, 1857-08-07

Inc May nuGOtf OF liunl Merchant 5
Magazine discusses, in its leading CONNER
cial article, the ycXed question Of the usury
laws with unusual clearncsS pith and brev-
ity. We commend 10 our readers the fol.
lowing observations:
The demand for money is steady and
active, and rates Of interest are far above
the average Of past years in all parts of
the world The general impression now
is, that capital will command an increased
rate Of u,ance for some time to come. In
the light Of such an expectation, the tcnac-
ity with which many OF thc country people,
living remote from the commercial centres,
cling to the letter Of the u>ury laws, is per-
'ecily astonishing. The operation of these
laws is directly adverse to their interests,
and yet they still londIy cling to the notion
that, by force Of legislation, they can obligc
capitalists 10 loan money in the rnral dis
tricts at less than its market value. The
people Of the far west are wiser, because
their experience has been less restricted
4 farmer in Illinois can borrow the means
to put in crop of corn iuto the field which
would otherwise lie waste, and can clear
enough on the crop to pay twenty per cent
per annum for the money, and still make
good thing of it, lie expects to borrow
the money at the lowest rate he can get it,
on the same principle that he makes the
buyer pay him the highest price for his
corn, and lie does not find it any hardship
to be left to make his own bargain But
in some States, New York for instance,
the farmer Insists that the capitalist shall
lend him his money at per cent or not at
all, as if fair rate could be fixed by law !!
The result is, that when money is worth
more than that rate, the rural districts are
drained Of their surplus capital. The
money goes TO the city part is invested in
business paper or in contracts more
openly usurious while part is spent in the
purchase of bonds or stocks, which the
high value Of money has so depressed that
for $3.50 or $500 the buyer may possess
that which gives the legal interest OH
$1,000. The countrymen always possesses
the means of borrowing the cheapest, and
if they would not stand in their own light,
but would allow money to bring what it is
worth, the rate would always be in their
favor. City borrowers may be the most
prompt in paying, but their circumstances
are less easily ascertaned, and their for
tunes fluctuate more rapidly. In the COM
try, credit is more wisely given, and landed
security is always at hand Iu England,
where the lower classes and the poor have
no advantages in general, comparable with
those enjoyed in this country, and where
the want of usury laws would soonest result
in oppression, if this was the tendency. of
such freedom, there is no such restraint,
and for loans payable within twelve months
the law Of demand and supply regulates the
rate. Even if the repeal of the usury laws
should lead to higher rates of interest,
such an advance would be only temporary,
as the high price would attract capital toI
the locality, and the proper level would
soon be reached We trust that the day
is not far distant when all such restraints
will be removed, and tho value of money be
regulated like that of any other commodity,
in open market"