Fitzgerald leader enterprise and press., 1926-09-09
LOAN SHARKS JAIL
PEOPLE FOR DEBT
ALBANIAN DESCRIBES SENSA-
TIONAL CONDITIONS UNDER
WHICH SOME COMPANIES
OPERATE in GEORGIA.


Atlanta, Ga.-The very purpose
for which Georgia was founded-to
prevent Imprisonment for debts
being violated under law enacted by
the Georgia legislature in 1920, al
lowing companies to charge 3k per
cent per month interest, or AZ per
cent yearly, Walter C. Hendrix, un-
opposed candidate for the. Democratic
nomination for the Georgia senate
from the Thirty-fifth district, de-
clared in a statement made public
here today.
"In the good years of 1925 and
1926" he stated. mot only on one
occasion, but on. dozens of occasions
have citizens of Atlanta been arrested
by the officers of our courts under
bail trover proceedings, and placed
! in Jail because they; were unable to-
pay back the amount of the loan
which they had borrowed or were un-
able to produce the furniture on
which, they had, given mortgages.
One concern in Atlanta put in Jail
16 different persons here last year
and on one occasion the loan COM
pany put in Jail not only the man,
but his wife. A large number of
these defendants were white people,
several of them were women. The
entire record is a nauseating one"
Mr.. Hendrix advocates the repeal
of this law or it's modification so as
to remedy in part the evils complain
ed of. He also says that no doubt
these same conditions exist in other
towns and cities and should be Of
ficially investigated.
II understand that at the time of
the passage of the act of 1920 it had
the endorsement of large number
of civic organizations or organiza-
tions claiming that they were. work.
ing for the betterment of humanity,
including what is known as the Rus
sell Sage Foundation" declared Mr..
Hendrix. 1t is something of a mys-
terry to me how any organization
headed by experts who really are
working for the beterment of hu-
manity could ever be hoodwinked
into the belief that the present-day
methods of lending at AZ per cent
per year and pailing men and their
wives when they fail to pay, is a
just, much, less humane method, of
| administering the law.
Misery of Unfortunates :
II very greatly fear that these
men who are at the head of this or
| ganization are more concerned with
the theory of the proposition than
they are with the practice by which
it is being administered. The loan
shark practice is not to be condoned.
Nothing that any person can say
about it is too hard or harsh to re-
ceive my unqualified approval, but l
am thoroughly convinced that the
31s per cent per month loan law is
bringing more misery upon our un-
fortunate people, than the loan
sharks have ever been able to ac-
complish. :
'|The loan shark may take a mans
salary, he may, deprive him of his
job--but the loan concerns organized
under the 8 X per cent per month law
are taking away, from our unfor-
tunate people who patronize them
the very chairs on which they sit and
the beds on which they toss Their
sleepless nights, or if they fail to
surrender these few articles of com.
fort, the strong arm of the law
reaches. out to assist the loan concern
and places not only him but his wife
behind the bars to become neighbors
to our felons and murderers."
Mr.. Hendrix calls attention to the
fact that nearly every one of the
loan companies he refers to is mere
local office of a huge organization
having its home office somewhere
else. These companies are not pure
ly local Georgia companies, he points
out. His information is, he says, that
the principal stockholders in nearly
every instance are multi-millionaires.