The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-01-14 00:00:00

THE USURY LAWS.

• •
(Fr oni the Morningleraltl)
A ministerial' evening aontempor ry claims it large ma-
sure of credit for-the; cabinet of Lerd Melbourne, on the
score of the aid which that cabinet has lent to the efforth of
certain classes of moneyed men, to repeal entirely the usury
laws. The question .is one, as, itsegins to us, of exceeding
delicacy—one not to be :disposed of quite so summarily as
our contemporary appears to imagine, even although his own
authority is supported by that of Jeremy Bentham. • It may
be only fair, however, to permit our contemporary to state
his views in his own terms :

" Our readers will recollect that during the late session of
parliament, as well 6S-during the. last five years, the govern-
ment have made various .propositions for the modification or
-repeal of lawS. In these useful measures, as in
many- others, they had to encounter a tory opposition, and-
bills proposed to be made permanent-or -efficient were
amended, as by .parliamentary phrase- it is said, .and, were
limited both in their duration and in their enactments.—
Lord Ashburton called the attention of the House of Lords
to the religious, objections applicable to the government bill ;
Sir Robert Inglis seemed to consider the enfranchisement
of mercantile security to be a branch of the detested Jew bill:
and the country -gentlemen would have preferred leaving
the farmer without- the means of borrowing at all, to the
alternative of paying for money that which it was really
worth. :The mere fact that Jeremy Bentham had
'written against the .usury laws was sufficient to make
the . fories rely upon their stupid enActinents as part
and!
.parcel of ;the- British constitution, and ' five' per
cent' would assuredly have been a less objectionableparty
crythan ' Protestant ascendancy.' Feeling convinced upon
-general principles that the measure of Lord Melbourne's Go-
vernment was a sound one, it has beewwith peculiar pleasure
that sVe find our judgment confirmed by the high authority
of Mr. Samuel Jones Loyd, equally distinguished as en en-
lightened economist and a practical man. He observes in
his late painplilet, ' The partial repeal of the usury laws has
been of incalculable advantage to the commercial community,
by securing the free circulation of capital, and the power, by
the inducement of higher interest, of determining the appli-
cation of it to those quarters in•which the demand may be
the most intense. It was essentially necessary that the al-
teration of the law. should precede any attempt to separate
the management of the circulation from the banking business ;
and itwill be found the -means of obviating many of the diffi-
culties and alleviating many of the inconveniences as may be
apprehended as consequent on such alteration."
We must be allowed to observe that the " advantages"
connected with the relaxation of the Usury Laws, to which
Mr. Loyd adverts; may not be admitted, as establishing the
soundness of that principle, which has, hitherto, been deno-
minated the principle of usury, whatever be the more ho-
nourable title which it is destined to attain, in the approach-
ing age of universally.diffuSed "- intellect." A relaxation
of the Uspry Laws may, at particular seasons, and under
the pressure of derangement in the financial affairs of the
country, be found to impart relief, as the use of poisons may
in particular stages of disease be found to check the progress
of debility.
Bentham's argument in favour of usury is akin to the ar-
gument employed by Mr. Loyd. Bentham establishes that
the existence of stringent laws against usury is apt to inflict
injury on the poorest classes of borrowers, without checking
the practice of borrowing.at a ruinous rate of interest. The
reasoning is, to a certain extent, sound ; yet it leaves alto-
gether out of view certain considerations most important in
attempting to arrive at a just conclusion upon the sublect.
Concurrently with what is usually styled " the progress of
civilisation," may he noted the perpetual tendency of money
to rise in value, amid of labour to decline. As population in-
creases, and commercial exchanges multiply, the uses of
money become more numerous, and the demand for it, by
consequence, greater. In conditions of society, which we,
in the plentitude of our s elf-sufficiency, are wont to regard
as only semi-civilised, the custom of barter in as infinite vari-
ety of forms prevails,and enables the people who carry on
the business of life, to a great extent, to dispense with the use
of money. The advance of " civilisation," however, in-
volves the gradual ascendancy of the money-power in every
state ; and all wise governments, in all ages of the world, have
deemed it necessary to sustain by legislative enactment, the
cause of industry against the encroachments of the usurious
principle:. It may be true, that direct legislation againgt usury
may never have succeeded in checking altogether the practice
of lending at an enormous rate of ,interest—because, un-
doubtedly, under all systems of government there has been
faiind wretchedness willing to borrow on any terms and rapa-
city not unwilling to lend a little, for the chance of receiving
'back an hundred, or a thousand fold. The good effects, how-
ever, of legislation against usury, are proved by the fact
that a public opinion has always been created, in aid of the
'law—a valid opinion which branded as disgraceful theac-
ceptance of more than a moderate per-tentage for the Use's&
• money. - The law has already in this country, been mate-
rially,altered, and may, ver.y.probably soon, be altogether re-
pealed.' 'Public opinion will, in this event, follow the law, as-
it did..before ; and the imputation of n'surions dealing willlose
its terrors. But mark the result. The power of the moneyed.
• classes will in consequence of such a revolution in senti-
ment, be obviously increased to a scarcely-calculable extent ;
while the whole commercial arrangements of society will
asSurrie,,everr day,.snore deeply the aspect of gambling. The
money of the country will, . gradually, find its way-into the
powssien of a smaller number of men ; while the parties de-
sirous to berrow.must, in order to meet the demands of the
parties willing to lend, engage in trading transactions of the
most wildly-speculative character. Such his been for many
years, too Much the tendency. of .English trade ; and the re—
peal of the usvy laws will, unquestionably, stimulate that
tendency to insaincalculable extent.
T 4- 6,vijo;spr which, according to Mi. Loyd, the partial.
repeal.of-tlie T.,l_,Sury Laws has
..proved, to a certain. ex tent, a
remedy, liaYe been caused almost exclusively by our unsound,
syStern of (asrency. A rectification .of the disorder.of
currency mig,lit be found more efficaCions in relieving the
distress, of the-mercantile community„than the-repeal-of tile
Usury Laws. wilt eve:

RAILWAYS IN IRELAND.

. •

.. . .. „ .
. . .
(Front the :Dublin Evening Packet) • ~
"
The reader will See, by-an advertisement iu our present
publication' that a meeting is intended to be held it the
Commercial Buildings, Dame-street, on Monday next, for,
the purpose of submitting certain resolutiqns passed at the
Thatched
.HOus© Tavern,,,London,
~in April last. Having
been present at the passing of the reselutions alluded to, we
can speak with,eertainty at dicoppidence as to their spirit and
intention, Which were; rt,,, 444,,,.17ai110ad in Ireland should
1;e .iinitiltmicously,c44e Y+ i ,pest, and ,outh, with a
view to extend Llce:adiAlithei_ypie undertaking
.equally to
all the provincq, insreadpmFfiliin; them to the tenth,: as
was designed hy. the . fritine&) tlle. tioyernmcnt Report on
IFNI) Railways. Ike meatng, at, the Thatched House Li
..
vern Was called by theTriends Of private enterprise,,the oppo-,
vents of government frionovly, nut, tile enemies . of the job
for 'effecting which the4Or, of Toni Drummond was framed
lAA they did not, insist upon 1,4 adoption of their plan for
the eneourzikeinerit of. the pripciple_of private enterprise, and
the investment'" Of the serpins capital of England in Irish
railways, lest a division betweeii them and the, friends of the
government scheme, who attended in a strung number. should
fruStrate the establishment of the important principle that,
each of the provinces should gain alike by any grant of par-
liament for the purpose of Irish railways. It was distinctly„
intimated at the meeting, that the principle of private enter-
prise-was not abandoned ; that it was .only placed in abey-
ance, for sake of unanimity, until the intention.of the govern.
merit on the subject of the new proposition should be known.
'To the principle of private enterprise we stelidfaitly- ad-
here ; and, so far from anything that basheen said in .faVor
Of government monopoly having,shaken ouropinions, every-
thing we have heard upon the subject has tended to convince
us the mdre that we are, and were originally, right. A cer-
tain individual, who sometimes tells truth unwittingly anti by
accident, declared, at the last meeting of the monopoli, ts held
at the Commercial Buildings—" That the goveriniiclit had
frightened English capitalists out of the Irish market." That
was a' truth, though tittered by Daniel O'Connell,
,who.
exclaimed—" Let me go to the .government and I Will CO,ii-
vinee them that they should advance money fur rakci,a4,in
-- Irelandl will tell them that 'they have, by
.their ,r004,'
frightened English capitalists' out of the field."' ThAs, we
repeat, was true, though spoken by Mr. O'Cininell. .:Every
sensible andlinpartird man must be convinced that theigreat
want of Ireland is capita, and that the influx of the surplus
capital of England would fertilise Ireland—would make her,
prosperous, industrious; happy, and contented. A feWlialtry
millions from the governinent;or from parliament; spent on
railroads, in the hands of monopolists, would hot ,cfrectualo.
:
benefit the country. „
We want John Bull aniong,St ps, superintending the outlay
of his capital, and exploring our vast resources:fOr investment
of this overgrown wealth. We want him to find out employ-
ment for our idle and overgrown population, by digging our
mines and blasting our quarries for his benefit and our own.
If the governmentiutended to advance the country, a parlia.
mentary grant in aid of private enterpriie would have been
long snee applied for„and the foul job meditated for the be-
nefit of an individual would have been given up. But it is
folly to talk of an intention on the part of the Whigs to
benefit any portion of the empire, or any person beyond the
circle of those who serve to keep them in office,
It should not be forgot by those who may attend the meet-
ing on Monday, that Sir Sobert Peel advocates the principle
of encouraging private enterprise, and the outlay of British
capital in Ireland ; and that the Right Honorable Baronet,
when he shall return to office, will ask parliament for a grant
or loan to advance the interests of this distracted country, by
aiding railroad speculation—a prayer or demand in which the
representatives of the Irish people cannot refuSe to join, lest
they should lose their seats, and in which the English mem-
bers will heartily concur, because it will open a field for the
investment of their capital. Most earnestly do we entreat
the friends of private enterprise—the trite friends of Ireland
and of England, and the enemies of jobbing and monopoly—to
be firm in the maintenance of their principle, which being
founded on truth must ultimately prevail.

STATE TINKERS.

(From the Courier)

Mr. Villiers delivered a *speech; at dinner giVen to him
and, Mr. Thornley; at Wolverhampton, 'on Thurdny; the
topics of which the Wolverhampton Chronicle thus sums
up :
" The corn-laws want mericlingthe 'Church wants Inend'
ing—the currency systein wants mending—the House' of
Commons wants mending=-monopolies want abolishing—the
Ministry wants pushing on, and
.the labouring classes want
votes."

The Wolverhampton Chronicle. observes : •
" Allthehe wants are prettily enough enumerated, made
so many themes for neat tlisqiiisitions, but not a practical
word from the hon. member's
We will take the liberty to add, that The very thing which
wants the mending most of all,. namely, the " Cabinet," is
the,very thing omitted in .the hon. member's enumeration.
But bow is it that, after so many years of Whig-radical rule,
so much mending is required in all our institutions ? It
would not be politic to compare the present government •to
a certain peripatetic pretender, of whom it is proverbially
remarked that, in mending one hole he makes two., but.the
similitude irresistibly occurs to our imagination. -We would
rather attribute the increased mending which is called for
according to Mr. Villiers,: to the peculiar ill-fortune 'which
seems to have attended the attempts of his friends at im-
proving what they have .taken- in hand; for it is a turious
fact, that precisely in proportion to their official meddling
with and mending what they did- not understand, has -the
necessity for further mendings arisen to remedy the bungling
acts and the mischief- which they have perpetrated.

The Irish Fishery Company have abandoned their newly-
formed. establishment in Galway,

DoNGENussGriT.--.The directors of the Trinity House
intend to
.place another row of lamps in the light-house, as
an addition to the present ones, which, will increase the
brilliancy of the light, and assist theinariners in avoiding the,
dangers of the coast in stortny nights. The lighthouse has
been much improved by the,present
_proprietors.
REQUISITION TO MR. HARDY.—The electors of Bradford
have not forgotten the talents and services o.f their old friend,
and being anxious again to have the opportunity of recording
their support in favour of a triau,who will be some means of
redeeming their representation in parliament, from the dis-
grace and imbecility which are its present characteristics,
they have determined to take steps to Eecure the nomination
of Mr. Hardy at the first opportunity.' Accordingly a requi-
sition has been got up and. signed very numerously by the
electors, so numerously, as to have justified its presentation,.
and to have induced Mr. Hardy's acceptance. The nainber
of bona fide electors who have signed the requisition is4lhc:,nt:
650. Requisitions had been presented to"4lrttlardy from
Hull and Windsor, which were declined in faifhtiFof the ppe':,
from Bradford.—Letds Intelligencer.

VESSELS ENTERED FOR LOADING.

(SINCE OUR LAST PUBLICATION.)

EAST INDIEf';', CAPE OP GOOD HOPE, &.c.
Julius exsar, M Mitchell, 737 Adcn and Bombay,
. . _

1 ,
Anderson,„ Garrow & Co
Caledonia, II Carmel!, 518 Bombay, W & J Tyrer
AFRICA.

Boddingtons, ------, '361 Africa, WA & G Maxwell &Co
Hankinson, —; 229 Africa, 11 Smith & Co
NEW SOUTH WALES.
Cintra, W Renfroe, 114 Port Phillip and Sydney,
Cotesworth & Wynne
WEST INDIES AND MADEIRA.

Avon, J RoLiusop, 251 Trinidad, J Poole & Co
Brilliant, P Lefever, 277 Trinidad and Grenada, W Rose & Co
SOUTH AMERICA.

'PomlinSon, W Wallace, -
Astrea J•Storde, 208 Monte Video, W & J Tyrer
Mir, T•Wargllcn, 315 Pernambuco, M'Nair & Dutton
Amlia, J Dalrymple, . . 350 Valparaiso, W& J Tyrer
Maypo, G Seymour, 173 Lima, T & J Brocklebauk
• UNITED STATES.
Minerva, ,-- --, 349 New Orleans, G Brown & Harrison
Washington, W Adams, 428 New Orleans, Ingleby & Co
Chatham, J Richardson, 470 Boston, Baring Brothers &Co
Wave, J'Broadfoot, - 638 New Orleans, Bold & Sturkey
Nonantlxin, Banbury, 735 New Orleans, Hughes, Cowie &Co
Thistle, J Hamilton, - 612 Savannah, Bold & Starkey
• -BRITISH AMERICA.
- - -

S S Lawson, 110 Newfoundland,
EUROPE.

It Alsop

Iroffnung. C r Baumann, 150 Antwerp, Bahr, Behrend &Co
Roscoe', C Ellis, 101 Messina and Palermo, Cram & Co
Meteor, Merre, Ostend, •Bahr, Behrend &Co

,
Superb, W Melhuish,
107 Messina and Palermo,
Haskayne, Chapple & Co
Ilebe, T Warren, 125 Syra and Constantinople, Bahr & Co
Nerio, W Jarvis, 90 Gibraltar and Newfoundland,
Cotesworth & Wynne
Jane, D Vivian, 130 Leghorn, Bahr, Behrend &Co
Patriot, H W Sawbridge, 95 Naples and Palermo, J Moss &Co
Farewell, R Kersch, ' 250 Elsinore and Pillau, C G Weber &Co
Conradine, T Museke. Hambro', Bahr, Behrend &Co
Harmony, T Fluckhatt, 155 Leghorn, Kirkby & Watson
Sultana, R Scott, 120 Leghorn and Messina, J Moss & Co
Dean, T Hainan, 81 Malta and Coda, Bahr, Behrend & CO
Delpliine, -- Chevelen, 90 Nantes, G A Lilly & Co
Emma Graham, J Ferguson, 210 Oporto, Higtfeld & Withers
Media, .1 W Bluc,kest, ' Stettin, Bahr, Behrend &Co
Sarah, L: Catiern. ' 290 Genoa and Naples, Haskayne, Chapple & Co
Gitevn Victoria, \V WriB•iit, • • Hambro', Bahr, Behrend &Co
. L'.Eeli ,se 13 , 90 Marseilles, Bahr, Behrend &Co
. i Roy,
__—,----••=—,,,-.-,-c.„....,—....

GRAND JUNCTION RAILWAY.

The following are the Times of Departure from Lime-street,
Liverpool, and from Liverpool-road, Manchester :