56 GRANT OF LOANS AND ADVANCES TO AGRICULTURISTS. 



improvement of their land ; but that was not general. More com- 

 monly it was said that the dealings of the cultivator with officials 

 in matters of this kind were exceedingly troublesome, that at every 

 point he was thrown back, and that it took him an enormous 

 amount of time, and caused him an unreasonable amount of trouble, 

 to get his loan. That was, I think, very generally agreed. 

 Another point was the excessive cost of the application in point of 

 fees ; another point was the high rate of interest ; another was the 

 shortness of the time within which he had to repay the amount, 

 and there may have been other reasons given, but those were the 

 main ones in regard to the Act as it stood. But the real reason, to 

 my mind, which has prevented the old Act from having anything like 

 the operation which we would have wished for it, was brought out 

 very clearly and lucidly in a report by MR. JONES, Commissioner of 

 Berar. He explained and I think every one will agree that his 

 explanation is incontestable that the ryot, if he borrows from 

 the Government, cannot also borrow from the village money-lenders. 

 It was a sermon on the old text that you cannot serve two masters. 

 The ryot comes to the Government and he receives the loan, but, in 

 order to receive it, he must hypothecate his land. Shortly afterwards 

 he wants perhaps to borrow for some other purpose for marriage, 

 or to pay his revenue, or for any one of the thousand domestic 

 purposes for which he requires money besides agricultural operations. 

 He then goes to the village money-lender ; the money-lender turns 

 round upon him and says : ' No, you have already borrowed from the 

 Government, the Government have been ruining my business by 

 charging a lower rate of interest than mine ; the Government have 

 already got the first lien on your land, and now you can go to 

 the Government for the other money that you want.' Well, when 

 it comes to a choice, and the ryot has to decide whether he should 

 borrow from one of two competitors, one of whom can only lend 

 for one purpose, while the other can lend for all purposes, there is 

 very small doubt as to what he will do ; he will cleave to the one 

 who can lend for all purposes, and despise the other who can only 

 lend for one purpose. That is, I think, the real reason which cuts at 

 the root of any very extended usefulness of the Act as it at present 

 stands. There remains the fact that, though this applies to the 

 cuitivators who are indebted, it does not apply to the cultivators 

 who are not indebted, These may require loans for agricultural 



