Star.
London, England, 1817-05-02 00:00:00

INTEREST CV NIONEV.

Serjeant ONSLO%V, on rising to move fa leave to
bring in a Bill to repeal the Laws relative to the rate
of Interest, said he should not detain the H(,use by
repeating the observations he had already made on
this subject. The Laws relative to Usury wen•
founded on no principle of equity, but on gross iglu,.
ranee of the relative and fluctuating value rf money,
and on the principle that it was improper to take in-
terest among Christian men. It had been said on
former occasion, that this was not the proper time u.
introduce such a measure, but that it would be better
to wait till the Funds were more regular. He hat'
yielded to this opinion, and he was happy that he hat
done so, btcause he was now convinced that tic dOil!I
could any Langer be me:witted un the

fie :lonia now be brief in bis observations. P.c
should not mention the history of the different lent
that had been enacted on this subject, n..t ewe sic,
thet in them all interest was called usury in ii;„
time of Henry VIII. the taking of any interest at ap,
though in the re•ii et ).1.
was held to Le irtetal ;
yard VI. I 4• per rent. wi,. the cemmon interest. T; e
I act sees, that the mere Cte r,,:e r,t interest war re.
..trained, the more tistiry sere; !,r( vaimt ; and the pi!,
;ei.t estioing Act, had only teeded t• increase unity,
end be ,r down entertimate mer, t. ho had their rif!Aits
in tde. worse by yin se operati. 0. tie would nil.; ;ay
that nil loan Lod been rn.t...e by (...leivernstient iti ts.•
memery of man whet e the pubic interest bad been
A irecteA by these &mites ; Istc or .e n..-Wed rrt.
lonked into the nature of Goveretnent securitect 3-.1,
trusted to them alone, et ithout Werence to any ,S..
twos. Indeed we bad now .t very striking instant,
1:1•v: little these :statutes affected U. vernMevit secu-
rities; Ezchrquer ilil:s being neg ciated at a :Tho:!,
lower interest, on account of the anxiety et Mose who
have nrone:t to invest it in them The same was the
case. with respect to the public Funds. where, while
the capital was s t.e, the interest was paid regularly.
On the whole, the state of the money market was
such, that it could not he denied the period web ncw
arrived when the former obji coons of the Right Hon.
Geittleman cpposite were invalidated. Ti e n p,
Cents. had now teac.!ed a prooer state to admit of
such a triiiasure as he proposed; they 11:-..ti advanced
about lo per cen•. since he spoke nn the subject last
year. With respect to the landed interest, it ;here
was any set of men on whom the ;resent laws (Tr-
rated more hardly than on ^theirs, these were the) ;
for those who wanted to borrow on mortgage vt;
driven to the most ruinous expedients. Til..y had
been obliged to give, by way of annuity, trim 10
to 14 or 15 per Cent. tor four and event five tires.—.
The Hon. and Learned Gentleman atlud. a inciJc• -
tally to an eminent public character, wt om he cad
not name, but to whose spirited exertions, the House
would agree with him, too much applause could not
be given, who had been forced to resort to these terms,
and who was now, in consequence, one hundred thou-
sand pounds out of pocket, and yet these were t's
6..ntlemen who were supposed to derive advantte.:;e
I troll' the law as it now stood. It had been tn, rely t i
obtain money alone that this expedient had been t;-
sorted to. He denied that the landed noel est had
benefited. Estates had been brought to market at a
time most impreyer for their sale The It nder el
money would always make every inquiry into the na.
titre of time seem ity before he advanced it, as well as
I into the responsibility of the tenant, and he looked to
the chance ..1 repayment. It had been objected, Mat
the repeal of these Acts would lend t.: put capital iato
the hands of projectiirs—hut what erionia were tr
determine what were or what v.ere nut project, and
whim schemes were rash t.r w!:.tt usetut ?—(Hear.)
Ile must repeat his opinion, that those whom they
were most intended to benefit wine trust ii.jurett by
them. He would instance !rel.:nil in particular,
where the deficiency of capital was now felt mote than
ever. llc hid teceived a letter from a Gentleman is
that part of the kingdom, eiiraplainia, mist grim,
rously of the Want. of capital, as the great desider.i-
tum that depressed all the energies et ore pe.•ple. Ile
diould say nothing more on the siibject, titan mrtly
that on enoetn4 for lease to hr•ng in the Illi, Ire
should not propose to Ell op the blanks with a re s
term than several years. He then moved—"e ri.:t
leave be given to bring in a Bill to I epeal the laws
that regulate or restrain the rate of interest."
Sir FREDERICK FLOOD de-lxied, that he
gave his most hearty aptly &gallon to the motion of the
Hon. and Learned Gain tertian. because he was Con-
vinced that it would be iil great benefit t.. rte - L.Teind
Kingdom. and particulai fy to Leland. tilotiey was
the representative of labour, and it should be left t r
find its own way. It was truly said, that lrehe.d
wanted only capital, for it would make the NeLil..y
and Gentry come and reside there, and tl.en th.a
country would be equal to any part of the gl Le.—
Nothing was wanted ii benefit Ireland but no ra',
and the residence of the Nobility and Gently. Had
they only money Inc then :Iberia:int population, to
employ the well di, posed people and assist die ma.
nufacturers, Ireland won!‘: then be a happy ceuntry.
Without money no country could prosper. Tt e Hl,:l•
Baronet then read au tALI act front .t parnpilet On eie
injurious crnisequetre-s of high interest, ate: cohne-
ded iliac time ought to be no regular ra c of ::::erect'.
I(es:raining iateiest was illegal and Tuned's. i.e
then descanted, at sri:ne length, on the great ad vat"
tage or draning me.ney into lit:laud, and e..lichtd-.1
with giving his hearty cencurrence to the nee ien.
The CHANCEI.I.OIt of the EXCI-11-1(1!:P.
said, he did not rise to oppose the nvitien al the Hi:-
flout-able and Learned Gentleman. it was net has
intention to offer any objections to it at preseet. F:
perfectly coincided with the principle, that some tire:
should be left, but he doubted whether the H!tec
would be prepared yet to concede to such a sii cur.,:
alteration in the laws relative to int. rest as this m"
tion embraced. lie hoped that the extreme ini'li
that the landed interest Stiqained in I)o:rowing morel
had been much overrated. Ile wished, homey r: ..,
reset ve his opinion on the general princri.l•••...i ir=
dill, as adapted to the circumstances of the Orrice.
He should, in its future stages, give it his in e.t. e' ' -
tivr cansideration.

Mr. LOCKIIART doubted whether great iM:•7
migh not be sustained by tepealing the Acts, as
sons who lent money would then be cn.l);e4l te th":
and transfer the securities they held Irons tint:: v.,
tiitiT, in order to get gre::ter interest, which mig
put individuals to the most serious iirconren:ence.
Sir JOHN NEWFORT contended that the
(nation was ruinous at ',resent, and the prorteJ
would not make it mere so. The cif:T. t.f ;he Iry
tor prohibiting greater interest than file
had been so severe and ruinous, that the
had been obliged to open adoor as a venue!y i•);
of annuity, to relieve the country horn the (Tr "...I
it occaLiorwd. They bad sought a remedy : r
evil by allowing annuities to h: raw:J.
l'e annuity•rate of interest had gone ••• the es..t.n•••l
t had done. It was a tact. that morev was l•-tr.r'''.3
it a leas rate of interest in Cetint ies t!'tie .5
to rate fixed by lar, as in 11(•11 end and Itordefe•
han in any one of these countries where sec!" l'
xs'N adopted. Great /3titain had sancttrared
leparture from 11*i own principles by aifortirg
Annuity Act; and s!!e surfered a monorli•
erupting to litter what could nut be fer.ao

ar.d those wbo
!--.• 7.1' H Lad rr.oney to lead,
%,.;•.(..:d to b-rror•
N;_l N s,dd a few words in favour of the
ften given to bring in the Bin.
into x Ccuitn;ttee on the Acts re.
te Buck Whim!, net;olutions were

41104 I '•
the mntion of CllANcuLort Of the Ex-
,,L,, the the 114 :is:: rtsAvt: itstlf into a COlll-
- the I.,,t'ery
toovtd that the Bill shnnld
i..;!tiritt-d, and repett,..! of his f.anier obstr-
T,•..01, ag.tinst the I. ry L)5-em.
11.‘131N(1.1'() tvd the motion.

ci-lANCELLOR .ef tie EXCHEQUER
ssd. ;4, should r:sist nvith,n, On the ground that
has picc:sely the sari^ as those on this sub-
;,;,L had passed for the last two years, and
;!..pp.l-re the printing of it worth: be a useless waste
of rhlic money. By referring to the Statute
Ecriks, tie Honourable Gentleman could get all the
inforn.:lh,a he nriAlit require. There could be no
mete ajvantage from printing this Bill thin those of
the Malt Duty, ur other Annual Bills passed from
itar :o year..
'lre question being put for the House to go into
t!.r Comm:to-IY.
Mr. LYTTLETON said, that in ord...r to have
3r, opportunity of moving that the Bill be printed,
he ',huuld now move that the House be counted,
xacu flare nut being forty Members present, an Ad-
juuiitneta took place.