HAPPY INDIA 181 



the lender is to blame. I do not know that 

 he makes more than a fair profit on his out- 

 lays, but what I know is that the system is an 

 unhappy one. 



An effort is being made in many districts to estab- 

 lish local banks, and in connection with these local 

 banks to establish local committees. In India, 

 government of the village life by local committees 

 is quite the rule, and it is a form of self-government 

 that the people well understand, and it is very 

 old-fashioned. In some districts it has now come 

 about that the local committee has power to lend 

 money to members of their village or district for 

 reasonable purposes, and to lend the money at a 

 moderate rate of interest, so that the payment 

 of the interest and repayment of the loan may 

 be possible. It is the object of those who manage 

 these committees to make the loans as small as 

 possible. The loan, of course, may be for the purpose 

 of buying an ox or a cow or some necessary implement, 

 and in that case the loan must be sufficient for the 

 purpose. But the loan may be for some social 

 purpose, such as the marriage of a son or daughter, 

 and then the object of the Committee is to make 

 the loan as small as possible, to tell the borrower 

 that what he is proposing is extravagant, and if 

 he asks for 100 rupees, to induce him to be quite 

 content with 20 or 30. I do not know if these 

 local committees say anything about the age at 

 which a child should be married, but I should think 

 it quite possible, if the time has not already come, 



