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 



