i8o 



Certified correct, 



L^vis, February 15, 1905. 



(Sgd.) AxPHONSB Dbsjardiks, 



President - Manager. 



BENEFITS DERIVED BY SHAREHOLDERS AND COMMUNITY. 



Mr. Desjardins, the president and manager of the society, states 

 that the great majority of the shareholders of ' La Caisse Populaire 

 de Levis', are workingmen, most of whom hold two or three shares 

 each. Nearly 700 different loans have been made since the 

 establishment of the society, to about lOO different borrowers, in 

 sums varying in amounts from $l to $500, the majority averaging 

 from $50 to $100. Most of the loans have been made for a period 

 of four months, and have been to small traders, mechanics, farmers, 

 and others, to enable them to make advantageous purchases, to tide 

 over temporary difficulties and to meet pressing demands. Of all 

 the loans made not a single borrower has failed to make payment 

 of the amounts advanced. 



It is, so Mr. Desjardins states, the general consensus of opinion 

 of the shareholders that but for the establishment of this savings 

 and credit society not $2,000 out of the $32,500 which has been 

 deposited in the bank in the form of shares and deposits would 

 have been saved. Among the shareholders are many young men 

 who are apprentices or mechanics and who commenced with 

 taking only one share, and have at the present time as much as 

 $200 laid aside in the form of paid-up shares or deposits. These 

 amounts have been accumulated chiefly through the opportunity 

 afforded of acquiring shares by the payment of small amounts in 

 weekly or monthly instalments. Having commenced by making 

 a weekly deposit of 10 cents, many have acquired the habit of 

 depositing regularly with the bank and have shown a disposition 

 to increase the amount of their deposits from month to month and 

 year to year. 



Not only have the members of the society received assistance 

 by way of advances and acquired habits of thrift from the practice 

 of making regular deposits, but not a few have been saved from 

 serious embarassment and from extortion at the hands of usurers. 



The operations of ' La Caisse Populaire de Levis' are restricted 

 to the town of Levis and the parishes of St. David and St. Louis, 

 the total population of the area being about 7,500. To serve the 

 financial needs of this locality, there are four large banks, as well 

 as the post office savings bank. 



