Republican vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1857, 1857-10-03
The Price Of Money.


Seven per cent. per annum is the legal,
established rate of interest but three pei
cent. a month is the rate established by tho
exigcncies of trade Take the country
from, one cad eff Ito Tie other, and you
will find the Iawssof trade hooking and de-
flying the laws Of government iii the sama
prcsumptuous manner. The statute book
forbids the lender to take more than fixed
per centage: business commands the Dor
rover to give trade rates: the borrower
eagerly obeys trades sovereign bohests, and
the lender, in a spirit of accommodation,
consents to take double, triple the legal
rate, having a better opinion of trade than
Of the law.
When one community practically abolish
es its laws against usury, the effect upon
the communities which continue to enforce
them is to drain them of the great bulk Of
cash capital held for loan for the bears do
net seek tie chestnut forests with more GER
ta:nty in the fall, tlan tie money lender
seeks tie localities which allow the highest
rates Of interest to be taken.
In New Orleans On one side, aud in New
York on the other, the law allows high
rate of interest to be paid and the conse-
quence is that from ten to thirty millions Of
Virginia cash capital are constantly with
drawn from the Virginia market to be en-
ployed in these great marts of commerce
and theatres Of mammoth speculation.
"a i % render assurance toEhly sure
and to drive from the borIegs df ot4f State
every dollar Of cash capitol held in enter
,ey;siY,f LoniS nc I.a,o 80 ~ ia.-.s.-
hibiting the lending of money al higher
rate than six per cent bun the lender of
money is required to disgorge large share
Of that pittanee into the traasul.es Of our
State and corporations TIE CONSEQUENCE
has been that our cash capital, in which
Virginia is richer than any State in the
Union, has fed her borders with precipi-
fancy such as that with which rats are sup
posed TO escape sinking ships and filling
barps, until she is IS bercft Of her own e.
bunaant and princely means, as DIVES be-
came wien he shifted of the mortal coil
and reached his abode beyond the Calf ina
passable.
We do not agree vita those who, in view
Of this sora-flisht Of money from Virginia
under the operation Of ruinous legislation,
are anxious ta rush into The opposite policy
OF abolishin9 the laws against pSilrY agd al
lowing the largest license Of charge and
payment Ill lie moreyslcndias aud money!
borrowing of the commonwealth
There is one great fundamental truth W.
ing at the bottom Of our usury laws, on
which they we're originally based, and upon
which the whole fabric Of our policy against
exhorhitant intcres. was erected. Iha
Common Law was u !ag { y ffe9hliJars. aGl
held in superlatiyc disda.n the subordi-
nate classes Of tgadesnon and Brokers. -
The brokers were DISTINGUISHED jews in tie
early day of the Common Law, and tie
tradesmen Of the towns we're regarded as
dirty dogs little better than Jews. Tie
freeholders were esteemed i superior order.
and i was only he class Of frechol,3ers who
were allowed any voice or agency in tie
government and in law-mak.Bg
The fceeni3iders were borrowers and their
manner 9f tillago was nc. such IN that early
day rs 20 afford a high rate Of Interest. If
any at all, on borrowed money" Hence
the jealousy Of the law ana ef the leeisla-
ture against the hiring Of money on Interest
or usrry. Six per cent Per annun would
in those times have been regarded as mon
strous oxtortion upon the lords of the land
and would in fact have been rainous.
SAeh was the original spirit of the Com
mon Law-sueh TIE raosoa of its statutes
against usury aud that reason has aot ceas-
ed. The great fundamental fact 70 which
we have alluded as lying at the basis ti the
policy of the statutes against usury is this .
that the profits Of the landed estates Of the
country do not admit of higher rate of in
terest for money than six per cent. per an
num-indeed they do not justify that rate
Now, the primary duty of a wise and con-
servatiye government is to preserve the sta
biiity of its agricultural interests. IF rate
OF interest is allowed to be charged the ag-
rieultural classes and mortgaged upon their
lands, higher than agricultural profits will
afford, the permanent ownership Of landed
property is destroyed, and thesaeric1.ita,nl
class, the bone and s;new of the State, which
should be stable, interchangeable, 'tto the
mannor born aid fixed to the soil Tor gen
Grafton after generation, is turned every
few years ont Of house and home, set adiift
IN the community, as!i rendered as shifting
unstable. unreliable, fckle and changing as
the other classes of the State -
No farmer can support debt bearing more
than six per cent. interest very long and
if the State allows him t. be charged more
and mortgage to be taken rpon his farm
to secure it, it must expect him to be sold
out before many years and to lose tim from
the valuable class known and priced as the
'yeomanry Of the country" The abolition
of the laws OF pr,moseaiture and of entails
was step sufficiently radical ana very
proper; but if we 90 farther and allow the
feI'ncr q. 20 charged ten, twelve, twenty
and thirty per cent. on the money he may
have to borrow, we destroy the class of farm
ers hSed snd permanent f.. generations ii
succession, we render this class as unstable
as others, and cause the lands Of the eoun-
try to change owners as frequently aud cou-
stantly as its personal property
If the laws against usury slould be mod
lied i; should only be with the proviao ,hat
40 debt carrying more than six per cent.
interest should be nortgaged en- real estate,
and that higher rates should, with few ex-
ceptions, be allowed only Oh mercantile pa
per and contracts Let the SnYLocKs Of
the towns eat the tradesmea's substance 10
you please; but as God made the eoa,i-
try, let us take care that it shall always be
inhabited by Gods chosen people, the far
nlers. - Richmond E,r05ut2jsr