1909.] 



Credit Banks in Austria. 



867 



Co-operation is a very important factor in agricultural and 

 industrial life in Austria, and the movement enjoys the con- 

 tinual support, both of the Provincial 

 Credit Banks in Governments and of the local authori- 

 Austria.* ties. Among the various forms of co- 



operation probably none is more widely 

 spread or more generally utilised than the Credit Banks. 

 These are established on the principles which have proved so 

 successful in Germany, viz., the Schulze-Delitzsch and the 

 Raiffeisen systems. The former system is adopted chiefly by 

 the industrial classes, being intended mainly for the benefit of 

 mechanics, artisans, and small tradesmen, while the latter 

 system confines its operations exclusively to the rural popu- 

 lation. The Schulze-Delitzsch banks were originally based 

 on the principle of the unlimited liability of the members, but 

 limited liability has also been introduced, and has in recent 

 years largely supplanted in Austria unlimited liability in 

 societies of this type. Loans are granted to members and to 

 .some extent to non-members also, without inquiry as to the 

 purposes for which they are required, on security, which may 

 take the form of mortgages, guarantee by another member, 

 bills of exchange, &c. They are only granted for short terms. 

 Deposits are received from members and from other persons, 

 and these, together with the subscribed capital and the reserve 

 funds, form the source from which loans are made. 



The Raiffeisen banks, on the other hand, rest entirely on 

 the principle of unlimited liability. The money for working 

 the Society is obtained to a small extent from entrance fees 

 and subscriptions, but chiefly from deposits and from money 

 borrowed from persons outside the Society on the collective 

 security of the members. Loans are only advanced for repro- 

 ductive purposes, and must be guaranteed by two other 



* Articles on Agricultural Credit abroad have appeared in previous numbers 

 of this Journal as follows: — "Agricultural Credit Banks," May, 1905, p. 96; 

 "Agricultural Credit in France," June, 1905, p. 149; "Agricultural Credit in 

 Hungary," July, 1905, p. 210; " Agricultural Credit in Belgium," August, 1905, 

 p. 279; "Agricultural Loans in Queensland," September, 1905, p. 375; 

 "Agricultural Credit in Germany," March, 1906, p. 725; " Agricultural Credit 

 in Denmark," May, 1906, p. 118; and "Agricultural Credit Banks in Cape 

 Colony, Natal, Transvaal and Western Australia," February, 1908, p. 689; 

 " Agricultural Credit Societies " (containing suggestions for their formation in 

 England), September, 1908, p. 407. 



