New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-10-30

STAMPING OUT USURY
wbitman's Aid Reports Falling
Off of so Per Cent.
OrREAU DOES GOOD WORK
s, Brooks Says Loan
Sharks" Do Yearly Business
of S20,0O0,00O Here.

,o-, NJ the work done by the usury
,,u IN the District Attorneys office
vs. 1,ed Yesterday with Mr. Whitman by
,usny1in S. Brooks, the assistant, who
had charge of the prosecution Of
'.,sv lenders. Mr.. Brooks shows the ex-
80, If the business and what he has done
- orrb II. The bureau has been in eX-
,stence four months.
The usurious loan business In this city,
80 saws. is "conservatively estimated
:, y2O nO0OOO annually. All of the loans
1gb,cb come under this head are Of less
,hor 500 each and the average interest
demanded and paid is 200 per cent At
,esst thirty thousand city employees, he
.svs are paying toll to the money lenders,
o,d there are one hundred thousand more
u,bo are employed by railroads and big
business houses.
Seven hundred persons have come TO
,be district Attorneys Office with COM
rlsints since the establishment of the
psury bureau. Fully three hundred com
nls,nts have been satisfactorily settled by
the payment Of the loan with interest at
4 per cent. Some Of the compliments, 1t
vas found, had never intended TO repay
,bs money lender, and sought TO hide be-
hind the District Attorney; others used
tbs threat Of criminal prosecution to eX-
tort blackman from the money lender,
M, the majority were men who were
driven 10 the money lender by necessity
and in ignorance had signed confessions
Of Judgment or other papers which put
them in the power Of the loan shark.
There have been thirty-ore arrests since
the campaign began and twenty-one de-
PENDANTS have been held for trial 1t Is
poInted out that the money lenders gem
sra,Iy hire young women at $40 or SO d
week 10 conduct the business for them
and that the real proprietors are ire
ouently unknown. In some cases, how
ever. II has been possible to arrest the
actual head Of the business.
AS a result of the raids made by the
district Attorneys men in which books
and papers were contiscated and OF the
aid given TO those who were sued In the
civil courts by the loan sharks many
Of the concerns have gone out Of business.
Others have closed up all of their branch
Offices. one firm. which formerly had
seven hundred clients paying usurious
rates Of interest regularly, now has less
than two hundred and is making no new
loans II is said that the volume OF the
buslness in general has fallen on % per
cent.
A civil bureau, to defend those against
whom actions are brought in the civil
courts, is recommended, and Mr.. Brooks
has been assured that the money to es-
tablish it will be forthcoming by Novem-
Der 1. The cooperation OF employers has
been sought and granted, and firms when
formerly discharged men who were in
the clutches Of loan sharks" no longer
do so. Notices Of assignments of salary
served upon employers are now ignored
II is recommended that the Corporation
Counsel be asked for an opinion as 10
the legality Of paying any part OF the
salaries Of city employees to representa-
tiyes OF loan sharks" If he should rem
der an opinion that orders Of garnish-
ment. based upon confessions OF Judg-
ment fraudulently obtained. are invalid
Mr.. Brooks believes that large number
of city employees would be Immediately
relieved.
1t is pointed out that as money lenders
frequently file the confessions Of judg-
ment obtained by them I'm upstate courts
the borrowers are not able - find the
money TO pay their. travelling expenses
and Judgment and costs are secured by
default. Thus, to the borrower, the
courts seem arrayed on the side OF the
shark"
While much has been done TO relieve
the condition OF the small borrower with
out making any arrests, Mr.. Brooks says
that there are a number of complaints
now In his office, and recommends that
warrants be applied for at once.
A list Of hundred and fifty loan com
panies, with the rates Of interest charged
by each, is appended. The greatest rate
Of interest demanded is 7ol per cent ana
the least 40 per cent.
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