H2 



HUNGARY 



done with a sense of shame, and a peasant who 

 raised a loan in this way generally tried to keep 

 the fact from the knowledge of his fellow - 

 villagers, who would understand only too well to 

 what the transaction might lead. These secret 

 borrowings preyed no less on the spirits of the 

 borrower than, eventually, they did on his 

 financial resources. But when the co-operative 

 credit bank was introduced the publicity of all 

 its proceedings constituted one of its essential 

 characteristics. The peasant wanting a loan had 

 to convince his fellow-members (who would be 

 personally responsible should he fail to repay it) 

 that he required the money for a legitimate 

 purpose. Everybody in the village would thus 

 hear of the matter, and be in a position to 

 discuss it if they thought fit. Beyond, also, the 

 particular occasion for the loan, the borrower 

 would have to be a man possessing the good 

 opinion of his fellow-villagers before they would 

 grant an advance. A direct incentive was given 

 to him, therefore, to lead a steady, sober, and 

 industrious life, and, besides, to keep out of 

 debt in other directions, for his creditors would 

 assuredly come down upon him at once if they 

 found he was raising money from the co-operative 

 credit bank and did not propose to pay them 

 their due. A healthy public opinion was thus 



