Litchfield enquirer., 1854-10-19
Petty Money Brokers and Note ShaVarS.

mere IS class or men, c0nSluefaDte for numbers. who devote their entire time 10 nothing else lhasi to entrsp small fra dels. industrious mecha' ics, and oliie,s who are safeling 2 temporary pecuniaiy difficulty and ultimate ruin. by loaning them money m their need. at exorbilant rates of interest.
 The business man whose only resort is to the nole>shaver's to obtain money to meet his payments, is on the road 10 ruin, and sooneror later he will be overwhelm> ed with hopeless bankruptcy. As gem eral rule man does not last more than twelve months from the time he beeins to raise money through the agency of note. shavers. It is q consumption that is incurablc. and leads to death as an in evitablc ns cessity. We are not speaking of those who, with large assets, call now and then for brief accommoda i'm, nor of those whose business is that of specu> la'ioO. They who. engage in games of chance. must calculate on thedp.ospecl of luck and defeat. But we refer. mainly,. to these who are engaged in a snug bus siness, men of small capital. whose af> fairs become ,sarrsnged from va,iely of causes and to whom an immediate loan of from SlOO 70 $500 would seem like a reprieve from execution. When our reports of the money market say money is tight. ard is worth per ct. a month. on prime paper, they do not begin to give correct idea of the money market as 1t concerns vast number who go on the streets to raise small sums. There are hundreds daily who are obliged to ra'se money, to whom it makes not the slightest difference whe' her the malket is reported tight or easy. it is always tight for them. Whether money can be had for per cent, or l2 per cent, In la, ge sums. they find that it is equal to 2, 3. and even per cent. mouth 10 them al' ways. ...
 We can point 10 several within the ci. cle of our acquaintance who have been hurried to bankruptcy by paying these exorbitant rates. and there is not day that passes when notes are not shaved for 3 and per cent. a month. IL Is easy to say nan is fool to submit to this ex- tor,ion, but it is not so easyio enter into ;he feelings of man who must gay note to. day, and is a bankrupt unless it is paid. He will submit to almost any> thing to avert that calamity. Reflection and forecast weigh nothing with him Immediate peril is impending over him. and is must be avelted at any cost. If, when he pays per cent. month, sus. picion that he is doing wrong crosses his mind. it soon vanishcs under the seduc- tive whisperings of hope. Pooh it is but fer this time-I shall be all right again'' He relisiously believes what he wishes tc be true takes the money so much needed, and obtains temporary respi'e. ' But four monlhs-ths usual time for which accommodation notes are made pass quickly away The man Is in no better condition to pay than he was be- fore, but his exigrncy is greater, for his friend is involved. Another enormous shave is submitted to. and by this time he has f" stepped in so far" he can't re- turn, but must go on, although certain ruin stares him in the face. This is the fate of hundreds annually, and yet new victims are continually taking their place.
 The only remedy that we can at pre-. sent suggest is. to avoid the note shavers If you can't meet payment, go to the parties interested. and say 90. and if they cant or won't relieve you, stop. It is a disagr eesbls necessity; but you had bet, ter stop a. the beginning than to waste more ihan half your property ia. 'ruitless attempts to retrieve yourself. Two or three par cent. is as sure 10 kill as the yellow fever No man can pay 1t and
 live. No business--we speak of hones',
 legitimate business. not specula'ion--can survive under it.