Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1889-01-28
USURY.
How 1t is Sappins the Tile. Blood Out of Our
Agricultural Interests

How 1t is Sappins the Life Blood Out OF Our
Agricultural interests
oscEoLA. Hill Co., Tex, Jan. ?s, 1889,
To the Gazette
In Our county the banks loan their
money at 81 per cent, bank discount,
making the real rate over 81 !, per cent.
per annum. Nearly all The Farmers Of
our county are borrowers and each loan
may be small. yet in the aggregate thous-
ands of dollars are paid in usurious inter-
est. The last two years have been poor
crop years and the truth is we did not
make enough to pay interest, so the bank
ers compounded. This year finds the
farmers in better condition than they
were last year in the item of -breadstufs
and forage, but their debts are larger.
We are not compelled this year to go TO
the merchant for 80 per cent. usurious
favors, but we are obliged to dance TO
the music of the bankers in order TO eau
eel last years obligations
CsuTy is ruinous to our country, ana Is
sappins the life-blood out of our agri-
cultural interests A brother farmer
told the writer u few days ago that he
had paid in usurious interest over $l0,-
600 in the last eight years. He has been
remarkably fortunate in good crops, and
with his horses, hogs and cattle, but he
Is not worth as much as he was eight
years ago, Notwithstanding the increase
in the price of lands. This story does for
us ali, though the majority does not deal
so extensively with money lenders.
Usury hurts all alike, whether or not all
are borrowers, because the borrower
can not pay his interest and have money
LETT out of the proceeds of his crop to ex-
tend his business and give employment to
the wage earn er. The merchant to
whom many of us unfortunate fellows
pay a high rate of interest tackled upon
the price of his goods, also pays in turn
usurious interest to the banks, and of
course lays that burden upon the shoul-
deTs of his customers. Whether we bor-
row from the banks or buy on credit, We
are eaten body and soul by cankerous
usury.
A dollar ct 81 per cent. bank discount
will amount to nearly nine dollars in
eight years if compounded annually If
compounded semi-annually it will over
reach that sum- The writer has no statis-
ties at hand but to make an off-hand guess
would put the money lenders as repre-
senting about one-twentieth of the wealth
of the United States. This is certainly q
conservative estimate. By lending ut %
per cent Dirk discount, In6y VIII own
one-haIf the property in the Union in
eight years. The writer is aware of the
fact that "a per cent. is a local rate and
that money is much cheaper in other
localities. This, however, does not
change the tendency of the times, which
is that we are going to the bankers and to
sheol financially. There is no legitimate
business of which the writer Knows that
will pay "a per cent. and give the person
who runs 1t a living.
There is weak statute as to usury but
the penalty is only forfeiture of the in-
terest, and to do that usury must be
especially pleaded To forfeit the prin-
cipal would no doubt be unconstitutional
and Ineffective; but usury could be made a
and the Insurer fined in every
in a sum not less than the principal of
the loan and be made also to forfeit the
Usury then would be a subject
for the investigation of the grand jury
and few usurers would escape the penal
ties of the law.
Money is the blood of n nation and
should be allowed free circulation. All
usurious ligatures should be severed and
this blood be permitted to enter every
part of the body polite, producing &
uniform and vigorous grow tn.
j H. WALKER.