The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1915-02-23
.HILSENDECEN
BILL WOULD CURB
LOAN SHARKS
New Measure Designed To Re-
place Act Declared I'M
constitutional
USURERS NOW OPERATE
WITH A FREE HAND
Interest Rates Run As High As
800 Per Cent Per Annum
Methods Merciless

LANSING. Mich. Feb. Ex-senator
Louis Hilsendegen, OF Detroit. was
expected late Tuesday, to introduce In
the senate his bill designed TO take
tho place OF the Loan Shark law, re-
Gently declared unconstitutional by
the state supreme court.
The bill follows. In a general way,
the lines Of the former statute. piac-
ing close restrictions upon the rates
OF interest to be charged by those
engaged In the lending OF money In
small sums. and otherwise providing
for the protection OF workingmen and
others against usurers. who since the
former law was rendered imperative
by the court ruling. have been operat-
ing without restraint throughout the
state.
Representative Jerome. OF Hillsdale
will introduce the bill In the lower
house.
There are two features which make
present conducted, q stencil In the
nostrils Of Michigan people: First, the
excessively high rate Of interest. rang
ing In some instance from 100 to 800
per cent per annum; and second, the
methods Of collection employed. The
Hilsendegen bill proposes to Ak the
rate OF interest to charges at not more
than Is to "a per cent, and to force
the abandonment OF such means OF
collection as bring humiliation, dis
grace and suffering upon the borrower.
A typical instance Of the way In
which the sharks" conduct their busi-
ness, which Is cited by Senator Hill
sendegen in support of his measure,
is found in the story Of an aged De-
troit woman. found In the fles of the
Wayne county prosecutors ONCE.
This woman's husband, working
man, fell sick and she was forced to
borrow 800 from loan. agency to
meet the doctors bill. giving a mort.
gage on her household furniture,
which was valued at about $500 Her
husband never fully recovered. and
during the eight years since he was
taken Ill she has supported herself.
her invalid husband and six children
by taking In washings. She was new.
er able to pay the principal on the
lean received from the sharks. She
paid. MP To April. 1912. more than 81
100 In interest. At that time the loan
|company's books still showed her In
debt 800.
There are several similar cases ON
record In which the interest charges
have run as high as 500 per cent
per annum.
Another case In point Is that of an
|old soldier who borrowed SIS, with the
stipulation that he was to pay back
the original sum together with 81 In
terest at the end of 80 days. His
small pension did not permit him TO
repay the principal. and at the end
OF six months, he had paid out $64 in
interest. During the following three
months, he was unable to pay any
thing. and at the end of that time
he was in debt 327, principal and in
terest. according to the sharks"
books.
One instance taken from the REQ
ords OF the Wayne prosecutors ONCE
will sufiice to show the merciless
methods Of collection employed by
these bloodsuckers whom the supreme
court Of the state Of Michigan has
left free to prey upon unfortunates.
A workingman. whose wife was q
hopeless cripple. borrowed $40, giving
"a mortgage on SITS worth OF furni-
ture, agreeing to pay three monthly
installments Of 81, or I'll interest on
a loan of $40 for three months. The
man paid the first two installments.
but was unable to meet the third.
After q number Of threats. an
agent Of the loan shark appeared at
the borrowers house one morning
during his absence at work, accom-
panied by an auctioneer. The auction
eer proceeded to sell the SITS worth
OF furniture for SIS, to the loan agent.
who after deducting the 81 due him,
handled the crippled woman, the only
person In the house. the remainder.
He then proceeded to strip the house.
taking even the stoves.
When the husband returned that
night he found his wife sitting In the
middle of the bare floor without q
ire and the temperature below the
freezing point. -
II was to correct such practices
that the disqualified loan shark Law
was enacted. In the new law, by
eliminating the constitutional defects
Of the original, II 10 hoped to provide
"a lasting check to such methods.
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