RUPERT 



RURAL CREDITS 



source of much distn->>. In 1899, to remedy 

 this defect, the government fixed the value at 

 one-fifteenth of a pound sterling, or about 32 

 cents of Unitt r Canadian money, and 



in that ratio it has since remained legal tender. 



The rupee is in size between the United 

 States quarter-dollar and half-dollar pieces. It 

 bears on its obverse side the impression of the 

 British sovereign, on its reverse the words 

 One Rupee and the date of coinage. Legally 

 it is divided into 16 annas, and there are issued 

 in <ilver 8-anna, 4-anna and 2-anna pieces. The 

 sum of 100,000 rupees is commonly spoken of 

 as a lakh of rupees, while 10,000,000 rupees con- 

 stitute a cron . 



RU'PERT, PRINCE (1619-1682), one of the 

 main supporters of the royal cause in the strug- 

 gle between Charles I of England and his Par- 

 liament. He was the son of Frederick V, Elec- 

 tor Palatine, and Elizabeth, the daughter of 

 James I of England, and he played an impor- 

 tant part during the Thirty Years' War. 



When the civil war broke out in England, 

 he was made leader of his uncle's cavalry and 

 fought valiantly at Worcester and at Edgehill. 

 Charles I did not find him as tractable as he 

 wished, however, and for his surrender of Bris- 

 tol, in 1645, dismissed him from his service. 

 Later he became commander of the royalist 

 fleet, but in the days of the Commonwealth 

 defeated by Admiral Blake. Escaping with 

 a few ships, Prince Rupert made his way to the 

 West Indies, where he engaged in piratical 

 adventures. When Charles II came to the 

 throne (see RESTORATION) he returned to Eng- 

 land and served in the fleet during the war 

 against Holland. The later years of his life 

 were given up to scientific investigations. 



RU'PERT'S LAND, a name formerly ap- 

 plied loosely to the Canadian Northwest, and 

 more especially to the land surrounding Hud- 

 son Bay. This vast region, whose boundaries 

 were only vaguely determined until the Do- 

 minion was organized in 1867, was named in 

 honor of Prince Rupert, the first governor of 

 the Hudson's Bay Company. This territory 

 was granted to the company by Charles II of 

 England and was only surrendered by the com- 

 pany in 1869, when the title was transferred to 

 Great Britain. In 1870 title was formally trans- 

 ferred to the new Dominion of Canada. As a 

 part of Canada the Northwest was originally 

 called "Rupert's Land and the North West Ter- 

 ritories," but the term Rupert's Land is no 

 longer in use. 



RUP ' TURE . See HERNIA. 



RURAL CREDITS. On July 17, 1916, Presi- 

 dent Wilson signed the Federal Farm Loan Act 

 which provides for a national system of rural 

 credits for the United States. The law is elabo- 

 rate and covers all conceivable cases that may 

 arise in connection with loaning money on land 

 and securing the loans by first mortgn 

 From beginning to end the law is in favor of 

 the farmer. The following are its most im- 

 portant features: 



The Federal Farm Loan Board. A Federal 

 Farm Loan Board consisting of five members 

 is created, of whom the Secretary of the Treas- 

 ury of the United States shall be one. The 

 other members are appointed by the President, 

 with the concurrence of the Senate; not more 

 than two of these members can belong to the 

 same political party. No member of the board 

 shall, during his continuance in office, be an 

 officer or director in any institution, associa- 

 tion or partnership engaged in banking or in 

 the business of making land mortgage loans or 

 selling land mortgages. The members of the 

 board are required to devote their entire time 

 to the work; each receives a salary of $10,000 

 a year and his traveling expenses. One of the 

 members is designated by the President as 

 Farm Loan Commissioner. 



Federal Land Banks. The Federal Loan 

 Board was required to divide the United States 

 into twelve districts, to be known as Federal 

 land bank districts, to establish in each district 

 a Federal land bank and to designate the city 

 in which the chief office of the bank should be 

 located. These districts and cities are shown in 

 the map on page 5109. Each bank is under 

 the management of a board of directors. When 

 a bank is organized the Federal Farm Loan 

 Board appoints five directors, who choose one 

 of their number as president, one as secretary 

 and one as treasurer. When the subscriptions 

 to the stock of the bank amount to $100,000 a 

 permanent board of nine directors, each holding 

 office for three years, is selected. Six of these 

 directors are chosen by the national farm loan 

 associations, and three are appointed by tin- 

 Federal Farm Loan Board. One-third of the 

 members of the first board retire at the end of 

 one year, one-third at the end of two years 

 and one-third in three years, their successors 

 in each case being elected for three years. 



Every Federal land bank is required to have 

 a subscribed capital of at least $750,000 before 

 it can begin business. The capital stock is di- 

 vided into shares of five dollars each, and it 

 may be subscribed for and held by any indi- 



