The Crédit Foncier is permitted to take short-term mortgages and does a big business in that line. But the true purpose of its existence and the greatest part of its operations are the granting of long time loans. These are made on mortgages to individuals and without mortgage to municipalities and public establishments. The periods run from ten to seventy-five years. The annuities required to be paid for amortizing the loan for the average period used are so small as to appear insignificant. The success achieved by the Crédit Foncier in popularizing the amortization principle for real estate loans is the chief cause of its great renown. At present its interest rate for mortgage loans is 4.3 per cent per annum, for public establishments 4.1 per cent, and 3.85 per cent for municipalities. The total annuity, including both interest and amortization sum, for a twenty-five year mortgage loan is a little over 6.5 per cent. With this small annual payment the debt is gradually wiped out, and nothing is left to be paid at the end of the term. The longer the term the smaller the annuity, and vice versa. The loans now exceed $870,000,000. Here is an amortization table of the Crédit Foncier: _Annuity of a capital of $100, interest at 4.3 per cent, payable semiannually._ Duration. Annuities. 5 years $22.440405 10 years 12.409111 15 years 9.115217 20 years 7.504843 25 years 6.566976 30 years 5.964436 35 years 5.552593 40 years 5.259040 45 years 5.043495 50 years 4.881753 55 years 4.758395 60 years 4.663140 65 years 4.588881 70 years 4.530558 75 years 4.484483