191 1.] Agricultural Co-operative Credit Societies. 739 



^115, so that the profits actually earned to date were ^155, 

 an average of £$ per society. 



It takes some years for a credit society to get into working 

 order, and the progress made can be better judged by taking 

 separately the totals for the six oldest societies, which have 

 been at work for over fourteen years. Between them they 

 had last year 145 members (an average of 24 per society), and 

 during the year they gave out 34 loans, so that about one 

 in four of the members got a loan. The loans aggregated 

 ^511, and averaged £15 per loan. The rate of interest 

 charged on loans to members was, in four societies, 5 per 

 cent., in one 6 per cent., and in one only 4 per cent. They 

 had secured deposits amounting to ^"481, paying interest on 

 them at 3 per cent, in four societies, and at 4 per cent, in one. 

 Two of them had obtained advances from banks at 4 per 

 cent., and one at 3 per cent. During the year they earned 

 ^36 in interest, and received other income amounting to £1, 

 while their interest charge was only £20, and their expenses 

 of management £6, an average of £1 per society; so that 

 the net profit of the year was £11, or nearly £2 per society. 

 Their assets amounted altogether to £74.3, including gifts of 

 £6$, and £$$6 out on loans to members; and their liabilities 

 were ^538, including the ^481 held on deposit. Their 

 surplus of assets over liabilities amounted to ,£205 (includ- 

 ing the £65 received as gifts), so that they have now, after 

 fourteen years of careful management, built up a reserve 

 fund equal to more than one-third of what their members 

 require in loans during the year. This is their own property, 

 on which they have no interest to pay. The loans have been 

 repaid punctually, and the societies have made no bad debts 

 and incurred no losses, and only in three or four cases have 

 they had to call on the sureties to help in repaying loans due 

 from members. In hardly any case has the surety ultimately 

 failed to recover the money from the actual borrower. 



The loans were all taken out for purposes likely, in the 

 opinion of the committee, to prove profitable,, such as the 

 purchase of sheep, pigs, cattle, horses, carts, implements, 

 seed, manure, or cattle feed, or the employment of extra 

 labour on the borrower's holding. The loans are generally 

 made repayable about the time when the borrower may expect 



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