260 PROVISION OE BORROWING FACILITIES. 



302. In the tract of country to be served by village banks there 

 doubtless will be found influential landlords, merchants, and others 

 who, apart even from their desire to take part in a movement for the 

 public good, will find it to their interest to lend their aid. It will be 

 possible to organise these gentlemen into a society for the purpose not 

 only of providing funds for financing the village banks, but also for 

 the purpose of stimulating their formation and guiding their action. 

 The money may be subscribed in shares, each of small amount and 

 bearing interest, say, at 4 per cent, per annum. Such a society 

 should be called the Organization Society : and should there be any 

 difficulty in subscribing the requisite* capital, there is no reason why, 

 to begin with, the society should not borrow the amount from 

 Government. 



303. In course of time, and when village banks have taken root, 

 the Organization Societies in a District or even in a division may be 

 amalgamated ; when this happens, the Central Society would take 

 on itself the function of financing and controlling all village banks 

 in its sphere of operation. In this scheme the Organization Society 

 would, in point of fact, be an intermediate stage of development. 



304. The duties of the Organization Society may be summed 

 up as follows : 



(1) To promote the knowledge of the principles of Co-operative 



banking in the locality. 



To organise village banks and to supervise their working. 

 To grant advances to village banks under its supervision. 

 To arrange for the proper audit from time to time of the 



bank's books. 



305. In many districts there are large land-lords (we especially 

 instance the Court of Wards, managing estates of disqualified owners) 

 who may themselves wish to establish village banks on their estates 

 and to advance to them, at reasonable interest, the money required 

 for their operations. There is no reason why this should not be 

 done, and why village banks financed by the land-lord alone should 

 not work and prosper. But in all cases, whether the bank is financed 

 by one capitalist, or by a society of capitalists, it is essential to 

 solvent and successful working that there should be strict attention 

 to business methods and regularity. To ensure this, external supdr- " 

 vision and audit are essential. 



