The National Register.
London, England, 1818-08-16 00:00:00

TY:

TITF,- NATIONAL REGTSTER

a clause ineking it penal (of colll'%ll, I lin not 111.1111 et iinitially)
Ise letiol ',tomes' at ieterest, or by way of annuity, to au infant,
wa plarine it nut of the power of the itifint when lie conies
of aste to ratify sinsti a I ; and aeowine hint to recover it
by action. if lie itetually do p-ty it, and giving him the brolefil
()fa diecovery is equity Neatest the lender. There pie a clatiee
tiv to that tiffeet, is the Annuity Act, %%kWh mielit, with
the litice,sary era! i.on, be adopted iii this ease. Foor smile
few s eats past it 11.,s been metal to ineei t ',lowers of sale
w !telly al the 111.! mei tgagee is lour:gazes of
n property'. 'rhos pow er en 41/11'.4 mortt;:ra•eul °hee to
swat ato Ithi+elf the repayment of his principal and it ap•
pears to me, ilea welt, that operation is Inily mulcts I, the
sleet wid be to lot, er the rate of interest on real secon ii les,
may observe, that within the last few years litany persons
have borrowed money by way of animity, who, w Ihreier
list net eneaste in sitch trammetions. Scarcely any
man emend lotto a Mudding speculatium with a eniell capital,
who ,i;,l not rai,r looney by annuities, upon the semot Ay et his
buildings, and very freqiiently before they were cove, ed
I have k ter svlt fines rratills practised in this respect, such as a
tiiii•lnel 'mese sliewn to a party. aittl ht deseriptiom of an
entieisheil oile afterwards snlistittated. Douses have hetet
,hewn as a stocarity, in the finishiog of which erent uninbers
of win kowit were employed, all of whom were taken °tithe
too:matt the transaction' Was completed, and the amittitants
were then left without ally security ter the annuity. By
these anti ether frauds, I apprehend tbat more money has
leito lonot than stained by loans under the shade of life ennui_
lies or slllBll tint' I have known Sill.1.•11 very dis-
tressing eases in which unprotected feartles have lost the
II hole rowans of their subsistence by soich tianc.tetinits ; putt
it does appear to me, that if the usury law.; had not existed no
cash Illitojlki% as those which 113111' poillt i*ti
0111, would bane
IWC.IOSO 103114 are tionolucteof vi 111. great (withal and
regulativ. In mmy instances professed annuity' dealers
have cellecied small smite flout all tle•osi 'Ohms of nersoott•,
until they formed a considerable ageregate ; this they have
laid mot in their own names in the puroilmee of mic annuity,
mod there lia, been .4 deed to declare Ihe trust of the annuity,
for the persons whose names were advalired, according to the
proportion in which they hail aolvaneed them ; they then pro-
cure themselves to be appoiuted receiveis of the rents, in
order to pay the anneity, for which they have a con.l6,sion,
anal the annuitants ate liCei';iiatily compelled to appoint
Mem their receivers also, for which they charge another
comntibeion. tempt:it:oo oil the part of a solicitor to '
lend money upon anted tiet %e;sy ;trong, becnuse without
any cheek 'moon his charges he deurraols whatever sant he
pleases, and lie takes care that it ie itistant:y paid ; for in no
instance is the bort to .vr r neowed to leave tint 100111 until he
has paid the solicitor's charge. It frequentiy happens, nett
the solicitor was orieinelie eeneerned ler the mail wl.o bor-
roes the money, :inlets .do he I. is taken the pains to find opt
man who wants to lend it, :tol lie does nut feel that interest
in obtaining a proper seeority for the annuity, which it is
always the dirty sit the solicitor to do in a regular transactioe.
In shout, annnities in their rise were a mere evasion of the
law of the laud in their proere:eo overturned the laws,
and in their consimitnatiom they ruined most of the parties
who engaged in them. Act of the 17th of the king,
which was intended to restrain such transactions, led tc mare
titration, perhaps, within the same space of time that, my
ether Act on the S.:. tatute Book. The moment the borrower
felt the annuity press heavily on him, he attempted, and often
with success, to set aside the grant; this led to great oppres-
sion ou both sides.; the lender considered hioneeilf as out of
the pale of the law, and exacted a rate of interest which he
considered would cover at once hie risk and his disgrace.—
The borrower considered himself as oppressed, and applied
part of the very money which lie liorrosved in defeating the
security which he had given rot it ; all these ciremnstances led
to the oppressive and irregular way in whisk RIICII transactions
are conducted. The Act of the s:',d of the King !tat put n total
stop to all litigation in regard to grants of annuities : that Act
has now brim, live years in operation, and ant a single annuity
granted within that pLitioti has liven the subject cola law suit ;
but nothing short of a repeal of the usury laws can put a
stop to the abuses is hieh attend grants of annuities; they
stronsly encourage a spirit of gambling ; for as the re-pay-
ment of the money lent cannot be inferred, and Cie unotedy
is granted upon a contingency, the borrower too reerpiently
neglect; to provide for re-peyone.nt of the loan, but trusts to
Chance for the determination of the antitlity.
Do you think it woodol he best forall tiescriptioltro of persons,
and for thiestate, that there siineld be no boundary or re.
straint whatever r f.. 0 interest, brit that it should be left to
the convenience, wants and agreements of the borrowers and
leudersi--,Under the existing circumstances of the country,
am clearly of opinion, that it would he for the I:emit:dot' all
parties that there should he no restraint upon loans at interest.
By the existing tiiielionstaitees of the country, I mean the
depre of commercial enterprise thr.t pervades it, and the
immense capital thet i: possesses; if the market rate of in-
terest rise above the legal rate, there are sire tidy numerous
deriee. by which the r.sozry Errs are evaded, mid the bor.
rower is forced to pay mot only the market rate, but a coin-
pensatiuht for Ilus risk Lad diser.“:e Which attend a breach of
the laws. The high rate of Wittiest which can now be oto
taineil in Fiance; aryl which is pail: in Englaml as regodarly
as our :own is a strong Inge:tient is favour of the re-
peal el the laws, if Cie market rate of interest were at this
moment above the level of the law, ins t eat: of being as is ite•
litany is below it. In a commeinial country like outs, si It ti
large capital, usury laws :mist, I apr•diend, alwas
to the true interests or the community. If such laws
merely fellow the tot.tte of the market. they sue at best un-
*WC(' ssary, it' they dio,regar.l the state et' the market, they w ill in-
e vi tahly thentsel yrs be disregai ded. From the fluctuation of the
vallie of money, it is impossible to pass a law wide!, shall at ail
times accord with the state of the market. The greater the
penalty that ioo imposed on the bi ea eh of the law, the less is
the chance of the law beiog ration-ed. Our usury laws have
been hourly broken, mid an instance raisey occurs in which
the heavy penalties have been recus vied ; there appears to
me Ito fammlaiion whatever for the notion that it is for the
loot petit of the gavernment that the !egg lAN' Or iIIIC!CA SllOlll4l
101% ; a wise goseintiletit, I recut chit, wonnf eneotiralie a
ready circulation of money aiii•mgrd landed lot-omit...tors, amt
not drive them to sloits too esorde notary laws. Whether our
users is tic be repeated or mot, the Minted interest will alweys
command the tiae of the capital white' their neenssitie., esti
for; upon loans to Goveillilli lit, I apprt bend, the &gal rate of
interest has no intitietive ; die rate of interest on the Stock
Exchange regelutea them, tied that is nut influenced by the
legal hate.

Oil Moool.iy afternoon, the main% of Mica Pone, of
theatrical erlehrily, wtss t• iettiovcl from Brompton for inter-
ment in the vault of St. M.,rtiii'4 ettorelt. The ekininie of
Dr.Ashe and two other& folio% et! the mounting coache!.

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