The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-11-15

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 series, is not paid by me, orf the date when due and payable on said date of 1 first default. ........' The notes are paya- | ble in Providence, and if the borrower | succeeds in getting the money to Provi- l dence each week on time, when the notes l are paid tie debt is cancelled. If, how | ever, the money fails to reach the office of H. 4. Courtrght upon the date when | the note becomes due, according to the clause in the note all of the series be- | come due Immediately and a protest fee l and also a collection fee are due upon each note. This occurs so frequently that one Is inclined to believe that the protest l fee and the collection fee are only de- vices used to collect a higher rate of inc terest on each loan"
 An important parsonage in the salary loan office is the tracer whose business it Is to hound borrower who has lost his position through an assignment of wages. The thoroughness with which this spy follows his victim is illustrated in one case where a borrower lost four
 positions in New York because of an as- slgnrnent of wages and finally in despair
 he went to Cuba only to be discovered
 and discharged. The 'philanthropic"
 spirit exhibited by office managers Gin this case woman) is shown in one in- stance when a collector reported to her that @ certain customer stated that the loss of his position meant suicide. The manager volunteered the information that if the customer did kill himself she would close the office and everybody
 could go to the funeral, but suicide or
 no, his employer would be notified unless
 the customer paid the next day.
 MT wassam does not make a. wide- spread Ecnunciation of all loan compa-
 nies Some are very considerate and sev- eral ca gre known where companies have Vi for several weeks for regu-
 lar paY snts and made no extra charge. But the business Is undoubtedly an im-
 portart contributory cause of destitution.
 crinle and breaking down of home ties.
 Many employees who secure loans find it
 impossible to save more than enough
 money to pay the interest and are con- stantly in debt for the original loan. MT. Wnssam states that "the prevalence of this condition of affairs is shown by a
 careful examination of the books of one os the prominent loan offices in the city.
 In list of 400 borrowers 163 had been
 with the company over two years and an equal number from a year to year and
 half. A manager of a prominent of- flee in the city, when asked the reason
 why the company did not advertise, re-
 piled that there was no need to advertise
 
 n new lean as soon as the old one was
 paid; that it was not uncommon for them
 to take new loan to pay the old one in order to avoid paying more than the diff ference"
 The effect of the business on the cus- toner may be judged from few sam pie letters printed in the report One
 man writes: 'I cannot understand what
 has become of my wages. I know I am so SCI liously involved that if I do secure a new position I can never hope to pay
 the different companies all they demand
 and at the same time support my family. I have had no money and my wife has had barely enough to pay our living ex- penses. It has been one constant round Of paying the different companies. When
 they threatened to file upon my wages if didn't pay them more, I would go to new company and by signing paper that I had no loan with any other com- pany and agreeing to pay back about l double what I received, I would secure enough ready cash to keep the other companies from notifying my wife and | employer of my assignment. When
 was unable to continue this they filed | upon my employer at once. What can l do9 There is no use of getting an- | other position as the tracer will find | me and I will be discharged"
 | An extract from another letter shows | the n,ental condition of an employe of
 the New York Central railroad, who 1 holds d responsible position:. "Condi- l tions made me almost nervous wreck. | I wanted to be honest with these people,
 but they wouldn't give me a chance.
 I kept going deeper and deeper, fact
 caused by the methods of the money
 sharks ! am nearly crazy with sus- | pense as to which way to turn"
 ! The nature of the salary loan business
 necessitates a higher rate of interest 1 than that charged in ordinary business transactions. In every state which has
 attempted to regulate salary loans the
 legal rate has ranged from 11s to per
 cent per month, depending on the amounts
 Of the loans. Seventeen states have some legislation upon the subject. In-
 diana and Georgia definitely prohibit the | assignment of unearned wages. Five
 states definitely limit the time for which 1 the assignment may be made. The time | varies from 30 days in Colorado to two { years in Massachusetts. While Connecti- : cut does not place definite limit on the
 assignment, it requires that the time of ! the assignment be definitely stated in the ! contract. New Hampshire, Louisiana. | Rhode Island and Tennessee go further in l this respect than any of the other states |
 the assignment in writing before it be-
 comes valid. Four states, Colorado,
 Connecticut, Massachusetts and Michi- J gan require that the assignment contain ' certain definite information. Five states, 1 Maryland, Massachusetts, Iowa, Con-
 nocticut and Michigan. require a license | in order to conduct the business of sal- | ary loans.
 Few cities have police regulations | which supplement the state laws. In New ! York there are no local police regula-
 tions and the only state law with ref l erepce to the business, except the gen. | eral usury law, is the law of 1904, which | provides that a loan company taking an l assignment of wages of an employe must I file copy with the employer within I three days from the time when the as-
 sisnmcnt was made. The courts have consistently held that wages are com
 nodity and as such are assignable; also
 that they are capable of purchase and
 sale.
 With the idea of enacting general law 1 which will regulate the entire business
 of loaninc money in New York state, pr.
 Samuel M. Lindsay of Columbia univer-
 sity and Frank Tucker vice president
 of the Prevalent Loan Society of New
 York, have drafted bill which provides | for the regulation, by the state super
 intendent of banks, of all concerns which | loan money whether secured by pledges l of personal property, chattel mortgage | on household furniture or an assignment 1 of wages. The object of the bill Is to
 secure regular inspection, establish a
 maximum charge for different loans,