The Rutland herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1850-1852, 1850-09-19

In the region of T,bc,ius there wa. a
general tumuls on account, al the pres..
ure of asury. In the time Of Phny the
Younger. = per cent per anuum Was
apparenlly the usual demand. Finally
| the Emperor Jusiinian made six per
cent. the ordinary and legal rate, con.
fncd pcrsons Of high rank 10 four. a..
lowed eight for the convenience of
man ufactsrcrs and merchants, and -
to nautical insurance; violations Of these
rules being vigorously punished.
The Jewish law prohibited all usury
between lew and jew, although i, wa,
allowed between Jews and foreigners,
The reason Of this distinction n recording
to Father Ambrose, WAS, that God de-.
signed usury as one Of the ways Of max.
ing ,rdr upon the Canaaniies and other
heather nations. The cannon Law, as
it is called---,hat is, the ecclesiastical
| iaw--pronounccs the taking VI iDiere.t,
even the least to be IA moral sin, and
declares those who defend the practice
10 be heretics. The Jews were noted
for usurious dealings as early as the
sixth century. The monarchs OF Europe
when in want Of money, would practice
the EXTREMIST extoriion and cruelty n
gainst them using the Jews rs sponges
10 suck up the money Of their subjects,
and then squeezing them into their own
| Golfers.
Near the beginning Of the 18Th cen
tury, DR.. Thomas Wilson, Bishop Of
the Isle Of Man. recommended the
punishment Of usury by death. For
my part, says he. Il will wish some
penal lac Of death to be made against
those usurers, rs well as against thieves
and mur,lcrers; FOR that they d, serve
| death much more thnn such mcn do.
! For these usurcrs destroy and devOur
up, not only whole families bu, also
whole countries, an'l bring all folks to
bcggary that have TO do with them
The laws Of England did not coun-
tenance the taking Of any interest until
the 37th year Of Henry VIII. 1916,
when the rate was fixed at 10 per cent.
per annum In the l2,l year Of Queen
Anne's reign it was reduced by statute
TO five per cent; and tins statute is now
| in force.
The Koran forLids all interest. But
cxtravagant rates are cxacted in Mo-
hommcdan counties in violation Of law.
Sir J.Child states that at the time when
he wrote, (the close Of the l7th contu-
ry) the rate of interest in Turkey was
20 per cent. A century later, Mr..
Bentham states 80 per cent. to be a
common rate in Constaniinople. Most
of the United States have laws Of a re-
striclive character respecting the inter-
est Of money. In New York, the high
est legal rate is per cent. In Massa.
chusctts and the other New England
States. it is per cent. In pract'ce'
i-.--.--, 80 N i---.., .Lo law OF inter-
est is nearly dead letter among US,
except a. TO cases in which no rate is
stipulated. In Wisconsin a law has
jus, been passed freeing interest from
the usual limitation. Both branches of
the Legislature have. by decided ma
jorities, enacted as follaws:
Sec. !. Amy rate of interest agreed
upon by parties in contract shall be le
gal and valid.
I Sec. 2. When no rate of interest is
agreed upon or specified in a note or
other contract. Z per cent. per annum,
shall be the legal rate.
! From "a letter from the Hon, W. w.
/ Wick. late member Of Congress from
( Indiana, we learn that the usury laws
having been repealed in that State, their
re.establislmeni was called for by an
irresistible public opinion. The first
step was TO fix the rate OF interest at &
per cent, and Ia sanction contracts for
10 per cent. in two or three years the
taking of more than six per cent was
prohibited. The moral desolalion,
says r.Wick, created by the absence
Of usury laws, will tell upon any com
munity to an extent almost infinitely
beyond the mere ruin OF estate.
We ihink the above statement is not
fact-that the law Of interest is near
ly a dead letter. 1t is, on the contrary,
generally observed, except in such pla-
ces a. Wall ST.. New York, and Third
ST., Philadelphia. Saturday ese"in9
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