DANGER OF FACILE CREDIT iii 



such remedies require, lest the ryots learn too easily 

 to borrow with a light heart, the lighter that the terms 

 are favourable and repayment so easy and so gradual. 

 In what way does it benefit a peasant to owe ;i{^20o at 

 4 per cent, to a bank instead of ;^ioo at 8 per cent, to 

 a money-lender unless it is absolutely certain that the 

 whole difference has been spent in the improvement 

 of the estate, a hypothesis absolutely in contradiction 

 with the European evidence, which shows that land 

 improvement banks are the latest in development and 

 the least in demand, and that the loans are for " family 

 purposes," for the repayment of previous debt, for the 

 purchase of land, the payment of taxes and the like. 

 What does it matter to a peasant whether he is ruined 

 by a bank or by a money-lender, by the too facile 

 credit of the one, or the too usurious terms of the 

 other ?' 



