2u-t Journal of the Department of Agriculture. 



8. The general effect of the agencies and influences mentioned in 

 tlic two preceding paragraphs has been to produce a very rapid 

 improvement in the technical methods of the German farmer ; the use 

 of manures and feeding stuffs has greatly increased. Superior strains 

 of l)oth plants and animals have been raised. Business methods have 

 been introduced and important rural industries have been developed. 



Apart from direct aids, the Prussian Government has created 

 special macliinery by which governmental and local agencies work 

 harmoniously together, namely, the system of Chambers of Agricul- 

 ture (Landschaftskammern). This system is semi-ofhcial, and its 

 income is derived from a tax levied on every agriculturist whose land 

 is valued at a certain figure; grants are also made to them for special 

 purposes by the State. The part played by these agencies is, in 

 theory at least, a perfect example of the working out of the dual 

 policy of State and voluntary action; the Chambers of Agriculture, 

 being constituted on a semi-official basis, are able most advantageously 

 to act as a connecting link between the official and the non-official. 

 The local chamber ascertains the views of co-operators and small 

 farmers with accuracy, while the central body can exert a very con- 

 siderable influence on the policy of the officials in charge of agricul- 

 tural legislation, by whom it is always consulted. The central body 

 or German Agricultural C^ouncil (Deutsches Landwertschafstrat). 

 function is to represent and foster the interests of agriculture in the 

 whole of the German Empire. 



The great respect which the German Agricultural (Council 

 enjoys to-day in tlie widest — and not merely agricultural — circles and 

 among the administrative bodies rests on the strict attention to fact 

 and the extreme thoroughness which are characteristic of its meetings, 

 its resolutions, and its publications.* 



It would appear from this account that the policy of State aid 

 to co-operation in Germany had proved an unqualified blessing. But 

 there is another side to the picture, and during the few years previous 

 to the outbreak of war the other side was becoming more and more 

 noticeable. The State Bank (Pressenkaise) absorbed most of the 

 other co-operative credit banks. Within three years of its establish- 

 ment grievances developed owing to the State Bank raising its rate 

 of interest and adopting more stringent regulations without consulting 

 the co-operative leaders. 



Mr. Cahill, in his report on German co-operative credit, writes : 

 " It is also felt that, as a result of the foundation of the State Bank, 

 the sovereignty over Prussian co-operative credit has been taken out 

 of the hands of co-operators, that office has been ossvmed hy the 

 State. It is sometimes urged that the State Bank is too bureaucratic 

 in its methods; that it is not sufficiently elastic in its administration; 

 and that it requires extremely minute and detailed information as a 

 basis for its granting of credits. Finally there is ihe fact that the 

 banking profits of a successful great central co-operative bank would 

 return to co-operation, whereas under present conditions any resultant 

 profits accrue to the State." To summarize Mr. Cahill's argument. 

 State aid, carried to the point of direct financial intervention, 

 necessarily brings with it State control, and what is controlled by the 

 State cannot be controlled by its own members and therefore cannot 

 be co-operative. 



* Recent Development of German Agriculture. 



