me for his money, especially if the interest is paid. No
doubt this is no loss to him, as he keeps his money out at good
interest; but it is a great convenience to a client that his debt
can be postponed in a bad year, and that he can pay as much as he
likes in a good one. The village moneylender is indispensable to
its economy when the tenants are like school-boys in that money
burns a hole in their pocket; and Sir Denzil Ibbetson states that
it is surprising how much reasonableness and honesty there is in his
dealings with the people, so long as he can keep his transactions out
of a court of justice. [132] Similarly, Sir Reginald Craddock writes:
"The village Bania is a much-abused individual, but he is as a rule a
quiet, peaceable man, a necessary factor in the village economy. He
is generally most forbearing with his clients and customers, and is
not the person most responsible for the indebtedness of the ryot. It
is the casual moneylender with little or no capital who lives by
his wits, or the large firms with shops and agents scattered over
the face of the country who work the serious mischief. These latter
encourage the people to take loans and discourage repayment until the
debt has increased by accumulation of interest to a sum from which
the borrower cannot easily free himself." [133]

21. The moneylender changed for the worse.

The progress of administration, bringing with it easy and safe transit
all over the country; the institution of a complete system of civil
justice and the stringent enforcement of contracts through the courts;
the introduction of cash coinage as the basis of all transactions;
and the grant of proprietary and transferable rights in land,
appear to have at the same time enhanced the Bania's prosperity
and increased the harshness and rapacity of his dealings. When the
moneylender lived in the village he had an interest in the solvency
of the tenants who constituted his clientele and was also amenable
to public opinion, even though not of his own caste. For it would
clearly be an impossibly unpleasant position for him to meet no one
but bitter enemies whenever he set foot outside his house, and to go
to bed in nightly fear of being dacoited and murdered by a combination
of his next-door neighbours. He therefore probably adopted the motto
of live and let live, and conducted his transactions on a basis of
custom, like the other traders and artisans who lived among the
village communi