The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-12-10

We are familiar and which coiOrs al
Our thought.
A joint stock company IAN incorpo-
rated or corporation. as call
it, is an organization of capital to
hire men. A Raiffeisen credit society
Is an organization OF men to hire
money.
A corporation is a company to make
as much money as possible. A Raif-
feisen credit society is an organlZa-
ton to make a. little money as money
can be borrowed for on the safest
possible terms.
A corporation is q company IN
which shareholders are usually liable
only for h amount OF their stock.
III a Raiffeisen society a membe is
liable for all the debts to the society
of all the members.
A corporation is a machine to make
money. A Raiffeisen credit society
is a machine to make men-by train
ing them to use money-to bring men
| who are below the credit line above
ito give the small farmer a chance
to command capital and at least as
| good terms as the city merchant and
manufacturer.
OF course there are many other
| forms Of organization whereby farm
erS borrow money. There are So
cieties whose members mortgage
their land and the society issues de-
bentures against these mortgages,
which thus make mortgage values
liquid-Set them in general circula-
ton. But there is no other form
Of organization to procure credit
which so helps to build up the Dor
rover and to make him a good bust
ness nan as the RaiffeiSen method.
And what our coilntry1nan wants is
not only money. He wants help. He
doesn't know how to manage money.
But If his neighbOrs put themselves
In the same boat with him and they
all work together, the experience Of
more than half a century has shown
that they all learn how to manage
knoney-beCOme economic men and
get themselves above the credit line.
These societies grew in Germany from
100 in 1890 to 1900 in 1910. The
average number Of members Of each
society is go. In 1909 they lent to
their members more than two hun
dred millions Of dollars and they had
outstanding loans Of more than four
hundred million dollars.
The losses are less than in the
usual forms Of bank loans-a good
deal less In a word, o country
men when thus banded together fol
mutual help become the safest Dor
rowers in the world-better than gov
ernments, or railroads. or cities, Of
states
The credit societies spread from one
country to another till they have
covered the greater part Of Europe
except England and Russia The
Italian farmer has been made over
as the German and Belgian farmer
has been saved by them. The trans
actions of these societies In Italy hav,
become OF the great banking en-.
l terprises OF the kingdom. They have
hQpn OrPa niYQN avon IN India Tn Iro
land they play an important part II
\ tho regeneration Of the people ant
; In the building up Of the land.
! Sir Horace Plunkett, the grea
r leader OF Irish regeneration, explain
ed them to mo by describing neigh
borhoods that had been transformed
by such q society. The men wer'
e quarrelsome-more quarrelsome wer'
their wives. No family had mucl
to do with any neighboring family
, except to criticise il. And they wer
> > all hopelessly poor.
;. After they were organized into
, credit society, Pat borrowed $50 t
buy an additional COW and Mike IS
= to u additional ian and SO on. Pa
l and Mike had ~despised one anothe
e and had expressed the polite opinio.
, hat neither vas worth hell-roor
u which Sir Horace. himself ar Irish
= man, remarked WIS true.
Q Very we'll: in e little whila MIX
concluded he'd go to see Pat and sc
e how he was getting on with HE ne,
e ccw. For they were equally bonn
to pay for her. Bridget was dom
e very we'll with the COW. Bridget was
a MT such an Internally qusrre,aom
woman after all Pat soon return
? the call to see what Mike was dc
q ing with his new land. Mike wa
le working it pretty we'll There mief
l. be something good In that fellu
l. after all. And 81 all around thu
~uuarrelsoIne neighbo-tood. fanilte
he came to know n another by helpin
TO one another n BY bcing bound in
common bond. The whole commu
IS ity changed. They Organized t,;~r