274 IRELAND 



may be a matter of supreme importance that he 

 should be able to raise a small loan in case of 

 need. The temporary use even of a few pounds, 

 for the purchase, say, of a pig, may make all the 

 difference as to whether or not he will be able 

 to pay his rent. Not only, however, have the 

 ordinary Joint Stock banks in Ireland a natural 

 reluctance to make very small advances to in- 

 dividual borrowers, but to these persons them- 

 selves the expenses incurred in obtaining such 

 advances may substantially reduce their actual 

 value. A farmer living in county Mayo once 

 related his experiences in getting a loan of £5 

 from a Joint Stock bank. " I had, " he said, 

 "first of all to pay the return railway fare of 

 myself and my two sureties to the town where 

 the offices of the Joint Stock bank are. That 

 was 1.?. 3d. each. I had also to pay my sureties 

 for the loss of their day's work, and give them 

 dinner. The bank deducted 2s. 6d. from the 

 £5 for the loan of the money for three months, 

 and I had to pay the cost of the bill. Then, 

 as I knew I should want to renew the loan 

 at the end of the three months, I had to 

 keep on good terms with my sureties for all 

 that time, and 'treat' them when I met them." 

 A calculation showed that the amount paid by 

 the farmer in respect to the loan in question 



