1-21 



raJculation of those possessed by our cereal farmers 

 does not allow ;i total value of more than $150 million 

 goM, including animals for labour purposes. Loans ac- 

 ronled and registered under the Prenda Agraria since 

 its institution have not exceeded a total of $.')f>,()00,000 

 gold on all classes of securTty, so that despite the rela- 

 tive sinallness of the farmer's capital there is still a 

 wide scope for action for extending the benefits of such 

 credits. 



The great defect of the Prenda Agraria is its little 

 attraction for bankers, owing in part to the fact that 

 in case of failure to repay the loan the banks cannot, 

 without considerable trouble, take possession of the se- 

 curity or adequately guard its proper conservation. 

 The intervention of the banks is limited to accepting 

 the "prenda" for discount through a third party. The 

 Prenda Agraria is essentially the remedy or security 

 against total loss of loan made by the private capitalist. 

 In this respect it would be interesting to have a detail- 

 ed return of the actual figures of the loans, and preci- 

 sely how and through what channels they were accord- 

 ed, or secure'! . 



Here we again must point out the disadvantages 

 accruing from the absence of the land owners in the 

 business of working the land. It is undeniable that ad- 

 vances to the tenants or colonists would be easier and 

 more secure under the Pi'enda Agraria, if they came 

 through the intervention of the land owners, and the 

 advances from the banks were direct to the owners of 

 the farms. There is certainly no reason why the own- 

 ers of the lands farmed should consider their interest 

 at an end in the business once they received the rent, 

 or that the "colonos" should deny themselves the ad- 

 vantages of the cooperation of the proprietor of the 

 land. 



The according of loans under the Prenda Agraria 

 is bound up in the question of personal integrity; in 

 fact the Prenda Agraria is really a supplementary se- 

 curity behind loans accorded purely on the conviction 

 of the moral responsibility of the solicitant. 



The creation of the "Prenda Agraria" was not as 

 a means whereby a debtor might enforce payment. It 

 was conceived in order that a farmer might obtain mo- 

 ney easily, the "Prenda" itself being a minor matter. 



As has often been remarked, the present "prenda 

 agraria" law seems to have been enacted under the 

 conception that it was a manner by which money might 

 be obtained, by the creditor more than by the farmer. 



