The Daily state journal. [volume] (Alexandria, Va.) 1868-1874, 1872-02-22
THE SiiYLOCKS.

Inc smoke Oh DaJtle nau nafuly lHleu
itself over the desolation and ruin of Vir-
gnia, before the Wall-street Shylocks were
in Richmond demanding the back interest
on their "monish." No sense of shame
mantled their cheeks in thus unseemngly
pressing their demand over the unturfed
graves of sixty thousand Vrginians. Had
they been Intercepted, as was the Jew Of
Venice, and charged to have some good
surgeon by, to stop the bleeding wounds of
the State, they would have asked as iu-
exorably as did the jew,
as it so nominated in the bond? ~
Or had they been implored, as was the jew,
for sweet charity's sake to have some show
Of mercy, they would still have replied, as
did the jew,
81 cannot find it; It's not in the bond.
This was the character Of the 'sineXorable
dogs" bowling for their ''monish,O before
a single leaf Of sorrel had shown itself on
Il Virginia grave.
In 1868, they were here pressing their
demand for back interest, and insisting
upon compromising it, if was not at once
paid. All right-thnking men We're disgust
ed at their clamor, and the general scnti-
mcnt Of the country was so manilestly out
ragged by it, that they withdrew until 1866,
when they were again here with greater
Importantly than ever. The Legisa-
ture Of that year improvidently yield
ed to their clamor, thinking it better,
no doubt, to acquiesce in an un-
righteous demand than to be thus
constantly beset by these "dogs of usury.n
The back interest was then compounded in
the first funding bill after the war, and the
greed of Wall-street apparently gratlied.
But so manifestly unrighteouS was this act,
and so abhorrent to all sense of Justice
in the breasts Of VTginians, that the
same Legislature, in 1867, repealed the
act so far as it related to the payment of
interest upon interest. This caused the
uSury-dogs to set up another howl, and,
strange to say, many a political dog in Vir-
ginia joined in the yelping chorus with
them. The inexorabe demand of the Jew
for his "monish," was then most unac-
countably responded to by men higher in
official position than their merits could
ever have placed them while others, with
high official connections, were suddenly,
impressed with the conviction that Vir-
,gnia's honor-a thing too sacred for
compromise on mere financial con-
siderations-was involved in this delay in
meeting the interest on the State debt.
The Legislature was also beset by power
full Wall-street lobby, to get through the
present funding bill. The history of that
Infamous measure is now pretty we'll
known, in spite of all the attempts to
smother up the rascalities by which it was
got through the General Assembly. We
have shown that it takes from the tar-pay-
9s Of the State $63O,O00 annually
as interest upon dtereSt-sheer down
right usury-and we intend TO
show up some of the rascally de-
vices by which this outrage was accom-
plished, as well as some of the rascally
deUiseys. The law of all christian nations,
at all times and in all periods Of their his
tory, has been against this exorbitance of
demand On the part of money lenders.
Lord Bacon strenuously denounces it as a
violation of all right, justice, and equity,
as between lender and borrower, and says
the practice of taking it 'bringeth the
treasure of the realm into few hands," and
hhJ thn L., A. "A Il
public veal of the state" We have it
on the authority of Selden that the puIpits
preached against it, which shows that the
churches of his day had some proper APP
probation of their duty to preach against
the "unrlghteousness of Mammon." I'M
fortunately, we find some of our own pull
pits, or, if not pulpitS, religious journals,
not only advocating this exorbitance of
usury, but approving it with text.
How this is to be accounted for we do
not know. But our knowledge of the
world, and of the weakness of human ma
ture which constitutes its chief ingredient,
has long since led us to look upon religious
journals as "no better than they should
be-" to say the least unkindly thing we
can of them. We know of no damned
error" thai they have not, at times, advo-
Gated, and quoted scripture freely to APP
prove; and when an UNANIMOUSLY usurious
scheme is concocted to jerk over twenty
millions of dollars out of The pockets of the
people, and money is freely broad-casted