The Washington times., 1920-06-17
Today
"A Great Mystery"
Usury Now Legal.
Bad for Good Business.
Singing 1000 Miles.


Singing 1000 Miles.
0sy ARTHUR Brisbane
} tcspyrisnt. isssD
A great murder mystery IN
New York has amazing hold on the
+, simian public. Twenty-Five thou
sanA average human beings crowd
cd around the house where the
. Elwsll murder was committed.
swsmping the police. II was like
Q scene In the monkey house when
. beetle crawls across the floor.
You should study the eager faces.
In this particular case. the gen
tlsmsn murdered and his friends
did everything possible In q modern
way 70 supply the reporters with
copy"
After dining on the Ritz Roof. all
coacsrned. with the interesting
and doomed bridge expert as the
social center, moved to the roof OF
the Amsterdam Theater.
Then there was the "high-pow-
cred runsbout," cut-out missing,
Of course. taking the Bridge King"
back to his lodgings and his doom.
At $500 q. m.
Thsn flew tho .46-caliber bullet
from an army revolver. and the
rest 10 silence" except for about
ten thousand columns OF news
paper speculation, and ten million
opinions by detectives, artists. y
and others.
Many ladies had keys to the
apartment of the murdered man,
but, "all In the way OF almost
legitimate business" they came to
gamble.
Not one shall be added here to
the million theories, only line
about the MOST interesting fact In
the most interesting mystery. Mrs.
Elwell wrote her husbands book
on bridge, got none OF the proceeds
from the sale, amounting to TWEEN
ty or thirty thousand dollars q
year profit, and she was cut out OF
her husbands will. Nothing new
or modern about THAT. It's the
old story.
The Federal bank, it seems, has
legislative power. 1t has cancel
ed laws against usury in the State
of New York and wherever those
laws forbid an interest rate above
6 per cent. New York's law says:
The rate Of interest upon the
loan or f0rbearance Of any money,
goods, or things IN action shall be
six dollars upon one hundred dol.
lars
No person or corporation shall,
directly or Indirectly take or re.
eeive In money, goods, or things
In action, or In any other way, any
sreater sum or greater value for
the loan or forbearanee Of any
money, goods, or things In action
than is above prescribed.
Penalty for violating this law is
forfeiture of the money collected.
But the great banking concerns
of New York State have notified
customers to whom they have lent
money that the rate hereafter will
be Z per cent.
In this column heretofore, the
attention of business men has
been called to the fact that the
necessities of Europe borrowing at
usurious rates of interest will have
a bad effect on business men need
ing borrowed capital for new en-
terprises and to employ labor.
You can buy commercial paper
of the highest grade now paying
8 per cent and even as high as 9
per cent. The regular bank rate
is up to 7 per cent.
If the Federal reserve has pow
er to authorize 7 per cent, why
not 8, 10, 15, or 20?
How high is it going?
A little while ago big concerns
were advertising "one hundred
pounds of sugar for $500 with
$40 worth Of groceries" You dio
not expect to see sugar selling at
twenty-five cents a pound. But
you HAVE seen it selling at
twenty-five cents and higher, and
now you can't get more than
three pounds at any price.
How long will business men
keep their heads in the sand and
tell each other that the GREAT
danger is Government interfer-
ence? II you had not Govern
ment interference you would have
been paying IS a bushel for wheat
long ago. II you don't soon have
Government interference, you will
be paying ten and fifteen per cent
for money. This will mean that
investing capital in new enter
prises will be, from the selfish
point of view, mere folly. Why
build up the country or employ
labor if you can live the life of a
parasite and let your money bring
In usurious interest with absolute
safety? Make usury legal and