AGMCULTURAI, CREDIT AND CO-OPERATION IN EUROPE 83 



its Report iu two parts : Part I consisting of the evidence gathered in Europe, 

 and Part II of a general discussion of rural credit and agricultural co-oper- 

 ation in European countries, together with the observations and recommen- 

 datious of the Commission. Part I has already been pubHshed and 

 is printed as a Senate Document. 



The United States Commission, as we have already noted, limited its 

 investigations to land and agricultural credit. On January 20th of this 

 year it presented to Congress that part of its Report which deals with land- 

 mortgage or long-term credit, together with a draft Bill for the establish- 

 ment of a system of land mortgage banks (or " national farm-land banks " 

 as it is proposed that they should be called) in the United States. 



We shall here first refer briefly to the evidence published by the Amer- 

 ican Commission and then examine the Report and recommendations of 

 the United States Commission. 



§ 3. Information and evidence coi^lkcted in Europe. 



The evidence is contained in a volume of more than nine hundred pages, 

 printed as Senate Document No. 214, under the title of " Agricultural Cre- 

 dit and Rural Co-operation in Europe : Information and Evidence ". The 

 evidence presented relates to agricultural co-operative institutions of every 

 kind in 14 countries in which no less than 90 towns and villages were 

 actually visited by the Commission or by Sub-commissions. The investi- 

 gations, which began at Rome, were concluded at Limerick, and the evi- 

 dence is presented with the minimum amount of editing in the chronologi- 

 cal order in which it was secured. The resulting volume is in substance 

 a series of monographs covering ever\'^ phase of agricultural credit and co- 

 operation in European countries. 



Among those who contribute their evidence are included heads of Gov- 

 ernment departments, secretaries of official and semi-official organiza- 

 tions, managers of co-operative enterprises of all kinds, and professors in 

 high-schools and universities, so that the net result is a full unbiassed i)re- 

 sentation of the facts relating to the agricultural co-operative movement. 



It is impossible here to do more than indicate briefly some of the con- 

 tents of the formidable volume before us. This can best be done by giving 

 country by country some of the references in the Table of Contents. 

 These relate as a rule either to papers submitted to the Juries of Enquiry 

 or to Reports of Sub-committees. 



Italy. — Opening Address (delivered at the International Institute of 

 Agriculture, Rome): Hon. Luigi Liizzatti. Land Mortgage Banks: Special 

 Statement by the Minister of Agriculture. Rural Banks ; Address by the 

 Hon. Leone Wollemborg. Co-operative Insurance, by Dr. Casalini. Lan.d 

 Credit. Rural Credit in Sicily. Metayer System in Tuscany. Collect- 

 ive Leases and Co-operative Farms. Agricultural Credit and Co-oper- 

 ation in Italy : Statement by the International Institute of Agriculture. 



