INDEBTEDNESS OF THE LAND-HOLDING CLASSES. 19 



Stipulation regarding b 7 a receipt under the creditor's signature," or 

 receipts in bonds. "that on payments being made, the bond-holder 



shall pass a receipt. As no instance has come to notice of a creditor 

 giving a receipt for part-payments, it must be presumed that the 

 former stipulation is inserted in order to deter the debtor from plead- 

 ing part-payment when sued, and the latter stipulation to satisfy the 

 debtor's desire to have something; in the bond which shall make it the 



o 



duty of the creditor to pass receipts. 



One of the most noticeable features of these sowkars' dealings is 

 All dealings are the peculiar system of retail business which 

 reduced to bonds. reduces all transactions, even the most trivial, 



to the form of written contracts. This system does not prevail to the 

 same extent in other parts of the presidency, where the account current 

 is kept open until the balance has reached an amount which makes 

 further security desirable. The invariable use of bonds in the region, 

 under report is probably the result of the more precarious character of 

 the ryot's assets, due to his greater poverty and to the uncertainty 

 of the climate, and it is an indication of the extent to which the 

 character of ordinary trade transactions has been affected by their 

 alliance with a money-lending business much of which is unsound. 

 The ryot is constantly in great need, and has thus most limited choice 

 in his means of relief. The sow/car is sharp in business and fully 

 understands the weak side of the Kunbi and the urgency of his 

 necessities. The terms upon which they deal are that every debit is to 

 be protected by a bond giving the sowkar unlimited powers of 

 recovery, and that the credit side is to be left to the honesty of the 

 creditor. 



