Year: 1878

III ouC1l support. IL WOuIQ, Clere.
fore. be impossible for them to build
or sustain such city.


THE CURSE OF UsURY.AMD THE THEFT


OF THF HOMESTEAD.


a Letter from Our Distinguished Iowa


Correspondent


Sitting alone on the glorious Sab
bath day my mind was deeply i'm
pressed with the manifold evils that


usury has entailed ON the human
race. It has been denounced as a
fearful curse by all the great states
men OF the world land no people seemed
to have suffered more Gin ancient


tlmes) than the chosen people Of God,
but with true craftsmanship Moses
provided against its worst features
by lnstltutlng year of jubilee in
which all the vineyards and lands
should return to their original owners
and general wiping out Of all obli-
cations left the poor debtor chance
to start again in life. In many of the
old countries the statesmen have pro-
vided means of protection in MAX
ing the lands hereditory so that a few
can't realize and absorb all the real
estate. In our own country we have
made very just and desirable laws on
the question of protecting the poor
man from the graSping eXtortion of
the creditor. but unfortunately for
our people, we permit those laws to
be set aside, ,and through the machina-
tions of corrupt courts and unprinci-
pied lawyers, those laws are worth
less. Take the Homestead law, what
could be more noble and beneficient
in it's conceptions and were it carried
out i'll it's original intentions would
always act as an Ark of safety to the
family of the unfortunate, did our
courts act in the same spirit in which
the Homestead and exemption laws
were hoped every claim pre-
sented against the poor mans little
property should be peremptorily dis
missed and the parties presenting the
claims punished for conspiracy to de-
fraud the poor man of his constitu-
tional and legal rights. The interest
of the unfortunate debtor should be
the first looked after, particularly
when these claims are against the
Homestead which should be held
sacred even against the tax collector.


Now it is difficult to trace the in
sidiOus working of Usury, and the ten
thousand ways it has of plundering
the people, it enters into all our mer.
camille transactions, it doubles the
price of all we have to purchase,
whilst at the same time it reduces
the price of everything we have to
sell. Our transportation companies
are weighted down with this curse,
the railroad companies have to pay
high interest on their bonds and make
returns to their stockholders at usur-
Gus rates, it more than doubles our
taxes and is forcing all our best and
enterprising men into bankruptcy.
With a full knowledge Of these facts
and the sycophancy Of our courts it is
strange that the people as mass
don't demand relief from this fearful
curse. But the question is, how can
they obtain relief! AS / view the
matter it is easy enongh if they only
have the manhood to demand 1t. The
best and speediest means to relief
would come through national loan Off
ces, established wherever there is a
national bank at present, when the
industrial classes could obtain the
money they require Ton good security
at 2per cent, this would be very diff
erent from giving the nations money
to class of middlemen as gratuity
for them to loan out as their greed
might determine. II this is a peoples
government let it be run in the peo-
pies interest, and not to build up a
class OF money lenders Insignificant
in numbers but potent only to ruin
every industry of the country, and
means of this cursed Usury
tens of thousands. These
loan offices would kill Usury at once.
No more money could be loaned at a
higher figure than the government
would supply it. like postage stamps
the supply would be ample and there
would be no margin for speculation.
Now this is no new, untried theory.
France acts on it. Benjamin Franklin
it. Now let the people
unite in demanding II, and II wiIl
come. it all depends on the deteruni-
nation of the masses.


History fails to record so gigantic
swindle and conspiracy against the
peoples rights as the national bank
system. Nor is there another civil
lized people on the face of the earth
that would calmly submit to be de-
priyed of their property and see their
industries stultified. and their best
and most enterprising citizens re-
dueeds TO pauperism to build up a
monopoly Of money lenders. Ii is
full time that men woke up and real
lied their true position ere ruin and
0vertake them. It takes
columns Of agate type to
record the sheriffs sales or property
in the city and county Of Philadei-
phia- Public men estimate that two