§ MR. S. SMITH (Flintshire)asked the Under Secretary of State for India, Whether, looking to the indebted and depressed condition of the Indian Ryot, he can state if any steps are being taken to carry out the practical experiment proposed by the Government of India in their Despatch, No. 658 R of 8th December, 1882, with a view to introducing into India the system of agricultural banks, which have proved so useful in Germany and elsewhere in providing the peasantry with capital at moderate rates, and in protecting them from the exactions of small usurers; and, whether he will lay upon the Table of the House the Correspondence relating to this question?
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE (Sir JOHN GORST) (Chatham)The proposals made in the letter referred to by the hon. Member were carefully considered in 1882 by the Secretary of State in Council, with the result that it was determined that they were not capable of practical application. I shall be prepared to lay the Papers on the Table.