May 1908] 



475 



Miscellaneous. 



AGRICULTURAL BANKS. 



The question of the establishment of 

 Agricultural Banks in these colonies is 

 one which has often been discussed in 

 various localities, more particularly in 

 Jamaica. Information in regard to these 

 useful institutions has frequently been 

 given in the periodicals of the Imperial 

 Department of Agriculture, and the sub- 

 ject has received attentiou at more than 

 one Agricultural Conference. 



A particularly valuable contribution, 

 dealing with this question was the paper 

 read before the West Indian Agricul- 

 tural Conference held at Trinidad in 

 1905, by the Hon. Wm. Fawcett, Director 

 of Public Gardens in Jamaica, which gave 

 a clear review of the principal provisions 

 of the ' Raiffeisen ' system of co-oper- 

 ative loan banks, that have given such 

 satisfactory results within recent years 

 in Germany and Central Europe. Mr. 

 Fawcett's paper, together with others 

 dealing with the same subject, was re- 

 printed under the title ' Information in 

 regard to Agricultural Banks,' as No. 

 35 of the Pamphlet series of the Imperial 

 Department of Agriculture. 



There is no need to dwell at length 

 upon the advantage of a society or insti- 

 tution by means of which a thrifty 

 peasant proprietor or holder is enabled 

 to obtain, at moderate interest, a small 

 amount of capital for the development 

 of his land on the security of the crops 

 thereon. The value of these institutions 

 is at once apparent. In every part of 

 the West Indies there are small holders, 

 willing to provide the necessary labour 

 to work their land, but who occasionally, 

 for various reasons, require the tempor- 

 ary need of a little extra capital. The 

 ordinary banks do not lay themselves 

 out to do business of this kind, and if 

 the would-be borrower has recourse to 

 a money lender, he is frequently 

 charged an excessively high rate of in- 

 terest, and the negotiation, instead of 

 proving a means of assistance, often 

 lands him in greater difficulties than 

 before. 



It is just such men as these that agri- 

 cultural loan banks are designed to 

 aid, and the value of sum institutions 

 has been so fully recognized in European 

 countries that nearly 30,000 banks have 

 been formed in diffierent continental 

 states on the ' Raiffeisen ' co-operative 

 system. The peculiar qualifications in 

 virtue of which these associations are 

 specially adapted to give aid just where 

 it is needed, lies in the fact that under 

 the Raiffeisen system, each bank confiues 

 its operations to a very limited area, and 

 the managers are usually meu with a 

 59 



f ood knowledge of matters agricultural, 

 t will be seen, therefore, that they are 

 in a position to judge of the character of 

 applicants for assistance, and also as 

 to the sum which may judiciously be 

 advanced. Sums lent are repayable in 

 instalments with interest, at periods 

 agreed upon. 



The fundamental idea of the Raiffeisen 

 system is that the members of the bank 

 join together to pledge their common 

 credit for the security of money deposit- 

 ed with them on interest, which is after- 

 wards disposed of among themselves, or 

 advanced to applicants at slightly in- 

 creased interest, so as to cover expenses. 

 The money must of course be applied to 

 agricultural purposes. A primary feature 

 of these associations is the unlimited 

 liability of every member. As a result 

 the greatest care is exercised in electing 

 trustworthy men only, since the other 

 members know they will have to meet 

 auy default caused by one of their num- 

 ber. 



A Committee of officials is elected to 

 carry out executive work, but none of 

 these are paid. Further, there is no distri- 

 bution of dividends, all the profits being 

 put towards the formation of a reserve 

 fund. There is also a Council of Super- 

 visor to which is entrusted the task of 

 supervising and checking the Committee, 

 while the Council themselves are subject 

 to check by the whole rnass of members. 



In the West Indies, so far, little has 

 been done towards tlie establishment of 

 agricutural bunks, but one or two were 

 started on a small scale in Manchester 

 parish, Jamaica, some years ago, through 

 the eff >rts of local branches of the Agri- 

 cultural Society. The necessity of some 

 agency, by means of which peasant pro- 

 prietors might be enabled to obtain tem- 

 porary assistance in time of need, was 

 brought prominently to the front as a 

 result of the devastation caused on the 

 lands of small proprietors by the hurri- 

 cane of 1903. 



From some cause or another, however, 

 nearly all of the Agricultural B inks 

 meutioned as having been established in 

 Jamaica have ceased to exist, and at 

 present only two institutions, the Chris- 

 tiana People's Co-operative Bank, Limi- 

 ted, and the Trinity Ville B ink, are 

 carrying on operations in the island, 

 These operations are, it is true, ou a 

 modest scale only at present, but the 

 banks are undoubtedly doiug good work 

 and making satisfactory progress. The 

 Christiana Bank has now a sum of £60 to 

 its credit, and this sura is steadily in- 

 creasing. In a paper prepared for the 

 Agricultural Conference of 1907, by the 

 Rev. W. Turner, and published in the 



