AGRICULTURAL CREDIT. DAVIDSON. 475 



But so far the law is a dead letter, and the British Columbia 

 Department of Agriculture explains the absence of interest in 

 the scheme by the lack of the co-operative spirit. As a matter 

 of fact the legislation seems to be of almost a pure academic 

 character, answering to no popular demand and inspired by the 

 instinct of revelation which leads people to suppose that an 

 institution that has succeeeded elsewhere must be needed and do 

 good here. British Columbia is probably the least agricultural 

 of all our provinces, and is likely long to remain so ; and British 

 Columbia is very well supplied with what banking facilities our 

 system can provide for the farmer. The failure is not due to 

 the absence of the co operative spirit, but to the absence of any 

 great need for co-operation All that is secured so laboriously 

 and so painfully by co-operative production and co-operative 

 banking in European countries, is without effort secured for us 

 in the natural organisation of business. America has few exam- 

 ples of co-operative enterprises, because the spirit of co-operation 

 is already largely embodied in our every-day business institu- 

 tions, and we enjoy in Canada very largely all the benefits 

 which co-operative banking secures in Europe without any of 

 the inconveniences which accompany conscious co-operation. In 

 Europe, co-operation affords scope for the latent abilities of men 

 who have little hope of rising above the class in which they 

 were born ; in America there is a free career for the latents, and 

 the born co-operators become independent managers of men. 

 Briefly, the Canadian banking system may be said to do as much 

 for the farmer as the European system of popular banks accom- 

 plishes there, and it is very doubtful whether, among men of 

 our race, co-operative banking would accomplish any good result. 

 Our areas are too vast, our population is too much scattered, our 

 people too migratory and too anxious to rise to positions of com- 

 mand, to make co-operation a success. We have tried and 

 abandoned the Scotch Cash Credit System as not well adapted 

 to our needs ; and as we have already noted the cash credit 

 system originally suggested the European co-operative banks. 



It must not be forgotten that there are two distinct questions 

 involved in the use of the terms Agricultural Credit, and I do 



