ABSTRACT
THE residents of Luts’un attach an extremely high value to the land they possess because it is the main source of the income upon which their material comfort and social prestige depend and because it is the symbol of the family’s continuity. The individual is only the temporary custodian of the family land; and he accepts, when he inherits it from his ancestors, the obligation to transmit it intact to his descendants. If he is not able to retain it, he will stand condemned in the eyes of the community. So the financially pressed peasant will exhaust every possible means of raising money before he considers giving up his land. In the previous chapter we have shown how the villagers may solve their immediate financial difficulties through the existing credit system. But it is clear that, in view of the high rate of interest (twice as high as the rate of farm profit), this system does not offer a lasting solution to the villagers’ financial problems. Once a peasant is enmeshed in debts, his only hope of freeing himself is through a reduction of his standard of living. But where this is already very low, it may be impossible to accumulate enough to repay his creditors. Thus the existing system in most cases serves only to delay the inevitable loss of the land. In spite of the resistance of the villagers to this final extreme step, there are always some limited offerings on the land market.
