The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1880-04-10

SO that he has had the use Of $420 for eight
years for 1914, or at an actual rate Of interest
of lrite over per cent.
There was then no actual usury in this case
though l. is an extreme one. In the building
associations generally throughout the state the
premiums seldom run above 25 per cent and
most of them are u good deal lower and in the
most of them the stock natures in less than
eight years.
But admitting that the case presented was
one Of technical usury, it is to be borne in
mind that the law under which these building
associations are organized allows them to take
these premiums on loans, and declares express.
ly that such premiums shall not be deemed
usurious." The sapient judge who wrote the
opinion under notice sees the force OF this
point, but he shambles around il, by the pre-
tence that this clause of the building asso.
citation act is in conflict with the clause OF the
constitution against special legislation. 1t
conters special privileges, he says, upon a
single class of corporations.
while 1t may be conceded to be true that
all natural persons might become incorporated
under the provisions of this act, il is very Ger
tain that all corporations can not avail them
selves of the privileges and immunites of this
section, because it is expressly limited to cor
poratons organized under this act Corpora
tons organized under this act obviously form
but class while corporations organized I'M
der other acts form different and distinct
classes, and so II Is impossible to escape the
como lugipp thut thia saptinp Ia within tho
domination of the provision of the constitution
referred to as class legislation"
There is logic for you, Corporations or
ganized under this act form but class while
corporations organized under other acts form
other classes; ergo, all privileges granted to
the class of associations known as building
associations not enjoyed in common by the
various classes of corporations formed under
other acts, are special privileges" Pursuing
tins line of reasoning, corporation formed to
own ferry, or to print books or to manufac-
ture brick or dram tile, &C. &c, is in violation
of the constitutional inhlbiticn against special
legislation, because building associations, or
printing companies, or savings banks &c, are
not equally authorized to run ferries, make
brick or print books! 1t is no argument
against this conclusion, according to our learn
ed Daniel, that building associations, the same
as ferry companies, brick making companies
banking associations, &c, are open to every
citizen of the state. The particular provisions
relating to the particular class of associations
tina, happen to get into court "are unconstitu
tlonal because they relate to class onlyl''
According to tins decision, there is no legal
corporation in the state, for there is no corpor
alton conceivable that has not certain privil
eyes and franchises granted to 1t tina. are no,
enjoyed IN common by all other corporations
or by all citizens outside of such corporations
Building associations, which have been in
existence in the eastern states for forty or fifty
years and on account of their widelyeXtended
benefcent influence have been frequently ia
vored by courts as well rs legislatures, wer,
? first organized IN this state, under the general
incorporation act, in about 1871 In 1872 d
separate act Was passed to meet their case, bu
on tine adoption of the Revised Statutes in
1874, by one of those discreditabe tricks tt
which the nation owes the decentralization o
silver, section was struggled into them
through the corrupt procurement no doubt %
the same Shylock bankers lobby-repealinl
the law The trick was not discovered unit
1876, and at the meeting of the Legislature II
1877 the law was re-enacted, after hard iigh
with the Shylock lobby, who opposed il be
cause they said ii tended to decrease the de
posts IN banks and savings institutions, bu
Gov. Cullom--a banker himself-vctoed II, OF
the same humbug plea that The Supreme Cour
now sets up, that ii sanctioned usury. But IL
lls19 the pressure for the re-enactment of III,