12 AGEICULTURAL CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES IN FRANCE. [Sept. 1894. 



The bank at Genlis has a capital of 4,000^., of which L,OOOZ. 

 has been paid up and deposited, in the form of railway shares, 

 in the Bank of France. This deposit induced the latter insti- 

 tution to make two advances amounting to 1,6001. on the 

 securities, and a further sum of 4,000^. on discount, thus 

 enabling the Genlis bank to grant loans to the amount of 8,000L 

 in 1890. Any member of the syndicate may borrow on two 

 conditions, viz. : — 1, that the money is used for the purposes of 

 agriculture ; 2, that good and solvable security is forthcoming. 

 The loans bear interest at 3 J per cent. Those for less than 201. 

 can be renewed twice ; those between 20^. and 40^., once ; while 

 loans exceeding 40Z. are only renewable when, by partial repay- 

 ment, they fall under one of the two former categories. 



In 120 of the syndicates, arrangements have been made for 

 the settlement of disputes between members by a committee of 

 arbitration. The decision of the committee is final, and if a 

 member refuses to accept it he is generally expelled from the 

 syndicate. The larger bodies with different classes of members 

 sometimes provide that the committee should be constituted 

 with regard to the status of the interested parties ; thus, in the 

 case of a dispute between a labourer and a proprietor, the 

 committee would consist of a labourer, a proprietor, and the 

 president of the syndicate. 



The provision of old age pensions has been undertaken by 

 two or three of the smaller organisations, but particulars of the 

 systems adopted are not yet forthcoming. 



Two syndicates have made arrangements for the insurance in 

 crops against damage from hail. The insurance of live stock is 

 undertaken by seventeen of these associations. The })remiums 

 are usually at the rate of 7d. in the £ for horses, and 5d. in the 

 £ for cattle. In some cases the payment of a small sum not 

 exceeding Is. 6d. insures the member of a syndicate agninst the 

 loss of an animal from castration, amputation of the tail, and 

 other minor operations. 



It would be tedious to enumerate in detail the efforts which 

 have been made by the syndicates in other directions. These 

 comprise the opening of village libraries ; the establishment of 

 an orphanage and almshouses ; the creation of mutual aid and 

 sick benefit societies ; and in one or two instances the adoption 

 of a scheme of insurance against accidents. 



Nearly all the syndicates publish a journal, weekly, monthly, 

 or quarterly, which serves to keep the members posted up on 

 matters connected with their respective associations, and is used 

 as an advertising medium for trading purposes between the 

 members of syndicates situated in different districts. 



