The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1875-12-20
Chgntellfgeteer
The Interest Question.

The talTnOnl HLdtI says
aWe are sorry to sec that the Regi1ier,
~, ISrELllIESCER and the Standard all
sJ,orate VI an unlimited rate OF interest,
W, bope they have not been influenced
v, w tbs large number OF bank cashiers,
"bo.c Y presence in Wheeling We so con.
'i"g,lly .ee announced in their columns
Sn,tbeir arguments are the same, that
M Syoney /, 4 commoiiiy," to bo bought
,Esre il can be bought the lowest and
.oIl where it can be sold the highest.
I'm. 4 their whole argument, and 1t is as
i,grro,l, ~ ii is erroneous. Money is
nn, , a commodity, it is a measure"
A,iar a, the lSTELLlGENCER is con-
,rrnrl the above paragraph is a misrep-
,,,entation. We have not advocated ian
unlimited rate Of interest,"" nor have we
,aoken Of money as u Commodity"
Oar position il that low rate Of inter.
,ai, not compatible with u high rate Of
taxation and general imitation Of prices.
IN no,her words, that eight per cent now
,.l,y.i.uota higher rate Of interest, II as
bi,h, than six per cent before tho war,
Dq.tbc hdcr dispute thisH
The Ealr ia Of the opinion that
"A high rate Of interest ia the moth
that /, eating mp the industry OF the
sanntry. Six per cent is at most a. much
a. any legitimate business can stand.
What farmer makes that much on the
c,pinl employed in his farm, his stock
AMI hi, improvements, to say nothing Of
lhe labor Of himself and familyP The
bfners anil mechanics, who produce the
wealth Of the country, are eaten up by
the moncy.clangGrs, who do not add a
PARTICLE to it, wealth. The Jews made
themselves oliOu4 to all ChristendOm.
Tho Shylocks Of tho present day may
meet with the same fate, As We have
said, 4 per cent is as high, II not higher,
rate Of interest than can bc endured"
There is only a limited amount Oftrulh
in the above statement. Interest Is a
"molh" that eats up good many people,
but il rayagc4, as We said the other day,
are largely among illegitimaLe borrowers
Of money, for there is not one farmer In
a dozen, nor one mechanic in dozen,
who should be in debt for money borrow
ed. On the contrary, farmers as a class
should rather be lOaners OF money than
borrowers. 1t is only (as a rule) when
farmer goes out Of the legitimate beat OF
biz business that he falls into the clutches
Of the money lenders. Therefore this
talk about depressing farmers, or tho
productive classes generally, with uSu-
riOu' rates for money has no little fiction
mixed in It's basis Of fact. The people
who have the most to say about the rates
olintcre,t are not the industrious, provi.
dent and thrifty farmers and mechanics
Of West Va, but those who do not an.
sWer to such description.
There il a "moth" that in many parts
Of West Virginia, Is preying upon the
people quite as much perhaps ns tho
rates Of interest. We refer to high
taxation, to enormous fees, to long terms
olIhc County Courts, &c. For instance
in Marion county, where the Indcz Is
published, we understand that the fees Of
the justices, out OF court, will reach above
10000 per annum, and those Of the Con-
stables nearly as much. We understand
that the office Of Justice Of the Peace, In
the town Of Fairmont, yields more money
than the judgeship of the Circuit Court.
How are these for "moths27 How many
more such "mOtls' there are in Marion
county We are unable to state nt this
writing, but We commend the inveStiga-
tion Of the subject to the editor Of The
tH1f. We have given him II point or
two to start on.