Brownlow's Knoxville Whig. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1866-1869, 1868-01-15

In Canada there Is no limit on the rate OF interest
by contract, except upon banks and corporations
So likewise in England, any rate may be lawfully
agreed upon. Ry statuto ~ AID Is, Victoria G. 90,
al laws then in force upon the subject Of usury
we're repealed. In Holland the right to contract
for money at any rate Of interest the parties may
agree upon, is believed TO have existed for many
years.
Notwithstanding there is no restriction on the
rate Of interest, by contract in England and Hol-
land, there are no countries in the world where the
rate is usually low. In the former, It can fire.
quently be had at three per cent, and sometimes as
low as two, and it has been as low as one and one
half per cent. per annun. Hence vast quantities
Of our National and State securities, amounting to
over four hundred millions Of dollars, which bear
on an average as high as six per cent, have been
sold in London and Amsterdam, and in other great
European centres Of capital There is a vast accu-
mutation Of surplus capital there Enterprise, hav-
| ing well nigh exhausted ITSELF seeks foreign folds
Of investment. In those countries the borrower is
never oppressed with ezhorbitant rates, because
there are TOO many ready to lend at moderate
rate.
In some Of our cider States, and especially in the
New England States, there is also large surplus
capital. There, too, enterprise has well nigh ez-
hausted itself Men Of capital are seeking more
profitable fields Of investment. Some desire TO in
vest in one thing and some in another but all de-
sire in the end, the thing that s to make the
most profitable use they can Of their money. Where
will they 60 To Tennessee where they can get
six per cent fo- their money or to Missouri where
they can get ten, or to Wisconsin, where they can
get twelve, or to Kansas where they can get twen-
~, 10 California, where they can get thirty Let
the relative progress Of these several States answer
The question.
In old countries and States, il prosperous, money
il always cheaper, or can be had at lower rate Of
interest, than in new ones. In England the rate
rarely exceeds four or five per cent, while In Cal
iforna thirty per cent secured by real estate, il
quite common. Money can often be bad, on CALL
in New York a. from four 10 i've per cent though
the legal rate is seven. Tie reason Of all this is
two-iold. first the greater abundance OF money in
old countries, and secondly, The vastly greater
number Of new and profitable enterprises that pre-
sent themselvc5 for investment. in a new country
than in an old one. In the new country, every
thing for The development Of tho resources Of the
State is TO b. d0us; in the Old nearly everything
las been dyue In the latter The channels OF enter
prise are filed and choked by active competition ;
while in the new State, thousand new enterprises
invite 20 profitable investment. The borrower in
California, al thirty per cent, cau make as much
profit as the borrower in England can at five. 1t
would be as absurd 10 say that money should be
confined 10 the same rate there as in England as 10
saw that labor should command the same wages
there that It does in Germany, Ireland or China
In each case the price is governed by the quantity
and the demand, just as Is the price Of wheat or
pork. How foolish would il be for the Legislature
70 f1, as a uniform rule the price Of -four at FIVE
dollars. or OF pork at four dollars thus overlooking
the gres. law Of demand and supply scarcity o.
abundance, which regulates the price Of all COM
rnodities, money incl1ded.
have said that money is always worth more
in a new than in an old country. So It requires
more. and is worth more until It acculoalates IN
large Quantities in @ manufacturing or commercial
than in q planting State. For al practical pnr-
F poses Tenner.ss is q as,e STATE. So Ear as money
and property are concerned, the war has Get us
back thirty years. But so far as public spirit and
ento-rrisc are concerned, We have advanced more
in two years than we bad in The pas, thirty How
ever aroused, however public piri,ei, in heart our
people may be. they arc constantly held back and
checked by The wide spread wan. Of e7pHaA At
last our people realize the grand destiny Of the
State. They sec that sooner or Iatr it l. 70 become
the leading manufacturing State Of the South
They know that we possess within our limits the
elements Of wonderful wealth and prosperity And
many are willing, yes inpatient, % undertake the
development q these y,st resources. Bot slas,
there i' no money Tor this purpose. u cannot be
had. J. is not in the State
The banking capital Of the sistc Leioro ths war,
probably orcecieI Zen millions Of DOLLAR. To-day
the capital II the National Bfnl. iu thi. STATE