, 1873-04-24


tho Administration wisllos to eavo itaolf from
this now scandal, it will lose no timo in inveati-
eating this mattor, and Furnishing thoBo who nro
found guilty III Buoh q 1nannor that tho example
will 10 rs long remembered "a tho disgrace
which precedotli it.
-
uHURY LAWS AND THE Rate OF INTEREST.
There has boon great stir among tho bulls and
boars OF Wall atroot 1ntoly, about enforcing tho
usury laws. Sumo forty or fifty brokers worc
summoned to appoar boforo tho Grand Jury, to
testify on tho subject. Tho "uBurora" wcro
scared out of tho stroot for half day, nnd whilo
they wero gone tho rato of interest roso about 80
por cent. There Is perhaps no subject with
which tho people Of our country aro 30 familiar,
aud concerning which thoy display 30 much ig-
noranco as tho subject Of uhury; mono around
Which Ignorance, and prejudice, and eupor-
stltion hnvo built highor ramparts, and from
which tloy havo 30 long ana 30 COM
'plotoly slut ont tho light Of roason. Some mon
who donounco uau1y as IN unjust, unholy thing,
'are lod to do so not from any just consideration
precision that somehow or somewhere 1t Is pro-
nounced against In tho Db1o; and II may DO
worth whilo to pay somo attention to this aspect
Of the caAe before examining it's economical fea-
tures-especially sinco tho hue and sry against
usury Ind its origin hero.
Tho primary meaning of the word usury is use,
and originally my taking Of money for the use
Of money was uBury. It ia in this primary
OF original aonso that tho word is used in tho
Biblo, wherever used. Tie JeNiah law en-
Joined tho Hebrews to lend to ono another, and
to tho stranger who Hoiourned with them, q q
emphatically as 1t forbade that any uso or usury
should be taken for tho loan; at first, whether
mado to Hobrow or stranger. (Lev. XIV, S.
87) "And If thy brother bo wa1en poor and
fallen into decay with theo, thon thou shalt re-
ltoyo him: yea, though he be stranger or go
lournor; that ho may live with thee. Tako thou
no usury Of him, Or increase. y Thou
shalt not give lin thy money upon uaury, nor
lend him thy viotunls for iucroase." But this
prohibition was afterwards limited to the He-
brows only. Deut. xxiii., 10-20.) "Thou
shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother; uBury
Of money. usury Of vlctuals, usury of anything
that is lent upon usury: unto stranger thou
n,nycst lend upon usary but unto thy brother
| thou shalt not lend upon usury." This same law
sanctioned tho selling OF the borrower into bond
| age, whother Hebrew or stranger, on u failure
to pay tho anount borrowed but in the caso
Of the Hebrew, It provided that lo should DO 70.
lcasod the seyenti year, or, at farthcat, tho yea1
Of Jubilee, whilc tho stranger might be hold
until the debt and usury thereon weso fully paid
According to this Inv, then, whoovor, being d
Jew, receiyod nny remunoration no matter how
small, for anything ho had loaned, received
| usury, and was usurer and q yiolator Of law
| But, as tho law WAS amended, 1t WIS no ofrenRt
to loan upon uauryif the loan we're not made to {
Jew, for tho iaw gayo express permission to Ioar
upon usury to stranger. Now, those who thinl
this law, as first enacted, still sacred and bind
ing upon the people Of this as upon the Jowa ot
that day, arc as clearly usurora, and as clearly
condemned by the Inv, for taking as 20 pei
cont for money loaned, or for taking 10 as 81
cents a day for tho use Of n horse, II they cling
to tho Inv as amended, then they must toll til
who is their brother from whom they shall take
no usury, and who is the stranger to whom tho.
"may lend upon usury ]" and, in either case, t.
DO consistent, they should insist upon the leudol
having tho right to Hell into bondadgo the Dor
rover, on failure to pay tho amount bor
rowed, for If part Of the law is etill sacred
then tho whole must be, and If tho whole ha
not been annulled, thon no part Of 1t has. Du
1t ia well known tlat the JowB have dis
counted II I'LL tho rest Of tho world in negloc
and diaobedience Of their own uaury law. Il
the parable OF tho talents, cortain lord, On hi
return from foreign land, is represented q
commanding the servants who returned him hi
own with hundred per cent increaao, while
rebukad the one who returned only tho ono tai
ont he had given him, saying, "Thou oughtea
therefore to havo put my money to tho exchang
ers, and then at my coming should havo re
coiyed my own soilA sts,t7y." This law, thore
fore, dooB not help us to settle tho question q
to what shall bo the rate OF interest in our bust
noss transactions ono with another, and ohserya
ton and experience arc 1aBt convincing al
thinking business men that no enacsnonr Of an
State Legislature can or will over aottlo or ho
to aettlc 1t.
Tho value Of money has cvor bean, and vii
continue to be, regulated by the law Of suppl
and domand, and the onactmento Of any Inv whic
attempts to intorforo with this natural netho
Of regulating it, worls only injury to the bor
rowor, tho party 1t ia intended to protect. Thcr
ago no laws which 30 completely dcfoat tho YER
object for which they are passed aa those know
on our statute-books as uaury laws. They qp
preHs instead Of roleyo the poor, and incroas'
instead Of loHaen the ratio Of interest. A wealth,
man, doing an extensive bnsinosB, cannot airor
to plead usury hlB crodit ia worth too much tt