TIIK AGRICUI/rURAL CREDIT OF THE BANKS OF NATIVES AND SICII.Y 4I 



exclusively agricultural aims and character should be preferred. The loans 

 should be made by the two banks cited to intermediary institutions at the 

 maximum rate of 4 per cent,, and by the latter to their members at thfe 

 maximum rate of 6 per cent. The security given by the intermediary insti- 

 tutions is their own capital if they have limited, and that of their members 

 if they have unlimited liability. The amount of possible loans varies in 

 accordance with the capital and with the form of security given by the in- 

 stitutions. The latter enjo> in their turn, in relation to their members, 

 special privileges, and also a true legal privilege established by article 1958 

 of the Italian civil code, which we have already mentioned, and a privi- 

 lege by agreement arising out of the law of 23 January' 1887 whcih has ref- 

 erence to the sums due to furnish live and other stock, agricultural machi- 

 nery and implements, plant for the handling of agricultural products and 

 all that can be useful to agriculture. 



Such is, broadly, the system of State-regulated agricultural credit in 

 the Banks of Naples and Sicily. We will now examine the work accom- 

 plished by these two banks in 1916. 



§ 2. The AGRICUI.TURAL CREDIT OF THE SAVINGS-BANKS OF THE 

 " BANCO DI NAPOt.I ". 



The Intermediary Institutions. — As appears in the last report of the 

 Bank of Naples the institutions by the medium of which agricultural cre- 

 dit is, according to the law, distributed, increased from 2145, wliich was 

 their number on 31 December 1915, to 2179, their number on the same date 

 in 1916. 



Of this number only 1203 were considered to be " good ", that is fit 

 to distribute credit. They were distributed as follows as regards their kind: 



Agricultural and rural funds 482 



M onti frumentari e nummari of Sardinia .... 28S 



Popular banks 145 



Funds for agricultural loans 121 



Agricultural consortia 120 



Savings banks 16 



Societies of agricultural credit 9 



Monti frumentarit 8 



Societies of mutual aid 8 



Provincial autonomous funds of agricultural credit 6 



1,203 



Of these 1203 " good " institutions 114 (including 109 popular banks) 

 are accredited at the bank for ordinary discount. Of their whole number 

 40.06 per cent, are nominall}' collective societies having collective and unli- 

 mited liability. This form of association is found throughout the eighteen 

 provinces of the south and Sardinia: the province of Cagliari has the largest 



