550 TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION F. 
Cotton Spinners’ and Manufacturers’ Associations are sent to the leaders of the 
cotton operatives, and that, in return, the reports of the International Federation 
of Operatives’ Trades Unions are sent to the heads of the employers’ organi- 
sations. 
Both industrial and international peace are absolutely essential to the con- 
tinued prosperity of a country like England, which, more than any other country, 
is dependent upon foreign trade for so large a proportion of the employment of 
the population. ; 
I have great hopes that ultimately an Industrial Federation will be formed 
in England on the lines of the great industrial organisation which already exists 
in Germany, and which practically embraces all the industries in that country. 
There is no doubt that that body exercises a powerful influence in shaping pro- 
spective legislation affecting industry. 
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9. 
The following Papers were read :— 
1. Land Banks. By Auuan McNett. 
The feasibility of the establishment of Land Banks on a practical and an 
economic basis has been discussed intermittently for many years. The present 
depressed state of agriculture and the recent report of the Departmental Com- 
mittee appointed by the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries to inquire into the 
position of tenant-farmers on the occasion of any change in the ownership of 
their holdings, directed attention to the question. Institutions formed for the 
sole purpose of financially assisting farmers in the purchase of their holdings 
and developing their industry have been established with marked success in 
other countries. Some solution of the present difficult question as to the future 
of agriculture in this country is surely possible. It may be that the prevalent 
feeling of unrest and uncertainty is accentuated by the campaign against land 
and its owners. On the one hand we find that owners of large estates are 
selling—in many cases at considerable loss—their properties, while on the other 
hand the farmers view with disfavour the idea of being tenants of either the 
Government or County Councils. 
It is submitted that a scheme could be devised which would enable farmers 
to purchase their holdings when offered for sale, without increasing the annual 
payments which they now make to their landlords in name of rent, and which 
would at the same time return a reasonable rate of interest on the money 
advanced, provide a sinking fund for the redemption of the loan, and pay the 
working expenses of the institution. 
The system of Land Banks proposed is self-supporting and free from State 
control. At first the institution would be confined in its operation to assist 
farmers in the purchase of their holdings, with the ultimate intention of extend- 
ing its scope as the medium for the buying of seeds and manure, the purchase of 
pedigree stock, and the selling of farm produce. 
The necessary capital to enable the bank to begin operations would be 
placed by the State at the disposal of the managers of the institution. Interest 
would be paid to the Government at 3 per cent, on the amount of capital 
advanced and outstanding from time to time. The Government get money from 
the Post Office Savings Bank depositors at 25 per cent. Further sums required 
would be obtained from the public by the issue of bonds, which bonds would 
be guaranteed, both as to principal and interest, by the State. There should 
be no difficuity in getting as much money as is required. At present when a 
depositor in a savings-bank has at his credit the maximum limit, that money 
is, with his consent, used to purchase Consols, and the depositor thereafter has 
to take the risks of the market fluctuation of that stock. It is proposed to 
authorise the savings-banks to issue transferable deposit receipts for multiples 
of 25/. on behalf of the Land Banks, guaranteed by the State, repayable in ten, 
fifteen, and twenty years at a graduated rate of interest from 23 to 34 per cent. 
Money would only be advanced to the tenant of a farm who had been on his 
holding for five years prior to the date of sale. The price would be fixed, 
