PROVISION OP BORROWING FACILITIES, 375 



Communal banks of Alsace-Lorraine, they may be Savings banks in 

 origin, dealing in credit merely as a mode of placing their funds either 

 directly to borrowers or indirectly through loans to credit banks ; 

 they may be Nidhis either of the present or of a developed type, 

 developed in their power of safely attracting capital, and of giving 

 long-term loans ; they may be village granaries storing surplus grain 

 at harvest, and lending it out among the ryots for seed in the 

 cultivation season, they may be Agricultural associations with credit 

 annexes, a most desirable form of institution, or finally, and most 

 desirably, they may be true co'-operative societies and banks, 

 operating through, for, and upon, the members, stimulating and 

 collecting their savings, calling forth habits of thrift, economy, and 

 prudence, guiding their outlay into productive channels, giving them 

 credit for productive and useful purposes, promoting co-operative 

 dealings in sale or purchase, and stimulating activity, union and 

 associated action among the too isolated units of village life. 



