Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1895-06-06

had not done the same thing ana
therefore deserved the same fate.
proceeding with his remarks, Mr..
pueeell held that these Biblical prohl-
bitions of usury were not so much OF
moral law as they were q political
o,,ide for the Jews at that time, and ne.
evnounded his views upon this subject
at some length. The New Testament,
ne said, was silent as 10 such prohlOi-
rive messages. but on the other side OF
he question afforded the citation from
which his subject had been taken. the
Koran. he said, absolutely prohibited
+be lending Of money upon interest,
and vet it was about as easy to get loan
in Nfohammedan countries upon a good
stout rate OF interest as in any other.
Taking up
THE HISTORY OF INTEREST,
Mr.. Russell said that Greece was easily
the foremost country in the world, as
could be seen from her Oratory, her poets,
her sculptors and her commerce. she
planted colonies over all that portion
of the world. and spread her commerce
abroad among the nations, and yet she
had left US examples Of literature and
Of art which could not have lived in
nation commercial only. Greece was
the most remarkable nation In history
in many or in all respects, and some
times there was a lurking fear among
the men of to-day that perhaps we had
not vet quite attained 10 her standards
in some respects. Greece never had
law against interest, but, on the other
hand, Scion, her law-giver par excel
lence. who was the originator OF the
first bankruptcy law, stated that the
taking OF Interest should not be illegal,
TO matter how large il was. AS con-
sequence "a man charged what he
thought he could get. In other words,
money was recognized as commodity,
20 be dealt with according to the law g
supply and demand. The Grecian
philosophers thought otherwise, how
ever. Aristotle declared it to be I'M
worthy of an honorable citizen to lend
money on interest and some others OIL
the Grecian philosophers had very
much the same views, and Aristotle
was very largely responsible for the
views entertained since his day by
those opposed to interest. His argyll
ment was that money was a wholly
barren thing, which could not increase
of itself and that has been the chief
argument Of his followers. But at
Athens. throu yhout all historic times,
there was no public antipathy against
lending at interest, and there was no
law against usury, and so in other
Greek communities. The philosophers
kept up the antipathy long after it had
ceased among the people.
He next contrasted the feeling in
Rome which, be eaid, was a narrower
country than Greece, broad as was its
territory. Rome began at an early
date to make
LAWS AGAINST INTEREST,
the interest rate being finally regulated
by Justinian, who allowed persons OF
illustrious rank to take four per cent,
ordinary persons six per cent, manu-
facturers and merchants eight per
cent, and fixed nautical interest at
twelve per cent. That remained the
law of Rome for centuries. Yet the
people of Rome didn't Ike it, and al
ways clamored against #. When Cato
was asked what il was 10 be an usureE,
his reply was: What is it to commit
murder?' Cicero said usurers were
abhorred of all men.
Getting away from the Empire, and
coming down into Christian times the
opinions of the fathers Of the Church
were interesting. st. Basil, in the
fourth century, called usureTs dogs
monsters, vipers and devils. st. Greg
DRY used nearly the same language. St
Ambrose and ST. Augustine denounced
the taking Of interest as being con-
trary to Divine law, and st. Bernard,
in the twelfth century, said that usurers
among Christians were worse than the
Jews, which in that day was esteemed
an especially bad comparison. Pope
Innocent H. said said usuPy was "a
horrible and damnable sin he then
took UP the subject Of our own interest
laws originated in England, and said
that in the reign Of Alfred law was
enacted that the goods Of usurers should
escheat to the King, and that usurers
themselves should be buried out OF
sanctuary, while Edward the Confessor
added outlawry and disinheritance OF
heirs Henry VII. contributed
curious law against what was known
as re-exchange, which was q method Of
eyading the usury laws. This was ex-
planned by the speaker, who then
said that Henry VIII, in 1545, had the
first law passed regulating the taking
Of interest at tho rate Of ten per cent.
This. he said, was done at q time when
England first began to feel the effects
and influences of her spreading COM
merce To Henry was due much Of
the credit of expanding that commerce
under wonderful difficulties he bring
inc about the conditions which Eliza
beth found and took advantage Of and
the commercial prosperity OF England
dated from the time when this law Of
Henry VIII was passed. 1t was then
that the people first found out that
money should be
TREATED AS A COMMODITY.
That law was on the statute books for
seven years. When Henry died his SON
repealed II. and under Edward VI. and
Queen Mary the taking of interest was
again unlawful When Elizabeth came
10 the throne the statute OF Henry VIII.
was re-enacted, and since then all that
Parliament has done has been 10 regu-
late the rate of interest Yet even in
the days of Elizabeth, the people did
not like the idea of interest, the old
theory of Aristotle being still in the
public mind The speaker showed how
this public sentiment was reflected in
the works Of Shakespeare, particularly
in the Merchant of Venice. and made
q most interesting exposition of that
play. and drew fine contrast between