune of Caltagirone and
ordered that 1,300 hectares should be divided in lots and distributed among
the poorer inhabitants of the commune.
At that date a work of organization and improvement of the portion left
undivided was commenced. This portion covers an area of 3,330 has. and
consists principally of a forest of cork trees, the largest and most product-
ive in Italy.
First of all the forest was divided into eight parts and each of these sub-
divided into eight parcels. So there are 64 parcels, separated by fire belts
10 metres in breadth, or by roads or water courses.
This division makes it possible to prevent the spread of fires, and it has
also served and still serves to make it easier to take stock of the trees, to
arrange for the cuttings to be made, the improvements to be carried
out, and the cultivation to be proceded with, as well as to simplify the
work of supervision.
THE ORGANIZATION OF A COMMUNAL DO.\LUN IX SICILY I39
The municipal council and its executive committee have the manage-
ment of the forest, under the chief supervision of the Department of Agri-
culture, Industry and Commerce.
There is, further, a special commission occupying itself with the state
and conditions of the forest. It gives its opinion on aU matters connected
theremth. It is composed of the Mayor of Caltagirone, who is its president,
and four members, two of them appointed by the Communal Council and
one by the prefect; the fourth, also nominated, is the director of the local
Royal Practical School of Agriculture.
The forest staff consists of a technical manager, 8 communal forest
guards, 4 plantation guards and 6 workmen in charge of the fire belt. They
are lodged in barracks with large rooms for dormitories, an oilmill,
a room for the Red Cross men engaged in fighting malaria, a rural school
for the children of the staff etc. The improvements carried out in connec-
tion with direct cultivation, under the guidance of the technical manager,
have also necessited the building of many metayers' houses for workmen, the
regulation of the streams etc. The problem of roads stiU remains to be solved.
At present there are only two : a provincial road crossing the whole forest
with a length of 14 kms. and another of only 5 kms. A third wiU shortly
be made, but others still will be required to facilitate the transport of the
produce, which is sold at auction.
In order definitely to decide what system is to be applied to the forest
the commune has instructed the technical management to draft a plan for
the purpose to serve as a basis for the operations in connection with it.
This plan will consist of two parts, the first of which refers to utihsation
and the other to improvements. We shall deal with them briefly.
(a) Utilisation — The San Pietro domain is a wood yielding utilisable
agricultural forestry produce, such as cork, olives, pasture, timber and
underwood.
The chief product is cork. Up to the present it has been stripped every
seven years. In future the period will be extended to eight years, and the
bark will be removed every 3^ear from the trees in one of the eight divisions.
Thus there will be constant production, to the advantage of the industry
of the town.
A regular inventory has been taken of the cork oaks and they have
been distinguished according to their diameters and vitality, while ac-
count was taken of their estimated production. There are about 100,000.
The cork is sold on the trees, in lots of entire parcels of the forest,
with very severe rules as regards the precautions to be taken in order
not to injure the trees.
Next, it must be remembered that there are also olive trees, about
50,000 in number.
Grazing is a considerable source of revenue. And, in fact, the climate
of the district is mild and the herds like to come down from the mountain
to the forest to pass the severest months of winter there with their livestock.
They pay 5.50 francs a month per head of horned cattle or per horse and
60 centimes per goat or sheep and i fr. per pig. About April the dry period
140 ITALY - l^IISCELLANEOUS
generally commences and then the cattle return to the mountains in search
of fresher and more luxuriant meadows.
In order to improve the pastures, from time to time, areas are
ploughed and sown, above all where the wood is thinnest and where
reafforestation has already been begun.
Underwood is also abundant. It provides excellent fuel. It is divided
into two classes : the first, consisting of the underwood of the divisions
remote from the town, is sold every four j^ears; the other satisfies the
needs of the public, the inhabitants exercising their right to it in virtue of
the jus legnandi (right of cutting wood) . The public customary rights are
also subject to special regulations intended to secure the forest from de-
struction.
The right to cut firewood is in fact only allowed in the case of bushes,
never in that of trees, and it is limited to special districts, established by
the Municipal Bxecutive Council. Contraventions are reported to the maj^or,
who in his turn may denounce them to the legal authorities.
Besides the jus legnandi, the poorer inhabitants have other little facil-
ities for advancing their domestic industries or obtaining the means for
gaining something in their days of unemployment. They utiUse a small
plant, very common in the woods, the dwarf palm, with the leaves of which
they manufacture various articles of use in agriculture and for domestic
purposes : string, baskets, straps, hats, articles of esparto, brooms etc.
The women above all are occupied in this class of work. A woman can
make two baskets a day, which brings in 1.60 frs., or i 14 kg- of thread,
and she can make 90 centimes in that way.
From the dwarf palm, vegetable horse hair can be made which is used
to stuff mattresses. Those exercising customary rights also use the reeds
to make all kinds of baskets.
In addition, they seek for mushrooms and truffles, collect herbs, and
hunt game, which is very abundant in the forest.
As we see, this forest is a source of considerable revenue to the commune
and gives the poorer inhabitants a means of livelihood.
(b) Improvements — In the Bosco Santo Pietro, there are, however, many
areas without trees and many trees of too great age which are gradually
perishing. Thus the managers have decided on reafforesting these areas
and replacing the old trees by young ones.
Reafforestation is above all effected by means of the direct sowing
of acorns. But the ravines and the banks of the streams that run through
the forest are reafforested with Canadian poplars. Between them cork
oaks, acacias, cypresses etc. are planted.
In the work of reafforestation one plant has not been overlooked which
for centuries has grown magnificently in the Bosco San Pietro: the olive, of
which about 50,000 trees have been grafted. Thus a large olive wood has
been formed, destined to become even larger and to produce an enormous
quantity of olives, from which an oil can be derived, which, if suitably
treated, will be an honour to the town producing it.
THE ORGANIZATION OF A COMMUNAI, DOMAIN IN SICILY I4I
On the other hand, such a quantity of oHve trees will provide work for
hundreds of labourers, who will thus be protected against unemployment,
the first cause of emigration.
Other steps taken by the commune are the foundation of nursery
gardens with a view to reafforestation and the sale of forest trees and fruit
trees to private persons.
In Sicily, plantations are very often made with plants from Central and
Southern Italy, and, consequently they very rarely succeed. It has
therefore been decided to make up for this, by means of nurseries, which
will only be extended when the studies in course with regard to the
search for and utilisation of water have been terminated.
The above report concludes : What has been done at San Pietro and
what is still only planned is an encouraging beginning of the improve-
ment a domain.
In fact, while the public customarj^ rights have been preserved, though
regtdated, at the same time a rapid reorganization of the forest and a
better system of exploiting its products have been adopted.
The water collected and led into canals, the olive trees grafted, the cork
oaks more luxuriant, the imposition of suitable regulations, the timber
cut up, the pastures improved, show altogether a large programme already
partly realised and promising good things for the future.
PUBIvICATIOXS OF RECENT DATE REI^ATING
TO AGRICUIvTURAIv ECONOMY.
VARIOUS COUNTRIES.
Unofficial Publication :
Watson (Malcolm) ; The Prevention of Malaria : Its Relationship to Agriculture. In " United
Empire ". December, 1913. No. 12. pp. 950-957. I<ondon.
Text of a Speech delivered at the " Royal Colonial Institute ".
ARGENTINA.
Official Publications :
Amadeo (Tomas) and Vallejo (Carlos) : I,a ensenanza agricola en la Reptiblica Argentina
{Agricultural Education in the Ar'^entine Republic). Publication of the " Direcci6n ge-
neral de Enseiianza agricola, Ministerio de Agricultura ". Buenos Aires, 1913. French y
Cia. 8vo.
CoLONiZACiON oficial. Informe presentado por el delegado del Gobiemo de Entre Rios. Se-
gundo Congreso Nacional del Comercio e Industrias (State Colonisation. Report presented
by the Delegate of the Government of Entre Rios. Second National Congress of Commerce
and Industry). Mendoza, 1913. Parana Artes Graficas.
El Comercio exterior Argentino, 1912 (Argentine Foreign Trade, 1912). Publication of the
" Direccion general de estadistica de la Naci6n ". Buenos Aires, 1912.
l^EY de Tierras, No. 4,167, sus decretos reglamentarios etc. (Land Law, No. 4,167. Ex-
ecutive Decrees etc). Publication of the "Ministerio de Agricultura ". Buenos Aires, 1913.
TaUeres de Publicaciones de la Oficina Meteorol6gica. Argentina.
NoziONi Generali SULLA RepiJbblica ARGENTINA (Italian Translation of the Pamphlet.
" Nociones Generales sobre la Republica Argentina ". (GeneraZ Notes on the Argentine Re-
public). Publication of the " Ministerio de Agricultura ", Buenos Aires 1913. TaUeres de
Publicaciones dc la Oficina Meteorol6gica Argentina.
RiQUEZAS FOREST.^LES Argentinas (Forest Wealth of Ar;entina). Publication of the " Di-
recci6n de Agricultura y Defensa Agricola ". Buenos Aires, 1913.
C0LONIZAC16N AGRfcoLA (Agricultural Colonisation). In " Boletin del Ministerio de Agri-
cultura ". August-September, 1913. No. 2. Buenos-Aires.
Colonisation Bill Presented by the Minister of Agriculture, Seiior A. Mujica. July
28th., 1913.
I,A Propiedad Rural en 1912 (Rural Landed Property in 1912). In " Boletfn del Ministerio
de Agricultura ". August-September, 1913. No. 2. Buenos Aires.
Statistics of Sales of Rural I<and and Mortgage Operations in 1912.
PUBWCATIONS OF RECENT DATE REI.ATING TO AGRICULTURAE ECONOMY I43
IvOS I^•GE^aos azuc^reros en Tucuman, Salta y Jujuy. {Sui^ar Plantations in Tucutnan,
Saltaand Jujuy). In " Boletin del Departamento Nacional del Trabajo ". August ist.,
191 3. Buenos Aires.
lyOS oBRERos EN EI. Chaco AUSTRAL {Labourers in Southern Chaco). In " Boletin del Depar-
tamento Nacional del Trabajo ". August ist., 1913. Buenos Aires.
ORGi^JSriZACl6N Y FXJNCIONES DE LA DIRECCI6n GENERAL DE AGRICULTURA Y DeFENSA AGRI-
COLA (Organisation and Functions of the " Direccion General de Agricultura y Defensa
Agricola "). In " Boletin del Ministerio de Agricultura ". January, 1913. Buenos Aires.
Other Publications :
Hermes (Dr. A.) : Zur Kenntnis der Argent inischen Eandwirtschaft. Heft 29. Berichte iiber
I^andwirtschaft herausgegeben im Reichsamte des Innern {Notes on Argentine Agricul-
ture. No. 29. Information on Agriculture edited by the " Reichsamt des Innern "). Berlin,
191 3. P. Parey. 4to. VIII -J- 311 pp.
IvA ReptJblica Argentina y sus Problemas. {Thz Argentine Republic and its Problems).
Madrid, 1913. Hernando.
Alazraqui (Jose): En pro de la viticultura Argentina. Trabajo presentado al Congreso Forestal
y Frutal de la Provincia de Buenos Aires {Argentine Viticulture. Work Presented to the
Forestry and Fruit Cultivation Congress of the Province of Buenos Aires). In " Boletin
del Ministerio de Agricultura ". February, 191 3. Buenos Aires.
Berges (Pedro) : Transportes maritimos frigorificos. Historia y desarrollo desde 1868 hasta
1913, especialmenle del puento de vista del transporte de las carnes refrigeradas y conge-
ladas argentinas {Ocean Transport in Refrigerating Chambers. History and Development
from 1868 to 1913, especially with regard to the Transport of Frozen and Congealed Argentine
Meat). In " Anales de la Sociedad rural Argentina ". September-October, 1913. Buenos-
Aires.
Die I<age der .Ajigentinischen Gefrierfleisch Industrie. {The Situation of the Frozen
Meat Industry in Argentina). In " Mitteilungen des Deutsch-Argentinischen Central-
verbandes zur Forderung wirtschaftlicher Interessen ". November s.-ith., 1913. No. 8.
pp. 287-301. Berlin.
lyAHiTTE (E) : I<os transportes y la produccion {Transport and Production). In " Boletin del
Ministerio de Agricultura ". February, 1913.
Molinas (Florencio) : Ea immigraci6n en la Argentina {Immigration into Argentina). In " Bo-
letin raensual del Museo Social Argentino ". January-February, 1913. Buenos-Aires.
Preusse-Sperber : Die Fleischindustrie in den Ea-Plata Staaten {The Meat Industry in
the States of La Plata). In " Zeitschrift fiir Agrarpolitik ". January, 1914. Berlin.
AUSTRIA.
Officl-vl Publication :
Alivl\nacco Agrario per l'anno 1914, pubblicato per cura della sezione di Trcnto del Con-
siglio Provinciale d'Agricoltura pel Tirolo {Agricultural Almanac for 1914, published by
the Trent Division of the Provincial Council of Agriculture for Tyrol). Trent, 1913. G. Min-
cer, 8vo.
Other Publicvtions :
Grundhut (Prof. Dr. C. S.) : Die Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung nach osterreichischen
Recht {Limited Liability Societies in the Austrian Law). Second Edition, accompanied
by legal decisions. With Text of the Eaw. Vienna, 1913. Beyers Nachf. 8vo. 165 pp.
144 PUBI^ICATIONS OF RECENT DATE REIvA'riN(T TO AGRICUI,TURAI< ECONOV^j
Vital (E.) : Der gegenwartige Stand des landwirtschaftlichcn Unterrichtswesens in Osterrtich
(Present Conditions of A <iricultural Education in Austria). In " Osterreichische Agrar-
zeitung ". January 24th., 1914. Vienna.
BEIvGIUM.
Unofficial Publications :
BouCHE (Beuoit) : I/es ouvriers agricoles en Belgique (Ai^ricultural Labourers in Belgium).
Paris, 1913. M. Riviere et Cie. 8vo. VIII + 265 pp.
De Vuyst (P.) : General Manager of Agriculture : Woman's Place in Rural Economy. Trans-
lation by Nora Hunter. I^ondon, 1913. Blackie and Son. 151 pp.
Bayart (Pierre) : I^a nature du contrat du travail {The Nature of Labour Contract). In " Revue
sociale catholique ". February, 1914. No. 4. lyouvain.
BovY (Collard) : I^'alimentation en lait des grands centres populeux : dans quelles mesure de-
pend-eUe des conditiones economiques et sociales ? (How Far does the Consumption of
Milk as an Article of Diet in the Lar^e Centres of Population depend on the Economic and
Social Conditions?). In "Industrie laiti^re beige". February 6th., 1914. No. 3. Verviers.
Gregoire (Ach) : I^es constructions rurales (Rural Buildings). In "R6vue economique
intemationale ". December i5th.-2otli., 1913. No. 3. Burssels.
I,A Flandres des origines k 1815 ; etude retrospective publiee sous la direction de M. I,.
Beckers (Flanders from the Earliest Tunies io 1815. A Retrospective Study edited by M.
L. Beckers). Brussels, 1913. Rossignol and Van den Bril.
BRAZII,.
Official Publications :
Decreta No 10,105. Approva o novo Regulamento de Terras Devolutas da Uniao
(Decree No. 10,105, sanctioning the New Rer,ulation of Land Ceded by the Federation). In
" Boletim da Superintendencia da Defesa da Borracha ". July 31st., 1913. No. 4. pp. 159-
165. Rio de Janeiro.
Other Publications :
Almanak Agricola Braziliero (Almanak A. B.). (Brazilian Agricultural Almanac). Third
Year, 1914. S. Paolo, 1914. A Barbiellini, 8vo. 320 pp .
I^edent (Armand) : ly'organisation agricole au Bresil, avec un avant propos de Aff. Bandeira
de Mello (Agricultural Organization in Brazil, with Preface by Aff; Bandeira de Mello).
Antwerp. 1913. I^aporte et Dosse, 4to. 136 pp.
Costa (Alfonso) : Immigragao no Brazil (Immigration into Brazil). In " Fazendeiro ". Sep-
tember, 1913. No. 9. pp. 298-304. S. Paolo.
Rangoni (Filippo) : I nuovi orizzonti della colonizzazione al Brasile (New Horizons of ColofV'
isation in Brazil). In "Italia e Brasile ". 1913. No. 10. Pp. 395-398. Bologna and S«
Paolo.
Regolamento per il servizio di Colonizzazione dello stato di Rio Janeiro (Re?,ulations
for the Service of Colonisation of the State of Rio Janeiro). In " Italia e Brasile ". 1913.
No. 10. Pp. 406 and 407. Bologna and S. Paolo.
JISUCATIONS OF RECENT DATE REI^ATING TO AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY I45
CHINA.
Ofpicl'vl Publications :
The Rr&tforestation Question in China (In Chinese). In " Nung-lin Kung-pao " {Journal
cf the Agricultural and Forestry Department). July 15th., 1913. Peking.
Restriping of Cultivated Land {In Chinese). In " Nung-lin Kung-pao" July 15th. and
August 15th., 1913. Peking.
DENMARK.
Unofficial Publications :
Landbrugets OrdboG {Dictionary of Agriculture). 97. Haefte. Copenhagen (No Date). 4to.
Aaret 1913. III. Ver Landbrugsudforsel ( year 1913. III. Our Export of Agricultural Pro-
duce). In Borsen. January 4th., 1914. No. 3. Copenhagen.
Appel (Axel) : Huysdyrbruget i 1913 {Livestock Improvement in 1913). In " Maelkeritidende ",
Januarj^ 23rd., 1914. No. 3. Pp. 33-54. Odense.
Forelobig Oversigt over den Danske LANDBRUGSUDF0RSEL I 1913 {Preliminary Glance
at the Export of Agricultural Produce from Denmark in 1913). In '" Statistiske Efterret-
ninger ". January, 1914. No. i. Copenhagen.
FORTOGNELSE OVER ON DEL SKRIFTER DER BEHANDLER DET DANSKE LANDRUGS HISTORTE {Llst
of Publications in connection with the History of Danish A sericulture) In " Ugeskrift for
Landmaend ", February 5th., 191 4. No i. Copenhagen.
Hertel (H.) : Landbrugct {Agriculture). In "Tidsskrift for Landokonomie ". January,
1914. No. I. Copenhagen.
Udenlandske Arbejdere I Danmark I SoMMEREN 1913 {Foreign Labour eis in Denmark in
1913). Iv "Statistiske Efterretninger ". December, 1913. No. 12. Copenhagen.
Ved Aarskiftet. {At the End of the Year). In " Ugeskrift for Landmaend ". January 9th.,
191 4. No. 2. Copenhagen.
FRANCE.
Official Public.\tion :
Recueil de Documents sur la Pr±voyance sociale reunis par le Ministdre du Travail et
de la Prevoyance sociale. Habitations k bon marche et encouragements k la petite pro
pri6te. Notices et legislation {Collection of Documents on Social Thrift, Made by the Minister
of Labour amd Social Thrift : Cheap Dwelling Houses and Encouragements for Small
Farmers. Notes and Legslatiion). Paris, 1913. Berger-Levrault and Cie. 8vo. 195 pp.
Other Publications :
Beaufreton (M.) : Les ecoles m<^nag^res ambulantcs en France et k I'etrangcr {Itinerant
Schools for Farmwomen in France and Abroad). No. 302. Action populaire. S6rie sociale.
Rhe'ms (No date). i6mo. 31 pp.
Martin (Germain : Professor of Economics at the Dijon School of Law) : Le tissagc du ruban
k domicile dans les campagnes de Velay {Household Weaving of Ribbons in the Country
Districts of Velay). Paris, 1913. Librairie de la Soci6t6 du Recueil Sirej'. lamo.
146 PUBLICATIONS OF RECENT DATE RELATING TO AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY
SouCHON (A.) : La crise de la main-d'oeuvre agricole en France (The Crisis in the Rural Labour
Market in France). Paris, 1914. A. Rousseau, 8vo. 552 pp.
DuMONT (A.) : Les travailleurs agricoles en Bourbonnais (Field Labourers in Bourbonnais).
In "Revue Socialiste ". November 15th., 1913. Paris.
GuYOT (Yves) : L'Evaluation de la propriete non bStie en France (Valuation of Unbuilt on
Land in France). In " Journal des Economistes ". December 15th., 191 3. Paris.
Leroy Beaulieu (Pierre) : Les resultats de la nouvelle evaluation des proprietes non b§ties
{The Results of the New Valuation of Unbuilt on Land). In " Economiste Fran?ais "
November 29th., 1913 and following numbers. Paris.
Olphe-Gaillard (G.) : Les industries rurales k domicile dans la Normandie Orientale (Rural
Household Industries in East Normandy). In "Science Sociale ". December, 1913. Paris.
RiCARD (J. H.) : Les lois sur la petite propriete et I'agriculture (Laws on Small Holdings and
Agriculture). In "Revue politique et parlementaire ", Januaiy loth., 1914. Paris.
Roux (Paul) : La main d'ceuvre agricole (Agricultural Labourers). In " Science Sociale ".
November, 191 3. Paris.
ZoLLA (Daniel) : La refection du cadastre (Reconstitution of the Cadastre). In " Vie agricole
et rurale ". October 25th., 1913. Paris.
AI^FREDO RUGGERI, gerente responsabile.
(c) Publications of the Bureau of Agricultural Intelligence and Plant Diseases.
1 . ly'ORGANISATION ACTtJELLE DU SERVICE DE PROTECTION CON'TRE LE3 MALA-
DIES DES PLANTES ET LES INSECTES NOISIBLES DANS LES DIVERS PAYS.
.'The Present Organization of the Sei vices for the Control of Plant Diseases
and Insect Pests in the Different Countries). (1914, 350 pages, 4to) . . Frs. 4.00
2. Production et consommation des Engrais Chijuqwes dans le monde
(Production and Consumption of Chemical Manures in the World). (1913,
134 pages, 4 diagrams. 2 maps, i6mo) 3 — •
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1. ly'ACIIVITE DE L'INSTITUT INTERNATIONAL D'AGRICULTURE DANS LE Do-
MAINE DE LA COOPERATION, DE L' ASSURANCE ET DU Cr6DIT AGRICOLES.
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Agricultural Co-operation, Insurance and Credit). (In French, German
and Italian). (1912, 24 pages, lomo) Frs. 0.50
2. Monographs on Agricultural Co-oPERArioN in Various Countries.
Vol. I. (1911, 451 pages, i6mo). (In English and French) ,, 3.50
Do. Vol. II. (In English and French). In preparation
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quelques pays. (The Organization of the Statistics of Agricultural Co-
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the General Assemblies of 1908, 1909, 1911 and 1913). (Four volumes, 4to).
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umes, 4to).
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All subscriptions and remittances for the Institute's publications should be made either
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INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF AGRICULTURE
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MONTHLY BULLETIN
OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL
INTELLIGENCE *
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.\v ::jfii'
41st. volume; 9 « • •
Vtb. YEAR - NUMBER 5
• «»»«« MAY 1914
• « * ♦ romb: printing office of the institute, 1 914 • • • •
CONTENTS
PAFT I : CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
Germany.
Miscellaneous News Page
I. Discussions and Decisions of Agricultural Corporations and Associations, page i.
— 2. Constitution of the Societ}' for the Encouragement of the Ciiltivation and
Utilisation of Potatoes, page 6. — 3. Constitution of a Prussian Federation of
Farmwomen's Associations, page 8. — 4. News Items, page 9.
Bei^gium.
New Official Statistics of the Agricultural Associations in Belgium . . Page
§ I. Agricultural Professional Unions, page 12. — § 2. Societies for the Pur-
chase of Seeds, Manure, Cattle Foods and Agricultural Machinery, page 16. —
§ 3. Societies. -for Sale of Milk, Manufacture and Sale of Butter and Cheese,
page 17. — § 4. lyand Credit Societies, page 17.
British India.
Co-operative Credit IN India in igii-1912 (To fteconimMed) Page 19
I. - General Progress of Agricultural Co-operation : § i. Co-operative Credit Soci-
eties from 1904 to 1912, page 19. — § 2. The "Co-operative Societies Act, 1912",
page 23. — II. - Rural Societies in 1911-1912. page 25. — § i. General Progress,
page 26. — § 2. Sources of Capital, page 32. — § 3. The I^oans Granted, page 34.
IV CONTENTS
iTAI^y.
•MISCELLANKOUS NEWS Page 37
I. Rural Banks and Agricultural Co-operative Credit Societies of Collective Title
in Italy at the End of 1913, page 37. — 2. Some Statistics of the Catholic Co-
operative Federations, page 38. — 3. Federazione delle cooperative e mutue
agrarie della vSardegna, page 41. — 4. Work of the "Federazione italiana dei
consorzi agrari ", page 42. — 5. The Development of the " Federazione delle
cooperative di credito" of Girgenti, page 42. — 6. Enquiry into the Statistics
of the Co-operative Movement in Italy, page 43. — 7. Prize Competitions among
the National Agricultural Co-operative Purchase Societies and the Societies of
Manufacturers of Citrus Produce and the Traders in the same, page 43.
Bibliography.
Publications of Recent Date Relating to Agricultural Co-operation and Asso-
ciation Page 45
PART II : INSURANCE AND THRIFT.
Argentina.
An Enqxhry into the Mutual System and the New Bill on Mutual Aid Soci-
eties Page 49
Denmark.
I^atest Results OF the lyAw ON Agricultural Accident Insurance .... Page 52
§ I. Compulsory and Voluntary Insurance, page 52. — § 2. Distribution of Accid-
ents according to their Seriousness, page 53. — § 3. Classification of Accidents
according to the Age of the Victims and the Causes, page 55.
BlBI^IOGRAPHY.
Publications of Recent Date Relating to Insurance and Thrift .... Page 6i
CONTENTS
PART III : CREDIT.
Austria.
The Austrian Postal Savings Bank Page 65
§ I. Organization, page 65. — § 2. Work, page 74.
United States.
The Work of the Commissions appointed to Investigate Agricultural Credit and
Co-operation in European Countries Page 80
§ I. The Origin of the Commissions, page 80. — § 2. Methods of Work of the Com-
missions, page 81. — §3. Information and Evidence Collected in Europe, page 83.
— § 4. The United States Commissions Report on I^and Mortgage Credit, page 85.
BlBUOGRARHY,
Publications of Recent Date Relating to agricultural Credit Page 90
PART IV : MISCELLANEOUS.
Belgium.
Rural Exodus in Belgium, by M. Robert Ulens, Waremme Page 95
§ I. Forms Assimied by Rural Exodus in Belgium, page 96. — § 2. Causes and Ef-
fects of the Rural Exodus, page 99. — § 3. The Remedies, page 102.
Japan.
The Recent I,and Tax Reforms page 105
Mexico.
The I,and Question in Mexico and the Proposals of the National Agricultural
Commission (7"o 6e fon/tHMc^), Page 109
§ 1. Some Remarks on the Geographical and Economic Conditions of Mexico, page
lie. — § 2. Agricultural Production, page 115.
VI CONTENTS
ROUMANIA.
Tge lyAKD Reform and its Results up to the Present Pane
§ I. The Agricultural Situation Previous to 1907, page 120. — § 2. The I^and Re-
forms of 1907, pag. 125. — § 3. The Results of the Reform up to the Present,
page 130.
Bibliography.
Publications OF Recent Date Relating TO agricultural Economy .... Pa^e 135
Part 1: Co-operation and Association
GERMANY;
MISCELLANEOUS NEWS.
I. — Discussions and decisions of agricui^turai, corporations
AND associations. — Every year in the month of February large
meetings of the chief agricultural associations are held in Berlin to discuss
the most important poHtical and economic questions connected with
agriculture in Germany, and to report the latest progress in agricultural
technique. People from all parts of the Empire crowd to these meetings in
such numbers as to give the capital quite a characteristic appearance.
The first important meeting this year was that of the " Royal Prussian
College of Rural Economy" {Koniglich Preussisches Landes-Okonomie-Kollc-
giuni) held from the 5th. to the 7th. February, immediately following the
34th. Conference of the '' Presidents of the Chambers of Agriculture in
Prussia" {Vorstdnde der Preussischen Landwirtschaftskammern) , held on the
jjth. February. Next came, from the loth. to the 13th. February, the 42nd.
plenary assembly of the '' German Council of Agriculture " {Deutscher
Landwirtschaftsrat) .
These important official meetings of German agriculturists, were
followed from the i6th. to the 21st. February by the so called Great
Agricultural Week, when other meetings more or less numerously at-
tended and of varied character, were held in large nvimbers. Among the
many associations that during this week gave their members the opport-
unity of expressing their collective views in regard to the general questions
of German agriculture, the principal were the "League of Agriculturists "
[Bund der Landwirte) , which, held two large meetings simultaneously onFeb-
ruc-ry i6th. to discuss the political situation, the " Association for Fiscal and
Economic Reforms " ( Vereinigung derSteuer- und Wirtschaftsre former) , which
GERMANY - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
expressed its opinions on general important problems of economic, financial
and social politics, the " German Agricultural Society " {Deutsche Land-
wirtschafts-Gesellschaft) , which, in its plenary meetings, and also in many
meetings of its various sections, took into consideration questions respect-
ing the technique of rural holdings ; and, finally, the " German Association
for the Welfare of Rural Districts " [DeutscherVerein fur Idndliche Wohlfahrts-
und Heimatpflege) , which, under the presidency of Dr. Thiel, has materially
improved the general condition of the agricultural population, and is seeking
more especially to check the disastrous exodus from the country. Some of
the associations and institutions recently organised show how widely
difiused among German agriculturists is the desire to reach a solution of
the problems that interest them by means of co-operation and union.
Among these, special mention must be made of the " Second Congress of
Women Engaged in Agricultural I^abour ' ' {Zweiter Landfrauentag) , promoted
by the " Evangelical Union for Young Women " {Evangelischer Verhand
zur Pflege der weihlichen Jugend) , held under the presidency of H. E. the
Countess of Schwerin-Ivowitz. The chief object of this association is
to promote the technical instruction and the moral and religious progress
of young women li\dng in the country. The most important event of the
whole Agricultural Week was the constitution of the "Society for the En-
couragement of the Cultivation and Utilization of VotoXoes" {Gesellscha ft zur
Forderung des Baues und der wirtschaftlich zweckmdssigen Verwendung der
Karto-ffeln) , of which we shall give further particulars later on.
Let us now consider in detail some important discussions and de-
cisions on economic and social subjects :
(a) The Work and the Publications of the International Institide of
Agriculture. — As after the general assembly' of the International Institute
of Agriculture in 191 1, again this year, after the general assembly of
1913, the " German Council of Agriculture " (Deutscher Landwirtschaftsrat)
expressed its approbation of the '\^•ork of the Institute and passed the
following resolution:
" The German Council of Agriculture desires to express its satisfaction
with the prosperous development and extension of the work done by the
International Institute of Agriculture in Rome. The Council desires
especially to call the attention of the agricultural representative bodies
to the publications of the Institute, the " IVIonthly Bulletin of Economic
and Social Intelligence" and the "Monthly Bulletin of Agricultural In-
telligence and Plant Diseases ", which for the last year have been published
also in German, and both of which contain a very large amount of inter-
esting information. The Council hopes that the representative bodies will,
by securing a sufficient number of subscribers, faciHtate the continuance
of the German edition. "
(b) The Question of Temporary Employment of Foreign Labour. —
Among the'^'many questions discussed in the various meetings, one of the
most important was that of the employment of foreign labour in agri-
culture. The " German Council of Agriculture " {Deutscher Landwirt-
MISCEI^IvANEOUS NEWS
scha/tsrat) gave the subject of the gradual diminution of the emplojmient
of foreign labour the first place on its agenda for the loth. February.
The necessity for German agriculture to have recourse to foreign
labourers, to the number in late years of 400,000, must be especially attrib-
uted, according to Prof. Gerlach (Konigsberg), to the great need of labourers
at a fixed season for the cultivation of beetroot, and to the excessive
emigration from the country to cities and manufacturing districts. There
is, besides, as Baron von Thiingen pointed out, a reason we must be very
grateful for, that is, the immense increase of agricultural production.
The fact that German agriculture must, in default of native labour,
become dependent on foreign aid is a much more serious cause for anxiety
than the mere exodus from the country. It is necessary to take measures
calculated to render foreign labour gradually superfluous. Prof. Gerlach
and Baron von Thiingen especialty recommended that an increase in the rural
population should be encouraged through the raising of the standard of
living and the improvement of the economic conditions of the peasantry.
With the unanimous approval of the meeting, they maintained the
necessity of arresting the decrease in the birth rate in agricultural districts,
and also of restricting the liberty of the young to emigrate, of proceeding
to a division of landed property in accordance with the requirements of
agriculture in the different districts and providing for the welfare of the
peasantry in the widest sense of the word ; they also pointed out the need
for collecting information requisite for a scientific study of the subject
of agricultural labour and the economic condition of peasants and small
proprietors.
Prof. Gerlach maintained that, in order to improve the condition
of the peasants, it is of great importance to keep in mind the intimate
connection between the general interests of agriculture and those of rural
labourers ; to secru'e their admission into social and co-operative agricultural
institutions wherever this may be found to further their interests ; to pro-
vide amusement and instruction for young people by m^eans of lessons on
the local conditions, popular libraries, public entertainments and clubs
and finally to increase considerably the number of small and very small
rural holdings, because home colonisation as hitherto conducted,
although it has succeeded in creating peasant holdings, is not sufficient
by itself. In districts where there is no land to be let or sold on which
agricultural labourers can be established, the German Council of Agri-
culture recommends that, according to the example set by Mecklenburg,
land should be granted to the commune, which should in its turn let it for
a small rent to labourers. At the same time, care should be taken that
healthy dwelhngs be erected, and corporations in public law should
encourage such building by grants of credit.
Another method suggested by the Council of Agriculture of diminish-
ing the necessity for foreign labour is the use of machinery in agriculture,
(c) How to Obtain the Necessary Means for Building Workmen's Houses
in the Country. — With the previous subject the efforts directed to
the improvement of dwellings in the country are closely connected. An
GERMANY - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
effectual method of checking the exodus from the country and inducing
labourers to settle there permanently is to promote the erection of healthy
dwellings in accordance with modern requirements. Building, of which the
supply in cities exceeds the demand, is still urgently needed in many
rural districts. The "Royal Prussian College of Rural Economy" {Koniglich
Preussisches Landes-Okonomie-KoUegiiim) which placed on its agenda the
subject of the promotion of the construction of workmen's houses, occupied
itself, in the session of February 5th., especially with the question of hov\-
to raise the funds for this purpose. This is the most difficult point,
because, on account of the great local differences, the present organisation
of credit is not sufficient to supply capital for the purpose. The most
important bodies supplying credit have hitherto been the provincial instit-
utions of insurance against disablement and old age {Landesversich-
rungsanstalten) . But of the 213,000,000 marks hitherto devoted by them
to the construction of workmen's houses, only 17,000,000 marks ha\'e
been spent in country' districts.
The Preussischcs-Landes-Okonomie-Kollegmm, after a long and lively
discussion, decided to request the Department of Agriculture to appoint
a commission to ascertain the possibility of raising larger sums for the
construction of agricultural labourers' houses wherever they may be
necessary.
(d) Sick Nurses for the Country. — Urban centres are often generall}-
much better provided than country districts with assistance in case of
illness or accidents. A country doctor in a thinty populated district has
such a large tract of country under his care that his assistance often
comes late. The evil might be obviated by the appointment of properly in-
structed nurses to assist and complete the work of the doctor. Several
associations have taken up the subject, more especially the '' German
Association for the Welfare of Rural Districts " {Deutscher Vercin fur
Idndliche Wohlfahrts- und Heimatpflege), which is endeavouring to organise
regular rural assistance for the sick. In the plenary meeting of this asso-
ciation held on February 19th., the work done by the provincial section
of Silesia was especially described, as it might be taken as a model for
similar work in other provinces. In Silesia, instruction was given in the
public hospitals to many women and girls of all ranks, and their sub-
sequent work proved excellent. The course of instruction, lasting eight weeks,
was free. Half the expense, which was altogether between 120 and 180 mks.
was borne by the Provincial Institute for Disablement and Old Age Insur-
ance. The Chamber of Agriculture and other associations also contributed.
(e) The Condition of Women Field-Workers. ■ — After examination of
the condition of women workers in cities, the Permanent Committee
for the Defence of the Interests of Working Women {Stdndiger Ausschuss
zur Forderung der Arbeiterinnen- Inter essen) has also undertaken an enquiry'
into the mode of life of women field-workers in order to ascertain why women
and girls emigrate into cities, whether field work is adapted to them,
and if it can even be made agreeable by means of suitable reforms.
This enquiry is not yet concluded, but the results hitherto attained were
MISCEl,I,ANEOUS NEWS
thoroughly discussed in the '' Third German Conference for the Protection
of Working Women " [Dyitte Deutsche Konferenz zur Fdnierung der Arhei-
terinnen-Inteyessen) held in Berlin on the 19th. February.
In Prof. Auhagen's report of the results of the enquiry, the question
of rural labour is stated to be a question chiefly affecting women. The
female population in many places is actuated by a strong repugnance to
agricultural labour, and an eager desire for a city life. Even girls who are
active and fond of work are not attracted by the prospect of attaining,
after a period of rough and continuous labour as wives of labourers
or small cultivators, a better financial position than they could expect
in the towns, so much as by the comparative facility of keeping house
in a city. And the aversion felt by women for the conditions of life
and labour in the country is often the cause of the men's abandoning
agriculture.
Among other means of checking the exodus from the country, Prof.
Auhagen says that one of the most effectual is the settling of peasants
on small holdings of their own. But in many places this is difiicult, either
because the price of land is too high, or because the peasants, once settled,
generally try to increase their holdings by purchasing or renting land so
as to form small independant estates.
It is therefore better to form holdings to be let to peasants, but
whether there is a possibilit}^ of finding men to occupy these must depend on
the solution of the question of women's labour. The consequence of an excess-
ive occupation of women in farm work will be to drive away many men,
and it is therefore desirable that the work of women and children
should be confined to their own land. To enable the wife of a labourer to
take care of her house and her children as well as to work in the fields, the
latter should be as near as possible to the dwelling. It is generally easier
to find tenants who will pay a high rent for land thus situated than such
as will take distant farms at a lower rent.
To retain or attract those peasant families, who, from want of means
or for other reasons, do not seek to possess farms of their own. Prof. Auhagen
recommends an increase in the number of houses to be let in the countr^^
He also suggests that the work done by women for wages might be made
more acceptable through other forms of payment. This applies also to
temporary labourers, who deserve to be encouraged, when they are chiefly
the children and relatives of the labouring man.
Home colonisation in the true sense, that is, the formation of villages
through the division of great estates, though not sufficient in itself to soh'e
the question of agricultural labour, may centainly have a favourable
influence in the future on the condition of labourers on large rural holdings
still undivided.
In many places, for social and political reasons, a desire has been
expressed that restrictions should be placed on the work of young girls
in factories. A measure of this kind, the Professor points out, would
contribute to retain women for agriculture at an age when the future course
of their lives is often decided.
GERMANY - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
Prof. Auhagen was followed by Fraulein Gertrud Dyhrenfurth v:ho
spoke of the influence of economic and social conditions on the lives of
women in the country. She distinguished many forms of labour, the chief
of which are paid field-work, and the work of domestic ser\^ants {Batiern-
mdgde) in the houses of farmers. Such servants generally belong to the
families of labouring men, but the daughters of small proprietors also go
into service either for the sake of wages, or to be trained under strangers.
The standard of liAdng is generally satisfactory, but girls often long
for the city because of a dislike to certain kinds of agricultural labour,
and because life in a city offers more attractions, and more chances of
marrying.
Fraulein Dyhrenfurth said that in general farm work was suitable for
women, offering them physical health as w^ell as wholesome moral surround-
ings, and at present a good prospect of earning money. To check emigration
from the fields she recommended a series of agricultural reforms through
which young women in the country might receive a better spiritual, moral
and technical education, more amusement and the possibility of rising
both socially and economically. The married woman should receive protec-
tion and help as a mother, with time and preparation for the care of a
family, and the possibility of working successfully some small business
of her own. With this end in view, the following conditions should
be realised: (i) Regular hours for the work of girls, and compulsory
attendance at a technical school: (2) Restriction of the paid work of married
women in the interest of their own farms : (3) Facilitation of the purchase
of property {Heimstdtten) and construction of small houses with land
for letting ; (4) Systematic organisation of benevolent institutions, care
and vigilance on the part of w^omen over their houses ; (5) Institution
of protection for mothers by means of sickness insurance societies, and
the organisation of a system of nursing at home ; (6) Constitution of
societies of housewives connected with societies of domestic servants (regis-
try offices and arbitration commissions, half the members to be employers
and half of them employees etc.) ; (7) The representation of women's
interests in all agricultural corporations.
*
2. — Constitution of the society for the encouragement of
THE CUIvTiVATlON AND UTII^ISATION OF POTATOES [Gesellschaft ZUr
Forderung des Baues und der wirtschaftlich zi&eckmdssigefL Verwendung
der Kartoffeln). — Agreements for regulating production and sale, so
frequent in manufacturing enterprises, are seldom entered into by agricul-
turists, chiefly because the amount of agricultural produce is dependent
on natural causes and not alone on human will; also because the large
number of farms does not favour understandings among prodvicers. At-
tempts made in this direction are worthy therefore of careful consider-
ation, especially when their aim reaches beyond the particular advant-
MISCEIvLANEOUS NEWS
age of any one branch of production, and also, as in the case of the
society above mentioned, benefits the whole social economy of a country.
The potato is one of the most important products of German agri-
culture. The eastern provinces, from their light soil, are particularly
adapted for the cultivation of this tuber. But the production is increasing
in excess of the quantity'' consumed, being, in the last decade, on an average,
5^0,000,000 quintals per year, and in 1913 exceeding that amount.
The average quantity per inhabitant was 5.75 quintals per year for 1888-92,
and rose to 7.25 qviintals in 1902-7 and to beyond 8.25 quintals in 1913.
As potatoes cannot be long kept in good condition, scarcely even until the
next crop, it follows that the farmers cannot profit much from their
abundant crops ; and thus regularly in autumn, they offer them at low
prices, fearing loss in holding them over, and then in summer there are
not enough potatoes as food for cattle.
The new society, founded on 20th. February, at the plenary meet-
ing of the "Association of Spirit Manufacturers in Germany" {Verein
der Spiritusjabrikanten in Deutscliland), wished to change this state of
things by promoting the artificial preservation of a part of the crop, and
its use as food for fattening livestock. As the consumption of potatoes
as human food, and in the manufacture of spirit and starch, cannot
increase to a sufficient degree, this seems the only method of escaping
from the danger of over-production and may also lead to a more
abundant cultivation of the plant. The new methods of- preservation
already adopted on a large scale, which the society expects to improve
as well as render less expensive, provide the technical means for attaining
this end. In Germany there are about 440 estabHshments for the des-
siccation of potatoes, which produce about 1,500,000 quintals of des-
siccated potatoes (equal to 6,000,000 quintals of fresh potatoes) but,
by means of the complete utilisation of the machinery in winter, three
times that quantity might be obtained.
The object of the Society is of great importance from the point of view
of general social economics ; it is tending gradually to control the entire
market for potatoes and the manufactured produce, and to regulate the
prices ; the preservation and better utilization of potatoes must bring about
a balance of the various crops and an increase in the production of meat.
Besides all this, the society intends to do its utmost to reduce the cost of
sowing and harvesting, and to increase the average quantity produced per ha.
The chief difiiculty of the society is the uncertainty whether the
majority of the potato-growers can be induced to join its ranks. The
enterprise will be facilitated by the fact that over-production exists chiefly
in the east of Prussia, especially where great estates abourd. In the pro-
vinces of that part (that of Saxony included) there are about 18,000 holdings
of more than 100 hectares each, which produce a total of about
150,000,000 quintals of potatoes. Also the medium sized and small pro-
perties are much interested in the subject, and the way for their union in
the society has been prepared by the wide development of co-operative
institutions.
GERMANY - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
Should the number of members be sufficiently large to inspire
confidence* in the proposed measures, the managing committee will have
the right to fix what proportion of the crop must be preserved, taking
into account the results of the harvest, and the state of the market of cattle
foods. It is calculated that no more than lo % of the quantity produced
will be subject to this compulsory preservation. That the committee may
be able to learn the exact state of the markets, members are to let the
society know the extent of the area they have planted with potatoes, the
3deld they expect, and that actually obtained.
The annual contribution for each mrmber is only lo pf. per
hectaie cultivated with potatoes. If any member, by reason of special
circumstances (for instance facility for sale in the vicinity of great urban
centres), wishes to avoid the obligation of preserving part of his crop^
he must pay a tax of 2 pf. per quintal or 2 marks per hectare. With
the amount of this tax, the society proposes to promote the trade in the
manufactured produce of potatoes.
The fact that this society has for its basis the provincial branches of the
"Association of Spirit Manufacturers " {Verein der Spiritusfabrikanten) , the
most solid of all the agricultural commercial organisations in Germany, is a
proof that the varied conditions of the country will be taken into consider-
ation. But as membeis of this association, besides being agriculturists, had
also to own distilleries, the rules of the new society permit other cultiv-
ators of potatoes to be represented on the presidential committees of the
sections. The general presidential committee is composed of the committees
of the sections, and from among the members of the general committee
the managing committee is elected.
Besides the association with which the idea originated, other members
of the new society are the "Association of Potato-driers in Germany"
{Verein Deutscher Kartoffeltrockner) and the " Association of those Inter-
ested in Starch Making in Germany " {Verein der Star ke-I titer essenten
in Deutschland) and numerous agricultural corporations. Recognising all
the economic and social advantages to be derived from the realisation
of this object of the society, the German Council of Agriculture and the
Prussian College of Rural Economy have expressed their desire that
German agriculturists and their repiesentatives should exert all their
energies in behalf of the society about to be established.
*
* *
3. — Constitution of a Prussian federation of farmwomen's
ASSOCIATIONS {PreussiscJier Landesverband landwirtschaftlicher Hausfrauen-
vereine). — Of late years Farmwomen's Associations have arisen in
increasing numbers, first in the provinces of East Prussia and then
in Schleswig-Holstein. Their aim more especially is to instruct their
members in domestic economy, to engage in the sale of domestic rural
products and to provide, by means of the establishment of shops in cities,
good and fresh food supplies for families in urban centres; in fact to equalise
MISCELLANEOUS NEWS
the advantages of city and country. These institutions are widely diffused ;
chiefly in East Prussia, where there are more than thirty, with a turn
over, in 1911, of 722,000 marks, and in 1912 of 865,000 marks.
The women's associations in the four provinces of East Prussia,
West Prussia, Pomerania and Schleswig-Holstein, have aheady formed
themselves into provincial federations, and in other provinces they will
soon take similar steps.
At an assembly held in Berlin, February 17th., 1914, on the initiative
of the " Prussian Royal College of Rural Economy ", at which there were
present representatives of the four provincial federated societies, and of
those farmwomen's societies of prolan ces in which there are not yet
federations, and also delegates from the Chambers of Agriculture concerned,
it was decided to establish a " Prussian Federation of Farmwomen's
Associations " {Preiissischer Landesverhand landwirtschaftlicher Hausfrauen-
verein) .
By No. 3 of its rules, the Federation proposes to form a central instit-
ution for the work of the provincial federations among the agricultural
housewives' associations, and to act as their representative, especially
in regard to :
1st., Courses for the completion of the education of housewives in
domestic matters.
2nd., Courses of domestic economy for girls.
3rd., Increase in profits from domestic economy and facilitation
of sales of produce.
4th., Supply of fresh food to families in the cities.
5th., Encouragement of fruit growing and horticulture, bee and
poultry keeping, on scientific principles, as well as other branches of domestic
economy.
6th., Struggle against the exodus from the country to cities, main-
tenance of family life among agricultural laboureis, by the creation of
profitable household industries ; the provision of lucrative, independent,
agreeable work for women indoors, or in the cultivation of vegetables
and flowers, and provision that women agricultural labourers may have
opportunities of sharing in the advantages of the Farmwomen's As-
sociations.
4. — News Items. >:=***** Congresses of German co-operative socie-
ties IN 1914. — (a) The 30th. congress (Deutscher Landwirtschaftlicher Genos-
senchaftstag) of the National Federation of German Agricultural Co-operative
Societies {Reichsverhand der deutschen landwirtschaftlichen Genossenschaften)
will be held this year in Breslau from the 6th. to nth. July. — {h) The member's
meeting of the " General Federation of German Co-operative Agricultural
Societies ", Raiffeisen type [Generalverband Idndlicher Genossenschaften fur
Deutschland) and the general meeting of the ' Central Rural Loan Bank
of Germany " {Landwirtschaftliche Zeniral-Darlehnskasse filr Deutschland}
10 GERMANY - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
will be held this year in Berlin from the 3rd. to 5th. June. — (c) The meet-
ing of the " General Federation of Co-operative Societies " of Schuke-
Delitsch type {Allgemeiner Verhand der auf Selhsthilfe beruhenden deutschen
Efwerbs- und Wirtschaftsgenossenschaften) will be held this year at Mainz
from the i8th. to 21st. August.
National federation of German agricui,turai, co-operative
SOCIETIES {Reichsverband der deutschen landwirtschaftlichen Genossen-
schaften) at the end op 1913. — On December 31st., 1913, the National
Federation included 28 subordinate federations, 52 central co-operative
societies and 15,825 co-operative societies, of which 9,400 were loan and
savings banks, 2,276 rural co-operative societies for purchase and salo,
1,899 co-operative dairies, and 2,198 other co-operative societies, with
more than 1,570,000 members. Also united with the National Federation
are two federations in the province of Silesia : the " Provincial Federation
of Agricultural Co-operative Societies in SUesia " {Provinzialverband schle-
sischer landwirtschaftlicher Genossenschaften) and the " Federation of Rural
Co-operative Societies in Silesia " {Verband schlesischer Idndlicher Genos-
senschaften) with a total of 1,378 co-operative societies.
The eaiffeisen organisation at the end of 1913. — The " General
Federation of German Agricultural Co-operative vSocieties" {Generalverband
Idndlicher Genossenschaften in Deutschland) numbered on December
31st., 1913, 5,482 affiUated co-operative societies, that is 4,485 associations
of the RaifEeisen type (loan and savings banks) and 997 other co-operative
societies.
BELGIUM.
NEW OFFICIAIv vSTATISTICS
OF THE AGRICULTURAI. ASSOCIATIONS IN BELGIUM.
SOURCES :
Expose STATiSTiQxm de la situation des associations u'lNTfeRfer agricole pendant l'an-
Ni;E 1911 {Statistics of the Associations of Agricultural Interest for the Year 1911). Depart-
ment of Agriculture and Public Works. Agricultural Division. Brussels, Odry-Mom-
mens, 1913.
Ihe Department of Agriculture and Public Works has recently
published a new statistical return of the agricultural associations, the result
of a special enquiry held in 1912, 'ihe figures are for the end of 1911.
As in previous tables, the societies are divided into five classes,
that is :
ia) Agricultural professional unions (agricultural cornices and
leagues, farmwomen's clubs, beekeepers' societies, poultry improvement
societies, Hvestock improvement syndicates, etc) ;
(i) Societies or syndicates for the purchase of seeds, manure,
cattle foods, and agricultural machinery ;
(c) Societies or syndicates for the sale of milk and manufacture and
sale of butter and cheese (co-operative dairies) ;
[d) lyand credit societies (agricultural counting houses. Raiffeisen
banks, central land credit banks, Schulze-DeUtzsch banks) .
{e) Agricultural insurance societies (for Uvestock insurance and
insurance of agricultural produce).
In this article we shall give the most important figures for the first
four classes of associations, reserving for a future article those relating to
the insurance societies.
12 BELGIUM - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
S I. AGRICUI/rURAI, PROFESSIONAI, UNIONS.
On December 31st., 1911, there were in Belgium 1,978 agricultural
societies and federations recognised in accordance with the law of
March 31st., 1898 on professional unions. They were divided as follows :
3 Agricultural cornices ;
814 " leagues ;
29 Farmwomen's clubs;
253 Horned cattle improvement syndicates;
3 Horse
340 Goat
4 Sheep
14 Unions for the improvement of dogs for draught purposes;
5 Syndicates " " " " "
88 Rabbit improvement societies ;
44 Pig
19 Apiculture societies ;
35 Horticultural "
I Society for the cultivation of trees ;
20 Market gardeners' societies;
I Society for the prevention of the adulteration of butter ;
I Veterinary surgeons' society;
I Winegrowers' society;
154 Poultry improvement societies;
8 Beetroot growers' societies ;
13 Chicory
20 Tobacco "
36 Hop
23 Strawberry "
6 Pea
I Agricultural labourers' society ;
4 Provincial federations of agricultural leagues ;
1 District federation
2 Cantonal federatioas " " "
I Federation of chicory growers ;
I District federation of pea growers ;
I " " of market gardeners' societies ;
I National federation of poultry improvers' unions ;
1 Regional "
2 Provincial federations "
2 District
I District federation of rabbit and poultry improvement syn-
dicates ;
NEW OFFICIAL STATISTICS OF TJIE AGRICUIvTURAI, ASSOCIATIONS 1 3
4 Provincial federations of horned cattle improvement syn-
dicates ;
3 District " " " " "
1 Regional federation
3 Provincial federations of goat improvement syndicates;
7 District " " "
2 Provincial federations of pig
I District federation " "
3 Regional federations of profession hop growers unions' ;
I " federation of strawberry growers' unions.
1,978
IvCt us briefly consider the most characteristic groups of these societies.
I. Agricultural Cornices. — In accordance with the Royal Decree of
October 15th., 18S9, which settles their organisation, the cornices aim at
the advance of agriculture, encouraging it by means of shows, exhibitions
and experimental farms. In 1911, indeed, they organised 90 shows,
awarding altogether 217,973 frs. in prizes.
The principal figures for 1911 for the 167 cornices existing in the
kingdom are summarised in the following table :
TabIvE I. — Situation of the Agricultural Cornices in 1911.
provinces
Number
of Cornices
Number
of Members
Expenditure
Antwerp . . .
Brabant. . . .
West Flanders
East Flandtrs .
Haiiiaut . . .
Ei^ge
Eimbourg . . .
Euxembourg .
Namur . . . .
Total
20
21
13
29
19
15
13
20
17
167
2,932
4,678
2,995
6,064
5.982
5,484
1,563
8,429
2.513
40,640
frs.
30,412
57,818
41,582
58.321
51,382
43,002
19,374
60,871
38,211
400.973
frs,
20,249
46,648
38,656
49,015
23,880
25,722
15.386
54,243
26,054
299,853
These Cornices are united in provincial federations, called Provincial
Agricultural Societies.
2. Agricultural Leagues. — These are the voluntary farmers' unions,
called gildes, formed for the study and defence of agricultural interests
the field of whose action is Hmited to a hamlet or one or more communes.
Almost all are members of some federation, either cantonal, provincial or
14
BEI.GIUM - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
national. The most important of these is the Boerenbond (Peasants' League) ,
with its head quarters at lyouvain, of wldch we have frequently spoken (i).
On December 31st., 1911, there were 1,200 agricultural leagues, of
winch 814 had taken the form of professional unions (2).
The 1,200 leagues had 78,123 members, of whom 42,539 belonged
to recognised unions.
The following table shows the distribution of these leagues according
to provinces:
Tabi,e II. — Distribution of Agricultural Leagues, according to provinces.
Province
lycagues Recognised as
Professional Unions
Number of
I<eagues
Number of
Members
Leagues not Recognised
Number of
I,eagues
Number of
Members
Antwerjj
Brabant
West Fianders
East Flanders
Hainaut
I<i^ge
lyimbourg
I^uxembourg
Namur
Total
84
124
76
32
58
15
281
136
814
582
5.543
10,952
5.302
1,789
2.857
1.378
8,637
5,499
84
29
49
38
27
5
147
7
42.539
386
7.093
4,027
4,078
5,221
1,398
308
13,092
367
35,584
The action of the agricultural leagues is exerted in the field of co-oper-
ation and mutuahty: in fact, in connection with the boerengilde, there is
always a co-operative institution, formed among its members. Generally,
a department is first formed for the collective purchase of necessities, which
often enters into business relations with similar departments of other asso-
ciations, so as to group together several orders for goods. Thus have arisen
the Central Purchase Societies which, on account of the importance of their
business, are able to deal directly with the producers and the large dealers.
Thus the purchase departments of the leagues affiliated to the Louvain
Boerenbond supply themselves from the central counting house (purchase
and sale office) of the Boerenbond, formed v^ith a capital of 217,000 frs. (3).
(i) Sec Bulletin of Economic and Social InteUi'^ence, March, 1912, pp. 63 et scqq. anil Novem-
ber, 1913 pp. 9 et scqq.
(2) See Bulletin of Economic and Social Intelli ;ence, December, 1910, ]). O3.
(3) See Bulletin of Economic and Social Intelligence, November, 1913, p. 12.
NEW OrFlCIAL STATISTICS OF THE AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATIONS 15
Except the Landhouwsyndikaat van Brugge, wtdch. is a profit sharing asso-
ciation, the purchase counting houses instituted by the provincial federations
of leagues are co-operative in form, and do business also with outsiders.
The leagues likewise transact agricultural credit and insurance business,
promote the foundation of livestock improvement syndicates, diffuse the
principles of agricultural science b}^ means of lectures, educational courses
and papers published by their federations, work as technical and legal
advisory offices for members and interest themselves in finding employment
for labourers. On December 31st., I9ii,the leagues recognised as profess-
ional unions had 6,787 labourer members in a total of 42,539.
3. Farmieomen's Clubs. — We have already more than once dealt with
these characteristic institutions which aim at forming good mothers and com-
petent housewives and in which Belgium sees a means of combating the
rural exodus (i). The farrnwomen's clubs carry on their work by means
of circulating libraries, lectures, visits to model farms and agricultural
shows and exhibitions.
On December 31st., 1911 there were 104 with 13,273 members and they
had given in the course of the year 532 lectures, attended by 55,713 persons.
At present there are more than 200 farrnwomen's clubs in Belgium.
4. ApicuUural Societies. — ^.On December 31st., 1911 there were 230 api-
cultural societies, with 7,492 members, that is an average of 33 members
per society. Under the auspices and with the assistance of their federations,
383 agricultural lectures were delivered.
Tha Syndicate Chamber of Apiculture, with head quarters at Brussels,
has as members chiefl)'^ delegates of the apicultural federations and forms
a national committee for the defence of the beekeepers' interests. The pro-
vinces in which there are the largest number of apicultural societies are
those of Brabant (49), Luxembourg (31), Hainaut (30) and L,iege (30).
5. Poultry Improvement Societies. — The 145 poultry improvement so-
cieties existing on December 31st., 1911, had 7,225 members or on an
average about 50 per society. They are specially numerous in Brabant
(45) and Luxembourg (29).
Of these societies 46 are affiliated to the Belgian National Poultry
Improvement Federation ; 21 to the Belgian Ornithological league for the
Protection of Useful Birds and the Propaganda of the Science of Poultry Im-
provement ; 15 make up the National Federation of the Belgian Professional
Poultry Improvement Unions and 33 societies of the district of Brussels are
united in the Poultry Impr vement Federation of the District.
In the work carried out during the year by the National Federation,
let us mention the revision of the standards of Belgian poultry. The various
associations have promoted 267 poultry improvement lectures in S2
localities.
(i) See Bulletin of Economic and Social Intelliccnce, Jlay, 191 1, pp. 43 et seqq. aiul October,
19131 PP- I et seqq.
1 5 BELGIUM - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
6. Horned Cattle Improvement Syndicates. — On December 31st., 191 1,
there were 537 horned cattle improvement societies with 21.972 members,
possessing 71,882 head of livestock registered in the books of the society.
Most of them are found in the Provinces of East Flanders (156), West Flan-
ders (122) and Brabant (146).
For greater unity of action, the syndicates of East Flanders and the pro-
vinces of Antwerp, Limbourg, lyuxembourg, and Namur have united in pro-
vincial federations.
7. Goat, Rabbit and Pig Syndicates. — At the above date, there were 501
goat s^mdicates with 44,259 members, possessing 52,651 goats. The}' are
almost all to be found in Flanders. In the same region there are also
43 rabbit improvement syndicates with 1,213 members. Finally, the pig
improvers have formed 25 syndicates, with 513 members altogether. Most
of them belong to East Flanders and the district of Brussels.
8. Hop Growers' Syndicates. — At the end of 1911, there were 38 of these,
with 1,991 members cultivating 1,248 hectares with hops.
These associations have largely contributed to the improvement of
the cultivation of hops, exerting their action by means of lectures, experi-
mental farm.s, market shows etc.
9. Beetroot Growers' Syndicates. — At the above date, therevycre 152 syndic-
ates, the object of which was to determine the weight and sugar percentage
of the beetroot supphed by members to the manufactories. A certain number
in the province of Hainaut, also contemplate the collective purchase of
seeds.
These 152 syndicates, most of them belonging to the Province of Hainaut
(99), had 4,910 members and the value of the beetroot tested by them in
1911 amounted to 6,624,685 frs.
§ 2. .Societies for the purchase of seeds, manure, cattle foods
AND agricultural MACHINERV.
The statistics for 1911 give 1,260 societies of this kind, amcmgst which,
in addition to the syndicates properly so called formed as co-operative
societies in accordance with the law of May i8th., 1873 on commercial soci-
eties (i), there are also purchase departments in the agricultural cornices
and leagues with which we have already dealt.
The 1,260 organisations reported were distributed as follows in the
various provinces ; IvUxembourg 258, Brabant 178, West Flanders 173,
Namur 166, Limbourg 149, Antwerp 108, Hainaut 107 Liege 63, East Fland-
ers 58.
The number of members was altogether 77,850 and the total pur-
chases made in the year amounted to 20,382,831 frs : as vmder :
(i) In regard to the legal regime of the commercial societies in Belgium, see the article
in the number of this Bulletin for January 1914, pp. 12 et seqq.
NEW OFFICIAL STATISTICS OF THE AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATIONS 1 7
Cattle Foods frs. 12,866,512
Manure . . .
Seeds . . .
Machine ty . .
Other Articles
6,516757
375,755
200,074
423.733
At the end of 1909, there were 1,123 purchase societies and departments,
with 70,218 members, doing a business amounting to 17,944,382 frs.
§ 3. Societies for sale of milk, manufacture and sale
of butter and cheevse.
The number of co-operative dairies in 1911 was 675, of which 559 were
working and had 57,474 members (an average of 103 per society), and pos-
sessed 196,338 cows (an average of 3.4 per member).
The dairies working were distributed as follows: lyimbourg 139,
lyuxembourg 123, Brabant 68, Kast Flanders 63, Antwerp 62, lyiege 44,
West Flanders 32, Hainaut 19, Namur 9. In the course of the year, the
sales were as follows :
Butter frs. 39,213,801
Milk » 280,996
Cheese » 33>953
Other Products » 313,302
Total frs. 39,842,052
that is to say, on an average 71,625 frs. per society and 693 frs. per member.
§ 4. IvAND CREDIT SOCIETIES.
The land credit institutions of Belgium are of two kinds, the Agri-
cultural counting houses and the Raiffeisen rural hanks.
1. Agricultural Counting Houses. — The law of April 15th., 1884 author-
izes the General vSaviugs Bank to invest part of its funds in loans to farmers
through these cotmting houses : they are councils, composed of not less than
three persons of competence in agricultural matters united in a society of
collective title and undertake to ascertain the degree of credit the borrowers
may be given and their solvency, as well as to supervise the current busi-
ness and prosecute insolvent debtors: they are jointly and severally U-
able and receive from the institute of credit lending a del credere commiss-
ion corresponding with the guarantee given. The counting houses are
therefore intermediaries between the Bank and the individual borrowers.
At present there are 16 of them. The loans in course effected by
theii means were on December 31st., 1911, 4,537, for an amount of
14,915,311 frs. In 1911, 796 were granted for 3,034,670 frs. The amount in
the majority of cases (627) is between 1,000 and 10,000 frs.
2. Rural Banks. — The second class of Belgian land credit institutions
is that of the Raiffeisen rural banks conforming with the law of May i8th.,
i8
BEI,GIUM - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
1873 on commercial societies. With regard to these the statistical report
gives no information.
By law of June 2Tst., 1894, the General Savings and Pension Bank
facilitates their work, opening credits for them on the security of the central
banks (limited liability societies).
Of these at the end of 1911, there were eight, amongst which the
most important is that of the Boerenbond. But the rural banks only make
use of the funds placed at their disposal to a limited degree, employing
almost exclusively for their work their own funds and those of their feder-
ations. In fact, on December 31st., 1911, 233 Raiffeisen banks had been
credited by the above Institute with an amount of 990,032 francs; but they
only availed themselves of 278,822 frs. of this amount, On the other
hand, the 8 central and 268 local banks had at the same date deposited
with the General Bank, either in current account or in savings bank books,
a total amount of 6,196,577 frs.
The situation of the 8 central banks on December 31st., 1911 was as
follows :
Situation of the Central Land Credit Banks, on December 31st., 1911.
Head Quarters
of the
Central Bauks
O d
20 So CO
OS
•° 3
•3a
y a M
O^ CO
8^ a
I^ouvain (i) . .
lyi^ge
Enghien . . .
Arlon
Bruges ....
Ermeton-s/Biert
Sivry
Namur ....
Total
333
34
86
112
28
17
II
38
28
51
91
13
9
3
181,500
159,700
262,086
268,400
68,200
38,996
52,200
4,200
50,000
54,500
69,993
354,840
495,903
2,761
21,207
4.135
841
16,718
629
233
990,032
28
160,900
920,736
45,662
(i) The I^ouvain Central Bank, which belongs to the Boerenbond, has formed a land credit depart-
ment, which in 191 1 had granted ijo loans on land for an amount of 597,825 frs.
There are also two people's banks of Schulze-Delitzsch type, those of
Goe-Iyimbourg and Argenteau, which, as they lend especially to farmers,
may be considered as agricultural banks. The statistical return gives no
details of their work.
BRITISH INDIA.
CO-OPERATIVE CREDIT IN INDIA IN 1911-12.
orFlCIAIv SOURCES:
Statement ExraBiTiNG the Moral and IVLvterial Progress and Condition of In-dia during
THE Ye.\r 1911-12. lyOnrlon : Eyre and Spottiswoode, 191 3.
Statements SHo\^^NG Progress of the Co-oper.\tive Movement in India during the
YEAR I9II-12.
Annual Reports on the Working of Co-operative Credit Societies for the
Year 1911-12, in :
Madras Presidency. Madras : Govemment Press, 191 2.
Bombay Presidency including Sind. Bombay: Government Central Press, 1912.
Bengal. Calcutta : The Bengal Secretariat Book Depot, 1912.
BuRM.\. Rangoon: Office of the Superintendent Government Printing, 1912.
Punjab. I^ahore : I'unjab Government Press, 1912.
United Provinces of Agra and Oudu. Allahabad : Government Press, 1912.
Central Provinces and Behar. Nagpur : Government Press, 1912.
Ass.'iM. Shillong : Assam Secretariat Printing Office, 1912.
CooRG. Mercara : Coorg District Press, 1912.
Mysore. Bangalore : The Govemment Press, 1912.
Proceedings of the Sixth Conference of Registrars of Co-operative Credit Societies.
Simla. Govemment Press, 1912.
/. — GENERAL PROGRESS OF AGRICULTURAL CO-OPERATION.
§ I. CO-OPKRATIVE CREDIT SOCIETIES FROM I904 TO I912.
The development of co-operation in India may be said to begin with
the passing of the Co-operative Credit Societies Act in 1904, and the
repeal of that Act, in June, 1912, marks the close of one period in the
history of the movement.
Progress must be pronounced to have been extraordinarily rapid, even
when allowance is made for the fact that India has profited by the experience
of other countries. In 1905, when the Act had been a year in operation,
For previous articles on Co-operative Credit in India see the Bulletin of Economic
and Social InielUgence, December, 1910, December 191 2 and March, 1913.
20 BRITISH INDIA - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
there were 41 co-operative societies in existence ; in 191 2 there were 8,177.
In the former year the total working capital was only £3,608 ; in the latter
year it was £ 2,238,000, and there were more than 403,000 members in
co-operative credit societies. Even so, to quote the words of the official
report, "the movement has touched onh^ the fringe of the vast population
concerned. "
The real progress of the movement cannot be represented adequately
by figures alone, since progress has to be estimated qualititively as well
as quantitativel}', but there is every reason to believe that it has been
sound as well as rapid. The Provincial Registrars appointed under the
1904 Act were instructed to act cautiously and progress gradually. They
have concentrated their efforts on consolidating the movement and have
consistently opposed the tendency towards undue expansion. The Act laid
down broad general principles and left to the L,ocal Governments and the
Registrars the task of drawing up rules adapted to local conditions. The
Act itself was framed on lines already tried and proved sound in European
systems of co-operative credit, and the persons responsible for guiding the
movement in India have welcomed criticism and been very willing to accept
advice from specially competent persons in other countries.
The Registrars hold Annual Conferences to discuss questions affect-
ing the welfare of the societies, and the resolutions passed by the various
Conferences have served, to a very appreciable extent, to direct the whole
movement on sound lines.
Whenever possible the Registrars seek the co-operation of non-offi-
cial persons. Voluntary workers often posses a knowledge of local condi-
tions which makes their advice and assistance of inestimable value, and their
connection with the movement should safeguard it against the danger of
becoming officialized. The Registrars look to voluntary helpers to accom-
plish much of the work of propaganda and instruction, and, what is still
more important, to exercise a general supervision over the transactions of
the local societies.
The Act of T904 laid down that a society- should consist of persons re-
siding in the same town or village, or the same group of villages, or, subject
to the approval, of the Registrar, of members of the same tribe, class or caste.
In "Rural " societies it was required that four-fifths of the members should
be agriculttirists, and in "Urban " societies that the same proportion should
be non-agriculturists. Except with the consent of the Local Government,
liability in the case of Rural societies was to be unlimited; in Urban societies,
liability might be limited or unlimited. Loans were to be made to members
only, or, with the approval of the Registrar, to Rural societies.
Societies of both kinds were required to provide for building up a re-
serve fund. Limitations were placed on the interest which might be held
in a society by any member and on the transfer of shares, and provision
was made for compulsory audit and inspection by the Registrar.
As was anticipated, the development of co-operative credit has proced-
ed on somewhat different lines in different parts of India, but in general
two main problems have presented themselves, relating to the difficulty
CO-OPERATIVE CREDIT IN INDIA 21
of securing funds, and to the even greater difficulty of providing for the
adequate supervision of all societies. It cannot be said yet that either prob-
lem has been solved, and it is for this reason that the Registrars have fol-
lowed a policy of consolidation rather than extension, but there is at least
general agreement as to the lines iipon which they must be solved. Cent-
ral societies have been created in every Province for the purpose of lejiding
to other societies, and have already proved their ability to attract outside
capital.
The question of finances is now largely one of regulating the relations
between local societies and central banking institutions. The solution
of the problem of supervision is being sought in the formation of societies
into Unions which will assume much of the work of examination, audit
and inspection. Already in the United Provinces and the Central Provinces
the Government staff is outnumbered by the staff of inspectors, auditors
and clerks entertained by the societies themselves. At the same time there
is no intention of relaxing official supervision and control. vSome of the
Unions act also as central banks: they serve, that is to say the double pur-
pose of supervising affiliated societies and financing them.
The majority of the co-operative credit societies in India are agricultural
societies. In 191 2, out of a total of 8,177 societies, no less than 7,562 are
classed as Rural. A few societies have been formed among the members
of a single trade or profession.
There is a general desire to associate the co-operative movement with
the technical and economic development of agriculture, and this has led
to the formation of a small number of societies for co-operative purchase
and sale. The necessity of providing for the development of all forms of
co-operation led to the passing of a new Act which came into force on July
ist, igi2. Before examining the provisions of the new Act, however, it
will be convenient to give some figures showing the general progress of the
co-operative societies in British India under the Act of 1904. The fol-
lowing table is reproduced from the Fifth Decennial Report on the Moral
and Material Progress and Condition of India. The figures include, in years
previous to 1911-12, those for the native state of M3^sore, in which
(as also in Baroda) co-operative credit societies have developed under
an enactment similar to that in force in British India.
22
BRITISH INDIA - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
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1
CO-OPERATIVE CREDIT IN INDIA
23
§ 2. The " CO-OPERATR-E SOCIETIES ACT, I912."
Experience in the working of the earlier Act had shown the desirabiUty
of widening its scope and amending some of its detailed provisions. The
Act was accordingly repealed and replaced by a new act entitled " The Co-
operative Societies Act. 1912 ", which came into force on Jidy ist, 1912.
The earlier Act is entitled " The Co-operative Credit Societies Act, 1904 "
and the difference in the titles of the two Acts marks the first change.
The new Act provides for the registration of any Society "which has as its
object the promotion of the economic interest of its members in accordance
with co-operative principles ", or any Society "established with the object
of facilitating the operations of such a Society" All forms of co-operation,
therefore, are recognized, including co-operative credit. The distinction bet-
ween Urban and Rural societies is dropped, but the provision that agri-
cultural credit societies shall generally be founded on unlimited liability, is
retained. A new feature of the Act is the recognition of societies, the
members of which are other co-operative societies, and a sharp distinction
is drawn between societies composed exclusively of indi-vdduals and societ-
ies in which any one member is a registered society. The changes already
enumerated, as well as some amendments of minor importance, may be
shown by comparing certain clauses in the new Act vidth the correspond-
ing clauses in the old, arranging the text in parallel columns.
Act of 1904.
Act of 1912.
Sub-title.
An Act to provide for the con-
stitution and control of Co-oper-
ative Credit Societies.
An Act to amend the L,aw relat.
ing to Co-operative Societies.
Constitution of Societies.
A society shall consist of ten or
more persons above the age of eight-
een years
{a) residing in the same town or
village or in the same group of vil-
lages ; or
(6) subject to the sanction of
the Registrar, consisting of members
of the same tribe, class or caste.
No society, other than a society
of which a member is a registered
society, shall be registered under
this Act which does not consist
of at least ten persons above the
age of eighteen years and, where
the object of the society is the crea-
tion of funds to be lent to its mem-
bers unless such persons
{a) reside in the same town or
village or group of villages ; or
(6) save where the Registrar other-
\^ise directs, are members of the
same tribe, class, caste or occupa-
tion.
24
BRITISH INDIA - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
Liability of Members.
The liability of each member
of a society for the debts of the so-
ciety shall be as follows :
{a) in the case of a rural society
such liability shall, save with
the special sanction of the Local
Government, be unlimited ;
(&) in the case of an urban so-
ciety, such liability shall be limi-
red or unlimited, as may be pro-
vided by the by-laws or by any
rules made under this Act.
Provided that unless the I^ocal
Government by general or special
order otherwise directs —
(i) the liability of a society
of which a member is a registered
society shall be limited;
(2) the liability of a societ}^ of
which the object is the creation
of funds to be lent to its members
and of which the majority of the
members are agriculturists, and of
which no member is a registered
society, shall be unlimited.
Restrictions on Loans.
A society shall make no loan to
any person other than a member :
Provided that, with the consent
of the Registrar, a society may
make loans to a rural society.
A registered society shall not
make a loan to any person other
than a member :
Provided that with the general
or special sanction of the Registrar,
a registered society may make loans
to another registered society.
Investment of Funds.
A society may deposit its funds
in the Government Savings Banks
or with any banker or person
acting as a banker approved for
this purpose by the Registrar.
A registered society may invest
or deposit its funds —
(a) in the Government Savings
Bank, or
(b) in any of the securities speci-
fied in section 20 of the Indian
Trusts Act, 1882. or
(c) in the shares or on the secur-
ity of any other registered society, or
{d) with any bank or person carry-
ing on the business of banking,
approved for this purpose by the
Registrar, or
{e) in any other mode permitted
by the rules.
Division of Profits.
(i) No dividend or payment on
account of profits shall be paid to
No part of the funds of a registered
society shall be divided by way
CO-OPERATIVE CREDIT IN INDIA
25
a member of a rural society, but
all profits made by such a society
shall be carried to a fund (to be
called the reserve fund) :
Provided that when such reserve
fund has attained such propor-
tion to the total liability of the soc-
iety, and when the interest on
loans to members has been reduced
to such rates as may be determined
by the by-laws or rules made under
this Act, any further profits of the
society, not exceeding three-fourth
of the total annual profits, may
be distributed to members by way
of bonus.
(2) Not less than one-fourth of the
profits in each year of an urban
society shall be carried to a fund
(to be called the reserve fund) be
fore any dividend or payment on
account of profits is paid to the
members or any of them.
of bonus or dividend or otherwise
among its members :
Provided that after at least one-
fourth of the net profits in any year
have been carried to a reserve fund,
payments from the remainder of such
profits and from any profit of past
years available for distribution may
be made among the members to
such extent and under such con-
ditions as may be prescribed b}'' the
rules or by-laws :
Provided also that in the case of
a society with unlimited liability
no distribution of profits shall be
made without the general or spec-
ial order of the lyOcal Government
in this behalf.
Both Acts give power to the L,ocal Government, that is, to each Prov-
incial Government, to exempt any society from any of the conditions
laid down as to registration, and from any of the provision of the Act. The
object of granting such power of exemption is to enable the Act to be exten-
ded to certain societies already established in some of the Provinces, and
which difter somewhat from the type of societ3- contemplated by the Acts,
The new Act contains a provision which prohibits any person, other than
a registered society, from carrying on business under any name or title of
which the word " Co-operative " is part, which was not in use on the
date of the coming into force of the Act, without the sanction of the Local
Government.
The Act of 1904 is repealed, but societies registered under it are deem-
ed to be registered under the new Act, and their by-laws need only be
altered or rescinded in so far as they are inconsistent with the express
provisions of the new Act.
//.
RURAL SOCIETIES IiX 1911-T2.
From the Reports of the Registrars, transmitted to the Provincial
Governments, the Government of India compiles statistical statements show-
ing the progress of the movement in British India. No report, however,
accompanies the statements, which are published with a short explanatory
26
BRITISH INDIA - COOPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
note only. We shall deal here with the progress and working of Rural
societies during the year ending June 30th, 1912, as shown in the statistical
statements and described in the I'rovincial Registrars' reports.
§ I. Generai, progress.
The general progress of Rural societies is shown in the tables below.
In this, as in all of the tables, the figures relating to Mysore are omitted
for the first time in 1911-12.
TabIvE II. — Progress of Rural Societies, 1909 to 1912.
Number of Societies
Membership :
Aggregate . . .
Average ....
Working Capital:
Aggregate . . .
Average ....
I^oans Outstanding :
Aggregate . . .
Average ....
1909
1910
X913
1,761
116,907
66
Rupees, (i)
40,71,868
2,312
36,69,533
2,082
3,145
165,592
53
Rupees.
66,54.035
2,116
61,61,971
1,959
4.957
238,978
48
Rupees.
1,10,18,863
2,223
1.03,89,674
2,096
7.562
324,860
43
Rupees.
1,82,29,061
2,410
1,74,67,950
2,309
1908-09
1909-10
1910-11
1911-ia
lyoans Granted :
Aggregate
Average
Rupees.
37,71,942
2,142
Rupees.
56,36,064
1.792
Rupees.
94,26,911
1,902
Rupees.
1,44.32.036
1,908
(1) A rupee is equal to is. ^d. or i fr. 68. The figures arc divided so as to show the
number of lakhs, a lakh being 100,000 rupees.
The most striking fact revealed by the above figures is the unpre-
cedented increase in the number of Rural societies during the year under
review, in which no less than 2,605 new societes were registered. Part
of the increase is due undoubtedly to the breaking up of large societies ex-
tending over a number of villages into several one-village societies, and this
at the same time helps to explain the decrease in the average membership;
but on the whole it is due to the fact that the year was regarded as favour-
CO-OPERATIVE CREDIT IN INDIA 27
able to expansion. Tliel ast annual Report for the Central Provinces, for the
year ending June 30th, 1911, contained the following resolution : " Co-oper-
ative work in these provinces is now about to enter upon a fresh stage in its
existence. Hitherto the policy followed has been one of cautious experiment .
Co-operative principles have now been shaped bj^ experience to meet local
requirements ; and though of course, further progress may be looked for in the
direction of improved methods and increased knowledge, the time has un-
doubtedly come to undertake the expansion of the movement on broad
lines. " This policy, the Registrar says in his report, was accordingly
adopted for the year under review.
The Registrar in the Punjab shared the opinion of his colleague in the
Central Provinces, and, incidentally, gives a rather cvirions and decidedly
significant reason why the increase in the number of registered societies
was unusually rapid. He writes : "I am quite awake to the danger of
too quick expansion, but people are keen, money is fairly plentiful, and we
should, I think, take advantage of the tide. More is lost by over-timidity
than by over-confidence. ... It must also be added that it is not always
possible to refuse applications for registration. For instance, in part of
the Gurdaspur district the moneylenders carried their hostility so far as
to refuse advances even in villages in which there was no bank, because
they were convinced that banks would be started in them before long.
The result was that in order to provide these people with the means of
existence, I was compelled to form societies earlier than would othervsdse
have been done ; and this partty explains the large increase of societies in
Gurdaspur ".
In spite of the large number of new societies registered, there has been
no relaxing of the procedure and rules relating to registration. On the con-
trary, the preliminary examination of societies appljdng for recognition tends
to become more searching, the Registrar being assisted in carrying out his
enquiries by officers of the Central Unions and by voluntary organizers.
At the same time weak societies have been dissolved and other societies have
been purged of undesirable members.
The Registrar in the United Provinces reports as follows : "A full
local inquiry is made before applications come to me and they are then sub-
jected to close scrutiny. A large number have to be refused or kept pending
further investigation. " Again, the Registrar in the Central Provinces,
who, as we have noted, favoured a policy of expansion, says : " Rapid though
the growth of the movement was during the year, the Local Government were
satisfied that it was unforced, and was, moreover, subjected to careful
pruning and control. Unwieldy societies were reduced in size, weakly so-
cieties reorganized or weeded out, and undesirable members eliminated. "
The average number of members per society in 1911-12 is only 43, which
is the lowest numl:)er recorded since the passing of the Act. This is
accounted for by the large number of new societies founded during the
year ■ — ■ newly registered scieties having as a rule only a small number of
members — and by the breaking up of large societies to which reference has
already been made.
28
BRITISH INDIA - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
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CO-OPERATIVE CREDIT IN INDIA
29
The figures in Table II, relating to average working capital and average
loans outstanding per society, show slight and quite normal increases. The
average amount of loans granted per society is practically the same in
igii-i2 as in the pre^dous 3'ear.
The next table (Table III) shows, by Provinces, the number and kind
of societies, number of members and amount of working capital.
The above table includes all the British Provinces except the North-
West Frontier Province and Baluchistan. In the former Province the
co-operative movement has as yet made little progress, and since the close
of the 3^ear under review, steps have been taken for the liquidation of the
few societies which existed in 191 2. The Act has not yet been applied
in Baluchistan.
In the native state of Mysore, on June 30th, 1912, there were 129 Rural
societies with 3,679 members and an aggregate working capital of Rs.
96,249. In Baroda on the same date, there were 122 societies of all kinds
with a total membership of 2,815. but we have no information as to how many
of the societies were Rural societies.
We may complete our sketch of the general progress of Rural societies
by presenting the figures relating to aggregate receipts and disbursements,
aggregate profit and loss, etc., for the year 1911-12.
Table IV. — Rural Societies: Aggregate Receipts and Disbursements.
Receipts.
Disbursements.
Rs.
Share Payments 9,15,720
Entrance Fees 54,173
Deposits by Members . . . 13,26,179
Loans from Other Sources :
Government 2,56,184
Other Societies 73,26,461
Non-members I3.45>757
Loans Repaid by Members . 75,04,969
Loans Repaid by Other
Societies 2,15,612
Interest Received 13.52,974
Sale Proceeds of Stock. . . 62,871
Other Income 74,251
Total 2,04,35,151
Grand Total (including
Opening Balance) . . 2,11,16,555
Rs.
Share Capital Withdrawn . . 85,379
Deposits Withdrawn . , . 7,52,287
Loans Repaid to :
Government 64,912
Other Societies 30,96,688
Nori-membcrs 6,45,060
Loans to Members .... 1,38,23,935
Loans to Other Societies . . 6,oS,ioi
Interest Paid 8,08,031
Dividend and F.onus Paid . . 9,780
Stock Bought 81,795
Establishment and Contin-
gencies . 1,15.475
Other Items 1,54,306
Carried to Referve .... 1,14,321
Tola' 2,03,60,070
Grand Total (including
Closing Balance) . . 2,11,16,652
30
BRITISH INDIA - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
It Avill be noticed that there is a sHght discrepancy in the final totals
as shown in the above table. It is very probable that some small item either
in the opening or in the closing balance needs to be adjusted, but we give
the official figures as they stand.
Table V. — ■ Rural Societies: Aggregate Profit and Loss Account.
Profit.
Loss.
Rs.
Interest Earned 16,30,305
Gross Profit on Sales of Stock . 9,204
Other Items 83,133
Total 17,22,643
Total (Loss) . . . 10,94,281
Net Profit .... 6,28,362
Rs.
Interest Paid and Due .... 9,50,440
Establishment and Contingent
Charges 1,22,264
Debts Written Off 540
Depreciation of Stock .... 335
Other Items 22,700
Total . . . 10,94,281
In the above table a net profit is shown of Rs. 6,28,362. In the official
statement of profit or loss by Provinces, an aggregate net profit is shown of
Rs. 6,27,689 which may be taken as the amended figure.
Table VI. — Rural Societies: Aggregate Balance Sheet.
Assets.
Liabilities.
Rs.
Rs.
Cash in Hand
8,56,903
Loans from Non -members. .
18,96,679
Value of Investment . . .
2,51,378
Loans from Other Societies. .
98,75.007
Loans due by Members . .
1,60,28,588
Interest Due
2,49,651
Loans due by Other Societies.
7.94.465
Loans from Government . .
7.64,727
Interest on I,oans Due . . .
6,81,759
Interest Due to Government.
12,768
Value of Slock in Hand . .
60,518
Share Capital
22,60,532
Other Items
99.568
Deposits by Member? . . .
21,74,603
Total Assets
1,87,73,219
Interest Due on
Members' Deposits ...
67,039
Total Liabilities . . .
1.79.75,480
Dividend Due to Members . .
Establishment and
Contingent Charges . . .
2,861
Balance : Profit . . .
7.97.739
13.648
Other Items
19,649
Reserve Fund
Total Liabilities . . .
6,38,318
1.79,75.480
CO-OPERATIVE CREDIT IN INDIA
31
§ 2. Sources of capital.
The agregate working capital at the disposal of the Rural societies in
India is shown above in Table III. We shall now examine the sources from
which this capital was drawn.
(a) General Figures.
In the year under review a redistribution of territory' took place, affect-
ing the Pro\nnces of Bengal and Eastern Bengal and Assam, and resulting
in the formation of a new Province under the name of Behar and Orissa.
A comparison by Provinces of that year's figures with the figures for prev-
ious 3^ear, might, therefore, prove misleading in some cases, and in the table
below only the aggregate figures for British India are presented.
Table VII. — Rural Societies: Sources of Capital.
Sources of CapiUL
I9II-I2.
lyoans from Noii-membtrs .
Loans from Other Societies
Loans from Government .
Share Capital
Deposits by Members . . .
Reserve Fund
Rs.
15,05,688
55,09,472
6,00,851
14,57,595
15,65,403
3.42,464
Rs.
18,96,679
98,75.007
7,64,727
22,60,532
21,74,603
6,38,318
The percentage of the total working capital from each source, in
1911-12 and the three preceding years, is shown in the following table.
Table VIII. — Rural Societies: Sources of Capital {Percentages).
Sources of Capital.
Percentages of Total Capital.
1909
1910
1911
Loans from Non-members
Loans from Other Societies-
Loans from Government .
Share Capital
DepositB by Members . .
Reserve Fund
18.0
35.8
13-7
14.1
154
2.6
16.5
42.4
91
14. 1
14.9
30
13-7
50.2
5-5
13-3
14.2
31
1913
10.8
56.0
4-4
12.8
12.4
3-6
32 BRITISH INDIA - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
(b) Loans from Government.
In 1912, Government loans represented less than 5 per cent, of the total
working capital of the Rural societies. The relative importance of such
loans has diminished rapidly, and all connected with the co-operative move-
ment in India regard this as a matter for congratulation.
It is admitted, however, that a certain amount of State aid may be
welcome or even necessary' in districts where co-operative credit is still in
the experimental stage. The granting of Government loans in such cases
increases confidence, and, as no interest has to be paid on them for the first
few years, the societies are enabled to build up a reserve fund and to
strengthen their position generally. It is held, too, that any so-
ciety which fails to do so, and which is unable to meet promptly each
instalment of the Government loan as it falls due, should either be re-organ-
ized or dissolved. In any case, repayment of the loans is insisted upon,
the Registrars being fully alive to the danger of perpetuating weak societies
by granding them exemptions.
The loans to co-operative societies consist in part of agricultural loans
{taccavi) granted to districts for a variety of objects (including the relief
of distress and the purchase of seed and cattle) , and in part of loans made
against equivalent deposits by members. The Registrar for the Punjab
is of opinion that the granting of taccavi loans to societies obscures the objects
of co-operation, and it is not difficult to realize that his criticism ma}^ be well
founded. The whole aim of the co-operative movement in India is to enable
the cultivater to rise, through his own efforts, to a position of economic
independence, and thus free himself of the necessity of having to accept
any assistance from Government ; and while Government loans continue to
be administered by the societies themselves, it may well be that this aim
is to some extent obscured. There is besides a natural tendency to regard
an advance of capital from Government as of the nature of a gift or dole,
rather than as a business loan.
The general opinion of the Registrars may be illustrated by an extract
from the report of the Registrar for Assam, who says :
" I propose for the future to do without Government loans as far as
possible. ]\Iembers are inclined to regard such loans as doles made by Govern-
ment, in the recover}'- of which Government alone is interested, rather than
as a matter of business to be personally supervised. The condition of an
equivalent deposit b}^ members of the society has proved a temptation to
fraud. And as capital can invariably be obtained from a Central or Urban
Bank at 9 per cent., Government loans are no longer essentially necessary."
These loans, as we have already said, serve a useful purpose in carrying
new societies through the first few years of their existence and enabling
them to accumulate a reserve fund ; but the Registrars now prefer, wherever
possible, that even new societies should dispense with any assistance and
build up a reserve fund by charging a slightly higher rate of interest to
members for the first few vears.
CO-OPERATIVE CREDIT IN INDIA 33
(c) Loans from Other Societies and from Non-members.
Ini9ii-i2, Rural societies obtained more than half their working capital
from other societies, and the proportion drawn from this source is constantly-
increasing.
In the same year they obtained just over 10 per cent, of their capital
in the form of deposits by non-members, and as a source of capital these
deposits are relatively decreasing.
The increase in the first case and the decrease in the second are nor-
mal tendencies. The " other societies " from which the Rural societies
drew supplies of capital have been formed for the express purpose of furnish-
ing such capital and are designed to act as the intermediary institutions
between the local societies and the joint stock banks. On the other hand the
Rural societies, not being general banking institutions, naturally do not
prove very attractive to outside depositors.
Other societies (Central Banks and Banking Unions) lend to Rural so-
cieties at about 9 per cent. The rate is in some cases considerably higher and
in other cases appreciably lower, as credit conditions vary greatly in different
districts, but 9 per cent, may be considered as the normal rate.
The work of Central Banks and Unions in financing local societies will
be dealt with in a subsequent article. Here we shall proceed to examine
briefly the other items which make up the total working capital of the Rural
societies.
(d) Share Capital, Deposits by Members and Reserve Fund.
These three items together form that part of the working capital which
is contributed by the members themselves, and which in some of the Reports
is distinguished as " internal " capital. In 1909-10, they formed exactly
32 per cent, of the total capital ; in 1910-11, 30.6 per cent ; and in 1911-12,
the year under review, 28.8 per cent. Both share capital and deposits
by members show a relative decrease, while the reserve fund shows a much
smaller relative increase.
The Registrars as a rule have no comment to make on the figures relat-
ing to share capital, but they occasionally show some uneasiness as to the
slow growth of members' deposits. The reason generally put forward is
that the members are overburdened with debt and cannot be expected to
make deposits. The Registrar for Bengal thinks it possible that the
pubHcity which is insisted upon, and which is one of the elements making
for success in co-operation, may have the effect of discouraging people
from placing their savings with the societies.
In any case the capital owned by the members is not a true index of
the thrift of members, for, as is pointed out by the Registrar for the United
Provinces, much of their savings is devoted to the liquidation of old debt
or to the purchase of agricultural stock. And, since the responsibiHty of
34 BRITISH INDIA - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
members is almost invariably unlimited, it is evident that savings so spent or
invested contribute directly to strengthening the position of the societies.
It is hardly possible to draw a distinction between share capital and
members' deposits since the members' shares are in effect compulsory
deposits. Both items together represented, in IQII-12, 25.2 per cent, of the
total working capital, and such a proportion seems satisfactory though the
Registrar for Bengal is of the opinion that members' deposits should be
the main source of supply.
The reserve funds are in nearly every case invested in the ordinary
business of the society. The Registrar for Bombay thinks the practice open
to objection on the grounds that the chief benefit of a reserve fund is lost
if it is not really liquidable and available in time of emergency, and the so-
ciety which invests all its funds in the same way diminishes its own security.
He has recently issued a circular advising societies to invest their reserve
funds in some outside bank, and should the circular fail in its object, he
intends to apply for power to make such investment of reserve funds com-
pulsory. In the Central Provinces, reserve funds are already, in everj^ case,
lodged with the Central Banks.
§ 3. The loans granted.
In igii-i2, no new departure of any importance is to be noted in the
distribution of the loans made by Rural societies to their members. As in
previous years, loans were made chiefly for the repayment of old debt,
the purchase of cattle, and the payment of land revenue. The purposes for
which loans are required vary according to the peculiar needs of each
district, but loans for one or other of the purposes mentioned generally pre-
dominate. A very small proportion of the total loans is granted for " un-
productive " purposes. The small amount so lent is usually granted for
the celebration of marriage feasts, and, in connection with such expendi-
ture, an extract from the report of the Registrar for Bengal is significant.
The Registrar reports as follows :
" That the village societies discourage unnecessary expenses for cere-
monial purposes is a proved fact. A member of a society is not encouraged
by his co-villagers to give extravagant feasts on the occasion of marriages.
Formerly he had to borrow money for ceremonial purposes in order to stand
well with his co- villagers. The latter now find they are also responsible
for his debts, and if he is unable to repay the loan they \\'ill have to make
good the loss. Instead of being encouraged to spend money he is restrain-
ed by the influence of village opinion to curtail his expenses according to
his means ".
Loans for the payment of debt amount in some cases to 48 per cent,
of the total loans granted. Much of the money so lent is used to redeem
land from mortgage, and statistics are at present being compiled in
some Provinces as to the amount of land thus redeemed. The re-
CO-OPERATIVE CREDIT IN INDIA 35
turns, however, are not yet available. Old debts had almost invariably-
been contracted at extortionate rates of interest - — 60 per cent, is refer-
red to in one report as a not unreasonable rate — and the saving to members
b}^ transferring their indebtedness to the societies is in the aggregate enor-
mous, as they paj' to the societies only from 12 to 15 per cent.
Loans for the purchase of cattle are especially useful as they enable
the members to pay cash. Without the help of the society they would be
compelled to buy on credit and would be charged exorbitant rates of
interest.
The following figures show the distribution of the loans made by the
Rural societies in Assam during the year 1911-12 and may be taken as fairly
representative of the work of the Rural societies as a whole.
Purpose Amount Percentage
Repayment of old debts 31,606 26
Purchase of cattle 28,577 23
Agriculture 25,816 21
Trade and commerce 10,496 9
Payment of rent and revenue . . . 10,133 8
Marriage and other social expenses . 3,327 3
Maintenance 2,270 2
Other purposes 5.503 8
Total . . . 117,728 100
The bulk of the loans are granted in the first instance for periods not
exceeding one year, but as a rule extensions are allowed on condition
that the borrower repays from- one fifth to one -third of the principal every
year, together with the interest due. Failing this, the loan is treated as
overdue. It is evident from the Reports that the Registrars are not entirely
satisfied with the repayments and are anxious to secure greater punctuality
in this respect. It is impossible to give figures for the whole of India as the
practice of the societies with respect to the classification of loans as overdue
is not uniform. In the United Provinces, 9 per cent, of the loans outstand-
ing are classed as " in arrears " ; in Madras 11. 8 per cent, are so classified ;
while in the Punjab " overdue loans " amount to 15 per cent, of the whole
amount out on loan.
With reference to overdiie loans the Registrar for the Punjab says:
" The amount, I admit, is large, but I think in agricultural societies
there is bound to be a large sum outstanding. The amount which a farmer
can repay depends on his harvest and on whether he has suffered loss of
cattle or some other calamity. Out of 80,000 members of societies scattered
over many hundreds of miles, there must be many, who for one good
cause or another are unable either to repay their loans or to repay them
in full. While, therefore, I should be glad to see the figure of overdue
loans reduced, I am not prepared to say that the amount is excessive ".
36 BRITISH INDIA - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
As a rule the arrears are concentrated in a few districts, and in some
cases they are practically confined to a single district where the harvest
has been a failure. Thus, in the United Provinces (where, as has been
mentioned, arrears amounted to 9 per cent.) more than half the amount
was due from one district. In eight districts of the Province there were no
arrears, and in eight others the arrears were less than two per cent, of the
outstanding loans.
It must be remembered that the loans returned as overdue are not
regarded as bad debts and are in fact, in nearly every case, recoverable.
The losses due to bad debts are very small indeed.
Loans are granted on simple mortgage of land and on the personal
security of fellow members. In Madras, for example, 43 per cent, of the
total amount was secured by mortgage and 55 per cent, was lent on
personal security. A certain small proportion of the loans are unsecured ;
they are simply loans " on honour ". The normal rate of interest is 12 14
per cent.
*
* *
In this chapter we have dealt only with Rural credit societies and have
confined ourselves to outlining their progress and giving some account of
their business transactions. In a subsequent chapter we shall examine the
w^ork of the District and Central Banks and Banking Unions.
{To be eontinued).
ITALY.
MISCElvIyANEOUS NEWvS.
I. — Rural banks and agricultural co-operative credit societies
OF collective title in ITALY AT THE END OF 1913. — The Fedetazione
nazionale delle Casse rurali (National Federation of Rural Banks) in Rome
has recently published a list of the Rural Banks in the kingdom on Decem-
ber 31st., 1913. Their number at that date was 2, 122, distributed according
to regions as follows :
North Italv
Central Italy
Venetia 452
Emilia 306
Lombardy 246
Piedmont 171
Liguria , 12
Total
1,187
Ivatium 102
Tuscany 71
Marches 67
Umbria • . . . 20
Total
260
South Italv
Insular Italy
Abruzzi and MoUse
Campania
Calabria
ApuUa
BasiHcata . . . . ,
Total
83
55
44
25
7
214
vSicily . .
Sardinia .
Total .
333
128
461
The provinces which have the largest number of Banks areVerona(i07),
Rome (102), Bologna (88), Palermo (81), CagUari (94), Girgenti (74) etc. At
the end of 1910, when the first hst of rural banks was made out by the above
Federation, the number was 1,763.
(Summarised irom " Coopcrazionc Rurale " , organ of the Fcdcruzione tuiziuiiule
delle Cafise rurali, Rome. no. i, January 31st., 1914)-
38 ITAI,Y - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
*
* *
2. — Some statistics of the catholic co-operative federations. —
The importance of the Cathohc movement in the field of co-operation,
especially of co-operative credit, is well known and we have more than
once had occasion to refer to it, especially when dealing with the Report
published by the Labour Office {Ufflcio di Lavoro) in 191 1, on the Inquiry
into the Catholic Workmen's Organizations in Italy (i). We saw then that
an essential part of the programme of the Catholics in regard to co-oper-
ative societies was their union in diocesan or provincial federations,
adhering, through the medium of special organizations to the Unione
Economico-Sociale fra i cattolici italiani (Economic and Social Union of
Italian Catholics), which has its head quarters at Bergamo, the great
centre for the co-ordination and direction of Italian Cathohc institutions.
In agreement with the principles of this union, in recent years numerous
federations have been, in fact, formed, with regard to some of which we
have the following information :
(a) Federazione delle casse rurali e popolari della Provincia di Bergamo
(Federation of the Rural and People's Banks of the Province of Bergamo).
— The rural and people's banks existing in this province first of all took
the form of unlimited societies of collective title, regulated by the com-
mercial code, except that two adopted the form of societies in ci\'il law.
The rural banks and people's banks differ in this : that the members
of the rural banks are free in regard to their savings deposits, while those
of the people's banks are bound to deposit a minimum, amount per week,
fixed in their rules or regulations.
The former are constituted in agricultural centres, the latter in places
where industry is more important and commerce more active.
The federal executive body has two inspectors, whose duty it is at
least once a year to inspect all the federated institutes, and, if need be,
to assist them in the compilation of their monthly statements of accounts
and annual balance sheets. In order to train good accountants and
managing directors, the Federation also often organizes special courses of
legal and technical education.
The rural banks, 63 in number, showed the following total figures on
March 31st., 1913.
Members 8.504
Capital Frs. 190,780.32
Deposits » 5,330,603.90
Loans » 4,256,404.25
(i) See Bulletin of Economic and Social Intellij,ence, August ami September, 1912, pp. 27
and 45 respectively.
MISCElvTyANEOUS NEWS 39
And the people's banks, also 63 in number, showed at the same date
the following :
Members 1.274
Capital Frs. 29,714.40
Deposits » 1,205,455.63
I^oans » 527.755
In the province of Bergamo other forms of co-operative societies have
arisen, also on the initiative of the CathoHcs. In fact, there are 10 dairy
societies and 30 collective farms. Twenty three of the latter had 1,026
members and leased 4,026 ha., for which the total yearly rent was
553,071 frs.
The legal form these organizations prefer is that of civil societies and
the land is worked on the system of divided management recognised as
the best suited for the moral, technical and economic progress of the
peasants.
Almost all have the assistance of a priest, a managing director and a
technical director. The land leased belongs to charitable institutions or
to private owners.
There are also in the same province 52 horned cattle insurance soci-
eties, organized on mutual lines and Hmited to a commune or a parish, with
altogether 5,226 members and 10,435 head of cattle insured. In districts
where there is a rural bank, members of the mutual horned cattle insurance
society can obtain loans from it, on the security of the Uvestock insured.
(b) Federazione delle cooperative cattoliche delta provincia di Ferrara
(Federation of the CathoUc Co-operative Societies of the Province of Fer-
rara).— This federation, formed in igo6, unites 32 rural banks which, at
the end of 1912, showed the following figures : members 3,707 ; capital
(members' contributions and reserve funds) 58,063 frs.; deposits 791,634 frs.
debit current accounts (for 22 societies) 305,367 frs. ; bills and acceptances
968,951 frs.; credit current accounts (for 10 societies), 154,073 frs.
Other members of the Federation are : the Unione agricota cattotica
di Argenta (Argenta Catholic Agricultural Union), a hmited liability society
for collective farming with 49 members, 40,000 frs. worth of livestock and
60,000 frs. worth of laud ; the Unione professionale jra muratori e affini per
costruzioni editizie di Argenta (Argenta Professional Union of Masons and
Bricklayers for House Building), a limited liability co-operative society
with 46 members ; and two legally recognised labour co-operative societies
of Ruina and I\Iezzogoro, with 80 and 45 members respectively.
(c) Federazione delle associazioni cattoliche economico-sociali della Pro-
vincia di Parma (Federation of the Economic and Social Catholic Associa-
tions of the Province of Parma). — At the end of 1912, there were 65 soci-
eties in this federation, amongst them 41 rural banks, 14 labour co-operative
societies and 10 agricultural co-operative distributive societies. All these
societies have taken the legal form of co-operative societies: the rural banks
40 ITAI,Y - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
as societies of collective title, the agricultural and labour co-operative
societies as limited liability societies.
The 41 rural banks had, on December 31st., 1912, 3,452 members,
and had done a total general business (outgoings and incomings) of
2,753,849 frs. The sums deposited with them amounted altogether to
2,109,503 frs., the debit current accounts to 459,224 frs., and the loans to
2,468,000 frs., of which 2,118,000 frs., were represented by loans on the
security' of bills and 350,000 frs., were loans to private persons or economic
associations, in current account. The net profits for 1912 were 24,055 frs.
The 41 federated banks had altogether a capital of 134,808 frs. consist-
ing of members' contributions to the amount of 68,313 frs. and reserve funds
to that of 66,495 frs.
The second group of societies belonging to the Parma Federation was
composed of labour co-operative societies, 14 in number, with 645 members.
In the course of 1912 they provided work for 500 labourers, paying them
wages to the amount of 162,125 frs.
The Consorzio delle cooperative di lavoro dell' Appennino parmense (Con-
sortium of I^abour Co-operative Societies of the Parma Apennines) is of
special importance. It has its head quarters at lyanghirano, and nine
societies are federated in it. It is carrying out works for an amount of
1,377,000 frs.
The members of these co-operative societies are exclusively labourers.
Naturally, therefore, they have need of the continual vigilant assistance of
the Federation, which makes apphcation to the public administrations for
labour contracts, taking all the steps required and obtaining an advance
of the necessary funds.
The agricultural distributive co-operative societies federated, on De-
cember 31st., 1912, were 10 in number, with 450 members and did a total
business of 268,990 frs.
In 1911 the Federation of the Parma Province inspected many of its
adhering societies.
(d) Federazione delle Casse rurali e popolari delta Provincia di Bologna
(Federation of Rural and People's Banks of the Province of Bologna). —
On December 31st., 1912, this Federation included 81 societies, with 7,123
members. The situation of the Federation was as follows : capital
108,203 frs. ; deposits 2,983,224 frs. ; other liabilities 176,318 frs. ; loans
1,859,699 frs. ; various securities, 449,547 frs. ; deposits in credit current
account, 763,988 frs. ; other assets, 216,229 frs. ; revenue, 143,351 frs. ;
expenditure 121,634 ^rs.
(e) Federazione pistoiese delle casse rurali (Pistoia Federation of Rural
Banks). — On December 21st., 1912, there were in this Federation
38 rural banks with 2,825 members. The savings deposits at that date
amounted altogether to 1,250,103 frs. and the loans to members in the year
to 350,000 frs. The share capital and reserve funds amounted to 24,175 frs.
(f) Federazioni diocesane delle casse rurali di Treviso, Mantova, Ascoli
Piceno e Rieti (Diocesan Federations of the Rural Banks of Treviso, Mantua,
Ascoli Piceno and Rieti). — The Treviso Federation was founded in
MISCELLANEOUS NEWS 4I
June, 1912 and, on December 31st., it already federated 20 rural banks,
and had bills and acceptances to the amount of 1,699,456 frs. and deposits
to the amount of 1,540,469 frs. There were 3,490 members.
In the same 3-ear there were also fonned the Federations of IMantua,
AscoH Piceno and Rieti.
Finally, last January, on the initiative of the Piccoli Crediti (Small
Credit Establishments) of Bergamo, Monza, Romagna and Tuscany, the
Cassa centrale per le casse rurali cattoliche d' Italia (Central Bank for the
Catholic Rural Banks of Italy) at Parma, the Catholic Banks of Verona, Ro-
vigo, Udine, Vicenza etc., there was founded at Milan the Federazione Ban-
caria fra le Banche cooperative Italianc (Banking Federation of the Italian Co-
operative Banks). It contemplates the assistance and co-ordination of the
various federated institutes, hj means of periodical inspections, the ad-
option of measures for the common interest, the collection and pubUcation
of statistics relating to the Banks and the movement of credit and the
foundation of a Banca Centrale (Central Bank) in the form of a society
limited by shares to act as its central financial agency (i).
(Summarised from " Cooperazione Popolare ", organ of the Calholic Rural
Banks and Co-operative and Mutual Societies, Parma, nos. 9-12 of 1913
and no. 2, January 25th., 1914.)
*
* *
3. — Federazione delle cooperative e mutue agrarie della sar-
DEGNA {Federation of Sardinian Agricultural Co-operative and Mutual
Societies). — On December 23rd. last, the "Federazione delle Cooperative e
Mutue agrarie della Sardegna " was founded at Oristano, with the object of :
(a) Uniting in a single representative body the agricultural co-oper-
ative and mutual societies of the island, favouring their development and
protecting their interests ;
(b) promoting and maintaining reciprocit}- in business matters among
the agricultural societies for production, labour, distribution, credit and
insurance ;
(c) making demand for legislative provisions better adapted to the
requirements of the mutual and co-operative societies of the region ;
(d) providing for the inspection of the business and accounts of the
federated institutions.
(Summarised from a Communication of the Federation, datid Decem-
ber 3olh., 1913).
(i; Recently, on the initiative of a group of People's Banks of Upper Italy, another Ffde-
raziane e Banca Federale dellc Cooperative di Credito (Federation and Federal Bank of Co-opera-
live Credit Societies) was founded at Milan. Cfr. Monthly Bulletin of Economic and Social
Intelligence. February, 1914, p. 29.
42
ITAI<Y - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
*
* *
4. — Work of the '' federazione italiana dei consorzi agrari"
{Italian Federation of Agricultural Consortiums) in 1913. — In 1913 the
" Federazione Italiana dei Consorzi Agrari " of Piacenza sold agricultural
produce to the amount of 18,294,873 frs. and agricultural machinery for
an amount of 3,149,306 frs., so that the total sales came to about
21,500,000 frs. The share capital amounted to 261,855 frs. The associ-
ations federated in it are 713 in number.
(Summarised from " Italia Rurale " , organ of the " I'ederazioue italiana dei
Consorzi Agrari". Piacenza, no. 520. March i6lh., 1914).
5. — The development of the " federazione delle cooperative
Di CREDITO ' ' OF GiRGENTi {Federation of the Credit Co-operative Societies of
Girgenti). — Among the federations of co-operative societies, the Girgenti
Federation deserves to be noted for its continual progress. On Decem-
ber 31st., 1913 it included 52 societies with 10,563 members and had a
total capital of 3,212,773 frs. The work of the Federation has gradually
increased in proportion to the increase of the federated bodies, which may
be seen in the following table :
Progress made by the Girgenti Federation of Co-operative Societies,
between 1907 and 1913.
On Dteember 31st.
1907 1908
1909
1910
191 1
191 2
«9i3
Number of Federated
Societies 8
Number of Members . . 1 275
Capital of the Federated
Societies (in francs) . . —
18
1,249
268,597
19
1.893
707,668
26
3.421
882,392
32
5.174
1,496,920
46
8,703
2,946,661
52
10,653
3,212,773
Of the federated societies 5 have the form of limited liability societies.
4 that of societies en commandite, and 43 are unlimited Hability societies.
Further, 43 work as intermediary institutes for the bank of Sicily for the grant
of agricultural credit. Of the 52 affiliated institutes, 47 are working, with an
average of 220 members each and an average amount of bills and acceptances
rediscounted on December 31st., of 63,000 f rs. , fepresenting according to the
estimate of the Federation, an annual business of about 96,500 frs.
In order better to attain its ends, the Federation is divided into three
offices : the first for co-operative propaganda, legal assistance and advice ;
MISCELI^NEOUS NEWS 43
the second for inspection of legal business and book keeping, the third
for technical agricultural consultation and propaganda (i).
Attached to the Federation and in immediate relation mth it, since
1910 there has been an " Azienda per I'acquisto e vendita dei concimi"
{Office for Purchase and Sale of Manure), which did a total business in 1910
of 205,857 frs,, in 1911 of 646,120 frs. and in 1912 of 1,577,785 frs.
*
* *
6. — Enquiry into the statistics of the co-operative movement in
ITAI,Y. — In order that the importance of the ItaUan co-operative move-
ment in its various manifestations may be better known and appreci-
ated, the " lyCga Nazionale delle Co-operative " [National League of Co-op-
erative Societies) , to which the Agricultural Department has lent its support
for the purpose, has invited its affihated societies to a national compet-
ition in statistical studies on co-operation in Italy.
They may investigate the movement in a region, a province, or a com-
mune ; or even a special organization (federation, consortium etc.). The com-
petitors, whether they undertake to study a whole region or hmit themselves
to a province or commune, must extend their investigations to every form
of co-operative society: societies for production and for labour, agricultural
societies, distributive societies, etc.
In each case there must be given [a) the name of the society, {b) the date
of its foundation, (c) indication whether the society has a legal existence or
merely exists de facto, (d) the number of members, (e) the amount of share
capital subscribed and paid up, (/) the amount of the reserve fund, (g) the
amount of profits and losses. (2).
(Summarised from " Cooperazione italiana ", organ of the lycague, Milan,
no. 1,075, February 20th., 1914).
*
7. — Prize competitions among the national agriculturaIv co-op-
erative PURCHASE SOCIETIES AND THE SOCIETIES OF MANUFACTURERS OF
QTRUS PRODUCE AND TRADERS IN THE SAME. — By Ministerial Decree
of February loth., 1914, in view of the desirabihty of encouraging the de-
(i) (Summarised from " II movimento cooperativo in Sicilia. Contributo slorico statistico
documentale. " (Co-operative Movement in Sicily. Historical, Statistical and Documentary
Contribution). Published by the " Federazione Siciliana delle Cooperative ", Girgenti, V. Sir-
chia, 1914).
(2) The lycague has recently foimded at its head quarters in Milan an "Ufficio Agrario delle
co-operative " [Agricultural Office of Co-operative Societies), for the technical and commercial
assistance of the agricultural co-operative societies.
44 ITAI,Y - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
velopment of the co-operative agricultural societies for collective purchase of
farm requisites, a competition has been opened for the societies in question
legally constituted in the provinces of Perugia, Rome, Aquila, Teramo, Chieti,
Caserta, Naples, Salerno, Avellino, Benevento, Campobasso, Foggia, Bari
and Ivccce. Prizes in money and medals to the amount of 17,000,000 francs
are offered.
A second competition, for which prizes for a total amount of 50,000,000
frs. are offered, was already opened by Royal Decree of August i8th., 1913
for associations and private individuals engaged in manufacturing the
produce of the plants of the citrus group und trading in it.
(Summarised from the " Bulletino del Ministero di AgncuUura, Industriae
Commercio", series A, Rome, no. i. January 3rd., 1914 and., no. lo,
March 7th., 1914).
PUBLICATIONS OF RECENT DATE RELATING
TO AGRICULTURAL CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION.
GENERAI,.
Unofficial publication :
Die konsumgenossenschaft im Dienste der kultur (The Co-operative Distributive Society
in the Service of Civilisation). In " Konsumverein ", February 4th., 1914, Vienna.
GERMANY
Unofficial Publications.-
AUFNAHME DER GeNOSSENSCHAFTEN MIT BESCHRANKTER HAFTPFLICHT IN DIE BAYERISCHE
Zentraldarlehnskasse [Admission of Limited Liability Co-operative Societies in the
Central Bavarian Loan Bank). — In " Verbandskundgabe ". February 15th. and 28th.,
1914. Nos. 3 and 4. Munich.
Discussion of the reasons for and against the admission of limited liability co-op-
erative societies as members of the Central Bavarian I^oan Bank.
Das RiiCKSTANDWESEN, SEINE Ursachen, seine Schaden und seine Bekampfung. {Ar-
rears, their Causes, their III Effects and the Way to Meet them.) — In " Verbaudskimdgabe,''
January 31st., February 15th. and 28th., 1914. Nos. 2, 3 and 4. Miuiich.
Krebs (Dr) : Giiterzertriimmerung in Bayem und die Beteiligimg der landwirtschaftlichen
Genossenschaften an derselben im Jahre 1912. [The Subdivision of Land in Bavaria and
the Part taken init by Agricultural Co-operative Societies in 1912) In " lyandwirtschaftliches
Genossenschaftsblatt ", February 15th, and 28th., 1914. Nos. 3 and 4. Neuwied.
Probleme der Genossenschaftlichen Kredit- organisation : Genossenschaftliche zen-
TRALKASSEN. [Problems of Co- Operative Credit Organization: Central Co-operative Banks)
In " Deutsche landwirtschaftliche Genossenschaftspresse ". February 28th., 1914.
No. 4. Darmstadt.
Schroder .■ Spar- und Darlehnskasse zu Bergen bei CeUe (Hannover) [The Rural Bank of Ber-
gen bei Celle in Hanover). In "Deutsche landwirtschaftliche Genossenschaftspresse",
March 15th., 1914. No. 15. Darmstadt.
Ubersicht iJBER DIE Betriebsgenossensch.\ften der Raiffeisen- Organisation im
Jahre 1913 [General View of the Co-operative Societies for Production of the Raiffeisen
Organisation in 1913). In " I,andwirtschaf tliches Genossenschaftsblatt". March 15th.,
1914. No. 5. Neuwied.
ARGENTINA.
Unofficial Publication ;
Berg6s (P) : I<as sociedades de controlor. Su importancia para el fomento y desarrollo de las
industrias lechera y ganadera en la Repiiblica Argentina [Cow Testing Societies. Their
Importance for Agriculture and for the Development of Dairy Industries and Livestock
Improvement in the Argentine Republic). — In " Anales de la Socicdad rural Argentina "
November-December, 1913. Buenos Aires.
46 PUBLICATIONS RELATING TO CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
AUSTRIA.
Unofficial Publicatioxs :
Die Krankexversicherungspflicht der Zahlmeister bei dex Raiffeisenkassen.
(Compulsory Sickness Insurance for the Cashiers of Raiffcisen Banks). — In " Oesterrei-
cliische landwirtscliaftliche Genossenschaftspresse ". February 19th., 1914. No. 255.
Vienna.
Die Steuernovelle uxd die konsumvereine. {The Reform of the Fiscal Laws and the Distrib-
utive Associations). — In " Konsumverein ". Februarj' 4th., 1914. Vienna.
Freundlich (E) : Die Konzentratiou der Konsumvereine (Concentration of the Distributive
Associations). — In " Konsumverein ". March 4th., 1915, No. 5. Vienna.
Stand der Registriertex Erwerbs- uxd Wirtschafts-gexossenschaftex sowie der Ge-
nossenschaftsverbande in Osterreich am i. Januar 1913 nach Mitteilungen der K. K.
statistisclien Zentralkommission. (Situation of the Co-operative Societies and of their Feder-
ations in Austria on January 1st., 1913, according to the Communications of the I. R. Central
Statistical Commission). — In " Osterreichische landwirtschaftliche Genossenschaftspres-
se ". February 19th., 1914. No. 255. Vienna.
Staudinger (Dr. F.) : Das Wesen der Konsumgenossenschaft (The Nature of Co-operative Dis-
tribution). — In " Konsumverein ", February i8th., 1914. No. 4. Vienna.
DENMARK.
Unofficial Publication :
Beretnixg dm Virksomheden i de samvirkende Landboforeinger I SJ.\ELLAXT)S stift
I aaret 1913. (Reports on the Work of the Agricultural Co-operative Associations in Zea-
land in 1913). Copenhagen, 1913. Nielsen Dr. Lydiche. 8 vo. 360 pp.
SPAIN.
Unofficial Publications ;
Aniversario de la Fuxdaci6n de la Caja rural de Olitb (Anniversary of the Foundation
of the Rural Bank of Olite). In " I^a Paz social ". February, 1914. No. 84. Madrid.
Brief Report on the work and organization of this co-operative institute.
Cr6nica AGRfcoLA .• Una sentencia importante (Agricultural Chronicle. An Important Sent-
ence). In « Progreso agricola y pecuario ». December 31st., 1913. Madrid.
Important Decision of the Court with regard to the work of the agricultiural syndicates.
De Tudaxca (Ruiz) : Federaclones espaiiolas (Spanish Federations) In " Revista Cat6Iica de
Cuestiones sociales ". November- December, 1913. No. 228. Madrid.
UNITED STATES.
Unofficial Publications ;
Annual Report (2°^) of the Better F.-vrming Association of North Dakota co-operat-
ing with the office of Farm INIanageraent, Bureau of Plant Industry. United States Depart-
ment of Agriculture. 1913. 8vo. 31 pp.
The Jewish Agricultur.'vl and Industrial Aid Society. Annual Report for the Year 1913.
New-York, 1913. 8vo. 70 pp.
PUBLICATIONS RELATING TO CO-OPERATION AND ASSOaATlON 47
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.
Official Publications ;
reporrs of the chief registrar of friendly societies for the year ending 3 1 st. de-
cember, 1912. Part A. General Report. London, 1914, Eyre and Spattisvvoode, Ltd.,
folio. II-242 pp.
Agricultural Credit Societies in 1912. In " Journal of the Board of Agriculture ", January,
1914. No. 10, pp. 915-919. London.
Louth .\nd District Shire Horse Society. In " Journal of the Board of Agriculture ". Jan-
uary, 1914. No. 10, pp. 919-921. London.
Historical Notes.
Other Publication ;
St.\tistics of Agricultur-al Co-operative Societies, 1913. Agriciiltural Co-operation in
England and Wales. Published by the Agricultural Organization Society. London, 1913.
8vo. 54 pp.
CANADA.
Official Publications :
Report of the Women's Institutes of the Province of Ontario, 191 3. Part I. Toronto,
1913. L- K. Cameron. 8vo. 120 pp.
The Co-operative Organizations Branch, in " Public Service Monthly ". February, 1914.
No. I. Regina.
Short account of the Regulations in the " Agricultural Co-operative Association Act "
of the Saskatchewan Province.
Other Publications ;
The Grain Growers' Grain co., luhted, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Annual Report for
the Fourteen Months ending 31st. August 1913. Winnipeg, 1913. The Grain Growers'
Guide, 8vo. 46 pp.
The Ontario Agricultural and Experiment.'VL U^^ON. Annual Report (34th.) 1912,
Toronto, 1913. L- K. Cameron, 8vo. no pp.
Conference of h. e. s. Presidents. In " Farmer's Advocate and Home Journal ". February
25th., 1914. No 1,118. Winnipeg.
Conference of the Presidents of the " Home Economic Societies " with the Minister
of Agriculture, February i8th., 1914.
BRITISH INDIA.
Official Publication :
Annual Report on the Working of the Co-operative Societies Act (II of 1912) for
the Year 1912-1913. Government of Madras. Madras, 1914. Government Press. Foho.
6-96 pp.
Other Publication .•
Wolff (Henry. W.) : Raiffcisen in Indian. In " Landwirtschaftliches Genossenschaftsblatt ".
January, 30th., 1914. No. 2. Neuwied.
48 PUBLICATIONS RELATING TO CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
Unofficial Publications ;
ITALY.
Annuario Agrario 1913. Aimuario delle Associazioni Agrarie Italiane (Agricultural Year-
book 1913. Yearbook of the Italian Agricultural Associations). Bologiia, iQi4- Confedera-
zione Nazionale Agraria, 8vo. 300 pp.
Bartolucci (Dr. Benedetto) : Note sulle Casse Rurali e Agrarie (a responsabilita solidale e
illimitata) sorte in Provincia di Cagliari dall'agosto 1909 al novembre 1913. Rclazione.
Supplemento ai Ni. lo-ii. del Bollettino delle R. R. Cattedre Ambulanti di Agricollura
della Sardegiia (iVo/es OM J?Mm/ and Land Banks [of Unlimited Joint and Several Liability)
formed in the Province of Cagliari between August, 1909 and November, 1913. Report. Sup-
plement to Nos. lo-ii of the Bulletin of the Royal Itinerant Agricultural Lecturerships of
Sardinia). Oristano, 1913. Corsi and Pagani, 4I0. 32 pp.
HOLLAND.
Unofficial Publication .•
Press (W. H) and Meyer (S. B.) : A Report on the Methods Adopted by some of the Co-oper-
ative Societies in the Netherlands undertaking the Disposal of Market Garden Produce.
London, 191 3. The Agricultural Organization Society. 8vo. 28 pp.
ROUMANIA
Unofficial Publication :
La C.\isse Rurale ; situation au ler Octobre 1913 {The Rural Bank : Situation on ist. October'
1913). In " Le Mouvement economique " ; January ist., 1914. Bucharest.
SWITZERLAND.
Unofficial Publications ;
Genossenschaftliche Fleischvermittlung .• {Intervention of Co-operative Societies, in Sup-
plying Meat). In " Schweiz.-Konsum-Verein ". January 3rd., 1914. No. i. Basel.
SCHAR (Dr. O) : Die Entwickelung der genossenschiiftlichcn Prcsse in Interesse der genossen-
schaftlichen Erziehung (The Development of the Co-operative Press in its Relations with
Co-operative Education). In " Schweiz. Konsum-Verein ". December 20th, and 27th., 1913.
Nos. 51 and 52. Basel.
Part II: Insurance and Thrift
ARGENTINA.
AN INQUIRY INTO THE MUTUAL SYvSTEM
AND THE NEW BILI/ ON MUTUAL AID vSOClETlF^.
OFFiciAiv sources:
IvAS asociAciones de mutualidad en Buenos Aires. {Mutual Aid Societies in Buenos
Aires). — Boletin del Departamento Nacional del Trabajo. — No. 24, August, 1913.
MENSAIE y PROYECTO DE LEY ORGAnICA SOBRE LAS SOCIEDADES DE SOCCORROS MUTUOS
{Report and Bill for an Organic Law on the Mutual Aid Societies). Do. No. 24,
December, 1913.
Mutual institutions have not yet made great progress in Argentina,
any more than has association generally (i): the movement has been trans-
planted to the soil of the Republic by the immigrant groups mindful
of the benefits they have reaped in their own lands from these thrift
societi s. The want of guiding principles and encouragements and the
difficulties presented by the environment has prevented the movement
becoming important. With several failures some great successes have been
reahsed, and important organizations are not wanting wliicli insure
thousands of members assistance in case of sickness or temporary
disablement.
In recent years mutual societies have made considerable progress.
There are no statistics available with regard to them, except in the case
of the city of Buenos Aires: from a recent enquiry conducted by the Nation-
al Labour Office it would appear that while in 1906 there were (nly
30 mutual aid societies in the capital with 25,258 members, in 1911 there
were 108 with 247,272 members. The following table shows the progress
made in the five years 1906-1911, and the importance of the mutual soci-
eties in the Argentine capital :
(i) See Bulletin of Economic and Social InteUt'^ence, December, 1913. "The Co-op-
erative Movement in Argentine Agriculture ".
50
ARGENTINA - INSURANCE AND THRIFT
Mutual Aid Societies
1906
1909
1911
Number Registered
Number of Members , . . . .
Societies with Civil Personality
Total Capital
Assistance Given
30
25,258
22
1,024,777
339,636
79
180,061
43
4,061,331
564,772
108
247,372
64
11,208,010
1.936,105
As regards the nationality of the members, ItaHan societies are the
most numerous (37); then come the cosmopolitan societies (28), then the
Argentine (18), the Spanish (9) etc.
The 247,272 members reported in 1911 are distributed very irregularly
among the 108 societies: while one alone has 41,000 members, 5 have 10,000
each, and 72 have not even 100 each.
The societies are, in large part, composed of workmen ; some of
civil servants or tradesmen; while in others the members are of different
classes. They chiefly aim at supplying mutual assistance in its simplest form;
payment of medical expenses and the cost of medicines in case of sickness
and of funeral expenses in case of death. Sometimes a daily allowance is
also granted to the sick.
However, examples are not wanting of mutual associations which
do not restrict themselves to providing for the urgent requirements of
members and have other objects of indirect utihty, such as the increase of
savings, credit cr the extension of education by means of schools and
Hbraries.
The economic machinery of the mutual societies is very simple. The
amount of the contribution varies according to circumstances, and is
assessed according to two methods : either it is fixed or is a percentage on
the wages or salaries of the members. In the first case, which is by far
the mcst common, the contributions vary from 0.50 pesos to 10 pesos
a month : but generally from i peso to i ^ ; in the second, they are fixed
at I % of the wages.
I3y means of the contributions of members and special amounts re-
ceived, the 108 societies have been able to accumulate a capital of more than
11,000,000 pesos. The one that has the largest amount of capital (1,200,000
pesos) is a workmen's society (7,800 members): in 1911 it distributed quite
40,000 pesos in aid. The total amount so distributed that year by the 108
societies seems to have been far in excess of the 1,936,105 pesos, shown
in the table above given, f'r the results of the inquiry are 011 this point
incomplete.
The principal conclusions the lyabour Office has drawn from its in-
vestigations may be summarised in the following proposals :
AN INQUIRY INTO THE MUTUAL SYSTEM 5 1
1st., That the State, should supervise the investment of the funds of
the mutual societies that have not civil personality; 2nd., that a federation
should be formed among the mutual aid societies ; 3r-d., that the Olhce
itself should draw up model rules with the object of extending the scope
of the societies ; 4th., that an organic law on mutual aid associations
should be drafted.
In fact the efforts of the group in the domain of thrift must be co-
ordinated and concentrated, their action encouraged and extended. It s
en these principles the bill on mutual aid societies recently laid before
congress is based.
It is proposed in the first place to give a legal basis to the mutual instit-
utions, and clearly to define their character, so that they may be easily
distinguished from capitaHstic societies. They will be granted civil person-
aUty by the executive authorities.
In addition to the usual objects of mutual assistance in case of sick-
ness or death (funeral expenses, subsidies to widows etc.), the draft law
makes provision for old age and disablement pensions, life insurance,
and, finally, the institution of profes.sional services for the benefit of
members, such as labour bureaux, professional schools, clubs, and Hbraries.
To attain these objects of a higher rank, local unions and, a national fed-
eration will be required. Therefore, considering that private initiative
cannot succeed in organizing a complete system of thrift and assistance,
it has been thought advisable to ask the State for financial aid to encourage
and complete private action. Thus, with the free associations, there would
be subsidised societies : the mutual aid societies that posesss certain quali-
fications guarantejing their administrative action may receive subsidies
to the amount permitted by the situation of the public funds.
The assistance to be given by the State is fi>:ecl in proportion to the estim-
ated risks each society has undertaken : in the case of sickness insurance
the subsidy is one peso per year per member, and 50 centavos more if the
society gives aid in sicknesses of long duration, or has a family assistance
fund. In the case of old age pensions or life insurance, the State must pay the
third part of the special contribution of each member, provided always this
contribution does not exceed 12 pesos a year and the fourth part if the con-
tribution exceeds that amount. In no case shall the State contribution exceed
6 pesos per ann. per member. Ever)'' year the funds for these subventions
shall be shown on the National Estimates of Expenditure.
The bill finally proposes the foundation of an inspection service,
dependent on the Department of Justice as well as a Superior Board of
Mutual Aid Societies.
It is trusted that this reform will give a great impulse to the mutual
societies, n; t only in urban, but also in rural centres. The mutual
aid societii s will prepare the way for the more complex forms of associ-
ation, such as co-operative societies that are now considered also in Argentina
as one of the most effectual means for the improvement of the agricultural
classes.
DENMARK.
IvATEST RESUI.TS OF THE I^AW ON AGRICULTURAL
ACCIDENT INSURANCE.
OFFICIAI, SOURCES:
Beretning fra Arbejderforsikringsraadets I^andnbrugsafdelning for Aaret 1912
{Report of the Agricultural Division of the Labourers' Insurance Council for 1912).
Copenhagen, 19 13.
§ I. — Compulsory and voi^untary insurance.
We have already dealt in this Bulletin (June, iQii) with the organis-
ation of agricultural accident insurance in Denmark and given (October,
1912) some statistical information as to the results obtained in the years
1910 and 1911.
The Agricultural Division of the Labourers' Insurance Council at
Copenhagen has just pubUshed a voluminous report of more than 300 pages
on the results for 1912. We shall briefly summarise it.
Let r.s first of all remember that the law of May 27th., 1908 allows
of two forms of agricultural accident insurance, compulsory and voluntary.
Insurance is compulsory, on the one hand, for labourers engaged in agri-
culture, forestry work and horticulture, provided that the holdings on which
they work have a \-alue as shown in the cadastre (i) :i more than 6,000
crs. (2), exclusive of the live or dead stock and, on the < ther hand, for all
labourers employed in stud farms, in working dairies, peat moss bogs
or reed banks and in working threshing machines, as well as all those
engaged in any business auxiliary to the above classes of work. By the
Ministerial Decree of January ist., 1910 and January 23 d., 1912, the law
has been made appUcable to labourers occupied in marlpits, in the control
of dairies, livestock improvement etc.
It is the employer who must insure his workmen (art. 21 of the law).
Insurance is voluntary (art. 25 of the law) for rural landowners and farm
managers, provided the value of the holdings as shown in the cadastre is
(t) See the article: "The Establishment of the Cadastre in Denmark ", published in
the number of this Bulletin for June 1912.
(2) The Danish crown is worth i fr. 39.
RESULTS OF THE LAW ON ACCIDENT INSURANCE 53
not more than 6,000 crs. There is another difference in the rules for vol-
untary and compulsory insurance in that the master as well his wife may
be insured voluntarily against accidents while working on their own farm
or when working for other land holders on farms on which insurance is
not compulsory.
The total number of agricultural accidents to the compulsorily in-
sured in 1912 was 2,679. Besides these, the Agricultural Division of the In-
surance Council reported in 1912, 966 other cases occurring in 1911 but
not yet dealt with and 10 cases dealt with but subjected to revision.
On the other hand, of the total number of accidents to be dealt with
in 1912, 949 were still under consideration at the end of the year. In
the course of the year 1912, 2,370 accidents were actually dealt with.
From these 2,370, we must deduct 275 (or 11.6 % of those dealt with
in the year), as the law of May 27th., 1908 was found not to apply to them.
The number of accidents to those voluntarily insured, reported to
the Insurance Council in 1912 was 227.
To this figure we must add 100 accidents not dealt with in the pre-
vious year and deduct 107 not yet dealt with at the end of the year.
25 S cases were finally dealt with, to 39 of which (15.3 %) it was found
the law did not apply.
Since the law of 1908 on agricultural accidents came into force, the
total number of accidents reported to the Insurance Council has been as
follows :
Year Compulsory Insurance Voluntary Insurance
1909 550 accidents 21 accidents
1910 1,97^ » 118 »
1911 2,312 » 197 »
1912 2,370 » 255 »
§ 2. — Distribution of accidents according to their seriousness.
The 275 accidents abo c mtrti^^ ed ben'g excluded, the law of 1908
was appUed in 2,095 cases of compulsory insurance. Of these, 1,095 accid-
ents gave no claim to compensation as the victim had recovered his
full working capacity or only suffered a diminution of worldng capacity
of less rhan 10 %, which is the minimum giving claim to compensation.
Of the remaining 1,000 accidents, 61 were mortal ; in 32 cases the de-
ceased left no one entirely or partially supported by him; they en' ailed
therefore, only the reimbursement of funeral expenses of 1 ot more than
50 crs.
In the 29 other cases of death, 25 of the victims were labourers with
one or more persons entirely dependent on them and 4 were such as had one
or more persons partially dependent on them. Under the first head, the
54
DENMARK - INSURANCE AND THRIFT
parties concerned had to be compensated up to the amount of 2,500 crs ; in
the second case, the amount to be paid in claims was only 800 crs.
Next come the claims paid for permanent disablement, in 1912 arising
out of 564 accidents.
The compensation is calculated in relation to the degree of disablement,
so that the maximum, 3,600 crowns, is granted in cases of total disablement.
In 1912, a total amount of 401, 088 crs. was granted in compensation,
distributed as under :
Disablement amounting to lo
» » >> 11-15
» V )) 16-20
» » » 21-25
» » » 26-50
» ;> » 51-75
« » » 76-99
» » » 100
Total
201
cases
72,228
133
»
67,500
84
»
59,760
48
»
43,200
76
»
101,520
18
»
43,920
2
»
5,760
2
»
7,200
564
cases
and
.|Oi,o88
With regard to the 216 (255-39) accidents to the voluntarily insured,
60 did not entail permanent disablement Of the remaining 156, 61 gave
no claim to compensation. Of the 95 remaining cases, 5 were mortal and
90 entailed disablement.
The compensations, granted on the same basis as in the case of compuls-
ory insurance, amounted altogether to 7,500 crowns for the deaths and
56,232 crs. for the cases of permanent disablement, distributed as follows:
Disablement amounting to lo
11-15
16-20
21-25
26-50
51-75
76-99
100
41
cases
14,688
17
>.
8,856
14
»
10,008
7
»
6,300
10
1
»
14,220
2,160
Total
90 cases and
56,232
The total number of claims granted since the coming into force of the
law are divided as follows :
RESULTS OF THE LAW ON ACCIDENT INSUK.ANCE 55
I. Compensation for mortal accidents.
A. Compulsory Insurance.
Number of Number of Claims Amount of Claims in crs. Total Amount of
^^^ T^Sl "^P^l -^^^ST^' ^^P^ar Claimsjn crs.
1909 26 12 — 30,000 — 30,000
1910 65 8g 6 60,000 30,100 63,100
1911 89 39 7 97,500 3,600 101,100
1912 61 25 4 62,500 2,200 64,700
1909-1912 241 100 17 250,000 8,900 258,900
B. Voluntary Insurance.
Number of Number of Claims Amount of Claims in crs. Total Amount of
^^^^^ 'i^\ "pS^ ^^?^Sr^ ^^plrtiaT Claimsjn crs.
1909^ 22 — 5,000 — 5,000
1910 9 7 — 17,500 — 17,500
1911 7 3 I 7,500 500 8,000
1912 5 3 — 7,500 — 7,500
1909-1910 23 15 I 37,500 500 38,000
II. Claims Granted for Disablement.
Year Compulsory insurance Voluntary iusutance
1909 10,332 crs. 1,260 crs.
1910 305,496 » 24,480 »
191 1 425,340 » 40,680 »
1912 401,088 » 50,232 »
1909-1912 1,142,256 » 122,652
Let rs add that in 1912, the cases submitted to the council for re-
vision led to a supplementary grant of compensations to the amount
of 12,780 crs. to the compulsorily insured and of 720 crs. to the volunt-
arily insured.
§ 3. — Classification of accidents according to the age
OF THE victims AND THE CAUSES.
The report we are summarising gives very interesting statistics
with regard the to the distribution of accidents in relation to the age of
the \'ictims and the causes of the accident.
In view of the rarity of such statistics, we propose to reproduce them
in some detail, giving also information as to the various kinds of farm on
56
DENMARK - INSURANCE AND THRIFT
Classification of Accidents in 1912 to Persons Compm[
10%
11-15 %
16-20 %
aI-25 %
Degree of Disablement
1
1
1
-3
1
1
1
1
a
1
3
•1
s
1
5 1
0
H
Under lo Years
10-14 »
15-19 ..
20-29 >'
30-39 »
40-49 »
50-59 »
60-64 »
65-69 »
70-74 »
75-79 »
80 years and
Age unknown
over .
10
32
37
27
15
20
16
8
6
I
2
3
12
8
4
12
35
49
27
23
24
16
8
6
I
2
20
13
15
16
16
9
12
3
5
10
2
2
5
I
I
I
2
25
23
17
18
21
10
13
4
3
10
14
4
7
8
7
10
5
2
2
6
3
2
I
3
12
20
7
9
8
7
10
6
2
3
3
7
7
4
7
3
4
2
2
_
I
3
I
I
3^
4'
10'
7'
5'
7
4
4
2
2
Tota
1 . . .
172
29
201
106
27
133
70
14
84
42
6 48
Classification of Accidents in 1912 /o Persons Volm
10%
11-15 %
16-20 %
21-25 %
Degree of Disablement
1
s
1
i
8
s
1
1
Men
Women
1
1
1
1
3
Under 10 Years
10-14 "
15-19 »
20-29 »
30-39 »
40-49 »
50-59 »
60-64 »
65-69 »
70-74 »
75-79 »
80 years and
Age unknown .
over .
I
4
5
10
5
3
I
I
I
2
4
3
I
2
5
7
14
8
3
2
3
5
2
I
2
2
I
I
I
5
7
3
I
I
I
I
I
2
I
3
3
I
I
4
I
^ 4
3
I
I
I
I
2
I
I
4
1
— <
Tota
1 . . .
29
12
41
10
7
17
7
7
14
3
RESULTS OF THE
r,A\v ON
ACCIDEN'J
~ INSURANCE
57
\ly Insured, according to the age of the Victims.
26-50 %
51-75 %
76-99 %
100%
Total Invalided
Deaths
Total
1
^
s
1 1
^
1
i
! s
LI
1
;l
1
1
^
1
a
V
1
■1
a 1 a -3
1 1 g
1
a lis
^ 1 1 ^
2
I
I
3
5
I
13
2
9
12
8
8
i6
13
6
2
76
I
2
3
4
3
2
I
16
I
I
2
I
3
4
4
3
2
I
I
—
I
I
2
I
I
2
—
I
I
21
75
86
66
53
66
44
39
18
5
2
14
33
6
13
12
7
2
2
23
89
119
72
66
78
51
41
20
5
4
12
II
6
6
10
2
4
2
I
I
I
I
4
12
12
6
7
10
2
4
2
I
I
25
87
97
72
59
76
46
43
20
6
I
2
14
34
6
14
12
7
2
2
27
lOI
131
78
73
88
53
45
22
6
I
18 2
2
473
91
564
59
2
61
532
93
625
'y Insured,
according to the
"ge
of the Victims
26-50 %
51-75 %
over 76 % 1 Total Invalided Deaths
Total
a
V
1
1
a
1
s
1
"3
n
i 3 8
& .0 .2
8
! ^
1 1
i
1
5
^
a
1
8
1
^
1 I 1 1 1 1 " 11
2
4
2
I
I
I
—
I
—
—
I
I
I
4
10
17
12
6
2
I
6
9
9
9
2
3
I
I
I
2
2
19
26
21
8
5
I
I
I
I
I
I
2
I
I
I
II
18
12
6
2
I
I
2
10
9
9
2
4
I
I
I
2
6
21
27
21
8
6
2
» 6
10
I
I
—
—
54 36
■
90
3
2
5
57
38
95
58 DENMARK - INSURANCE AND THRIFT
which the accidents occurred and their distribution over the various months
oi the year and in regard to the days of the week.
The 625 accidents to the compulsorily insured as well as the 95 to
the voluntarily insured are classified in the following tables according to the
age and sex of the victims, from which we see that the age of the victims
voluntarily insured is comparatively far greater than that of the others.
Unfortunately, the returns do not cover sufficient ground to allow of any
useful conclusion being drawn from this.
The accidents to the compulsorily insured were distributed as follows
among the various kinds of businesses.
Accidents
Causing Disablement Causing Death
I Farms of a value of more than 100,000 crs. 99 17
II » )) » » between 50,000 and 100,000 » 55 7
III » )i )) » 1) 20,000 » 50,000 » 160 20
IV » » » » i> 12,000 » 20,000 » 84 6
V » » » » » 1,000 » 12,000 » 38 2
VI Forestry 28 —
VII Horticulture 15 —
VIII Dairies 32 4
IX Threshing with machines 3 —
X Reed cutting 39 2
XI Marl pits 3 i
XII Occupations auxiliary to agriculture 8 2
Total ... 564 61
The accidents were distributed as follows [over the various months
of the year and in respect to the days of the week :
Compulsory insurance
Men
January 62
February 56
March 40
April 42
May 42
June 39
July 46
August 75
September 42
October 3°
November Jo
December 28 6 34 8
Total ... 532 93 625 95
men
^ TotaT
Voluntary
Insurance
6
68
ID
5
61
10
5
45
6
4
46
3
5
47
6
3
42 -
6
10
56
II
24
99
II
6
48
9
12
42
9
7
37
6
5
RESULTS OF THE I,AW OX ACCIDENT INSURANCE 59
Compulsory Insatance
Men
Sunday 38
Monday 87
Tuesday 79
Wednesday 82
Thursday 78
Fhiday 79
Saturday 88
Day not stated i
Voltsntary
Insur ance
amen
Total
8
46
8
17
104
10
14
93
16
23
105
16
6
84
14
10
89
13
14
102
18
I
2
—
Total ... 532 93 625 95
As we see, August, which is harvest time, is the month in which accid
ents are by far the most frequent. The distribution of the accidents over
the various working days is fairly even.
The causes of the 625 accidents covered by compulsory insurance and
of the 95 covered by voluntary insurance may be summarised as under :
Accidents caased Compulsory Voluntary
by Insurance Insuraace
::i
Horses 70
Bulls
Other Homed Cattle 3:
Other Aninials i —
Carts 94 19
Engines 16 —
Agricultural IMachinery 93 12
Implements 41 6
Falls 120 39
lyandslips, Blows etc 53 —
Various Causes (i) 89 10
Total ... 625 95
The law of May 27th., 1909 grants daily allowances to the \actims of
accidents only after a term of 13 weeks, during which the recognised sick-
ness insurance societies subventioned by the vState may intervene with
assistance. The Labourers' Insurance Cotmcil has made investigations
to discover how many of the victims of accidents were members of such
(i) In 35 cases, wounds from sharp objects (thorns, blades of grass etc.).
60 DENMARK - INSURANCE AND THRIFT
societies. From the information obtained, it appears that of 2,025 victims
of accidents, compulsorily insured, only 1,010 or 49.9 % were members of
sickness insurance societies. In the preceding year, the proportion was
only 45.7%, so that there has been some progress made in the matter.
The corresponding figures for the voluntarily insured were 66.4 %
in 1912 and 57.8 % in 1911.
In the 2,095 cases treated in 1912, 1,766 of the risks were insured by
mutual societies and 297 by Hmited Uabihty societies, 4 cases not by any
society, 15 were covered by the State itself, and with regard to the remaining
13 there is no information.
PUBIylCATIONS OF RECENT DAIE
REIyATING TO INvSURANCE AND THRIFT.
VARIOUS COUNTRlEvS.
Unofficl\l Publications :
I<EFORT (J) : 1,'assurance centre le choniage en France et a I'etranger (Insurance against Unem-
ployment in France and other Countries). Paris, 1913. Fontemoing et Cie.
Pic. (P) : l,es assurances sociales en France et a I'etranger [Social Insurance in France and
Other Countries). Paris, 1913, Alcan.
GERMANY
Official Publication ;
Die Kjt.\NKENVERSiCHERUNG IM JAHRE 1912. Bearbeitct im Kaiserlichen Statlstischen Amtc-
Statistik des Deutschen Reichs. Band 268 (Sickness Insurance in 191 2. Compiled by
the Imperial Statistical Office. Statistics for the German Empire, Vol. 268). Berlin, 1913.
Puttkammer und Miihlbrecht, folio. 17-]- 60 pp.
Other pubblications :
Brandis (Amtsiicht. a. D. Rekursvertret. Dr.) and Prigge (Kreisarzt Dr.) : Gevvcrbe-und.
landwirtschaftliche Unfali-Versicherung. Handausgabe der Reicbsversicherung ordnung
mit den Ausfiihrmigsbestimmungen, Erlaiiterungen, Obergutachttnund Verzcichnissen.
2. Auflage des Gewerbe-und landwirtscliaftlichen Unfall-Versicherungs. Gcsetzes, der
Neubearbcitung i. Auflage (Workmen's and Agricultural Accident Insurance. Imperial
Insutance Code with Indications for its ExedUion, Explanations, Opinions and References.
2na. Edition of theLaw on A '^ricultural and Industrial Accident Insurance; 1st. Edition of the
Law in its New Form) .
Die reichsgesetzliche Arbeitsversicherung vom. i. i. 1914 ab. Kurze Darstellung der
reichsgesetzlichen Fiirsorge auf dem Gebiete der Kranken-Unfalle, Invalidcn (und
Hinterbliebenen) und Angestelltenversicherung sowie eingehende Behandlung der Kran-
kenversichening in Wiirttemberg. No. 5der Volksturaliche Rechtskunde. — (Labour Insur-
ance, according to the Imperial Code from. i. 1. 1914. A Short Exposition of the Provisions
of the Imperial Code in re:ard to Sickness, Accident, Disablement (and Survivors') Insur-
ance, and Employers' Insurance, and a Detailed Account of Sickness Insurance in Wiirttem-
berg). Stuttgart. W. Kohhammer 800-103 PP-
Fr.\tzscher (Versich.-Revis. Dr. Alfred): Das ortliche Viehvcrsicherungswe.-.en in Konig-
reich Preussen - Veroff'jntlichungcn des Konigl.-preussischcn lyundLS-Okonomie-Kolle-
giums (Livestock Insurance in the Kingdom of Prussia. Published by the Landes-Okonomie
Kollegium) No. 14. Berlin, 1914. P. Parey. 48 pp.
62 PUBLICATIONS RELATING TO INSURANCE AND THRIFT
Herzfelder (Prokur- Abteilungschef Dr. Etnil) : Haftpflichtversichenmg. Versichenings-
Bibliothek, lierausgegcben von Prof. Dr. Alfred Manes. 4 Band (Liability Insurance. Insur-
ance Library, Publishedby Prof. Dr. Alfred Manes. 4. volumes). Berlin, 1914. E. S. Mittler
und Sohn.
Klotz (Adolf) : Die landwirtschaftliche Unfalversicherung [A c,ri cultural Accident Insurance).
Karlsruhe. G. Braunsche Hofbuchdruckerei.
Ktjnowsky (Ger. - Assess, a. D. Stadlsynd. Dr. Erich) : Krankenversicherung und Armenver-
bande (Sickness Insurance and Poor Societies). Berlin, 1914. F. Vahlen. 8vo. 67 pp.
MusER (Revisionsvorst. Ob. Rechngs. R. Emil) : Krankenversichertmg. Die einschlagigen Be-
stimmxmgen der Reichsversecherungsordnimg vom. 19. 7. 1911 mit den VoUzugs - und
Ausfiihrungsbestimmungen, Zusatzen und Verweisungen liir das Grossherzogtiun Baden
(Sickness Insurance. Provisions in respect to it in the Imperial Insurance Codeofig.y. 1911,
with the Provisions relative to their Execution and Additions and Instructions for the Grand
Duchy of Baden).
Peschke (Gen. Assess. Dr. Kurt): Die Krankenversicherung der Dienstboten und anderen im
Haushalte Beschaftigten nach der Reichsversicherungsordnung vom i. i. 1914 an. Ein
Ratgeber fiir Dienstherrschaft und Dienstverpflichete (Sickness Insuratice of Servants and
others Engaged in Domestic Occupations, accordin:^ to the Imperial Insurance Code of i. i
1914. Guide for Masters and Servants).
Englert (Dr. Von) : Die bayerischen Landesanstalten fiir landwirtschaftliche Versicherung
(The Bavarian Amcultural Insurance Institutes). In " Landwirtschaftliches Jahrbuch
fiir Bayem ". 1913. No 13. Munich.
AUSTRIA
UxoFFiciAL Publication:
^'assurance ouvri£;re contre les accidents en Autriche. (Accident Insurance in Austria).
In Economiste frangais. February 21st., 1914. No 8. Paris.
BELGIUM
Unofficial Publication :
Guide pratique de l assurance (Practical Insurance Guide) Annuarie beige des assurances.
Sixth. Year 1914. Brussels, 1914. Leempoel. 8vo, X-534 pp.
FRANCE
Unofficial Publications :
Imbert (L^ Oddo (b). and Charvenac (P) : Accidents du Travail. L'evaluation des incapa-
cites (Accidents in Work. Estimation of Disablement). Paris, 19x3. Masson & Co. VIII-946
pp.
Lombard (Paul) : L assurance mutuelle agricole contra I'incendie en France (Th^se) Agricul-
tural Mutual Fire Insurance in France. Thesis). Nancy, 1913. L- Bertrand. 162 pp.
PUBLICATIONS RELATING TO INSURANCE AND THRIFT 63
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.
Official Publications:
Reports of the Chief Registrar of Friendly Societies for the year ending 31st. De-
cember, 1912. Part A. General Report. London, 1914. Eyre and Spottisvvoode, Ltd. II
- 242 PP-
Co-operative Cow Insurance Societies in 1912. In "Journal of the Board of Agricultixre. "
January, 1914. No. 10. Pages 911-915. London.
Other Publications .•
Wilson (Sir James, K. C. S. I.) : The Co-operative Insurance of Livestock in England and
Wales. In " Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, " January, 1914. Pages 145-158.
London. Speech Delivered by Sir James Wilson at the Ro3'al Statistical Society, De-
cember i6th., 1913.
CANADA
Officl\l Public.'VTion ;
The H-AIL insurance Commission. Id " Public Service Monthly, " February, 1914. No. 7. Re-
gina (Saskatchewan).
Summary of a Circular Lettar of the Saskatchewan Hail Insurance Commission with Stat-
istics of this Branch of Insurance in Saskatchewan.
Other Publication :
Sask.'V.tchewan Hail Insurance. In Grain Growers'Guide. February 4th., 1914. Winni-
peg (Manitoba).
Letter of the President of the Saskatchewan Hail Insurance Commission on the Hail In-
surance Law.
PORTUGAL.
Official Publication :
Da Silva (Fernando Emygidio) : Acddentes de trabalho. A forma (jao da theoria dorisco pro-
fissional {Accidents in Work. Formation oj the Theory of Professional Risk) In " Jornal
de Seguros, " Pebruary 8th., 1914. No. 194. Lisbon.
RUSSIA.
Official Publication ;
DOBSON (G) : Company Fire Insiu-anco in Russia, 1827-1910. St-Petcrsburg, 1913. Tariff Com-
mission of Russian Insurance Coirpauics, 145 pp.
64 PUBLICATIONS RELATING TO INSURANCE AND THRIFT
SWITZERLAND.
Unofficial Publications ;
EiNE Neue Versicherung FiiR DEN Weineau (A New Form of ViticuUund Insurance) In
Schweizerische Bauernzeitung, March, 1914. No. 3. Zurich.
GeSETZENTWURF BETREFFEND DIE EINFiiHRUNG DES BUNDESGESETZES UBER DIE KRAXKEN
UND Unfall VERSICHERUNG. Bericht DES Regierun'OSR.\tes [BUI for the Introduction of
the Federal Sickness and Accident Insurance Law and Report of the Federal Council) In
Bauern und Arbeilerbund Baselland. March /th., 191 i- No. 518. Ba.scl.
Government Bill for the Introduction of a Federal Law for Sickness and Accident In-
suraiice.
Krumbiegel (Kurt) : Die Schweizerische Sozialversichcrung, mit besonderer Beriicksichli-
gung des Kranken- und Unfallversicherungsgesetzes von 13 Juni 191 1 (Swiss Social In-
surance with Special Reference to the Sickness and Accident Insurance Law of June 13 ih.,
1 911) Jena- G. Fischer.
Part III: Credit
AUSTRIA.
THE AUSTRIAN POSTAL SAVINGS BANK.
SOURCES :
K. K. Postspakkassen-Amt.: Bestimmungen fiir den Geschaftsverkehr der Postsparkasse.
{Rules for the Conduct of tlie Business of the Postal Savings Bank). IVth. Edition.
Vienna, 1908.
Bakta (Prof. Rudolf): Die Osterreichishe Postsparkasse. {The Austrian Postal Savings
Bank). Vienna and I^eipzig, Hartlebens Verlag, 1909.
GuiDA (Dott. Ugo): Ilservizio postale di checks e clearing. {The Postal Cheque and Clearing
Service) in Rivista delle Comunicaztoni, published by the Ministero delle Poste e Tele-
graii, Rome, Nos. I, II, III and IV, 1912.
Neunondzwanzigster Rechenschafts bericht des K. K. Postsparkassen Amtes FliR
DAS JAHR 1 912 {Twenty Ninth Report of the Postal Savings Bank Office, for the
Year 1912). Vienna 1913.
Union Postale Universelle : Recueil de Renseignements sur I'organisation des Admi-
nistrations de I'Union et sur leurs services internes. {Collection of Information relating
to the Orc,anisation of the Administrations of the Union and their Internal Arrangements)^
Published by the International Bureau, I^ausanne. United Press, 1911.
N.\tional Monetary Commission : Notes on the Postal Savings Bank Systems of the Leading
Countries. Washington. Government Printing Office, 1910.
Statistische CoRRESPONDENZ {Statistical Correspondence), Published by the Prussian National
Royal Statistical Office. Year -XXXVIII, No. 52, October 19th., 1912.
§ I. Organisation.
The Postal Savings Bank was founded in Austria in 1883, in conform-
ity vn\h the law of May 28th., 1882, completed by the provisions of the law
of November iSth., 1887, which centraHses at the Vienna head ofl&ce all
business relating to the postal savings bank service.
The Postal Savings Bank service may be divided into : (a) The Savings
Department, {h),the Cheque and Clearing House Service, (c) State Security
Department (Purchase, Custody and Sale of vState Securities), (d) De-
66 AUSTRIA - CREDIT
partmenf for the Collection of Bills and other Similar Operations, (e) Depart-
ment for Loans on Pledge of Personal Estate, (f) Discounting Department,
(g) Administration of Salt Spring Certificates.
(a) Savings Department.
The Postal Savings Bank Office receives the savings deposited in the
post offices, invests the money at interest and refunds it on demand through
the post offices. On occasion of the first deposit the post office gives the
depositor a bank book, made out to his name ; it must contain proof of
the depositor's identity and his signature ; any future deposits may be made
in any post office, and entered in the bank book. Not more than one book
may be issued for a single depositor. The depositor, his legal successor or
representative, may always withdraw the entire amount deposited at any
post office indicated by him, after notice given. Even depositors under age
may withdraw their deposits, unless their legal representatives present
written objection at the Postal Savings Bank Office.
Except in this case, objections against withdrawal of deposits can
only be considered when a suit is pending affecting the right of ownership
of the bank book.
Objections of the kind must be presented in writing at the Postal
Savings Bank Office together with the necessary documents.
The deposits made with the postal savings bank are not distrainable
nor may they be pledged ; nor are the bank books subject to judicial
execution.
The minimum deposit is one crown : any larger deposit must be a multiple
of a crown. To render savings of smaller amounts possible, " Postal savings
cards " are issued. When stamps to the amount of one crown have been
attached to such a card, it is accepted in deposit. A single depositor may not
present more than three postal savings cards a week.
The credit of a single depositor, in principal and interest must never
be more than 2,000 crs. However, deposits may be made in excess of this,
if at the same time application is made for the purchase of State securities.
Withdrawals of aU or part of the savings are made by means of not-
ice given by the person who has a right to them : there are special forms
for notice of withdrawal, distributed to the depositor together with the bank
book when he makes his first deposit. The Postal Savings Bank Office,
on receipt of the demand, sends the depositor or the person indicated by
him in his demand, an order payable within two months. This is generally
sent by return post, at any rate speedily enough to allow of withdrawal
within the following periods, counting from date of receipt of demand at
the Postal Savings Bank Office : amounts of between 20 and 200 crs.
within 15 days; amoimts between 200 and 1,000 crs., within a month;
amounts in excess of 1,000 crs., within 2 months. The depositor may,
however, withdraw amounts up to 40 crs. immediately on demand at any
post office even without first advising the Postal Savings Bank Office.
POSTAL SAVINGS BANK 67
At the Vienna Postal Savings Bank Office deposits may be withdrawn
immediately, irrespective of their amount. It is sufficient to present the form
of demand completed and signed, together with the savings bank book.
Deposits at the postal savings bank bear interest at 3 % per ann. On the
31st. of December of each year the interest is added to the principal and the
same interest is given on the new total. No interest is given on amounts
in excess of 2,000 crs. It must be observed that in the case of postal
savings bank deposits currency of prescription is interrupted by every
new deposit, every new demand for withdrawal and ever}^ registration of
interest in the bank book. The provisions of § 1,480 of the Austrian
General Civil Code, according to which at the end of three years arrears
of interest are lost by prescription, does not apply in the case of postal
savings bank deposits.
The correspondence of depositors with the postal savings bank does not
pay postage and is exempt from stamp and other duties.
The interest on deposits is exempt from income tax but not from the
tax on personal income (§ 125, No. 5 ; § 169, No. 2, of law of Octo-
ber 25th., 1896. Bulletin of Imperial Laws, No. 220).
{b) Postal Cheque and Clearing Service.
In the number of our Bulletin for August, 1913 (pp. 129 et seqq).,
we have already shown in a general way the importance the postal cheque
and clearing service has assumed in certain States; we there showed the
systems on which this service is carried on and why in Austria it was as-
sociated with the Postal Savings Banks.
The Cheque Service of the Austrian Postal Savings Bank Office consists
in the opening of current accounts by the Office into which deposits may be
made through any post office, while the depositor may make payments by
means of cheques out of the amounts entered to his account. The credit,
therefore, is formed by payments made in any post office either by the owner
of the account himself or by third parties in his favour ; in the debit ac-
count are entered the payments the owner of the account makes by means of
postal cheques supplied by the administration, which may be cashed in
any post office.
The advantage of the postal cheque is that it can be accepted and
paid in any post office of the State. If any person, even not belonging
to the service, desires to make payment to the owner of a current account he
need only pay the necessary sum into a post office and the administration
will credit the account with it. If, again, the owner of a current account
wishes to pay an amount to a third party who has no account with the
Office, he must make out a postal cheque to him payable in any office.
If, on the other hand, the account to be regulated concerns two persons
who both have accounts with the Office, the debtor makes out a cheque in
68 AUSTRIA - CREDIT
favour of the creditor, who, instead of asking the Post Office to cash it, has
the amount deducted from the debtor's account credited to his own (i).
To obtain a right to these advantages, once his appUcation for a
postal cheque and clearing account has been granted, the apphcant must
make an initial deposit of lOO crowns, as otherwise he will forfeit liis rights.
Deposits in cheque accounts are made as follows :
(a) by means of certificates of pa5aaients (Erlagscheine) ;
(b) by means of postal orders (Postanweisungen) ;
(c) by crediting a current account with amounts of cheques drawn by
other persons possessing accounts ;
{d) by crediting it with the amounts the Post Office collects for the
owner of the account.
Clauses (a) (6) and (d) indicate real pavment of cash, while (c) refers
to transfers of credit from one account to another {clearing) .
In regard to (a) : by means of the certificate of payment, deposits may
be made by any one in behalf of the owner of an account and this is the
ordinary way in which credits are increased.
No maximum has been fixed for the amounts that may be deposited
in this way.
In regard to (b) : the holder of an account may apply to the postal
office through which he receives his correspondence to have the postal
orders addressed to him, except those sent by telegraph or express, cred-
ited to his account instead of paid to him in cash. Every owner of a cur-
rent account is free to forward the postal orders he receives from third
parties directly to the Postal Savings Bank Office, with indication of his
account or his name as under :
To the I. R. Postal Savings Bank Office {to the credit of A. B's account
No...) Vienna.
The o\^'ner of the account may also request that the amounts he receives
by mone}'' and postal orders (Postauftrags- und Nachnahmebetrage) be
placed directh' to his cheque account.
The same course is taken in the case of other amounts recovered
through the post office.
In regard to {d) : the proceeds from sale of Government securities, col-
lection or exchange, made by the postal savings banks on behalf of those
who have accounts with them, are on request credited to the cheque accounts.
In regard to (c) : payment by transfer of credit is a real payment on the
part of the owner of the account debited and, on the other hand, a payment
by endorsement in the case of the holder of the account credited.
Before speaking more at large of this class of payment, let us say a
few words in regard to the postal cheque.
The holder of a current account draws postal cheques on it. These
are written orders to the management to pay definite amounts out of his
account either to him or to third parties.
(i) Cfr. the article bj' Dr. U. GiuD.'V: "// Servizio postale di checks c cletinw:: " in Rivista
delle Comitnicazioni, January, 1912 page 22. Rouie. Ministcro dclk Poste e Telegrafi.
POSTAI. SAVINGS BANK 69
For this purpose the office delivers cheque books either to the owners
of accounts or persons authorized by them The owners of the accounts
are responsible for all consequences due to misuse, theft or loss of cheques
delivered to them and, in case of loss, must immediately advise the office
so as to prevent payment being made to unauthorized persons. Cheques
may not be drawn for amounts exceeding the total credit of the drawer.
If a person overdraws his account several times, the Postal Savings
Bank may notify the holder, and close his account. In Austria cheques
may not be issued for amounts of more than 20,000 crs., unless payment
is made by a simple transfer of credit. In that case there is no limit to
the amount.
There are two kinds of cheques : cheques to hearer and inscribed cheques
payable only to the particular person named. The cheques to bearer are
payable on demand, the inscribed cheques are not. They must be for-
warded to the office, which, after the necessary examination, pa5^s them
indirectly by crediting the payee's account or by postal order, registered
letter, order for payment or otherwise. In Austria there are four ways
of paying postal cheques.
1. Cash Payment (Barzahlung). — This is the simplest, when the holder
of the cheque resides in Vienna, where the Central Bank has its seat. The
cheque to bearer, but not the inscribed cheque, may be presented to the
Bank by any person, to be paid at sight, after due examination of the
signature and of the drawer's account.
2. Payment by Postal Order or Registered Letter (Riickzahlung mittels
Postanweisung oder Wertbrief es) . — This course is taken when the holder
of the cheque, whether inscribed or to bearer, does not reside in Vienna.
He forwards the cheque directly to the Central Bank, with request for the
amount to be forwarded by postal order or registered letter.
3. Payment by Transfer of Credit (Riickzahlung mittels Gutschrift
auf einem anderen Konto) . — This can only be arranged in the case of
two parties both holding current accounts. In order to effect payment
to his creditor the debtor writes an order to pay him the amount due, in
the usual form. Then, he draws a cheque on his account for the same sum.
He will make the following note on it : To effect payment, in accordance
with the attached order {zur Einzahlung des Betrages auf beiliegendem Er-
lagschein). As soon as the Central Bank receives the two forms, it de-
ducts the amount indicated from the account of the drawer of the cheque
and enters it to that of the payee indicated, advising him of the operation
effected. The transfer of credit may, however, take a still simpler form,
when the debtor draws a cheque which he delivers or sends to his creditor.
The latter may then ask the Central Bank to enter the amount to his credit.
4. Payment by Order for Payment (Riickzahlung mittels Zahlungs-
weisung). — If the payee of an inscribed cheque has not a current
account or if payment by transfer of credit is expressly excluded, the cheque
is paid through the post office of the place where the payee lives by
means of an order issued by the central management.
70 AUSTRIA - CREDIT
The Postal Savings Bank Office pays interest of 2 % per ann. on
the cheque account, the permanent deposit included.
On the postal cheque and clearing operations the following taxes and
charges are paid : On every operation conducted in connection with an
account a tax of 4 heller called Manipolaiionsgehiihr is levied. There is
a charge of 34 %o on all entries to the debit of an account up to 6,000 crs.
and of ^/g %oOn larger amounts. There is exemption from this charge for
payments effected by means of a transfer of credit and by post office order,
for amounts debited to the holder of a current account on account of pur-
chase of Government securities and aU amounts the savings bank deducts
from a current account under the head of taxes, commission etc.
With regard to the administration of funds paid into cheque account,
the Central Bank must always have at its disposal the amounts necessary
for its work. The surplus must be invested in such a way as to reduce the
risks to a minimum. The following investments are authorized : the pur-
chase of salt spring certificates, deposits in current account in the large
banks at short maturity, advances on absolutely safe security; discount of
biUs when no risk is incurred ; purchase of shares in Government Debt.
A special reserve fund has been formed to meet eventual losses.
*
* *
The international postal cheque and clearing service is conducted in
two ways : by means of the postal service properly so caUed, also styled
official service {amtlicher Verkehr), directly by the post offices; or by means
of the postal bank service, by the post offices and banks.
The postal service properly so called is in operation among the
countries that have organized a cheque and clearing service. It has been
working between Austria, Hungary, Germany and Switzerland since
February ist., 1910 (Agreement of October 27th., 1909 for the introduction
of the international postal cheque and clearing service).
Anyone who has a current account in any of the above countries may
give order for a transfer of credit to the holder of a current account in
another: transactions in cash are not allowed.
For transfer of credit, Austria makes a very small charge : for transfers
up to 2,000 crs, 14 %; for transfers of larger amounts Vs %• '^^^ minimum
is 5 heller.
There are special rules for the cheque service between Austria and the
Levant : only the I. and R. Post Offices of Beyrouth, Constantinople I,
Durazzo, Jerusalem, Jaffa, Janina, Salonica I, Scutari (Albania), Smyrna I
and Vallona are authorized to accept deposits and make payments in
cheque accounts.
The international postal cheque and clearing service, in the countries
whereitisestabHshed, namely: Austria, Hungary, Germany, Switzerland and
Belgium, regulates international economic relations only by transfer of
credit and not by cash, or by transfers between current accounts in the
Bank and in the post office.
POSTAI, SAVINGS BANK 7I
It therefore serves those exclusively who have current accounts with
the post office. It is quite useless in the case of those countries which have
not yet started such a service for themselves. With respect to these
limitations, we may say that the service is completed by the second form
of organized international service, that of the postal bank service. This
is working between the postal departments of Austria, Germany, Switzer-
land, Hungary and some foreign banks in various countries. In accordance
with special agreements, these banks serve as intermediaries for all those
who have to do business in connection with postal cheque accounts in
Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Hungary. The operations may be
conducted either by means of money or by transfer of current accounts
between the Bank and post offices.
The cheque and clearing service was organized in 1906, between Austria
and Germany, by means of the Berlin Deutsche Bank; in 1907 between Austria
and Switzerland, by means of the Schueizerische Kreditanstalt of Zurich ;
between Austria and Italy, by means of the IVIilan Banca commerciale ita-
liana ; between Austria and Great Britain, by means of the I^ondon branch of
the K. K. priv. Osterreichische Ldnderhank ; in 1908 between Austria and
France, by means of the Societe Generale pour favoriser le developpement du
Commerce et de Vlndttstrie of Paris ; in 1909 between Austria and Belgimn,
by means of the Societe Generale de Belgique of Brussels.
The operations in connection with the service are conducted by the
Viennese Postal Savings Bank and the above mentioned other Banks,
their branches and agencies, and the credit institutes in other countries
in relation with these banks.
Deposits may be made in cash into current accounts at the Vienna
Savings Bank, either by means of the direct payment of the amounts
into the Banks or their branches or by despatch of these amounts through
the post.
For deposits in cash, special deposit certificates (Erlagserkldrungen) are
used, blue for Germany, red for Italy, yellow for England, Scotland and
Ireland; light brown for Switzerland. The holders of current accounts
may buy them at 2 heller a piece, at the Postal Savings Bank Office
which has already been supphed with the stamp of the firm, the name
of the depositor and the number of the cheque account in question.
These certificates are sent by the depositors to their correspondents
abroad. The latter then make the deposits in the Banks or their
branches by means of these certificates.
In the Banking Service, deposits may also be made by means of a trans-
fer of credit from current account in the banks indicated or other credit
institutions in relation with them. In the latter case, the credit institutes
make transfer in favour of the banks, to which, at the same time, the
holder of the account forwarding the money indicates directly the holder
of the current account in the Vienna Postal Savings Bank to be paid, so
that the transfer may be definitely arranged.
Payments in behalf of holders of current accounts of the Vienna
Postal Savings Bank are made, as in the case of the home service, by means
72 AUSTRIA - CREDIT
of postal cheques on which the amount to be paid may be shown not only
in crowns, but also in marks, francs, liras and pounds. The holder of a
current account sends the cheque with corresponding order to pay to the
Vienna Bank which undertakes the final payment. This is generally
arranged directly between the savings bank and the foreign banks, if the
Bank indicated has its head office or a branch office at the place of destin-
ation or if the payments are to be made by transfer of credit in current
account. Othen\dse, the Vienna Bank sends the consignee the amount
through the ordinary channels provided by the post office. If payment can
be made by the bank, the Vienna Postal Savings Bank assigns the amount
to the foreign bank or sends the payee a cheque directly and he receives the
amount on presentation of the cheque at the bank. The choice between
the two methods of payment is, as far as is practicable, left to the payer.
The rate of exchange is fixed in accordance with the most recent prices
on the money market. The charges on payments made are, generally,
identical with those for the international postal service properly so called,
with which we have already dealt.
There are special rules for the settlement of the accounts between the
offices, with which, however, we do not think it necessary to concern our-
selves especially.
(c) Government Security Business.
This branch of the Austrian Postal Savings Bank Service is concerned
with the purchase, custody and sale of Austrian State securities for the ac-
count of depositors.
Purchase of securities (i) is effected at the request of the depositors.
The purchaser is charged at the rate registered in the official hst of the Vienna
Exchange on the day of purchase, increased by 2 %o of the amount of the
purchase price and at least by 40 heller. The amount thus arrived at is
deducted from the purchaser's account.
If the savings of a depositor exceed the maximum hmit laid down by
the law, that is 2,000 crs., he is invited by registered letter to reduce the
amount of his credit. If, in the month following the despatch of this
letter, he has not done so, the Office purchases Austrian Consols for his
account at the rate of exchange, for an amount equal to the excess of the
deposits over the legal maximum, in any case for a nominal value of at
least 400 crowns. The purchase price is then deducted from the pur-
chaser's account in payment. The securities purchased remain in the
custody of the post office until the owner requests that they be sent to him.
The custody of documents of title is undertaken, as guarantee of the
kind and quantity of the documents, the value of the coupons and, in case
of bonds drawn for, also of the numbers. When securities are deposited
with it, the Postal Savings Bank Office gives the depositor a Rentenbuch
(Consols Book).
(i) The Austrian Governinant Securities, the Austrian Postal Savings Bank purchases
for the accounts of depositors and holders of current accounts are clearly specified.
POSTAI, SAVINGS BANK 73
The book is made out in his name and any fact affecting the deposit is
entered in it. The Office also undertakes custody of securities belonging
to its depositors it has not itself purchased for them.
No separate charge is made for custody of Consols bought by the Office
when, in the request for purchase, request for custody is also made. Otherwise,
in the deed of delivery a single charge is made of 2 "/qq according to the
price on the Vienna Exchange on the day of deHvery, but of 40 heller at
least ; and this is deducted from the deposit or cheque account. The coup-
ons are paid by the Postal vSavings Bank on their relative maturity and,
when a request to the contrary is not made, credited to the savings deposit
or cheque account.
The management of the Postal Savings Bank, besides purchase and
custody, also undertakes sale of Government bonds at the rate shown
in the official list of the Vienna Exchange on the day of sale, charging
2 °/oo on the amount sold, but always a minimum of 40 h. The proceeds
of the sale are, at the desire of the seller, credited to his deposit or cheque
account or forwarded to the address given.
(d) Collection of Bills and Similar Operations.
The Austrian Postal Savings Bank OflSce undertakes to collect bills
of every kind, accepted or not, cheques, money orders and invoices for its
depositors and the holders of current accounts.
It further undertakes to pay bills indicated as payable at the Postal
Savings Bank Office selected by the drawee ; to pay the amoimt of bonds
issued in connection with State or other loans, land bonds, lottery tickets
or coupons. Finally, it changes gold and silver and foreign Government
bank notes.
(e) Loans on Pledge of Personal Estate.
The Austrian Postal Savings Bank grants loans on pledge of State
securities or other personal estate securities. It accepts in pledge
Government Consols as well as the bonds of the Kingdoms and Countries
represented in the Imperial Council and, generally, such personal estate
securities as the Austro -Hungarian Bank may, in accordance with its
rules, grant loans upon, as also the shares and land bonds of the Austro-
Hungarian Bank. The borrower must repay the loan when due, with in-
terest, unless he has been allowed to renew. If the loan is not repaid when due,
the bank has the right, without previously notifying the borrower and with
out appeal to the law courts, to sell the bonds it holds in pledge and repay
itself out of the proceeds. Any balance remains without interest as a de-
posit in the Savings Bank. The rate of interest on loans on pledge of Gov-
ernment securities and other personal estate securities is fixed by the Man-
agement of the Postal Savings Banks. The interest is paid at maturity, at
date of extinction or renewal of the loan.
74 AUSTRIA - CREDIT
(f) Discounting of Bills.
State bonds and personal estate securities (land and other bonds, lot-
tery tickets, shares) which can be given in pledge to the Austrian Postal
Savings Bank, and their respective coupons, when payable at latest
within three months, are discounted by the Postal vSavings Bank, as far as
its assets will allow. It does not discount such securities as are pledged,
or, generally, such as are not negotiable on the Vienna Exchange {Vin-
kulierte oder an der Wiener Borse nicht lieferbare Wertpapiere).
The rate of interest to pay for discounting bills and coupons is fixed
by the Postal Savings Bank Management.
When bills and coupons payable in Vienna are discoimted, interest
is only calculated for the period to elapse before maturity ; in the case of
those not being payable in Vienna, in addition to the interest a commission
of I °/oo, and at least 60 heller is charged on bills and one of ^ % (at least
20 heller) on the coupons.
{g) Business in connection with Salt Spring Certificates
{Parzial Hypotheken Anweisungen. — Salinenscheine).
For the account of the Department of Finance, the Austrian Postal
Savings Bank issues Parzial Hypotheken Anweisungen or Salinenscheine (Salt
vSpring Certificates) on security of the salt springs of Gmunden, Hallein and
Aussee and arranges for the renewal, exchange and payment of certificates
already matured. The salt spring certificates are issued, at six or three
months' date, according to the desire of the parties concerned. The certi-
ficates at six months may be renewed twi ce for six months, those at three
monthi, three times for three months. After the expiry of the term, matured
certificates may be exchanged on request for new ones. If they are not
exchanged, they are collected for repayment of capital. The rate of interest
on salt spring certificates is fixed from time to time by the Department of
Finance.
§ 2. Work.
As appears from the statistical tables published in the number of
this Bulletin for August, 1913, it is not the savings business of the Austrian
Postal Saving Bank which is of most importance. The Bank had succeeded
from the first year in attracting a fairly considerable number of deposits,
but the average amount was, however, so smaU and, on the other hand, the
general working expenses were so high, that the interest on the deposits
was quite insufficient. Then it was decided to encourage the dealers and
manufacturers to make use of the Savings Bank for the regulation of their
mutual economic relations, by the foundation of a postal cheque and
clearing service. This was originally therefore intended as a means for
increasing the savings deposits.
The innovation at once gave exceUent results. In 1883, before the
change, the deposits amounted to 8,176,889 fls.
POSTAL SAVINGS BANK 75
In 1884, they amounted to 56,586,461 fls. and 42,223,530 fls. of these
were employed in the cheque business. The development of this business
has been extraordinary. In 1912, there were 16,500,000,000 deposited in
the cheque and clearing business, whilst in the savings department there
were only 137,793,848 crs. In 1911 the deposits in the Postal Savings Banks
reached their highest amount, about 142,500,000 crs.
On December 31st., 1912, the depositors' credits, consisting of the
net balance from previous working years, with the interest matured,
amounted to :
Savings Department crs. 201,667,362.47
Cheque » » 485,219,841.01
Total . . . crs. 686,887,203.48
If we compare these figures with those of the Cheque and Clearing De-
partment we see clearly that the savings department, as we said above,
is not the most important branch of the Austrian Postal Savings Bank.
Its relatively small importance is also seen from a comparison of the
accounts of the Austrian Postal Savings Bank with those of the banks of
other countries. In Italy, for example the depositors' credits at the end
of 1912 amounted to 1,888,098,534 frs. In France, in 1910, it was
1,709,714,869 frs., and in Belgium, in 1911, 1,107,933,463 frs.
For a better understanding of the work of the Postal Savings Banks,
above all, in regard to savings deposits, we must not lose sight of the work
of the other savings banks in the country. The rate of interest paid by the
Postal Savings Bank has contributed in a specially important degree to
maintain the balance between the deposits in the Postal and in other
Banks.
The interest is in proportion to the yield of the deposits, which is not
high, because they are used for loans on terms of favour to pubUc instit-
utions or for purchase of Government Bonds. It is therefore generally less
than in other savings banks in the country. The funds placed with the
Postal Banks are generally contributed by the lower social classes, unable
through poverty to seek lucrative investments. Such depositors rather
seek to place their money in a safe institute in which they have confidence.
The distribution of the deposits in the savings banks depends, finally, on
other circumstances, such as the distribution of the branches and agencies,
the means of communication, the density of the population, the level of
education, the existence of competing institutes which can be reUed upon
to collect and invest the savings of individuals and the various special func-
tions of the savings banks in the economic Hfe of the different States.
The information pubhshed by the Prussian Statistiche Korrespondenz
(No. 52, October 19th., 1912), already reproduced by us in the number of
this Bulletin for January, 1913, contains the following interesting statistics
in this connection. It is seen from them that the amount of the deposits
at the end of 1909 was :
76 AUSTRIA - CREDIT
in Austria :
Marks.
Postal Banks 190,810,000
Other Savings Banks 4,861,960,000
in Italy :
Postal Banks 1,268,090,000
Ordinary Banks 1,844,170,000
in France:
National Savings Bank (corresponding with the
Postal Banks) 1,275,700,000
Other Banks 3,106,730,000
It would be interesting to know how the deposits are distributed ac-
cording to the class of depositors. But, unfortunately, the annual reports
of the Austrian Postal Savings Banks give no information on this point.
So we do not know anything in regard to the deposits made more
especially by the agricultural class, nor, generally, as to the profession of
the depositors.
In the Austrian Savings Banks the number of depositors was as
follows in the 3'^ears 1900-1912.
I9I0 . .
. . 78 depositors per 1,000 inhabitants
I9II . .
•79 ;: ;;
I9I2 . .
■ • 79
Neither in the case of the cheque service can we give figures to show
the degree to which the agricultural classes have made use of the Postal
Savings Banks. The balance sheets of the Postal Bank of Vienna do indeed
show the profession of those who profit by this service, but they give no
information in regard to farmers, the agricultural population, or generally,
people engaged in agriculture and deriving their means of liveHhood from
it. Of the 116,904 holders of current accounts shown in the last return of
the Vienna Postal vSavings Bank, 33,400 were shopkeepers, 14,353, manufac-
turers and 13,795, societies. The number of operations conducted by
the Bank in the cheque department in 1912 was 72,772,929 for an amount
of 32,916,697,585.86 crs. (See in this connection the figures in the following
Table, drawn up with the help of the Annual Reports of the Vienna Postal
Savings Bank).
POSTAL SAVINGS BANK
17
Deposits and Withdrawals in the Austrian I. R. Postal Savings Bank
from Date of Foundation, 1883, to 1912.
Year
I. — Deposits
Savings
Number
Cheque and Clearing Service
Number
Total
Amount
Number
1883 .
1885 .
1890 .
1895 •
1900 .
19OS .
191a .
191 2 .
1,821,651
1.187,939
1.277.803
1,917.784
3,600,291
3,224,609
3.125,367
2,868,678
13,876,592
29.050,993
43,195,714
74,321,016
101,664,875
135.716,971
140,578.805 j 59
137,793,848, 59
892 645,0771 78
1,255,130 528,071,291 26
6,067,481 1,761,487,807 —
11,033,908 2,971,837,202 16
17.257.989 5,213,085,1001 77
30,427,822 8,136,977,116 57
49,466,802 13,702,188,869 32
57,743,273, 16,457,563,387: 57
1,822,343
2,443.089
16,521,670
557.122,284
7,343,2861 1,804,683,521
12,951,692
19,858,280
33,652,431
3,046,158,218
3,314,749.976
8,272,694,088
52,592,169 13,842,767,674
60,611,951! 16,595,357,236! 16
General Total from 1883 to 1913
66,678,169
2,584.993,027 86 379,054,209 164,821,332,396 43
643,732,378 167.406,325,434 39
*■ -
- Withdrawals
Year
Savings
Cheque and Clearing Service
Total
Number
Amount
Number
1
1
Amount
Number
Amount
Crs.
Cen.
Crs.
Cen.
Crs. Cen.
1883 .
185,771
7,730,561
5*
969!
426,387
64
186,740
8,157,149: 16
1885 .
. i 299,868
23,896,913
93
594,667
504,520,167
44
894,533
528,417,081 36
1890 .
428,909
36,394,298
42
1,583,209
1,756,794,249
86
2,OI2,Il8
1,793,188,548
38
1895 ■
677,333
62,677.495
60
2,706,294
3,968,502,896
68
3.383,597
3,031,180,392
38
1900 .
952,209
93,185,800
60
4,463,234
5.139,845,271
83
3.413.443
5,293,031,071
43
1905 .
1.588,702
122,912,884
39
7,378,009!
8,089,213,1771 08
8,966,711
8,212,126,061
47
1910 .
:.8i 3,323
115.892,553
96
13,060,654
13,668,729,434
70
14,873,877
13,804,121,990
66
1912 .
•
2.022,493
163,337,816
96
15.029.656
i6*459.i34,'98
39
I7.03a,i49
16,632472.013
as
General Total from 1883 to 1912.
29,030,494 2,382,363,879 65 147,601,258 164,379,878,814 52 176,631,752 166,762,243,694 71
78
AUSTRIA - CREDIT
Year
3. — Net Balance
in the
Savings Department
Crs.
Cen.
Cheque Department
Crs.
Cen.
1883
1885
1890
1895
1900
1905
1910
1912
8,146,030
5,154.079
6,801,415
11,643,520
8,479,074
12,804,087
5,186,249
25.543,968
70
36
76
90
68
06
63
37
218,490
23.551.123
4.693,557
3,334,305
13,239,828
47.763,939
33.459.434
1,570,810
14
82
14
48
92
49
62
72
Total Credit of Depositiors on December 3i3t., 1912
02,629,148 21 441,453,581
91
Austria is one of the States in which part of the postal savings bank
funds is invested in agriculture.
These funds are invested in State or State guaranteed securities, land
bonds, communal bonds, railway bonds etc. In 1906, Austria had invested
in this way an amount of 632,500,000 crs, representing the credit of its
depositors (including the funds of the cheque service).
Depoiitors' Credit*
Nature of Investment
Government Debt
State Guaranteed Securities ....
632,500,000 crs. . .<' Railway Bonds
I^and Bonds, Communal and Bank
Bonds
Bills and other Commercial Paper .
236,500,000
62,000,000
12,000,000
108,000,000
214,000,000
37
10
2
17
34
The proportion of the investments remained unchanged in subsequent
years. In the accounts for 1912, for example, under the head of " Land
Bonds, Communal and Bank Bonds ", we find 106,696,500 crs. and under
that of " Government Debt ", 225,317,240 crs.
POSTAL SAVINGS BANK 79
* «
In 1912, the net profits of the Austrian Postal Savings Bank were
12,515,691.10 crs. The total was placed to the Reserve Fund for the
Cheque Department which must amount to 5% of the total deposits in that
department. The deposits, in that department, on December 31st., 1912
amounted to 485,219,841 crs ; the reserve fund was reduced to 4,145,713 crs.
only. There were, therefore, required to make up the fund, other 20,115,278
crs., of which 12,515,691 crs. were obtained from the net profits. On
December 31st., there was still an amount of 7,599,587 crs. to be made up.
The reserve fund of the Savings department has been fixed at a
maximum of 4,000,000 crs., in accordance with art. 18 of the law of
May 28th., 1882 (Bull. Imp. I,aws, No. 56).
UNITED STATES.
THE WORK OF THE COMMISSIONvS
APPOINTED TO INVESTIGATE AGRICULTURAL CREDIT
AND CO-OPERATION IN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES.
SOURCES :
American Commission for the Study of the Application of the Co-operative System
TO Agricultural Production, Distribution and Finances in Extropean Coun-
tries. Senate Document No. 1,071. Washington, 1913.
Work of the American Commission. Senate Document No. 177. Washington, 1913
Report of the United States Commission to Investigate and Study in European
Countries Co-operative I^and Mortgage Banks, Co-operative Rural Credit Unions
AND Similar Organizations. Senate Document No. 380 and Congressional Record,
January 29, 191 4. Washington, 19 14.
§ I. The origin of the commissions.
In April, 1912, the Southern Commercial Congress, in a conference held
at Nashville, decided to organize a Commission to be composed of two
delegates from every State, to visit certain European countries for the pur-
pose of investigating existing systems of agricultural credit. The proposal
aroused great interest, and after some discussion in the press and at var-
ious conferences, the scope of the enquiry to be undertaken vv^as widened
to include a study of agricultural co-operation in its various forms.
In a Senate Resolution passed on August 15th, 1912, Congress endorsed
the proposal and invoked for this Commission — called the American Com-
mission — the diplomatic consideration of the countries to be included in
the itinerary.
On March 4th, 1913, Congress authorized the appointment of a Federal
Commission — distinguished as the United States Commission — which,
by the terms of its reference, was to co-operate with the American Com-
mission assembled under the auspices of the Southern Commercial Congress
to investigate and study in European countiies co-operative land-mortgage
banks, co-operative rural credit unions and similar organizations and
institutions devoting their attention to the promotion of agricultture and
the betterment of rural conditions.
AGRICULTURAL CREDIT AND CO-OPE8ATION IN EUROPE 8l
The President appointed a Commission of seven members with Senator
Duncan U. Fletcher as Chairman and Dr. John Lee Coulter as Secretary.
The Joint Commission which finally visited Europe included delegates
from 36 States of the Union and 4 Provinces of Canada, together with five of
the Commissioners appointed by the President. This is probably the
largest commission which has ever attempted to make a serious study of im-
portant economic problems. It was decided, after careful consideration,
that a large commission, while it had obvious disadvantages, was best
adapted to the end which the organizers had in view, namely, to dissem-
inate throughout the whole of America, accurate first-hand information
on the many intricate questions connected with rural credit and co-oper-
ation. It was felt that only a large number of delegates, each one of whom
on his return would, to s me extent at least, carry on a campaign of
pubhcity and instruction in his own State, would be able to influence
public opinion to any appreciable extent.
The Commission delayed its departure until April, 1913, in order that
its visit to Europe might coincide with the General Assembly of the Inter-
national Institute of Agriculture, which was meeting in Rome in May,
thus giving the delegates an opportunity of coming at once into touch
with men who represented the agricultural interests of many different
countries.
The investigations of the Commission were begun in Italy and
extended to Austria-Hungary, Russia, Denmark, Switzerland, France,
Spain, Holland, England, Ireland and Egypt. Each country was visited
either by the whole Commission or by a specially detailed Sub-commission.
The various Sub-commissions reunited in England, and the delegates,
concluding their investigations in Ireland, reached the United States
on July 26th.
§ 2. Methods of work of the commissions.
The United States Commission Hmited it^i enquiry to the question
of agricultural credit, its definite object being to lay before Congress,
within as short a time as possible, specific recommendations with respect to
the introduction of a credit system adapted to the pressing needs of the farm
population of the United States.
An appropriation of $25,000 was placed at the disposal of the Com-
mission for clerk-hire and other necessary expenses, but the members
serving on the Commission were unpaid.
The Southern Commercial Congress established a permanent office
in Washington which served as the headquarters of both Commissions,
The preliminary work in arranging the European tour and determining
the methods to be adopted in conducting, the enquiry was carried out at
Washington.
82 UNITED STATES - CREDIT
The American Commission extended its investigations to all forms of
agricultural co-operation and, in order to ensure that its work should lack
nothing in completeness was divided into four sections : (i) Finance,
(2) Production, (3) Distribution and, (4) The Organization of Agriculture
and Rural Life.
The itinerary of the tour and the general plans for the work of investi-
gation were arranged almost wholly in advance by the International Inst-
itute of Agriculture. In each country visited every facihty for investiga-
tion was aiforted to the Joint Commission. As a rule a detailed programme
had been arranged by the Government of each country acting through the
Department of Agriculture in conjunction with co-operative societies and
institutions, and the programme was almost invariably carried out to the
letter.
Two principal methods were employed in the work of investigation.
In the first place hearings in the nature of conferences were held in most
of the towns visited. These conferences or " Juries of Enquiry ", were
addressed by persons of recognized authority, who described the work
done by Government and by voluntary agencies in connection with the
various forms of co-operation. Questions were addressed to each speaker
by selected delegates, and all statements made in the Juries of Enquiry,
together with the questions and answers, were recorded in writing.
The second method of investigation, used as frequently as possible,
was the inspection of co-operative institutions at work. Visits were paid,
as a rule by Sub-commissions, to a large number of rural banks, land-mort-
gage institutions, co-operative creameries and dairies and to the offices
of agricultural societies and associations. Wherever possible the responsible
officers ot the different institutions visited were interviewed in a conference
conducted on the Hne^ of the more formal Juries of Enquiry. The various
Sub-commis.sions handed in written reports of their labours to a Compil-
-ation Committee which was charged with the work of collecting and
arranging the material to be incorporated in the Report of the Commission.
To some extent also material was collected by individual members
of the Commissions in interviews with responsible Government officers
and other authorities.
The amount of written and printed material which accumulated in
the hands of the Compilation Committee during the three months' tour was
naturally very great. It comprised the records of proceedings in Juries of
Enquiry, reports of vSub-commissions, special reports submitted by the
officers of co-operative societies and associations, and a great deal of contri-
buted material in the form of annual reports of co-operative societies , cop-
ies of constitutions and by-laws, specimen forms of contract, etc.
On the return of the Joint Commission to the United States, two Com-
mittees were appointed to examine the evidence collected and draw up a
report on behalf of the American Commission. The United States Commi.s-
sion had naturally to draw up an independent report, though the Commis-
sions co-operated in the laborious work of examining, translating, and edit-
ing the material collected. The American Commission decided to issue
AGMCULTURAI, CREDIT AND CO-OPERATION IN EUROPE 83
its Report iu two parts : Part I consisting of the evidence gathered in Europe,
and Part II of a general discussion of rural credit and agricultural co-oper-
ation in European countries, together with the observations and recommen-
datious of the Commission. Part I has already been pubHshed and
is printed as a Senate Document.
The United States Commission, as we have already noted, limited its
investigations to land and agricultural credit. On January 20th of this
year it presented to Congress that part of its Report which deals with land-
mortgage or long-term credit, together with a draft Bill for the establish-
ment of a system of land mortgage banks (or " national farm-land banks "
as it is proposed that they should be called) in the United States.
We shall here first refer briefly to the evidence published by the Amer-
ican Commission and then examine the Report and recommendations of
the United States Commission.
§ 3. Information and evidence coi^lkcted in Europe.
The evidence is contained in a volume of more than nine hundred pages,
printed as Senate Document No. 214, under the title of " Agricultural Cre-
dit and Rural Co-operation in Europe : Information and Evidence ". The
evidence presented relates to agricultural co-operative institutions of every
kind in 14 countries in which no less than 90 towns and villages were
actually visited by the Commission or by Sub-commissions. The investi-
gations, which began at Rome, were concluded at Limerick, and the evi-
dence is presented with the minimum amount of editing in the chronologi-
cal order in which it was secured. The resulting volume is in substance
a series of monographs covering ever\'^ phase of agricultural credit and co-
operation in European countries.
Among those who contribute their evidence are included heads of Gov-
ernment departments, secretaries of official and semi-official organiza-
tions, managers of co-operative enterprises of all kinds, and professors in
high-schools and universities, so that the net result is a full unbiassed i)re-
sentation of the facts relating to the agricultural co-operative movement.
It is impossible here to do more than indicate briefly some of the con-
tents of the formidable volume before us. This can best be done by giving
country by country some of the references in the Table of Contents.
These relate as a rule either to papers submitted to the Juries of Enquiry
or to Reports of Sub-committees.
Italy. — Opening Address (delivered at the International Institute of
Agriculture, Rome): Hon. Luigi Liizzatti. Land Mortgage Banks: Special
Statement by the Minister of Agriculture. Rural Banks ; Address by the
Hon. Leone Wollemborg. Co-operative Insurance, by Dr. Casalini. Lan.d
Credit. Rural Credit in Sicily. Metayer System in Tuscany. Collect-
ive Leases and Co-operative Farms. Agricultural Credit and Co-oper-
ation in Italy : Statement by the International Institute of Agriculture.
84 UNITED STATES - CREDIT
Egypt. — Production and Marketing of Egyptian Cotton.
Roumania. — Co-operative Movement in Roumania : Statement by Mr
Fobin Enesco, Director General of Roumanian Popular Banks.
Hungary. — Rural Credit and Co-operation in Hungary : Statement
by the Department of Agriculture. Hungarian Land Credit Institution:
Count Hoyos, Director. Agricultural Banking.
Austria. — Certain Aspects of Co-operative Agriculture in Austria:
Statement by the Ministry of Agriculture. Rural Credit and Co-operation.
Provincial Mortgage Institute of Lovver Austria, by the Director. Raiffei-
sen vSystem in Austria : Evidence of Dr. M. R. von Erve of the Ministry of
Agriculture. Agricultural Co-operation and Government Aid in Austria.
Russia. — Agricultural Credit : Evidence of Officials of the Treasury
Department. Russian Agriculture : V. E. Brunst of the Department of
Agriculture. People's Co-operative Bank of Moscow : Evidence of the
Officials.
Germany. — Agriculture and Land Credit in Bavaria. Co-operation
in Bavaria. Rural Co-operative System in Wurttemberg. Agricultural
Credit in the Grand Duchy of Baden. Co-operative Organization: Address
by Dr. Grabein. Nassau Union of RaieifEsen Rural Co-operative Societies,
by the Director. Landschaft System, by Dr. Brodnitz. Landschaft Bank
of Halle, by the Director. Agricultural Co-operation in the Kingdom of
Saxony. Agricultural Organization in Germany.
Switzerland. — Legislative Foundations of the Swiss Credit System.
Canton Banks. Development of Agricultural Co-operative vSocieties. Raiffei-
sen Banks.
Belgium. — Co-operative Credit, Production and Purchase Societies.
Agricultural Education. Central Co-operative Agricultural Credit Society
of Liege.
Holland. — Survey of Agricultral Credit in the Netherlands. Co-opera-
tive Auction Markets. Land Mortgage Bank of Holland. Organization of
a Peasants' Co-operative Loan Bank.
Denmark. — Co-operative Organization, by the Manager of the Co-
operative Wholesale Society. Co-operative Law. Mortgage Credit. Small
Holders and Government Loans. Credit Institutions. Agricultural Organ-
izations.
Norway. — General Conditions in Norway. Mortgage Banks of the King-
dom of Norway.
Spain. — Rural Credit Institutions in vSpain. Proposed Agricultural
Credit Law. Distribution and Marketing.
France. — History of Agricultural Credit. Short-time Agricultural
Credit. Collective Long-term Credit. Mutual Co-operative Insurance Soc-
ieties. Organization and Operation of the Credit Foncier. Co-operation
in French Agriculture. Detailed Working of the Credit Agricole in the
Gironde. Farmers' Mutual Accident Insurance in Indre-et-Loire.
England. — Co-operative Agricultural Credit in England and Wales.
English Agricultural Organization Society.
AGRICUI^TURAI, CREDIT AND CO-OPERATION IN EUROPE 85
Wales. — Development Societies in Agricultural Organization. Co-op-
eration and Business Organization in Agriculture. University College of
Wales and Agricultural Co-operation.
Scotland. — Agricultural Organization in vScotland. Rural Credit in
Scotland.
Ireland. — Suggested vSolution of the Rural Problem. Difficulties in
Organizing Farmers. Rural Credit in Ireland. Organization of Agricul-
tural Education in Ireland. Irish Agricultural Organization Society.
§ 4. The united states commission's report on land mortgage credit.
Part I of the Report of the United States Commission contains
a discussion of land-mortgage credit with special reference to conditions
in Germany, followed by a detailed statement of the considerations which
have led the Commission to suggest certain legislation for the United States
and by a draft Bill for the establishment of land-mortgage banks.
As a preliminary to the discussion of land- mortgage credit, the Commis-
sion first defines it as " credit to meet the capital requirements of the
farmer ", and distinguishes between such credit and short term or per-
sonal credit which serves " to meet the current or armually recurring needs
of the farmer ". The capital requirements of the farmer are then de-
fined as " his need for large sums of money to be used in aiding to pay
the purchase price of his farm, in improving the farm or in equipping it so
as to bring his operations to the highest stage of efficiency", and the an-
nually recurring needs of the farmer as " the money needed by him to
finance his operations during the time that the crops are being produced ".
In the opinion of the Commission the development of a system of mort-
gage banks, dealing principally (if not exclasively) in long term loans to
meet the farmer's capital requirements, must necessarily precede the est-
ablishment of short term or personal credit banks. " In this country ",
says the Report, "it is urgently necessary to create a land-mortgage sec-
urity which will be entirely liquid by reason of having a ready market,
which will run for a long time, which can be paid off in small annual or
semi-annual instalments,, and which will enable the land-owing farmer to
use most advantageously his best banking asset, land, as the basis of
credit ".
The Report next calls attention to the danger of assuming that because
a system has proved successful in one country it will, therefore, prove suc-
cessful in another country where conditions may be widely different ; and
in this connection draws a contrast between agricultural conditions in
Germany and in the United States, as follows :
" In size the German Empire is about equal to the area of the State
of Texas after cutting off from Texas an area as large as the State of
Alabama. In population the German Empire contains about 68,000,000
people, or more than two-thirds of the population of the whole United Sta-
86 UNITED STATES - CREDIT
tes. In intensive farming the Germans are far ahead of our own farming
population, and the average production in Germany has increased greatly,
while our average yield per acre has increased but slowly. In Germany the
population in a given district is largely homogeneous, and the individual is,
so to speak, attached to the soil, the same farms continuing in the same
famiUes for generations. In tliis country such a condition is seldom found.
Id Germany, on account of the limited supply of land and the large popula-
tion, and on account of the known productivity of each piece of land, the
value of that land is easily ascertained and varies within very slight
limits. In this country the variations in value are very great. In Germany
the average farm is about twenty acres ; in this country the average farm
is 138 acres. In German}^ the credit and resources of the individual in
a community are known to practically every other individual in that com-
munity ; in this country no such accurate information is obtainable. In
Germany the small farmer, his wife and children all do manual work on
the farm ; in this country such a condition is rare. In Germany the peo-
ple have been trained to a supervision and control of their operations by
strict Government regulations which would not be favoured in this country ".
It is hardly necessary here to follow the Commissioners in their expo-^-
ition of the practice and principles of European land mortgage institutions.
The ground covered is already familtar to readers of the Bulletin, so that
we may proceed to consider the recommendations embodied in the Bill
which accompanies the Report.
In brief, it is proposed to permit any ten persons to organize a land mort-
gage bank, under a Federal charter and subject to Federal supervision,
but Umited as to its sphere of action to the territory of a single State. The
minimum capital necessary is fixed at $ 10,000 in shares of $ 100 each (ex-
cept in the case of co-operative banks whose shares may be as low as % 25),
and each bank would be empowered to issue bonds, guaranteed by first mort
gages on farm land within the State, to an amount not exceeding 15 times
its capital and accumulated surplus. Under certain conditions the mort-
gage bonds issued by such banks could be used : (i) as security for the
deposit of postal savings funds ; (2) as a legal investment for funds accum-
ulated as t^'me deposits in national banking associations ; {3) as a legal
investment for trust funds under the charge of United vStates courts.
The capital of the banks, as well as the mortage bonds themselves, would
be exempt from taxation. For the supervision and control of the banks, and
in general for the carrying out of the provisions of the Bill, it is proposed to
create, in the Treasury Department, a special bureau under the direction
of a " Commissioner of Farm-Uand Banks ".
The Commissioners explain that the plan of a single central mortgage
bank for the Unites States was rejected by them after the most careful con-
sideration in favour of a system of independent banks each operating within
the limits of a vState. The Commissioners are of the opinion that the plan
recommended, which in fact follows very closely the lines of the national
banking system as recently modified, is more in harmony mth public sent-
iment in America, which is strongly in favoin- of free competition and op-
AGRICULTLTR.^L CREDIT AND CO-OPERATION IN EUROPE 87
posed to any suggestion of monopoly or privilege. The exemption from
taxation accorded to the bonds is justified by the Commissioners on the
ground that any tax imposed would fall ultimately on the farmers who bor-
row from the banks and that such a result would amount to double tax-
ation of land, since land is already the object of taxation in the separate
States. The proposal to recognize the mortgage bonds as a medium for the
investment of postal savings deposits, trust funds and national bank dep-
osits is intended to raise the status of such bonds by making them easily
negotiable in a wide market. The legislation proposed would, it is hoped,
at once place the bonds of the mortgage banks on an equaUty with Muni-
cipal, State and Federal government bonds.
With respect to the loans which the banks would be permitted to make
upon farm lands, the Bill la3''S down the following conditions :
(i) that such loans be made for not more than 35 years ; (2) that all
fann-mortgage loans shall be on first mortgages only ; (3) that they shall
not exceed 50 per cent, of the value of improved farm lands or 40 per
cent, of other land ; (4) that every farm mortgage loan shall contain a man-
datory provision for the repayment of such loan by amortization ; (5) that
the borrower may repay the loan at an}^ interest period after five years.
The value of any land or other real estate offered as security for a
mortgage loan would be determined for each bank by an Appraisement Com-
mittee consisting of three members of the Board of Directors. Each re-
port of the Appraisement Committeee must be signed by at least two of
the members, and must show the value at wliich the land in question is
assessed for taxation and such other information as is required by the
Directors of the bank or the Commissioner of Farm Land Banks. The ade-
quacy of these provisions has already been questioned, and it would evi-
dently be the duty of the Commissioner to issue stringent regulations with
respect to the methods of valuation before giving any bank the power to
issue bonds.
The conditions upon which the banks would be permitted to issue
bonds are as follows : (i) the dift'erence between the rate of interest charg
ed for loans and the rate paid by the banks on the bonds issued, shall not
exceed i per cent ; (2) all bonds shall be payable on a date specified ; (3)
bonds shall be protected by the deposit of first mortgages of equal nominal
value, maturing not less than five years from date ; (4) the amortization
payments as made must be credited on the mortgages and the bonds issued
against such mortgages must be retired to that extent ; (5) the mortgages
held as security for bonds shall be in the joint possession of the bank and
of the special official known as the Federal Fiduciary Agent ; (6) no bond
shall be issued against any mortgage running for less than 5 years.
In order to furnish the banks with the fluid working capital necessary
in any type of banking institution they would be authorized to accept depos-
its to the extent of 50 per cent, of their capital and surplus, and to do an
ordinary banking business (including the purchase and re-discounting of
commercial paper) within the limits set by the amount of such deposits.
The banks would also be free to invest not more than 50 per cent, of their
88 UNITED STATES - CREDIT
working capital in mortgage loans for periods not exceeding five years,
against which, however, they would not be allowed to issue bonds.
Further, each bank would have power to buy and sell its own bonds as
well as those of any other national mortgage bank, provided always that
at any time not more than 50 per cent, of its capital and surplus was
invested in such bonds or in short term mortgages.
The provision that a bank may buy in and become a temporary
holder of its own bonds is regarded by the Commissioners as of the utmost
importance as it enables the bank to maintain a steady market for its bonds
and at the same time earn a legitimate profit by opportune dealings in
them.
The amount of deposits which could be accepted by the banks is limited
to 50 per cent, of each bank's capital and accumulated reserve on the grounds,
as stated by the Commissioners, that the banks are not intended to com-
pete with commercial banks and that the holding of deposits for which there
may be a sudden demand is likely to endanger the safely of an institution
which is engaged principally in making loans for long periods.
The limitation, however, does not apply to deposits of postal savings
funds (or other Federal deposits), or to deposits of ,State funds. A bank must
if required, accept postal saving funds up to 50 per cent, of its capital and
reserves, but may accept such deposits, as well as deposits of State funds,
to an unHmited extent.
Postal savings funds can only be invested in first mortgage loans on
farm lands, and the funds held on deposit for the vState in which the bank
operates can only be invested as provided by the laws of that State.
It is probable that the Commission intend that a bank shall be restrict-
ed to accepting deposits on behalf of the State in which it is situated, al-
though in more than one section of the Bill, where " State funds" are re-
ferred to, the restriction is not explicit.
The Federal Fiduciary Agent who would be jointly responsible with
the bank for all mortgages and deeds of trust held by the bank, and who
would in addition certify to every bond issued, is the representative both
of the bank with which he is acting and of the Federal Bureau of Farm Land
Banks. He would be nominated by the Commissioner of Farm Land Banks,
but his salary would be paid by the bank and it is expressly stipulated that
he must not be objectionable to the directors of the bank. He would ap-
parently have no security of tenure and it has been urged that his position,
in view of the fact that he is intended to represent the controlling authority,
would hardly be sufficiently independent.
The balance of the capital and surplus of any bank ma}' be invested
in interest-bearing securities approved by the Commissioner of Farm Land
Banks.
The Bill would authorize the establishment of land mortgage banks on
a co-operative basis and grant such banks the privilege of transacting a gen-
eral banking business with their own members only, in addition to the land
mortgage business defined in the Bill. The special provisions affecting
co-operative mortgage banks are as follows: (i) the holding of shares by
AGRICULTURAI, CREDIT AND CO-OPERATION IN EUROPE 89
an}^ one member shall be limited to 10 per cent, of the total share capital ;
(2) each member shall have one vote only irrespective of the number of
shares held ; (3) the shares may be of the nominal value of $ 25 ; (4) the net
earnings of a co-operative bank shall, after paying a dividend to the share-
holders at the current rate of interest, be distributed among the patrons of
the bank pro rata to their borrowings, provided, however, that if so agreed
upon by the members, the distribution to patrons who are shareholders
may be made at twice the rate at which distributions are made to non-
shareolders.
The object of the last mentioned provision, as is pointed out in the
Report, is to induce patrons of a co-operative bank to become share-
holders in it, aid it is, of course, with the same object that the minimum
value of the shares is fixed as low as $25.
The minimum capital required, however, is the same for a co-operative
bank as for a capitalistic bank, namely $10,000.
It is suggested in the Report that as any co-operative banks which
might be formed would probably be small, the shareholders should be per-
mitted to assume more extended liabihty than the shareholders in capital-
istic banks, and, under Section 31 of the BiU, the members of a co-oper-
ative bank could assume unlimited hability, provided such a course were
approved by a two-thirds majority of them.
It is evident that the members of the Commission see no reason for re-
garding the business of dealing in land mortgage loans, under the condi-
tions which are found in the United States, as a field of activity in which it
would be advisable to encourage the development of co-operative instit-
utions at the expense of capitalistic enterprise.
It must be remembered, however, that it is proposed to allow co-oper-
ative mortgage banks to engage in a general banking business with and
for their own members, and the Commissioners evidently expect that full
advantage would be taken of such permission. In this connection they
say : " This provision, were it enacted into law, will not confer the advan-
tages of an unlimited Federal charter but it will give great encouragement
and opportunity to the development of co-operative business organization
among farmers. It is presented by the Commission as being the smallest
advance which should be granted by the Federal Government at this
moment to the new movement in the rural Ufe of our Nation ".
The proposals which we have outlined above deal only with the problem
of land credit as distinguished from agricultural credit. In an early num-
ber of the Bulletin we hope, with the further Reports of both Commissions
before us, to return to a consideration of the whole question of financing
agriculture in the United States.
PUBIylCATlONS OF RECKNT DATE RELATING
TO AGRICUIyTURAL CREDIT.
TARIOUS COUNTRIES.
Unofficial publications ;
Seidel (Dr. Max) : Das Sparkassenwesen einiger europaischer %Staaten {Savings Banks in
Some European States). In " Bank ", March, 1914. Berlin.
The Popularity of the Savings Banks. In " Banker's Magazine," March, 1914. I,ondonfc
Containing statistics of the average savings per inhabitant, in Denmark, Switzer-
land, Germany, United States. Austria, France, Great Britain, Belgium, Hungary, and
Italy.
GERMANY.
Official Publication:
Bank- und Kreditwesen im Grossherzogtum Baden (Banks and Credit in the Grand Duchy
of Baden). Ex tract from the " Statistisches Jahrbuch fiir das Grossherzogtum Baden".
Baden, 40th, Year.
Other Publications :
GiiTHE {Geh. Justizrat, vortr. Rat. Dr. Georg) : Die wirtschaftlichen und rechtlichen Grund-
lagen des modernen Hypothekenrechts {Economic and Legal Bases of the Modern Mo t gage
Law). Volume 6th. of the collection "Vortrage und Schriften zur Fortbildimg des Rechts
und der Juristen ". Berlin 1914. F. Vahlen, 139 pp.
JAHRESBERICHT der PREUSSISCHEN CENTRAL-BODENKREDIT-ABn:iEN-GESELLSCHAFT IN BER-
LIN FiiR 1 91 3. [Annual Report of the Prussian Land Credit Societies Limited by Shares, for
1913) 44th. Year. Berlin, 1914. I^udwig Schultz. 4to. 31 pp.
Eschwege (I^udwig) : Tilgungphypotheken (Redeemable Mortgages) In " Bank ", March, 1914.
Berlin.
GoTTiNG (ly.): .\rbeitsgeraeinschaft der Sparkassen mit den offentlichen I^elsensversicherungs-
anstalten (Co-operation of the Savings Banks and the Public Life Insurance Institutes).
In " Sparkasse ". March ist., 1914. Hanover.
Do - : Bilanzen und Kursverluste der Sparkassen im Preussischen Abgcordnetenhause (Bal-
ance Sheets and Losses on Securities of the Savings Banks at the Prussian Chamber of
Deputies) In " Sparkasse ", March 15th., 1914. Hanover.
PUBLICATIONS RELATING TO IGRICULTURAL CREDIT IQ
Pfitzner (Dr) : Die Fiirstliche Landesspar- und Leihkasse zu Detmold [Detmold Governmer.t
Loan and Savings Banks). In " Jahrbiiclier fiir Nationalokouotnie und Statistik ". Novem-
ber, 1913. pp. 652-665. Jena.
Reusch (H) : Die Ergebnisse der deutschen Sparkassen im Jahre 1913 nach den Veroffentli-
chungen im Anzeigenteil der " Sparkasse ". (The Results attained by the German Savings
Banks in 1913, accordinz to the Publications in the Advertisement Pares of "Sparkasse").
In "Sparkasse". March i5tt., 1914. Hanover.
Do - .- Sparkassen, Genossenschaften und Mittelstandskredit (Savings Banks, Co-operative
Societies and Cyedit for the Middle Classes) In " Sparkasse ", IVIarch 15th., 1914, Hanover.
Do. - ; Sparkassen, Genossenschaften und der Handwerkerstand. (Savings Batiks, Co-operative
Societies and the Artisan Class) In "Sparkasse". March ist., 1914, Hanover.
RoGGE (Dr) : Schwierigkeiten bei Loschung von Amortisations-Hypotheken (Difficulties in
Ectin^uishing. Mortgages in Instalments) In "Sparkasse". March ist., and 15th,, 1914.
HaJiover.
AUSTRIA.
Official Publication .-
SlWTISTIK DER SPARKASSEN IN DEN IM REICHSRATE VERTRJETENEN KONIGREICHEN UNT) LaN-
DERN FiiR DAS JAHR 1911 (Statistics of Savings Banks for 1911 in the Countries and King-
doms represented in the Reichsrat). Vol. 10. No. i. Statistics pubUshed by the " K. K. Sta-
tist. Zentral-Kommission ". Vienna, 1913. K. K. Hof- und Staatsdruckerei folio.
45-117 pp.
SPAIN.
Unofficl'vl Publications .*
" .\GRO " : El credito agricola. Positosde la tierra (Agricultural Credit. Local Positos) In " Pr<>-
greso agricola y pecuarlo ". December 15th., 191 3. Madrid.
Do - .• La Cuenta Corriente de Credito (Credit Current Account). In " Progreso agricola }'•
pccuario " Jannary 22nd., 1914. Madrid.
Servat (Jose): El credito mobiliario agricola: bases para su establicimiento (Agricultural.
Personal Estate Credit: Bases for its Organization). In " Revista de Economia 3' Ha-
cienda", November 8th., 1913. Madrid.
FRANCE.
OFFICI-AL PtTBLICATION .'
Rapport adresse par le Ministre de l'Agricultcre .\tr President de la Republique
Franqaise sxjr le Warr.'Vnt.\ge des produits agricoles (Report of the Minister of
Agriculture to the President of the French Republic on Agricultural Produce Warrants) .
Extract from the " Journal officielde la Republique Fran^aise " of December 3i5t., 1913.
Actriculiural Department. Paris, 1913. Impr. des Jounau.i: officids. 4to.
92 PUBLICATIONS REI^ATING TO AGRICUI,TTJRAIv CREDIT
GREAT BRITAI>J AND IREI^AND.
Official Publication ;
Report OF THE Estates Commissioners FOR THE Year PvNDixG 31st. March, 1913, and from
THE PERIOD FROM ist. NOVEMBER, i903T03ist. MARCH. 1913. Dublin, 1913 A. Thorn (SCo.
folio. XXII-93 pp.
ITAI,Y.
Unofficial Publications :
ViALi (Prof. lyeopoldo) : I<e Cassc di Risparmio [Savings Banks). MHan, 191 3. F. Vallardi. 8vo.
XVIII- 236 pp.
Paolini (lyuigi) : Sulle Casse di Risparraio ordinarie {Ordinary Savinzs Bank';) In " Sole ",
March I3t}i , 1914. No. 62. Milan.
JAPAN.
Unofficial Publication
Amendments to the I^aw on the Mortgage Bank of Japan [in Japanese) in •' Chug\va She
gyo Shim] 6 ". January 7lh., 1914. Tokio.
ROUMANIA.
Unofficial Publications ;
Banca Viticol.\ Romana {Roumanian Viticultural Bank) In Revista economica, §i financiara,.
March 6th. -17th., 1914. Bucharest.
.Situation on December 31st., 1913.
Creditul Rural {Rural Credit). In Rivista economica §i financiara. March 6th.-i7th., 1914.
Bucharest.
lyA caisse Rurale .■ situation au ict OcTOBRE 1913 {The Rural Bank: Situation on October
xst., 1913) in " Mouvement economique " January ist., 1914. Bucharest.
RUSSI.\.
Official Publications ;
Work of the Peasants' I^and Bank [in Russian) In " Viestnik finansov, Promychlennosti
i Torgovli ". November i6th., 1913. St. Petersburg.
Detailed Report for 191 3.
Work of the Nobles' State I^and Bank {in Russian). In " Viestnik Finansov, Promj'chlen-
nosti i Torgovli ". December 21st., 1913. St. Petersburg.
Work of the I,ong Term Credit Institutes in the First Half of the Year 191 3 {in Russ-
ian). In " Viestnik Finansov, Promj'chlennosti i Torgovli " December 14th., 1913. St. Pet-
ersburg.
PUBLICATIONS RELATING TO AGRICULTURAL CREDIT 93
Unofficial Publications ;
Russian Banks in 1914. Complete enumeration of thecitiLS and villages in which there were
Credit Institutions. Elevators of the Ufficial Bank and Notaries on January ist., 1914. {In
Russian). St. Petersburg, 1914. Electro-Tj'p. Stoikova. 8vo. 191-18 pp.
Steinberg (Dr Paull : Die Russische Reichsbank seit der Wahrungsreform. Mit Ausschluss
der Diskoutpolitik {Tke Imperial Russian Bank since the Monetary Reform, Excluding
the Politics of Discount) 1897-1910. Vol. 127 of "Miincbener Volkswirtschaftliche Stu-
dien ", Stuttgart and Berlin, 1914. J. G. Cotta. 8vo. XII-140 pp.
SWITZERLAND.
Unofficl'il Publications .•
Bericht des Verwaltungsrates der A.\rgauischen HypoTHEKENBANK IN Brugg an die
Generalversararalmig der Aktionare iiber das Geschaftsjahr 1913 {Report of the Board
of Management of the Morti^age Bank of Aargati at Brugg at the General Meeting of Sharehold-
ers for the Year 1913) 64th. Annual Report. Brugg, 1914. Effingerhof A. G. 4to. 29 pp.
Rapport (66^e ) de la Caisse Hypoth6caire du Canton de Genev'e {Sixty sixth Report
of the Mortgage Bank of the Canton of Geneva). 1913. Geneva. 1914. Printed by J. Privat.
8vo. 36 pp.
Rechensch.4Ftsbericht des Verwaltungsrates der Bank in IVIenziken pro 1913 an die
ordentliche General versammlung der Aktionare {Financial Ret>ort of 'the Board of Man-
agement of the Bank of Menziken for 1913 at the Ordinary General Meeting of February
gth., 1914). Menziken. 1914. A Baumann. 4to. 23 pp.
Hypotekaranlagen landlicher Gemeinden {Mortgage Investments of Rural Communities).
In Bauemblatt, February 27th., 1914. No. 9. Solothum.
Part IV: Miscellaneous
BELGIUM.
RURAL EXODUS IN BElvGIUM.
by M. Robert Ulens, Warerame.
SOURCES :
Meline (Jules) : I<e retour a la terre et la surproduction industrielle (The Retuftt to the Land
and Industrial Overproduction). Paris, Hachette, 1905.
V.\NDERVELDE (E) : ly'Exode Rural et le Retour aux Champs {Rural Exodus and the Return to
the Country). Paris, Alcan, 1910.
Rapports prelimin aires au Congr^s National d'Agricitlture (Preliminary Reports pre-
sented at the National Congress of Agriculture). Namur, 1901.
Rapports de la i^e section du Xe CongrAs International d' Agriculture (Reports of the
ist Section of the 10th International Congress of A ■.-ji culture). Ghent, 191 3.
CoMPTES rendus. X* Congr6s International d'Agriculture (Reports. 10th International
Congress of Agriculture), Ghent, 1913.
RoNSE (Edmond) : I^'Emigration saisonni^re beige (Belgian Seasonal Emigration). Ghent,
Hot Volk, 1913.
Mahaim (E.): I<esabonnements ouvrierset leurs effets sociaux (Workmen's Season Tickets and
their Social Effects). Brussels. Misch and Thron, 1910.
M-UIAIM (E.) : Rapports sur la question des migrations interieures (Reports on the Subject of
Home Migrations). General Meeting of the International Association for the Fight against
Unemployment. Ghent, 191 2.
Philippen and IVIatheussen : Ilet vraagstuk der stads inwijking (The Problem of the Drift
into the Towns).
Tibbaut (E.) : I<a desertion rurale (The Desertion of the Country). Belgique artistique et litte-
raire, 1912.
Vlieberg and Ulens: I^'Exode rural en Belgique (Rural Exodus in Bel :ium). Reforme sociale>
June ist., 1910.
96 BELGIUM - MISCELLANEOUS
§ I. Forms assumed by rural exodus in Belgium.
The establishment of large industries led in the nineteenth century,
especially in Belgium, owing to the facilities for transport, to a concentra-
tion of the population in towns or in the vicinity of workshops. Very
often, however, this concentration of workmen only lasts during the hours
in which which they have to work and most of them afterwards return to
rest in their homes in the country which they have not quitted. But it
is none the less true that in this way a certain number of the necessary
labourers are lost to agriculture.
M. Mahaim distinguishes four forms that rural exodus assumes : (i)
ist., Real concentration in towns, which is a form of permanent emigra-
tion : the peasant comes to settle in the town.
2nd., Seasonal emigration, especially of peasants, who leave their vill-
ages to pass one or more seasons in other districts, especially agricultural
districts, and return to pass the winter at home. Thus, the Flemings
of Campine and Flanders engage themselves every year for agricultural
work in Hesbaye and France (2).
3'^'^'., Weekly emigration of workmen who leave their homes from
Monday to Saturday and, though they themselves work in factories, leave
their families in the country.
4'h.. What has been called daily emigration, by a slight extension of
the sense of the word emigration, and consists in the daily journey from the
person's dwelling place to the place where he works.
The real drift to the towns is less marked in Belgium than in other
countries. Still it must be owned that here also the attraction of the
cities is felt and is no novelty. Besides, it is necessary that new blood should
be regularly brought to the town from the country, otherwise the town
populations would become anemic. And then, in the districts of high birth-
rate, for example, Ardenne, those, who, owing to the large number of
members in their family, cannot be employed in agricultural work,
eagerly seek for situations as domestic servants and inferior employees
in the Government Departments, in the capital and large towns. It must
be noted, however, that very often the young people of Ardenne return to
their country to marry, or at least the old return to pass their old age there.
To put difficulties in the way of this immigration would certainly not
be serving the interests of the people, as is stated in one of the resolutions
of the last International Congress of Agriculture. On the contrary, this mode
of regeneration must be encouraged, but on condition of not endangering
its continuance.
The emigration of the country population must in no case assume
such proportions as to cause a diminution of the agricultural population
(i) Rapport sur ks migrations interieures. (General Meeting of the International Asso-
ciation for the Fight against Unemployment. Ghent, 1913) p. 2.
(2) Edmond Romse : U Emi':!.ration saisonniere beige. Ghent, Het Volk, 1913.
RURAI, EXODUS 97
properly so called. Certainly, that might lead to a temporary progress of
industry and trade, but the futvire of the race would be seriously compro-
mised (i).
Seasonal emigration is especially common among agricultural labour-
ers and small farmers in districts where the land is largely subdivided,
the population dense and there is less need of labourers; they emigrate
to districts of extensive cultivation where labourers are few. Thus, many
labourers and small farmers of our Flanders go to 27 of the French de-
partments for the reaping or the sugar beet harvest. Thus also the
labourers of Hageland and Campine do season work in the districts of ex-
tensive cvdtivation in Hesbaye and Condroz and we should not be at all
surprised if the result of the employment of these migratory labourers
were again to induce the last agricultural labourers remaining in these
regions to emigrate to the industrial centres (2).
Considered only on its material side, doubtless seasonal emigration is
an advantage for the labourer. The farmers told ]\I. Ronse several times in
the course of his enquiry that many labourers would not have enough to live
on in the dull season unless they emigrated. The other agricultural labour-
ers benefit by the situation : the number of labourers being reduced, by
the action of the law of supply and demand, the wages rise (3) . Needless to
say, seasonal emigration renders the position of the farmers more difficult ;
at certain periods it draws away somewhat more than a fifth of the agri-
cultural labourers, the result of which is a scarcity of manual labour and
the necessity of substituting machine work for it. With regard to the
physical and moral results, we shall say with M. Ronse, " that this excessive
hard work, together with the unsatisfactory conditions of their life —
without sufficient wholesome food or health^^ lodgings — necessarily exhausts
the labourers. Fortunately, their work is in the open air and, on returning
to their country, the hardy Flemings soon recover from their fatigue and
recommence their hard work. Nevertheless, some enfeeblement of their
constitutions is to be feared, it may be a certain degeneration of the race.
. . . It is true that the morality of our emigrants has a safeguard in the
isolation in which they live. However, the view of French life, too careless
(i) Aqriculture. Questions du jour, Compte rendu du X^ Con ires international tsnu a Gand
1913, Pg- 320.
(2) Many farmers, says M. I^aur, without reference to any special district, finding labour-
ers becoming scarcer and scarcer and wages rapidly rising, have had recourse to the engage-
ment of migratory labourers. They have for a while supplied the want, but the result has
been to induce the remaining local labourers to leave the country for the towns.
Not only were the labourers of the locality affected by the fall in wages, the unfailing result
of the first employment of migratory labour, but their social position seemed to suffer when
they were obliged to work with foreigners, far inferior to them in education. The influence
of the migratory labourers has, in many cases, determined more than one, who still hesit-
ated, to change his occupation. (Reports of the rst. Section of the loth. International
Congress of Agriculture, Ghent, 1913, p. 55). Amongst the season labourers must be ranged
the Belgian wood-cutters who work in winter in the forests of French Anlenne.
(3) Ronse, op. cit., p. 203.
g8 BELGIUM - MISCELLANEOUS
of laws our Flemings are accustomed to observe strictly, has often a sad
effect on the morahty of our labourers. They, above all the young, suffer
thereby ; besides, the stoppages made from their earnings and the
temptations of the city often end by corrupting them before their
return " (i).
The daily and weekly migrations are of by far the greatest importance
in Belgium. " On an averages, " ays M. Mahaim (2), " out of 495,000 per-
sons, travelling daily on the State Railways, 214,531 travelled at reduced
rates. This is 43 % of the total number of travellers. From 5,944,794
in 1908 the number of weekly season tickets increased in 1911 to 7,111,327,
of which 5,735,440 were issued for one forward and return journey per day,
either for six or seven days in the week, and 1,343,046 for one
forward and return journey per week. An examination of the records and
the partial returns have led M. jNfahaim to the conclusion that, in 1911,
350,000 workmen engaged in private factories had season tickets. This
is about one fifth or a quarter of the working population " (3).
The same author has prepared a special return of the occupations of the
season ticket holders for two months of 1906 ; he concludes that :
10 % were miners.
30 % were general factory hands.
15 % were workmen engaged on buildings.
16 % were navvies and labourers.
19 % were other workmen.
This means, he says that most of our migratory labour is unskilled. This
is further shown by the geographical distribution of the season tickets
from which we see that most are issued in the poor agricultural districts of
the two Flanders, Campine and vSouth Brabant, whence there are large
numbers of labourers to be obtained. (4)
The season tickets for daily journeys especially deprive agriculture
of the labourers it might have need of at certain moments. How is it
then that, while there is generally a dearth of agricultural labourers, rural
workmen are every morning or evening leaving their homes in the village
for the workshops of the large centres and only return to their families for
a Jew hours a day at most, for their well earned rest ?
And in this connection let no one tell us of the attractions of the towns ;
many weekly ticket holders barely know the locality in which they work
and their f amihes never set foot there.
Why then do they leave the land ?
(1) RONSE, op. Cit., p. 205.
(2) Report quoted, page 5.
(3) » » » 6.
(4) » » » 7.
RURAL EXODUS 99
§ 2. Causes and effects of the rur.\l exodus.
The first reason is that the land has no work to offer them. If there
are moments in the year when the want of labourers is felt, there are others,
especially in winter, when many agricultural labourers are unemployed ;
the small industries carried on as auxiliaries to agriculture have almost
disappeared ; the agricultural distilleries have been stopped ; the labourers
leave the village because the manufacturers give higher wages and also, as
we have said, because some of them hope to form by means of their work in
the factories the little capital they require in order to establish them-
selves one day.
On the other hand, the sugar refineries, which formerly provided work
for unoccupied agricultural labourers during a large part of the winter,
now manage, with their improved equipment, to finish their work in eight
or nine weeks. L,et us add that cattle grazing sometimes takes the place
of agriculture and has need of fewer hands.
Some also abandon agricultural labour because work in the factories
makes them more independent of their relations — they thus escape all super-
vision and enjo}^ the whole of their wages (i) — because the factories give
some holidays, whilst in the country there is a class, that of servants
in the farm houses, whose work does not stop even on Sundays, and
then there are the pleasant meetings with companions on the way to the yards
or the workshop ; let us add, as we have written above, that at certain
moments many rural labourers can find no occupation in the country. They
therefore, greedily seize the chance offered them by the labourers' season
tickets, to go and earn good wages for some weeks in a factory. How
dependent on the season is the nature of this daily emigration is shown
by the statistics of season tickets issued in the last three weeks of x'Vpril
and the first week of i\Iay, 19 13. April is a period of hard work in the
country; that of the planting of potatoes, of the preparation of the soil
for beetroot and the sowing of the same ; the first part of May, on the
contrary, is a period of repose. The sowing is finished, but the grain has
not yet sprung up. From 107,56] season tickets between April 13th. and
19th., the number increased to 115,120 between April 20th. and 26th.,
to 138, 959 between April 27th. and May 3rd. and to 146,192 between
May 4th. and loth. (2).
As M. iMahaim says (3) there is only a small minority of constant tra-
vellers going backwards and forwards daity or weekly and the large majority
of labourers holding season tickets is made up of occasional travellers.
The same author distinguishes six types among these, namely: ist.,the oc-
(i) Cf. Reports of the loth. International Congress of Agriculture, Brussels, 1913, p. 128.
(2) The general strike, which lasted oflacially from April 14th. to 28th., 191 3, had, it
seems to us, very little effect on the labourers' season tickets. It took place at a time
when manv of the migratory labourers were living at home and it scarcely prevented their
resumption of work, when the field work was done.
{3) Report quoted, p. 6.
100 BELGIUM - MISCELLANEOUS
casional factory hand from the country who only travels because the count-
ry does not jneld him enough to live on, but returns thither as soon as he
can : 2nd., the industrial workman Hving in the country and leaving it dai-
ly, who will not again return to work there, but whose home remains in the
village ; 3rd. , the half-agricultural, half -industrial workman, who travels
in winter, but continues to cultivate a piece of land, to which he gives his
time and the necessary attention, at convenient moments ; 4th., the work-
man by profession, detached on service by his master for work at a
distance, and not an emigrant at all; 5th., the half expatriated, that
is, the workman who leaves home week by week and is only attached
to the village by a very feeble tie and often ends by removing from it com-
pletely; 6th., finally, the town workman who returns to the country, deliber-
ately separating himself from the urban or industrial mass, so as to have
a healthier and cheaper home (i). The daily emigration has certainly its
good side ; the workman gets better wages, but it would be a mistake
to imagine his position as far more advantageovis than that of the agri-
cultural labourers remaining at home. The railway fare is, it is true,
ridiculously low, as the season ticket makes the daily forward and
return journey only cost i fr. 50 per 20 kms., and 3 fr. 15 for 100 kms.,
but expensive habits are contracted and, in the end, the net profit is less
than if the workman had contented himself with modest wages in the
country. The industrial workman has more spare time than the agri-
cultural labourer, but this is not true in the case of the daity emigrant
who, when his town companions have finished their work and return to
their homes, has still, sometimes, in addition to his railway journey, a
long distance to walk to his house.
From the moral and intellectual point of view, town residence has its
advantages, but again the daily emigrants do not enjoy these.
The disadvantages of rural exodii^, it is not to be denied, are very many ;
for those leaving the village with no hope of return there are all the draw-
backs of congested cities, the housing difficulty... (2) ; for those who come to
the towns for the day there is unaccustomed debilitating work, there are
long and uncomfortable journeys. Workmen who, on account of the di-
stance of their homes from their place of work only return there once a
week, and are separated from their family during that time, sometimes com-
municate to them the most serious diseases. In the Liege valley, neo-mal-
thusianism has made very great way and finds active apostles among the
migratory labourers of certain agricultural regions.
The fatal consequences for rural economy of the dearth of labourers
is above all felt in the neighbourhood of towns and industrial centres.
" Were it not for the Flemish season labourers, " said a Walloon farmer,
" we could not go on farming. " Some farmers have been obliged to a cert-
(1) Mahaiin, Report quoted, pag. 7,
(2) See Philippen and F. Ma.theu5SEN : Het vraa!,stuk der Stadsinwyking. Brussels,
16 me des Paroissiens, 191 3, page. 26.
RURAI, EXODUS lOI
ain extent to give up the improvement of horses and cattle, on account of
their difficulty in obtaining men and women farm servants. This state
of things is nothing new. It would be well, we read in the Expose de
la situation administrative de la province de Liege (Report on the Adminis-
trative Situation of the Province of Liege) for 1861, to get good mowing
machines, for labourers are becoming very scarce, above all in the vicinity of
the town of Liege, as they are attracted away by the higher wages the fac-
tories offer for less fatiguing work. The high rents and the rise in wages
for every kind of work, render the position of the tenant farmer very difficult,
intelligent labourers abandon the farms and, if this goes on, there will only
remain the unskilful, which would damage agriculture very considerably.
Maid servants and dairy maids are even fewer ; they prefer to go to Liege
where they easity find engagements as domestic servants.
Much complaint has been made in agricultural circles against the grant
of tickets for labourers at reduced rates on the State railways and these
complaints found expression at one of the meetings of the National Congress
of Agriculture held at Namur in 1901. We are convinced, as we said above,
that the daih^ or weekly migrations have many disadvantages for the
labourers, but we have to recognise the fact that rural exodus reaches its
height at the moment when agriculture employs the smallest number of
hired labourers possible. Were it not for these facilities for travelling,
our labourers would have no food or our country districts would be depopul-
ated, the labourers establishing themselves permanently, as the French
labourers have done, in industrial districts, to their very great physical
and moral detriment. The facilitation of travelling has been an advantage
both for those who remove to a distance and for those who remain working
on the farms. In order to keep their labourers, those farmers who were
in a position to do so have raised their wages and, it must be recognised,
there was certainly no harm in this.
There can be no question of suppressing the labourers' season tickets,
when the labourers cannot find work in the countrj^ under favourable con-
ditions. If the reduced railway rates have facilitated rural exodus, they have
not caused it ; the fact that countries, which have not, like ours, pro\4ded
railway tickets at reduced rates, have all the same suffered more from the
desertion of the country, amply proves this ; and in addition these re-
duced tickets are now a recognised institution with us. But investigations
might be made to see if it would not be possible to restrict the application
of the reduced rates to journeys of a certain number of kilometres and if
it were not better for workmen who live too far from their work to come
nearer to it, establishing themselves either in the town or in a suburban
neighbourhood, rather than to go on making these exhausting journeys.
In fact there are many of these migratory labourers who no longer live the
life of men ;not only is their work hard, but they are materially unable to
enjoy more than three or four hours sleep.
102 BELGIUM - MISCELLANEOUS
§ 3. The remedies.
What remedy is there then ? How shall we keep the labourers in the
country ? L,et us first of all say that everything which can contribute to the
greater economic and social comfort of the agricultural labourer, as
well as to his moral welfare will tend to moderate the rural exodus.
We are convinced that we can only keep the labourers in the country by
improving their position and rendering it, taking all the circumstances into
consideration, as enviable as that of the industrial labourers ; the farmers
must be in a position, at least, at seasons of intense agricultural labour, to
pay as good wages as the factories offer. The gains being equal, the work-
man will often prefer field labour ; he will still have the possibility of re-
turning temporarily to the workshop for the period of agricultural unem-
ployment. But, in order that the tenant farmer may fulfil his whole duty to-
wards his employees, the landowner must be moderate in his demands.
The one remedy, the Marquis Imperiali said, in which all others are included,
is to work for the prosperity of agriculture, so that it may be able to
pay strong men a^ well as most of the industrial establishments do. Then,
passing on to remedies rather of a moral order, he advocated notably:
(«) That practical instruction in ever3i;hing relating to country life
should be made general. Encourage, said he, the foundation of profession-
al schools of agriculture in the villages, teach the young men and women
labourers to love countrj^ life, by means of lectures, courses for adults,
etc. (i). Let it be known that, if higher wages are paid for industrial
work, the life in the country is far cheaper and above all the health of
the men, women and children, better in the open air than in the small lodg-
ings they would have in the towns. Let us add for our part, that efforts
should be m.ade to combat the labourer's love of change — in fact, he
often leaves a master without knowing why — - and also it is necessary to
give some attention to the oesthetics, or, in case this word alarm anyone,
carefully to see to the cleanliness of the villages. In order to keep the
labourer in his hamlet, we must make his residence agreeable, and, before
anything else, obtain comfortable lodgings for him (2).
{b) Good agricultural masters must be trained and recommended to
be gentle in their treatment of their labourers so that the latter may be
happy on the farms on which they live, well treated and not unnecessarily
made to do extra work.
(c) Finally, the chief point is the encouragement of small farms.
Arrange, wrote the Marquis Imperiali, that every labourer may be able
to lease from 50 ares to 2 hectares, that the farmer may provide his labour-
ers with horses so that they may plough and cultivate their land and let
the labourer be able to keep a cow and a pig ; encourage the building of
(i) Cf. Comptes Rendus du Xe Congris International d 'Agriculture. Ghent, 1913, p. 127.
(2) Cf. Dr. Labat : La vocation paysanne : Rev. des Deux Mondes, 1912. The author
especially insists on the necessity of preserving the mental attitude of the country folk.
RURAL EXODUS I03
workmen's houses with small stables. If the landowners will not sell the
land required, let them build the houses themselves and lease them, at ex-
tremely low rates, to labourers who engage to work the whole year on their
farms (i).
Experience has shown that almost ever>'where where the remedies ad-
vocated by the Marquis Imperiali have been applied, there has been an
appreciable arrest of emigration. Where the tenant farmers are in a
position to give their labourer suitable wages, where they reserv^e some
of the winter work for them, especiall}^ threshing, where season labour is
given to permanent labourers by contract and on remunerative conditions,
labourers are less scarce than formerly. In the same way, in those parts
of the country where the landed proprietors have subdivided their farms,
small farms are again thriving and there are few labourers who are not
also small farmers. This may perhaps, in the long run, lead to the
disappearance of the large farms and their transformation into small
holdings v/orked by the farmer's family alone, but it will preserve the
necessary labourers for agriculture, and that is the essential point.
At present the large farmers show themselves too greedy of their land :
there are districts, where they will not allow labourers to have the lease
of the smallest parcel awarded to them at public auctions, though the land
so leased generally belongs to charitable institutions, homes or benevolent
foundations. And yet have not the poor the first claim to benefit by the
wealth bequeathed after all for their good ? The large landlords who
subdivide a portion of their land and thus enable workmen's families to
live in the country, at the same time render the large farmers a service.
" The landlord will find it greatly to his advantage to have round about
each large farm four or five small ones the occupants of which will work
on the large farm. The large farmer will find in them a nucleus of four or
five labourers. It will be a great advantage to him and consequently to
the proprietor. " (2). M. Emile Tibbaut, in an article published at the
end of 1912 in La Belgique artistique et litter aire, compares three large com-
munes in Flanders, Overmeire, Calcken and lyoochristy from the point
of view of rural exodus. While the population of the two former is dimin-
ishing, that of Loochristy, a village near Ghent, however, where the
farms are quite small, is continually increasing (3). Horticulture, which
is carried on in this commune and market gardening carried on in the vill-
ages not too remote from the large towns, employ a ver}^ large number of
labourers on a very limited area, thus contributing to reduce the rural
exodus considerably. With regard to home industries, they are only useful,
from the agricultural point of view, when they are limited to certain seas-
(i) Compte rendu de la 396 Assetnblee ceneraU de la Federation des Cercles catholiques. BruS'
sels, Mommens, 1908, page 20.
(2) Speech of M. Jolyat the General Meeting of the Federation of Catholic Clubs 1908. Report,
above quoted.
{3) See also le Pratriote, of January 17th., 1913.
104 BELGIUM - MISCELLANEOUS
ons, and only employ the labourer when not occupied in field work, or in
the evening ; unhappily all of them or almost all have disappeared.
Clearings properly carried out might give a value to land now waste
and keep persons in the country who are now obliged to seek their liveli-
hood elsewhere. Praiseworthy efforts have been made in this direction. Fin-
ally, the constant residence of the landed proprietors in summer and wint-
er would also have a salutory effect. It is a certain fact, said M. August
Roberti at the Warenime Meeting, that in the communes where the landed
proprietors live on their estates the whole year, this exodus of labourers is
scarcely obsrvable. The resident landlord takes a far greater interest in
his property and, above all in winter, when the work ceases on other farms,
he has many works of improvement, such as planting, draining, etc.
carried out.
Let us say in conclusion, although this is no part of our subject, that
measures should be taken for the moral protection of the emigrants, both
those who establish themselves permanentl)^ in the towns and those who
make use of the labourers' trains (3). The morality of our country people,
which has remained so far good, must not suffer too much from their
coming in contact with the population of the industrial centres.
(3) See the Report of Philippen and Matheussen.
JAPAN.
THE RECENT I^AND TAX REFORMS.
OFFICIAL SOURCE :
NiHON xo KOME (Japanese Rica). Department of Agriculture and Commerce. Tokio, 1909.
UNOFFICIAI, SOURCES:
Dembata chiso no dai-xi-shi KEIGEX. {The Second Reduction of the Land Tax on Grain
Fields and Rice Fields) From the " T6kj-6 keizai Zasshi ", February 21st., 1914. N° 1,737,
Tokio.
Chiso josei-chu kaisei-ax xo kaketsu [Approval of the Bill for the Amendment of the
Law on the Land Tax. From "Tokyo keizai Zasshi " of February 21st., 1914, N" 1,737.
Tokio.
During the last few months in Japan theie has been a constantly
increasing movement in favonr of a reduction in the taxes by which the
country is over burdened. Already taxes on the importation of cereals,
and on business undeitakings have been diminished. Also the land tax
has been reduced, and with this we shall now deal.
In the number of this Bulletin for October, 1913 we spoke at length
of the fiscal burdens on landed property in Japan. The recent amendment
of the land laws, which has been approved by Parliament, now requires
our consideration. We shall give the whole bill, introduced by a private
member, just as it was brought before Parliament.
Art. 1st. — The first paragraph of art. i, of the law on the land tax
is amended thus : instead of the words " The tax on grain fields and rice
fields is calculated at 4.7 % of the official value of the property, " read
" The tax on grain fields and rice field"* is calculated at 4 % of the ofl&cial
value. "
Art. 2nd. — The second paragraph of art. i. of the law on the land
tax is amended as follows : Instead of the words "3.4% of the official value
of the land, " read " 3 % of the ofiicial value of the land. "
Art. 3rd. — The present law is to come into force on September ist. , 1914.
Let us observe particularly that art. ist. of this bill refers to land in
Japan properly so called, while art. 2nd. refers to land in Hokkaido. Thus,
the difference between the fiscal charges on land in the mother country
io6
JAPAN - MISCELI,ANEOUS
and the colonised parts of the island of Yezo, pointed out in our article
already mentioned, is still laintained. The diminution would therefore
be 0.7 % in Japan proper and 0.4 % in Hokkaido.
There was much opposition to the bill in Parliament ; the arguments
against it being chiefly the following :
ist. — The fiscal charge on landed property is one of the least burden-
some in Japan and one of the most profitable to the pubUc treasury :
2nd. — The reform of land taxation, as proposed by the bill, would
cause a decrease of revenue of about 8,500,000 yen (about 22,000,000
francs) and such a reduction should not be agreed to considering the present
state of the finances and the urgent needs of the political and economic situ-
ation of the country. In support of these views, the following statistic^
were brought forward, showing the amounts obtained by the tax before the
proposed reform ;
Ground Built on: 2.5% a^ valorem
GrainFields and Rice Fields: 4.7% »
Other Land 5-5% «
GrainFields and Rice Fields: 3 .4 % »
Other Land: 4-0% »
) for Japan proper, exclud-
i ing Hokkaido
for Hokkaido.
The amount raised by this tax was calculated, in the Kstimates
for 19 12 and 19 13, as follows:
.p. i Japan proper, Okinawa and the Seven
Fidds J Islands of Izu yen 46,778,404
f Hokkaido » 14,014
Total . . . ^--en 46,792,418
Fields i Japan proper,Okinawa and the Seven Islands
not of Izu » 10,312,582
Irrigated' Hokkaido » 56,502
Total . . . yen 10,369,084
_ .. / Japan proper and Okinawa » 15,902,272
( Hokkaido . . ;) 303,146
upon ) o ^> -r
Total . . . 3'-en 16,205,418
^,, L Japan proper, Okinawa and the Seven
J , Islands of Izu » 1,711,220
^^ ( Hokkaido ). 42,836
Total . . . yen 1,754,056
General Total . . . yen 75,120,976
THE RECENT I,AND TAX REFORMS I07
It is to be observed, however, that of this total amount, 57,161,502
yen are derived from the tax on the rice fields and other fields (46,792,418
yen from the rice fields, and 10,369,048 from the fields not irrigated).
The biU reducing the amount of the tax on the grain fields and rice field:
reduced the total amount of the tax by 65 %.
To calculate how great would be the reduction in the eventual applic-
ation of the bill, we must know, at least approximately, the official value of
the land that can be taxed. We may find this official value from the rate
of the tax itself with sufiicient exactness by capitalising the amount
produced by the tax. Thus :
{A) For Japan proper, Okinawa and the seven Islands of Izu :
(a) for rice fields : receipts from the tax, yen 46,778,404, which sum,
capitaHsed at 4.7 %, represents about 995,000,000 yen.
(&) for other fields; amount of tax, yen 10,312,582, which, capitaUsed
at the same rate, represents about 219,000,000 yen.
{B) For Hokkaido :
{a) for rice fields, tax receipts 14,014 yen, which capitalised at 3.4%
represent about 412,000 yen.
(6) for other fields: tax receipts 56,502, which, capitaHsed at the
same rate, represent about 1,660,000 yen.
From what has been already stated, it may be deduced that the approx-
imate official value of the grain fields and rice fields (exclusive of Hokkaido)
is about 995 + 219 milHons of yen, that is, 1,214.000,000 yen, and that
the approximate official value of the grain fields and rice fields of Hokkaido
is about 412 + 1,660 thousands of yen, that is 2,072,000 yen.
It is thus very easy to calculate the amount of the land tax as modified
by the bill. The grain fields and rice fields of Japan proper and of Hok-
kaido taxed under this bill at 4 % and 3 % respectively, would give the
following return :
(.4) Japan proper, Okinawa and Seven Islands of Izu : 4 %
on 1,214,000,000 = 48,560,000. Preceding receipts 57,000,000. Reduction
8,440,000 yen.
{B) Hokkaido : 3 % on 2,072,000 yen =:- 62.160 yen. Preceding receipts
70,516. Reduction 8,356 yen.
The whole of the diminution obtained according to the bill, would then
be, said its oppponents, about 8,500,000 yen, a reduction which the
Japanese treasury could not support.
As to the other point, that the fiscal charges on landed property arc
among the least heavy taxes in Japan, the opponents base their state-
ment on the contrast between the present taxation and that to which the
Japanese population was subjected for ages, that is, payment in kind. This
payment in kind, according to the most reliable statistics, was as follows
in the years shown below:
1837 12,174,629 kohu (i) 1873 11,239,712 koku
1871 12,549,354 » 1874 10,745,982 B
1872 12,135,195 » average for last 3 years. 11,373,630 »
(i) Koku = hi. 1.8
I08 JAPAN - MISCELLANEOUS
The average prices of rice at the Exchange of Tokio during the years
1872-73-74, were respectively 3.88, 4.80 and 7.28 yen per koku (i).
The average price for the three years was therefore 5.32 yen per koku.
The average for the three years of the tax in kind having been
11,373,630 koku, it follows that this tax in kind corresponded to a tax
in money amounting to 60,500,000 yen. At present the price of rice is
generally about 22 yen per koku, and the opposers of the reduction of the
land tax say that if paid in kind it might produce about 250,000,000 yen.
The tax at present only produces 75,000,000, not more than one third of
what it produced, in the first years of the Restoration. This reasoning,
if arithmetically correct, is yet somewhat defective, because it takes no
account of the other fiscal burdens on land in particular, and on the
country in general, nor yet of the necessity for stimulating agriculture to
the utmost, for in this way alone can the economic equilibrium of the
country be restored.
In any case, the Parliamentary Commission to which the bill was sub-
mitted, while agreeing to the reduction of the tax, could not consent to
approve the bill in its entirety, as the moment seemed unfavourable for re-
ducing the income of the State by 8,500,000 yen. But the bill was
amended so as to diminish the actual fiscal burden on landed property by
0.2% for grain fields and rice fields for Japan proper, as well as for Hokkaido.
With this alteration, the bill was approved in the session of the 17th. February
so that the land tax is at present 4.5 % on the grain fields and rice fields of
Japan proper, the Ken of Okinawa and the Seven Islands of Izu and 3.2 %
in Hokkaido.
The effect of this diminution on the revenue may be easily calculated.
For Japan proper, for Okinawa and the Seven Islands of Izu, the receipts
win amount to 4.5% on 1,214,000,000 yen, that is 54, 630,000, instead
of 57,oe 0,000, a diminution of about 2,370,000.
For Hokkaido the receipts will be 3.2 % on 2,072,000 yen, that is 66,300
instead of 70,516, a diminution of about 4,200 yen.
This refoim will cost the Japanese trea ury in all about 2,500,000 yen
(6,450,000 francs).
Will this loss be compensated by the real advantage which the agricul-
tural population in Japan wiU derive from a reduction of the tax by 2
per 1,000 ? There is more than reason to doubt it. In any case it must be
observed that this reform, coldly received as it was by the very classes
who were to have derived benefit from it, was energetically opposed by
eminent economists.
(i) Compare the data published by the Department of Agriculture aud Coijmerce at
Tokio in the pamphlet entitled Nihon no Kome (Japanese Rice) pages 39 e( seqq.
MEXICO.
THE LAND QUESTION IN MEXICO AND THE PROPOSAI^S OF THE
NATIONAL AGRICUETURAIv COMMISSION.
OFFlCIAIv PUBLICATIONS:
Programa y dictamen presentado por la Coinsi6N Nacionai. Agraria para el estudio
Y RES0Luci6x del problema agrario, en la Memoria de la Secretaria de Fomento pre-
sentada al Congrcso de la Uuion corrc spondiente al ejercicio fiscal 1911-1912. [Procramme
and Proposals Presented by the National Agricultural Commission for the Study and Solution
of the Land Question. Report of the Secretary of Agriculture to the Concress of the Union, in
the year 1911-12). Mexico, 1913.
Anuario de Estadistica Fiscal 1911-12. (Statistical Yearbook 1911-12) Mexico, 1913.
Antjario Est.\distico de la Republica Mexicaka 1907 {Statistical Yearbook of the Mexican
Republic, 1907) Mexico, 1912.
BoLETfx DE EsTADfsTiCA Fiscal, Anos FiscALES 1096-07 y 1901-02 {Bulletin of Financial Stat-
istics for 1906-07 awrf 1901-02) Mexico, i9o8and 1903.
RESUMEN GEXERAL DEL CENSO DE LA REPtJBLICA MEXICANA VEFIFICADO EL 28 DE OCTUBRE DE
1900 (General Resume of the Census of the Mexican Republic taken on October 28th., 1900).
Mexico, 1905.
Estadistica ganadera de la Rep6blica ex 1902 puelicada por la Direccion gexeral
DE EsTADfsTiCA (Statistics of Livestock in the Republic in 1902, published by the General
Deportment of Statistics). Mexico, 1903.
CaJA de PRESTAMOS para OBRAS de IRRIGACi6x Y FoMEXTO de la AGRTCULTUR.'V. lyEYES,
Coxcesiox, Estatuto (Loan Bank for lrris,ation Works and Encouragement of Agriculture.
Laws, Concession, Re. .illations). Mexico, 1912.
El Problejli de la pequeJJa propiedad. ixforme presextado por EL IxGEXiERo agr6xomo
lyAURO ViADAS, Director Gexer.\l de Agricultura (The Question of Small Holdings,
Report presented by the A %riculttiral Engineer, Lauro Viadas, Director General of A griculture) .
Mexico, 191 1.
Boletixes de la Direcci6x Gexer.\l de estadistica (Bulletins of the General Department
of Statistics).
Boletixes de la Direcci6x gexeral de agricultltra (Bulletins of the General Department
of Agriculture).
OTHER PUBLICATIONS :
The Mexicax Year Book, 191 3. lyoiulon, Mc. Corquodale & Co. I<ondon.
Mexico. A General Sketch. Publication of the Panamerican Union. Washington, 1911.
Perigxy (Comtc Maurice) (De) : I^es Etats-Unis du Mexique {The United States of Mexico).
Paris, Guilmots. 191 1.
Bigot (Raoul) : l,e Mexique moderuc (Modern Mexico). Paris, Pierre Roger, & C'e, 1909).
GARCfA Graxados (Albcrto): El Credito agricola en Mexico (Agricultural Ceedit in Mexico).
Printed by Vazquez and Sons, 1910.
I TO MKXICO - MLSCELLANEOUS
DiARio (E) : Mexico en su primer siglo de independencia {Mexico in her First Period of Inde-
pendence). Published by E. Diario, Mexico, 1910.
Annuaire international de statistique agricole, 1910. {International Yearbook of Agri-
cultural Statistics) Instilut International d'Agricnlture, Rome, 1913.
Statesman's YEARBOOK FOR THE YEAR 1913. lyondon, Macmillan and Co. 1913.
BoLETiNES DE LA CAMARA AGRicoLA jACioNAL lASLiciENSK {Bulletins of the National Chamber
of Agriculture of Jalisco).
El EcoNoansTA Mexicano ( The Mexican Economist) .
Mesico has always been renowned for its extraordinary wealth in
precious metals. From age to age stories have been handed down, even to
our own days, of the galleys laden with gold and silver which have crossed
the ocean to swell the treasures of Spanish monarchs. But, notwithstanding
the vast mining products of the country, the chief source of riches in Mexico
is to be found in agriculture. A country with such rich and easily cultivated
soil and every description of climate and everj^ vegetable production is
necessarily adapted for that pursuit.
Notwithstanding this, Mexican agriculture has not been developed
as it ought to have been under such favourable conditions. The reasons
are many and complex, but the chief is the greed with which the mines were
worked under the Spanish rule, causing the complete abandonment of
agriculture. The second reason is the long succession of conflicts and in-
testine wars, continuing without interruption from the time of the proclam-
ation of independence until the coming of Senor Porfirio Diaz, which
unfortunately have again broken out recently.
Other causes may be mentioned, not less important, especially the
rudimentarj^ character of the methods emploj^ed, the scarcit}^ of labour, and
the defective distribution of landed property.
The agricultural question in Mexico and the social unsettlement to
which it gives rise have long been a cause of anxiety to the authorities.
A national agricultural commission was recently appointed to consider
the subject and to propose measures for the solution of the difficulties.
Before we relate the conclusions of this commission, we propose to
follow the method adopted in our articles on other I,atin- American count-
ries, that is, briefly to examine the geographic and economic conditions
of Mexico, to give some idea of its agricultural wealth and of the prospects
of agriculture and to consider the principal questions connected therewith,
especially that of colonisation.
§ I. Some remarks on the geographical and economic conditions
OF MEXICO.
I. Geographical Conditions. — The configuration of the soil of the
Mexican territory, which covers an area of 1,987,201 sq. kms., is most
characteristic. From the low lying and sandy coast line, the ground
I.AND QUESTION AND PROPOSALS OP THE AGRICUW URAL COMMISSION III
gradually rises to a vast plateau interrupted by mountains of a height
varying from 1,200 to 2,400 metres above the sea.
This special configuration catises extraordinary differences in temper-
ature and in climate. It is usual to di\'ide the country, with regard to
climate, into three regions, the warm, the temperate and the cold. The warm
region extends from the coast to an altitude of 900 metres ; the mean annual
temperature is from 26° to 31^ Centigrade, and the maximum from 370
to 390. In this region the winter cHmate in delightful; however, north
winds blow at intervals, and in a few hours reduce the temperature by 10
or 20 degrees.
At 900 metres above sea level the temperate region begins, extending
to an altitude of 1,980 metres, with an annual mean temperature of from
22° to 250 C. and the variations in a season are never more than from 6° to 8°.
This region has the best climate in Mexico; ice is unknown, nor is there
excessive humidity, and there are no noxious insects, nor sudden changes of
temperature.
The cold region, cold in contrast to the heat at the coast, is found
between heights of 1,980 and 3,810 metres, the snow level in the tropics.
The mean temperature is from 14 to 16^ with some slight variations;
sometimes, in winter, when the north wind prevails, there are light falls of
snow in the cit}^ of Mexico and the thermometer goes down to 50 or even
to 20. At Toluca and other places in the highest mountain districts the
temperature sometimes goes down as low as — 5°.
In the territory of Mexico, extremely unequal in level, are man}' chains
of mountains with enormous mineral treasures.
We may mention the great Sierra INladre of the Pacihc, and the Sierra
Anahuac with the eminent peaks of Popocatepetl (5,410 metres) and
Ixtacciatl (4,900 metres).
In the whole country there is no great permanent water-course and the
great variations in level of the beds of the rivers in general are unfavour-
able for na\dgation. On the other hand, the waterfalls caused by these
conditions furnish immense motor power, W-hich may greatly favour the in-
dustrial development of the country and its agriculture. And these same con-
ditions favour the formation of ponds and artificial lakes for irrigation
purposes. The most important rivers in Mexico are the Rio Grande, the
Rio Lernia, which forms the cascades of Junacatlan, called the JNIexican
Niagara, utilised by the Cotton Manufacturing Company and by the Electric
Works of Guadalajara. There is also the Rio Ato^'^ac, of which the seven
falls give a total of 23,000 horse power.
Mexico is divided politically into one federal district, 3 territories
and 27 States. Of the states that of Jalisco is looked on as the granary
of the RepubHc on account of its immense cereal crops, Morelos grows the
greatest quantity of sugar cane, Chihuahua is noted for Hvestock improve-
ment, Veracruz for the cultivation of tropical plants, Durango for the cot-
ton of Lagunas. The most important industrial centres are Orizaba, Puehla,
Monterey etc.
112 MEXICO - MISCElrlvANEOUS
2. Population. — According to the latest census (1910) the population
of the Mexican Republic had risen to 15,160,369, or to 7 or 6 inhabitants
per square km. It is, thus, the most densely populated of all the Latin-
American republics; in 1910 it had only 13,607,259 inhabitants; in the
following ten years therefore the population increased by 1,553,110, thus
by II. 4 %. In 1910-11 79,484 emigrants entered the country.
Approximatel)^ 20 % of the people are of the white race, 43 % are
half castes and 37 ",1, Indians. When Mexico was only a colony, the white
race was a privileged class, but since it has been a republic, there is com-
plete equality for all, whites, half castes and Indians. Yet, from the
social point of view, the ruling class are the whites and half breeds, the
middle classes consist of the same with a small admixture of Indians
and the lowest class chiefly consists of half breeds and Indians. The latter,
though possessing excellent qualities, have not progressed in civilisation,
partly from want of instruction, and partly from their drinking habits.
3. The Bases of tlie National Economy : Mines and Agriculture. —
We have already spoken of the great mineral wealth of the country, which,
however, is not so great as that to be obtained by agriculture.
We shall see farther on that agriculture is as 5'et in an undeveloped con-
dition, in comparison with vvhat it should be. Notwithstanding this, the
annual production is from 350 to 400 millions of pesos (i) . The Mexican
sub-soil contains the greatest varieties of minerals. A few figures will give
an idea of its treasures.
In 1910, there were in the whole territory 31,155 mines; of these 1,871
were of gold ; 5,968 of silver; 9,425 of both gold and silver, 3,213 of gold,
silver and copper ; i ,874 of silver and copper.
Mexico is, par excellence the land of silver ; it is, as Humboldt said, " a
silver slab which the Creator let fall on our globe". It has been calculated
that the yield of silver, from its first extraction up to 1910, was about
150 ,000,0:. o kgs. In 1911-12 the amount was valued at 89,664,665 pesos.
Since the enormous fall in value of this metal in 1894, year bj^ year the
output of gold has increased through the employment of modern methods,
such as hydro-electric machinery etc. In 1911-12 the value of the gold
produced was 48,686,965 pesos.
In 191 1-12 the total mineral production of Mexico was valued at
209,781,343 pesos.
The state of Hidalgo with the famous mines of Pachuca and Real
del Monte takes the first place as a silver producer. Durango possesses
the celebrated sih"er mines of San Dimas, El Pilar etc.... Chilurahua has
always been considered the State richest in mineral wealth.
For gold, the most important vStates are Sonora, Lower California, and
Guerrero. The most important gold mines are those of Dos Estrellas and
Bolero.
(i) The legal value of the Mexican peso, smcaihe. monetary reform of 1905, is frs. 2.58.
During the second half of 1913, its value fell to fr. 1.80, in consequence of the disturbed
state of the country.
I,AND QUESTION AND PROPOSAIyS OF THE AGRICUIvTURAL COMMISSION H3
Besides metals, Mexico possesses important beds of combustible
minerals. In the State of Puebla numerous coal mines are worked.
In Veracruz, Tamaulipas, Michoacan, Hidalgo and Oaxaca there are ex-
tensive beds of coal and Hgnite. The principal coal region is to the north
east, partly in the State of Coahuila, partly in that of TamauUpas, with an
area of 28,000 square kilometres.
The working of the petroleum fields had scarcely commenced when
it assumed great importance. Petroleum is found in the states bordering
the Gulf and in the south.
Various societies work the petroleum deposits on a greater or lesser scale.
Chief among these are the Compania Mexicana El Agutla and another which
may be considered as the agent of the famous " Standard Oil Company ".
4. Industries. — The commercial policy of Spain, and the frequent
conflicts and revolutions could not but be unfavourable to the develop-
ment of manufactures and those existing are of recent date. Of the most
successful, the first place may be accorded to textile industry, which has
become very important, especially of late years. In 1911, there were
145 factories in various parts of the country, employing 32,147 hands and
manufacturing 36,000,000 kgs. of cotton. The fabrics produced are of a
cheap quality much used by the natives, and are chiefly counterpanes
and printed calicos. The total production in 1911 was 15,090,669 pieces
of cloth and 2,706,973 kgs. of cotton.
In the same year there were 351 tobacco factories and 1,543 distilleries
of different classes. Woollen and silk manufactures are also being de-
veloped. Ma'nufacture from metals has made but little progress considering
the mineral wealth of the country.
5. Commerce. — We know that Spain, desirous to reserve all the
commercial profits of her over sea possessions to herself, absolutely forbade
them to trade with other nations. But at the close of the XVIII*** cent-
ury, all obstacles to foreign trade were removed by a decree of Charles III.
Yet the commercial Hfe of New Spain did not commence before 1877,
when intestine contests and foreign intervention had entirel}'- ceased,
and peace permitted the natural development of the marvellous resources
of the country.
To give the reader an idea of the growth of Mexican commerce, we
subjoin a table giving figures for the financial years 1901-02, 1906-7 and
1911-12 ;
1901-02 1906-07 igii-ia
Importation (pesos) .... 151,280,482 232,229,578 182,662,311
Exportation (pesos) .... 171,776,449 248,018,010 297,989,129
323,056,931 480,247,588 480,651,440
114 MEXICO - MISCEIvI^ANEOUS
In 1911-12 the imports were as follows :
Pesos
Vegetable products 31,285,563
Mineral products 46,711,978
Manufactured tissues 21,281,571
Machinery and appliances 23,383,811
Animal products 16,466,311
Chemical products and medicines 12,074,088
AlcohoHc drinks 6,744,083
Paper etc 5.120,770
Various 19,594,131
Total Imports . . . 182,662,311
Mexico imports chiefly from the United States of America (98,425,673
pesos) ; Germany (23,845,218 pesos) ; Great Britain (21,506,307 pesos) ;
France (15,618,256 pesos) and Spain (5,900,434 pesos).
For the above financial year the exports may be classified as follows :
PCSOF
Mineral products 186,206,803
Vegetable » 83,586,951
Animal « 19,861,196
Manufactured » 6,603,577
Various 1,730,602
Total Exports . . . 297,989,129
The chief markets for Mexican exports are the United States
(244,103,220 pesos) ; Great Britain (40,198,656 pesos) ; Germany (10,316,730
pesos) ; France (8,329,821 pesos) and Belgium (6,354,644 pesos).
6. Communications. — The period when the formula prevailed " Between
strength and weakness keep the desert" having passed away, the Govern-
ments have endeavoured, since the time of Porfirio Diaz, to cover the
country with au extensive net- work of railways. This has been accomplished
with the help of foreign capital, the concession in return of special faciUties,
and subsidies of between 6,000 and 10,000 pesos per km., according to the
difficultly and expense of construction.
Three great Hnes lead to the United States, the Central Hne by El Paso,
the International line by Eagle Pass, and the National Une by Laredo. These
three 'ines put the city of Mexico in connection with the north. The capital
communicates with Veracruz by means of the Interoceanic railway and the
Mexican railway ; with Oaxaca by the southern Hne and v* ith the Pacific by a
branch line, Trapuato — Guadalajara — Manzanillo. The Southern Pacific
Railway is another very important line, going from Guaymas to Mazatlam.
I,AND QUESTION AND PROPOSAI^S OF THE AGRICUIvTURAL COMMISSION II 5
The coasting trade is not important. Communication between the
ports ou the Gulf is maintained by the " Compania Mexicana de Navigacion"
and between the Pacific ports by the Compania Naviera del Pacifico.
7. Finance and Banking. — -During the fiscal year 1911-12, the public
expenditure was 103,602,401 pesos, and the revenue 103,557,000 pesos.
In 1911 the reserve in the Treasury was 62,483,119 pesos.
The interest on the National Debt in 1912-13 was approximately
25,804,615 pesos.
As the special law with regard to credit allows the foundation of banks
of issue in each State, capital turns to this form of enterprise. This ac-
counts for the existence in 1911 of 24 banks issuing paper money. Also, at
the same time there were three mortgage banks and six credit banks,
(ref accionarios) . These 33 estabhshments had a total capital of 178,600,000
pesos ; 56,972,025 pesos in gold, 33,058,815 pesos in silver etc., and
7,052,990 pesos in paper. The reserve amounted to 61,842,047 pesos.
Amongst the most important of these banks is the Banco Nacional with
32,000,000 pesos of capital, the Banco Central Mexicano with a. csLpital oi
30,000,000, the Banco de Londres y Mexico with a capital of 21,500,000 and
Banco Mexicano de Comercio e Industria with a capital of 10,000,000 pesos.
§ 2. AgrICUI/TURAL PRODUCTION.
" Two milhon square kilometres ; every variety of climate from temper-
ate to tropical ; a particularly rich and deep soil, a surface which facil-
itates the accumulation of water and its dispersion over the land ; fields
wonderfully suited for the most varied production from that of cereals to
that of sugar cane, cotton, tobacco, vanilla, cacao, india-rubber, and
maguey s ; rich pastures ".
The above is quoted from the brilHant sketch of agricultural Mexico,
by M. Bigot in his remarkable book, " Le Mexique Modern " {Modern
Mexico) .
I. — - The three regions of climate and production. — We have seen that
the territory of Mexico ?'s divided into three regions according to altitude : the
warm, the temperate and the cold. In each of these the vegetation is
determined by the temperature and the degree of moisture.
The warm region is characterised by thick woods of mahogany and
other trees used by cabinet makers, and by all crops that require warmth
and moisture, such as cotton, sugar-cane, tropical fruits, magueys, and
guavas as well as tobacco, rice etc.
The temperate region has not really characteristic crops, as it forms an
intermediate region between the warm and the cold. Here coffee, cacao,
vanilla and many other productions of the other two regions are cultivated.
The cold region, comprising the great central plateau is that of cereals;
here also are the great plantations of maguey, from which is extracted
pulque, an alcoholic beverage extensively consumed by the people.
Il6 MEXICO - MISCEI^LANEOUS
2. — The chief crops.
Cereals. — The cereal most extensively cultivated is maize, which
forms the chief food of the natives. In good years the value of this crop
exceeds that of any other products, even that of the output of precious
metals. In certain localities it even produces three crops in one year.
In 1909-10, the area devoted to maize cultivation was 5,412,941 hectares,
producing 47,057,893 quintals, that is 8.7 quintals per hectare.
The hdjio, under which name are comprised the low lying lands of the
State of Guanajuato, in the valley of St. Martin, the district of iVlUxco in
the State of Puebla and the valley of Toluca in the vState of Mexico, is
the region most productive of wheat, and the price of land here varies from
300 to 500 pesos per hectare. Though the natural conditions of the country
are less favourable for wheat than for maize, yet the production of wheat
is of great importance and it is cultivated in nearly all the states, especially
in Guanajuato, Jalisco (the granary of the Republic), ]\Iichoacan, Puebla,
Chihuanaa, Coahuila, Sonora, AguascaHentes and San Luis de Potosi.
The territory best adapted for the cultivation of wheat is the great
central plateau, at an altitude varying between 1,800 and 2,750 metres, of
an area of more than 134,580 sq. km. In 1909-10 there were 1,063,355
hectares sown with wheat, producing 3,259,351 quintals, that is 3.1 quintals
per hectare.
The chief barley growing region comprises the greater part of the States
of Hidalgo, Tlaxcala, Puebla and the Federal District. In 1909-10 there
were 555,378 hectares sown with barley, producing in the same year 1,338,146
quintals, i. e. 2.4 quintals per hectare.
The great rice producing centres are the States of Colima and Guerrero,
and the communes of Teapa and Jalpa in the State of Tabasco. Over an
area of 83,911 hectares, the production of rice in 1909-10 was 917,743
quintals, that is to. 9 quintals per hectare.
Cotton. — From time immemorial cotton has been cultivated in
Mexico. The Aztecs, the indigenous race, utilised the fibre of this plant
for their clothing ; during the colonial period, New Spain was the chief
supplier of cotton to the mother country. But after the proclamation
of Mexican independence the cultivation of cotton was abandoned, and
when, favoured by peace, large factories were opened, Mexico was obliged
to have recourse to foreign countries for raw material, and thus became
an importer of cotton.
Great efforts have been made to restore the cultivation of cotton to its
former importance in the region of Lagunas, in the States of Coahuila
and Durango. Hitherto, the results have been very satisfactory. The
country watered by the Rio Nazas has been transformed into a rich cotton
producing district, realising the prophecy of Baron Humboldt that it would
become a rival of the Nile valley. In this district the price of land rises
to 1,400 pesos per hectare. The area devoted to cotton planting in 1909-10
was 115,082 hectares, producing 434,625 quintals, that is, a return of 3.8
quintals per hectare.
I,AND QUESTION AND PROPOSAI^S OF THE AGRICULTURAL COMMISSION II7
The most important cotton plantation belongs to an Anglo-American
company which cultivates 24,000 hectares, on which 6,000,000 pesos has
been spent in purchase money, irrigation ^vorks and buildings. The annual
yield h 8,000 bales of cotton.
Of late, cotton has begun to figure among the exports of Mexico. In
1911-12 the quantity exported was 609,283 kgs. for a value of 140,026 pesos.
Sugar cane. — - The sugar cane grows freely in the warm regions on
the Atlantic and Pacific, in the States of Morelos, Veracruz, Puebla,
Michoacan, Jalisco, Sinaloa, Colima and Tepic, where many millions of
hectares are devoted to this crop.
The price of land adapted for sugar plantations varies from 900 to
1,500 pesos per hectare. In 1907 (i) the produce of the sugar cane was
27,620,193 quintals, valued at 43,976,202 pesos.
Sugar is occasionally exported, but this depends on the price
in London, and seems to have no other object than to keep up the price in
the interior.
Large sugar plantations called ingenios are very numerous, and they
are generalh' provided with modern appliances for the extraction of sugar.
There are also many smaller farms, where the juice is pressed from the
cane by means of trapiches or mills worked by mules and where the
panocha so largeh^ consumed by the people is produce instead of sugar.
In 1907 the amount of sugar produced was 116,774,165 kg., valued at
19,925,879 pesos.
Coffee, Cacao and Vanilla. — Slexican coffee has a high reputation on
the market. But hitherto it has not been extensively cultivated, although
the vStates of Veracruz, Chiapas, Oaxaca and San Luis de Potosi possess
vast plantations, producing every year more than 30,000 tons of coffee,
an amount which may be increased, and Mexico may become one of
the largest exporters of coffee. In 1907, it produced 50,113,450 kgs. of
coffee, valued at 19,990,498 pesos.
Cacao is a native of the countr3\ Its importance as an article of food
has been well known, ever since the Spaniards first imported it into Europe.
Nevertheless, Mexico scarcely produces enough for home consumption.
In 1907, the amount was 3,108,960 kgs., valued at 2,916,683 pesos. The
cacao region comprises the State of Tabasco and parts of those of Chiapas
and Veracruz.
]\Iexico was formerly the sole producer of vanilla, but it now only ex-
ports about 100 tons. Vanilla is cultivated almost exclusively in the
State of Veracruz, which is the richest and most advanced in the cultivation
of tropical produce. The amount of vanilla produced in 1907 was
284,053 kgs., valued at 3,735,810 pesos.
Tobacco — iMexican tobacco is of good quality : that which is produced
in certain districts of Veracruz and Tuxtla rivals the best Cuban qualities.
The annual production is very variable, owing to careless cultivation.
(i) For the production of the sugar-cane, coffee, cacao, vanilla and tobacco, there are
no data more recent thau those of the statistical yearbook for 1907, published in 1912.
II 8 MEXICO - MISCELLANEOUS
In 1907 it rose to 19,445,564 kgs., valued at 6,581,767 pesos. Nearly all the
tabacco produced is manufactured in the country, and of the small quant-
ity exported, the greater part goes to Hamburg. The tobacco factory,
" Kl Buen Tono ", seems to be one of the best in the world, fitted up, as it
is, in the most modern style. ]More than 500 machines are daily manufac-
turing there from 4 to 5 millions of cigarettes of different qualities
Maguey. — Among plants used in manufactures must be mentioned the
magueys (aloes) producing, according to their varieties, liquor or fibre. From
the maguey manso is extracted pulque, an alcohoHc drink largely consumed
by the people, giving a return annually of about 10,000,000 pesos; from
another variety of maguey is extracted mezcal, a kind of brandy, the annual
return from which is about 4,000,000 pesos. Among the many fibres pro-
duced b}'- the mexican aloes, must be mentioned especiall}^ henequen which
has transformed the peninsula of Yucatan, once a desert, into one of the
most prosperous of the State. In 1907, this fibre yielded 23,831,234 pesos.
We shall mention, finally, ixtle, the fibre extracted from the aloes which
produce pulque, mezcal etc.
India rubber and Chicle. — The cultivation of india rubber is growing in
importance because of its industrial utilit}" and the favourable conditions
for its cultivation. Hitherto india-rubber has been extracted by primitive
methods from the plant in its wild state, but for the future it will be obtained
from special plantations now exporting from three to four milHon tons
a year.
The cultivation of chide must not be forgotten ; it is a gum used as an
article of food, grown, more especially, in the States of Campeachy, Veracruz
and Quintana Roo, which produce more than two million kgs.
Fruit. — Fruits are cultivated in infinite variety. Some among them,
natives of the country, such as nianeys, mangoes, the chirinwlla and the
gnava serve for home consumption. Apples, pears, quinces, figs etc., are also
cultivated, but are generally inferior to similar fruits produced in Europe.
Certain fruits are grown on a very large scale for exportation, especially
oranges of which 5,000 may be produced by one tree in certain regions, and
bananas, which require very little care. The making of preserves, which
would open new markets for fruit in Europe, has received little attention.
3. Forest wealth. — In the great forests along the coast and on the
slopes of the sierras there are more than 300 varieties of trees, among
which the most highly valued for cabinet making and for dyeing are
cedar, ebony, sandal wood, rosewood, iron wood, mulberry, logwood etc.;
on the higher plateaux are pines, ash and chestnut trees.
We have no exact statistics of the area of forest land ; but it is
calculated that, though the area, fit for sylviculture is 100,000,000 hectares,
the wooded regions cover only 30,000,000 of hectares.
4. Livestock. — The conditions of a country which has about 50,000,000
hectares of pasture land, and which has a very mild climate are very
favourable for livestock improvement, especially in the colder regions.
Although leather and hides and goats' skins are exported to the value of
LAND QUESTION AND PKOPOSAIvS OF THE ACVRICULTURAI, COMMISSION II g
9,000,000 pesos per year, livestock improvement is not carried on as
extensively as it ought to be, considering the above conditions.
In 1902, a census was taken of the livestock, which gave the follow-
ing results :
Number Value in pesos
Horned cattle 5,142,457 81,407,619
» horses 859,217 10,822,203
» mules 334,435 10,576,958
» asses c , 287,991 2,360,552
» sheep 3,424,430 6,037,306
» goats 4,206,011 7,250,430
» pigs 616,139 2,068,090
Total . . . 14,870,680 120,523,158
The consumption of meat in the country is very ^mall, being
approximately only 50 grammes per day per inhabitant.
{to be contidued*).
* In our next number we shall give the coutinuation of this article, in which the
Mixican land question and the reforms proposed by the Agricultural Commission will
be found more particularly dealt with.
ROUMANIA.
THE LAND REFORJM AND ITS REvSULTS UP TO THE PRESENT.
UNOFFICIAIv SOURCES:
RosETTi (Radu) Acte §; legiuiri privitoarela chestia ■^arS.neasca. (Laws relating to the Peasant
Question). Vol. I: I/Cgile de tocmeli agricole (Laws on Agricultural Co7itracts) "Progresul"
Press Ploe§ti, 1907.
Teodoresco (G.) : I,es Contra ts AgricolesenRouinanie (/l^ncw/^wyaZ Contracts in Routnania).
Paris, Jouve and Cie. 1912.
Creanga (Dr. G. D.) : Grundebesitzverteilung und Bauemfrage in Rumanien (Subdivision
of Landed Property and the Rural Question in Routnania) lycipzig. Duncker and Humblot,
1909.
Casa rural.a. Dare de seania pe 1912 (The Rural Bank. Report for the Year 1912) in Jurnalul
Societafei Centrale Agricole, April ist. and 15th, 1913. nos. 7 and 8.
Caisse Rurale, Situation des operations au soseptcmbre 1913, comparativement au 30 sep-
tembre 1912. (Rural Bank. Business Situation on September ^oth., 191 3, compared with
that on September 30^/1., 1912). From " I<e Mouvement Econoni:que " of January ist.,
1914. Vol. XIX, no. £10. Bucharest.
JONESCU (Dr. D.): Die Agrarverfassung Rumaniens, ihre Geschiclite und ihre Reform (Agricul-
tural Organization in Roumania, its History and its Reform). I^eipzig, Duncker and
Humblot, 1909.
Rezultatele reformelor AGR.ARE dIn 1907 (The Results of the Land Reform of 1907). In the
Revista Economicd ^i Financiard, October 24th. - November 6th., 1913. no. 460.
CoG.ALNiCEANXT (V. M.) : Die Agrarfrage in Rumanien seit dem Bauernaufstand vom Marz
1907 (The Land Question in Roumania since the Peasants' Revolt in March, 1907). In
the Archiv fiir Sozialwissenschaft und Sozialpolitik, May and July, 1911.
§ I. The AGRICULTURAL, SITUATION PREVIOUS TO I907.
As we know, the insurrectional movements among the Rotimanian
peasants were only the violent epilogue to an unhappy situation which had
lasted for years without the Government, which alone could have prevented
disaster by efficient and legitimate intervention, feeling itself strong
enough and in a position to put an end to a situation at once so dangerous
and so unjust.
We do not intend to go too far back into the history of the conditions
under which the peasantry of the Moldo-Walachian Principality had to Hve,
THE LAND REFORM AND ITS RESULTS UP TO THE PRESENT 121
but we are compelled to refer very briefly to the " Organic I^aw " promul-
gated immediately after the peace of Adrianople (1829), as the result of
the joint work of the Russians and the notabiUties of the principaHty, which
the Turks were obliged to respect. At least a summary idea of this law,
with regard to the situation of the peasants, is absolutely necessary in order
to understand the causes of the movement of 1907 and the land reforms
that have folloNved it. And it is to be observed that this law several times
amended, formed up to 1907, the basis of the land situation of the country.
The organic law of 1829 somewhat improved the sittiation of the peas-
ants : the system of taxation was to some degree rehandled so as to elim-
inate the incredible abuses previously existing (i) ; an improvement was
introduced into the condition of those peasants called scutelnici (persons
exempted from payment of dues to the lords) who were rendered com-
pletely independent of the landlords and only subject to the Crown. In addi-
tion to this, the law recognised the right of the landowners to take for
their personal service one individual out of every ten families on their estates.
These servants took the name of " free servants " and were exempt from all
taxation ; on their side, the landowners were obliged to give them as man}^
days' leave as they required for the cultivation of their fanns. When there
were less than 200 peasants on a landed estate, the landlord had a right
to the services of two persons per family whom he might employ as guards,
gamekeepers etc.
The same law also recognised (and tliis was a great step forw-ard), that if,
on the one hand, the ownership of the land was the boyar's by right, on the
other, the peasants had a right to their labour. The peasants were, therefore,
subdivided into three classes according to the number of oxen they pos-
sessed; the first class consisted of those who possessed four or more oxen, the
second of those w^ho had only two or three, the third of those who had only
one or none at all. To each peasant was assigned a fixed area of land, both
in the village, for his house and cattle stall, and in the country, the area
varying in extent according to the class to wliich the peasant belonged, and
being different in Moldavia and in Walacchia. But the law also provided
that the masters v/ere not obliged to transfer to the peasants more than '-/'a
of their land, so that it very frequently happened that the areas assigned to
the peasants were necessarily restricted, unless the peasants preferred to
remove elsewhere. In addition to this, the landlords, naturally, retained
for themselves the best land, only transferring such as was inferior and
consequently less productive. The peasants for their part, in addition
to paying the ordinary taxes (30 lei (2) poll tax, 3 lei communal tax and i
leu for the >- ational Defence), were bound to give the landlord, or the farmer
renting from him the land the use of which they enjoyed, a tenth part of
the crop, 12 da^'s'work and sixteen consecutive hours (or two periods of
eight consecutive hours) of service without pay.
(i) Up to that date, taxes were levied even under the aaaie of pradare (theft, plunder).
(2) I leu = I fr.
122 ROUMANIA - MISCELLANEOUS
Certainly, it was not in accordance with these provisions, which, al-
ready in themselves burdensome, became in practice quite insupportable,
through the severity of the landlords and the little if any justice the
peasants obtained when they went to law, that the Roumanian land
question could be finally settled. The first signs of discontent appeared
in 1848 : the government of the time appointed a commission on which
the peasants were also represented : after a long debate some amendments
were made in the Law which, for the moment, served to calm the excite-
ment. Later on, the agitations recommenced, until in 1864 the Minister
Cogalniceanu proposed and carried through Parliament a new land law, by
which the peasants were finally liberated from the odious burdens imposed
on them by the landlords or tenant farmers under the form of taxes in
money or contributions in forced labour. The peasants also received land
under cultivation, and, to be exact, 467,840 peasants, owning 4 oxen, 2 oxen
or one ox or even none at all received altogether 1,766,258 ha. of land.
But it is to be observed that about 200,000 of those peasants who had
not two head of cattle and about 150,000 of those who had received no
land, because the landlords, in terms of the organic law, stUl in force, were
not bound, as we have seen, to transfer more than ^/g of their land, formed
a group of about 350,000 persons absolutely and immediately dependent
on the landlords who made them at last the scapegoats for the benefits
obtained by the rest. This group, therefore, became a centre of discontent,
which, in spite of the good but incomplete reforms, was not long in
reappearing and assuming an alarmingly acute form.
Among the causes of this discontent, we must consider in the first place
the enormous increase in the peasants' rents and, in the second place, the
unjust and vexatious form of the agricultural contracts in force.
It is necessary to remember that in Roumania, more than one third
of the arable land is in the hands of a thousand large land owners (i) who
generally do not cultivate their immense estates themselves, letting them in
preference to tenant farmers who, in their turn, really speculate in the
work of the peasants. The proportion of arable land that thus h&e cotne
into the hands of tenant farmers is more than 65 %; of this 39 %
has been let to foreign tenant farmers. These large areas are subdivided
into small lots of not more than 20 ha. and leased to the peasants by
special contract at special rents.
These rents might be paid in two ways : in money or in kind.
To show the rapid rise in these rents between 1870 and 1906 we
reproduce the figtires given by Creanga in his detailed study showing the
annual rent per hectare paid by the peasants :
(a) In 1870, in a total number of 210 farms studied, on
115 or 54.7% the rent was less than 20 lei per ha.;
89 » 42.4% » from 20 lei to 40 lei per ha. ;
5 » 2.4% » » 40 » » 50 »
I » 0.5% » » 50 )) » 60 »
(i) Cfr. D. G. Teodoresco, op. cit., page 27.
THE LAND REFORM AND ITS RESULTS UP TO THE PRESENT I23
(6) jLn 1906, taking the same 210 farms, we find :
on 4 or 2 % the rent was less than 20 lei pei ha ;
)) 66 » 314% « irom 20 lei to 40 lei per ha
» 48 » 22.9% » » 40 » » 50 ))
» 49 » 23.3% )) » 50 » » 60 »
» 26 « 12.3% ); » 60 ■' » 80 »
» 17 » 8.1% » above 80 lei
The above figures also give us the following results :
in 8.6 % of the farms considered, the rent was raised by from i to lo
lei per ha. ; in 21 % by from 10 to 20 per ha. ; in 48,1 % by from 20 to
40 lei per ha.; in 19.5 % by from 40 to 70 lei per ha. ; in 2.8 % by more
than 70 lei per ha.
As regards payment in kind, Creanga reproduces the following figures,:
resulting from an enquiry made with regard to 196 farms in 1870 and 1906 :
(a) in 1870, the 196 farms yielded the landlord (or tenant farmer)
and the peasant the following proportions of the total crop :
and 9 parts respectively;
18
or
9-2%
yielded
I and 9
7
))
3.6%
»
I and 7
18
))
9-2%
»
I and 6
10
»
5.1%
»
I and 5
38
»
194%
»
I and 4
21
))
10.7%
))
I and 3
57
»
29.0%
»
I and 2
4
»
2.1%
))
2 ar..d 5
18
»
9-2%
))
2 and 3
—
))
- %
»
5 and 6
5
))
2.5%
»
I and I
(b) in 1906, the same 196 farms yielded the two parties the
following proponions of the total crops :
o % yielded i and 9 parts respectively;
15 I and 7 » »
» I and 6 » »
)) I and 5 )) »
» I and 4 » »
» I and 3 » ))
» I and 2 » »
» 2 and 5 » '1
» 2 and 3 » »
» 5 and 6 » «
» I and I » »
0
or
0 %
0
»
0 %
0
»
0 %
0
»
0 %
2
»
I %
II
»
5-6%
45
»
23-0%
0
»
—
21
»
10.7%
I
»
0.5%
116
»
59-2%
124 ROUMANIA - MISCELLANEOUS
From the above figures we see what an enormous increase there has
been in the rents, whether in money or in kind, in Httle more than thirty
years. To these eloquent figures, let us add that other causes conspired to
render the situation of the Roumanian peasant more burdensome. First
of all the very large majority of the Roumanian landlords had no farm equip-
ment ; all the work of the farm was carried on with the machinery, imple-
ments, material and livestock belonging to the peasants. The large pro-
prietors relieved themselves of all expenditure and annoyance, which they
transferred to the peasants, even when the latter had not an}'' land at all.
The enquiry carried out in 1899 ^Y ^^^ Department of Agriculture showed
that 92 % of the livestock of the country belonged to peasants and the
rest to the landlords and tenant farmers. Besides this, out of 517,463
wagons for transport of every kind, the large landowners only possessed
7.4 % : of 589,308 carts, 95.8 % belonged to the peasants.
To those already given, we must also add two causes contributing
further to aggravate the situation for the farmers, namely, the increase
in the charges for pasturage and the fall in agricultural wages.
The lack of communal pastures, while the Hvestock belonged
almost entirely to the peasants, had led to such a situation that the
peasants were almost absolutely at the mercy of the landloids (or tenant
farmers): the result was an enormous rise in the charges for pasturage. As
we did in the case of the increase of rents, we shall here again reproduce
some figures referring to the charges for pasturage of cattle in 1870
and 1906.
{a) in 1870, in the case of 323 grazing grounds examined, on
185 or 57.2% less than 5 lei was charged per head of cattle;
118 » 36.6% from 5 to 10 lei »
9 ■> 5-9% f" ^^ " ^^ *' ''
I "-' 0.3% » 16 » 20 » »
— » — more than 20 lei »
{b) in 1906, in the case of the same 323 grazing grotmds, on
67 or 20.7% less than 5 lei was charged per head jof cattle;
75 ■'- 23.3% from 5 to 10 ki t
127 " 39-3% 10 " 15 » »
41 » 12.7% )) 15 » 20 )) »
13 )) 4.0% more than 20 » ' »
As regards agricultural labour, the conditions at the end of 1906 were
certainly no better than those of rents and grazing charges. Labour was
paid at different rates according to the province and the kind of work.
To give an idea of the fall in wages between 1882-83 and 1906, we reproduce
some very characteristic figures on the subject.
THE LAND REFORM AND ITS RESULTS UP TO THE PRESENT 12'^
In 1882-83 wages were as follows
minimum: 11 lei per ha.
1 : 28 )) »
)) '. TO )) »
i^'- Ploughing . maximum: 16.8 lei per ha.
2 "'^•Hoeing . . > : 44.8 »
3'''^-Mowing . . » ; 22.8 » »
4^'^Daity wages of peasants bringing their own draught animals: max-
imum : 5 lei ; minimum: 2 lei.
5*^-Wages per day maximum: 2.50 lei; minimum i leu.:
In 1906 wages, on the other hand, were as follows :
jst. Ploughing - maximum: 16 lei per ha.; minimum: 8.4 lei per ha.
2"'^- Hoeing - r, : 36 » » ; « : 24 » »
S'^'*- Mowing - ^j : 28 )) » ; >■> : 10 » »
4*^- Daily wages of peasants bringing their own draught animals : max-
imum: 5 lei; minimum: 1.50 lei.
5^''- Wages per day: maximum; 2.50 lei; minimum 0.80. leu.
These figures, however, produce a much greater impression when tne
variation in wages in the same locaUty is considered.
Thus, for example, in the district of Olt, wages for ploughing feU
between 1883 and igo6 from 44 lei to 24 lei per ha ; for mowing from 16
lei to 12 lei ; wages per day from 2.50 lei to i leu. In the district of Suceava
\\ ages for ploughing fell from 13 to 8.4 lei per ha ; for hoeing from 39 to 28
lei; the wages per day from i leu to 0.8 leu. And examples might be
multiphed indefinitely.
Summing up then all that we have set forth in succession, we, may, there-
fore, say that since 1829, the year of the organic law, up to the revolts
in 1907, the general conditions of the Roumanian peasants became worse
and worse. On the one hand, feeble and incomplete legislation could
bring no remedy; on the other, the landlords and tenant farmers tried,
by continually increased oppression of the peasants, to make good their
own losses at the expense of the latter, reducing the benefits due to
them under successive agricultural laws. In other words, the laws of
1829, 1848, 1864, 1866, 1872, 1882 and 1893, which we shall not deal with
here, as they were only successive steps on an unprofitable course, repre-
sented, rather than an improvement a real aggravation of the general situ-
ation, which continually grew worse, tmtil it resulted, at the beginning
of 1907, in what was really a very serious revolt of the peasants.
§ 2 The^lakd reforms of 1907.
It is not our duty to give an accoimt of the peasants' revolt and we,
therefore, refer our readers to the excellent books on the subject, the names of
which are given at the head of this article. It is our particular business to
consider what reforms were granted by the Government in consequence of
126 ROUMANIA - MISCELi:.ANEOUS
the events of 1907 and what have been the results attained by these
reforms.
The land reforms introduced in consequence of the 1907 revolt may be
grouped in four large classes.
I St.. The institution of the Rural Bank ;
2nd. The law on agricultural contracts ;
3rd. The limitation of the freedom of leasing agricultural land ;
4th. The law on leasing to farmers' associations land belonging to the
State, to establishments or private institutions.
We shall omit to speak here of the institution of the Rural Bank,
since it has already been dealt with at large in this Bulletin in the number
for October, 1912. The reader wiU find there an abundant supply of in-
formation and figures.
We shall, however, deal at length with the Law on Agricultural
Contracts. — This law is really the chief and most important result of
the revolt of 1907 and it is undoubtedly the real and substantial reform
that has indeed started Roumania on the high road of agricultural progress.
This law, promulgated on December 23rd., 1907 consists of several
chapters which we shall summarise as briefly as possible in their most
important points.
The first Chapter deals with contracts of lease subject to the law on
agricultural contracts. The following are those so subject :
(fl) Contracts by which areas of not more than 20 hectares are leased
to a single family of peasants, to be cultivated as cornfields or meadow land
or to be used for grazing grounds, in return for pa3mient in money or in
tithes. The lease of areas of more than 20 ha. remains subject to the provisions
of common law, since the object of the new law is to protect the small farmer
and not to give a privileged position to those peasants who, as they are
able to rent considerab'e areas, are in a position to enter unassisted into
competition with the landlords and tenant farmers.
(&) Contracts of lease of grazing ground for six head of large and 10
head of small livestock for each family. It is calculated that 5
head of small are equivalent to i of large hvestock. In this case also the
law is meant for the protection of small dependent peasants, since, by fixing
the number of head of cattle, it comes to the assistance of those peasants
who employ their livestock for their work and not of those who, pos-
sessing large herds, make livestock improvement their principal business.
(c) Contracts in which the peasants undertake to provide the necess-
ary labour for agriculture in return for wages.
The classes of contract subject to the law being thus fixed, the sec-
ond Chapter lays down the conditions for the contracts themselves.
Amongst the most important are those of article 3, deaUng with the re-
organization of the system of payment by compensation or " tarla " . This
system enables the peasant to give his labour in a field of corn or maize
instead of paying his rent in money. The landlord or the tenant farmer,
however, cannot exact this kind of payment. It is not, however, true, as
asserted by some, that the payment of tithes on the " tarla " system has
THE I. AND REFORM AND ITS RESUI^TS UP TO THE PRESENT \2J
been abolished : it was only reorganized and the peasants under the new-
system are certainly a hundred per cent, better oS.
The total abolition of it vvas not possible and article 3 itself provided
for it, since in some cases it is absolutely impossible for the peasant to
pay in money. But, in that case, a new and quite independent contract
must be entered into, in which the remuneration is fixed so as never to be
inferior to that established by the Regional Commission (i).
The law therefore lays it down that rent must be paid only in money
or only on the " tarla " system and abolishes all the old systems, complic-
ated by numerous supplementar3^ obligations imposed on the peasants who
at last paid more on these supplementary grounds than for the rent
itself. The law finally provides that all agricultural contracts must be
written and not verbal, as used to be the custom.
The most important part of the law is that relating to the formation
of communal grazing grounds (Chapter III). The lack of grazing ground
for the peasants' Uvestock gave the landlords and tenant farmers an op-
portunity of concluding contracts entirely in their own interest, since, if the
peasant can cultivate land at a distance from his residence, he cannot lead
his livestock to graze at great distances.
This obliged the peasant to accept burdensome conditions both in
regard to the land he cultivated and the pasture ground necessary for his
livestock. The 1907 law therefore established in every commune, on land
taken from the large landowners, communal grazing grounds of an area
sufficient for the grazing of two oxen and a cow per family.
This provision it was not, however, easy to carry into effect. The Govern-
ment, well aware of the necessity of estabhshing communal grazing grounds,
had only two courses open to it, either to oblige the landlords to lease to
the peasants for fifteen or twenty years a certain proportion of their land
for grazing purposes, or to expropriate a part of their estates. The first
solution presented drawbacks of various kinds, such as the possible distance
of the grazing ground offered for lease from inhabited centres, especially
when it formed part of estates of a considerable area; the Hkelihood that the
landlords and large tenant farmers would only lease the worst of their
land for grazing; and the frequency and ease with which difficulties might
arise between the landlords and tenant farmers on the one side and the
peasants on the other.
Therefore, the second course was followed, that of expropriaton. But
also this was fraught with difficulties, owing to the constitutional op-
position made by the conservative parties as representing the interests of
(i) Article 65 of the law provides that "in every province a special commission shall be
formed, composed of five members, namely, of the agricultural inspector, two delegates of the
landlords and two delegates of the peasants. The Agricultural Commissioner shall be president of
the Commission ". " The object of the Commission shall be to fix the minimum wages and the
•maximum rent, in accordance with the yield of the land. The Regional Cormnission shall
be in session every year from November loth. to December 15th. A special session may be
convoked by the Agricultural Inspector whenever he deems it necessary" (art. 69).
128 ROUMANIA - MISCELLANEOUS
the landlords. At last an agreement was come to between thf^ leaders of
the political parties in Parliament and it was decided that the Communes
should receive as grazing grounds the land the owners should offer of their
own accord.
The principal provisions in Chapter III of the law are as follows :
Art. 9. proxndes that in every rural commune one of more communal
grazing grounds must be established, according to the number of groups
of houses inhabited by more than 25 families. The law, however, provides
that there may be several grazing grounds only when the groups of houses
belonging to the comune are so far from the centre as to render it imposs-
ible for the peasants to send their Hvestock to the principal one. The
peasants living in groups of houses in which the families are less than 25
shall send their livestock to the nearest grazing ground.
The communal grazing grounds shall be formed by purchase of land
of suitable character and position. Payment of the price agreed on shall
be made through the Rural Bank which may issue bonds for the purpose,
and the debt thus incurred by the communes shall be guaranteed by
the State. The communes may at any moment redeem the bonds ; they
must, however, do so within a period of not more than 12 years.
Art. 10. provides that the land serving for grazing ground must not
be more than 3 km. from the village, except in cases for which the Su-
perior Council of Agriculture makes special provision.
With regard to the area of the grazing grounds, art. 11 provides that it
must correspond with the number of head of livestock proved to belong to the
villages or groups of houses, in the proportion of i hectare for every 4 head
of large Hvestock. In determining the number of head of hvestock by which
to fix the area of the grazing grounds, two methods are followed. In the
first, an enumeration is made, leaving out of consideration the head of
livestock in excess of the 6 head of large livestock allowed to each farmer
by the law itself ; in the other, the calculation is made by reckoning to
ever}'' head of a family in the village 3 head of livestock (2 oxen and a
cow). Of the two restdts thus obtained, the larger is taken and is divided
by four to obtain the number of hectares for the area to be assigned
as grazing ground.
Art. 13. then provides that in case in the neighbourhood of a
village, in which a communal grazing ground is to be established, there
is more than one landlord offering his land, the most advantageous offer
is to be accepted. The law then gives a number of rules with regard to
expropriation, for purposes of communal grazing grounds, of suitable land
belonging to the State, charitable or other institutions, providing special
conditions of favour in each case.
The communal grazing charges shall be based on the capitaHsation of
the annual value of the land at 6 %. This value naturally varies in each
case. But, if we take the value of a hectare of grazing ground as between
500 and 600 lei, and if we observe that this area serves for four head of
livestock, we shall find that the value of the grazing ground for each is
between 125 and 150 lei, 6 % of which is from 7.50 to 9 lei per year. Before
THE LAND REFORM AND ITS RESULTS UP TO THE PRESENT 1 29
this law came into force the rates most usually paid for grazing were, as
we have seen, from 10 to 20 lei per head of livestock (in many cases more
than 20 lei) : and certainly the peasants had not then the enjoyment of a
quarter of a hectare per head of livestock.
Chapter IV of the law deals with agricultural labour.
In preceding laws no mention had been made of this, and the
omission naturally led to injustice and abuses. In article 35 of the law of
1907, however, it is provided first of aU that agricultural labour also must
be paid for exclusively in money. And the peasants are further forbidden
to obtain clothes, food, implements etc. from the landlords or tenant
farmers. The law next attempts to put a limit to the invasion of
middlemen, who used really to speculate in the labour of the peasants; so
it punishes landlords who employ agents to find agricultural labourers for
them, unless these agents have been duly authorized by the Government
authorities. In addition, the law fixes the quantity of food the farmer
must give his labourer in case he does give him his food. The quantity is
fixed by the Superior Board of Health. The law also fixes the amount
of money to be paid to the labourers by those landlords or tenant farmers
who do not give them their food.
Finally, there is a special chapter in the law containing general pro-
v-isions with regard to the period of duration of agricultural contracts, the
general methods to be adopted for the improvement of the cultivation, the
distribution of the implements, the systems for fixing the minimum wages
and maximum rents, the supervision of the appHcation of the law etc.
A more detailed account of the law would lead us too far : we shall
content ourselves, therefore, with having given our readers a general idea
\ of its principal provisions, and they will be able to see from the above short
summary that it regulates a large part of the organization and conduct
of agricultural Hfe in Roumania.
Proceeding with our study of the Roumanian land reform, we shall
now deal briefly v^-ith the Law for the Limitation of the Right of Lease, known
also under the name of the law against lease trusts.
We have already seen in the introduction to this article the importance
of agricultural leases in Roumania. The possibiHty that rich tenant farmers
had of uniting under their control immense areas of land allowed of the
formation of real and true trusts, by which the most burdensome con-
ditions were imposed on the peasants. When we think that a single family
had leased 150,000 ha. and negotiations were in course for adding to even
this immense area, it is easy to understand that the Government had not
only a right but a duty to intervene to put a stop to such a state of things.
The provisions of the law with regard to maximum rents and minimum
wages, might indeed have been a benefit for the peasants, but could not
alone radically modify the harmful effects of the lease trusts. The law
of April loth., 1908 puts an end to this state of things, prohibiting,
first of all, the leasing by a single person or a single group of persons
under any form or title, of more than 4,000 ha. The law establishes
penalties for contravention ; and makes provision with regard to the valid-
130 ROTJMANIA - MISCELLANEOUS
ity and duration of pre-existing contracts, as well as the manner in which
they may be cancelled and the compensation to be given in that case.
This law was principally meant for the ehmination of agricultural inter-
mediaries, so injurious, as we have had already occasion to see, to the wel-
fare of the peasants and to the development of agriculture in Roumania.
The last of the laws relating to land reform in Roumania is that of
June 20th., 1910, which provides that land belonging to the State or to
pubHc associations or estabHshments may be leased to rural associations for
their exclusive use, without being tendered for. This is therefore no in-
significant facilitation the State has granted the rural associations, which are
thus enabled to compete with the landlords and tenant farmers for a consid-
erable length of time under favourable conditions. This law, however,
has apparently not produced the results hoped for.
§ 3. The results of the reform up to the present.
Such important and wise laws as were passed after the 1907 revolt
could not but produce abundant excellent results. The progress made by
Roumanian agriculture in the last six years is the best proof of the excell-
ence of the new laws. The results of the land reforms may be summed
up in a single phrase : the almost complete disappearance of every kind
of abuse, so frequent, indeed usual, previously.
However, if we reflect on the serious diffictilties that are always met
with wherever attempt is made to reform or improve a situation that
has lasted for years, it is no matter of surprise if, in some cases, the laws
introducing the reforms have been evaded or have not produced all the
results they were intended to.
In an address given on November ist. , 1913 by the Agricultural Inspector
C. Georgesco at the Club for Economic and Financial Study at Bucharest,
the following results, good or fair, of the 1907 reforms were brought out.
With regard to the Rural Bank, it is necessary to distinguish between
the various duties assigned to it : some of these it has already fully per-
formed and the objects in view have been completely attained ; other duties
have only been accomplished in part. The institution of a Rural Bank for
Roumania was an absolute necessity for the farming population, which felt
the need of being in a position to obtain credit easily and cheaply. With
regard to the ordinary duties of the Bank, such as that of granting loans to
communes for the purchase of communal grazing grounds and loans on
mortgage of holdings bought by the peasant before the institution of the
Bank itself and the putting of the peasants in the wayof a better cultivation
of the soil, it must be allowed that they were fully performed. But an-
other object of the Rural Bank, and certainly not the least important, was to
change the distribution of the land to the benefit of the peasants, facilitat-
ing the formation of small rural holdings b}' them. Georgesco finds that this
aim has not been fully realised, although, it must be pointed out, the Bank has
THE LAND REFORM AND ITS RESULTS UP TO THE PRESENT I3I
succeeded in transferring by insensible degrees to the peasants an area
of 53,616 hectares formerly belonging to the large land owners. The re-
sult is not extraordinary, when we consider that it was a matter of six years'
work. It deserves, however, consideration, above all when account is taken
of the Roumanian agricultural situation before the institution of the Rural
Bank. Georgesco then considers that the Bank should be constituted so
as to be able to act as a general discount bank for the people's banks of
the country.
With regard to the appHcation of the law on agricultural contracts
and its results, it may be affirmed that they were more than satisfactory
in the majority of cases, in the way of ehminating abuses, regulating pay-
ment of rent in money or on the " tarla " system, fixing the minimum wages,
etc. However, some objections may be made.
First of all with regard to the formation of communal grazing grounds,
account must be taken of the fact than only "/j of the landlords have spont-
aneously offered their land, and there have been few cases of expropriation,
so that on January ist., 1913, (i) five years after the promulgation of the
law, there were only 903 communal grazing grounds, with altogether an
area of 118,531 ha. representing a value of 75,000,000 lei. The average
value per ha. of this land would, therefore, be about 630 lei, a little more
therefore, than that assigned to it by Creanga (500 - 600 lei) and reproduced
by us in our calculation of the charges for grazing. If, however, v/e
remember that capitalisation at 5 % is nowadays a liberal estim.ate
especially in the case of landed estates not farmed intensively, we find that
the average grazing charge per head of Hvestock is about 7.80 lei. And this
is stiU a very great gain for the peasant over and above the fact that he is
now free to sell his labour to the boyar, as he judges best. A practical
attempt is now being made to transform the grazing grounds into fields of
1 ucem, which, however, is not without its difficulties, above all owing to
the conservative spirit of the peasants.
As regards the obhgation imposed by the law on the landlords and ten-
ant farmers only to make contracts w ith the peasants in writing, Georgesco
recognises that, if progress has been made, still the old and deep rooted
habit has not yet been abandoned.
The minimum wages and maximum rent were fixed as we saw before,
by regional commissions, of which the agricultural inspector was president.
The minimum wage is not the minimum necessary for life, but an average
taken of the rates paid for labour in the periods of greatest activity and the
lowest prices paid in the winter when labourers are recruited for the next
season. The estabHshment of this minimum wage has, naturally, led
to a considerable rise in wages and it is generally considered that on tliis
point the reform has been most effective and the provisions of the law
have been least evaded. Similarly, the estabHshment of the maximum rent
has resulted in the lowering of rents generally. But it is observed that,
sometimes, the law in regard to leases has been evaded and landlords and
(i) Set Appendix to this article.
1^,2 ROUMANIA -* MISCELLANEOUS
tenant farmers have not seldom exacted more than the maximum fixed,
both in money and labour. Thus some authorities even assert that generally
the maximum fixed by the Regional Commissions is less than the rent
really paid by the peasants.
With regard to the effects produced by the protection of national
agricultural labour against foreign labour and by the institution of labour
bureaux, opinions are not agreed. Some say that the first of these in-
novations has produced excellent results, greatly to the benefit of the national
labourers, thanks to the provision that, as we know, prevents foreign
labourers being employed without the approval of the agriciiltural inspector.
Optimists hold also that the labour bureaux have had an excellent effect
in centrahsing demand and supply, with all the economic and social advant-
ages consequent on this. The pessimists, on their side, hold that neither
the protection of national against foreign labour nor the institution of labour
bureaux has had any other effect than that of raising the price of labour.
The final solution of the serious question of agricultural contracts can only
be reached by the complete aboUtion of all dependence of the peasants on
the landlords and this can only be effected by giving a vigorous impulse to
the rural farm associations {ohstii, Roumanian collective farms), and by
expropriating the latifundi in favour of the peasants, as already proposed
by the Roumanian National Liberals in their last Congress, held at Bucha-
rest from October 20th. to November 2nd., 1913.
Altogether, we may therefore conclude that the results of the land
reforms of 1907 have been more than satisfactory, if not altogether excell-
ent, taking into consideration also the haste with which the reforms were
prepared and voted by Parliament under the influence of the alarm excited
by the revolt of the peasants.
Certainly, these reforms will require further modification, continuation
and completion, especially by the appHcation of the right granted to the
State to resort to expropriation in certain definite circumstances, giving
fair compensation, so as to facilitate a distribution of the land more in
accordance with the general interests of the country.
But it is not to be denied that between 1907 and the present day
arbitrary action has largely disappeared ; the peasants have acquired a true
idea of their rights and seldom allow themselves to be cheated and a real
revolution was produced in the minds of the rural classes, habituated for
centuries to injury and subjection, when they could convince themselves
by experience that the law was not enacted only against them, but chiefly
in their favour and in the common interest.
Appendix.
At the moment of publishing the foregoing study we have received
some more recent information in regard to the work of the Rural Bank
and the general financial situation of the communal grazing grounds, on
THE LAND REFORM AND ITS RESULTS UP TO THE PRESENT I33
October ist., 1913. We reproduce it in extenso from the number of the
Bucharest review, " Le Mouvement Economique " for January ist., 1914.
(A) Situation of the Rural Bank on October 1st., 1913.
(a) Land Business.
1. Purchase of Farms. Up to October ist., 1913, the Rural Bank
had bought farms for the amount of 48,190,037.33 frs. The amotmt up to
October ist., 1912, had been 37,941,937.09 frs.
2. Sale of Farms in Lots to Peasants. Up to October ist., 1913.
it had sold farms to peasants, up to the amount of 9,990,618.90 frs. (up to
October ist., 1912, 4,334,350.15 frs.) Of this, the peasants had already-
paid 1,307,934.51 frs., so that the balance they had still to pay, on October
1st., 1913, was 8,682,684.40 frs.
3. Loans Granted to Rural Associations that had Purchased Farms
before the Foundation of the Rural Bank. The Rural Bank may, as we know,
grant loans on mortgage of the farms occupied before the promulgation
of the law for the foundation of the Bank itself, if at that moment the
purchasers were still in debt to the sellers. On October ist., 1913, the amount
of the loans so made was 4,059,518.70 frs. (on October ist., 1912.''
3,721,372.70 frs.)
4. Loans Granted to Communes for Purchase of Communal Grazing
Grounis. The Rural Bank, through the medium of which the communes
purchase the grazing grounds, had, on October ist., 1913, granted loans for
the purpose to the amotmt of 27,359,659.87 frs. (in 1912, 21,938,574.30 frs.)
5. Building of Rural Dwelling Houses. The amount invested in
such building was on October, ist.. 1913. 94,507.87 frs., all in the year 1913,
as previously the Bank did not conduct operations of the kind.
(b) Banking Operations:
1. Securities Deposited in the National Bank. The amount of these
securities was. on October ist., 1913, 1,082,671.85 frs. (On October ist.,
1912, 1,085,692.20 frs.)
2. Discounting, Rediscounting, and Current Accounts. The accotmts under
this head were closed with a balance of T,<yj<^,y]^-'S'S f^s. (6,614,353.85
frs. on October ist., 1912).
In other respects, the situation on October ist., 191 3 was as follows:
Share capital, 10,000,000 frs., 9,992,600 frs. paid up. Rural land bonds at
5 %, in circulation to the amount of 75,625,500 frs. (58,148,000 frs. in 1912);
drawings had been made to the amount of 69,000 frs.
The Reserve Fund on October ist., 1913, was, 702,899.70 frs. (399,430.60
frs. in 1912). Besides the reserve fimd, these is a " Thrift and Improvement
Fund", now amounting to 265,104.20 frs.
The total charges on the land purchased from the Rural Land Credit
Institute and various landowners amounted to 4,054,735 frs. on October ist.,
1913. against 5,068,000 frs. on October ist. of the preceding year.
134 ROUMANIA - MISCELLANEOUS
The profits for the first six months of 1913 were 389,412.66 frs.
(389,458.06 frs. in 1912); the working expenses, with interest paid, amounted
to 211,322.91 frs.
(B). General Financial Situation of the Communal Grazing Grounds,
from 1908 to 1913.
The Superior Board of Agriculture has given its opinion with regard
to 2,138 grazing grounds offered to the communes, and the Home OflBce
has given its approval for the constitution of 1,316 of these as communal
grazing grounds. With regard to the rest:
581 were refused ;
232 were held over for consideration;
9 grants were cancelled.
The total number approved were divided as follow:
706 communal grazing groimds offered by private persons;
358 1) )) )) » the State;
252 » )) » » various institutions.
The communes have received transfer of 1,040 of these in different
years, as follows :
176 in 1909 148 in 1912
354 in 1910 140 in 1913
222 in 1911 i;040
The diffrerence between the total number approved (1,316) and that
transferred (1,040) is 276.
The communes will receive possession of 171 in 1914, and in regard
to 105 they are still in litigation with the proprietors for different
reasons.
The total area of communal grazing grounds approved is 182,518 ha.,
the purchase price being 114,457,838 frs., giving an average of about
628 frs. per ha.
PUBLICATIONS OF RECENT DATE
RELATING TO AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY (i).
GERMANY.
Official Publication
FleischenquAte 1912-1913. Verhaudliingen der Gesamtkommission und Zusammenstellung
der Sachverstandigen Gutachten. Mit Anlagenband I. (Materialen) u. II. (Sachsverstan-
digen Vernebmungen) (Meat Enquiry, 1912-1913. Debates of the General Commission and
Opinions Expressed by Experts. With Appendix I. {Materials) and II. (Expert Opinions).
Berlin, 1913. Reichsdruckerei, 3 vol. folio.
Other Publications :
Die Versorgung Deutschlands mit Fleisch und die Kultivierung unserer Moor-
UND Heideboden {Meat Supply of Germany and the Cultivation of our Marshy and Uncul-
tivated Land). Berlin (no date). "Deutsche Tageszeitung ", folio, 16 pp.
D00RM.ANN (Prof. Dr. Karl) : Innere Kolonisation. Volkswirtschaftliche Zeitfragen, Vortrage
und Abhandlungen herausgegeben von der Volkswirtschaftlichen Gesellschaft in Berlin,
No. 274 {Home Colonisation. Current Questions of Social Economy, Reports and Treatises,
Published by the "Volkswirtschaftliche Gesellschaft" of Berlin, No. 274). Berlin, 1913,
I<. Simon. Nf. 8vo., 31 pp.
I^ANGENBECK (E.) : Ansi edelungsmoglichkei ten fiir Bauern und I,andarbeiter in Deutschland
{Possibility of Forming Peasants' and Agricultural Labourers' Colonies in Germany). No. 15
of the Pamphlets Published by the " Detscbe lyandwirtschaftsgesellschaft ". Berlin,
1913, 8vo., 98 pp.
I^EMMERMANN (Prof. Dr. O.) : Zur Frage der gesetzlichen Regelung des Handels mit Diingemit-
teln, Futtermitteln und Samereien, zugle'ch Erwiderung auf die Denkschrift des Vereins
Deutscher Grosshandler in Diinge- und Kraftfuttermitteln {The Question of the Legal
Regulation of the Trade in Manure, Cattle Foods and Seeds, together with an Answer to the
Memorial of the Wholesale Manure and Cattle Food Merchants). Extract fromnos. 5 and 6,
Year 1 91 4, of the " lUustrierte landwirtschaftliche Zeitimg ". Berlin, 1914. "Deutsche
Tageszeitung " 4to., 8 pp.
I^EONHARD (Dr. R. Privatdozent) : I^andwirtschaft. I^andindustrie. Asktiengesellschaft.
Eine Untersuchung iiber die Zukunft des landwirtschaftlichen Grossbetriebs {Agriculture.
Agricultural Industry. Societies Limited by Shares. A Study on the Future of Large Farms).
Tiibingen, 1913, 52 pp.
MiiLLER (Dr Karl) : Die Frauenarbeit in der I^ndwirtschaft {Women's Work in Agriculture).
M. Gladbach, 191 3. Volksverein Verlag.
(i) Continuation of the BibUography relating to Agricultural Economy in the Bulletin
for April, 1914.
136 PUBLICATIONS OF RECENT DATE RELATING TO AGRICULTURAI. ECONOMY
Neuhaus (Dr. Georg): Manager of the Cologne Commiuial Statistical Office): Landwirtschaft
und Gewerbe. Auf Grund der Ergebnisse der Berufszahlungen von 1882, 1895 und 1907
{Agriculture and Industry, according to the Results of the Professional Census Returns of
1882, 1895 and 1907). M. Gladbach, 1913. Volksverein Verlag.
Oerzten (Carl Bernhard von) : Wie erhalten wir unseren Bauemstand ? Und wie befreien
wir uns von den Wanderarbeitern ? {How are we to keep our Peasant Population? And
how free ourselves from Season Labourers?). Jena, 191 4.
ScHWERiN (Von) : Die Moglichkeit und Notwendigkeit der inneren Kolonisation in der Provinz
Sachsen {Possibility and Necessity of Home Colonisation in the Province of Saxony). Extract
from the " Archiv fiir Innere Kolonisation ", Volume V. No. 6, Berlin, 1913, Deutsche
Landbuchhandlung, 8vo,, 15 pp.
Andree (Ernst) : Zur landwirtschaftlichen Betriebsentwicklung {Notes on the Development of
Farms). In "Neue Zeit ". February 20th., 1914. No. 21, pp. 784-788) Stuttgart.
ARTicus(Regierungsrat): Uber die TatigheitderGeneralkommissionen his'Endcigiz (The Work
of the General Commissions up to the End of 1912). — In " Archiv fiir innere Kolonisation ",
November, 191 3, No. 2, pp. 35-37-
Baf.tz (Marie Luise) : Die landliche Hausweberci als Winterverdienst {The Household In-
dustry of Weaving as a Source of Profit in Winter). — In " Deutsche landwirtschaftliche
Presse ". December 13th., 1913, No. 100, Berlin.
Berg (Dr.) : Gesetzliche Massnahmen zur Bekampfung der Giiterschlachterei {Legislative
Provisions for Preventing the Subdivision of Farms). In "Zeitschrift fiir Agrarpohtik."
January, 1914, N" i, pp. 8-17. Berlin.
BuRCHARD (von der) : Staatliche Beratimgsstellen fiir Tcchnik und VVirtschaft {State Advisory
Offices for Rural Technique and Economy). In " Technik. und Wirtschaft ". January, 1914,
No. I, pp. 10-18, Berlin.
Der EnTWCTRF DES FiDEIKOIklMISGESETZES TIND DIE iNNERE KOLOKISATION {Bill On TrUStS
and Home Colonisation). In " Land. " February, 1914, No. 9, Berlin.
Der Leibgedings Vertrag {Life Annuity Contract). In " Verbandskundgabe ", November
30th., 1913, No. 22, Munich.
Article on the Contract by which the Peasant who cedes his .Farm to his Heir, re-
tains the right to a certain income in money or kind.
Die Fleischmarkt-EnqdAte {Enquiry into the Meat Market). In" Deutsche Tageszcitunt;,",
November 26th. and 27th., 1913, Berlin.
Die Tatigkeit der deutschen Ansiedeltingsgesellschaften im jahre 1912. {Work of the
German Colonisation Societies in 1912). In "Archiv fiir innere Kolonisation ". November,
1913, No. 2, pp. 38-65, Berlin.
DuRCHFiiHRtnsTG DES STAATLicHEN Besitzfestigtingsverfaheens IN OSTPREUSSEN {Ex-
ecution of the Government Work of Consolidation of Landed Estates in East Prussia). In
" Archiv fiir innere Kolonisation ", November, 191 3, No. 2, pp. 66-67, Berlin.
Eggenschwyler (W.) : Uber die Ursachen der Teuerung {The Causes of the High Prices). In
" Jahrbflcher fiir Nationalokonomie und Statistik '', December. 1913, Jena.
Garck (Okonomierat) : Gedanken zur Siedelungsfrage {Considerations on the Problem of Home
Colonisation). In "Deutsche Landwirtschaftliche Presse ", Decemberi3th..i9i3, No. 100.
Beriin.
Grashoff: Landeskultur und Ansiedelung im Kreise Bentheim {Avriculturc and Colonisation
in the Bentheim District). In "Archiv fiir innere Kolonisation ", December, 1913, No. 3,
pp. 81-87, Berlin.
GRUMDSTiiCKSTEILUNGEN IN GEMARKTTNGEN DES RHEINISCHEN RECHTSGEBIETS NACH DER
Zusammenlegting. {Subdivision in the Judicial Division of the Rhine, after Restriping).
In " Rheinischer Bauer ". December 20th., 1913, No. 51, Cologne.
PUBWCATIONS OB RECENT DATE REI.ATING TO AGRICU1,TURAL ECONOMY 1 37
JAROSK (U. K.) : Razw6j naszyck Spolek rolniczo-I<andlowych " Rolnikon " ; parcclacj'jnich,
(Development of our Agricultural Commercial Associations and Subdivision of Land), in
" Zlemanin ", December 13th,, 1913, Poseu.
KRiiCKMANX : Der Enlwurf eines Fideikommisgesctzes [Bill onTrusis). In " Deutsche Tages-
zeituug ", February 2nd., 1913, Berlin.
Krug (Dr. Friedrich) : Zur Frage eines I,ardarbeiteirechts (The Question of Agricultural
Labourers' Rights). In " I<and ". December ist., 1913. No. 5, Berlin.
Marchioni (Karl): Zur Reform der landlichen Boden und Arbeilcrfrage (The Reform of
the Land and the Labour Question). In " Neue Zeit ", January, glh., 1914, No. 15,
pp. 539-546, Stuttgart.
Marschall von Bieberstein (Freiherr, I^andrat) : Eine neue Organisation der Wegeunter-
haltungin Regierungsbezirk Wiesbaden (A new Organization for the Maintenance of Roads
in the Government District of Wiesbaden). In " Zeitschrift fiir Kommunalwirtschaft und
Kommunalpolitik " February loth., 1914, No. 3, Berlin.
Matschop (W.) : Das Gut Geeste der Harpener Bergbau A. G. (The Harpen Mining Society's
Estate "Geeste") In " Technik und Wirtschaft ". January, 1914, No. i, pp. 27-32,
Berlin.
Description of the Agricultural Establishment Founded bj- the Harpen Mining Society,
with the object of providing its Emploj'ees with Cheap Meat.
MOGLiCH (Alfred) : Schwierigkeiten tmd Irrtiimer in der Behandiung der Agrarstatistik
(Difficulties and Errors in the Use of Agricultural Statistics). "Neue Zeit ". Januarj', 23rd.,
1914, No. 17, pp. 628-634, Stuttgart.
Nehring (Regierimgsrat) : Die Tatigkeit der deutschen Mittelstandskasse in Pobtn und cier
Deutschen Bauernbank in Danzigin Jahre 1912 (Work of the " Deutsche Mittelstandskasse
in Posen" and the " Deutscher Bauernbank in Danzig "). — In "Archivifiir innere
Kolonisation ", December, 1913, No. 3, pp. 88-96, Berlin.
Schmidt (Kaspar) : Schein und Wirklichkeit in der Agrartheorie imd Agrarstatistik (Semblance
and Reality in Agricultural Theory and Agricultural Statistics). In " Sozialistische Monats-
hefte ", 1913, No. 25, pp. 1,624-1,630, Berlin.
ScHOLz (Dr. Oberbiirgermeister): Die Reform des Kommunalabgabengesetzes (Reform of the Law
on Communal Taxes). In "Zeitschrift fiir Kommunalwirtschaft und Kommunalpolitik ",
January loth. and 25th., 1914. nos. 1 and 2, Berlin.
ScHROEDER(Stadt.Guterdirektor) : Zum Kolonisations problem (TfefProfc/tw of Colonisation). In
" Frankfurter Zeitung ", November 29lh., 1912, No. 331, Frankfort on Main.
ScHULTZ (Stephan) : Die Wanderarbeit in der lyaudwirtschaft (Season Labour in Ai,ricultuie).
In " Neu.i Zeit ", December 12th. and 19th., 1913, Nos. 11 and 12, pp. 411-417 and 447-
456, Stuttgart.
ScHULZ (Dr. Arthur) : Zur landwirtschaftlichai Bodenpolitik in Bayern (Agricultural Land
Policy in Bavaria). In "Sozialistische Monatshcftc ", 1914, No. 2, pp. 92-108, Berlin.
ScHWERTN-IyOwiTZ (Dr. Graf von) : Die Einfuhrscheinc, ihre russische Bedrohung und ihre
vaterlandische Bedeutmig (Importation Certificates, the Russian Opposition to them and their
Importance for the Country). In " Zentralblatt der Preussischen I^andwirtschaftskammern ",
November 27th., 1913, No. 47, pp. 308-311, Berlin.
Stieger (Dr. Okonomierat) : I<andarbeitcrfrage und Volksschule (1 he Question of Agricul-
tural Labour and the Elementary Schools). In " Mitteiluiigcn der deutschen lyandwirtschafts-
gesellschaft ". February 7th., 1914. No. 6, pp. 82.-94, Berlin.
VERKAtTFSWERT DEN AM 2. DEZEMBER 1 912 IM PREUSSISCHEN STAATE ERMITTELTEN VIEHEE-
ST'AysDE (Market Price of Livestock in Prussia, according to the Census of December 2nd., 191 2).
In " Statistichc Korrespondenz ", December 5th., 1913. No. 63. Pp. 1-9. Berlin.
Wagner (Friedrich) Gross- imd Kleinbctricb in der I^ndwirtschaft (Larfc and Small Farms). In
"Neue Zeit", January 30th., 1914, No. 18, pp. 658661, Stuttgart.
138 PUBUCATIONS OF RECENT DATE REI^ATING TO AGRICUWURAI, ECONOMY
Winter (Customs Inspector) : Die Frage der notwendigen und moglichen Verbesserimg des
deutschen Zollgrenzschutzes in Hinblick auf die deutsche lyandwirtschaft (The Question
of the Necessity and the Possibility of Improving the Defence of the German Customs
Frontier in the Intersst of German Agriculture). In " Mitteilungen der deutschen I<and-
wirtschaftsgesellschaft ", December 13th., 1913, No. 50. pp. 675-676. Berlin.
ZuRHORST (Dr. A): Tagesfragen aus der Stadtischen Pieischversorgimg (Questions of the Moment
regarding the Urban Meat Supply). In " Zeitschrift fiir die gesamte Staatswissensch-'ift ",
69th. year, Vol. 4.
GERMAN CGI^GNIES.
Official Publications :
Deutsch-Ostafrika als Ein- und Ausfuhrmarkt im Jahre 1912. Berichte iiber Handel
und Industrie, Band XXI, Heft i, (German East Africa as an Exporting and Importing
Country in 1912, Reports on Commerce and Industry, Volume XXI, Number i). Compiled
by the " Reichsamt des Innem ". Berlin.
Die Deutschen Schutzgebiete in Africa untj der Sudsee 1912-1913 (German Protectorates
in Africa and the Pacific Ocean 1912-1913). Published by the " Reichs-Kolonialamt ",
Berlin, Mittler und Sohn.
Kamerixn als ein- und ausfuhrmarkt im JAHR1912. Bericht iiber Handel imd Industrie.
Band XX. Heft 14. (The Cameroons as an Exporting and Importing Country in igi 2
Reports on Commerce and Industry, Volume'^'K, Number 14). Compiled by the "Reichs-
amt des Innern ". Berlin.
Other Publication :
Singelmann (Carl) O desenvolvimento agricolo das colonias alemas (A gricuUural Develop-
ment of the German Colonies). In " Boletim da Sociedade de Geographia de Ifisboa ",
August-September, Nos 8-9. pp. 306-308, I^isbon.
OTTOMAN EMPIRE.
Unofficial Publications :
Die Entwickelung der Jiidischen Kolonisation Palestinas (Development of Jewish
Colonisation in Palestine). In " Koniimktur ". December i8th., 1913, Berlin.
Kraft (F.W.) : Die Bewassenmgsarbeiten in der Eben von Konia (Irrigation Works in the Plain
of Konia). In " Weltverkehr und Weltwirtschaft ", December, 1913, No. 9, pp. 346,347,
Berlin.
SPAIN.
Unofficial Publications :
Anuari de EsTADf stica social de Catalunya, 191 2 (Social Statistical Yearbook of Catalonia,
1912) Published by the " Museo social", Barcelona, 1913, Eduard Navas.
Asamblea forestal celebrada en Granada del 12 al 17 de mayo 191 3. Cr6naca y trabajos
presentados (Forestry Assembly in Granada, May I2th-i7th., 1913. Chronicle and Works
PUBWCATIONS OF RECENT DATE REI.AT1NG TO AGKICULTUKAl, ECONOMY 1 39
Presented). Cuerpo nacional de Ingenieros de Montes, Number 18, Madrid, 1913. Impr.
Alemana, 8vo. 127 pp.
De la Riba (Primo) : Desarrollo de la Agricultuia en la Rioja (Castilla la Vieja, (Espana) e im-
portancia de ella para su vida y prosperidad (Development of Agriculture in Rioja (Old
Castille, Spain), and its Importance for the Life and Prosperity of the Region). Saragoza,
1913, " Heraldo " Svo. 43 pp.
E. M. V. : i Espanolizzando ! Estudios econ6micos y sociales (Spanish Economic and Social
StudieJ). Barcelona, 1913, Impr. Elzeviriana.
EsPEjo (Ricardo) : Critica y Reformas que deben introducirse en el vigente C6digo de Comercio
espanol (Criticism and Reforms to be Introduced into the Spanish Commercial Code now in
force). Granada, 191 3, Tip. de Paulino V. Traveset.
JORDANA DE PozAS (Euis): Eos accidentes del trabajo agricola en Espana (Accidents inAsricul-
ttiral Labour in Spain). Madrid, 1913. Hijos de Rens.
OlazA.b.\l (Domingo) : Eigeros apuntes sobre el problema silvo-pastoral de Espana (Some
Notes on the Forest Pastures Problem in Spain). No. 20, Cuerpo nacional de Ingenieros de
Montes, Madrid, 191 3, Impr. Alemana, Svo. 48 pp.
^ UNITED STATES.
Official Publications :
EiVESTocK AND MISCELLANEOUS AGRicuLTURAL»STATiSTics, 1912. Extract from the " Yearbook
of the Department of Agriculture for 1912, " Washington, 1913, Government Printing
OtBce. Svo. III-96 pp.
Report of the Secretary of Agriculture, 1913. Washington, 1913. Government Printing
Office. Svo. 58 pp.
Statistics of principal crops, 191 2. Extract from the " Yearbook of the Department of Agri-
culture ", Washington, 1913, Government Printing Office. Svo. II-98 pp.
Other Publications :
Hill (J. J.): Agriculture in the United States. In " Banker's Magazine ", February, 1914. pp.294-
302, Eondon.
PiLETZKi: Der Amerikanische Agrarzensus (The American Agricultural Census) In "NeueZeit",
January 2nd., 1914, No. 14, pp. 508-513, Stutgart.
SiMlONS (A. M.) : Neue Tendenzen in der Amerikanischen Eandwirtschaft (New Tendencies in
American Agriculture) In " Neue Zeit ", February 6th., 1914. No. 19, pp. 684-692, Stuttgart.
The First South-Dakota Rural Eife Conference. In " Dakota Farmers " September
15th., 1 9 13, Aberdeen (South Dakota).
Brief Report.
The history of agricultuiial Fairs. In " Rural Manhood ", October, 1913, New York.
GREAT BRITAIN AND IREI<AND.
Official Publications :
agricultural Returns of England and Wales, 1913. Produce of Crops. Published
by " The Board of Agriculture and Fisheries ", Eondon, 1913.
agricultural Statistics, 1912. Vol I, Part II. Returns of Produce of Crops in
Scotland With a Summary for the United Kingdom. Published by the '* Board of
AgT'culture for Scotland ", Edinburgh, 1913, Neill and Co. Svo. 70 pp.
140 PUBLICATIONS OF RECENT DATE RELATING TO AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY
Report of the Select Committee of the House of Commons on the Inclosure and
Regulation of Commons. London, 1913.
Report on Migration from Rural Districts in England and Wales. Published by the
" Board of Agriculture ". London, 1913, Darling and Son.
Viceregal Commission on Irish Milk Supply. Final Report. Dublin, 1913, A Thoni
and Co.
Other Publications :
Agricola (M. D.) : A Voice from the Village. The Labourer and the Land. London, 1913.
Dent., 8vo. 64 pp.
A Group of Unionists : A Unionist Agricultural Policy. London, 1913, Murray.
Bermett (E. N) : Problems of Village Life. London, 1913, "Williams and Norgate (Home
University Library).
CoLLATT (J. Kyte) : Solving the Land Problem. Cardiff, 1913, Western Mail, Ltd., 8vo. 15 PP.
CoLLiNGS (The Right Hon. Jesse, J. P., M. P.): The Colonisation of Rural England: A Complete
Scheme for the Regeneration of British Rural Life. London, 1913, The Rural World
Publishing Co. 2 vols.
DUNLOP (O. J.) : The Farm Labourer. London, 1913, Fisher Unwin.
Farmer and Stock Breeder Year Book, 1914. London, 1913. Office of the " Farmer
and Stock Breeder" 8vo.
Fiat Lux: Comments on the Report of the Land Enquiry Committee. London, 1913-
Hand F. MiUard.
Foa (E): The Relationship of Landlord and Tenant: 5th, Edition. London, 1914, Stevens, Svo.
Fox (F.) : Our English Land Muddle. An Australian View. London, 1913, King and Co.,
Svo. 286 pp.
Green (F. E.) : The Tyranny of the Countryside. London, 1913, Fisher Unwin, 261 pp.
Hall (A. D.) : A Pilgrimage of British Farming, 1910-12. Extract from the Times. London,
1913, Murray, 8vo. 466 pp.
Harben (Henry A.) : The Rural Problem. London, 1913, Constable, 169 pp.
Hyder (Joseph) : The Case for Laud Nationalisation. With a Special Introduction by Alfred
Russell Wallace. London, 1913, Smipkin, 8vo., XI + 433 pp.
Livestock Journal Almanac, 1914. London, 191 3, Vinton, 8vo.
Marks (T. E.) : The Land and the Commonwealth. With an Introduction by J. Hugh Ed,
wards. London, 1913, S. King, 8vo. XXV + 314 pp.
Rew (R. D.) : An Agricultural Faggot. A Collection of Papers on Agricultural Subjects. Lon-
don, 1913, P. S. King. 8vo. X + 187 pp.
Rubinstein (J. S.) : The Land Transfer Controversy : The Conveyancing Bills, 1913, London,
1913, Polsne.
Samuel. (H. B.) : The Land and Yourself. With Preface by F. F. Macpherson, M. P. London-
191 3. Thomas Meerby and Co.
Scottish Farmer Album for 1914. Scottish Agricultural Publishing Co., Svo. 308 pp.
Scott (J. W. Robertson) : The Land Problem. An Impartial Survey. The Nation's Library.
London, 1913, W. Collins, i2mo. 264 pp.
STOitEY (Harold) : Economics of Land Value. London, 1913, Fisher Unwin.
Supplement to " Solving the Land Problem ", Cardiff, 1914, S. Glossop, 8vo. 18 pp.
Sutherland (WiUiam) : Rural Regeneration in England. London, 1913, Methuen.
The Labour Party and the Agricultural Problem. With Reports of Visits to Ireland
and Denmark. London, 1913, The Labour Party.
The Land and the People. London, 1913. J. Murray (The Times .Series), i2mo. 96 pp.
The Land Problem. Notes Suggested by the Report of the Land Enquiry Committee, Lon.
don, 1 913, Wyman and Sons.
PUBLICATIONS OF KKCEISTT DATE RELATING TO AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY I4I
The Land. The Report of the Land Enquiry Committee. Vol. I : RuraL London,
1913, Hoddcr and Stoughton, 8vo. LXXXIII + 498 pp.
The Smallholder's Yearbook, 1914. London, 1913, Pearson, 8vo. 204 pp.
Tollemache (B.) : The Occupying Ownership of Land. Londor, 1913, Murray.
Vinton's Agricultural Almanac and Dl\uy, 1914. Loudon, 1913, 8vo.
A. E. : De engelske Landborefonnen {English Land Reforms). In " Dansk Land ", Decem-
ber, 19 1 3, Copenhagen.
Cox (Harold) : The Coming Land Tyrann3^ In " Edinburgh Review ", January, 1914,
No. 447, pp. 237-256, London.
Douglas (London) : The Meat Industry iu 1913. In " Farm and Home ", January 14th.,
1913, No. 1,664, London.
Edgecumbe (Sir Robert): Some Aspects of the Land Question. In "Fortnightly Review",
November, 1913. No. 563, pp. 944-956, London.
Farm labourers' Wages: Possibilities of Extra Earnings. In Times, January 12th., 1914,
No. 40, 418, London.
Ferrams (Maggiorino): 11 ritorno alia terra. Lloyd George e la politica agraria in Inghilterra
{The Return to the Land! Lloyd George and the Land Policy in England) . In " Nuova Anto-
logia ", November 17th., 1913. No. 1,006, Rome.
Forestry Statistics. In "Journal of the Land Agents' Socielj' ". January, 1914. No. i,
pp. 5-9, London.
Grieg (J. W., K.C., M. P.) : The Tenures relating to Small Holdings. In " Contemporary Re-
view ", December, 1913, No. 576, pp. 806-816. London.
Jones (Griffith): The Coming Land Bill. In "Westminster Review", Jmie, 1913, No. 6,
pp. 635-636, London.
Joseph: National Granaries. In " British Review ", December, 1913. London.
Kennedy (J. M.). Conservatives and the Land. In "Fortnightly Review", August, 1913,
No. 560, pp. 236-244, London.
Marriott (J. A. R.) : The Evolution of the English Land System. In "Fortnightly Review",
September, October, November and December, 1913, Nos. 561, 562, 563 and 564, London.
Notes on Dr. Gilbert Sl.\ter's Historical Outline, published in " the Report of the Laud
Enquiry Committee". In "Journal of the Land Agents' Society". December, 1913,
No. 12, pp. 571-582, London.
Parker (Sir Gilbert, M. P.): Land Reform and the Cliancellor. In "Nineteenth Century and
After ". August, 1913, No. 438, pp. 273-282, London.
PiGOU (A. C): A Minimum Wage for Agriculture. In "Nineteenth Centiury and After ", De-
cember 1913, No. 442, pp. 1,167-1,186, London.
Rent, Wages and Profits of British Agriculture. In "Economist ", November 29th.,
1913, Nos. 3,666. pp. 1,175-1,777, London.
Rural Housing Schemes. Important Aimouncement by Mr. Bums. In " Times ", December
5th., 1913, No. 40,397, London.
Text of a Letter written by the President of the Local Government Board.
Rural Problems. The Training of the Future Farmer. In "Times", January 7th., 1914,
No. 40, 414. London.
Report of a Debate of the " Teachers' Guild of Great Britain and Ireland ".
Savary (H. R.) : La question agraire en AngleteiTe {Land question in England). In " Bulletin
Mensuel de I'Ofiice des Reuse igncmcnts Agricolcs ", November, 1913, Paris.
Snowden (Phihp, M. P.) : The Labour Land Programme. In " Scottish Co-operator ", February
27th., 1914, No. 802, Glasgow.
The Farmer's University Education. In "Scottish Farmer". February 14th., 1914,
No. 1,102, Glasgow.
14-i PUBLICATIOxMS OF RECENT DATE RELATING To AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY
Speech Delivered by T. II. Middleton at the " Edinburgh University Agricultural
Society ".
The Labour Problem. In " Scottish Farmer ", January 24th., 1914, No. 1,099, PP- 83 84,
Glasgow.
Speech Delivered by Mr. John Lambieat the " Glasgow and West of Scotland Agi'icul-
tural Discussion Society ".
The Rural Fxodus and agricultural Earnings. In " Economist " January 3rd., 1914,
No. 3,671, pp. 6-7, London.
The Rural exodu.s. Emigration of Labourers to the Colonies. The Effect on Agricultiu-e.
In Times, January 13th., 1914, No. 40,419, London.
Summar5' of the Evidence of R. H. Rew before the " Dominions Roya! Commission ".
The SMALL Holdings System in Scottlantd. "In Journal of the Land Agents' Society",
December, 1913, No. 12, pp.- 564-570, London.
The TREATMENT OF ANTM.^L DISEASES. Better Veterinary Service. In "Times", Febmary
2nd., 1914. No. 40-47, London.
Article upon the Proposals of the " President of the Board of Agriculture " for the Improve-
ment of the Veterinary Service.
The two land Campaigns. In " Quarterly Review", October, 1911, London.
TuGMAN (E. R.) : A Plan for the Afforestation of the Waste Lands of the United Kingdom
In "Westminster Review ", September, 1913. No. 3. pp. 258-263, lyondon.
Whelplay (J. D.) : The Fallacy of an Imperial Food Supply. In " Fortnightly Review ",
December, 1913, No. 564. pp. 1,100-1,111, London.
Wright (Arnold) : I,and Purchase Dangers. A Suggested Solution. In "Financial Review of
Reviews", December, 1913. London.
AUSTRALIA.
Officl\.l Publication :
Department of Agriculture and Industries, Western Australia: Annual Report for
the Financial Year ended 30th. June,i9i3. Perth, i9i3,GovemmentPrinter., folio. ,68pp.
Other Publication :
Wise (Hon Bernard R.); The Common wealth of AustriaUa. Second edition revised, London, 1913.
8vo. XVIII -1- 350 pp.
CANADA.
Official Publications: '
Evidence given before the select standing Committee on agriculture and Colonis-
ation, Session 1912-13, respectes-g the Fruit Industry. Ottawa, 1913. C. H. Parmelee,
8vo. 116 pp.
Evidence ofM. J. A. Ruddick given before the Select Standing Committee on agricul-
ture and Colonisation 1912-1913, respecting the Progress of Dairying in Canada.
Ottawa, 1913, C. H. Parmelee, 8vo. 15 pp.
Commission of Conservation. Canada: Report of the Annual Meeting held at Ottawa, January
2ist.-22nd., 1913, Toronto, 1913, Warwick Bros, and Rutter, 4to., VIII-238 pp.
PUBLICATIONS OF RECENT DATE RELATING TO AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY 143
Other Publications :
Die Landwirtschaft in Canada (Agriculture in Canada). In " Zentralblatt der Preussischen
Landwirtschaftskammern ". December 8th., 1913, No. 19, Berlin.
Is Canada LosixG Citizens ? In "Grain Growers' Guide", December 20th., 191 3, Winnipeg.
Statistics of Emigration from Canada to the United States and from the United States
to Canada.
BRITISH CROWN COLONIES.
Official Publications:
Ceylon : Proposals for the Organization of the Department of Agriculture. Xllland XXXI, 19 13.
Colombo, 191 3, Government Printer, 2 pamphlets, folio.
Grenada : Report on the Agricultural Department, 1912-1913. Imperial Department of Agri-
cultiire for the West Indies. Bridge to%vn, Barbados, 191 3. Advocate Co., folio, 49 pp.
St. lyUCLA : Report on the A.gricultural Department ; 1912-1913. Imperial Department of Agri-
culture for the West Indies. Bridgetown, Barbados, 1913. Advocate Co., folio, 31 pp.
St. Vincent: Report on the Agricultirral Department, 1912-1913. Imperial Department of Agri-
cultiure for the West Indies. Bridgetown, Barbados, 1913. Advocate Co., folio, 32 pp.
Southern Nigeria : Annual Report on the Forest Administration for the Year 1912. Oloko-
meji, 1913, folio, 20 pp.
Protectorateof Uganda: AnnualReport of the Department of ^^gri culture for the Year ended
31st., March, 1913. Kampala, 1913, The Uganda Comp. Press, folio, 41 pp.
Other Publucations :
H.WFORD (C.) ; The Truth about the West African I^and Question. London, 1913, Phihps.
Gibbons (Lieut. Col. A. S. H.): Northern Rhodesia. In " United Empire ", January, 1914,
No. I, pp. 25-28, London.
Stembridge (E. G.): Indian Immigration in British Guiana. In "United Empiix ", January,
1914, No. I, pp. 71-78, London.
BRITISH INDIA.
Official Publications :
Report of the agricultural department, Assam, for the year ending the 30th. June, 1913.
Shillong, 1913, Assam Printing Office, folio.
Report on the Administration of the Dep^^vrtment of Agriculture of the Province
OF Agr.a and Oudh for the year ending 30th. June.
Report on the L-vnd Revenue Administr.\tion of the Province of Bihar .\nd Orissa
for the year 1912-1913. Patna, 1912, Government Press, folio.
Report on the Operations of the Dep.\rtment of Agriculture, Punjab, for the year
ending the 30th. June, 1913. Labore, 1913, Government Press, folio.
ITAI,Y.
Official Publication :
SuPERFiciE Terrixoriale e Superficie agraria e forestale del Regno d'ltalia al 1° gen-
naio 1 91 3. (Area of the Territory and A^^ricultural and Forest Areas of the Kingdom of Italy
on January 1st., 1913). Published by the "Ministero di Agricoltura, Industria e Com-
nit-rcio: Uflficio di Statistica Agraria", Rome, 1913, G. Bertero.
144 PUBLICATIONS OF RECENT DATE RELATING TO AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY
Other publications :
Atti e Documenti del V CoNGRESSO DEGLi OLivicoLTORi tenutoa Lucca dal 15 al 17 decem-
bre 1912. {Proceedings and Records of the Fifth Congress of Olive Growers, held at Lucca from
December i^th. to 17th., 1912). "Society, nazionale degli olivicoJtoriitaliani," Rome, 1913,
Tipografia dell'Unione Editrice. 4to.
Blandini (Dr. E.) : Per la creazione della piccola proprieta (Fonnation of Small Holdings).
Naples, 191 3, Stab. Poligrafico.
Branzoli Zappi (E.): II caroviveri e la vendita diretta dei prodotti agricoli ai consumatori
[The High Cost of Life and Direct Sale of Agricultural Produce to the Consumers). Rome,
1913, Tipografia deU'Unione Editrice.
Bruccoleri (G.) La Sicilia di oggi {Sicily of Today). Rome, 1913, Athenaeum.
Cenni statistici stTL movibiento economico dell'Italia. Progresso economico dell'Italia
nel ventennio 1893-1912 {Statistical Notes of the Economic Advance of Italy. Economic Pro-
gress of Italy in the Ttventy Years 1893-1912). Published by the " Banca Commerciale Ita-
liana", Milan, 1913, Capriolo and Massimino.
Gervaso (Dr. Ottavio) : La domanda di lavoro in Agricultura : Memoria {Demand for Agricul-
tural Labourers. Report). " Minister© di Agricoltura, Industria e Commerdo : Ufficio di
Statistica Agraria ", Rome, 1913, G. Bertero.
L6MONON (Ernest) : L'ltalie economique et sociale 1861-1912 {Economic and Social Italy,
1861-1912). Paris, 1913, F. Alcan.
Lxjfe (Adv. G.) : Sull'affrancazione dei canoni, dei censi.delle enfiteusi {Relief from Dues, Charges
and Emphyteusis). Milan, 1913, Societa editrice libraria.
Luzzatti (Luigi) : La tutela economica, giuridica e sociale della piccola propriety {Economic,
Legal and Social Defence of Small Holdings). Rome, 1913, Tip. Editrice Laziale.
Mol6 (Dr. Giovanni) : Contribute alio studio deU'emigrazione in rapporto alle condizioni del-
I'agricoltura in Sicilia {Contribution to the Study of Emigration in relation to the Conditions
of Agriculture in Sicily). Rome, 1913, Celestino Lucci.
Papafava (Francesco) : Dieci anni di vita italiana: 1898-1909. Cronache, Vol. I e II {Ten
Years of Italian Life: 1898-1909. Chronicles, Vols. I and II). Paris, 1913, Laterza.
Pietra (Prof. Gaetano) : La statistica dei salari in agricoltura: Memoria {Statistics of Agri-
cultural Wages. Reports). Published by the "Ministero di Agricoltura, Industria e Com-
mercio: Uflficio di Statistica agraria ", Rome, 1913, G. Bertero.
ToMM-i^si (Donato Antonio) : Canoni e usi Civici. Procedura del contenzioso avanti le Giunte
d'arbitri e i Commissari Ripartitori {Feudal Rights and Civic Uses, Procedure in Cases
brought before the Arbitration Committees and the Distribution Commissioners). "Rome, 1913.
Tr.\mbusti (Prof. Armando) : La lotta contro la malaria in Sicilia nel 1912. Quinto rapporto
della Croce Rossa Italiana {The Fight against Malaria in Sicily. Fifth Report of the Italian
Red Cross Society). Palermo, 1913, Virzi.
Vita (Enrico) : Codice della legislazione agraria italiana : Diritto privato e publico. {Italian
Agricultural Code : Private and Public Law). Milan, 1913, U. HoepH.
Zampieri (Dr. Ignazio) : Affitto, Salariato, Mezzadria nell'attuale momento agrario della pro-
vincia di Bologna {Rent, Wages and M dairies Today in the Province of Bologna). Bologna;
1 91 3, Paolo Cuppino. '
Zerbini (Dr. Luigi) : Illustrazione delle prindpali aziende agrarie del Bolognese {Illustration
of the Principal Kinds of Farms of the Province of Bologna). Bologna, 1913, Soc. Tip. Com-
pos! tori.
Brugnier (Giuseppe) : L'agro romano e gli usi dvici {The Agro Romano and Civic Uses). In
" Ri vista Intemazionale di scienze sodall", November 30th., 1913. No. 251, Rome.
Carloni(0.): Cenni economico-agrarii sui sistemidiconduzioni dei fondi nel Ma cera 1 c se (£co-
nomical Notes on the System of Farm Management in the District of Macerata). In "Agricol-
tura Italiana ", January i6th., 1914, No. i, Pisa.
PUBLICATIONS OF RECENT DATE RELATING TO AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY 145
Cencelli (Alberto): II Lazio che risorge {Revival of Latium) . In "Tribuna", February ist.,
1914, No. 32, Rome.
Cettolini (Sante) : II lalifondio nell'agricoltura sidliana : i contratti collettivi di fitto e I'en-
fiteusi {Lar:^e Farms in Sicily: Collective Leases and Emphyteusis). In " Bollettino della So-
cieta degli Agricoltor' Italian! ", December 31st., 1913. No. 24, Rome.
LuzzATTi (Luigi) : La tutela della piccola proprieta {Defence of SmaU Holdings). In " Nuova
Antologia ", June ist., 1913, No. 995, Rome.
— Do — : Per I'immediato bonificamento delle terre paludose {The Immediate Reclamation
of Marshy Lands). In "Bollettino della Societa degli Agricoltori Italiani ", November
iSth., 1913. Rome.
MozzATi (Carlo) : Lo Stato e il capitale private per un nuovo e piii vigoroso impulso al-
I'industria agricola {The State and Private Capital for a New and more Vigorous Impulse
to be given to Agricultural Industry). " Agricoltura Moderna ". January ist-isth., 1914.
Milan.
R.AiNERi (Giovanni) : Colonizzazione interna e lavori publici {Home Colonisation and Public
Works). In ^' Giornale di agricriltiura deUaDomenica" January 4th., 1914, No i, Piacenza.
— Do " : Unlato della politica di lavori publici {One Side of Public Works Policy). In " Gior-
na!e di Agricoltura della Domenica", February 8th., 1914, No. 6, Piacenza.
Zago (E.) : II progresso agricolo nella provincia di Piacenza e i nuovi problemi da risolvcre
{Agricultural Progress in the Province of Piacenza and the New Problems to be Solved). In
"Agricoltura P'acentina ", January 15th., 1914, No. i, Pianceza.
Zannoni (Prof. Hario) : La mediazione del lavoro e gli uffici di collocamento {Recruiting of
Labour and the Registry Offices). In " Agricoltura Moderna ", February ist. -15th., 1914,
No. 3, Milan.
ZuccARELLo (A.) : Verso un nuovo progetto di legge per )a colonizzazione interna ? {Is there to
be a new Bill for Home Colonisation ?) In "Agricoltura Ital'ana ", January 31st., 1914,
No. 2, Pisa.
ITALIAN COLONIES.
Official Publications :
L-vTripolitaxia Settentrioxale. Vols. I e II. Commissione per lo studio agrolog-'co della Tri-
politania {Northern Tripoli: Vols. I and II. Commission for the Study of the Agricultural
Possibilities of Tripoli). " Ministero delle Colonie ". Rome, 1913, Bertero.
Ordinamen'Ti della LiniA : Gennaio 1913-Gennaio 1914 {Libyan Ordinances, January, 1913-
January, 1914). Published by the '-Ministero delle Colonie", Rome, 1914, Bertero.
R.4.PP0RTI E MONOFRAFiE CoLONiALi. No. 12, Scptembre 191 3. Eritrea. II regime della
proprieta terr'era hi Etiopia e neUa Colonia Eritrea. Monografia {Colonial Reports and
Monographs. No. 12, September, 1913. Eritrea. The System of Land Tenure in Ethiopia and
the Colony of Eritrea. Monograph). Published by the "Ministero dclle Colonic : Dirczione
centrale degli affari coloniali ", Rome, 1913, Bertero.
Somalia Italiana: Statist! che doganali dciranno finanziario 1911-1912 {Italian Somaliland.
Customs Statistics for the Financial Year 1911-1912). Published by the "Ministero delle Colo-
nie: Direzione centra'e degli affari coloniali . Ufficiodi studi coloniali ", Rome, 1913, Bertero.
Othi;r Publication? :
BARr.ETTA (Roberto) : La colonizzazione dcH'Eritjca {Colonization of Eritrea). Citla di Castello,
191 3, S. Lupi-
146 PUBWCATIONS OF RECENT DATE RELATING TO AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY
BragGio (Carlo) : La Libia Italiaua {Italian Lyhia). Pesaro, 1913, Ofi&cina di Arti Grafiche.
La MissiONE Franchetti IX tripolitania (II Gebel). Indagini economicoygrariedella Com-
missione inviatain Tripolitania dal'a Society Italiana per lo studio della Libia (Investig-
ations of A2,ricultural Economical Nature made by the Commission sent into Tripolitania by
the Italian Society for the Study of Libya). Florence, Milan, 1914, Flli. Treves.
Omodeo (A.), Peglioni (V.), Valenti (G.) : La Colouia Eritrea. Condizioni e problemi (The
Colony of Eritrea. Conditions and Problems). Rome, 1913, Tipografia Nazionale.
S.WORGNAN D'OsoPPO (Dr. M. A.) : Tripoli agricola (Agricultural Tripoli). l<!a-p\es, 1913, Soc.
Editr. Partcnopea.
SCALiSE (Giuseppe). L'oHvicoltura in Libia. Relazioneal V Congress© degli olivicoltori in Lucca,
Dicembre, 1912 (Cultivation of Olive Trees in Libya. Report to the Fifth Confiress of Olive
Growers in Lucca, December, igi2). Extract from the " Bolletti no della Societa nazionale
degli Olivicoltori ", Rome, 1913, tip. dell'Unione Editrice, 8vo. 21 pp.
SCASSELLATi Sforzolini ( Giuseppe) : L'impresa zootecnica nella Somalia Italiana Meridio-
nale (Livestock Improvement in Southern Italian Somaliland). Published by the "Govcrno
della Somalia Italiana ", Rome, 1913, G. Colombo.
JAPAN.
Unofficial Publications ;
The PROBLEM OF THE HIGH COST OF LIVING (in Japanese). In " Tok5'o Keizai Zasshi ". January
loth., 1914. Tokio.
The SITUATION of the tea industry (in Japanese). In "Oriental Economist ", December
6th., 1913, Tokio.
The object of the improvement in the systems of sale of cereals (in Japanese). In
"Nogyo Sekai ", January ist., 1914. Tokio.
Domestic Economy and the Standard of Lipe (in Japanese). In " Ndgyo Sekai ".
January ist., 19 14. Tokio.
Encouragement of auxill\ry Industries (in Japanese). In " Chugwai Shogyo Shimpo ",
December 9th., 1913, Tokio.
Study on the Necessity of Developing among the Peasants the Industries Auxiliary to
Agriculture.
The tax on Rjce and on Business operations (In Japanese) . In " Chug\vai Shogyo Shimpo ",
January 9th., 1914. Tokio.
Fluctuations in the Price of Rice and rice exchanges (in Japanese). In "Oriental
Economist ", November 5th., 1913. Tokio.
What will the price of rice be this year? (in Japanese). In "Oriental Economist", De-
cember. 25th., 1913, Tokio.
JAPANESE COLONIES.
Unofficial Publications :
The Question of Agricultural Emigration to the Japanese part of the Island of
Sakhalien (in Japanese). In Nogyd Sekai", February ist., 191 4, Tokio.
Emigr.'vtion to Formosa antd the Producton of Rice (in Japanese) In " N6gy6 Sekai ",
February ist., 1914, Tokio.
Modifications in the Org.'vnization of the Colonies (in Japanese). In "Tokyo Keizai
Zasshi ", January 24th., 1914. Tokio.
PUBLICATIONS OF RECENT DATE KKLATINt- TO A*.iKICUl,TlTKAI, ECONOMY 147
MONTENEGRO
Unofficial Publication
Trbe CULTIVATION AND VITICULTURE IN MONTENEGRO (in Servian). In " Zeniliuradiuichka
Zadruga ", Aiigu'^t 30th., 1913, Belgrade.
NORWAY.
Official Puefication :
Aarsberetning angaaende de offentlige Foranstaltninger til Landbrukets FREMME I
aarei 1913. I. Hosten i Norge 1913. {Annual Report onlhe Measures taken to favour Agri-
culture 1913. /. Harvests in Norway in 1913). Published by the " I<andbruksdirectoren ",
Christiania, 1913. Grondahl and Sons, 8vo. 81 pp.
Other Publication :
lyARSEN (O. H.) : Det kgl. Selskap for Norges Vel's Undersogelser over I^andbrugets Drifts-
forheld [Inquiry of the Royal Society for the Welfare of Norway into the Economic Conditions
of Agriculture). In "Tidsskrift for I^ndOkonomi ", February, 1914, No. 2, Copenhagen.
ROUMANIA.
Unofficial Publications :
God.art (Felix): I,a Roumanie agricole {Agricultural Roumania). Extract from the Review
" Mercuriales Agricoles ", Antwerp, Brussels, 1913, L. Vogels, 8vo. 42 pp.
JONESCU Sizezsti (G.) : Politica agrara cu privire speciala la Rumania {A'^ricuUural Politics
with Special Reference to Roumania). Bibliotcca Agricoltorului Roman. Bucharest,
ly. Alcalay and Co., Svo. IV -f- 206 pp.
Other Publications;
Baiocoianu (C. J.) : idcile conductoare ale politicei noastre agrare {Leadinz Ideas of our A-ri-
cultural Policy). In " Economia nationala ", October, 1913, No. 10, Bucharest.
Problema iMPROPRitrr.VRiREi {The Problem of Property). In "Romania agri cola ", December
15th., 191 3, Bucharest.
RI^SSIA.
Official Publications :
Glance at the Work of the emigr.'VTIon Department in 191 2 {in Russian). In the " Journal
of the General Department of Agiiculture and Agricultural Organization", 23rd. Jime,
1913, No. 235, St. Petersburg.
1.48 PUBIJCATIONS or RECENT DATE KEi,ATING TO AGRICUiyrURAT^ ECONOMY
A Glance at the Erhgration into the Caucasus (in Russian). In the "Journal of the General
Department of Agriculture ^md Agricultural Organisation", December 15th., 1913. St.
Petersburg.
The movement of the Immigrants (in Russian). In the Messenger of the Regional Organiza-
tion of Home Colonisation. November, 1913. No, 60, Poltava.
Remarks on Immigration to Siberia between January, 1912 and August, 1913.
Other Publications :
Arrendelagen {Laws on Leases). In " Hufrudstadsbladet ", January 30th., 1914, No. 29, Hels-
ingfors.
Proposal to amend the I^awin Force, presented by the Finlano Senate to the Diet.
Chasles (Pierre) : lyCs reformes agraires et revolution des classes rurales en Russie (The iMnd
Reforms and the Evolution of the Russian Rural Classes). In "Revue economique interna-
tionale", October i5th.-2oth., 1913, No. i, Brussels.
Fifty Ye.ars. In " Mercator ". November, 1913, No. 11, Ilelsingfors.
Short Notes on the Development of Finland in the last Fifty Years.
GosciCKi (George) : Agrarian Conditions in the Kingdom of Poland. In " Russian Review ",
November, 191 3, No. 4. pp. 69-86. lyOndon.
Hahn (Dr. Bruno) : Die Erneuerung der russischen bauerlichen Wirtschaft in ihrer Bedcutung
fiir Russlands Stellimg auf dem Weltmarkt (Renewal of Russian Rural Economics and its
Importance for the Position of Russia on the World's Market). In " Weltverkehr und Welt-
wirtschaft ", December, 1913, No. 9, pp. 343-346, Berlin.
JORDSKL-^TTENS Oflyftande (Suppression of the Land Tax). In " Hufvudstadsbladet ",
Februar}'^ 4th., 191 4, No. 4, Helsingfors.
I^itoshenko (I^eo) : I<anded Property in Russia. In "Russian Review". November, 1913,
pp. 185-207, lyondon.
Mar: Organization of the zemstvos from the point of view of Scientific Agriculture (in Russian).
In " Rossiia ", January i6th., 1913, St. Petersburg.
Nielsen (W. Otto) : N5'ere Foranstaltninger til Frcmme of lyandbruget i de russiske Ostero-
pro\'inser (New Provisions for the Encouraci.ement of Agriculture in the Russian Baltic
Provinces). In " Ugeskrift for I^andmaend ", January 15th. and 22nd. and February 5th.
Nos. 3, 4 and 6 (to be continued). Copenhagen.
P. S. : Immigration and Agriculture (in Russian). In " Rossiia ", February ist., and 3rd.,
19 14, Nos 2,509, 2,510, St. Petersburg.
Oganovski (A.) : Notes on the I,and Question : Contemporary Tendencies of the Colonisation
Policy (in Russian). In " Viestnik Evropy ". November and December, 1913, St. Petersburg.
SWEDEN.
Unofficial Publications :
Arbetartillgang, Arbfstid och arbetslon inom Sveriges Jordbruk ar 1912. (Number
of Labourers, Hours and Waj^es, in Swedish A ':,riculture in igi2). In " Sociala Meddelander ",
December, 1913, No. 12, Stockholm.
Frost (Dr. J.) : Die innere Kolonisation in Schweden (Home Colonisation in Sweden). In " Ar-
chiv fiir innere Kolonisation ", December, 1913, No. 3, pp. 69-80, Berlin.
HoGBOM (A. G.) : Om de naturaliga foruttsattningama for en smabrukskolonisation i Norr-
land (The Natural Conditions for Home Colonisation in Norrland). In " Svensk Tidskrift ",
1914. No. I, Stockholm.
PUBUCATIONS OF RECENT DATE RELATING TO AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY I49
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"Maa talons", January, 1914, No. 3, Helsingfors.
Smabrukskoxperensen I STOCKHOLM {Small Holders' Meeting in Stockholm). In Tidskrift
for Landman ", November 29th., 191 3, No. 48, Lund.
Report of the above meeting held at Stockholm from November 14th. to November
17th., 1913.
Vart Jordbruks Utveckling {Our Aiiricultural Development). In "Svenska Landtmnannens
Foreningsblad ", December 7th., 1913, No. 51, Malmo. ,
RUGGKRI ALFRBDO, ger^nte responsabile.
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• « • • • JUNE 1 91 4
» * * * ROME : printing office of the institute, 1 914 « • •
IV CONTENTS
Japan.
Collective Sale of Cereals Page 33
§ I. Introduction, page 33. — §2. Co-operative Sale Societies, page 34. — § 3. Exam-
ples of Co-operative Societies for the Collective Sale of Cereals, page 37. —
§ 4. Collective Sale of Barley and other Cereals, page 42.
PART II : INSURANCE AND THRIFT.
Belgium.
Progress of i^ivestock Insurance in Belgium Page 47
§ I. Compulsory lyivestock Insurance, page 47. — § 2. MutualI,ivestock Insurance,
page 48.
Italy.
Official Enquiry INTO Savings IN Italv IN the Years 1 911 AND 191 2, .... Page 52
§ I. Deposits in the Ordinary Credit Societies, page 53. — § 2. Deposits in the Co-
operative Credit Societies with Inability I<imited by Shares, page 54. — § 3. Dis-
tribution of the Deposits in the Ordinary Societies lyiniited by Shares and the
Co-operative Credit Societies, according to Regions, page 56. — § 4. Deposit?
in Rural Banks, page 58.
PART III : CREDIT.
Austria. ,
Savings Bank STATISTICS IN 1911 Page 61
Denmark.
Rural Mortgage Debt in Denmark Page 67
CONTENTS
Spmn.
The Work of the Agricultural Credit Institutions in Spain Page 72
I. The « P6sitos » § i. Some Notes on the Origin and Evolution of the Positos,
page 72. — § 2. Work of the Positos in the Two Years (1910-1912), page 76. —
§ 3. The Various Tendencies towards a Final Orgcinization of the P6sitop,
page 78.
Hungary.
Mortgage Statistics in Hungary ' . . . Page 81
§ 1. Atten3pts to Discover the Amount of the Mortgage Indebtedness of Hun-
gary, page 81. — §2. Fluctuations in Mortgage Indebtedness, page 84.
PART IV : MISCELLANEOUS.
United States.
Social and Economic Progress of the Negro Farmers Page 87
§ I. Negroes in Cities and in the Country, page 88. — § 2. The Negroes as Farm
Ivabourers, page 90. — § 3. Share Tenancies of Various Form and Incases, page 93.
— §4. Negroes as Rural landholders, page 98. — § 5. Negro Rural Asso-
ciations and Co-operative Societies, page 103. — § 6. Social Conditions of the
Negro Farmers, page in.
France.
Miscellaneous News Page 105
I. Agricultural Social Course, page 105. — 2. Agricultural lyabour Congress,
page 105. — 3. The Doubs Agiicultural Associations House, page 106. — 4. In-
dustries Auxiliary to Agriculture, page 106. — 5. Rural Monographs, page 107.
VI CONTENTS
Great Britain and Ireland.
Proposals for I,and Reform in England and Wales Pa^e 109
Introduction, page 109. — §1. Tbe I^iberal I^and Enquiry, page no. — § 2. The
Government's Proposals, page 118. — § 3. Criticisms of the I^and Enquiry
Committee's Report, page 119. — § 4. A Unionist I/ind Policy, page 122. —
§ 5. Other I,and Policies, page 124. — Conclusion, page 126.
Mexico.
The I,and Question in Mexico and the Proposals of the National Agricultural
Commission (Conclttsion) Page 127
§ 3. The I.and Question and the Conclusions of the National Agricultural Com-
mission, page 127.
Part I: Co-operation and Association
ARGENTINA.
MlSCEIvLANEOUS NEWS.
I, — A NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE EXTENSION OF THE DAIRY
INDUSTRY. — The improvement of dairy cows and the cairy industry have
for some time been making considerable progress in Argentina. The favour-
able conditions of the country, indeed, promise a brilhant future for this
important branch of agricultural industry. What, however, is necessary
is the organisation of the parties interested : association, indeed, has from
remote times been one of the most effectual conditions of success in this
branch of rural activity. Agricultural association in Argentina is still in its
infancy (i), but, already, together with the promising experiments being
made in the field of co-operative purchase and sale, especially in the pro-
vinces of Entre-Rios and Santa-Fe, we also observe a tendency towards
association among the dairy farmers.
We have already spoken in an earHer Bulletin (2) of attempts made
to institute cow-testing societies. We shall now mention an event of great
importance in connection with the matter.
In a meeting held in the beginning of February at the head quarters
of the Argentine Rural Society, on the initiative of Dr. P. Berges, a large
group of representatives of the dairy industry laid the foundation of a
national association to bear the name "Associacion Nacional de l/ccheria."
It will become a member of the International Dairy Federation at
Brussels.
The association proposes to undertake the defence of the perman-
ent interests of the dairy industry, to urge upon the public author-
(i) See Bulletin of Economic and Social lutelligence, December, 191 3. " The Co-oper-
ative Movement in Argentine Agriculture ".
(2) See the same Bulletin, April, 1914, page i. "Cow Testing Associations".
ARGENTINA - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
ities the adoption of measures for the development of the production and
trade in dairy produce and to ensure that the country is represented at
dairy congresses and international exhibitions.
The executive committee which is to manage the association in-
cludes six commissions, concerned : the first, with the production of the
milk and the scientific maintenance of the dairy and of the cows ; the
second with the sale of milk for consumption and the sterilization plant; the
third with the manufacture of butter ; the fourth with the manufacture of
cheese ; the fifth with the manufacture of other dairy produce and bye-
products ; the sixth with legislation, education and trade.
The new association, to which the principal societies, both com-
mercial and co-operative, have adhered, hopes to exert as early as possible
a beneficent action in favour of the industry which is now passing through
a critical period on account of epidemic thrush and the increased pro-
vincial and municipal taxes.
(Summarised from the Nacidn, Buenos Aires, February, 191 4 and the
Anales de la Sociedad Rural Argentina, January-February, 1914).
* *
2. — The work of an important argentine agricultural co-
operative SOCIETY. — The Province of Entre-Rios, the prosperous Meso-
potamia of Argentina, is, with those of Buenos Aires and Santa-Fe, the
district of the Republic in which agricultural co-operation is making most
progress. A fine example of this promising social movement is given by the
Luca Gonzales Mutual, which in a few years has attained considerable
importance.
The society was founded in 1908 as a society Hmited by shares, as are
most of the Argentine co-operative associations ; its objects are various,
including collective purchase, sale, credit and insurance.
On December 31st., I9i3,it had 471 members and a capital of 140,000
pesos.
It is installed in a building of the value of 22,611 pesos, including, be-
sides the hall for the meetings etc., a school and a workshop. It has recent-
ly built an iron shed for a warehouse at a cost of 4,500 pesos. The society
has its own monthly journal : El Colono.
During the year it arranged grants of loans to its members to a total
of 54,546 pesos, at 8 % interest, which, in the conditions of rural Argen-
tina, is certainly not high.
It bought 50 tons of linseed for distribution among 68 members at
cost price (12.50 pesos the quintal) ; as well as 100,000 grain bags, which
it sold to members at a rate (0.29 peso each) sHghtly above cost price,
but still below the market rate.
The Mutual, as we have said, also undertakes insurance, especially
hail insurance ; it has insured against hail 39,104 ha. sown with flax, wheat.
MISCEI.LANEOUS NEWS
oats, barley, and canary grass, for an amount of 1,347,118 pesos, for which
it collected 53,884 pesos in premiums (4% of the assured value). The
insured members gave bills. In the last season, 1913-1914, the society paid
14,876 pesos in claims, to 22 poHcy holders, tbe maximum claim being
2,510 pesos and the minimum 8 pesos.
The association has been exempted by the provincial government from
the necessity of taking out a licence and from all dues and taxes : the other
co-operative societies of the region have made application for similar con-
cessions and a bill for the purpose is under study.
At the last general meeting, it was decided to reserve 75 % of the
share capital to constitute the initial capital of the Banco de la Colonia,
an institution already contemplated in the rules, and the necessity for
which is felt more and more. This institute will be a new instrument
in the hands of the society and will increase its agricultural credit business,
acting as an intermediary between the members and the banks.
(Summarised from the Gaceta Rural, Buenos Aires, March, 1914).
*
3. — A CONGRESS OF AGRICUI.TURAI, CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES. — In
December last year, a congress of agricultural co-operative societies was
held at Santa-Fe at which 18 societies were represented : the delegates oc-
cupied themselves especially with co-operative legislation and urged the
approval of a law fixing the basis and regulating the working of these as-
sociations. Up to the present indeed the co-operative societies are not
regulated by special laws but are considered as societies in common
law (i). Various draft laws on co-operation are awaiting discussion.
The Congress further demanded the following facilitations for the
agricultural co-operative societies : exemption from all provincial and muni-
cipal taxes for ten years ; exemption from the necessity of taking out a
licence; reduction of rates of transport, concession of warehouses for grain
by the railway companies, preferably to co-operative societies.
Further, a desire was expressed that only those should be considered
co-operative societies that act in behalf of members and that societies
paying dividends to directors, be prohibited from assuming this title.
Finally, the institution of a federation of agricultural co-operative
societies was decided on.
(Summarised from the Anales de la Sociedad Rural Ar'^eniina, Buenos Aires,
January- February, 1914).
*
* *
4. — Co-OPERATION AND HOME COLONISATION. — The chief problem
of Argentine agricultural economy has always been that of colonisation :
(i) See Bulletin of Economic and Social Intelligence, December, 1913, "The Co-oper-
ative Movement in Argentine Agriculture ".
ARGENTINA - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
the land of the Repubhc has need of labourers, but of labourers resident
on the spot, of colonists who arraiguen as the people of the country say,
that is become landowners and constitute a permanent rural population.
Such settlers are now called for with greater insistence by the upper classes
who see in them the most efficacious means for extirpating the germs of agri-
cultural socialism which are taking root in the most fertile and popul-
ous provinces of the grain region. There has been no lack of bills indeed
on the matter: an entire scheme of agricultural reforms, (i) in connection
with the institution of the Banco agricolo nacional, which is to be founded,
has for some time been before Congress, awaiting discussion.
Meanwhile, some of the leading persons of the Defensa Agraria Nacio-
nal (2) have submitted a memorial to the Minister of Agriculture, in which
they lay down the lines for a system of colonisation on a co-operative basis.
Taking advantage of the sympathy shown by some landowners who have
offered land for the purpose, and rel5dng on the assistance of the Bank of
the Nation, until the special credit institute is founded, the Defensa Agra-
ria hopes to be able to form prosperous groups of colonies by applying the
co-operative principle on a large scale, starting with collective purchase
and gradually going on to the other more complex forms of credit,
sale etc.
A new institution, the agricultural register, must serve as a witness
to the economic and moral situation of the colonist, and so smooth his
way in working the farm. " Industry and honesty," says the report, " are
a valuable capital." The colonist who possesses these qualities, when he
desires to obtait: a holding of his own and a credit at the bank, will enter his
name in the agricultural register. Until the law appoints special offices for
the purpose, the register shall be kept in those of the Defensa Agraria.
Each colonist, when registering, shall declare his true financial and
economic situation, subject to prosecution for false declaration ; he shall
indicate his place of origin, the number of members in his family, the live-
stock he posserses and the method he proposes for purchasing the lot and
shall oblige himself not to employ paid labourers. If he has debts he must
declare them.
The Defensa Agraria shall foim agrictdtural colonies consisting of
at least 100 f amiUes on land granted by private owners ; the colonists must
be entered on the register. Every colony shall be formed into a co-operative
credit society ; every family may thus obtain a loan from the Bank of the
Nation, redeemable in three years' instalments. The amounts received on
credit shall be administered by the Defensa Agraria, which shall first of
(i) See Bulletin of Economic and Social Intelligence, October, 1913 : " Some Indications
of the Economic and Agricultural Progress of Argentina" and December, 1913, "The
Co-operative Movement in Argentine Agriculture ".
(2) An institution founded as a result of the agricultural crisis produced by the
drought in the south of the Provincie of Buenos Aires and in Pampa: its object is to
protect the common interests of the farmers and to encourage the development of agricul-
ture and livestock improvement.
MISCELLANEOUS NEWS
all found a co-operative distributive society to which every colonist shall
contribute by taking a share : the balance of each loan shall be deUvered to
the colonist on condition of his purchasing two Berkshire or Large Black
pigs, a dairy cow, plough horses, poultry, seeds etc.
These holdings must be declared bylaw undistrainable.
Besides the co-operative distributive society, there must be founded
later on a co-operative society for the sale of the members' produce, a
co-operative transport society etc.
In every colony, finally, a lot shall be reserved for a model farm to be
assigned to an experienced farmer, who shall cultivate it according to the
instructions of the Defensa Agraria. The colonists must visit this farm
every week and adopt the same methods of cultivation on their own farms.
The De/ensa Agraria will undertake to deal with the landowners :
none of its ofl&cers, as is natural, shall be paid,
These proposals seem to have met with the approval of the Minister
of Agriculture.
(Summarised from the Nacion, Buenos Aires, February 27tli., 1914).
AUSTRIA.
REGISTERED CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES AND FEDERATIONS
ON JANUARY ist., 1913.
The " 0 ester reichische landwirtschafiUche Genossenschafispresse " in its
issue of February 19th., (No. 255) 1914, published statistics of the registered
co-operative societies and federations in Austria on January ist., 1913, in
accordance with information suppHed by the I. R. Central Statistical
Commission. It appears from the article that, while in the preceding fif-
teen years there was a constant increase in the number of new societies
founded, reaching its maximum in 1911 with 1,646 new registered instit-
utions, in 1912 there was a falling off; in fact, the number of new societies
founded that year was only 1,365. The increase, which in 1912 was 10 %,
feU to 7.2 %, while the dissolutions increased from 1.7 to 1.8 %.
The reason for this is that recent events have shown the advisability
of proceeding very cautiously in the foundation of new societies ; at the
same time weaker organizations have disappeared. The increase in the dif-
ferent groups was : in the Schulze Delitzsch credit co-operative societies
7.1 %, in the Raiffeisen Banks 4.1 %, in the distributive societies 7.3 %,
in the agricultural societies 10.6 %, in the industrial societies 12.2 %,
in the group of co-operative building societies, now making great progress,
25.1 % (in 1911 56.4 %) and in the small group of the remaining soci-
eties 14.8 %).
The farmers have displayed the greatest activity in behalf of their organ-
ization ; 26.5 % of the entire increase is represented by agricultural co-oper-
ative societies and 24.6 % by the Raiffeisen rural banks ; then come the
other co-operative credit societies. 19.9 %, the industrial societies 10,2 %,
the building societies 11% and the distributive societies 7.3%. However, the
share of the farmers in the decrease, represented by the dissolution of 347
societies, was also large; in fact, 32.2 % of the entire decrease was in
agricultural co-operative societies and 3.7 % in rural banks; then 2.3 % in
industrial societies, 14.7 % in the other co-operative credit societies,
16.7 % in distributive societies, and 8 % in building societies.
REGISTERED CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES AND FEDERATIONS
As regards the increase and decrease in the various provinces, there is
first of all to be noted an extraordinary activity in Galicia in the direction
of founding societies ; in this province, in 1912, the co-operative societies
increased ii.i % ; the province thus shared in the total increase to the
amount of 34.2 %.
The decrease in this province was only 1.5 %, or 18.4 % of the total
number of dissolutions in the year. In Bohemia there was an increase of
7.1%, correspondiug with 25.4 % of the total increase, and 2.0 % of the
Bohemian societies were dissolved, that is to say 27.4 % of the total number
dissolved. Moravia shared in the total increase in the proportion of 10.7 %.
In the other provinces the increase was in proportion to their economic
development. In Camiola and Trieste there was indeed an increase but
not as great as in the preceding year. In 1912 Trieste lost 8.3 % of its
societies and Carniola 7.4 %.
In Galicia 162 Schulze-Delitzsch banks were founded, that is to say the
majority of those founded in 1912: however, at the same time, 30 were dis-
solved. In Galicia also the largest number of Raiffeisen Banks (136)
were founded.
The largest number of distributive societies (42) were registered in
Bohemia, in this kingdom also the largest number of societies (24) were
dissolved. The provinces in which there was the largest increase of agri-
cultural co-operative societies were Gahcia (109), Tyrol (55) and l/ower
Austria (40) : the largest number of dissolutions in this group took place
in Bohemia (32) and Camiola (24). There were 52 new industrial societies
founded in Bohemia, 31 in GaUcia and 22 in Moravia; the largest niunbers
dissolved belonged to Bohemia and Galicia (17 in each case). With regard to
the building societies, Bohemia comes first with 74 new foundations, then
Moravia and Vienna with 17 each ; there were 12 societies of this group dis-
solved in Bohemia, and 4 in Moravia and Vienna each.
The following table is drawn up from information given in the above
article of the " Oestcrreichische landwirtschaftliche Genossenschaftspresse ".
Date
Number
of
Registered
Co-oper-
ative
Societies
C«- oper-
ative
Credit
Societies
Co-oper-
ative
Distribu-
tive
Societies
Agri- Indus-
cultural trial
Co-oper- Co-oper-
ative ative
Societies Societies
^''^P^^- other „ ,
Societies l^*^"^**
i 1
January ist., 1912 .
January ist., 19 13 .
17,819
18,837
".579
12,123
1,428
I.471
3.175
3.425
1,099
1,161
478
601
54
56
92
95
Increase
Diminution ....
1.365
347
608
64
lOI
58
362
112
141
79
151
28
8
6
4
I
AUSTRIA - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOaATION
These 18,837 registered societies may be distributed as follows accord-
ing to nationality:
German . ,
Bohemian
Polish . . ,
Ruthenian .
Slovenian .
Serbo-Croat
Italian . . .
Roumanian ,
NO
6.538
(= 34.7 %)
5.303
{- 28.2 %)
2,917
(= 15.5 %)
1,525
[= 8.1 %)
952
[= 5.1 %)
488 <
= 2.5%)
896 (
= 4.8 %)
218 1
.= I.I %)
Total
N". 18,837
[= 100 %)
CANADA.
I. THE SASKATCHEWAN CO-OPERATIVE ELEVATOR COMPANY.
The following article has been supplied to us by Mr. T. K, Dohkrty, Canadian Corre-
spondent of the International Institute of Agriculture, uttder whose direction it was
prepared.
§. I. Incorporation and powers
The Saskatchewan Co-operative Elevator Company was incorporated
by the Saskatchewan Legislature in March, 1911. It was created in
response to the requests of the organised farmers of Saskatchewan,
who claimed they were not fairly treated by the corporate interests
which, in a measure, controlled the grain trade. Its purpose was to
establish a company of farmers as well directed and as strong finan-
cially as any existing corporation in the grain trade and thereby raise
the standard of business practice and insure a larger measure of fair
dealing.
By the Act of incorporation the company is given power " to con-
struct, acquire, maintain and operate grain elevators within Saskat-
chewan, to buy and sell grain, and generally to do all things incidental
to the production, storing and marketing of grain. "
The capital stock of the company is not a fixed amount as is
the case with ordinary companies : it may be changed from time to
time by the Government. This is because the Government loans the
company a large percentage of its subscribed capital and therefore has
retained the control of the amount of stock the company may issue.
The stock is divided into shares of fifty dollars each which can be
held only by farmers, and no person can hold more than twenty
shares. Only 15 % of the face value of the shares need be paid in
cash ; the remaining 85 % is subject to call. The liability of a share-
holder is limited to the amount of stock he holds.
The company is to establish local elevators at different points, and
each of these elevators will have a local Board of Management. The
central management is in the hands of a Board of nine directors, elected
10 CANADA - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
at the general meetings of the company, who exercise all such powers
of the company as are not by the Act required to be exercised by the
company in general meetings or as are not conferred by by-law of the
company upon the local Boards of Management, and any other powers
not contrary to the provisions of the Act which may be conferred upon
them by the by-laws of the company. Wide powers have been given
to the Board of Directors because such a central body has a great ad-
vantage over a number of scattered units in such matters as selling the
grain, employing managers, inspecting elevators and records, purchasing
building materials and supplies, making financial arr angements, etc.
§ 2. Local ei,evators.
Any number of shareholders may request the directors of the com-
pany to buy one of the elevators at theii shipping point, or to build
a new one. It must appear to the satisfaction of the directors " that
the amount of shares held by the supporters of the proposed local ele-
vator is at least equal to the value of the proposed elevator, that fifteen
per cent, of the amount of such shares has been paid up and that the
aggregate annual crop acreage of the said shareholders represents a pro-
portion of not less than 2,000 acres for each 10,000 bushels of elevator
capacity asked for. " These requirements are designed to secure and re-
tain the interest and support of a sufficient number of the actual grain-
growing farmers to insure the success of the local elevator even if no
grain other than that grown by shareholders were handled by the ele-
vator. No pledge or guarantee of any kind is required of the shareholder.
He is as much at liberty as any other farmer to ship h!s grain as
he pleases or to sell it to the highest bidder. His interest in the com-
pany, however, makes it practically certain that he will do his business
through it.
Each local elevator has a Board of Management consisting of five of
the shareholders elected annually. At all meetings of the supporters of
the local elevator each shareholder has one vote for each share held by
him up to five. The local elevators are represented by delegates at the
general meeetings of the Company.
§ 3. Government assistance.
By the Act the money for the work of organisation of the company
was to be given by the Government to the extent of $ 6,000 if neces-
sary. This was not to be repaid by the company. The Government
lends to the company, for the purpose of aiding in the acquisition or
construction of any local elevator a sum not exceeding eighty-five per
THE SASKATCHEWAN CO-OPERATIVE ELEVATOR COMPANY II
cent, of the estimated cost of the elevator. This money is repayable in
twenty annual instalments.
For the purpose of carrying on its business the company may borrow
from a bank on the security of part of its stock that is not paid up. It
may hypothecate to the bank the grain which it will buy, and it may
mortgage any real or personal property rights and assets it acquires.
The Government neither gives nor loans to the company any money with
which to buy grain or carry on any other lines of business.
§ 4. Division of profits.
The balance remaining of the money earned by the company, after
expenses of operating and maintaining the elevators and the amounts due
to the Government on loans are paid, is distributed as follows:
1. The company may at its discretion pay out of the surplus to
each shareholder a dividend of not more than ten per cent.
2. If after the said dividends, if any, are paid, there remains a balance
on hand the company may at its discretion distribute :
(a) To the shareholders of the company such sums as may be
fixed by the company but not exceeding fifty per cent, of such balance
on a co-operative basis, each shareholder being entitled to receive such
sum hereunder as shall be fairly and equitably proportionate to the vol-
ume of business which he has brought to the company; or
{b) To the supporters of locals such sums as the company may
fix but not exceeding fifty per cent of such balance on the basis of the
aggregate relative net financial results of the respective locals: or
(c) To the shareholders and supporters of locals partly according
to each of the schemes of distribution provided for in clauses {a) and {b)
of this subsection such sums as the company may fix but not exceeding
on the aggregate fifty per cent, of such balance.
{(i) Or in lieu of any or all of the payments authorized under
this or the next preceeding subsection as aforesaid it may appl^'' such
surplus or balance to the extent of fifty per cent, thereof for the general
purposes of the company or in making provision for the same.
§ 5. The work of the company.
Since its inception the company has been increasingly successful in
its work. During the year ending Jvily 31st., 1913, 137 elevators were ope-
rated. There were handled by these elevators 12,899,030 bushels of
grain, 4,384,635 bushels of which were purchased by the company and
8,514,395 bushels specially binned for farmers. The commission depart-
ment of the Compan}' at Winnipeg handled 8,515,037 bushels of grain
12 CANADA - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
on commission, and also sold for the elevator department 4,246,649 bush-
els of the company's purchased grain. The profits for the year amounted
to $ 167,926.86.
The authorized share capital was $ '^.,000,000 of which S 1,514,350
were subscribed and $227,152.50 paid up.
A successful future seems to be assured for the company. In No-
vember, 1913, the number of local elevators had increased to 192, com-
prising 13,156 shareholders holding a total of 36,362 shares. Sixt3^-three
persons are employed at the head ofiice, 22 at Winnipeg office and 310
men in the operating department. In addition 145 men were employed
in the construction department.
Looking forward to the future development of the company as a
factor in the grain marketing situation, the necessity of some action by
the company in regard to the carrying of the grain of its patrons further
than to the head of the Great Lakes, is being considered by the direc-
tors. A close study of the financial and other problems connected
with carr5dng the grain grown by Saskatchewan farmers right through to
the consumer is now being conducted, and there is every reason to be-
lieve, provided financial arrangements can be made, that the company
may be able to effect an improvement in the prices realized by the
producer by extending the area of its operations right through to Europe.
2. COUNTRY SCHOOL CLUBS.
OFFICIAI, SOURCES :
School fairs in Canada. Information supplied by the several Provincial Departments of
Agriculture to the "Agricultural Gazette of Canada", published by the Department of
Agriculture, Ottawa, 1914.
OTHER SOURCES :
ARTICLES, NOTES ctc, in the Canadian Agricultural Press.
The Canadian Country School Boys' and Girls' Clubs, have only
been founded within the last few years and in their general principles
they resemble those of the United States (i).
Their objects are as follows : (i) to make farmers' children
acquainted with the most improved systems of agriculture, livestock
(i) See Bulletin of Economic and Social IntelHi^ence. 2nd. J'ear, No. i.
COUNTRY SCHOOL CLUBS I3
improvement etc.; (2) to arouse their interest in field life, show them
the possibilities of comfort and of profit afforded by agriculture as com-
pared with other occupations; to educate the young to love nature and ap-
preciate her beauties; (3) to habituate them to the organization of labour,
and to the search for means by which to succeed in the economic contests
of to-day.
The organization of these- associations is not uniform in all the Can-
adian provinces ; however, thej^ are generally inspired by the same
principles.
Whilst among the various schoolfellows there should reign the most
cordial fellow feeling, it is attempted to keep alive in them a noble spirit
of emulation to urge each to do his best. Therefore, the first aim of these
School Clubs is to found school fairs, either independently or in connection
mth the local or pro\dncial agricultural shows. These school fairs are awak-
ening great interest among maturer agriculturists ; often private persons
offer prizes in money or under other forms; the agricultural papers print
the portrait of the prize winner with laudatory remarks. This is enough
to excite in the mind of the 3'oung the desire to learn, to make progress,
to struggle and to taste the sweet satisfaction of victory.
Let us now give some information in regard to the work of these as-
sociations, briefly describing their action in the various parts of Canada :
Nova Scotia. — In Xova Scotia the movement for the formation of
School Clubs, though of very recent origin, bids fair to produce good
results. Already ^•arious fairs have been held.
In 1913 various circulars were addressed to the scholars, their masters
and parents, explaining the aims and objects of the organizition and request-
ing their co-operation.
We think it well to reproduce in fuU the form of Constitution and
By-laws of these Xova vScotia clubs, to give a clearer idea of their
organization and working.
Constitution.
I. Name. — This Club shall be known as the (Name of Section) . . .
School Children's (Name of Product) Club.
II. Purposes. — The purposes of this Club are : — to make out door
life more attractive ; to increase our knowledge of Nature in all her
forms ; to make our best approach the best in garden production ; to
experiment in the selection of garden seeds, the use of fertiUsers and the
cu Itivation of the soil ; in short to improve ourselves, our ho mes, our
school and our town in every way we possibly can.
III. ]\lEMBERS. — An}' pupil over ten years of age shall be eligible for
membership. Those under ten who have reached Grade V are eligible.
14 CANADA - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
IV. Officers. — The officers of the dub shall be a President, Vice-Pre-
sident and Secretar}'. The teacher shall have the general superv'ision of
the club work. Officers shall be elected semi-annually.
V. Reports. — The Secretary shall send a Report not later than
December ist. of each year to the Director of Rural Science Schools,
Truro, N. S.
VI. Meetings. — The Club shall meet fortnightly, or as often as sug-
gested by the teacher. It is desirable that the parents attend the club
meetings.
By-l.\\vs.
1. Members of the club must conduct themselves properly at all
times; and must read from Uterature that will help them in their work.
2. Members are permitted to choose club colors; and may make
pennants for display at their meetings, at exhibits and wherever deemed
proper by the teacher.
3. In contesting for garden prizes, the produce and the land must be
measured by the pupil and certified by two disinterested persons.
4. No pupil may win more than two prizes until every contestant
has received a prize.
5. In estimating profits, tv/o dollars per acre shall be charged as rent
for the land. The boy's work shall be valued at 10 cents an hour. Horse
work shall also be 10 cents an hour. Manure shall be charged at $ i.oo
per cart load.
Seeds and commercial fertilizers shall be charged at their actual
cost. The use of hand tools shall be charged each year at the rate of one
tenth of their cost. (With care they should last ten years).
6. Prizes shall be awarded on the following basis:
Greatest yield per acre 20 points.
Best exhibit of produce 20 »
Best kept garden 20 »
Best written account of work 20 «
Best profit on investment 20 »
Total . . . 100 points.
With regard to the manner in which these fairs are started and conduct-
ed, we reproduce the remarks of a school master (i).
(i) From a letter by Mr. B. S. Banks, Principal of the I,awreucetown School, .\nuap0li5
County, Neva Scotia, to the " Agricultural Gazette " of Canada.
COUNTRY SCHOOI, CLUBS 1 5
" Leading citizens, who were willing to guarantee the prize money,
called a public meeting, at which a board of management and a committee
to formulate Rules and Regulations were appointed.
" Special emphasis was laid upon " Home Gardens " planted and cared
for by the pupils. The " Garden Committee " inspected these gardens at
least three times during the season, as the prizes in this department were
awarded according to the care taken.
" The exhibits must be the bona fide production of the pupils, including
not only his own garden products, of which he must exhibit a sample
of everv'thing grown, good or bad; but insects, mounted and named with
life history; pressed wild plants; drawings of harmful and useful birds;
potted p'ants; any production in wood, clay or metal, useful or orna-
mental; collections of native woods; sewing, patching, darning, knitting,
painting, writing, essays etc.
" In the three exhibitions so far held, the prize money has been derived
from an entrance fee of ten cents and from the sale of ice-cream and con-
fectioner\-, contributed by the citizens and made and sold by the pupils
to the visitors at the fair.
" Greater interest is shown by the trustees and parents. Women
leave their home duties to teach the pupils needle work on two afternoons
per week, as we have no manual training teacher proper.
" From my experience, I can safely say that in any section where
co-operation exists between the trustees, parents and pupils, it is possible
to have a ver\' successful vSchool Fair. "
Quebec. — In Quebec the initiative in the matter of School Agricultural
Associations has been taken by the Poultry Department of ^Macdonald
College, Ste Anne de Bellevue, which has promoted Girls' and Boys' Poultry
Clubs throughout the Province.
The meetings of these associations cannot usually be held regularly
or with sufficient frequency'; so in order to maintain contact between the
members, to keep the object in view and to preserve interest in it, the
Poultry- Department of IMacdonald College publishes a pamphlet every
month, which will be sent to all members. The contribution is lo cents.
Three associations ha\'e been founded: the " Girls' and Boys' Poultry
Club " at the Lennoxville Academy with 23 members; a second at the
Cookshire Academy with 63 members and at the »Shawville Academy a third,
also with a membership of 63. A board of officers, consisting of a president,
vicepresident, treasurer and secretary, is elected by the pupils from among
their number. The initiators of the movement hope that everv* school
may have just such a club as here organized, and each school send in a
representative to a central club to deal exclusively >Adth the arrangements
for exhibiting the products at the fairs.
In this way the pupils will be habituated to a rather complex organ-
ization of labour, not without its responsibilities: and this is an excellent
wa}' to develop their character, to bring out their individualities, and prepare
them early for co-operative work.
l6 CANADA - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
The first school fair in Quebec Province was held in Pontiac County in
connection with the County Agricultural Fair; the result was excellent ;
but it was decided in future to hold the school fair separate, as the work
of the children was overshadowed by the larger exhibits.
Ontario. — The organization of the Ontario clubs is somewhat different
from that of those of Nova Scotia and Quebec. The preliminary work is
undertaken by district representatives of the Department of Agriculture,
who select a certain number of schools which converge to one centre.
Each school is visited and the idea of holding a Fair in Autumn, open solely
to the exhibits of the children, is explained. The school is asked to nomin-
ate one boy or girl to act as Director of the Rural vSchool Fair Association
of the district. Sometimes, the teacher selects the director, but more fre-
quently he or she is elected, and it has been found that the children in-
variably elect the best boy or girl to represent them.
The district representative then offers to supply seeds or a limited
number of eggs to pupils desiring to enter, the condition being that they
must exhibit the return from what they have taken.
When all the schools have named their directors, a meeting of the
Association is held, usually in the office of the district representative,
and a President, Vice-President and Secretary are elected from among
the boys and girls. They are left as independent as possible, so that they
may act freely and may accept the responsibility for their work.
During the summer season the district representative or his assistant
visits each of the contestants at home, so as to judge of their work and
get into touch with the parents. The fair is held in September or October;
a convenient school being generally chosen as the site, right on the cross-
roads, so as to be easily accessible to the various contestants.
The clubs have made very rapid progress in Ontario. In 1913, 69
Rural School Fairs were held in 31 counties, taking in the children in
531 schools, making a total of 18,652 entries and having an attendance
of 33,375.
Manitoba. — Also in Manitoba, the Boys' and Girls' Clubs have made
considerable progress, thanks to grants received from the School Board
and the Agricultural Society. In 1913 eight club fairs were held.
Saskatchewan. — In Saskatchewan, not only does the Government
give aid to these clubs, but various agricultural associations of the province
have shown considerable interest in them and have offered about twenty
five hundred dollars in prizes. So that rapid progress may be anticipated.
From what we have said above, it is clear that the enlightened action
of the Agricultural Departments of the various provinces and the other
organizations that have promoted these clubs is worthy of all praise for
the initiation of a most useful work and for not having shackled it with
too many regulations and excessive supervision.
MISCELLANEOUS NEWS 1 7
Everything connected with these clubs is eminently practical ; for the
pupils do not in this way derive a merely theoretical knowledge of agriculture,
but are brought into direct and immediate contact with it. Besides, as
regards the organization of the clubs and fairs, the scholars, are left the
greatest liberty of action, so that they may early develop such qualities
as may prepare them for future difficulties.
The clubs are also an excellent means for combating rural exodus.
When the children have already obtained good results from their farm
work, they are less Hkely to abandon the country to try their fortune in
the cities. They, finally, will be a potent influence for technical improvement
of agricultural systems; a knowledge of new methods, new seeds, new
breeds of livestock, of which it is improbable trial would otherwise be made,
is diffused in the country by the authorities through these clubs. Older
farmers, considering with sympathy the attempts and successes of these
children, have more than once profited bj' their experience.
3. MISCKIylvANEOUS NEWS.
Recent work of the women's institutes. — Although we have
already once before dealt with the Canadian Women's Institutes in this
Bulletin (i), it will be well to give some further particulars with regard to
them, especially as in our former article we were only concerned with the
Province of Ontario. And also these Women's Institutes — the very name
indicates their eminently educational object — have powerfully contributed
to improve the position of the Canadian farmwomen, while also
raising their intellectual level, and therefore justify the interest they
have aroused, even beyond the limits of the country in which thej' had their
origin. They have been copied with excellent results, especially in the
United vStates, where similar associations have arisen and have made
abundant progress (2).
For the internal organization of the Canadian " Women's Institutes",
we refer our readers to the article above mentioned.
(r) See our number for May, 191 3.
(2) See our number for April, 1912
l8 CANADA - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
Let US now proceed briefly to consider the recent work of these
associations in some of the provinces of Canada, beginning with
Ontario. — Here they were first founded and here their development
has been most remarkable. At present there are 800 of them, with about 25,000
members. In the year 1912-13, lecturers were sent to 1,377 meetings and
6,204 meetings were held without the assistance of outside lecturers. After
some years of a somewhat superficial consideration of domestic science and
health problems, the members of the Institute apj^reciate to the full the sy-
stematic courses which are now being offered. In the year 1912-1913, 1,667
persons attended the demonstration lecture courses.
We shall now give the items of the revenue and expenditure of the On-
tario Farmwomen's Clubs in the year 1912-1913.
Revenue. Expenditure.
Dollars Dollate
Cash on Hand per I<ast Keport . . . 14,257
Members' Fees 5,728
Grants 6,534
Miscellaneous 19,674
Total Receipts . . . 46,193
Expense for Meetings
2,142
Officers' Salaries and Expenses
2,898
Postage and Stationery ....
995
Printing and Advertising. . . .
1,783
lyecturers' Expenses and Wages
1,599
Books and Periodicals
1,550
Miscellaneous
16,905
Tcjtal Expenditure . . .
27,872
Credit Balance i'^,32i Dollars.
Manitoba. — In this province these associations are called Home Eco-
nomic Societies. Their progress has been very rapid recently. The Depart-
ment of Agriculture, through the Agricultural College, has directed the work
and appointed special inspectors and lecturers to travel through the province,
organize new societies, give courses of instruction in those already existing
and supervise their work.
Under the direction of the Agricultural Department of the High School
at Holland (Manitoba), night classes have been arranged in dairy science
and home science.
British Columbia. — There are thirty five women's Institutes in this
province, incorporated under the Agricultural Associations Act, with a mem-
bership of over 2,000. The work of these institutes has been greatly aided
by the Provincial Department of Agriculture and the sum of $ 2,500 was
set aside out of the Federal grant for short course work in connection with
Women's Institutes.
New Brunswick. — In New Brunswick, there are 1,000 members in
41 local " Women's Institutes ".
In Saskatchewan and Alberta, domestic science courses have been held,
though not directly in connection with women's institutes.
MISCELLANEOUS NEWS I9
Let US close these brief notes with a few figures showing the amounts
granted to the various provinces by the Federal Government under the
Agricultural Instruction Act, for the Women's Institutes and Domestic
Science linstruction.
Prince Edward Island : Dollars
(Women's Institutes) 3,000
Xova Scotia :
(Organization of Women's Institutes) 1,000
New Bruns'S'ick:
(Organization of Women's Institutes and other Associations for
Women in the Rural Districts) 3,000
Quebec :
(Domestic Science) 7,00c
Ontario :
(Women's Institutes, with courses of Instruction in Cooking, Dress-
making etc.) 6,300
Manitoba :
(Journeys of a Domestic Economy Teacher, including Expenses, 2,500,
Home Economic Societies Demonstration Work Equipment,
2,500) 5,000
A Iberta :
(For Domestic Science) 2,000
British Columbia :
(For Short Courses in Domestic Science, Hygiene, Home Treatment
of the Sick, Dressmaking, Cooking etc. in connection with
Women's Institutes) 2,500
The amount of these grants clearly shows the interest the public
authorities are taking in the women's institutes and the importance they
rightly attach to them.
(From the Report on the Women's Institutes of the Province of Ontario 191 3. Part /»
published by the Ontario Department of Agriculture, Toronto, 1913 and the .-4 iricitl-
tural Gazette of Canada, published by the Department of A.gricullure, OUawa,
Canada. Numbers for Januarj', March, and April, 1913).
FRANCE.
RURAL CO-OPERATI\rE BAKEHOUSES.
SOURCES :
Statistique des Societes Co-operatives de Production' [Statistics of Co-operative
Societies for Production). Bulletin du Ministere du Travail et de la Prevoyance sociale,
November, 191 3.
RoCQUiGNY (Comte de): Una Enquete sur les boulangeries cooperatives rurales [An
Enquiry into the Rural Co-operative Bakehouses). Musee Social, December, 1S99.
§ I. Importance op bakehouses in the co-operative movement
IN FRANCE.
The co-operat"ve bakehouses occupy an :mportant position among
French co-operative distributive societies. The latest official statistical
return compiled from the annual statements of the prefects shows that out
of 3,145 co-operative distributive societies of which the existence was known
on January ist., 1913, 2,148 were exclusively bakehouses. Of these 1,160 com-
municated the number of their members and the amount of their turn-
over ; the total number of members was 272,159 and the total turnover
61,755,500 frs. In addition, 71 bakehouses only communicated the number
of their members, 8,546.
The following table shows the distribution of these bakehouses per
department. No co-operative bakehouse was reported from the depart-
ments not shown in the table.
RURAL COOPERATIVE BAKEHOUSES
21
Department
Total
Number
of
Co-oper-
ative
Bake-
houses
Bakehouses Reporting
Number of Members and Amount
of Turnover
Bake-
houses
Turnover
Bakehouses only
Reporting Number
of Members
Bake-
houses
Members
Ain
Aisne
AUier
Basses-Alpes . . .
Hautes-Alpes . . .
Ard^che
Ardennes
Ari^ge
Aube
Aude
Aveyron
Boudies-du-Rh6ne
Calvados
Cantal
Charente
Charente-Inferieure
Cher
Corr^ze
Cote-d'Or . . . .
Creuse
Dordogne . . . .
Doubs
Drome
Eure-et-I<oir . . .
Finist^re
Gard
Haute-Garoune . .
Gars
Gironde
Herault
Indre
Iudre-et-I<oire . .
Jura
I^andes
I/Dir-et-Cher . . .
5
33
3
2
I
7
22
I
i6
2
lO
15
2
2
54
213
7
5
6
I
8
3
2
I
2
34
2
17
99
9
2
30
3
8
15
4
33
3
2
I
6
22
I
15
I
8
14
2
2
44
195
7
5
6
I
7
3
2
I
2
34
I
15
93
8
2
28
3
7
15
598
6,667
1,007
191
171
986
4,001
66
2,349
104
2,248
1,780
368
485
8,352
31,420
1,461
1,183
986
196
4,780
751
449
460
350
5»i9o
82
2,169
14-651
r,iii
167
6,845
226
I,i66
1,467
103,000
1,730,000
256,000
66,000
64,000
176,000
1,240,500
27,000
1,064,000
23,500
402,500
455,500
86,000
78,500
3,000,500
6,577.500
338,500
216,000
335,000
87,500
694,000
220,000
71,500
75,000
65,000
790,500
40,000
515,000
3,296,000
230,500
77,000
1,442,500
63.000
335,500
268,000
9
15
60
17
I
87
I
70
2
145
I
73
1,189
1,178
30
70
477
499
181
90
22
FRANCE - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOaATION
Department
Total
Number
of
Co-oper-
ative
Bake-
houses
Bakehouses Reporting
Number of Jlembers and Amount
of Turnover
Bakeliouses only
Reporting Number
of Members
Bake-
houses
Turnover
Bake-
houses
Members
I,oire
Haute-I/3ire . . .
lyoire-Inferieure . .
I«oiret
I,ot
lyOt-et-Gaxonne . .
I«ozdre
Maine-et-I/)ire . .
Mame
Haute-Mame . . .
Mayenne
Meuse
Morbihan ....
Xievre
Nord
Oise
Pas-de-Calaii . . .
Puy-de-D6me . . .
BasscF-Pyrenees
Hautes-P5-renees .
Pyrenees- Orien tales
Haut-Khin (Belfort)
Rhone
Sa6ne-et-I,oirc . .
Sarthe
Haute- Savoie . . .
Seine
Seine-Inferieure . .
Seine-et-Marne . .
Seine-et-Oise . . .
Deux-S^vres . . .
Sommc
Tarn
Tam-et-Garonn-- .
Var
i6
5
5
4
I
14
2
6
3
I
I
I
20
7
66
II
8
i6
4
2
2
2
23
54
7
5
3
4
12
9
lOl
8
6
5
i6
5
5
3
I
12
2
5
3
I
I
I
20
5
62
II
7
i6
3
I
2
2
23
54
7
5
3
4
12
9
97
6
4
5
18
3.957
623
2,742
2,330
227
1.794
278
1,278
650
172
500
56
5>353
644
52,390
3,341
1.703
1,901
1,070
150
238
1,040
6,905
7,187
1,681
582
1,575
11,172
2,077
2,997
23.150
1,432
651
963
1,961
708,000
91,500
515,000
469,000
27,500
340,500
36,500
288,500
130,000
41,500
110,000
8,500
1,090,000
176,000
12,328,000
549,500
344,000
379,000
281,500
108,000
46,000
169,000
1,148,000
3,669,000
279,500 ,
100,000
305,000 j
861,000 j
694,000
680,000
4,636,500 i
421,000
118,500
149,500
371,000 I
158
375
92
2 315
750-
3 I 392
2 I 269
1 250
1
2 ' 235
RURAL CO-OPERATIVE BAKEHOUSES
23
Department
Total
Number
of
Co-oper-
ative
Bake-
houses
Bakehouses Reporting
Number of Members and Amount
of Turnover
Bakehouses only
Reporting Number
of Members
Bake- 1 „ ^
houses Members
Turnover
Bake- ,^ .
houses 1 Members
Vaucluse
Vendee
Vienne
29
38
44
7
41
I
19
37
43
7
40
1,785
7.330
6,473
1,431
5,887
396,000
1,511,000
1,903,500
255,500
1,459,000
10
I
I
I
712
117
95
120
Haute-Vienre
\'osges
Algeria-Gran
Total . . .
1,248
1,160
272,159
61,775,500
71
8,546
Besides these bakehouses properly so called, there are 622 co-operative
societies reported as selling both bread and other articles. Of these 622 so-
cieties, 608 communicated both the number of their members (282,247)
and the amount derived from their sales, whether of bread or other articles
(128,820,500 frs.).
The prefect of Ardennes was able to obtain most interesting information
with regard to the amount derived exclusively from the sale of bread by
a certain number of societies in his department engaged at the same time
in the sale of bread and that of other articles. In 35 societies the total
turnover was 4,166,000 frs. and the amount derived fiom the sale of bread
alone 1,573,000 frs. The enquiry did not obtain similar information in
the case of the other departments.
It is to be observed further that the information obtained did not
always show which of these societies, whether co-operative bakehouses
or societies seUing both bread and other articles, made their bread them-
selves. Only the prefect of Ardennes could obtain this information ; the
21 bakehouses in his department made their own bread, as did also 31
out of the 32 societies reporting to the enquiry, which were engaged at
the same time in the sale of bread and of other articles. It is to be pre-
sumed that many societies do so : yet there are some which only sell bread
obtained from a baker.
lyCt us finally point out that in the case of some bakehouses in rural
communes it is not easy to estimate the turnover, as these societies supply
members with bread in exchange for wheat. The prefects reported
35 societies of this character (Basses- Alpes, i ; Bouches-du-Rhone, 4 ; Cha-
arente, 12 ; Charente-Inferieure, 8 ; Gironde, 2 ; Meuse, i ; Oise, 2 ; Basses-
Pyrenees, I ; Hautes-Pyrenees, i ; Deux-Sevres, i ; Var, 2).
24 FRANCE - CX)-OPERATlON AND ASSOCIATION
§ 2. Different kinds of rural co-operative bakehouses.
These rural co-operative bakehouses which, unfortunately, the oflficial
enquiry has not distinguished separately, tend to penetrate into every
region, following in some sort, step by step, the foundation of industrial
bakehouses, promoted on its side by the progressive abandonment of the
old custom the farmers' famihes had of baking their own bread.
The rural co-operative bakehouses assume, according to the enquiry
of the Musee Social, three special forms :
1st. The private civil society, very widely spread in the region of
Charente and la Vendee ;
2nd. The society with variable capital and variable number of members,
which is the ordinary type of co-operative distributive society ;
3rd. The civil society en commandite simple, which seems to be peculiar
to Touraine.
We shall consider these three types in order.
I. The private civil society. — This kind of societj^ is governed by
the provisions of the Ci\'il Code ; its legal form has the advantage that there
are no essential formalities for its constitution and that it is exempt
from fiscal charges and taxes ; it is thus perfectly adapted for local instit-
utions of a very marked family character. The joint and several li-
ability of members is expressly laid down in the rules.
The rules of the Breadmaking Society of Coulon (Deux-Sevres), founded
in 1 88 1, begin with the following preamble :
" The Coulon Breadmaking Society is a mutual organization, the special
object of which is to purchase flour for cash, make bread and supply it
to its members on more favourable terms than are usually given by the
trade. Good quality, uniform weight and moderate prices are the three
principal guarantees it ofiers. By buying wholesale it counts on saving
the consumers what they would otherwise have to pay the middlemen, "
The members of the co-operative bakehouses of the West do not pay
an annual contribution : they pay a simple entrance fee, generally fixed at 8
or 10 frs., a part of which, considered as a share, may be refunded without
interest, when the situation of the society allows. But, by a provision quite
in accordance with the fraternal soHdarity by which the co-operators
must be united, persons are often exempted from payment of this entrance
fee when they are well known to be unable to pay, and orders for bread
are given them on the same conditions as to the other members, "without
their having any share in the profits or losses of the society", as is stated
in the rules.
Members reaping their own grain, have a right to bake at home, but
they are bound to deliver to the society a quantity of bread usually fixed
at half that of the household's weekly consumption. They may send
their grain to the co-operative bakehouse and receive orders for bread in
exchange; the grain is sorted by the society and the price fixed by the
RIIRAI, CO-OPERATIVE BAKEHOUSES 2$
office at the market rate. Yet the member's grain accepted is limited to
the requirements of the bakehouse, and no more is received when there
is a sufficient quantity in the warehouse.
The price of the bread is fixed, at the end of each month, by the office
in accordance with the general expenses of the previous month and the cost
price of the merchandise utilised in the month. Orders for bread are sold to
the members for cash ; they may also obtain flour, bran, embers and ashes
either in return for orders or for cash. The mayors of the communes in the
district of the society have the right, on 48 hours' notice to the secretar}^ and
book-keeper, to take from the bakehouse the amount of bread allowed to the
the poor ; payment is only made at the end of each month or quarter b}- the
Charity Bureau. The members cannot, under pain of expulsion, sell
the bread or any other article supplied by the society ; but exception is
made in favour of innkeepers who are authorised to supply themselves in
order to meet the requirements of their profession, and this is perhaps
a slight deviation from co-operative principles.
The society is administered by a bureau and a committee of super-
vision appointed at the General fleeting of shareholders. The members
appointed may not refuse office under penalty of a fine. The paid employees
are a baker, a bread porter and a secretar}^ and bookkeeper ; they are ap-
pointed by the bureau and must give security : these offices, for whi:h
there are many applicants, are often put up to tender.
In case the dissolution of the society becomes necessary, it is decided
on at the General JMeeting and the bureau is entrusted with the liquid-
ation, the profits or losses being distributed among all the members in
proportion to the total amount contributed by each since the society's
foundation.
2. The society with variable capital and variable number of members. —
The bakehouses of this type are regulated by law of July 24th., 1867 on
societies.
Their legal object is the purchase of wheat or flour and the exclusive
manufacture of bread under the best and cheapest conditions possible.
The capital is generally 2,000 or 3,000 frs. An excellent example of this type
is the co-operative bakehouse of Montchanin-le-Haut (Saone-et-Loire),
founded in 1880 with a capital of 2,000 frs. in 50 francs shares. The first
payment of 20 frs., to be made at date of s ubscription, gives a right to bread
on credit for a month : on the first Sunday- of each month the accounts in the
passbooks are regulated and payments made. The member who ceases
his orders for bread without sufficient reason has ten francs deducted fiom
his share of the capital, to pay the costs of settlement of his account. In con-
formity with the rules regulating these societies, the obligation incurred
by each member is limited to the payment of his subscription. The society
is administered by a board of nine members, elected at the members'
general meeting for three years, a third of the number of members being
elected every year ; the secretary and the cashier, elected in the same way,
are members of the board by right of office. The cashier is bound to give se-
curity to the amount of the initial capital. Four commissary members, ap-
26 FRANCE - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
pointed each week, in numerical order, are charged to inspect the whole
business of the bakehouse. An ordinary general meeting is held every
four months. Every six months there is a general taking of stock, and,
every month a statement is made of the whole assets and liabilities of the
society ; these documents are posted at the head office.
After deduction of the expenditure and the charges for the year, the
profits must be distributed at the general meetings as follows :
10% to a reserve fund, which will cease to be compulsory when it
amounts to one fourth of the capital ;
10 % to a fund for the assistance of members who are recognised to be
unable to pay for their bread (the society suppHes them with it for one
month only and then the general meeting decides by vote in regard to
their situation) ;
8o *^/ to be distributed among all the members by means of a reduction
of the price of bread.
In case of Hquidation, either anticipated or at the date contemplated
in the rules, the assets available after payment of all debts, charges and
engagements of the society, are distributed equally among the members
in proportion to their contributions.
To meet the case of disputes between members or between the board
and members, a conciliation committee of nine members is appointed at
the general meeting, to settle, without recourse to legal proceedings, in
agreement with the board of management all differences that may arise
within the society.
3. The civil society " en commandite simple " . — As we have already
said, the societies of this type are met scarcely anywhere except in
Touraine. The provisions of their rules, which exhibit an interesting applic-
ation of co-operative principles, have been generally imitated from those
of the two large co-operative bakehouses of the town of Tours, the Frater-
nelle and the Ruche tourangelle. Thus, the co-operative bakehouse of
Rochecorbon (Indre-et-Loire) is a civil society en commafidite simple,
formed to provide its members with the bread they require at as low a price
as possible. The members at first paid 40 frs. each, to cover the cost of
installation and initial establishment. An administrative commission of
17 members is charged with the business, under the supervision of an ex-
amining commission of at least 5 members elected at the general meeting.
The members are bound to supply themselves from the bakehouse under
pain of being considered as having resigned. The bread is delivered in
return for orders or tokens given to each member on his request, for
monthly consumption. The last day of each month, the administrative
commission estabHshes the price of the bread, according to the price of the
flour used, taking into account the general expenses, with an additional
centime per kg. at least to cover the expenditure and form a thrift fund.
In accordance with this price, the accounts of each member for the month
are regulated : payments must be made on the ist. and I5tb . of the month
following and a receipted invoice given in return showing the amount of
bread supplied to the member, the price per kg., and the amount of the debt.
RURAL CO-OPERATIVE BAKEHOUSES 2 7
The thrift fund/ constituted by means of the addition of i centime
at least to the cost price of the bread, is used to pay off the debt on the plant
and installation. After this has been paid off the fund may be used, with
the consent of the general meeting, to reduce the price of bread in years of
disaster. The surplus profits must remain in the safe until the amount of the
members' contributions has been increased from 40 to 60 frs. After that,
the profits are distributed among members in proportion to their con-
sumption of bread.
§ 3. The devei^opment of the rural co-operative bakehouses.
The work of the rural co-operative bakehouses, whatever their type,
is essentially different from that of the urban societies, which, as a rule,
put the profits derived from the suppression of commercial intermediaries
to another use : in the rural societies, as we have seen, there generally pre-
vails the principle of selling their bread as cheaply as possible, or nearly
so ; they only aim at the immediate profit of the consumers, by means of an
ingenious system of production. The town societies are careful not to
promise their bread at the lowest price ; the}^ limit themselves to exciting the
hope of future profits, that is to say by savings and their moral influence
is quite different.
Some rural societies have already followed this latter course. For
example, the co-operative bakehouse and mill of Uzos (Basses-Pyrenees),
founded in April, 1899, for the commune of Uzos and seven other communes
in the neighbourhood of Pau, on the initiative of the farmers' syndicate
of Basses-P^^renees. This society, according to article 2 of its rules,
" has for its sole object to obtain bread for its members at a rate
always corresponding with the price of wheat, on the basis of i franc per
loaf of 4 kg., when wheat is 17 frs. per 80 kgs. The weight of the bread
will be guaranteed and the quality the best possible. "
This principle of the constant f elation of the price of the bread to the
price of the wheat is appreciably different from that of the lowest possible
price and is an important advance. Thus, as M. de Rocquigny very well
says, it is not too much to expect that the small rural co-operative bakehouses
will be able to improve their rudimentary system a little, and, no longer
living only for the moment, attempt to perform the honourable office of
collectors of the people's savings ; in exercising this educative action the}^
would render more appreciable the benefits they are already conferring on
the rural population.
If there is a serious obstacle in the competition of the village bakers,
themselves in the hands of the large millers, there is a way of overcoming
it, by organizing bakehouses and mills, which, while they increase the pro-
fits of the corporation by getting rid of a double tax on the industry, will
28 FRANCE - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
assure their members complete independence in fixing the price of their
bread. The exaggerated charges of the millers and the adulteration of
the flour will make the reaUsation of this co-operative idea truly advant-
ageous. The agricultural syndicates understand this well. In 1894, a
cantonal division of the agricultural syndicate of the arrondissement of
Poligny bought a mill and founded the Arbois Co-operative Milling
Society for threshing, sorting, and grinding corn. The lyoiret Farmers'
vSyndicate has a flourmill in a building attached to its head quarters. It
is worked by a special association called an ' ' agricultural industrial syn-
dicate " and renders important services to the peasant farmers of the
outskirts of Orleans. We have already mentioned the Uzos co-operative
mills and bakehouse. I,et us add that its founder reckons that a bakehouse
can only succeed on condition it has a mill at its disposal, for the following
reasons :
1st. Because it is then able to buy the wheat it requires, get the first
choice and supply itself, preferably from its members and adherents, whom
it pays in orders for bread (at least to a large extent) ;
2nd. Because when it grinds itself, it is sure of an excellent flour,
whole and nutritious, as it is not when it has recourse to a miller ;
3rd. I^astly, because a co-operative bakehouse, that has not its own
mill, would soon be killed by the millers of the district.
I^et us, however, add that it seems necessary to have 400 or 500 co-oper-
ators for a bakehouse and mill to succeed. Finally, the establishment should
make only one kind of flour and only one kind of bread ; it wc rks for the
mass of consumers, not for those who want luxuries. Besides, experience
shows that the rich consumers do not supply themselves from the co-op-
erative bakehouses, for their servants, who only receive small commissions
from the bakehouses, always find some way to pass them over.
M. de Rocquigny would like to go firrther and reserve another role
than that of providing for the consumption of their members for the farmers'
co-operative associations for the economical production of bread. For the
farmers, says he, the interest of the producers is of far more importance than
that of the consumers ; they most of all require to sell their produce at a
profit and grain is generally their most important produce. Now, when we
consider the price paid to the farmer for his grain, and that of the bread
sold by the bakers in the towns, we find a considerable difference : in re-
ward for their services, the miller and baker receive a considerable part of
the value of the raw material, while the farmer sometimes loses on his pro-
duce. Why do the farmers leave this proportion to the intermediaries,
when co-operation enables them to be millers and bakers themselves ?
On the same principle on which the co-operative dairies are organ-
ized for the transformation of their members' milk into butter, nothing
prevents the farmers associating to found and support, first of all
in hamlets and later on in towns, co-operative mills and bakehouses
as societies for production. They would induce the consumers to have
recourse to them, by leaving them a portion of the profits realised through
RURAL CO-OPERATIVE BAKEHOUSES
the suppression of the middlemen. Even if this proportion amounted to
half, it is reckoned that the farmer, member of a bakehouse, would sell his
grain at three francs more per quintal, which is not an inconsiderable amount.
The establishment of direct relations in this way between the grain
farmers and the consumers of bread would have other advantages
yet. It would in fact constitute a serious obstacle to speculation in grain
and flour. The wholesale grain merchants who buy the farmer's grain through
agents would be prevented from forming reserve stocks enabling them to
influence prices. The grain would be consumed on the spot, in the country
where it is reaped, and the economic consequence would be that a large stock
of native grain would be out of the reach of speculators and intriguing mid-
dlemen.
Appendix.
Rules of the Co-operative Bakehouse {la Prevoyante) of Gelos, Mazeres-
Lezons, JJzos, Rontignon, Narcastet, Assat, Meillon, Aressy.
Art. I. — The Members of the Farmers' Syndicate of Basses-Pyrenees,
of the communes of Gelos, Mazeres- lyczons, Uzos, Rontignon, Narcastet,
Assat, Meillon and Aressy form amongst themselves and those who shall
adhere hereafter to the present rules, a Co-operative Bakehouse to take
the name of Boulangerie Co-operative La Prevoyante (I^a Prevoyante
Co-operative Bakehouse).
Art. 2. — The sole obiect of this co-operative society is to obtain bread
for its adherents at a price ; iways corresponding with that of wheat, on the
basis of I franc per loaf of 4 kg. when wheat is 17 fr. per 80 kg. The weight
of the bread will be guaranteed and the quality the best possible.
Art. 3. — The Society will be composed of members who shall pay an
entrance fee of 20 francs. This may be paid in money or in kind.
The Board of Management, in order to faciHtate membership for the
poor, will admit adherent members on payment of 5 francs, and they
will, enjoy the same benefits as the members of the society without,
however, being able to take part in the management or direction or
attend the general meetings.
The amount of the entrance fee paid by the adherent will be
entered to his personal account, to which will be added his share in the
annual profits.
As soon as the amount of profits placed to his account together with
his deposit of 5 frs. reaches the sum of 20 frs., the amount of the contribu-
tion of the members, the adherent may take rank among the members.
Art. 4. — Every half year a summary statement of the situation of
the Co-operative Bakehouse shall be drawn up.
The net profits, after the deduction of the general expenses of every
kind, shall be distributed as follows, after the complete repayment of the
FRANCE - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
loans contracted and the discharge of the engagements entered into in
respect of the initial installation :
I St. 10 % to form a reserve fund ;
2nd. 5 % to found a thrift fund ;
3rd. 5 % for bonuses to employees;
4th. 80 % to members and adherents of the society in proportion to
the consignments and sales made to each of them.
Art. 5. — Any inhabitant of one of the eight communes mentioned
in article i, or a neighbouring commune, without distinction of sex or
nationality, may become a member of the Co-operative Bakehouse at any
moment, on payment of the subscription provided, the application, which
must be made in writing, is accepted by the Board of Management.
Art. 6. — The period for which the society is founded is unUmited ; it
does not end with the death or the retirement of one or more members, since
it may continually recruit new members.
Art. 7. — The admission of a member is proved by the entry in the
register for the purpose and the immediate consignment to him of a pass
book bearing his mame in full, the date of his admission and the number
of his order.
Art. 8. — Any member may freelj' leave the society. By withdrawing
he will lose all right to his contribution and to any profits that may be dis-
tributed, as well as his share in the capitalised reserve fund.
Art. 9. — In case a member dies, his heirs or assigns can only claim
the amount in his current account after the inventory has been made and
approved at the General Meting.
Art. 10. — As the co-operative society is in the first place personal,
an heir of a deceased co-operator only succeeds him in the society ; a co-oper-
ator cannot cede or transfer his rights or his share to a third party without
authorization from the Board of Management.
Art. II. — The Board of Management has power to expel a member
from the society ; grounds must be given for the action; it can then be ex-
ecuted and the person concerned must be given written notice, and shall
have right to appeal to the next General Meeting.
Art 12. — Any member who has been expelled may be readmitted, but
cannot be a member of the Board of Management or of the Council of Super-
vision for a year from date of his readmission.
Art. 13. — To establish his right, any member must present the
pass book delivered to him on his admission.
Art. 14. — Applications for admission must be made in writing to the
secretary, who must communicate them to the Board of Management at
its next meeting
Art. 15. — The co-operative society is managed by sixteen members,
elected by ballot, by a majoritj^ of votes of the members present, in the pro-
portion of two members for each of the communes mentioned in article i.
Art. 16. — The members of the Board receive appointment for one
3^ear. Any member may be reelected.
RUKAL CO-OPERATIVE BAKEH'3USES
Art. 17. — Nobody maj^ be a member of the Board of Management,
unless he is of age and in the enjoyment of citizen and civil rights.
Art 18. — The Board of ^Management shall elect from among its mem-
bers, a President, two Vice Presidents, a Treasurer, an Assistant Treasurer
and a Secretar5^
Art. 19. — The Managers shall decide on any administrative action
necessitated by the business of the society, by a majority of the members pre-
sent. They shall represent the society in civil and legal business. They
shall buy and sell, estabHsh prices, make payments, and organize the baking
business.
Art. 20. — In case of resignation or death of the President, the Vice Pre-
sident shall perform his duties until the next meeting of members.
The President shall have the casting vote.
Art. 21. — The General Meetings of the Society shall be held twice a
year, in April and in December.
Art. 22. — All members of the society shall be summoned to the meeting
a week in advance, by means of posters which shall make known the place,
the date, and hour of the meeting, as well as the agenda.
Art. 23. — In the April meeting, eight members shall be elected to form
the Council of Supervision. This Council will have the duty of examining
the books and the business of the Society. At the December meeting, it must
present a report on any defects and abuses which may be found in the
exercise and injure the good name of the society.
Art. 24. — The members of the Board of Management cannot, while
exercising their functions, be also members of the Council of Supervision.
The period for which this Council is appointed and the conditions for
ehgibiht^^ for membership are the same as in the case of the Board of
Management.
Art. 25. — The amount of the purchases made by each member are
proved by means of the orders or tokens.
Art. 26. — The bread must be paid for in cash, or, as an exception, will
be delivered on presentation of orders. In the latter case, the orders must
be paid every week.
Art. 27. — The society will also provide the co-operators either with
flour or refuse grain on the most favourable conditions, but at the rate of a
quintal at a time.
Art. 28. — In the case of those supplying grain and wood to the society,
the price of their goods will be reckoned at that of the preceding Monday and
will be placed to their credit in their pass books or they will receive
payment in money. They may receive grain in exchange for a certain
amount of bread or flour. The wood will only be received at the rate
of 2 cartloads at a time, in turn.
Art. 29. — The head bakers and bread porters, on entering on their work,
shall give security, the amount to be fixed by the Board of Management. The
Society shall pay them 3 % interest per year. The security shall be repaid
to them within a week from their leaving the society.
32 FRA:SCE - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
Art. 20. — The head baker is responsible :
1st. For all the baking material properly so called ;
2nd. For all the provisions in the warehouse, flour, refuse grain, wood
etc. He is further entrusted with the supervision of the whole staff.
Art. 31. The baker at the bakehouse at the moment any consignment
is made is bound to examine the quahty, quantity and weight of the various
goods delivered and inform the Council of Supervision.
Art. 32. — Any co-operator, by the mere fact of his admission as a
member, is supposed to know and to promise to observe the Rules.
Art. 33. — All political or religious discussions are formally forbidden
in the society.
JAPAN.
COIvIvECTIVE SAlvE OF CEREALS.
KoKUiiOTSU Hambai Soshiki XI KwANSURU Chosa [Inquiry info the Organization of tke
Sale of Coeals). Department of Agriculture and Commerce. Tokio, 191 1.
Saxgy6 Kumi.\i Yoran. [Report on the Co-opt'w^rc;<j SoczeizVs). Department of Agriculture and
Commerce. Tokio, 19 13.
NiHON NO KoME, [Japanese Rice). Department of Agriculture and Commerce. Tokio, 1912.
Dai Nippon Teikoku toeei Nenkax. [Statistical Yearbook of the Japanese Empire).
Published bj' the Imperial Statistical Bureau. Tokio, 1913.
§ I. Introduction.
The organisation of the sale of cereals in Japan was necessitated by
causes of quite the same kind as in the majority of those countries in which
the sale has been organized. In few countries, however, have these causes
been so potent as in Japan, where the special conditions of the super-
abundant rural population, 80 % of which we may say is engaged in the cul-
tivation of rice or other cereals, or in industries auxiliary to such cultivation ,
were such that interests which affect a more or less Umited proportion of
the population in the largest grain producing countries, in Japan, affected
quite more than half the entire nation.
In fact, when we consider that the rural inhabitants of Japan still
to day, in spite of the considerable exodus to the large centres, constitute
more than 80 % of the population, and remember that of them 80 % are
engaged, as we have said, in the cultivation of cereals, it will be easil)^
understood that, even on a moderate reckoning, the Japanese grain pro-
ducers form more than three fifths of the whole nation.
In view of their numbers, we may logically admit that the interests
of the producers and of the consumers to a large extent correspond, since,
it is well to repeat it, in Japan the producers of cereals and more especially
of rice form altogether the majority of the consumers. In a recent art-
icle (i), we have already dealt in detail with the fluctuations in price of
(i) Cfr. The article, " Fluctuations in Prices and Wages ". Bulletin at Economic and
S-cial Intelli'ence, February, 1914, pp. 129 et seqq.
34 JAPAN - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
cereals generally and of rice in particular, in the last few years. We shall not
return to the subject, but we cannot help mentioning how often such fluc-
tuations are due to artificial causes and how much more they are the result
of the intrigues of speculators than of the real condition of the market.
It is not, however, to be imagined that the fever of speculation, which
has become so pronounced of late, was altogether unknown in Japan in the
past. The idea of co-operation among the producers for the defence of their
common interests when selling their produce is certainly no new thing
there : a first and admirable example we find in those beiken soko (i) or
general rice warehouses, founded in the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries and now prospering and flourishing again under a somewhat
changed form, resembling very closely the monti frumentari instituted in
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in certain Itahan cities.
However, these beiken-soko could not by themselves be a sufiicient
check to speculation on the one hand, nor a sufiicient aid to the producers
on the other ; their necessarily limited number and their concentration in
particular locahties were the principal causes of this.
The State, though granting them moral support and not a few facil-
itations, did not directly intervene to maintain or to found them, and left
it to private persons to proceed on their own account to the defence of their
own interests as producers and consumers against the intrigues and im-
positions of speculators.
There were two types of institution for the organization of the sale of
cereals, namely :
1st. co-operative societies for sale,
2nd. associations for collective sale.
We shall now speak in detail of each of these types of organization
and give in each case a few examples so as to show more celarly their
constitution, working and efficacy.
§ 2. Co-operative sale societies.
We have elsewhere spoken of the Japanese co-operative sale societies (2)
and shall only return to the subject in so far as concerns those especi-
ally occupied with the sale of cereals. It must, however, be observed
that many of them engage indeed in the business but as a quite secondary
matter ; they sell grain as they would sell any other produce of their
members. It is not these we intend to study.
There are, also, co-operative sale societies, for which the sale of
cereals and more especially of rice, is, if not their only, at least their prin-
cipal business.
(i) Cfr. Bulletin of Economic and Social Intelligence, June, iyi3, pp. i47 et seqq.
(2) Cfr. Bulletin of Economic and Social Intelligence, January, 1913.
COLLECTIVE SALE OF CEREALS 35
These special co-operative societies are rather few, particularly when
compared with the many co-operative sale societies or co-operative soci-
eties conducting sales as part of their business. Unfortunately, we have not
yet the latest statistics relating to the subject: in any case, it is well to ob-
serve that, in this field, the actual figures have only a very relative value
and that, even taking into account the fairly important development of
the co-operative movement in Japan, the number of societies occupied al-
most exclusively with the sales of cereals cannot vary much. In 1910 we see
that while there were 2,627 co-operative societies eniaged in sale and other
business, there were only 20Q exclusively engaged in sale. Nor is this all.
The Department of Agriculture and Commerce of Tokio, after a very careful
enquiry into the organization of the sale of cereals completed early in 1913,
finds that of these sale societies few have been successful in the sale of
cereals. Indeed, the Department itself, in its report, after an examination
of the communications on the subject received from the local authorities
entrusted with the enquiry, states that only 16 had been able to conduct
the business successfully and gives abundant details of their working.
Before dealing with the constitution and work of a certain number of the
most important of these societies, we shall say a few words in regard to
their general constitution and business.
These co-operative sale societies as a rule do not limit their operation
to the sale of cereals, but at the same time engage :
1st. to keep the cereals in their warehouses up to the date when they
may be most profitably sold ;
2nd. to subject the cereals to such treatment (hulHng, grinding etc.)
or to such sorting and packing as may facilitate their sale.
The constitution of these societies and their work differs therefore
somewhat according to the kind of business they do.
They may be grouped in three principal classes : co-operative societies
for credit and sale ; co-operative societies for production and sale ; co-op-
erative societies for production, credit and sale.
In the co-operative societies of the first class there is a special sale
department, with suitable warehouses to receive the grain of their mem-
obers. The sale is made at request of the members, and, sometimes,
on the ( ecision of the manager of the society. The price is paid on
the completion of the sale. Sale may als o be effected after treatment
of the cereals (hulling, grinding etc.) From the purchase price the
society deducts, in addition to any cost for treatment, also its charges for
rent, storage, commissions etc.
Besides these sale operations, the co-operative credit and sale societies
conduct credit business. They have, that is, a special office for this
business, which consists generally in loans or advances at low interest,
on the security of the deposits in the warehouse, and is repaid at the
moment of sale.
In the societies of the second class (production and sale), sale is effected
in an exactly similar way.
36 JAPAN - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
As regards production, there is a special department with storehouses
for the members' produce. The members may produce individually or
collectively. These societies neither grant loans nor advances; however,
they give warrants for the grain deposited. These warrants have various
names {beiken, bakii-ken), according to the class of grain.
The producing member may only sell through the society. The
method of sale is, as we have said, identical with that in use in the
co-operative credit and sale societies.
Finally in the co-operative societies of the third class (production,
credit and sale), we find the special characteristics of each of the two pre-
ceding classes for each of the kinds of business they perform in common
with them.
Having thus briefly treated the constitution and working of these
societies, let us now give some examples from the report of the ministerial
enquiry, limiting ourselves to those that may have some interest for our
readers.
Before, however, beginning this practical examination, we think it
well to make certain general observations that will serve to explain the
facts to be given later.
It is necessary first of all to observe that these small societies, which
are a real providence for the small Japanese farmer, are strictly local
in character ; which, if on the one hand it greatly limits their material im-
portance and the extent of their business, does not at all affect their social
importance. If the reader, therefore, finds the figures small which we
reproduce below, he must remember the special character of these soci-
eties and principally their essentially local nature. On the other hand, these
are the most common characters of the whole economic and social develop-
ment of Japan. While in most countries of advanced economic progress,
there is a marked tendency towards concentration of the various activities
in a few powerful corporations and while the great development of these
latter produces a system of competition in which the smaller corporations
are forced to disappear or to unite with their rivals, in Japan we find a
distinctly different state of things. Decentralisation here is most marked :
independent organizations are started in various points of the coimtry, ac-
cording to local requirements, estabhshing territorial limits for them
selves and even imposing limits on themselves, beyond which they may
not extend their action. The Hmitation of their field of action implies no
corresponding Hmitation of their local activity. These various associations
recognise in their absolute independence a necessar}' condition of their
existence, and even the most flourishing of them are not ignorant that to
engage in a struggle with their rivals, even if it led to victory, and to an
increase of their importance, would be most unlikely, in view of local
conditions, to give them the tangible benefit of a real increase of profit.
And, therefore, we find in Japan this strange and interesting phenomenon
of the foundation of innumerable associations, agricultural societies, co-oper-
ative societies, guilds, trades unions etc., which all, while very insignificant
in respect to the number of their members or the amount of their business,
COIyLECTIVE SALE OF CEREALS
however, have a most important action in promoting the social and mater-
ial welfare, and, in spite of their Umited business, make no contemptible
profits.
All this is seen of course much more in the country than in the thickly
inhabited centres, where, with a radical change of the general conditions
of economic and social life, competition becomes a necessity as in other
lands.
So much premised, we pass to the detailed examination of the business
of certain of the most characteristic co-operative societies engaged in the
collective sale of cereals.
§ 3. EXA^IPLES OF CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES FOR THE COLLECTIVE
SALE OP CEREALS.
(A). Co-Operative Society of Toyochi.
Toyochi is a little village of the province of Miye, with little more than
2,500 souls, in about 350 houses. These inhabitants, Hke the large major-
ity of the rural population of Japan, are occupied in agriculture and at the
same time carr>' on certain auxihary industries, such as silkworm rearing,
the collection of fuel, charcoal burning etc.
The Toyochi co-operative society was founded on December, 27^.,
1906 under the form of a limited liabihty co-operative credit, purchase and
sale society; at the end of 1909 it had 277 members, a very large number
in proportion to the small population. At the same date, the share
capital, consisting of 1,064 shares of 20 yen (i) each, amounted to
21,280 yen, (54,902 frs.) : the net credits amounted to 23,560 yen or
60,785 frs. The society possesses also storehouses for cereals and a com-
plete supply of implements and machinery for treating rice. The oper-
ations may be divided, as is natural in view of the nature of the society,
into three principal classes : credit, purchase and sale operations.
The credit business done in the first three working years may be sum-
marised as under :
X907 1908 1909
Amounts Lent yen 47,003 53.552 56,75^
Savings » 10,656 13.948 8.369
It follows that, on an average, in the year 1909, for example, each
member could have had a loan of about 205 yen (529 frs.), a respectable
(i) I Yen = 2.58 fr.
38 JAPAN - CO-OPERATION' AND ASSOCIATION
amount in view of the conditions of these small farmers. The decrease in
the savings in the last year is to be ascribed to the general conditions
referred to in previous articles. (Effects of the crisis of 1907-8).
In respect to the purchase business we have the following figures :
1907 1908 1909
(a) Purchase of agricultural imple-
ments, manure, ploughs, bags and
other material required for pro-
duction or sale yen 6,535 1.534 4.544
(b) Purchase of food suppUes, to-
bacco, petroleum, school mater-
ials and other articles of con-
sumption fl 888 697 827
In respect to the sale business, which, as we know, is the principal
work of the society, we have the following figures respecting the sale
of husked rice, in the period from October, 1909 to October. 1910.
Sold to the Military Authorities
» » others
Quantity (i)
Amount
(Koku)
(Yen)
2.245
32,206
119
1,420
Total . . . 2,364 33,626
It is seen from these figures that most of the sales were made to the
military authorities : in many cases these sale societies suppl}' the garrisons
within the sphere of. their activity to the mutual advantage of both,
parties, of the military administration which can thus obtain cereals at a
lower price than by buying directly on the markets and of the society which
finds an easy and profitable sale for its goods. We shall see below, in
reference to this, what purchases were made by the separate commissariat
office of Ujina from certain sale co-operative societies.
To close this short account of the work of the Toyochi co-operative
society, we shall reproduce its balance sheet for 1909.
(i) I Koku = 1.8 hi.
COLLECTIVE S.-U^E OF CEREALS 39
Balance Sheet of the Toyochi Co-operative Society {working year 1909.)
(a) Credits.
Share Capital not Paid up yen 10,640.00
Loans to Members » 19,005.99
Deposits with Credit Institutes » 2,722.40
Real Estate » 1,080.00
Furniture » 220.00
Advances » 6,208.60
Interest not Collected » 291.00
Goods )) 956.57
Cash » 204.84
Total ... )) 41.330-39
(a) Debits.
Capital Paid up yen 21,280.00
Deposits » 17,468.33
Interest » 299.87
Reser\^e Fund » 539-40
Special Reserve Fund » 318.28
Credit Balance » 1,424.51
Total ... » 41,330.39
{B) Co-operative Society of Aritama.
This society was founded in the heart of one of the richest provinces
of Japan, that of Shidzuoka, which, besides being one of the most ad-
vanced in an agricultural sense, was also the cradle, of the Japanese co-op-
erative movement. The produce of the soil of the village of Aritama (Dis-
trict of Hamana) is most varied: rice, wheat, ginger, hemp, tobacco etc.
In addition, the industries auxiliary to agriculture, such as silkworm rear-
ing, silk spinning etc. are there held in high honour., Notwithstanding
this, as the financial position was not always flourishing, transport was
difficult and costly and the risks were not covered, the need was early
felt for making some provision. Indeed, after the war between China and
Japan (1895), the country had suffered so much that the constitution of a
co-operative society became absolutely necessary. First of all a co-oper-
ative credit society was founded : ten years later, in 1905, it was
40 JAPAN - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
transformed and took its present form of a co-operative society for credit,
sale and production.
At the end of 1909, after four years' working, it had 332 members, 271
of them engaged in agriculture. Its capital consisted of 435 shares of 10
yen each. Indeed, to make it easier, even for the least weU off, to become
members, it is laid down in the rules that those who are not rich may be ad-
mitted to membership on payment of 2 yen at date of entrance, the balance
to be paid in successive instalments.
As the organization of this society does not substantially differ from that
of Toyochi, with which we have just dealt, we shall not describe it over again.
We shall onty give a few figures from which an idea may be formed of the
progressive development of the business during the first four years.
(a) Purchase Operations.
The total amount of the purchase business of the society conducted
between 1906 and 1909 is shown in the following figures :
1906 5'en 7,225 1908 3'en 14,342
1907 " 15,884 1909 '■' 15,533
(b) Sale Operations.
The total amount of the sale business in the same period was as
under :
1906 yen 7,697 1908 j^en 9,531
1907 » 14,449 ^9*^9 " 13,609
(C) Separate Commissariat Office of Ujina, (i) and thePurchase of Cereals from
the Co-operative Sale Societies.
To show clearly the full importance of the small co-operative societies
for the sale of cereals to be fotmd in various parts of Japan, instead of con-
tinuing the fragmentary study of the work of the individual societies, it
will be more useful to give some figures showing how the military' author-
ities address themselves to these societies to obtain their suppUes. We
have already incidentally referred to this class of operations when speak-
ing of the Toyochi society ; we shall now say something in regard to pur-
chases made by one of the separate commissariat departments, that of
Ujina, from these sale societies.
Let us first of all give a table showing these operations in detail, accord-
ing to the provinces in which the societies selling have their head quarters
and according to the goods purchased.
(i) Ujina is at a little distance from Hirosliima and the War Departmenl has an im-
portant office there.
COLLECTIVE SALE OF CEREALS
41
Particulars of Purchases made by the Ujina Commissariat Office from the
Co-operative Sale Societies in Various Provinces.
Goods
Bought
Amount of Goods Bought (in yen)
1908
1909
1910
Rice
76,274
2,566
405
33,415
8,390
222
6,542
1
2,260
3,212
6,183
Hiroshima (30)
\ Rye
1 Wheat
' Other Goods . .
Rice
Total . . .
79.245
48,569
11,655
74,280
850
251,134
5,261
55.436
Okayania (68) . .
^ Rye
f Wheat - .
Rice
Total . . .
75,130
256,395
55,436
50,225
163
58,461
1.958
Oita (19) ....
Rye
Rice ...
Total . . .
50,388
58,461
1,958
4.895
20,893
4,019
Ehirne (3) • . • •
Rye
Other Goods . .
Rice
Total . . .
z
4*895
24,912
—
Hyogo (28) . . .
—
25,658
Various Goods .
Rice
Kagawa (i) . . .
2,277
—
■ 1
1
Yamaguchi (i) . .
—
—
Total . . .
211,935
413,995
71,275
N. B. — The figures in parenthesis after the names of each province represent the num-
ber of societies in the province from which purchase was made.
The figures for 1910 refer to operations conducted up to the cud of August.
4-
JAPAN - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
It must first of all be observed that the figures for 1910 are rather
low, because they refer to business conducted up to the end of August and
the very much more important purchases for the winter supplies, always
conducted in autumn after the harvest, are not included. Not less inter-
esting than the above figures are those in the following comparative table
of the purchases made by the Commissariat Department from the
co-operative societies and from private persons.
Comparative Table of Purchases of Cereals made by the Separate Commissariat
Office of Ujina, from Co-operative Sale Societies and from Private
Persons (in yen).
Amounts of Goods Purchased (in yen)
Goods Purchased
1908
1909 1910
Co-ope-| Private
Total
Co-oper- Private
Societies "^^"^
Total
Rice
Rye
Wheat
Flour
Other Goods ....
200,779
3,579
405
7,172
357,264
195.770
24,609
842
19,681
558,043
199.349
24,609
1.247
26,853
389.561
12,409
5,483
554
5.988
73.694
4.602
9
4,753
389,561
86.103
10,085
563
10,741
61,880
3,212
250
5,933
47,322
61,880
50,534
250
5.933
Total . . .
211,935
598,166
810,101
413.995
83,058
497.053
71,275
47,322
118,597
The most important conclusion to be drawn from the figures given
above is that since 1909, the Ujina commissariat has made its purchases of
rice, the most important of the articles of consumption it bought, entirely
from the co-operative societies, absolutely abandoning the system of pur-
chase from private persons.
§ 4. COLI.ECTIVE SAI^E OF BARI,EY AND OTHER CEREALS.
In recent years, among the many industries that have assumed great
importance in Japan, one of the principal is brewing. In 1912 there were in
Japan 950 large and small breweries and sake factories. But it is chiefly
of the large breweries making beer of European type we shall now speak.
In 1902, they produced little more than 160,000 hi : in 1912 the amount had
increased to more than 330,000 hi. The barley grown is now naturally
almost entirely absorbed by this new industry, the requirements of which
increase from year to year. Consequently, if the supply in any way did not
correspond with the demand, either the interests of the industrials or of the
farmers would suffer. To prevent this, certain agricultural societies have
COLI^ECTIVE SAI,E OF CEREALS 43
undertaken to act as intermediaries between the brewers and the farmers,
and thus exert a beneficent regulating action.
In a single year, 1911, about 20,000 hi. of barley were thus sold to the
brewers by six societies. We shall examine in detail the operations thus
conducted by one of them, the Agricultural Society of the Province of Kana-
gawa.
This society makes collective sales exclusively to the brewery of Me-
guro (Tokio), belonging to the Dai-Nippon Biru Kahushiki-Kwaisha
(Limited lyiability Society for Brewing Dai-Nippcn Beer). The societ)^ after
an agreement with the managers of the Brewery, estimates the approx-
imate amount of barley required for the coming year ; then, chiefly through
its affiHated societies scattered over the province, it urges the farmers to con-
clude special contracts with the breweries, by which they bind them-
selves to supply a certain quantity of barley of definite quahty within a stated
period. In this way, supply and demand are suitably regulated to the
advantage of both parties. When the time comes for the deliver}^ of the bar-
ley, the samples are inspected : a special commission on which are repre-
sented both the purchasing breweries and the agricultural societies, and on
which there are also officers attached to the experimental farms, fixes the
standard, after an examination of the samples sent by the various farmers.
When the barley is deHvered, it is examined, compared with the stand-
ard, and classified according to its quality.
The price is fixed, in accordance with the provisions of the contract,
by the manager of the brewerj^ and the manager of the society. The
systems vary sHghtly from each other, especially in regard to the additions
to be made to the standard price.
The standard price is always the average of the prices on the Tokio
Exchange during the ten days precendig the coming into force of the con-
tract. To this are added the amounts required to cover the general expenses.
In 1908 four qualities of barley were considered : the additional expenditure
was calculated as follows :
(«) If the standard price was less than 6 yen per koku, the con-
tract price for the four qualities was established by adding to the stand-
ard price respectively 2,20 yen for the ist. quality, 1.60 yen for the
second, 1.20 yen for the third, and 0.90 yen for the fourth;
(h) If the standard price was more than 6 yen per koku, the amounts
to be added were 2.00 yen for the first quality, 1.40 yen for the second, i.oo
yen for the third and 0.80 yen for the fourth.
In 1909 there were only three qualities of barley considered. The stand-
ard price was calculated as in the previous year. The additional amounts
were 2.20 yen, 1.60 yen and 1.30 yen respectively for the three quahties,
if the standard price was less than 6 yen per koku, and 2.00 yen, 1.40 yen
and 1. 10 yen, respectively, if the standard price was more than 6 yen per
koku. In 1910 again there were three classes of barley and the standard
price was calculated as before. The additions to be made were 2.40 yen,
2.00 yen and 1.30 yen respectively when the standard price was less than
44
JAPAN - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION
7 yen ; when it was greater the additional amounts were fixed by agreement
on each occasion.
The cost of transport is borne by the producer who must deUver free
at the station; any charges for storage must, however, be borne by the
brewer.
There would be no use in going into further particulars. We think
it, however, advisable to reproduce here some general facts with regard
to the consumption of barley in the breweries and the part the co-operative
sale societies have taken in supplying it to them.
The following table shows the actual consumption of barley in the
three years 1908, 1909 and 1910 by the I^imited Iviability Society for Brewing
Dai Nippon Beer {Dai Nippon Biru Kabushiki Kwaisha) compared with the
amotmt estimated in the contracts (in Koku).
1908
1909
Estimated Amount 1,000 2,500 3,000
Actual Consumption 955 2,481 2,425
The following figures show the total profits of the producers through
the collective sale of their barley by the societies of agriculture.
Year
Quantity and Amoimt
of Barley Sold
Average -
Price per
Koku Sold
Current
Price
on the
Exchange
Difference
between the
Price Ob-
tained and
the Price
on the
Exchange
Yen
Yen
Yen
7.36
6.1 1
125
7.10
5-79
I-3I
7.04
5.50
1-54
Total Profit
of the
Pioducers
1908.
1909.
I910.
7,029
17,609
17,064
Yen
1,194
3,250
3,734
It is worth noting that the profits of the producers are constantly
increasing : this is the principal reason that incites them to resort more
and more to this system of sale.
Without further illustration and other examples, we shall make a
few brief remarks on some other co-operative associations concerned in
the collective sale of cereals.
We shall first of all mention that the Society of Agriculture of the Ka-
nagawa Province in 1910 began the collective sale of wheat, and the results
have been from the start more than satisfactory.
But even independently of the agricultural societies, in recent times co-
operative societies for production and sale have been formed to provide
special industrial establishments, and more particularly breweries, with the
COI^IvECTlVE SAJvE OF CEREAI^S 45
grain they require, thus obtaining the advantages set forth at the begin-
ning of this section. We shall mention among these the Co-operative
Society of the Barley Farmers of Kawaoka (Province of Kioto), which suppUes
a special quahty of barley to the Osaka Asahi Biru Kabushiki Kwaisha
(Limited LiabiUty Society of Osaka for the Production of Asahi Beer). What
is most characteristic of this society is that the members are bovmd to pay
a sum called hoshokin (security), in proportion to the area cultivated by
them with barley, to some extent as a substitute for the purchase of
shares. This security is 30 sen per tan (i) of land cultivated with barley
before the admission of the farmer as a member and 50 sen per tan of other
land. In addition, for reasons already given, the area cultivated with barley
may not be increased ad libitum, but the society imposes on its members
the limits necessary to preserve the balance of the supply and demand.
(i) I sen = 0.25 fr.; i tan ^ 9,9 a. Conpequcutly 30 sew per tan corresponds to about
7.6 fr. per ha.
Part 11: Insurance and Thrift
BELGIUM
PROGRESS OF LIVESTOCK INSURANCE IN BELGIUM.
By way of completion of the information already supplied (i) on the
development of the Belgian professional unions of syndicates for the purchase
and sale of farm requisites and of rural banks, we shall give a few statistics
relating to livestock insurance from the last official report of the associations
of agricultural interest, published by the Department of Agriculture, relat-
ing to the end of 191 1.
§ I. Compulsory wvestock insurance.
In West Flanders livestock insurance has been compulsory since 1837,
and entitles to compensation for losses due to slaughter of livestock ordered
by the public authorities and the rejection of the meat as unsuited for con-
sumption.
In 1 91 1 the business done by the West Flanders Compulsory Livestock
Insurance Fund was as follows :
Number of Head of Livestock Insured.
Homed Cattle, three months or more old 290,017
Horses, one year or more old 40,753
Sheep, three months or more old 16,077
Mules, one year or more old 2,083
Asses, one year or more old ^13
Total . . . 349.343
(i) Sec Bulletin of Economic and Social Inlelli^ence, May, 1914.
48
BEI,GIUM - INSURANCE AND THRIFT
frs.
Horned Cattle . . 72,926.50
Horses 20,777.50
Sheep 637.95
Mtiles 621.60
Asses 61.65
Total
95,025.20
Amount of Premiums.
at the rate of 0.25 fr. per head, three months old or over.
" " " 0.50 fr. per head, one year old or over.
" " " 0.03 fr. per head, three months old or over
(minimum 0.15 fr.).
" " " 0.30 fr. per head, one year old or over.
" " " 0.15 fr. per head, one year old or over.
Amount of Claims Paid in 1911.
frs.
For 488 horses (maximum 60 fr.) 28,996.50
For 1,753 head of horned cattle (ordinary cases) 135,307.58
For I " " " " (tuberculosis, supplementary compensation) . 9.35
For 63 " " " " (anthrax, supplementary compensation) . . 1,789.12
For 170 " " " " (aphthous fever, supplementary compens-
ation) 2,749.88
For 20 mules (maximum 20 fr.) 395-00
For 7 asses (maximum 20 fr.) 140.00
For 155 sheep 1,396.25
For 2,657 head of livestock in all 170,783.68
On January ist., 1912, the fund amounted to 1,554,575.94 frs.
§ 2. Mutual uvestock insurance.
In the Province of Antwerp there is a Voluntary Livestock Insurance
Fund, to which 4,252 farmers belonged in 1911, who had insured 12,208
head of horned cattle for 5,206,225 frs. The amount paid in claims was
143,448 fr.
In the other provinces Hvestock are insured by local mutual societies,
generally paying compensation to the amount of two thirds of the value of
the animals lost.
In West Flanders and the province of Antwerp such societies form
a useful supplement to the above funds.
We shall now give some information in regard to the insurance of the
various kinds of animals.
PROGRESS OF LIVESTOCK INSURANCE 49
(a) Insurance of Horned Cattle.
Voluntary horned cattle insurance made considerable progress in 191 1.
On December 31st. of that year there were in Belgium 1,339 mutual societies
(1,266 of them recognised societies), with altogether 115,246 members. They
insured 320,605 head of horned cattle for an amount of 119,604,026 frs.
The losses in the year were 9,444. In 1.486 cases Government gave
compensation to a total amount of 160,541 frs. In addition to the Govern-
ment assistance and the proceeds from the sale of the livestock, the total
claims paid by the societies amounted to 1,555,441 frs. The amounts
received from members (premiums, entrance fees etc.) in 1911 came to
1,028,269 frs. The assets of the societies on December 31st. of that year
amounted to 1,192,745 frs.
The 1,339 societies were distributed as follows in the various provinces :
East Flanders 278, Brabant 237, I^imbourg 173, Antwerp 143, I^i^ge 131,
Luxembourg 120, Namur 109, Hainaut 92, West Flanders 56. Most of the
local mutual societies are united in Federations or provincial reinsurance
societies. The following table gives statistics of reinsurance of horned
cattle for 191 1.
50
BELGIUM - INSURANCE AND THRIFT
Cattle Reinsurance Societies.
3 a> : -M
Name of Society
a 3
" y ' ft-rt s
S^'d w i 9*
s^^-s
o ec u
0< u
1
a
3 >,
i ^
0 ■"
fr.
fr.
69,952
87,560
4,980
49.731
60,125
2,000
27,127
37.685
1.955
24,022
68,000
600
9,030
11,972
836
20,838
56,311
1.175
8,200
21,960
400
2,960
7,230
1,000
7,829
30,675
296
2,355
4,413
600
5,084
4.557
250
6,344
23,930
500
9,908
10,280
175
1,546
1.454
-
764
1,998
200
1,790
1,045
100
247,480
429.195
15,067
: 32^
S S
CM
u 5
8
a
E
2 o
3 4',.^
* 5 o
£ 5
•S. «
.5 o
East Flanders Cattle Reinsurance Feder-
ation, at Ghent
Province of I«imbourg Cattle Reinsurance
Federation, at Hasselt
Province of Brabant Cattle Reinsurance
Federation, at I,ouvain
Province of Li^ge Cattle Reinsurance Fed-
ederation, at Li^ge
Province of Hainaut Cattle Reinsurance
Federation, at Mons
Cattle Reinsurance Federation at Turn-
hout
Cattle Reinsurance Federation at Heyst-
op-den-Berg
Province of Luxembourg Cattle Reinsur-
ance Federation, at Arlon
Province of Brabant Cattle Reinsurance
Federation, at Brussels
Cattle Reinsurance Federation, at Hanne-
sche
Reinsurance Division of the Agricultural
Fund of the Province of Antwerp . . .
Cattle Reinsurance Federation at Namur.
West Flanders Cattle Reinsurance Feder-
ation, at Roulers
Neutral Cattle Reinsurance Federation of
Hainaut, at Thuin
Cattle Reinsurance Federation, at Bur-
dinne
Cattle Reinsurance Federation at Bruges.
Total . . .
196
162
108
56
7
7
927
55,380
35.478
29,690
29,888
11,790
26,635
8,146
5,704
19,848
3,962
2,542
15,080
4.954
1,410
1,118
530
fr.
15,000
5,000
1,000
7.410
3.150
1,400
10,000
3.050
4,750
1,194
25,000
25,000
22,326
22,444
11,850
17,833
55.735
61,728
100,412
47,000
17.263
24.965
5.463 1,050
5,827 20,100
3.373
3.962
3,984
252.155
52,204
1,704 2,855
13,286 1 25,643
4,954 437
1,410 ^ 18
1,1 18 580
167
530
162,707
365,305
Of 1,266 legally recognised mutual societies as shown above, 9 27 or
73.22% were reinsured.
PROGRESS OF UVESTOCK INSURANCE 51
(b) Farm Horse and Stallion Insurance.
Farm horses were insured in Belgium in 191 1 by 250 recognised mutual
societies, with 33.344 members, distributed as follows according to province ;
East Flanders 51, Brabant 44, Limbourg 43, West Flanders 40, Antwerp 31,
Luxembourg 19, Liege 13, Hainaut 7, Namur 2. They insured 68,855 horses
of a total value of 64,035,820 frs.
The number of losses in the year was 1,920 and the amount paid in
claims was 982,006 frs. Premiums had been collected to the amount of
995,438 frs. On December 31st. the assets of these societies amounted to
792,589 frs.
Like the mutual horned cattle insurance societies these we are now con-
sidering also reinsure to a large extent. And in fact of the 250 mutual
societies existing 242 were reinsured, distributed in 11 federations. These
242 societies had altogether reinsured 51,958 horses, for an amount of
254,303 frs, to which must be added 23,176 frs., in provincial subventions,
and 157,260 frs., Government subvention. In the same year these feder-
ations paid claims to their members to the amount of 435,864 frs.
It must, finally, be mentioned that at the same date there were in Belgium
7 mutual stallion insurance societies with 743 members, insuring 1,007 stall-
ions for an amount of 3,820,600 frs. In the year there were 27 losses, for
which the societies had to pay 98,475 frs. in claims to members from whom
they had collected premiums to the amount of 59,499 frs. On December
31st., 1911, the total assets of these societies amounted to 133,004 frs.
(c) Goat Insurance Societies.
In 1911 there were 494 goat insurance societies, most of them in East
Flanders (216) and West Flanders (195). They had 47,560 members and
had insured 63,785 head for an amount of 1,240,383 frs.
In the year there were 4,934 losses, for which the societies had to pay
47,810 frs. in compensation to members from whom they had collected
in premiums 39,794 frs.
These risks also are reinsured by 479 societies, united in 5 federations.
(d) Pig Insurance Societies.
This branch of insurance is less common. From the statistical re-
port we see that there were only 149 mutual societies of the kind, insuring
23,695 pigs, belonging to 11,994 members. There are also pig reinsurance
societies. In 191 1 there were six, to which 128 societies were affiliated.
ITALY.
OFFlClAlv ENQUIRY INTO SAVINGS IN ITALY
11^ THE YEARS 1911 AND 1912.
SOURCES :
NOTIZIE STATISTICHE SUI. RISPARMIO IN ITALIA NEGLI ANNI I9II E I912. Parte II. Societ^ or-
dinarie e co-operative di credito. Annali del Credito edella Frevidenza {Statistical Inform-
ation on Savin£;s in Italy in the Years 1911 and 1912. Part II. Ordinary and Co-operative
Credit Societies. Annals of Credit and Thrift). Series II. Vol. 2. Ministero di Agricoltura,
Industria e Commerdo. Direzioiie generale del Credito e deUa Previdenza. Rome. Tipo-
grafia Nazionale di Bertero e Co., 191 4.
The General Management of Credit and Thrift at the Department of
Agriculture, Industry and Commerce has recently terminated an interest-
ing statistical enquiry into the fluctuations in the amount of the deposits
held in trust by the ordinary and co-operative credit societies in the years
1911 and 1912. This enquiry, extended to about 2,600 institutes, completes
that into the deposits in the Ordinary and Postal Savings Banks and Pawn
Institutes, the report of which was published last year (i).
For the classification of the various kinds of deposits the terminalogy
in general use was employed, and, leaving out of consideration deposits
at sight (for the most part merely placed in safekeeping), the rest are gener-
ally divided into savings deposits, deposits in current account and fixed
term deposits.
Savings deposits differ from those in current account in that, while
the former remain more or less time in the banks as real and true investments,
those in current account are not invested really but rather deposited with
intention of future investment, rather to be sure of the safety of the
money than to increase it.
There are also corresponding extrinsic differences, the higher rate of
interest on savings deposits, the minimum and maximum fixed for the
deposits, higher for those in current account ; the absence of any maximum
limit of the credit bearing interest in current account, and the shorter
term for notice of withdrawal.
(i) See Bulletin of Economic and Social Infelli';;ence, September. 1913. pp. 65 et sqq.
OFPICIAL ENQUIRY INTO SAVINGS 53
Finally, by fixed term deposits are meant those in the ordinary banks
and co-operative credit societies deposited in return for interest bearing
bonds and those generally redeemable at long notice, especially large sums
at unusually high interest. In some measure the extraordinary or time
deposits in the savings banks correspond with the above.
However, the classification is not made on the same principles in
all the banks, nor is the classification always made on the same principles
in the same bank. Hence there are merely apparent differences in the in-
creases and decreases in the amounts deposited under the different heads.
So that in order to judge correctly of the real increase or decrease of the
deposits, we must in the last resort consider their total amount without
distinction of classes.
So much premised, let us now consider the principal results of the
enquiry.
§ I. Deposits in the ordinary credit societies.
The ordinary credit societies legally existing on December 31st., 1911
were 188 and those legally existing on December 31st., 1912 were 192.
Of these, 165 were considered in 1911 and 162 in 1912. The following table
shows the fluctuation in the total amount of deposits held by them.
Ordinary Credit Societies — Deposits.
Month 191 1 igi2
frs. frs.
January 910,714,771 982,180,769
February 914,166,273 985,815,534
March 923,629,670 991,857,631
April 942,306,969 987,597,017
^^ay 946,434,351 987,580,585
June 954.197,516 988,299,044
July 970,942,353 1,006,841,077
August 974,984,806 1,006,104,529
I" September 967,280,086 1,002,490,302
October 947,917,202 992,104,528
November 954,008,018 994,277,754
December 963,932,417 1,010,174,272
From this table we see that the amount considerably increased in
these two years. The increase was, however, greater in 1911 than in 1912.
In fact while in only eleven months, from the end of January, 1911
to the end of December, 1911, the increase was 53,217,646 frs., in the
whole of 1912 the increase was only 46,241,755 frs.
At the end of January, 1911, and at the end of each of the years
considered, the deposits were distributed as follows in the three classes
mentioned above:
54 ITALY - INSURANCE AND THRIFT
Savings Deposits Fixed Term
Deposits in Current Account Deposits
frs. frs. frs.
on January 31st., 1911 . . . 486,770,232 290,852,778 133,091,761
» December 31st., 1911 ... 528,527,322 287,695,977 147,709,118
» December 31st., 1912 . . . 560,730,438 300,691,361 148,752,473
The savings deposits, forming more than half the total dei)osits of
the ordinary banks, have varied in proportion to the total, showing a con-
stant increase, greater in 1911 and less in 1912. On the other hand, the
deposits in current account showed a decrease of about 3,000,000 in 1911
against an increase of 13,000,000 frs. in 1912. Finally, the fixed term de-
posits showed a considerable increase in 1911, while in 191 2 their amount
remained almost unvaried.
§ 2. Deposits in the co-operative
CREDIT societies WITH LIABILITY LIMITED BY SHARES.
In respect to the deposits in the Co-operative Credit Societies, we must
distinguish between limited liability societies (People's Banks) and unUm-
ited societies (Rural Banks).
Of the first, amongst which the most important group is that of the
People's Banks, 664 were considered in each of the years in question, out
of a total of 817 existing at the end of 1911 and 813 at the end of 1912.
In contrast with what is found in the case of the ordinary banks,
the increase of the deposits in the co-operative credit societies limited by
shares has really been arrested in these two years, since, although in 1911
there was a considerable increase, this was counterbalanced by an equally
appreciable decrease in 1912, so that the total amount of the deposits, as
is seen in the following table, was hardly 1,500,000 frs. more at the end of
1912 than at the end of January, 1911.
Co-operative Credit Societies Limited hy Shares. - Deposits.
Amont 191X 1912
frs. frs. \
January 1,146,151,430 1,173,137,681
February 1,146,121,486 1,174,931,386
March 1,153,617,726 1,169,460,665
April 1,160,999,717 1,167,613,497
May 1,168,452,439 1,160,320,569
June 1,165,490,072 1,146,393,948
July 1,173,628,052 1,152,922,706
August 1,179.227,338 1,153,150,837
September 1,166,960,141 1,140,175,544
October 1,155,133,514 1,135,407,392
November 1,156,630,475 1,141,984,221
December 1,164,664,676 1,147,660,719
OFFICIAI, ENQUIRY INTO SAVINGS 55
The deposits were distributed as follows at the end of January, 1911
and the end of December, 1911 and December, 1912.
Savings Deposits Fixed Term
Deposits iu Current Account Deposits
frs. frs. frs.
on January 31st., 1911 . . 716,461,588 160,614,563 269,075,279
» December 31st., 1911 . . 723,049,621 160,557,764 281,057,291
» December 31st., 1912 . . 705,711,116 158,269,971 283,679,632
Therefore, while the amount of savings deposits shows a decrease in
the two years, and that of the deposits in current account remained station-
ary in 1911 and decreased slightly in 1912, on the contrary, there was a
decided tendency on the part of the fixed term deposits to increase. Ne-
vertheless, as in the case of the ordinary banks, the increase in 1912 was
slightly less than in 1911.
The large increase in the fixed term, or rather, long term, deposits in
the co-operative credit societies, considerably greater than m the ordinary
societies, is explained by the special interest these societies have in
obtaining long use of the amounts entrusted to them. Their customers
are in fact small dealers, farmers, clerks etc., who require loans for
comparatively long periods, usually repayable in instalments. It might
be said that also many savings banks, especially the smaller ones, have a
similar class of customers and these banks do not so fiequently receive
fixed term deposits. But, first of all, generally the deposits in savings
banks are made for much longer periods than in the co-opeiative credit
institutes ; in the second place, the savings banks only give the name of
fixed term deposits to those made in return for interest bearing bonds
and include all deposits redeemable at long notice among the savings
deposits, while in the ordinary institutes and co-operative credit societies
the contrary course is pursued.
The commercial credit institutes, again, not limited in regard to their
investments, like the savings banks, may hold out the attraction of higher
rates of interest to ensure the long use of the deposits, and this attraction
is greatest for the classes of small depositors constituting the chief customers
of the co-operative credit institutes.
The above figures show the fluctuations in the amount of deposits
in the two years 1911-1912 in the ordinary and in the co-operative banks:
in the former the increase was considerable, in the latter the amount was
stationary. Yet this is in no way due to the different economic character of
capitaUstic and co-operative undertakings. The difference revealed by the
figures is not between the ordinary and co-operative institutes, but between
large and small institutes ; on the one hand, that is, there are the large
banks, and, on the other, together with the co-operative institutes the
majority of ordinary credit institutes. The contrast between ordinary
and co-operative banks is only apparent, as the large banks are all in-
56 ITAJCY - INSURANCE AND THRIFT
eluded among the ordinary banks. In fact the four large banks of
the Kingdom, Banca Commerciale italiana (Italian Commercial Bank),
Banco di Roma (Bank of Rome), Credito italiana (Italian Credit Institute),
Societa Bancaria italiana (Itahan Banking Society) alone held on December
31st,, 1912, together, more than half (613,078,881 frs.) of the thousand
million frs. deposited in the ordinary banks, and the increase of 100,000,000
frs. observed in the two years is due essentially to increased deposits
in the four large Banks above mentioned (from 507,000,000 to 613,000,000).
The tendency of the large banks to expand and absorb the smaller
institutes is growing more and more marked in Italy.
It will be well also to consider the amounts of the various classes of
deposits in these banks.
Savings Deposits Fixed Term
Deposits in Current Account Deposits
frs. frs. frs.
on January 31st., 1911 . . 287,965,691 167,165,485 52,037,583
» December 31st., 1911 . . 323,685,861 175,767,136 59,083,890
» December 31st., 1912 . . 357,657.385 194,156,219 61,265,277
The increase was therefore general and continuous in all three classes.
§ 3. Distribution of the deposits in the ordinary societies limited
BY shares and the CO-OPERATIVE CREDIT SOCIETIES, ACCORDING
TO REGIONS.
It will be also interesting to see how these deposits were distributed
according to regions. This is shown in the following table in which the
deposits in the ordinary banks and co-operative societies in the different
regions are compared.
OFFICIAL ENQUIRY INTO SAVINGS
57
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58 ITALY - INSURANCE AND THRIFT
Basilicata is altogether without local ordinary credit societies or
branches of large banks.
Lombardy, as it is the region in which there are the largest deposits
in the ordinary credit societies, is also that in which the deposits in the
co-operative societies are largest. Other regions in which there are plen-
tiful deposits in both the ordinary and the co-operative banks are Venetia
and Piedmont. While, however, in Lombardy and Venetia the deposits in
the co-operative banks exceed in amount those in the ordinary banks,
it is otherwise in the case of Piedmont. A region in which there is a large
amount deposited in the co-operative banks, whilst comparatively little
is deposited with the ordinary banks, is Emilia. Two regions, on the other
hand, in which the deposits in the ordinary banks are very considerable and
those in the co-operative banks very unimportant are lyiguria and I/atium.
Of the other regions, we find the deposits in the ordinary banks more con-
siderable than in the co-operative banks in Campania, Tuscany and ApuUa,
and to a less degree in Sicily and Umbria. On the contrary, the deposits
in the co-operative banks are more important than in the ordinary ones
in Marche, Abruzzi and Calabria. Finally, while, in the above table, for
Basilicata there appear no deposits in the ordinary banks, there are de-
posits of 7,000,000 frs. in the co-operative societies, and, in contrast with
this, we find Sardinia with a large amount deposited in the ordinary banks
and quite without deposits in the co-operative societies. These results
naturally correspond with the number of banks of either kind in the differ-
ent regions.
§ 4. Deposits in rural banks.
The rural loan banks, on October 31st., 1905, the date of the hist official
return, were 1,386. Of these,, 1,309 held deposits amounting to 32,499,463
frs. and their paid up capital together with their reserve fund, amounted to
1,200,522 frs.
The enquiry we are considering showed, 1,660 banks on December
31st., 1911 and 1,652 on December 31st., 1912. Of these 1,371 at the end
of 1911 held deposits amounting to 91,559,142 frs. and 1,359 ^^ ^^^ ^^^
of 1912 deposits altogether of 99,203,074 frs.
Since 1905, therefore, the amount of the deposits in the rural banks
has increased more than threefold and in 1912 alone it increased by about
one tenth.
These deposits are almost exclusively savings deposits ; but it is not
possible to give an accurate classification.
The 1,359 rural banks collecting deposits had, on December 31st., 1912,
funds (paid up capital and reserve fund) amounting to 4,011,535 frs.
OFFICIAL ENQUIRY INTO SAVINGS 59
The rural banks are variously distributed in the kingdom. The region
in which there are most is Venetia, where there are 427 or more than
a quarter of the whole number. Then come Emilia with 298 banks,
Sicily with 235, Lombardy with 204 and Piedmont with 162. The region
in which these banks have the largest amount of deposits is Sicily. The
amount of deposits in the Sicilian rural banks is about a fourth of that in
all the banks, as it is 24,045,680 frs. In the province of Caltanissetta alone
the deposits on December 31st., 1913 amounted to 10,565,241 frs. After
Sicily come Lombardy and Venetia, with almost equal amounts and then
EmiUa and Piedmont.
Part III: Credit
AUSTRIA.
SAVINGvS BANK STATISTICS IN 191 1 (r).
SOURCE :
Statistik der Sparkassen in den im Reichsrate vertretenen Konigreichen und I,an-
DERN FUR DAS Jahr 1911. Bcarbsitet vom Bureau der K. K. Statistischen Zentralkom-
mission. Wien, 1913. (Statistics of Savings Banks in the Countries represented in the
Reichsrat for 1911, published by the I.R. Central Statistical Commission). New Series.
Vol. X. No. I. Vienna, Gerold, 1913. 4to. pp. 45^117).
Number of Savings Banks. At the end. of the year igii there were
675 savings banks in Austria, against 669 in 1910. Seven new institutes
had been founded, and only one, the communal bank of Saaz, went into
liquidation and was replaced by a branch of the Bohemian savings bank
of Prague. The increase in the number of these Banks in the last five
years was as follows :
1907 14 1910 14
1908 II 1911 7
1909 5
that is 50 in all, or 8% of the number at the end of 1906(625). Of the
7 new banks founded in 1911, i was founded in Carinthia, i in Carniola,
2 in Bohemia and 3 in Moravia.
The Austrian Savings Banks are divided into Communal Saxdngs Banks
(Gemeinde-Sparkassen) , Co-operative Savings Banks {Vereins-Sparkassen).
and District Savings Banks {Bezirks-Sparkassen); of the 675 existing at
the end of 1911, 559 (82.81 %) were communal, 71 (10.52 %) were co-op-
erative and 45 (6. 67 %) were district savings banks.
(i) The Monthly Bulletin of Economic and Social Intelligence in its issue for April,
1913, (No. 4), published statistics of the Austrian Savings Banks for 1910. We shall here
summarise the General Situation of the Austrian Savings Backs in 1911 from the of-
ficial statistical return published in 1913.
62
AUSTRIA - CREDIT
Of the kingdoms and countries represented in the Reichsrat, Bohemia
had most sa\dngs banks (241) ; Moravia came next with 91 and then
Lower Austria with 83. There was one bank per every 44445 sq. kms.
and every 42,612 inhabitants.
Rate of Interest on Deposits. The ordinary rate of interest, that is the rate
usually given, without special Umitations, by the indi\'idual institutes, in-
creased in 1911 by 0.023 % ; in 1910 it had been 4.045 % ; and it had
risen in 1911 to 4.068 %.
Of the 7 new institutions founded in 191 1, 4 fixed the ordinary rate
of interest on deposits at 4 %, and 3 at 4 ^%.
;r; The 675 banks existing in 1911 might be classified as foUows accord-
ing to the interest paid to depositors :
Ordinary Rate of Interest (%)
•
Total
Niunber
of
3%
3V1.
3'/i.
3'/4
3V..
3'V.oo
4
4Vs
4V1.
4V4
4Vs
4'/.
5
5%
Savings
Banks
4
I
2
35
2
-
515
I
r
56
29
2
26
I
675
It will be well to show the amount of capital on which the different
rates were paid, in 191 1.
Rate Numbei Amount
of Interest of of Deposits
(per cent) Banks (crs.)
2 1 ., 4 1,468,589
2'' 10 I 1,500,000
3»/o 14 883,185
31'j I 24,818
3I/, 22 48,836,586
3«/io 2 9,568,482
3 ','10 2 11,347,617
3^4 51 1,075,392,237
3 ^'10 3 5,519,764
, ;i« — —
0 100
3^8 - -
3 10
3 100
4 531 4,814,909,675
4I/8 5 4,296,069
42^11 I 2,468,662
4V4 82 239,132,553
4V» . • • - -
4^8 - - ,
4I', 62 97,391,980
4='/4 6 7,567.581
5 38 38,268,059
5V2 3 1,140,217
6 2 92,890
Total Deposits: Crs. 6,359,808,964
SAVINGS BANK STATISTICS
63
Rate charged on Mortgage Loans. — Inigii, 59 sa\dngs banks changed
their rate of interest on mortgage loans, 57 raising it and 2 lowering it.
The ordinar>^ rate of interest on mortgage loans rose 0.034 % i^ 1911,
whilst that on deposits only rose 0.023 %•
AU the savings banks, except three, lent on mortgage. The interest
charged varied from 4 to 8% but the most usual rate, even inigii, was 4 14 %•
The average rate which was 4.79 % in 1910 was raised to 4.82% in 1911.
In the following table the Banks are classified according to the rate
of interest charged on mortgage loans.
Ordinary Rate of Interest on Mortgage I,oans
1.
Zpq
1^
Number
of Banks not
lending
on Mortgage
4
4'/,.
iV4.
4 7i.
^Vi
4%.
4'/. 4 -A.
1
5
5^4
5% 6 6V2
7 8
i
-
-
10
-
255
I
200
1
130
12
18
37 10
7
I
675
3
Statistics of Savings Bank Books. — At the end of the year 4,385,064 sav-
ings bank books had been issued ; 639,753 accounts were opened in the year
and 516,797 closed, so that the total number had increased by 122,659. "^^^
number of books per 100 inhabitants was 15.2 with a maximum of 33.52 in
Bohemia and 22.34 ^^ Lower Austria and a minimum of 0.05 in Dalmatia ;
the increase in the number of books was 2.88 % against 3.47% in 1910.
Classifying the books according to their amount, we have
Number of Depositors with Credits
Total
Number
of
Bank
Books
L«ss than h^*^^^ Between
Voo crs. ^°° and 200 and
200 crs. 1 1,000 crs.
Between Between
1, 000 and 2,000 and
2,000 crs. 4,000 crs.
Between! Between
4,oooand ; 6,oooand
6,000 era. 8,000 crs.
Between
8,000 and
io,roo crs.
Between
10,000
and
20,000 crs.
20,000
crs.
and over
1.171,452
608,156
1,233,263
558,132
419,372
i6r,9go
76,630
43,836
67,479
24,754
4,385.064
Fluctuations in Amount of Capital. — The deposits in 1911 amounted to
1,860,952,625 crs. against 1,705,621,822 crs. in 1910. The increase in
the amount of deposits between 1910 and 1911 was therefore 155,330,803
crs. (9. II %). The withdrawals in 1911 amounted to 1,790,036,595 crs.
against 1,610,256,957 in 1910 ; showing an increase of 179,779,638 crs.
or 11.23 %•
64
AUSTRIA - CREDIT
Amount of Deposits. — The deposits in the savings banks at the end
of 191 1 amounted to 6,359,080,964 crs. The increase in the last five years
was as follows :
Year
Increase (crs.)
Percentage
1907 172,887,896
1908 316,594,440
1909 326,047,506
I9IO 325.227,143
I9II • 314.635,304
Total increase in the five years
1907-1911 1,455,392,289
3-53
6.24
6.04
5-69
5.20
29.68
The principal provinces contributing to this very considerable increase,
were Bohemia, with 515,000,000 crs. and lyower Austria with 394,000,000 crs.
The following table shows how this increase was made up, and it appears
from it that it is principally due to the accumulation of interest on
amounts deposited and not withdrawn.
Excess of
New Deposits (+)
or Withdrawals ( — )
Increase in Interest
Total Increase
millions of crowns.
—
18.66
191.54
172.88
+
112. 61
203.99
316.60
+
110.25
215.80
326.05
+
95-37
229.86
325.23
+
70.91
243.72
314-63
+
370.48
1,084.91
1,455-59
1907 . . .
1908 . . .
1909 • . .
I9I0 . . .
I9II . . .
I907-I9II.
Average Credit per Book and per Inhabitant. — The average amount per
book has increased from year to year. In 1910 it was 1,418 crs.; in 1911 it
was 1,450 crs. In 1911, the proportion per inhabitant, for the whole of
Austria, was 221 crs. against 211 in 1910. In Upper Austria, the average
per inhabitant was, in 1911, 557 crs., in Dalmatia it was 4 crs. 76 cent.
Investment of the Capital of the Savings Banks. — 57-88 % of the de-
posits in the savings banks was invested in mortgage loans, urban or rural ;
in 1910 the amount so invested had been 57.58%. The following table
shows the investments in 1910 and 191 1 :
SAVINGS BANK STATISTICS
65
Nature of Investment
1910
Increase
1911 or Decrease
%
Mortgage lyoans
3,763,345.318
315,741.669
222,438,166
75,222.082
3,782,480
1,651,425,781
99,569,032
265,518,537
42,179,329
86,963,871
3,966,267,7^2 -i- ^ aO
I^oans to Communes
I,oans in Form of Bills of Exchange .
I/Oans on Securities and Bonds . . .
Personal Credit
359,215,879
271,128,471
84,959,318
4,212,433
1,646,100,643
103,436,800
279,369,457
39,447,619
88,648,064
9,537,088
+ 13.77
+ 21.89
-f 12.94
+ "•37
— 0.32
+ 3-88
+ 5-22
6.48
+ 1-94
Personal Securities
Real Estate
Deposited with Credit Institutes . .
Cash
Other .\ssets
I<oss through Depreciation of Securities.
Total . . .
6,526,186,265
6,852,323,504
-f 498
The loans on mortgage (including those to communes, amounting in
1911 to 162,791,651 crs.) have increased from year to year.
The increase was most considerable in 1910 ; in 1909 there had been
an increase of 3.72 % on the previous year, while in 1910 the increase
rose to 5.41 %. . ^
In 1911 we have to note a sHghtly smaller increase, 5.39 %.
The mortgage loans granted by the Austrian Savings Banks in the last
few financial years increased as follows :
Years
Mortgage Ix)ans
Increase
on Preceding Year
1
Proportion
of Capital Invested
in Mortgage
crs.
%
Loans
1906
1907
1908
1909
I910
1911
3,208,894,814
3,329,831,767
3,442.153.795
3,570,043,686
3,763,345,318
3,966,267,732
-)- 120,936,953
+ 112,322,028
+ 127,889,891
+■ 193,301,632
-\- 202,922,414
+ 3.77
+ 3-37
+ 3-72
+ 5.41
+ 5.39
59-55
59-93
57-58
57.66
57.88
From 1907 to 1911
+ 757,372.918
+ 23.60
More than half the deposits of the Austrian Savings Banks are there-
fore invested in mortgage loans, safe indeed, but not very remunerative
and not reasily realisable. Investments in personal estate are also much
66 AUSTRIA - CREDIT
in demand on account of their being easily realisable ; but, on acount of
the depreciation of Government securities, they are not absolutely safe.
Finally, in regard to mortgage loans, we repeat here what we have
already had occasion to mention in this Bulletin, that the official statist-
ics do not make distinction between loans on mortgage on rural and on
urban estate. Such a distinction would have enabled us, within certain
Hmits, to show the manner in which the national savings are invested in mort-
gage loans and what proportion benefits agriculture. This it would be de-
sirable to learn on every ground, in view of the large amounts of the mort-
gage loans granted by the savings banks; in fact, the amounts invested by
them in mortgage loans far exceed those granted by the Public Land Credit
Institutes and mortgage banks limited by shares (i).
(i) In 1909, the savings banks had invested 3,402,619,374 crs. in mortgage loans and
the Public I,and Credit Institutes and Mortgage Banks I/imited by Shares, had investec;
2,598,059,000 crs.
DENMARK.
RURAL MORTGAGE DEBT IN DENIVIARK.
oFFiciAi, sources:
IjANDBRUGETS Prioritetsgaeld (Agricultural Moftcage Debt). In the " Statistiske Efter-
retninger, utgivet af det Statistiske Departement " (Statistical Bulletins, published
by the Government Statistical Office), March, 1914, Copenhagen.
L,ANDBRUGETS PRIORITETSGAELD I DE ENKELTE DELE AF I<ANDET. (Agricultural Mortgage
Debt in the Various Parts of the Country). In " Statistiske Efterretninger, utgivet af
det Statistiske Departement " (Statistical Bulletins published by the Government
Sfa/istical Office), April, 1914. Copenhage!i.
The Danish Government Statistical Office has just published a return
of the mortgage debt on rural land in Denmark, on the basis of the figures
reported at the date of the new valuation of the land for cadastral purposes
in 1909 (i).
We shall now briefly consider this work.
The 169,460 rural holdings in Denmark were estimated to have a
value of 2,691,000,000 crs. in respect to the land alone, and the live and
dead stock was estimated at 689,000,000 crs. The total value, then, that
could be mortgaged was 3,310,000,000 crs. The total amount of the
mortgages registered was 1,417,000,000 crs. or 42.5 % of the above total
amount ; yet this percentage seems to be too high, as in the valuation of
1909 for purposes of the cadastre very low estimates were made.
The following table shows how many rural holdings were mortgaged
and how many were unencumbered.
Number
of
Hoidings
! _ .^ , Value for Purposes" of the Cadastre
U""s °' (Millions of Crowns)
Valuation I.and 1 Stock
Total
Mortgaged . .
Unencumbered
152,203
17,257
1
315,^00 2,257.0
47,600 364.2
610.9
77.8
2,867.9
442.0
Totnl . . .
169,460
363,000 1 2,621.2
1
688.7
3.3099
(i) See Article on the '^Establishment of, the Cadastre in Denmark", \\\ the number
of this Bulletin for June, 19 14.
68
DENMARK - CREDIT
As we see, about a tenth part of the rural holdings were free of all
charges. The value of these holdings was 13 % of the total value of rural
land, which would imply that they were holdings a little larger than the
average of those mortgaged. The burdens on these amounted to 49.5 %
of their value, or about 4,500 crs. per unit of cadastral valuation.
Let us add that the holdings in the islands are generally less en-
cumbered than those of Jutland, as appears from the following table.
Number
of
Holdings
Units of
Cadastral
Valuation
Value
in Millions
of
Crowns
Mortgages
MiUions
of Crowns
%
of Total
Value
1 Holdings Mortgaged .
"a ' » Uuencumberet".
57,674
169,900
1,412.6
656.6
47.0 '
6,672
30,300
269.8
—
—
" ' Total . . .
64,346
200,200
i,68->4.4
656.6
39.0
; Holdings Mortgaged .
§ ) ), Unencumbered
94.529
145,500
1,455.3
760.4
52-3
10,585
17,300
172.0
—
—
' Total . . .
105,114
162,800
1,627.5
760.4
46.7
M 1 Holdings Mortgaged
152,203
315,400
2,867.9
1,417.0
49-4
•3 S ,) » Unencumbered
17,257
47,600
442.0
—
—
•S Total . . .
169,460
363,000
3,309-9
1,417.0
^12.5
This is principally due to the fact that most of the Danish entailed
estates, ahnost or entirely unencumb.ered, are situated in the islands.
The State domains and the land belonging to communes or public
establishments are \-er>- Uttle mortgaged. On the other hand, the farms
of the small state farmers {Statshusmaend) are to a large extent mortgaged
on account of the State loans received (i). The following table shows
the situation in regard to these various holdings :
(i) See in the number of this Bulletin for Januarj-, 19 14, the article,
isation in Denmark from 190X to 1911 ".
Home Colon-
RURAL MORTGAGE DEBT
69
Units of
Estimated
Value
(Millions
of
Crowns)
Mortgages
Number
i Cadastral
Holdings Valuation
Millions of
Crowns
%
of Totel
Value
Holdings belonging to
tlie State, Communes
etc
Entailed Estates and Sim-
ilar Holdings ....
Small State Farms . . .
Other Holdings ....
1,289
95
4,201
163,875
5,700
30,100
1,600
325,600
41.0
280.1
23-7
2,965.1
1-7
8.1
17.9
1,389.3
4-1
2.9
76.0
46.9
Total . . .
169,460
363,000
3,309.9
1,417.0
42.5
The mortgage indebtedness of the last class of holdings is distributed
as follows among the holdings in the islands and in Jutland :
Number
of
Holdings
Units of
Cadastral
Valuation
Estimated
Value
(MiUions of
Crowns)
Mortgages
Millions of
Crowns
%
of Total
Value
/ Holdings Mortgaged .
56,048
159,200
1,311.8
642.2
48.8
H ) » Unencumbered
■3 J
6,138
11,000
100.3
—
—
' Total . . .
62,186
170,200
1,412.1
642.2
45-5
/ Holdings Mortgaged .
a \
3 , » Unencumberc'l
■5 j
91,623
143,000
1,427-9
747-1
52.3
10,066
12,400
125. 1
_
—
"'' Total . . .
101,689
155,400
1,5550
747-1
48. 1
.g ^ ' Holdings Mortgaged.
147,671
302,200
2,739-7
1,389-3
50-7
^ g ,) » Unencumbered
•"Si
16,204
23,400
225.4
—
— .
^« ' Total . . .
163,875
525,600
2,965.1
1,389-3
46.9
In the whole country, the total value of the unencumbered rural hold-
ings was 225,000,600 crs. or 7.5 % of the total value of rural holdings.
The value of the mortgaged holdings was 2,740, )oo, 000 crs. but the
mortgages on them only amounted to 50.7 % of tliis.
When the entrailed estates, State domains etc. are subtracted, we find
1 8. 1 % of the rural holdings of Jutland were unencumbered, against only
70
DENMARK - CREDIT
7.1 % in the islands. It is true the Jutland holdings were more heavily
burdened, (to 52.3 % of their value) than those of the islands (to 48.9 %) so
that the whole of the rural land of Jutland is more heavily burdened (48.1 %)
than that of the islands. (45.5 %).
These are, of course, only general averages, for, if we consider each of the
Danish departments separately, we arrive at the following results.
Percentage
of
Unencumbered
Holdings
4.6
74
10.5
11.5
8.2
9.1
11.4
10.6
133
10.5
8.1
12.3
97
10.6
14.1
15.2
26.7
30.6
Approximate
Percentage
of Mortgage
Indebtedness
tmen
t of Bornholm , . . . .
• . • 57-5
»
)) Hjorring (i) . . . .
. . . 50.1
»
» Ringkobing (i) . . .
. . . 48.0
))
» Thisted (i) ....
• • • 47-9
)>
» Randers (i) . . . .
• • 47-7
»
» Frederiksborg . . . .
. . . 46.8
»
» Aarhus
. . • 46.3
»
» Ribe (i)
• . ■ 45-7
»
). Aalborg (i) . . . .
• . • 45-7
»
» Viborg (i)
. . • 45-5
»
)) Holbaek
. . • 45-2
»
» Vejle (i)
. . . 44.0
»
» Maribo
. . . 41.9
»
)) Kobenhavn? ....
• • . 41-5
)^
)) Soro
. . . 40.8
»
)) Praesto
• • • 39-4
»
» Odense
. . . 30.2
»
» Svendborg
. . . 27.8
We must now show in what degree the holdings are burdened, in respect
to their area. This we see in the following table.
Area of Holdings
Number
of
Holdings
Units of
Cadastral
Valuation
Value
in Millions
of Crowns
Mortgages
Percentage
of
Millions
of Crowns
%
Unencum-
bered
Holdings
More than 12 ha. . . .
449
28,600
242.3
I13.O
46.6
5.6
Between 6 and 12 ha. .
1.157
18,400
145.9
83-4
57-2
4-4
» 2 » 6 » .
23,257
142,300
1,052.0
502.4
47.8
6.6
» I » 2 » .
23,917
68,700
584.3
264.4
45.2
8.0
» 1/7 I) ID.
22,917
32,400
339.0
153.8
45-4
8.4
I,ess than 50 ares . . .
92,178
35,200
2,363.5
272.3
45.3
10. 1
Total . . .
163.875
325,600
2,965.1
1,389.3
46.9
7.6
(i) Department situated in Jutland.
RURAL MORTGAGE DEBT
71
Altogether, the relative position of Jutland and the islands remains
the same as before said : a smaller number of holdings mortgagedin Jutland,
but a heavier burden on those mortgaged. Our last table shows the situ-
ation in detail:
Area of Holdings
Percentage of Unencumbeted
Holdings
Percentage of Total Value
Mortgaged
Islands
Jutland
Islands
Jutland
More than 12 ha. . . .
Between 6 and 12 » ...
» 2 » 6 » . . .
» I » 2 » . . .
„ 1/2 » I » . . .
L,ess than 50 ares
5-4
3-7
6.2
7-4
8.1
12.0
5-9
5-1
7.2
8.4
8.6
9.2
44-0
56.0
47.0
439
43.5
40.4
54-1
57-7
48.9
46.0
46.3
47-5
Total . . .
7-1
8.1
45-5
48.1
lyCt us add that from our two last tables it appears that small holdings
are more often unencumbered than large. This is a general fact, and
therefore the more worthv of consideration.
SPAIN.
THE WORK OF THE AGRICULTURAL CREDIT INSTITUTIONS
IN SPAIN.
I. The " PosiTos ".
OFFICIAI< SOURCES (l) :
Memoria que eleva al gobierno de S. M. el Delegado Regio Don Eduardo Gui,i,6n —
Delegaci6n Regia de P6sitos {Memorial Presented to His Majesty's Government by
the Royal Delegate, Don Eduardo Gullon. Royal Delegation of '^ Positos"). Madrid,
March, 191 3.
Do. Madrid, March, 1912.
Do. Madrid, March, 1911.
Apendice a la jiemoria que eleva al Gobier^'o de S. I\I. el Delegado Regio Don Edu-
ardo Gull6n. Delegaci6n Regia de Positos. [Appendix to the Memorial Presented
to His Majesty's Government by the Royal Delegate, Don Eduardo Gullon. Royal Deleg-
ation of "Positos"). Madrid, March, 1913.
Do. Madrid, Marcli, 1912.
Memoria que eleva al Gobierno de S. M. el Delegado Regio Conde del Retamoso.
Delegaci6n Regia de Positos. {Memorial Presented to His Majesty's Government by the
Royal Dele sate Conde del Retamoso. Royal Delegation of "Positos "). Madrid, March, 1909.
Do. Vols. I and II. Madrid, March, 1908.
lyOS P6SIT0S EX Espana. Memoria presentada al Gobierno de S. M. por el Delegado
Regio Don Jose Maria Zorita {The Positos in Spain. Memorial Presented to His
Majesty's Government by the Royal Delegate, Don Jose Maria Zorita), Madrid, January
25th., 1907.
Calbet6n (Fermin) : Apuntes para el estiidio del Proyecto de I<ey de Credito Agrario.
Ministeriode Fomento {Notes for the Study of the Agricultural Credit Bill. Agricultural
Department). Madrid, 1910.
OTHER SOURCES :
COLOMA (Jesus R.) : P6sitos. I<a evoluci6n de un organismo del Estado. En Revista Ca-
tolica de Cuestiones Sociales {The Positos. Evolution of a State Institution. In the
Catholic Review of Social Questions). Madrid, March, 1914.
Do. De crMitoagricola. I^os P6sitos. Su liquidaci6n {Agricultural Credit. The Positos. Their
Liquidation). Madrid, February, 191 4.
(i) For the general bibliography of agricultural credit in Spain, consult the list pre-
ceding the articles " Agricultural Organisation in Spain " and " Problems of Rural I,and
Credit and the Banco Hipotecario de Espana ", published in the Numbers of this Bulletin
for February and July, 1912, respectively.
THE WORK OF THE AGRICUI.TURAI^ CREDIT INSTITUTIONS 73
Do. De credito agricola. P6sitos de la Tierra, su liquidaci6n. (A:^ricultural Credit. Local
Posiios. Their Liquidation). Madrid, Januarj'. 1914.
AGRo: 1,0s P6sitos, su liquidaci6ii. En el progreso agricola y pecuario {The Positos. Their
Liquidation. In '• Progress of Agriculture and Livestock Improvement "). Madrid. January
1:5th. and 31st., 1914.
The question of agricultural credit is certainly at once the most press-
ing and the most difficult of all relating to agriculture in Spain.
It has often been said that the principal cause of the decline of Spanish
agriculture and the inade uate progress it is now making is the want of
capital.
Nowhere is less money invested in the country than in Spain.
Even when it is made there and derived from the soil its owners place it
in preference in State funds, as they seek safe investments and freedom
from anxiety in regard to its administration, since the revenue depends
on the industrj^ and intelligence of the administrator.
All this would explain the action of the State in a matter, like this, of
such social importance, which may at last en>' anger the very existence
of the rural population.
There has been no lack of proposals laid before the Spanish Parliament,
mth the object of solving the problem, and those of Montero Rios, Gamazo,
jMoret, Sanchez Toca, Calbeton, Zulueta etc., amongst others, deserve
special mention, but we may say that very Uttle has been done up to
the present beyond the reorganization of some institutions already
existing and the grant of permission to certain others to conduct agricul-
tural credit business.
It is, however, certain that all the Governments have recognized the
gravity and urgency of the matter and it may already be foreseen that
we shall not have long to wait for the general organization of agricultural
credit.
But if there is as yet no such general organization, there are, instead
numerous institutions that, on a larger or smaller scale, tend to supply
the want. Among the most important, let us mention (a) the " Positos ",
(b) the Bank of Spain, (c) the Leo XIII Bank and (d) the Rural Banks.
We shall here exhibit the principal characters of these various instit-
utions with an account of their work in recent years; we shall begin with
the most ancient: the " Positos ".
§ I. Some notes on the origin and evolution of the p6sitos.
Our readers are already acquainted with these ancient Spanish instit-
utions which have rendered such great service to the humble labourers of
the Peninsula (i). So we shall Umit ourselves here to a few brief remarks
(i) Sec the Numbers of this Bulletin for February, 1912 and May, 1913.
74 SPAIN - CREDIT
on the origin of these estabUshments and the vicissitudes they have passed
through.
■\'i Their origin cannot be ascertained with precision: although the prin-
ciple on which they are based was already known to the Roman law, the
pubhc granaries then founded disappeared at the date of the invasion
of the Barbarians, so that there is no link between them and the " Positos ".
The only certain fact we can take account of is that the CathoUc Kings
encouraged their foundation in the whole Kingdom and the first regulation
of them dates from the Pragmdtica of Philip II in 1584.
The " Positos " were founded to serve as storehouses for a certain
quantity of grain to be distributed to the peasants for their consumption
or for sowing in seasons of scarcity. They had besides to " provide travellers
with cheap bread and succour the poor ".
Thus, these municipal granaries were in the first place charitable
institutions, and even for their loans they only asked an insignificant
rate of interest, a quantity of grain varying with the amount of the loan,
but always very small, called " creces " .
The Positos were therefore, at first, institutions of Royal foundation.
They were so successful and so welcome that private persons also began
to found them, so that in 1558 there were 12.000. We shall not here show
through what vicissitudes the institutions passed after having attained a
certain development. It is enough to say with the former Royal Delegate
of Positos, Zorita, that " in certain places, civil wars, CarUst and Regional,
led to the disappearance of the positos and gave the opportunity to
unconscientious debtors or responsible administrators to destroy the
proofs of their engagements or of their guilt; in addition to this, crises
and famines to a certain extent justified the employment of the funds of
the Positos on municipal undertakings or for assistance to the needy,
perhaps as advances to be repaid, but not repaid owing to the circum-
stances of the time ;often, the disaster was due to evident malversation on
the part of unscrupulous and, in most cases, insolvent, councillors". So, in
1850, there were hardly more than 4,000 Positos.
It must be added that, the positos, maintaining their primitive organ-
isation while agriculture developed progressively, soon ceased to meet the
needs of the latter.
A law then became necessary to make their administration independent
of poUtics and local discussions and restore them to their former flour-
ishing condition.
Such a law was passed on January 23rd., 1906.
The principal provisions of the law are as follows: All the services
in connection with the positos are subjected to the Agricultural Department.
The positos will no longer confine themselves to advancing seeds to lab-
ourers but will extend their action to include loans in money, act as rural
loan and savings banks, facilitate the purchase or the employment of
agricultural implements, machinery, manure, breeding stock and all requis-
ites for agriculture and livestock improvement. They may likewise receive
grain in deposit and grant advances of not more than 50 % of the value
THE WORK OF THE AGRICULTURAI, CREDIT INSTITUTIONS 75
of the deposit at the rate fixed for loans in money, the interest on which
may in no case exceed 4 %. The maximum term for loans will be a year,
and they will be renewable for another year. lyoans can only be granted
to farmers and for purposes of agriculture, on personal security. When
there are many applications, the loans must be in preference granted to
small farmers paying the smallest tax for agriculture or livestock improve-
ment. For the purposes of the inventory of the assets, the realisation
of credits and the transformation of the existing positos so as to obtain
for them as rapidly as possible the means of continuing and accomplishing
their mission, the law provided that the Minister of Agriculture should
appoint a Royal Delegate entrusted with its execution, and furnished
with extensive powers (i).
For the complete application of the law in view of the deplorable
condition of the positos, the Royal Delegation had necessarily in the
beginning two objects to attain: liquidation of the positos without excit-
ing ill feeUng and their modernisation as far as possible.
Consequently, it began by " Metalizacion " , that is to say, by realising
the greater part of the assets of these estabHshments and all the credit that
could be collected.
With a healthy energy, a firmness not however excessive — it could
not, in fact, be forgotten that the Positos were founded for the assistance
of the peasants and not to ruin them — in five years the delegation was
able to reconstitute a capital of 50,000,000 pesetas (not including the
amounts already in cash belonging to 3,460 positos) it also founded 80
other positos with a capital of 626,919 pesetas, and subsidised others to
the amount of 266,141 pesetas:
Between 1906 and 1912 the number of positos increased as follows:
1906 3410
1909 • ■ 3.501
1910 3,520
1911 3.529
1912 3.540
Positos are not found in every part of the country; we may say that
their work is only regular and useful in the two Castilles, Iveon, Aragon,
la Mancha and Extramadura. There are none in Galicia and the Basque
Provinces, which are essentially districts of Uvestock improvement, where
there is hardly any grain cultivated, and consequently P6sitos could
be of no use there, before the realisation of their assets.
In Catalonia and the east of Spain there are few P6sitos and those
that exist are of httle use to the farmers, on the one hand, on account of
(i) This delegate was appointed for 5 years, but at the end of the term he was con-
firmed in his office until the reorganisation of the p6sitos sould be completed, and now the
office has been eight years in existence.
76 SPAIN - CREDIT
the excellence and the progress of agriculture in these provinces and,
on the other, on account of the defective organization of the Positos. In
Andalusia we find the most important Positos, also, geneially, the worst
managed.
The really characteristic district where the Positos are truly prosper-
ous is Castille. The Castilles have 2,016 Positos or 57 % of the total number
in Spain.
The province of Guadalajara (New Castille) has the most (294). That
of Burgos, in Old Castille, is a model district, with 164 establishments;
in 1912, the loans granted amounted to 658,557 pesetas distributed
in 5,481 loans; in the same year 5,127 repayments were made, amounting
to 636,550 pesetas.
§ 2. Work of the positos in the two years (1910- 1912].
In order to exhibit in detail the work of the Positos in the above
two years we shall reproduce the principal information contained in the
memorial of the Royal Delegation for 1912.
In that year, the receipts of the Administration of the Delegation (as
contributions paid by the Positos, interest on Government bonds, collect-
ions and under other heads) amounted to 619,813 pesetas. The expenditure
was 566,340 pesetas, with 162,532 pesetas for the central administration
service or altogether 728,872 pesetas.
The Delegation employed 61,500 pesetas in the fotmdation of new
positos; the persons concerned who asked for these foundations contribut-
ed 26,196 pesetas. The new Positos were founded at Menorguens, and
Termens (I/crida), Almonacid de la Sierra, Da Gata, Rueda de Jalon and
Ricla (Saragossa) , San Asensio and Viguera (Logrono) , Revilla de Campos
(Valencia) and Valverde (Canaries),
We shall now consider the progress of the existing positos, generally,
indicating in the following table their financial situation at the end of
each year, since it has been possible really to judge of the work of the
Delegation, that is to say since 1910.
Financial Situation of the Positos on December 31s/.
Land
Years Loans Cash and Documents Total
— to Debtors — of Title —
1910 . . . 73,791,679 13,681,928 6,050,827 '93,524,435
1911 . . . 74699,131 13,715,710 6,297,928 94,712,770
1912 . . . 77,036,689 12,106,945 6,136,657 95,280,291
It must be remembered that of the total loans, an amount of 53,474,939
pesetas represents old debts and is consequently difficult to recover. We
shall now consider the increase in the loans granted by the Positos in the
same period.
THE WORK OF THE AGRICULTURAI, CREDIT INSTITUTIONS 77
Loans Granted by the Positos.
Loans Granted Repayments
Number Amount Number Amount
I9I0 . .
■ • 87,950
13,920,260
109,426
16,625,046
I9II . .
. . 107,849
16,307,587
108,136
16,450,021
I9I2 . .
. . 230,992
21,626,705
121,613
19,700,421
We may see from these figures that the number of loans granted and
the repayments have both considerably increased. The repayments may
again be divided as follows:
Repayments Obtained Repayments Obtained by
Amicably Means of Judicial Execution
— Number Amount Number Amount
1910 .... 101,121 15,239,898 8,305 1,385,148
1911 .... 93,366 14,027,492 14,770 2,422,529
1912 .... 110,927 18,003,015 10,686 1,697,406
Comparing these figures with those for previous years, the memorial
observes that the repayments made amicably have been more numerous,
each year, a proof that the Positos are gradually being reorganized.
We shall close this section with a reproduction cf the General State-
ment of Accounts of the Positos for 1912 :
Pesetas
Cash in Hand, January ist 13,715,704
Receipts :
Repayments made Amicably 18,003,015
Obtained by Means of Judicial Execution 1,584,615
Interest Collected 883,493
Sale of Land and Bils 327,640
34,514,468
Expendi:ure:
Loans Granted 21,626,705
Expenditure Unprovided for 400,506
Administrative and Legal Expenses . . 255,616
Taxes and Miscellaneous Expenses . . . 124,694
22,407,521
Balance 12,106,947
I
SPAIN - CREDIT
§ 3. The various tendencies towards a finai. organization
of the positos.
We have rapidly considered what has been done up to the present
by the Royal Delegation of the Positos to reorganize these estabUshments.
The work, is, however, far from complete. Senor Calbeton, one of those
who has most deeply studied the question, says: "It is not enough to
Hquidate the Positos, to ascertain their capital, separate their good and
bad debts and reaUse their assets ; when once this ungrateful work is ac-
complished and has put an end to so many old abuses, we must not abandon
the positos without modifiying their organization in respect to what is out
of date; to submit them perpetually to the dictatorship, which the law
of 1906 only authorized as an exception with the object of avoiding greater
evil, would be to adjourn the solution, if not to compUcate the problem;
to leave them without defence, with no central organisation, would be
to open their safes to the greed of all and to expose them to eveiy kind
of abuse". The moment in fact seems to have arrived for adopting a de-
finite resolution in regard to the situation of the Positos, so that their
reaUsed assets may indeed be useful to agriculture.
Many are the proposals that have been put forward. One, dating
from the first half of the last century and which has still to day some parti-
sans, is to use the capital of these establishments to found a Central
Bank or estabUshment to exert its action over the whole country in a
modern, simple and practical manner. But, in addition to the enormous
difficulty of the complete hquidation of the positos, a consideration of
a moral order has been brought forward in opposition to this proposal:
the capital of the I ositos, in any case, belongs to the villages. Consequently,
the State can and must see that it is properly used and prevent malvers-
ation but must stop there, as this property belongs to others although
it is held in common.
A dift'erent theory has been advanced in defence of the Positos,
that " their disappearance would be no progress but rather an irreparable
blow to agricultural credit ". The idea is that it would be useless to found
these large agricultural banks, which by reason of their distance from the
labourers and other difficulties inherent in their operation, could be of no
use to those who have immediate need of small loans and could offer no
other guarantee than their own honesty. Again, the foundation of rural
banks is not a matter for official action, but they must be based on the
mutual system, on reciprocal confidence and can only follow the de-
velopment of the spirit of association. Thus in those places where there
are no rural banks and yet the need for credit is beginning to be felt,
a posito should be founded, as, owing to its official character, it could
be started and work under the protection of the Government.
The most recent tendency is that manifested among the rural asso-
ciations. The Royal Delegation is invited to solve the problem by giving
THE WORK OF THE AGRICULTUR-\L CREDIT INSTITUTIONS 79
a part of the capital of the Positos to fill the empty safes of the numerous
agricultural social organizations already existing in certain regions, which,
as their organization is perfect, onl}'- need capital to fulfil their mission.
To rightly understand this theory — among its advocates, Senor Coloma
deserves special mention — we must consider the capital at the disposal
of the Royal Delegation as consisting of three classes: (i) the funds which
are as it were its own capital, those to which no posito has any special
claim, but which belong to the institution as a whole, namely the interest
on the provincial assessments, that is to say, a sort of tax on the capital
lent by the Positos to the Provincial and central administrations for their
working expenses, and amounting altogether to 800,000 pesetas. In this
class are also included the amounts due to the positos from the State, on
loans granted on occasion of wars and epidemics; this debt has reached,
after many renewals, the amount of 14,357,842 pesetas.
(2) The second class represents money the Positos keep immobilised,
not at interest, in current account in the branches of the Bank of Spain,
now amounting to 4,000,000 pesetas.
(3) The last class consists of 40,000,000 pesetas now in the hands of
borrowers.
Wrhen we study the history of the Positos, we find some of them called
Positos de la Tierra {Local Positos) differing, from the others in that their
administration takes root in a special locality and can found branches
{juntas auxiliadoras) in other villages. Those in *- -our of the theory we
are considering propose that the first class of the 1 unds of the Positos above
indicated be used for founding Positos de la Tierra by means of subventions
to the agricultural social organizations of the localities in which they are
formed.
As to the second class of capital it is bitterly regretted that in a country
like Spain, where so much harm is caused by usury, there should be so large
a sum immobilised in the current account of a bank, especially when
this money is derived from the country to which it should return.
Such an anomaly is due to various causes, but chiefl}^ it is said, it must be
laid to the charge of the local administration of these establishments and
the borrowers.
In fact, the law of 1906, when it entrusted the Municipal Councils with
the local administration did not consider that the managers would be
the councillors and would subordinate their trust to their administrative
and political duties, and that, therefore, it would be much more con-
venient for them to refuse a loan and thus escape all hability, without taking
the trouble to enquire into the solvency of the applicant. Even in the
villages the erroneous idea is often entertained that every borrower is a
ruined man.
Now, it is claimed that the Delegation might solve the difficulty by
replacing the present managers by others better suited for the work. Such
are the managers of the voluntary rural organizations, syndicates, rural
banks, co-operative societies, mutual insurance societies etc.
80 SPAIN - CREDIT
The remedy would be, then, merely to entrust the management of
the Posito to the rural organization of the locaUty, possessing civil per-
sonality and suited to the work, or one which might be founded specially
for the purpose. Thus also the second defect pointed out, the fear of the
pubHcity of the loan would be got rid of : experience showing that every-
where where there is a special organization for credit, this false concep-
tion of credit has disappeared.
In a village where the posito is inactive or where there is no agricultural
institution, where even people refuse to found one for any reason, the
Royal Delegation should entrust the capital, as a loan, to the Posito de
la Tierra, working in the region, the nearest Federation, loan bank or
Syndicate, reserving to the inactive Posito the ownership of the money
and a reasonable interest, for example, 2 %. " We have no right to deprive
a village of the ownership of its Posito, but there i*; no law, human or divine,
which obHges us to support an incapable administration. The property is
not to be touched, but its managers may be, when there is risk of the
general interests suffering severely ".
On these considerations, the Federation of Agricultural Syndicates
of la Rioja has urged the Government to give the administration of the
Positos to the labourers themselves.
We reproduce its principal proposals : (a) that the Municipalities be
authorized and obhged to cede the management of the positos to the labour-
ers organized in legally constituted agricultural associations on their apply-
ing for it; that the Royal Delegation have power to compel this transfer
in the case of municipal councils managing the positos badly or leaving
them inactive, (b) That the funds liquidated and administered by the
Delegation not belonging to special municipal positos be used for the
foundation of Positos de la Tierra. The 72 agricultural syndicates of la
Rioja urge the foundation of a Posito de la Tierra for themselves and all
their members at I.ogrono, to be founded with 250,000 pesetas taken
from the above funds. For its part, every syndicate or association adher-
ing undertakes to contribute to the capital of the society a minimum of
5 pesetas per member or 200 pesetas per union.
It seems that the syndicates of Navarre and Aragon intend to follow
the example of those of la Rioja. The Spanish farmers hope that, in one
way or another, there will soon be realised the definite organization of an
institution which, without being free from defects, has, however, potent
vital forces, as is proved by its maintaining itself for centuries in spite of
numerous abuses.
HUNGARY.
MORTGAGE STATISTICS IN HUNGARY.
OFFICIAI. SOURCES :
Rerort of the Royal Huxoarl^x Central Statistic^i^Office, forwarded to the Inter-
national Institute of Agriculture.
Annuaire Statistique Hoxgrois [Hun'^arian Statistical Yearbook). New Series. Vol. XIX.
1911. Budapest, 1913,
§ I. Attempts to discover the amount
OF THE mortgage INDEBTEDNESS OF HUNGARY.
The first attempts made in Hungary to estimate the mortgage debt
on urban and rural land date from 1858, when the land registers were
examined in order to obtain the statistics. But since these registers had
only been instituted shortly before, they were found quite insufficient for the
purpose.
Nor was a second attempt carried out by the National Statistical
Office in the same way in 1867 any more successful. However, this time
it was possible to make an official return of the mortgage loans granted
by the Hitngarian credit institutes.
From this return, however, there were excluded not only the amotmts
of the mortgage loans granted by private individuals and incorporated
bodies, but also those of the loans made by foreign land credit institutes.
In 1883 the original attempt of discovering the mortgage debt on land
from the land registers was resumed, but at the same time it was decided
to carry out a partial inquiry into the land debt in certain parts of the
kingdom.
The results were published in 1895, but, as we read in the official
report forwarded to the International Institute of Agriculture, this attempt
also failed to gi\'e full}^ satisfactory results.
In 1892 the Agricultural Department, when it was organising the gen-
eral agricultural census, decided also to ask for the return of the burdens
on the land and a new trial census was taken in 1898, to a large extent on
the same lines as those followed in the enquiry' of 1883.
82 HUNGARY - CREDIT
It therefore seems to us desirable to indicate the course followed in
these operations.
The Central Statistical Office, entrusted with the conduct of the enquiry,
made use of a schedule of questions and census forms to be filled in.
By means of the schedule of questions, the statistics of the principal
mortgage charges were obtained from the land registers where they were
entered against each holding, as were also separately the additional mortgage
burdens on other land serving as security for the mortgage credit already
reported as registered against the holding.
The auxiliary mortgage burdens were then noted on separate census
forms.
By means of this schedule of questions it was possible at once to find
the number of farms and the amount of the debt secured by the principal
mortgage on each of them. This method reduced the possibilities of error
through the same debt being calculated a second time from the additional
mortgages.
Both the schedule of questions and the census forms were prepared
with great diligence and skill.
Each schedule of questions, intended to discover the burdens on the
holdings entered in the land registers on June 30*^^^., 1895, made careful
provision in the first place for ascertaining the position of the holding,
its area and the name and residence of the owner, or owners in case of joint
property. Besides, the owner was asked whether and in what communes
he had other land and in what register it was entered.
After having thus sought to ascertain clearly the principal data needed
for the specification of the individual mortgages and for the study of the
distribution of the debts according to the area of the holding, the enquiry
went on to an accurate search for the data necessary to obtain a true know-
ledge, from the economic point of view, of the holding and its indebtedness.
As regards the registered debts, account was taken of the date of
registration, their amount and the interest to pay. Loans redeemable in in-
stalments were distinguished from those not so redeemable, and, in the first
case, the period in which they were redeemable and the amount of the in-
talments had to be given.
If the enquiry- had been successful, a perfect knowledge would have
been obtained of the way in which the mortgage indebtedness of Hun-
gary -was distributed according to the character of the persons and in-
stitutes, whether national, Austrian or foreign, assisting the landowners
with money, and the causes of the debt. That is, statistics would have
been obtained of the greatest importance for the study of the principal
economic problems connected with the question of rural indebtedness.
In fact, in the case of the mortgage loans, redeemable in instalments
or not, it was asked if they had been granted :
{a) by Hungarian Credit Institutes
{h) » Austrian » »
(c) » Foreign » »
[d) » Minors' Estates
MORTGAGE STATISTICS 83
(e) » Associations, Co-operative Societies etc.
(/) f> Private Individuals ;
and, in the case of the redeemable loans alone, whether by :
(g) the Austro-Hungarian Bank ;
(/?) the State Treasury.
Enquiry was further made whether the debt were due :
(i) to sale of real estate;
(2) » inheritance ;
(3) » seizure ;
(4) -) non-payment of taxes ;
(5) » bills;
(6) » other obligations ;
(7) » claims on the estate due to family circumstances .
There were other questions in the Hst such as whether the mortgage
was conditional, whether secured on the annual yield etc.
At the end of the schedule, there were questions in regard to the territorial
situation and the number of the entry in the land registers for the holdings
subject to additional mortgages to guarantee those previously mentioned.
On the census forms for the holdings burdened by additional mortgages
it was necessary to fill in the name and the residence of the owner entered in
the land register, the title of the holding burdened, the amount of the charge
and the date of the entry. At the end of the list, enquiry was made with re-
gard to the register number and the situation of the holding burdened with
the principal mortgage. The abstracting for this enquiry of 1898 showed
the state of the land registers did not permit of completely reHable statistics
of the mortgage debt being obtained. Above all in the provinces the land
registers failed to show the real situation. Often charges no longer existing
had not been cancelled, and debts, in part paid off, figured for their full
amount. On the other hand, there were burdens on land not registered,
as, for example, those deriving from contracts with irrigation societies etc.
Now all these errors could have been corrected with the help of the Depart-
ment of Finance, but other new difficulties would have had to be over-
come. So that, after the first trial, it was decided not to extend the
enquiry, as the expenses to be incurred would be out of proportion to
the results that could be obtained.
It may therefore be said that the problem of a general return of mort-
gage charges is still awaiting its solution, which, in Hungary as in many
other States, chiefly demands the reorganisation of the mortgage registers.
In the absence of reHable official statistics, the mortgage indebted-
ness of Hungary has been calculated conjecturally. Thus Fellner, in cert-
ain studies published in the Bulletin of the "Institut International de Stati-
stique", came to the conclusion that the debt on the land amounted
to 2,860,000 crs. and represented a charge of 18.6 % of the value of the
land calculated at 15,375,000,000 crs.
84 HUNGARY - CREDIT
§ 2. Fluctuations in mortgage indebtedness.
The efforts made to obtain statistical returns of the fluctuations in
mortgage indebtedness have led to better results, although, as the inform-
ation is obtained from the land registers, these results are also affected
by the errors in the keeping of the registers we have mentioned above.
Every year, since 1875, the Land Registry Office sends the Central Stat-
istical Office of the Kingdom of Hungary a return of the new mortgages
entered and of the mortgages cancelled.
This return shows both the number of operations and the amounts
entered or cancelled ; changes of ownership of real estate (showing whether
they are due to contract, inheritance or judicial execution) ; changes in
the entries and cancellations of mortgage charges. In indicating the
number and amount of the registrations it is stated whether these owe their
origin to contract, to previous registration not yet final (i), to inheritance
or j udicial mortgage. In regard to the cancellations of mortgages, distinction
is made between cases in which the creditor has only recovered part of his
credit, and those in which cancellation is made on account of extinction
of the debt or for any other reason.
Every year, then, statistics are published of the number and value
of the mortgaged estates which change hands and the fluctuations in the
mortgage charges, on the basis of the information suppHed by the land
registry office.
As we see, in the last Statistical Annual, in igii, there were 623,489
mortgaged landed properties transferred of a total value of 1.776,122,000 crs.
Of these 623,48q landed properties, 497,070 valued at 1,460,000,000 crs.
were sold ; 18,006, valued at 38,000,000 crs. were the subject of judicial
execution; 107,127, of a total value of 270,000,000 crs., passed to new
owners by inheritance.
In the following table we reproduce some data that may serve to
illustrate the fluctuations in the mortgage indebtedness between 1901 and
1911 in Hungary:
(i) These mortgages, valid only for brief periods, give the creditor the advantage of
precedence of others in the final registration, without his immediately pajang the heavy
charges.
MORTGAGE STATISTICS
Fluctuations in Mortgage Indebtedness between 1901 and 1911.
Year
New
Mortgages Registered
Mortgages Cancelled
>.
V
>.
1
In Virtue
of Contract
r Prellmlnar
Registration
on Account
of Judicial
I^xecution
on Account
\ Inberitanc
Total
•a !J-«
ill
Totel ]
1 °
0
0
1
8 "S
00 s
SJig
Si-'
o sa<n
ti o
S fS 5
Average 1901-05
» 1906-10
> 1911
Number of Mortgages Registered or Cancelled.
350,596
92.561
41.083
484,240
11,490
304,218
315,708
410.533
103,212
32,360
548,105
9.445
342,872
351,817,
458,124
113.358
28,390
600,380
5,006
374,240
379.246[
Amount of Mortgages Registered or Cancelled (in thousands of Crs.).
Average 1901-05
I 1006-10
1 1911
672.484
59,799
13,003
745,286
24,420
513.129
537,549
1,036,040
63,232
15,739
1,115,011
16,607
635,259
651,866
1,606,224
66,564
13,922
1,686,710
15,664
864,918
880,582
168,532
196,288
221,134
297,737
463,145
806,128
As we see, the increase in mortgage indebtedness in the above men-
tioned eleven years was very considerable and even more so as regards the
amount than the number of the mortgages. This shows that a great
current of capital is flowing towards investments in average sized and large
holdings.
We must, however, bear in mind that the above figures show an in-
crease in the mortgage indebtedness in excess of the truth, as many of
the mortgages paid ofi and all the annual instalments paid are omitted
from the Ust of cancellations of mortgages.
Part IV: Miscellaneous
UNITED STATES.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC PROGRESS OF THE NEGRO FARMERS.
OFFICIAL SOURCES.-
Negroes in the United States. Bulletin 8 of the Department of Commerce and I^abour.
Bureau of the Census. Washington, Government Printing Office, 1904^
Thirteenth Census of the U^^TED States: 1910
Holmes (George K.): Supply of Farm I*abor. Published by the U. S. Department of Agriculture,
Bureau of Statistics. Bull. 94. Washington, Government Printing Office.
OTHER SOURCES :
Washington (Booker) : The Story of the Negro The Rise of the Race from Slavery. 2 vols.
New York. Doubledaj', Page and Company, 1909.
Bryce (James): The American Commonwealth. 2 vols. New York. The Macmillan Company,
1911.
Work (Monroe N.) : Negro Yearbook. Published by the "Negro Yearbook Co. " Tuskegee
Institute, Alabama, 1913.
The New South in the " Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science ".
vol. XXXI. January, 1910. Philadelphia.
Country I,ife. Do., vol. XI. March, 1912.
The Negro's Progress in FimcY Years. Do. vol. XI^IX. September, 1912.
Coulter (John I<ee) : The Rural South. — Frissel (K. B.): Southern Agriculture and the
Farmer. — Branson (E. C.) : Rural I/ife in the South. — Glassow (William H.) : Rural
Conditions in the South. — Du Bois (W. E.): The Rural South. In " Quarterly Publi-
cations of the American Statistical Association ". No. 97, March, 1912. Boston.
HrBBARD(BenjaminII.):TenancyintheSouthemStatcs.In" Quarterly Journal of Economics "
Vol. XXVII. May, 1913. Harvard University Press. Cambridge. Mass. 1913.
UNITED-STATES - MISCELLANEOUS
§ I. Negroes in cities and in the country.
On January ist., 1863, Abraham Lincoln solemnly proclaimed the free-
dom of the Slaves in the United States of America. This decree for which
preparation had been made by the antislavery resolutions passed in Con-
gress in June and July, 1862, was followed by the federal laws of June 28th.,
1864 and December i8th., 1865, and by those passed in the separate States,
that at various dates granted the negroes the fuU enjoyment of the civil
and poUtical rights of all American citizens.
In i860 there were onlj^ 488,070 free negroes to 3,953,760 slaves,
that is 35.5 % of the total population, and by far the greater number
inhabited the Southern States. These States, the agricultural system of
which, characterized by the prevalence of immense plantations, was
based exclusively on negro labour, opposed the enfranchisement of the
slaves with all their might, conducting a long and bloody war, the war
of secession, with desperate persistence from i860 to 1865, when it ended
with their defeat.
The negro slaves were almost entirely employed in field labour or in
the domestic service of their masters ; few were engaged in other
occupations : very few, comparatively, were included in the urban
population.
It was natural that the emancipation should give rise to a migration
of the mass of the negro^s to the cities : yet emancipation alone would not
have sufficed to explain the intensity assumed by the movement, which
became a real exodus, had it not been accompained b}' a general change
in the conditions of the negroes about that time. And the change was,
from various points of view, rather for the worse than for the better. The
negroes after their emancipation, while still untrained for independence,
had to pass through a period of confusioh, of race and party hatred, of se-
vere economic crisis, misgovernment, excesses unrepressed and indeed
difficult to repress, in the isolation of the country districts. It will be enough
to refer to the proceedings of the Kii Klux Khiri, a mysterious organiz-
ation, composed of turbulent and violent persons, who often at night time,
their faces covered with horrible masks, visited the negro villages in large
mounted bands, destroyed the crops, burned the houses (sometimes even
those of the whites who sympathised with the negroes) and disappeared
leaving behind them confusion and terror, v.dthout any one knowing where
they had come from or whither they had gone.
This state of things, lasting from the time of the emancipation up to
1872, tended as was natural, to increase the exodus of the negroes to the
towns : which offered them a better chance of fortune and greater safety. To
this must be added the psychological motive of which account must be taken
" the desire to move about a little, just to find out what freedom was like "
(see page 107) and the temptation, after all excusable in men compelled
from their birth to labour, to idle a little. The following figures
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC PROGRESS OF THE NEGRO FARMERS 89
may give some idea of the importance of the negro exodus about this
time: between i860 and 1870 in fourteen cities of the south, the
negro population increased 90.7 %, while the white population only
increa-ed 16.7 %.
When the political condition of the Southern States became more set-
tled, the negro emigration from the country slackened, but did not stop,
although it assumed a more regular course. For other causes succeeded to
those alread}^ given : the beginning of the industrial development of the
Southern States, the opening up of immense mining districts, the new
and important industry of the extractioii of oil from cotton seed. Large
cities grew up absorbing more and more labour and diverting it from
agriculture. Social legislation was introduced and extended and princip-
ally for the protection of industrial workmen.
As we see, these were no longer motives specially affecting the negroes,
but the labourers of ever}- race generally. And in fact it may be said that
now, everv' thing considered, the negro exodus to the towns corresponds
with that of the whites, when the same influences and circumstances are
at work.
The increase in the white and black rural and urban population be-
tween 1890 and 1900 was as follows :
Whites
1890 X900
Continental United States .... 7,488,676 8,833,994 55,101,258 66,809,196
Cities of at least 2,500 inhabitants 1,482,651 2,00 j, 121 21,011,367 58,506,146
Rural Districts 6,006,025 6,829,373 34,089,891 38,303,005
The increase, therefore, is similar in the case of the whites and the blacks
(respectiveh- 35.2 ^-O and 35.7 % in the towns and 13.7 °y eand 12.4 %
in the country). The rural exodus of the negroes would have perhaps
been greater, had it not been checked b}- other circumstances : amongst
them the unfavourable conditions under which the negroes live in the
cities, crowded together in the poorest and least healthy quarters ;
the consequent high death rate, especially among the children ; the
evident inferiority of their social condition compared with that of the
whites (in nian}^ States there are special laws for the separation of blacks
and whites on the trams and in pubHc places) ; and their inferior aptit-
ude for mechanical and industrial occupations.
In this way, notwithstanding their decided tendency to urbanism, many
of the negroes of the United States of America remain in the country and
agriculture still continues to be the most important of the occupations in
which they engage. As we have no more recent information in regard to the
distribution of negroes according to their occupations, we shall give the
figures for 1900 :
90 UNITED-STATES - MISCEI,I,ANEOUS
Occupations of Negroes.
Agricultural Pursuits 2,143,154
Domestic and Personal Ser\dce 1,317,859
Trade and Transportation 208,989
Manufacturing and Mechanical Pursuits . 275,116
More than half the wage earning negroes are therefore engaged in
agriculture. They form about 20 % of the entire agricultural population of
the United States, but the proportion is far larger when only the Southern
States are considered, especially in the Black Belt (i) where the negro
population is densest. Of 9,827,763 negroes in the United States (the total
population of the Union being 93,402,151), 8,749,427 are to be found in the
South (1910), where in some counties, they form 25 % of the total
population and in certain districts as much as 90 %. More than half
the farms of South Carohna, Mississippi and I^ouisiana and Uttle less than
half of those of Alabama and Georgia are worked by negroes.
In the last ten years (1900-1910), the number of negro farmers in-
creased to a comparatively larger extent than that of the whites ; in fact in
fifteen states in the South the former increased 19.9 % that is from 739,835
to 887,691, while the corresponding increase for the latter was only 17 %,
that is from 1,870,600 to 2,191,705.
The negroes of the United States, therefore, remain principally an
agricultural class.
§ 2. The NEGROES AS FARM I,.\BOURERS.
Before the aboUtion of Slavery, the agricultural labourers of the South-
ern States were, as already said, almost exclusively negroes. The plant-
ation system then predominant, was characterized b}^ the cultivation of
large areas and the employment of many labourers. Of these very great
skill was not demanded ; for as a rule there was no regular rotation of crops
and from year to year the same plant was cultivated (cotton, sugar cane,
rice, indigo). On the other hand, the labourer had to be endowed to a high
degree with the physical strength for prolonged labour ip a semi-tropical
chmate and also, in view of the size of the farms, to be subjected to rigid
discipUne. The African slaves answered these requirements: they were
therefore imported in large quantities, at first openly, and aftenvards clan-
destinely, when the laws of various states had forbidden the importation.
(i) Extending from the coa.5t of South Carolina to the States of the Gulf of Mexico
SOCIAI, AND ECONOMIC PROGRESS OF THE NEGRO FARMERS 9 1
The condition of the black slaves in the United States was generally
tolerable, in so far as slavery ever can be so. The white masters were
as a rule kind to them, either through an interested anxiety not to lose this
kind of hvestock, or out of himianity. The last motive was more frequent
among *;he owners of smaller farms, who had passed much time in daily con-
tact with their black labourers. The relations of the slaves and masters
in such cases even became affectionate and gave the plantation life of the
South that patriarchal character, which,in spite of its many sad and pain-
ful sides, partly explains how miUions of men could so long support the
yoke of slavery. Indeed, the negroes gave wonderful examples of their
affection and fideUty even up to the time of the war of secession : when,
in more than one instance, they remained to protect the wives, children
and property of their masters who were fighting.
The proclamation of emancipation substituted the system of free con-
tract for that of slave labour. However, if the condition of the labourers
was improved in law, at first it was not in fact ; since, indeed, the free hire
of labour was in many ways akin to slavery, without its few good points.
The relation between the white masters and the negro labourers was radic-
ally changed. The bonds of affection and devotion were lost in the violent
con\ ulsion of a whole system of life, the economic conditions that had con-
tributed to the kindly treatment of the slaves had been changed. There
was in fact no further reason to spare the negro stock, to attend to the
sick, to make the exhausted rest ; on the other hand, it was good economy
to get as much work out of them as possible, seeking a maximum of profit
with a minimum of expenditure. Nor, on the other hand, did the critical
situation of the Southern h ndow. ers, to a large extent ruined by the
war and the emancipation of the slaves, permit of their offering their
labourers high wages.
All these circumstances, together with those general political and eco-
nomic conditions mentioned in the preceding section, and the other general
causes of urbanism, led to the rural exodus of negroes and to its being to an
eminent degree an exodus of labourers. In fact, if the proportion of the
negroes engaged in agriculture to that of the negroes over ten years of age oc-
cupied in the various pursuits fell from 55.5 % in 1890 to 52.8 % in 1900,
this was especially due to the fact that, although the total number of
negro labourers increased (from 1,106,728 in 1890 to 1,344,116 in 1910),
there was at the same time a compapative decrease of from 64.9 % to 63.7 %
in the number of negroes engaged in agriculture.
The tendency of negro labourers to emigrate from the country is especi-
ally seen in the proportion of their number to the total number of agricult-
ural labourers of all races, which fell from 36.8 % in 1890 to 30.5 % in
1900, a decrease, that is to sa}^ of 6.3 %in ten years.
Yet the importance of negro labour in the United States is still very
great, especially in the Southern States. In 1900 there were in the North
American Republic 1,344,116 rural negro labourers, distributed as follows:
I
92
UNITED STATES - MISCEI^LANEOUS
North Atlantic States . .
South Atlantic " . .
North Central " . .
South Central
Western " . .
Total
10,831
574,535
18,357
739-909
484
1,344,116
In the South Atlantic States the negroes form scarcely more than half
of the agricultural labourers of all races ; in the South Central States a
Httle less than half, in the North Atlantic States 2.61 %, in the North
Central States 1.50 % and in the Western States only 0.30%. The differ-
ences are therefore ver>^ considerable in the different regions, and this is
still more evident when we consider the figures for the separate States.
Tabi,e I. — Number of Rural Labourers over ten years
of Age in the United States (1900).
Total Negroes Total Negroes
Maine . .
. . . 21,976
25
New Hampshi
re . . 12,714
29
Vermont
. . . . 18,443
73
Massachusetts
• • • 31,515
576
Rhode Island
• • • 5,304
292
Connecticut
. . . . 19,847
676
New York
• • • 148,456
2,902
New Jersey
. . . 33,220
4,031
Pennsylvania
. . . 123,208
3,037
Delaware
. . . 9,126
3,176
Maryland
• • • 50,134
21,443
District of Col
umbia 6i8
282
Virginia
. . . 138,613
61,285
West Virginia
■ • • 58,796
1,063
North Carolina
1 . . . 233,288
i04,oj.6
South Carolina
I . . 237,326
180,354
Georgia . .
. . . 282,347
181,565
Florida . .
• • • 37,343
21,021
Ohio . .
. . . 138,066
2.910
Indiana
. . . 118,498
1,599
Illinois . .
• ■ • 184,959
2,268
Michigan
• • • 97,527
603
Wisconsin
• . • 93,718
64
Minnesota
• • . 94,195
41
Iowa . . .
• . . 133,450
270
Missouri 162,916
North Dakota . . . 24,193
South Dakota . . . 26,749
Nebraska 59,6oi
Kansas 89,271
Kentucky 165,432
Tennessee 182,905
Alabama 286,195
Mississippi 259,668
I<ouisiana 173,510
Texas 273,188
Oklahoma 68,478
Arkansas 156,455
Montana 8,979
Wyoming 3,138
Colorado 14,825
New Mexico .... 7,758
Arizona 3,393
Utah 8,698
Nevada 2,760
Idaho 7,814
Washington .... 1 7,455
Oregon 17,316
California 67,493
8,742
21
15
70
1,954
26,100
54,724
180,864
199,077
128,617
78,098
5,450
67,079
22
16
35
7
9
46
The condition of the negro labourers is still to da}^ not so good as
that of the whites. The wages are lower, so much so that in the States
where negroes are the most numerous the average wages are lower than
in those where their numbers are fewer.
Another interesting fact should be noted, which may also have contrib-
uted to the fall in the average wages : namely, the larger proportion of
the black women engaged in agriculture as compared with the white. In
SOCIAL AND KCONOMlC PK OGRESS OF THE NEGRO 1-ARMKRS 93
fact, while in 1900 the women labourers of all races were 15 % of the women
receiving wages in the United States, the percentage in the case of the
negro women was 37.9.
The low wages affect the general system of farming in the parts where
negro labourers predominate : make large estates more possible, render
the use of machinen.' in farm work less convenient and, together with the
special cUmatic conditions, contribute to prevent the immigration of Eu-
ropean labourers. With respect to this it is easy to see that the foreign
farm labourers are least numerous where the negro labourers are most
plentiful. They were distribued in fact in 1900 as follows in the \ arious
parts of the Union :
North Atlantic States 62,985
South Atlantic " 2,819
North Central " 142,394
South Central " 21,136
Western " 29,145
Total .... 258,479
The importance of black labour for American agriculture is, finally, to
be considered in relation to the cultivation of cotton. Before the abohtion
of slaver>^ cotton formed the principal produce of the Southern States ;
and even to day, in spite of the competition of new countries and the se-
vere losses caused by the cotton boll wee\'il {Anthonomns grandis). the
Southern States of the North American Union are still among the principal
cotton producers in the world. Today more than half the cotton produced
by the United States is cultivated by negroes: they are, through long tradi-
tion, and on account of their power of resistance to the cUmate, the heat
and malarial fever, excellently fitted for this class of labour.
§ 3. Share tenancies of various form and leases.
If a tendency to a comparative decrease of negro agricultural labourers
is observable, on the other hand, we find an increase in the various forms
of share tenancy and lease. This is a further progress of the negro
labourer, who, having passed from slavery to the free lease of his labour,
is now seeking higher and more independent economic positions.
This advance was first made possible by the conditions of agriculture
we have mentioned in the Southern States, after the abolition of slavery:
on the one hand, the economic crisis through which the landowners, ruined
by the war and deprived of their principal wealth, their slaves, had to
pass ; on the other, the difficulty of retaining the negroes for agriculture at
the moment at which the tendency to rural exodus was strongest. A compro-
mise had therefore to be come to between the landlords and the labourers
who had no land ; this led to various forms of share tenancy, which
were at first, in the ultimate analysis, a mere disguise of simple liire of
labour; intended to keep the labourer on the farm until after the harvest
by postponing to that date the payment of the wages in kind.
94 UNITED STATES - MISCEl,I.ANEOUS
The quality of the work could not but be improved in this way : the
labourer being directly interested and jointly ^.Tcsponsible for the 'progress
of the farm. The system, in the end, benefited the farmers in ^another
way as, while the risks were divided, they were spared the necessity of
paying wages in cash.
Of the forms of share tenancy then devised, some have now fallen into
disuse, others have been modified, while some still remain. Thus, a form of
contract has been almost completely abandoned, though it was very wide-
spread in the years immediately following the emancipation of the slaves, by
which the negro had to work for a certain number of days a week on the
employer's farm, receiving in return the right to cultivate a piece of ground
for his own account, together with the necessary stock and sometimes also
wages in money. According to other contracts, the labourer received some
of his wages in money and the rest as a specified share of the harvest.
Evidently we have here intermediate steps between simple hire of
labour and share tenancies. The latter in their pure form only appeared later.
At first the portion of the crop assigned to the negro tenants {share croppers)
was very small — one third, a fourth and even a fifth of the produce —
varying with the fertility of the soil and the proportion in which the
employer had contributed by provision of the seed, stock etc. Certainly
such a proportion of the produce, though small, must have yet seemed
reasonable to those who up to a short time before could claim no reward
for their labour and whose requirements were so limited. However, the
position of the share croppers was generally far from happy : since the
risk assumed by them was not compensated by a corresponding share
in the profits ; so that one inferior harvest was enough to involve them
in debt to the landov/ner or the local storekeeper who had supplied them
with seed, farm implements or the articles of first necessity to enable
them to live until harvest time.
Their debts to the landlord and the storekeeper were secured on a crop
lien : the landlord having the first claim. In this way it often happened
that at the end of the season when the harvest was bad, the whole share of
the share cropper went to pay his debts. Indeed, it often was not sufficient
to pay them : and in that case the tenant had no chance of seeking better
conditions, hence the law in man}^ of the Southern States forbade his leav-
ing the farm till he had paid his debts. That he was unable to do so was
frequently enough the case, owing to the hard conditions of the contract
(as almost always the least infringement of it gave the landlord a right to
the whole crop) ; so under various aspects there was a renewal of condi-
tions resembhng slavery.
To day the conditions of the negro share tenants are in many ways im-
proved. There is an inferior form of tenancy, various famiUes of ten-
nants working on large plantations under the supervision of the master
who assigns the lots, distributes the labour and settles the crops to be
cultivated aud a superior form in which the tenant cultivates a piece
of ground for his own account, specially allotted to him, managing it
on his own responsibihty.
SOQAI, AND ECONOMIC PROGRESS OF THE NEGRO FARMERS
95
In this case we have forms akin to metayage or quite identical with it.
But the progress of the negro has not stopped here : from a simple sharing
in the crop (pa5nnent in kind made bj' the landlord for his work), advance
was made to the paj^ment by the tenant of a fixed amount in money or
produce (the tenant, undertaking to work the farm, paid the landowner for
the use of the land); from the forms of share tenancy the negro advanced
to the contract of lease. The tenant then completely emancipated himself
from every kind of supervision and was enabled to manage the farm and
conduct all the business of the sale of the produce.
A proof of the progress of the negro farmers is that they are more and
more found working under the conditions of these higher classes of share ten-
ancy or under contract of lease — and we shall hereafter see more and more of
them becoming landowners — and this increase of the negroes in such situ-
ations is not only absolute, but relatively greater than that of the whites.
Unfortunately, the last census (1910) does not give special figures for
the negroes who are grouped under the head of coloured people, together
with the Indians, Japanese and Chinese. Yet these general figures may
provide sufficiently accurate information with regard to the negroes, as, in
view of the very different local distribution of the coloured farmers, we
may judge when they refer almost exclusively to negroes and when to
other coloured races. The following table shows the distribution of the vari-
ous races in the territory' of the Union.
[ TabIvE II. — Various Races of Farmers {Landowners, Tenant Farmers)
in the United States.
White
Coloured
Negroes
Indians
Chinese
Japanese
New England
Middle Atlantic States
Kast North Central »
West North Central »
South Atlantic »
East South Central »
West South Central »
Mountain »
Pacific »
188,460
466,418
1,117,772
1,100,084
756,019
717,262
734,125
175,415
185,061
310
1,310
4,843
5,603
354,530
324,885
201,422
218
263
32
638
870
4,238
1,303
332
7,584
7,524
1. 716
5
2
2
13
I
10
91
636
2,502
8
2
21
16
45
195
Total .
5,440,619
893,384
24,237
769
2,502
It is therefore, clear that up to the present the very large majority of
the coloured landowners and tenant farmers, and in the Southern States
almost all, are negroes. So much said, we can give their true value to the
following figures :
96
UNITED STATES - MISCElvLANEOUS
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SOaAI, AND ECONOMIC PROGRESS OF THE NEGRO FARMERS
97
From this table we see that in the South Atlantic and East South
Central States almost half, and, in the West South Central States, almost
a third of the farms are managed by coloured tenant farmers. The tend-
ency to increase in the numbers of both white and negro landholders and
tenant farmers is clearly shown from the statistics (based on the figures in
the preceding table) showing the increases per cent in the period 1900-1910.
Table IV. — Increase per cent of White and Coloured Farmers (1900-1910).
Number
Area
Improved
Value of Land
Distribution and
of Farms
of Farms
Farms
Buildings
Classes of Farmers
I^and-
holders
TpTiant
Farmers
Land-
holders
Tenant
Farmers
Land-
holders
Tenant
Farmers
Land-
holders
Tenant
Farmers
South Atlantic States;
White rariutrs
II.8
15-5
-1.6
-7.2
1-7
-I.I
100.7
88.5
Coloured »
19.8
24.9
27-5
7-9
28.4
22.3
185.5
1743
East South Central Slates:
White Fiirmcrs
9.2
20.8
-1.8
-2.1
6.4
II-5
81. 1
85.5
Coloured »
17.7
22.3
18.3
2.9
29.1
13-4
148.6
102.9
West South Central Slates :
White Fanners
16.9
45-2
7.8
38.9
37-3
80.7
170.2
269.4
Coloured »
11.8
145
8.1
12.0
18.4
17.2
134-8
I II. 2
Total for the South:
White Farmers
12.0
27.6
2.5
15-6
13.8
34-6
1 16.9
154-9
Coloured »
17.0
21.4
175
7.0
25.0
17.8
150.0
130.0
The area cultivated by both white and coloured tenant farmers has in-
creased in smaller proportion than the area of the improved farms and the
average value of the land and buildings. The advance has therefore been
rather in quality than in quantity.
It must be observed that in the ten years 1900-1910 the increase in the
number of tenant farmers has been greater than in that of the landowners.
However, the total area owned by the negroes has increased in greater pro-
portion than that leased by them, while the contrary has been the case with
the area owned and leased by the whites.
The percentages in the West South Central States differ considerably
from those for the other two groups of Southern States, since, wliile in the
latter the increase of the white tenant farmers and landholders has been
98 UNITED STATES - MISCELLANEOUS
less than that of the coloured, the contrary is the case in the West South
Central States. But in spite of these differences, the general increase of
negro tenant farmers is evident and common to all the divisions of the South.
§ 4. Negroes as rural landholders.
While in i860 the few free negroes only possessed an insignificant
portion of the agricultural land of the United States, the census of 1909
shows the value of the land held by negro farmers at about 230,000,000
dollars and the census of 1910 shows the value of the agricultural property
(land and buildings) belonging to coloured farmers (i) in the South alone
as 272,992,238 dollars (106,619,328 dollars in 1900).
The conditions that occasioned the rise and increase of landed property
among the American negroes are as a whole the same as those we have
already mentioned when speaking of share tenancies and leases. Indeed,
the latter forms of agricultural economy to a large extent give rise to the
former. The necessity of giving the emancipated negroes an interest in the
farm had led to their education for other forms of economic independence.
But, it had at the same time gradually caused that subdivision of the large
plantations which rendered it possible for the negroes to advance to the
position of landed proprietors. In fact, the average area of Southern farms
is being more and more reduced simultaneously with the increase in the
number of negro farms.
Table V. — Average Area of all the Farms in the Southern States :
1860-1910 {in acres).
Year.
i860
1870
1880
1890
1900
1910
There is a notable difference between the figures for i860 and 1870.
At present the average area of holdings in the Southern States is less
than the in the Northern States, for the former average is 114.43 acres
and the latter is 143 acres. The contrary was the case in the past, especi-
ally before the war, when large holdings almost absolutely predominated
in the South. Now, on the other hand, while the area of the South is a
little less than a third of the total area of the United States and belongs to
a third of the States, the number of holdings is 49 % of the total number
in the Union.
(i) See what we have said on this subject on page 95.
Total
Soutliern States
SouUi Atlantic
Group
South Central
Group
335-4
352.8
321.3
214.2
241. 1
194,4
153-4
157-4
150.6
139-7
133-6
144.0
138.2
108.4
155.4
114-43
93-3
126.24
SOCIAI, AND ECONOMIC PROGRESS OF THE NEGRO FARMERS 99
The increase of negro rural holdings has been very slow and only
in recent years has it been accelerated. A fairly long time had to pass be-
fore the mass of the negroes could persuade themselves of the possibiHty
of their becoming absolute lords and masters of a piece of land, however
small. But when they were convinced, the desire to attain this end spread.
We must remember there was no inherited property: they had to begin
with nothing, relying only on their own hard work and their persistent
economy.
Booker T. Washington, one of the most enlightened of the negroes
to whom his race owes much of its advance, tells us the story of a negro,
who, when Uberated from slavery was already an old man, and attained pro-
sperity as a rural landowner. We think it well to quote the story as an
interesting and characteristic example of the way in which many negroes
formed their agricultural holdings (i).
"When he (the old negro) was "turned loose", as he put
it, at the end of the Civil War, he was, about sixty years of age, and at
that age, he began life, as a great majority of my race began at that time,
with nothing.
He did not own a house ; he had but little clothing, and no food
but a bag of meal and a strip of bacon. He had gotten out of slavery,
however, a close and intimate acquaintance with the soil and the habit of
work.
After freedom came, he left the plantation on which he had been a slave
and went to work on an adjoining place as a " renter " . He told me that when
he was first free he had to move about a little, just to find out what free-
dom was Uke. But he soon found that in most respects there was very little
difference between his condition in freedom and his condition in slavery.
The man of whom he rented furnished him rations, directed his planting
and kept after him to see that he made his crop.
At the end of the year the charges for rent and interest had eaten up
all that he had earned, so that from one year to another he was not any
better off than he had been the year before. When he did come out with
a little money to his credit the storekeeper soon got it all, and, if he fell
sick or anything happened to his family, he sometimes found himself in
debt at the end of the year, and then he was worse off than if he had
nothing.
One of the chief privileges of freedom he found to be the opportunity
for getting into debt, but after he had succeeded in getting into |debt he
learned that he had lost even the privilege which had remained to him of
moving from one plantation to another ", as frequently the law in the
Southern States prevents a tenant from leaving the plantation until he
has paid his debt.
" Gradually the old coloured farmer began to see that he was making no
headway and that his condition might easily become worse.
(i) See Booker T. Washington. The Story of the Negro, vol. II, pp. (S et scqq.
L
100 UNITED STATES - MISCELLANEOUS
It was about this time that he began coming to our " Annual Negro Con-
ference " at " Tuskegee Institute " . There he heard the stories of the Negro
farmers, some of whom had worked themselves out of this condition of partial
slavery that I have described. As he listened to these stories, he began to
realise that what had been possible for others was possible for him also. He be-
gan to think for the first time in his life of getting a home of his own. A place,
as he told me, where if he drove a nail or planted a tree it would stay there
and could be handed down to his children. He began thinking about the land
on which he was working, and a passionate desire to own and improve it
took possession of him. He wanted to be in a position where he could afford
to improve his surroundings and preserve for his children the improvements
that he made.
In order to get more out of the soil he arose early in the morning
before daybreak and he and his wife and his children were out in the field
all day and late at night. In the midst of his work the rented mule, which
he had been using to make his cotton crop, died.
This was a terrible blow to him, but it proved his economic salv-
ation, for it determined him to have an ox or mule that he could call his
own next year.
The old farmer talked the matter over with his wife and between them
they agreed upon this plan : they would do all the work they could during
the day with their hoes, and after dark, by the light of the moon, the old man
would put the harness that the mule had worn on his own back, and, while
his wife held the plough, he pulled it through the furrow as well as he could.
This method of cultivating the soil was so unusual that he did not
care to attract the attention of his neighbours by working in this way
during the day.
At the end of the season he found that he had cleared enough to buy
an ox. I have heard the old man tell more than once how proud he felt
when he owned an ox that he could call his own, something at any rate,
that was absolutely free of debt and no man had a claim upon it, with the aid
of this ox, he and his wife and his children made the next year a larger crop
and, when the cotton had been picked, he had in his possession more money
than he ever had before in his life. With this money he bought a mule.
Working the mule and the ox together, he made a still larger crop and the
next year purchased another mule.
Without detailing step by step the method by which the old man
went forward, I might say that before many years had gone by he had
become the owner in fee simple of over two hundred acres of land. He was
Hving in a good house and had surrounded himself with most of the
necessities and some of the comforts of life. Not only was this true, but I
learned afterwards that he had been able to put considerable money in
the local bank, of which he eventually became a stockholder. "
Examples such as this, though of course not frequent, show how it
has been possible for the negroes in the Southern States to obtain and increase
their agricultural property.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC PROGRESS OF THE NEGRO FARMERS lOI
The increase has been continuous : this is shown by the following figures
for all the States of the Union.
Tabi^e VI, — Rural Landholders, White {American or Immigrants)
and Coloured, working their own Farms (1910).
Geographical Distribution
New England ....
Middle Atlantic States
East North Central b
West North Central »
South Atlantic »
East South Central »
West South Central »
Mountain States. . . .
Pacific States
Whites
Born in the
United States
Whites,
Immigrants
Negroes
and other
Coloured Persons
Totol
14.1,212
23,925
271
188,802
316,462
37,196
2,414
468,379
646,032
159,104
3,908
1,123,489
534,260
217,317
7,369
1,109,948
485,134
6,059
101,961
I, III, 881
447,808
3,907
58,737
1,042,480
357,128
26,008
57,769
943,186
125,426
27,743
7,675
183,446
106,158
43,658
2,117
180,891
Total for the Union
3,162,584
544,917
241,221
6,361,502
As well as the other more characteristic figures for the Southern
vStates in Table VII.
As we see the increase in the number of farms owned by negroes is
undeniably considerable, although not so great as that in the number they
lease. The increase in the case of farms held by negroes was 17 % as against
12 % in that of those held by whites. Yet still more considerable has been
the progress in the matter of the improvement and enlargement of the exist-
ing farms. Although the average of the holdings of the negroes in the South
is smaller than that of those of the whites (162. i acres for the whites and
71.8 acres for the negroes in 1910 as compared with 177.2 acres and
71.6 acres respectively in 1900), they have shown a decided tendency to
increase to a far greater extent than those of the whites (increase in the
land held by the blacks in the period 1900-1910 : 17.5 % as against 2.5 %
for that held by the whites).
There has been a similar increase observable in the improved lands
(25 % in comparison with the previous decade) and the value of the land
and buildings (136 % since 1900) : while in 1900 the average value of the
negroes' agricultural holdings was 571 dollars, in 1910 it had become 1,250
dollars; so also the average value per acre increased from 7.98 dollars
to 17.40 dollars.
As we see, therefore, the advance has been more in quality than in
quantity and so is the more promising for the future.
102
UNITED STATES - MISCELLANEOUS
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SOCIAIv AND ECONOMIC PROGRESS OF THE NEGRO FARMERS 10 3
§ 5. Negro rurai. associations and co-operative societies.
The union of forces has contributed to this progress. There are several
negro agricultural associations and co-operative societies, of economic
character or for the promotion of moral and material interests. They have
arisen under difficulties and are therefore fruitful of good results.
The first associations for the improvement of the negro race were
formed amongst the whites, or by whites and blacks together on the initiat-
ive of enhghtened minds in the universities or in the various churches.
Those formed among the negroes alone for their economic and social advance
were only founded later.
Amongst those specially concerned with agriculture the first in im-
portance is the Tuskegee Conference, which held its first meeting at Tuskegee
(Alabama), in 1880. This organization has worked continuously and actively
in behalf of the negro farmers, especially the Southern farmers, bringing
them into contact with each each other and spreading new and improved
methods of cultivation. The Tuskegee Institute founded by this organiz-
ation is the principal centre for the economic and educational progress
of the negroes.
The Southern Improvement Association, established in the neighbourhood
of the Tuskegee Institute, succeeded in the six years preceding 1889 in
obtaining about 4,000 acres for negro farmers who cultivated them under
the direction of agents of the society and afterwards became proprietors
of small farms of from 40 to 60 acres.
The Farmers' Improvement Association of Texas, the members of which
(negroes) now possess more than 75,000 acres of a value of more than
1,000,000 dollars, founded an agricultural college at lyavonia, Texas, in
1906 and a bank at Waco (Texas) in 1911.
IvCt us also mention the Country Farm Association, founded in
November, 1909 at Woodstown (New Jersey), with the object of spreading
among the negroes the most improved methods of agriculture and sale of
produce.
We shall briefly mention other organizations which, although not agri-
cultural, have often been of assistance to the negro farmers. The National
Negro Bankers' League organized at Boston in 1890 to stimulate enterprises
of economic character among the negroes, and increase their members,
includes 11 leagues having for their field of action entire States and also
221 local leagues. The National Negro Bankers' Association, founded in
1906, represents 64 negro banks with a capital of 1,600,000 dollars and
a total business of 20,000,000 dollars.
§ 6. SociAiy conditions of the negro farmers.
The economic progress of the negroes in agriculture has been accom-
panied by their continual social improvement. Tliis movement of a
whole race that, after centuries of slavery, is tending to rise to the level
104 UNITED STATES - MISCEl,I,ANEOUS
of the most advanced of those fellow citizens amongst whom its mem-
bers live has been favoured l)y various circumstances. With the activity
displayed in varying degree by the public authorities is united that of private
associations both of whites or negroes, and of individuals inspired by
humanity or patriotism. Let us mention such foundations as the James
Fund and the Slater Fund, which have been and still are so important for
negro education, especially in the South. The work of the Universities has
been continuous and enlightened and their professors and students have
accomplished studies and carried out investigations into the economic and
social conditions of the negroes, exposing their most urgent needs.
The elementary school every year draws numbers of negroes from the
darkness of ignorance, so that, while at the date of their emancipation, the
great mass of the negroes were illiterate, in 1910, the illiterate negroes over
ten years of age were 30.4 % (44.5 % in 1900).
The church in its various sects and divisions has also contributed to
the work of progress. In the United States the negroes have their own
churches, with clergy of their own race; the reUgious idea, advancing from
what was almost idolatry in the first years after the abolition, has undeni-
ably been a generally civilizing influence, especially amongst negroes
in the country. The clergy, now more cultivated and enlightened, have
been able, in addition to diffusing moral and religious principles among the
negroes, to carry on a work of economic and practical instruction in places
where other influences could not penetrate.
We must finally observe a general improvement in the outward condi-
tions of field life. Progress from this point of view varies greatly in differ-
ent locahties, with the greater or less influence the various factors of
civilization have been able to exert, the vicinity of cities, the means of
communication and the greater or less diffculty of breaking with old local
traditions. In some parts of the country, as on the coast of South Carolina,
where in the slave days negroes were engaged in no other work than the rude
and simple cultivation of the plantations, remote from communication with
whites, except their masters and overseers, progress has been very slow. In
other places, however, where the conditions were more favourable, the con-
trary has been the case. The rude hut made of tree trunks in which the
slaves and even those liberated used to sleep after the fatigues of the
day, crowded together in a small space, has been succeeded by a cleaner
and healthier house, often provided with all the comforts of modern life.
Economic and intellectual progress has rendered the need for greater
comforts more keen, the desire for education more ardent.,
These few notes will suffice to give an idea of the progress made 1)y the
negroes of America in little more than half a century and the beneficent
influence that agricultural Hfe has exerted upon them.
FRANCE.
MISCBI.I.ANEOUS NEWS.
1. — Agricui^turax sociai, courses. — The idea of the formation
of a superior agricultural class by means of agricultural social courses is
making progress and is realised in practical forms varying with the needs
of the various regions.
Thus the Union des Syndicats agricoles Vosgiens (Union of the Agricul-
tural Syndicates of Vosges) recently, with complete success, organized a week
of Agricultural Social Courses at Bazoilles from the 8th. to the 15th. February.
These courses were only attended by young farmers already members of
the syndicates of their commtmes. In the invitation circular the Presid-
ent of the Unions represented to the managers of the syndicates the
necessity of recruiting and forming a greater number of collaborators to
manage the rural institutions.
With this object in view, the character of the courses and lectures has
been very markedly practical. In the scheme now recognised, which pro-
vides for each day two morning courses, a visit of instruction in the after-
noon and a third course in the evening, there would also be included a small
number of theoretical courses and a whole succession of demonstrations
relating to the technique of the associations and farms. Let us note, among
these demonstrations, lessons on the bookkeeping of a mutual livestock
society and a credit bank, studies on the cost of agricvdtural production, the
calculation of the cost price, sale contracts, wages, commissions, transport,
all matters of great practical importance for the associations and for good
farming.
(Suiumarised from la Chroniqne sociale de France, of February 2.itli., 1914)-
*
♦ *
2. — AgricuIvTural labour congress. — The first National Agricultural
I^abour Congress organized by the Societe Nationale de protection de la
main d'oeuvre agricole (National Society for the Protection of Agricultural
Ivcbourers), founded by M. Fernand Davis, will be held in Paris on the 4th.
and 5th. December next.
lOb FKANCH - MlSCliJUl4AMliOUS
Six divisions will be made for the work of the Congress.
1st. The Division for Rural Ivegislation, Wages and Insurance, presid-
ed over by M. Souchon, Professor at the Paris Faculty of I^aw and I^ecturer
at the National Agronomic Institute ;
2nd. That of Popular Agricultural Instruction, of which the President
will be M. Tisserand, Member of the Institute and Honorary Director of
Agriculture ;
3rd. That for Employment of lyabourers, with, as President, M. Blan-
chard. Director of the Agricultural Office of I^oire ;
4th. That for I^and Credit, I^abourers' Houses and General Health, the
President of which will be M. Tardy, Principal Inspector of Mutual Credit
and Agricultural Co-operation ;
5th. That of Small Agricultural Trades, with M. Duf our man telle,
formerly president of the Society of Social Economy, as President ;
6th. That of Metairie and the Various Contracts of I^ease, under the
Presidency of M. Marcel Vacher, Vice-Secretary of the National Society of
Agriculture.
*
* *
3. — The doubs agricui^turai, associations house. — At Besan9on,
on March 6th., the Minister of Agriculture and the Minister of Labour laid
the foundation stone of a building to serve as the head quarters of 250 agri-
cultural associations of the Department of Doubs, and especially of the mut-
ual societies, all united in a Federation des associations agricoles du Doubs
(Federation of Doubs Agricultural Associations). The first of these unions
was a departmental syndicate, with which a number of other important
syndicates united. There joined these the mutual insurance societies of which
most are united in a departmental reinsurance society, a Regional Agricul-
tural Credit Bank, uniting 24 local banks, without counting the independ-
ent rural banks, and the livestock improvement syndicates, more than
70, united in federations.
*
* *
4. — Industries auxii,iary to agricui^ture. — The 34th. General
Meeting of the National Society for the Encouragement of Agriculture {Societe
Nationale d' Encourage^nent a V Agriculture) , was held in Paris from February
17th. to 19th. It as usual formed a special congress, occupied this
year with the farm yard, the produce of which, for example, milk, eggs,
poultry, fruit, vegetables, honey etc. provides a revenue of some thousand
millions. Nearly 1,000 members were registered for this Congress and
among them a large number of farmwomen, whose useful work for the
maintenance and prosperity of the farm is recognised.
MISCEI^IwANKOUS NEWS IU7
* *
5. — Rural monographs. — The SocieU des Agriculteurs de France
(French Farmers' Society) has opened a competition for 1916 for the best
monograph of a rural commune. We think it well to give here the scheme
for this monograph.
Historical Introduction (i).
I. — General History of the Commune.
II. — Demographic History. — Births: I^egitimate, Natural. — Marriages
— Deaths, — Movement of the Population — Emigration, Immigration. —
Classification according to Employment.
III. — Economic History. — Division of the Land (2) . — Kinds of Farm-
ing. — Pecuhar Customs — Uses with regard to Succession — Rotation
of Crops — Clearing — Diseases of the Plants and Animals — Price
of the Ivand — I^eases — Prices of Agrictdtural Produce. — Sales. — Modes
of Sale — Taxes — Agricultural Associations.
IV. — Social History. — Conditions of Housing, Clothing and Food. —
Customs — Savings — Alcoholism — Indigence — Foundations — Asylums
— Benevolent Institutions — Mutual Aid Societies.
Present situation of the commune.
I. — Physical Geography (3) — I^ocalities, Climate, Soil, Water
Supply. — Means of Access.
II. — Population. — Distribution according to Age, Sex, Condition and
Employment.
III. — Emigration and Immigration — Currents of Emigration — Their
Causes — Do the Emigrants Return ?
Currents of Immigration. — Are they Intermittent, Periodical or
Regular ?
IV. — Divison oj the Land. — Large, Medium Sized and Small Hold-
ings. — Facihty of Transfer. — Sales. — Seizures. — Communal Land. —
Customs in regard to Succession.
(i) This iutroduction must be soberly treated, in the way of a simple preface, to
prepare, explain and give value to the monograph, and not to smother it, sacrifice the
present to the past, or make a display of erudition and archaeologj'. It must lead the
reader to the eve of the present day; but, owing to its points of contact with the second
part in which some of the same ground is necessarily gone over again, it is subordinate,
leaving all the life and prominence to the contemporary facts in that part, which is, pro-
perly speaking, the real monograph.
(2) Small Holdings : from i to 6 ha.
Medium sized Holdings : from 6 to 40 ha.
lyarge Holdings; of 40 ha. and over.
(3) It would be well to give a map in illustration of this section.
I08 FRANCE - MISCELI^ANEOUS
V. — Methods of Farming. — j^Farms worked by the Owner and his
Family. — on I^ease — by Metayers.
VI. — Kinds of Farm. — Different Kinds of Farms in the Commune. —
lyivestock Improvement and Domestic Animals.
VII. — Agricultural Education. — Agricultural Instruction. — Experi-
mental Farms.
VIII. — Rural Industries. — Union of Agricultural and Industrial
Work. — Small Industries. — Auxiliary Industries.
IX. — Wages and Labourers. — Abundance or Scarcity of I^abourers. —
Wages in Money or in Kind, according to Season and Employment.
X. — Condition of the Agriculturists. — The Various Classes of the
Agricultural Population (I^andowners, Farmers, Metayers, lyabourers)
DwelHngs, Clothes, Food.
XI. — Economic Results. — Cost Price (] ) and Market Price of Agri-
cultural Produce. — Taxes — Prosperous or Critical Situation.
XII. — Agricultural Syndicates. — Associations of Various Kinds
Credit — Purchase, Sale, Production.
XIII. — Thrift. — Savings. — Mutual Aid and Pension Societies — In-
surance.
XIV. — Assistance. — Asylums — Hospitals — Medical Aid. -
Relief.
XV. — Moral and Social State of the Commune. — Morals. —
Relations between the lyandlords and their I^abourers or Tenants. —
Prosperity or Distress. — Future of the Commune. — Conclusion.
(i) With regard to the cost price, do not onl}' give general statements, but enter into
precise details.
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.
PROPOSAIvS FOR IvAND REFORI^I IN ENGI.AND AND WALEwS.
Sources :
The I,and. The Report of the lyand Enquiry Committee. Vol. i. Rural. Vol. 2. Urban. —
I^ondon, 1913-14. Hodder and Stoughton.
The lyAND Problem. Notes Suggested by the Report of the I<and Enquiry Committee. —
I,ondon, 191 3. Wyman and Sons.
A Unionist Agricultural Policy. By a Group of Unionists. — I<ondon, 1913. John
Murray.
The I,abour Party .4lkd the agricultural Problem. — I<ondon, 191 3. The I,aboxxr
Party.
Harben (Henry D.) : The Rural Problem. — lyondon, 1913. Constable.
Speeches by the Chancellor of the Exchequir (Mr. D. lyloyd George) at Bedford, October
nth., 1913; at Swindon, October 22nd., 1913; at Holloway, November 29th., 1913:
at Pwllheli, December 22nd., 1913, and at Glasgow, February 4th., 1914, and by the
Prime Minister (Mr. H. H. Asquith) in I,ondon, December 9th., 191 3.
For other publications relating to the I,and Question and the more important articles
which have been written on the subject, see the Bibliography at the end of the Section
"Miscellaneous" in the Bulletin of May, 1914.
Introduction.
Considering the very severe crisis through which agriculture has
passed in England in the last forty years, it is somewhat surprising that
so little change has been made in the EngUsh land laws. W^le in
Ireland, during the same period, the land system has been completely revol-
utionised, in England only slight modifications have been made with a
view to securing to the tenant comjjensatiou for improvements or for
disturbance or to relieving the agricultural interests from the pressure of
local taxation. It is only now, when the crisis is past and agriculture is
recovering from the depression, that the land system is being called in
question, and demands are arising on all sides for its fundamental amend-
ment.
The reasons for this new and general interest in the land question
are manifold. In large part it is a phase of the greater interest which is
being taken in social questions; England being an industrial country, these
L
no GREAT BRITAIN AND IREI^AND - MISCEUvANEOUS
were considered first in connection with urban conditions, but the turn of
the rural dweller has now come and the conditions of the agricultural ia»
bourer are attracting attention. Even from the point of view of town
workers it is felt by social reformers that something must be done to
improve the agricultural labourer's position, since low wages in the country
and the migration to the towns tend to depress industrial wages. There has,
again, been an awakening to the importance of agriculture in the economy
of the country, the failure to recognize which was largely responsible for
the fact that so Httle was done to combat the agricultural crisis or to mit-
igate its effects. Questions, too, of the national physique, both from the
general and the military point of view, and of food-supply in time of war
are being actively discussed and these are intimately related with the con-
dition of agriculture. Fiscal questions, again, such as the enlargement of the
basis of taxation on the one hand and the renewed demands for protection
on the other, have helped to bring the land question into prominence.
Nor does this by any means exhaust the list of influences which are moving
the country in the direction of land reform.
§ I. The libhrai, i^and enquiry.
The lyiberal Government, which has already established old-age pen-
sions and a national system of insurance against sickness and invalidity
is now putting forward proposals for the amendment of the land system.
It had, indeed, already to some extent prepared the way for land reform by
the great vahiation which is being carried out under the Finance Act of
igio, but before deciding upon the form which its proposals should take,
the Government asked some of its supporters to conduct a careful enquiry
into the land question. Thus was formed the so-called I^and Enqtiiry Com-
mittee, the Report of which has been published in two volumes under the
title of "The lyand, The Report of the L,and Enquiry Committee. Vol. I:
Rural. Vol. II: Urban". It is with the first of these volumes that we are
here chiefly concerned, and we shall give, in some detail, the conclusions
and recommendations which it contains.
In considering these, it will be weU to bear in mind the essentially
party character of the Enquiry. Although undertaken at the request of
the Government it was not, strictly speaking, an official enquiry, since the
Committee w^as neither a ParHamentary Commission nor a Departmental
Committee. It was unofficially organised wth a view to propounding a
Liberal land policy and consisted exclusively of lyiberals. This fact had,
doubtless, considerable influence upon the conclusious arrived at and
may even have coloured the statements of fact upon which the conclusions
were based, although every effort seems to have been made to furnish an
impartial account.
It should also be noted that in conducting the enquiry the social point
of view was given precedence over the economic ; that more importance was
PROPOSAI^ FOR lyAND REFORM III
attached to the improvement of the condition of the agricultural labourers
than to promoting the welfare of the farmers and that the interests of
the farmers were given priority over those of the landlords. This point
of view determines the order of the Report, which deals successively with
the wages and hours of labour ; the rural hoiising problem and the con-
ditions under which the labourer holds his cottage ; the question of access
to the land and the means whereby the labourer can rise from his pos-
ition as a wage-earner ; the cultivation of the soil and the reasons why
much land is at present undercultivated ; compensation for damage done
by game ; the tenure of land (including the questions of security of ten-
ure and compensation for improvements) and the question of rural rating.
It also touches Hghtly on transit, credit, co-operation and education.
As to the method of the enquiry, which must also be borne in mind
in estimating the value its conclusions, the Comim"ttee studied, in the
first place, the many oihcial documents which are available, such as stat-
istics and reports of ParUamentary Commissions. The information so
obtained was supplemented by a special investigation. The country was
divided into twelve districts for each of which a Head Investigator was
appointed, with instructions to prepare a general report himself and to
obtain answers from representative persons {o two carefully prepared
Hsts of questions. To the first of these, which related principally to wages,
hours of labour, housing and allotments, 2,759 replies were received. The
second dealt with such matters as conditions of tenure, game and the acqui-
sition of land and was filled in by 866 persons.
Let us now see what are the conclusions of the Report in regard to
the various subjects with which it deals.
(a) The Labourers' Wages.
An exhaustive official iuquir.v into the wages of agricultural labourers
was made in 1907, from wliich it resulted that in that year the average
weekly earnings (including, in addition to the weekly cash wages, all special
payments for piecework, harvesting, etc., and all allowances in kind) of
ordinary agricultural labourers were over i8s. in 16 counties of England,
between T7S. and i8s. in 8 counties and under 17s. in 15 counties. The
highest average was in Durham, where it reached 21s. gd. and the lowest
in Oxfordshire, where it was only 14s. iid. These figures, it should be
noted, refer only to able-bodied adult labourers in regular employment.
The Committee presents a calculation, based on these figures and the
Census Returns of 190 1 from which it appears that over 60 per cent, of
all the ordinary agricultural labourers in England between the ages of
twenty and sixty-fi.ve were in receipt of total earnings of less than i8s.
per week. It is admitted that the calculation cannot pretend to scientific
accuiacy, but it is claimed that the deduction is substantially correct.
Men in charge of animals (horsemen, cattlemen, shepherds) receive
somewhat higher wages, but these higher rates, it is stated, represent
payment for additional as well as for more skilled work. In Wales and
112 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRElyAND - MISCEl,LANEOUS
Monmouthshire it was found impossible to give separate averages for
each class of agricultural labourer, the farms being generally too small to
admit of distinctive duties being assigned to particular men. The average
total earnings for all labourers in Wales and Monmouthshire varied from
i6s. 6d. in Cardiganshire to 19s. 3d. in Glamorganshire. Making a
similar calculation, the Committee arrived at the conclusion that in Wales
and Monmouthshire 36 per cent, of all labourers are earning less than i8s.
a week.
To bring the figures more up to date, the Committee avails itself of
statements published by the Board of Trade, wliich show that there was
a slight continuous rise in the cash wages of agricultural labourers between
1900 and 1912. As compared with 1907, the general average of cash wages
was 2.8 per cent, higher in 1912. Amongst the questions asked by the Com-
mittee in its Enquiry Schedule (which was sent out in 191 2) was whether
wages had risen or fallen in the five previous years, and out of 2,292 parishes
from which answers were received, it was stated that there had been no
change in 1,301 parishes, a rise in 954 and a fall in 38. It appeared that the
largest rise had taken place in the counties where the labourers were
already the most highly paid and that in most cases it had taken place
in 1912.
An attempt is made in the Report to estimate the fluctuation in the
purchasing power of the labourers' wages. No records of the fluctuations
of retail prices for country districts are available, but taking the official
figures for lyondon and substituting the quantities of different commodities
consumed by typical rural households, the Committee arrives at index-
numbers showing the variations of retail prices of food commonly consumed
by rural labourers. Taking the year 1900 as 100, the index-number for
1907 is 106.4 ^nd for 1912 it is 116.3. It is stated that there was little or
no increase in the cost of house rent or clothing between 1907 and 1912 and
that the increase in the cost of living is not, therefore, so great as would
appear at first sight from these figures. Moreover labourers usually obtain
some of the food they consume from their own gardens or allotments or
by way of perquisites from farmers. Assuming, however, that a labourer
with a wife and three children spends only los. a week on food, the Com-
mittee finds that what he could have bought for los. in 1907 would have
cost him los. iid. in 1913. The Committee draws the deduction that,
when the increased cost of living has been taken into account, the real
earnings of nearly 60 per cent, of the ordinary agricultural labourers have
actually decreased since 1907.
The Committee made a special inquiry regarding hours of labour,
from which it resulted that, in more than two-thirds of the villages from
which answers were received, the usual hours of work, in summer, are 10
hours or more, exclusive of meal times, and that the men have to work
extra hours during harvest. It is very rarely that agricultural labourers
are given a half -holiday on Saturday, and it is said that the absence of this
is felt very keenly by them, expecially in view of the fact that it is now
almost universal in the towns.
PROPOSAI^S FOR LAND REFORM 113
The Report discusses at some length the question whether the wages
paid to agricultural labourers are sufficient to keep them and their families
in health, but refrains from making a calculation of the total sum necessary
to maintain a family of average size in a state of physical efficiency.
It expresses, however, the belief that if such calculations were made it
would be found that, except in a few counties, the average weekly wages
of ordinary agricultural labourers would faU below the standard. Illustra-
tions are given of the severe struggle through which an agricultural lab-
ourer and his wife must pass in order to bring up a family.
Turning to the results of low wages, the Report states that, after the
lowered vitaUty due to insufficient feeding, the disastrous effects of low
wages upon the rural housing problem are next in importance from the
national point of view. The labourer's wages, it is stated, are not sufficient to
enable him to pay a commercial rent for his cottage, and the custom has
grown up of letting cottages at rents at which it does not pay to build
new ones. To this question a special chapter is devoted later in the Report,
the conclusions in which we shall notice presently. A further effect is emi-
gration or migration to the towns, of which low wages are the principal,
but not the exclusive cause. The influx of the rural dwellers into the towns
is stated to increase the severity of the competition for work in towns and
to lead to the displacement of town-born workers.
Declaring that there is urgent need for a higher standard of wages, the
Report points out that there are three ways in which wages might possi-
bly rise, apart from any legislative action. These are :
(a) The growth of small holdings.
(&) The growth of agricultural prosperity combined with a shortage of
labour.
(c) The growth of trade-unionism.
The conclusion is, however, drawn from a discussion of these possibilities
that there is no reason to believe that wages can be effectively raised by
any of these means, and it is urged that the best hope of the labourer is that
the State should come to his assistance by enforcing a higher wage. It is
recommended that Wage Boards should be set up, with the duty of fixing the
wages of agricultural labourers at least at such a sum a^. will enable the
labourer to keep himself and an average family in a state of physical effi-
ciency and to pay a commercial rent for his cottage.
In support of their recommendation the Committee maintain that
increased wages wiU result in more efficient labour, but they suggest reforms
which, in their opinion, will enable the farmer to pay a higher wage and they
further recommend that where, in spite of the advantages derived from these
reforms, the farmer is still faced with a burden unduly severe, he should
be compensated by a corresponding reduction in his rent. The foll-
owing figmres, which are not to be taken as strictly accurate, show roughly
the relation between rent and wages in England and Wales.
114 GREAT BRITAIN AND IREI.AND - MISCEl,I,ANEOUS
£
Total net rent of agricultural land 24,500,000
Total earnings of 405,588 labourers between 20
and 65 19,000,000
Extra amount needed to raise the earnings of labourers between 2c
and 65 to :
£
(i) i8s 591,000
(2) 20s 2,041,000
(3) 22s. 6d 4,663,000
(b) Rural Housing.
Reverting to the question of Rural Housing the Report outUnes the at-
tempts made by the lyegislature during the past sixty years to deal with this
problem. They have, however, had but little effect in improving housing
in the country districts, and the Committee estimates that, if all the cot-
tages now unfit for human habitation were closed, there would be a shortage
of no less than 120,000 cottages.
Under the Housing and Town Planning Act of 1909, much has been
done by local sanitary authorities to improve the condition of existing
cottages, but under the same Act a large number of cottages (more than 5,000
up to the end of 1912) have been closed and this action, though admittedly
necessary, has made the housing problem even more acute. On the other
hand, owing to the lack of alternative accommodation, the authorities re-
frain from closing many houses which are really unfit for habitation.
Private enterprise has completely failed to supply the need for new cot-
tages, for reasons already noted, and though a certain number of cottages
have been erected by the rural district councils under the Act of 1909, the
number erected is smaU compared to the number closed. The Committee
recommend that the Ivocal Government Board should be given increased
powers of insisting upon the erection of cottages by local authorities and
should also have the power of themselves acting in default.
Apart from the insufficiency of the housing accommodation and the un-
sanitary condition of many existing cottages, there is another important aspect
of the rural housing question. The agricultural labourer (more particul-
arly in the South of England) very often lives in a cottage which he rents
from his employer. To this system, known as the " tied cottage system, "
is largely attributed the labourer's lack of independence. The labourer
who lives in a tied cottage knows that his employer can not only dismiss
him from his work but can evict him from his home.
The great difficulty of obtaining another cottage naturally makes the
labourer doubly afraid to take any action by which he may risk losing his
employment. Moreover he is afraid of asking necessary repairs for his
cottage lest it should result in his dismissal.
PROPOSAIvS FOR I, AND REFORM II 5
The tied cottage is often let at a reduced rent, so that the labourer is
reaUy receiving part of his earnings in kind. Should he elect to go into
a cottage belonging to another person than his employer, he would lose
a portion of his earnings. Nevertheless, it is stated that, in order to be
more independent, labourers often prefer to pay a higher rent for a free
cottage. It is alleged that farmers sometimes use the power which
the tied cottage system gives them to insist upon the labourer's wife and
children working for him instead of for others. Yet another evil of the
system is that old men who are past work are turned out of their homes
and are often unable to find another in their native village.
Even where the labourer Hves in a cottage let direct by the landown-
er, the shortage of cottages is said to prejudice seriously his liberty. The
Committee, therefore, recommend that labourers' cottages should be held
subject to a minimum notice of six months and that it should be made il-
legal to let cottages to a farmer for him to sub-let to his labourers.
(e) The Labourer's Access to the Land.
With a view to giving to the labourer a better prospect of rising to a
higher position in Ufe, the Committee urge that greater facilities should be
given for the acquisition of cottage gardens, allotments, and small holdings.
Evidence is produced of the desire for land on the part of the labourers and
various recommendations are made for supplying it more rapidh^ than is
being done under the existing Small Holdings and Allotments Acts. It is
suggested, amongst other recommendations, that in new housing schemes
where public money is lent, it should be insisted that not more than
four cottages should be erected to the acre ; that parish councils should
have the right to obtain compulsory orders for the purchase of land at
prices to be fixed by a special tribunal, and that county councils should
have similar powers in regard to land for small holdings ; that the
provision of small holdings by county councils should be stimulated by
giving to the central authorities the power to withhold grants-in-aid in
cases where the Acts are not energetically administered, and that the Board
of Agriculture should have extended power of acting in default.
(d) Under -cultivation.
The extension of the number of small holdings is advocated on other
grounds besides that of offering greater independence and a chance of rising
to the labourer. One of these reasons is that large farms are often under-
cultivated and a chapter of the Report is devoted to evidence of under-cul-
tivation and to the reasons why it occurs. Amongst the hindrances to
the proper development of agriculture which are noted are the following :
(i) That farmers are prevented by insecurity of tenure from improv-
ing their land ;
(2) That labour is insufficient, the best labourers having migrated to
the towns :
Il6 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND - MISCEI,I.ANEOUS
(3) That great tracts of country are devoted to sport and the pre-
servation of game and that serious damage is done to crops by the game ;
(4) That landowners do not see a sufficient prospect of getting a return
on the capital which would be expended in the reclamation of waste lands ;
(5) That many farmers have an insufiicient knowledge of the best
scientific methods ;
(6) That, in many cases, men without sufiicient capital are endeavour-
ing to cultivate large areas ;
(7) That much land has been laid down to permanent pasture which
could be more profitably cultivated ;
(8) That, under the present system of local taxation, all improvements
are rated and improvement is thereby discouraged.
It is pointed out that in 1908 the net agricultural output of England
and Wales was estimated at £ 127,650,000 per anntun and that even a small
percentage of increase would mean an important addition to the national
wealth.
The Committee collected evidence regarding the damage done by game
and came to the conclusion that it was considerable. Under the Agricul-
tural Holdings Acts, igo8, and the Ground Game Act 1880, farmers can
claim compensation for such damage, but the Committee were of opinion
that the compensation so paid was inadequate, mainly because the farmers,
not having security of tenure, were afraid to press for all the compensa-
tion to which they were entitled. Some suggestions are made for amending
the laws relating to compensation, but the committee is emphatic in saying
that these reforms will be of comparatively Httle value if provision is not
made for granting complete security of tenure to tenant farmers, subject
to good farming.
(e) Security of Tenure,
From another and more important point of view the Committee also
insisted upon the necessity of security of tenure. Without it, they declare,
complete justice and freedom cannot be enjoyed by the farmer nor can
the land produce its full yield. Under the Agricultural Holdings Act
of 1908, an outgoing tenant can obtain compensation from the landlord
for certain specified improvements, but in many cases the previous consent
of the landlord must have been given if compensation is to be claimed,
and it is said that such consent is difiicult to obtain. The Act also gives
compensation for " unreasonable disturbance, " but this only covers the
loss or expenses in connection with the sale or removal of his household
goods, implements, produce or farm stock. There is, moreover, no provision
to prevent a landlord from demanding an increased rent upon the tenant's
improvements, though if, as a result of such demand, the tenant is obliged
to leave his holding, he is entitled to compensation for'disturbance.
The Committee propounds three methods by which complete security
of tenure could be obtained :
(i) State-aided purchase by the^tenant farmer.
PROPOSAI^S FOR IvAND REFORM II7
{2) Tenancy under the State or some other pubUc body.
(3) Complete fixity of tenure subject to the control of some impar-
tial tribunal such as a I^and Court.
These methods are discussed in detail, but the Committee dismiss state-
aided purchase as impracticable. Since, as we shall see presently and as
the Committee itself states, there is a considerable body of opinion in fa-
vour of state-aided purchase, it may be well to give, with some fulness, the
reasons why the Committee rejects it as a possible solution.
Under a scheme of which the author is Mr. Jesse Colhngs, M. P., and
which has been presented to ParHament in the form of a Bill known as the
lyand Purchase BiU it is proposed that the State should advance money at
3 ^ per cent., to include interest and sinking fund. In the opinion of the
Committee this would be financially unsound, since the State is unable to
borro > . at so low a rate as 3 per cent. The so-called Haversham Committee
(a Departmental Committee appointed to inquire into the position of ten-
ant farmers in the case of the sale of the estates on which they hold land)
considered various schemes and eventually decided to recommend as fi-
nancially possible a scheme whereby four-fifths of the purchase money should
be lent, 3 ^ per cent, being charged as interest and a further 3/^ per cent,
to cover sinking fund, expenses and contingencies. From the date of the
Haversham Committee's Report, Government securities further depredat-
ed, and the Land Enquiry Committee held that the lowest rate at which
Land Stock could be issued was 3 ^ per cent. Further, they point out
that the ^/^ per cent, to cover sinking fund and expenses of management
would only enable a farmer to purchase in 75 years. The scheme of the Hav-
ersham Committee, they say, involving the payment of 4 per cent on four-
fifths of the purchase price, met with scant favour amongst tenant farmers
desirous of purchasing and they argue that at 4 ^ per cent, there would
be still less inchnation to purchase.
Referring to land purchase in Ireland, the Committee argue that it
cannot be regarded as a precedent for land purchase in England.
In Ireland land purchase was based upon considerations of national
poHcy and it is being carried out at enormous expense to the taxpayer.
Apart from the cost of administration, the total cost to the tax-payer up
to March 31st., 1912, in bonuses to landlords and in the loss upon the issue
of land-stock below par amotmted to £ 13,410,066, while a further cost of
£ 10,000,000 would probably be incurred in the same way on the purchase
agreements which had been lodged but not fully dealt with.
Evidence is given to show that what the farmer desires is not owner-
ship but security of tenure, and calculations are presented to show that, un-
der a system of State-aided purchase which was financially sound, the
farmer would generally be paying an annuity charge higher than the rent
he would pay as tenant. The objection is also raised that the purchasing
farmer would be sinking a portion of his capital, and would have less
capital for working the land.
The Committee express the view that the extension of pubfic ownership
of land would materially advance the solution of the problem under consider-
Il8 GREAT BRITAIN ANi:» IREI^AND - MISCEl,IyANEOUS
ation, but argue that it would be impossible for the State or local authori-
ties to purchase sufficient land within any reasonable period to give secur-
ity of tenure to more than a small proportion of the agricultural tenants
of England and Wales. They further believe that the establishment of
some judicial body to fix fair rents and fair prices of land would bean indis-
pensable preUminary to any great extension of the pohcy of public owner-
ship. They, therefore, advocate the establishment for England and Wales
of a Ivand Court, which, in addition to giving security of tenure and fixing
fair rents, should also have power to decide the question of compensation
at the close of a tenancy'.
It is recommended that no landowner should be allowed to turn a
farmer out of his holding except with the consent of the Court, and that the
farmer's security of tenure should not be affected by the sale of the estate.
The present legal power of the landowner to raise the rent upon a tenant's
own improvements should also, it is urged, be kept in check by the ac-
tion of the proposed Court in fixing rents.
An important function would be assigned to the Land Court in connec-
tion with the proposals to fix a minimum wage for agrictiltural labourers.
It is urged that the landowner should in justice bear a fair share in the ad-
ditional burden of higher wages and that the payment of that share
cannot be ensured nor its amount satisfactorily determined except by a
Ivand Court which, in fixing fair rents, would take into consideration the
increased wages bill,
(f) Local Taxation.
In regard to the question of local taxation the Committee declare
that the building of cottages, the establishment of small holdings, the bet-
ter equipment of farms and all higher or intensive cultivation are penal-
ised by the present system, whereby any improvement in the letting value
of a property results in an increase of the valuation upon which the local
rates are assessed. For the Committee's recommendations on this question
we must look to the Second Volume of their Report (" The Land. Vol. 2.
Urban. ") in which the rating problem is dealt with in relation both to
urban and rural land. In this it is proposed that the grants-in-aid from
the Imperial Exchequer for local services should be largely increased ; that
a portion of the local taxation should be assessed on the site value of the
land instead of 011 the total value of the property, and, further, that the site
value of agricultural land should be calculated, for purposes of assessment,
at such a fraction of its actual value as would keep th^ total contri-
bution from agricultural land proportionately the same in relation to the
other hereditaments as it was before the change.
§ 2. The government's proposai^s.
Let us now see to what extent the Liberal Government have adopted
the recommendations of the Land Enquiry Committee, and what are the pro-
posals which they have put forward. These have not yet been embodied
PROPOSAI^S FOR IvAND REFORM II9
in a Bill, but are to be found in speeches delivered by the Chancellor of the
Exchequer (Mr. I4oyd George) and the Prime IVIinister (Mr. Asquith).
In regard to agricultural labourers, it is proposed that a minimum wage
should be secured to them by an extension of the Trade Boards Act.
It is further proposed to create a IMinistry of Lands, some of the powers
of which would be exercised through Commissioners of a judicial character.
Amongst the powers so exercised would be those of revising the hotirs of
labour and granting to tenant-farmers an abatement of rent to enable
them to pay a living wage to their labourers.
The Commissioners would also have power to revise all notices to quit
and, where the reason assigned was inadequate, to treat them as null and
of no effect, or to award fuU compensation to the evicted farmer.
They would have similar powers to award compensation for improve-
ments and for disturbance in cases where a farmer was given notice to quit
because the estate was about to be sold. Further they would have general
powers of fixing fair rents and of fixing the price of land when compul-
sorily acquired for any pubHc purpose.
To the Ministry of I^ands would be assigned all the functions at present
exercised by the Board of Agriculture ; the machinery of valuation set up
under the Budget of 1909, and the administration of the law affecting set-
tled estates at present administered by the Court of Chancery. New dut-
ies would also be assigned to it in connection with registration of title and
land transfer, with a view to the simplification of the present systems. It
would also be given powers to acquire derelict and uncultivated land and
to afforest, reclaim or prepare it for cultivation.
It is further proposed that the provision of cottages should be under-
taken on a large scale by the Central Government, the Reserve Fund creat-
ed under the National Insurance Act being utiHsed for this purpose. For
cottages so created a commercial rent would be charged.
Facihties would also be offered for the erection of cottages in the coun-
try for town-workers, in order to reheve the over-crowding in the towns,
and, to make this possible, means of transit would be improved.
l/ocal rates would be reduced by increasing the contribution of the Im-
perial Exchequer to the cost of certain services.
Much still remains vague in the proposals, which will doubtless be
made clear when a BiU is drafted. It is not yet fully clear, for example,
what functions of the Ministry of I^ands would be exercised through Jud-
icial Commissioners and what through executive officers.
§ 3. Criticisms of the i^and enquiry committee's report.
•
The Report of the I^and Enquiry Committee has, naturally, been
subjected to considerable criticism from various quarters. The criticism
which, perhaps, carries most weight is contained in a pamphlet entitled
" The Ivand Problem : Notes suggested by the Report of the Land Enquiry
Committee. " These notes are published under the auspices of the so-caUed
120 GREAT BRITAIN AND IREUiND - MISCELI^ANEOUS
Ivand Conference, a body consisting of delegates from the Surveyors' In-
stitution, the Auctioneers' and Estate Agents' Institute, the Central Chamber
of Agriculture, the Farmers' Club, the National Farmers' Union, the Cen-
tral Ivatid Association, the I^and Agents' Society, the Rating Surveyors'
Association, the Central Association of Agricultural and Tenant Right Val-
uers and the 1894 Club. The I^and Conference recommends the pamphlet
as a valuable contribution to the I^and controversy, but does not hold
itself responsible for the whole of the views and statements it contains.
In regard to the earnings of agricultural labourers, the pamphlet
states that the broad fact is beyond controversy; that the rate of cash wages
paid in some agricultural districts is very low and that every one is prepared
to support any really sound measures which can be reasonably expected
to efEect a rise. It challenges the figures given in the Report, however,
as obsolete and unreliable., It complains that the Report makes no attempt
to explain variations in rates of wages. In arable districts the sum paid in
wages per acre is high and the amount paid per individual relatively low.
In districts where grass predominates, the wages per acre are low and per
individual relatively high. Any increase in the area under the plough wih,
it is contended, at once increase the demand for labour, and, as the supply
is short, a considerable rise in wages in the lowest-paid districts will be the
immediate result. The Report had also omitted to allude to the dispos-
session of hand-labour by machinery. Apart from these omissions the
Report had admitted that up to 1912 wages had been slowly rising and the
pamphlet states that men of experience in rural affairs are well aware that
they have risen in 1913.
The pamphlet also challenges the calculations whereby the Report
endeavoured to show the relation between the rise in wages and the
increase in the cost of hving. It points out that whereas the Report
states that the rise in wages has been greatest in the better-paid districts,
it omits to notice the expHcit statement in the '' Board of Trade Enquiry
into the Cost of Living in the Working Classes in 1912 " (upon which it
mainly relies for evidence of the rise in prices) that the greatest mean in-
crease in the prices of necessaries has been in lyancashire and Cheshire, that
the smallest increase has been in the Southern Counties and the next
smallest increase in the Eastern and East-Midland group of counties ; in
other words, that the smallest increase in the cost of li\dng has been in
those districts where agricultural wages are stiU the lowest.
It is pointed out, moreover, that while the calculations of the Land
Enquiry Committee are based on the supposition that the increase in
retail prices in rural districts does not differ materially from the increase
in London, the figures supplied by the Board of Trade show that there were
considerable differences even between the mean increase in London and
the mean increase in other urban centres. Thus, whereas the index-nmnber
for 1912 (taking 1905 as 100) was 151.7 in London, it was 137 in the East-
Midland urban centres and only 112,4 ^^ the urban districts of the Southern
counties.
PROPOSAI,S FOR tAND REFORM 121
On the necessity for increasing the supply of cottages, the pamphlet
states, most people are substantially agreed, but it considers the calcula-
tion that 120,000 cottages are required in rural district as an over-estimate.
Assuming that one-sixth of the new cottages are required to replace cottages
which are at present occupied though really unfit for habitation, and allow-
ing the normal family to be five in number, the pamphlet points out that
the additional supply would be sufficient for 500 ,000 persons and adds that
it is difficult to suppose that any change in agricultural methods or tenures
mil thus increase the agricultural population. In reference to the subject
of tied cottages, the pamphlet points out that the Enquiry Committee omit-
ted to notice that the existence of tied cottages facihtates labourers in ob-
taining fresh employment, since, if a man goes to a new job he goes from one
tied cottage to another.
The pohcy of fixing a minimum wage is criticised on the ground that
farmers, wherever it was possible to do so, would cease to employ their men
continuously and would only employ them as and when their services were
required. They would, moreover, ruthlessly weed out the less vigorous
workers, giving them only casual employment or piece-work. Or, again,
the farmer would stiU further reduce the arable area. " Under a system
of artificially high wages, " says the pamphlet, " agriculture will tend to
revert to the two crops and fallow of a century ago. "
While admitting that more produce might be obtained from the soil, the
pamphlet expresses a different \'iew as to the causes of the present under-cul-
tivation. It contends that the existing condition of agriculture is due part-
ly to its slow recovery from the tremendous loss of capital which landlords
and tenants suffered in the crises of 1876-84 and 1891-99 ; partly to the con-
tinual pressure of foreign competition and the prevalence of low prices;
partly to the increasing burdens laid upon land both by Imperial and by
local taxation.
The pamphlet urges that the difference between good and bad cultiva-
tion depends more largely on differences in the character of the cultiva-
tors than on a greater or less degree of security of tenure. The follow-
ing illustration is given of the way in which the character of a farmer affects
the yield of produce : " A man with little capital, or Httle enterprise, cannot
afford, or is indisposed, to take risks. He aims at a yield of 3 ^ quarters
to the acre, instead of 5 quarters and regulates his expense accordingly.
He is not likely to get a smaller yield, and may get more. The high farmer
with capital and enterprise aims at 5 quarters, and in a bad season gets
3 ^4- Probably, on the average, the enterprising man does not make more
than his less ambitious neighbour. But the produce per acre is, of course,
greater. "
The insecurity of the tenant farmti has, according to the pamphlet,
been greatly exaggerated in the Report. With some slight amendments the
ordinary security of the tenant would be practically complete. The need
for special treatment in cases in which a farm is offered for sale is, however,
admitted. It is also contended that the damage done by game is exagger-
122 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRElvAND - MISCELLANEOUS
ated, and that the increase of game, if there is an increase, is the effect and
not the cause of tinder-cultivation.
Against the proposal for the establishment of Land Courts, the pam-
phlet urges that in the new relations which will exist between landlord and
tenant, the farmer could no longer look to the landlord for financial as-
sistance. It asserts, moreover, as a matter of common knowledge that about
half the land of England is rented at from 20 to 25 per cent, below its
economic value and that, therefore, many tenant-farmers would hcxve to
face the risk of a rise in rent. It is added that the proposed additional
power of com]3ulsory expropriation, where land was required for pubHc
purposes such as the creation of small holdings, would make the fixity of
tenure a delusion in the case of large farmers.
§ 4. A UNIONIST LAND FOLIC V.
Whereas the Government has officially put forward proposals for land
reform, it does not appear that the Unionist Party has as yet included an}'"
clearly definied policy in the party programme
Speeches have been made by party leaders, but they are of a somewhat
tentative character, and have not yet committed the party to a definite
line of action. The tendency, however, is clearly in favour of giving facili-
ties to tenant-farmers to purchase their holdings.
As illustrating the Unionist point of view, we may mention an impor-
tant memorandum entitled " A Unionist Agricultural Policy, " written
by " A Group of Unionists " and published in September 1913. It was pre-
pared, we are told, by a nmnber of Unionists, members of Parliament and
others, and is " an attempt to formulate a definite and comprehensive pol-
icy for the development of British agriculture. "
The principal points of view from which the memorandum is written
are (i) the maintenance of the national physique ; (2) the development of
agriculture as one of the best methods of social reform, and (3) the desir-
abiHty of maintaining the wheat supply in time of war.
Like the Laud Enquiry Committee, the authors of the memorandum
make the condition of the labourer their starting point and their conclusions
on the subject are scarcely less strongly expressed. " In many counties, "
they say, " the great majority of the labourers are ill-educated and ill-fed,
and consequently inefficient, both mentally and physically. In other coun-
ties, w^here the average wage paid is comparatively high, some employers
pay wages considerably below the average. "
The memorandiun declares that it has become necessary to establish
some means of raising wages to a subsistence level, and recommends the
estabHshment of Agricultural Wages Boards. It does not propose that a
minimum rate should be fixed for the whole country, but that rates should
be fixed for different districts by local boards.
PROPOSALS FOR LAND REFORM 123
It is also urged that the extension of piece-work should be encouraged .
The proposals, it is said, in uo way conflict with the historic Tory doctrine
that freedom of contract should not be interfered with unless the pohcy of
allowing such freedom has failed to produce desirable results from the point
of view^ of the State. " In the case of agricultural wages, " continues the
memorandum, " the policy of laissez /aire has produced results inimical
to the race and, therefore, the State, for its own preservation, is bound to
step in. "
The memorandum urges the necessity of reconstructing village life and
of increasing the interests and opportunities of those living in the villages.
It proposes that every cottage should have at least one quarter of an acre
of garden, that there should be a sufficient supply of land tor allotments,
and that a sufficient amoimt of land should be set aside as a common cow
pasture. The present method of providing allotments is held to be too slow
and it is suggested that they should be directly provided by the Board of
Agriculture, who should appoint a representative in each district, assisted
by a local committee.
The urgency of the housing question is noted, and it is stated that
experience has shown that local authorities are unwilUng to build cottages
unless they are assisted by the State in what they consider a national work.
It is suggested, therefore, that annual grants should be made to local
authorities on such a scale as would enable 125,000 cottages to be built in
rural districts.
Considerable stress is laid upon the necessity of providing suitable educ-
ation. Reforms are suggested in the methods of training teachers, so as to
produce teachers of the right type for rural schools. It is urged that the
education shoiild be more practical ; that greater inducements should be
offered to teachers to remain in country schools ; that facilities should be
afforded for suitable children to pass from the elementary school to the se-
cotidary or to the higher elementary school ; that, to children who have left
school, instruction .should be given in centralised day classes, which they
could attend either two afternoons or two mornings in the week ; that in-
struction for the adult agriculturist should be developed in every direc-
tion, special attention being given to the small fanner and labourer ; that
demonstration farms should be established in every district, and that
much larger grants should be given by the State in aid of agricultural
education.
The working of the Small Holditigs Act of 1908 is discussed and doubt
is expressed whether a Committee of a County Council is the right body to
deal with the development of small holdings. " The County Councils, "
says the memorandum, " are buying land in scattered and isolated pieces
at great expense and with too little advantage, and they are settling men
on the land in the waj" least calculated to secure their success, instead of
buying large areas of land in suitable places and settling the men in colon-
ies. " It is maintained that the colony system is the one and only system
whereby small holdings, out of which the holder is to make his entire
living, can be satisfactorily developed.
124 GREAT BRITAIN A!«> IRELAND - MISCELLANEOUS
Co-operation (including co-operative credit) is advocated and the mem-
orandum touches (somewhat Ughtly) upon the question of land purchase.
It urges that the facilities for the acquisition of land should not be confined
to small holders and suggests that the State should be empowered to ad-
vance the whole purchase money to tenants wishing to buy their land, such
advances being repayable by annual instalments of principal and interest.
With a view to lessening the pressure of local taxation upon land,
it is recommended that the cost of public services, such as main roads,
asylums and police, and a larger proportion of the cost of education, should
be defrayed out of the Imperial taxes.
Further recommendations are that the Board of Agriculture should
be greatly strengthened, its income being largely increased ; that facil-
ities for the transport of agricultural produce should be improved ;
that the markets should be more efficiently organised and that the in-
dustries subsidiary to agriculture should be encouraged.
§ 5 Other land policies.
An investigation into the rural problem has also been undertaken by
the ParUamentary Labour Party, which in the autumn of 1912 appointed
a committee of its members to draft a rural programme. The committee
not only conducted inquiries in England but also visited Ireland and Den-
mark. The main object of their visit to Ireland was to investigate the meth-
ods of nu-al housing under the Labourers Acts 1883 to 1911. In Denmark
they noted the important part played by co-operation in the rural economy
of the country. The recommendations of the Committee are embodied in
a Prehminary Report, issued in June 1913 and in a final Report, subse-
quently pubHshed.
The cardinal point of the poUcy recommended is the pubhc ownership
of land. " We strongly hold, " says the Report ", that only public ownership
and control will secure for the community the best possible use of land and
the social values attaching to it. " It, therefore, recommends that both cen-
tral and local authorities should be invested with the widest possible powers
of bringing land into public ownership by purchase on the basis of the Na-
tional Land Valuation, the purchase price to be paid either in redeemable
land bonds or in terminable annuities.
In addition to this proposal, the Committee recommend a minimum
wage for agricultural labourers ; fair rent courts ; the provision of cottages
with the aid of vState grants until such time as the wages of labourers reach
a standard at which the payment of an economic rent becomes possible ;
the amendment and extension of the Small Holdings Act ; the estabUshment
of credit banks under State authority, and the encouragement of agricultural
co-operation.
Yet another investigation has been made by the Fabian Society, the
results of which are embodied in " The Rural Problem " by Mr. Henry
D. Harben, the Chairman of the Committee appointed by the Society.
PROPOSALS FOR LAND REFORM 1 25
The Society recommends a minimum wage of 23 shillings per week for
agricultural labourers. As it is held that, although better-paid labour pro-
duces better work, the improvement in the value of the work would prob-
ably not keep pace with the increased wage,it is proposed that a tenant farmer
should be given the option of terminating his contract with his landlord
within six months of the enforcement of the minimum wage. If the tenant is
already rented nearly as heavily as he can bear, it is argued, the bulk of
the burden of the increased cost of labour would be transferred to the land-
lord, the rent being correspondingly reduced. On the other hand the com-
petition of others anxious for access to the laud would prevent the rent from
being reduced by more than the amount of the increased cost of labour.
The society wotild prefer to leave the adjustment of the burden to amic-
able settlement between tenant and landlord rather than submit it to the
cumbersome process of decision by a Land Court.
To solve the housing problem, the Society proposes that a State sur-
vey of cottage accommodation should be undertaken ; that the local auth-
orities should be allowed two years in which to make good the deficiency
and that if they failed to do so they should not receive grants-in-aid
from the Exchequer for any service whatever until the necessary cottages
were built.
It is further proposed that loans should be granted to local authorities
for cottage building at the lowest possible rate of interest, and that they
should receive annual grants equal to the sinking fund and the half of any
loss inevitably or properly incurred in letting the cottages.
The Fabian Society recommend that Land Commissioners should be
appointed with power to acquire land compulsorily at valuation. As a
fuT':hcr step in the direction of land nationaUsation, the vSociety advocates
that iTi lieu of part of the Death Duties upon land, the State should accept
, an irredeemable mortgage, which should constitute a permanent charge
i upon the estate. It is argued that, as the interest of the State in the land
^increased, land would become, from the point of view of sentiment, a less
desirable object and its selhng value would be reduced to its true eco-
nomic value. When the sentimental value had disappeared and the vState
possessed a large interest in the land, it might then buy out the interest
of the landlord and become itself the owner.
Other recommendations are that the railwas^s should be nationalised
and state motor services established in rural districts ; that agricultural
education should be improved by the estabUshment of experimental
farms and free farm schools and the appointment of travelling agricultural
instructors; that a large scheme of afforestation should be undertaken by
the State; and that grants in aid of local services should made conditional
on a national minimum standard of efficiency.
126 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND - MISCELLANEOUS
Conclusion.
It will be seen that, whereas there is, in many respects, great divergency
between the policies proposed, in some important matters there is almost
complete unanimity of opinion. This is notably the case in regard to the
condition of the agricultural labourer, which all parties are anxious to
improve. This unanimity was further evidenced by a discussion which
took place in the House of Lords on April 21st., when the Opposition
asked for the appointment of an official inquiry into the question, a request
which the Government refused to comply with on the ground that the
figures presented by the I,and Enquiry Committee were sufficiently reliable.
The proposal of the Government to fix a minimun wage finds considerable
support amongst Unionists, but sharp conflicts of opinion are likely to arise
over the suggested estabhshment of Land Courts. It is not unlikely, too, that
the poUcy of giving faciHties to the tenant farmer to purchase his farm
will be strongly urged in opposition to the Government's policy of gi\'ing
him complete security of tenure without ownership. It seems clear, however,
that all parties are bent upon deaHng in a more or less drastic fashion
with the Land Question and that whatever may be the turn of political
events, we may look for important changes in the Enghsh land system
within the next few years.
MEXICO.
THE IvAND QUESTION IN MEXICO AND THE PROPOSALS
OF THE NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL COMMISSION.
(Conclusion).
§.3. The IvAnd question and the conclusions
of the national agricultural commission (l).
1. The elements of the land question in Mexico. — If we take into ac-
count the natural conditions of the Mexican RepubUc which, as we have seen,
are exceptionally favourable to agriculture, we need only remember that
nearly every year the country is obhged to import corn and often maize,
though maize is the article of food most largely consumed in the State,
to see that the disproportion between production and the capacity of
production is a question on the solution of which depends the economic
future of the country.
The elements of this problem are numerous and complex, but they may
be reduced to three ; agricultural technique, labour, and the distribution
of landed property.
Let us examine each in turn.
2. The conditions of the soil and agricultural technique. — There has been
much said on the subject of the proverbial fertihty of the Mexican
soil. But of late it has been asserted that the soil is exhausted and cannot
therefore produce as much as it ought. But all the most competent Mexican
authorities on this subject unite in affirming that the insufficiency of
production is due not to the exhaustion of the soil, but to the rudimentary
systems of cultivation.
"As a rule, our soil is all virgin, " says Loria, a distinguished Mexican
writer. In fact due importance is not given to tillage. The primitive wooden
plough makes a very shallow furrow, and thus a thin bed of earth incapable
of containing sufficient fertiHsing matter is all that the plant has to live
upon. The result is that the fertilising elements of the land are not utiUsed,
owing to the want of deep ploughing. Besides it may be affirmed that the
manuring of the land is not effected according to the dictates of modern
science.
(i) S;e the first part of th's article in tHe number of this Bulletin for May, 19x4.
128 MEXICO - inSCELLANBOUS
To the inefficiency of the systems of cultivation must be added the want
of irrigation works, indispensable to the countr3\
With the exception of certain hydraulic works, such as those of Atoyac
in the State of Puebla, there are no others to regulate the effects of the seas-
ons on 'he crops; thus ti e harvests depend exclusively on the lesser or great-
er rainfall. Considering the extent of the country, the permanent water-
courses are numerous, and during the rainy season from July to October,
many torrents, rivers and streams are formed, and fertilise the adjoining
land; but if the rains are excessive the effects are disastrous, for the water
overflows the fields, carrying away the future crops.
But to remedy this by the necessary hydrauHc works and to increase
the area of arable land and the 3deld from it, capital is essential.
Some steps have been already taken by the authorities to supply the need.
In igo8 the Chambers voted a law authorising Government to devote
25,000,000 pesos to the utilisation of water for agriculture and livestock
improvement, whether the Government itself undertook the work or encour-
aged private enterprise by means of grants etc.
The Government was also authorised to guarantee the capital and
interest of bonds issued by special credit institutes granting loans to mining,
agricultural or livestock improvement enterprises, but at present it can-
not guarantee a capital in bonds of more than 50,000,000 pesos.
In virtue of this law, the Loan Bank for irrigation works and for the
encouragement of agriculture was at once founded with a capital of 10,000,000
pesos. This institution grants loans on mortgage for periods up to 15 years
and loans on the guarantee of a bank for a maximum period of three years.
The rate of interest must not exceed 7 % unless authorized by the Minister
of Finance, and must be lowered if the bank obtains funds at less than 5 %.
3. — Agricultural Labour. — One of the greatest difficulties with which
llexican farming has to contend is the insufficiency of labour. This is
chiefly owing to the limited requirements of the natives ; the standard of
living for a Mexican labourer is so low that a few centavos are sufficient
for his needs. Thus, though his pay is very small, he thinks it absurd to work
continually since he can live for two days on one day's pay.
The insufficiency of labourers has given r se to a characteristic
system of recruiting called enganche. If an employer thinks that he can
obtain the men he requires on a given holding he sends a man {engaii-
chador) to the neighbourhood to open a list. The terms he oft'ers are
fixed wages, a sum of money for travelling expenses for each family, the
immediate payment of all debts, and a part of the wages paid on account.
In a few days the list is complete for the sum paid on account decides
the labourers who do not see that in accepting it the}^ are binding them-
selves with a stronger chain.
This system of recruiting has one great efect; it secures labourers, not
by offiering them a prospect of improving their position and obtaining
higher wages, but by the attraction of a small sum on account, which they
spend at the pubhc houses {pulquerias) , thus increasing the tendency to
LAND QUESTION AND PROPOSALS OF THE AGRICULTURAL COMMISSION 1 29
alcoholism. Thus, instead of effort being made to instruct the working man
and raise his standard of hfe, profit is made out of his vices.
The Umited requirements of the labourer and the attraction of a lit-
tle money on account explain why wages remain very low. A da}- lab-
ourer receives from 0.25 to 0.30 pesos a day (60 to 75 centimes). This low
rate, by reducing the cost of production, increases the rent of land and
facilitates the extensive agriculture of great capitalists.
This is the reason why in ]\Iexico land of which the productive power
is less than that of land in Canada, the Argentine Republic and the United
States is yet more valuable (i) than where the labourers demand a larger
share of the 3neld.
Besides, as Lauro Viadas observes in an official report, the low rate of
v.ages drives away those labourers whose education and requirements are
above the common level; they are compelled to seek higher pay in other
countries. Hence arises a curious phenomenon ; Mexican emigration,
increases every year while attempt is made to encourage foreign immigration
so that the riches of the country may be turned to account.
In the opinion of competent ^Mexican writers, the solution of the
labour question is the education of the peasant; his standard of Hving must
be raised and his requirements increased in order to accustom him to regular
work to satisf}^ these. In this way alone will he become a true collaborator
with his employers.
4. Rural Holdings and Colonisation. — In Mexico the system of large
estates prevails, the typical latifundium being constituted by means of
land conceded by the State with improvident UberaUty. The conditions of
iVIexican agriculture, the fertility of the soil, the small cost of labour and
the high price of agricultural produce give large profits to the farmer from
extensive cultivation or livestock improvement, Besides, many of these
latifundia lie uncultivated through neglect or want of capital, in the hands
of large families who would think it a disgrace to sell them. Thus neither
private persons nor capitahsts undertaking farming have any inducement
to divide land, on the contrary, there is a tendency to round off the estates
in the hope of a rise in the value of land.
Till 1909 any one might purchase {denunciar) national land of which
the boundaries had generally been fixed by foreign companies in exchange
for one third of the area. The dcnuncia of such land consisted in an
offer of sale by the nation to the appHcant, who, hu\-ing paid the price,
incurred no other obligation. By this system any one who was an coiirant
as regarded the boundaries fixed could purchase immense tracts at an absurd-
ly low price (from 2 to 10 pesos per hectare). Nearly all the latifundia thus
formed are uncultivated, for they were bought merely as a speculation,
and they will remain so till they are bought at a high price by some
(i) Land capable of irrigation and fit for corn fields is not sold under 300 pesos per
hectare, and not seldom land for the cultivation of cotton and sugar is sold at from 1,400
10 1,500 pesos per hectare.
130 MEXICO - MISCELLANEOUS
company, if the land is suited for any kind of crop and can be easily
irrigated.
In this way the land has been concentrated in the hands of a few pro-
prietors and a very considerable part is uncultivated. Of the cultivated area
there are no statistics but it is calculated that of the 2,000,000 square kilo-
metres in the whole country, about 400,000 are incapable of cultivation
leaving 1,600,000 square kilometres of which only one fourth is actually
cultivated.
The great disproportion between the number of land holders and of
the members of the proletariat has already given rise to conflicts originating
in a claim for the division and free distribution of the land among the
peasantry.
There is no doubt that the agricultural question in Mexico is largely
a land question, and the authorities have more than once attempted to deal
with it as such. For example, in 1909, a decree was made to suspend the
power of ahenating uncultivated land {haldios) belonging to the nation
by the system of denuncias, so as to prevent further concentration of it in
the hands of a few. In 1912 the Department of Fomento issued a circular
containing the necessary instructions for fixing boundaries and for the di-
vision and distribution of ejidos or communal property.
The Government has also tried to found rural colonies on the system
of denuncia of national land and by means of immigration, but without
satisfactory results in either case. As regards immigration, attempts have
been made with non-Europeans, more especially with Boers and Japanese,
but the results have not been satisfactory.
5. The Conclusions of the National Agricultural Commission. — The
authorities, seeing that the solution of the land question grew every day more
urgent, proposed to study a vast land programme ; and to settle in differ-
rent parts of the country " the largest possible number of producers, in
conditions favourable to their independence and prosperity, so that de-
velopments in other directions and the exploitation of new sources of
production and of wealth may become possible".
The objects of this poUcy may be divided into two classes :
(i) the increase of production by irrigation works, the influx of capital
and the employment of scientific sj'^stems of cultivation etc... (2) a better
distribution of land, colonisation by division of the latijtmdia and the cre-
ation of smaU holdings.
In order to accomplish these objects the Government has recently
appointed a National Agricultural Commission, composed of farmers,
engineers, lawyers and others whose competence in economic, juridical
and social matters is generally recognised.
Before beginning its labours, the Commission drew up a complete
programme for the study of the land question in all its aspects. This
vast and detailed programme comprises the preservation of forests and
the encouragement of sylviculture, the regulation and utilisation of water-
courses, the extension and intensification of cultivation by means of the
LAND QUESTION AND PROPOSALS OF THE AGRICULTURAL COMMISSION 131
division of the large estates, labour contracts, immigration, agricultural
education, importation of agricultural implements and machinery and man-
ures, encouragement of the cultivation of textile plants, etc. roads, land
credit, the encouragement of Hvestock improvement and rural industries.
But, considering that the collection of data and the minute study of all
these questions would defer the solution of those which are still more
urgent, the Commission decided to concentrate its attention first of all on
irrigation, division of farms and colonisation.
In view of the immense quantity of irrigation works required in the
whole countr}', the Commission recommends the Government to undertake
without delay those works which are under consideration or already studied,
such as those of the haciendas of Arnapa and of Costena in the State of Tepic,
and of Penuelas in that of Jalpa. This should be done without prejud-
ice to the ulterior examination of the general problem.
In its report the Commission declares that the colonisation of the country
can only be accompUshed bj'' means of the encouragement of the natural
course of immigration that is by opening to the foreign agricultururist
the possibiUty of attaining in the Republic a higher degree of prosperity
than in his own countr\^ and with less effort : and also faciUtating for Mexic-
ans the purchase of land gi"vang a certain return in the proximity of the
large markets so that they may hope to accumulate savings and may face
the future with confidence. While leaving the door open to foreigners, it is
recommended to give the preference to Mexicans, and attempt to bring back
those who have emigrated and to employ the Mexican labour remaining in the
country. With this object, the Government should endeavour immediately
to distribute the communal lands, {ejidos) of collective use and others of
similar character among poor labourers, on condition that the land shall
not be transferable for 20 years.
Holdings capable of irrigation and those which, owing to their situ-
ation, their soil or their salubrity, give promise of remuneration to the
agriculturist, must be divided.
The Commission then, having studied the subject of the holdings most
desirable for the Government to bu}?- with a view to parcelHng them out,
recommends that those be chosen that can be irrigated and cultivated,
and are purchasable at a price not above 25 pesos per hectare. The purchase
at a high price of large estates already in course of cultivation would im-
pose hea\^ pecuniar}' burdens on the Government and would Umit the
number of farmers benefited, without much increasing the national wealth.
The Government must carry out at its own expense on the holdings it may
purchase the works required to ensure good results such as irrigation, reclam-
ation, drainage, breaking up virgin soil, the opening of country' roads and cart
roads from the interior to the nearest railwa}' stations etc.
IvOts of ground will be sold to labourers who have a small capital, or
to those who by good conduct and ability may be able to obtain it. This
capital must be in vested in the purchase of the necessary'- livestock, agricul-
tural implements and farm requisites. To poor labourers without
capital to begin farming the Government may grant holdings on lease
Z\2 MEXICO - -MlSCEIvLANKUUS
or as metairies with a promise to sell, thus encouraging the foundation of
land credit and of co-operative societies.
Xo lot will be more than lOO hectares in area. No single person may
buy more than 200 hectares.
In fixing the price of the lots, it will be necessary to consider, the
works already'- accomplished, such as canals, supph'- of water, roads etc.,
in fact everything done to improve the property, the price per unit of
area of other land in the neighbourhood and the quantity, quality and
total value of the crops the lot can produce.
Every lot will have right to a supply of water in proportion to the
area to be irrigated. The Government will undertake the work of irrigation
as long as the holder cultivates one half of the tract to be irrigated. Be-
sides this, the colonists will be bound to form a society to supervise the use
of the water according to rules to be established by the Government.
The lots will be sold preferably to Mexicans who wish to return to
their country, and to poor labourers, citizens of the State.
Payment must be made within 20 years at latest. During the first
five years the rate of interest will be 6 % on the purchase price and during
each of the following 15 years the same interest must be paid, together
with an instalment towards the extinction of the debt.
Those persons who buy one lot or more in a " colony " must engage to
reside there. No colonist who does not fulfil this obUgation may bene-
fit by the delay allowed for payment, and this term will be held to have
expired from the day on which he violates the above condition.
The Government will decide on the amount of ground necessary for
the maintenance of a family ; this area will be inalienable for 20 years and
can not be subjected to any charge and will not be distrainable, except
in case of judicial execution in connection with the mortgage passed in
guarantee of the purchase money.
Besides considering direct colonisation, the Commission also turned its
attention to indirect colonisation ; the Government may make contracts with
private persons, whether Mexicans or foreigners or with Mexican societies
for the division and sale of land to colonists.
In such cases it may give special facihtations, such as free grants of
national land, sell at cost price land purchased from private persons, with
a view to subdivision, exempt for five years from any tax on the capital
invested in the undertaking, and, once onh^ from customs dues on imple-
ments, machinery, articles of food, building materials, livestock for farm work
or breeding stock and all farm requisites generally. The Government also
shall transport, at its expense, on subsidised railway and shipping lines
the native or foreign labourers proceeding to settle on the land.
There will be offered for sale or on lease for farms or for metairies with
right of purchase, a number of lots representing at least a third part of the
area subdivided, as soon as the}' are in a condition fit for irrigation, and the
limit of time after which the rest of the lots may be offered for sale will be
fixed in the contract. The Government may grant to purchasers of lots:
I,AND QUESTION AND PROPOSALS OF THE AGRICXJLTURAI. COMMISSION .I33
(i) Exemption to Mexicans from military service except in case of
foreign war :
(2) Personal exemption, not transferable, once only, from customs
dues on utensils, implements, articles of food, machinery, household furn-
iture an A livestock for farm work or breeding stock, all for use on the lot.
(3) Personal exemption (not transferable) for 20 years from duty on
the export of produce.
(4) Exemption from charges on registration of signatures and on pass-
ports granted by consular agents to foreign workmen who come to settle
in one of the agricultural " Colonies".
The Government shall appoint in each colony a sufficient number of
employees to instruct small holders in the use of agricultural implements
and machinery with other practical instruction. This system of agri-
cultural instruction will provide for the urgent necessities of the moment
and will only be a first step to the foundation of educational establish-
ments, and experimental farms in the whole Republic.
The Commission concluded its proposals by suggesting the creation of
a permanent commission for irrigation, subdivision and colonisation.
RUGGERI ALFREDO, gerente responsabile.
(c) Publications of the Bureau ol Agricultural Intelligence and Plant Diseases.
1 . I,R Service de Protection contre les maladies des plantes et les
iNSECTEs NtJisiBLES DANS LES DIVERS PAYS. fThc Present Organization
of the Sei vices for the Control of Plant Diseases and In«ect Pests in the
Different Countries). (1914, 350 pages, 4to) Frs. 4.00
2. Production et consommation des Engr.\is Chimiqttes dans le .monde
(Production and Consumption of Chemical Manures in the World).
(Second Edition, I9i4> 162 pages, 5 diagrams. 2 maps, i6mo) .... 3.50
'd) Publications of the Bureau of Economic and Social Intelligence.
1. 1,'ACTIVITE DE L'INSTITXJT INTERNATIONAL D'AGRICULTURE DANS LE Do-
maine de la cooperation, de l'Assurance ET Du Credit Agricoles.
(The Work of the International Institute of Agriculture in the Field of
Agricultural Co-operation, Insurance and Credit). (In French, German
and Italian). {1912, 24 pages, lomo) Frs. 0.50
2. Monographs on Agricultural Co-operation in Various Countries.
Vol. I. (1911, 451 pages, i6mo). (In English and French) ,, 3.50
Do. Vol. II. (In French 1914, 23S pages, i6mo) ,, 3,50
Do. Vol. II. (In English) In preparation.
3. An Outline of the European Co-operative Credit Systems (Second
Edition, 1913, 62 pages, lomo) „ 0.50
4. I^'ORC-VNISATION DE LA ST.\TISTIQUE DE LA COOPERATION AGRICOLE DANS
quelques PAYS. (The Organization of the Statistics of Agricultural Co-
operation in certain Countries). (1911, 163 pages, 4to) ,, 1.50
5. ly'ASSURANCE-GRfeLE DANS QUELQUES PAYS ET SES PROBL^MES. (lUSUraUCC
against Hail in some Countries and i'-s Problems). (1911. no pages, 4to) . „ 1.50
6 . Agricultural Credit and Co-operation in Italy : Short Guide ic
Rural Co-operation in Italy (in English (35 pages) and in Italian
(34 pages) i6mo) 0.25
II. Publications not for Sale
i. Conference Internationale de 1905 pour la cre.'vtion d'un Institut iNTERNATioN.i^L
D'AGRICULTURE. (International Conference of 1905 for the Foundation of an Inter-
national Institute of Agriculture). (19J5, 254 pages, 4to).
2. AcTES DES AssEMBLEES Gener.ales DES ANNEES, 1908, 1909, 1911, 1913 (Proceedings of
the General Assemblies of 1908, 1909, 191 r and 1913). (Four volumes, 4to).
3. PROCfeS-VERBAUX DU COMITfe PERMANENT DES .\NN6ES I908, 1909, I9IO, I9II, I9I2. ( Procds-
verbaux of the Permanent Committee, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911 and 1912). Five vol-
umes, 4to).
4. Rapports et Etudes du Bureau de la St.'vtistique G6n6rale. (Reports and Studies
of the Bureau of General Statistics). (1911, 260 pag^s, 4to).
5. The Science and Practice of Farming during 1910 in Great Britain. (646 pages,
i6mo).
6. Etude sur les recensements de la population agricole, les salaires de i.a main-
d'cbuvre ruraleetles cour.\nts d'emigr.\tion dans les diff^rents Etats. (Study
on the Census Returns of the Agricultural Population, the Wages of Rural I<abour, and
the Currents of Emigration in the Several Countries). (1912, 150 pages, 4to).
7. L'iNSTiTUT International d'Agriculture, son organisation, son .\ctivit6, ses Hfi-
sultats (The International Institute of Agticulture, its Organization, Activity, and
Results). (1912, 52 pages).
8. 1,E Present et l'.'^ventr de l'Institut International d'.\griculturb (Present and
Future of the lutemational Institute of Agriculture) (191 2, 60 pages).
9. Teie International Institute op A-^riculture. fin English, 1913, illustrated)
All subscriptions and remittances for the Iistitute's publications should be made either
directly to the International Institute of Agriculture, Rome, or to the principal booksellers.
N. B. For Great Britain and Ireland, subscriptions to the Bulletins i, 2, 3 and remitt-
ances for the Year-Books are also received at the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, 4
Whitehall Place, I^ndon S. W.
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