The business, then, now stands in this way, that any landowner
of the class for which the society was created has a r2£-/it to
claim a loan on the security of his land at any time; the
Landschaft values that land by its own valuers, and, if the amount
of capital offered, which is strictly regulated by the valuation,
should satisfy the applicant, he receives his loan down in bonds
or cash, as the case may be, the loan running for a fixed number
of years, within which he need dread no notice, so long as he
performs the duties which he has contracted for. He knows the
precise number of years for which the debt will run, and he
knows the rate of interest which he will have to pay, which
cannot be raised. He himself is free to pay off the whole of
his debt, or part, at his own choice. And it is understood that
he pays the sinking fund, the amount of which (as a rule \ per
cent) regulates the length of time for which the debt will run.
Since he receives his money at the same rate that the Land-
schaft pays for it, of course he is made to pay a trifling con-
tribution towards management expenses and reserve fund ; and
there are also certain fees and commissions, none of which
amount to much, to provide for outgoings. Of course also the
applicant has the valuation to pay for ; but the cost of that is trifling.
