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Curiosity Corner #220: $5000 interest on a $150 loan
ALPHONSE DESJARDINS SG806 (1975) 8c canada desjardins.jpg http://cjoint.com/data/fhcWIqKj5B.htm Alphonse Desjardins was born in 1854 into a poor family. As a young man, he took part in a military expedition to Manitoba during the first Kiel affair. In 1871, Desjardins took up journalism and later, on his own initiatve, he began recording and publishing the debates of the Quebec Legislature. He lost the right to take notes there in 1890, reportedly because he would not alter his transcript of a powerful politician's indiscreet remarks. Desjardins then founded a short-lived newspaper. From 1892 to 1917 he was a Hansard reporter in Ottawa. Because of his early poverty, Desjardins had a desire to help the poor. In 1897, he listened to a House of Commons debate on loan sharking. The revelations electrified him, especially the story of an individual who paid $5,000 interest on a $150 loan. Desjardins decided that credit unions might solve these problems, and he spent the next several years corresponding with experts in Europe and studying the subject. In 1900, at Levis, Quebec, he founded the first North American credit union. He designed it to serve the "very humblest classes" as a moral and educational force which would combat individualism, lack of foresight, disdain for small savings and the mania for luxury. The process of joining the organisation and of getting and repaying a loan would develop "honesty, industrious habits, good conduct and thrift" among the poor. Desjardins hoped that the Levis branch and those that followed could improve agriculture by keeping money in rural areas, and could make French Canadians economically independent from other ethnic groups. The founder planned to achieve these ends by emphasising local and democratic control of credit unions and by making capital their slave rather than their master. Desjardins died in 1920. |
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Curiosity Corner #220: $5000 interest on a $150 loan
Desjardins' credit unions are known as "caisses populaire"
(people's banks). Today the Desjardins financial organisation has over 5 million clients (shareholders) in Quebec, New Brunswick, Manitoba, Ontario and the USA. http://www.desjardins.com/en/accueil.jsp Caisse Populaire Savings stamps were also issued. These include: #QCP1 (1c) red #QCP2 (5c) blue #QCP3 (10c) brown #QCP4 (25c) green New Design - Jacques Cartier #QCP5 (1c) red #QCP6 (5c) blue Blair |
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Curiosity Corner #220: $5000 interest on a $150 loan
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Curiosity Corner #220: $5000 interest on a $150 loan
In a recent message "Blair (TC)" wrote:
Addendum: Here is a scan of #QCP1 http://www.esjvandam.com/pics/provin...hotos/qcp1.jpg Was it really that small? Do you supply a magnifying glass with which to examine it? ;-) -- Tony Clayton Coins of the UK : http://www.coinsoftheuk.info Sent using RISCOS on an Acorn Strong Arm RiscPC .... Did you know that no-one ever reads these things? |
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Curiosity Corner #220: $5000 interest on a $150 loan
Thanks Blair ! what a marvelous legacy. "Blair (TC)" wrote in message oups.com... Desjardins' credit unions are known as "caisses populaire" (people's banks). Today the Desjardins financial organisation has over 5 million clients (shareholders) in Quebec, New Brunswick, Manitoba, Ontario and the USA. http://www.desjardins.com/en/accueil.jsp |
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