Miscellaneous. 



270 



[Sept. 1906. 



control over them. The most striking feature in the administration of the land- 

 schaften is the manner in which all members, not merely office-bearers, are compelled 

 to work almost gratuitously on behalf of the bank. Every member is bound to 

 take office under penalties which may amount to the calling in of his loan or the 

 sale of his estates, and against such decisions he has no appeal outside of the bank. 

 The co-operative principle is carried out with rigorous uniformity, and this enables 

 the landschaften to work at considerable distances from their centres without 

 much cost or risk. The bank is considered a quasi-public institution, and its officers 

 come therefore under the law relating to the discipline of public officials. The 

 bank is placed under the general supervision of the Minister of Agriculture and the 

 immediate and special supervision of a Royal Commissioner, who is appointed by 

 the King of Prussia. The chairman and the two councillors of the bank are elected 

 by the deputies of the four districts, but the election is subject to royal confirma- 

 tion. In the Credit Foncier de France there is a Board of Directors elected by the 

 general assembly, but three out of twenty of them must be public officers of finance. 

 The Governor and sub-Governor are appointed by government, and are removable 

 only by the government. The Governor has great power and responsibility and 

 is the executive head of the bank. In all the other land banks of continental 

 Europe the state has in every instance assumed powers of supervision direct 

 or indirect. 



Privileges. — With the strict supervision exercised by the Governments 

 ot Europe, the land banks also have certain privileges granted to them. The (Jredit 

 Foncier, for instance, has the privilege of using the government treasuries for the 

 receipt of its dues and the deposit of its surplus funds. It enjoys a reduction 

 of stamp duties in registration and the transfer of its debentures. Its debentures 

 are payable to the holder, and the Courts cannot take cognizance of any claim by 

 a third party unless the bonds have been lost or stolen. Trust moneys and public 

 funds may be invested in the debentures of the Bank. It has a special and 

 summary procedure for the recovery of its dues. The mortgaged property can be 

 speedily attached by order summarily obtained from the local court. Its mortgages 

 have precedence over all others except those of the state. The government at the 

 start gave it a monopoly over the whole of France for 25 years from 1852, that is 

 to say, no other Society was entitled to carry on business under this special law 

 till after 1877. 



The German landschaften have also various privileges, especially in the 

 matter of the prompt recovery of their debts. Attachment of property of de- 

 faulters is prompt, and movables may be distrained in the first instance. This may 

 be done by the bank's own agent or by demand of process from the local court 

 through its bailiff, and the court is bound to issue process accordingly. In East 

 Prussia and Silesia it is expressly provided that the banks may collect its dues 

 on mortgages by any coercive process open to them without any proceedings in 

 court, including distraint of movables, and attachment of debts due to the 

 defaulters by third parties and attachment and management of the mortgaged estate. 



(To be continued.) 



