Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1913-07-01
RURAL BANKS
IN ITALY
AMERICAN AGRICULTURAL CON
MtSSIONERS VISIT CREMONA
AND ITS NEIGHBORHOOD, AND
DISCOVER INTERESTING FACTS
OPERATIONS OF PEOPLES BANK
INTENDED PRIMARILY TO FIN
ANCE FARMERS-LAGEST co UP-
ERATIVE DAIRY IN WORLD.
(Bu Associated PresS.)

Vienna, Austria, July 1.-Some inter
esting phases of Italian rural life have
been investigated by the American cont
mission Oh Agricultural Organization,
COOPERATION and Rural Credits, now
travelling in Europe to examine the vari
Gus systems in use on this side Of the
Atlantic.
At CremOna, Italy, the commissioners
inspected the Peoples Bank, which is
more or less the mainstay of the rural
population. This bank was eXcellently
housed and was said to be in an extreme
ly fiourishing condition. From the APP
%pearance Of everything connected with
the institution this was easy to believe.
The bank is not truly cooperative iii
principle, but is. properly speaking, a
joint stock company depending OH larger
comme e,ar institutions. It departs par
tDularlF from the cooperative idea in
so far as me munger of votes held by
the members is dependent on the shares
they possess. On the other hand it may
be called a peoples bank in so far as
the object kept in mind by the directors
is not primarily to make profits, but to
ensure the betterment of the circum-
stances of the local population. who are
themselves the shareholders. 1t may be
- ----J J-.l 60. thn ,nnCnn that
it will lend money by preference, and at
a favorable rate to those engaged in
agricultural pursuits. The director eX
planned that the bank acted in this way
because agriculture was considered the
main industry on which depended the
welfare not only OF the neighborhood,
but Of the whole nation.
The bank was willing to lend on any
reasonable security, collateral, land or
endorsement, the latter practically
amounting to lending on character. The
rate of interest remains Almost always
below five per cent, and the director
secuted the idea of any serious trouble
arising between the bank and its clients
or shareholders.
The fWOrkllg Vi liz tItlIloHd OohN
seems to be guaranteed to SONS extent
nv the fiourishing Central Banca di 10
ma. and ultimately by the approval and
watchful eye of the government. but it
cannot be said to be subsidized or aided
by the state. The expenses are largely
kept down by the a'truism OF the Off
Gals most of whom give their services
: u.,&,,foycl on al ON almost NOM
inal wage principle regarded with
suspicion by many members OF the
American commission, and stigmatlZed
by some as a suicidal policy.
One of the chief functions of this bank
is to make advances to facl Itate the
work of the Cooperative Society OF 10
cal Farmers. having for its object the
improvement in agriculture and the en-
enlargement Of modern methods on the
part of it's members. Membership may
be had on easy terms and carries Win
it the right to buy from the society, fer
~tilizer, machinery, etc, at practically
cost price. For this purpose the credit
of the bank is called into play.
Another institution visited by the com
missiorprs was the CremOna Fertilizer
Factory. also cooperate, and apparent
" very f%ourshing. The phosphates man
ufactured here are sod exclusively to
The members of the Cooperative Society
at a price allowing for Il reasonable pro
At on the shares held by the members
themselves.
These three organizatiOns-the Bank,
the Farmers Cooperative Society and
the Fertilizer FactOry-are III theory IN
dependent though it was made plain that
in practice their membership and their
directorate o%verlapped largely. and that
they worked together for mutual advan-
tage.,
About ten miles from Cremona, in the
village of SOresina. is situated what it
presumed to be the largest cooperative
dairy i'm the world. handling the prod
nets of 1000 COWS. Here every single by
product was being fully utilized. The
main product of the factory was soft
cheese. but this was supplemented by
the making of skim milk. butter and
milk sugar. Finally the rinsings were
fed to hogs.
AS to the financial results. there is a
general law in Italy which lays down
that in the ease of cooperate societies
no shareholder shall receive a dividend
greater than ) per cent, but the men,
hers of this dairy were receiving 81 per
cent. The explanation is that ten years
aftor the formation of the society all