182 BELIEF OF INDEBTED AGRICULTURISTS. 



What MR. MELVELL himself anticipates is tolerably evident ; 

 though he qualifies any conclusion very much in the way I myself 

 have djne w!ieu speaking of the possible effects of the restriction 

 oa the sale of unpleJgeel land. B it, perhaps, I o:ight to off jr some 

 explanation of the grounds on which, subject always to the same 

 qualification, the Government may be held to be justified in antici- 

 pating that the dire results just alluded to may not come to pass, 

 and, consequently, in persevering in the measure before us. It is 

 a truism that a thing is worth what it will fetch, and per con'ra, 

 that in the long run, temporary disturbing causes apart, a thing 

 will always fetch, what it is intri isicilly worth. Now, the Bill 

 does nothing to diminish the intrinsic value of land, but rather 

 the reverse. The value of land depenih, at bottom, on the net 

 produce, or surplus after three deductions, for the cost of cultiva- 

 tion, the subsistence of the peasant and his family, and the 

 Government demand.* Linl is wo:tli as many years' purchase of 

 this net pro luce as correspon 1 with the current rate of interest. And 

 this rate of interest ultimately depends upon the facility of recovery. 

 Now our Bill does not alter the Government demand, or, consequently, 

 the net produce, but it increases the facility of recovery. It must, 

 therefore, increase the ryot's xonnl crelit, instead of diminish- 

 ing it. I will make my meaning clear by illustration. Suppose a 

 ryot's holding yielding gross produce worth Rs. 100, of which 

 Rs. 50 go for the three deductions I have just named, leaving Rs. 50 

 as net produce or margin on which the ryot may borrow. In view 

 of the provision in the Bill for seven years' management of 

 unpledged lands, the maney-lender would be justified in lending on a 

 money bond Rs. 180 if the rate be 20 per cent., Rs. 228 if it be 

 12 per cent., and Rs. 2o2 if it be only 9 per cent. Which of these 

 rates he will adopt, or whether he must exact a higher rate still, 

 obviously depends on his chances of getting paid. But these chances 

 are greatly improve:! by the Bill ; for the ryot will strive to pay 

 punctually rather than come under the management of the collector, 

 and the collector's management (if efficient, as it must Ite made) will 

 m ike loss more improb ible still. Notwithstanding all fair allowance 



* I of course ignore such extraneous value as the land may now possess 



through the means a hold on it now gives the creditor of commanding 



the labour of the debtor and his family and other illicit advantages. 

 RHotti Ooimnwiton Rej>vrt t pugv GO.) 



