The patron of husbandry. (Columbus, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1879-07-26
DEATH,S GRIP-INTEREST THE
TERRIBLE SCOURGE OF OUR
NATION AND HUMANlI u:
IA Series of Articles in which al the People are
- # interested. -

NATIONSAND HUMANITY.s
!. cas;es az A rtieles in which all the People are
! = nterested.Js
~ ARTICLE II.
Tn preceding numberwe have shown
the importance of this question OF inter
est That the working men OF America
are -payine interestson $I1,ooo, 100000 at
s;x per cent. of bank loans, United States
bonds. State bonds, county bonds, munich
nal debts and individual debts, The in
terest on this at ten per cent would pe$i,-
200. 100000 at five per cent $ooo,ooo,ooo,
at three per cent 100000 900, at two per
cent whatzthe farmer gets on A1s capitai,
SaAo. 100000; and this is all PAD by the
Working men of America. Capital pays
none of it. No, that is wrong, the bank-
ers capital pays none of it. In truth, ne
d,azvs interest on his debts. The bond
holiday capital pays none of it. But the
working mans capital is often used up IN
paying for il. Many merchants capital
has been used up in paying interest, and
many manufacturers capital has been
used up in paying it. The farmer who,
by some loss, has been obliged to hire
money, has oftimes, within the last few
years, found himself stripped of the earn
ings and savings of a lifetime hard work
and hard fare, and been turned out tramp;
all his capital swept away to fill the peck
cts of some usurious Shylock.J tits high
time the true rate of interest should be es-
tablished.
Our second point, that there is funda-
mental principle, natural law tor the
governing of all matters of this kind, in
fact for deciding all the questions of hu-
man intercourse, we will consider. The
principle laid down by Moses was human
equality and brotherhood. 'Thou shalt
love thy neighbor as myself" This he
practically carried out by an equal division
of land, according to number, not accor-
ding to class or sex, by establishing uni
versal suffrage in the choice of their judg
es, and by prohibiting even their kings
from multiplying men servants and maid
servants, houses and land, or gold and sill.
yer, "to sethimselfup above his brethren. :
This principle of human equality and
brotherhood was endorsed by all the
prophets and recognized by Jesus as the
foundation of all the law and the prophets
so far as man was concerned. Confucius
considered the word reciprocity as COM
pretending more nearly and concisely the
fundamental principle that should govern
all human intercourse, than any other eX-
preston. ''Give as much as you take;
take as much as you give, and no more"
Jesus expressed the fundamental principle
little differently, sWhatsoever We would
that men should do unto you, do We that
also unto them" More comprehensive
but the same principle with the two 9TH
ers The French infidel school adopted
almost exactly the word of Moses, equal
| ity, Fraternity" as being the sum of the
law of nature, which they defined as hav-
ling ten principal characters, "Ist. To be
inherent to the existence of things. and
To be derived Immediately from the first
cause, God. grid. To be universal. 4th
To be uniform and indivisible. 9Th. To
| be evident and palpable. 9th. To be
reasonable. 9TH. To be just Sth. To be
pacific and tolerant. 9th. To be equally
benefcient to all men. 10th. To be alone
sufficient" Here then, are the platforms
of the Jew and the heather Chinee, the
christian and the infidel and so closely
do the planks resemble each other that in
practical life no one can be carried out
without carrying out each of the others
| ''And this is the foundation of all human
| law derives its force and vitality from its
conformity to this natural law and all hu-
man law opposed to this law is null and
void and of no force or vitality or binding
obligation whatever" According to this
law no man has right to take something
for nothing. No man has right to live
on the labor of another without full re-
compense. No man has right to anoth-
er's labor, or the fruit of another's labor
without returning full equivalent. These
| principles are recognized by political
| economists as fundamental. Mill remarks,
that Gin SO far as the economical condi-
ton of nation turns upon the state of
physical knowledge, it is a subject for the
| physical science but in so far as the causes
! are moral, or psychological, dependent
as institutions on social relations, or on the
principles of human nature. their inves-
legations belong, not to physical science,
| but to moral or social science, and is the
object of what is called political economy.
(Mfi1Ps Preliminary Remarks, D. II, and
| Wayland remarks, p. 1, II, Elements of
Political Economy, "We see the economi-
cal Importance of all means which shall
prevent the violation of the rights of prop
erty, the inculcation of those principles
which teach men to respect the rights of
others as their own, that is, to obey the
law of reciprocity"
We thus establish the second point that
there are fundamental principles govern
ing human intercourse and what these
| principles are, and further that these prin-
ciples are fundamental to political econo-
my.
We pass now, then, to consider the
rights and wrongs of interest. Moses for
babe usury to the Jews, from one another.
From the Gentiles who practiced usury
with each other Moses permitted usury.
Lord Bacon thought that the only reason
for usury was, that men would not grant
favors to others without being paid for
them. These ideas were right and proper
in those ages of the world, when men
laid up food and clothes for use in future
years and said, Soul, thou hast much
goods laid up for many years, take thine