October, 1911.] 



321 Agricultural Finance & Co-operation- 



of sell-help the less of official assistance 

 and intervention the better. The desire 

 and active steps for national improve- 

 ment must come from within to be most 

 effective. Holding this view, he appeals 

 to the educated classes for their assist- 

 ance. The various Governments have 

 frequently made this appeal in vain. 

 But now that it comes from a leading 

 member of the educated classes, whose 

 distinguished legal career is a sufficient 

 guarantee that the reform which he 

 advocates is genuine and practicable, 

 we may surely accept that there will be 

 a wide and efficient response. Without 

 the help of the educated there is little 

 hope that the masses can ever be 

 delivered from the grip of usury. What 

 outlook has any industry which is 

 financed by money-lenders who have 

 only a small capital, and who arecom- 

 pelled to insure themselves against loss 

 by charging heavy rates of interest ? 

 Unfortunately exorbitant usury is not 

 the only drawback of this system. So 

 completely are the ryots in the hand of 

 the mahajans, that in some industries 

 the usurers can control absolutely the 

 price which the cultivators receive for 

 their produce. The ryots are thus 

 hemmed in without a chance of escape. 

 Only co-operative credit can deliver 

 them, and Mr. Saroda Charan Mitter 

 has rendered a great service by impress- 

 ing this fact upon the educated commu- 

 nity. 



CO-OPERATIVE CREDIT. 



(Prom the Indian Agriculturist, Vol. 

 XXXVI., No. 3, March 1, 1911.) 



Steady Progress Made. 

 A Government Resolution passed on 

 the annual report on the working of co- 

 operative credit societies in the Bombay 

 Presidency, including Sind, for the year 

 1909-10, was issued in Thursday's Govern- 

 ment Gazette. It runs :— The report, 

 which covers a period of nine months 

 only, shows that steady progress con- 

 tinues to be made in the Presidency 

 proper in establishing new co-operative 

 credit societies and in developing those 

 already in existence. It records a net 

 increase of 39 societies, bringing the 

 total number up to 208. Notable pro- 

 gress was again made in the Northern 

 Division where 21 of the new societies 

 are located, and Government are grati- 

 fied to observe that there is now at least 

 one society in every district of the 

 Presidency proper. Out of the 208 

 registered societies 185 are in actual 

 working operation, an increase of 59 

 over the previous year. The statistics 

 41 



show that the movement is gaining in 

 strength in other respects. Thus the 

 average membership of urban societies, 

 including the " Centrals," has increased 

 from 80 to 101, and of rurals from 59 to 

 65, while the average reserve fund has 

 risen from Rs.156 to Rs.225 in the one 

 case, and from Rs.151 to Rs.177 in the 

 other. The total working capital of all 

 classes of societies has increased from 

 Rs.5,62,456 to Rs. 8,28, 8 16, and the growth 

 of co-operative credit, if slow, is illus- 

 trated by the increased attraction of 

 outside capital which constituted 8 per 

 cent, of the total as against 6 per cent, 

 last year, while the proportion in the 

 shape of loans from Government fell 

 from 22 to 20 per cent. Urban societies 

 continue to show most success in raising 

 capital from outside sources, and at the 

 close of the year 12 per cent, of their 

 working capital was of this class. In 

 the case of rural societies the percentage 

 of outside rose from less than 3 to a 

 little over 4. 



• Statisfactory Feature. 



Pending the institution of a Central 

 Bank, supported by a Government 

 guarantee, the scheme of which has not 

 yet been finally approved, the societies 

 have to depend on a very casual and 

 restricted supply of outside capital, but 

 in this connection the growth of the 

 " Central " societies which lent Rs. 

 48,000 during the year to 30 societies is a 

 very satisfactory feature of develop- 

 ment. Generally, societies are becoming 

 more highly organised as well as advanc- 

 ing in numbers, membership and funds. 

 This is indicated, among other things, 

 by the increasing interest and import- 

 ance of the annual reports of individual 

 societies, the development of branch 

 societies, the growth of current account 

 and the beginnings of private audit and 

 of society libraries. The great number 

 of Conferences and their proved useful- 

 ness are evidence of the intelligent 

 enthusiasm which has been aroused in 

 the participators in the movement. So 

 far there has been no failure of a kind to 

 cause even a local set-back, During the 

 year under report one society only 

 worked at a trifling loss, while on the 

 other hand there is found such an 

 example of conspicuous success as the 

 Southern Maratha Society with a 

 membership of nearly 1,400 and a work- 

 ing capital approaching lj lakhs. 



Of special societies those in connection 

 with the weaving and leather making 

 industries are now receiving special 

 attention. There are at present six 

 societies for weavers, as against four at 

 the end of the previous year, together 



