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...... ^ . i 4 THE ATLANTA SEMI-WEEKLY JOURNAL, ATLANTA, GA., FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1913. THE SEMI-WEEKLY JOURNAL ATLANTA, GA., 5 NORTH FORSYTH ST. Entered at the Atlanta Postoffice as Mail Matter of the Second Class. JAMES R. GRAY, President and Editor. SUBSCRIPTION PRIOR Twelve months 75c Six months 400 Three months “5° The Semi-Weekly Journal is published on Tuesday and Friday, and is mailed by the shortest routes for early delivery. It contains news from all over the world, brought Zy special leased wires into our office. It has a staff of distinguished contributors, with.strong departments of special value to the home and the farm. Agents wanted at every postotfice. Liberal com mission allowed. Outfit free. Write R. R. BRAD LEY, Circulation Manager. The only traveling representatives we have are J. A. Bryan, B. F. Bolton, C. C. Coyle, L. H. Kim brough, W. W. Blackburn and J. W. Brooks. We will be responsible only for money paid to the above named traveling* representatives. \ “Georgia Products Day.” NOTICE TO hUBSCRtBERS, The label used for addressing your paper shows the time your subscription expires. By renewing at least two weeks before the date on this label, you insure regular service. In ordering paper changed, be sure to mention , you old. as well as your new address. If on a route please give the route number. We cannot enter subscriptions t^f begin with back numbers. Remittances should be sent by postal order or registered mail. Address all order*? and notices fo this de partment to THE SEMI-WEEKLY JOURNAL Atlanta, Ga. Markets and Cost of Living. Mayor Harrison of Chicago has organized a muni cipal markets commission to investigate and make recommendations upo the city market plan as it is related to the cost c. living. Housekeeping' expenses in Chicago have soared, as they have everywhere else; and the suggestion of central markets has been re ceived there as offering a remedy for the problem. The commission will try to determine to what ex tent consumers would profit by the establishment of municipal markets. It is authorized to investigate all food handling agencies. This step by Chicago adds point to the similar investigation already authorized in Alanta’s behalf. A commission recently named here by the city will give thorough investigation to the plan calling for one or more central markets in Atlanta. It will in spect markets elsewere and report later. Its favor able recommendation upon the plan as a whole seems to be anticipated. There can remain small doubt in the mind of anyone who has given even superficial study to the matter, that a city market in Atlanta will go far toward relieving household expenses. Aside from all such matters as better supervision by the health authorities over the city’s food supply, the concen tration of it in one big market or even more than one in the downtown section will reduce its cost and increase its freshness. In the matter of cost, there will be cut out the profits now made by the middle man, who is quite essential under the present ar rangement. • Also, the item of rent and other ex penses which now come out of the pocket of the consumer will be reduced materially. That the food supply will be fresher when it can be delivered di rectly at the market to the retailers, is plainly evi dent. Atlanta’s tendency tow-ard municipal and com munity co-operation in bringing down the cost of living shows the trend of the times. Chicago is but one other example. The problem is not an individual one. It concerns all in common. It cannot be solved otherwise than by concerted and intelligent action. Great Britain’s Our Friend. It is most gratifying to hear such open assurance of Great Britain’s continued friendship toward the United States as was spoken the other evening at the lord mayor's banquet in London by Prime Min ister Asquith. That clarifies the atmosphere of the last wisp of apprehension that Britain was not in sympathy with our policy regarding Mexico and that a misunderstanding between the two countries might have resulted from the recent ill-advised criticism by .Sir Lionel Carden in Mexico City. It seemed then to be merely a matter of Sir Lionel calking too much. Now we know that to have been true. Since we are afflicted with Henry Lane Wilson, who displays a similar tendency to indiscreet loqua- ojousness, the United States can afford to dismiss the incident as unofficial and not expressive even in a slight measure of <4reat Britain’s attitude toward us. “Our diplomatic relations with the United States have been for a long time such that with the freest frankness of discussion on all matters we both feel the fullest assurance that nothing can happen to dis turb our common resolve to attain and maintain a sympathetic understanding,’’ said the prime minister If the plans for “Georgia Products Day,’’, Novem ber 18, gave promise of nothing mere than a mam moth feast of good things producel within this state, they would cause the praises of the Georgia chamber of commerce to be sung from border to border. But they do promise more than that. They will aston ish Georgians themselves by the revelation of variety and plenty which tneir state can supply. Even the committeemen in charge of those plans, though tlmy were w®ll informed and had pitched their expecta tions high, are astounded by the menus trial are be ing reported in advance by scores of towns and cities. In some instances the 'statewide dinner at which thousands will sit down at G o’clock on the evening of that day, will represent the productivity of single counties alone. That will be true of the Macon din ner, and of the feast at Amnricus, and of others in other cities and town. The response wnich this idea, originated by the Georgia chamber of commerce, has elicited through out the state slipuld be very gratifying to those patri otic men who are giving much of their time ju4t now to its success. Governor John ,»i. Slaton’s proc lamation of “Georgia Products Day” has been fol lowed by mayors’ proclamations in scores of munic- ipalties, and the estimate is that perhaps as many as two hundred festive gatherings that evening will consume Georgia delicacies. In hundreds of private homes, too, all-Georgia dinners will be served. Atlanta’s feast, the details of which are being worked out by the local chamber of commerce, will be spread in the main hall of the auditorium and will satisfy some 1,500 diners. Numerous donations have been made for it, not only of good things to eat, but also of Georgia-manufactured articles of wear; and these latter will be distributed among the ticket holders as appropriate souvenirs of a unique and sig nificant occasion. The spirit of the movement is most commendable. Georgia is a rich state, a busy state, a state independ ent in her resources. The more her citizens realize upon the opportunities that are here, the richer she and they will grow. A Fearful Toll. at the lord mayor’s banquet. He declared that there was not the slightest foundation for the rumor that Great Britain was proceeding at cross purposes with the United States in the Mexican matter. After such generous disclaimer as this, the inci dent cannot leave an impression upon the public mind. Its greatest harm already h‘as been done, and that was slight enough, In lending to Dictator Huer ta’s obstinacy a cocksureness that now will dis appear. Following the echoes of Mr. Asquith’s declaration, the Westminster Gazette, the government newspaper in London, drives his point home and adds this significant remark: “Diplomacy has other resources than mere force, and Provisional President Huerta may easily find that the attitude of this country is in a variety of ways a matter of great moment to him.” The chief of the Rome fire department, H. C. Harrington, is authority for the incomplete statistical statement that olie hundred and fifty children were burned to death by open fireplaces in Georgia in the year ending November 1. Chief Harrington’s in formation is limited to clippings from the Atlanta and Rome newspapers, and as they do not include by any means all of the deaths which he seeks to note, it is a safe assumption that at least three hun dred children, and very probably more than that, were burned to death in the state during that period. • Nine of the number were burned to death in Atlanta, the fire chief finds. Since November 1 there have been several new reports. The latest is not a day old. An Atlanta child was saved from immediate death by her crippled brother and may survive. Stories of these disasters are of ^appalling fre quence in the daily news. Were Chief Harrington able to collect all of them from every paper of the state, his figures would show a truly staggering total beyond any doubt. His benevolent Intent in gathering them seems to be to impress upon the public the danger which they uncover, in order that at least a few of the children who otherwise would: be sacri ficed by carelessness to the flames may be saved. A campaign of education is demanded by the conditions here revealed. The state fire marshal, W. R. Joyner, has been urged to issue a bulletin warning parents against the peril of open fires that are unscreened. The proposition is a most commend able one. Not only should the marshal direct' as much of his attention as is possible and proper to this subject, hut every newspaper in the state should remark upon it with a warning. Any waste is to be condemned, hut a waste of human life—such wanton waste of human life as this—is unpardonable. Now is the time of the year when the danger grows big again, for fires are blazing in every home in the state and children who have learned to walk since last winter are toddling upon the hearth. In some way, every open fire should be screened; and particularly is the j recaution imperative in a home where there are children. To neglect it means to in vite sudden and awful suffering and sadness. The Moment of Suspense. Georgia Congratulates Cordele. Cordele. twenty-five years old Tuesday, is receiving the congratulations of the occasion and all of Georgia joins in them. The thriving south Georgia city’s , anniversary is being celebrated properly by parade and bands and speeches; and among the paraders appear a number of her first settlers, including some TOMi ju«t now in the prime of life. Cordele may be classed with the youngest genera tion of Georgia—the generate .which has grown up with the marvelous development of south Georgia. They exemplify in their energy and growth the new spirit that is making of this state a most pros perous commonwealth. The average man needs all the patience he has fjmd then some. Fate, the magician, has covered the Mexican situation again with his handkerchief and is reciting the abracadabra once more, hoping perhaps that when he whisks away the covering the trick will have worked and the change will have been wrought. Several recent failures have revealed the same old Huerta with a snarl on his face, still sitting on the lid. With news that Mr. Lind had taken his departure from Mexico City and that Dictator Huerta had not yet been found by his anxious friends after a night long search about the city for him, the situation bore the aspect Thursday 'morning of being near to a culmination. If Huerta had fled the Mexican capital, that would spell the end. If he had not, the end was in sight anyway. President Wilson’s emissary had been in conference at Nogales Wednesday after noon with General Carranza, the constitutionalist leader; and the promise from Washington was that very shortly the government’s policy and program regarding Mexico will be made public, thus forecast ing definite action. There is but the slightest possibility that we will go to war in Mexico. That possibility has diminished every hour since President Wilson revealed his con servative mind and his untiring patience in the mat ter. The solution now seems to be but a question of hours. The United States will welcome it, for there are other matters of importance awaiting the atten tion of the administratioh. The Child Welfafe Exhibit. The health and child welfare exhibit of the Rus sell Sage Foundation and the child’s welfare com mittee of America, which has been on display at the Conservation exposition in Knoxville, will be brought to Atlanta and shown in the Leyden house from No vember 24 to December 10. A committee representing the leading organ.zations in the city already has financed the expense of bringing it here, the Atlanta Federation of Women’s clubs having been one of the most important -factors in that work. This exhibit should receive the interest and co operation of every Atlanta cit.zen. Particularly should it appeal to the women and children. All should prepare to study it and derive the greatest possible benefit from its vast collection of informa tion. THE BLESSING BY DR. FRANK CRANE. (Copyright. 1918, by Frank Crane.) In the days of our youth the family never sat down to the table without the blessing. All heads would be bowed, and all the clatter of child-voices would hush, while father would say: “For what we are about to receive, O Lord make us truly grateful. Amen.” Alas! the blessing is gone. Nobody gets up to breakfast, or the affair is a “movable feast,” where one at a time the people appear, snatch a bite and a sup and hurry away. There are even many who have their coffee and rolls while lying abed; of which custom let us say nothing. City people eat their midday meals downtown in restaurant or club, where, ctf course, there is no room for blessing—quite the contrary. The family usually gathers at dinner, but in how many households do they fall to, like unsouled ani mals, without one word of grace to redeem the crass ness of feeding? I hold it is not a matter of belonging to a church, believing a creed, or professing to be pious, but that it is an act of decency, and of human dignity, and of that spiritual self-respect all souls ought to have to say grace. Adopt the custom in your household. Let there be at least one minute in the day when, as a family, of ficially and ritually, you seriously recognize that you are children of the infinite, pensioners upon the boun ty of “a power not of yourselves.* Don't let your peculiar theology, or lack of it, hinder you from a sweet and wholesome ceremony that may light up a sordid day with a little beam of the Sun of souls. One family I know used to sing the blessing; and who, whether Jew, Buddhist, Christian or agnostic, could be anything but bettered by joining for a mo ment, before eating, in this hymn? “Be present at our table, Lord; Be here as everywhere adored; Feed us with bread, and grant that we May feast in paradise with Thee!” If that sounds too churchly, say the quaint “Sel kirk Grace,” once used by Bobby Burns: “Some hae meat and canna eat, And some wad eat that want it. But we hae meat, and we can eat. And sae the Lord be thanket!" Think! Here we all are, fellow travelers, upon “the good ship Faith,” whirling through starry ways. We know not whence we came nor whither we go. We know not our appointed- time. There is some pow er, some mind, in the sum of things, that has all these secrets. Eating should be the sacrament indicative of our reasonable reverence for that Supreme Guiding Spirit. £Say this grace of Robert Louis Stevenson, liberal enough for all, to whatever power you believe in: “Help us to repay in service one to another the debt of Thine unmerited benefits and mercies.” CONGRESS AND ITS DUTY By Savoyard I am sorry to say that the American congress is much given to an improvidence—it never does a thing this session if it can possibly put off the job till next session. The reason is not far fo seek. Your average congressman is always a candidate for re-election and his paramount principle may be stated thus: “The greatest political calamity that could possibly befall this country is my defeat.” Of course, there are nu merous and honorable exceptions, and I could name a solon in either house of the American congress the last thirty years who would—and did—set their polit ical fortunes upon a cast and stood the hazard of the die. But as a general proposition congress is afraid and that is how it came that for many years party polit ical platforms have meant little—after election. But for the tmidity of congress we would have had tariff reform long ago. But for the timidity of a Democratic congress in 1880 Hancock would have defeated Gar field for president that year. I recollect when Mr. Cleveland was chosen presi dent the second time in 1892. I was working then for what was perhaps the leading Democratic newspaper in the south, and in my poor, little, flimsy way I in sisted on convening congress to go to work on the tariff. The editor would have none of it and declared it would be suicidal and idiotic to have an extra ses sion. In August, following his inauguration in March, the president was forced to convene congress to look after the purchase of silver. By that time the tariff would have been fixed all right without “party perfidy and party dishonor,” had the extra session been called. And don’t you think that great editor has a hun dred times since denounced Grover Cleveland for fail ing to convene congress to tinker with the tariff in March, 1893? Fact. • • • Mr. Cleveland was a Very great man, a powerful personality. Unfortunately he was devoid of tact, and while he was not without sentiment he was lamentably deficient in imagination. In the matter of firmness he was all that Jackson was; in the matter of honesty he would gaze an eagle blind. I fear he was also lack ing in that highest quality of a public man, instinct, that would have forced an extra session of congress as soon as he became president in 1893. What a brave man it was! Speaking of Mr. Car lisle when all the batteries of the adversaries were di rected against him, Mr. Cleveland grimly said: “He knows all I ought to know; and I can bear all we have to bear.” Well, we have a Democrat in the White House at this time—Mr. Woodrow Wilson—who is strong where Grover Cleveland was strong, and he is also strong where Grover Cleveland was weak. That is why it is we have a tariff law, and pity it is that it has that slip-gap for privilege, the o per cent graft for goods imported in American bottoms. But that will be fixed right. And when we got the tariff through this session congress was, on its head to get away. A thousand arguments were made against the proposal to deal with the banking question. Mr. Mann, the Republican leader of the small minority of the house, proclaims that currency reform is impossible. It was a thou sand times predicted that if the tariff law, that eman cipated industry, was enacted, capital would retire from business and labor cease work. But capital is engaged in enterprise and labor has not abandoned its job. And congress has made up its mind to “stay on the job.” If the country shall agree with the Hon. Mann that congress ought to go home and leave a duty un performed, then so much the worse for the Demo cratic party. I rather like the Hon. Mann, and for that reason I wish that solon were better equipped for ar gument—a parrot could be taught to demand “No quo- arum, Mr. Speaker!” Indeed, a pig was taught to se lect Martin Van Buren’s picture from tne portraits of the presidents of the United States, and that was an exercise of more thought than to make the point of “no quorum.” But we have a real leader at last in the White House—the greatest practical as he. is the greatest speculative statesman now in the business. And that’s what’s the matter with the Hon. Mann. In the next congress Victor Murdock will swap “lead erships” with Mr. Mann—the latter will lead, if he is a member, a small remnant, an inconsequential and negligible “third” party. ,e 'ouATtry RURAL CREDITS OME topics Cmpocted Congenial Occupation. (Judge., “What’s that friend of yours with the anarchistic tendencies doing these days?” “He has a job in an automobile factory.” “Gee! I’ll bet he loves his job.” “He surely does. All he has to do is to blow up the tires.” SELECTING A HOME SITE. Oftentimes it becomes necessary to build a dwell ing house on a vacant piece of ground in the rural dis tricts. (In towns and villages the lots are usually prescribed and the building must be located according to streets .water mains, gas pipes, etc.) But the coun try places have very much more opportunity as to choice of building spots. Sometimes the parents cut off a part of their farm or plantation s^nd donate or sell to the newly married son, or maybe the newly married daughter. What are the prime requisites as to that location? I should say, first, accessibility to running water for stock. If there is a spring, get as near it as may be practicable, for the burden of draw ing up water from a well every day and every hour in the day, perhaps, for all the cows, the horses, the hogs, the chickens and the folks, soon grows to be heavy. Like the little girl whose mother found her sobbing one morning before she had pulled off her nightie and who told her mother "It made her heart sick to know she had to dress and undress every day for the rest of her life.” I should feel exactly like moaning if all the water had to be drawn up by a windlass to carry on farm business, unless, indeed, there was money sufficient to sink an artesian well and have it spout up to the outside. Plenty of wa ter is the desideratum. Next I should consider the drainage proposition. A dwelling should be placed on ground Suficiently elevated to drain itself in times of flood and freezes. , Standing water is always a menace to health. It holds poultry yard filth and breeds mosquitoes. See to it that every rain will carry off the loosened filth that accumulates about barn lots and back yards, and that the drains are not clogged by rakings and sweepings. You can raise shade trees, and you turn your living room windows to the rays of the sun, and you can locate your piazzas to be shaded or sunny according to your pleasure. But a real home must have plenty of water to drink and for domestic purposes, and the ground must be drained and relieved from stagnant water or the finest building in the world would be spoiled for health and domestic comfort. Fortunately there are devices for getting water nowadays that were not dreamed of forty years ago, and the drainage proposition is being constantly urged by scientists and humanitarians. But my little preachment, is intended for the simple farmer who has some land and desires to get the best possible results from his labor and his money. If there is any sort of natural water supply, be sure to cultivate the opportunity. If the water stands about your premises after a rain start to ditch ing. ) THE WHIRLIGIG OF POLITICS. Only three weeks ago Governor Sulzer was being condemned and expelled from office by his political enemies. Today’s dispatches tell us that Mr. Sulzer, deposed governor, is elected a member of the general assembly of New York state, and will go to Albany in January, 1914, and hold office with perhaps author- -ty sufficient to expel some of the very men who threw him down so hard less than a month ago. This was going pretty fast within three weeks' time. Politics is a very fickle mistress, and is as apt to flirt as to placate those who seek her fickle atten tions. A great many politicians make a business of being all things to all men, intent on holding the office and drawing the salary. But the man who follows his convictions and bucl>s against the machine is as apt to be run over as he is to endeavor to enter a political contest. Public opinion, like politics, is very fickle. The idol of today may be the football of tomorrow. There are some exceptions, but it is the rule in politics “to hold on,” “abide the caucus,” and sink your individ uality in partizanship politics. Of course, this is not patriotism, but it is politics! It is well understood that men of real force occasionally follow politics as a profession, but the finest minds of the country can not afford to jeopardize their own interests and prog ress by subjecting themselves to the ups and dovhis of modern politics. They cannot afford It. The saddest part of it lies in the fact that profes sional politicians when defeated are generally ’’bone- heads” forever after- They hang about Washington City, and degenerate into lobbyists, or professional claim agents against the government or are perpetual ly struggling to get into some minor office so that they can pay the board bill and still hang on. THE POULTRY SITUATION When I was much younger than at present I have bought many dozens of eggs, fresh laid, for 10 cents per dozen. Tonight's Journal tells its readers that re tail stores have put up the price of eggs In New York City to 75 cents per dozen. I have in my time some years ago bought ail the frying chickens I needed at 10 cents apiece. I notice the Atlanta prices of today and live hens bring from 45 to 50 cents, and frying chickens sell at 25 to SO cents a pound. Gracious goodness! Why do not our farm women get down to raising poultry in dead earnest? When a hen will lay for twelve days in succession, twelve eggs, and this “hen fruit” will sell for 35 or 40 cents right here on demand, what do you know that will beat the profit according to the amount invested? It beats cotton “all holler!” Eggs at 75 cents per dozen means 6 1-4 cents apiece. If one hen can make 75 cents profit in twelve days and then be in as good condition as when she started, can’t you see that the farmer’s wife would have a little gold mine near New York with a few dozen hens in her poultry yard? There has not been a day during this present year when I could have bought a good sized frying chicken for less that a quarter of a dollar. (I can’t raise chickens on a town lot.) Just consider for one moment how easily a farmer’s wife can feed thirty or forty hens, one-half the eggs to be sold and the other half to be used for raising frying chickens, and then tell me, If you please, why every farmyard Is not well supplied with hens and chickens? I am not estimating the turkey or duck question at all at this writing. There are thousands of farm houses into which The Semi-Weekly goes twice a week. Will not you tell me why you are not raising poultry and eggs for sale? The more a man’s thirst is irrigated the faster it grows. Moreover, the freckled criminal is bound to be spotted. Success seldom comes to a man who is too lazy to go after it. The Land of Dreams Somewhere, they say, there’s a beautiful I'wad, The land where dreams come true, But the road that leads to this far-off land No mortal ever knew. In this mythical land of dreams they say The sky is always blue, And purple banks of heartsease twine, ’Mid flowers of every hue. In this wonderful land of dreams I*ve heard A magic stream winds through Whose waters banish every care And faith and love renew. Somewhere I know is this beautiful land, The land where dreams come true, It is where you are, sweetheart, my own, But I’m lost in finding you. —BLANCHE DAVIDSON, VII. THE RAIFFEISEN SYSTEM. Bi FREDERIC J. HASKIN. In 1848 there was a season of distressingly hard times in Germany. The heart of Frederick William Raiffeisen being moved with pity for the poor of Co blenz; he organized a co-operative society for the dis tribution of bread and potatoes among them. The following»year he founded at Flammersfeld a loan society for the support of the unprovided farmers, its members being rich philantnropists who sold cattle to unorganized farmers at easy rates. In 1862 he or ganized a third society at Anhausen. which went a step further, its membership being constituted by the borrowing farmers themselves—and thus was devel oped a rural credit system that has carried aid to millions of farmers, and whose boast is that no man ever lost a dollar in a Raiffeisen bank. We can see the development of the idea—first a charity organization to relieve distress; followed by a philanthropic organization tO“tt.ssist the farmer to get back upon his feet; and then an organization of farm ers helping themselves and making themselves inde pendent. * * * In launching his system of farmers’ banks Raif feisen kept the moral aspect constantly before him. He utilized to the full the one certainly intelligent power then to be found in every farming district, the parish priest or pastor. With the help of the clergy, he touched in the peasant the golden chord of neigh borly affection and brotherly kindness, developing a new parochial life around the village bank. In this bank everything was limited and restricted except liability for the debts of the bank, and as to that every dollar of every member was pledged to make them good. The territory in which a bank could op erate was restricted to that section where every mem ber was the neighbor and business acquaintance of every other member; in order that none ut responsi ble borrowers and men of good habits could become members. The time of a loan was restricted to a rea sonable limit so that changed conditions might not affect it; the amount of the loan was limited by the reputation and the needs of the borrower; and the uses to which it could be put were only those that bade fair to allow the borrower to return the money with out hardship upon himself. With his system based upon honesty and thrift, Raiffeisen discovered a new source of credit—the col* lective liability of a considerable number of honest, and thrifty people. The subscribed capital of a Raif feisen bank is only nominal—there was none at all until the government passed a law requiring some suc^ capital. Now a share is often sold for as littlo as a dollar, and sometimes for as little as 2 cents. The loan capital of one of these banks is made up largely of deposits made by peasants, who may de posit as little as a mark at a time, the smaller de posits being collected by penny stamp books, and al though the peasantry uses the Raiffeisen banks for the bulk of their savings, not a dollar has ever been lost through such deposits. In addition to this capital the local bank has an account with a central bank, from which it obtains credit at low rates. • • • The Raiffeisen banks make simple loans, open cur rent accounts, and handle property transfers, though the bulk of their business is the handling of simple loans. For these the security is either a personal pledge or a motgage, the latter being used when a man does not find it convenient to offer personal Indorsers. But in such cases the mortgage is used only in lieu of personal indorsements, and is not made an instru ment for a long term loan as in the land mortgage banks. In all cases the bank insists on knowing not only the borrower, but the purpose of the loan as well/ The property transfer business of the Raiffeisen banks is incidental and relatively unimportant. If anl estate is to be sold and subdivided, and a number of poor peasants want to get a little tract of land out of it the bank steps in, pays the seller his price—minus a small commission—and allows the buyers to reimburse it in small installments for principal and interest. It requires the prompt meeting of these installments, thus encouraging thrift. It tjius keeps the buyers out of the hands of real estate sharks, who demand large com missions and encourage arrears so that the buyer may default in the end. Sometimes these dealers force sales just at the time when the market is most unfa vorable, hoping to repurchase at a very low price. At these times the banks frequently step in, buy the lam* themselves, resell it at a favorable time, and genfo’- ously refuse to take advantage of the bargain. They restore the profit to the man who was forced to sell, deducting only the usual commission for the service. Of course, this wins the contidence of a community for its bank. Of ter the man who has had to sell is thus saved enough money to give him a fresh start. This land transfer business is confined to southwest Ger many in the main, and take place only when the bank has surplus money, and when a member of the society will be protected by the transaction. The Raiffeisen bank never has a pretentious place of business. It has no handsome buildings with barred windows and grilled cages; neither lias it a force of clerks discharging a constant round of busi ness, while directors interview special clients in a room apart. It is usually located in a small room, probably at the back of a farm building, and is open only twice a week, its routine presided over by a sin gle person—the accountant. Business is by no meant* brisk; now comes a child with a few pennies to de posit, now an old and palsied man. who, signing with a cross, draws out a few marks for his support. Once a week there is a meeting of the directors, who discuss the credit problems that have arisen since their last meeting. The credit usually advanced by one of these banks averages around $100. Loans can be called in upon a four weeks’ notice, but this is seldom done unless it appears that the borrower is not putting his money to good use, or is allowing his property to go to the dogs and himself to drift toward insolvency. The inculcation of punctuality of payment as a moral duty was the hardest of Raiffeisen’s tasks, but it has proved his greatest triumph.* Summing up the results of Raiffeisen’s work in* establishing a system of rural credit, C. R. Fay, one of the deepest of the English students of rural credits, says: “If it be asked finally what Raiffeisen banks have done which other banks have not, it may be re plied that Raiffeisen created out of hopeless chaos the only kind of credit possible for the small agriculturist. Indeed, the change wrought in many places is nothing sliort of a revolution. The experience of the parent village bank may serve in illustration: “About an hour’s walk from Neuwied on the Rhine* is situated on the plateau bordering the Westerwald the little village of Anhausen. The district is not fer tile and the inhabitants are small peasant proprietors, some with only sufficient land to graze an ox or a cow. An own<?r of ten acres is a rich man. Bfefore the year 1862 the village presented a sorry aspect; rickety buildings, untidy yards in rainy weather run ning with filth, never a sight of a decently piled ma nure heap; the inhabitants themselves ragged and im moral; drunkenness and quarreling universal. Houses and ozen belonged, with few exceptions, to Jewisa dealers. Agricultural implements were scanty and di lapidated; the badly worked^ fields brought in poet returns. The villagers had lost confidence and hope, and had become the serfs of dealers and usurers. To day' Anhausen is a clean and friendly looking village, the buildings well kept, the farm yards clean even on work days; there are orderly manure heaps on every farm. The inhabitants are well if simply clothed, and their manners are reputable. They own the cattle in their stalls. They are out of debt to usurers and deal ers. Modern Implements are used by nearly every farmer, the value of the farms has risen, and tli« fields, carefully and fully cultivated, yield large crops. And this change, which is something more than sta tistics can express, is the work of a simple Raiffeisen bank.”