The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-10-08
PEOPLES BANKS.

There is a saying in, Germany, that
Whoever sets up. Raiffeisen Cor Peo-
pies Banks) pulls down the poor
houses
One of the most remarkable evoiu-
tionsFin industrial labor, within the last
half century, through Germany, Aus
tria, italy, Switzerland. and France, is
the. creation of Cooperative or Peo-
ples' Banks, They, now number over
seven thousand and have been. estab-
lished m Che fffst instance by philan-
thropie men Who studied the needs of
the poorer classes, and led them into a
system of self help BY which they drive
off the usurers, and do their OWE bank
ing. The stockholders, managers, and
financiers of these banks are the farm
ers, PEASANTS and small traders. In
the yBar 1896, the transactions of these
institutions reached the enormous sum
Of s75e. 600. OOe, $5aha they are now strong
forces in the financial world. Many of
them do not loan on the average, over
$40 tosa person, and thousands of loans
not amounting to fifty cents each are
made.3
The principle on, which these banks
Z
OF the poor. The small farmer and the
small trader is unable to borrow small
sums from the regular banks; and is
driven8to the Insurers. In the Peoples
Bankshthese individuals areaunited in
cooperative associations, their credit is
united, their savings are collected, and
the members guarantee each others
loans, and by this union of forces the
banks are able to borrow large sums
from the capitalists and regular banks,
which are, in turn, lent to the members
at low rates of interest. The losses of
these banks, In spite of the small finan-
cial resources of the members, are in
significant. The loans are generally
made on the credit of character, and
not on assets. The workingman be-
comes his own capitalist, and In the
communities where the banks are we'll
established, the moral, tone of the peo-
pie Is raised and the nnconscionable
money-Iender leaves. Even the saloons
are often closed because no drunkard
is allowed to join these Associations;
they act incidentally as the most effect
i've temperance reformers.2 They also
educate; as no one can join unless he
Se|At ACeAN dilu WiIlC anu nelp III the eA-
animation Of accounts. In Italy, the
priests of the Roman Church say,
these banks do MORE to make goou
men than all preaching
The general method of starting a
bank is this; several hundred of the
small traders or farmers in a COM
munity subscribe to the stock for which
they pay on time. The shares are often
81 each. The stockholders select their
own committee of management. Every
loan is passed upon by the stockholders
in a general meeting. The applicants
for loans must state the reasons for
asking for them. The business is not
left to officers who may make errors.
rs man Industrious and honest ?''
guarantees the loan. The members are
helping each other by united action.
If poor woman is Industrious she NAV
obtain So with which to buy a pig and
for this loan she win pay six per cent
interest instead OF fifty per cent to a
usurer.
These banks, having organized the
credit" of the poor, and having proved
their own reliability, obtain large loans
on long periods from the capitalists of
the great financial centers, and this is
loaned to the humble peasant. The
bonds Of these banks are regarded in
Italy as more secure than those of the
Government
The first organizer Of these PonuIsr