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to be improved, has the effect of impairing his credit with the 

 sowkar in emergencies which, under the conditions of rural 

 life in this country, are very common, and it is not, there- 

 fore, surprising that the ryot should hesitate to avail him- 

 self of Government help except in seasons when he is unable 

 to obtain assistance from the sowkar. Another reason for the 

 ryots not readily availing themselves of Government help is 

 the stringency of the rules made with a view to ensure that 

 loans are granted on adequate security and the instalments are 

 punctually collected as they fall due. These inconveniences 

 will be greatly minimized when a bank, which is managed by 

 a directorate composed partly of ofificial and partly of non- 

 official agency, with full power to grant extension of time for 

 the payment of instalments on due cause shown, lends money 

 for all purposes, and not merely for land improvements. 



Land credit banks will not, of course, directly benefit 

 either the landless classes or cultivators who have not secu- 

 rity of tenure in the lands they cultivate, as for instance, 

 tenants in Malabar, and in some of the northern zemindaries. 

 Indirectly, however, the establishment of these banks will 

 benefit them by reducing the rates of interest, inasmuch as 

 persons who are able to offer proper security for loans to 

 be obtained on easy terms from these banks will be enabled 

 to compete for the custom of lending to poor agriculturists 

 to a greater extent than hitherto. For the landless artisan 

 classes and day labourers, it might be considered whether 

 institutions, like monies de piete established in European 

 continental countries, for carrying on pawn -broking on a 

 small scale could be established under the guarantee and 

 superintendence of municipal corporations in large towns. 

 There are, however, great difficulties in the way of workmg 

 such institutions, and in this country the goods pawned will 

 consist mostly of jewels and trinkets of inferior materials 

 difficult to value. The interest also except for loans for very 

 short periods is not so exorbitantly high as to make the 

 interference of Government necessary to check it. In Eng- 

 land itself, the legal rate of interest for loans not exceeding 

 £2 obtained from pawn-brokers is 25 per cent, per annum. 



99. Schemes for promoting habits of thrift depend for 

 - . „ , their success on the facilities afforded to 



Savings Banks. i . , i -i , p • • t 



people to take advantage oi trivial occa- 

 sions to save small sums of money, which, if they retained 

 in their own hands, they would be under a great temptation 

 to spend unprofitably. The post office savings bar.ks' scheme 

 introduced a few years ago by the Government of India is 

 a step in the right direction, and it has evidently a great 



