1912.] 



Friskney Credit Society. 



1027 



founders had also the benefit of the advice of Mr. Sutton- 

 Nelthorpe, the Chairman of the pioneer credit society at 

 Scawby in the same county. The rules adopted were of 

 the same character as those that govern all the other 

 43 credit societies now at work in England and 

 Wales. They provide that only residents of Friskney of 

 good character can be members, that the liabilities of the 

 members for debts due by the Society shall be unlimited, 

 (except in the case of guarantor members), that loans shall be 

 made only to members, and only for purposes which the 

 Committee think are likely to prove profitable to the 

 borrower, and that all profits from the working of the Society 

 shall be carried to a reserve fund which cannot be divided 

 among the members. 



The Society began with 20 members, and the number 

 gradually increased, till in 191 1 there were 33. They include 

 13 farmers, 6 labourers, 3 farm servants, 2 cottagers, a wheel- 

 wright, a blacksmith, a road foreman, a grocer, an overseer, 

 an engine-driver, a builder, the schoolmaster and the Vicar. 

 Twelve of the members are owners of land. Mr. Woodhead 

 has been chairman from the beginning, the Secretary is a 

 road-surveyor, and the schoolmaster is Treasurer. The 

 Committee of seven, who are elected by the members every 

 year, now include two farmers, the Vicar, a grocer, a black- 

 smith and a labourer. The Secretary receives a salary of £1 

 per annum, but the rest of the work is done free of cost to 

 the Society, and the total cost of management, including 

 salary, stationery, affiliation fee to the Agricultural 

 Organisation Society, etc., was only £1 10s. id. last year. 



The Society has from the beginning charged only 5 per 

 cent, on loans to its members — that is, one penny per pound 

 per month. It began by making three loans amounting to 

 ^50 in its first year, and last year advanced six loans 

 amounting to £%g. In the last 8 years it has made 33 loans 

 of the total amount of ^515, averaging £16 per loan. The 

 loans were all made to members for profitable purposes, and 

 have been repaid punctually, though in some cases the 

 Committee have seen fit to extend the time fixed for repayment 

 for good cause shown. At the end of 191 1 there were 14 

 loans outstanding of the aggregate amount of £196, none 



