ionary took up the account at 5 per cent, instead of 50, and in
two years they had paid it off with only 7 rupees more than they had
formerly paid as annual tribute to the money-lender. In many such
cases debts have been handed down from generation to generation, for
the Hindu code of honor will not permit a son to repudiate the debts
of his father; and son, grandson, and great-grandson have, staggered
under burdens they were unable to get rid of.

In this situation the cooperative credit societies organized under
government supervision have proved a godsend to the people, and
thousands of ryots through their aid are now getting free of debt for
the first time in their lives, and their families for perhaps the
first time in generations. Each member of a cooperative credit society
has some interest in it; the government will lend at 4 per cent, an
amount not greater than the total amount deposited by all the members;
stringent regulations as to loans and their security, deposit of
surplus funds, accounting, etc., are in force, and altogether the plan
is working remarkably well. The latest report I have shows that in a
single twelvemonth the total working capital of these societies
increased more than 300 per cent.

The United States seems to be about the only fairly civilized country
in which some form of cooperative credit society, with government aid,
has not been worked out.

{223}

Of great help to the small farmer also has been the action of the
government in regulating land-rents in crowded districts. The courts
see to it that no landlord raises rents unfairly. One Brahmin
freeholder I met in a small village (he owned 250 acres, worth from
$130 to $275 per acre) told me his rents were 32 to 40 rupees (or from
$10 to $13) per acre. He grows wheat and cotton, and appeared to be
quite intelligent as well as prosperous, although he wore nothing save
a turban and an abbreviated lower garment not quite stretching from
his loins to his knees, the rest of his body being entirely naked.

That the day laborer in India can have but small hope of buying land
at $100 to $300 an acre (and I think these prices general) is
indicated by the fact that when I asked, in the next village, the wage
per month, I was told, "Four or five rupees ($1.28 to $1.60), the
laborer boarding himself."

"And how much is paid per day when a single day's labor is wanted?" I
asked.

"Two annas and bread," was the reply. (An anna is 2 cents.)