Page:Malabari, Behramji M. - Gujarat and the Gujaratis (1882).djvu/184

168 Márwári with buying a pound of sugar on credit, and has ended that ill-fated acquaintance in the ruin of his manhood. When all this fails to satisfy the relentless fiend, he resorts to the Small Causes Court. He is a great friend of some of the underlings there, and those who know what a summary suit is, need not be told that the Marwari has the power to sell by auction everything the debtor may possess. He often buys up everything himself.

The Márwári feeds upon the poorer classes of Hindus—our factory hands, house servants, and small handicraftsmen. His policy is the policy of the "long rope." He lends and lends till the man is completely in his power. There are Musulmans, too, in the Marwari's debt; and when he finds it is impossible to get anything out of a poor beggar, he sets him to steal. There may be many a notorious Musulman thief who is driven to the trade by the Márwári, who is his instigator and accomplice. The Márwári is invariably the repository of stolen goods. Parsis and Portuguese, too, the Márwári lays under contribution, especially clerks and