Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1858-04-09
o

in money is my reason for again addressing
the pubic through the nlediam Of your pa
per.
The Hon. Mr.. Parsons, in his speech pub
iished in the Gazette" says, wherever the
Of free trade in money has been
tested The result has always been disaster
ana ruin to the peopie:" and, to establish his
position he quotes from the writings OF i Mr..
WhipPle. OF Rhodei-lan1, as follows Say
informs Us that in ancient times the uore
severe the pea4iucs, The higher were the
rates. but lie luru isiies no facts to justify his
opinions On The contrary the only fact
le does state reiules the whole proposition.
He states that letters patent are still extana
authorizing tie Jews 10 loan at eiSh'y-siX
per cent. per anHu=n. Here then Is tiI- chs
Ionary rate in that reign under free trade
system.
l am surprised that NJ, Parsons Should
take tue assertion oi tbs writer instead OF re-
lerring directly to tae tex; more especially
as the quotation from 3lr. Whipple c4rries
the mars of error upon It's face; Tor the crit
zeal reader wifi At once observe the .o:iy and
Inconsistency OF q Kings Issuing '%lelters
patent u confer upon d part OF hs subjects
privileges which wee common to all.
Believing that tie rcader wo'iid rather
j1dgr tor himself sbe her Say has given bar
cue TACT, and whether that refates his posi-
ton. than IL take the word OF this writer, in
whom Mr. parsJns places 50 much reliance,
[ quote l-5n 5 ; Political E:onony, page
80. The practice Of asury has been uui-
f5rui!y revived, whenever it has been attempt
81 10 limit The rate Of interest, or abolish it
altogether. The seqerer ite penalties. and
the uaure rigid their eXaciiJn, the higher the
interest OF money was sure to rise; and
this was SHAT might naturally have been ex-
Fected; for the greater the risk, the greater
preuliuaI Of insurance did it require 10 tempt
TIE lender. At Rome, while lie republican
form ot government lasted, the interest o.
tnoHey VAS enUrinous, as il was NEUTRAL 10
suppose, even if It were not q matter Of his
tory. The debtors, who are always the Pile
biaIs, were continually threatening their pat
rIciuu creditors. The avs of EIahomet have
prohibit. l .eaaa At interest. and what is The
Consequence in the Il usSethauI domipioils! No
ury Is leutacinteFest, but the lender must be
ideniniied ror The use ofhis capital, and more
oyer.lo the risk ;ncurredin the cortraycntion
y NA1~ 4 ~ 4 l ~ 90 LII SA-4-N - III 80 SSALA
ries, so long as loans at interest were Illegal;
andwbere the necessity OF borraing enforced
the federation OF the practice amongst the
Jews. such were the humiliation. oppression,
and extoriatioa, to which, en- one pretext or
another, that nation was exposed on this
score, that nothing short of 4 yery heavy
rate of interest could indemnify for such
repeated loss and modification. Letters
patent of the French kin, John, bearing
date in the year 1860, are now extant, which
authorizes the Jews TO lend on pledges at
the rate OF fur dernjers per week for every
tire Of twenty sous, which is more than
eigh'y-six per cent. per annum But in the
year following the same monarch, though re-
corded as one of the most scrupulous per-
formers of his royal word that eur Annals
can boast of, caused a quantity Of pure met
al coin to be reduced; SO that the lenders no
longer received back a value equal to what
they had lent"
Instead OF one case he has here presented
Us with three 10 illustrate and prove his posi-
ton hist interest Is high in proportion to risk;
and it matters not whether the risk arises
from rigid usury laws, or an entire prohibition
OF Interest, as was the case in Chrlsteudom
in the middle ages, and still is in II ihomet-
an coantries-or from a threatening popuIace
as in Rome--or an abuse Of arbitrary pow
err, as in the case of king John reducing the
amount Of s%i!verin the liver, by which means
lenders had SO often been de.rauded by his
predecessors.
| am not able to discover that any fact
stated here or elsewhere By Say ~refates his
proposition. Fortunately / have other evil
dence at hand to prove that interest rises
with risk. quite from a letter written in
1851 by a hIr. Wright, of Wisconsin, which
| ind in another part of Mr.. Parsons speech
Men got a passion for borrowing, and as
the demand for money increased, and with
the demand the hazard or danger of Iosing it;
the rate Of interest advanced, the rate beinr
always in a ratio compounded Of the incon-
veLience and hazard" This is the same fact
and only varies from Say in phraseoloay.
Surprising that hIr. Parsons will not re-
pudiate the testimony Of his own witness, |
will devote 4 few motneHts 10 see how, &C
cording to his evidence, the matter stands
Mr.. Wright says : ''Men are now paying the
most exorbitant rates Of interest = = %
lie has not told rs the exact per cent. which
constitutes this cXorbitant interest; but MIR.
Parsons tells Us ''interest ranged from two to
ten per cent. n month, and loans were exc
cuted on long periods If time, and specula-
items, as high as forty per cent. per amman"
lie then tells Us that "the experiment lasted
bur L lew munIha.' What does these facts
prove! The free interest law OF 1919 last
"a Lut u few months, and as the letter de-
ocribing the effects vas written in 1857, they
u.uat have been enjoying the benefits of their
uaury laws ;or d considerable time when Dir.
Wight tells Us they are paying exorbitant
interest. No fact need be palmer than this
that they cana1t borro2o money at ze31l
r0:eS; ter, ii they could, they would long
since have mace loans, and paid Of their for
~ per cent. paper. | am sure that no mon
oi cuDlnon intelligence and honesty VIII
dispute me upon this point. How then are
they benctiteG! Has the law attached no
penalty, and Is there 10 risk in its violation!
No one will plead this. VIII not Dir. Par
sons, then. have to admit that this risk makes
interest higher! | see not how he can evade
it only by discrediting his own witness.
| aul rot prepared TO deny that interest
given for the use OF money in Wisconsin is
lilgh@I IAN o1fFo",rn, as a general rule can
afford to pay. Nor AIN [ sure that lenders,
under The circumstances existing there, can
afford to take less. Spectators IN land an
ticipate "a rapid raise which will make them
suddenly rich notwithstanding they agree to
pay 10 per cent. for the use Of the capital
they invest. They may succeed according
10 their expectation, and they may utterly
fail. Both borrower and lender RIM Il risk
and il is the ANTICIPATION of large gain which
induces each to inour the risk. Ii n. G. B.
purchase land in company, a. putting into