The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-03-29
COMPANY PIGHTSLOANSHGRKS
WESTERN ELECTRIC WON'T PAY
WAGES TO ASSIGNEE.

Providence Usurer. In safety In . state
where There u 30 Usury Law, Comes
into New YORK Courts Through q
Brooklyn Ascent and sues the Company.
some-of the local loan sharks who preyed
upon the necessities and misfortunes Of
wage earners In this neighborhood until
about two years ago. and who were com
PEELED by the enforcement OF old laws, the
enactment Of new and a newspaper crusade
10 take 10 cover. have turned up in Rhode
Island, where there il no law against usury.
They do just as large business, at even
higher rate Of Interest, than when they
openly operated here.
Their collector for the FIVE boroughs Of
this city is a concern calling Itself the Coast
Cities Collection Company. Naturally, IL
Is not In any directory. IL has an Office az
% Lafayette avenue, Brooklyn, and its
letterheads say that T. G. Nowlin IL the
manager. The person who negotates the
loans is H. A. Courtright, whose private
banking house" Is In Room $50, Banigan
Building, Providence.
Some Of the latest victims Of the usurers
are among the $500 employees Of the West
ern Electric Company OF this city, which
occupies the big building at 463 West street
The company was made aware OF he work
Of the eXtortioners among their men by the
institution Of suits against IL 70 recover
interest" and charges alleged TO be due
TO COPYRIGHT Of Providence from men
who had assigned their wages to him. The
Coast Cities Collection Company is bringing
the suits and there will be hearing Of two
cases in the municipal court in East New
' ork on April T.
One Of the electric oompany's workmen
had sick wife and child, and needed extra
money for medicine and nursing. The
factory had been flooded with circulars
telling about the philanthropy Of the loan
sharks and the man decided TO try 20 raise
enough to tide him over his trouble, lie
signed notes promising to pay Courtright
Ss5 in one month and for this he received
a check for 329 IS He renewed these notes
monthly, giving up t525. or the difference
between t35 and 500 IS, every time ne did
80 His wife and child died. and he found
himself una bic 20 pay the notes because OF
the funeral expenses. He renewed them
twenty-four times. paying in all Sl27 for
the loan Of 500 IS. Then he confded his
woe TO member Of the company, Incl
dentally oonfessng that he had given 70 a
representative Of the loan shark a power
ofattorney 10 assign his wages TO the shark
The company decided 10 protect its en-
ployee. II refused to pay the demand OF
Coast Cities Collection Company for SOIL
and suit was brought.
The case OF the other employee IL
Of more recent date. He wanted to lift
chattel mort gage on his furniture. He
signed six notes for 81 each. all made out
10 COPYRIGHT and payable at his office In
Providence by check or money order. He
received in exchange 3l425. He met his
notes as they came due, except one, He
was three days behind time in paying this
and was notified that he had would have TO
pay a protest fee Of tI.49. He paid the
note and ignored the fee. He also told
his trouble TO the company and when Court
right flashed the assignment Of wages on
the company and asked for the money.
II was not paid, and he sued for S22esl
which includes the protest fee and
charges presumably for legal talent.
The employee had paid 1918 for a loan Of
tl425 for six weeks OF at the rate OF more
than 225 per cent. A representative OF
the company said that It would fight the
Insurers to the end, carrying the case from
court to court II necessary, in order to
protect the factory snPloysss and oomPoa
TIE sharks to steer clear Of them In the
future,
The power Of attorney given by an EN-.
ployee, the company maintains, would II
admitted to be- effective, practically in
validate the law 20 protect the employer
and employee from the money lender.
The shark himself cannot, OF course, be
reached in a State that has no law against
uEuTV.