, 1878-05-10
The Absorbing Power Of U>ury.

. 10y the term usuTS, IN lnlS connection
ID We mean any rate Of interest or rental ioI
. money So far beyond the ro"cr Of pro-
I ductinn or commerce to earn that 1t VII
I quietly but surely absorb what other prop
crly the borrower may possess, IN Other
p words, the UsTioN interest that would
not only absorb all the gain which would
. probably aCciuc from the active Use u'
the borrowed money, but the cnrulng, ol
the capital lrgitima'c.y belonging to the
borrower. and too often hI, capital Itself,
ana the earnings If hi, skill aud labor IN
addition.
Starting computations have from time
t. Time been made which demonstrate
the cumulative power of interest. For
example, We are told taat II Captain John
smith, on hi, landing in jamestown 1901,
bad loaned one thousand dollars at six per
ccut.-thc interest being added AZ the
end OF each ycar-hi, claim the present
year ISIS would in round numbers
aggregate $G,SOOOOO 600 six thousand
| eight hundred millions of dollars, or as
much AS the Cost-On both Sldcs-Ut our
| late war.
Such figures, and they are lnimpeacha-
/ bic, not only show the impOssbIlity Of
| high rates being colcctiblc for any great
! length of time on such sums rs nations
and even corporations are constantly bpr-
rowing, but they show that no one, srpn-
rate, individual dollar ever earned, for n
great length Of time even the so-called
moderate rate of six per cent. True, the
| loaner may have collected it, but it came
from other earnings than its own. The
continuous societary exhaustion which
follows from high rates of interest Is
quantity illustrated by Sydney Myers,
who compares the resources of production
and commerce to a reservoir of water,
with supply pipe of three inches, and
an exhaust pipe of ten inches, and argues
that its being emptied is simply a ques.
tion of time.
This theme has been perhaps more fully
discussed and through longer periods,
than any other now before the people,
and the true answer to the questions;
what compensation is capital, as con
trasted with labor, fairly entitled to re-
ceive, seems as distant and obscure as
ever.
To take one impressive example of an
cieDt dealing with this question: In the
Hebrew theOcracy, when the church was
the state, Moses, as the direct mouthpicce
| of the Almighty, most unequivoCally pro-
hibited the taking Of interest from the
Jews, but especially permitted it to be
taken from all outsiders. This, from II
national standpoint, was shrcwd states
manship, though, mathGmatiCally, it WAS
not as clearly demonstrated then as now
that the lender, whether as an individual
or as nation with interest more cumu-
lative than productiOn-was sure to alb
sorb the borrower.
Ages after, when the work Of "reCon-
struction" Of the ruined walls Of Jerusa-
lem was in progress, an earnest cry Of dis
tress from the people came to Nehemiah
(see Chapter ". Perhaps their trouble
came from the ravages Of war; perhaps
from assessments for "improvements;'
they certainly had high taxes to pay, and
they complained that they had been
forced to mortgage their homes for food,
or to pay their taxes, then termed "the
kings tribute" Another class (perhaps
those who had no houses or lands) com
planned that they had been forced to send
away from home their sons and daughters
to earn the required means, and the con
dition Of things showed no prospect of al
deviation. As these expressions came
from their own fellow citizens, in utter
disregard of the spirit and letter Of the
Mosaic teachings, the grand old patriarch
was eXasperated, as he says, Chap. v,
verse 6, 81 was very angry when | heard
their cry and these words.n But unlike
many of our present agitators, who would
have simply held mass meetings and
"cursed things generally" he went
straight to the "rulers and MOBILES y
as he called them, and, with scathiug sar-
casm ncver surpassed, he showed them
the miserable Inconsistency Of freeing
their cOuntrymen from slavery to the for.
eigner, only to reinstitutc the same rcla-
tiOn with their own ncighbors by the more
| insidious, but not less deadly, means of
usuriOus slavery.
And having pointed out to them the
ridiculous inconsistency their practices,
as Contrasted with their precepts-espc-
! Clally III the eyes Ol Quiet nations, WHICH
was peculiarly sensitive point with the
Jews, who deem themselves, Gas we do
ourselyes) the very pattern of excellence
he waited for response. AS no one "put
in rejoinder," he concisely put the ques.
ton thus G0,h verse; 81 pray you let
US leave off this usury."
Apparently without a dissenting voice
the motion was carried in the affirmative,
when Nehemiah exacted an oath from
the priests, that the spirit and letter Of
the law should be observed. And that no
element Of earnestness and soemnity
should be wanting, the grand old function
ary tells us (verse 13): "And shook my
lap (probably his apron), "and said,
SO God St0ke out eUery man from his house
and from his labor that peJOrmeM not his
promiSe; eren thus be he shaken out and
. eRptiGd."
The chronicler records that the obliga-
tiOns then entered into were afterwards
faithfully complied with.
WHILE out hunting during late storm