Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1817-05-16


very important facts IN relation to this
discussion. Edward the first, in the wear
| 1919, Influenced by the same barharoas
and fanatic zeal, which bad led him te
Palestine, coniis.tated at single stroke,
! the property OF all HE Jews i'm England
and b2n.shed them from the country
$1,000 were robbed aad driven into exile.
as /, Is impossible, continues The histori-
an, Tor Il nation to subsist, without len
ders OF money, and none will lend withou,
a compensation, ihepraciice of usury was
| thenceiorti', exercised by the English
| themselves, or by Lomhards and other
foreigners, and was probably more since,
| than II had been before As The canon l,,
seconded By the municipa law. p.rmi,,rd
| no christian to fake interest. the chris
tan was 10 be paid not only for the usn
oil his money, but for the iafamy and
draSe'' Mhcl, he incurred by the transac-
| uoh. 10 take interest, saws Bsntham.
was acting like Il Jew. Now the Jews
were not only prosecuted without merry
but abiorred: so much ablIorred, thai
when the victims of the royal edct. were
! preparing to embark, multitut.cs were
thrown by their christian enemies into
| The sea. and perisiied What man then
IN that aye, would lend money on inter.
EST, without bAing Unidentified against
lie rerroach of acting like Jew 2 The
| Spirit OF persecution against these unhap-
! Ply people, II 1t ever existed in this coun
try, has become extinct, but the compar
son, To which il gave birth. is fam,l ar
even at the present day.
The same historian informs ms tI,at
| lienry 9Th, not only enacted laws agai,,st
inter- st, bul against all profit on bills Of
exchange. Ii is needl SIS, he saws. to re-
marx, That these laws could not be exc
c"ten, What, Sn, not executed by Hen
| ~ 'th, miscr, as well a. a ;yrant whose
| agents were active and eager i'm pursuit
OF penalties, and alike regardless of the
means as well as mischiets of extortinp
| them! Yes, Sir, such was the fact
these laws could not be enforced. The
power OF the monarch, the vigilance of
ms agents, aided by timid and subscr-
went Judiciary, avaied nothing. Yet We
| go on Ia The same tract We profit.nei-
| tner by the evidence Of history, nor the
aumoDitiOns Ofour own exprricnce
In the reign OF Henry Sth. as we have
seen, interest al ten per cent was toIer,-
ted but in the reign of his son. tie nro-
| iiiDition was revived, and confirmed in
ior'e during the reign of Mary. Yetno-
hey was lent IN defiance Of the law. and
Oh tne we'i-kn0wn character of Mary
anu ne common rate OF interest was IL
per cent. If law, backed by RELIGIOUS
prejudice, and supported bv a powerful
ana ambitious government. could not re-
STRAIN lire eXactiou OF interest. what arc
we to expect from such laws here nm
| hcid by no such prejudice, backed by no
snci government, but on the other hand
condemned by multifudes, as impoIitic
and absurd9 ''''
In hussia, we are told by Bcn,ham the
laws are totally unavailing, and contracts
are secreIiy made tor interest at the dis
| cretion of the parties.
In England, the rate nfinferest is fved
| 10, II, and even l5percent. are pa;d e.,
money, raised by way of annu;iv rvon
with real security.
know no country. but one. in which
there IS no law againstusur Mr. Locke
| states That IN holland tlIere WAS no such
iaw. Every contract stipulated The rate
OF interest TO he paid; and whether tbe
rate was high or low, the contract ,vas
| enforced. Now, Sir, what mi$chiefs must
have been experienced by the neo,le Of
Holland, u our laws are founded on wis
dom and policy? What extoriiop must
nave been Pc ctised How the money
'endeF, restrained by no law, must have
grown ficii on The spoils Of the nccessi
iohS' ana me eXtravagant, who, let if be
remembered, are always necess;tous i
oir' such must be supposed TO have been
The condition Of the country nv ali ,ybo
think these restraining laws benafc;.l
to tie people. instrumentation Loyo,,ar
could be more erroneous. The common
rate OF inter> st, even then, (about the wear
lGSo) was 3 per cent.
but II may be said, Holland was rich
country, III which capital abounded true
ana tliaf The low price OF money arose
from tins abundance of CAPITAL agreed
contend fOrno more. Let canital alone
where itabounds, il an be procured on
cheap terms: where it does not. q hioher
price must be paid.-The price will reeII-
late itself.
The testimony Of Mr.. Turgot. founded
on actual observation, is equally conclu
siVe. Alter enumeratimg tlevarous heavy
penai'lIs agalnstrsuryin France, he states
expressly thai itmay with truth besaid that
mere is not merchant, or banker. or
person employed IN the business of the
MIG VINO is not exposed to. them. II is
notorious, he saws, that tliescurrcuf busi
ness of almost all France is done Inv ne
gotIation Of this kind and he mentions
one very important branch of business
winch is carried on with money borrowed
at IL per cent, TO the satisfaction of fhe
| borrower as wei! as the lender. (50 Sir. #
| all thiS evidence be not sufficient. LET us
attend To Tue lessons Of our own experi-
ehcc. W what avail are our laws aganst
| uSufy ihe Instances in which tllev
nave an elect are indeed few in number.
| SO few, as 10 be unworthy of notice. Sir
the law is net violated it's evaded ar
rather avoided. The law operates an
loans. ThereiS no such thing as lendiuo