GENEKAL DEVELOPMENT 181 



value that their land had acquired to effect land 

 mortgages and to live on their capital. The next 

 action of Government was in the direction of improved 

 communications. The country was covered with a 

 net- work of roads and railways. This has certainly 

 put the farmer in touch with the larger markets of 

 India and with the markets of the world ; and as a 

 result he now gets a much better price for his produce 

 than was formerly possible when he had to depend 

 on the local market. This is, of course, an enormous 

 advantage. The next line of improvement was to 

 guard the country against the devastating effects of a 

 failure of rain. A large number of irrigation works 

 were projected for the Deccan, and some were con- 

 structed. These works are distinctly beneficial, so 

 far as they go ; but for reasons which have been set 

 forth in Chapter IV. their scope has been restricted, 

 and their utility unduly limited. To facilitate land 

 improvement, Government undertook to lend money 

 to cultivators at low rates of interest. This action, 

 too, had a beneficial tendency, but was, of necessity, 

 on a scale too small to have any great or general 

 effect. To enable the farmer to realise his credit and 

 to secure at reasonable rates of interest the capital 

 essential for his requirements, the co-operative credit 

 organisation was started, and has subsequently ex- 

 panded into a general co-operative movement. This 

 movement has had a remarkable success, and is 

 rcvpidly becoming a real power for good in the land, 

 but it will be some time before its full effects are felt. 



