224 AGRICULTURAL ORGANISATION 



holders ; to give advice to the officers on matters of book- 

 keeping ; to assist free of charge in the audit of the annual 

 returns ; and, when a society is being conducted on sound 

 business lines, to accept the post of unpaid treasurer. The 

 banks in question have also agreed to allow the societies 

 interest at the rate of 2 per cent, on daily credit balance 

 on current account, and 2j per cent, on any reserve fund 

 deposit, and, further, to give favourable consideration to 

 applications from such societies for advances, " but without 

 departing from ordinary banking principles." 



This particular condition gives rise to difficulties, since 

 agricultural credit banks established on the basis of 

 Raiffeisen unlimited liability do themselves depart from 

 " ordinary banking principles/' while the stipulation to be 

 imposed would require the societies seeking advances to 

 give security to an extent and of a nature which would be 

 beyond the powers of, at least, the majority of them. 



ALTERNATIVES. 



One thus naturally reverts to the principle of the Central 

 Credit Bank and to the obviously much more practical 

 idea that, instead of the joint stock banks and the agricul- 

 tural credit societies being left to deal direct with one 

 another, the Central Credit Bank should act as an inter- 

 mediary, and itself be enabled to give to the joint stock 

 banks an adequate guarantee for any advances it might 

 arrange with them to make to the local societies. The 

 Central Credit Bank would thus in no way work to the 

 prejudice of the joint stock banks, but would, in effect, 

 facilitate their operations by giving them the security they 

 required ; while the principle of a Central Credit Bank, one 

 must remember, forms the basis of the system adopted in 

 Germany, India, and many other countries, including even 

 Ireland itself. 



If the alternative here in question were adopted, the main 

 question left to be decided would be the particular form of 

 support which could, or should, be rendered to the Central 



