Oct. 1906.] 333 Miscellaneous. 



and in many cases consider that their duty in connection with co-operative societies 

 has ceased, when they have paid the amount expected of them. They are, as a rule, 

 not men of business, and their interest in the societies is purely ephemeral and 

 dependent on the interest taken in those institutions by the District Officer. 



Such is a brief account of the initial difficulties under which the village banks 

 in the United Provinces have laboured, and under which they probably labour 

 elsewhere. They are of three descriptions, inasmuch as they relate to the personnel 

 of the society, its rules and accounts, and the raising of its capital. It remains to 

 describe the steps that have been taken to remove them. 



In the case of the first of these difficulties the remedial measure is obvious. 

 Of the burdens and hardships entailed by the caste system there can be no doubt, 

 nor is it disputed that the tendency of the system is as a rule hostile to 

 progress and reform. Its existeuce and its power are, however, a very distinct 

 indication of a method of extension of co-operative effort along the line of least 

 resistance. If members of caste of widely varying social status are enlisted in the 

 ranks of the same society, it is clear that the whole force of< the caste system is 

 arrayed against successful effort. It is impossible to believe that a Brahman will 

 become jointly responsible for the debts of a Chamar, or that the influence of a 

 dhobi will suffice to induce a thakur to up a loan, when the latter has preferred 

 the smiling path of recusancy. It is also impossible to expect satisfactory combin- 

 ation between two persons, one of whom enters the village meeting house in 

 order to attend a general meeting of the society's members, while the other is 

 bidden to sit in the street below. Where castes of widely varying social standing 

 are enlisted in the same society, it is obvious that equality, which is the main 

 spring of all co-operative effort, inevitably disappears, and that success cannot 

 result. It is true that there are apparently successful banks in existence where 

 the members are drawn from many and varying castes. Success is in such cases 

 due to the exertions of one or more leading men, who have kept things going in 

 practical independence of the opinions or wishes of the ordinary members. 



The classes for whom co-operation holds out the greatest hopes of improve- 

 ment, both material and educational, are the lower castes. They are at present 

 unable to command the same rates of accommodation as the high- caste agriculturist 

 not because their honesty is less or they are more recusant, but because their 

 individual requirements are smaller in amount. Unless they can be included in 

 the operations of the movement it must so far be held to be a failure. They cannot 

 be included in societies in which high-caste members are enlisted. They must have 

 societies of their own, restricted to members of the lower castes. It seems, there- 

 fore, on all grounds desirable that, in the absence of strong reasons to the 

 contrary, the unit of recruitment should be not the village but the caste within 

 the village. This will, of course, not always be possible or advisable, but where 

 it is possible, it will probably also be advisable. 



The adoption of a system of caste-societies will result in the multiplication 

 of the number of societies required to serve any given area. It will also render it 

 impossible to demand from the village society the standard of account-keeping 

 which is at present demanded. In the case of low-caste societies, it is improbable 

 that account-keeping of any standard can be required. These are difficulties which 

 have to be faced, and which will be considered later, when the Central system is 

 described. 



The problem of accounts in village societies of the existing type has been 

 met by the abolition of standard forms of account, and by empowering the 

 punchayat to keep the accounts in any form which in their opinion best suits the 

 requirements of the institution. This has commonly resulted in the maintenance 



