El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-11-05
IreIand's Farmers Unite
Rural Banking and Cooperative Pro-
ductiOn and Distribution Bring
Them $4,000, 900 n Year.
By Frederic J. Haskfn-
CONTINUED from page l. this sectiOr)

CONTINUED from page l, this sectionO
and distribution. Ireland is being
transformed from a country Of rich
absentee landowners into a country of
small farmers, few of whom grow rich,
but most Of whom may now enjoy
decent living for themselves and their
families. The Irish have imported the
Raiffeisen bank from Germany, almost
to the letter, and il works as well
there as ever il did on its native soil
The Irish idea is to make cooperative
banking only one part of a general
scheme OF cooperation among farmers,
and the men who have been response
bic for the transportation of COOpera-
tive credit from the continent to Ire
land have insisted all along that the
one form OF. cooperation must go hand
IN hand with the other
Cooperative Plan Gets Results.
Sir Horace Plunkett for long time
was in a position in Ireland CORE
spending to our secretary of agricul-
ture. and he asserts that four dollars
out of every five that are spent in edu-
eating the farmer are lost unless he
enjoys the means of putting the les
sons into practice He points 10
10000 Irish farmers who are borrow
ing and lending money and growing
and marketing their crops upon a CO.
operative basis as evidence OF what
the Irishman can do.
The Irish Agricultural Organization
society early placed itself back of the
movement to organize the farmers of
Erin, and it was due to the propaganda
II WaSed IN season and out that or
ganized Irish farmers today produce
S15,0O0,0O0 worth of marketable stuff
a year.
Austria Has German System.
Austria has the same system that is
found in Germany An effort now is
being made to effect one change in
the matter of the liability of members
for the debts of a bank. A bill has
0een pending 10 substitute the pres
ent form of unlimited liability, which
permits the creditor, in the event of
the liquidation of a bank. to demand
the whole of his debt from a single
member, for form of liability for
supplementary payments. Under the
substitute the creditor would hold the
society and not the individual mem
Der responsible, and the society would
have to meet the debt by prOrata as
sessment rather than by permitting
the creditor to recover from an indi-
vidual member
Belgium, Switzerland. Denmark. and
nearly all of the other countries of
Europe outside of Russia, have some
form of cooperative credit. In most OF
the countries it is a modification of
the Raiffeisen system of Grmany And
the one big, outstanding fact that is
farmer is that wherever the system
has been tried out, with whatever
notifications that are essential to
meet local conditions, it has set the
farmer on his feet
Transforms TnsOIvent Farmers.
Instead of making him improvident
and instead of encouraging him TO be
Indifferent to saving. it has had the
opposite effect Where. once he was
ashamed to confess his Indebtedness I
because ii was a badge Of poverty. now
he is glad to acknowledge it. because
the community knows that only the
forward looking man who has 0mbi-
lions and aspirations for the future
can incur such indebtedness. It leads
to thrift hecau-e loans are advanced
only for causes which promise to WELD /
returns. It takes q community OF DrGc-
ticall. insOlvCnr men and transforms !
them into hiCh1v solvent as~ocia ton
which can help its members in Divers
wavS.
What rural credit HIS Sopc in En- {
rope has so imnrCrVcd the P~iti~'l GOV
CrnDlent that II hrs traosoia 0Tcd TIE
system to '~iG. ESTE blishinC il in I16i9.
THcrc- in 1903. vas nrorou' -cd On a~r
fc~ the aDDoi1tue1t ~ rc~i-tra~s ~f /
cooperative credit Scciot- o. TFN~o c.
tics inclEGc { general supervision OF