The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-07-22
YANKEE FARMERS
 SEE UNIQUE BANK IN GERMAN VILLAGE


 The cashier of the Raifeisen bank of this village, who is also the postnaas- ter and considerably political figure in his community, welcomed to his house today five members of the American Commission on Agricultural Cooperation.
 Records of the Dossenheim bank showed it to be a society of 295 mem
 bers, about half of whom were labor CTS in a nearby quarry, but who main l tained small parcels of land they worked with the aid of their families,
 and about half of whom were small farmers owning or renting an i average E acres each. The cu1tiva
 ton of these farms was extremely in
 tensive truck farming it would have been called in the United States. One Of these members entered and counted out ten marks from a bag which he deposited in the bank. Evi dently the visit to the bank was to the depositors' mind something of a social event. He started conversation with the cashier and was apparently bit nettled when the cashier explain ed that the presence of visitors made it impossible for him to indulge his friend in the usual amount of village gossip. These conversations at the bank are an important factor in the conduct of the bank. They typify the intimate relations that exist between the managers of the institutions and the members and 1t is this intimacy which makes the banks conservative, for everyone knows everyone else's business.
 It is upon such deposits as the one made during the visit of the Ameri- cans that the Dossenheim institution depends chiefly for it's funds where with to make loans to it's members. It may also borrow from the Central ENzaT7 foz1 fesa f. hliated. At the present. time the de- mands for loans are heavy and it has a debit at the Central institution. The institution commands about $28, 900 to finance it's 295 members.
 For their deposits the members of the bank receive 496 interest. De- posits are also accepted for non-meJn- bers, but only 3 g 20 is paid then1-an unusual proceeding which it would seem difficult to accept as good busi- ness policy. Only about $20O i'i cash is kept at the bank It Is the object the money which it receives to it's mcmb bers. If, however. the demands for loans are insufficient to keep all of the funds at home, the surplus is deposited with the Central bank which pays the local bank 35z 9c interest. insufficient to meet demands for loans. 1t borrows from the central bank and pays 4eo interest on such leans. The loans are made to farm CTS either on their own note and with out other security than the liability which they have assumed upon enter ing the bank or, if their standing Is not particularly good, upon their note endorsed by one or two suretfes- Some
 money is loaned on mortgages, al- though the central institutions dis courage this practice
 iY7SfifIIfiOT7 {-nndnCTAd- aDV
 board of managers, the president of which dropped in at the bank during the visit of the Commissioners. He was a village merchant and a very I good type of man. The other mem bers of the board are farmers. The board of managers meets at fixed times and passes upon applications for loans Their work, as well as the ac- counts of the cashier and the book
 keeper, is subject to the scrutiny of
 the board of supervision, a committee of nine men. All of these officials are elected by the general assembly of all of the members of the bank. Be- sides these checks the accounts of the bank are examined at least once In two years and generally more often 1 by an expert auditor and his report is presented to every member of the bank The members are also kept constantly advised of the standing of 1 their bank with the central bank through a newspaper published by the cooperative union.
 This is about all there is to the com duct of the bank. In the case of the Dossenheina institution it can hardly l be called a banking business at all, but merely a borrowing and lending
 business. The expenses of manage
 ment are very slight. The cashier ] and the book-keeper are the only two salaried officials. The cashier receives about $20O a year as salary.
 The American Commission has not vet come to believe that the Raiffeisen bank system can be transplanted in 1 America There are many practical | points such as those brought out by l the visit to this village which makes 1 it seem doubtful-the isolation of 1 Am erican farmers; the existence of homestead exemption laws in certain
 states which would frustrate the prin- cipIe of unlimited liability; the diff l culty of keeping expenses down, of 1 securing men like the cashier who would serve for S2o0 a. year; the more complicated financial requirements of l American farmers which would make
 the simple form of a borrowing and
 lending business insufficient for their 1 needs; the native dislike of the more 1 individualstc Amercan to having ev-
 eryone know his business.
 At the same time the point has been driven home to the Americans 1 that in economic union the European
 farmers have found strength. That is
 the lesson of each little farming com l munity of this country.
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