54 RUMANIA - CREDIT 



2) It Opens current accounts on the security of values. 



3) It discounts and rediscounts bills. 



Transactions of these three descriptions are for short terras, the loans 

 falling due in from three to nine months. The rate of interest varies 

 with that of the National Bank but may not surpass 3 per cent. 



Further the Banca Agricola undertakes the following business: it 

 receives payments on behalf on its clients ; it buys and sells provisions on 

 commission ; on behalf of its clients it undertakes all the business connected 

 with the storage of merchandise etc. B}^ the law of 1906 it is authorized 

 to found general storehouses and to store merchandise, but it has not yet 

 begun business of this sort. 



The management of the bank in 1911 furnished the following figures : 



Capital in shares fr. 7,938,125.00 



Reserve fund " 3,366,630.54 



Deposits " 20,684,405.05 



Debts on rediscounted bills ... " 10,036,976.96 

 Current liability accounts at the Na- 

 tional Bank " 11,405,932 



Various current liability accounts . " 8,152,623 



Advances on cereals ...... " 8,082,166.33 



values " 10,781,032.10 



Ciirrent credit accounts " 18,658,695.43 



Credit in bills " 16,016,601.41 



Various assets " 7,787,542.75 



§ 4. The Credit Institutions favouring small Properties. 

 The " Casa Rurai.e ". 



This rural bank was formed in 1908. The special law passed on 4 April 

 1908 aimed at providing credit for landless agriculturists or those having 

 only a very small property, thus enabling them, to buy land or increase their 

 property. The tendency of the law is thus to create small proprietors. 



The formation of small properties was from 1862 part of the economic 

 programme of the Rumanian government. In that year the feudal system was 

 abolished. Soon afterwards, in 1864, the law was passed as to the compulsory 

 sale of part of the propert}^ of large proprietors. In subsequent years 

 — 1866, 1869, 1876, 1881 and 1889 — the laws were passed as to the distribu- 

 tion of the lands of domains and churches among landless farmers or 

 those owning only a verj' small property. The distribution of landed pro- 

 perty is however still far from being reasonable. The exceSvSive increase 

 of the agricultural population on the one hand and the laws on succession 

 on the other have attenuated the effects of the laws we have enumerated, 

 so that the commission of enquiry nominated after the peasants' revolt 

 of 1907 could state in its report : 



i) that from 250,000 to 300,000 agricultural families had no property; 



