Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1896-09-23
MISGUIDED DEBTORS.
HOSTILITY TO INTEREST BEARING
LOANS AND ITS FOUNDATION.

How Scripture Has Been M,sauotcd-If
Creditors Would Forcgo Interest and
Even Cancel Obligations. There Would
Bc No FREQ Coinage Cry.
AS we shall hear great dcnl about
the grievances Of tho debtor class during
the present campaign. il is worth while
to inquire what those grievances are,
says the New York Tribuno. The cry
for free silver Is. Of course, only a
symptom, an extraneous issue that cir
cumstances have linked with tho move.
ment which eliminated in tho Chicago
convention. Back of the question of sill
yer lies the fact that multitude OF
honest but mistaken debtors believe
themselves To be the victims Of injus-
tice Few of them could explain Just
what that injustice Is. But il we as
sumo that their sense OF wrong has
something to do with their being Obliged
to pay interest Oh the money they have
borrowed we shall not bo far out Of tho
way. If the monSwho hnvo money would
lend IL without interest to all worthy
people who need IL, giving them their
own timc to repay it, or canceling the
debt altogether IL the debtor happened
to bc hard up, there would be no dissat-
is6ed debtor class today. and therefore
no free silver movement
Now, IL is an interesting fact that this
feeling Of hostility TO loans ut interest
IL not anew thnry. Aristotle and other
Greek and Roman thinkers gave express
sion to IL, and for IL centuries the theo-
logians of Catholic and Protestant
Christianity reflected the same view, on
the ground that the Biblo forbade the
taking of interest for money lent.
Among tho eayly church fathers who
denounced interest may be mentioned
St Basil. st. Chrysostom. St Gregory
OF Nyssa, st Ambrose, St Augustine
md st. Jerome. Lactnntius called tho
taking Of interest," robbery. Popo Leo tho
Great declared IL to be sin worthy Of
severe punishment. Every great church
council from the council of Elvira in 800
to that Of Vienne In 1911 solemply
condemned money lending ut interest.
Many sovereigns Of Europe, under tho in
fiuenco of the church--amopg them JUS
tinian. Charlemagne. Alfred the Great
OF England and St Louis Of France
issued decrccs against money lending.
Pope Gregory X forbade Christian bur-
ial to usurers St. Thomas Aquinns
elaborated tho Scriptural argument
| against usury, and Danto placed money
lenders IN tho hottest corner OF his "In-
feEno. This was the view OF interest
uniformly taken by tho madimval
| church, and as IA result nearly oil mon
cy lenders were Jews. since Christians
could not go into tho business without
losing their souls. But, as it was to-
heved that Jews wero To be damned in
any case, some canonists held that they
might wisely be allowed TO pursue tho
infamous calling.
Nor did Protcstants differ greatly
from Catholics on this question. Luther
denounced every usurer as o thief. and
Melanchthon agreed with him IN Eng
land, during the reign OF Edward VI, a
law was enacted declaring that whoever
lent money at interest should forfeit
principal and interest. Some of the
Puritan preachers condemned all inter
est as un-ScripturaL In 1914 John
Blaxton, an Anglican clergyman, wrote
book entitled "Usury Condemned, ."
in which he defined usury as the taking
OF any interest whatever and quoted as
condemning IL arcbbishops and bishops
and more than 80 doctors of divinity In
the Anglican church. But even while
this b~ok was being read its teachings
began to be questioned, not in England
alone, but all over Europe Tho necessi-
ties Of commerce oyerboro ell the arCu-
ment against the taking Of interest, and
both the Protestant and Catholic theo-
logians finally rotreated from the tradi-
tioual view. The texts which seeried to
them TO forbid usury are still in tho
Bible. but they are no longer taken to
mean what they were supposed tomean
for so many centuries. Similarly, lin
Scotland, at tho beginning of this cen
tuTy the use Of tanning mills for win
moving grain was for time condemned
as un-Scriptural, because the Bible says,
1.-THE wind bloweth where it listeth, 3"
etc Bot as tho tanning mills continued
70 10 used modified Interpretation of
the text supposed 20 condemn them was
adopted
1t would DO erroneous 20 suppose that
this feeling Of hostility TO loans at in
tercst rs an evidence Of dishonesty, mis-
! takon though we know 1t 10 be. Tho
theologians who fastened Il as a dogma
ON the church were honest and conscien-
tious men, and 50 arc most of their fol-
lowers today in the south and west who
are dcnouncing tho money power. Thoy
arc simply laboring under a grievors
mistake, az were tho thoologians, and
instead Of growing imppticnt with them
it Is our duty TO show thcm, IN all kind
ness, wherein their mistake Hes Tho
campaign upon which VIC are entering
must be one of education, and not ono
Of brass bands and party yells.
Shall We have protection Of roanHhao-
tures, which means the American standard
of high wages and the prosperity which
wo enjoyed for 25 years under Bcpublioan
tariff laws. or protection to the million
airo mine owner and speouiatoT IN silver
/ which benefits 40 other Amarfoan9
Echo Answers.
Louisville Courier Journal Dem.)
And how, II free coinage at Is 20 I.
when the market ratio was about 10 i.2
I tO I failed to raise silver To "a naritv