For the support of agricultural credit the State draws from two sources the funds required to supply the organs of distribution, the local and regional associations. The first source is the loan of 40,000,000 francs made by the bank on November 17, 1897, when the charter was renewed. This amount, like the 140,000,000 francs already advanced in 1857 and 1878, bears no interest. The second source is the yearly payment made by the Bank of France on the profit-yielding circulation. This payment cannot be less than 2,000,000 francs yearly, and more often it is in the neighborhood of 5,000,000 francs.
All these sums, intended for agriculture, are distributed by the Government, and are used in endowing the associations of agricultural credit. The regional associations, which are the pivot of the present organisation, are self-governing societies, with a capital of their own. This capital, added to the advance made by the State, is invested in first-class securities, which are then deposited in the Bank of France, as discount guarantee to take the place of the third signature, if need be. The local offices send their paper to the regional office, which then takes it to the bank, as the needs of funds are felt.
Such is the part of the Bank of France in the distribution of agricultural credit. Effective intervention was obviously very difficult, yet the bank has contrived, even beyond its legal obligations, to give the benefit of its credit to agriculture, which so justly deserves the care it is receiving.
The Bank of France
INTERVIEW WITH M. PALLAIN, GOVERNOR OF THE BANK OF FRANCE[177]
Q. Is the Bank of France ever attacked in the controversies between political parties?
A. No charge has ever been made that the bank favored or aided any political party. There is never any claim that politics enters in any degree into the management of the bank.
Q. Is the capital entirely private property?
A. Yes. All the shares are divided between 30,000 shareholders, of whom about 10,000 have not more than one share.
Q. How are your branches managed?