Fortunes for Farmers 



December 4, 1898, to June 16, 1901, the bank 

 granted 191 loans to its members amounting 

 to .£2,627; no of the loans were to buy cows, 

 34 to buy or repair houses, 7 for trading capital, 

 3 for marrying on, 8 for the purchase of land, 

 2 for buying horses, 13 to repay other debts, 

 and 14 for miscellaneous objects. The rate of 

 interest is only 4 per cent, whilst 3 per cent is 

 allowed on deposits. Any profit, less working 

 expenses, which are slight, goes to build a reserve 

 fund. Wherever these banks exist they raise the 

 moral tone of a neighbourhood, for no drunken 

 or imprudent person is admitted, nor anyone 

 who fails to command the confidence of the society. 

 Many a man has pulled himself together in order 

 to be able to join, and frequently the parish 

 priest admits that the local bank has done more 

 than all his teaching to improve a village. 



To meet the requirements of large farmers, the 

 Government in 1884 founded a number of 

 agricultural banks. Each of these institutions 

 consists of a small number of persons who negotiate 

 loans to farmers. They provide no capital them- 

 selves, borrowing all they require from the 

 National Savings Bank, giving their united 

 personal guarantees and receiving as their profit 

 one fifth of the interest charged to the borrower. 

 This system shows how the Belgian Government 



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