The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1890-06-12
THE USURY LA VS..

files time.
THE UsURY LA VS..
GT.gN y NOBLE.
.sWOc unto the usurcrs,' 'sThOu shalt not
lend upon usury to thy brother" LEND. hop
ing for nothing again."
In the primitive stages Of society there IL lit
tic or no borrowing done. The people raise
nearly all they consume, do hut little trading
and have no need Of borrowing; but ~ the re-
lations bet ween men become more complex,
there arises the Necessity Of borrowing. This
necessity may be explained BY the first lines Of
familiar jingle, God made man and man
made money" Some men do. and some do not.
but all have their capacity for labor which
they may usc TO advantage. II they can CONF
kinc II with capital.
The primitive borrowing n only in case OF
actual nccessity, to save the borrower from
starvation or ruin. II cannot usually BIC ex-
pcctel that he will repay u loan with interest.
In such cases the loan shOsl d partake Of the
nature OF gift; hut with human nature NJ II
il, there will be wolves In the flock, who will
secure great power and wealth by taking ad-
vantage OF just such Cases of necessity. IN
ancient Rome these men became masters and
the pOpsilacc slaves. In later days and even in
our own early history, the debtors were often
thrown into Jail and otherwise cruelty treated.
The primitive laws were not simply OF money
hut OF any useful article For instance. we
have in the Bible the passage, Thou shalt not
lend upon ussiry to thy brother. ns,,ry Of mon-
ey llsury Of victnais, nsnry Of anything that
IL lent upon usury. Unto a stranger thou may
eft lend upon int crest, but unto thy brother
thon shalt not lend upon usury." This was the
law OF Moses which. together with the theory
"a the great philosopher. Aristotle. 40 long
prejudictsl the world against the Insurers. l5lt
the law was given simply for political reasons.
and might be compared with our protective
tarin policy. II should not have an equal foot
ing with the Golden Rule in affecting our views
OF usury From this and other passages II was
supposed that the bible unqualifiedy con-
dcmned or prohibited tho loaning Of money
for interest. An examination Of this passage
shows tnss the law was given for political rsss-
sons, for II says that, Unto stranger thor,
mayert lend upon interest," showing that 1t
was meant simply to strengthen the ties that
bound the Jews together as a nation. 9th
er passages might be quoted, but they are
more to encourage giving than to prohibit
lending.
That the us,ircrs were bad men and money
lending had business, was the idea Of the an
clients, and such opinions were probably COR
rect. The conditions then were such that the
usurcrs only took advantage of others distress.
The public sentiment Of Rome was well ex-
pressed by 4 speech Of Cato. Being asked what
he thought of Insurers he made no other an
swer 10 the question than, '.What do you think
of murder" Even Calvin, In his tune. says 1t
Is indeed very rare for the samc man to be hon.
est and yet be n Insurer. The utter adherence
in which they were held n well illustrated BY
Shrkespcare's::M Merchant Of Venice, but yOn all
know that In this case of l0aning ii WAS of
great benefit to BOssaniO to secure the money
Of Old Shylock, for II enabled him TO win fair
fortune and the faircr POrtia. He could well
have afforded to pay interest and ut high
rate. ShylOck Was gOOd representative OF
the Jewish money lenders Of that period. In
fact, despite the law Of Moses. the Jews held n
monopoly OF the business and were able to
charge their own rates. This feeling against
the Insurers has mot entirely disappeared from
the minds Of men, for we have as evidence the
present usury laws which have been passed by
the different countries and states to prevent
the taking of high rates OF interest or prohibit
1t entirely.
Why should such laws be passed when there
are no restrictions on other kinds Of business
or incomes, such as rent, wages or salaricss
There are doubtless reasons, for, II We invcsti-
gate any law or custom existing Mt present we
are always sure Of finding some reasons for 1t.
If not ut present In the past. Such seems to
>H
come from the past. Those who frame them
certainly do 1t with good intentions, for they
mean to protect the poor borrower. and we
cannot any hut that IN ancient times they par
TALLY accomplished their object.
But Father Time has rungin great changes. As
trade became more extended. adventures saw
that they could make large sums Of money by
trading with other countries, and were willing
to pay handsomely for the use Of money. This
brought competitors to the Jews. for the mer-
Chants or Lombarsiy and Florence were now
willing to lend It alsO aroused y controversy
us to whether the practice was against the
teachings Of the Bible. for the Insurers Of Flor
| cncc were Christians. They were supported
| to certain extent by the public sentiment
which was slowly changing. There Was soon
| to be a far greater change In favor Of usury.
John Calvin. one Of the worlds greatest re-
formers, completely broke down the theory Of
Aristotle. which stated that ~ money is barren
there should be no compensation taken for its
use.
| Now let us glance ut the reasons given for
| the laws which arr now in force. First, they
are passel In accordance with public scnti-
| ment. which inherits the old beliefs. They are
especially framed to protect the INDECENT,
whom we may divide into three classes, the
pr0dissal. the intelligent and the simple,
I. The law prevents prO.ligality. II prod
igal or spcndthrift IL allowed to borrow money
ut any rate. sharpcrs will let him have the
money and s0On rob him Of all he has On the
other hand II protected by these laws nc cam
not secure the ''wherewithai" and must OF ne
cessity soon stop his r,liDOus spending.
:. In the Case OF exiycncy they prevent cx-
! torti0n. Az An illustration, u man finds him.
self slightly embarrassed, but could easily re-
| gain his commercial standing II allowed to
borrow money. In this condition the Insurers
could take advantage Of him and secure AN ex.
orbitant rate Of interest. Again the beneficcnt
law steps In and says. 80 far shalt thou go
| and no farther"
3. They protect the simple from imposition
pretend to do business, but who are not well
informed In money matters. The Insurer, who
of course IL alive 70 the question. could easily
secure from him higher than the customary
| rate. The law likes an upper limit and 80 pre-
vents the simple from extOrGion.
Does It In fact protect these classes In the
manner It's supporters claim It dOess In the
case Of the prOiigai, il there were no usury
laws and he had amy property, he could proha-
| ably borrow money, although ut y high rate.
Y 10 had 10 property, \ would b u