200 Objecliom to the Froposvd 



lioiml laws relativo to what oiij^ht to be 

 jiaiil lor tilt! use of money, and whether 

 its maximum ought to be tixcd ? These 

 arc (lucstions of mere local policy and 

 expediency, and have really no connec- 

 tion whatever wilh the other subjects. 

 If the Usury Law's are not operative, 

 make Iheni stronger; if a free trade is 

 desired in money, then restrict it to thn 

 precious metals and tangible commodi- 

 ties, and destroy all the conventional 

 signs of it ; let it be tiie same in value 

 abroad and at home. 



Tiie argument might be cut very 

 sliort by an appeal to experience and to 

 cxi-fing facts; but it may be worth 

 while to look to the moral and practical 

 operation of all laws on the subject. 



Under the existintc system, what is 

 the condilidu of England? At home 

 and abroad, in sjiite of some dark spots, 

 it is justly considered as the most 

 wealthy, most flnurishing, mostinduslii- 

 ons, most enter()rising, of nations. And 

 this eoudilion has grown up under a sys- 

 tem by which money as such, or capital, 

 can only command five per cent, and 

 can, generally sjicaking, and iii ordinary 

 tinn^s, be obtained at tliat rate. Aye, 

 and what is more, sht; has arrived at 

 this great and envied condition since 

 t!ie rate of interest lias been sulijcctcd 

 to that inaximnm, and as may even be 

 proved from the practical operation of 

 this law. In trulh, England is what it is, 

 and is in a different condition from every 

 continental nation, merely because ca- 

 pital has been, and can be, obtained at 

 an easy certain rate, wliicli seldom or 

 ever exceeds the rale of profits. 



Arc we to be told tliat England 

 requires to be in a better condition than 

 she is in; and are we patiently to be 

 invited to assimilate our eoiuiition to 

 that of Prussia, or any beggarly desjiot- 

 isni on the Old Continent? Have our 

 envious neighbours retained orators to 

 stimulate us to commit /<?/o de se ; and 

 are we really so intoxicated wilh our 

 healthy condition as to be guided by 

 visionaries, lake foreign nostrums, and 

 destroy the corner-stone of our pros- 

 l)erity ? 



None but men blinded by avarice 

 could visit France, and not be struck 

 by the donustic condition of that conn- 

 try in regard to the relations of money. 

 For want ofoperative penalties, few com- 

 mercial securities can be ncgociated in 

 that country at less than fifteen or 

 twenty per cent.; and it is notorious 

 that, in Paris, small traders and manu- 

 facturers are obliged lo pay twcnIy-Cve 



Repeal of the L'xurj/ Laws. [April l» 



and even thirty per cent., for bills at 

 above three months. In consequence, 

 there is neither credit, enterprise, specu- 

 lation, nor ho|)c, among the same classes 

 of industry as there is in England. Mo 

 man will credit a trader who is at 

 liberty to give twenty or thirty per cent, 

 for the discount of a bill, because ruin 

 must follow such sacrifices; and hence 

 Credit, in the English sense of the word, 

 and in which sense it is the main-spring 

 of our trade and characteristic, industry, 

 is unknown in that country. Hearkeri, 

 ye bankers of England, whether in par- 

 liament or oul of it, — such is the profita- 

 ble cmiiloymcnt of small capitals in 

 these usurious transactions, that Ihrouglk- 

 oiit all I'ranoe there is not a single 

 Bank of Deposit; and there can be 

 none, for every Frenchman knows better 

 how to employ his money than to lodge 

 it at a ncgoeiaiit's, either without inter- 

 est, or at the fixed rate which he might 

 be disposed to allow. Hence France iti 

 utterly destitute of Banks of Deposit, 

 those 7-eservoirs of capital, which, 

 through British bankers, render every 

 pound sterling available capital for every 

 legiliinale purpose of private industry or 

 public enterprise. On this account, all 

 France vvould not in twenty years sub- 

 set ibe a million of capital in shares for 

 any public work ; and hence, also, when- 

 ever houses require to be rebuilt in Paris, 

 the undertaking cannot proceed without 

 the special aid of the government ! Yet 

 it is sought to place us in this respect in 

 the condition of the French I The 

 ordinary feelings of llesh and blood 

 scarcely permit me to guide my pen ! 



After all, what is the interest of money 

 in its abstract sense? Is it any thing 

 more than the ra»som of the borrower? 

 I do not blame the lender for his condi- 

 tions, nor for fixing his price; but, as 

 money is a national concern, and is held 

 only by public convention, so he who 

 uses it ought to allow himself to be 

 subject to the national laws. Does the 

 ca|)italist hold money created as such 

 by virtue of jjublic consent; and ima- 

 gine that that which exists under the 

 social compact, ought not to be subject 

 in its use to the laws of the same 

 society ? 



Is it not enough that the ca|)ilal of 

 England, as it now exists for all efficient 

 purposes of lending, has been increased 

 since the reign of Charles II. from 200 

 to 2000,000,000/.? In that age capi- 

 talists got but six per cent, on 

 200,000,000^.; and they now get, or are 

 in the way of getting, five per cent, on 



tea 



