Credit of the Worker. 
Thought on the subject has naturally concentrated mainly 
on the position of the borrower. We also are anxious to protect the 
borrower ; at the same time considerable light can be thrown on the pro- 
blem by examining it from the other end, namely, from the point of view 
of the lender. The worker’s debts are due to a large extent to the fact 
that the lender finds in him a profitable investment and is ready and, 
indeed, eager to give the worker money which it is contrary to the latter's 
interest to accept. After weighing carefully the considerations on both 
sides, we are definitely of the opinion that itisin the worker’s interest to 
reduce his attractiveness as a field for investment. In other words, efforts 
must be concentrated on diminishing his power of obtaining credit. 
We recognise the force of the argument against this conclusion. There 
are occasions when the worker is in grave need, and money-lenders often 
perform a useful function in assisting the worker in emergencies. But 
the widespread havoc produced by the present system of comparatively 
easy credit far exceeds the hardships that would result from a reduction 
in the money-lender’s readiness to lend. It is relevant to observe that, 
if the larger loans were not advanced, the worker would probably find it 
easier than it is to borrow the smaller sums necessary to tide him over a 
hard time and to repay these without undue delay. Our proposals, then, 
are mainly directed towards making it unprofitable for the money-lender 
to advance to workers amounts which are beyond their power to repay. 
INDEBTEDNESS. 
22] 
Attachment of Wages and Salaries. 
Our first recommendation in this connection refers to the re- 
covery of debts through employers. Under the Civil Procedure Code, 
it is possible for a money-lender to secure the attachment of the wages 
of any one who is not a labourer or a domestic servant, and we understand 
that the majority of workers in. organised industry would not be regarded 
as labourers within the meaning of the Act. But in respect of certain 
classes of employees, particularly railway servants and the servants 
of local authorities, the law allows the money-lender to use the employer 
as his debt-collector to a much greater extent. In such cases it is possible 
to attach half of an employee’s salary or the amount by which that salary 
exceeds twenty rupees a month, whichever is less. In some cases pri- 
vate employers are required to make similar recoveries, although 
the legality of this is doubtful. Thus, in the case of an employee 
In receipt of a regular salary, the money-lender can secure an 
order directing the railway administration to hand over, month by 
month, a large part of the employee’s salary until the whole decree 
has been covered, a period which extends in some cases to years 
rather than months. The comparative security of railway service 
further increases the attraction of the railway servant for the money- 
lender, and all the evidence goes to show that the level of indebtedness 
In terms of wages is higher among railway servants than among 
Industrial employees as a whole. This is itself a striking confirmation 
of our main thesis that it is the credit of the worker whichis his undoing.