128 



law, but such eases as the one cited puts all custom- 

 ary forms of usury quite in the shade. 



WANTED: AN AGRK TLTTRAL USURY ACT. 



I would like to remark, by the way, on the proce- 

 dure observed by the farmer in the case cited, in hi.s 

 endeavour to obtain mitigation of the onerous terms to* 

 which he had agreed. 



He cannot appeal to the Law Courts, to protect 

 him, as he could everywhere else in the world. On the- 

 contrary, one" having agreed to the harsh terms impos- 

 ed on him, at his creditor's call the Law steps in and sees 

 not that they are mitigated but that they are car- 

 ried out to the letter. 



His sole hope, if the other party will not forego 

 its pound of flesh, lies not in an appeal to justice, but 

 to the Grain Exchange Board, a private Board, with- 

 out executive power, whose decisions have no more than 

 moral force. 



Tn the case in question it is seen that after inves- 

 / tigatiom the Board does its best to mitigate the terms, 



and with this moral force behind him, the victim is able 

 to come to terms, not over the capital sum lent, this 

 having already been returned in kind, but over the 

 nearly two hundred per cent- interest. 



The question may well be asked how such a state 4 

 of affairs is possible, and whether nothing can be done 

 to remedy it by the law or by the authorities. 



The vame thing is brought to liuht and reported on 

 in the press year in and year out ; with each case it ap- 

 parently grows worse, and nothing definite appears to 

 be done either by the farmers themselves or by the 

 authorities to improve matters, although such distress 

 which forces the farmer to accept usurious terms ere 

 he can count on harvesting his crop, hard sown and 

 harder reaped, and such speculation on the part of the 

 parties who are called upon to lend him money, seem- 

 to cry aloud for investigation. Should riot one single 

 case of nearly two hundred per cent, per annum inter- 

 est be sufficiently biting to arouse either one party or 

 the other to something practical? There is more than 

 enough theory lying around for laws and amendments, 

 what is required by this time is something more than 

 mere propositions. It might be remarked that snrely 

 the duty of the farmer is to bring the matter before his 

 deputy, if he wants it remedied by law, but I venture 

 to point out that annually in the Chamber the discus- 



