Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-04-05
SAVED FROM A SHYLOCK,
THE ROMANCE OF A BRAVE
WASHINGTON CLERK.


Heard frOm-A Little Fun at OchiI-
trees Expense.
WASHINGTON, April 4.-There is a con-
stant warfare between impecunious gov.
ernment clerks who get into temporary
| embarrassments and a certain class OF
money lenders into whose hands they gen.
orally fall. This class is commonly known
as g ten per centers." They lend the Door
devil of a clerk money at the rate of 10 per
cent. a month. Most of the ten per centers
drive about in their carriages, and their
female folks wear seal-skin saeques in the
winter and go to the spring in the sum-
mer Their victims are lucky if
they have enough money to pav
street car fare ON bad days. and
their wives are fortunate when they get a
silk dress. Many times have attempts
! been made to break up the 10 per cent.
business. Secretary FOlger's raid against
it has been more successful than that in
augurated by any other government Off
cial. But the ShylOcks still exist. and do
a good business. Look at it.. A certain
clerk has salary of $100 a month. He
must have that amount of money, and it
is nearly thirty days before he can get
! any more salary. He is forced into
the hands of the 10 per center. At
the end of the month he needs his
salary just as much as he did when he
borrowed. He pays his ShylOck $40 and
lets the note run on for another month.
Thus it goes on. The clerk is fully in the
| power of his creditor. He is generally
afraid to cry out. But an exception to
! this rule has just come to my knowledge.
/ To show the full extent of what was ac-
cOmplished by t%is eXceptiOn-a young
man employed IN the Treasury Depart
ment-is why l have delivered this little
/ introduction about the 10 per cent money
| lenders. My exception is about twenty
| five years of age. He fell into the clutches
| of a ten per cent. shark. He borrowed of
! him 500. He paid in eight months inter-
est on that amount in the sum of $50. He
| rooms with a young lawyer who is well
up in the usury laws of the District. He
saw no way of ever getting 800 ahead to
pay the principal of his debt, and did
not like to pay. $40 a month
| probably double the amount of the
| loan in monthly interest installments of
| $40. One evening he told his LAWYER
friend of his embarrassment. He got ad-
vice. Acting upon that advice he went
the next month to his old man of the sea.
He offered him $40 mOre-which would
make up the 800 originally borrowed
! u.
year on that amount. The offer was re-
| jected. The clerk said he would pay no
more. ShylOck said he would sue him
and did. The young lawyer de-
Tended his friend. The case came
! up before Justice of the
the Peace and was not tried publicly. The
usury laws OF this District are very severe
and seem to be but little known. This is
! because the class of people who usually
fall into the hands Of usurers do not care
to cry out, for fear that publicity may dis
! turb the tenure of their official life. The
usurer In this case was himself greatly
! surprised at the decision of the Justice
1t was, that under the law one asking
usury can collect no interest on his loan.
He is only entitled to the original amount
loaned, from which must be deducted any
interest that had been paid. AS the de-
fendant had already paid $50 interest
on the 500 the plaintiff got
a judgment of only 500. If more clerks
had the nerve of the young man of whom
| write, and knew what the law was, the
ten per centers would be glad enough to
| become one per centerS.
Pleasant has written letter to the
| Commissioner of Internal Revenue, IN
which he says he has received the official
request that he furnish new and satIsfae-
tory bond. He naively asks-that he may
guard against errors i'll the new bond
wherein the old one is unsatis-
| factory? Raum answered him promptly
He some time ago had matters
| connected with Peasants bond in
vestigated and was amply able to
inform that officer why that paper was
not satisfactory. He took up the names
of those on the bond separately; quoted
what amounts they had justified in.
and showed by the Georgia State and City
Assessors returns that in but one or two
instances were the bondsmen really worth
One-quarter as much as the amount for
which they qualified. Raum, it will be
seen, made it perfectly clear to Pleasant
why there should be new and reliable
bond
Peasants letter and Raum's answer
remind me of an anecdOte that / once
| heard somewhere. man walked into a
barroom one fine day. Men sometimes
go into barrooms when the day is not
| fine No sooner had he got well in than
big fellow walked up to him and said:
''Why, you are just the fellow / was
looking for" He then knocked him down
without more ado. When the dazed feel
ing which generally comes over the vic
tim of such little pleasantries as these
had passed away the man on the floor did
not Immediately get up and proceed to
continue the matinee. He turned his head
from side to side and asked: SIS there
Tom Ochiltree would be very happy as
he plays billiards around Wizards Hotel
If 1t were not for one thing. He has
drawn his first months salary as a Con-
gresham despite that little deficiency of
$1,000 which occurred when he was Mar
shall of Texas. That, taken in connection
with his red hair and other accomplish
ments (please send marked copy of this
paper to Richardson, of the Constitution },
ought to make anybody happy. But Tom
is victim OF trouble from his ''deestrict."
The constituents of many Congressman
give them trouble. When Ochiltree
was stumping his district last
fall, 'horse-back, mule-back, ass-back
and afOot," as he glOwingly expresses it
in the warm language of the Rio Grande,
one of the principal arguments that his
modesty permitted him to use in his own
behalf was his immense influence with
arthur and the whole administration.
He could do things with the administra-
tion that no other man on earth could ac-
complish. One of his strongest supporters
was Mr.. Hayne, Collector of Customs at
Brownsville. Hayme and his large follow
ing put many votes in the ballot boxes
for their warm-haired MvOrite. Hayne
thought that just as long as
this administration lasted, so long
would he certainly enjoy the
agreeable perquisites of the Collectors
office at Brownsville. But he was doomed
to disappointment. His resignation was
requested a shoQEt time AGO; He would
just come up TO Washington to see Ochil-
tree about it. He came. He found that
there was an immense difference between
Ochiltree's influence with the administra-
tion as he told it down in the sage brush,
and the real article as it existed in Wash
ingtOn. He found that Ochiltree could
not help him. In fact, the administration
did not know Ochiltree except through
the newspapers. Hayne was surprised,
nay shocked, to find that ali
Ochiltree could do for him was to advise
him not to resign but ''wait till they turn
ed him out so that he would get more
salary" Hayne was not slow to give his
friends down in Texas the exact proper
tiOn of Ochiltree's administration inf1u-
ence. And they are writing to Tom let
ters that don't read well. This is the
trouble that is on Ochiltree's mind. He
says that it is the first time he ever de-
ceived anyone and it will be the last.
Mr.. w. o. Tuggle, of Georgia, is here,
and has made arguments before First
Comptroller Lawrence, giving reasons
why Georgia should get S35,555 appropri-
ated for her at the last session. He has
| argued that GeOrgia's case is not paral-
lei case to those of Kansas and WiscOn-
sin, from whom money has been withheld,
as an offset to the direct tax of 1861. Law
renee thinks that it is. He will, however,
consider the arguments made before him.
and is at work reviewing the whole sub
iect. He expects to make a decision
some time this week. In talking with me
to-day he limited several times that he did
not think that Georgia would get her
money.
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