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. 



