Note 670 — Chapter V · : PROUDHON AND THE SOCIALISM OF 1848

Moreover, the advances will take the form of discount. The entrepreneur who has some scheme which he wishes to carry out “will in the first place collect orders, and on the strength of those orders get hold of some producer or dealer who has such raw material or services at his disposal. Having obtained the goods, he pays for them by means of promissory notes, which the bank, after taking due precaution, will convert into circulation notes.” The consumer is really a sleeping partner in the business, and between him and the entrepreneur there is no need for the intervention of money at all. (Organisation du Crédit, Œuvres, vol. vi, p. 123.) Discount was the fundamental characteristic of the bank, and no criticism is directed against this feature of its operations.