CO-OPERATIVE CREDIT ASSOCIATIONS. 133 



their more spirited neighbours, who seemed to be outvieing each other to see 

 who could boast of the greatest profits to his own purse after paying back 

 the principal. I have known people who, before they became members, were 

 quite indifferent about either themselves or their homes, and ' drank ' on every 

 occasion they could ; but since they have joined the Bank are now some of 

 the most thrifty and fast-rising people in the place, and will turn a sixpence 

 about a score of times in their fingers before bidding good-bye to it. So you 

 can understand we have set the axe to the roots of the huge trees of 

 drunkenness and unthriftiness." 



Another letter, from the Rev. P. Kilkenny, P.P., Claremorris, tells the 

 same story. He writes : — 



" I have great pleasure in stating that, in my opinion, the objects of the 

 philanthropic gentlemen who have promoted the establishment of Agricultural 

 Banks in Ireland are fully realised in the case of the small Bank of Murneen. 

 The means at its disposal are no doubt slender, still it is easy to point to 

 cases where the loan received from the Bank has produced twice or even 

 thrice the amount borrowed. Cattle and pigs that would have been sold to 

 the great loss of the borrower were enabled to be retained until their full 

 value was realised. 



" Greater even than the material advantages of the Bank are the moral 

 effects resulting from it in the district of Murneen : firstly, in the education 

 the people are receiving in the true use of credit, and again in the gain for 

 the country that can so easily be obtained from mutual co-operation. Here- 

 to ore the man who borrowed lost caste in the neighbourhood, was regarded 

 as a ne'er-do-well, and fast hastening to join the class who are a burden on 

 society. Now the people are learning that it is honourable, when necessary, 

 to borrow for the honest purpose of improving one's position and ascending 

 higher the ladder of industrial prosperity. From the success that has 

 attended the working out of this little experiment in such a remote district, 

 one is forced to wish that branches were multiplied in the country, that this 

 influence for good may be more widely extended "' 



From the Reports of the Secretaries of several Raiffeisen " Banks " I 

 have taken the following typical instances of loans, the purposes to which 

 they were put, and the results, which give an insight into the nature of the 

 transactions negotiated by these small rural credit associations. I have 

 omitted the names and residences of the borrowers — 



;^4 for ten months — bought 4 bonhams ; sold them before the loan 



had expired for ;£'i6. 



;^3 purchased 3 bonhams, which died when value about ;^6. Paid 



loan punctually and got new one. 



£3 for ten months ; bought 3 bonhams, which he sold in nine months 



for ;!^i5. Paid his loan and got a new one for ;^2 io.y., no more money being 

 available. 



grot ;^3 for ten months ; bought two bonhams at 255., sold them in 



nine months at ;^5 10^. Also purchased a calf for ^,2 12s. 6cl., sold it in ten 

 months for ;^6. 



;^3 for ten months ; purchased a calf which sold after six months for 



;!^5 5.?. Paid his loan and invested residue in pigs. Has a new loan. 



;£, 2, ten months — bought pigs, which he sold in nine months for 



£6 I OS. 



£2, ten months — bought pigs. Both pigs and borrower died. His 



widow paid loan punctually and in full, and got a new advance. 



