122 AGRICULTURAL INDEBTEDNESS 



fraternity, and tends to substitute association for 

 suspicion, healthy and active communal yet per- 

 sonally free action for individual isolation and inertia ; 

 it forms a centre of local progress and reform. All 

 are admissible, even the poorest, who satisfy the 

 administration that they are worthy of membership, 

 and, as will be seen in Italy, the mere possibility of 

 joining a society has reclaimed men from drunkenness 

 and extravagance, and has given them an impetus to 

 sobriety, industry, and even to education in its ordinary 

 sense.' 



One feature of the Raiffeisen bank which deserves 

 special attention is that the liability of the members is 

 unlimited ; every member may thus become personally 

 liable for the repayment of any loan imprudently con- 

 tracted or injudiciously employed. The first advan- 

 tage of unlimited liability is that it gives the maximum 

 of credit possible in the absence of material pledge, 

 and the second is that it directly instils caution and 

 prudence in the management of the affairs of the bank 

 on the part of all members. 



The objects of a Raiffeisen Society are thus described 

 in Section 2 of the Model Articles : 



'The object of the society is to improve the situa- 

 tion of its members both materially and morally, to 

 take the necessary steps for the same, to obtain 

 through the common guarantee the necessary capital 

 for granting loans to members for the development 

 of their business and their household, and to bring 

 idle capital into productive use, for which purpose a 

 savings bank will be attached to the society. 



'The society will have in view the following 

 objects : 



' I. The supply of raw materials {e.g., manures, 

 wool, coal, etc.). 



*2. The sale in common of the products of agricul- 

 ture and industry. 



' 3. Co-operative production and sale. 



