The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1914-02-25

treat them to liquid refreshments. II
we have a mar who wants money and
he lives near by we simply ask him to
bring in two good men as s~ureties, and
if they are all right and the man Is
honest and a good worker and his
neighbors speak we'll Of him there is
no difficulty and very little formality
In getting the loan. In addition to our
deposits we have arranged for an over
draft from the Bank of Ireland at Dun
dalk. They cooperate with us in q
friendly manner and help us much.
There has been a wonderful i'm
provement in this community since
the land tenure laws went into effect
and the tenants are getting to be own
ers. 1t is aiwonderful thing. People
who were ~slovenly and whose premi-
ses were absolutely unfit to live In
have now purchased their premises
and are improving them and are living
under much better conditions. They
used to be afraid their rent would be
raised If they fixed things up. The old
age pension has helped many Of the
old people, for there are many. PEN
sioners in this vicinity"
How Little 1t Costs.
The books of the company show that
the only expenses incurred are the
compensation Of the school teacher as
secretary and manager, $50 per year;
registration fees Of So per year; and
in addition postage and stationery to
the amount Of two or three dollars.
The total Of these items is only about
$40, this being the only expense in
Cured for an entire year.
The demand for small rural credit
associations in Ireland is very great.
The joint stock banks are not so well
scattered throughout the rural section
in Ireland as they are in some parts OF
the United States. Often the expense
of travelling to the bank and the pay
ing Of the expenses Of the sureties, as
Quinn explained, Is considerable. 1t Is
said that these expenses In addition
to interest, make a small farm loan
cost 20 to 40 per cent. If a young
farmer Is buying young stock, pigs,
for example, 1t is far beyond the period
of three months before they will be
ready for sale. If he buys fertilizers
he can expect no results for six to ten
months. Returns upon good seeds are
equally slow In coming in and on the
money placed in the new implements
and equipment he gets returns still
more slowly. For these men a three
months loan Is of little use. The in
elastic city system Of loans, does not
really help the borrower, but In a
sense cripples him. It Is only fair to
state, however, that the large banks,
although their methods are unsuited to
the farmer, are on the whole honest
and just in their charges and prac-
tees. The difficulty Is that their meth
DDS of business make ii absolutely
impossible for the farmer to deal with
them proitably.
How Character Counts ~
But here in Inniskeen and wherever
in Ireland a cooperative credit society
has been formed, any farmer, be he
tenant or landlord, with a good repu-
tation for honesty and industry, can
by furnishing two sureties from among
his neighbors get any reasonable
amount as a loan for one year. To do
this involves almost no delay or trou-
BILE or expense. The bank Is lee by.
Cooperative farmers are neighborly
citizens, ready to help n another
out, so that sureties are easily secured.
The interest is at a low rate. The
borrower can rest assured that he
will not be unduly crowded as to re-
payment II misfortune should overtake
him, for those with whom he deals un-
derstand fully his circumstances. In
fact the committee which decides his
fate is composed OF farmers like him
self who know what hard luck is, who
have likely themselves been borrow
ers, who are friendly to him and will
give him a chance. This Is the form
Of credit loans most common in Ire
land. ... .
Such a cooperative credit bank
could be organized to advantage in
many American communities particu-
larly In those states where there are
no banks in the smaller cities and vii
lagos. They will inevitably be organ
lied in such communities unless bank
ers cease trying to force down the
threats Of the farmers the inelastic,
unsuitable city methods Of doing bust
ness. The question is, are the bankers
going to crowd the farmers into these
cooperative credit enterprises? The
banks must grant longer time and
more liberal and elastic terms on per.
sonal loans. They must arrange for
mortgages which run over longer
periods Of time and which are to be
repaid in moderate installments as the
slow farm profits come in. Coopera-
tive credit may not be necessary. 1t
Is up to the banker.
Copyright 1914. Western Newspaper union.)
Activities Of Women.
The Hebrew Technical school Of