119 



right to raise 'money on mortgage were abolished, or the 

 security on the land affected or the facilities for mort- 

 gaging 1 land curtailed in any way, then presumably if 

 the owners of the said properties really needed the 

 money, they would have to borrow on their signatures 

 as in commerce, or sell a portion of their land. 



The figures over mortgages inscribed in the Repub- 

 lic annually, show that the land held back from sale 

 owing to the use of mortgages, is equal in normal years 

 to that actually sold; for instance, last year over 

 5,000,000 hectares were kept out of the market through 

 three thousand persons advancing money on them. If 

 the subdivision of property has anything to do with 

 agricultural prosperity then obviously mortgages are 

 the chief obstacle, since twice the land would be sold 

 annually without them. 



If the argument is in favour of State aid for mort- 

 gage loans, then a glance at the field of action already 

 covered by the National Hypothecary Bank, shows there 

 yet remains much to be accomplished, for despite the ex- 

 cellent organisation and immense capital of the bank, 

 it only participates in relatively few loans (in less than 

 16 per cent, of the total loans on mortgage last year). 



Last year 650 millions c|l. was returned as placed 

 out through the agency of the Banco Hipotecario, in 

 the form of rural loans; however, during the last ten 

 years, (the minimum term at which the State advanc- 

 ing money on mortgage can expect to be reimbursed) 

 something- like 2000 millions has been invested in mort- 

 gage loans. 



Apparently there is a steady decrease in the de- 

 mand for money on mortgage over the last eight years, 

 which perhaps may be read as a signal of the limit of 

 our rural progress. Despite the fact that the Banco Hi- 

 potecario operates with considerable freedom, neverthe- 

 less it has increased its holdings in cash from 30 mil- 

 lions in 1914 to almost double the sum in 1918, and its 

 reserve funds from 35 to 64 millions in a like period. 



It is difficult to imagine where there is room for 

 another bank, and how, in any case, a Banco Agricola 

 can accomplish anything' useful in this sphere. 



Into the facilities with which mortgages should be 

 accorded, into the utilising of State credit for the pur- 

 pose, the utility of the Banco Hipotecario and the ad- 

 vantages that mortgages offer as a solution of rural cre- 

 dit, I cannot enter here- Suffice it to say, that mortgages 

 as a means of rural credit are no longer the panacea of 

 modern rural progressists; nowadays mortgages are only 



