Rural Credit 287 



gratuitous management, and operation for the members 

 at cost, and a restricted area where the members know 

 each other intimately. 



Organization and Management 



A number of farmers in a community join and form a 

 cooperative bank in which the members are jointly liable 

 for the debts of the association, and each member is liable 

 for his neighbor as well as for himself. Each member 

 owns a limited number of shares of stock, usually only 

 one. The average amount of paid-up capital of each mem- 

 ber in Germany in 1909 was less than five dollars. The 

 interest paid on the stock is the same as the interest paid 

 by members on loans. Each member has one vote in 

 determining the policies of the association. The profits 

 from the banking operations are carried in the reserve 

 and are prorated to the members. The management of 

 the bank is in the hands of the entire membership which 

 acts in a body known as the General Meeting. The Gen- 

 eral Meeting intrusts the management to a supervisory 

 council and to an executive committee or committee of 

 management, and to a treasurer, all of which are appointed 

 by the General Meeting, the treasurer usually being the 

 only paid employee of the bank. 



The Working Capital 



The working capital that the Raiffeisen bank uses to 

 loan to its members is derived from the paid-in capital 

 of the members, the reserve that has been accumulated 

 in the past, the current deposits and deposits in the sav- 

 ings department, and the money which is borrowed from 



