Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1817-07-29
RICHMOND. JULY 29.
FOR THE ENQUIRER.
A CRITICIZE


reference is desired. the Intended digresslon
Val, for ths present, be postponed, and the cri-
tlVpe continued
AIR. ii. proceeds as follows:
Ire eject of repeating these laws, will he
eventually 10 lower the rate of interest Ii has
been already proved that penal prohibitions
Increase IL. 1t this he true, the removal of The
penalties viii reduce il 10 the point from which
ihc penalties raised IT, Another consideration,
still more important is, that every man who can
spare money, viii lend it. A vast proportion of
tie monied capital OF the country, is now kept
ONT OF employment, hecanse the legal rate OF
interest Is 80 far below that OF tie market
open then the market 20 all. Let Tie BUSINESS
he done III the face OF day in the presence of
witnesses, between the real parties to the tran
Sacuon, ana not as now, III secrecy, By third
person, The lender afraid, aEd The narrower u
Shamed To appear. Yes, Sly. open the market,
and the competition will soon tx the standard
OF interest lower than We have ever yet seen it,.
p" The Inconvenience arising from this meas
nte would be temporary. Let ms suppose, the
law beng repeated, that the market opened at
~ per cent Such am persuaded would not
be the fact; but let il be assumed as tfue-I
am wiling TO take any suppo,i,iOn--the copse
quence IS obvious. Every man, that hadIno
ney, would lend ii. aud others would be Tor
converting their capital into money, that they,
too, might share III the golden harvest. In a
little time the market would be gluttei-lend-
erS would he looking our for borrowers, and
the price OF money wOuld come down as low As
t'ie demand for capital would perntIt TO come.
| money would pour into the country from eve
~ quarter, and never cease to dow, anti inter
est was reduced 20 its proper level. BE assured,
elr great profit never can he made for long
| time IN any business, in which money, aud mo-
| ney, ouly, is required.
" buti wall be said, shall we give up thepeo-
| pic prey 10 U>UrerS and EAtortioners an
| swer, NO. Give them up To themselves let
| them alone. Let them manage their own con-
Germs IN their own way. You have had your
rurn You have been trying for ages 10 lake
care OF them. Your experiment has uniformly
failed. II IS time now TO make different eX-
| pertinent II it fail, also, YOU can easily get
| back TO the ground you leit. no harm Can re
SUIT from leaving, for short time, al least the
| pain IN which you have travelled so long, with
onf being nearer TO The object, than when you
sat ct. II Is time To abandon the pursuit. Are
! you not complaining, at this very moment, of
| CShfy, or SHAVING, OF ENtOrti0nT And is not
! TINS idct independent OF all other circumStan-
ceS, sufhcIcnt, of Itself, to Justify suspicion,
! ihat your own laws are, in Il great degree, the
/ cause al the nlschieis you condemn Ii is won
deriui, says the author OF the Police OF London,
| w!iea We reflect on the various institutions, I'M
| pasaiieied In roint of extent and Inuniicence,
tor the rclc OF the poor or the metro! oils, that
then MlSeT1cS are not 7Lieriated, and that their
! rtorGtS Should eT0w srOrse Good mani he little
| thought that much otthe misery and vice which
| lie depiOred, inevitably arose from the insti.u-
| lions which he admired
| SHAH we give mp the people prey TO USu-
! ~ 5iI, TINS question is proponnded III the We
| and 10th centuries What, shall we give up
| the land TO llcreSy, to mpIety, TO blasphemy !.
shall We suffer intideiity TO uniurl its Standard
| and seducC the people from their allegiance To
the living God : No. We VIII save tue souls of
| out fellow creatures from perolIliou. and punish
| the wretch, who peEversey abandons the ia, th
OF his ancestors. the faith III which lie was
| brought up. Veil, Sir, the pious experiment
! was made, and thonsaHiS, aye millions of hu-
| man beings became its victims. Wen see
/ Its folly, and dep!Ore lis cruelty; and ia this
country, we hold Il 70 be the most clear of all
| truths, the most acred Of all priuciples that
every man should be left Oil the subject of re-
igion, aosciuteiy free Strange inconsistency.
l You permit every man, and II is your boast,
| and happiness, aud glory, that you do permit
| every nian TO adjust in his own way ''the vast
| concerns OF ar eternal world yet, he cannot
make bargain for I9J dollars, without Your
Peeplng over has shoulder, to whether he
gives quarter OF a cent too much"
The ioresaiig observations and deduc-
lions, are 50 natural, so PLAIN, so Just, and
SO conclusive and III the same time con-
| veyed III so iIne strain of eloquence,
that nothing can be added TO lleishtcn
their effects.
Perhaps single expression might re-
quire some quailficali0n.-I'h opinion
expressed by Mr.. H., thai upon opening
the money market the rate of interest
would IL short time be reduced lower
4 IT,
what questionable although not thought
improbable, after full time is given for
the operation OF the principle. Ii is rem
dered questionable by another position
taken by MIR. Hay IN former part of his
| speech, and which does not seem TO be
| perfectly compatible with the opinion
here expressed Ihatthe extensive scope
for the profitable employment of capt.
ial in this country, will make money va
| liable, as long as this state Of things shall
continue, and that the rate of interest
must very much depend upon the pro-
I'll TO be made by The use of capital: but
another position ighf have been sub
siithed, whichwOuid not have admitted
! OF any doubt or question. II is, that in
the case supposed, the rate of interest
would be reduced, as low as the natural
worth of the use Of money. IL is con
| tended, that II ought not 20 be reduced
lower, aud that reducing If lower than lis
natural worth, Would not be beneficial TO
! society. This opinions grounded upon
| tie single consideration, thai the pros
! perity Of society is believed 10 be the
| greatest, when every article Of traffic
| commands price IN The market, equi-
valent to its natural and relative worth
! and there is no reason, which would en-
/ cept the price of money from the general
rule applied 10 all other understandable ar
! tlcIes. But if the money market were
rendered perfectly open and free in all
commercial countries, it is believed that
in short time, the priacipIe, which now
regulates the raie of interest for each in
vidual nation, according TO its local cir
cumstances, would then b. regulated by
the general condition Of all mercantile
nations collectively; and thus introduce
a new rule for estimating the rate OF in
test grounded upon the general condition