The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1869-04-13
Correspondence.
Usury.

DIX '-t WAS Will uo silall ueRree Oh
surprise that have just read an article
in your issue of March 23d, entitled
Money, its Rates and Value from your
correspondent signing himself Progress
and whose key note was, let us alone, and
we Usurers will take care Of ourselves.
AS expressed in his own language, 'The
price of money like that of other things,
if let alone, will regulate itself 1t was
no. the novelty of the subject, nor the
ability displayed by the writer that sur.
prised me; but the fact that the stereoa
typed howl which has been raised by the
oppressors of mankind from the day when
God said, "Cain where is thy brother ?"
to the present, should be sounded in the
ears of an enlightened New England pubs
lie, Leave us alone is the cry Of des-
pots, while they grind their subjects to
the dust. Leave US alone, was the cry Of
the Southern stakeholder, while he goaded
his victims to their unrequited toll. Leave
us alone,' howls the rumseller, while with
one hand he holds out the tempting cup,
and with the other he clutches the last
dollar of his ruined victim. Leave us
alone chimes in this champion of extor-
TONERS, while he vainly attempts to prove
that their crimes are but virtues, and that
God and man have through all these long
years, been laboring under a mistake in
denouncing them as criminals amenable
to both divine and human laws. The
claims set up by your correspondent,
hold to have reached the acme of brazen-
faced presumption.
What is Usury! he asks. Webster
tells us it is 'llegal interest Why illc-
gall Because extortionary. IF it is
right to extort exhorbitant interest, it must
be right to extort the principal also. -
Let me illustrate, Suppose, Mr.. Editor,
that your house is on fire, your neighbors
look coldly on and witness your distress,
you call on them for aid. They reply,
give us one half the value of the property
exposed and we will help you. But you
reply, | do not ask you to expose your per.
son nor your property, but simply to pas;
me water Twill take the post of dan
ger. Give us half, or lose the whole,
they reply. And this, according to the
logic of Progress, would be right, Hc
says, The demands, the opportunities
the necessities of men, furnish the practi
cal test for settling the question of rates !!
And the necessities of the receiver in thu
case supposed, would obviously fix til,
rate at fifty per cent, though the service
rendered might not cost the lender tn,
hundredth part of one per cent And tn
champion of this doctrine signs hmscl
'Progress!' Very well, Progress doc,
necessarily mean to advance in an upwar,
direction; and would suggest that il
future he sign himself Downward Pro
gress.
Perhaps you say this is only a sup
posablo case and not likely to occur
True, but it illustrates the principle b.
showing it in strong light. And vii
further illustrate by fact where tbi
principle of mans necessity being th
proper measure of his righteous opportu
nifty, was put in practice. An entcrpriz
ing young man engaged in business. Hi
means were small, but he was successful
He purchased good farm. His busincs
proved lucrative and he expanded il
But like others around him, he did busi
ness to some extent upon the credit sys
tom, and sold property on too long credit
Times changed. The property he deal
in fell rapidly, and his business, owing
circumstances beyond his control, wa
ruined. HIS obligations matured. III
had notes. but they were not available
What should he do7 He was not accus
toned to hiring money; and living i
Vermont, where comparatively little caf
ital has accumulated, and where there
absolutely no wholesome competitio
among lenders, where money is not easil
found by the inexperienced, he knew nc
what to 60. He grew feverish and de
spondeni, AT this juncture, as filed by som
evil genius, he fell into the hands Of a
Usuaer. Here he heard the usual stor
in such cases Of lawful tight times, 30
Of failures, nearly impossible to rails
money cant lie done without sacri
flee, would be glad to accomolate,' &'
&c. He grew more bewildered. II
fancied ruin staring him in the face, It'll q
last he concluded to pay thirty per ceI
for the use Of money, while more exper
enced borrowers found money plenty (
from six to ten per cent, Once in Il
hands Of Usurers, his fate was seale'
Nothing short Of an incxhaustablc fouI
tain could long stand such drain. Ar
the sad sequel to this story is n very natur
and common one in such cases. The II
urer took his farm and the young ms
became a bankrupt. Verify, were N
the necessities of the young man ma,
the practical test for settling the questiC
of rates in this case, in precisely the san
manner as in the one before stated
Usury is akin to theft, and may be ev,
more heinous than ordinary pilferin
You remember the parable in Holy Wri
of the man who went down from Jerus,
lem TO Jericho, and fell among thieye
To illustrate, let US change the narratiy
slightly. We will suppose he met wit
an accident and those thieves found hin
suffering under the burning sun Of III;
climate. lie calls on them ior aid. The
remove him to a cool shade, and Civ
him a draught of water, and then ro
him of his substance. ask, would the
not have been thieves still, even thong
through his necessity they previously cS
torted from their victim leave to do so
Worse even than common thieves, f