Added  as  a Monthly  Supplement  to  the  “ TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST." 
THE  MAGAZINE 
OP 
TfjG  SGBOOL  OF  AGRICULTURE, 
COLOMBO. 
Vol,  IV.]  JUNE,  1893.  [No.  12. 
AGRICULTURAL  LOANS. 
HE  indebtedness  of  the  Indian  ryot 
and  his  dependence  on  the  soivcar 
or  the  money-lender  has  now  been 
shown  to  exist  nearly  all  through- 
out India ; in  fact,  the  small  land- 
holders are  at  the  present  day  in  a more  or 
less  ruined  state,  and  before  long  it  is  feared 
many  of  them  will  completely  break  down. 
Legislative  Acts  were  passed  in  1883  and  1884 — 
Agricultural  Loans  Acts — to  enable  the  Government 
to  advance  money  to  the  ryots  tor  agricultural  im- 
provements. Perhaps,  if  these  regulations  came  into 
operation  a score  of  years  before,  they  would  have 
been  of  material  help  to  the  cultivator,  but  now 
the  ryot  is  hardly  able  to  reap  the  full  bene- 
fit of  their  provisions. 
Under  the  Agricultural  Loans  Acts,  landowners 
are  allowed  to  receive  loans  from  Government  for 
the  purpose  of  directly  improving  their  lands;  and 
they  may  borrow  for  the  purpose  of  buying 
cattle,  or  implements  for  drainage  and  clearing  of 
lauds,  for  the  purchase  of  seed  paddy,  construction 
of  irrigation  works,  &c.,  the  amounts  thus  received 
having  to  be  returned  in  yearly  instalments.  At 
one  time  it  was  feared  the  ryot  would  not  take 
advantage  of  the  offers  of  Government  through 
ignorance  orlear,  or  that  he  might  in  many  instances 
attempt  to  obtain  money  under  false  pretences, 
for  other  than  agricultural  purposes.  Some 
people  went  so  far  as  to  say  that  the  ryot 
would  sooner  get  their  money  from  the  soivcar,  in 
spite  of  the  ruinous  rates  of  interest  than  from 
Government,  as  the  soivcar  would  allow  them  to 
have  their  own  way  for  a long  time  before  putting 
on  pressure,  whereas  Government  demands  will 
have  to  be  met  then  and  there. 
I rom  the  Report  for  the  last  year  on  the  working 
of  the  Loans  Act,  it  is  amply  demonstrated  that  the 
ryot  is  not  blind  to  the  advantages  offered  by 
Government  loans,  that  he  has  taken  full  ad- 
vantage of  the  liberality  of  the  Government,  and 
that  there  is  a greater  demand  for  loans  than  the 
administration  was  prepared  to  advance  ; further, 
twe  dues  have  been  regularly  returned  within  the 
prescribed  dates,  and  not  a single  instance  has  been 
met  with  where  the  ryot  even  attempted  to  evade 
the  authorities  and  use  the  advances  obtained 
for  other  purposes,  though  it  is  almost  proverbial 
that  the  Indian  peasant  whenever  he  is  able  to 
get  the  money  is  fond  of  spending  it  lavishly  on 
jewellery  and  gold.  The  amount  of  money  ad- 
vanced under  this  Act  during  the  last  year  in 
India  has  been  forty-eight  lacs  of  rupees. 
The  goyiyas  of  Ceylon  in  many  instances  are 
indebted  to  usurious  money-lenders,  but  their 
indebtedness  is  not  a fraction  of  what  it  is  in  India, 
nor  is  it  so  widespread.  The  goyiyas  are  involved 
to  such  an  extent,  however,  as  to  make  it  impossible 
f or  them  to  be  rid  of  theirjdebts  of  themselves.  There 
may  no  doubt  be  rare  instances  where  this  is  not  so, 
but  these  cannot  be  taken  into  consideration  in  a 
general  view  of  the  subject.  It  would  be  interesting 
if  a proper  estimate  could  be  made  of  the  extent 
of  indebtedness  of  the  goyiyas  in  different  districts. 
Such  an  estimate,  correct  for  all  practical  pur- 
poses, could  no  doubt  be  made  by  referring  to  the 
lists  of  Notarial  deeds  executed  in  the  districts 
within  a given  period. 
No  one  could  deny  that  the  goyiyas  are  a poor 
lot.  They  are,  moreover,  indebted  in  another  way 
and  in  a way  which  is  more  serious  than  the  or- 
dinary form  of  indebtedness.  They  sell  their  labour 
before  the  season  of  cultivation  for  the  very 
purpose  of  carrying  it  on.  They  borrow  seed- 
paddy,  cattle,  and  sometimes  a score  of  measures  of 
grain  to  last  during  the  working  season  ; and  for 
all  these  the  interest  they  have  to  pay  is  enormous. 
A rich  neighbour  who  at  times  may  talk  very 
sympathizingly  of  the  goyiyas  to  his  equals  or 
those  in  office,  will  probably  not  lend  a measure 
of  seed-paddy  unless  he  is  promised  the  delivery 
of  two  measures  at  the  end  of  four  months.  This 
means  an  interest  of  hundred  per  cent  for  four 
months,  or  calculating  compound  interest  800  per 
cent  for  one  year.  When  these  and  other  dues  are 
paid,  the  labourer  hardly  finds  anything  left  him 
for  his  trouble.  This  state  of  things  goes  on  from 
season  to  season,  and  year  by  year  the  “ cutest  ” 
man  cannot  for  a moment  see  his  way  to  extricat- 
ing himself  from  such  a mess.  This  is  one  of  the 
main  reasons  why  paddy  cultivation  is  not  paying, 
and  why  a goyiya  cannot  adopt  any  improvement 
in  his  method  of  cultivation  or  go  in  for  any  uew 
departure,  even  if  it  promises  to  be  of  immense 
benefit  to  him.  The  disastrous  results  of  the 
now  defunct  grain  commutation  tax  may  solely 
be  attributed  to  the  same  source  as  the  above, 
