USURIOUS TRANSACTIONS 657
pounce upon in case of default of payment. A Hindu ' s whole property generally consists of a few head of cattle; but such property is inviolable. If a creditor tried to seize a debtor ' s cattle, the magistrates would interfere to prevent
it; not altogether in the interests of the agriculturist, but because by thus taking away the means of cultivating his
fields, the creditors would, at the same time, prevent his being able to pay the taxes which belong to the State.
Even the hut which the Hindu inhabits does not belong to him, but is the property of the State. When he leaves his village to settle elsewhere, he has no right to dispose of his hovel. It remains unoccupied either until some other inhabitant comes, and with the consent of the headmen of the village takes possession of it, or until it falls to pieces.
Thus it may readily be understood that usurious moneylending does not always tend to enrich the usurer. It very often happens that borrower and lender are both completely ruined together. Nevertheless, the lenders need never relinquish all hope.
The legal system of bankruptcy, which the dishonest man will so gladly avail himself of, and by which he can grow rich at the expense of his creditors, is unknown in India.
If a debtor dies insolvent, his descendants to the sixth generation continue to be responsible for his debts \
Criminal jurisprudence in India varies greatly. In some castes, for instance, the woman who commits adultery renders herself liable to capital punishment, but neither her parents nor the headmen of her caste have to carry out or assist at her execution. Her husband alone has the right to put her to death. These severe measures, however, have never been put in practice except in countries governed
by native princes. The Mahomedans always opposed them wherever their rule extended. They thought it would
be less cruel and more advantageous to the State to inflict very heavy fines for offences of this nature. Thus, a woman
or girl not a prostitute by profession, who is proved to have
committed adultery, particularly if she afterwards became pregnant and thereby convicted herself, would be sentenced to a very heavy fine, quite beyond her power to pay; and
1
The law on this subject is now in conformity with the English laws.
— Ed.