Seventy-Tiukd Annual Kepokt 1233 



Many who could not assume tlie financial burden for a son wlio 

 is ready to take up farming for liiuiself, would gladly t'lu-oiirage 

 and assist that son t;n a farm iiiiaiiccd for a lonii' term of vears 

 through a cooperative mortgage bank. We must remember that 

 farming is an economic ])roblem and as we facilitate its opera- 

 tions and encourage its business with protits, we multiply and 

 stimulate its productions, and all the arguments and education 

 in the world will fail to keep progresoive young men on the farm, 

 or to permanently increase the products of the farm in any other 

 way. 



The farmer's assets in lands, buildings and jiroduce are the 

 most stable in the world, llis habits of prudence, thrift and 

 industry afford the strongest element of moral credit, vet he alone 

 is without the facilities to finance his business promptly and 

 economically. 



A banking system suited to the peculiar needs of the farm "is 

 an acknowledged necessity. Bankers and statesmen and econo- 

 mists and students almost universally admit the need of it. 

 Farmers demand it, and it remains only to devise the legal ma- 

 chinery to put it in operation. 



With us every business is provided with a system of credits and 

 finance suitable to its needs, except the business of the farm. Let 

 a man propose to build a railroad, develop a mine or start a store, 

 or organize a company for any purpose whatever, the facilities of 

 our banks, and our stock exchanges offer him the means to finance 

 his luidertaking. 



In the cooperative personal credit systems of Europe we find 

 the same familiar formula as in the realty systems. The original 

 Raiffeissen l)anks were simply partnerships or local associations of 

 borrowers. They had no corporate entity, and were personally 

 liable for the associate obligations. They had no capital ; they 

 were really a protest against capital. When forced by law to 

 register and issue stock they complied with the letter by issuing 

 shares of nominal value. They were limited to a parish or 

 neighborhood, and loans were nuide only for productive purposes. 

 The banks were managed by the members without compensation ; 

 the loans were made for the most part on personal notes with 

 endorsements. The business seems to us petty and juvenile. The 



