96 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



EUEAL CREDIT, BANKING AND AGRICULTURi^L 

 CO-OPERATION IN EUROPE. 



J. LEWIS ELLSWORTH. 



The commission to whicli 1 was a delegate was a national 

 commission directed to study tiie systems of rural credit and 

 agricultural co-operation existing in Europe. 



It consisted of 78 members; 7 were appointed by the 

 President, 65 were appointed by the Governors of different 

 States and by a few interested organizations, and 6 repre- 

 sented Canada. The delegation from Massachusetts con- 

 sisted of Pres. Kenyon L. Butterfield of the Agi'icultural 

 College, appointed by President Wilson, and Mrs. Charlotte 

 B. Ware and myself, appointed by Governor Foss. The 

 Southern Commercial Congress initiated this movement for 

 an organized study of the systems of co-operation and rural 

 credit in European countries, recognizing the need of such 

 facilities in this country if our agriculture is to prosper. 

 European countries were long since forced to face these prob- 

 lems and have made great strides in this direction. To them, 

 then, the American commission turned to ascertain how their 

 methods and organizations could be made to assist in develop- 

 ing a more profitable agriculture and better country life con- 

 ditions here in the United States. We here in America are 

 apt to think of the inhabitants of the European countries as 

 rather decadent, both physically and mentally. This we 

 found to be far from the fact, as everywhere the Italians, 

 Germans or Danes, as the case might be, were splendid men, 

 strong and intelligent, making a very evident success of 

 agriculture and utilizing every bit of land that could be made 

 available. Not only were they profiting by their systems of 

 co-operation and rural credit, but they seemed to have a 



