70 INFORMATION RELATING TO CREDIT 



FRENCH COLONIES. 



THE DISCOUNT AND I,OAN TRANSACTIONS OF COI^ONIAl, BANKS. — Ordinary ses- 

 sion of Chamber of Deputies, meeting of i8 December 1916 Appendix no. 2793. Report in the 

 name of the Commission for Foreign Affairs, the Protectorates and the Colonies, charged to 

 examine a proposed law for the prorogation of the prv'ilege of colonial banks and of their by- 

 laws . , 



The discount and loan transactions of the colonial banks have not at 

 any moment been interrupted ; and in spite of the state of war the figure 

 representing these, by far the most interesting of banking transactions 

 from the point of view of economic activity, shows a very noticeable ad- 

 vance on similar figures for previous 3'ears. 



Martinique. — Thus the Bank of Martinique did not hesitate to give 

 an exceptional importance to its loans on harvests which rose to the sum of 

 4,528,000 francs (i) as against 3,595,000 francs in 1913-1914 ; that is they 

 increased by nearly a milHon. In the same wa}^ the loans on merchan- 

 dise passed from 676,000 francs, their sum in 1913-1914, to 1,169,000 

 francs in 1914-1915 and 1,764,000 francs in 1915-1916 ; that is the transac- 

 tions of this one kind increased in value by 1,100,000 francs in two years. 



The total amount of the loan and discount transactions of the Bank 

 of Martinique, including tiie negotiation of bills in foreign countries, rose 

 from 23,164,000 francs in 1913-1914 to 34,485,000 francs in 1914-1915 and 

 37,124,000 francs in 1915-1916 ; that is the increase in two years was one 

 of fourteen millions or 66 per cent. 



Guadeloupe. — The same considerations and statements are appli- 

 cable to the Bank of Guadeloupe, the advances of which have been in a 

 very large proportion, as in Martinique, in the form of loans on harvests. 

 This bank in 1914-1915 made such advances to the amount of 4,176,400 

 francs as against 3,576,000 francs in 1913-1914. 



It is to be noted that the loans on harvests, although the^^ involve such 

 large risks, have been made at a rate no higher than loans by the Bank of 

 France on fir.st -class French securities, namely 6 per cent. In other words 

 the Bank of Guadeloupe, which might most legitimately have raised this 

 very low rate, has subordinated all considerations of private interest to 

 care for the public interest. 



As in ]\lartinique loans on merchandise have been notably developed 

 during the war. Their total rose from 114,530 francs in 1913-1914 to 

 420,500 francs in 1914-1915 and 805,950 francs in 1915-1916. 



The total sum of the discount and loan transactions of the Bank of 

 Guadeloupe, including the negotiation of bills in foreign countries, was 

 27,879,670 francs in 1914-1915 and 31,510,440 francs in iqi5-i9i6 as 

 against 22,767,800 francs in 1913-1914. 



(i) I franc = g 3/g d at \va\. 



